Blog By Belle

I'M OVER HERE!!!

2008-03-25T22:41:00.006+11:00

http://renaeacrosstheworld.blogspot.com

Hey! For the next few months, you can find me there, at my overseas trip blog! I'm going to make the most of being able to record different aspects of my adventures, for you people to see. It should be pretty amusing for both people who have traveled extensively and for people who haven't at all, to read some first impressions of traveling overseas and all the good and bad experiences of backpacking solo around Europe, using an itinerary I planned myself!

There will be photos, videos, maps and journal entries. And there's a map on there now, so you can go and check out the route I'm taking. Also, feel free to give me any travel advice you can think of, and leave comments if you're feeling nice :)

SUBSCRIBE to see when there's new posts on my blog (I believe you young folks call that RSS), or just do what I do and BOOKMARK the page!

So it's goodbye to this blog for a few months, and hello to my awesome new overseas blog. ;)

See ya there.

Song List

2008-03-25T22:27:00.003+11:00

Ok so I (out of boredom) wrote a top 10 movie list and top 10 book list, and promised a top 10 song list. But alas, there are too many I like. So I'm going to have to apologise to my millions of readers and leave you all guessing as to what might have made the long-awaited list :P

Anyway, in other news, I just got back from Easter up north, which was pretty good. It's now not too long until Adrian leaves for Bolivia, and then I leave for Europe a week later. It's exciting, but I'm guessing it'll be much more exciting closer to the dates, when the whole drama of the year to come will be a whole lot more realistic and imaginable!

That's all :)

The BOOK list!

2008-03-03T23:27:00.002+11:00

Now for the second-most long-awaited list of 2008.. my Top 10 Favourite Novels. Here they are.

1. Harp in the South - Ruth Park

2. A Power of Roses - Ruth Park

3. Playing Beattie Bow - Ruth Park

4. My Sister Sif - Ruth Park

5. The Alphabet of Light and Dark - Danielle Wood

6. The Devil's Own - Deborah Lisson

7. The Diary of Anne Frank (sort of a novel)

8. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

9. Poor Man's Orange - Ruth Park

10. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton

Runners-up: The Power of One, The Potato Factory, Tommo and Hawk, Solomon's Song and Four Fires, all by Bryce Courtenay. They're exceptionally good books, I just don't like Bryce Courtenay's need to make every scene gorier than it needs to be.. he must seriously love violence. Therefore he does not make the top ten.

Hmmm there seems to be a Ruth Park trend! And an Australian trend. And a children's novel trend. There are so many other awesome novels that are far better books than these, but these are the ones I personally like best. That was a rather boring list.. most people don't really like/care about novels unless they're a book nerd. So, coming next... top 10 favourite songs. Yay!

THE Movie List of 2008! :P

2008-03-01T10:06:00.003+11:00

The long-awaited list has now been released. Renae's Top 10 Favourite Movies. Behold.

1. Looking for Alibrandi.

2. The Love Letter. (It was a telemovie. I only saw it once, but I loved it.)

3. Dirty Dancing.

4. Across the Universe.

5. Sliding Doors.

6. Moulin Rouge.

7. Amelie.

8. Pride and Prejudice (BBC).

9. Robin Hood: Men In Tights.

10. Love Actually.

Close runners-up: James Bond - all of them from Sean Connery to Timothy Dalton, Bridget Jones' Diary, The Lake House, Juno.

You might notice a few trends! Good soundtrack (i.e. Moulin Rouge, Across the Universe, Dirty Dancing).. the theme of parallel times (The Love Letter, Sliding Doors, The Lake House). But you can't beat Looking for Alibrandi. It's a classic. The best scene: John's funeral, with U2 singing "With or Without You". Sigh.

Goodbye February

2008-02-22T10:56:00.003+11:00

Where did it go? I think that's a record for the fastest a month has ever passed. Well it's not quite over yet, but I can't believe uni goes back next week. I've finished uni but Allie, my flatmate, doesn't seem overly excited about going back. I love going back to uni after holidays, weird I know, but I love starting a new year. And this is my FIRST year I've been out of school since I was 4!! I did SEVENTEEN years of school and now I'm not going back. Oh well, one must move on eventually. As for my oldest sister, Carly, she's just finishing her PhD in Contemporary Arts (painting) and her thesis is due the end of this month. Yikes. She's a professional uni student, and proud of it. Leesa, my other sister, recently moved to north-eastern Victoria to live near our mum, but she hasn't been able to get a teaching job (she has an Education degree), so she's in the process of starting a job at a 000 call centre! Could be pretty stressful, but she's made for those situations!

I think I'm going to go to Focus next week, seeing as that's one of the days I don't work. Just to see what they're up to! I can't let go... ;)

Adrian leaves for his short-term mission trip on 9th April. He'll be gone for 11 months in total. I leave for Europe 8 days after he leaves, on 17th April. I'll be back on 23rd June. Exciting times. We're really kinda desperate to promote his trip, not for financial support, but prayer support and just to have people knowing about it and taking an interest. I know our church in particular is trying to be more and more mission-focused, and it just seems that this is an opportunity we should be embracing, to have one of our church members going on a not-so-short mission trip to somewhere that has so many huge needs. So hopefully Mick Elliott from SIM can come and speak at Wellspring sometime, and hopefully people will go HERE (bookmark it!!!) and read about it and learn about Bolivia and Ecuador, maybe pray about it, and take an interest. The Bible Society is making Bolivia their big project for this year, so you'll probably see their brochures and stuff in churches around the place.

2008-01-31T17:23:00.000+11:00

READ THIS THEN SCROLL DOWN, COUNT TO TEN AND THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU! Yet to be proven a scam.***

When I read the following bit of 2 Peter last night, it reminded me a lot of laziness. Because I think when we fall into laziness, apathy, or whatever you want to call it, we still know that we've been saved through our faith in Jesus, but we forget what we've been saved from. Once we're saved, we're no longer slaves to what we used to be, when we were controlled by our sinful nature. But when we get lazy, we often revert back to a lot of our past ways, while still having faith. But this part of the Bible talks about the whole sanctifying process of adding to your faith and not going back to being nearsighted, and forgetting what you've been saved from.

2 Peter 1: 5-11

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

-----

On another note, why are people more into Facebook now than reading blogs? Facebook is great, don't get me wrong, but blogs are far more thought-provoking and personal, and minus the pressure to add applications to see how your friends rate your hotness and whether or not he's your soul mate.. (latest applications I was invited to join - Is he your soulmate? and What kind of kisser are you?) Point made!

***Didn't I fool you.

Not long now!

2008-01-30T15:04:00.000+11:00

Well it's January.. hang on, the end of January. This summer is going too fast!! I'm still working at Sealife right up until the end of March. I've cut it back to three days, cos it was just adding up to being a bit too sleep-depriving for my liking, plus a number of other reasons too.. Especially when we were doing two tours a day - there were days when I had to leave home at 7 and get home at about 8. That just smells. So I'm back to three days!

Most of my trip overseas is sorted out, in terms of booking airfares and accommodation, and working out the whole itinerary. The second half of the 2 month trip is going to be full on, I'm talking spending only 2 or 3 nights in some cities, then moving on! It is a holiday, but it's going to be quite tiring in parts. And sleeping in dorms with lots of other people.. I'm someone who needs space occassionally! So, for the first half of the trip, I'm trying to spend more time in each place. I'm spending about a week with a friend in Denmark. Then, unbelievably, I have a spare week to do something with! It'll be after I leave Copenhagen, and before I make my way to Berlin. I want to stay in the one place for a week. I was thinking southern Sweden, or the northern-most tip of Denmark, a place called Skagen. Not sure?

Adrian leaves for South America on the 9th April, when he flies from Hobart to Sydney. I'm flying this part with him (well on a separate plane, but up to Sydney on the same day), so I can see him off on the 10th when he flies to Santiago. I fly out 8 days later on the 17th April, from Hobart to Sydney. Leesa (my sister, who has now moved to Wangaratta, Victoria) is coming up to Sydney to see me off.

The first part of Adrian's trip is to spend 4 months in Boliva, working with IOU (International Orphanage Union). It's hard to get a picture of what he'll be doing because it's hard for even him to know before he gets there. But he'll be an intern, and this blog iouinterns.blogspot.com is written by interns! So I found it gave a really good picture what goes on at the orphanages and what the interns get up to. It seems like there's lots of 1) playing with the kids, 2) helping with building projects and 3) tutoring, talking with, and more playing with the kids! I reckon those little kids would grow up to be such interesting people - hopefully as Christians, who are so blessed in life compared to the ones who grow up without a Christian family. They'd have such a range of experiences - being abandoned by their parents, finding a home at the orphanage, finding a friend/parent in God, getting to know people from Australia and other countries (the interns), whilst still living in Bolivia, where they were born into far less fortunate circumstances. What a life, so different to anything we see here!

Across the Universe

2008-01-16T10:28:00.000+11:00

I saw this awhile ago at the State and meant to post about it when it was fresh in my memory. So instead of a well-structured, well-thought out review*, here's what I believe made it an awesome movie:

The music! An all Beatles soundtrack. The main characters were Jude and Lucy, so you can guess at least 2 of the songs. But the classics like Strawberry Fields Forever and Across the Universe were brilliantly remade. They stayed quite true to the originals, but illustrated their meaning in the visuals of the movie. It was set in the 60s part of the Vietnam War. It seemed (ok so Adrian said this but I agreed with him..!) that they were, in the movie, trying to illustrate the real inspiration for each song but still in a really creative and often 'visually stunning' way. So in that respect, they stayed quite true to the possible original meaning of the song but also added to how much of their meaning (for the most part pretty bizarre) you were able to understand. The visuals for Strawberry Fields Forever were especially good, and very telling.

That's all for now. Make sure you see it! Or you can look it up on www.youtube.com for a preview. Find the music on www.songza.com..

*I'm tired.. I just got out of bed.

Graduating

2007-12-21T19:29:00.000+11:00

Why Bubbleshare is better than Flickr...

