Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known

Dudes, I am on fire today. Here’s why:

• 9:30pm last night I got a second wind and did 80% of an assignment, this morning I finished it before midday. One down, two more to go!
• Treadmill arrived and was installed today, I’ve been for a run. No, I’m not telling you how long I ran for or how long it took me to recover from it. Let’s say being half sick and having sat on my arse for a week straight probably didn’t help things…that and the fact I am wickedly unfit.
• I’m going to a lecture tonight, it will be the second lecture I’ve attended all semester. Now I’ve typed that I realize that I do deserve to fail all of my subjects. I just don’t learn from lectures. However this assignment is huge and I missed the last tute for it (because of Lady Doctor related things, not just laziness) so I need a bit of catch up, I should be sweet though.

I am a bit off today, for some reason I can’t hear out of one ear today. It feels like it’s like I’ve hopped off a plane (I have dodgy ears and they don’t usually pop so I just shout at people for a couple of hours after I’ve landed), I suppose it’s related to being sick-ish. It’s such a weird feeling, I can hear the pressure bubbling away in my head (that or the parts of my assignments bubbling) but I can hardly hear the TV and it’s up quite loud. At the moment if it doesn’t go away I might be able to squeeze a Doctor’s appointment in next  Wednesday after coffee with the A’s (it’s been weeks!), I’m not not flying so the appointment might be a touch useless, I don’t love being told what to do. Meh, D’Mummy is deaf in one ear and she survives, maybe we could be twins?

Alright, I am going to keep plugging. I’d just cry if I could have this all done by Monday, and that won’t happen if I keep blogging. I may or may not update tomorrow or on the weekend, but rest assured it’s for the greater good.

P.S This entry only had two spelling errors when I checked it, D’Jen FTW!

Dudes, I feel it’s time to say sorry. My blog has been a bit shit lately, and it’s all my fault, I realize the following topics have features heavily:

• Lady plumbing
• Gluten containing foods/or lack thereof
• Dairy containing foods/ or lack thereof
• INT (Insane Nutbag Tutor)
• Assignments

I do realize that by focusing on this I haven’t really talked about my usual rubbish, I noticed my stats drop a fair bit but now they are as good as they’ve ever been which makes me hopeful that not all of you have abandoned me for someone more interesting (not that I’d blame you).

Therefore I hereby promise that from 12 June, posting will pick up. Before then I have a manic week of a stupid amount of assessment, four days in Melbs, then an exam, then Bestie will be back. Some things you can expect from then on:

• pictures – I am going to use D’Brother’s camera in Melbs because mine is shit so the photos might be decent for a change.
• gossip about people you don’t know
• stories about adventures involving me, Bestie and i, and my posse.
• More gluten/dairy angst, but I’ll keep it as a separate section for those who can’t be bothered to read it.
• harebrained ideas
• grand plans
• more stories about boys I love (should I encounter them again or find new ones)
• running stories

So in summary, hang tight. I know it’s particularly boring at the moment, but it will be worth it. Well, it might not be, but I’m fairly confident it will be. As with every holiday there will be a crappy magnet photo competition, and since I’ll be using a better camera it’s possible I will be more inspired than normal in the photo taking department, plus I will have two prizes this time! One for the winner and one for someone picked randomly from the entrants, so even if you don’t guess right, you could still win a crappy magnet. That’s a sweet deal.

• Yesterday in our presentations we were taught as if we were a group of Preps and a group of Year Ones. So during the presentation we had to get up and sit down cross legged about 40 times (every couple of minutes for three hours). At one point our class had to sit down on the floor and the whole group’s knees cracked as everyone squatted down to sit. I have never had legs this sore in my life! Not even when I was having tough nut personal training. My thighs are on fire, my right thigh in particular (the leg I must use to push off the ground most often). I can’t even walk normally, I can only hobble. If you guys want an awesome workout, sit cross legged on the floor and get up fairly quickly and sit back down every couples of minutes for an hour, I challenge you. You’ll cry.

