Vicarious Valentine.

It is impossible to avoid noticing V Day. I always fantasise a little bit about receiving a big bunch of flowers, or something poetic from an anonymous admirer*, or anything of a Valentiney nature… nothing ever happens.

So since there is no fun to be had with a real Valentine, "we shall have to be philosophers, Mary," and make our own blog fun!

Here is some sensible advice you girls might like to remember:

"It is face powder to catch them, and baking powder to keep them."

So simple! Things were perhaps much easier in the 50s.

Stay tuned for more!

*although I have spent this year spurning the poems and tributes of an unwanted weirdo admirer, so if I did receive something anonymous I would be cross and suspicious.

Exercise theory.

I think there are 2 schools of thought. Not counting people who avoid exercise.

1st group are all about goals. Exercise is intensive, because you are trying to lose weight, or run a marathon, or something. You do hard exercise because you want results. I sometimes try this way but I can't sustain it for long because it takes a lot of willpower.

2nd group are about being generally active. I can easily say that I am an active person, because I walk to work and stuff, do a little bit of swimming, carry my groceries home from the shops, etc etc. Being active is good for your health, keeps you in good shape if you eat lightly, and I find it is easily sustainable— you just don't get peak fitness or any other measurable results.

5fifty5 challenge.

Elsie has been inspiring us with her motivation! I'm going to follow her lead and get motivated.

I want to read my bible EVERY DAY as per my NYR, and to do that I realise I need discipline and routine. Unfortunately, evenings are not a good time for routine, because I'm always either busy or lazy. So that leaves mornings.

I have blogged about the beauty of the early morning weekend. And then I came across this post at girltalk...

And I thought: what if I got up early on weekdays? What if I woke up at 5.55am? I could do my quiet time, drink tea, watch the sun rise, and be undistracted. I could get to work calm and organised and on time.

So I started this morning, but slept in.

It's my 5fifty5 challenge. Everything is more fun if it's a challenge!

Get over it

I've recently started exercising regularly again. It's taken me about six or seven years to reach this point (i.e. the last time I can remember exercising at this level of intensity and regularity was about six or seven years ago). I know it has to be a lifestyle change, so I was getting a little freaked out by the fact that I will be exercising nearly every day for the rest of my life IF I want to stay healthy (God willing).

Then I read this tip from Michelle Bridges (a trainer in The Biggest Loser Australia) in a recent Sunday Life:

Get it in your head that training is something that you do every day. You make your bed every day, you take a shower every day, you train every day. Big deal. Get over it.

Okaaaay. I've started making my bed every day now.

Heart-shaped box

I made a Mars Bars slice* using my recently acquired heart-shaped tin.

First I lined the tin with baking paper. Then I firmly pressed the base in.

Next was the chocolate layer.

And this is the final product:

*Technically speaking, since I bought the ingredients from ALDI, it was a Titan slice.

Early to rise

In the past few years, I've really struggled with my sleep. I struggled to go to bed at a decent hour, which meant I didn't get enough sleep, and hated waking up. I would usually wake up around 8am (ah, the luxury of living close to work). I would wake up tired, not rested. I would be in awe of Karen (and others), who would wake up at 6:15am to get to work early. The thought of waking up at 6-something really freaked me out. I just don't know how people did it.

This lack of sleep meant I would yawn all morning (and probably all day) and just generally be lethargic.

Just before Christmas, I made a commitment to my health. I was going to eat health-fully and exercise five to seven times a week. I worked out the best time for me to exercise would be first thing in the morning: before work, before breakfast.

I don't know if you can call it a habit yet, but to my great surprise and delight, I've been able to get up at 6:00am most of these past few mornings to exercise. This is how I did it:

Gradually wind your clock back

I think I started at 6:30am. After a few days, I wound it back another five minutes. And another five. And another five, till eventually I was waking up at 6:00am.

You gotta have a reason

To be able to get up at 6:00am, you must have a really good reason. Something that you really want. I really really really wanted to exercise. I was making all this effort to eat health-fully, therefore I was going to take advantage of it by exercising. Later on, my motivation became comfort: in summer, 6:00am is a much cooler part of the day to be exercising. It meant I could jog, whereas if I exercised later in the morning when it was warmer, I would only walk.

Lots of positive self-talk!

At first it was a struggle. It was hard. The first few times, it took me 10-15 minutes to get out of bed. I would chant in my head, "Come on Elsie, you can do it! Come on Elsie, you want this! Come on Elsie, you want to be fit and healthy!" over and over again until I got up. You've really got to remind yourself why you want to get up in the first place. This morning, I think it only took me a couple of minutes.

Allow yourself to struggle

It's okay that it's hard to get up and you feel worse for wear for the first couple of minutes. But once you get dressed and get out the door to exercise, half the battle is won!

Getting up at 6:00am on a regular basis to exercise has improved my sleep quite a bit. I don't yawn at all in the mornings anymore. Imagine that! No more loud yawns from Elsie! I get really tired at night and most of the time, I will go to bed because I want to sleep enough so I can wake up at 6:00am. I've had a few late nights, but they're now the exception rather than the norm.

I do however, allow myself to have naps on the weekend (one for each day) if I need them, while I'm adjusting to this new routine.

Anyway, this is to give you hope! Even I, who was terrible at waking up in the mornings, can wake up at 6:00am on a regular basis and not be fazed by it!

Advice for a post-grad

God willing, I'm looking forward to starting post-graduate studies this year. Here's some advice from a couple of friends:

You want to go to the class with the most number of English speaking students!!! Trust me, there will definitely be group assignments! Bond with the nerds now!

Friend 1

In your first lectures and tutorials (you need to act early) observe who asks questions, prepares for tutes etc - you want to see who is conscientious. It's good to see who is dressed up/mature age, they are likely working and studying part-time so they're pretty motivated and organised.

If you want to be really keen, look up last semester's course notes to see which subjects have group assignments so you can chose your group members in the first or second tutorial. Don't be shy get in early, approach the good students, exchange email & mobile no.s. If you're not pro-active you may end up in a group where poor communication/ English will make assignments even harder to complete.

Friend 2

Well, I've enrolled into the Monday morning class. I figure anyone who's up for class on Monday morning has got to be fairly serious. I shall be on the look out for conscientious nerds with excellent communication skills. I wonder if I should nerd it up too...

