Impervious

Today I am impervious.

Impervious to the sounds of the seven-thirty-pm-and-it's-almost-bedtime screaming of the toddlers in the flat two above mine; but not impervious to their hilarious chatter as they made their three-minute walk down the stairs this morning.  

Impervious to a Sydney colleague who (ever since I pushed back on his attempt to offload some of his workload on to our team) sent me a very rude email in which he tried to bait me into fighting with him over a truly trivial matter.

Impervious to the guy in the flat above mine as he washed his balcony (something he does at least three times a week), in which bucket loads of dirty water are sent cascading down onto my balcony, covering my BBQ and Kitty Lucy.  (The fact I've bought covers for them now has helped with being impervious.)

Impervious to the realisation that a get-together I'd scheduled weeks ago with a friend has not been postponed because she's got to work (like she claimed when she cancelled), but because she got a better offer from someone else. (Hey, if I'm not a priority in someone's life, I refuse to get all anxious about it any more.)

Impervious to the scales who informed me that my diet isn't going quite as well as I'd hoped.

Impervious to the lack of communication from a particular organisation on a particular matter which will affect so many things over the coming months... more to come on that topic at a later date.

So...

How are you today?

In MY world, that's what they're for.

Today I went on a mission to find some new work clothes. 

I'm about to go on tour for a few weeks with a couple of bands whose (male) members are quite well known for their love of (amongst the usual things like sex, drugs & rock'n'roll) spandex, platforms and makeup; and my current work wardrobe is getting a little threadbare.  The only work skirts I own are quite tight (I've gained a little weight) and are bordering on the short side.  Given I'm in charge of running the meet and greet for one of the bands (whose reputation for the ladies is, ummmm, a little... shall we say, legendary), I want to present a reasonably professional image.  I'll let their (female) fans take the dressed-to-score-impress route.  I just want to fade demurely into the background on this one.

Anyway. 

A plain black skirt.  Preferably cotton, knee-length, maybe with pockets.  Shouldn't be too difficult to find, right?

Right?

Wrong.

Fifteen stores later and I realise how very wrong I am.  

Not even Gap, my old standby for work clothes back in my US and UK days, yielded any joy.  On a side note, it drives me mental that we only have Gap here in Australia.  I'm gagging for them to open a Banana Republic and an Old Navy.  I'd never shop anywhere else but those three stores if they did.  

But I digress.  Despite Gap being disappointingly lacking in skirts in general, I did manage to stock up on tanks and tees.  I highly recommend Gap for tank tops and t-shirts. They're 100% cotton, excellent quality and come in a range of colours and styles.  I also stocked up on several pairs on men's cotton boxer shorts.  This is where I (apparently) caused a stir.  

I was dithering over sizes (see previous admission that I've gained a little weight) when a sales assistant jumped in and told me that I could "return them if they weren't the right size for my boyfriend".  My reply of "no - they're for me... I wear them to bed" was met with a reaction not dissimilar to this:

Now, let me explain.  I'm not a lacy nightie kinda gal.  Never have been.  Once I graduated from the "grandma-bought-me-new-pyjamas-for-my-birthday" stage, I usually just slept in old oversize t-shirts belonging to my brother or dad (both of whom were considerably taller and bigger than me).  I've always been quite low-maintenance in that regard.  I mean, I was a teenager.  I slept alone.  Who the hell (besides my family and the occasional bestie who came for a sleep-over) was going to see what I wore to bed?

Then I hit my twenties.  The first time I stayed over at my (then) boyfriend's place, I decided I needed something to wear the next morning while he made me breakfast, in case his flatmates wandered into the kitchen.  (I barely knew them, I didn't want them getting that good a look at me and the dress from the night before was going to scream "trashy-walk-of-shame-type-girl".)  A search through the boyfriend's rather meagre wardrobe revealed very few oversized t-shirts (we were of a similar size... that is, he was a short, scrawny kinda guy, so his t-shirts barely covered my ass), but he did happen to have a drawer full of cotton boxer shorts.  I borrowed a pair, grabbed a t-shirt, discovered what a comfy outfit it was and have worn boxers and old, [insert-name-of-favourite-band]-neck-and-sleeves-cut-off t-shirts to bed ever since.  When I'm not sleeping naked of course.

