Elizabeth September 20th, 2007
I’m in the middle of moving house, and I expect that my computer will be packed up tomorrow. I’m told it will be about a week before the internet is connected at my new place, so Scarlet Words will be quiet during that time.
I plan to make the most of my forced offline days to set up my (awesome) new house. There’ll be plenty of pictures once I’m plugged in again.
Have a good week!
Elizabeth September 19th, 2007
I am not kidding when I say that I will be ripping this to mp3 and putting it on my ipod.
Elizabeth September 15th, 2007
If you have no idea what this is all about, crawl out from under that rock and see my post on Miss Teen South Carolina’s inspiring message of global awareness.
Elizabeth September 15th, 2007
OK, so that title came out sounding dirtier than I intended. But if you haven’t seen Chris Crocker’s Leave Britney Alone! Youtube video, you absolutely need to. And then come back and see Seth Green’s impersonation!
Elizabeth September 14th, 2007
This isn’t a best-of list, just a few observations I’ve had lately.
1. I am amazed at the difference in water quality. My hair has never been in better condition, and the only thing I’ve changed is the water I’m washing it in. My normally dry, frizzy, split-endy hair has completely repaired itself. I should be on the cover of a magazine.
2. In case you are not convinced by my scientific method (with a sample size of 1), I should point out that my dog’s fur is also completely different. He’s gone back to his silky soft puppy fur again, and it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever.
3. Speaking of Harry, he’s also been very healthy since our move. He’s always had issues with IBS, and no amount of dietary adjustment seemed to cure him. It was usual for him to throw up every couple of weeks, to be off his food for days at a time and then suddenly cure himself after a few days of misery. Since our move he hasn’t vomited at all, and since he’s an inside dog that’s pretty easy to monitor. I wonder whether this is also connected to the water change, or if something in the garden/air in Brisbane was irritating him. I doubt it though, since his tummy acted up all year round. I’m just glad that he’s happy and healthy again.
4. I can’t just mention the quality of the water without pointing out the quantity of it too. Sure, Melbourne is in Level 3A water restrictions, but it’s nothing compared to the Level 7 that Brisbane was threatened with earlier this year. I’m finding it very hard to keep my showers to 3 minutes when all the parks and lawns look so green – it’s hard to believe that we’re in drought at all. But I guess complacency is one of the dangers of a green drought.
5. Trams. Even weeks of househunting on foot hasn’t killed the novelty for me. They’re clean, they’re on time, they cover a huge area of Melbourne and they’re given right-of-way on the roads. I can’t wait to go on the Tram Restaurant when Tim arrives either.
More to come, but now I need intensive and unbroken sleep. Stay tuned for my future post Stuff I miss about Brisbane, even though Melbourne is better!
(PS: I signed the lease today, and had all the utilities connected. I can start moving in on Tuesday afternoon!)
Elizabeth September 14th, 2007
It’s stupid o’clock, in the middle of the night, but I couldn’t exactly ignore my blog the day after writing about my new resolutions! And besides, today was a GREAT day and deserves to be recorded somehow.
For the past 2 weeks I have been househunting like a crazy person, on foot, in a city I barely know. It’s been a massive learning curve in terms of figuring out what suburbs to consider, what to look out for in an inspection, and how to make an application look impressive when it is lacking in substance. On top of that, it was also a crash course in navigating the city by tram, and I now consider myself a bit of a pro.
We were offered a tiny little Victorian terrace house in Prahran last week. It was incredibly close to the city and had a ton of character, but ultimately it was just too small. I think there comes a point in the househunting game where you just have to put your foot down and demand that the fridge actually reside in the kitchen – you know?
Passing up that property was taking a bit of a risk because our situation looks complicated on paper, and my current lease runs out in 2 weeks. And with my boyfriend arriving in Australia the day after the end of this lease, I wasn’t all that keen on the two of us being homeless. It’s just never quite as glamourous as they make it look on TV.
Today the risk paid off. We have been approved for a beautiful house in the inner East, close to trams and amazing shops and just a short tram ride to the city. Just as importantly, the yard is perfect for Harry (in case he should ever decide to be a real dog and test out the Great Outdoors) and we should be able to set up a spare bed for the many interstate and international visitors we expect to have. And there’s also the incredible round bathtub that overlooks the backyard, and the walk-in pantry.
The best part? With Tim out of the country, the lease will be in my name only. For Tim, this means he’ll be preparing a hot bath and dinner for me when I get home from work, and making regular early-morning coffee/bakery runs before I wake up! Isn’t that great? I’ll even let him borrow my bike, as long as he keeps it looking shiny and new.
That is, unless he’d prefer to stay with one of his other Melbourne friends. Oh wait – he doesn’t have any!
Here are some photos of our new place.
When I get the keys next Tuesday, I’ll take some photos with something other than my crappy camera phone. Yay!
Elizabeth September 13th, 2007
scarletwords.com has been around for a while now, but I can’t say that I’ve been investing too heavily in it so far. Previous blogs of mine have been a lot more personal – there were regular updates about my daily life, and I’m sure they were a much more compelling read. In the end, I think I got tired of being mysterious and hiding my identity. Blogging became hard work, and so I gave up for a long time.
