Books Books Books (x3)

I'm about a 3rd of the way through Judith levines Not Buying it, her documentation of a social experiement where her and her husband bought only necessary, simple groceries and essentials (The rules are a little fluid and haircuts and newspapers are allowed). Not as easy as it sounds with such consumer pressure put upon us everyday, and basically, so much crap considered essential in our everyday lives! I love the line about the guy who went to buy a book about de-cluttering and came away with three!

The Not buying it book was kind of in direct contrast with another book I recently read, Susana S.'s Confessions of a city girl. Which takes an insiders look at London's high pressure, money hungry financial markets, no place for a girl... apparently, until Susana came along that is!

In between I read Juliana Hatfields Autobiographical When I grow up. She seems like a really sweet girl with a lot of deamons to air. It's alternating chapters, between documenting the tour she was on with her band at the time Some Girls and detailing past adventures kept the flow moving and stopped the book from getting stale or too bogged down in any one theme. Funny though, while reading this I realise I only actually know two songs that she's done, and one of those was a cover!

You know what...

I could almost be tempted to read a Mills & Boon!

out of me

I've had Out of me sitting beside my bed for way too many library renewals, I'm not sure if I was avoiding reading it as it might be a little too close to home, but I'm so glad I finally picked it up. Fiona Shaw suffered chronic Post-Natal Depression after the birth of her second child, was hospitalised, had ECT, self-harmed, starved herself but what has come out of it is not only a beautifully well written memoir but also an exploration of autobiographical writing itself.



Now I would never deem to compare myself here, and I don't think I suffered anything more than the mildest of 'Baby blues' but as I have talked about here before, I am still coming to terms with the identity shift that having children brings about. Why only yesterday when I had a rare child-free, work-free day I took myself into the city and for a wander in Fitzroy to remember all that I was missing from my former life, and you know what, yep you guessed it, I'm not actually missing all that much! Apart from the friend I met up with who I hadn't seen in ages, I didn't really want to be there anymore. Typical!



Anyway, back to Ms. Shaw's book. There is one quote that really stood out for me to help explain what I've been feeling; "I, too, was frightened of being left alone in the house with my children. Not because of what I might do to them, or them to me, but because then I could not escape from the knowledge that this was my life now, and there was no getting away from it." (Pg. 187) And I think the thing about this book is it was just so well written, I've read so much lately that is just so badly written, or badly edited and full of mistakes (and it must be bad for the worst of spellers and grammatically
incompetent of petople, i.e. me, to pick up on!)

Best things about the Runaways movie...

• The first shot of the movie is of Menstrual Blood.


• The costumes are Hot Hot HOT!


• KS does an ace job of Joan Jett, I was worried I would be sitting there thinking I am watching the chick from Twilight but it didn't cross my mind once!


• Dakota is equally hot and soooo totally the right choice to really hit home how young Cherie Currie was when wearing that Cherry bomb outfit!


• Dakota and Kristian get it on!!!


• They do such a great job of the singing that they could splice in the real Runaways songs when it used as background music without any disjointedness.


• The colouring of the film totally matches the mid 70's.


• The Cinematography is beautiful


• I got to see it for free!!! (3 weeks ago - just slow on the posting!!!)

Cupcakes a Ga Ga...

Two Funny things that came my way yesterday...

This Blog post on NPR (America's National Public Radio's Monkey See) about how library might be the new cupcakes... I like the bit about libraries get in fights, and libraries give you stuff for free!

And mentioned in this article but came my way via a totally different medium is this clip of the Washington Information Studies Students and Faculty going GaGa!

Zine, Zine, you know what I mean...

We've just got a whole bunch of Zines in the library, trying to be all cool and hip and funky and 'engage' with the teenagers and all that! Ahhh its taking me back to the mid-to-late nineties when DIY publishing involved cut-and-paste and a photocopy card.

I always meant to start my own Zine, just like I'd always meant to start a blog way back when...

And I thought I'd start a revolution...

I just never got around to it!

Yay you Zinesters who actually did it!!!

Wanna know what shits me off more than anything else in the world...

People who steal from the library, I mean, you don't need to steal it...

We let you take it for free!!!!

Super dooper mega whatsit plastic shit bonanzer!!!

I read a lot about the sexualisation of young girls, and lucky (hopefully!) I'm still a couple of years away from that one. But whats really bothering me at the moment, though I guess I've always known it to be there is just the blatant consumerism involved with children, it just seems to be getting so much worse, or maybe I'm noticing it more now.

Case in point 1. A friend of mine posted on her facebook profile something about going around 7 different toy stores trying to find this particular doll that her daughter absolutely HAD to have... This horrified me because her daughter is only a couple of months older than Little Miss, but the thing is that Little Miss wouldn't have a clue what dolls were out there and probably couldn't care less anyways... Now either I've got a frickin' child genius on my hands that knows not to get sucked into this consumer crap (well it's a possibility!)But where the hell do these kids that young find out about them...Too much commercial TV? Too many trips to the toy store? Too many parents instead of saying "Oh yeah she's nice" when looking at the ad/toy catalogue/whatever actively encouraging their kid to want want want... and then having to run around to however many frickin' stores trying to find it.