Windows at work.

This is the window at work where I take a little break and do my eye stretches:


On a rainy day, Anna and I call this our bay window, as per the BBC P&P where Elizabeth sits on a wet day to read letters from her sister, while English rain splashes gently against the glass. Sigh.

This is the view from the bay window. You can imagine that park is "a prettyish sort of little wilderness", if you like. Life would be boring if we had no imagination.


This other window is exciting for a different reason. It has a very dull view out onto what I call 'The Prawjects', after Bill Cosby. But this week a Fed used it to take photos of drug deals! So I have a new respect for it.

KESC 4 review

Well, this was my disappointingest challenge yet. But I will try and be fair and balanced.

It was a pleasant, cool evening when we met at Erica Indonesian last Friday. We decided to sit outside, since this is the only place you can eat outside in Kingsford at night, other than Maccas. So that is a plus.

There were eight of us! Biggest challenge ever. We were therefore able to cover a lot more food... noodles, fried chicken, and I had deep fried sweet and sour beef.

Prices are good, around $9 per meal, although you can get lots of small things.

Serving portions good, but there was often a lot more filler (noodle) than meat. That's common for Kingsford though.

They are helpful in how they serve the food, eg sauce on the side if requested.

Taste was average. Fried chicken was well liked, but some other stuff wasn't special.

Temperature was a problem - mine was almost cold, others were also getting cold. So that was quite annoying.

One of our meals was forgotten.

So, if I wanted to eat a cheap Indo cold dish outside, I might go back. But if I wanted something hot and delicious, I would not go there.

Next challenge, Italian!

Scraping the barrel.

I feel I've been posting some pretty thought-provoking stuff recently. So all you get from me today is this:

I hate moonpig.

I hated it the first moment I heard the jingle and saw the logo swoop in. By the third time I had to shut my eyes and mute the TV. I hate moonpig with every particle of my being.

Consider this a warning. Don't go looking for it! Escape if you can! Although moonpig will find you, maybe while you're watching The Mentalist, maybe while you are eating breakfast with the Today Show... moonpig will find you.

Handbag v backpack

Handbags are the correct way for a lady to carry around her purse and other lady business.

They are fun to shop for, because you don't have to go into a change room. They can be very pretty. They can have secret pockets and special lining and hidden compartments. Who can resist?

However, handbags and satchels are usually carried on the one side all the time. It's like crossing your arms the other way, it feels all unbalanced and wrong to tuck your bag under the other shoulder. Carrying something heavy on one side means your back is twisting to the other side to compensate. Not good for you. One day you'll bite into a carrot and your jaw will get stuck, and you'll have to undo all the contributing factors.

So, backpacks. They are all basically sporty, ugly, and comfortable. Not ladylike at all, but when you walk a lot and carry heaps of stuff around, the backpack beats the handbag.

I wish there was an in between way.

Good ideas for presents for women.

There are some dreadful ads on TV about obnoxious women who aren't satisfied with their Valentine's Day presents, they're all "flowers aren't good enough! I want diamonds!". Presents are lovely in any form and I wish I was more thoughtful and gave them more often.

However, even though presents are always appreciated by sensitive women, I have a green bag full of soaps and smelly things and candles. These things build up faster than any woman alive can possibly use. Women know this, and still give them to each other! Not to mention trinket boxes, teeny tiny photo frames, and figurines of teddy bears. If you want to buy a woman a small gift, for a thankyou or something, these are my suggestions off the top of my head. They are low clutter as well as special treats.

• Gourmet tea, or hot drink equivelant
• Gourmet chocolate
• Movie tickets
• Earrings (I plan to make a list of all my pierced friends)
• Flowers

Small and special is better than lots of tacky. And usable is better than ornamental, because it is hard to know a woman's particular taste, and ornamental presents are dreadful for clutter. Flowers are the exception to the ornamental rule, because they are always pretty and they are short-lived.

Facebook frenemy.

I live at peace with every man, except one. I always have an enemy. When I was 9 and did gymnastics, it was Fabian. When I was in years 11 and 12 it was Irish Daniel, a creepy loner boy with an Irish accent that nobody believed. Current enemy can not be named even though he's not really as loathed as the others were; now that I am more mature, I just scowl at him a little through slitted eyes.

I have a friend request from this semi-enemy, which is nice of him. I'm glad the dislike isn't mutual. I am trying to accept, and build a little bridge, but facebook is stopping me:

This person cannot be added as a friend.

Skirt theory.

I love skirts! No shoe fetish for me (the universal female shoe fetish is a myth, I reckon). Skirts are wonderful. I have raved about dresses, but I tend to be conservative in my dress choice, whereas I can go a bit fancier with a skirt, cos it's less overwhelming. A floral dress is whoa! floral! whereas a floral skirt is just right. Any skirt is just right.

Advantages:
The ultimate in comfort, coolness, prettiness.

Disadvantages:
1. General lack of pockets. My new skirt with pockets is the first thing I want to wear now.
2. You need to be aware of the wind. Light fabrics can be annoying.
3. You need to hang them on skirt hangers in the wardrobe. I've never liked skirt hangers, they are the tongs of the wardrobe, catching on each other and falling off the rail and getting in the way.

Anne.

I have been swimming in Anne of Green Gables nostalgia recently, as I often must. I grew up reading and re-reading Anne; her dreams were my dreams, Gilbert was such an ideal man, and frankly you can do a lot worse—I stand by Anne.

I think Anne and Gilbert are still lodged firmly in my subconscious, as an influence, for better or worse. This is pretty normal, lots of girls grow up with Anne. I guess it's better than a certain current obsession with the undead but probably just as unrealistic. Two people who are made for each other, who don't realise it at first, who become best friends, and who grow to love each other through suffering? That's a noble criteria in my dreams but a useless one in my real life.

Might as well bury my nose in Avonlea and live vicariously. Innocent love, pretty dresses, gloriously coloured countryside, buggy rides, lavish home decorating, swirling piano music...

Erica Restaurant this Friday!

I'm super excited about the first Kingsford Eat Street Challenge for 2010. We'll be dining at Erica Restaurant at 6:30PM this Friday. It's at 275 Anzac Parade, Kingsford. It's Indonesian cuisine.

To whet your appetite, check out the review from He Needs Food as well as the menu.

