A true friend...

...will think of you and invite you along when they have a 2-for-1 voucher for seafood buffet at a nice hotel.

Eft to the Left

If you like Jelssie, and you are looking for a similar thing in talk radio format, you can't go past James Valentine on 702 ABC, between 1-3pm weekdays. His popular segments include Rant, The Forgotten Sports Report and last year he devoted half an hour on Fridays to a segment called Nothing. Nothing was quite divisive, some people could not stand nothing, but I loved it.

This week on Rant (a segment where listeners get to vent their disproportionatly angry spleen about a tiny but annoying issue) a lady started a campaign to make checkout eftpos machines universal in card swipe direction. We can all identify with the irritation of not being able to figure out which way the magnetic stripe goes. Imagine if there wasn't a universal direction for unscrewing jars, or driving on one side of the road, or hot tap cold tap direction? We need some law and order. Eft to the Left is a stroke of GENIUS.

Meals Men Like

We received a very amusing fax in the office today. It said,

New Book! Meals Men Love. How to Catch a Man in 3 Courses

They even have a website and they're on twitter and Facebook.

I clicked onto the website and they sell the most gorgeous aprons. I wouldn't mind one myself. But the feminist in me can't help but cringe to read "Impress him in the kitchen with this stunning designer apron." I'll take it with a grain of salt.

I think I can safely speak for jelssie that we could be similarly woo-ed by a home-cooked 3 course meal. After all, food is currently the most popular label for our posts ;P

KESC #1

Four bold challengers met last Friday for the first Kingsford Eat Street Challenge. Jess, Elsie, Caroline and Georgina.

We met at Pinocchio's, but quickly noticed that we had chosen the wrong place. It was the second restaurant on the street. This would ruin all our plans. So we convened a meeting and changed the Challenge to the first restaurant, Tropicana Singapore Laksa House. I took notes but can't find them atm, so here are my recalled observations:

The Decor:
Nice comfy booths, cool art on one wall.

The Staff:
The lady who owns the place took our orders and she is very nice.

The Food:
Between us I think we had a Seafood Laksa, which was my first laksa so can't compare to other laksas, Hainan Chicken, Curry Chicken and Hokien Noodles. The general consensus was good portion sizes, but not massive (I can't stretch it to 2 meals), a lot of noodles and good taste.

The Value:
Good Kingsford Value. All our meals were $8-10.

The Extras:
Air con wasn't up enough, there was help-yourself tea.

All in all, about a 3 out of 5. Good, but we wouldn't rush back.

We think we want Challenge bibs with a logo on them!

Stretching your meal

There's a new kid on the blog block. Well, not a new kid per se, but a new blog! It's Jess K's Budget Ministry Meals. I like I like I like.

While we're on the topic of budget meals, here's one of my tips for stretching your meal, especially when you get take-away.

Take-away meals can be wonderfully convenient but not great for the hip-pockets or your health if done too often. If I get take-away, I often find that it's big enough for two serves, especially if they're a carb-based meal e.g. something with rice or stir-fried noodles. So I will dish out 1/2 and immediately put the other 1/2 in the fridge (so you're less tempted to pick at it).

To bulk up the vegie content or the meal itself, I might add a diced cucumber or some steamed vegies e.g. beans, carrot.

That means you get two meals out of one, and you've made it healthier by adding vegies :) It comes to about $4-$5.50 a serve, depending on what you get etc etc

Choosing a housemate - to friend or not to friend?

Guest post from Anna!

Some people say you shouldn't move in with a friend because it could ruin your relationship. Let me add my 2 cents worth about living with friends.
Obviously this is just my experience, but I have had it work both ways:

Housemate #1: When I first moved out of home I moved in with my long-time best friend, which some would say is home-making suicide. I was a bit nervous about the prospect to begin with. But we got on great because we think very similarly, are both open communicators and like to relax and spend time together in the same way. In the end it strengthened our relationship and we are still best friends even though we don't live together anymore (because a boy took her away!).

Housemate #2: This was a person I wasn't as close to to begin with, but she was still a friend. I think living together jeopardised our relationship because our expectations of living clashed and communication was weird. We didn't fight, but we rarely crossed paths. All communication on her part was by email. Not every email was passive-aggressive, but communication was by email ALONE. I'm not saying never give each other space, or never communicate by email. But if there's not an open line of face to face communication or spending time together then it causes weird tension. And there's no opportunity to strengthen the relationship. We did experience a period of horrible tension over a particular issue, which I don't think was ever really resolved properly. We tried, but seemed to be communicating at cross purposes and I don't know that either of us felt like the other person understood our own point of view. As a result I think we've lost something in the relationship.

I think potential housemates have to be up-front with each other at the beginning/before you move in together in order to establish your expectations of different aspects of house-sharing. If these expectations clash, that will probably be an indicator that it’s going to be more work if you end up living together. You can never know EVERYTHING about how it's going to work with the other person, even if you have the advantage of being able to weigh up your different personalities. But if you know the other person well enough beforehand, it is worth weighing up whether there’s anything in the relationship that annoys you. Because whatever there is will be intensified if you live together.