Case in point 2. My local Target store (I'm sure not just MY local target store!) was opening at One past Midnight for their Mega Fabbo Whatsit Super Dooper Toy Sale the other day... And I bet there were many many parents waiting at 30 seconds to One past midnight waiting for the doors to open... I worked in a Toy store for a while a few years back and I have to tell you, kids are fine, its the parents I cant stand!!! And I tell you what, the experience scared me for life! (but I did love the little kids who came in and counted out their money box coins to buy their carefully selected once a whenever treat! Better than the ones who would say 'just put it on your card mum'!!!) Anyways so I got a bit suckered in and thought maybe to be a good parent I should be taking a look and buying it all now so I can put it all away in the cupboard to forget about so as to buy more in December and get tricked into buying twice as much... So I took a look at the however many many MANY page catalogue of everything my 3 year old needs to feel complete in life and I have to tell you it was all CRAP! I mean Frickin' Masterchef have even got on board with their own line of Frickin' plastic pretend kitchen crap now... Whats wrong with making your kids use their imagination and play with the pots and pans already on hand in the REAL kitchen... Little Miss loves to pretend to do the dishes, well honey that don't need no pretend sink coz we've got a real one! Complete with bubbles too courtesy of the dish washing liquid!

Here's a novel idea folks, say 'NO!' When I take Little Miss to the supermarket and she says 'Look mum, Dora' I just say 'oh yeah isn't that nice' or 'It sure is' or whatever and just keep walking. So anyways, this ranting does have a point. (And more than just a smug point about how much of a superior being I am by depriving my kid which will of course bite me on the arse later!) All this consumer crap comes from the parents, not the kids, but your bringing your kids up to buy into it and measure all that plastic shit to your self worth... just say 'No' and give them a stick and a piece of string to play with!!!

Well that will teach me for procrastinating...

So I had this post planned based around an article I had seen that one of my facebook 'friends' had made some comment about and so I have been spending the last 1/2 hour trawling through vague acquittance's frickin' Farmville/Frontierville/ whatthefuckeverville crap trying to remember who had put in on there and how long ago and now I've got myself all mad and ranty about fricken' Farmville/Frontierville/ whatthefuckeverville crap... I mean the amount of fucking time you spend on that shit you could have planted a real veggie garden complete with chooks and everything!!!

Anyways, so I was supposed to be getting all mad and ranty about this article where someone had written in asking what people with little kids actually do all day and why, when they have a full time job etc. still manage to answer phone calls/emails etc. yet their friends with kids who are just home all day never seem so be able too, and is it just an excuse for laziness blah blah blah...

What these type of people don't seem to realise is the sheer amount of emotional energy that is expended with little tackers in your midst... that and that anytime you pick up the phone/turn on your computer they are nagging you to play on it themselves that sometimes its just not worth the effort... Frankly, I don't know where a lot of my day goes, but it ain't no excuse for being lazy that's for sure. The amount of people who have had kids since Ive had mine who have then apologised to me saying they never realised how hard it was and if they'd have known they would have brought over more casseroles!!! And that's the thing, you never do know until you experience it, no matter how many times people might tell you...

And then you go and think it will be easier the second time around because you've already done it once... Yeah fucking right!

blah blah blah...

So much of my relationship with the boy has been me fighting against it and then me having to eat my words...

First off I thought I was this super independent "don't give me any of that 'when can you fit me into your busy schedule' crap." Then I went off overseas for four months a year into our relationship, and then we moved in together and I was all insistent that everything be split 50/50 even though I was studying that year and had a lot less money coming in and managed to get myself into some major credit card debt over my stupid pigheadedness and then I got pregnant and had a baby which totally shifted all dynamics from which I only now feel like I'm getting a balance on again... What is it about little people coming into your life that make those gender stereotypes you've spent your whole life fighting against come out so strong and your at such a vulnerable point that you let other take advantage of that! And now I'm feeling all depressed that I just found out an ex proposed to his girlfriend and the boy will probably never propose to me because I've said too many times that I don't want to get married and what would I want to go and do a stupid thing like that for and marriage is an institution and I don't want to be institutionalised and blah blah blah... I don't even know If I believe in it or think it should really matter... I guess I'm just feeling a little insecure, which of course if you had've asked me back then would be the only reason anyone would want to get married, but there is this little part of me that would sort of like to have the same last name as my kids, even though I've always said if I got married I wouldn't be changing my name and blah blah blah... Or maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age!

Stupid ex-boyfriends... lucky your the one I got over my hatred of long ago or I would have been really pissed off!

Congratulations by the way!

Future Radio...

The ABC radio book show had an article on Future of Libraries and Librarians the other day... Lots of talk of Stereotypical Librarians!

Big Fat Bitch...

Some favourite paragraphs in The Big Fat Bitch Book for grown-up girls, Kate Figes study of the art Bitching...

"Women can be deeply supportive of one another: but they can also kill each other with words. We understand exactly where the weaknesses of other women lie because all too often we feel weak in those areas ourselves."

(a study found that) "Up to two-thirds of the conversation of both sexes is gossip, with the only real difference being that men like to talk about themselves."

