Girly hair talk! oh, squeal!

I currently have 3 everyday hairstyles.

1. Straightened and out with my fringe bit pinned on the side, 
2. ponytail, and 
3. folded up bun held in place with a sideways claw clip. 

I invented the sideways claw clip thing.

Grosgrain is a sewing blog but if you subscribe you get other interesting things. Fascinating hairstyle ideas like a fishtail braid, a braid in a bun on top of your head, a waterfall french braid, and rolled up hairdos I've only seen on old ladies and could never figure out how to do. This page was a good find. I'm going to give some a go, while my hair is long. I'm forsaking haircuts for a while… long hair requires fewer cuts, and will be more fun to play with.

In other news, I'm going to be two bridesmaids this year—for Cara and Caroline. So I've also been trying to find hairstyles for that. It's really hard. Only google "hairstyles" if you want a good laugh.

Beware Craft.

I love craft; currently I'm crocheting granny squares. I get obsessed with a different craft every so often. Sometimes I realise I'm not really into it… scrapbooking, for example. I knew it wasn't for me. In these cases it is crucial to FINISH your project, because if you know you aren't a knitter, and you predict getting bored of knitting, you will have half of something in a bag for all eternity. Best to really crunch through it while you are keen. Unfinished craft items are awful. The joy of creativity has leaked away and all you have is a chore, a piece of clutter, an object of guilt. Beware craft.

Some crafts are prone to long stagnant periods, due to their slowness. I have 2 cross-stitches which have well passed their tenth anniversaries, but I no longer feel guilty about them. Cross-stitch and tapestry were invented before television. While easy, they require attention to detail, the effort of following patterns, and a lot of patience. There are times when this is exactly what you need, i.e. my Mum did several impressive tapestries when she was pregnant and unable to sleep. The important thing with these slow projects is to:

a) choose a timeless design*. Dragons go out of fashion, for example. Although they may come back ironically, so you could play the long game.
b) never stop and put it away when you've made a mistake and gotten frustrated. When you get it out a year later you'll be so cross, and be put off. Unpick it so you can start fresh later.
c) store it carefully. Accept that storage is part of the project and look after it when you aren't working on it.

*This bike picture is what I want one of my cross-stitches to look like when it's finished. I still like it now as much as when I bought it. The other one is teddy bears, and unsurprisingly I have no interest in stitching teddy bears anymore.

Operation: wash.

I watched the forecast all week: the promise of a sunny day on Friday was repeated and confirmed. So on Thursday night, I swung into action. Got as much of my load as would fit into the basket, filled up my little box with washing powder, went out to the laundry, emptied my flatmate's clean load onto the top of the machine, loaded mine up, set the timer to start at 3.30am, and hung it out before work this morning. Tip: If you wash with hot water, your hands don't get cold.

The next opportunity will be Monday and Tuesday next week.

Chocolate hangover.

I'm SURE it exists. I'm sure if I eat chocolate at night, half my face doesn't wake up the next day and I'm lethargic and fuzzy-headed. It's probably the caffeine thing that happens to coffee-drinkers: your body has withdrawals in the morning and you "need" coffee to "wake up". However, where coffee is an acceptable breakfast thing, chocolate isn't.

Learning: no pain, no gain

"Probably the most important thing you need to know is that you can't learn by accident (e.g. when you're asleep). Many psychologists say you can, but they're wrong in my view. When we learn new things, it feels hard and it hurts. Simply reading the lecture notes is easy. In contrast, translating the lecture notes into your own words to explain to your grandma is hard. This tells you that when you translate the notes into your own words, you're learning. So it's easy to tell when your revision is working - you experience pain."

Associate Professor Chris Mitchell, UNSW School of Psychology

[page 18 of Tharunka, Issue 5, Volume 57]

Ode to Jessica.

She is the sort of friend I can off-load all the partially-eaten junk food I bought in a moment of anxiety-filled weakness. I'm talking 3/4 tub of Cookies & Cream ice-cream, 1/2 bar of chocolate, 2/3 packet of Tim Tams, raisins...you get the picture :) However, the Oreos have never made it to her...