2007-12-12T01:27:00.000+11:00

You get lots more albums and photo space on Bubbleshare it seems. Come and see my photos! Just click here.

BubbleShare: Share photos - Powered by BubbleShare

Back by popular demand

2007-11-27T23:01:00.001+11:00

So just after exams I started my job with Sealife Experience. I'm working Fridays to Mondays. I did my first weekend just observing and trying to learn. The office stuff was ok, like taking bookings and doing credit transactions. But the boat posed a bit of a challenge. You see, I found out not only would I be a guide, but because it's a small business, I'd be deckhand as well! Yikes. I didn't know much about boats and was certain I'd fall in the water before too long. It was inevitable.

So I did my training weekend, not falling in the water, and then did my first weekend taking tours (this weekend just gone). My first day was ok.. a few "deckhanding" issues, because I hadn't been shown a few things like mooring the boat, and I was just learning what all the ropes were for. But my commentary went ok. It's quite a long tour, 3 and a half hours, but really good value for what you pay. And it's an awesome piece of coastline we cover, with lots of seacaves you can take the boat right inside.

I've taken 3 tours now, where I've been doing the commentary. Here's what's REALLY cool though. I've had this fascination since a really young age (maybe 7 or 8) with whales and dolphins, which was more like an obsession, as my family would tell you. But I'd never actually SEEN a whale, even when I was out with the Sealife guys doing training. But on my first tour, we saw two humpback whales, a mother and calf. They were so beautiful, cruising along, maybe 200m from the boat. We cut the engine and the sea was so calm, so all you could hear was the waves slapping against the hull and no sound at all as the whales surfaced, until they'd blow. Quite awesome.

On my second tour, we saw a pod of common dolphins. On my third, we had the best day of whale sightings so far this season.. eight whales! There was a bull, cow and calf in Munro Bight, just cruising along. Then down at Cape Pillar, a calf was breaching, right out of the water! It had swam up to a fishing boat and was breaching right next to it.. the fishermen said over the radio, they thought it was going to jump into the boat. Would've made an awesome photo, the calf breaching with the huge cliffs of Cape Pillar in the background. We saw the calf and its mother again at Tasman Island, breaching again. Then on the way back, we saw three whales, slapping their tails on the water and just cruising along. We stayed and watched them for ages.

So God definitely blessed me hugely. I have been massively tired and it's been really hard getting used to this job for some reason, but I think I'll get into it soon. But seeing whales on my first day was awesome. Part of the reason I decided to study tourism (I once wanted to do marine biology) was that the idea of showing people God's creation appealed to me. And there was something awesome about how when we were watching the whales, we were all just standing at the side of the boat in silence, watching them, and no-one could've denied how impressed they were. Whether they knew it or not, they were looking at just one part of God's creation, and just the tiniest display of his power. If people can be inspired and excited by enormous whales splashing around in the ocean, how much more should they acknowledge God, who made them. Creation is inspiring but it's not great and powerful.. God the creator is.

So here are some photos! All are from Google, I'm afraid. Only the first is an official Sealife photo, the others are from who knows where. Oh and guess what else.. I haven't fallen in the water yet. Emphasis on "yet" :)

Here is our boat:

This is sort of what the calf looked like when it was breaching:

And this is a bit like what we could see of the adult whales:

Europa

2007-11-12T12:26:00.000+11:00

I booked and paid for (in full, yikes, I'm broke) my tickets to Europe this morning. The plan is to leave in late April, flying Hobart - Sydney -Beijing - Frankfurt - Copenhagen. It was quite expensive to fly into Copenhagen, but that's where I'm meeting my friend. I think we'll go to Bornholm (island, part of Denmark, off the coast of Sweden) straight away for the weekend, so I'll be dead. Then we'll probably spend a few days together in Copenhagen where she lives. Next I'll leave her and travel around Denmark and then to Berlin. I'm doing a loop of northern Europe with Busabout starting early May in Berlin. That'll take me to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam. Then I'm training from Berlin to Lucerne (Switzerland) and on to Nice in France, which I'm more looking forward to more than anywhere else. Then to Milan (Italy) where I'll fly to Athens and then straight on to Santorini. Then home via Athens, Frankfurt and Beijing again, getting back late in June.

Got that? Good, cos I haven't! I'm super excited about it all but there's lots of planning and asking for people's advice. I've never been overseas before so hopefully it goes smoothly.. well smoothly is unlikely :P so hopefully nothing too tragic happens. What do you think, anyone who's been these places before or have thought about it? Where would you go/not go?

A day 'til freedom

2007-11-07T16:12:00.000+11:00

I'm finding that after writing entries with pictures on here, any without pictures look boring. But I don't have any for this one, so hopefully it'll be exciting enough with it's content... ;)

Well I have one more exam to go, which is tomorrow at 9am. Postcolonial Fictions. My mind is more on what comes after that though - celebratory shopping. I really want to see (as do a few others I know!) Across the Universe, a new movie that's not in Tassie yet, I don't think. So there's a few things to look forward to.

I'm still planning Europe adventures! I'm getting myself all excited the more I find out about each place. I have an appointment this Sunday with Flight Centre, so hopefully I can book flights. The plan thus far is to fly to Copenhagen and see Denmark, then do a loop of northern Europe with Busabout. Then I'll have 2 weeks to spare before flying home, which I haven't yet decided on. My latest fantasy is Nice, in the French Riviera. In fact, France is interesting me more and more lately. Could've been because I watched Moulin Rouge again last night..

All in all I'm hoping to be gone for 2 months, beginning about 15th April. My sister's wedding is the 30th June, so I'll be back for that. All of this is if God wills it of course. If these plans aren't meant to happen I'll let them go, even if it means forsaking the French Riviera and the Moulin Rouge ;)

Aaah I have an exam tomorrow.. have to stop playing Scrabulous and writing on my blog, and START studying!

You Need to Know About...

2007-10-28T12:16:00.000+11:00

Adrian's short-term mission trip to South America.

In 2008, I will embark on a big adventure, which will take me to Cochabamba, Bolivia and Quito, Ecuador. I will use this page to summarise the trip, the mission field I will be working in, and up-to-date prayer points.

This is a sample from his blog, which is well-maintained and gorgeously designed. To see it, click here.

To read about his mission trip, click here.

To learn about Bolivia, go here.

To learn about Ecuador, go here.

This blog provides regular updates on Adrian's preparation, information on South America, articles on issues such as poverty, and prayer points. Get involved in mission in South America by committing to read Adrian's blog and supporting this mission through prayer.

Birthday

2007-10-14T23:11:00.000+11:00

Recently I turned 21. I usually hate my birthday, so it was a nice surprise that this one was in actual fact quite awesome! Aside from getting lots of fantastic presents, my lovely friends cooked me dinner on the day of my birthday, then that weekend my sisters made it down to Hobart, so a group of us went out for dinner at Annapurna followed by drinks at the casino. Lots of things made the whole week really cool. Thankyou everyone.. I might decide to like birthdays now! xx

Stories

2007-09-24T15:39:00.000+10:00

I was just remembering today some things I heard when I was growing up that have stuck in my memory and which I often recall. My family went to a small baptist church up north for about 13 years, and among other things, they'd sometimes have a time in the service where the person leading would say "turn to someone and welcome them" and everyone would get up and hug practically everyone else and start chatting away, with the poor person up the front having to try and get everyone sitting down again. It was that kind of welcoming place. Anyway, most of the people who led the services were middle-aged farmers and they all made a habit of sharing stories. I can remember three, and they're really good! So here they are.

There was a flood coming and the town had to be evacuated. Eventually, everyone reluctantly left, except for one guy who said "I have faith in God and he will rescue me." So the water rose, until his house was flooded. A rescue squad came to get him, but he wouldn't leave, repeating the same thing. The water kept rising and a rescue boat came for him, but he'd moved up to the roof and refused to leave, saying "God will rescue me." When the water rose higher, a helicopter came to save him, but he refused to leave, saying "God will rescue me." Eventually, he drowned. He got to Heaven and asked God, "what's going on? Why didn't you save me?" And God replied, "I send you two rescue crews and a helicopter, but you didn't seem to notice."

A guy drove a schoolbus packed full of kids everyday. One day as he was driving the bus down a hill, the brakes failed. He knew that if he kept going straight ahead, the bus would plough into the ocean and the children most likely would be killed. But his own house was approaching on the left, and he knew that if he turned sharply into his own driveway, the bus would come to a stop and the kids and himself would be saved. He decided on this course of action. As he got closer he remembered that his son waited everyday at the end of the driveway to wave to him. This guy was a Christian and he knew that his son was too. If he turned sharply into his driveway, his own son would be killed. If he kept going, his son would live but the whole busload of children would die. If they weren't saved, he would be condemning them. At the bottom of the hill, he turned into his driveway.

A man, his son and one of his son's mates were fishing out at sea. A storm came up and a wave threw the son and his friend into the sea. The man grabbed hold of the life ring. Both cried out for him to save them. He thought to himself.. he knew his son was saved, but his friend wasn't. By throwing the life ring to his son, he could hold onto him for several more decades. But by throwing it to his son's friend, he could offer him another chance at eternity. Life is precious, but not for the reasons some people think; family, friends, happiness. There is a choice to be made. The man and his son were assured eternity, but the son's friend wouldn't be, unless he was given one more chance.

THE MYER FIRE

2007-09-24T15:28:00.000+10:00

It seems it's the most talked about piece of news at the moment and everyone with a blog is posting up the latest fiery inferno pictures, so I thought I would too. The Myer fire is quite an odd piece of news. No-one was physically hurt (although some emotionally no doubt - all those designer labels, what will some women do?) Not to forget the managers and people who worked there, who it'd be a good thing to pray for. So it's not really on the whole devastating, or shocking.. just a bit weird. It seems everyone's a bit weirded out by it. There'll be a big hole in the streetscape and lots more people going to Eastlands' department stores. But those things aren't really that unsettling. I think it was just the sight of the middle of our city going up in flames.

