'send in the probe'

good thing i didn't make any foolish promises of frequent updates; though it's pretty sad, considering i haven't really been doing anything lately. at all.

quick run-down of the last month (in no order whatsoever):
tropfest - well, that rocked, despite being rained-out. i haven't been that wet since high scool (oh, the funny). the films rocked, there was scandal of cheating, blahblahblah.
tina's party - finished watching tropfest films. didn't play tennis (which we were apparently going to), but there was pass-the-parcel in which i got an asian toothbrush AND a dick tracy dvd. go me.
zheng's party - cards, dress-ups, eyetoy (can i just say how much this game rocked? *arms wide* this much), and my very first hot pot. s'all good.
jarhead - t'was good. lacking a climax, but hey, so was brokeback, and i enjoyed that. gyllenhaal + gay connotations = good movie, apparently.

found a majorly old episode of stargate the other week, 'the broca divide' (season one, ep 5) whilst on a hunt for the stargate movie. just to say, i have to correct my earlier statement (to anita) that there were two kisses between sam and jack during 8 seasons: there are at least three (if you count her attempt to maul his face only one kiss). also, found the stargate movie today. tape 148. gotta remember that. (yes, 148 is an old tape; i think we're in the 300s right now. and we do tape over things.)

now, i thought james spader was a really cool nerd/geek. wait, hear me out. i don't mean, he was cool to anyone around him, i just mean i was impressed by him. best scene in the film: daniel back-talking re/ra (spell it how you like, i prefer 're', as in 'amun-re', still pronounced 'rah') in egyptian-speak. that was rockin'.

and now feel despair at the realisation that, since season 9 is only just finishing in the states now, we're still going to have to wait at least another year or so for it to reach our forgotten shores. yes, the horror. *still, squees for daniel as he achieves in 14 days what they couldn't do in two years.* i hope the 'beginning of stargate' note on that tape wasn't in error, cos i'm hankerin' for some abydos-daniel.

all the friends are starting uni right about now, and, yeah, i'm feeling lonely. also considering doing uni next year. oh, the horror. but, yeah, since i didn't defer (which i suppose would have been the easy way out) i'll have to take the stat test this oct/nov. and apply to uws (since all other unis bar southern cross require 20/21-years for that sort of application). yeah, i'm actually considering arts, majoring in asian studies. if i work at it, i can probably transfer to usyd, uts or anu for a related course after first year. and, yes, i am actually capable of working at something, i just haven't bothered much in recent years. and anu is currently on the top of my list, as of the more specific asian-studies courses down there, but any decision like that is 1 and 3/4 years away. right now, priority is get a job, and later, do stat test. (the multiple choice will be a cinch, as multiple choice is my specialty. i managed to multiple-guess my way to a hd in chemistry comp in year 10, i think i'll be fine. long-answer is the more concerning, as i'm crap at formulating compositions within a time-limit, and i've heard interesting things about the questions/prompts they give you.)

now to see if 'crusade' is up yet.

your call is important to us

so i had my trial today at nick's; sean will get back to me on 'monday or tuesday; probably tuesday', and i have the meantime to find out if all tafe courses are closed or if late enrolment is an option. and now i'm undecided as to whether or not i want it.

the travel (walk to hurstville station, train to bondi junction then bus to bondi beach, walk halfway up beach to pavilion) was daunting, and the unlikeliness as to having all sunday mornings off was a setback, but really: since when have i cared about distance or getting up early/going to bed late (i used to get up at 5.30 on schooldays. to get to kogarah), and this is an apprenticeship. in chef-ing. there was never much likelihood of getting good hours.

and everyone's so nice. yes, i was new (and i haven't seen any female chefs yet... so possibly they were just being nice to me because i'm a girl. and look 12 years old), and it was pretty quiet, and i only worked 4 and a bit hours (mostly peeling and dicing apples, but roy the pastry chef was grateful), but it was fun. i like it. and i think i want to go back.

but i'd probably have to do tafe, hence the finding out if courses are closed. technically i've only missed 2 days thus far (1 day a week), so it's possible. called tafe just now, but was put on hold, and i hate hold (plus a thunderstorm is starting here), so i'll call tomorrow. because if i'm offered the position (there are 4 more people being trialed, the last on sunday; sean will pick 2 or 3; callem (sp?) is already an apprentice, having been there just two weeks) i'm guessing sean will want a definite answer fairly immediately. he seems like that kind of guy. so i'll have to be ready. to say yes or no. or just get rejected.

anyway, i need a hair cut. my hair is getting too hard to tie in a bun (in which case it hurts my head a bit anyway) and a disaster waiting to happen when it's not. so i need ailee or kathy or shayna or someone with enough guts to cut my hair to do it. i don't trust hairdressers. the last (only) one didn't layer it properly.

