The Squishy Armchair

Happy Holidays

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:25:01 GMT

Hi.

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year. And a Happy Birthday to Stu.

It's already New Year's Eve here and disturbingly hot. It's supposed to get around 34oC (apparently that's like 93oF) today or close to it. I love the heat. It's almost midday so I shouldn't go swimming but I think I will anyway; it's too hot not to, and my swimsuit was bought specifically because it covered most of my potential-to-turn-into-melanoma spots.

Anyway, have a safe and happy new year everyone.
♥
Amy
(FG)

Dream for an Insomniac

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:45:34 GMT

I haven't been sleeping. At all.

I avoid caffeine after 5pm, go to bed early etc. then spend 9+ hours just lying there, unable to turn my brain off. Nothing I do works and for weeks now, I've been turning my alarm clock off a half second before it start making noise, because I notice the moment it lights up. I get out of bed exhausted every morning.

It's starting to drive me batty. My work life is now just me constantly telling children that they can't do something. And granted, every word said is the truth, they are breaking the rules, but I just feel like I'm nit-picking too much. Part of me is sure the kids are getting ruder (and other staff members seem to think so too) but the other half of me just thinks I've turned into the Gromble.

There are some serious issues going on at work at the moment and I'm not sure that they're being delt with properly. My boss has confided to me that she routinely hates her job and just wants to walk out of the building and not come back. And I understand that she has a stressful job with too many demands on her and ridiculous hours and that she's been giving up way too many of her shifts to other staff just so that everyone else gets a decent amount of hours in the week. Problem is that there are some things that only she has the authority to deal with and she's never around to do them anymore. She comes in during the day and does all the office stuff then gives up her contact hours. She needs to be there for the contact hours.

There is a staff meeting next week and hopefully some of the stuff will get sorted out then (like half the staff members having no idea what is required of them and not knowing the rules or how to enforce them - yet another reason why I'm always pulling kids up on their behaviour).

My mum just keeps telling me that I need a new job but I want to go to uni next year and this is the perfect job for that. So long as things at work get sorted out it should all be good. But I still have to sort out my uni application. I did have a fair idea of what I wanted to do until my sister told me that it was a stupid plan and gave me reasons for her opinion. I know she would do that no matter what I chose to do. It's just her way; she thinks she's helping. But the reasons did make sense and now I'm second guessing myself.

I don't know. All in all, I would love to study creative writing but I doubt there would be job opportunities at the end of it. I can't make a living as a writer, not unless I become an international best-seller which is, realistically, fairly impossible. I suck at anything with chapters. I've taken career advice tests but they come up with things like comic book artist and animator and I just don't have the artistic talent for that sort of thing, no matter how cool it sounds.

Urgh, I just don't know anything anymore. I need sleep. I need to sort everything out, make it work and I NEED SLEEP.

(sorry, I never seem to have cheerful things to post anymore. :-s)

Tra Lala Lalah~

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:16:39 GMT

So, a random update.

I went to Quill Chat this morning. It's been a while, I'd forgotten how fun it is. Ronka finished her Ballad in 87 parts. I was quite excited for her by the last stanza. Since then I've done the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed, mopped and made lunch and with all that time to think, I still can't come up with a better word than epic to descibe it. With the writing and all, you'd think I'd be able to come up with more words than that. Yet, it shall, forever more, remain as epic in my mind.

Random topic change:

The weather here is insane. Last week I was freezing my backside off and getting windburn. It was raining enough to push the dam levels above 40% for the first time in years and every one was going on about it really being winter. But, this week is warm and sunny and reminds me of early summmer (when it's warm but you can still wear jeans). It's weird. Seriously, this is the view from my back veranda at 3.30 in the afternoon:

Doesn't look cold does it?

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to say. Oh well.
Toodle-pip 'til next time. :)

Well Hi There and Hello :D

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:09:01 GMT

So not only was I tagged, but it happened to coincide with me actually logging on to notice said tagging. So here follows the meme thing that

stubefied_by_gd tagged me for:
The rules of the meme...
A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

~~B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz.~~I won't tag anyone else because everyone's probably done it already. But if someone hasn't and they want to, feel free to say I tagged you. :p

1. How has LJ changed your life?

It’s changed the way I interact with people. Before I was still a homebody but I was one that had almost no interaction with anyone other than those I lived with. These days I have friends all over the world, none of whom make me uncomfortable by expecting me to go out and hang with them and their dubious friends.

It’s also increased my writing abilites. Without the internet and LJ, I never would have found an anonymous way to put my writing out there and get honest and informed critiques in return.

2. What do you do before bedtime?
Wash out my latest tea cup, brush my teeth, and desperately try to get my cat off the lounge chair and into my room without being swiped at. I can’t get to sleep without her eight kilos of warm snuggled up against me.

3. Do you have a dream wedding planned in your head?

Ah, no. If it ever happens, I simply hope it will be with the right person and executed with as little fuss and expense as possible. I also hope no one complains about my choices of music for the reception, but if its my wedding then I’m picking the music and everyone else’s opinions be damned! :p

4. What is the location of your dreams and why?

Litterally, my mind’s eye has always shown me an image of myself in this one particular piece of countryside. I don’t know if it’s Ireland or Scotland but it has big, green, lush, rolling hills and it feels like home and tugs at me from the very core of my being. I’ll get there one day.

5. Are you an introvert or extrovert?

Introvert. To the extreme. Though I have a lot to say and once I’m comfortable with a person, I will talk with them rather excessively. I always condisered myself to be a very quiet and reserved person but one of my co-workers casually mentioned that she thought I was very chatty and friendly, so it possibly depends on my environment. I’m very much in control in my workplace and therefore am more of an extrovert when at work.

