seachange mathilde

Things I Loathe:

• feeling unmotivated at work
• getting lamb stuck in my teeth
• not having an endless pit of money at my disposal

Things I Love:

• spearmint milk
• second-hand bookshops
• yellow tulips being able to revive themselves when someone forgets to give them water for 2 days
• coloured permanent markers
• that my co-worker had to shave his lower calves and ankles for footy... heh-larious
• the fact that it rained this morning so I could legitimately wear my shit hot cowgirl boots to work at last - yee ha!

So I realised over the weekend that the original point of this blog was to write about my experiences of moving from The City to a regional town. Over time, I have essentially allowed my blog to descend into insane ramblings about my shoes, techological jinxes and of course cupcakes. I'm not saying that I won't continue to blog about absolute shit, but I think I should refocus myself on my version of a social experiment... moving to the country.

One of the activities which I have engaged in since moving to G-town is going to country footy games. I have always been incredibly bored by AFL (a term which is used to describe the official league, but given the rules are the same I use it generally, perhaps to the scorn of those more knowledgeable), but I decided when I moved that I wasn't going to be able survive living in a regional town without knowing at least something about the game. Plus, all of my clients are obsessed with Aussie Rules, and it will give me something to chat with them about in tea breaks at meetings.  

About a month ago, the boy I share an office with made it up from reserves to league of his Team, so I decided to go along to his first game. They lost, but I still had a surprising amount of fun. A nightgame of country footy is something I recommend to everyone - $4 pure blondes, good chips and just lots of people sitting around shouting and honking their car horns when their team scores.

I went again on Saturday night - this time taking along my housemate and 3 of her friends from Perth. Hilariously, 3 of them wore heels. To a football game. At a grass oval. The one girl who didn't wear heels was wearing a sequinned top. The football oval has never seen anything so fancy. Anyway, despite the fact that there was a fair bit of girly conversation going on next to me, I got really into the game (which they won, woop!), and am finally starting to understand it! There isn't another night game for Team for ages though, meaning they plan on Sunday arvos instead. This makes it heaps harder to take visitors to, because by Sunday arvo they are back on the road to The City. Poo.

Anyway, I'm going to keep going to the occasional game because (1) it turns out football is kind of fun and (2) it is something to do in G-town which gives you a sense of being in a local community, which I really like. There are mums selling lemonade cans and chips, dads selling beer behind the bar, grannies with thermos's of hot tea, 8 year olds being waterboys (and mostly just drinking the water themselves) and in the breaks between quarters kids run onto the oval to have a kick themselves. You beauty.

After the football, we went to a local pub, had a few drinks and a dance to the band, who were actually pretty good. G-town does occasionally get decent acts, surprising given that there is really only one live music venue. I bailed pretty early, my excuse being that I was driving and therefore not being powered by beer. But it was fun to get out for a change and to tell my friends from The City that I actually did something on the weekend!

Show us your favorite tool.
Submitted by Maraschino.

Hammer

This isn't actually my hammer... mine has a slightly different, although no less girly, pattern on it. This isn't a simple hammer, however; there are three different screwdrivers in the handle. Genius! There was a matching measuring tape, and I always regret not getting it. Sigh.

How many pair of shoes do you have? Out of those pairs, how many do you wear more than a few times a year?
Submitted by fightinggale.

Hmm...

• Blue open toe wedges w bows x2: I have 2 pairs of these because I wore the first pair to death, but they were such good shoes that I went and bought another pair. They were on $15 from Target, so I figure that is totally justifiable.
• Watermelon open toed wedges: wore these a lot out in The City and even to work there, but the G-Town office is more casual, so I haven't worn them much since moving.
• Yellow canvas closed toe wedges: haven't worn these once. It is too hot for these. Although I bought them in summer, I've decided that they are a winter shoe. Or at least a G-town winter shoe.
• Red suedish closed toe wedges: wore these quite a lot last winter. I like to wear these with my leopard print pencil skirt. I've also been known to wear these to work, even though they aren't very comfortable because like all my shoes they are slight too small.
• Black suedish closed toe wedges: as above. Yes, I bought the shoes in 2 different colours. But again, they were $25 a pair from Target, so totally justifiable. I have massive clodhoppers for feet, so when I find something I can actually squeeze the bastards into, I will buy more than one pair if they are cheeeep.