Naked salads

I am incorporating more vegetables into my diet. I did not grow up eating Western-style raw vegetable salads, so I can be a bit clueless when it comes to green salads and dressings.

The principles I've stuck to when creating a salad are:

• Choose a variety of colours (pleasing to the eye),
  
• Choose a variety of textures (pleasing to the mouth),
  
• Choose vegies you like and will actually eat, even if it costs a bit more (pleasing to the mouth and mind),
  
• Be game and try something new or different.

You can also get more salad ideas by visiting the food court and seeing what's on offer, or taking note next time someone kindly invites you over for a meal.

Here are two salads I've made recently and I've quite liked them.

Salad 1 (great name huh?)
Baby spinach leaves
Sliced Spanish onion
Sliced yellow capsicum
Orange grape tomatoes

Salad 2 (salsa style)
I had the following ingredients diced finely, and mixed it through my main meal or had it on the side:
Cucumber
Spanish Onion
Orange Capsicum
Egg tomato

My salads are usually naked (i.e. undressed) because I'm not used to eating salads and not used to dressing them. However, I do love my Lee Kum Kee Chiu Chow Chilli Oil (a whiff of that stuff gets my tongue tingling, ready to salivate), so I will sometimes add a small teaspoon to my salad.

Would love to hear your salad/vegie ideas if you've got any.

Making a clean start.

LB and I both ended up with some accumulated communal shared house stuff from our previous places. In particular, we have a lot of cleaning supplies, including 3 bottles of sugar soap and about 5 bottles of dishwashing liquid. Strangely, the multiple windexes are all LBs and the multiple and soap pumps and refills are all mine.

Car: Freedom and burden.

Elsie has a car. Jess doesn't. This is a sort of combined thoughts post.

Cars are a source of freedom. You can go anywhere and take anything with you at any time of the day or night. That is quite wonderful.

But cars are also a burden. You have to carry around a lot of little burdensome thoughts in your head, like *how much petrol have I got left? *where/when can I get the cheapest petrol? *that's a new noise, can it wait till the next service? *should I park nearby and pay?

Without a car, the choices are a lot more limited, but that isn't always a bad thing. Life is simpler if you live within the bus routes. And public transport is slower etc etc, but on the other hand if you go to the CBD or the shops you just hop on a bus, trance out, and then get off and walk away without worrying where you park. So there's a strong argument for the freedom of not having a car as much as you can.

Spinster.

I have been semi-jokingly referring to myself as a spinster for many years. I know it is unlikely, but I quite like the word. It has a Marilla Cuthbert quality to it. Quaint, moral, busy, witty, old ladyish. It makes a change from "single", which just means "unmarried". Try "spinster" instead, the vintage version. Learn to love it.

Pace of change: never been slower.

On the radio today I heard something surprising: we think we live in a super-fast changing world, but we don't really. 50 or 100 years ago, technological changes were happening which had huge effects on how people lived and the possibilities of their world. The telegraph enabled near instant international communication, which was previously restricted by physical transport speed. Radio technology. Also the car. Air travel. Production line manufacturing. Plastic. etc etc etc. This stuff really changed people's lives. We think the world is changing quickly because a new and improved ipod is released every 3 months. That's not life-changing. The personal computer, maybe digital technology, and definitely the internet, are the significant tech life-changers in my lifetime.

How to swallow a big sticky pill

Earlier I groaned about not being able to swallow this multivitamin and mineral supplement.

I worked out that my problem was that it was:

• big and
• sticky (i.e. it would stay on my tongue and refuse to move)

I solved my problem by:

1. Leaving the pill in its foil wrapper and smashing it with a mallet. It usually breaks into three smaller pieces
2. Putting a small piece on my tongue.
   
3. Taking a sip of water, without swallowing water or pill.
4. Throwing my head back to get the pill floating in the water instead of sitting on my tongue
5. Once it's floating, swallow and down zee vitamins and minerals go!

Of course, this method only works if it's not a liquid capsule or something that can't be smashed into smaller pieces.

Irony.

This sums up my day:

The hanky.

I'm a hanky girl. I don't hate tissues, but I was brought up on hankies. Although tissues cost more over time and I am pretty stingy, so that's a big mark against tissues. Also, I don't like disposable culture. Also, hankies feel more solid and I blow my nose pretty hard. Also, hankies have more romantic potential - the waving of the hanky from the train window, the lending of the monogrammed hanky from the considerate and prepared gentleman*.

The trick with hankies, though, is not to use them and absentmindedly leave them around all used looking and disgusting ... on the couch, the coffee table, my desk at work, my inbox ...

*Speaking of gentlemen and ladies and hankies: my Dad is constantly asked "Do you have a hanky?" to which he replies "Do I have daughters?"; so now I just ask "Do you have daughters?" to save time.

Garage sale vintage win!

Look what I got for $8!



















- 1 x baking tray
- 1 x bar tin (not that easy to find!)
- 1 x heart shaped baking tin
- 1 x coin purse with sequins
- 1 x Glomesh handbag

I finally own a Glomesh handbag!

I also considered a coat and a small tv, but decided not to buy them. There were also vintage hats and glove.

Novel twist.

I just finished reading Cloud of Witnesses by Dorothy L Sayers. I found it in the cull of my parents bookshelves. It is a murder mystery novel, but in the end… it wasn't a murder. It was a suicide. Which was such a let-down. Crime books always resolve with catching the bad guy, and that's what gives you the sense of resolution and "all's well". A nasty minor character was hit by a bus, but that's not the same thing.

My profound thought on music.

Heard someone on the radio compare U2 to Coldplay in that early U2 songs were about STUFF, they had agendas for the world, but Coldplay is all about navel gazing.

I wonder if all songs are overall more me-focused at the moment, compared even to other recent music eras? We've heard it about hillsong enough times, it's all "me me me". But it must be a wider phenomenon reflecting this age of individualism and over-sharing.

KESC 4!

Friday 29 January, 6.30pm.

Erica Indonesion House, Anzac Parade. Mark it in the diary.

Advice on the logistics of rental-sharing.

RANT: For the last 3 years I have lived in a 3br unit. The original 2 housemates left and were replaced. There were 2 rent increases. The unit was sold. We all paid our rent separately, some weekly, some fortnightly, and some monthly. At the end of the 3 years, $339.13 is missing. And it is pretty much my job to sort it out, because I am the only original housemate and also because it has ALWAYS been my job to sort this stuff out. For some reason the agent always contacted me first, so house problems were always first of all MY problem.

