colourtopia.

So I got my film developed today, it turned out alright seeing as arty shot off half the roll in the car. At his feet. When I scanned them on they came out kind of purple, and I don't really like them all, but I'll put them all up anywho. 

Flinders St Station. I got this one at a run (trying to get out of the way of the crowd) so it's a bit sketchy, but I like it. I really miss Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast are just not as charming. I wanted to get some photos to remember it by :)

Beautiful horses in Swanston St. They look so sad. he poor things. I bet this is not the best fun for them, the dears. I somehow ended up with a big sunshine in the middle, but I'm glad that it didn't completely cover the horses. 

Some random fence, and there was a massive open space with all these crates and stuff there. It looked much better in real life.

Zacharia playing with a stick on the beach. We took the dogs for a walk, it was freezing but nice, and Zac played fetch with them. Cute.

My gorgeous puppy. He is amazing.

Yay.

This is not the best quality because it was taken in the shade and I have no flash. But it is the last photo that was ever taken of Skip (in the background). She died a few days later. We all miss her. 

Darling Zachary looking sharp as a tack. Adorable hair. 

No other cities that I have been to have as many trees as Melbourne. I love them. They give it character, especially when they are all yellow and orange. I wish this was in colour. And a better picture. Haha.

Today we were driving along on our way to the Gold Coast, and all of a sudden the car started clunking horribly. Mum thought we had a flat tire, it was that kind of sound, and so we pulled over and Mum checked everything and all our tyres were fine so Arty kept driving. As soon as he pulled out onto the road it started again. It was so loud and the whole car was like jumping and bucking and (maybe not that dramatic but whatever) it was so loud. Mum and I were yelling at Arty to pull over because we were getting near to the traffic lights, so he rips the wheel across and we almost dive into the ditch, just off the road. Mum gets out of the car again, she's so angry, and is checking all the tyres again frantically but she gets back into the car and says she can't see anything wrong. At this point we are already running late for Arty's MRI which is in about 20 minutes. We were so close but yet, so very far. Mum calls the RACQ and tells them where we are, when she gets off the phone she goes absolutely nuts. "Fuck! I had the car serviced last week and the fucking morons told me not to worry about that sound and now it's all fucked up! Aaarrghh!" Arty and I are just trying to be as quiet and as still as we can and think of how to fix the solution. I tell Mum that it would be ok if Al and I caught a taxi to his appointment because we were only about 15k's away, and she could wait for the roadside assist man to come. Meanwhile, she is vowing to "never go to that bloody repair man again" and shouting about how "this always happens to me!" Anyway, the taxi finally comes, and we are getting later and later-Mum is getting more pissed off-with every second. We jump in, and as we start off the guy asks what happened to the car. As I am in the middle of explaining that "it sounded like the tyre went flat but we checked them and it was fine, just this clunking sound..." the taxi starts making the same sound. I look over at Arty and we both realise at exactly the same time; it was the road the whole time. The bumps on the road made the sound. Oh shit. We are sitting in the back of the taxi, pissing ourselves laughing as the meter is going up and up. I messaged Mum and told her to drive up the road a bit to where it stopped, and the message I get back just says, "Oh my God.." Our family is so switched on. Facepalm of the century.

Quote of the week

Ok, so I get onto skype with Zac the other day and he goes...

"You look alot better, you looked like shit yesterday. I was like 'I cant believe Im going out with THAT' "

Wow. Thanks dear.

and then, he goes:

"Yeah,even Marg said you looked like shit. And she was DRUNK. She couldn't even beer goggles you. haha"

So yeah, you could say we have a really loving relationship. 

I cried today.

Damn onions. And I made this awesome soup for dinner, but unfortunately Louie ate it all before anyone else got home. So yay for no dinner.