[I'm aware I have a lot of wedges... but Target was really into wedges that season, and they are the source of a huge number of my shoes because they do an Aus 11, which most shoe makers don't. Bastards.]

• Black peep toe heels: love these in theory, but am shit at wearing heels so they only come out occasionally. Also, wearing them makes me at least 6ft, which makes me tower over my teensy friends.
• Brown sandals: Target again. Not hugely comfy, but I wear to meetings with clients in the middle of summer because they are slightly nicer than thongs. I would ultimately like to replace them with new Birkenstocks.
• Gladiator-y sandals: wore these heaps, especially to work, but they are starting to tear at the elastic and I am now a bit reluctant to wear them in case I come unstuck in the middle of walking.
• Polka dot closed toe slingback heels: got these in London 3 years ago. Worn them quite a lot, although they now give me blisters on my little toe after about 5 minutes. A bit dated, but I'm hanging on to them because in fashion what goes around comes around... eventually.
• Closed toe daisy flats: Another London pair. Never really worn. Too painful to actually break in. Dammit.
• Grey tweedy pointy flats: a recent purchase, for work meetings in The City, so have only worn around the house trying to break them in. Will wear in a few weeks though.
• Black satiny pointy flats w bow: a recent purchase, only worn around house trying to break them in, too fancy for G-town I would think. Got these mostly because I didn't have a single pair of shoes I could wear with a dress I bought or anything to wear out for nice dinners w parents and so on. These will be highly useful, albeit rarely worn.
• Purple closed toe ballet slippery flats: wear these to work several times a week.
• Brown slouchy cowgirl boots with a small wood heel: my latest, and most beloved, purchase. These were $35 from Target but are FABULOUS. The weather just will not get cold enough to wear em though. I feel I would look ridiculous wearing them to work when it is seriously sunny out.   

Well that was more information than anyone ever wanted to know about my shoes... I'm totally avoiding doing any work.

10things

Last night I watched 10 Things I Hate About You - I scored it at the video store for only $9.95. One might have thought that with Heath Ledger's untimely demise the price might have gone up, but I guess they figure they can sell a whole bunch at the bargain basement price. After all, a DVD must only cost about $2 to produce.

Anyway, watching the movie again reminded me sooo much of high school. My friends and I were all obsessed with this film (along with Empire Records). "Look at me! look at me!" became as ubiquitous as "shock me shock me shock me with your deviant behaviour". I also remembered why the film was so good - it was relatively tame as far as sex, alcohol and drugs go, but it didn't treat teenagers like total idiots. The heroine of the film is a strong, independent girl who stands up for herself and what she wants. And yeah, getting a boyfriend sort of mellows her, but not in a way which compromises her ultimately independent nature.

Okay okay, so maybe I'm reading too much into it. But much like how I have always wanted to be Lynda from Press Gang, when I was 16 I wanted to be Kat Stratford. Wicked car, plays guitar, knees guys in the balls when they get too handsy... she was the kick-arse feminista I've always wanted to be. Of course, in real life I don't think that actually gets you the guy. Men may claim to want a girlfriend who likes footy, eats pies and burps along with the boys, but the guys I know actually all go for prissy, feminine girls. Who knows why... maybe they make better wives or something.

