Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd

Today I was awoken very abruptly from my slumbers by my parents to go and pick up my cousin from the airport (she was in QLD for the past week or so). Normally I wouldn't have gone for a number of reasons, loving my sleep being at the top of the list, but today we were going to the new IKEA at Tempe! My dad had no idea where it was because he hadn't bothered to look up the address or anything but we found it pretty easily. When we walked into the entrance, my mum was like "I hope you bought your credit card!!" (jokingly but not jokingly? Idk) to my dad. And he started patting his pockets 'looking' for his wallet and he was like "Oh no, where's my wallet?!" and we all thought he was joking but he actually forgot his wallet. Silly dad, driving on a double demerits week without his licence!!

Oh how I love IKEA! There's just something so inviting about uber contemporary pieces of furniture with unpronounceable names. It has that "new" smell right from the get go and a warm atmosphere buzzing with first time home owners, self proclaimed "renovators" bored with their lives, tourists (oooh, a table; what a site!! They totally traveled across the world for this super enriching experience) and random families that have lived in Sydney too long and have nowhere new to go (yup, that's us). Although I hardly get anything tremendous from the place (last time I got a lantern and tealight candles which I never use and this time I got nothing because I am selfless and my sister is not!), I love it nonetheless. Who wouldn't love an overly extravagant home furnishings store with a cafeteria with overly priced pastries which also offers free wi-fi (within the vicinity of the cafeteria, of course)? I hope I've sold IKEA to anybody who still hasn't gone, although my subtle cynicism probably failed in that department.

Also, I stumbled (more like stalked around on Facebook) upon Tanya's (the professional public speaker and debater) "newly launched food blog" or whatever she said it was! I urge all foodies and baking enthusiasts to check it out because this gal knows what she's talking about!

TOT

Today I went over my aunty's house at Canley Heights for a small gathering with my mum's side and Laurence and his mumma also came. I got my Christmas pressie from Laurence and it was a mini Mini Cooper!!! and a mini wannabe Vespa. I'm not going to go into deetz but I can't believe he still remembers :') We haven't been as close lately but this present indicates that our bond is always there, even when we don't know it. I love you Laurence; my brutha from anotha mutha (not that you even read my blog anymore)!!!

Then after we ate the typical Asian bbq stuff we decided to lose our pot bellies so we went for a walk and decided to crash Renee's house. On our way, we came across a dead kitten on the side of the road and it was the saddest thing I've ever seen. It just lay there, so helpless. Nobody had bothered to do anything!! I wanted to call RSPCA or something but Laurence (being the manly man he is) just ran away so after a few long minutes of staring hopelessly at the kitten, I just left it. I feel so bad, but there was nothing I could do in that moment ): Then we got to Renee's house and she was so freaked out when we knocked on her door cuz she was home alone! hahahaha, and then we just caught up for like an hour or so. It was so nice to be with the BIFFLZ again! We haven't been together just the three of us in so long and Renee is leaving next year as well! *death stare*

Beauty and the Geek

You can't just throw on a pair of cheapo 3D glasses that you've popped the lenses out of and instantly become a geek. Glasses are not a sign of intelligence... especially glasses without lenses which then technically aren't even glasses. They are just plastic frames. Similarly, you can't just throw on a tight, body-hugging dress, heels and make up and call yourself a 'beauty'. I know I'm just picking the carcass of the 'beauty and the geek' themed parties that are trending but what I'm trying to say can be translated onto a larger scale in society which are its perceptions of intelligence and beauty. You can have the longest hair, most symmetrical face, the longest legs and   the nicest ass (if they are even the most idealistic physical features? I don't know) but at the end of the day, if you have no respect for yourself and/or others then nobody is going to think you are beautiful. Well, not people with substance and a brain themselves. But what I hate more than anything is people who are in actual fact smart and hide it by putting on a ditzy, bimbo show. Why go through such efforts to mask your intelligence? Is it so shameful to be smart? Is it a part of a transparent facade to fit in? Well let's just see how many of your "stupid" friends end up working for somebody smart. To summarise, not all intelligent people (a.k.a "geeks" or "nerds" in this screwed up society) lack a good physical demeanour which disables them from sight, makes them have to wear suspenders with their pants or deprives them of the ability to undergo rigorous physical activity. I guess I'm just offended when my friends and peers receive certificates for their academic excellence and there is a group of future wife-beaters snickering among themselves at the back. Let's just say that the Government ain't gon' be able to keep this dole going forever, eh? That's what gives me a piece of mind when I go to bed at night.