I watched the most adorable movie today. I love old movies. The ones where everyone wears the coolest clothes, and speaks so differently. There is so much dancing and singing and beautiful things. Even if the story line is majorly simple. It was called 'The Seven Little Foys,' and there were these seven (obviously) kids, (so cute!) that would sing and dance in this show with their Dad who was a solo performer until his wife died and he couldn't find a babysitter, so he put them all in his show. I'll try and find some photos or screenshots or something because they were seriously THE most adorable thing in the world. Ok I couldn't too many :( But I guess when it's a movie made in 1955 that might be understandable.

How sweet! I am going to dress my kids like that :) The thing I love about these movies is how people used to dress the children. I hate seeing kids down the street wearing miniskirts and boots. Even kids with tank tops and heaps of accessories, oh, and don't even get me started on mini bikinis, that's just really wrong. Kids should be able to dress like kids, not baby prostitutes.

Watching that today made me really excited for camp. I think I would rather have the younger girls, so that they aren't so bitchy. Maybe not the 6 year olds, maybe a little older. We are going to be like a big family, I know that's so corny but that's what it's going to be like. There are two older counsellors and 12 campers in a cabin.  I can't wait :) Haha I'm sure that I might not be saying that after 4 weeks with them all, but hey, who knows.

I have been loving the amount of new blogs popping up everywhere all of a sudden. It seems like since facebook has pretty much died, everyone has taken to blogging about their innermost feelings-which is a tad worrying. I mean, sure, it's cool to write about what's on your mind and everything, but when you start putting super deep stuff onto  a public website- ANYONE can read that shit. Some of the stuff that these kids are writing is really deep, and I guess it's easier to just type away and assume that hardly anyone reads it and whatever else, but some of the ones I have read this week have dramatically changed my opinion of that person. I love how people just write about how shit there life is. It's amusing, not in a sadistic horrible way, but in a kind of 'stop blogging about how shit everything is and get out there and do something about it' kinda thing. I don't know. I'm going crazy...maybe. I don't think I've been outside in like, 10 days, apart from going to the doctors which was (Y). I'm feeling better, which is a bonus. Except I think I have gone mad while I have been here. I spent all of today thinking it was Friday, which I found out at like 5pm was yesterday. So now I am freaking out and watching Alvin and the chipmunks and actually laughing out loud at their little antics. Oh you silly singing chipmunks, you crack me up. Maybe it's the lack of sleep. I seem to have acquired and affinity for getting up at 3am and needing to go to the toilet really badly. I guess that's better than waking up at 8 in a wet bed. Too personal? Too personal. Haha what a hypocrite I am. Oh Lordy. But I am glad to be back on the internet tonight, I couldn't go on for about 5 hours last night because Alex decided he wanted to download an ENTIRE album of Lil Wayne bullshit. Oh my God. He's such a gangsta.

Dear Charlotte, I follow and quite like your blogs. :) From me.

Dear me, or you...Don't confuse me! haha. Thank you so much :) Thats awesome that you like them, I'm flattered! xx

Tell me your secrets.

Zombie Fury

Oh, Wow. Leopard print I love you.

 I know that we have had our ups and downs, like that time that that bouncer in Byron joked that I wasn't allowed in the pub with you around my neck (bad, bad joke) and the time that I found out that you were an awesome jewelry box that I was getting for my 11th birthday. The day before my birthday. Mum wasn't too happy. But I was :)

I don't know what it is about you. Maybe it's my way of being a bit of a badass and a rebel, or maybe I secretly hope it will make me run faster. I just seem to like you and everything that you're on, it's a lifelong obsession. Who knows how long it will go for. Maybe when I'm an old granny you will be on my walking stick, my false teeth, my slippers.

But until we reach that pinnacle, we have many glorious moments to be shared. 

I'm glad that you are able to be made from things other than actual leopards. 

Because they are adorable, and I would prefer you on them any day. 

I'm sad that people used to kill little leopards for their skin, and that they still do. Although as I write this I am realising that the most likely did not kill the baby ones because the big ones would have a greater surface area of leopard print. This doesn't make me hate it any less.

It's sad the way that humans do that, isn't it? That they ruin really beautiful things to suit themselves. Literally. Oops that was a horrible pun. But I won't backspace. Just keep writing, just keep writing. Oh wow I'm sounding delirious, Delores...