"Girls are expected to be kinder, less aggressive, and more supportive of each other. So girls learn to suppress their crueler tendencies and then let them out in even more lethal ways"

"You get much closer to a person when you share a mutual dislike for another person than you do over someone you both like"

"Some evolutionary biologists believe that the roots of bitching lie, in part, embedded deep within out gender and the reproductive imperative, for bitching is a low risk form of veiled aggression. Teenage girls tend to bitch most about aspects of appearance, sex and sexuality because they matter in the competitive mating game... Research shows that aggression between women becomes more direct and physical as resources get scarcer..."

"Women get just as angry as men and have a great deal more to get angry about but their not supposed to show it. Male aggression is still considered 'natural' and valorised while aggression in women can be considered unnatural, irrational, hormonal and evidence of mental instability."

And Ive only just finished the introduction!

Julie, Julia... and Ravinder!

A movie about food and blogging... how could I resist!

Last time the boy went away I tucked myself up on the couch with Julie & Julia, Oh such a cute film, it made me feel both warm and fuzzy, but also all depressed! It totally contributed to my existential crisis, which seems to be my permanent state of being these days! But hey, that's kind of what the film (and book, I'll get to that shortly!) was all about!

It made me feel that there is no focus or theme to this blog, its just all over the place, random thoughts... but that's me, I've always got a million things going on and cant seem to keep the focus to just one! I try to write about the books that I read, but I only get about 1/2 of them down on... screen! Anyways, Totally watch the film... and here's a little Gem I found on You Tube for you, its called Julia Child Vs Meryl Streep;





So watching the film inspired me to read the book by Julie Powell, It's good but I was a little disappointed, like many Blogs turned book it was a little all over the place, (either try to keep true to the blog or give the whole story an overhaul!) E.G. she was talking at leangth about a certian food (see I've gone and forgotten what it was now... makes my arguments seem VERY well reserched and thought out!) It could have been the Lobster, or maybe the Eggs, I just can't remember! Anyways, then a couple of chapters later she's back to the same food, and it kind of made it all feel a bit disjointed to me. But I don't want to critisise her too much coz I really liked her, I thought she was really sweet and I related to the many hissy fits and meltdowns she endured!!!

So this is one of those cases where I am going to say that I enjoyed the film more than the book (and there are many of these cases out there, no matter what people say! Particuly when it comes to Mr. Steven King... but that's for another post!) But I do often think judgment is clouded by whether you watched the film or read the book first.

Speaking of cooking books, I think I have found my favourite ever! It's called Cook in Boots by Ravinder Bhogal. Not just because she's got a great first name and shes HOT! With chapters titles along the lines of; PMT, Rude food, I heart carbs and Frugal food for when you've spent all your money on shoes, how could I not love it, and I've made two things from it and they were totally yummy and easy to make with no fiddly crap or pretentiousness of many of the cooking books I bring home from the library. (Oh and hey, my birthdays coming up soon, this one and the Cooks Companion and I reckon I'd be set!)





And then there's the one I started last night... We're trying to save a little money at the moment and the library got a new one called Family feasts for under $75 a week. Trouble is it's very American, and I don't mean any offence to my American friends here, but I am going to get all stereotypical on your arse! (that's ass in American!). It's all Hamburgers and Frozen burritos and Pork Chops and Pizza and creamer in your Coffee... It's such a basic book trying to educate about basic Fruit and Vegetables and it's all just such obvious stuff that It's getting me angry and making me feel very superior and snobby all at once!



So the money saving tips that have stood out for me so far are;

Try to drink half as much Cola... OK, done that without moving a muscle (ever tried drinking water!!??)

Try to buy two less packets of chips a month... Yep done that one too (I wouldn't exactly call them an essential item!)

and this one was the clincher;

Use cloth instead of paper dish towels... what? You guys dry your dishes with paper? Man, I'm saving money already and I haven't even changed any of my habits!

Australia has it's first female prime minister!!!!

protection...

Every good librarian knows that books are a precious commodity, and therefor should be treated with the up most respect (except for maybe those pesky Mills & Boons, the bane of a book lovers life!).

It was my friend JA who introduced me to the idea of the book-bag, kind of like a condom for your books when on the go (And one of my rules in life is that you must carry a book with you everywhere you go, because I always get stuck waiting for people!) So I recently knitted myself one;

Its easy, you just knit until your up to the desired width... then keep on knitting till you get to the desired length, then sew up the sides!

I was trying out knitting purple and pink wools at once just to see what would happen, then I felted it because I love felting, and whala! a book bag!

And speaking of Care of books, I've been working in the stacks lately and came across this Gem circa 60's Williamstown. Not such a bad idea to have a little reminder in all of our books the state they sometimes come back in, but the "Notice shall be given to the librarian... if books have been exposed to infection" bit is a bit of a worry!

Hello cruel world...

The thing I cant stand about self help books is that they are usually so fucking hard to read... I mean your picking the thing up because there's something not quite right going on in there, then they are usually so pretentious and full of big words, and just well, overwhelming to read!