In the end I think it's probably less about whether a potential housemate is a friend to begin with and more about your respective "living styles". Here is a list of things to consider when choosing a flatmate. Think about what expectations you and any potential housemate have regarding:

- Cleanliness/tidiness in common areas
- How/when the common areas are used
- How you like to relax (ie do you expect to spend time together or do you always like to spend down-time in your room with the door shut?)
- Having people over (you need to put your flatmate first in this, and give them the opportunity to say "no" to you having friends over if they want a quiet night in and there is limited living space)
- Sharing/not sharing food
- How the bills are split/paid

Monday Funny.

Last night Phillip Jensen was talking about what separates humans from other animals, and I learned that Poo Jokes are a defining characteristic of being human. That's not exactly what he said, but that's what I learned.

I have been waiting for an opportunity to post this! If you're looking for the poo joke, it's there.
We shall return now to our normal dignified and edifying tone.

Announcing...

Jelssie have a plan:

The Kingsford Eat Street Challenge!

We plan to eat at and review every "restaurant" on Anzac Parade, from Mcdonalds to Sinma Laksa House and every Shan Dong Chicken in between. Down one side and up the other!

We are starting tomorrow, Friday 23rd October, 6pm, at Pinocchios (corner of Barker Street).

Come along to every one, or just drop in and join us when you can. An official indication of interest would be useful if you would like notification of Challenge Events, or check back here.

My grandma's logic

My grandma tells me that men are liars and untrustworthy. Yet she still wants me married. To a man. You'd think by her logic that she'd tell me either to stay single or start batting for the other team.

Explaining food

(A food post during lunchtime. How appropriate.)

Ravioli: It's an Italian wonton.

Hainan Chicken Rice: Say it like you're greeting your grandma. "Hi Nan!"

Banana Guards, do-doo do-do-dooh!

I had planned to post the epic story of how the crow flew into my head, but this afternoon Karen delivered my order of Banana Guards!!!


This is one of the best pieces of design ever! They make me laugh, AND they protect my bananas from being squashed in my bag!

Mirrormorphia

There might be a better word. But this post is about when there are 2 things you always thought were the one and the same. Then you suddenly put them next to each other and realise they are 2 separate and different things. eg:

Star Trek and Star Wars
Orson Welles and George Orwell
Maxine McKew and Jennifer Byrne
Marulan and Merriwa
Bowral and Bega
Cumberland and Carlingford
Rugby Union and Rugby League

Thoughts on food post agcamp.

Man, there is so much food on this blog.

Not having to think about cooking meals for a week was so good! I got back to an empty fridge though. My food routine is lost. On an aside, I know eating is a great fellowship thing, but I think overall I prefer eating on my lap on the lounge with some TV, to eating at a table full of girls, awaiting the dreaded 'table rattle' asking me in rhyme to tell a funny story.

Here is my rhyme, which is pretty cool. Thanks Melly.

Because she's an artistic machine, lets hear a funny story from Jess Green.

The girls pick on the cool noisy leaders at the start of the week, and work down to the uncool quiet leaders. So being the uncoolest—I had forgotten how uncool I am outside the world of jelssie—I had a few days to dread the rhyme and to perfect my story, which is a very short one: a crow flew into the back of my head. (In broad daylight. It was a planned attack.)

But back to the original subject: my fridge is empty and I have forgotten how to plan meals and shop for groceries. I think I'll pick up some SHAN DONG! and buy myself another day to delay.

When a disyllabic word sums up how you feel

In high school, we studied the musical West Side Story. One of the songs in it goes, "I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay and I pity, any girl who isn't me today ba da da da da da da da" (I may have miscounted the number of das).

When ever a disyllabic word (i.e. a word with two syllables) has been able to express how I feel, I have often substituted it into the song.

At the moment, I have a cold and well, as unladylike as it is to say it, I am snotty. So throughout today, this tune has been going through my head, "I feel snotty, oh so snotty. I feel snotty and grotty and gay, and I pity, any girl who isn't me today ba da da da da da da da da".

Try it next time a disyllabic word sums up how you feel.

Quiz for music lovers

Bands are usually recognisable by their lead singer (which in the pic below is not the tall guy).

A fun quiz for music junkies would be to name pictures of bands without their lead singer. Of course I'd be able to pick my favourite bands. I'd recognise Powderfinger without Bernard Fanning, but not Muse without Matt Bellamy. Should be on Spicks and Specks I reckon!

I see red

I opened up my bag the other day and it dawned on me:

Think I must like the colour red or something.

The ETTR Rule.

I don't think He's just not that into you was a great movie. But one of the main ideas has come back to me. "You are not the exception, you are the rule." There are people out there who have amazing love stories, but they are the exception, so don't pin all your hopes on the exception. Be realistic.

In particular, I want my church to be a vibrant cool growing church like ****. But the number of VCG churches is quite small compared to all the regular churches... the VCG churches are the Exception, my church is the Rule. The Exception churches are unique, and you can't imitate them directly. But it's not so bad to be in the Rule group. I found this article helpful.