Incidentally, I've found that most of my boyfriends have found this quite the turn-on.  Only one has ever bought me a lacy, skimpy, Victoria's Secret-style nightie to wear and it not only looked terrible on me, but was really uncomfortable to sleep in, so I ditched it. And him.

Now usually, when I'm in need of a new pair of boxers, I nick them from whichever man I'm dating at the time, but since I: (a) haven't dated in a while; and (b) haven't dated a guy who wears cotton boxer shorts for even longer, I've been forced into actually purchasing them myself.  Hence the incident at Gap.  

You see, Gap boxer shorts are of a highly superior quality.  This I have ascertained over the years.  They're my preferred brand.  So, if I'm going to buy them, I'll go to Gap.  This was never an issue in the US and the UK - they're totally across my theory.  However, the Australian Gap sales assistants are seemingly ignorant of the fact that their men's cotton boxer shorts make excellent sleepwear for the ladies.  

Not any more.

At least not for cashier #5771 at Gap Melbourne Central.  No. She adopted my suggestion of men's-boxers-as-female-sleep-attire so enthusiastically that I'm pretty sure she's going to re-style several of the mannequins to illustrate her point.  She pointed out the concept no less than three times to her colleagues and other customers while I was still in the store... I shudder to think how many people she told once I'd walked out.  I'd even hazard a guess that she took a few pairs home for herself to test out my theory that you really cannot get anything more comfortable to sleep in. 

I'm glad I inspired someone today, even if was only on something as trivial as sleepwear. 

Now, if only a designer could inspire me with a decent skirt.

Auspicious... Not

Hmmmm.

Scrolling through my final post for 2012 and my eye caught this:

"Will also set a goal for 52 blog posts in 2013.  That's one a week.  Surely that's manageable."

Christ.

I haven't done terribly well so far, have I?  It's halfway through February and this is my first post.

Ah well.

I am keeping up with my One Line A Day.  Tales From the Ticketing World is on hiatus, due to some rumblings from some anonymous staff members of a certain arts organisation. I feel like I'm back in grade school with their pathetic "we're gonna tell on you to your company because we think your blog is unprofessional" threats.  I'm so glad I only have to deal with them for another few weeks.

I really have very little enthusiasm for writing at the moment. I actually have very little enthusiasm for anything at the moment, period.  I thought I had an exciting new job all lined up, but that's been put on hold.  Bureaucracy at work again.  It may still happen and I need to have patience, but my god, it's difficult. My current job is changing, and not in a way I'm particularly pleased with or that I feel I have any control over.  I feel like a glorified administrator in an organisation which doesn't reflect my morals or ideals.    I want to be doing work that's important and which will benefit people.  What I do right now benefits no one, including myself. 

What I hate most at the moment though, is the way that I feel unable to truly express myself, especially through this blog.  I feel like I'm being spied on by the same people who threatened my other blog.  And hey, if I am right and you are reading this?  Fuck off and get a life.  What did I ever do to you?  If I did do something to piss you off, then grow a pair, man up and tell me to my face.  Let's duke it out and resolve it.

Anyway.  That's not a terribly positive blog post to kick off the year... apologies to my regular (read: lovely) readers.  I'll try and come up with something a little more perky for my second post.

For now, I just wanted to drop by and say hello.

*waves*

*winks*

*hits the save button*

See you soon.

Oh and Happy Valentine's Day... if that's your thing.  Personally, I'm more of a fan of Galentine's Day (Feb 13).  Don't know what that is?  Let me share...

 *hits the publish button*

Almost, but not quite

This is my 24th post for 2012. 

That's a bit rubbish.

2007 was my worst year for blogging... 20 posts in total.  In my defense... no.  Wait.  I went overseas and moved house a few times in 2008 - I can't use that as an excuse.

Fact is, there is no excuse.  I've been very good at maintaining my other blogs, but that's just a line or two about my day and the occasional rant about the downside of working in a box office.  I'm also apparently very good at writing lengthy, yet humourously entertaining status updates on Facebook.

I've been working almost every day for the last week - I only had Christmas & Boxing Days off.  The downside of working in the arts.  It's not often I miss working in the world of investment banking, but this time of year I do.  Decent salaries, plus big, fat bonuses (with at least three or more zeros on the end), a huge Christmas party and no work between Dec 24 and Jan 2.  Those were the days.  Oh, how they've changed.