Washing powder

I have double standards when it comes to washing powders. For my clothes, towels and sheets, I use the best fragrance-free washing powder for sensitive skin (if I'm being cheap, then the next best option). When it comes to bathmats, handtowels and teatowels, I just get the cheap, but branded, stuff.

My rationale is that clothing, towels and sheets are more likely to affect my skin than bathmats, handtowels and teatowels, which I only touch for a fraction of the time compared with the first lot.

Who knows if it really makes a difference in the end.

Ode to Elsie.

She is the sort of friend I can send this sort of email. Subject line only.

afternoon need lollies

She is like my own private twitter service, and she understands. Even when she hasn't read it yet I feel like she understands.

French phase.

I've enjoyed a few random french songs that have been on movie soundtracks, and in wandering through itunes I found French Songs - 50 Best Tunes Ever for $15.49, and I'm playing it to death. They're old, mellow, piano-filled, quirky. One advantage is I don't know french, so I don't get distracted by the words, so it's ideal background music for me. Another advantage, which I recommend universally, is that EVERYTHING feels more glamourous with old french music. Washing up—glamourous. Putting boots on—glamourous. Cooking pumpkin soup—glamourous.

Teabag technology.

Did you know that you shouldn't squeeze teabags?

I did not know that. I have been enjoying the Dilmah Exceptional teas, Arabian Mint with Honey Tea is really nice, the leaves are big like fish flakes not fine like dust. That is a sign of quality, because teabags were originally invented to use up all the poor quality dust left over from the proper loose leaf tea. And they come in those fancy silk pyramids. I wrote in because I broke a few strings when squeezing them.

I have a personal email from Dilmah customer care informing me:

Please note that teabags are not for squeezing, when squeezing the teabag it can bruise the tea leaves, leaving a bitter taste in your cup of tea.

She offered to carry out a further investigation if I send in the teabags, but I'm happy to take her expert word and restrain myself from bruising the tea leaves so cruelly.

Something like this:

http://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nsw-maitland-107204397

It has 5 bedrooms, so $715,000 divided by 5 is 5 manageable mortgages... do 4 people want to move to Maitland with me? Please please please... It only has 2 bathrooms, but it has EVERYTHING else.

I am a very proud sister.

So one sister is blogging, and the other sister is eat-streeting! I received a postcard from a restaurant in Perth, marking the occasion of the inaugural Perth Eat Street. The report on the back of the card said "reasonably nice italian place, with good ravioli and a nice chicken, avocado and aioli pizza. But there was a hair in the ravioli! Also it was expensive for an Eat Street but I don't know where the cheap food is in Perth. It's very challenging." Brings tears of joy to my eyes.

Walking therapy.

I know I have raved about walking before, but it's just so great I have to keep plugging it.

When I walk, I'm cut off from screens and people and things to do. This means that not only do I process my thoughts (have imaginary conversations, worry about things, appreciate the weather, think of jelssie posts) but I get to process my emotional state as well. Walking home from work is the time when I realise I'm relaxed, or randomly happy, or I'm depressed, or lonely, or stressed. Everything bubbles up, and if I'm happy, I get a moment to wallow and be thankful, and if I'm sad, I'm less likely to just rush on with my life and not notice.

Practically, I wish I didn't have to walk home tonight, because I am underdressed, lulled into a false sense of warmth this morning by a few warm days and my post-jog glow. It's cold and wet out there.

Aussie Aussie Aussie

I nearly cracked up when my Chinese Chinese (i.e. from China) friend emailed me this:

Need your help

"Select stories of two convicts (one male and one female) who came to colonial Australia and demonstrate how each were able to turn their lives around and become founding members of modern Australia."

I think u must have learned about Australian history, could u plz give me the names of the people required by this question ? u don't have to give me their stories, only names will be enough. i would really appreciate that.

I hope I'm not outing myself here, but I think it's universally acknowledged that Australian-born Aussies are deficient in their knowledge of Australian history. My first reaction to the email was, "Poor fella, he thinks I must know stuff cos I was born and educated here!". Sadly, I could NOT think of a convict done good. I could think of non-convicts done good e.g. Macquarie, Governor Arthur Phillip, the people on our currency and other people who've had suburbs named after them.