My friend JA has told me a few times what an important book she thinks this one is (and I figure on such matters she should know!) and trawling though the introduction, which I'm sorry but really does go on a bit and is kind of a bit all over the place, and at times even a little melodramatic (You don't need to be on the edge of suicide to pick up this book, maybe more 'a little bit down' or a case of the 'mean reds' might be more of an appropriate time to read it!). I was beginning to think this was just another one of those afore mentioned pretentious reads, but then I got to this paragraph;

And what about anger? I think Anger is a whole lot more positive a feeling than depression. I feel a lot healthier when I'm angry than when I'm paralyzed in a deep funk. Other people around me might prefer it when I'm not flying off the handle, but most folks who know me now appreciate that my anger is a step up my own personal ladder to feeling better.

Wow, that really blew me away after the way I had been feeling lately! (not to mention my ranting blog posts!)

The Intro might be a bit of a hard slog, but you don't really need to stress about it too much, the 101 alternatives are kind of cute and endearing (mind you I'm only up to #20, They might get a lot more hot and heavy from here on in!), and some of them might seem deceptively simple but when your in that deep funk it can the little things that get you through. It's kind of like giving yourself permission to be kind to yourself and do what YOU need to do for YOU!

And the good thing about this book in comparison to those other heavy reading self help books is that I reckon in the middle of that deep funk you could just pick up this book and look at 2 or 3 of the "alternatives" and find yourself something that might just make that tiny little difference at that time in your life.

Just one little thing, this book is kind of aimed at Teens (Freaks and other outlaws!) but I'm pretty sure I would have found a lot of it pretty overwhelming at that time in my life, especially a lot of the sexual stuff, not the stuff about Kate herself (I say 'her' only because it says 'her' in the biographical info about her, she describes 'herself' as fluidly sexual, transgressivly sexual or a 'Traveler') But the stuff in part one about desire. But that might be just me! and mind you, its 15-20 years ago that I was a teenager (Scary huh!?)

The other book that made me really happy lately was reading Neon Angel by Cherrie Currie of the Runaways. (When is the film going to be released in Australia!!??) Funny that it made me feel happy, it's actually quite depressing all the bad shit that happened to her, makes me just want to give her, and all the Runaways a big hug and say I'm sorry you were treated like such crap! They were some totally hot chicks, totally exploited but totally Hot!

Cant stay at home cant stay... at work?

Sorry, been listening to a bit of The Runaways lately!

It's tough being a working mum, but I cant handle being a stay at home mum either! I'm doing a temp role at 3 full days a week, it's way too much what with traffic to contend with not to mention two sick kids! How the hell do others do it full time? And you cant win no matter what you do either. I guess all you can do is the best you can for yourself and your family hey! And be careful not to judge others for the choices (and sometimes lack of choices!) they make!

P.S. Feeling a lot better, think a couple of drinks and a lot of laughs last night might have done me the world of good!

I'd like to take a moment to apologise for the last tyraid of, well anger, that flowed from my keyboard earlier today. Not quite sure whats got into me at the moment... but it did actually feel really good to get it out there!

I just feel so discontented with my life at the moment, I feel like I'm stuck in a deep, deep rut and although I can see ways out, it's all a waiting game and I just wish something would hurry up and goddamn happen!!!

And maybe 35 is the new 30, or maybe I'm just 5 years behind the eight ball which wouldn't surprise me, I used to have a pretty good handle on what was going on in the world but feel like it's all passing me by, everything interesting has been and gone and revitalised again before I catch on these days! What I'm trying to say is maybe its the mid-life (third-life?) existential crisis I was supposed to have 5 years ago finally catching up with me.

Or maybe I'm just over the repetitiveness of life as the prefect housewife of the prefect nuclear family in the fucking suburbs!!! I thought I was going to be someone great, someone really special. I thought I'd end up with a guy who worshiped me. I thought I would be someone people admired and looked up too. Now I just feel like the most boring person in the world!

Now all I want is to move back to the country and be a hippie! I want to grow veggies and have chooks, pigs and goats. I want some space and privacy. I don't want to be able to hear my neighbors fighting or hoons screeching round the corner at all hours... I want some peace and quiet!

Problem being that these days we've got all these responsibilities we have to think about. Kids, Mortgages, half finished fucking bathrooms... seems like getting back to the simple life ain't gonna be so simple!

Angry!

I have to say it out loud... I have to say what I'm feeling even if I'm not supposed to... I'm ANGRY and I don't know why!

I don't have anything in my life to be angry about, I have a nice enough home, I'm healthy, my kids are healthy, everyone around me is healthy, I have a great job where I'm treated fairly and with respect, where I get paid an equitable amount. I have great Friends who I love even if I don't get to see as much of them as I'd like. Ive done a lot with my life and haven't ever really wanted for anything. So what the hell have I got to be so angry about.... I wish I knew!

Fucking Hormones!!! I wish I could just get over myself sometimes!

brief encounters with the rich and famous

I once stood behind Geoffrey Rush in the queue for the staff cafeteria at the Arts Centre. I thought to myself, 'only in this country would a best actor Oscar winner at the peak of his career have to queue in the staff cafeteria for this shitty food!'

When I was working at the NGVA shop, I was bending down doing something or other under the counter and when I stood up my colleague said "you just missed Viggo Moretson, I just served him." Pissed off or what, he could have given me a little kick!

Apparently Steven Sylvani was starring at my Butt when I was shelving books but I didn't notice.

I recognised the name "Adam Gilchrist" when serving him, but thought to myself 'that sounds familiar, is he a footballer or something' until all my giggly colleagues set me straight. Cricket huh!? means nothing to me! But I did notice he was a little put out when I asked for his name!