Snowfall on a Blue Lake

Snowfall on a Blue Lake

365 Days

It's amazing how things change so greatly in just a year; how different everything was only one, measly year ago. I'm sitting here looking back at the close friendships I used to have and wondering what happened but at the same time grateful for the friendships I've been able to maintain throughout such a hectic year. Not only that but I'm also thinking about the new relationships that have formed in a year. People that used to slip through the cracks of the pavement a year ago have become the concrete that keeps me together (why did I just turn my life into a pavement? I don't even know, I would have never done that a year ago!). It's perplexing how different I am now from how I was last year. I used to be so happy, healthy and carefree. For the most part, this year has been the complete opposite. Apart from a few people that brought some kind of happiness into my life, this year has been pretty crap. This year (more so than others for certain reasons) I heard about and read (and analysed in great detail for an annoying assessment task) about how people go on journeys and how as a result of their travels, their ideologies change or they find themselves or something of the like. I thought it was all cliche crap made up for students like us to have something to write about for an AOS Assessment for English. But as I sit here in the dark, listening to the sad, woeful ballads of Coldplay and doing some reflecting on the year that was, I now see that Year 10 was a significant part of my high school journey. If a journey being only two thirds complete so far has already seen such drastic change to myself and those around me, I wonder what (or more like who) we will become by the end of Year 12. And now I've taken a post about change and reflection within a year and turned it into a weird, futuristic, semi-philosophical (or so I'd like to think) series of rambles. At least I still have a mild form of attention deficit disorder where I can't seem to stick to one topic for more than a few minutes. This post has no structure whatsoever and is just a little extract from my overly cluttered mind at the moment, MY APOLOGIES!

New Year's Resolutions

1. STRESS LESS. Stress has been the main root to all of my evils this year; migraines, tension headaches, nausea, mental and emotional breakdowns. I will do my best to care less about pointless things and therefore stress less! I will also try to not worry myself to death over things that I cannot change and invest my brain space into things that are actually within my power to change. "Grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, give me the courage to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."


2. STUDY HARDER. I need to stop playing around and focus on studying hard for the next two years. Not just last minute cramming for a test but just a regular routine of study (I bet all of you that are reading this are like "PSH AS IF", but I will try my best to stick to my word and by blogging about it to my friends, it makes me more liable to do so, so HMPF). How else am I going to get a good enough ATAR to get into the course that I want? *sigh*


3. SMARTER SPENDING. I had a super low-paying job this year and despite the fact that I had to work uberly hard for money, I found myself spending it everywhere without any care or rationality. Most of the time when I was buying things, I even knew that I didn't need it and/or wouldn't use it that many times but I still couldn't stop my urge to spend and buy stupid things. What's worse it that all of my friends are crazy spenders as well and I'm probably the most rational when it comes to shopping.


4. BE POSITIVE. Most people that really know me will know that I'm an overly sarcastic pessimist most of the time. Personally, I enjoy being this way. I love being the rain on everybody's parade. I'm only joking most of the time (there's a bit of truth behind every joke) but sometimes I feel like I overdo it or take it too far and that is why I shall try to be less mean and pessimistic and be more joyous and happy and kind to people!

N.B: All of the above are only goals that I aspire to in 2012, there is no guarantee that any of these will be fulfilled so please do not file a law suit against me if they are not completed to your satisfaction or else you better prepare yourself for an ass wooping. Bye. 

Nguyens in Disguise

Last night was my family masquerade party and it was extra fun because my cousin who moved to London is in Sydney at the moment! I wanted her to come back with an English accent but all of my other cousins said they wouldn't talk to her if she did. Gosh dammit! Anyways. Somehow it turned into a 1920s party with everyone wearing suspenders and smoking cigars. Of course there was the weird Asian rave with super loud music and this time, my grandmama danced! She was fully into it and it was the cutest thing I have ever seen :) Then, when my cousins and I got bored of all the uncles unleashing their terrible but super hilarious old school moves, we went inside and there was a random German romcom on and it was actually very funny but the TV didn't have any info on the movie title but my cousin found it this morning and told me it was called "Rabbit With No Ears" and that there is a number 2 as well. I never watch foreign movies (except for some weird Viet ones) but I really enjoyed this one, or maybe it's just because I'm a sucker for romcoms most of the time. Anyways, below are some photos of my super rad family for you guys.

The Edge of Gravity

Yesterday was Gino's party and it was very fun indeed! Needless to say, there was a fair amount of sweating, back-bending, face-flattening and even farting (ewww). I can't be bothered to recount the whole party even though I kind of just wrote half of it and deleted it. The highlights were probably the jumping castles and our karaoke contest which went on for like 2 hours and caused me to lose my voice which magically came back to me this morning! Anyway. When I was in bed last night, I felt like I was still on a jumping castle. It was so freaky!!