So tell me fellow Aussie, how is your knowledge of Australian history? Can you think of any convicts done good without resorting to google? I couldn't :P

Blogcitement!

My sister Julia is blogging! I encouraged her to, because she wrote me lots of rather good emails and she has a lot of time on her hands. If you want to read her news (you may have met her, or you may just wonder what it's like moving to a small town on the NSW/QLD border to nanny on a potato/cattle farm for a year… she's living the dream,) go and read it. And be nice to her, she's taking her first baby steps into the world of blogging and is shy. And encourage her to take photos of cows—that's what I really want.

Good music hour

Listen to 2MBS FM between 12 and 1pm. Then switch to 702 AM for James Valentine between 1 and 3pm for good talking.

Musical lunchtime interlude.

Anna reported a piano in the lane behind the op shop. It being a beautiful day, Elsie and I were out for lunch so we stopped off to shoot a music video. It's 40 meg and not that special, the Chopin video didn't work so this is the Missy Higgins video if you like. If my uploading doesn't work, Elsie is a pretty good photographer!

Pianos on the open street are awesome.

Morning Tea.

The Ginger Snap biscuit is perfectly designed to dunk in tea. It is incredibly hard to bite when dry, but when dipped in you cuppa it is strong enough to retain it's chewiness and stability.

In related morning tea news, I do not like my new box of Twinings Chai. Scarbrough Fair has a much nicer taste, and the tag just fell off my Twinings tea bag when I was squeezing it on the spoon.

Finally, Coles has Capilano honey squeezers for half price this week. Honey is much nicer than sugar in most teas, especially chai and peppermint.

Ayam Goreng 99

T'was yummy. Lamb and chicken satay skewers. Green vegies of some sort. Ong choy I think?

Deep-fried chicken, grilled chicken. Breast was dry. Go thigh. Otherwise delicious. Beef rendang. Avocado drink.

Noodles & soup.

KESC 29: Shalom

Next in line is Shalom, another halal indo student-level place. It's got red signage. 6.30 on the 27th May.

Underrated: old information technology

Old technology doesn't get as much hype as the new ones. People are suspicious of the new, so it needs to be discussed, whereas the old is understood and taken for granted, but the lack of discussion of old technology makes it sound redundant compared to the twitters.

Here are my 3 favourite old information technologies.

1. Radio. I have a digital radio at work, and a bedside clock. I would like 2 bedside clocks, so I can fall asleep with one station and wake up with another. I would like a digital radio at home, too, but they are too expensive. But I listen to a lot more radio than TV, it's how I structure my whole day actually, and it's where I get my news. The only reason I watch the ABC news is for Alan Kohler and his charts. Nothing has replaced radio.

2. Library. I'm not sure why they aren't redundant since the internet, but I go at least once a week, for fiction books, Miss Marple dvds and non-fiction books (recently crochet and european history). I guess on the internet I could browse and hire from a bigger range more conveniently at a reasonably low price, but the library still works for me.

3. The movies. I happily outsource the home theatre system. I like the formality of the session times, the red seating, the automatic lighting. It's the only place to eat pop-corn, although I don't like pop-corn I still think it's a valuable ritual.

I don't have the web at home, and I could live without TV (if I could still watch DVDs of my favourite two shows), and I could be happy without social media, but I would be rudderless without radio...

Salt-free salt

My McCormick's Szechuan Pepper Salt does not contain any salt in its ingredient listing.

Has anyone noticed those 7-11 Slurpee ads at the bus stop? Some have a picture of a pear and lime (implying the slurpee flavour), then in smaller writing at the bottom, there are words to the effect that the actual product does not contain any pear or lime.

As we say in accounting, substance over form i.e. what it actually is over what it proports to be.

And the Szechuan Pepper Salt is very tasty.

How to buy a banana.

In these days of hardship and banana famine, the bendy fruit is a special treat. My frugality normally makes me stop buying things when I don't like the price, but I have bought 3 bananas since they went past $10/kg. I reason that they are one of the few fruits I can easily eat with braces, so I deserve to have one sometimes.