Saw Goldie at Camden markets in London in 1997, my boyfriend at the time pointed him out to me, and I said (a little too loudly) "Who's Goldie?" which was of course overheard by the man himself. we then played a little paparazzi with him and I have a great photo of him just laughing at us. Mind you I still have no idea who Goldie actually is!

I was working as an assistant for a photographer for TV Week for a while which meant a lot of encounters with the cast of Neighbours (Funny coz the first time I went to Britain, upon finding out I was Aussie, everyone would ask "have you been to Ramsay st and have you met anyone from Neighbours" and I would say "Nuh" in a rather patronising tone, second time I went to Britain I had been to Ramsay St and I had met several cast members but never got asked once!!!!) Anyways, the one that stands out for me was walking past Lou Carpenter in the hallway and going to say hi as you do when you see a familiar face but realising I didn't actually know him tried to suppress it and just looked like an idiot. He then made a point of saying hi as I slunk of Red faced.

It happens like that sometimes, you see a familiar face and think you must know then but cant figure out why, like serving a big fat sweaty politician and wondering if he's one of your friends dads who you've only met once or something until he hands over his credit card and you realise he's the deputy prime minister!

But my favourite on was when we had Eric burden from the Animals come to a signing at the Bookshop which shall not be named. I decided to get a copy for my Mum and put a sticky note with "Carol" on the front as is sometimes the done thing at such signings... lets just say he was a little out of it! (see picture above!)

The other Mr. Freud...

The best book I've read of late has been James Freud's I am the voice left from drinking (which I immediately followed up with i am the voice left from Rehab.) It'd been on my list for a little while but it was my friend J's facebook review that finally got me to pick it up. Lets see what J had to say:

"Freud comes off as a charming bastard, like so many junkies, but his tale of mishaps and hits during the eighties is a great story, both touching and hilarious."

The title of course comes from a lyric in Models (Note: not The Models) best song Barbados, (not that stupidly overplayed Out of mind, Out of Sight) and serves as a bit of a prophecy.

He has a lot to say about the lack of support from radio for Australian artists, and he asks the question, why, with triple J being a government funded radio station, why cant it be fully Australian content. It got me thinking, now that would be a radio station I would be loyal too, especially considering I don't have a favourite at the moment. And really, with such a great range of Aussie music going right back JO'K it could be a hit! Now if only I had enough money to start a radio station...

Sexy librarian...

Sexy Librarian

Now thats a flying broomstick!

Love the symbolism of the broom... don't use one myself, well I've tried but i just cant get it air born!

Anyways I bought my mum this old school witches broom to put by the door, supposed to stop evil entering the house. It's been there a few years but recently some flying friends decided to make it home...

I love it and guess it's the closest I'm gonna come to a flying broomstick!

Turns out Carrie Bradshaw's mum was a librarian!!!

Finished The Carrie Diaries last night in a bit of a marathon reading run... that's the thing about cheesy chick lit, it certainly sucks you in!!!! Look I know its a totally obvious money spinner, and... oh such convenient timing what with the movie and all... Well it was an OK bit of fluff, but there are a lot of anomalies from the TV show, such as in the show, Carrie didn't really know her father but in this book her dad is raising her and two sisters after the death of her mother. But then this is Miss Bushnell's character, not the TV/Movie writers and SJP's interpretation of her. So I guess I should just stop thinking so much and enjoy it for the bit of fluff it is!!!

Prom hiking the third....

Want to really get away from it all?

May I suggest hiking down to the Lighthouse at Wilson's Promontory for a couple of nights? No Phones, No Telly, Not much noise at all really!

The boy and I went on our (seemingly) annual Wilson's Prom holiday last week (seemingly annual as we have gone down three years in a row now!) This time we hiked down to the lighthouse which you can go straight down to with a relatively easy 20 km walk, but we took the hard way via the east coast staying a Refuge cove the first night and conquering several killer hills on day two! But I have to say it was definatly worth it for the two nights staying at the gorgeous cottages at the Lighthouse. We didn't really know what to expect, thinking it might just be basic cabins with a cold toilet block... no way! We are talking bathroom to ourselves with super hot showers, full kitchen facilities, tell you what, we would have packed very differently! so I guess we'll just have to go down again!

My friend Bonnie does good radio...

The whole idea of body image is hard to ignore, even for the most sensible hippest chicks around. My friend Bonnie is a 'plus-size' model, 'plus-size'! For godsake, she's size 14, that's smaller than the average! Hear her on ABC 774 discussing body image the other day. (she doesn't get nearly enough of a say in though!)

The whole body image thing is a friggin' minefield! I also hate the term 'real-women', I have another friend who finds it incredibly difficult to put on weight, is she not 'real'?

I also have a theory, (this is completely based on my being a complete tightarse of course!) There are no size 8 women in the world!!! Go to any sale or clearance type place and thats all you'll find is size 8's, with less and less sizes as they go up. And oh, while I'm on the rant, hows about all the clothes that I like that don't come above a size 14... just because i've had a baby and am carrying a few extra's doesn't mean I don't still want to be all hip, cool and funky!