So here is some advice for beginners in the rental-sharing game.

• In a house of 2 people, things are clear. If there is a problem with money or jobs, it is either you or the other person. In a house of 3 or more, it is less clear, there is a lot more passing responsibility around and hoping someone else will fix it. Some people are deliberately evasive, some just make no effort to help and hope someone else fixes it, some are genuinely innocent bystanders. So 2 is logistically easier. If there are 3 or more, be extra especially clear and accountable.
• If it turns out to be a house full of evasive types, be the first one to move out, because you don't want them all to move out and leave you with all the mess they made.
• Try and make it so that your name is not the first one on the lease. Don't be the first in line for the agent to call. I don't know if this works or not, but I'm tired of agent calls and emails, so it's worth a try.
• Everyone should pay their rent weekly. I did it monthly because it worked better for my personal budgeting, but weekly is the simplest way to track payments if everyone pays weekly.
• Divide the rent up according to the size of rooms or whatever. If you can all pay slightly different amounts rent, you can quickly see who missed a weekly payment.
• Start saving, so that you can buy your own place and be rid of the renting for good.

There is some more good advice in Anna's guest post.

The Engagement Photo Shoot: A Recent Phenomenon?

I wonder if the Engagement photo shoot is a recent phenomenon. I certainly don't recall friends getting photo shoots in the late 90s and early 2000s. But in these last few years, I have noticed most engaged couples do a photo shoot before they get married.

It could be that it's always been done, but with the advent of Facebook, these photos are more widely distributed, so it seems like every engaged couple is getting them done. I know photo studio shots are a big thing in Asian pop culture. Some of them can look very *gag*gag* cheesy, whereas others can look super-cute.

Radio rocks!

My Christmas list this year was basically just a digital radio. My parents went to great lengths to find one for me since they are only available in the areas which actually have digital radio signals. I took it back home and was instantly rewarded by being able to listen to Norman the Quiz on the ABC, even though the cricket was playing on the normal radio, because there is a separate signal for ABC Grandstand.

I enjoyed FAB4 for a little while. But I've also been giving the normal stations a go, and of all the music stations my new favourite is 2CH. My inner nanna loves easy listening. This is a sample of what I heard last night while I cooked dinner:

Three times a Lady
Catch a falling star
My girl

Quality!

Thoughts on moving house.

I moved on Saturday, with help from Dad, Bro and Girl from church. It was dreadfully hot, but overall it went well. Here are three tips.

1. It is physically exhausting. Drink powerade.
2. Use your towels to pack your breakables.
3. Empty the crumbs out of your toaster before you pack it.

Jagged little pill

I've recently started taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement. It's quite a large pill. The first few days were fine - I could swallow it. Then I started choking and gagging on it just to get it down. And today has been the first day that I just cannot get it down. I don't understand how I lost my ability to swallow pills (although last year I had some trouble swallowing echinacea pills).

So I've done some research on the net and here are some tips on swallowing pills:

- have it with yoghurt
- tip your head forward not backward when swallowing
- cut it in half
- put it in jelly
- relax and distract yourself by watching tv while you swallow

The first three haven't worked for me. I hope at least one of the last two works.

The cost of similarly branded clothes between stores

The price differences for the same branded underwear between the stores (i.e. David Jones/Myer vs Kmart/Target/Big W) has got to be one of life's little mysteries.

I was shopping for sports top by a particular brand. For the purposes of this post, let's call the brand T. T has a range of sports tops.

I went to Myer and noticed that the RRP for T's sports tops was $56.95 - $59.95. I then went to KMart and noticed its RRP was $24.95. That's a significant difference! Admittedly, it was a different range, but it was the same brand. Did it warrant such a big price difference?

I think companies create different ranges for the different stores. DJs and Myer target "richer" shoppers. Target, KMart and Big W are more known for their discount prices. So many brands create a more expensive range for DJs and Myer and a budget range for Target/KMart/Big W. It's a bit like Peter Morrissey creating a range of sub-$100 dresses for Big W, when his dresses would normally retail for much more.

So where did I end up buying my sports top?

In an ideal situation, I would have bought them from Kmart on sale, as that would have been the cheapest price between the two stores. But they weren't on sale. So here was my decision-making process:

1. I wanted the sports tops now and it looked like I would have to pay at least $24.95 for them.

2. Myer's tops were reduced to $26.25, making it a difference of $1.30 per top compared to Kmart. I considered this difference to be negligible.

3. Since I already had one T's Kmart sports top at home, I could buy a Myer one to see what the difference was, and if Myer's T range was truly superior to KMart's T range.

4. Hence I bought Myer's T range.

New Years Resolutions.

Not one, but five! I'm a big fan of resolving to do good things, cos even if you fail you probably get some good out of it in the short term. And a few years ago on Jan 1st I started one of those read the Bible in a year plans, and I did it. A resolved resolution! It can be done. So this is what I need discipline for this year.

1 Not think about food unless it is really exciting food
2 Read the Bible EVERY DAY
3 Pray also
4 Read one edifying book every month
5 Practise hospitality

Christmas Eve 2009.

Thanks for reading! We've had a lot of fun with Jelssie this year. Have a lovely Christmas and remember God incarnate.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Looking forward to seeing you next year!

Love Jess and Elsie

Pre Christmas Pre New Year Pre Summer School Pre Moving House post:

1. Make lots of lists

2. Send lots of emails

3. Go AAAAARRRRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Why saving is bad.

I'm a good saver. I hoard a bit. Sometimes I buy or I'm given things that I perceive as "too good to use". So they become junk and clutter. Which is such a waste! Instead of wearing a nice pair of earrings I keep them safe in their box until they are out of fashion, a total waste of fashion and space. Much better to use them for their purpose and let them really live, until they are lost or broken when I can get rid of them with a sense of satisfaction.

Freeze to prevent spillage

I'm not a great fruit eater. My flatmate left me a mango and two kiwi fruit before she went overseas (I love mango!). I had a couple of nectarines that came all the way from Woolies, Port Macquarie. To help me eat them all, I decided to turn them into a salad. I diced everything up and it looked delicious and juicy.