6. Do you trust easily?

No. I tend to question the motivations behind the actions and words of people in my life, even when they give me no reason to distrust them. Though, I am likely to trust more easily if the person in question is physically or psychologically weaker or smaller than I am. I suppose that’s because I feel more capable of dealing with/ recovering from the actions of untrustworthy people if I consider myself to be stronger than them in some way.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?

I’m a little bit sick lately (‘tis that time of year) and work is stressing me out lately. Or rather, I should say, my mother is pressuring me to find a new job, which is causing me stress.

Is it just me or does this question sound like “Is there anything you would like to whinge about?”

8. Is being tagged fun?

Yes, I should think so. I haven’t posted on this LJ in ages, I like finding an excuse to do so.

9. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?

Well, it’s not really a song but the background music from Super Mario Brothers. One of the children was playing Mario on his DS at the breakfast table this morning. (Yes, my work serves breakfast to the children in the mornings. Yay - I get free second breakfast during morning shifts :p)

10. What is your best quality?

I look after people. I can’t really help it. Friends, children, animals, random strangers - if they need something, I will help them however I can. They seem to instictively know this too. I am liked almost instantly by most people. (To be honest, I kinda dislike this quality. I’d prefer that someone get to know me before deciding to like me. Being the nice girl who always cares is hard to live up to, especially when people try to take advantage of it.)

11. "If [you] had a million dollars" -- what would you do?

Fix up my parents finacially. Help my sister out, though not too much; she tends to expect people to give her everything she needs without ever learning to work for it. I want her to be able to learn to support herself. I’d travel all over the UK and possibly parts of Asia, definitely New Zealand and Central Australia. And since I would be financially stable, I could open my own business without having to worry about my first three year’s profits not meeting up to cover the initial outlay. The rest of the money would likely go to charity or into a trust fund of some sort.

12. What's better to give or to receive?

Definitly to give. I hate receiving things from people, even when I’ve given them something in return. I’ve always been uncomfortable with people doing things for me – Hell, I get embarrassed when cars stop for me when I’m at a road crossing (yes, I know that it’s illogical).

But I love giving people things, especially if it’s something that I made specifically for them. I like letting people know that someone has thought about them and wanted to make them happy.

Now that I’ve answered that, I can see I read it wrong. I read it as “What’s better: to give or receive?”. So in aswer to the actual question in bold:for giving – anything I thought properly about and made myself. For receiving – Hugs.

13. What were your parents going to name you if you'd been born the opposite gender?

Thomas James < insert surname here >

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

Stu is … Well lets see here: She’s inspiring and motivating when it comes to my writing, she’s kind and, though it seems like an awkward word to use, I want to say wholesome. I like the way she sees the world and the way she recognises the wonders of children simply being children.

So I would say Stu is a good person – though the title seems to broad to really capture who she is.

15. What’s your favorite household appliance?

Does my laptop count as a household appliance? If not then I choose the toaster. Toast is the best snack at any time of day (mmm…vegemite toast ^_^) and the toaster warms up my constantly frozen fingers on cold winter mornings.

16. What websites do you visit daily?

My other LJ

Hotmail

The news site that comes up when I close hotmail

And my weekly visits to YouTube to watch the latest installments in my animes.

17. What colour are Charlie Weasley’s eyes?

They are a light brown that glow with an amber twinge when the light hits them. Physically, Charlie is described as quite similar to my dad (but with many more muscles and scars) so it stands to reason that he has my dad’s eyes.

18. Name a book character you’ve crushed on.

Owen Brockwell. He was a minor character but oh how I loved to fill in the blanks that were left out of the books.

19. What do you like for breakfast?
Two pieces of multi-grain toast (smooth peanut butter or vegemite) and a cup of Tea (apple juice in summer).

20. How many questions did you change? Come on ‘fess up.

None. I saw no reason to change anything. (Though I did change the spelling of color to colour on question 17. Sorry, but I don’t believe in American spelling.)

A Decade of Changes

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:07:16 GMT

Hey,
I thought this was interesting when author_by_night did it, so now I'm doing it too.

The "ten years ago" meme.
1) How old were you?
THEN: 13
NOW : 23

2) Where did you go to school?
THEN: Second year (grade 9) of High School at an all girls catholic school. I fought so hard to go to a 'normal' school but no one listened and the decision turned around to bite them on the bum.
NOW : I don’t go to school but I work in one – does that count?

3) Where did you work?
THEN: Um, I didn’t have an official job but at 13 I used to rush home from school to give 'DL' her bottle. She was one of the newborn twins that my mother looked after. I took sole responsibility for her for every moment that I wasn’t in school. I skipped a lot of school to help mum with the kids too. She’s in grade 6 now.
NOW : At an O.S.H. (Outside School Hours) Club in a public school. It’s crazy, it’s noisy and I don’t get enough hours but I love it anyway.

4) Where did you live?
THEN: Capital of ‘The Sunshine State’ – the origin of the world largest skin cancer to populace ratio.
NOW: Still here.

6) Did you wear braces?
THEN: No.
NOW : No.

7) Did you wear contacts?
THEN: No.
NOW : No.

8) Did you wear glasses?
THEN: Yeah, for reading. I had a focus problem so it took too long for me to adjust from looking up at the board to looking down at my book and vice versa. Mum made me do exercises for it every day and by the end of the year I didn’t need glasses anymore.
NOW : No.