• I went to uni for a few hours this morning, I parked myself in a cubicle and did work. Not that much more than I’d do at home which is a bit disappointing, but I rather like having a little box to work in, if only they were slightly bigger so I could spread out my crap a little bit more.

• Everything that I thought was a long way away is here. Byron Bay road trip? This weekend! Melbs? Next week! 20% reflection, 40% presentation, 60% journal and 70% research project, next week, before Thursday!! FARK. Not to mention I am especially poor at the moment for some reason? I haven’t bought anything? Also, Bestie? Week after next. Casino Binge Drinking? Also Week after next, Deb’s birthday, ALSO the week after next. Just as well I got her present ordered already. Go me (and clearly I did buy something, now that I think about it)

• I am getting sick, I always get sick at this point of the semester, it’s just the way I roll. I normally lose my voice once a year as well, normally at the start of winter. Knowing my luck, it’ll be next Monday when my presentation is on. There is no other chance for it, so I’m just going to have to do it mute if that is the case…or maybe I could do an interpretive dance instead?

• My neck hurts from sitting in chairs that are an awkward height to use a laptop at all morning. Damn you QUT and your non-ergonomic study chairs, I’ll send you my chiro bill.

• Lessons to write, water to drink, rubbish TV to be distracted by, procrastination to be done. I am aiming to have my unit and lessons done by this arvo so I can watch ANTM tonight in peace. ALICE FOR THE WIN.

So I am sure you were all waiting on baited breath to see how this morning went, so let me indulge you.

• We weren’t presenting (Thank Jeebus!!)
• My tutor asked my group to just add these two girls, who she wasn’t sure whether they’ve quit the subject or not, into our group to perform next week. We said no.
• My tutor tried to get us to merge with another group who’s also already organized their whole presentation for next week because it would suit her better. We said no.
• After one of the groups presented, she started to critique something they did. They said they didn’t do it, she said "Oh, I wasn’t sure if I saw it or if I just imagined it".

When we arrived she acted completely mystified about why we thought we might be on (despite implying in the email she sent me that we were), then tried to get us to make all these changes to our group and presentation (despite the fact we present next week). After the first group did their bit we had  a break and I was talking with my group and the group who’d just presented. The other girls have a very similar view of Insane Nutbag Tutor (INT) as me, and were told equally conflicting thing but her and the unit coordinator. The unit coordinator has told us all one way of doing the presentations but INT questioned the first group for doing that way after they were finished. In writing our presentation, I have made VERY sure that it’s absolutely based on the criteria sheet, so if INT goes insane and tries to mark us badly, I will be able to justify what we’ve done against what has been explicitly set out for us.

INT also said today about how at least a third of the class has one come to one or two tutes (so that would mean that I’m hardly one of the people who’ve missed a majority of the tutes, as she said in her email) and how she didn’t really organize groups of presentations because it was our job. Yeah, that’s why we get paid to go to uni, and have an office and are referred to as a tutor. Sorry love, it’s your job to do that stuff, you get paid to be the person who organizing junk like that because you control the tutorials. I know, it’s insane, but it’s true.  She also said how people who didn’t attend this week or next week would fail the uni, because it’s a participatory course. This is just not cricket. This course gives no percentage of marks for participation, nor does it set any specific number of tutes that you must attend, so unless they specifically set it in stone, you could rock up to nothing and if you still manage to pull out work that is at a high level, then good for you, you can’t fail for that. She kept insinuating that all the people who’ve missed a single tute (or more) must be lazy or can’t be bothered. Everyone in our group has missed at least one, and she even said she was preaching to the converted (by talking to us) as we are the core group who’ve shown up for most of the time (again, contradicting what she said in the email). I just hate that, she has no idea what’s going on with the other people. No everyone wants to share this business with uni, they might be sick or have some personal dramas but just because they don’t want to tell everyone about it doesn’t mean they should be so insensitive about it. They always bang on about us having to be very understanding and non judgmental because you never know someones back story but she’s being the worse example of this.