"I'll take some to work," I thought. "But what am I going to do about the inevitable fruit-juice-spillage-while-carrying-salad-on-the-way-to-work?"

Ding!

"I knows!" I thoughts. "I'll freeze it! That way it can't spill at all, and I can leave it to defrost at work. And if it's a particularly hot day, I can have a nice slushy treat!"

How to throw things out.

Elsie is on holiday at the moment so I'm not sure if she'll be posting, but in the spirit of Elsie I am posting on de-cluttering, one of her favourite things. As I get ready to (hopefully) move house, I am doing a lot of it.

My new rule for de-cluttering is: if you only ever see an object when you do a clean out, chuck it away. My normal pattern is to find it, admire it, relive the memories, and then put it back away until next time I do a clean out. Now the hard rule is chuck it.

There is a book at my parents house which is just below the Bible in importance. It is full of wisdom and revelation. It is The Messies Manual. It is a book about cleaning, for messy people! Because messy people think about mess very differently to cleany people. For example, 'Frugal Messies' keep junk they don't need just in case one day they do need it. For slightly 'Sentimental Messies' like me, junk isn't just junk, every piece of junk has a lot of associated memories, and when you find the junk, all the memories come back, and you can't throw out the junk because you are throwing out the memories.

So having realised that all I want is the memory, not the junk, I am now taking photographs of my junk as I throw it out.

Rental Conspiracy.

Sometime in the mid-late 90s, apartment block builders of the Eastern Suburbs all put their heads together and decided that every block of flats I ever inspect should be built to face west.

The limit of the internet.

Don't know where I will live after 10 January 2010 due to lease ending and housemates leaving.

Faced with this dreadful uncertainty and feeling a burning desire to know, I find myself going to Google, and then realising Google can't tell me that. Stupid internet, doesn't know the future.

Big dates in history

Today, checking through my 2008 diary for useful information I need to save before I throw it out, I noticed the following significant entry on Tuesday 27 May:

I haven't seen a grey since then, but I wish I had marked the first anniversary this year.

Scuffy heels

I've noticed I have identical scuff marks on the heels of my high heels (grr). See how there's an exposed white bit?















I wonder how it is that I'm causing them. Is it because when I walk on soft grass, the heel sinks into the ground and when I pull it out, it gets scuffed? Or am I scraping my heels against concrete steps or something? Anyone know?

I'm kind of annoyed, but I'm sure not that many people are looking at the heels of my heels ('cept you now will, dear reader).

Blue da ba dee da ba die

I reached into my handbag and realised...















...it's not just red that I dig.

How to get a longer weekend!

I'm not a huge sleeper-inner. On weekends I sleep till 9.30 or so. But, there is no real need for me to sleep in, because I get good hours of sleep all week— so I don't need a catch-up, it's just the luxury of waking up in my own time.

But, if I get up at a normal weekday time on the weekend, I get an extra 2 hours each day! The weekend is effectively 4 hours longer! 4 hours of precious weekend daylight. It's amazing, having that extra time.

Summertime clothing

Given our high rates of skin cancer and our nation's high exposure to UV rays, Australians should adopt ways of dressing similar to Arab men. Think Lawrence of Arabia and long, flowing white garments.

I like how in that kind of dressing, the vast majority of their skin is covered including the neck, the arms and the legs.

I would like to cover my arms, legs and neck more during summer, but I can't help but associate long sleeved clothing and pants with winter. I don't think I have summer-appropriate long sleeved clothing. Someone should design a range. In the meantime, I'll do my best to remember to put SPF 30+ broad spectrum on my skin each day.

Scientists should:

Invent an elastic that lasts forever and never loses its stretchiness. And then make certain small items of clothing out of it. And then women won't have to do their least favourite sort of shopping as often.

Challenge 3: Spice Neon Chicken.

Four challengers met last Friday at Sydney Spice Chicken Pot. The exterior is promising, as Elsie pointed out, there is a neon chicken which is a rooster.

Inside, it turns out to be a hot pot place. The tables have 2 levels, you have bowls and the hotplate on the top of course, and on the shelf below (where we mistakenly put our handbags with great excitement at the convenience) you put the little bowls of raw ingredients for when you need to add them to the pot.

Anyway, the menu was a little confusing at first. It has some english, thankfully, but it comes in the form of a checklist which you tick boxes and hand in to the waitress. The waitresses were very helpful explaining it all.

We ordered a Chicken Hot Pot for $33 which was plenty for the 4 of us. It was surprisingly spicy, only just bearable for some of us, so we asked for more water to be added. The chicken is a lot of bones and knobbles. Not much that you can just put straight in your mouth. But lots of it and definitely tasty.

As they top up the water you then add the other little things you ordered by the bowlfull. Like, rice noodles, cabbage, tofu, skinny white mushrooms, dumplings and I forget what else. We ended up eating too much (well I ate too much), but that is normal for hot pot.

It cost about $15 each. Pretty good value. Obvious why it is so popular with the students during semester.

We decided that we wouldn't come rushing back, but probably in the winter it is a really good place to go when you want some spicy hot pot.

Christian office dress codes.

Monday weekly meeting with boss.

First item on the agenda was my dress.

Well, the aircon is fierce, and I have no jumper with me.

Apparently this sort of footwear reinforces negative Christian stereotypes.

So how am I supposed to wash 'em?

Laundry. I sort them into warm wash and cold wash.

Hence this label on my new $15 Target jeans is confusing.

Can you read it? In green it says THINK CLIMATE COLD WASH & LINE DRY. Then further on it says WARM MACHINE WASH SEPARATELY.

So how am I supposed to wash you jeans? Does it matter either way?

Using every last bit

So you think you've reached the end of your product. You can't squeeze anymore lotion or cream out.

That's when I get my "holy" knife for some action. I have set apart a knife to be my "cut-through-plastic" only knife.

And voila! You can now use the product that was trapped and could not be squeezed out :) See, there's quite a bit left, even though I couldn't squeeze it out.

Don't expose your product to air continuously if possible - that will dry it out.

Target sets new standard for bargain jeans

Jeans are a staple in my wardrobe. I could wear them to work all the time and I usually wear them in winter.

If you look at one of the lists to the left, you will see that Jess and I have Esprit jeans in common. Meaning we love them. The most flattering cut of jeans I have ever owned are Esprit jeans. Sadly they have started to wear and I am not sure I can patch them up.