Anyway, one of the things which elevates 10 Things above your average teen movie is Heath Ledger's performance. It is actually fantastic - sufficiently ironic, not overplayed, and the scene where he dances on the stairs near the soccer field is just so whimsical. I'm sure countless people have made these observations before, but when I watch that film, I just cannot believe that he will never make another movie. 10 Things is certainly not his best film, it was never going to win an Oscar, but it shows his variety as an actor. And because 10 Things was such a formative part of my late high school years, I will always remember him like this:

Dance

Things I Loathe:

• The fact that I have to clean up the mess made by lawyers who left 4 years ago
• The BO of colleagues late in the afternoon
• Wanting to have a significant other - I'm meant to be an empowered, liberated single woman, dammit. A related problem is developing crushes on inappropriate people - either because they are attached or completely wrong for me.
• People finally deciding that yes, in fact, I was right in the first place. Normally this gives me a glorious sense "I told you so", but in this instance the delay in a certain person realising my rightness has been 2 months and caused a whole lot of headache. Hurumph.  
• Not having endless money to buy clothes and furniture for my house. I must stop reading design*sponge and Apartment Therapy... they only make me jealous that I am not as trendy.
• Not being able to make any progress on the fitness front, thanks to a stellar combination of time/motivation/willpower poverty.

Things I Love:

• My parents for sending me flowers. I've never had flowers delivered to work before - I blushed like anything.
• Yellow tulips (see above).
• The second hand book store across the road from work, which feeds my addiction in an affordable manner.
• Not being completely panicked at work. There is so much stuff I am not getting to, and not managing to complete, but I've sort of just given in.
• My filing coding stamp - it makes a little box, next to which it says "FILE No". It feeds my deep emotional need for order and my love for labelling and stationary. I blame it on my (very vague) German ancestry.
• Having good people around me.
• Sunny days = fresh basil. 
• Clear skies and red earth.  
  

  Nearish dead goat hill

A bit of a blog theme change for today. I was getting sick of the beigey-orangey backdrop. I can't really find a Vox one I love at the moment, and I don't have the skills (or the access to internet at home) to design one myself. Oh vell... this one will do for now.

Meanwhile, check out this site. It is the source of the below cartoon. I don't know that they'd mind me posting it here, given I've linked back. At least I hope they don't. I just love the final panel.

Punching sheep

My parents ignored the rule, and being the lovely kids that they are, sent me flowers at work. So of course everyone worked it out (I'm too boring to have a secret admirer). Hilariously, turns out that one of the other lawyers was having a secret birthday today! Very sweetly, she asked me to dinner with her family, but I begged off. I have special birthday plans - doing the grocery shopping, having tomato soup with multi-grain croutons for dinner, and watching an embarrassing chick flick on the DVD I scored for free (from the same girl). Also, her parents are religious, and I don't know that I could control my trucker-esque swearing for a whole evening. Does that make me a bad person? Ah, who cares. It's my random day, and I'll swear if I want to.  

I'm ambivalent about turning 25. I don't feel like I qualify for that age, or for being 5 years away from 30. I know it is silly to have a crisis at such a (relatively) young age, but I can't help it. I'm not ready, YOU HEAR ME? So I'm officially ignoring my birthday tomorrow. I've instructed that no presents are to be given. Except from my mother, who has apparently gotten me a cupcake traveller. That one, I'll let through the keeper.

...that this country is so vast, so beautiful, I can't understand why anyone would want to live anywhere else.

Mt gould at sunset

Next week I'm going to be heading bush for the whole week with 19 other colleagues for some 'cross cultural training'. This is sure to lead to much bitching / gossip, and hopefully some good times too.

Aust war memorial

There's gonna be heaps of driving, so to keep us from having rumbly tummies, I think I'm going to cook up a whole batch of Anzac biscuits. They keep for ages, and given that today is Anzac day, the timing is appropriate. I was annoyed at myself this morning - I slept through my alarm and didn't make it to our local dawn service, so instead I watched the ones at Gallipolli and Villers Bretonneux on the ABC.

Anzac services always make me cry. I'm not particularly patriotic or religious, but the thought of all of those men, many the age of my little brother, fighting a war so very far from home makes me very upset. About 60,000 Australians died in WWI - massive for a country of only 1 million at the time. I did read once that it was the greatest number of deaths per capita of any country involved in WWI. The effect that it had on the psyche of the country seems to live on in the emphasis placed on observing Anzac day. I don't buy into that whole 'birth of a nation on the shores of Gallipolli' stuff, but there's no denying the imprint that it has left on our culture.

Lest we Forget.