A trip to the "far south", job interviews and girly chats

2007-09-23T02:28:00.000+10:00

It's been awhile. I haven't written here since becoming addicted to Facebook, plus I have mountains of assignments coming up in the beginning of October. Since the last post, Adrian and I have been on a weekend trip to Dover, which was simply for the purpose of having a holiday. Good enough reason, I say! Yes, the residents of Dover are proud of where they're from (see above). It really is a beautiful place though.

I may have a job. I had 3 interviews in one week. The first I didn't get, the second I got an offer but didn't accept, and the third (dream job) I got an unofficial offer from and I'm just praying they don't change their mind! Keep you posted on that one.

Tonight was fruit and veg night at Christine's, a get-together for the Focus girls. We had a really good chat and made healthy drinks. It was a great night.

It's too cold for a picnic

2007-09-11T12:20:00.000+10:00

Been neglecting the blog on account of having joined Facebook. So here's the latest.. Allie, Simon, Andrea and I went to the beach for a picnic last weekend to make the most of that bit of sunny weather. But it really was still freezing.. I don't recommend having a beach picnic until maybe mid-October, unless you plan on sitting in the car to keep warm. But we had a great time, and will no doubt do it again soon! (Just wear more clothes or bring a portable heater!!)

2007-09-01T14:10:00.000+10:00

The long and winding road

2007-08-27T22:50:00.000+10:00

It's funny.. I went up north to visit my family this weekend and missed a few classes to get back later today. It was a nice long 4-5 hour (not sure, can't remember) trip, but I went up there with Adrian, whose parents also live up on the coast, so I didn't actually have to drive.

Funny thing is (I mentioned it was funny) that home up there doesn't feel at all like home anymore! At the beginning of uni I used to get a buzz going that final leg of the journey up north, driving up the hill to the house, thinking I was going home, but now the buzz is (believe it or not) driving back over that hill on the Brooker coming into Hobart, where you see the city and river and mountain all of a sudden. It was a definite realisation, this time round.

On an unrelated note, I've been going back to this video a lot lately, to watch it again and again. (Don't know how to post youtube videos yet). Oh and the topic of this post? Well we drove a long way today on a long (maybe not so winding) road.. Oh the joys of the Midlands! Sheep. Tree. Hill. Sheep. Ned Kelly. Tree. Hedge animal. Sheep..

Blogs I read..

2007-08-22T14:31:00.000+10:00

Sitting around waiting to go somewhere, but it's not quite long enough to actually do anything substantial.. so I'm gonna tell you about some other people's blogs that are worthy of your attention.

Mine.. You're here already, so that's a great start!

Adrian.. This main page is his blog. Go there, then follow the link called "My Mission". Adrian is going to Bolivia and Ecuador next year. Here you can find out more about those countries and what you can do to pray for him in the lead up to next year, as well as how you can pray for Bolivia and Ecuador. It would do you well to read this! You can also find some thought-provoking stuff on poverty and who we are as Christians.

Mike.. is one of our AFES staff workers at FOCUS. This one's always interesting and regularly updated too!

Christine.. is Mike's wife and I've been reading her blog for quite awhile now. She has a lot of wise things to say. I've learnt and been provoked to think about a lot of things from reading her blog. She writes about heaps of issues including ministry, women and life in general. Very awesome.. read it.

Jerome.. is also a guy from FOCUS. This blog is updated very regularly so you'll always have something new to read. He's off on a bit of a tangent at the moment with some new and creative posts about.. something.

IBM.. now has a blog, so here you can find out what it is and what we do!

That's all I can think of for now. More later maybe :)

My technological advances!

2007-08-10T09:46:00.000+10:00

Up until a month or two ago I had a clunky old computer with a big heavy monitor sitting on this wobbly little desk in the loungeroom. I'm not much of a nerd, so these things just didn't bother me. But a month or two ago I got an LCD screen and relocated the computer to a proper desk in my room. I also was given an optical mouse (for free!) to replace my old roller one which was so broken it required a huge effort to get the cursor from the top of the screen to the Start button. And NOW, as of yesterday, we have broadband! This is very exciting. So I downloaded Skype and with much convincing from Adrian changed to Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer. (It's so much better.. I didn't want it to begin with cos I'd used it on the Macs at uni and those things are so hard to use, but it really knows how to do so much more than Internet Explorer). So there you have it. LCD monitor, optical mouse, broadband, Skype and Firefox, and didn't pay that much for any of them, except the monitor. I sound like a nerd, but really I'm not! Just excited to be leaving the stone age :)

Europe

2007-08-07T16:44:00.000+10:00

I wasn't actually going to bother writing about this on here, but I was talking to some friends about it last night and they actually had lots of travel tips to give, so maybe I will! At the moment the plans are (if God wills it of course!) to go to Europe next year, about May. I'm finishing my degree this year and I'm aiming to spend the summer and 2008 building up the industry experience that I don't really have, especially for someone studying tourism. I haven't traveled overseas before so I know I'm gonna come back and wish I'd done several things differently, but hey, that's the point of the first trip. And after a month or two at most in Europe I'll try to get seasonal work for the rest of the year in the area that I'm particularly interested in (marine ecotourism). Hopefully by 2009 I'll be equipped for a permanent graduate job, having finally traveled and having had some variety of experience.

Here are the places I'd like to go: Denmark first, starting at Copenhagen, then to an island called Bornholm, then Esbjerg in the holiday region. I have a friend in Denmark I can stay with. After this I'd be on my own. Busabout have these things they call "loops" and I'd like to do the northern one. It does a loop of these cities, but you do it all in your own time and independently: Berlin, Dresden (Germany), Prague, Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic), Vienna, Salzburg (Austria), Munich, Stuttgart (Germany), Paris (France.. duh), Bruges (Belgium) and Amsterdam (Netherlands). It's still very much in the planning stage.

Images: Vienna, Prague, Amsterdam.

What's been happenin' lately

2007-07-27T00:36:00.000+10:00

FOCUS WORLDVIEW SURVEY - our mission. This is gonna be interesting. People can answer questions to get an indication of what their worldview is, eg Deist, Theist, Existentialist, Nihilist.. I wonder what you have to answer to get Nihilist??

UNI.. my last semester! My timetable is ok, only one clash, and not too many classes. But there's a ridiculously large amount of readings to do each week!

IBM (international bible meetings) - it was great tonight. We had a question time at the end and it was just such a good, open, honest time. I know I felt enriched, so maybe others were too!

LOST SEASON FINALE, also tonight. I was less shocked than I thought I'd be! But they shouldn't have killed off Charlie. He's been my favourite since the start. Lost needed a smiley little hobbity creature with an accent.

LAINE'S 21ST, also today! Happy birthday!! Not that you read my blog..

BUTTERFLY EFFECT - I saw this movie recently. It was very scary on a number of levels, but compelling and fairly thought-provoking too. One of the weirdest movies I've seen in awhile! But definitely a good one. If you haven't seen it (you probably all have) get to it.

FOOTBALL - Go Hawthorn.

NEXT YEAR - Trying to work out what I'm gonna do!

SIMPSONS MOVIE.. I don't even watch the Simpsons! Don't even really like the idea of it. But the few times I have watched it, it was funny as. So this should be super-funny.

SUMMER is nearly here! Not too many months now til the air is warm, and smells like mown grass and flower pollen, and you can go swimming in the sea without dying, and all that summery stuff. Only 4 months away! Have to think positive..

OK.. that's all!

Bay of Fires, Tasmania

The Famous MYC

2007-07-20T14:08:00.000+10:00

MYC (Focus Mid-Year Conference) 2007 has been and gone! There's no easy way to summarise it, so...

Highlights :)

Romans bible studies - we did Romans 9-14. I learnt that God is in complete control, and this is a very good thing for us.

Prophesying groups - sharing our thoughts on different issues in each other's lives, and talking about bits of the Bible that would help.

Seminars - Discussion could've gone all day.. we got thinking about such big issues and there just wasn't enough time in a seminar, let alone a day!

Electives - I went to TEAR, marriage and children (by far the most popular, it was packed out by guys and girls!) and the Bible Society.

Talks - the best bit of MYC! We learnt stacks and not just that, but I think we got a lot of application out of these. Like how to look at suffering. These talks gave no easy comforting answers. A lot of it was challenging and hard to accept. Like how hard is it to accept that the bad things in life come from God. We also looked at how Jesus described his own suffering as "sorrow to the point of death." Man. Sorrow to the point of death.. But Jesus accepted his lot from God. He prayed and continued to obey, and never pretended it was easy.

Bits of my notes from Sam's talk say "in these situations there is a struggle to remain faithful. In struggles, your true nature comes out. Proverbs says if a man fails in times of difficulty, how small is his strength. Consider it joy, not because it's easy - it's not. But because God uses it. We're shaped by perseverance through trials. Look back and you'll see you've changed."

Here is a section of the notes I took on Sam's 3rd talk (not sure if it's quoted from him or if I paraphrased, but you get the picture):

"Imagine if you were suffering and God was not sovereign or in complete control. Imagine praying to that God. It would be depressing. But our God is sovereign."

Bushdancing - How much fun was this!! Everyone got very much into the country theme. Not the just fashion but the lingo too, with lots of Bobby-Joe's and Betty-Sue's, not to mention the inevitable Brokeback Mountain jokes ;) It looked and sounded more like an American barndance by the end of it! But we thoroughly enjoyed our lil' shindig.

So try and come next year if you wanna learn heaps about our great God, hang out with awesome people and have a pretty memorable time!

Last Summer at Port Arthur

2007-07-04T22:20:00.000+10:00

This has been on my mind since last Summer, so it's time to write about it!

Over Summer I worked as a guide down at Port Arthur, taking day tours and ghost tours. If I look back, there's maybe 2 or 3 events in my life which taught me heaps and changed me, and during which I didn't even see what God was doing. This is one.

It was just another job, but in some ways it wasn't. To keep it short as I can, this experience was pivotal in 3 main ways:

One: the supernatural. I'm terrified by anything about ghosts, aliens, you name it. Don't watch Signs or the Sixth Sense with me, I will be a trembling, hysterical mess by the end of it! Seriously though, these things have always scared me. I never wanted to take ghost tours but they asked me to and I strangely said yes.. it was going to be an enormous challenge for someone mortally afraid of the idea of ghosts!