I have paid $50-$80 each for my last three pairs of jeans (Saba, cK, Esprit) and then another $10 to get them hemmed up.

But tonight, I picked up two pairs of jeans (one straight leg, one bootcut) for $15 each at Target!

Good points:

• The cuts are reasonably flattering (I think, but if I'm wrong, do tell me. That's what a true friend would do [in a loving manner mind you :P]),

• they seem to be the right length (meaning I save $10 per pair in not having to get them altered),

• very cheap,

• and I like the colour of the denim.

I'm not sure about the quality. Time will tell.

So Target, if your jeans turn out to be good quality over time, you have set my new standard for bargain jeans.

Bonus tip! I have also learned that if you look bad in one brand's bootcut, it doesn't mean you look bad in every brand's bootcut. Frustrating because it means you can't stick to one cut if you want to keep jeans shopping simple. Liberating because it means you have more to choose from.

Dogs in costumes.

Dogs in jackets and shoes are pretty dumb, but this costume I saw in the Courier is AWESOME.

ETS.

I'm not sad for the death of the Emissions Trading Scheme. Trading pollution is moving the pollution around, and mostly moving the money around, hoping that somewhere along the way the pollution is reduced. That's my limited understanding of the matter, anyway.

Not that I have a better plan, except to live frugally and wait for the new earth.

The honeycomb divide.

Violet Crumble used to be my favourite chocolate bar. Maybe because it was the biggest. Value is important. Then somehow, Crunchie took the place of favourite honeycomb based chocolate bar.

You know how a Crunchie has a hard dense side and a light bubbly side? I always bite the hard side first so I can save up the bubbly side. Violet Crumble is light and dense with no bubbly bit.

I was thinking of switching back to Violet Crumble, to relive the good times. I had a Violet Crumble this week, and it wasn't that good. The only thing that impressed me was that I ate half and then left it for a few days and the honeycomb didn't dissolve from exposure to humidity the way I expected. But I'll never go back.

Kingsford Challenge 3!

This Friday, 4 December at 6:30. Probably the last challenge this year! Awww.

We are going to Sydney Spice Chicken Pot, it is a very asian place without much english in the signage, bright red signage, trendy seating.

Sorry I don't have as many email addresses as I used to so you will all have to find out from this blog.

Advice (about girls) for my brother.

This is a sort of follow-up post to my How to get a boyfriend series. It isn't a method, however, because women are a lot more complicated than men, and for every rule there is an equal and opposite unrule. It's strange that I have so much to say on the topic, since I have no idea how people ever get married—the whole process seems so complicated and stressful. But here are my thoughts on How to get a lady.

In general, your odds at marrying will decrease in your 30s. That is an interesting issue for another post, maybe in five years time. So, if you want to get married, don't muck around.

I totally understand that women are intimidating. Be prepared to be rejected. Women feel bad about this, and we really do appreciate being asked, but I suspect there are a lot of "no"s out there. Do yourself a favour and maximise your chances of success.

• Be sure of what you are doing with your life. Have a plan. Demonstrate that you are responsible and proactive.
• Do some grooming. Maybe get a haircut that isn't described with a number or makes a buzzing sound.
  
• Let your sister take you shopping.

So far, these things will create a normal first impression of normalness. To step it up:

• Be thoughtful and kind to others. To everyone.
• Demonstrate gentlemanly manners. It is amazing how far "ladies first" will get you. Also if you have a car, offer lifts. And so on. Treat women with respect as the weaker vessel. (You don't want to marry a feminist anyway.)
  
• Be on a gender-integrated ministry team. Music team, or a mission, or even just a bible study.

Women notice a lot. Do not underestimate how much women notice.

Now, most importantly, look out for indications of interest. Girls who are keen to be in your company, who laugh in your conversations. Or are excited to have something in common with you ("oh, I love Dune too!"). If you pursue a girl who hasn't been speculating about you, she might say "no" out of surprise and caution. So try and read the signs.

I think that's all I have. Take it from there.

Why photobooth (webcam thingy) portraits are cool.

• The camera is at the top of the screen, so you get that flattering from above angle.
• The lens is lightly curved, so this slightly alters the dimensions of your face: Bigger forehead, smaller chin. My natural dimensions are skewed the other way, so for me this is a pleasing correction. In general, it creates a cuter face shape, because babies have bigger foreheads and smaller chins.
• Black and white, and filters which exaggerate colour, are great for smoothing out uneven skin tone, hiding blemishes, and drawing attention to your eyes and mouth, minimizing your nose.
• Also, they are a mirror image, and I find that when I flip them I often look weird, because I normally see myself in a mirror. My mirror face is the normal me to me.
  

Share the love, share the calories

There are lots of yummy foods that not so health-ful for you, especially when consumed in more than moderate amounts e.g. hot chips, desserts, anything containing pig fat etc.

This is where my philosophy in eating unhealthy food comes in: share the love, share the calories.

When you want to dig into a bowl of ice-cream, munch your way through a packet of chips, or gorge yourself on chocolate, the best way to eat it is to share the food with as many people as you can. You still get to eat the food, but by now sharing it, you are now eating a modest portion (hopefully!), you are spreading the love by engaging others in the eating and you are also sharing the calories!

(I have to admit, I feel a wee bit less Australian using the term "calories" as opposed to "kilojoules")

Phone fear.

Why don't some people (i.e. me) like talking on the phone? I hate to make a phone call. I will do anything to avoid it. Hooray for email and text messages. I am quite confident in real life when I need to talk to someone, even a stranger. I am happy enough to answer the phone. Where does phone call fear come from? (I don't think there is an answer.)

Chinese Vampires and Chinese Twilight

Having watched Twilight, and with all the recent hype that went with the release of New Moon, it's got me thinking about the differences between Western vampires and Chinese vampires (here's a hilarious introduction to Chinese vampires).

In Western culture, vampires have become objects of sexual desire. To think of Chinese vampires that way is so wrong and gross, and nobody would portray them in that light. Wiki points out that Chinese vampires are really more like zombies.

However, if I were a Chinese filmmaker, I'd make a Chinese version of Twilight, adopt their interpretation of a vampire, release it, have thousands of Asian girls fall in love with the Chinese Edward Cullen and then rake in the moolah.