In short, I am so entirely relieved I gave her a pitiful evaluation because she’s entirely deserving of it. Everyone in the tute group agrees she couldn’t teach her way out of a paper bag and are more than pumped to see the back end of her and this subject. I met with my group after the tute and our presentation is iron clad, everything we do is backed up in the syllabus and what is required by the criteria sheet, there is no possible way she can question anything because it’s all completely supported by all the other document we’ve used. So take that! We get to go first next week so it will all be over shortly.

Just one more week left of semester, just three more hours with INT.

That’ll be me in 5 – 10 working days.

We got a treadmill today, we’ll it’s bought but not yet delivered or installed. I’m pretty pumped, this morning the Bridge to Brisbane entry form was in the paper. A and I agreed about this time last year that we’d do it in 2007, and dammit, it’s here already. A walks most mornings and runs a bit and I used to run at the gym so I am (desperately) hoping my fitness will come back quickly when I start running again, I don’t want to be left behind in the race. I really hope she’s not keen for the 12km course, I’m all for underachievement and think 4.5 km will be quite sufficient. Rebel Sport had some sports clothes on sale this morning, I think I need to buy something for the official run I have to look the part, even if I am still horribly unfit.

That’s it for now, I have to go have a panic attack over the uni stuff. Now the girl in my group who’s certain we aren’t on tomorrow is thinking that there is a slight possibility we might be, so I am going to get everything ready so if by some amazing streak of bad luck, we’ll be sweet if we do have to do it.

I AM SO OVER THIS SEMESTER.

Only a week and a day of official classes left. Thank you Jeebus!!

• Deb, Typepad just does the whole indent thing, I like spread out dot points so I enter twice then click the dot point button again to get them spread out. That’s as much tweaking, I don’t know if it works the same for you?

• I went jeans shopping today. I have one pair I am very quickly wearing to death and all other pants are ankle or 3/4 length, so I wanted some new jeans. Normally, looking for good jeans is an impossible task, good jeans aren’t found they just make themselves available for you to buy. Well, today must have been my lucky day, I have three pairs of new jeans. All different washes so not only am I totally sorted for winter, I can choose which ones I want to wear. I have some aged, sort of weekend-y ones, grey-ish trendy ones and normal dark jeans. Each pair was under $60 also, thanks so the 25% off Myer had on most brands. Fantastic! I also got a really lovely plain white tee for $15 and a waffle weave, eggshell colored hoodie. It’s quite warm and will be good for bumming around (or wearing everywhere) and it was $20. I also got some Birkenstocks for $40!! I have a pair the same in white, but these are black and will be super for summer.

• I feel in love again today, with a chef this time. He’s actually the chef (and owner, I think) at my favorite cafe, we buy special sourdough from there most weekends but he’s normally in the kitchen and he doesn’t come out. Today I asked if there is anything gluten and dairy free I could eat because he was out from the kitchen. It’s a long story, but he was exceptionally rude to me (but in a wickedly cheeky, good natured way. I know because he was smiling to himself when he went out into the kitchen, just trust me). He recommended some bikkies to me, charged me only a $1 for them. He continued to be that way for as long as I was there, lots of poking fun and being very inappropriate considering D’Mummy was also there. This is an exceptionally risky strategy to use around me, for boys. The Ex used to be rude but it became rather nasty and hurtful most of the time, so I am sort of preprogrammed to take any sort of stuff like that from a boy and think "What a right prick, I am so keeping clear of him". This guy did it and won. If there was ever anything to make me totally fall for someone, it’s being a prick in a cheeky way, I love people who can pay others (or me) out in a funny way, it’s a bit of a skill I think, and he did it perfectly. As a result, I am head over heels, plus he’s a chef. Score! Now I just have to get him to marry me and we’re sweet.