By the way I'm still trying to lose 16kg's of baby weight! But one thing I have found that helps me to feel a little better about that is finding myself some clothes that actually do fit me instead of trying to squeeze into the oldies!

So anyways, here's my philosophy; eat a wide variety of foods, don't deny yourself what you really want (because you'll just keep thinking about it until you binge on it!), drink lots of water and get out into the fresh air! Oh and don't read friggin fashion magazines!

(not) Sorry...

No I'm not going to apologise...

I have no reason to...

Even though my plan was to keep this a fairly regular blog, like at least a couple of times a week...

But that's the whole thing about blogs, there are no rules...

Look, I've been sick OK...

Not that I need or want to make excuses...

The flu can take a lot out of you...

And I have two kiddies and work and and and...

I'll be back soon...

In the meantime here is a picture of a cute little kitty to keep you occupied...

Latest Project...

I've finally gotten over my fear of double pointed needles (DPN) to knit my first pair of socks. Not sure what I was so worried about, it didn't take long to the hang of, well apart from having to unstitch a few rows and realising on the second sock that I'd missed two rows on the cuff, but made up for it with two too many rows on the heel!

I'm now onto my second pair of Socks 101 (from Knitalong: celebrating the tradition of knitting together.) I guess you know what to expect for Christmas this year!

Sublime Library Stitching!

Check out these great, um, thingi's from Sublime Stitching.

M.I.A. and my friend A...

I feel like Ive been a bit out of commission for about the last month, I'm not really sure what's been going on though I guess Family medical drama's, Faux religious holidays, 2 kids, a home, the boy and Working where I can will catch up with you eventually.

Plus still feeling like a hormonal time bomb...

Will be having the dreaded Implanon out sometime next week as long as all tests are fine to put the IUD in... bloody thorough doctors!!! Of course I am expecting to immediately;

• lose 10 kg's
• stop yelling at everyone all the time
• have a restful nights sleep every night
• be full of energy and creativity
• feel like a shag

Well one has to have high ambitions!

I received a lovely email from my friend A in Boston the other day. She has this lovely way of putting things, she said (about having kids) "It seems so intense...in a good way, but it also seems like a big identity and lifestyle shift" I couldn't have put it better, but surely 6 months on (or 3 1/4 years on!) I should have gotten over it!

I met A under interesting circumstances... The first time I was working at Camp Becket I stayed on for family camp for a little extra cash (think the place they stay at in Dirty Dancing, but rougher and without the dancing part!) Anyways A was there with these two kids of family friends, story goes that they were booked to go to the camp but some overseas trip came up for the parents but they didn't want the kids to miss out so they paid A sort of like a Nanny to take them to the camp. She didn't really fit in with any of the campers who were all family's (surprise, it being family camp!) so she hung out with the staff and we got to know each other, found we had very similar interests and tastes in books and music (the important stuff in life!) Caught up again when I visited Boston a few weeks later. Kept in sort of vague contact, then when I visited Boston a few weeks later I ended up sleeping on her floor, and had such a lovely time with her I went back again a few months later!

She's hot too... reminds me of Alyssa Millano at her spunkiest!

She's really into female singers (I introduced her to Missy Higgins while I was there) and so I put a CD together of cool Aussie chicks as a (very late) Christmas present.

A's CD of cool Aussie chicks;

• Pictures - Sneaky Sound System
• My delirium - Ladyhawke
• One word - Baby Animals
• Ordinary Angels - Frente
• Always worth it - Sarah Blasko
• Divorce by 23 - Claire Bowditch
• Last day on earth - Kate Miller-Heidke
• Weir - Killing Heidi
• Island Home - Christine Anu
• Even when I'm Sleeping - Leonardo's Bride
• Buses and Trains - Bachelor Girl
• Breath in Now - George
• Standing Strong - Wendy Matthews
• Dirty Jeans - Magic Dirt
• Way of all things - Rebecca's Empire
• Coma - Max Sharam
• Cant touch it - Rikki Lee
• Voodoo Child - Rouge Traders
• Hook me up - The Veronica's
• There she goes - Sweet Painted Ladies

A bit too much embarrassing pop trash and really shows that the mid-late 90's really where my music glory days!!! I am currently working on another so any suggestions you can offer? I'm quite out of it these days when it comes to new music!

I am not looking forward to having two teenage girls...

For I remember what it was like to be a teenage girl!

I had an intriguing facebook friend request the other day from a girl who I treated very badly in high school. My so-called-best-friend-though-she-too-dropped-me-not-long-after-this-incident (I promise I'm not a bad person, just seem to pick bad best-friends!) and myself decided we didn't want this girl to hang around with us. It's a hurtful and painful experience, believe me I know as only the year before I was told by a group of girls "we don't want you hanging around with us anymore" and being totally psychologically scarred, distraught, lonely etc. etc. but then I go and do it to someone else!

All I have to say is...

TEENAGE GIRLS ARE HORRIBLE CREATURES!

With seemingly very short memories!!

So I accepted this girls friend request but I still feel awful about an incident that happened about 18 years ago!! Maybe I have grown a conscience with my (so-called) maturity. Or maybe I just need to move on and remember I am defiantly not 17 anymore!!

P.S. I suspect this is all going to come back to me again in about 13 or 14 years... I am defiantly not looking forward to having teenage girls!!

