Late Night Shopping: Good/Evil? You be the Judge! A Comparative Essay...

Throughout the ages, certain contentious issues have seen neighbours, nations and religious groups divided. Today, we are faced with yet another pressing issue. That of whether or not Late Night Shopping can be considered a 'good thing'. First and foremost, let me just draw your attention to the title of this essay. It should be noted that you are supposed to pronounce the punctuation marks. Therefore, you should say: Late Night Shopping colon Good slash Evil question mark You be the Judge exclamation mark A Comparative Essay dot dot dot. I inadvertently took inspiration from 30 Rock Episode 2.07 when Tracy Jordan talks about the name of his book... "Betrayal. Semi-colon. What Really Happened With My Baseball Team. Comma. Disaster at Knuckle Beach. Question mark." Quite unlike the essay topic, the fact that this line is extremely humorous script writing cannot be disputed. So let's begin with an explanation of my involvement in the issue in question.

The other night, after a hearty dinner, my housemate Maki asked if I wanted to go with him and his girlfriend Mel to the 24 hour K-mart later to buy a printer. I was feeling full of verge and vigour, and knew there was nothing I actually needed to buy so I agreed. First we watched a movie, inconsequentially it was named "Easy A", and it was then that we set off on our late night adventure. Instead of showering I was comparing prices of shower gel. Instead of getting into my pyjamas I was to be browsing the sizes and styles in the sleepwear section. Instead of tripping over my shoes on my way to bed and once again not putting them away, i was setting out to buy even MORE shoes. You get the picture I'm sure. It wasn't until I saw a car outside K-Mart sporting a boot on the tyre that I realised just what this late night shopping was all about. Of course I made an obligatory wise crack about how the lady who owned the car was probably still wandering around the aisles of K-mart lost, dazed, emaciated and survivng only on stolen candy. We all had a good laugh about it, but behind my chuffed smirk was the faintest whiff of realisation that I could possibly be right - we could bump into a shop-aholic who had fallen off the grid entirely. The thought scared me a little. If it were some crazy M. Night Shyamalan script I was playing part in, I worried that perhaps I was in fact somehow the shop-aholic trapped inside and the car was MINE *dun dun dunnnn* But then I remembered that M Night Shyamalan hasn't had a loophole-free script in a while so I breathed a sigh of relief and kept walking.

Approaching the well-lit entrance I thought "I don't need anything really...just going for a look..." but part of me knew I would walk out with something. It was as though there were a greater power at play. The ghosts of all who have perished in a shopping frenzy at 4am were beckoning me forth. Once inside, I suppose the first thing I thought was "How Convenient that Mel can buy her printer after 10pm!". Indeed, it is very convenient. Sure you can jump online and order a printer at any time of the day or night too, but you'll be sitting there twiddling your thumbs for a few weeks until you actually get it. So for shift workers, insomniacs, part-timers, junkies, road-trippers, forgetful people... or even bored people, it is very convenient to be open so late. Perhaps it is not so good for shop-aholics though. It can lead to some unwise considerations.... 

Impulse buying at its scariest. While it can be said that these things are indeed a little bit wrong, it's not to say that they aren't hilarious! We laughed and laughed, oh how we laughed! The entertainment factor is alive and well in 24 hour K-mart. I think the entertainment level is contingent to the number of people you are with. If you are with a group of laughing wise guys then I think you can expect a good thorough browse and chuckle. If you are on your own, you may feel the eyes of every lost soul in the store on your basket wondering what you are buying late at night. They will do this regardless, but it's easier to handle when you've got a posse behind you, so you can be all "Whatchu lookin' at esse? huh? huh? Choo wanna start somethin? Didn't think so... yeah you BETTER run...". But yes on your own, late night shopping would be a bit more depressing. Maybe you aren't depressed yourself, but seeing the other people wandering around aimlessly might be a bit confronting. I haven't attempted a solo mission yet, but I know that I had so much fun in a group and would recommend it to anyone - it definately kills boredom!