This year, our CEO decided that no one would get anything.  Nothing to say thank you to his hard-working staff, many of whom have had their workload tripled since he decided to make some redundancies to save costs.  I'm sure that several of the staff are headed for nervous breakdowns with the amount of extra work they've been lumbered with. Admittedly, Sydney got a Christmas party (bowling and a couple of drink vouchers each... hey big spender), but Melbourne?  No. The CEO wasn't going to give us diddly squat.  I managed to blag us (all six of us!) a free lunch at one of our hotel partners and my manager, bless her, bought us gift cards (out of her own pocket, I suspect), but from the CEO?  Not even an email to say "thanks for working so hard this year".  Disgust doesn't even begin to describe my thoughts about our CEO's behaviour towards us all. It's definitely spurred me on to actively seek alternative employment in 2013.  

Anyway.

I worked today, I'm working tomorrow (day and night - oh yes, New Years Eve!) and on New Years Day.  Joy of joys.  Oh well.  At least I get double time on New Year's Day.

Today I looked through my list of what I wanted to achieve this year, which I wrote in the back of my diary.  Of the ten things, I achieved one and a half (finding something to laugh about every day and going to the gym three times a week... I only managed that one half the time).  

Must try harder in 2013.

Will also set a goal for 52 blog posts in 2013.  That's one a week.  Surely that's manageable. 

We'll see, shall we?

Happy 2013 to all of you who still stop in here every now and again.  Hope it's a cracker.

xo

Ten Things About Les Mis...

Today the GBF and I took ourselves off to the cinema to see Les Mis.  We're both big fans of the stage version (I was a HUGE fan back in the day... I even have the Swedish cast recording, thanks to the lovely Lotta who was just as big a fan).

But the movie?  Well I had reservations.  But I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  These are my thoughts:

Ten Things I Love About... Les Mis:

1. Aaron Tveit. I knew he'd be an amazing Enjolras after seeing him in Catch Me If You Can last year, but he surpassed my expectations. Fabulous. Why wasn't he Marius?

2. Anne Hathaway. Gorgeous, fragile, perfect. Loved her.

3. Samantha Barks. Beautiful voice and did a great job of convincing me she was in love with Eddie Redmayne, even though any smart woman would be pushing him aside for Aaron Tveit. 

4. Gavroche. Cracking little kid. Gutted they didn't let him have a full version of Little People. And his death scene was brilliant.

5. Both the Cosettes. Amanda Seyfried did a pretty decent job with a sappy role and the little one's version of Castle on a Cloud (although cut down) was enchanting.

6. Helena Bonham Carter. Stayed fairly true to the score, but still managed to add in a hint of her own take on the character. Enjoyed her immensely.

7. Colm Wilkinson's cameo as the bishop. 

8. The epic-ness of Do You Hear the People Sing and One Day More - the final shot was spectacular.

9. The attention to detail with makeup. There were rotting flesh wounds and grotty teeth. Given one of my biggest gripes with period pieces is actors with straight, shiny, white teeth, they've done well.

10. The resounding "crack" as Javert hit the concrete before being sucked into the water. I damn nearly cheered, I was so relieved that he was finally off the screen and I wouldn't have to listen to him attempt to sing anymore.



Ten Things I Hate About... Les Mis:

1. Russell Crowe. 

2. Russell Crowe's strained, nasal delivery of Stars and Javert's Suicide (two of my favourite numbers from the show). I've had to listen to Philip Quast's versions about ten times since getting home, to try and block out Russell's butchering of it.

3. Russell Crowe turning into a wooden statue whenever he had to sing... I'm not saying he need to tap dance, but fella, there's a body attached to your head - use it.

4. Eddie Redmayne. I bet Michael Ball wishes he was about 30 years younger... I know I do. I've had to listen to his version of Empty Chairs at Empty Tables about ten times to try and block out Eddie's whiny version.

5. I'm sorry, I know everyone thinks he's amazing, and his overall portrayal is great; BUT I'm just going to say it... Hugh's version of Bring Him Home? Appalling. 

6. Hugh's nasal delivery of a huge number of his songs. Mate, you're better than that. Use some chest voice once in a while.

7. Hugh's bizarre Irish-sounding accent in the early part of the film. Jean Valjean is French, you git. At least Sasha B-C was attempting to put a touch of a French accent in there, even if he did sound a bit Borat-ish.

8a. Note to Hugh and Eddie (and a few others): a little diction wouldn't go astray. Opening your mouth to sing also helps.