also, my concession card runs out at the end of march, and i'm supposed to hand it back upon getting a full-time job anywho, so travel will cost even more. =P

yeah. plus organising sga day. *sigh*

burn the land and boil the sea

partied at tara's on saturday night, after the debacle of actually trying to get there on a day when the illwarra line isn't running trains... and when the ticket sellers don't realise sydenham isn't running trains to padstow. all in all, though, fun. 'twas hot, though, so hopefully next time there's a gathering at tara's i can get in the pool. damn femine-ness.

yes, despite poor nandini's fears, i did enjoy my night, even if i was knackered for the next day. it would've been alright if i just had sunday school the next morning, but then we rushed off to grandma's flat (top floor, hot day, made hotter by her delicious but room-heating baked dinner). there, i tried sleeping in a very awkward position with my arms stretched over ally's books and bag, but after a half-hour snooze, her phone rang and i woke up. and was kicked off the couch by erin, who stretched out to sleep. and i didn't even have anywhere to sit, with mum on the other couch! (nan's carpet is kind of old and gross, with dog hair all over it, so we don't sit on it, or go bare feet.) fortunately got in a shower before church, then rushed off to do welcoming, went out to supper (by that stage i was over-tired, anyway) and went home.

also, had an interview today with sean from nick's beach restaurant. my feet hurt. from walking from bondi junction to halfway up bondi beach. yes, i could have caught the bus, but i hate buses and i wanted to know how far it was. the answer: too far. i'm catching the bus tomorrow. i was late, as well. =P great first impression, i'm sure. so my interview was very short, any way. and my feet hurt. and it took forever to get home. (even if i got the place, i don't know if i'd want it, since it's so far.) also, sean said that most places want you to do a day of tafe a week. but anders at hilton didn't seem to care about that at all. and tafe enrolments are done, the term has started. which means i'd have to wait until semester 2 to get in. and possibly to get an apprenticeship.

so i'm thinking maybe just do general hospitality work til then. apparently the kitchen at moore college (where several of my friends attend - christian theological college, for those not in the know) need a kitchenhand. if i got it, i'd be working with steven cartwright, who is the brother of a guy at my church, and also cooked for us at my first year of mission. he's cool. haven't seen chef in ages.

so, yeah. still nowhere. but at least if i do this gig tomorrow i can say i've been in a kitchen. that's handy.

ugh. brain freeze. and feet hurt. done.

'we can name it later'

just finished the first season of stargate atlantis. i really really need the second season. right now. but i'll settle for the scripts.

or, the _stargate: sg1 - the alliance_ game on xbox or pc. except it looks like it won't end up coming out now!!!
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/683/683057p1.html
so not fair! they can't bicker like this! think of the fans, we need our sg crack. bitter rivalry like this only hurts the fans.

also, i need early stargate like i need sleep (being that i need a whole lot more of it but ain't getting it). and the movie. that movie just *guh*. need.

i also need anita or someone to let me know how to get to tara's place.

oh, ennis, you sly dog

saw brokeback mountain today. yarr! it was good, sort of; it succeeded in reducing me to tears, at least (says the woman who cried at the end of the tigger movie and the sixth sense). i'm not really into the whole gay thing, seeing as i believe it's a sin (if anyone read this blog, i imagine i'd be flamed to a crisp at this point), but both jake and heath were very cute. seriously, they have two of the cutest smiles in hollywood. hadn't read the short story, so i wasn't quite prepare for the ending (i try not to guess what's going to happen, though it was probably inevitable). mary cried as well, and she even knew what was going to happen. also i now know where the hilton is,

which is useful, since i have an interview there tomorrow. yes! how exciting. i'm terribly nervous, especially since i didn't get down the name of the guy who called me up to arrange it. he had a very heavy accent, and a non-anglocised (anglicised?) name, so i sort of got the gist of it and figured i'd get it upon meeting him, where i could hear him clearer. only i'm supposed to ask for him at the front desk tomorrow. woe. so i called the hilton when i got home this evening (and worked up my courage), was put through to michelle in human resources, who wasn't available. so i'm hoping she'll call me back tomorrow morning or something.

and i bought clothes today, seeing as i needed a new shirt, and then just got bored whilst waiting for 12:30. shame. i have virtually no money. and i left my purchases in ali baba for several minutes before rushing back. the couple who we'd been sitting next to were sufficiently amused. i need to take better care of my things.

pain, much

anita and mel and marty are back!!! anne told me she was coming back on the 27th - she even toild her mum to pick her up from the airport on that day - but she was, as usual, mistaken, and they returned on australia day (which rocked, by-the-by: went to auntie carloyne's, where her husband and his band played the beatles, mustang sally, the wiggles (for the little-uns) etc). spoke to mel then, and crashed anne's place on saturday where we watched the princess bride, serenity *tear* and some good ol' hercules (she bought the entire series for $US20 - so jealous!), i heard yet more stories of the trip, and she gave me a marvin the manic depressed robot shot glass!