One thing is for sure, without the distraction of people and noise, you really come to realise some of your slightly under the surface fetishes. There was no reason for me to be there but I still managed to buy all of this:

Well OK, some of this looks useful and neccessary right? This wasn't even half of it. I also got 6 couch cushions which maki was carrying haha! Goodbye 70's cartoon pillows. So yes, unrealised fetishes.

Fetish number 1: cheap flats
I bought 2 pairs @ $5 each. Pink... and silver. Silver. SILVER! I can't imagine when I am going to wear silver shoes... but at least now they are in the pile of cheap cool shoes I have picked up along the way and may wear one day. I do this A LOT. People ask "Oh cool, new shoes?" and I go "err.... sort of. I bought them a year ago and haven't worn them yet...." This also applies to jackets and clothes. It always seems like a good idea at the time.

Fetish number 2: Wrapping Paper
At $2 per roll, how could I say no? Exactly, I couldn't! So I bought some. I have to make sure I have a wrapping paper for every occasion, for both males and females, and it has to look cool. I always picture what it will look like with a ribbon around it, and if it passes the ribbon test I buy it. I have a large bag of wrapping accessories in my garage, and it is growing larger with every late night shopping spree.

Fetish Number 3: Bras
I always buy pretty bras and now have like 10 or so, but I always seem to wear the same 2 or 3. They are: my favourite (black/grey leopard print with hot pink interior), Josh's favourite (red push-up with white polka dots), and of course the boring T-shirt bra (does not even deserve an explanation). The others get a tad neglected but it's always a treat when I wear them and then Josh does the whole "Oooh, new bra?" thing where I guiltily look down at my 'new shoes' and go "er....yeah....whatever just rip it off!"

Fetish Number 4: Umbrellas
This is the scoop guys, this fetish is just blossoming. For the last... 6 months.... I have been fantasising about developing my umbrella collection. I had a rainbow one for, like, I dunno... close to 10 years; but it was tragically stolen from, or should I say WITH, my car. Perhaps I am trying to fill the void by slutting around with other umbrellas? Who knows. I bought a clear one in winter which broke after 1 use. Now I have this new frilly pink one I picked up in my late night k-mart frenzy. She is pretty good. Stay tuned for more news on my developing collection. I have my eye on about 4 more and am yet to buy :)

Ok, that's enough about fetishes.. let's talk about the difference in VIBE at late night shopping. It is different. Maybe it's got something to do with this guy....

Everyone is suspicious of one another, and as mentioned earlier they all stare at what you have bought. I swear I saw one staff member waiting for me to walk past so he could open a packet of lollies. He was stacking the shelves and was taking a while to hold one packet with both hands near the opening, fingers pinched on either side. I was walking toward him to get a basket for my growing collection of stuff and he eye-balled me the whole way until I turned around and I swear I heard him tear open the packet! So if the staff feel comfortable shoplifting, imagine the message that passes onto the customers: us. See Mel's basket of stuff?

....All stolen. Nah just kidding. But look at the lack of people and lack of staff involvement. If you wanted to shoplift, now would be the time. But seriously, here is us leaving with all our stuff....

I spent about $115 in this one trip. I got: 2 pairs of shoes, 1 work top, 1 umbrella, 1 bra, 1 bustier, 1 pair of nderwear, 1 roll of wrapping paper, 1 can deoderant, 1 shampoo, 3 lollipops, 3 skirt coat-hangers, and 6 couch cushions. I am pretty sure that's it. I did well, i think.

So, to conclude... I think shopping at this time of night is better as I dislike bogan crowds and noise and waiting in line for change rooms or registers. I also enjoy people watching, and it is funny at this hour of night. My relaxed attitude meant that I could have a better look around at everything, which ultimately meant I made more purchases, but if I keep this behaviour occasional I'll be fine :)

Side note: I also made this new dish! It's an adapted version of Jamie Oliver's 30 minute feasts. It is Piri Piri Chicken!! I thought it was great! I added sweet potato and potato to it to make it more stew-like...