When I started Scarlet Words I wanted it to be transparent and public. It’s certainly not plastered with my full name, but there’s also no mystery or deeply personal content that would freak me out if my family came across it. The problem is that I’m a bit bored with this current format. While I’m not sure of the exact direction Scarlet Words should take, I do know that there’s more to blogging than embedded Youtube videos and the occasional political rant.
And so, seeing as I’m in the midst of some fairly large life changes right now, I have decided that it’s time I started putting myself back “out there”. I’d know that I’d much rather engage meaningfully with a handful of readers than have a bunch of people land on my doorstep from a google search, never to return. I’d still like this to be a safe and public place for my thoughts, so the truly icky personal stuff will probably be reserved for conversations with my friends. Besides, it’s healthier that way.
My new resolutions include:
- Write more regularly
- Blog about everyday life stuff and the interesting stuff that happens to me
- Communicate with my fellow bloggers more, instead of being a fly on the wall
If you actually did come here for the Youtube videos, celeb news and politics you won’t be disappointed. I’m not sure that there is even a cure for my love of trashy posts 
Enjoy the new direction – I’m looking forward to it already.
Elizabeth September 13th, 2007
Sea World, Gold Coast Australia
April 2007
Posted here because it makes me laugh.
Elizabeth September 12th, 2007
I imagine that one of the downsides to being famous is attracting fans like these. You’ve got to watch it right to the end, it just gets better and better.
For what it’s worth, I’m Team Britney myself. Yes, she’s lost her mind… but I want to see her pull her shit together and succeed. I don’t consider this breakdown as the end of her “story”, although I worry that all the media pressure and ridicule could cause her to write a premature ending, if you get my drift.
Can’t we just go back to hating KFed for a while? Why aren’t we focusing our negativity on him all of a sudden?
Elizabeth September 8th, 2007
I was trying to find a video of Bush thanking our “Austrian troops” for their role in Iraq, but I haven’t had much luck yet.
Instead I found this segment by The Chaser’s War on Everything, and every single bit of it is gold. Too bad they’re probably going to jail for their most recent stunt…
Elizabeth September 7th, 2007
US President George W. Bush today thanked “Austrian” Prime Minister John Howard, in front of a summit of business leaders, for being a kind OPEC host.
OPEC is the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Mr Bush, who flew halfway around the world to be in Australia, not Austria, for the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit of world leaders, took to the stage at the Sydney Opera House.
He thanked Mr Howard for his introduction and for being such a “kind host” for the OPEC summit.
“I mean APEC summit,” he said.
“I’ve been invited to the OPEC summit next year. The APEC summit.”
The faux pas brought laughter from his audience.
As if that was not enough though, Mr Bush also botched the host country’s name, referring to Mr Howard’s visit to Iraq in 2006 as a thank you to “the Austrian troops there”.
Mr Bush also stumbled over his pronunciation of Jemaah Islamiah, the regional terror network, but had no trouble with its abbreviation – JI.
Upon finishing his speech, Mr Bush took the wrong way off-stage and, looking slightly perplexed, had to be redirected by Mr Howard to a centre-stage exit.
But not before a veteran White House correspondent seized the opportunity to ask Mr Bush whether there had been any new message in his speech. Apparently misunderstanding the question, he bristled and asked, “Haven’t you been listening to my past speeches?” before turning away.
White House aides later said Mr Bush had been joking and would not, in fact, attend an OPEC summit.
Mr Bush is no stranger to the occasional faux pas, and often jokes about his habit of mangling the English language.
One of his highest-profile gaffes came in May when, at a welcoming ceremony for the Queen, he nearly placed her in the 18th century.
Then there was the famous incident at the G8 summit in St Petersburg in 2006 when Mr Bush, unaware he was on camera, greeted British Prime Minister Tony Blair with the words “Yo Blair”.
Mr Bush’s sometimes muddled syntax and mispronunciation of words like nuclear (“nukular”) have long been fodder for late-night TV comedians. But aides say his folksy style has helped endear him to Middle America.
When you’re done laughing, remind yourself that this is one of the world’s most powerful leaders.
Elizabeth September 7th, 2007
I will finally share a room with her on Monday night, but until then I have YouTube. And this little gem is one of the cutest songs she’s ever written
When I was 21 do you think I had a bag of cocaine in my car?
If I did, if I did
You’d never know it, no
You’d never know it because it would have been hidden.
‘Coz I’m not stupid.But why are so many 21-year-old millionaires so stupid?
Stupid and cute,
But stupid? I don’t know…Let’s just say when i was 26, or 7, or 8
And if i was a millionairess, what would i have done?
Many naughty things,
Many many many naughty things,
But i would have had a driver.‘Coz i’m not stupid, no
I’m not stupid, no
Not that stupid, anyway…‘Coz if i had been naughty
(I like being naughty)
But I haven’t been caught so far
And I am almost forty-four
Forty-four,
And I have done many many many many bad things.
But they are hidden inside my mmm-mmm,
Inside my mmm-mmm
So there’s no record or no fingerprints on it‘Coz I’m not stupid,
‘Coz I’m not stupid
No, not stupid.
Tori for President.
Elizabeth September 5th, 2007
Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail, and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath.
This made him a …..
Super-calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
| Completed: 10/101 | |||||||||
Completed: 10
In Progress: 22
Not started: 70
Keep track as I complete my challenge (commencing 1 Jan, 2012).