• I am loving my hair at the moment. I have some mullet-angst a couple of weeks ago but I’m sorted now. I’ve let it be wild again and my mullet bits look pretty sweet when they are curly, plus I don’t have to bother straightening them if I go for the wild look, win win!

• Insane Nutbag Tutor Update: One of the girls in my group who’s been on prac emailed me (I haven’t heard much from her) and said she’d positive we’re presenting next week and named the two groups who are on this coming Monday. Nutbag tutor told me in the email I might be able to negotiate being on next week, but she’s already told someone in my group we definitely are on then. *Mind explodes* It suits me, we have a whole week to sort this out inside of a weekend and seeing as she’s said it to someones face, I doubt she’ll turn around and take it back. Especially if there are already two groups ready to go on Monday. This really supports my idea that she had absolutely no idea what’s she’s doing. Jeebus, please let this semester be OVER.

• I really think you should all go and get a free tshirt. It’s like $8 for shipping and that’s it. Get the Miracle Fish one and we can be twins. I love free shit!!

• ZOMG. Bestie comes soon. *hyperventilate*

I went to bed last night just dreading the coming couple of weeks. So much to do, especially now I have to do one subject exceptionally well, and it just seems really overwhelming.

This morning I woke up with a very inherent sort of peace. I used to feel this way when I was doing Primary Ed, not sure why this course makes me feel differently, but I just realized that panicking and rushing stuff isn’t going to be of the slightest benefit and that calming the f’ck down and doing things properly regardless of how long it will take it going to be a much better approach. I spoke to a few other girls who do the same subject as me about the presentation and I am quite convinced mine will be fine, so that’s good. It will all be fine, I am feeling very Zen about it all. I felt this way before the presentation I did last semester and got a 7 for. I think because I have done so many presentations like this before, I just know exactly what to do and say, regardless of what might happen on the day.

Next week I am going to possibly be a bit light on the whole blogging deal. I have two assignments, one worth 60% and one with 70% due the week after but I’d love to have them done and dusted by next Friday (or the Monday after) so the week I go to Melbs isn’t a mad rush to get everything done. I think I’m going to find a carrel in the uni and park myself there for a day. I do so much more work at uni, I suppose because I’d rather be at home and I work efficiently so I get to go home, but who cares, it works.

In other light news, I’ve dropped 1.5kg since Saturday. I can take off my jeans without touching the zip or buttons, score! Granted this is mostly because they are stretched out from accommodating my previously 5-month-pregnant bloated belly, but it’s still a bit exciting. My stomach is pretty well flat now (just because it’s not bloated anymore) and I haven’t really done any sort of exercise or strenuous movement, nor have I started to eat particularly well, I’ve had everything free ice cream or everything free mint slice bikkies every day this last week, double score!

(I haven’t ever been pregnant for those of you who’ve skimmed that and started to panic about me having been pregnant or no longer being pregnant. I just had bloated out so much from all my weird tummy stuff I was a good five months at time)

Amanda posted a little while ago about her adventures in running on the treadmill. I loved doing this at the gym but I’d only do it if there was sufficiently few people around to witness to horror of my being in motion. Last week D’Mummy left me her bank details and told me to go join a gym because I’d been banging on about it but do not have the funds (or energy, at that point) to do it. Instead of a gym, we’ve decided to get a treadmill. We already have a pretty cool exercise bike and the only things I do at a gym are the bikes and treadmill, so cutting out the middle man makes sense. I get to run in the privacy of my own home, no randoms will sweat all over it plus I can run in my pj’s if I choose. It’s also cheaper than joining a gym. Now all I need is a nice lady to come over and hand me a little, wet, scented towel when I’m exercising and I’ll be set.