Loved it! Well, I must be off! Maybe I will remember the recipe one day and update this post :)

wikka wikka

What up people? I have spent a bit of time today going back and reading some of my posts from months and years gone by. Quite interesting reading, I must say! The reason I did this is because my younger brother DK wants me to make a speech at his 21st in a few weeks (eep) and I was looking for material i may have written in here previously. All I found was that story about how he wanted to pretend to be homeless. Oh dear. But there was some good reading to be had. Perhaps you should try it, pick one of my tags on the right and take the trip!

Speaking of trips, I finished reading Trainspotting a few days ago and really liked it. It was dark and dirty and interesting. I liked the chapters that were written phonetically in Scottish, I found it easy enough to follow along. Josh thought I would struggle but I sure proved him wrong :) I think it comes from practice. See, when I was about 12 I remember writing a story for school based on some Irish settlers in Australia and I wrote their dialogue phonetically. Haha. I was years ahead of myself, a child prodigy if you will. Irvine Welsh and I are like kindred spirits or something. I've often wondered if I will ever write a book. I still don't know. Maybe. It would be a cool thing to do, but of course I've had no formal training and it would be more of a hobby than anything really. I'd just love to set up an old type-writer in my cottage in the woods (it's coming) and tap it out. I know that's sooo not practical but I need to have my imagination :) I read an interview with Irvine Welsh who explained that he never really meant to be a writer and had quite a mediocre life and dabbled in drugs quite a bit which kind of kept him in the one place. It sounds as though some of the content of Trainspotting comes directly from his own life! Crazy! Hmm... so what can I write about in my debut novel....? At the moment I think Psycho Family Drama is the main thing I could take from my life to entertain and shock people. Maybe I should keep a journal and look back on it in a few years when I'm not so involved. Watch out for it!

Oh yeah, I went to the Video Store (do we still call it that?) on Monday night to borrow Trainspotting. I've never seen it and wanted to compare it to the book - as you do. I had a bit of a look and couldn't find it, then the dude told me that all copies had been stolen! How fitting!! HA! So I'll watch it sometime soon, my friend Roo says he has it - how exciting!! I seem to be doing a bit of the Movie/Book thing at the moment. The book before Trainspotting was "The girl with the dragon tattoo" which I liked. I then noticed had been made into a movie but I don't think it will be good. Someone tell me otherwise please. And now I've just started reading Truman Capote's 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. I really like it! It is surprisingly cool and a little bit crazy. I have never seen the movie and totally mis-judged the whole concept and the quality! So I am keen to see what happens to Miss Holly Golightly and I already have the DVD lined up to watch :D Truman Capote, your collected works are about to be eye-raped by me!

Hmm, I am keen to get home today. I have a few things I want to do... like hit the supermarket, go to my friend's house to borrow some Nigel Slater cookbooks, start working on a present for Shiho, clean out my wardrobe, watch an old movie from the set Jim gave me, AND wrap Maki and Mel's Birthday presents! They are getting back from Hawaii soon and I can't wait for them to open them! I can't say much more until then, but I am proud of my efforts and will put pixxx up soon. The reason I need to clean out my wardrobe is because firstly I found a great sale and bought a whole bunch of stuff for around $100 total. Out with the old, in with the new! I got a dress, a bag, 2 pairs of shorts, 3 singlet-ish tops, 2 skirts, 2 dress shirts, and 1 oversized cream rose brooch. All for $100AUD.. amazing hey? I also came home yesterday to find a bag of clothes from my mum in my front doorway. They are from a friend of a friend of someone! The bag was FULL of dresses. There were maybe 10 or so. I modelled them all last night and am keeping i think 4....! They all have a vintage look to them! So good. I don't know exactly where they came from but I am very grateful and can't wait to wear the first one on Friday night! I'm going out to Maha in the city, and having a fancy dinner, drinks and SHISHA! Finally crossing shisha off the list! WOO!