9) Who was your best friend?
THEN: I thought it was ‘P’ but in hindsight, it was definitely ‘K’. (nothing against 'P', I just talked a lot more with 'K')
NOW : I still have basically the same group of friends but I’m not really close with any of them. I’m a loner.

10) Which of your pets are still alive?
THEN: At 13 my dog was around six years old (she died at 12). She was a black American Water Spaniel named Ebony. At the time, I also had a pet rat named Sugar – because she was white (albino, actually), sweet, & my life revolved around her. She died of cancer when she was 3y/o.
NOW: My cat is my only pet. She’s 8 now.

11) Who was your boyfriend/girlfriend?
THEN: Didn’t date anyone, though that was the first year I ever went to an inter-school dance, where I learnt that the guys from our ‘brother school’ might say the words “Can I dance with you?” but actually meant “May I grope you?”.
NOW : Still don’t date (gee I wonder why).

12) Who was your celebrity crush?
THEN: At the time, everyone was obsessed with Hanson and all of my friends liked Taylor. I was slightly younger than my friends and didn’t like ‘jumping on the bandwagon’, so I decided to be different and developed a crush on Zac Hanson. Can’t say I ever really liked any of the Hanson guys but, hey, at least I could follow the conversations at lunch time.
NOW : I don’t find celebrities ‘crush-able’ at all. I get crushes on book characters occasionally, but not celebrities.

13) Who was your regular-person crush?
THEN: A guy from the train station. I never knew his name or spoke to him, never even looked at him for more than a few seconds at a time, but his hair looked really soft and I really wanted to touch it.
NOW : I guess it would be an ex-coworker of mine. He got a new job at the beginning of the year but he comes back during the school holidays. He’s a really nice, nerdy guy and he’s great with the kids but really quiet. He’s far too tall and he looks kinda weird but he’s possibly the only guy I’ve ever actually met/known that I’ve considered dating.

14) How many piercings did you have?
THEN: Four.
NOW : Four, but I’d like another three.

15) How many tattoos did you have?
THEN: None, but I’d always planned to get one.
NOW : None, but I still want one.

16) What was your favorite band/singer?
THEN: Publicly: Hanson, Privately: The Corrs
NOW : I guess it would be Michael Bublé, though I don’t much listen to music.

17) Had you smoked cigarettes?
THEN: No, the whole idea of it was illogical. Most of my friends smoked and all of them tried it, but if I had tried a cigarette I would have almost certainly died – I was a severe asthmatic as a child.
NOW : No, and I never will – unless I have a gun to my head or something like that.

18) Had you gotten drunk?
THEN: No, as a teenager I just wasn’t social enough or rebellious enough to try it.
NOW : No. My father is a severe alcoholic and I never want to end up like him. Besides, I never understood why, if it’s an acquired taste that’s obviously bad for you, would anyone bother acquiring it?

19) Had you DRIVEN?
THEN: I used to drive Dad’s work van around empty parking lots and I drove the FWD along the beach.
NOW : I only just got my learner’s license. I’ve had one driving lesson and it went really well. Looking forward to being able to drive myself around.

20) If so which car?
THEN: Work Van, and a Mistubishi Maverick (basically a Nissan Patrol that had been re-sold by Mitsubishi).
NOW : Some little hatchback thingy, and my Mum’s Mazda Astina.

21) Looking back, are you where you thought you would be in 2008?

Hell, no!! I always swore I would never work in childcare, and I thought I’d have my life all sorted out by the age of 18. When I was young, my family all expected me to grow up to be some sort of biker chick or some such thing. And granted that when most little girls were watching The Little Mermaid, A Little Princess and The Lion King, I was watching Cry Baby, Terminator 2 and Indiana Jones but I still think that was a slight mis-interpretation of my personality. Anyway, my expectations of myself were based on my parents expectations of me, so I expected to be a very rebellious/hard/independent kind of person and I’m a little shocked to find myself wearing skirts at every given opportunity, fussing over Diana Ferrari mary janes, and not just working with children, but with school aged ones (when I’ve always been more comfortable with the ones that still don’t know how to feed themselves).
This is definitely not what I expected.

Hi There

Sat, 24 May 2008 23:51:21 GMT

So I randomly thought I'd drop by and play on QuillChat but there's no one there.

Now I'm bored. :(

Nothing much has been happening in my life lately. Except for last week. Last week I got a mini promotion at work (where one of my new duties is ordering craft supplies and deciding what to do with them - WOOT), and I finally, at the age of 23, bothered to go and get my learner's license. So yeah, things are going well. I haven't been writing much. I can't seem to get into the groove of it and for some reason I got the idea in my head to write a book in a foreign language. Stupid? Yes. But I'm going to start teaching myself to read, write and speak Japanese despite how stupid it sounds. Actually I'm really looking forward to learning something new. I haven't had a real challenge in so long. It's kinda exciting. C-=

And now I think it's time for a cup of tea.

Toodle-pip m'dears
FG

Random Stuffs

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 21:12:20 GMT

Hello all :)

It's Easter Sunday here (very early in the a.m.). I'm now living at my Mummy's house. I moved on Friday. It's a little awkward with the Step-dad but it is much nicer here than it is at my Dad's house. Dad has drunken neighbours and a habit of leaving the front and back doors wide open all night. Mum has double locks, large fences, actual grass (and a pool and a pool table and the list goes on). And the trip to work now takes five minutes, instead of an hour to an hour and a half depending on time of day.

The set up in my room is really nice too. But that could be because half my stuff is still in boxes and not yet crammed into any available space I can find. There is this couch that Mum used to have in her room back at my childhood home (some five or so years ago) that is now in my room and sitting under the window. It's so pretty and the perfect back support for reading and embroidery. I used to call it the embroidery couch. Actually I still do, I just don't say it out loud.

