Sunday, October 29, 2006

I'm going to a wedding!

Two lovely friends of mine are getting married this coming weekend, in Brisvegas. I am quite looking forward to going up north and seeing all the people in that friendship group and getting myself a little tipsy at the reception. I'll be using the opportunity to catch up with a number of lovely people. VE of the 'vagina hot chocolate' fame. EE and ME, newly married couple. MB, who I haven't seen since last Xmas and am dying to catch up with. I'm also having dinner with the boy's Dad and girlfriend (the Dad's girlfriend, not my boy's, that would be weird). I'm a little bit scared of the boy's Dad, so lord knows why I decided it would be a good idea to have dinner together. I'm hoping we can discuss motorbikes and dogs, and not academia and science. I've got a few instructions from the boy about subject areas to avoid. His motorbike, marriage, his PhD. I think we'll be safe. I think if I need to feign illness, I am quite capable of doing so.
I don't have a wedding present, as my presence is their present (as it even says on the invite). But I will be giving the bride her 'red toe socks'. Part of the collection. I hope she likes them, they look like this:
RU socks

EE will also get her socks, and MB. They are the following pairs:
EE socks
DSCN2208
I'll leave you with something I saw at a craft shop yesterday. It disturbed me, but then I have a dirty mind.
my dad is bigger
Maybe it's something specific that kids in Canberra say to their friends? I just don't know.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

a comedy of errors

I had my scooter accident about 6 and a bit months ago. My scooter went in for repairs a total of 3 times, the final time being today. I am hoping when I get there this afternoon that there will be a scooter that is fixed for me. I really do hope that. Here is some of damage that was done in the accident:
headlight damagebrake lever damage
There was some other stuff done to the foot rest area and the mudguard, but I haven't uploaded those photos to flickr yet. Anywho, I took the scooter in about 3 weeks ago now to get it all fixed. YAY! Unfortunately, the company had sent the wrong colour parts, doh! Fortunately, they were couriering (is that a word?) the correct parts over and I could pick up my scooter in a couple of days time. Unfortunately, the courier was late and it didn't get done. so, last week I took the scooter in again, everything except the mudguard got replaced. Unfortunately, the company had sent the wrong model mud guard. Today, my scooter is getting a new mudguard that is the right colour and then all will be fixed and well. I'm almost sure of it.
In other news, I have managed to get myself sunburned on two consecutive Sundays. Two Sundays ago it was my head while dancing at the Kingston Markets. This Sunday it was while I was walking up Mount Pleasant. I took a photo of the 'mountain' from the other side of the lake, the day of the scalp burning incident:
view to mount pleasant
That's the carillion (spelling?) on the right there. It's some kind of bell tower thing. I think.
Here is the view from the top of that hill:
view from mount pleasant
You can see the following in this photo: the captain cook memorial jet, black mountain telstra tower, the monument given to us from the US, and right at the back, the museum. It was, as you can see, a very clear and sunny day, I should have been wearing sunscreen. This Sunday I will definitely not get burnt, I'm almost sure of it.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

one day I will be more sensible

One day I will be more sensible and not tell my aunt about anything personal of mine, like this blog, or photos I have online that anyone can see. Then I won't have to deal with the comments that come from a woman with evidently too much time on her hands and a sometimes nasty mind. With great respect Matriarch, I'd rather you didn't try and be 'amusing' at my expense.
In other news, I am in the lab on a Sunday, trying to get some useful work done.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

thoughts from the head of me

My mind was blown yesterday. I was buzzing like a very large buzzing thing, and not just because I'd had too much caffeine. I went and saw David Suzuki talk about his life. He's in Australia promoting his autobiography. It was a fabulous talk that was far too short, despite being 1.5hours long. I could go on and on about it, but time constraints mean that I can only tell you a few things about it.
-I got Dr Suzuki to sign a copy of my 'an intoduction to genetic analysis' textbook. It was my textbook for my second year genetics course. The first time I'd managed to score a H1 (first class honours) grade during my undergraduate years. We briefly discussed my PhD topic!
-I found out that long distance relationships where the female partner moves away to study do work.
-I'm totally inspired now to do my bit for the world. Not that I wasn't trying already, but it was just inspirational to hear him talk about all the things that had happened in his life to do with conservation. So inspired.


In other news, I was shopping in the local mall recently. I was thinking about getting some makeup or something similar to aid my appearance at a friend's upcoming wedding. I'm not much of a girly girl and rarely wear the stuff. While wandering through the cosmetics section of Kmart (yes, I'm the last of the big time spenders), I saw the concealers. It reminded me of when I was 12 or 13. I went with a friend to Greensborough Plaza. I wanted to get some lipstick. She got something pink, I wanted something 'natural'. With my absolute lack of makeup knowledge, I ended up buying concealer. The stuff you are supposed to cover zits with. We went to the ladies to try on our purchases. I can only imagine what the other women using the facilities must have thought of me, trying on my 'lipstick'. No wonder I've never really gotten into the whole makeup thing, it's too confusing. I think I'll rely on my small collection of makeup items to beautify myself at the wedding. It's all too much effort. I may not even bother. 2 weeks to go today until I leave for Brisvegas. Wish me fun and no sunburn.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

oh dear god

this is a better version than the one I heard on news.com.au this morning. But not much. They scare me and that's 4 mins of my life I'm never getting back. Update: here is the news.com.au version, ouch!

I now know how to get rid of telemarketers

My aunt regularly sends me links to various things she has found amusing. She sent one such thing this morning. how to get rid of telemarketers