Hopefully this old horror movie I watch tonight won't be actually scary, cos I keep watching horrors when I'm alone at night and freak myself out. In a way I like that irrational fear from scary movies, like how you become convinced someone is in your house. But on the other hand, I really don't. I've been at home alone most of the last week or so because my housemate Maki is in Hawaii and the other guy, Hayden, is staying at his girlfriend's a lot. So I stupidly watched Martyrs, and Funny Games recently for the rush. Well last night it caught up with me. I went to bed around midnight in the empty house and had my window open for the cool breeze coming through. I kept hearing noises outside my window and MUST have started dreaming something freaky. Anyway around 12.45 i hear the front screen door slam shut, but not the main door or anything else, so in my half-wake I convinced myself that someone opened the screen door and tested the wooden door, and when they couldn't get in, they let the screen door slam before walking off. I somehow fell alseep again, then was woken up by something clattering to the floor in the kitchen. Now I was really convinced. I could see light coming under my door and I was frozen sitting upright in bed with my heart pounding and my ears straining to hear. Phone in hand I stood at my bedroom door listening. I heard 2 voices and I thought I could hear a new zealand accent. Haha. I almost called the police but first i thought i should call hayden just in case it was him and if it wasnt, just to let him know i was about do die. I dialled and waited... then i heard his phone ringing. Relieved, I walked out into the house and had a weird conversation with him and Julia where we were all apologising to one another. Them for waking me up so late and scaring me, me for acting so crazily, and possibly Julia for being 95% naked holding something up to her front. Haha. I went to bed pretty quickly after that and fell into a deep sleep. So deep that i woke up late for work again. Ha!    

Anyway, I must be off now, hope we shall meet again soon! :)

another massive post

Good morrow lads and ladies! Can't believe i am here today. I slept in until 8:10am when i usually get up at 6:45 to get to work by 8:30am. It was crazy. By the time i got to the station there were no carparks within a 5km radius pretty much (slight exaggeration). I had to park down some residential street but there weren't many other cars and no parking restrictions that i could see, so hopefully i don't get a ticket. eep.

By the time i got to work and realised that even our measly pedastle fans had been taken away, leaving us with NOTHING, my makeup had already melted off my face and i was wishing i had called in sick. Oh well, i went on a scavenger hunt and found 1 fan for the 4 of use to share. ridiculous.

So last night I went home and was thinking of all the amazing things I could whip up for dinner, when i came across Josh and Maki chilling outside with beers. They had watched the superbowl and had been drinking beers most of the day it seemed, so they weren't hungry or interested in food. And i didn't want to go to heaps of effort just for myself. So I took the opportunity of Hayden's absence to go and get charcoal chicken with chips and gravy for dinner. When we got there Maki and Josh had changed their minds and wanted chips too, so we ended up getting a whole chicken and a jumbo chips and gravy and coleslaw for the 3 of us haha. We also got a slab of what we thought was a Vegan beer (Carlsberg) so that Hayden could drink with us, but he said he didn't think it was vegan. So we sat out the back until about 9pm eating our extremely non-vegan feast and playing with Chester.

The guys told me that one of the pumpkins is getting really big so i went to go see it. It looks like it will be a Butternut and it is already the size of my hand!! Granted I have pretty small hands, not as small as a barbie or something, but fairly small.

We were discussing music for a while, and I realised the reason I can't listen bands like the Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge is because my ears are not sophisticated enough, and it is the music of the future. I believe i used the term "space music". This sounds like high conversation but I assure you it was just 2 beer cheer. Seriously, Maki broke it down for me and this is my feeble paraphrasing of what he said. They use notes that traditionally don't go together in sequence and are inventing new sounds, and they are so fragmented and fast and play in such a non-traditional pattern that my brain just can't process it. I realise that they are extremely talented but it just sounds like noise to me because i have never heard this kind of thing before and my senses are freaking out and it makes me feel uncomfortable to hear. It's not that i dislike it, i just cannot deal with it. Crazy. whoa back on track

Oh yes, of course! Then we were feeding lucky little Chester some chicken because he was staring at us for about an hour straight, just waiting patiently.

Hahhaa, i love that pic of him! What a cool guy. Maki went in to get us some beers and we heard this CRACK from inside, then saw him walking head down past the back door looking for a broom. We went in to see that he had dropped a beer in the laundry and it had gone everywhere. I had a mental face-palm, and maybe i acually did a face-palm too. Heh. So i gave him our brand new mop (it was only $10) to use and he went to slide the thingo down in order to squeeze the sponge clean and somehow snapped the mop too. It was pretty hilarious. Then once we had cleaned up all the slithers of glass and all the stench of beer, josh picked up his NFL ball and then lost control of it and it bounced over to a drinking glass left on the floor next to the couch... and smashed the fuck out of it. So then we cleaned up more glass. It was more funny than anything.

