Fringe Benefits...

Seems not that long ago I was sitting on the couch n discussing getting a fringe while I was supposed to be studying.

I admit that I have a tendency to get caught up fads that come ago, and there is a realistic chance that my BB obsession and insistance that Claire is the prettiest is what brought me around to wanting to emulate my hairstyle on hers, but I did a lil research and found that a fringe will, in fact, be good for the shape of my face:

Not Enny, and not her fringe

Besides, I wear my hair up ALL THE TIME, so the least I could do is put some effort into the part of my hair that's NOT constantly tied back, and then maybe work my way up to putting effort into my whole hair and wearing it out more often than just special occassions.

NAYWAYS. Last time I had a haircut, the hairdresser insisted I book an appointment for the future - she promised she would 'turn' me to a hair-out person, who would get her haircut more than bi annually AND keep her foils and colouring up to date.

That haircut was supposed to be this morning.

(oooh, such suspense).

Last night, after afore mentioned fringe discussion, I decided I best at least do some highlighting in my textbook to look like studies - I was slouched over in my usual corner of the couch, textbook in lap, highlighter in hand and head in other hand, when I 'reconnected' with my head mole.

I was pretty freckly as a kid (weren't we all!) and I've always a few moles - not moles as in Austin Powers mole, but a 'speckled assortment' shall we say.

Not Enny, and not her mole.

My grandmother had skin cancer, so I've always been very aware about getting my spots checked - a couple here, a couple there and one in my hair.

(Can you see where this is headed?!)

So as I was getting reconnected with my mole-in-hair, I realised it had changed quite dramatically, and as I am prone to do, cued up instant panic and internet googling.

As soon as The Hun pulled up in the driveway I was out there in a flash (not unusual when I've been home alone all day, I'm definately a ppl person) but looking more worried than happy-go-lucky-puppy-eyed.

He schooched me into the toilet to have a look under direct light (the bulbs have been blowing and I incorrectly picked up screw bulbs instead of baton bulbs) and he took a photo for me to have a look at it.

LUCKILY FOR YOU, I seem to have temporarily misplaced my camera cord, so I can't publish it for you (pending urgent requests).

First thing I noticed was that it wasn't brown. It was pink. Cue flashbacks of nights googling where a pink mole is DEFINATELY a bad thing, and a nights worth of 'amusement' as I 'joked' about my 'head cancer' at every opportune (and potentially inappropriate) moment.

A trip to the doctor this morning ($60!) has done some to both settle and unsettle me.

It seems that my 'mole' was never a 'mole', it's always been a 'something-or-other' that is some sort of pink noduley thing. So I needn't worry about the head cancer thing.

(Side note: I had one on my leg as a child and the doc was going to remove it but had some cotton tied around it that he got my mum to hold as he was getting ready and she 'accidentally' pulled it off that way)

However, the fact that it's grown and is in the way of, say, brushing my hair and/or getting it cut, it was deemed necessary that it be removed asap.

Next Tuesday I have an appointment in a 'surgery but it's actually in a house' in O'Conner where the reffered doc will examine my nodule.

Then I will be going back at set time to have set nodule CUT OUT and have THREE STITCHES inserted.

"Oh, and you'll want to cut the hair around it, roughly half an inch around to make it easier for when the stitches go in and come out."

You'll be pleased to know that this is one moment when my insane urge to must, Must, MUST complete an act as soon as it was suggested to me DIDN'T overwhelm me - I might ask the new doc to maybe do that for me as he sees appropriate.

This incident has introduced a few other 'issues'

~ I'm meant to start another boot camp on Monday - I'm guessing I'll be out of action while my head has a bit missing - does that mean I'm not going? And will I get my $100 back?

~ Will I still be going to cabins down the coast next weekend with hole in head?

~ HOW WILL I STYLE MY HAIR WITH A CHUNK MISSING OFF TOP LEFT BACK OF IT?

~ Will I get time off work?

~ Will I get time off work to work out how I can wear my hair without ginourmous bald spot/gunky stitches?

~ When will I get my fringe?

Today is a paid study day for my exam on Monday. This means chatting, emailing, watching telly, eating apricot delights that I'm not really that fond of and doing a meme.

I found it here, but can't remember how I got there (I went from a link to a link but I've lost the missing link!).

Write 15 things about 15 separate people, but don't name them. They can be things you were too shy to tell people, things you wish you could tell them, or things you hate about them. Anything.

1 ~ At first I thought you were irreverant and funny, a real treasure chest. But now I think you're fake and a tag along, trying to hard to be something you're not and people both old and new sides are losing respect for you. It's real shame.

2 ~ I don't look down on you, I just feel you've lost your way. I don't know how I can reach out to you and get you to take my hand - but for some reason, I always think it's only temporary. I'm not just saying I'm here to help to make myself feel better, or because it's a nicety, but I really do mean that if you ever decide to take up an offer, I will be here for you.

3 ~ Please realise that behind the attitude, you're pure gold- don't let your insecurities that forged your defensive personality be the only thing that people get to see. Let the real you shine out a little more.

4 ~ I'm tired of your attitude. I'm tired of the awkwardness. I'm tired of feeling like a cow for feeling like I do, but I can't help it. It's not entertaining, it's not becoming, it's not anything.

5 ~ You are one of the most generous, giving and caring people I have ever met. I hope you do realise just how much you do give and how much you should be appreciated for that.

6 ~ I still don't quite know how to deal with you. How can one person be so many people in once, full ball from all directions at once and then nothing from anywhere.

7 ~ It makes me so sad to see how much you've changed. I just wish you could see what we all see, and then do something about it, so that you could be happier than what you already perceive yourself to be.

8 ~ There's more to life than what you've got. It's almost as if you keep yourself unhappy - why not listen to some of the advice you more than willingly dish out to others?

9 ~ Don't worry about what people say - you know what you're doing and you're the only one who can do it, so keep on doing it.

10 ~ You made the right decision in breaking up. If we hadn't lost touch in the middle there, I do wish I'd asked more questions about it all.

11 ~ Turning your back on your 'old' life doesn't mean it's not still there. And totally absorbing yourself in your 'new' life isn't a life at all. And if you'd just bring yourself down a notch, you'd see that there are plenty of other people who'd be willing to chip in to help you out and keep you happy, even if you're too proud to see it.

12 ~You've come a long way now. It's time to stop hanging onto the pain and time to open yourself up to new things and take the chance - a life without love isn't a life. And I know that you know that.

13 ~ I went out on a limb and spoke to you from the bottom of my heart, and you dismissed me. I told you twice more and you pretended to not hear it. Try and avoid it as much as you like, but here's the heads-up - I WILL get to the bottom of this.

14 ~ I never thought you could ever be so selfish, so hurtful, so ignorant and so self-obsessed. You deserve everything that is going to come to you.

15 ~ If you're not happy, then there's no reason to be there. NO reason.

*Wow. Don't I sound like a self righteous biatch.... *

Please allow me introduce myself...

My name is Enny.

Enny? What type of a name is that?

It's a nickname.

So why do you sometimes get called EnnyPen or EnnyPenny?