It was so nice to get out of the house to see all of my beloved friends after a whole week of being "off the radar", it made me regain a sense of normalcy again. After a horrible week, everything was mended last night. An old friendship rekindled and a patchy patch completely patched up with a mere phone call. I is happeh. Now I'm just bumming around listening to The Script and doing nothing until ma family masquerade tonight! Later skaters.

A blog is just graffiti with punctuation

I woke up really early this morning to make my sister pancakes for breakfast before she went to school. Not because I'm nice (because I am not... especially not to her), but because the batter can only be refrigerated for 3 days and today was the third day. After that was done, I had nothing to do so I watched Contagion. I first heard of this movie when I went to watch another movie in the cinemas and this was just small segment of the endless advertisements that you're forced to sit through before the movie that you paid $20 to see actually begins. ANYWAYS! I really liked the trailer and really wanted to watch the movie but the reviews told me to just wait for the torrent to come out. Lucky I didn't waste my precious dosh on this movie because it was CRAP! CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP! Especially the ending. Like, what the foeiruweoiruwjeijyucisd? Contagion is such a stupid, melodrama of a movie. However, I do feel cautious of the surfaces that I come into contact with now... Especially this keyboard... ARGHHHHHH! Not only was the movie crap but it has triggered a mild case of OCD. However, there was one funny line in the movie and that was "A blog is just graffiti with punctuation!" Hahahaa, I don't know why it was funny. Maybe because it's true? Or not? I don't know. It was just funny.

Year 10, 2011

Just because you aren't returning to school next year because you managed to get some shitty apprenticeship that will not get you very far in life, doesn't mean you can ruin the rest of the grade's graduation ceremony. It is just a select group that always has to ruin everything for the grade and they manage to piss the fuck out of everybody, every single fucking time.

On to a more important note, today, we as a cohort that started out as "baby Year 7s" (as Mr Connor put it), graduated from Year 10 with the 2nd best School Cert results of MFHS ever! Congratulations everybody! Although it was a seemingly happy day; graduating; being given the key to escape the prison for 7 weeks, you could still smell the inner, forlorn disparity that everybody was trying to mask. It was one of those bittersweet moments. I had graduated from junior school with the people I have grown to love but then I remembered that half of these people will not be journeying into senior school with me. But that's okay. You guys have been trying to get into these schools ever since Year 7 so it seems only fair that you get to complete your high schooling at these top notch schools. Just don't ever forget the crazy friends you have at Mac Fields and that the door is always open to you (it sounds like I'm a parent talking to a runaway teenager). We will never forget you guys, no matter how nice, smart, pretty or hot (which is highly unlikely) your replacements are! This day of parting came into the equation as soon as the results came in, but who knew that it would be the end so soon right?

I guess it was a "rite of passage" for everybody in some ways. Today allowed for the people that are leaving to confront their fellow peers and close friends, allowing them to express their true feelings once and for all. It also allowed for the fellow peers and close friends of those that are leaving to fully realise and process the reality of the situation, no matter how much they had put it off prior to this day. I guess I had already mentally and emotionally prepared myself for today from crying days on end in my room which would explain why I didn't shed a tear today. I can't say the same for everybody else though (*ahem*) but that's okay! It made me feel kind of bad that I didn't cry. It's not that I wasn't upset. I just couldn't cry at the risk of revoking all of the wild emotions that I feel when it comes to this issue.

This year has flown by so fast (as has every other year) and it makes me want to savour as much of my senior schooling as possible. Photos, a journal, something. I could not have asked for a better year group to go through Years 11 and 12 with. Everybody is just so kind and accepting of others, willing to help out and everybody has their own unique personality which will undoubtedly rub off on each and every one of us when we leave school in Year 12. Happy holidays everybody and be prepared for the hardest but most rewarding two years of your lives starting from next year! Toooooodles!

Live Music

Those of you that know me would know that I have a flaming passion for good, awesome live music. None of that auto-tuned, lip-syncing, back track crap; aw hell no sister! I've got some videos that I really want to share with you guys because they are really brilliant musicians. So PLEASE watch and/or listen to them because they will be music to your ears (hehehe)!

Linking Park performing 'Rolling In the Deep' live at one of their concerts

OneRepublic performing 'Apologize' at some AOL live session thingy

Adele performing 'Set Fire To The Rain' - IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL. I am truly in awe. 