on friday, backtracking, i walked to rockdale plaza (yes, from my house) to get mary's present, eventually found it, walked back in the sickening midday heat, showered and scampered off the gymea for a job interview. which actually went pretty well, mel. anyway, long story short, my feet hurt like nothing else.

on top of that, yesterday erin and i re-arranged our bedroom. took us about 5 straight hours of hard work - no dawdling, as we had to have everything back in the room by the time dad got back. i succeeded, erin didn't; i have immensely more stuff than her, but she gave up. so, my feet (and back and legs and shoulders) hurt even more. and i need to buy another bookcase. which means going to the salvos. possibly the one at rockdale. i _really_ don't want to walk to rockdale again.

still don't have a job/apprenticeship, but i'm applying everywhere i can, so i guess i just have to wait.

also, my room is still a disaster.

spring cleaning...

...but in summer. yep, it's that time of year again: when my otherwise disastrously messy room experiences a reshuffle, and for one precious week our lino floor is visible. as usual, though, i have more things than i can store, and i'm trying to get my desk out of my room; this will free up space, yes, but it means one less storage place for all my junk. woe.

on a lighter note, mel, marty and lint are coming back from the usa/europe tour on friday (which means i should be getting a phone soon *jabs lint in the side*).

and tomorrow is australia day. oh, wait, no, that's not really a light note, as i'll end up spending the evening at auntie carolyne's (not to be confused with cazza) with a bunch of people i don't know. not exactly my idea of fun.

and mel, if you see this, apparently _sir gadabout_ is coming back on.

mick reckons he's going to korea for something like a year, teaching english while he improves his film/tv portfolio. he didn't get into the australian film, television and radio school (they took on 6 people and he was no. 7), so he's trying again in a year. good for him.

meanwhile, i've decided that i'm not going to tafe this year, i'm going to take up an apprenticeship in the hospitality industry, hopefully chef-ing. mum approves, but dad's worried that i'm too hung up on studying coming straight out of school. he's got it all backwards - i'm doing an apprenticeship so i _don't_ have to study. whatever job i take on, i'll need training, so why not an apprenticeship? yes, i'll be mentored, but i won't really have homework, which is what usually let me down at school. okay, always let me down.

so i've applied at a few places, i even wrote cover letters. do you realise how hard it is to sing your own praises without seeming like you're in love with yourself? well, if you've ever written a cover letter and/or resume, you probably do. that's the hardest part, i reckon (but i haven't been to an interview, yet). and i have an interview this friday, for a casual job i applied for last week. if i get it, i'm not taking it, but i'm still going to the interview, because the practice will do me good, right?

enough boring drivel.

the sky is falling!

yeah, i saw chicken little yesterday. met up with some friends from mission at eloura beach (after walking from the next beach down, cos ally had never driven to eloura before); it was raining and cold, though, so we forewent (is that right?) the swim and denm showed us where she's moving to, before we headed to gj's. there were so many cops in there, like, about ten. ah well, at least we were safe inside. :) headed off to miranda - no, there's nothing wrong with cronulla cinemas, just the movie had already started - and spent half an hour looking for a parking spot. we ended up about as far away from the shops you can get whilst still being in the carpark.

so, got food, saw chicken little: it was pretty excellent. there were all these star wars and signs and other adult references that just went over the little kids' heads, but they still had plenty to laugh at. not like shrek 2, with all the adult references that just made it _not_ a kids' film. i fully recommend it. i love kirby!

bummed around some more; went to jb hifi where i didn't give in to temptation at the 'cds from $9.99 box; marvelled at the shoplifting detectors at the doors to one of the surf shops that went off every couple of minutes, regardless of whether anyone was near them or not; buggered off so ally could get to work by 4. i'm starting to run out of money: i really need a job.

day before yesterday i went to miranda with lizz; we did basically the same: bummed around, watched a movie (nanny mcphee, which i loved), except that time i bought stuff: mood ring for lizz, as she's always wanted one and i hadn't gotten her a present yet, part of cazza's present, and a star wars poster calendar for me (shut up) for only $7. i'm so broke.

dad actually asked me last night what i was doing for tafe, and i said 3d animation, and he asked why wasn't i doing something practical, like accounting or business studies? ... kind of answered his own question, but he didn't see it that way. i don't even know what sort of courses he thinks are useful - that i'd like. i'll show him a list of all the courses available to me, that didn't have an early closing date and that are actually being offered. the list isn't too long, actually, but maybe i can get some idea of what he wants. i don't actually care much what i end up doing: it's just a job, and while i'll probably be stuck in it for a long time, i'm prepared to try to enjoy (reconcile myself with) whatever i do. i just need to work out how to finance this. yeah, this does seem to be a very money-orientated blog.