Those are also nicknames of mine, and I wasn't 100% which to use when I started - so I think I've switched back and forth a bit...

Started what?

This blog.

What's it called?

Welcome to the Enny-Pen.

Why'd you choose that?

Well, Enny Pen is also one of my nicknames, but you could also look at it as a pen where I (Enny) am kept - so you're coming into MY space.

MySpace?

No. My space.

Ah, so what's with with the description up there in the top left?

It's a combination of two songs that I like and that I feel have some relevancy to me - Missy Elliots "Lose Control" and Datarocks "Computer Club". I do like to think that my face can be cute, I'm not stick thin, my legs are a bit muscley from all my martial arts and I do spurts of exercise so I like to think I can hold my own. I shake my ass when I dance and if you were to see me you'd do a double take (like I would anytime I saw someone from the internet!). AND I'm not THAT type of girl. Booger.

Okay - and what's with the pic?

That's Bjork, from her "Hunter" filmclip - she's my fav artist...and I have a tendency to pretend I'm turning into a bear when I'm doing the groceries and listening to it.

I see - and what's that blurb thing that's under her pic?

It highlights the main things about me - I am 24, I've been a public servant for over 3 years, I've been doing martial arts for 17 years, I'm a (very) new vegan, I'm a bit of a hoon, I like to say "matey" occassionally, I'm a noob at a lot of things and I can be a bit of a b!tch. I do spend my time plodding around our nations capital, I'm quite sarcastic (not here as you wouldn't be able to read it as sarcasm!) I love cruisers and breezers and I do punch boys at my martial arts school (there's not too many men there!).

Why'd you start up a blog?

When I was at home and share housing, I remember thinking to myself that I had some hilarious stories - at the same time, I became a hardcore lurker and figured I could put all those experiences into writing to share with others. That said, as soon as I started, I realised that really, in the grand scheme of it all, my stories and experiences AREN'T really all that - but I like it and I'm'a keep on doing it.

So now what?

Nothing much - jus thought I'd share!

*hooray*

Def / Div / Def

When I was younger, I thought that defacto meant divorcee - that it was two grownups who were married but weren't together anymore, and now still together in the same house...

I've only just noticed how similar (the word) defacto is to (the word) defective...

Or from a potentially terribly insightful perspective, perhaps it is more than jus the words that are similar...

Viewing Study-us Avoid-us in her natural habitat...

I'm sure I'm not the only economics student who's spent more time calculating the percentage required on the final exam to just pass the course...

What are the chances that jus writing 'supply, demand and equilibreum makes Enny something something (go crazy) over and over would be enough to get the 42% I need on the final exam to NEVAH HAVE TO THINK ABOUT ECONOMICS AGAIN?! Coz I'm trying to plot it out on a PPF and I'm not sure how well that's going...

I missed the opening...

... but I think this will come in handy for the nex month or so...

ConGRADulations Dadsy!

Fri morn I was up at sparrows fart (5.10am) and off to the Gowrie house to collect middle bro and youngest bro for the long haul to Sydney to celebrate Dadsy's graduation.

We arrived here at about 10.10 (Yes, we got lost, and yes we may have inadvertantly broken traffic law a few times) and headed off to the uni almost straight away to look totally outta place in our grad-ceremony-watching outfits amongst the cas students for 3.5 hours. The cab drive to the uni was 'eventful' in that 5 grownups + 1 cabbie meant Mumsy and I were in the front, with me squooshed in the middle of the front seat. Have you ever been hit right in the eye by a cabbies hands-free earphone flinging around and then not got an apology? It's nothing to write home about (but fine to blog about, it seems).

The ceremony itself wasn't so bad (I've only ever been to The Hun's and that was loooooooooong and boooooooooooring) - highlights included a total WTF moment as Mumsy was overheard introducing herself to one of Dadsy's classmates with "I was going to say nice to meet you c*nty, but I won't" (it was a preplanned injoke apparantly) and Dadsy posing for photos postgrad Darth Maul style with his grad hood over his head, hiding behind his cape and bearing his certificate like a light sabre...

We headed into Isabella's for dinner (highly recommended if you're in the area, but be warned that there is only one tooty for everyone and it's out the back down an alley!) where Dadsy managed to break a chair jus by sitting on it (some lawyer types in his their grad group ensured they go photographic evidence of the way the welding broke) and then up the road to a pub called Alison's (I think?!) before cabbing it over to cushion.

THAT's where the night started to get more interesting.

It was good in that all four kids (plus Eldest bro's gf) were drinking and comfy and starting the D&M thang that quite often occurs...

- Eldest bro started with 'You know how I was being an ass about your veganism the other day?' and then launched into some bizarre critique-slash-support-slash-talk-over-the-top thang... his point, as far as I could tell, was that he conceded that not consuming anmal products has an effect, but then didn't concede that it did as the only way to make a difference is to change everybody's perception of meat and animals so that they aren't used for meat and the whole proceess is changed... It kind of went around and around in circles with him agreeing and disagreeing straight away and repeating his point over and over and louder and louder... I've put it down to alchohol plus overload on management study (he had his first two exams within a 2 day period and drove up to Sydney straight after his exam) plus some of that defensive guilt that I've read about that causes ppl who feel threatened/offended/guilty about what they're eating to launch into active attack mode...?!

- He then moved onto a discourse on marriage. It seems he believes that marriage is only for creating children and that happiness only comes from having kids to carry on your name or whatever and that the wife thing is only secondary - that's the meaning of life. This was in contrast to my belief that happiness should be within yourself, then added to with a partner and then added to with kids - you can have a life without kids and still be happy.

{Deleted by the Author - sorry dudes!}

- Youngest bro outlined that he has a *confidential* life plan to get himself on track that, as much as eldest bro's gf asked, he would not share. It's good to see that he's finally at the point that all us kids in the family have got to where you decide to get off ur ass and jus do something about it.

- Plus other D&M talk on everyone's jobs, love, plans etc.

Nayways, I started getting a lil tired at about 1am and noticed eldest bro's gf was the same, so we headed off with eldest bro and youngest bro in tow (middle bro hung back for more drinx), where eldest bro's gf lemme know that she was't having fun - she didn't understand his vegan argument except that it seemed to include repeating the same thing over and over but louder and louder each time without listening to other viewpoints. She was also (understandably!) unimpressed with his marrige'n'kids speech (it was the first time she'd heard any of that and the whole 'when I know someone is suitable then I'd do it straight away' would make ANY ladee mad) and his argument on divorce was not on - her parents divorced years ago so he doens't really know what he's talking about.

I was also 'gifted' enough to be sharing a room with youngest bro and middle bro, so was 'gifted' enough to be greeted by middle bro's 'gifted' entrance at 2am - turning on all the lights and tv, opening the door the courtyard, coming in and out of the room and calls of 'WHO WANTS TO PARTAY BIATCHES'. He then spent the night on his creaky Creaky CREAKY bed rolling himself up in some sort of sheet coccoon. Unimpressed.

~Overview~
Cross: It rained the whole time;
Tick: It still looked like a really lovely beach.