Now, when I spoke about humans just now I speak about them like I am not one of them. But sadly I am. I am not exempt from what they do, what we do. I eat meat. I own things that are leather. I do my best to try and not buy things that harm animals, but I find that it really hard sometimes. It can almost be as intense as devoting your life to a religion, to be able to be a vegan. Because these days you can't only be a vegetarian. You can't be a vegetarian on moral grounds. It is simply impossible and so horrifically contradictory that you wont eat meat but your shoes are leather, that you don't eat chicken but you'll have an omelette.

It's so, so intense. I am starting to find now that people are treating their veganism like religion, like a seriously full-on, in-your-face religion. Like, "I am such a better person than you because my dinner does not make me a murderer, nor do my shoes." Technically yes, you have me there, but I cannot deal with people who force their beliefs on me, or anybody else. Whether it be religious views, sexual orientation, dietary choices or political persuasion, I really appreciate that people have their own ideals and opinions but once the thing you are doing to be a 'good' person is turning you into a nasty, judgmental, intolerant human being- you have gone too far.

Hahahahahahaha.

P.S. Who are you? People who read my blog? I see the numbers change but I have no idea who you are. I would like to know :) I like chatting, so please, even if it's anonymous or something. :)

The Coolhunter.

When did it become such a sport to be cool? I know there has always been this need to have the best stuff and everything, but lately people have become so bitter and angry over clothes and shoes and other random bits of crap.

Yes, I am talking about YOU girls and boys with artistically ripped jeans, op-shop jumpers, brogues and 'vintage' purses. The chicks that glare at me in the salvos through coloured ray bans and power through the markets in lace-up boots and floral dresses. YOU WERE NOT THE FIRST. Why all the hostility? It's like, everyone has all of a sudden decided to claim that 'vintage' has always been their style, that they have shopped at the oppy since they were, like, 5. 

And perhaps every single person who reads this will nod in agreement without realising that they too have fallen into this trap. It's just clothes. Seriously. Why does there have to be this mad rage if someone buys a nice dress from vinnies? Why does everyone say 'oh everybody shops at op shops now,' as if they were the first. You were not the first. You were not. Jesus. 

I can hardly stand to be in Byron at the moment. On the weekends, the streets are full of tourists who have tried to 'embrace the lifestyle' by piling on bangles and a colourful sarong, not washing their hair for a week and walking barefoot down the road. Do I need to point out that you can pick the locals in jeans and beanies?

 But they come in swarms, these girls and boys with lookbook as their bible and an attitude to rival Anna Wintour, and they are positive that they alone started the vintage trend, they were the first to buy recycled clothing and now that YOU have dared to copy their oh so personal style you only deserve to be glared at. 

Well, screw you all. I have spent all week in my dressing gown and I love it. 

Camp

Ok so as of today I officially have 23 days until I fly out to camp. Eeep! I'm getting really nervous. I had to watch all these instructional videos on the internet to 'prepare' me for dealing with conflicts and fighting and bullying when I'm there. It made me freak out a bit. I'm scared that I'm going to get there and the girls are all going to be mega hot little bitches, who all have chanel gear and strut around like they're on ANTM. I'm going to be the fat, unco aussie sitting in the corner who doesn't own anything cool and isn't all obsessed over Justin Bieber. Hmm. Hopefully not!

I'm feeling a bit better tonight, I can almost actually speak, I'm still whispering a bit but we're getting there. The voice was tested this afternoon when my Grandad and his partner came over. They were meant to be picking up Arty and taking him to footy at 4 but they were here at ten to 3, bless them, because they were in the neighbourhood and thought they'd just come over rather than go home and wait. Now, I say partner because my Grandad is, in fact, gay. Which is just another aspect to the crazy circus that is our family. They've been together for like, 15 years, so we're all pretty used to it but it can be a bit confusing for people who I talk to. Haha. Anyway, Col was talking to me about making sure I have travel insurance for America because apparently "over there no body cares about the health of anybody. You can fall down in the main street and break your leg but people will just walk on by and say, 'oh but I thought she was just drunk.'" Haha as helpful as this advice was, it did little to ease my nerves about the trip.