"mega-whatevers are the exception, not the rule; and that the church has survived throughout the ages not just - or even primarily - because of the high profile firework displays of the great and the good, but because of the day to day faithfulness of the mundane, anonymous, non-descript people who constitute most of the church, and who do the grunt work and the tedious jobs that need to be done."

Remember The Exception To The Rule Rule.

Are brunettes funnier than everyone else?

Here's a list of some of the Aussie comedians and tv personalities around:

- Andrew Denton
- Tony Martin

- Merrick & Rosso

- Hamish & Andy

- Rove

- Hughsey

- Adam Hill

- Will Anderson

- Judith Lucy

What do you notice? Most of them are brunettes. Is it because brunettes are funnier than everyone else?

(By the way, don't you think "tv personality" is a funny description?)

Boring main? Tasty side!

In my attempt to make Mediterranean tuna and rice pie healthier, I substituted:

• tuna in oil for tuna in brine
• semi-dried tomatoes for the nearly fat-free semi-dried tomatoes
• bocconcini for low-fat ricotta
  

In the end, it turns out I also sacrificed flavour. It just tasted bland and I momentarily lost my appetite for tinned tuna. I froze half the dish, ate 1/4 and chucked out a 1/4 because it sat in the fridge for so long.

However, today I gave it another chance. I defrosted and heated a piece and served it with following diced:

• 1/2 egg tomato
• 1/2 lebanese cucumber
• 1 boiled egg
• 1/2 ripe avocado.
  

I seasoned the above with salt & pepper, and served it with a little bit of Kewpie mayo (i.e. heart attack mayo because it's 80% fat. I kid you not. Check the label!).

It made the bland dish taste so much better!

So if you have a boring main, make sure you have a tasty side :)

Walking in the Rain.

Next time, be prepared.

Downsides
Getting damp
Hair getting caught in umbrella spokes

Upsides
Nobody can hear you sing
Umbrella twirling

Braces are Torture.

Not the screaming sort, but a small amount of pressure over a long period of time is quite painful. I want to get them OFF!

It's like when you have a ponytail and the hairband is pulling a little bit of hair; it doesn't really hurt at first, but by mid morning you have to tear it out. Or like tight shoes. Starts off a little uncomfortable, gradually becomes crippling.

Two days down, two years to go!

Late bloomer

Some people find getting braces as an adult quite a traumatic experience. I've read peoples' comments on online forums how they cried when they first saw themselves with braces and hated showing them to people.

I felt quite bemused when I found out I had to get braces. I still do find it bemusing that I have braces. You see, I associate braces with high school and kids, and it just makes me feel like a late bloomer. There are things which people do in their teens (e.g. braces, get ears pierced, get learners driver licence) which I didn't do until my 20s. So having braces now just adds to that.

I cracked up big time when I saw Jess with her braces for the first time. (Thankfully she wasn't offended and understood it's just an Elsie quirkiness.) It's just funny that we both need them and both got them around the same time. But it's so nice to be able to share the experience with someone else :)

New News.

I have braces! Now jelssie is fully orthodonted.

And jelssie is on twitter, thanks to Karen. Some people prefer twitter, like Ben, who used to "heart jelssie" but now "don't read it very much". So we want Ben to heart us again.

It is at https://twitter.com/jelssie ... But because I am a tech fraud I have been unable to log in yet, so i'm not sure what it actually does.

I'm going home to chop up a chocolate bar.

Sweet dreams.

It's always been a dream of mine to have a four-poster bed. Hang curtains up around it and be just like a princess. I recently found an old picture of one I had clipped out of a catalogue. When I was little I took the bottom bunk and made curtains out of yellow flannelette and wide lace, which was was pretty cool.

But now I am a grown up, the cons of the 4 poster bed are quite oppressive. They are big, and heavy, so moving house and finding high ceilinged bedrooms becomes more of a chore. Still, I hope that the day will come...

Another dream of mine is to own a piano. I have a sensible keyboard, but it feels nothing a piano. But, again, pianos are large and heavy to move, require good doorways to get them into the house, and take up a lot of space in common living areas. Maybe when I don't share a 3 bedroom unit on the 4th floor.

But... if I had a piano and a four poster bed, I wouldn't want to go to heaven. So it's probably a good thing to delay collecting such idolatrous worldly possessions.

Girls vs Boys.

Worst things about being a girl (not a man). Not a comprehensive list, obviously. I have heard that childbirth is pretty awful, but that's beyond my experience and kind of heavy for this blog anyway.

1) Feeling perioidal
2) Make-up and hair maintenance
3) Have to pack more when traveling, but have weaker arms
4) Shopping for swimwear or underwear
5) Comparing self with other girls

Best things about being a girl (not a man)

1) Skirts
2) Not being really hairy
3) Sometimes acting silly
4) Using the 'i'm a girl, can you do it for me' excuse
5) More interesting shoes

I think I will write one from the other perspective. Stay tuned.