Cross: Arguing with the brothers
Tick: Getting to know about what they think/feel/plan

Cross: Sharing room with two boys
Tick: None. Never again. P.E.R.I.O.D.

Cross: The Hun wasn't there.
Tick: Got to hear what the fam thinks about him (hint: v good)

Cross: The long drive there and back with two boys
Tick: Not really as bad as it coulda been

Cross: Middle bro's attitude the majority of the time
Tick: Glimpses of the real him while he was half asleep and mumbling, while he was drinking, an while youngest bro was at the servo and he earnestly asked what he should do about a job. IF ONLY he dropped the act and were like that ALL the time.

And tonight:
Tick: Hommous and turkish bread.
Cross: Toot!

Tick: Naps on the couch
Cross: Pillow face!

Tick: Lounging around the house
Cross: Meant to be studying

Tick: "Bring it on"
Tick: Eliza Dushku
Tick: The actor that plays the gay guy
Cross: Nil!

Kids are the best type of people

My boss brought her daughter into work for the last couple of hours today.

Now, I'm not much a babies person (it's part of the package when they're born, right? it jus comes, yeah?) but kindy ages kids, I can deal with.

They're the perfect age to tell stories to, easy to entertain and they know just not enough for them to be a constant source of amusement a la "pssst - write this and go stick it on middle techo's desk" and spelling out swear words that she can't understand.

I've met the lil girl a few times before (once at work, once at a WW meeting, once at my bosses t'wo party) but she just thought I was the bees knees. My boss was off to get a coffee, so I took the lil girl into the next bay so she could show off her certificate and my boss followed afterall. When I tired of watchin women in their forties talk to her, I went back to my desk and the lil girl followed me.

HOW. COOL. IS. THAT.

I was THE coolest person around - proddly first time evah!

It was like at the afternoon tea I was at the afternoon tea (yeah yeah - the one that picqued me off into a whinge) and the 7yo boy there. He does martial arts so I know him fairly well (he believes my tat translates to "Enny" "Is" "A" "MonkeyButt" - yeah - it wasn't even amusing the first time!) but when I rocked up with my Pokemon cards, I was THE IT.

He was in total awe. He was all "Dad - look at this one!" and "Look at all these!" and "That's the best one!" and telling me to bring them next time so he can look again when he has his there with him. Coz he lives in two houses as his parents are divorced.

Nice way to end on a sad note...

BTW - my pokemon cards TOTALLY rocked his and NO I WON'T donate them to him in some sorta selfless act. I spent to much money on those thangs to give em up to a 7yo who'll outgrow them in a year or two.

SHE MINGE!

Check out the word verification I got asked for while setting up a Gmail account for Mumsy:



*titters*

It's tricky - tricky tricky tricky tricky hugh!

Man alive - do you guys have any idea how tricksy my grocery shop was today?!

The recipe book is yet to be tested - we'll be dining on stuffed pesto potatoes with fennel compote one night this week, and linguine with pesto-kissed tomato sauce another (tonight is gnocchi and salad) - but I am looking forward to giving it spin (mental note - locate pounds/ounces/degrees F converter for USA to AUS conversions!!!)

BUT I was SO underprepared for those 'may contain traces of' messages!

After an hour and a half and $130ish dollars at Conder woolies I was ready to jus lay down on the floor and wah-wah-wah - almost everything out there 'may contain traces of eggs' or 'may contain traces of dairy'! So, I got sucked into the guilts and didn't purchase any of these items - and started to get sucked down low into how limited I really could be now.

Some help was at hand via the net and some forums - it appears that the message is there for people with severe allergies, 'just in case'.

It seems there is a legislation in place for products that are prepared in a factory that also prepares products that may contain 'those' ingredients. The utensils and all equipment are cleaned and washed etc in between making the different products, but minute trace elements may be in the air or around and accidentally get put in there too.

But it's a pretty big deal because you can see the initial reaction that I took - 'it might be in there so I better not, just in case...'

But I have to learn to look at the other side - it's more than likely that it isn't.

Just because there is a minute possibility that at a micro level there is a trace of something that I don't want, is not a reason to not eat it - otherwise what is there left to eat?

There is a chance in anything that I don't grow myself, that somewhere along the line there is a minute chance that it has picked something up.

If I was that pedantic I'd never be able to eat anything that I didn't make myself...

And I only live in a renty townhouse - I can't keep chickens to get my my own eggs, I can't keep a cow for milk, I can't, I can't, I can't...

I shouldn't look at this as a challenge, just to see how far I can take it - finding out what other people are doing and 'one up' them.

If the ingredient list doesn't show any meat or egg or dairy, then they're suitable for me - just because they may have other products that have these things in them, isn't a reason to avoid them all together - I should support the product...

But it still feels at some level that I'm just trying to talk myself over it for convenience and out of laziness...?

I know I've gotta make myself realise it's ok, but how do you make yourself believe something that still kinda feels like you shouldn't believe it?

Dot Points, Pot Doints

• Our 'Biggest Loser' update: 1kg = 1.32% weekly loss = 2.10% total loss

• 360-something photo's printed for $70 something dollars? *hearts*

• Photo album that holds all those photos for $10?! You get what you pay for (it doesn't close properly with afore-mentioned photo's in) *sigh*

• BUT - 400 (vegan) recipe's for $40 dollars?! I need never enter a bookshop again!
  

• Lindt Dark Chocolate with Orange and Almond will become my husband (pretty much everything free) (including dieting guilt!) and only $2 from Coles
  

• Tonight I'll be drinking half a bucket of Margerita with two friends who I am about to add to my 'P!mps and B!tches' list

• How are people arriving here via search?
  

celebity carwash - Turkish Google number two takes you to March Archives (from doing TJ's celebrity face matcher (and spelling celebrity wrong) and sitting in the carwash (two seperate occassions!))

italia soccer player - Spanish Google number two for my second pervy look at half-nekky men..

o rly, ya rly no wai - Google lucky number 13

my brother in the balls - Google number ten - I was unsure why this one kept coming up, and I've only just found out why! See (sorry, bro's!);

audrey tautou's hair - My Da Vinci review here;

sweaty hunks - Yahoo number two to here for lovely rugby men;

information on george gregan and his work with his sons epilepsy - Google number four on why union is better than AFL (I hope they could find some proper info rather than my pervy ramblings!!)

tuggeranong- nappy valley - Google number nine

what rhymes with teo - Teo, was this you!? Combination of a post about the bet and the fact that he's in my blogroll (Google)

kirk hammett hair plug - (Swedish?!) Google number four from one of my first posts (reveiwing the Metalicca doco)

marshmallow tower pictures - Google number ten (from camp)

what does myeh mean - Yahoo number eight

gay celebity pics.com - Google number three from a combination of TJ's face thing (again) and my pr0n exploration

sunburnt scalp - Archives from martial arts camp (Google)

womens pretty thick legs - Yahoo number 18

italia soccer team - Spanish Google number six

dogdoors - Google number 29 to my archives (If I were a millionaire I'd buy two dogs and dogdoors)

shitsu dog haircuts -Google number nine

gowrie act what does it mean - Woo hoo! Google number one for the fact I mentioned I'd lived in Gowrie, ACT (ie, it's not an act, it's a place)

notes on org.behaviour - Google number nine (I'll be doing it nex semester)

why does lighting a match get rid of poop stink - Google number five (I think it's got something to do with burning up the smelly gas?!)

what are all the odd words listed at the end of spam e-mals - Google number four to some archives where the words "words" and "all" appear in one month;

rub-a-dub-dub 3 men in a tub - Google number nine (half-nekky men, again...