I will try and keep updating this blog when I'm over there so you can hear about everything that is happening, but apparently they have only 2 computers and about 650 staff members. So that combined with the fact that the camp is completely in the wilderness and I get one afternoon to go to the town per week, it might only be a rough summary of what's been going on. I ordered a new camera charger today online so hopefully that will get here and I'll be able to post pictures of the camp! For now I will just put up some of random camp-ey scenes and hope that this is how it will turn out :)

Doesn't it make you want to go? All the nature and family love and outdoors and campfires?

ugh. Apologies for being super boring today, I am boring myself even. How sad. Goodnight!

I want to ask you something really interesting and great, but right now my brain a) isn't being very imaginative, b) isn't even working as well as I wished and c) is a piece of shit. HA :) I will come back.

Oh don't you hate it when that happens! I love the fact that you still posted it anyway. That's cute! Do come back, I like these questions. :)

Tell me your secrets.

Quote of the week

Mum: "You better hide your razor, I think Louie is shaving his sideburns."

Arty: "But they're blonde aren't they?

Mum: "Yeah but, they're calling him wolverine at school"

The tortoise.

So today I have been swamped by an overwhelming desire to do something to the unsightly mess on my head-otherwise known as my current 'hairstyle.' I have been meaning to change it for a while, and the nature of this situation is so serious that even Arty and Louie are starting to notice. And I quote, " Dye your hair for God's sake, you look like you live in Cranbourne." -Alex.

Anyway, I am stuck. I have no idea what to do. I really don't want to go super dark again like that little episode in year 10 that left me looking like a horrible emo (damn you, pale skin), but the idea of being any blonder makes me want to start wearing kitten heels and squealing at baby elephants on the news. I am very wary of the idea of getting 'streaks' or 'highlights' after coming out of the hairdresser in year 9 after my first colour job and looking like a zebra, a really noticeable zebra.

I seem to have developed this theory that I have had a lot of different hairstyles over the years but now that I think about it, it's pretty much always looked the same. Apart from that one time in Grade 6 when I cut it all off into a bob. What a horrible horrible chapter in my life. Luckily, Mum has decided to immortalise this moment on our family 'photo wall' that is in full view of anybody who comes into our house. I guess it's her way of reminding me to never cut my hair short again. 

So this is the hair situation at the moment....

ugh. excuse the mug shot. But I actually slept more hours of today than I was awake.

I'm taking these brilliant drugs at the moment (for my tonsils, of course) called endone, and as soon as I take them my body just starts to shut down. It's quite amusing. Apparently they are the equivalent of morphine in a pill, which is convenient. So yeah, I pop them in my mouth, and about 5 minutes later I'm pretty much drunk. My head starts spinning and I get so dizzy, I can barely walk in a straight line. My arms and legs go all tingly and I just lie down and sleep for a few hours til they wear off. It can be a bit annoying when I'm in the middle of something important (like reading a good bit in my book) and realise that it's time to take them, because it's hard to stay awake. This should make my first few days back at work a barrel of laughs. Haha.

Ok, hair, that's what I was talking about. Wow, and who cares about the important things going on in the world? Haha. But seriously. Don't hold this against me because I just paid my reservation fee for a 2 week volunteering program in Cambodia. So now I can talk about vain and unimportant things on my blog. Thank-you very much. And yes, now I am justifying my thought process to a computer. Haha what has my world come to? What is the meaning of life? Ok shut up that's far enough. You know you should stop when you start arguing with yourself on the internet.

I spent some parts of today, when I was mostly awake, looking up possible hair colours/styles so that I would have something for the hairdresser to copy in the hope that it might end up looking semi alright. 

This colour is hot on her, but my guess is that the reason for it looking so good is that it is Abby-Lee. It's a bit of a mousy, timid colour, but I guess that's something that I haven't tried before. I like it. I think. I like that it's light brown without crossing over to being a dark blonde.