8b. The cutting of verses from so many of the songs. The young Cosette was adorable - cut Russell's songs, not Castle on A Cloud if you're short on time. Same for Little People. Gavroche was fantastic - let him have his full number. 

9. The addition of the new song. Musically, it just didn't fit.

10. Russell Crowe. Seriously. How did he even get cast?

Tagged, I'm It!

So, the awesome Pandora has tagged me in the (joyful - because I love doing these things!) task of answering the following questions:

Ready?  OK.

[I'm resisting the urge to break out into a Bring It On routine when I say that]


1. What is your favorite Christmas/Holiday movie? 

I can't answer this with just ONE... I love Christmas movies!  Die Hard totally tops the list (like Pandora, Alan Rickman is the key here), but Love Actually (again with the Rickman) and The Family Stone come a close second and third.  Oh and Scrooged.  Bill Murray is awesome.  And I always watch Meet Me In St Louis around Christmas time.  And Bridget Jones's Diary. Oh and Better Off Dead counts as a Christmas-y movie, right?


2. What is your favorite flower?

Hmmmm... I would have to say hydrangeas. Blue ones and pink ones.  But I love ALL flowers really (potential suitors, take note).  Gardenias are another fave.


3. What is your favorite (non-alcoholic) beverage?

Well, coffee of course. Can't live without coffee.  But I'm also a sucker for a bit of ginger beer.  Or sparkling pink grapefruit juice.


4. What is your passion? 

Just one? Come on... I have many!  Travelling and writing would have to top the list.  Movies and theatre would follow closely behind.


5. What is your favorite time of year? 

Early spring when all the jasmine on my balcony is blooming.


6. What is your favorite time of the day? 

Sunrise.  Not that I see it that often... probably why I love it on the rare occasions that I do.

7. What is your favorite physical activity?  

Dancing.  I love to dance.  And yes, I am channelling SJP in Girls Just Wanna Have Fun when I say that.


8. What is your favorite vacation? 

That I've taken or that I want to take? Because there are so many places in the world I've still to visit that I'm worried I may not fit them all in...  top of that list is walking El Camino de Santiago.  THAT I must do in the next few years.  In terms of my favourite vacation so far, that would be my trip to NYC last year for my 40th birthday. The combination of being in one of my favourite cities in the world and being with five of my best friends, made that vacation one of the best I've ever had.



OK.  Do I need to tag?  I probably should.  Hmmm, let's see...

Charlotte - http://minplatsisolen.blogspot.com.au/
Caroline (in case she wants a little break from her usual blogging topics) - http://oystersandoxtail.wordpress.com/
Melba - http://melbgirltakeonthings.blogspot.com.au/
Erin - http://www.healingscribe.com/
Sarah - http://pigletinapoke.com/



Your choice, lovely ladies - if you so wish.

x

*waves*

Hi.  Sorry. Been a bit frantic. Took on some extra work which I thought would be a doddle and it's turned out to be a time-sucking leech. My house is a tip, I have to fly to NZ on Saturday morning (for a day of work - ugh) and the following weekend I have to spend the whole of it at some horse show. Where I'm going to find the time to do the little things (like dishes, reading my books which are due back at the library, wax my legs and so on) is beyond me.

I know.  Whinge, whinge, whinge. Suck it up sister, you're earning extra money.  This is a good thing.

One thing I'm NOT going to whinge about (in fact it's what's kept me going the last 24 hours) is this:

So. Bloody. Happy.  

I am a close follower of the US Elections - have been for years. Those of you who are my facebook friends will know this from bitter experience... and I do apologise for clogging your newsfeed with my running commentary over the last few days/weeks.

I'm just a little bit pleased that Obamarama and my man Joe get to spend another four years in DC.  

I'm also just a little bit pleased* that my favourite VP will be making a guest appearance on one of my favourite shows next week.

In the meantime, I'm off to bed.  More than four hours sleep would be nice, but I'll take whatever I can get at present.

Did I mention 28 Black is my new drink of choice?  I couldn't have survived the last two weeks without it.

As you were.

x




* When I say "little bit pleased", I mean I actually squealed in excitement when I saw the article. Yes, SQUEALED. Like a kid at Christmas when they get a bike, a puppy AND a drum kit.

Micro Memoir

As part of a writing festival at my local library in November, they're running a short story and poetry competition.  You don't have to be a resident to enter, just an Australian citizen, but they are offering extra prizes for local residents.