One of these things is just like the others

PopQuiz!

What do these COOL celebrities (amongst others) have in common?

Alicia Silverstone
Alyssa Milano
Andre 3000
Avril Lavigne
Chris Martin
Damon Albarn
Daniel Johns
David Duchovny
Erykah Badu
Fiona Apple
Ian McKellen
India.Arie
Joanna Lumley
Joaquin Phoenix
John Cleese
Joss Stone
Joy Bryant
Moby
Morrissey
Natalie Imbruglia
Natalie Portman
Noah Wyle
P!nk
Sadie Frost
Stella McCartney
Thom Yorke
Tobey Maguire
"Weird Al" Yankovic

?????

Give up? Here's a hint...

That's right!

Veggo!

Well - grab a texta, and add Enny to the list.

Since Sunday 21/05/06, I've been proudly meat free (lacto-ovo vegetarian).

It's not been too hard - it's pretty much coincided with the start of the latest bet so I've been paying more attention to what's been "going in".

We're not typically big meat eaters in the Conder house (too lazy to cook it etc) except for lunches - The Hun gets his two sammiches made for him every morning (who's a good girl? Enny is!!!) and it's typically meat wit tomato, lettuce n some mayo type thang. I'd recently been taking salads in my Go-Flex anyways, plus the cold weather is good for those Velish soups (not spruiking them!) or egg sandwhices if I'm out and about.

ANYWAYS, dinners have been managed - frozen meals, thai takeaway, Ali Baba kebabs, raosted vegetables, pasta, bread n dip, tofu stifry etc; and brekky has been cereal and milk (at my desk before anyone else gets in - if I eat it at home I'm too late to get a carpark).

Just being aware of it all was making me feel a whole lot better about me - AND I haven't intentionally killed any bugs for years and years and years - I scoop them into a glass and put a piece of paper underneath and take them to the outsides. I don't swat or spray spiders or flies, I don't squoosh ants, I don't usually see mosquitoes until they've flown away etc - SO why would I then feel all good about the not killing of the living things and then ho into a steak? Or prawns? Or bacon?

It's jus hypocritical - so I decided to do something about it.

And I've been pretty happy with how it was going. Suprisingly, a lot of people are very combative about it - "How do you think you can make a difference?" "Vegetables are living, so you shouldn't be eating them" "Well just chuck out your shoes and your handbags and your wool clothing then - you won't get any of that!" "My niece did it and got really sick and went a bit mad" "You'd be the worst vegetarian in the world" etc. Only one person so far (Dadsy) has said "Don't worry about what they say - do what you think is right".

I'd still been eating the dairy - after all, laying eggs and giving milk can't hurt the cows n chickens right?

Apparantly -wrong!

I read thru this brochure, and was confronted with more of a moral dillemma -once you know that sort of stuff and it has an impact on you, how can you ignore it?

That then starts to cut out cheese, milk, CHOCOLATE, butter, icecream, anything with lard/animal fat etc... and the thing is - I'm not really that keen on veggies. I'm getting better, but I'm not really into peas, corn, green veggies and ESPECIALLY NOT BEANS OF ANY KIND. I also don't each that much fruit - I have the feeling I'll tend to turn to carbs.

So, today I've also been egg and milk free - I popped out and picked myself up some womens multivitamins and some spirulina tablets to start from tomorrow. If I could find some local milk and eggs, then I wouldn't have an issue with that - but that's gonna require some time to locate.

Hopefully, this will make me feel even better - it seems that people can go either way - looking totally vital, fresh and fool of energy from a vegan diet, or looking withdrawn, anaemic and like a sack of crap... here's hoping the former - I've always wanted that lean wiery look (like a whippet!).

So, if anyone out there has any advice, tips, hints, stories or anything they'd like to say, I'd love to hear it!

EnnyPen 101 - Week 15

Shh... I'm still in bed ;o)

Week 15 is THE POOREST excuse for a uni week - Eco sorted itself out and cancelled the tute and lecture, but STOOPID marketing only cancelled the tute.

My plan is to get outta bed, go meet The Hun in the city to sign our next round of lease, have some lunch, pout my way thru a lecture, hopefully pick up 480 photos I got printed out at Harvey Norman, come home, post, MAYBE do the dishes and then head off to kickboxing.

I know, this isn't really too uni related, but you would not believe how much OVER uni I am atm, and how BEHIND I am at the same time... *sigh*

Putting things into perspective

No no, not an emotional mouthing off about the importance of relationships blah blah blah - Eldest Bro sent me these today and I thought they were pretty coo':






Where was this type of stuff when I was in school?!

Gilrs jus wanna have WHINGE!

You gotta love those monthly cards that come along with being a girl...

My rant for this month came about over the weekend.

Sat arvo I had a birthday afternoon tea at my friend from martial arts place with two other martial arts ladies, my ex-instructor, my friends partner, his 7yo and a 5 yo, 3yo and 2yo.

The afternoon was spent sitting in a house surROUNDed by a bunch of screaming, running, yelling, messy, noisy kids.

It started at 3 - 3 cruisers and 3hrs 45 mins later I was leaving for the Conder house - The Hun was to be at the club to catch up on a blokey type night - unfortch my maths was out and I forget to include the time needed to get home, blah blah blah - I dropped him and one of his buddys (one of my ex-housemates) off at about 7:30...

Come 2am I was still up on the lappy, (chatting!) and perousing the big brother forums before finally giving him a call to see if I were still even meant to be awake!

Flip forward 2 1/2 hours to find him shuffling into bed after winding up the night wandering the streets of 'bundah after a house party of 3 grads and his 3 friends.

This morning I headed off to a 1st birthday party (funnily, the baby is son of The Huns high school gf - not his baby!!) whilst he 'slept it off'... then I popped back in post party to find him foetus-style on the couch, so popped back out again to take advantage of Harvey Normans 15c prints special (anyone wanna tell me what 480 * .15 is?!) and popped back in and found him doin pretty much the same thing.

And then I was meant to do the groceries. ALONE.

And so I started my monthly snap.

Let's do the math peeps:
* Arvo tea surrounded by noisy young things
* Few drinks
* Having to leave early to drop off The Hun
* Having to pick up a friend
* Having to sit alone and eat hummous and bread for dinner
* Lack of sleep
* Being woken up at 4:10 to hear about random drunken night spent with good company
* Being told at 4:30 (amongst all the great things that I do honestly love to hear when he's been drinking and all lovey) that he doesn't THINK he would ever love anyone else like he loves me (keyword: THINK)
* Being woken at 5:30 for his emergency dash to the loo that involved a bizarre opening and closing sliding doors unnecessarily ritual for an almost-spew
* Driving 20 minutes south to attend party by myself this morning
* Spending 2 hours surrounded by babies and married couples ALONE
* Driving 20 minutes back after attending party by myself
* etc etc etc

Basically - don't add hormones, tiredness, babies, married couples and extended periods of time alone when by rights I feel I should have company if you want me to not go a lil nutty.