White Whales and Black Rabbits...

I think Ive talked about the boys hunting adventures here before, he's a 'traditional bowhunter' which means he uses the old 'Robin hood' style bow to catch goats, deer, rabbits, foxes and the like. Which you can imagine makes the hunting pretty difficult, you have to get really close to your prey and be a very accurate shot with old style equipment. Anyways, he was pretty happy the other day after catching a black rabbit he has seen many times up behind my parents house, it must be, or the decedent of, someones pet rabbit they let go at some stage and he has been after it for months!

Well done my boy... it tasted pretty good too!

Now thats a library I'd like to visit!!

Keith Richards wants to be a Librarian!!!

My hormones and me have never really gotten along...

I suspect my latest attempt at controlling my fertility is playing havoc with me, about 4 months ago I had the Implanon implant put into my arm, and now I just feel like crap ALL the time, I either have bad insomnia or I am getting 10 hours sleep and still cant drag myself out of bed in the morning (not great when you have two kids!). I have been having bad hot flashes... I'm only 34 so definitely not ready for Menopause... Grumpy and crabby, dizzy spells and NO sex drive whatsoever! All of these things are listed on various discussion forums and other sites as common side effects... so if its on the Internet it must be true! (just like if it's in the Herald/Sun or on A current Affair it must be true too!) but of course not listed in the 'official' literature which plays down any side effects at all.

I gave the Implanon a go on the advise of my obstetrician who doesn't like IUD's (the only contraceptive I have ever actually been happy with!) and reckons it's great for people who cant take the pill (that would be me! try having All the PMT symptoms ALL month long!) Ive also tried the Depro Povera injections but that made me totally blow up, played havoc with my skin and meant I didn't have a period for two years which sounds great but doesn't feel very natural to me at all!

I'm gonna go see my GP next week and see about getting the Non-hormonal IUD back in, I just cant keep going the way I am at the moment... my blog is suffering!!!!

Whippin' it

Finally got to watch Whip it, totally cool and inspiring... made me get the skates out of the cupboard and do a couple of laps of the kitchen before getting back to the drudgery of the housework!

Stick it up your arse!

Had a very different experience yesterday where I got to wake up and see the inside of my own bowels, not your everyday occurrence. Yours truly had a gastroscopy and colonoscopy to check out the state of the insides, fine by the way which should be considered good news that there ain't nothing wrong, but a little part of me was hoping something entirely fixable would be found that might explain why I feel like shit all the time... hey, feel like shit, thats kind of appropriate after all the preparations that go into it!

Anyways, they only give you a mild anesthetic and I woke up halfway through part two. I made some comment about this looking very different to my bedroom, then joined in the conversation about their kids going to schoolies (at least that was the conversation I took part in, they may have been talking about something completely different!) so that was my day, that and many trashy waiting room magazines and Days of our lives on the telly, man i never realised how much yelling goes on in that show, so wonder I couldn't concentrate on my book!

Mama Mia...

I love it when the readings catalogue arrives in my mail box at the start of every month, it always adds at least 10 books to my “books to check out” book. And that's where I read about Mama Mia by Mia Freedman.



I think I was attracted to the memoir from her history as a magazine editor. Magazines being a field I wanted to work in as a teenager, but growing up in country Victoria was a long way from the ACP offices in Sydney and I never quite made it there! But I found this memoir surprisingly engaging on so many other levels. There were many shared experiences I related to (the emotionally abusive Ex, losing a baby mid term etc.) But its also at times really really funny funny, especially the chapter where she describes the birth of her daughter Coco. She is also very down to earth and gives some very realistic insights into the joys and struggles of motherhood, I especially enjoyed the Smug and Crap lists in the last chapter, given that I had just added to the Smug list earlier that day (see last post) I just couldn't think of a name for it! (by the way, the home made Play Doh was crap and I'm NEVER making it again!)

well I made my own Play Doh...

I bloody hate those superior type Mummies with their "he/she's very advanced" or their "I never give him/her anything that's not organic" or "you have to stick to this routine" or "if you don't do this this and this while this music is playing your child will be a moron!" blah blah blah... making me feel guilty for daring to live in the real world!

Well I've done one of those superior mummy things now... now I get to say "well we made our own Play Doh..." and I can make the next mummy feel guilty!

2 cups bi-carb soda
1 cup cornflour
1 cup water
1 tbsp veg oil
A bit of food colouring

Put it all in a saucepan and stir over low heat for about 15 mins or until it looks right.
put mix on a plate with a wet towel over the top (I forgot about the wet towel bit!) and cool for about an hour.
Sprinkle with cornflour and kneed till it feels right.

By the way it was a bit of a pain in the arse to make and I think the bought stuff is still better!!!

Insomnia...

Although insomnia is nothing new or unusual for me, I am on my forth night in a row of it and I am seriously NOT HAPPY! Last night I got a grand total of 3 hours, I am grumpy and irritable and really not very nice to be around. And I wish I could blame the kiddies, but it’s not even them, just my stupid body!!! Ive tried all number of over the counter and prescription methods and tonight I’ve gone down the hippie herbal route with a double dose of Valerian but still no joy! Even the spare bed ain’t working for me this time... bloody mother... jkn;kljjjjj;;l/mm lhoujnnlk... ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........