In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been done yet (or has it?). Chinese people love covering hit songs from other cultures and languages. Why not a movie?

Bye bye Bublé :'(

Whatever you think of Michael Bublé (he's too charming, no wonder Emily Blunt dumped him for Jim Halpert), he's certainly a hard worker. It's been hard to turn on the TV without seeing him; he's covering all the channels and all the time slots. The wonderful thing about this is that you can't even notice that Britney Spears is in the country, it's all Bublé Bublé Bublé.

How to dance Austen-style

Elsie opened the door, now there is no stopping the Austen. I can't restrain myself.

Henry Tilney: " ...I consider a country-dance as an emblem of marriage. Fidelity and complaisance are the principal duties of both; and those men who do not choose to dance or marry themselves, have no business with the partners or wives of their neighbours."

Catherine: "But they are such very different things!"

" — That you think they cannot be compared together."

"To be sure not. People that marry can never part, but must go and keep house together. People that dance only stand opposite each other in a long room for half an hour."

"And such is your definition of matrimony and dancing. Taken in that light certainly, their resemblance is not striking; but I think I could place them in such a view. You will allow, that in both, man has the advantage of choice, woman only the power of refusal; that in both, it is an engagement between man and woman, formed for the advantage of each; and that when once entered into, they belong exclusively to each other till the moment of its dissolution; that it is their duty, each to endeavour to give the other no cause for wishing that he or she had bestowed themselves elsewhere, and their best interest to keep their own imaginations from wandering towards the perfections of their neighbours, or fancying that they should have been better off with anyone else. You will allow all this?"

Catherine: "Yes, to be sure, as you state it, all this sounds very well; but still they are so very different. I cannot look upon them at all in the same light, nor think the same duties belong to them."

"In one respect, there certainly is a difference. In marriage, the man is supposed to provide for the support of the woman, the woman to make the home agreeable to the man; he is to purvey, and she is to smile. But in dancing, their duties are exactly changed; the agreeableness, the compliance are expected from him, while she furnishes the fan and the lavender water. That, I suppose, was the difference of duties which struck you, as rendering the conditions incapable of comparison."

"No, indeed, I never thought of that."

"Then I am quite at a loss… "

Chapter 10, Northangar Abbey

How to fall in love Austen-style

To be fond of dancing was a certain step towards falling in love

Chapter 3, Pride and Prejudice.

Productive procrastination

At work, I had a task to get done. But I put it off by decluttering the office instead. This is called productive procrastination.

Celebrity crush

Do you think you reach an age or stage in maturity where you shouldn't be having celebrity crushes anymore?

I found out recently that Mary (Guan's wife) and I had the same celebrity crush in high school :P

So, who's your celebrity crush (past or present)?

More on mirrors.

Bathrooms with mirrors around the all the walls are really fun, I love to see the back of my head, and see myself a thousand times over going off to eternity.

Self examination.

When I was a teenager I had several discomforting experiences when I saw someone and made a quick negative judgement about their appearance (who is that tall slouchy sallow slack-jawed daggy girl?) and then realised there was an mirror in the room. When I know there is a mirror, I put on my 'mirror face' and straighten up. The surprise mirror, and my reaction at my other self, is the closest I've got to seeing what I really look like, what first impression I create.

I would love be outside myself and watch myself for a day. I could pinpoint annoying traits, and whether I have a silly walk or ugly voice, things like that. How useful.

Singing in tones?

Chinese is a tonal language. That means the tone you use to pronounce a word will affect its meaning (e.g. using a rising tone vs a sharp falling tone).

I listen to Chinese pop music and I've often wondered, how do tones affect singing? I can't work out if Chinese singers sing tones in their songs. When I listen, their words (the ones I can understand) make sense, but is this because context tells me what the words mean or because they actually sing the tone of the words in the song?

(Does anyone get my question?)

Lesson 1 from 2009.

I made a mistake this year, which has been a long running annoyance. I bought a day to a page diary, instead of a week to a spread one. Maybe there are people out there who like a whole page for each day, but I'm not that busy. I do need help thinking ahead, however; I need to see this week, or next week, at a glance. I like to know if a day of the week is going to be on the left or the right. I like to count ahead the weeks by turning pages.

Buying a diary for the year is one of those special personal decisions. If you use ical, you might be organised. But you don't get to carry around a little book in your chosen brand, size, thickness, colour, surface texture, fonts. Even though my 2009 diary is a stupid day to a page diary, it is small, thick, red vinyl cover, with rounded corners, yellowy pages and an elastic closure, and it has stickers on it. It's a sort of statement.

Visiting for Fellowship.

This is my newly invented euphemism for when girls visit other churches to scope out the husband prospects. Fellowship. Get it?

I'm not that brazen. I go to KCC working bees.

(90% kidding)

Haircuts.

Pro: Really needed a haircut for a long time, the split ends were causing my hair to curl.

Con: I don't like making appointments; also fancy salons make me feel daggy.

So last night I walked into the asian one on the corner of the 9ways and got it over with.

Pro: The cheap impulse haircut basically works: split ends are gone, hair is shorter.

Con: But it is too short and heavy at the front to sit off my face. My whole head is also uncontrollably wavy. This is the worst haircut I have had in 3 years.

Now I face the dilemma of the next haircut.

Pro: When my hair grows out I can get a better cut. Hurry up hair.

Con: I have to go through the whole saga all over again.

Elsie's jelssie book o' inspiration

Where do the wonderful ideas for this blog come from? I mean, we know they come from my brain and Jess' brain, but how do they go from brain to here?

I introduce to you my jelssie book o' inspiration, beautifully handcrafted by Karen.

My ideas are often written down somewhere before they are published here.

For those of you who prefer flow charts:

Bing! Idea in Elsie's brain -> Furiously scribbled down in book o' inspiration -> shared on jelssie.blogspot.com

I also have some ideas written down in an Engage 09 notebook. Hope to share them all with you soon!

The way things was.

I sometimes think about scarves. I wear my scarf most days during cooler months. Most girls do. Some men (man-scarves are a contentious issue). Now I am considering getting a floaty girly summer scarf. But I remember a time when nobody wore a scarf. When people started wearing scarves, I thought they were over-dressing—scarves are for people in Melbourne or Alaska.