What else to say: Ummmm, this is my Step-dad's net connection so I'll only use it when he's doing other things (don't want to step on any toes). I'm planning on getting my own wireless set up for my laptop but goodness knows how long that will take.

My asthma is playing up something fierce at the moment - I stirred up too much dust in the moving process. And of course all the doctors have taken the long weekend off. But that's okay. Tea will keep me breathing 'til Tuesday. It's just annoying. I'd forgotton what it was like to be tired just from breathing. It's dredging up a bunch of unpleasant childhood memories.

The kids at work have taken to calling me the nerd teacher again. I don't really mind this. But then one of them started holding up his hand Vulcan style and saying ' nannu nannu'. I laughed so hard at him. Then had to explain the difference between Star Trek and Mork and Mindy. I tried to get him to do the 'Live long and prosper.' bit but he wouldn't (too many words to remember). Instead he says 'Kapla!' which is Klingon for victory. Of course all his friends picked up on it and now I have a gaggle of eleven year old boys who yell Klingon words at me with Vulcan hand gestures every time they see me (even if they have to hang out of their classroom window and yell as I walk past - they got in so much trouble for that :p).

In other nerd news, I just put in an order at ThinkGeek. I got myself another Firefly-esque shirt and a pressie for my sister. Her birthday isn't until October but you can never get in too early with this stuff. Besides it's not like she'll see it in a local shop and buy it for herself. ThinkGeek stuff only really exists at ThinkGeek. Oh how I love them.

I suppose that's all for the moment. Hope y'all are having fun and enjoying your long weekends. I have to go and prepare for the sister (and her new, wonderful, making her life so much better, boyfriend) to come over for an easter bbq.

Toodle-pip,
FG

Hello

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:42:03 GMT

So I've been gone for a while now. Sorry. I didn't mean to just disappear. Mainly I got a virius on my comp that took me forever to fix but once it was fixed I still didn't come back. I guess I just got out of the habit.

I couldn't think of anything important to post so --> Memes!!

Kindness

Kindness is most important in a boyfriend/girlfriend. You want someone who will go through everything with you - the best moments and the worst, and all of those other moments in between. You love to be able to say anything to your partner, and have them say anything to you. You are able to be extremely close with your partner for that reason.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

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- December 30 -
You are fun to be with and have a good sense of humor. You are very ambitious and hate it when people try to bring you down. You are logical, social and loyal.
Positive Traits: charisma, wit, mimicry, writing ability, expressiveness
Negative Traits: self-centered, drama queen, lack of focus, dreaminess, laziness
'What does your Birthdate mean?' at QuizGalaxy.com

</div></div></center></div></div>
So, yeah. Also, feeling a little guilty about it (though, logically, I don't think I should be) but I have a whole new fandom and corresponding LJ these days. So, I'll drop by occasionally but I probably won't be here all that often.

I hope everyone's doing well.

Love
FG
(Amy)

Name Meme

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 06:29:38 GMT

A name meme found via Nundu_art.

My real name:

What Amy Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I don't know if I'm as aggressive as I used to be. This all seems just a little too strong for me but I am comfortably confident in most areas of my life.

My online name:

What Fiction Goddess Means

You are loving, compassionate, and ruled by your feelings.
You are able to be a foundation for other people... but you still know how to have fun.
Sometimes your emotions weigh you down, but you generally feel free from them.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.
You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.
A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are deeply philosophical and thoughtful. You tend to analyze every aspect of your life.
You are intuitive, brilliant, and quite introverted. You value your time alone.
Often times, you are grumpy with other people. You don't appreciate them trying to interfere in your affairs.

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.
You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.
People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Two things in this one:

1) "You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start." - Disturbingly true.

2) "You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak." - I love this. Weak people annoy me and if they try to get under my skin I do tend to set about destroying them. I haven't done that since high school though. I used to be quite a mean little thing. I have a lot more self restraint these days.

Yay for Kiwis

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 09:21:14 GMT

The Edinburgh Military Tattoo was on TV this afternoon. After hearing the introduction for the New Zealanders I had to go in a watch. So brilliant. Apparently they did this routine in 2006 - I found it on YouTube. The first couple of minutes are fairly routine but after that - so classic.

If you're wondering what the chant thing is that they do, it's called The Haaka. It's a traditional war chant thing that the Maori's use to intimidate their opponents by showing the fierceness/strength of their arms, legs, eyes and tongue. (I think the tongue part of it has to do with the cannibal history of the Maori, but I could be way off mark with that.)

I've only ever seen them do the Haaka on the football field before.

2007 Fandom Meme

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 12:35:48 GMT

Found via author_by_night. I didn't realise how affected I was by the anime world until this. (^_^)

First Fandom of 2007: Harry Potter?

Favourite Fandom of 2007: Harry Potter.

Favourite Main Character of 2007: Wolfram

Favourite Minor Character of 2007: Morinozuka Takashi

Favourite Villain of 2007: Too many to choose from

Favourite Het Couple of 2007: Ron/Hermione, Mori/Haruhi and Sakura/Syoran

Favourite Femmeslash Couple of 2007: None.

Favourite Slash Couple of 2007: Yuuram

Fandom That You Never Expected To Get Into: Any of the Anime ones

Fandom That Made An Unexpected Comeback: Fruits Basket

Fandom That Inspired The Most Crack: Ouran

New Fandoms of 2007: All the Anime ones (Ouran, KKM, DNAngel, Karin etc.)