Seriously though, Maki is shaping up to be one of the most clumsy people I have ever known. He won't mind me saying this cos we discussed it at length and he knows all about it. But since moving in 2 weeks ago he has spilt 3 of his own beers all over the floor, just by not remembering they are by his side, and tipping them over with his foot or something. He also kicked the NFL ball the other night and it went off course and hit Josh's side mirror SMASHING IT and it fell to the ground. Then the two things last night - and i don't want to know how many other things have happened when i'm not around. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Maki that broke Hayden's side mirror somehow haha. No longer will i blame accidents on Chester - Maki is the new scapegoat. He said that he's having a pretty good run and hasn't broken any fixtures or furniture...yet. I didn't like the indication of threat and impending face-palming. I want to finish my blackboard project so i can keep a Black Books-esque tally of things broken (like their kill tally). haha

anyway this was the floor just after the beer smashing incident. We remarked how it reminded us of "paranormal activity" and that creepy powder scene!

Ok so I did actually kind of stick to my plan which involved watching Brokeback Mountain for the first time. I didn't watch it in bed as planned, as I was surprised to hear that Maki and Josh wanted to watch it with me. As much as i still want to watch a dvd in bed i thought it might be a little awkward with the 3 of us, so we watched it in the loungeroom. and. Oh. My. God. What a brilliant movie. I was moved to tears, it was just so heartbreakingly sad the whole time. The guys loved it too. look at this:

ah makes me want to cry again. fuck man. FUCK. Anyway i'm not going to be able to stop thinking about this movie...ever. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are two of my top 5 hottest people ever list. And while it was interesting to see 2 males kissing (as you never really see that in mainstream media) i wasn't turned on by it which i was curious to see if i would be. but i was MOVED. They are both so brilliant and amazing and i can't even believe how amazing the movie was. Fuck society man, fuck it right in the eye. So unfair. Anyway about 10 minutes into the film i was wishing i didn't have ANY prior knowledge of what the movie was about so I wouldnt keep looking for clues and giggling inwardly at all the hints that something was going to happen. There was a part where heath ledgers character was naked in the background and jake's character was sort of looking out the corner of his eye. THAT is the scene where i would have realised what was going on. oh man. is it lame of me to say RIP to heath ledger? Well I think he is an amazing talent, and i am so dissappointed that he is not alive anymore. it is such a horrible shame.

Ok, i have gotten a bit morose now.. let me cheer things up by telling you about this new "joke" that is circulating in the house. It involves me... wanting to fellate any red-head i see. Or at least that's how Maki sees it. Sure i had a crush on Ron Weasley, and my favourite Partridge family cast member is little Danny Partridge who happens to have red hair, and my cat is a ginger cat. But that doesn't mean anything! And for the record I am stating here and now that I am not, and have never been, attracted to Danny Bonaduce - who i googled and there are so many pics of him without a shirt looking like a fucking idiot that I am now calling him Danny Bonadouche. I do not have a ginger fetish, even though Josh has a few stray AUBURN hairs in his beard sometimes, it is all just coincedental. Maki is now suggesting that I have a crush on Cameron Ling - the Captain of Geelong Football Club (Aussie Rules Football) . This is laughable... google it and see what i mean. Sorry Cameron, I'm sure you are awesome but I am totally not attracted to you. I used the word "monster" which i am not proud of... sorry again.

Ok wow, i have waffled on for ages. I have to get myself organised for my friend's wedding this Saturday :D It is going to be a cry-fest. can't wait

lethargy: #1 killer of bees... i mean me

Fallujah. While it is a city and admittedly has nothing to do with me or my blog, it just felt right to start with that. Hope you don't mind. Well guys, this muggy Melbourne weather is really taking its toll on me. I have been so lazy lately that at some point over the weekend I would not be surprised to learn that my heart had actually stopped beating momentarily. I was in a state of hibernation like no other. Oh the grandiose plans I had in mind for the weekend... oh how i could go on.. but i won't bore you with the things i WAS going to do, instead i'll surprise you with them another day.