I have paid between $1.60 and $2.60 for a single banana. The trick, I've realised now, is to get a sense of the thickness of the skin. A fibrous, thick-skinned banana is poor value, because you are paying for the weight of the skin. Also, consider the length of the stalk. It is only a minute difference, but it all ads up. But definitely choose a banana that feels thin-skinned.

Boheme.

Tune out now if clothes are boring.

I have a skirt which is a good half dozen years old now; it's brown patterned and in that scrunchy peasant style which was all the fashion back then. I've not got rid of it, because it's a nice skirt, but I haven't worn it much for a couple of years after an incident in which it betrayed my trust.

But it has suddenly because a centrepiece in my wardrobe, worn over leggings and my Aragorn boots for warmth. I can wear any sort of cardigan or coat or scarf, and I look arty. And the beauty of the bohemian style is that the less things match, the better they go together. I can wear the brown skirt with orange, red and bright teal at the same time, all sorts of cheerful colours I normally only wear in small helpings. The joy of randomly putting things on and still having a cohesive "look"! It is perfect for Autumn as well, because of the light layering thing. The only problems I have is that a) I lack pockets and b) I'm dreading putting proper waistbands back on. The longer you wear loose floaty clothes the more torturous a pair of jeans is.

Garbage Ibis.

My teenage friends who now live in Namibia have been back in Aus, and I took a half day off to entertain them while their parents had meetings at CMS office. After lunch we walked to the ferries and caught one to Manly, hanging over the front of the boat we saw a dolphin, at Manly we had a hot chocolate before rushing back for the return ferry. Ferrys are so much fun.

I learnt many things about Namibia, such as they have not much Chinese food, and mostly all the restaurants do steak. They have mint flavoured toothpicks: I reckon there should be flavoured paddle pop sticks inside icecreams so you can lick the ice-cream up without tasting wood. And they pointed at an ibis, which they hadn't seen. I filled them in on how disgusting they are.

But I did have an interesting thought on garbage ibises. If Sydney suffered a severe depression or apocalypse type event, and food was scarce, we could eat ibises. They look about the same size as a chicken, but on taller drumsticks, and although they do fly they are currently pretty bold and slow, so they could be caught and eaten more easily than seagulls and pigeons.

File that away and hope you never have to use it. (Note: Ibises are apparently a protected species.)

Bible: reading/thinking.

You know how you're a bad Christian if your mind wanders off while you are reading the Bible or praying?

I have had an epiphany: This rule must be a construct of our time-poor, outcome-driven society, and I refuse to be guilty any longer!!!

I realised this because I'm now sometimes dipping into the Bible at breakfast and lunch. I normally don't do this because my "quiet time" is mostly done reading out loud, to aid my concentration and comprehension, which you can't do with food in your mouth. What I'm liking about the meal-time dip is that I read a bit, and then my mind wanders, and I don't instantly rouse on myself and try and pull it back to finish the passage. I think it's good to think about random things that reading the bible has stirred up in your mind. It's not a waste of time to follow some trail of pondering on a relationship or life issue or some biblical or doctrinal tangent you don't understand or an imaginary conversation or a memory.

Be liberated from attention-span guilt! The yoke is easy!

Cold, but not yet winter

Signs it's cold
- the uggs, doona and scarf are out
- it's harder to get out of the shower in the mornings
- switching from running shorts to 3/4 leggings, and sleeveless to short-sleeves when exercising
- making soup for dinner

Signs it's not yet winter
- heater, beanie and electric blanket are not yet out!

Things that are not actually useful #2: Toblerones. They are impossibly hard to bite. And they taste a bit weird. *Blogger not letting me post body text today. But quite I like the look.

Damn you, successful advertising.