Constant or Old fandoms that are new again: Harry Potter

Last Fandom of 2007: Harry Potter?

Many Happies ^_^

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 09:31:32 GMT

I have many happy things to report on today.

Firstly and most importantly:

Happy Birthday

stubefied_by_gd
Happy Birthday to Stu
Happy Birthday to Stu
Happy Birthday dear Stu-oooo
Happy Birthday to Stu

Second: I had an impromptu day out today. I got woken up from my nice big sleep in by a phone call from my mother telling me that they were on their way to see Enchanted at the movies and did I want to come. So I got to see a really adorable movie, went for a little shop where my mother and I both bought cup cake tins because our old ones have mysteriously disappeared. *sends a suspicious look in sister's direction* Cup cakes are a big thing in my family. My mother was three hours late meeting me yesterday because she randomly decided to make me cup cakes. They are our one and only secret family recipe.

Then we (Me, Mum, StepDad & 8yr old StepBrother) went back to their place to play card games. I didn't get home until 6.30pm and then mum and I sat in the car and had a big chat. I was really lovely.

Third: I just checked my emails and sorted out the latest seven of them. I wrote a story at FF.net that has been getting enough of a response that I made a folder for it in my emails. I am ending 2007 with 87 emails in that folder.

Fourth: It was my birthday yesterday and it wasn't at all disappointing. I went to quill chat early, had a good chat, then left to do the birthday thing with my dad. Then my mum was supposed to show up around lunch. After half an hour of waiting for her I jumped back on quill chat with the odd thought of maybe someone will be there. Lots of people were there so I had another big chat. (Happy birthday to Alkari for tomorrow)
Once my mum actually arrived we had a very pleasant afternoon with just me and my divorced parents. It was weird but so nice to have them both there with me and all to myself (my sister has moved back in to the place she had just moved out of). It may sound mean but I love that all of my friends are out of the country at the moment. I hate being obliged to do stuff that other people want to do on my birthday.

Fifth: I got a present from a new friend. Thank you for the balloons

busterde that was really nice of you. :)

Sixth: QUIET NEW YEARS!! I don't drink so New Years has never been a fun thing for me but this year everyone's going for a quiet night. The cyclone off the coast is bringing in winds big enough to cancel most of the fireworks shows and the ones that are still going ahead have been downgraded to smaller displays. So most people seem to be staying home or having drinks with friends instead of all partying out at South Bank and so forth. I might actually get to sleep tonight (which is a requirement because I'm going out tomorrow).

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. I'll talk to y'all in 2008 m'dears.

Oooh Such Fun!

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 09:31:55 GMT

So I followed a Google ad at the top of my LJ and found:

Whimsic Alley

I like it.

They have house prefect badges and all sorts of things. Proper looking robes with different linings depending on the house of your choice. And this bumper sticker:

They even have the hats.
^
/ \
_______
(^_^)

Hugs for Everyone

Mon, 24 Dec 2007 01:54:12 GMT

With a Ho Ho Ho,
and a Ha Ha Ha,
and a couple of Tra La Las,
That's how we dance Chrismas away,
in the merry old land of Aus!

(That's the closest I get to singing Christmas Carols :p)

It's Christmas Eve here so I thought I'd drop by and say:

Merry Christmas

to all. Have a really great time.

May you all feel loved and avoid family fueds.

Love and Christmassy Hugs from

Fiction Goddess

Mini Woot

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:42:28 GMT

I am offically on holidays as of an hour and a half ago. I can almost feel the stress seeping out of me. Annnnnnnd...

I found my watch!!!!

May I just say that the love for this watch is extreme. Of course it figures that I find in a place I had already looked in several times (just not from the right angle) and at the exact moment that I realised I wouldn't be needing it much for the next week. Murphy's Law.

Happy holidays to all.

^_^

Bah Humbug!

Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:12:15 GMT

I hate this week.

It doesn't feel like Christmas at all but I still have to spend all my spare time power walking from shop to shop, getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of viable presents for my family members. None of them told me what they wanted this year and without guidence it's really hard. My mother and sister are impossible to buy for. (Especially because my sister seemed really impressed with her last birthday and Christmas presents and I'm sure I'm going to fall short this time.)

A few other people I've talked to have mentioned that there's nothing decent in the shops this year so at least I know I'm not losing my mind. I spent my day off roaming all over the city looking for presents and by the end of it I still had nothing and I felt like sitting down and crying. I'm always grumpy on the first week of vacation care but to have all of my free time taken up with a fruitless task is just so annoying.

I do love Christmas. I'm not religious in the slightest, but I love having a holiday where I get to show the people who are important to me, that they are important. I consider the exchange of gifts to really mean something. It isn't a 'give a gift to get a gift' sort of thing with me. It's more like 'give a gift to show that that person is important to me and I wanted to make them happy' sort of thing. The problem is that I can't find anything to give them that says that. I hate the idea of buying random things for people just because it's expected of you. Especially if you know that it's something that they won't be terribly enthusiastic about.

Also: I made a new years resolution not to buy any gift cards this year and so far I've stuck to that. I'm so close. I really want to get them real presents, not gift cards. I want something that they can unwrap and be excited about. So far I've gotten each of them a little something but I still need to get each of them a special something. I'm starting to think that I'm made of fail.

Urgh!!! I just want it all to be over and not have to worry about it anymore.

Oh yeah, and I lost my watch as of last Friday. I want my watch back. I keep missing trains and buses because I'm relying on inaccurate wall clocks instead of my oh-so-trustworthy wristwatch.  I don't just want a new one either. I want my one. It was blue and it had 3D rainbows and clouds all over it. I love that watch. I miss that watch T.T

And so ends my rather depressing entry.