This was pretty much what i did most of the time...

and this...

I went between the two really. I spent more time on the couch though, getting in some quality Mighty Boosh, IT Crowd, The Office (USA version), Arrested Development, and a whooole lot of shitty weekend TV. It. Was. Awesome. Awesome and mind-numbingly boring. My lethargy seemed to seep into everyone around me's lungs and i sort of brought everyone down with me to sleepy town.

~

*Note: we have two TVs set up cos the little one is for the Nintendo 64 that came to our place along with our new housemates. It's not like we are some sort of Dennis Hopper-esque terrorists watching the progress of a speeding bus on multiple screens. Pssshhh.

~

I managed to break out of my coma in order to attend a Jungle themed 21st on Saturday night. Josh drove. haha. Anyway as we were leaving, i visited the latrine and on my way out I saw this on the wall...

I presume it is a height chart for multiple children in a family. it is pretty creepy as it is so old, and these children do not live there anymore - or maybe their ghosts do because they all only go up to about 7 years old... yipes! Infanticide is alive and well in Melbourne! Well i guess it's not infanticide of they are 7 right? Just plain old murder. Plainy olde le merdoor. yep. anyway, look at the creepy wall and think long and hard about stuff.

Also, while i was so lazy over the weekend, Hayden bought a new car!! A VW golf :) I got to driiive it, i got to driiive it! So exciting for me, as my car 'Ebi' is fairly old as you can see it the pic:

Poor Hayden had only owned his new car for a few hours when he came back to it and found someone had smashed into the side mirror.... BOOO! I believe he used the word "Berk" to describe the person who wronged him, which i thought was letting them off quite easily. Then he told me he had been looking into Cockney Slang and BERK is shortened from Berkshire Hunt - rhyming slang for cunt. WOW. did not know. I heard them using it on Mighty Boosh and thought it was rather playful so Josh and I began calling eachother Berk all the time. Now that i know what it REALLY means I'm just going to use it more! muahahaaa *I looked up some cockney and i like this one: Chum = Bubble Gum. "How you doin' Bubble Gum?" hehe *

Oh yes, Friday night. Before the lethargy set in, I had grandoise plans as i mentioned, so Josh and I made this vegan "meat" pie for dinner. I'm not going to put up the recipe yet- even though it tasted awesome the consistency was all wrong. So runny! I wanted to put tempeh in it but josh just wanted veggies. Will keep at it, and report back with a workable recipe.

lol @ "rustic" looking pie top. The lethargy set in right before i put the pastry on top obviously!

So, what do i have planned for tonight you ask...? Well it is quite hilarious but i am lookig forward to watching Brokeback Mountain FOR THE FIRST TIME EVAHHHHH, in bed. Oh dear... I am seriously going to swallow my tongue one of these days. Lethargyyy is killing meeee. Hey, I had a super late night last night and had to get up extra early for work today so i am tired! Maybe i will cook something or go for a run or something productive. Seriously I didnt shower for like almost 40 hours over the weekend. Sunday i totally dropped the ball. oh well...

~

Speaking of dropping the ball, it's SUPERBOWL SUNDAY in aMerica today. Here it is Monday obviously but the boys are all at a pub watching it as we speak. I totally wish i was there too, beats work any day. Even though i don't understand the rules of NFL... or any sport for that matter... i think that part of my brain is missing. I dont know how many times Josh has explained to me the rules of Tennis when the Australian Open is on. It is laughable. HAHAHA.

~

You know what else is laughable!? Hayden put a picture on his blog of when i went to help him shift house from Newport to our place. As most of his things were moved out already there were no tools to dis-assemble his bed frame. We thought "hmm it's pretty light, we can totally get it down the stairs!!" So we got it most of the way down before it got wedged between the 2 walls and was hanging suspended a few meters in the air... photo: HERE . Don't ask what I am doing in that photo... my own face frightens me a lot of the time. Anyway in the end we had to go ask a neighbour for a socket set and take the bed apart in mid-air.. haha ridiculous.