During training I started hearing stories that made me feel sick, because these guides seemed so convinced of everything they'd experienced, which was some pretty unnerving stuff. (And yes, down there, the word "experience" is embedded in their vocabulary; it stands for anything ghosty!) The other guides seemed to classify people as either "believers" or "non-believers". And I was of course a "non-believer". (Hang on, shouldn't the question be whether or not we believe in God? Isn't that more important than whether we believe in ghosts?) They kept saying to me, "wait til something happens to you, you'll see".

So I started taking tours and made sure my script was along the lines of "be careful what you wish for.. this isn't exciting and cool, but quite dangerous to get caught up in" (not in those words of course!) And I was super scared in those dark houses and prisons! Especially knowing the stories. More and more, I'd hear first-hand stories that chilled me but I'd keep pushing them out of head. Inevitably though, I came to a point of questioning my own faith. Not drastically, but for the first time I can think of, I experienced doubt.

To cut it short, I eventually realised through talking to people and praying (and I don't know how I didn't realise it sooner.. maybe cos I didn't talk and pray) that it was simple: trust God. There are lots of traps and things that are so convincing and which can manipulate your thoughts.. where you think you have no option but to believe it. And you completely forget to trust. So here's what I learnt: Satan is very real. I think everyone comes to that hard realisation at some stage, and I'm glad my initial realisation is over! It wasn't fun.

Once I figured this out, I could walk through these dark buildings alone and I'd still be nervous, but I wouldn't be afraid. I knew that no matter what, God is above it. And with his power behind me, I was above it. What an awesome way to learn the greatest truth!

Ok, two: I learnt that the people down there, none (or maybe 1) of whom were Christians (that I knew of), were so easy to make close friends with. I lived at the hostel there for a bit and got to know the girls, and they are some of the most awesome individuals I've met. Time with them was incredibly fun and most of us are still in touch. They don't know God but they are such great people and I can thank God for the opportunity of knowing them.

And three: You can go through a frustratingly confusing time where you don't see that a solution is possible, but God always guides you out of it and never fails you. Every time, you can look back and see his patient, never-changing love throughout it all. It's cool, cos it makes you realise how much we're nothing without him. The end!

Sydney Harbour Bridge - most evocative quote from Ruth Park's "A Power of Roses"

2007-07-03T20:28:00.000+10:00

"But soon she forgot to whimper, her mouth open, staring at the great Bridge which filled the sky. For there was nothing between Miriam and the Bridge, nothing to break its stupendous outline, or deflect its solemn, terrible roar ...

'I'm not afraid of you,' said Miriam, sticking her tongue out. But she was. Even when she turned her face away from the Bridge, to the city, she could feel it still looking at her, sentient in every rivet, alive, vibrating, ready to lash its tail and stalk away over the North Shore."

Holidays

2007-06-21T12:53:00.001+10:00

I've been looking forward to holidays forever. There are so many things I wanted to do.. there's planning for next year, spending more time with people I haven't seen enough of, going up north, going to new places, watching movies that I've wanted to see for ages, more planning for next year.. So now I'm on holidays, as of yesterday! ... And all I wanna do is turn the heater on and listen to the rain and read books.

Melbourne

2007-06-14T00:59:00.000+10:00

Last week, Adrian and I went to Melbourne for a few days. It was not your average trip to Melbourne. It was far more exciting and adventurous, involving close encounters with highly territorial wildlife, adrenalin-pumping spectator sport and perilous journeys through streets where greasy men loom out of the darkness and try to entice you into their overpriced restaurant..

Seriously though, this was a very fun four days. Read on!

Wednesday

Flew to Melbourne a la Virgin Blue. Arrived at King Street Backpackers! Bit prisony, but I rather liked it. Wandered down Flinders Street way and got pizza.. the waitor was very very sneaky. Traffic was rather loud that night! My goodness. Melbournites just don't sleep!

Thursday

Went shopping at the DFO on Spencer Street. Didn't buy much. Later on, wandered down to Southbank and onto Crown. I love Crown! We saw Shrek 3 (funny as), wandered round the shops and gaming stuff, and had cocktails at a rather deserted bar called M9. Then a lovely but cold walk back to King Street, taking gorgeous photos of beautiful glittery Melbourne at night on the way.

Friday

Checked out of King Street, because Adrian had booked us into a nicer place for the second half, which I did not yet know about. Had a coffee and then caught the City Circle tram, which promptly broke down. So, we got the next one (of course the first one magically got going again at this point) and made it to our next hotel, the Grand Chancellor. It was much lovelier! 4 stars as opposed to King Street's maybe half a star? ;)

Wandered over to Melbourne Central and then the QV Markets. After that, it was coffee at Hudsons. That night it was Lygon Street for tea. Now here is where the sleazy greasiness came in, not the food, but my goodness the spruikers! They sure were keen for us to eat at their restaurant. I mean, I know we're popular, but sheesh ;) Anyway, our choice was good and we had an outdoor table with a heater... mmm.

Then it was IMax, to see Spiderman 3 on the 8 storey screen which is the world's biggest. Woah it was large. Prior to the movie, I took photos of Adrian jumping off a step (it was more amusing than it sounds) and after the movie, we bumped into a nice male possum outside! He didn't like us getting near his woman and got a bit territorial (see photo - but don't be alarmed). Then back to the hotel.

Saturday

Walked to Federation Square and happened to hear a Zulu choir performing, which was awesome. Today was the day. The big game. The reason we came to Melbourne. Hawthorn versus Sydney. Of course I support Hawthorn and Adrian is a Sydney fan, so it was game on! We approached the MCG with awe.. (ok, not quite) but not before stopping at the Giant Sky Wheel on the bank of the Yarra, from which we got great pics, if the darn thing would just stop swinging!

Walked the rest of the way to the G. I'd been to the Dome, but neither of us had been to the MCG. We got there early and got several comments like "you two won't be talking after the game" (not such an odd statement.. I'm not a happy chappy when my team loses!) We had great seats on the first level, and to cut a long story short, I saw Hawthorn lose for the first time. Adrian was rather joyous but a very noble winner at the same time :)

The game was brilliant.. a few too many free kicks Sydney's way and we were surrounded by Swans fans, meaning I had to cheer extra loud to drown them out, but all in all the atmosphere was great. We then wandered back to the hotel, thoroughly cheered out.

Sunday

Up at 6am to taxi ride to the airport and fly home. It was a beautiful day and the clouds looked like a fairy floss blanket below us, with the sun big and golden above it. Very pretty indeed. As the plane landed in Hobart, the air hostess made certain we knew we were back home.. "outside, it's a nice and chilly 5 degrees.."

For Adrian's version of events (and better photos), click on his link on the left-hand side.

Are you sure of your place in Heaven?

2007-06-13T23:04:00.000+10:00

These bits of God's word seem to say we should be:

Luke 1:77 says John the Baptist as a prophet of God was to "give his people the KNOWLEDGE of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins."

So it's something we can know. And this next bit seems to say that it's for everyone who believes:

Paul's just been talking about how Abraham was "fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised," and that it was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:23-5:2 says "The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead ... therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God."

It also seems like Christ's death is a pretty big indication that we can be sure that we're saved:

Romans 5:8-10 talks about how God showed his love. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Maybe read that last paragraph again.. who are we to dispute that? Jesus' death wasn't pointless. It was to give us assurance that we are now cleansed and able to meet God, free from guilt.

Romans 6:3-9 sounds pretty insistent. It says, "don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will CERTAINLY also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might not be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin - because anyone who had died has been FREED from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again, death no longer has mastery over him."

So because of all this, it seems to be that we shouldn't have any fear:

Romans 8:15-17, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are his children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ."

He promised us...

1 John 2:25 says "and this is what he promised us - even eternal life."

And God doesn't lie...

In Titus 1:1-2, Paul seems to be Christ's apostle for two things, "the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth." More broadly, "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who DOES NOT LIE, promised before the beginning of time."

From these bits of his word it seems like God has promised eternal life, and he does not lie. His son's death made this possible.. so we couldn't be any surer, if we believe in his death and resurrection, and the power of that to bring us to God. If we believe in Jesus' death, etc, but aren't convinced of our place in Heaven, then doesn't that make his death a bit pointless? Now that's an awful thought.

Of course there's always gonna be a doubting of our own abilities to follow him and be a "good Christian", but we know it's not about that. We've already been freed. We have to devote ourselves to that, but that won't get us closer to Heaven, when we've already got our place there because of Jesus and his gift that is so simple to accept (but which was horribly hard to give).

We can be confident. Not self-confident - I think it's about confidence in God, not yourself. It's not proud or boastful to believe God when he of all people promises you eternal life. It might be hard to trust and have faith sometimes, but you just gotta do it!

Anyway, I'm far from being any kind of expert on what the Bible says about Heaven, so this is just my interpretation of what I've read. Any comments would be welcomed.

Old friends :)

2007-05-30T15:41:00.000+10:00

The other day I was thinking about childhood interests, or obsessions as the case may be, and started remembering all the old favourites!! Two of the best were Captain Planet and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Remember them?? When I was searching for pictures of the Chipmunks it kept coming up as an 80s children's program. They're not that old, are they? Anyway, see if you remember these guys..

This is Captain Planet. "By your powers combined..." He's so cool, green hair and all. I think the idea was that some mother earth woman had woken up to find the world in a mess, so she enlists five 'ordinary' teenagers to fight pollution or something.. and by combining all five powers they summoned up (for want of a better term) Captain Planet. Of course this seems entirely credible when you're 8. So there's Kwame (Earth), Wheeler (Fire), Linka (Wind), Gi (Water) and Ma-Ti (Heart - obviously the sensitive one). Do you remember the song?

Then there was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alvin (red), Simon (blue) and Theodore (green), and each of them had a girl chipmunk, Brittany (pink), Janet (purple) and Eleanor (yellow) if I remember rightly. There's not much about them on the internet. Don't know why! They're great.