What a mega dreamboat she is. If only she weren't such an airhead. I can see myself falling into that trap of "if I get that exact haircut, I will look like that." Well, hate to burst your bubble Char, but you'll NEVER EVER look like that. haha. aw. But pretty hair all the same. 

Mary-Kate (on the left) has the cutest hair here. So long. Maybe that's why  like it. Why won't mine grow! Seriously... I like this colour, but don't know if it would suit me. It's a bit red, which could work, seeing as I already have the other attributes needed to be a ranga. Pale skin, get burnt easy....

Oh i can't decide. I will keep you posted on what happens but don't hold your breath because I doubt it will end pretty :P haha. Oh, and if you didn't notice earlier, here is a (terrible quality) photo of my super house-wifey outfit today. Because I have nothing more interesting to post about. Yay!

I'm going to go have some more endone, sweet dreams :)

Oh happy days.

Last night just before I went to bed, I checked to see how many shots I had left on my camera so that I might be able to finish off the film today and get it done. Now, because I had only taken about 15 on my 24 exp film, you might understand my surprise when I looked and it said that the entire roll had been shot. This surprise turned to an overwhelming feeling of doom as I realised that I had left my camera in the car after Mum and Arty had dropped me off at the hospital. The conversation that followed succeeded in turning that feeling of doom into some seriously white hot anger...

Me: "Alex, did you or did you not take any photos with this camera?"
*holds up camera*
Arty: "Ummm, I didn't think it was taking. I played with the windy thing in the car"
Me: "Did you wind the right hand side?"
Arty; "Uh huh. Yep. But it just kept winding so..."
Me: "Did you press the little button on top?"
Arty: "Oh. Yeah. But only like 4 times."
Me: "Wow, so there goes my expensive roll of black and white film that I was trying to save."
Arty: "Oops"

I will get it developed today, hopefully some on the shots that I had already taken will be ok, but you never know. Seriously, how can you wind and shoot around 10 photos of your feet before you realise that it might actually be  camera you're holding? ARGH. HAFSOJQE.

Then! This morning, I went to get my computer from him because he asked to use it late last night (and, like the generous, caring, amazing sister that I am, I lent it to him) and I turn it on to find that some sort of 'critical error' has occurred and completely screwed up everything. Amazing. Wow. Yay. So I tried to restart it a few times and recover/fix whatever he farked up. But as for now my desktop currently looks like this;

You know you're in trouble when you hit the big fuzzy icons and size 2 billion font. I'm trying to stay calm because I really don't want to hurt my throat yelling, but the vintage look (and the fact that none of my programs work) is really not making this any easier.

So once again. Thanks Al for making my life so exciting. You are never going on my laptop again.

your amazing char!! :D love kristie xx

you are the cutest ever :) thank you!

Tell me your secrets.

ola aholica.

So today I was freaking out massively before work, but my boss was fine with it. I told him that I got offered a place in America and I was going to take it, and he just shrugs and goes "you're young, go out and see the world" and went back to his coffee. Fair enough. Maybe he's not such a bitter old asshole after all. How poetic.

I have all of a sudden accumulated a bucket of inspiration to do things. I want to start making my own jam and chutney. How adorable and lovely do these look?

Today on my way home I saw a kumquat tree outside this house, and so i thought that maybe if I could get my conscience to shut up for a bit I could mission down at night and steal some. Maybe. Haha.

Im in the middle of making some origami cranes to hang from my roof. They will be cute :) I am also in the market for some new curtains. I went to the fabric shop today, but the stuff they had was all $20 a meter, and I really can't afford to pay 40 bucks for curtains. Although they were adorable.

I saw something the other day that I really wanted. It was a set of magnets with words on them that you can arrange on your fridge/random metal surface to make a story or poetry. I would have bought them when i saw them, but once again, $40 is really way to much for someone so cheap. But in my defense, that is equal to a day in Vietnam at the end of the year.

I also bought some paints. Because I couldn't find and/or afford origami paper. So I will try and fake being creative for a bit and see what happens. Wish me luck.