I think I've sorted it out - I sulked, pouted, slammed things, raised my voice, stamped my feet then had takeaway and gave a fair amount of head scratchin (IN A NON EROTIC WAY!!).

It's usually just that simple!

BUT, can anyone answer me these:

Do all boys not go to things they're invited to like that?
Do they have a long line of excuses to avoid these things such as working overtime, going to a friends house and being hungover?
Is it normal as a girl to put the drunken comment + the lack of attendance + the lack of diamond rings, wedding plans etc together to create a girly tanty that would bring me no closer to those things that I want?!

(You're welcome to comment too, gents!)

Don't ForGET the BET! (rhymes)

Ehm, yeah. The Bet.

For those of you who dunno about it - The Bet featured quite heavily in my posts in early-mid January. The basics: Ppl at work had three months to complete an important goal, be it quit smoking, get a six pack or lose ten kilos (of which I was doing).

Nayways, I started out well (thanx to food poisoning), then started to plateu a bit, then had one good week and then quit. Why? you ask - here's why....

{Deleted by the Author - sorry dudes!}

And then this was sent by the fellow doing weight loss who was almost guaranteed to win:

I entered this competition in the spirit of good fun and camaraderie. I will contribute to the winner(s)as detailed in the contract, however I do not expect anything in return should I achieve my required goal. I would still like to go to lunch - but I'll pay for myself. I am not in this for a prize. My motivation is personal and not worth bickering about. If it was about the money it would've been cheaper not to start.

I believe that anybody who makes an honest attempt to achieve their goal is a winner. Having said that no one should expect that I won't cajole, tease, taunt or congratulate along the way as I believe light heartedness is as important to the competition as my personal results (which are
superior to everyone else's!).

Can we start planning the next workplace challenge now? I'm going to start jogging each day .......................

And my response:

I've been stewing on this since he sent it - and I agree!

If I 'complete' the bet, I don't want anyone to pay for me. The chances of me making are fairly slim anyway, but I am moving into a very busy period -I've got lots to do at work ((project name here) anyone?!), feeling left behind at uni, and LOTS of martial arts stuff coming up - I'm running short on being able to afford the time to go the gym and do homework and train/ plan/ organise martial arts AND keep my job (lucky I have an understanding boss - awww)

Also, in the interest of team-building and team-adhesion, rather than team-tearing-apart, I want to make it as relaxed as possible - yes I want to at the very least maintain my weight (I still want to lose!!), but I don't want to made to feel bad if I'm stress-zonked out of my brain and
someone hears me rustle a chip packet or if I'm not at the gym. If things the 'dark side' of the bet keeps going at the rate it is (and gets worse closer to the due date) I won't be able to talk to half you people, let alone buy you lunch ;o) so I'd rather you know that I'm not expecting any
praise or monetary payoff - I'd rather go out and enjoy my lunch with my team (normal shouting rules will apply for drinkers!)

So in the spirit of good will, don't feel like you owe me anything on the chance I do lose ten kilos - I've lost more than half that and I'm happier and fitter than I was, and I plan to keep it goin' that way.*

And it was never spoken of again...

Until this month!

My boss, the guy who almost completed his bet and myself have a sneaky quiet cheeky lil bet going based on percentage of body weight lossed per week. It's conducted almost entirely over email and only the middle techo guy is aware of it otherwise. If you are not 'the biggest loser' for the week (every Thursday), you have to put $1 into a big fat buddha money box - it sits on the winners desk for a week as a trophy and the money goes towards a plate of fruit or something just as exciting at the end of the bet.... This is hopefully going to be a much better arrangement as we are all doing the same thing, have no set (potentially unreasonable!) target to reach and we're not super competitive - just wanting to encourage each other to get healthy!

Week One I was the middle loser, so doin okay so far...!

*Ignore the fact that I immediatley stopped exercising, ate tonnes of junkfood and as at Monday was higher than my starting weight in January

BB BIG NEWS (That could be old news/no news)

I was lurking the Big Brother Forums last night (as I'm prone to do) and found a bit of an interesting discussion.

If you are a BB'er you MUST have a look at THIS.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
AREN'T YOU EXCITED?!

Do they share a twist?
Is it just Michael trying to stay in the game?
Do we vote him out coz he's a turd?
Do we keep him in coz he's jus crazy in love?!

WHAT TO DO?!

Updated wit pic courtesty of BehingBigBrother Forum Post:

EnnyPen 101 - Week 14

I've been letting the team down - first 101 post that's should proddly be titled 101+1 (day).

Normally when I do my blogging at uni it's just after the first hour of my two hour break - unfortch, as we had a group presentation to...er... present, 'we' were meeting up to practice during my writey time.

Overview:
Enny + 40yoish femme + 1st yearer femme + 1st year male = group
MARKETING IS A WASTE OF TIME.
GROUP WORK IS A WASTE OF TIME.
MARKETING GROUP WORK IS THE BIGGEST WASTE OF TIME.

I won't go into too much detail (you get the gist of it above) but a few main gripes:

You get forced to hang out with ppl you don't wanna/typically hang out with for whatever reason - age, education, available time, hobbies etc but you can't do anything about it. If it were a normal working situation, you're all at the same place for a lot of the time, you have roughly the same workload, you 'd proddly get along and be willing to work together and you could proddly get some sorta intervention/management/guidance if things don't go as they should. And there is no way you learn all about the topic - you only learn about the part that you got assigned to (and even then it's only the minimal cram so you don't retain it).

We had quite a few no-shows and dropped-off-the-end-of-the-earths - I was only the naughty member once (when I piked out a Sunday morning meeting post T'wo margarita's) but I was on the net the whole time being productive, rather than bumming around an empty lecture theatre, waiting for the non-attenders, not having my opinion listened to and not actually achieving anything or making progress. Seriously, if you are a student - you should have email and check it v regularly so I don't have to drive my hungovery ass into the city on a Sunday morning when I can do more in my jammies on the couch.

(PS - We got over 76% for the presentation - One of my sections was the only to receive 'excellent' instead of 'very good' and I'm currently on a high credit for a course I hate, know very little about and obviously don't appreciate/understand/respect!)

Follow up - The Da Vinci Code

(Apologies for lateness - v busy yesterday)

I'll try and keep it brief to avoid any spoilers...

As much as I loved Audrey Tautou's hair in Amelie, I loved it more in this film. Compare:

Then:

Now:

Hooray!

In term's of the actual movie - ehm, yeah. As I'm sure you'll hear see many bloggers say: myeh

I mean, it was okay... I've read the book four times (twice normal, twice illustrated) and preferred the illustrated version - to be able to see some of the stuff that was being talked about really helped me with a lot of it. Mebbe what I'd gained from the illustrated version took away some of what I could have got from the film?