Ahh, the memories..

Pirates of the Caribbean 3

2007-05-30T12:51:00.000+10:00

Hi.. I couldn't not write about this movie after reading what other people said about it. So my big question is.. how could you not like it! If I remember rightly Mike thought it had too much Johnny Depp, too much stupid monkey humour, and it was too long, just to name a few criticisms!

So just so you don't decide to wait for the DVD, I wanna defend it! Ok, so admittedly I literally lost the plot about half way through, but this doesn't suggest anything about the movie, more the fact that I can't follow a plot more complicated than boy meets girl blah blah or pirates steal ship, other pirates try to get it back, etc. So I pretty much had little clue as to what was going on in the second half. But even without a nice complex plot to follow, it had so much more to keep me entertained.

Number 1. Johnny Depp.. Ok so there was about five times the Johnny Depp humour as Pirates 1 and 2 had, but for a movie that long, you needed it! After I'd given up on following the plot, it was Jack Sparrow's hilarious random remarks and facial expressions that kept it entertaining. Some of the humour was really at the wrong place and the wrong time though. During a vital scene of the movie, there'd be a random funny thing plonked straight in the middle. That's fine, but it sorta distracts you from what was going on! But Jack was hilarious in this one. So we'll forgive them for poorly placing the humour!

Number 2. The monkey. Erk it was so ugly! I don't like monkeys. And that weird chirping noise it made.. However, it didn't have that many funny moments, so it was ok. And the ones it did have were classic.

Number 3. Too long? Well I didn't get bored! Maybe cos I prepared myself for the 2 and a half hours or whatever. Oh, and MAKE SURE YOU STAY TIL AFTER THE CREDITS!!! We only stayed cos we'd been told about it, but so many people left and didn't get to see the summing up of whole movie! And it was such a good ending, if not a little odd..

So I'd say it was up there with the first movie. I didn't like the second because there was far too many repulsive close-ups of the ugly squirmy slithering squid-face guy. Pirates 3 did still too much of this guy, but I'm overlooking that cos of its other benefits!

So there you go.. as you might have figured out, I'm not the most reliable source as I don't really care about plot so much as visual appeal and laugh value.. All in all, you should go see it because otherwise you won't know what we're all talking about and won't be able to write your very own review like I did :)

what you may not know about Christian groups at uni

2007-05-12T13:18:00.000+10:00

With uni ministry, I think people know it's there but don't really get past the point of knowing it's there.. they don't always get to the point of supporting it by going or praying for it or whatever. Just an observation. But just so you know that it really isn't to be ignored and it aint just a nice little group to go to for your own fulfillment, listen to this.. (and this isn't my life story, it's ok!)

Where I grew up, I went to a little Baptist church in a country town with my family, where there was no youth group and maybe 3 or 4 other people under the age of 30 who weren't babies. So basically all my friends through high school and college (and awesome friends they were, they're still some of my closest friends) were not Christians. So if you're gonna direct your life towards God, sure you can do that on your own and with just your family, but it's sorta like you end up floundering. BUT! When I moved down to Hobart for uni after year 12, I was handed a FOCUS brochure before O-Week sometime and was overjoyed that there was a Christian group, and that I wouldn't once again be the only one.

So I started going (scary for a 1st year) and throughout that year I met Ronnie, a Chinese student, and found a church through her. At the end of the year was NTE (National Training Event) in Canberra, and by going on this I got to know Bridget and Jono and Tania and those people who'd been at Focus for awhile. So that meant that the next year, I had Christian friends! That conference - which was scary as hell to go to at the time, when you're in 1st year and know no-one, and have never been to a Christian conference where you're required to pray and talk about God - meant that I was built up in confidence as a Christian who actually wanted to go and do things for the sake of the gospel.. and also, I had Christian friends now.

Of course from then on I was able to not live as an "island"! (I remember the first Focus meeting I ever went to, Jono said "so no man is an island? Well no Christian is an island"). In second year I met Georgie and Ilise and we started going to Baywest, and now, years after finding Focus, I can see that if it hadn't been for this Christian society and the people who went to it, I might not have gotten any further in my walk with/towards God. I would've sorta come to a standstill, and stayed there. I would've been living for God, but I would've been doing it on my own.

So Focus and other groups like that aren't just nice and fulfilling to go to, they are instruments that God uses to set your life going in a good and purposeful direction when you're at a sorta pivotal point in your life, where a lot of Christians could either go away, stay right where they are, or get their life going towards God :) and get some confidence in their faith, rather than just knowing they're a Christian.

There's actually lots of Christian groups. Focus (fellowship of christian uni students) is the main one, 1pm on Tuesdays at SocSci room 210 and 1pm Wednesdays at Chem room 210. IBM is for international students, and it's 6pm on Thursday at Life Science. There's also a Conservatorium Christian group and a Med Christian group. Other groups meet up during the week too as far as I know.. :)

our God's beautiful world

2007-05-12T12:52:00.000+10:00

The farm in the morning, just before I went back to Hobart at the end of Easter break. Looked pretty cool with the fog sorta sticking around in clumps in the valleys. It always looks sparkly in the mornings cos of the dew and the bright sunlight.

The sky just the other night. A big pink streak across the sky which was otherwise still quite blue.

Burnie looking smokey the day I went back to Hobart. Dad and I went for a drive up to the Upper Burnie lookout but you couldn't see far. Instead, you could just see the sun pink and hazy through the woodsmoke and as far as the docks, where Burnie's characteristic container ships and piles of woodchips are. Not as pretty as Hobart, but it's an awesome little town for what it is, with the beach and the boardwalk and the surf club (redeveloped, with Fish Frenzy and a juice bar), not to mention the penguin viewing centre and cruise ships coming to visit, and we even now have Gloria Jeans! You should go there. Burnie is starting to happen :)

Such Great Heights

2007-05-12T12:44:00.000+10:00

Hey,

I can't get Such Great Heights by Ben Folds out of my head. This is a problem! It's on loop at the mo so I can listen to it and only it. Anyway, it's a problem cos I'll get sick of it soon and then have to find another song to listen to constantly. Did you know Ben Folds didn't actually write it? According to Adrian it's not his best or anything like his usual stuff. Remember Ben Folds Five? Didn't they sing "she's a brick and I"m drowning slowly...."? That was cool when I was in maybe grade 7 or 8. So did he ditch the other four in the band or what? Assuming Ben Folds Five was a band of five? Anyway I'm gonna write about something else now.

Who is Heraclitus?

2007-03-22T15:22:00.000+11:00

Seven Mile

2007-03-11T14:09:00.000+11:00

The team went on our 'annual' (flexibly annual) camping trip not so long ago! The team consists of me, Laine, Andrea and Allie - the four of us who sort of became a group of friends during college in Burnie. I've been best mates with Laine since we were about 6 or something, and met Allie in 2003 and Andrea in 2004 from being in classes with them. Anyway, the four of us gelled as friends, and to this day we are still a team. Laine came down from the north and we all went camping at Seven Mile Beach for a couple of days. The highlights were swimming in the dark at around 10pm, going for a sunrise swim (the pic is of Laine and I trying not to look cold, with the sunrise in the background), mysteriously finding sparklers and matches in the grass and playing countless rounds of cards in the sun.. also Allie and I listening to her iPod til the wee hours of the morning and trying not to get told off by Laine and Drea for talking too loudly. The only negative? The mosquitoes. Ick! They incessantly bit us and next time we will bring mozzie repellent for sure. But wow, it was so cool to hang out with Laine again. And just chilling and swimming and stuff for a few days was heavenly!

Leesa

2007-03-11T13:54:00.000+11:00

Back to photos of family members.. here is Leesa, my second oldest sister. She's four years older than me, and Carly eight. We took this at Burnie carols by candlelight, which lacked something that the Sandy Bay carols had.. maybe cos Kamahl didn't sing? Anyway, Leesa is studying missiology (I think that translates to the art of being a missionary). She's coming to visit me next weekend hopefully!! Maybe she'll come to Baywest, that'd be pretty cool. And all you people could meet my fantastic sister! My other fantastic sister works hard and does her PhD so rarely gets the chance to come down here to Hobbitville.

Hobart Cup

2007-03-11T13:34:00.000+11:00

Ilise, Andrea and I went to the Hobart Cup. Andrea had beer spilt all over her and it was stinking hot, but we had a great time laying on the grass and taking quirky photos! We did stand up at one point to watch some horses run by (what were horses doing there? It's all about getting dressed up and watching drunk women falling into the bushes, isn't it?? Weird)

Wattle and jasmine

2007-03-11T13:26:00.000+11:00

Hi again.. wow, so far more than one post in a day. That is too much. So I had these pictures saved in my file so I thought I'd tell you some useless information.. you see, these are my two favourite flowers. Not for visual appeal, but for their smell! They have an astounding ability to prompt memories of ages ago. Where my mum lived when I was little, there was jasmine growing on this fence and a wattle tree outside the window, so when you'd wake up you'd open the window (a little sliding one, next to each bunk bed) and you'd instantly smell wattle pollen! Yum. And the jasmine, it also tastes really nice; you pull off the green stemmy part and the base of the flower tastes really sweet, so it not only smells nice but tastes nice and looks pretty sweet too! So here they are.

Carly and Quilly

2007-03-11T13:11:00.000+11:00

Hi! Well seeing as I have no idea who reads this, except for the people kind enough to leave comments, I thought I'd take Mike's approach and post pictures of people here to entice them to read my blog! However I think I'll only target my family members seeing as they have probably never laid eyes on it. So, this here is my oldest sister Carly (hehe, oldest, she'll love that). She is pictured here as she appeared on the uni's visual arts page.. she is doing her PhD in Contemporary Arts so they stuck a picture of her up there. So Cacky, come read this and leave me comments.