~

You know what else is ridiclous?! (man, i am slutting this segway up today) What is ridiculous is that my own cat, Chester, HATES ME NOW! Ever since Maki and Hayden moved in, he has been so distant and doesn't come to me when i click or call his name like he used to. The others have noticed it also. I was clicking so furiously that i am surprised i didnt snap a finger - and Chester just looked at me with hardly any recognition in his eyes. Then hayden did it and he ran over and jumped on his lap. Hayden and Maki both love Chester sleeping on their beds and

in the morning whoever had the pleasure of his company is King in de castle. I have fallen from power. Overthrown. Mutiny. Can't go on... How can i win him back?? You know, the other night he was limping badly so maybe i ran over his foot again? i dont think so though... maybe he just associates limping with me and now hates me for no reason. sigh

Anyway I am starving, and I have some left over Pasta that Hayden made last night. MMM!
Catch!

a week in my shoes

i have been a lazy lady yes i know... well please accept my apologies and hopefully this stream of pictures will placate your hunger for more subarashii...

Friday night a few of my friends and I went out to a Japanese Restaurant in the city called Yu-u. Trav looked it up and said it was reputably hard to find and that it had good reviews. We were wondering around for ages going "it must be along here somewhere!" whjen i saw 2 Japanese businessmen emerge from the door in fits of laughter. Felt like i was back in Tokyo :( *sigh* Here is Josh after we finally found the door:

and Trav wondering where Maki got to...

it was actually very delicious! some of the best Gyoza i've had! It was underground and quite dimly lit so the photos i took of the food didn't turn out so good- eep! they had a rule that you had to spend minimum of $30 each, which was not hard! I got Gyoza, Yaki onigiri, I tried an Ebi dumpling (prawn), had some teriyaki fish, japanese potato salad, mmm... can't remember what else. But it was really nice and the service was amazing.

After that we went walking around looking for a nice bar. While we were walking along Swanston Street (i think) i saw this stairway to the Chinese Cinemas. How awesome!!

We ended up going to Penny Blue bar in Driver Lane off Little Bourke Street. It was a fantastical land of a caged DJ, extremely oversised satin armchairs, $8 tap beers, chandeliers and $16 Sangria. It was lovely and beautiful but we were drinking well above our means, and i didn't particularly want to mingle with any of the other clientelle. It was Maki's shout for a round of beers and he only had $15 which we all laughed at. Anyway here is a photo of Josh looking rather shmug.

and here is some hilarious vandalism SLASH graffiti that was outside...

OK so after a late late night, Saturday i went to my friend's Kitchen Tea. It was my first one, and i din't know what to expect. I imagined food, drinks, and lots of presents. And that is exactly what it was.... with the addition of a chocolate fountain... drooool :

Sunday was beautiful weather and i took a break from cleaning out our spare rooms in order to attend a BBQ luncheon at Trav's house, and i sunbaked by the poolside. I still have the sunburn to prove it. and it looks so attractive too. i have two tone legs AND boobs. greeeat.

Sunday night i put on heaps of Aloe Vera gel and headed out with Josh to see THE DECEMBERISTS play for their first time ever in Melbourne . They had done a couple of Sydney shows before our show, but still this is their first ever Australian Tour and i was very exciiitted! Luckily they thought it would be nice to play their back catalogue for those fans who like all of their albums! They opened with a song called "The Tain" which was released as an EP in 2004, it goes for 18.5 mins and is in a word: epic. So after that, a whole bunch of other amazing songs, some witty banter with the crowd, Colin's penchant for dividing the crowd in two and getting us to sing melodies, and TWO encores.... i was spent. It was one of the best gigs evvaaaaa!

I saw this funny graffiti in the car park before the gig. So witty and artistic...

After a big sleep in and some more cleaning, my mum came over with her new puppy. She hadn't been named at that point so were trying to think of cute names - i thought "jessie" might work, but i haven't heard what mum decided. Look at her, so cute! she just wanted to play with Chester...

and as you can see, Chester was not impressed by her enthusiasm...