End of an Era

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:07:14 GMT

*sniff*

It was the last day of school today. It shouldn't be a big deal, I know. But I'm really going to miss some of the kids that are leaving. Annnnd, two grade six girls and one grade three boy had their last day today too. I didn't even know that they weren't coming back.

N, the grade three boy, has been permanently attached to my side for two years. When I first started working there, I worked nearly every shift and he was there for all of them. He arrives at 6.30 every morning and leaves around 6pm every night, even during holiday care. He practically lives at the OSH club. And he left with no warning at all.

And then there are the ones that just aren't coming on the holidays but I don't know if I'll see them again because I'm looking for a new job, so I probably won't be there by the time they get back. It's all just weird and sad and it kinda crept up on me. This week went by so fast.

On the plus side, tomorrow I get to go back to the town I was born in to visit my grandparents. I haven't been there in years. Not since my Grandma turned 80. They moved since then so it'll be weird to see them in a different house. They used to live on a small farm on a street that had the same name as their surname. They had a chicken coup, potato fields, and two giant rain water tanks. Mainly they just had a whole heap of space. And a HUGE back patio area. Oh, I just realised, Grandma's kitchen is going to be different. I really can't imagine her in any other kitchen. This is going to be weird.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my Grandparents. And my aunts and uncles. Maybe not so much the spending 6-7hours of the day in a car with my mum and new step-dad. Between the two of them there is the unnatural love (and inability to get enough of) Christmas carols and a love of Status Quo (and other bands like them). The radio situation is going to be torturous.

And then tomorrow night is a Christmas/ farewell party at my friend P's house which should be sufficiently draining. But hey, I get to see Duckie. I haven't seen her in two years (she went to the UK to work for a while). Should be interesting to meet the boyfriend that she bought back with her. They seem pretty serious and I get the feeling that there may be wedding bells in the next couple of years (by the time their visas stop them from staying in the same countries).

I'm going to be so tired by Sunday.

The Big Night In

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:54:28 GMT

I'm loving being home alone at the moment. I only had a morning shift at work today so I was free and let loose on the world by 9am.

I got some Christmas shopping done. Got some new shoes that are really cute. Turns out that the reason I was having trouble finding comfortable shoes was because I was trying on the wrong size. In high school I was a size 8. After high school, when I started buying designer shoes, I moved down to a size 7 1/2. Now, apparently, I'm a size 6 1/2. I'm shrinking. Or at least my feet are.

So some highly satisfying shopping done by lunch time. All necessary items and cheaper than I had expected. I got home, hung out, watched some more Tsubasa Chronicles (loving that anime), then I decided to test run my new shoes. I put them on, walked down the street and -> It's $1 Tuesday at the videos store. Three girly, weekly movies - $3. I haven't had a girly movie night in so long. And dancing during the end credits. I never do that when there's someone else in the house, but I am blessedly free of people at the moment. Ooh and Pringles for dinner. *hee*

BTW: Everyone should watch DOA. I know it's a few years old now and no one like hiring a movie that has Holly Valance on the cover, but it's really good. Lots of fight scenes, top athletes with cellulite (just to boost your esteem a little), fun storyline aaannndd a nerd with glasses called Weatherby (whom no one can remember the name of. They keep calling him Wallaby :p) - remind you of anyone?

Now I'm off to watch NCIS and Numbers, then, maybe a Disney movie before bed. (Thank goodness I'm not on an early shift tomorrow :D)

Just wanted to share my glee. I'm done now. Enjoy your days, my friends.

Oh Dear.

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 02:51:46 GMT

Urgh, the past couple of days have been exhausting. But it means money for my week off (yay for Christmas).

Not long back

author_by_night mentioned an article she found that said Sydney had banned Santa from using the term 'Ho ho ho'. Aparently they thought it would offend people because some Americans uses the term 'ho' in a derogatory fashion. Which seems stupid no matter which way you look at it. I didn't really think too much about it though because, well, it's Sydney. No one listens to Sydney.

But yesterday I had a bunch of kids come up to me for the following conversation:

Them: Miss Amy, did you hear about the woman at Myer?? (Myer is a department store)

Me: No. What about her?

Them: She got fired for saying 'Ho Ho Ho'. (Said with strangely gleeful expressions)

Me: Really? I heard they were going to ban that. Seems a stupid thing to get fired for though.

Them: Yeah. Did you know that ho means prostitute!? (really gleeful expressions)

Me: Only in America.

Them: COOL!! It really means prostitute!

And then they ran off to tell their friends that it had been confirmed. So the people who tried to ban it in fear of offending people who didn't know what it meant, are now responsible for informing an entire generation of children that there are insults that can be used to call fellow students prostitutes under the guise of 'Christmas Cheer' (something that has never been a problem before).

At least there's only one more week of the children going feral before summer hols start. Bring on the Vacation Care!

Out with the old kids, in with the new ones.

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 11:15:28 GMT

The summer holidays start in two weeks at my school and today a bunch of the grade seven students turned up with signature bears. You know, the bears made out of calico that everyone signs. So I was signing away on the bears of some of my favourite children and now I feel all sad. I'm really going to miss them.

No more over-excited, long-winded stories about runescape or zelda. No more running up to me on a Monday to ask if I watched the latest Dr. Who. No more interesting conversations about mythical creatures. No more parody songs about emos. No more decapitated Big Birds. And this is all just one child. To think about what I'll lose with the rest of them included is just painful.