And this here is her man, Quilly. I like to call him Lilly. He loves it! He is looking very studious here.. you see this is the picture of him that the uni stuck up on their site. I think it was cos he's doing Masters in art history. Both Carly and Quilly are now going to come here and leave me interesting comments (not too weird please Carly, just restrain yourself, ok? ahem)

I have decided

2007-03-11T13:03:00.000+11:00

That Sunday is the day I'm going to dedicate to writing letters to the people I rely on writing letters to (eg my mum, Kim, Laine), and set aside time to read the Bible in a more concentrated fashion, and do other things that the week doesn't allow time to do.. eg recommencing that hobby I call drawing or, if I'm feeling sufficiently inspired, writing. I think that'd be a wise way to start/end the week that is filled with so much other stuff.

Mount Wellington

2007-03-04T11:55:00.000+11:00

Mount Wellington seems to inspire a lot of things, hey. There was a course I could've gone on to do last year called writing poetry and short fiction advanced (I did the standard writing poetry and short fiction course, which was awesome) and the focus was writing about place.. which is the only kind of writing I do, so that would've been perfect. But I couldn't really fit it in.. anyway, the field trip was to Mount Wellington, which they had to write some short fiction about. How would you be original about it though, every metaphor for that mountain has already been used! But there is something cool about it. Not every city sits in between a river and a mountain. I mean when you think of Hobart, you think of the stinky docks with the fish punts and sails on the Derwent river and the casino lit up yellow at night, and the bridge reflecting colours on the water, but you can't really forget the mountain sitting quietly up there.

If you bother to read the interpretation panels up on the mountain, they talk about how significant it was/is to the Aboriginal people of the area and how it has inspired so many writers from Tasmania and elsewhere. I remember when I was studying that writing poetry and short fiction course, we looked at this quote from I think David Malouf or someone, and (I can't remember exactly) he said something like the only thing writers have real authority to write about is the first place they knew, because it's sort of impressed on who you are. So he writes about Brisbane I think it is. He might've also said something about that first place being the thing we should write about, or something. So yeah, I love reading stuff by Tasmanian writers, cos that's what they're doing, writing about that first place. And it's cool 'cos you can see the place for yourself. There's a Tamanian lady who wrote a poem called Walking to Cape Raoul (which is on the Tasman Peninsula) and it's so vivid, maybe because I know the place, or maybe because it's that first place for her. Interesting.

The first place for me would be where I grew up, which was our farm, in Henrietta, in the north-west. To me, that was such a cool place to grow up.. you have the house just off the highway, up on the hill, then down the road is the shearing shed, which is pretty patchy cos it was rusty red but had new iron put on about half of it.. then the rest of the farm stretches below the house, down the hill, and there's gullies down there which are filled with manferns and bracken and blackberries and sinking mud.. and there's four main dams, only one of which is the famous swimming dam, but this is kinda being overgrown with reeds and bullrushes so is quite difficult to get to.. and in the summer they cut the hay, so some of the paddocks are left closed and the grass grows really long, and then when they cut it the whole farm smells like honey and it is oh so nice. Then down the back of the farm is the flat, and the creek with the bridge over it. And behind that the hills slopes up again and it's the back boundary. Only 52 acres in size but there are parts of it you can go to and it would take quite an effort to find you! I lived there from the ages of 5 to 18 so that's a fair bit of living to do in one place! And I love writing pieces about that place, and sort of recreating it, and it's so easy to do, and it can really send you back there when you re-read what you've written! But I couldn't do quite the same with Hobart.

Anyway, Mount Wellington. There was a dvd in the Sandy Bay bookshop about the mountain and its meaning for Hobartians. And I guess it does dictate part of how we do stuff, I mean how cool is it that so many people get up in the morning and go outside to see what the mountain's doing in terms of cloud and stuff, so they know what to wear and do with their day! Ok, maybe just some of us do that..

So I don't know how you'd write about it unless you'd lived here when you were a kid, cos then you'd really know what it was to you. Cos I don't really, I mean it's that big chunk of rock that sits up there behind everything we do here, but other than that, I don't feel compelled to arrange words and phrases to recreate it like I might about other places I know..

Adventures of Sunday the Fourth of March

2007-03-04T11:36:00.000+11:00

Hey,

It's been a long while. But I won't recount the adventures of my life for the past few months, cos that wouldn't achieve much! No, I will recount the adventures of today. Right now I'm listening to "four seasons in one day" by crowded house. I love it. I need to clean our house.. This is what it looks like at the moment; playstation/singstar cords all over the floor, cushions and parts of couch all over the floor too, plastic champagne glasses on the coffee table, and wait! That's not to mention the kitchen.. ick. So far I've thought about how I'm gonna clean it up but I'm not quite sure where to start. And there was a letter from Allie on the table saying she would do it all but I suppose I should do my half seeing as I'm a nice flatmate. So that concludes the adventures of today! Hope it was exhilarating to read about :P

Tschuess
Bis dann
Auf Wiedersehn

TLC

2007-01-22T22:36:00.000+11:00

Thinking about going to TLC. Anyone else gonna go? I need friends.

Photos for you

2007-01-20T21:42:00.000+11:00

Hobart from Mt Nelson..

And from Mt Wellington (I must like mountains)..

The Port Arthur Christmas party..

Georgie's 21st..

My boat. Yes, MY boat..

The Tasman Island cruise. Ah, heaven!

Beautiful water and the highest sea cliffs in Australia..

And the sun on the sea!

Lately

2007-01-17T22:58:00.000+11:00

Hello =)

Here is what's been going on lately, in case you care!

Been up to Launceston to visit my sisters, swimming in the gorge, etc. Swimming with Georgie at Kingston today. Tea at Ilise's tonight. A few medical emergencies at work. A police emergency here the other night - the people in unit 2 had a huge domestic with lots of obscenities screamed at each other and lots of smashing. Had to call police and be questioned (Andrea and I didn't mind, it was our own little CSI episode). Got uni soon, which is absolutely fantastic considering I'm over working. Cruise ship coming to Port Arthur on Friday, the Pacific Princess with 700 people, so gotta go down to see it of course, on one of my days off. Leesa coming down to visit me and go on my harbour cruise. Had some other strange people I knew on my tour the other day, sabotaging it by asking ridiculous questions.

And that's about all that's been happening in my life, now more importantly what has been happening elsewhere: people from church (Baywest) are involved in heaps of summer camps which sound like they're going excellently! Kids hearing about how much they are loved by God, at a time when they really need to hear it, is a great thing. A few bad things happening in a few friendship circles, but nothing that can't be fixed if we get over our pride and ask God for help. And of course there's always family issues, and people get sick and die, and then there's just the general crappy things that inevitably happen.. It's funny how all of these things can happen, and non-Christians either get really resentful about life, or just don't think about it, or get confused as to why all these bad things can be happening. It's so strange to see, but one or two of my non-Christian friends have that attitude, they see all of this and are simply confused, and cannot understand why things are so unfair and why life isn't just fun, fun, fun. And they get resentful. What is so awesome (that word does not do it justice, but hey) about knowing God? The minute you know him, you have joy, and, to quote I don't know what part of the Bible, you have that peace that passes all understanding. Cos sure, you can be unhappy and whatever when such things happen, but when you have God you truly always have joy. Always having joy, no matter what, and knowing the one that made you, and having life that lasts forever. How can anyone not want that??

Back to what's happening lately. Well, lots more of course, but if it doesn't appear above it's because it's either not open for public viewing or it's not worth knowing about! Hmm. Or I just haven't thought of it. Well see ya, or if I don't know you and you're reading this, then I probably won't see ya. I need to go to bed.

Hehehe.. I love bad english, it's so much more amusing!

2006-12-20T20:22:00.000+11:00

Guess what!

2006-12-20T20:03:00.000+11:00

Well that got your attention, didn't it now. I don't actually have a lot to tell you, but just wondering what you're up to, Andrea? Still coming back on Christmas eve? I'm really over this whole "blogging" thing, it's kinda boring after awhile, but let's see.. well tomorrow is my first harbour cruise. Today there was a horrific crash on the Tasman Hwy, so traffic was diverted to Richmond. People going to the airport would've been delayed too, but I guess you can't stress about that cos someone died in the crash. Wonder how it happened? Maybe cos there was smoke haze everywhere from the fires. Played poker last night and I won, which was kinda amusing! Seeing as I had no clue what I was doing! Must be cos none of us had mastered the art of keeping a straight poker face, so you could tell when someone just stared at you, looked deadly serious (Pat), that they had a crap hand! Ah well, catch ya

Attention: Andrea!

2006-11-05T16:16:00.000+11:00

Hey update your blog please, cos everytime I'm bored and fiddling round on the internet it amuses me! And right now I have nothing to do and am very, very bored. Ta!

Pictures, yay

2006-10-23T22:48:00.000+11:00

More random pictures, which I'm posting out of boredom. The first is of Focus people, it was stolen off Joe's blog, whoops. The second is so cute that I just had to put it on here, it's one of dad's cows (duh).. and the last is Pete Murray, who I am quite into. Not as much as I used to be, but nevertheless he is still cool. I'm so bored =(

How bored am I?

2006-10-23T22:36:00.000+11:00

Hello! Just handed in my last assignment for the year last night! Yay. Now it's swot-vac, so we have a week to study, then exams. But I'm not mad about studying, so instead I'm wasting my time on the internet. I'm bored. I'm gonna tell you what's going on at the moment... Allie (I'm gonna call her that now) is sitting in front of the heater, watching Grey's Anatomy. Have I told you how much I dislike Grey's Anatomy? A line one of them just said "you should see the people I've been sleeping with lately"... like it's a pastime (I had to ask Allie how to spell that!!) But wow. How screwed up is that. Ok, now Allie has migrated to her room. The weather update was just on. Now Allie is back. Now the weather update is finished. Today Tonight is on. Good old Naomi! "I hope you have a GREAT evening, please take care... and goodnight" all with sarcastic half-smile =) heehee. Well that is all the excitement that's goin down here at the present, I shall inform you when something more riveting happens! Tschuess, Auf Wiedersehen, Au revoir

Nice!