Maki brought around some of his stuff on Monday night and this is when the big move in began.

Tuesday was Australia Day, and in tru un-australian fashion Josh wanted to buy some black bean noodles for lunch on our way to the Australia Day BBQ. While he was in there i went for a wander to the asian grocery and saw some funny cans...

OK Australia Day! I was sunburnt still and trying to keep in the shade. Here are a few shots..

Aussie burgers were cooked up. Also, Maki didnt realise how powerful the sauce bottle was, and angled it wirng just as he squeezed. As you can see his Vegie burger got none of the intended sauce...

This is the archway into the fruit and veg area. I went nuts picking nectarines and passionfruit and i also got some yellow cherry tomatoes, parsley, rhubarb and thyme. YUM!

Trainspotting:

What would Australia be without flies.... my thinking is: better.

A different kind of banana tree..

So then Tuesday meant also more shifting in, and preparation. Hayden moved in on Wednesday, and our pantry is absolutely chock-a-block. we have had to create a second pantry to fit all of the new stuff!! sounds like fun to me though :) I didn't take many pick of the shift as i was busy and didnt want anyone posing with a heavy box... that could turn disasterous!

To welcome our new housemates, we had a welcome dinner on Wednesday night which involved salad, roast vegies, and a lentil cottage pie! It was delicious!!

Here is Hayden with his new friend Chester. I think Chester knows on some primal level that Hayden is a vegan, so doesn't register him as a threat. This is the two of them reading a Smiths record jacket - aptly named "meat is murder" :)

happy days! So tonight i have a joint bday party for two girlfurendos, and also josh/haydens band have a gig that i will slip away to watch, then tomorrow is the hens night, and then sunday i have an 80th bday lunch and my brothers 24th bday dinner. no rest for the wicked, huh? I have found some amazing vegan recipes lately that i want to try and make but iiii hhaavvveee very little time :( poo poo. next week for SHIZZZZZ. peace out y'all

housemates

So I have some interesting news for all you subarashii fanzzz. My dear Josh is moving out soon to go live in/near the city to concentrate on his final year of studies. He is studying to be a teacher :D This has been brewing for a while, but it is actually happening very soon. I will miss having him around heaps, but he is going to be working in the same street as me so i will see him on lunch breaks i hope hehe! Plus it will be cool to experience the inner city lifestyle vicariously through him! Sleepoverrrrrr!

So in order to not become all lonely (and of course to keep paying my mortgage) i have recruited 2 housemates, who are already our friends, to move in NEXT WEEK! Josh will still be there when they come so it will be a full house and lots of fun! Just like a little family!

Ok, so with the nicest photos i could find...

Introducing Housemate #1: HAYDEN

Full Name: Hayden (???) Cronin
Nicknames: Gazedo (phone dictionary), H-dizzle, my Vegan Friend, H-unit etc.
Background: Dutch Australian
How we became friends: Friends with Josh's older brother Bradd with two D's
Interests: Veganism, Power Lifting, gaining weight, playing bass - mostly slap bass when i am around, music, wearing dresses (i imagine)
Potential Quirks which start off as endearing but become fatal: liberating animals from abbatoirs and bringing them all home.


Introducing Housemate #2: Maki

Full Name: Ryan James Maki

Nicknames: Maki, Mak-dawg, Mak-daddy, Mak-attack, Mak-tastic, Mak-tacular, Makintosh, Makarena, Makaroni, Easy Mak...the list goes on...

Background: Finnish Australian

How we became friends: Josh's best friend since 1999, met them all at Schoolies in Lorne in 2004. It became official when he gave me a bob the builder invite to his 18th bday a few months later.

Interests: Music, not eating red meat, Dr. Pepper, climbing on roofs, having 1.5 eyes closed in most photos
Potential Quirks which start off as endearing but become fatal: falling off the roof and seriously injuring himself. that, or setting the house on fire.

So yes, now you know them. I'm sure if you stay tuned, you will gain an insight into their lives whether they like it or not. muaha. it sure will be an interesting experience to go from a couple living together to a housemate dynamic. Stay tuned ~~~~~~~