Altona North...

The fabulous Altona North Community Library opened yesterday! Come check it out, not just for the great collection and gorgeous staff but also for the Innovative building design. The building is designed to work with the environment, the windows are arranged to catch the morning and evening sun while avoiding the strong midday rays. The courtyard doubles as an internal light well, the thermal mass wall acts as an insulator and the round ‘Swiss cheese’ window design matches up to the google earth image of the nearby petrol refineries... seriously!

I finally got yo watch the Hollywood Librarian (now available at HBL if anyones interested!) It was OK, the first half was entertaining and the second got a bit political and all a bit serious for me (there are libraries outside of the states don't you know!)

I enjoyed the representations of libraries and librarians on film but was disappointed no to see my favourite scene from Ghostbusters! I want to try and track down a copy of the movie The Desk Set with Katherine Hepburn (whose sister is a librarian by the way!) which explores (in 1957!) the impact computers are going to have on the workplace including the reference library.

babies and evil books...

Have I told you I have the perfect baby? She sleeps all night, only cries when she's hungry and is totally cute! Now I'm not saying this to gloat... believe me if I knew what i was doing right I would share it with you, write a book and make a million dollars! But boy, those books can be evil, full of contradictory information and advice and making their money out of making women question their own abilities and intuition. I read one recently that was so rigid in it's routines it would have stressed me out so much if tried to follow it I would be an absolute mess! You must do this and that at this time and not a minute before or later, I'm sorry but that's just not real life! Sure I know that routines can have their place and maybe I'm lucky that both my babies have fallen into their own routines (were allowed to fall into their own routines maybe?). Early on I read and article that said that it was a good idea to not have too strict a routine so your kid doesn't freak out if your out somewhere and am running late or whatever. It also advised that you sometimes give their bottles at different temperatures so that if you couldn't heat it when you were out and about they wouldn't freak out too. I have followed that one!

My advice... find what suits you and then don't read anymore of those books! and follow your instincts and intuition!

a week maybe a long time in politics...

But 2 1/2 weeks is a long time in blogging!

I'm a bad blogger... a bad bad bad blogger!

But Ive been a busy one what with starting back to work at the fabulous soon-to-be-open Altona North Library (2pm March 16th!) and with poor Little Miss having an operation to release of the right trigger thumb. Poor little brave girl will finally be able to give us the thumbs up!

As the Fonz says; EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHH

Also been doing a lot of reading... someone asked me the other day at work how I'm able to get through a book a week with two little kids... I say "It's all about your priorities!"

Ive not long finished this cute book, A true history of the Hula Hoop by Judith Lanigan. It’s a very sweet book basically covering 3 intersecting stories as well as a little non-fiction research into... you guessed it, the history of the hula-hoop! And the little town about an hour from Melbourne with the historic cinema sounds VERY familiar!

I'm currently reading Stealing Picasso by Anson Cameron which I would probably be enjoying a lot more if I didn't keep picking bloody holes in it all the time! Its a novel based around the stealing of the Weeping Woman from the NGV back in 1986 (something which has always intrigued me and I believe makes the painting a lot more interesting, but I think it's funny that I worked at the NGV for over a year and you never heard anything about it nor found any mention in any of the books they produced!) anyways, I keep picking at things like when the book says its free to get into the gallery but back then it wasn't, and now there's this whole weird bit about a Michael Jackson impersonator who is struggling because of the child abuse allegations coming out but that wasn't until the 90's... why cant I just read it and enjoy it!!!!

Warman Special

The latest from creation from Hot Roddings mad genius...
You can also check out the Warman special in the latest Street Machine magaizine (Pg 60), it’s a sweet story of a grandfathers inspiration, especially when his own father said “those cars will get you nowhere boy!”

Just in case your interested...

http://www.rarespareslegend.com.au/Legends/Rod-Hadfield.htm

Happiest room in the house...

Regular readers of my blog will know I have traveled to several different countries. I therefore think I am in a good position to comment of the state of toilets throughout the western world... Not the state as in someone missed the seat and left the stall filthy... I mean the actual toilet itself...

The worst country for toilets would have to be the States... they seem to have a fascination with self flushing toilets, particuly in airports... maybe air travellers have a hard time remembering to press the button or perhaps its a germ thing I don't know, but if your anything like me who is a bit of a mover arounderer on the loo (especially with a number 2 where sometimes it needs a little help and guidance!) you end up with a wet bum. Not to mention if you accidentally drop something in and jump off the seat to collect it! Tip from me - you can trick them by holding your hand over the sensor, not always the most comfortable position but better than a surprise bidet!

Best country for toilets, Japan! Soft, heated seats. Washbasins that utilise your hand washing water, music, fake sounds for the shy... bottom heaven!

Another Seriously Hot Librarian!

If you think us librarians are all daggy nerds, check out Peggy Wilkins... Hot librarian and Playboy collector... my kind of lady!

Mr. Stubby Holder...

Kind of makes me laught that a man who doesn't drink should end up on a stubby holder!

No need to smoke them Winnie Blues...

Check out these super cute Cigerette sized literature... wear 'em in your rolled up T-shirt sleeve like a pack of Winnie Blues!