2006-10-21T12:07:00.000+11:00

Was talking to Georgie about how I was putting photos on here, and she asked if there were any of her, right, and I said yes... but turns out there weren't, so here is one!! Flattering of all of us, isn't it. Mmmmmmm

Things and stuff and life

2006-10-18T21:22:00.000+11:00

Hiya. Well on Drea's blog (lythandeblog.blogspot.com) we were just talking about work, and the fact that humans feel the urge to work and that we're obsessed with the need to do so all our lives. Well I was saying that it was more a need to be doing things, and we just wanna be engaged in some sort of activity, therefore we get paid for it and call it work. We were also talking about the search for the perfect job, and how hard it is to find one you're passionate about. And generally what I noticed from our rather short conversation is that it all seems kinda like this cycle - you grow up, you work, then you stop working when you can't work anymore. And all the while there's this struggle to find a job that you're passionate about - or, in other words, to use your time doing something you're passionate about. (Of course, as G said, it's sometimes fun to engage in no activity, but the point is, you can't do nothing your WHOLE life, I mean none of us can do that, much as we try!)

So, this whole conversation is avoiding, or sort of skirting around, the issue of "what the heck are we doing?" It all seems kinda pointless to just get born, work, then die. So here I'm gonna write what is the truth, and what a lot of people are gonna read and doubt to be the truth! But whichever, this is what i'm living for: we were created by someone who loves us enormously. A long time ago, a thing called sin entered the world (if you wanna read how, read Genesis) and now, we are imperfect. Humans are destined to die, all of us (duh). So this sounds like a sad story, right? But if you remember that guy that made us, how he loved us? This is what happened next.. pretty spectacular. I'm gonna quote here (John 3:16) "For God so LOVED the world that he gave his only son, that whoever BELIEVES in him will NOT perish, but have eternal life". He gave us a way out. We sorta deserve to die (we're imperfect, and pretty damn imperfect), but cos he loves us, he's giving us an opportunity to live (Wow). When his son (Jesus) died, he did it in our place, so we didn't have to. God raised him to life again though, so now we have a choice to make.. as you know, a lot of the world has made that choice to give their life to him (I have, yay) and a lot haven't. It's pretty much the easiest thing I ever did (making that choice) and it seriously does give everything meaning, everything comes together and nothing is confusing anymore, seriously! I don't have all the answers (although they're there if you wanna look for them) but faith means I don't have to. There's freedom, yay! Highly recommended! But it is a personal thing that you gotta decide for yourself. Anyway, my purpose here was to explain myself.

Any questions?? Ask me. I'm crap at explaining things, but this other dude is pretty good at it, so if you go to www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl they outline what I just said not very eloquently in an outline called 2 Ways to Live, which says it all very clearly! Unlike moi. Well once again, I wrote an essay here on my blog, instead of writing the essay for Antarctic Tourism which I'm supposed to be doing right now!! Ah well, this is far more fun, and at least I'm writing about something I'm PASSIONATE about, rather than something I'm studying cos I have to =) Tata

MYC... all these acronyms

2006-10-17T00:27:00.000+11:00

While I'm on the topic of NTE, how bout I tell you about MYC. Whilst NTE is national and quite huge, MYC is the Focus mid-year conference and held in little old Ulverstone (Ulvie, to us north-westers - or Ulvierock according to Georgie??) Anyway, MYC was small in numbers but just as huge as NTE in other ways! I learnt so much. Seeing as I'm quite into photo-posting, here are some of MYC. They don't do it justice in terms of how great the teaching was and how great the people were, but they do look awesome! These are from the swing dancing night.

NTE (National Training Event)

2006-10-17T00:06:00.000+11:00

Yay doesn't this make you wanna go to NTE!

NTE

2006-10-16T23:39:00.000+11:00

Coming up in December, starting on the 2nd I think, is National Training Event, where all the Focus-type groups from around the country meet up. Go to www.afes.org/nte.html and watch the trailer (which we're in, might I add!) It's in Canberra and if you read back on my earlier posts, eg from last year, you'll see what I wrote immediately after it. To summarise, it was a wholly worthwhile time! Not too many people are able to go this year though, but hopefully we can get a group to go. So... I thought I'd post some pics of last year's NTE. It's hard to remember everything now, but I know that at the end of the week, having been around other Christians 24-7 and learnt about God 24-7 and talked to him 24-7 (ok so we did sleep for some of the time!!), and basically focused our thoughts fully on him for a week and a bit, it was just such an awesome thing to have done. It was like the Focus MYC, you sort of come out of it strengthened and with full momentum, just knowing exactly where you're going! So good.

Us four!

2006-10-16T23:27:00.000+11:00

One of my favourite photos...

Cuteness

2006-10-16T23:21:00.000+11:00

Just recently discovered some photos on Kathleen's blog, which were kinda cute! Some were also very, very bad.. Anyway, I also discovered that it is relatively easy to post photos on here, so here is one such cute photo. (Now that I've discovered this many more will follow!)

Thank God You're Here

2006-10-16T16:35:00.000+11:00

Okay, this show is so funny. As you probably know, I'm not a great tv watcher, but if there's anything I feel compelled to watch every week it's this. Makes me laugh. A lot. Last night they had Matt Newton on there, and Julia Zemiro, and another two who weren't quite as funny. Basically, they all have to improvise. They did one scene in a flight simulator, and it was hilarious - Julia had issues with even keeping the plane on the runway, and Matt Newton veered right off it and smacked into another plane!! Heehee, cracks me up. And Matt's actual skit was great too, so was Julia's. Oh it made me laugh lots!

Weird

2006-10-16T16:25:00.000+11:00

Do you ever just get up in the morning and think, "last night was weird"? I was trying to explain this to G this morning, but she didn't entirely get what I was saying. You see, some mornings I'll remember the night before, and think "wow that was weird", even if nothing particularly weird happened. You just have that feeling that something either bad or regretful happened!! Well I had that this morning. We didn't really do anything out of the ordinary last night, just church and then went out for tea with a group afterwards. It could've been cos when I got home I watched Idol and Thank God You're Here which G had taped, then didn't sleep til 3:30am. Maybe that did my head in! Who knows. Anyway Laine, I expect another comment please!!

Yay for summer

2006-10-14T14:13:00.000+11:00

Wow, it was hot the other day. Mt Nelson was on fire, it was too close for comfort!! And then the eastern shore was on fire too. Before that, when only Mt Nelson was on fire, we went to the beach. Seven Mile and then Clifton, which we moved to cos it had more waves. Seven Mile was more my kind of beach, flat and serene and pretty! Only pretty, not gorgeous. None of the Hobart beaches are, we're gonna have to go up the east coast in the summer. Of course, my dear sisters and I will have to go camping at Freycinet again this summer, I am fully expecting them to. That was so much fun. I loved Hazards Beach, probably cos we'd walked through the heat to get there, whereas Wineglass Bay didn't appear so beautiful cos we hadn't powered up as many hills and stuff to get there. Although it was cool to swim at Wineglass, with its massive waves, and the tourists sitting on the beach looking at us like we were deranged. I'm loving that summer is here early! But if it was minus the bushfires, it'd be better..

The meaning of Belle

2006-10-09T19:31:00.000+11:00

It's my middle name. So now you know!

10 months later I remember that this thing exists

2006-10-09T19:08:00.000+11:00

Hi dearies! Well it's been almost a year since I wrote on this thing. I got over the whole blog phase pretty quickly! Was talking to some people last night about blogging and realised I had neglected mine, so I'd better update. Well, second year uni is better than first year!! It's cool, I've had to pull a few all-nighters but hey! That is part of the joy of being a uni student.

Guess what... I'm 20. I was complaining to dad about this dilemma and he was saying "so what, I'm approaching 65!" Now I think I have more right to complain about my age cos I'm leaving those teen years and it's kinda like leaving behind childhood. But not older people. And so I had this.. hmm, let's call it a revelation, actually an epiphany.. complaining about your age is completely illogical!!

Here's why. People, for example in their 60s, complain about their age as if it's unfair! "You young people don't have to worry about this and this and this" and it's always said in this way that suggests that we've got it good and that they've had this huge injustice! But we will be that age one day also, or we might not even be that lucky. They were our age once, and we will be their age one day. We're all at different stages in the one cycle! No difference. There is nothing at all even vaguely unfair about it.

Secondly, the whole human instinct seems to revolve around the will to survive! We spend our whole lives trying to stay alive, and the most shocking tragedy is when a 2 year old child dies, or a 20 year old or whatever. People who have reached their 60s or 80s have beaten the odds and survived! Everything that their human instincts have been striving for has been achieved! It is therefore completely ironic and illogical that they complain about their age.

So there you go, maybe that applies to me too! I guess 20 is not so bad, it just sounds so intimidating. I can not be 20!! When we were little we always said "imagine what we're gonna be like when we're 20!" 20 always symbolised grown-up. Wow, so this is what it feels like ;)

See, it's easy!

2005-12-15T13:53:00.000+11:00

See G, you just got to blogger.com, then log in, then click on your blog, then click create new post, then type away! Like I am doing right now, as an example! Yay.

Good day!

2005-12-12T22:39:00.000+11:00

Good day, how are you? I got up today at midday, cos I got back from the airport at midnight-ish and got to bed around 2. So I slept lots today, and went shopping after that. Christmas shopping.

Speaking of the airport, I had never flown into Hobart airport until last night. I can't remember if Burnie airport is the same, but oh my gosh, Hobart airport is so weird. The luggage doesn't come in on the conveyor belt, but it just gets driven up in the truck and you walk up and pick it up off the back of the trailer! It's so primitive!

It was funny, cos Hobart is so small that when we flew in, you could see only a small amount of lights below, you could hardly tell it was there!

Well I spent the last week at NTE, National Training Event. The first half was training, where I learnt stacks, but didn't greatly enjoy. The Hobart team already knew each other so well, and it's always hard entering a group that's already so fully bonded! But my roommates were cool. From Newcastle and Adelaide.

The second half was mission, in a smally, bushy suburb of Canberra. Hobart teamed up with a small team from Sydney, and it was excellent. This part was fun mainly cos they were such good people, I loved them all! Gonna miss them. And oh my gosh, it was challenging. So good to have done it.