But on the other hand - I have terrible memory for stories. So a lot of the twists and turns did still grip me, but it still didn't seem like it gripped me enough for me to really enjoy it as much as I felt I should. I think that all the talking up of it, then all the putting down of it has just taken the sparkle off the film - I wanted to go see it because I wanted to see the story, not because I felt I had to find out if it was any good or not.

There were a few small changes (I think, remember: terrible memory) but it wasn't too much of a big deal.

And although I can't think of anyone better to do it, I don't really like Tom Hanks that much.. That said, Robert Langdon isn't supposed to be the likable hero.

So after that poor attempted ramble: all in all, I enjoyed 'V for Vendetta' better, but still glad to have seen it.

Does anyone else who has seen it want to comment?

Whoooooooooooooo's goin to see Da Vinci Code tonight?

(and she still loves WordArt!)

Stay tuned for thoughts, peeps...

T'wo - the aftermath

Hosted my second t'wo party last night to varying level of success.

I started cleaning jus before lunchtime and finally showered n sat down around 5:30pm, totally stuffed and feeling like jus vegging out... I pretty much did!

Attended:
- My Boss rocks up on the dot, cruisers in hand;
- Mumsy rocked up 20 minutes late but ordered (and gave me the can opener keyring she won);
- My two old housemates arrived right on time - Eldest Bro's gf was a pleasant suprise as they'd been down the coast all day; and
- Dadsy's sister arrived an hour after start time and receipt of a "Did you forget about me?" phonecall.

Piked:
- Most Senior of the Other HR Ladies called in with non-attendance due to her continuing flu;
- Middle Techo Guy messaged to say he was coming down with flu (unlikely to attend in first place as he has just suffered the unfortunate loss of his grampa);
- Martial Arts friend called to say she was stuck down the coast with a broken car;
- Other Martial Arts lady doesn't even reply to 'are you still coming tonight?' msg;
- Lady married to Marital Arts student (and her mum) got sidetracked but will order and host; and
- Mumsy's sister piked but will order to 'get me over the line'.

For a paltry attendance rate, it actually went pretty well! I still have bliploads of food (as I was aiming to feed twelve guests plus myself and the T'wo lady and others who were meant to come over at 9pm) which is poorly timed - I'm starting another diet bet tmr *sigh* (What happened to the last one? Ask me and I'll tell you!) .

Cruisers, Vodka Sunrises and Frozen Margarita's were drunk; tim-tams, spinach triangles, clinkers and banana-caramel tarts were ate; and jokes, gossip and laughs were shared.

And I tell you - May is the month to be hosting this! For FREE (ie no cost to me) I am on track to get a cookbook, a red microwave jug, a grater, a pikelet scooper, a 'mystery pack', a hostess 'bonus' pack, a flat bottom scoop and the start of my cupboard collection!

AND I have also increased my T'wo keyring collection to contain a grand total of the following:
- Pink Go-Flex
- Long Fridgemate
- Can Opener
- Peach Wonderlier
- Kitchen Scales
- Shape-o Ball
- Rock'n'serve

BOO-YAH!!

Viva l'Italia take II!

You might remember this post from ye olde time ago, feat the glories of the beautiful Italian Union team.

Well. It appears that soccer is to be the season of the fiscal quarter, going by the gist of some of the emails I have received - but luckily, it seems that this world cup thing is for everybody!

For the men, I received this in my inbox:

Extremely important advice and recommendations to be passed on to wives, girlfriends, fiancés, mothers, sisters, daughters, etc. (to all women in general) These rules are to be communicated prior to the World Cup in June/July this year...


LIST OF RULES

• From 9th June to 9th July 2006, you should read the sports section of the newspaper so that you are aware of what is going on regarding the World Cup, and that way you will be able to join in the conversations. If you fail to do this, then you will be looked at in a bad way, or you will be totally ignored. DO NOT complain about not receiving any attention.
  

• During the World Cup, the television is mine, at all times, without any exceptions. If you even take a glimpse of the remote control, you will lose it (your eye).
  

• If you have to pass by in front of the TV during a game, I don’t mind, as long as you do it crawling on the floor and without distracting me. If you decide to stand nude in front of the TV, make sure you put clothes on right after because if you catch a cold, I wont have time to take you to the doctor or look after you during the World Cup month.
  

• During the games I will be blind, deaf and mute, unless I require a refill of my drink or something to eat. You are out of your mind if you expect me to listen to you, open the door, answer the telephone, or pick up the baby that just fell from the second floor... it wont happen.
  

• It would be a good idea for you to keep at least 2 six packs in the fridge at all times, as well as plenty of things to nibble on, and please do not make any funny faces to my friends when they come over to watch the games. In return, you will be allowed to use the TV between 12am and 6am, unless they replay a good game that I missed during the day.
  

• Please, please, please!! if you see me upset because one of my teams is losing, DO NOT say “get over it, its only a game”, or “don’t worry, they’ll win next time”. If you say these things, you will only make me angrier and I will love you less. Remember, you will never ever know more about football than me and your so called “words of encouragement” will only lead to a break up or divorce.
  

• You are welcome to sit with me to watch one game and you can talk to me during halftime but only when the commercials are on, and only if the halftime score is pleasing me. In addition, please note I am saying “one” game, hence do not use the World Cup as a nice cheesy excuse to “spend time together”.
  

• The replays of the goals are very important. I don’t care if I have seen them or I haven’t seen them, I want to see them again. Many times.
  

• Tell your friends NOT to have any babies, or any other child related parties or gatherings that requires my attendance because:
  

1. I will not go,
2. I will not go, and
3. I will not go.
   

But, if a friend of mine invites us to his house on a Sunday to watch a game, we will be there in a flash.

• The daily World Cup highlights show on TV every night is just as important as the games themselves. Do not even think about saying “but you have already seen this...why don’t you change the channel to something we can all watch??”, the reply will be: “Refer to Rule #2 of this list”.
  

• And finally, please save your expressions such as “Thank God the World Cup is only every 4 years”. I am immune to these words, because after this comes the Champions League, Premier League, Italian League, Spanish League, etc etc.
  

Thank you for your co-operation.
Regards,
Men of the World

Okay, fair enough. Go men, ha ha, ballscratch, grunt, etc.

Now - for the laydeez - the real reason to be watching the soccer this winter is for these apparantly legit (but not all Italian) soccer players (PLEASE NOT IN FRONT OF YOUR BOSS/LOVED ONE/YOU WERE WARNED IN THE INTRO) :

Have a great weekend!

Discussion Questions:

- What does the sizeable percentage of HM's with (past?) eating disorders say about the relationship between beauty and starvation? What other issues does this raise?


- Describe the difference between amused and bemused.


- At what age are masturbation/pornography typically 'utilised'? Do you consider your exposure to these to be positive or negative?

I'd love to hear what you have to say on any or all...

EnnyPen 101 - Week 13

Much the same as last week, it seems.