Everywhere I go I see a packet of chips. Lime with cracked pepper, I believe. Not my favourite flavour, I prefer Sweet Chilli or Honey Soy Chicken. But after a week, noticing has turned into craving. I would really have bought some last night, at 8.30 on an empty stomach, if I hadn't fortunately happened to meet an acquaintance at the bus stop at Martin Place who lives in my street… so I leveraged her company into enough willpower to avoid detouring to Coles when I got off the bus. I bet they are doing quantity discounts on those chips, too. EVIL!!!!!

KESC 28: Ayam Goreng 99.

6:30pm this Friday
Ayam Goreng 99
464 Anzac Parade Kingsford NSW 2032

Delicious Indonesian chicken!!

Winter skirts and learning things from books.

I walked to work in a skirt today, and unfortunately this morning was considerably colder than all the other mornings so far. It is officially no longer skirt weather, unless you layer up with stockings and boots, which is a very nice look but rather more effort to put on and destroys the freedom and simplicity of the skirt. A skirt on it's own is easier than any trouser, but a skirt with stockings is harder than any trouser.

As I was pondering the temperature of my legs, I had a flash of inspiration: flannel petticoats. In The Railway Children, one of the first children's adventure books every written, Roberta and Phyllis tear up their red flannel petticoats and make flags to stop a train from crashing. I filed 'flannel petticoats' away in my mind as old-fashioned and ridiculous. But now I want one. Imagine the freedom and ease of the skirt, with the softness and warmth of pyjamas! I shall make one this winter and report on my success.

Here's your opportunity to live with me!

I'm looking for a flatmate. Preferably a mature-minded woman. You know how to contact me for details.

What I'll be doing to celebrate the The Royal Wedding:

Getting on with my life.

A season for everything

I don't know how I used to live without it, but CAJUN SEASONING IS AMAZING! It is the most delicious way to a quick meal.


For example, if I want a quick dinner, I steam vegies in the microwave (two-three minutes max), shake bucketloads of cajun seasoning on a steak and pan-fry (a minute each side if it's a minute steak), serve with mixed beans (for carbs, takes you as long as it does to open a tin) or with bread. EASY! Add some walnuts or olive oil for healthy fats.

Soy fish earrings.

As suggested. Took no time at all to put these together on Saturday morning. I used my tiniest screwdriver to drill through the tails, cut some hooks off some old earrings and pulled open the wire circles enough to put the fish tails through.

They are a little bit heavy to wear, I suspect. They might look good half-filled with liquid. I shall experiment with that later. After I've eaten the soy. I plan on wearing them to the shops to buy sushi for lunch one day.

Tea/Time.

Every blogger will eventually make a chart. I should make a chart about that. Which reminds me, I love that episode of How I Met Your Mother with the charts. I felt like making one today. Maybe I already made one about thongs, optimal comfort being a short window of time between discomfort and breakage of the toe bit. I forget if I ever posted it.

I call this one Tea/Time. The name is a pun! The point where green and red overlap indicates the short minute I have to scull my tea.

KESC 27: Red Hat review

Red Hat Noodles is a Cantonese style Chinese restaurant, apparently. The place was busy with families as well as students. There are fishtanks which they fish dinner out of. We were sitting at the front, which means you play door lotto because of the gale when someone walks through and leaves it open a crack. It is the worst door in Kingsford.

We decided to go fancy and ordered some quail for entree. Tasty. Having been so bold, we were then very conservative with the mains we ordered: Shan Doon Chicken (which was super delicious, could not complain about it at all except the price, but it was a big serving) Shredded Beef (rather aptly described by Matt as 'lolly chicken') and a stir fry veggie thing (the sort with black rubber mushrooms) and I forget anything else.

The food was all very good, by the way there was the usual average-tasting soup for starters but this one had lotus root in it. It came to $16 per person for the 6 of us, which is more than usual because of the quail but also prices were higher than most Chinese dishes in the area. The service was friendly and quick, the main annoyance was the door.

ALAS! ABCafe was closed. We explored the new Bread Top where Kevin bought Durian ice-cream and then retired to Gloria Jean's to share some cake.

Air!

The office air-con has been literally on the blink most of this week. After 20 min or so it stops and the light blinks. I start to feel stuffy and sleepy and get up and push the button to get air out of it again. If we had windows it would be so much easier. It's even the right temperature outside and everything. All that autumnal freshness going to waste.