Now I can't imagine life without scarves! Before scarves we all wore skivvys. Can you still get a skivvy with a neck? I don't think so. The scarf killed the turtle neck.

Toothbrush dieting.

I have previously found that cleaning my teeth after lunch is a disincentive to eat. A combination of wanting to keep the minty freshness, and food tastes gross after toothpaste. Apples are the yuckiest, really foul.

Even more now that I have braces and the brushing is more difficult and more important. After lunch, I clean my teeth and then I can't eat until really late in the afternoon.

Wendy said that when she eats something savoury and gets the sweet craving, chewing gum or brushing teeth cuts that off, because it provides the flavour bust and distracts you. Chewing gum is bad for your jaw though, so don't chew. Brush.

Skin Hunger

aka touch deprivation. I can go for months without touching another human being or animal. I get hugs when I visit my family, and sometimes I shake hands with people when I meet them, but girls don't handshake much (it's a contentious issue, the female handshake). I was surprised yesterday, when I was helping with creche, how much I wanted to grab the children and cuddle them. I'm not a weirdo. But it was a strange urge, not based on how much I love babies because I'm not baby-crazy. So I googled it, and found out that it is Skin Hunger.

Different cultures have different levels of touchy feely. Our culture has no middle ground, I think. It's sexual, or nothing. There are no accepted friendly intimacies. We don't kiss on the cheek for hello or good bye, we don't link arms when we walk with someone. Modern dancing is now a bunch of individuals in pairs and groups, not pairs embracing or groups of people holding hands.

Maybe we shouldn't mock the 'hug hello', or the side hug? Maybe I should become a hug lady? Or should I just grab babies and pat strange dogs? Or, because Jane Austen has the answer for everything, maybe we should bring back regency manners. All that lovely formalised hand-holding in and out of carriages, proper dance steps, walking along arm in arm...

KESC #2

The second challenge was held last night, at Pinocchios.




Elsie: Rice cake and dumpuling ramyun (spicy noodle soup)
Denise: Hot stone bowl biben bob & miso $13
Denise and Elsie shared a $10 sushimi plate
Jess G: Tray with rolls, tempura, salad, teriyaki chicken and miso $15
Jess K: Similar tray but with sushi instead of rolls for $16

According to Jess
Decor is good, booths are pretty small though! The wait staff have very good hairstyles. The Extras were excellent: tea, water, and pickled sweet things. Value was also good, we each spent between $15 and $20. I loved my tray for $15, I would order that again. I like food with lots of different things and you can pick from one to the other and mix flavours. We finished everything and felt elegantly full. I would give it 4/5.

According to Elsie
I'm not really a fan of Japanese-Korean restaurants (i.e. the two cuisines combined). I can't really explain why, I just like my cuisines separate.

I really liked the free entree stuff they served us: slightly sweet gravy over boiled potatoes and kimchi.

The sashimi I shared with Denise was good value.

I decided to try something new and ordered a Korean "spicy noodle soup" called ramyun, which to my great disappointment, was Korean ramen. There's no way I would have ordered it if I had known ramyun was ramen :(. The "dumpulings" I got were ok. I was very very disappointed, but only because I didn't know it was actually ramen and didn't want ramen.

Look what's popped up

Hmm...did someone read my post Quiz for music lovers? Cos this quiz Guess the band minus the frontman! has popped up.

(I'm sure other people have had this idea before, but humour me.)

Car parks and supermarks

Shopping centres should put up diagrams/maps of their car parks, clearly marking car park entry and exits, as well as pedestrian entry and exit from the car park to the shopping centre. It would make parking and shopping a lot more easier and less stressful. World Square Shopping Centre has a car park diagram (scroll down and click on link to map).

Similarly, supermarkets should have copies of store layouts online and at each store, so you can plan your shop instead wandering around everywhere looking for items on your list. I remember one supermarket used to do this. The other alternative is to take photos of aisle headings, but they don't let you take photos. Oh well, pen and paper it is.

The elderly are confronting...

...because they remind us that:

• we won't be young forever (if we reach old age God willing)
• our health and bodies will fail us and we will be frail
• death is coming because they are closer to it that we are (notwithstanding other causes of death)

I saw a couple of elderly people today, both out with their son or daughter, who too, are getting old. If I never get married, never have kids, who'll look after me if I reach old age? Even if I got married, there's no guarantee that you'll have kids. Even if you had kids, there's no guarantee they'll be dutiful and care for you or even outlive you (this very sad account comes to mind).

Whatever situation you find yourself in, you truly have to rely on God.

The voice advertisers love

And that voice belongs to Angus Sampson. You may seen him on Thank God You're Here. He's also the voice for the following ads: Kettle Chips, Nissan Patrol, NRMA Unworry and I think maybe for Stihl power tools as well.

What is it about his voice that advertisers love? I think he's a funny guy.

Obsessions.

Internet is not letting me upload pics so the report from KESC #2 will have to wait.

In the meantime, I shall share a few words on Obsessions. Not the same as Addictions, because they are temporary. They become my favourite thing to think about. They give me a satisfied buzz, a sense of accomplishment, when I indulge them. Currently, mine are all self improvement related:

• Decluttering in prep for move
• Eating raw garlic*
• My food planner

* How to eat raw garlic: chop it up and wash it down with a drink of water so that it doesn't touch your mouth. It is really strong so it burns if you eat it straight, but it water it is fine and I have never had a complaint about garlic breath.

Wouldn't have picked you as a lead singer

There are some lead singers whom I have thought, "Woah, you have a very unconventional voice. Wouldn't have picked you as a lead singer." Mostly because they are somewhat whiny.

• Billy Corgan (lead sing of Smashing Pumpkins)
• Brett Anderson (solo artist and lead singer of Suede)
• Jarvis Cocker (solo artist and lead singer of Pulp)
• Brian Molko (lead singer of Placebo)

I don't think Jarvis Cocker is whiny, but the rest have some degree of whininess. Each give a very distinctive lead voice to his band and I do appreciate each of them.

Guilt me!

Facebook thinks I'm not a good enough friend to enough people:

Sue Tibbs
You haven't talked on Facebook lately.

Send Her a Message

I object. I can't express how strongly I feel. I do not need Facebook to tell me how to be a friend. This is like upselling fries but a lot worse.

PS I don't object to Sue. She is very nice.