I was 20 minutes late to the lecture this morning - I didn't have copy of the lecture notes to make notes, and the 'sometimes' lecturer took the lecture this morning and his accest makes it a little hard to gain a lot of benefit from attending. EXCEPT that next week they'll be talking about the exam.

I expect my next class to be much the same - I mean, the lecturers a good talker, it's quite easy to sit there and listen to her, but I feel like I'm missing something vital, I'm missing the decoder or the key or the thing that will finally and abrubtly make it amazingly clear to me the use that marketing will have to me in my career. Let's just say it's a little 'frosted' at the moment.

I can't wait for this sem and nex sem to be over (Marketing - tick; Economics - tick; Org Behaviour - tick; Accounting - tick) and start to get into the HR stuff that I'm actually here for!

And it appears I'm not the only one tiring of the slog - the lecture theatres, tutes, carparks and campusses are getting emptier and emptier each week...

(Oh, and I got 14/15 for this - how awesome is that? Spesh as I didn't even present the presentation! - if only it were worth more than the paltry 10%...)

Random Junk

I'm not really focussed atm, so a few dot points:

• I haven't SEEN any of Rob, but I do hope that he and David get along REALLY well (no need for me to comment on the eyebrows or the hair here!)
  

• If anyone need's any T'wo - gimme a yell. Hosting a party on Sat night so I can get ye teh goodz0r

• I can't remember how it came up, but in an effort to be trendy:

(Can't say I really get it yet tho)

• Also - anyone (local) intersted in joining martial arts southside way? We're having an 'open day' next month (email if u want the deets)

• Finally, I'm the queen of weeds! One of the boys that waters the plants at work complemented my pot plant on my desk 'We've never had one do that well indoors! You're doing really well with that!' to which my boss made sure I was aware that in her country it's just a weed, grows everywhere and you can't kill it if you try... I don't care - it's got purple underneath it and one branch of it is growing out towards me by itself, like it wants to bask in my glory and give hugz all day.
  

Smacks of the truth

I found these here (via here and here) and I just had to share:

Because I couldn't NOT mention it

We went and saw Ross Noble last night - The Hun's parents bought us two tickets for our collective gifts.

AWEXOME.

I've only EVER seen two comedians live, and both have been in the last few months - we went and saw Billy Connelly (B-Con) when he was hanging around the place earlier in the year.

I've been prepping myself - once we got given the tickets I started listening to the 2006 podcasts of the Ross & Terri show, and the soundtrack to yesterday was the start of the 2005 series.

Highlights:
- Row B Seats! (bizarrely enough, the fifth from the front) (we were in the second back row when we saw B-Con)
- Knowing some of the 'in-jokes' due to my 'study'
- The amazing and inspiring way he just keeps talking and looping and detouring and segueing(?!) and sidetracking without missing a beat
- His breastfeeding baby piece, making me cry with laughter and confirming the creepiness of the feeding babies
- His sense of humour (inc toilet humour) was PRICELESS and a lot in line with mine and teh families.

Lowlights:
- He can be a lil creepy and intense looking at times when's all close up and pacing like a loon
- His hair reminds me of my hair - I just wanted to rush up there and give him a laccy to tie it all back
- Wankers who go to these shows think they're teh sh!t and insist on calling out/heckling/providing running commentary/laughing louder than necessary

Personally, I rated him much better than B-Con - I wasn't bored, it didn't feel like it dragged on, my butt wasn't numb, I spent the whole time smiling and cringing and crying and being fully engaged, he was value for money (app $35 compared to B-Cons app $95), he did THE BEST Bill Bailey impersonation, I wanna marry his accent and I'd def see him again.

He promised to be back next year, maybe a few weeks earlier when it's warmer, so I'd highly recommend you get to see him.

If you got to see him this year: Noodle Box! Face Transplant! Commonwealth Games!

(also - happy 200 entries Enny - Woot!)

For Mothers Day - Things to teach your children

For those with kids/having kids/wanting kids - My current reading led me to an educational discussion with The Hun this morning:

Do vegetarians eat eggs?
Why's that, hunny?
Well, because the rooster hasn't fertilised the eggs yet, isn't that like eating an unborn baby?
....

Short story long, my edumacational lesson for today is that it's proddly in everyone's best interest for you to find out that roosters DO have doodles and DO mate with chickens (in fact ALL male birds will mate with female birds), NOT that the male bird has to do some magical thing with the egg after it is laid BEFORE you reach 24 years of age.

(Here's a helpful link - at least I didn't thinkit had to do with head pecking)

NSFW! DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU ARE A MINOR; EASILY IMPRESSIONABLE; ON A SHARED COMPUTER; ETC

Gettit?

Gottit?

Good!

{Deleted by the Author - sorry dudes!}

EnnyPen 101 - Week 12

Having trouble of even thinking of anything uni-related because there are THE most FRICKING annoying nerds causing a hubbub behind me.

Don't get me wrong, I like smart people, people who know stuff, people with interests BUT these people have to be seen heard to be believed (I refuse to turn around to even look at them). It's all annoying quotes, talking about hugging guys, singing Ava Maria in your nasally overly homosexualised talk and thinking that going out as a group for a smoke makes you less annoying.

IT DOESN'T. I HATE YOU MORE. HAAATE.

Next time, learn from the nerds to my left, studiously discussing something I can't understand or take a lesson from me and STFU and bitch in silence via nerdy interweb.

Nayways, the only other slightly uni-related thang going on is I think it's leading me into a bit of a slump.

I'm back like I was at the start of semester, only just floating. Imagine me David Blaine stlyes, only a little pocket of air keeping me alive in a fricking huge transparent bubble....

I have no money.
I have a car needing lotsa repairs.
I'm gonna need to plan to fix car, sell car, order new car for October.
I don't know enough for my assessment starting soon.
I have lotsa uni and crappy training meaning I'm spending less time at work (even tho it doesn't sound like it, it's a bad thing)
I'm gonna only be getting more stressed as we get closer to tournament time.
I have more and more pressure from martial arts.
I keep getting hassled to go to the gym more (if at all).
I'm too messy.
I'm too fat.

It goes on and on...

*sigh*
*mopes*
*pouts*

Remember when I warned you that if you know me you only have you to blame?

...(It's like two posts prior to this in case you need your memory refreshed) - Now might be a good time to click that little cross in the top right corner and come back in a few days (also if you don't want to know me in 'that' kinda way).

{Deleted by the Author - sorry dudes!}

You are a DIRTY FILTHY LIAR...

... if you don't agree that the clip at the end of the 'sleepy yawny' montage on tonights eviction show showing sleep tousled David was THE most beautiful thing you've ever seen...

(This will do until I can get a pic of the actual pic)

The one where Enny contemplates her artistic integrity

*ponders*

What would I say if some of my RL peeps were to find this and put the two and two together?

I have been thinking this for a whle, but it got pushed a lil higher on the ol' priority list, at middle bro's 21st party last night.

"Enny!! I know you are Enny! Are you going to post about me tomorrow? I read your journal everyday The Enny Pen!! GIMME A HUG!!"