Things that are not actually useful #1

Soy sauce fishes. I don't make my own sushi. What else are they good for? Why do I keep them?

KESC 27: Red Hat

We're trying again, this Friday at 6.30.

Job hunting and dating

I think I understand why it's hard for some guys to ask girls out. It's a lot like applying for a job. You send the company your resume and cover letter. You sell yourself and put yourself out there. Only you don't know if they're going to like you or reject you. It can be tough, but you've got to do it if you want the job. You've got to be in it to win it. You've got to be tough enough to handle rejection and move on.

Amen and Shared Amen.

I'm a bit weirded out by the lack of Amening in my new bible study. I'm used to group prayer times where you pray, say Amen, and others say Amen like an echo. The Shared Amen says "yes, I am with you in that prayer." Without the Shared Amen, I pray, say Amen, and feel like the other group members have been listening respectfully but may or may not be with me. It's just taking turns to pray, not group praying.

I guess maybe it's different depending on culture and shyness and habit. Praying in front of people is pretty nervous stuff. But I think the more Amen love the better. I'm a recent fan of the Mmm mid-prayer, as well. When you pray for something, and someone agrees so much that they can't wait till the end so they need to add a "Mmmm" while you pray, it's very encouraging.

Moneysmart plug

There is a new government website, I saw on TV last night, to inform consumers. It is a confusing world. I know I dread buying phone credit and comparing plans.

In my family I was the spender, but frugality was beaten into me with meager allowances ($1 a week from which I had to put half in the bank and give 10% to church so that only left 40cents to actually spend) followed by meagre fast food pay rates, and family jokes about my spending habits ("fashion victim", which I wasn't). As a result, I am now pretty frugal. Pay cheap rent, don't get a credit card debt, shop the sale racks, never update technology, avoid takeaways… it's hardwired into me now. I have confess I do need to fight to be generous, because it's easy to feed your frugality with greed.

Anyway, I've never been disciplined with actual budgeting, cos it's so fiddly. I did once force myself to live off $400 per month (by instantly transferring out my rent, saving and giving). It didn't last very long. But it was nice in a way.

Moneysmart.gov.au has an excellent excel budget. I like that you can put your different expenses in weekly/monthly/quarterly/annually. Rent is monthly, haircuts are quarterly, don't make me do maths! It's all done for me. I also like that you can see instantly how much something costs over a year. Like eating out once a fortnight or so: the annual total is significant. Good thing we eat in Kingsford! So at least I have a budget to work off now. If I can follow it that would be nice.

Actually—what would be nice would be if you could divide your bank account into dozens of sub-sections, flow your pay into them in designated amounts, and then when you get money out or use your card you choose which pool it comes from: entertainment, clothes, medical, travel etc. When your clothes pool is empty, no more clothes. If you have any left over let it accumulate, or if really good designate another pool to switch it into like holiday saving or appeal giving. I shall write to a bank about that.

Plug for Julia Booth.

Our friend Julia is having some "gigs". Her last show was lovely fun, she played her own contemporary Christian music plus a pop set, with her band of boys. The next concerts will be even better cos she's rounded up a bit of a string section and written some new songs. Should be a fun, relaxed night of live music.

Upper Chapter House, St Andrews Cathedral
7.30pm on 15/16th April
$25

Stages of loss.

1) You see your camera lying around somewhere and think "I'll take that with me on the weekend".
2) The next day you pack for the weekend, and it's apparently not lying around somewhere.
3) You spend a few days waiting for it to turn up, because maybe it's lying around somewhere under something or behind some stuff.
4) You start randomly looking under stuff on obvious horizontal surfaces where things might lie around.
5) By this point it is the next weekend. You tidy up significantly, because if it is lying around it won't escape exposure if you tidy up all the way down to the surface of the furniture.

It's still lost, so I'm currently at this stage. My plan going forward is:

6) You wait a few more days or a week, because you need to build up strength and give it another chance to be found accidentally.
7) You look behind heavy furniture.

You buy a replacement. Lucky always buy cheapest camera.