I’ve sussed out what things I can eat at McCafe when A and I next go and looked to see what Macca’s chips have in them. Essentially they are sweet for me, but they are fried in the same stuff as gluten products. I decided to throw caution to the wind and get some today because I had a massive craving for rubbish food. Throwing caution to the wind was a shitty idea, I’ve been "glutened" as those in the know might say. I have a massive headache, I feel like rubbish and I could go to sleep right this second. They were so good, but I feel so poor now it wasn’t worth it. No huge loss, I really shouldn’t be eating Macca’s anyways. I also found out the soy milk I’ve been using contains gluten, awesome. Which explains why I’ve been feeling quite dodgy after I have any significant amount of soy milk in what I eat. Again, I used a brand as recommended by the girl who sold me the diary containing protein powder. Tops. I thought I was just being a sook but turns out my tummy knew it didn’t like it, I believe my tummy now. As for the girl at the health food shop…not so much.

*** Free Shit Alert: Dudes, as a uni student it is my duty in the world to take advantage of free stuff. I have taken advantage of this awesomly generous offer by the nice guys at REMO so I think you all should too. I do get some points if you guys order a free tshirt, but I don’t think the points get me anything special so it’s not just some big scam or anything. All you do is just pay for shipping. Never the less a decent tshirt for $8.25 is pretty sweet. Personally, I went for the "Miracle Fish" design. Sweet As! ***

You might remember the wonderful subject I have on Mondays that I hate passionately.

I needed to clarify something about the format of the assignments we have coming up but I didn’t have my tutor’s email address so I emailed the course coordinator. He emailed back and all was dandy and I asked for my tutor’s email about the allocations for the presentation we have to do. As far as I, and the other girls I am working with, am aware, they haven’t been explicitly done. We know what weeks they are to be done, but I don’t know who is going when, etc.

I got back the single rudest email I have EVER received, from my tutor. She told me by her record I haven’t attended the majority of tutes and she’s not at all surprised that I haven’t a clue what I’m doing for the assignment and if I bothered to show up I would know what I was doing and if I would be good enough to come next week she might be able to switch things around so we present the week after.

1) Yes, I’ve missed tutes because I hate them, but that’s not a reason to get narky because between the girls I’m working with we’ve been at every tute and we still don’t get it.
2) The unit coordinator has clearly CC’d her on the email I sent that wasn’t addressed to her after he already answered the questions himself, despite the fact she doesn’t list her contact details for student’s to contact her in the first place.
3) She has no way of knowing why I was away from the tutes, she doesn’t know I haven’t had someone die, or been seriously ill or any other problem. Just because I haven’t told the uni my business does not put her in the position to judge.
4) How dare she suggest I won’t come in the next few weeks, especially seeing as they are for assessment.
5) "Game on, Moll" in the words of ANTM contestant Jordan, I am going to do the best presentation EVER.

I get she can do as she pleases, but students are generally required to step on eggshells and be wonderfully polite and nice when emailing course coordinators, is it so much to ask to be spoken to like a human when faculty emails students? Even if I didn’t go to any tutes, is it really very professional to be all "Ha, ha, of course you have no idea"?

I very rarely get mad, but I was shaking with anger when I got her reply. I have a sneaking suspicion anything I do next week or the week after is either going to fail or just scrape by because she seems like the person who’ll hold a grudge. Thankfully we have another assignment due the week after which is over half of the marks for the subject, I plan on doing fairly well on that which means I really need to get my act together.

This end of semester has just become a grudge match.

I woke up this morning with a line from the Blur song "Charmless Man" stuck in my head. I checked, it’s from 1996, that’s 11 years ago and there is a good chance I have not heard or though of the song in about that long. I rather liked it, and knew the words, but it’s one of those songs that just get lost in all the other songs I loved over the years. Bizarre, I am watching the clip on You Tube now, it’s all terribly familiar. A sign I am getting old? Absolutely. Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Nahhh…..