Ah yes, if there's one thing to be said about a drinking middle bro, it's that (after a point) he loses his surliness and his attitude, he drops his defences a little, he talks some sensible sense in there and he gets VERY affectionate.

In fact, one of the jokes told in Dadsys speech was that they often called him Albert when he was a baby, Albert Ross - no, don't google it, it's nothing like his real name - alluding to the fact that when he was a baby he just always wanted attention and would hang off Mumsy or Dadsy or I, a la the albatross in The rhyme of the ancient mariner.

Nayways, back to the point.

What would I say were these two worlds to combine?

To my family: Wassup?! I know that youngest bro knows and I now know that middle bro knows - I wouldn't be suprised if eldest bro, Mumsy and Dadsy knew as well. So why not pipe up every so often now that you're here! That said, you may wish to avert your eyes sometimes as I may say talk about some stuff that you don't want to know about, but when you think about it - you're the ones reading MY journal - you only have yourselves to blame ;o)

To my workmates: Hi. Are you reading this at work?! I know there have been times when I've ranted and raved about you, but there is nothing I've said here that I wouldn't say to your face - you all know me well enough now to know I have tanties and crisis' when I'm busy and stressed and Redeye free. I do think you're all fantastic people - it's not the work that's keeping me where I am. And when you think about it - you're the ones reading MY journal - you only have yourselves to blame ;o)

To The Hun: I KNOW you're here! Fetch me some icecream n get back to the housework bisnatch ;o)

To my friends: Hi! Now you know another of my hobbies. Sometimes there are things I need to get off my chest or put down in writing that I can't or won't or shouldn't share, so I put it all down in here. If there's something you want to talk about, I'm here and willing to talk it out - you should know me well enough to know I'm shit at coping in person but I can do a lil better via writing. And when you think about it - you're the ones reading MY journal - you only have yourselves to blame ;o)

To any bloggers I may meet: Eep. I hope it's not awkward ;o)

Sophie Delezio

... Did anyone else (besides youngest bro and I) automatically think of Final Destination?*

Not intented to make light of a very serious situation.

EnnyPen 101 - Week 11

Meh.

Got up, went to lecture, sat thru tute n now vegging out in the refect before 1:30 lecture.

Then picking up my watch (it was brock), mebbe going to visit The Hun's Pa in hospital, reading some Womens Health mag (it arrived!!(albeit without the free gift)) and then going to bed.

Sorry dudes!

Gone camp

Rested, bruised and finally sitting down!

I'll give you the quickie on it - the experience was more about the internal than the external, and would be too hard to really put into words, but it might be nice to give people some idea of this aspect of my life.

{Deleted by the Author - sorry dudes!}

Thurs we flew up to Brissy and stopped for a few hours at the DFO - two lessons were learnt: I need to sort out my money sitch VERY SOON as I'm getting more and more PO'd with being the way I am with money; and you should always call your instructor straight away and save the 'other' stuff for after (or arrive another day early and do that stuff after you've already stopped in).

Thurs we went into Maroochydore for dinner - a FANTASTIC Thai restaraunt - Som Tam, I think it was called. Highly recommended on the offchance you are in the area. There was a bit of a spat - only F2 and I had hired a car and it was Getz - specificaly small so we couldn't drive everyone around like they did last time - their solution was that F2 (she was the 'driver') do two trips instead. She was not happy.

Training starts at 5am - cleaning the area (we sleep, eat and do all in the hall) then going in for Chi Gung and Meditation. Breakfast follows, then it's basically 10 hours on the floor, with a few breaks for water, bathroom and lunch. F2 and I had planned a head a little and ensure that for all sessions our big toes and balls of feet were absolutley COVERED in Lucoplast of cloth tape - you would have some idea of the blisters that can come with training (here and here for the uninitiated) - so whilst the soles and balls of our feet were achey and sore, there was no actual 'liftage' or 'peelage'.

Highlights:
- Shopping (with the exception of the bling thing) - I got a bubushka (sp?!) singlet for $6!!
- Watching M3 attempt to iron his badge onto his new top of the range uniform by using the bottom of a saucepan that was heating up on the hotplate (granted, not so funny at the time, more in retrospect)
- Rushing out to ask one of the Masters if there was a fire extinguisher on the coil of the oven and it was totally flaming in the bottom of the oven after we used our girlish charms to get M5 to have a look at what it was that was making all the smoke, and finally conning M2 into wrapping him arm in a tea towel and removing it with tongs (again, better in retrospect);
- Watching M4 running into the bush at the afterparty holding an axe and then just dropping out of sight as the foliage was even but the ground descended sharply. He summed it up with 'well, I achieved my goal of making Enny laugh at least once this week!';
- My first acupuncture-ee session and feeling a big difference;
- M2 apologising for releasing his 'anal lock' a little toooo much in chi gung training;
- A demonstration on one-point training that also resulted in some botty-tooting (sorry, I can't help enjoying toilet humour if it's not me!);
- Watching M4's internal struggle after being challenged by our two most senior instructors to set the tree on fire;
- Guidance and confirmation from our instructor that we are doing a fanstastic job with the Canberra School;
- Getting to know the group a whole lot more and forging friendships that will last the rest of my training career; and
- Getting so totally immersed in training, but not just learning physical techniques and changes - Spiritually, Mentally and Emotionally - the changes are immense. It is a fantastic experience, and given me confirmation of being in the right place, being part of something that is so important and guidance for my spiritual and religious path.

Lowlights:
- Sore muscles and lack of sleep;
- Tension during a discussion on what gifts to buy when M2 and F2 WOULD NOT agree, both thinking they were right, with M1 just talking over the top for the sake of talking, M3 tersley exclaiming that they fully understand our position on not liking being the ones who will have to organise everything as they couldn't get anywhere as THEY DIDN'T HAVE A CAR;
- Getting into a heated discussion at the afterparty with M5 about his gf - my position of 'if you know you don't want to be with someone, don't waster their time' was not being listened to, and F2 was trying to be in the middle by mollycoddling me and saying it was ok. I'm about to email him to get my point accross clearly to try and resolve it a lil;
- The sense of being totally terrified and frustrated during the sparring session; and
- Crying. Like a Girl. My terrifiedness and frustratedness tends to come out a bit girly, as much of a hardarse that I like to think that I am. This particular incident was at the afterparty (at least I was out of uniform and out of the dojang) at about 2am - I'd been watching others do it, and had difficulty watching my seniorinstructor getting hit - the exercise was about defence and attack (sticky hands, for those in the know) and I couldn't get the hang as much as I tried (even though everyone else had gone and done really well), and was being told to hit my head instructor harder and I couldn't do it - whilst simultaneously being hit about the head, being watched by all present and crying harder when I realised I was crying like a baby in front of all of my peers. Leaving me quickly sobered up and in a very introspective mood for the next 24 hours.

So thar you go, maties! My parting words?

Martial Arts is one of the paths you can choose to follow - another building along the street of life. The majority of people will walk past it without giving it a second look. I've been in the foyer for the last 17 years, and this camp has helped me walk into the main hall - I can see so many different aspects in the giant room - so many opportunities.

It really is an exciting path to be on.