I've been doing childcare since I was a child. I'm used to letting go. I know I'll be fine once they leave and I can focus on the other kids. But leading up to them going - I'm all sad! I like these kids. I just hope I don't cry. They'll lose all respect for me if I cry. Fan fics make me cry and tv ads make me cry. It's going to be so hard to stop the tears when I lose kids that I've been hanging out with for two years.

Also - D (the boy in the second paragraph) noticed my feet today. Now I know I have nifty feet and children have marveled over them many a time throughout my life. But D seems to think they are the niftyest things in the world. He gathered up a heap of his classmates to come over and look at my feet. This isn't all that weird but he now wants a photo of them, which is a little weird. I really don't want to let him photograph my feet. There's nothing wrong with it, it just seems odd. It's odd right?

In other news: I've been reading a lot of fics on the Quill lately - and reviewing. I never used to review but I've reviewed, like, ten in the past couple of days. I think it's because I'm happy. I've been having thoughts. Really good, interesting thoughts about something that I could do with my life that might actually make it more fun, and interesting, and financially stable. I like these thoughts. They're making me happy.
:D

Endings, and possibly a begining.

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:17:50 GMT

All of my hobbies are ending.

Turns out that volume 22 of Fruits Basket is the last one. It was a highly satisfying ending to a really lovely series but I wasn't ready for it to be over. It's making me think about all the other things that have ended. No more FB, or HP. I've watched a whole heap of anime on the internet but it only takes me a weekend to watch the whole series, which makes it less of a journey and easier to forget. There is no more La Corda D'oro, Chobits, Karin, or DNAngel, and there's only a few eps of Ouran left.

It used to be that I focused my hobbies on real books, not mangas. They lasted so much longer and I had a year or two to wait and ponder between installments. It was a journey with the author and it was more real to me. I seem to have lost that. I few years back a friend got me hooked on romance novels and it wiped my enjoyment of the usual fantasy books that I read. I have no interest in the romance novels but it took real effort to stop reading them. Now I can't really get into any new books. Harry Potter was the only one that really stayed with me. But that's gone now too.

I'm not leaving the fandom or anything. I still love HP and the fan fic. I'm just finding it harder to participate. I have ideas for fan fics but I can't get them to go anywhere. I need to find something new. A new author or the concentration to stick with an old author. Or maybe I need a project. I haven't done any real craft for a long time. So long a time that I can't even remember what my last project was.  I don't think I even listen to music anymore. Not really anyway.

I'm starting to think I'm losing the plot of my own life. I have no idea what I'm doing. I need to get a new 'something' to occupy my time, but I'm not actively looking for whatever it is. I need a new job too, but I haven't applied for anything. Not even the one that a friend of mine practically handed to me on a silver platter.

Basically, I need to get a new job and get myself a new challenge. I keep avoiding actually doing that, but hopefully, by putting this here, I'll feel like a failure if I don't do anything. This is part of my 'no backing out' scheme for myself. If people expect me to do something, then I'm more likely to be motivated into doing it.

Also, I want a record of Sarah. She's a character who peeked her head around one of the corners in my mind today. I don't know who she is yet. All I know is a little of what she looks like and that there is something, some sort of hurdle or blockage in her life, that she needs to get past - something to do with feathers, I think. I've never had a character come to me like that before. Especially not one with a name. Names are always the one of the hardest parts for me.

Now that I've written her down, I'll have this to look back on and add to the next time she peeks her head around that corner. I have to remember her, I get the feeling that she's going to be very important to me.

Pa-Chaaaa

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:31:16 GMT

I love Fruits Basket (I refer to my icon). I've been buying my mangas from Amazon and I had just gotten volume 18 and had pre-ordered vol. 19. But today I had lunch in the city with a friend and decided to drop by Borders while I was there. I haven't been to the city in ages so I hadn't bothered to check. They had up to vol. 22 in stock and translated to English!

I'm so amazingly happy right now. I've heard spoilers about 21 & 22 that make me so happy, but I wasn't expecting to get my hands on them until late next year.

Wheeeeeeee! I'm off to read my four new mangas!!!

Owari.

Gelatinous Vertebrae - And Cake

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 06:45:14 GMT

So, remember that child care centre that I worked at and hated?? Well, I worked there again today for a short shift and ended up accepting another full day shift tomorrow. Why? Well, because I have no backbone. That's why.

It wasn't so bad this time. The posters are still there but the grumpy attitude towards the children wasn't. I'm guessing that had something to do with one specific carer who was rather uptight and kinda mean. She was still there today but she was never in the same rooms as me, so I didn't have to deal with her and I noticed the other carers are much happier without her as well.

I still don't feel right in such a sterile environment and it is a horror to get there but the money's good, so I said yes to tomorrow's shift. I've had too many days off sick lately to turn down good money. I'm feeling mildly guilty that I don't intend on turning this into a proper arrangement though. I've noticed a few of the staff members treating me like 'the new girl' and I want turn around and yell 'I'm not staying, I'm just using you for the money!'. I am so not used to being selfish. I feel guilty about this.

And onto the topic of cake...

I am informed that today is j_forias' birthday. So...

Happy Birthday J!

I hope you have a great day and really good birthday cake :D

(Anyone else noticing the odd formatting that I have no control over? :-s It changed it's own font and it's doing weird things with the font sizes and alignments.)

I am a meme junkie.