actually, i'd like to be a mechanic. seroiusly. it'd be dead useful, especially considering the cars some people i know (read: ally) are driving. i don't care much about being covered in grease and dirt and stuff, and i wouldn't have to be particularly nicely dressed. i wonder how my parents would take that... can't drive yet, and i've never worked on cars, but i'd like to. pa (mum's dad)and my uncle used to work at a panel beaters' (pa's, actually), and i remember going there when mum was tiling the toilets, so i sort of know what it's like there.

actually, i'd like to do something like that: be an electrician, or work with cars (though not a plumber). i dunno. i guess it all depends on what the folks want. :(

on a parting note, bread is bad for you: http://www.eskimo.com/~spban/bread.html ;)

breakdancing to thirsty merc

well, i'm back. (yes, i was away.) just spent 11 days (dec 27 to jan 7) down at shellharbour involved in the christian beach mission at the caravan park. and i'm so very tired.

i went down there sick, with an ear infection and a cold, managed to recover for one or two days, and then came down with a vicious cough. the coughing fits were always worst straight after prayer, because i'd try to be quiet with a scratch building in the back of my throat, and i'd have tears streaming down my face. the memories. and sleep wasn't so good, either, on a thin mattress on the hardwood floor of a church hall. i had two nights when i couldn't sleep from open windows, and one when i couldn't sleep from the snoring.

the snoring was when the boys had to sleep in the hall with us girls for two nights - on new year's night there was such a roaring gale blowing that the boys' tent tore and we had to drive down to the park to drop and peg down the other tents. and yeah, i'd heard rumours of snorers amongst the menfolk, but i didn't really get it til the second night of sharing - i crashed the first night - and there were at least four ripping snorers. at one stage they seemed to be in chorus - one would follow the other directly. so i'm quite tired.

this isn't to say that mission was bad - on the contrary, mission absolutely rocked. the weather was a bit moody, from blistering heat waves, culminating on new year's day, to cold and rainy, and hot on the last day for pack up. that was fortunate, though, cos we were afraid we wouldn't be able to hold 'no talent night' on the 6th if it rained, and if the tents weren't dry by the 7th we'd have had to take the tents back up here to sydney and commandeer backyards for a few days to dry them out enough to be packed up for next year, so that was alright.

no talent night went off, highlighted by the performace by pat and joel, two five-year-olds from minis, who danced to thirsty merc's someday. yes, random much. joel's moves are awesome, sort of like very amateur break-dancing combined with ninja moves, but pat, who was supposed to be just supporting, stole the show with his worm and the splits, repeatedly. and off a chair. he'll probably grow out of that, but kudos. joely wants to be a pro-wrestler when he grows up. he wrecked ally's shoulders for a few days.

keenites was a bit smaller this year, though the groups above and below our age group, minimites and jt's (which stand for junior teens, but don't let that fool you, they're actually pretty cool), were bursting with kids. jt's usually only have ten max to my knowledge, but they regularly had 15-19 kids, not only to the 'fun' activities like bowling and the big day out (a very cool version of the amazing race spanning shellharbour) but to the christian talks in the morning.
anyway, keenites are generally kids starting years 3-6 this year, though we had one year 7 girl stay behind because she loves it so much. our average was around 9, which is okay, but we're used to more, so i've been trying to think of ways to attract more kids, especially boys. i know there are other kids at the park, they're just not hanging with us. work to do.

all of our nighttime activities went really smoothly, though, and the adults didn't really go overtime at all, which is excellent when you're trying to keep 8-11 -year-olds busy for two or more hours and you can't take them back to their caravans til their folks are back. the adult dinner up at the church hall was awesome - they almost always go overtime, and we have them for about two and a half hours in the first place, but it felt like no time at all this year.

on the day off (new year's day) i saw narnia in the cool air-conditioned cinema, bearing in mind that was the hottest day of mission. i rather enjoyed it. i've heard complaints of mary-sue-ishness, but really, that was the way they were in the books (which i re-read just prior to watching the movie) and secondly it was made by disney. i mean, what did they expect? and tilda swinton rocked, i like her more with every film of hers i see. so it's a good thing i saw orlando first. and mr tumnus, well, what can you say? the most attractive faun i've ever seen.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564215/
james mcavoy, also in wimbledon (the brother, i think), children of dune (paul's son who gets all scaly), band of brothers and an intriguing macbeth that i'd like to get my hands on.

anyway, i'm tired so i'll leave it there. i've missed out a whole bunch of stuff, seeing as mission is always my most packed 10-11 days of the year, but i reckon that'll do. you get the idea.