I stumbled across the information for the competition quite by chance as I was renewing my library books and thought it might be a good opportunity to see if I could actually finish a piece of writing for something that's not this blog.  

So for the last week I've been working on a little story inspired by the tales of my childhood and after having a lovely (and trusted) friend give me feedback, this afternoon I've finished it and entered it into the competition.  As an added bonus, the story forms a completed chapter for the book I've been toying with for the last two years.  Hopefully this will be inspiration to keep plugging away at that.

In any case, it's a good feeling to have finished a piece.

Let's see what happens.

x

Sobering Up

That title makes it sound like I have a drinking problem.  I don't.  But I quite easily could, so I've decided to give up drinking for a while.  I've done it before - in 2008 I stopped drinking for nearly four months.  This time around I have a different motivation.  My dermatologist has put me on a four month course of antibiotics to try and get a handle on my rosacea, which has been getting worse over the last year.  Technically, I don't have to stop drinking alcohol, but she said it was advisable, so I've decided to.  I'm also trying to save money and pay off my credit card, so not forking out all that money for booze each week is an extra motivator.

Of course, I have had a few trip ups so far, but I'm not beating myself up over it.  The way I see it, if I can manage not to crack open any of the multiple bottles of wine that have been sitting in my fridge for almost a month now, I'm not doing too badly.  Now I just need to work on my sugar habit... another recommendation from the dermatologist.

I've been doing a quite a lot of reading lately - I think this is a direct result of becoming somewhat of a hermit (note to self: learn to socialise in non-drinking forms).  One of the books I've had on my shelf for a while but never got around to reading until recently was Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project.  I stumbled across it on my last day in NYC last year and since then I've been following her blog and subscribing to her daily email alerts.   Each week she features different people, asking them about their "happiness".  Last week she featured a writer named Caren Osten Gerszberg.  Caren's answer to one of the questions resonated with me... I could've written her answer almost word for word:

Is there anything you find yourself doing repeatedly that gets in the way of your happiness?

Yes. I grew up surrounded by anger and stress, which took up a life of their own in my life, and thus in my head. As cliché as it sounds, sweating the small stuff used to interfere with my path to happiness on a frequent basis. In recent years, I’ve learned how to meditate, breathe deeply, and be more accepting of myself and others, which has afforded me greater access to happiness. I’m no expert, but feeling the positive impact inspires me to continue the journey.

There was a link in the article to Caren's website, so naturally I clicked across only to discover that, among her many projects, she is a co-founder of the blog Drinking Diaries. It's been a particularly fascinating read given my current circumstances and I think will be quite useful in keeping me on track for my goal.

Now, does anyone have any good suggestions for tasty non-alcoholic drinks which don't involve high-fructose fruit juices or soft drinks?  Soda water with a squeeze of lime juice is quite possibly the most boring drink ever invented.

x

My Life (summed up in a single image)

I feel the need to write something, if only to move that slightly depressing piece I wrote last week further down the page.  Trouble is, I have no idea what to write.  Very little inspiration.

I had planned to "do stuff" today. "Stuff" along the lines of going to the gym and go to the movies. But I woke up this morning feeling a bit meh, and scrapped those plans in favour of a day of doing some laundry and reading.  High stakes excitement right there people.  Don't you wish your life was like mine?

I did do a bit of university research though.  The deadline for applications is 28 September, so the clock is beginning to tick.  The course I'd really like to do (at RMIT) is only offered on a full-time basis, which has thrown a spanner in the works somewhat.  It would be almost impossible to keep my current 3-day-a-week job and do the course, so I've had to expand my search and am now contemplating a part-time BA at Melbourne Uni.  Six years of part-time study is better than the next six years of no study... I think I'll just jump in.

Having said that, it does make me wonder just how appropriately this picture (which a friend had on his facebook page this morning), sums up my life...

Sure, a lot of things in my life which began with this philosophy turned out well, and I'm sure returning to study will be one of them.  However a large number haven't worked out quite as well... hence the hesitancy.  But hey, life is short.  Why not live by this principle?  The good in my life has far outweighed the bad.

Right. Back to the research.

Speaking of studying, have you seen this?  The delightful Melba alerted my attention to it in a post the other day. Yale courses, available online. FOR FREE. So good I decided to link it twice. Awesome. Thank you Yale.  And thank you Melba!