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:14:10 GMT

I got this from

nundu_art but I think I screwed up the numbers at some point

1. What was the highlight of your day yesterday?
Dinner
2. Whose car were you in last?
Dad’s work truck – Drove to an empty carpark and played with a rc, palm sized airplane
3. When is the next time you are going to kiss someone?
No idea.
4. What color shirt are you wearing?
Dark grey
5. How long is your hair?
Just past my shoulders
6. Last movie you watched?
Hot Fuzz (while sitting in the new leather recliners)
7. Last thing you drank?
Dark, sweet, hot tea. Mmmmmm
8. Last thing you ate?
Corn chips
9. Where did you sleep last night?
In my bed, with my cat.
10. Are you happy right now?
I’m content. Happy comes with sugar consumption
11. What did you say last?

I’ll be on the computer.
12. Where is your phone?
House phone: on the desk in the office, Mobile: next to my pillow (doubles as an alarm clock)
13. What was the last museum you went to?
GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) on a day out with my friends – the Bruce Lee exhibit was really interesting.
14. What color are your eyes?
Dark brown
15. Who came over last?
My dad’s friend who took him out to buy new cushions for the new chairs in the lounge room.

16. When was the last time you had your heart broken?
*shrugs* I'm guessing in a past life.
17. Who/what do you hate/dislike currently?
I don’t really hate anything and the only person I truly dislike is my paternal grandmother. She done some major psychological damage to my family.
18. What are you listening to?
Dad’s got the tv on in the other room.
19. If you could have one thing right now what would it be?

A million dollar cheque would be nice.
20. What is the best smell?
My nose doesn’t really work but one of the few (pleasant) things I can smell is jasmine.
21. Who is always there when you need someone to talk to?
My sister.
22. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Reading fan fiction (couldn’t stop until past 1am, which is really late for me)
23. Are you left-handed?
Nope but my dad is.
24. What's for dinner tonight?
Hmmm, stir fry or spaghetti bolognaise. Haven’t decided yet.
25. When is your birthday?
On the second last day of the year.
26. Who was the last person to send you a text message?
My friend Jess.

THERE IS NO NUMBER 28.

Apparently I lost 27 too.

29. Where was the last place you went shopping?

Woolworths – the grocery store.

30. How do you feel about your hair right now?

Like it’s in my way.

31. Do you have any expensive jewelry?

Um, I have a pair of diamond stud earrings that my mum bought for me for a dance recital. She was way more into dancing than I was. And a sapphire ring that my parents gave me at my high school graduation. I never wear either.

32. AIM or MSN?

I use MSN (don’t know AIM)

33. Where does most of your family live?

Queensland, Australia

34. Are you an only child or do you have siblings?

I have one sister who is 14 months my senior.

35. Would you consider yourself to be spoiled?

I don’t think I want for much but no, I’m not spoiled.

36. what was the first thing you thought when you woke up?

Yay, Quill chat today.

37. Do you drink beer?

I don’t drink alcohol.

38. Myspace or Facebook?

If I have to, Facebook, but preferably neither.

39. What is/was your favorite subject in school?

Ancient History

40. What type of boy/girl do you usually fall for?

Fictional guys.

41. Do you have any hidden talents?

Um, I can turn my tongue upside down - Does that count?

42. Have you ever been in a wedding?

Nope.

43. Do you have any children?

Nope.

44. Did you take a nap today?

Nope.

45. Ever met someone famous?

Um, I don’t think so.

46. Do you want to be famous one day?

Definitely not. I’d like to get published maybe, but I’ll do that under a different name so no one knows it’s me. :p

47. Are you multitasking right now?

Nope.

48. Could you handle being in the military?

Oh, hell no!!!!

49. What is your average cell phone bill?

My phone runs on credit. $50 will last me two or three months – I think it expires after that.

50. Do you believe in karma?

Sort of. Yeah, I guess so.

51. Been to Las Vegas?

Nope. Wrong hemisphere.

52. What are you doing today?

Um today I did the laundry, went on Quill chat, read some fanfiction, did some writing and watched the first four episodes of Kid Nation at Stubefied’s recommendation. I’ve yet to make dinner and finish my writing (hopefully).

53. Have you ever been gambling?

Um Scratch-its and a two dollar bet on Melbourne Cup Day is as much as I bother with.

54. Have you been to New York City?

Nope. Wrong hemisphere.

55. Have you ever been to Disney Land/World?

Nope. Wrong hemisphere.

56. Do you have a favorite cartoon character?

Not really, no.

57. Last thing you cooked?

Last night’s dinner: T-bone steaks with pommes and veg.

58. Stupidest thing you’ve ever done with your cell phone?

Gave the number to my work.

59. Last time you were sick?

I had a head cold last Wednesday/Thursday.

60. Random fact about you?

The first thing the doctor said to my mother after I was born was “You do realize, she’s deformed?”, which wasn’t really true. He was just grumpy at her for not getting an abortion when he had informed her how likely it was that there would be complications with me. I turned out with nothing wrong other than a couple of webbed toes (the supposed deformity) that I inherited from my paternal grandfather and my maternal great grandmother. This is only one of many reasons why I don’t trust doctors.

The end.
:)

How to get away with tax evasion.

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 06:47:32 GMT

I was in a silly mood from having attempted to write a humourous story that ended up not wanting to be written. So, I decided to look up silly things instead and I remembered my sis talking about a thing on micronations that was in the paper a few weeks back.

Here is a list of a few of them.

I have decided that I love micronations. I want one. I could be a queen and pay tax to myself instead of Little Johny Howard. Apparently there is a guy in the UK somewhere who declared his caravan as a nation and now makes a living selling knighthoods to tourists. How could you not love that?

Oooh and the children at work: they could be my minions!! I've always wanted minions.

Queen Fiction Goddess of the Squishy Armchair Empire. Wait, can you be a queen if it's an empire or do I have to be an empress? Hmm, this may require more thought.

:P