So all in all, NTE only became fun about half way through it. But even aside from the fun part, the second half, I still would've summed it up as worthwhile, cos I learned masses of stuff, and did things I would never normally do otherwise. Kinda good to get home though, cos it was lotsa work.

I talked to Ditte, my Danish friend, for the first time tonight. For about 10 seconds! Then I talked to her dad for a while. They have perfect english so that was good. I'm going to meet Ditte's parents in January, so we just sort of arranged that. Her mum is Vibeke, I don't know how to pronounce that. Ah well!

Ok I better go, I'm over typing.
Ta ta!

Canberra has lots of politicians

2005-12-08T21:40:00.000+11:00

Hiya G and Cacky, my two readers. Well I'm in Canberra and I needed a title line so that's what I thought of. We are at our billet's house. On her computer. Kath and Shiloh, two gals, are here. We experimenting with a massager thing.

Ok well Canberra. Is good. Went paddle-boating... did other random things. But although it's been really difficult in parts I feel like I've accomplished stacks, which is heaps good. I have learnt SO much, more than I did in a whole year of uni..!

Anyway, next update will be when I get back. Bet you can't wait for it, the suspense is killing you, am I right?

Hi G

2005-11-26T09:39:00.000+11:00

Hi G, got my results today, I'm assuming you did too!

Scuse me, you didn't answer my text message, did your car have something mysteriously attached to it the other day? HAHAHAHAA!

I'm at the Burnie online access centre cos our internet at home is not working. So I came here to get my results. Yay.

Yeah, the house has partially recovered. Scuse me, sounded like I'd been drinking? Scuse you!

Well tata

Here we go again

2005-11-24T11:27:00.000+11:00

Well I don't have a lot to tell you about, so I'll just crap on for a bit. Today I'm literally turning the house upside down cleaning it (well not literally, but you know what I mean), because dad's not home to instantly make it messy again. So I'm scrubbing walls, dusting, vacuuming and all in all having a great time! Not.

Get uni results on Friday, yay.

Gotta go to Hobart next week, on the 1st. Then have to leave for NTE on the 3rd. Hmm, that will be really full-on, I've had emails from the others saying what we'll be doing and yep, pretty full-on! Should be fun though, if I let it be..

Yay, the glasshouse is on tonight. Joy.

Right I'm hungry, so see ya!

For G's Amusement

2005-11-18T11:47:00.000+11:00

Hi,

I'm just writing because apparently it's amusing. Sigh. Well I'm really bored at the moment, so bored that I've been driving into town most days, but I'm still bored. And right now I'm also hungry, so I am going.

Bye everyone (which consists of Cack and G and other poor unfortunate people who stumble across this crappy blog)

Pete Murray's latest video!

2005-11-14T11:15:00.000+11:00

Oh MY gosh, Pete has released, or is about to release, his second single, Class A. I thought Opportunity or Remedy would be second, but alas no. Anyway, I got up early on Saturday to watch Rage, and the Class A video was on after the countdown. It is so good! And yes, G, if you're reading this, I have been replaying it over and over. It's definitely made me like the song a lot more. Pete actually smiles a lot, and (shock) dances in this one! I love it.

I also taped the countdown and the Class A video so I've been playing it a bit, well a lot. I'm really bored, you see. It's Sunday, and although I could go do something, seeing as I've got the car, I'm just not motivated.

Well here's a message for Cack: a normal comment this time, please. Try your hardest, just resist the urge to be weird, come on, you can.

Ta ta

Attention: G

2005-11-14T11:07:00.000+11:00

Hi G, I checked your blog, it's great, just great. But I couldn't comment! So I shall comment here. Very Good. Ok, I'm going now.

Home

2005-11-14T11:05:00.000+11:00

Hello, I'm home now. It's so cold, I can't believe it can be up around 30 degrees in Hobart and something like 15 degrees in the north! Dammit. It's just not summery. That is all I have to say.

Far out, people!

2005-11-08T18:32:00.000+11:00

Don't put comments on my posts just to advertise, I want real comments! Gosh dang.

Der letzte Tag von meinen Examen

2005-11-08T17:34:00.000+11:00

Examen war stressig, aber heute kann ich nur schlafen, essen und fernsehen, weil ich nicht mehr Uni habe! Diese Woche gehe ich nach Hause. Das ist sehr gut, weil den Norden-Westen gefaellt mir.. Aber Hobart gefaellt mir auch. Wahrsheinlich besuche ich Hobart in die Ferien. Darum ist es mir egal!

Ziemlich lesen leute von Deutschland dieses Brief. Verstandet ihr mein Deutsch? Ich weiss, dass ich eines Tages die Sprache vergessen. Hoeffentlich kann ich es nicht vergessen.. es macht mir spass, diese Sprache zu kennen.

Ich bin muede. Jetzt gehe ich ins Bett. Ich danke euch und ich hoffe dass mein Grammatik nicht so schlecht ist.

Tschuess und bis dann!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

2005-11-08T17:17:00.000+11:00

Exams are over for me! Finally! Everyone else was finished, and I was still powering through four exams, and now, on the second last day of exam period, I'm done! Yay, freedom!

Oh guess what. Found out Mickey's name! Asked this girl that I saw talking to him. Was slightly embarassing, but now I know! But seeing as this blog uses code-names, I can't tell you what his real name is, so we'll stick with Mickey.

I have that song 'heartbreak hotel' stuck in my head, you know, Elvis. Cos it was on Idol. Actually there is a non-Pete Murray song out at the moment that I actually love. Ben Lee, Catch My Disease. Tis cool. Has been out a while, but it's only growing on me now. I just love the first line "my head is a box, filled with nothing.. and that's the way I like it". Cracks me up!

Well I shall be going now. Need to practise my German, I think, so I'm gonna write a post in German. Ta ta!

Saturday afternoon!

2005-11-06T10:06:00.000+11:00

Hi! I'm at uni on a hot, sunny Saturday, what a waste! Had an exam this morning (yes, unbelievable, on a weekend), and got another on Monday which I'm at the library now to study for. But, seeing as its so nice outside, I am now getting off the computer and going home, after which I'm gonna go for a walk in the sun. Dammit, Mickey's not here! He's usually at the library... sort of lives here. I'm trying to find out his real name at the moment. I don't want to ask him, cos that's slightly embarassing, so I'll have to ask one of his housemates or something. Or look at his mail. Hmm! I'll get back to ya on that one.

Bye

Why I like Pete Murray

2005-11-01T19:02:00.000+11:00

Well it should be 'why I love Pete Murray', cos for some unknown reason, I'm just really into him at the moment. Can't explain it. I always vaguely liked him when he was popular last year, but now when he started coming on Rage, I just loved his song, Better Days. So of course I taped it and watched it over and over and over! There's just something about him. Ok there's his looks, he's downright gorgeous, he has REALLY nice arms, and really deep-set eyes, and is extremely muscly, has a good body and all that... (listen to me, I sound teenagery). Oh, and there's one line in the Better Days music clip where he looks up, and his eyes sparkle.. ahem, yes. It's like he's so deadly serious, that he's just so interesting.

But also there's how withdrawn he is, he seems like he really doesn't want to be in the public eye, like he doesn't want to be loved and listened to by all these people. Cos his songs are so sad. They're a combination of blues/soul/rock. At his concert that we went to, he just didn't seem like he was in his element when he was performing, and I totally understand that, cos his songs are pretty heavy, not cheery stuff! (Really good concert though). So when the drunk girls in the audience started yelling stuff out to him about how 'sexy' he was and other more explicit stuff that can't be repeated, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him, cos that would've had to make him so massively uncomfortable! And of course I couldn't help but get slightly peeved at the aforementioned drunk girls...! I think he's more of a small audience and a guitar sort of person.

Most of all though it's his music... he sings with this tone that's so unique to him, it's nothing like others I've heard. And his high notes are so good. He sort of has a soft/rough sound to his voice too. The best of his, I think, are Better Days, Feeler, So Beautiful, Bail Me Out and Please. He just has the best sound, it's so good. Very catchy. His songs are just so gosh darn good!

So that's why I loves him. He just seems like such an interesting person, who actually sings about stuff that means something. And he's such a spunk! Even though he doesn't want to be thought of that way, so he says... He just has such a good sound.

There ya go!

Right, here's what's happenin' in da hood

2005-11-01T16:23:00.000+11:00

Ok, time to let you know what's happening in the exciting world of 'Belle'... how mysterious. Hi to G, who is sitting right behind me at the mo. Hoi! You're eating Maccas at the mo... well drinking Maccas. Anyway, it's exam period right now, and G's finished exams whilst I only had my first today. It was crumacious.

When I was walking home a guy yelled out from somewhere, and I looked up, and this guy was on his roof, and then he fell backwards, out of sight! Thought he'd killed himself, but then I heard laughing, so yeah, they were joking. Ahem.

Cute next door neighbour guy, who G and I have named Mickey, was in the library yesterday, which leads me to believe he had an exam today... yes I do keep track of our neighbours... we have names for them all... next door is Beavis and Butthead, in the blue house is Mickey and Charlie and this other girl, in the next flat is Christina and her parents are called 'The others'... yes, they all have names.

Well I'm gonna go. G is asking me questions about noses and face shapes. Odd.

Bye my many readers! (not!)

Wow, I have a blog.

2005-10-30T12:26:00.000+11:00

Right, I'm not sure how these blog things work, but I've heard so much about about 'em that I thought I'd better get myself one to have some social standing. It's just like eating Shapes in public. You don't do that, do you Cacky? It's not cool, just like not having a blog is not cool. So I really don't know what to put on the dang thing, and to start with I'm calling myself Belle (my middle name), on account of my insecurities with public blogging.

Now, can I just say, blogging is a dumb word. They could've thought of a more sophistocated sounding word than that. Wot-ev-er, anyway, I'm going with that pseudonym until I get over my privacy issues! Ahem. Oh, and then I'm gonna start a new one with my real first name and it will be more riveting than this one, I promise.

Well this is the end of my first post in my first ever, shudder, 'blog'. Welcome to Blog By Belle, I hope you love it! Yes I'm sure you will! Goodbye all!