In other strangeness, I had a dream I was in a pharmacy/gift store type shop (I was there for a reason, but I don’t remember the whole back story) and the lady behind the counter begged me to work there. I said well, I could do one day a week or something and she and the rest of the staff insisted it was wonderful and would I please do it. She told me to do a trial and I had to recommend a lip liner for her (Australis brand, because they are cheap, pretty decent and well pigmented, they also have a nice range of reds from true red to blue based. That’s very likely BS, but it’s what I said in the dream). Then I had to go and sell some other stuff to a group of ladies in a different section. I remember selling a painted baking tray (a rather useless idea, really). I was really happy because they sold awesome stuff and the people who worked there were really nice. I went home and told D’Olds and then I got a call from a older lady saying she is withdrawing the position and that  I can’t work there. She didn’t hang up the phone properly and I could hear the older lady telling off the lady who offered me the job and about how she can’t trust her to do anything right and can’t hire people without checking references. And I was sad because I liked the job. Random, yeah?

I have thought lots more about my capsule wardrobe which has gone from 11 pieces of clothing to "OMG, people are going to be so insanely jealous of the awesome outfits I’ve made, I am surely going to be shot to international stardom". In reality, I think I’ll do a half arsed job of making one item and the rest will remain are uncut patterns and meters of folded material in Spotlight bags. I’m going to talk more about it over on Crafty Snake for those who are interested.

I kicked my toe really hard on the gutter as I was getting into D’Daddy’s car after dropping mine off for a service. It serves me right for sending him in to talk to the guy and me hiding out in his car. I didn’t feel like being bothered to get properly dressed and groomed to go talk to a mechanic so I threw on jeans and a jumper and left my slippers on (Bogan!). So I managed to bash my big toe and I forgot my sunnies so I was also blind as well as injured. Grrr. I thought about doing a post about how much I love sunnies and my favorite pairs ever, thoughts and feelings anyone?

Writing units of work, that is, like riding a bike, never mind, it made sense in my head. It went quicker than I thought it would because it all came flooding back.

I’ve knocked up a passable unit and emailed it off to the other girls I’m working with, I also emailed the unit coordinator asking all these questions that I’ve mostly answered myself after reading the assignment description again. Tops. I am sure he’s having a good laugh about how useless undergrads are so it wasn’t a waste.

So I managed to stumble across a crafty blog, and followed some links and ended up on a message board about sewing. On said message board they have a challenge in which you have to make 11 pieces of clothing in 13 weeks. It must include pants/skirts, tops, dresses(optional) and a jacket. All pieces must match each other (or at least be able to worn together without looking stupid). The idea is that you’ll end up with a capsule wardrobe so you can always grab something out and have it match the other pieces you want to wear with it.

What a fecking awesome idea! I scratched a blog post the other day talking about how I want more clothes but I don’t really know what I want and nothing in stores at the moment is really doing it for me. I have a perfectly lovely sewing machine set up in my study, threaded and ready to go and I have fairly decent sewing skills. Clearly not such a decent mind because actually making a whole wardrobe of clothes I like was totally mind boggling.

Clothes I like, that fit ME perfectly, in fabrics I adore. Doesn’t the idea of it make you brim with glee…well, if you had clothes that you like, and fit you, etc.!?!?

I’m not going to be bothered with the rules (I don’t suit jackets, nor do I really require one in Brisb), I haven’t worn a dress since I was 17 and it’s probably best kept that way. I still like a skirt every now and then, but again I’ve never worn one for many year. I think I am going to aim for a Spring wardrobe, if I start now I’ll have a Winter wardrobe by mid Summer which is not much use, so I’ll get a head start on the warmer weather. I think I’ll probably do more tops than pants as well, I am fairly faithful to my jeans so it’s best left that way.

I have decided I’d like a current IKEA fabric to feature in my "collection". I hope it hasn’t sold out by the time I get around to buying some. The fact I live approximately three km from the IKEA here suggests I should just go and buy some at my earliest convenience, but I won’t, you and I both know that.

I also finally sound a pair of leopard flats I really love AND are stupidly comfortable but they are $50, is that too exxy to pay for such a trendy one season wonder type item? Or will I feel perpetually jipped if I don’t buy leopard shoes?