Elizabeth November 30th, 2007

This one proves the point that not every lolcat is improved by bad spelling.

So, NaBloPoMo is finally over. I must say, this year it really seemed to drag. I guess this time last year I had more interesting stuff to write about, and finding something to say wasn’t a problem. This year there’s been too much other stuff that needed doing, and blogging was way down the list. I still enjoyed making it part of my daily routine though, and I’m sure I’ll do it again next year.

I didn’t use the Randomizer as much as I did last year, nor did I seem to get much traffic from it after the first few days of the month. I’m sure I’ll keep using it over the next month or two to find new blogs, since it’s such a great resource. I hope next year it regains a little of the community spirit that it had last year, maybe this time it was just too big a monster.

Anyway, I intend to keep blogging very regularly to keep up the good habit although it may not be every single day from now on. Might try that ‘quality over quantity’ thing that I keep hearing about!

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Elizabeth November 29th, 2007

Found this cool little flash movie, and decided to share it with you guys. Just make sure that your woofer isn’t up high when you play it, or you’ll scare the living crap out of your dog. Believe me.

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Elizabeth November 29th, 2007

Sometimes my mum would dress me in clothes that were very upsetting.

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Elizabeth November 28th, 2007

HOWARD’S gone, Maxine triumphed and McLeod’s Daughters has been axed. Life just doesn’t get sweeter than this. Unless of course, George Bush chokes on his own foot.

But how about Julia Gillard? Hands up who wants to be president of the Julia Gillard fan club? I can’t look at that woman without wanting to burst into tears and give her a hug. Everyone’s making a big deal about her being the first female deputy PM. I think it’s far more significant that she’s in such a powerful position despite the fact she has red hair, because everyone knows that people with red hair don’t have souls. On Saturday night I was hoping Julia would say: “This is a victory for redheads, ‘rangas and carrot tops everywhere.”

…

On Sunday morning I woke and felt like a woman in love. I felt buzzy and post-coital. Do you reckon Kev got lucky? It was a full moon that night. I bet there are going to be a swag of election babies born in August — all with the middle name Kevin. I’m beside myself that I’ll be living in an Australia with a prime minister called Kev. If only we had a deputy called Narelle.

…

Saturday night felt like 10 new year’s eves. I feel as if I’ve started dating another man after being in an abusive relationship for 11 years. But who is this other man? It’s as if we’ve had an intoxicating kiss in the kitchen but still haven’t made it to the bedroom. Who knows what he’s like between the sheets. Is he really conservative or is he into kinky stuff and toys? Will he be sweet and shower me with kisses or will he be unreachable and aloof but behind closed doors like it rough. Who cares? Ding-dong the witch is dead, the fat lady has sung and it was time after all. But time for what?

via The Age

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged on politics, and there’s just too much backstory to give to my international readers to do it justice tonight. All I’ll say is that I was pleasantly surprised by Australia for giving us a new PM, and for choosing “the devil we don’t know”. It sent a clear message to Howard that we are not prepared to sacrifice human rights, social justice and our environment for a stable economy. The times are changing, and he’s not part of the plan.

The rest of the article above is well worth reading at the source. My election weekend was a strange one, considering that I had to vote a day early and fly to Brisbane and back in 36 hours, and to miss all the TV coverage was really disappointing. This is the year that I really wanted to be in front of the TV, relishing every fallen Liberal seat and soaking in the new era before us. Instead, I quietly checked the ABC news website from my phone during Dad’s birthday dinner, and kept the news to myself.

I know that there are a lot of people who are unhappy with this result, including some of my friends and family. All I can hope is that Rudd earns the trust that we have placed in him, and that he legitimately changes their minds about Australia’s future. Five days into his leadership the terrorists aren’t at war with the unionists, and interest rates have not risen.

We’re going to be okay. We should be excited and proud of ourselves for demanding more. Now to hold Rudd accountable to all his promises, and to start repairing the damage caused by Howard’s divisive and bigoted policies.

For the first time in years I feel really positive about Australia’s place on the international political stage.

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Elizabeth November 28th, 2007

enormity
n., pl. -ties.

1. The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness.
2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage.
3. Usage Problem. Great size; immensity: “Beyond that, [Russia's] sheer enormity offered a defense against invaders that no European nation enjoyed” (W. Bruce Lincoln).

[French énormité, from Old French, from Latin ?normit?s, from ?normis, unusual, enormous. See enormous.]

USAGE NOTE Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment, as in Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot’s oppression. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the sentence At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. This distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed historically, but nowadays many observe it. Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President’s election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter.

In my reading today I’ve come across this word 3 or 4 times, and in each case the author meant “enormousness”. I’m not a complete pedant, but this does seem to be one word that is misused by lots of people.

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Elizabeth November 28th, 2007

But not today.

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Elizabeth November 28th, 2007

The heads of two pigs have been found on stakes at the site of a proposed Islamic school in Sydney’s south-west.

About 6am today, police were called to the site, on Cawdor Road, Camden, where they found the animal remains and a number of other items, a police spokesman said.

The pig heads had been “elevated off the ground” using stakes, he said.

The spokesman would not say what the other items left at the site were.

He said he was not aware of any messages being left behind.

The Quranic Society’s plan to build a primary and high school for 600 students at the Camden site has sparked a strong backlash from residents.

This month about 1000 people attended a meeting to protest against the building of the school.

via SMH

I really hope the international community doesn’t think all Australians feel this way. I am disgusted and embarrassed that this happens in my country.

I remember when people threw rocks at a school bus on its way to an Islamic school in Brisbane immediately after Sept 11. It was full of tiny, crying children. It still amazes me that something like that could happen in my own city.

Honestly, what is wrong with people?

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Elizabeth November 27th, 2007

I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions. In the past I’ve made all these promises to myself about my health and lifestyle, but that time of year is just too big a party season to ever see them through. Is January 1st really the day to stop eating deep-fried food, when you’re suffering the hangover from hell? Nuh uh.

And anyway, year-long goals are good for some short term stuff, but how many of us can say “I’m going buy a round-the-world ticket this year and visit all the major capitals”, and then just do it? Now that my life has a little more medium-term direction, I’m more interested in mapping out those big plans and slotting in the smaller ones around them.

And so, beginning on January 1st (but only because I like clean slates), I will be starting my new 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge. It is a list of tasks that I actually want to complete, with a goal date of September 28th, 2010. That’s almost 2.75 years from now, which is plenty of time to coordinate some of the bigger challenges that I have set for myself. And none of the diet-related ones need to begin straight away!

My list isn’t complete yet, but I have all of December to get it ready. I’m really excited about some of the tasks I’ve set for myself, especially my travel plans and going on a hot air balloon for the first time. It all seems very achievable in 1001 days.

So check out my list, and let me know if you have any suggestions!

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Elizabeth November 26th, 2007

Just a couple of photos from Dad’s dinner on Saturday night.

And this one is my favourite: At the moment that this photo was taken, Dad was reading aloud a poem that had been written by one of my uncles who couldn’t attend. It was a lengthy limerick that was full of imagery that you really didn’t want to connect with your parents (at all, ever) and my brother and I had read it in advance.

Let’s just say that it wasn’t something we really needed to hear a second time. See if you can spot my brother.

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Elizabeth November 26th, 2007

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