Lady Antebellum performing 'Need You Now' at the AOL thing again

A good sport

Today was our last sport day for 2011 (unless you are going to school next week which Dolstra seemed firm about...) and it was very fun indeed. First we had maths and Renee, Richard, Queen and Maria were doing the quadratic handout but they were so confused and it was so freaking funny when Richard asked me if the quadratic formula was blah blah blah and Queen thought he was making up bullshit. ANYWAYS. Geo was normal and then in English we had a PIZZA PARTY! At first we were just eating lollies in the classroom and playing "ENERGISERS" from Peer Support (I guess we gained something from those useless 12 hours of "training" after all) and then we went to the oval to play a class "Knots" while we waited for our pizzas to arrive. Pizzas arrived, we ate them and Kimberly was fully dying from the Jalapenos, weakling! Then, we had a crazy lunch doing weird voodoo stuff and then we had tennis! I was just walking when I felt someone spraying me with water and that's when all hell unleashed! We had a water fight at tennis and I got Renee good enough for her to remember while she plays tennis with the cows next year! Alex was drowning in his sorrows as we walked to station because his racquet is broken and his finals are this week... I think. Anyways, I was just on Facebook and one of my bogan friends uploaded this photo and I think it is AMAZEBALLS.

ahuhuhuhuh

35 Celebrity College Majors

Interesting... 35 Celebrity College Majors

'Tis the season to be jolly!

Since I have hit my adolescent years, I have found myself to be quite the Christmas stooge but for some reason this year, I am so excited for Christmas. I can't wait for the lights and decorations around the city and in the suburbs to go up (actually, they already have... in like mid-November) but oh my gosh, it's almost CHRISTMAS! Too bad we live in Australia and we all probably grew up in an extremely Americanised world, so naturally, most of us associate Christmas with snow, ice-skating, sled rides and hot cocoa (well, I do anyways). I've always dreamed of a white, winter wonderland for Christmas but to my dismay, Christmas for me is always a family barbie in the stinking hot heat.

CHRISTMAS MOVIES. CHRISTMAS CAROLS. CHRISTMAS LIGHTS. CHRISTMAS GIFTS. FATHER CHRISTMAS AND OH MY GOD GINGERBREAD! Although I hate everything ginger, I love love love gingerbread. It is delicious... or maybe it's just the bright and colourful icing decorations? I remember in year 4, my teacher made gingerbread cookies in the shapes of stars with everybody's name on each one and she decorated them and stuff. I loved mine too much to eat it so I tried to save it up for a "worthy" enough occasion to eat it, as if Christmas wasn't already good enough right? Yeah... It spoiled and I never got to taste the delicious homeliness of my teacher's baking. But then again, she was very mean to me and I was leaving the school for a new school the following year... Perhaps I made the right decision not to eat it. Hahahahaha JOKES.

Now, Christmas stooges and enthusiasts, please enjoy the wide array of Christmas pictures I have collected from a Christmas Tumblr in the span of 10 minutes.

 See what I mean by deliciously coloured gingerbread? 

 Again with the gingerbread...! AHGSJHWGHEW

Christmas is the only time it is acceptable for people other than Paris Hilton to dress their animals in outfits and for it to be deemed cute rather than a form of animal cruelty. Jus' sayin' 

Fambamz

Today, I woke up to my baby god brother's cry which is very weird because out of my whole extended family, we are the only ones that live in this area. They all live around the Canterbury area so we never get visits from them. So I woke up and found that more aunts and uncles were on their way down here so that we could all go to The Party Warehouse in Campbelltown to buy masks and that of the like for an upcoming masquerade themed party we are having. Once everybody arrived, we all headed off at 11am and I rode with my newlywed aunty and uncle and it turns out I'm really bad at giving directions because we were in the left lane and the Party Warehouse is on the right hand side and by the time I realised, it was too late. Ha ha ha, not living up to my womanly stereotype at all. My family is very loud (as with any Asian family) but it seemed louder because we weren't in Cabramatta where all da Asians at, we were in Campbelltown; where all da white people at. It was slightly embarrassing, but hey, that's why I love them. We're always kidding around, regardless of the weird looks we get from passing strangers. Yeah, so we got all of our masks and called up all the other cousins and stuff to see if they needed masks... That was quite fun. Shopping is such a good form of family bonding! Then we went back home and discussed costumes and shizzeh and then they went home a while ago. So we are having a masquerade party on the 17th and a Christmas party the week after. PARTY LIFE BITCHES.

Toys R Not Us

You know when you buy a new dress and you can't wait to wear it out? When you get a new phone and can't wait for the first charging of the battery to be over? Then, you would know the feeling of after wearing that dress out and after a few weeks of playing around with the new phone. The experience of having something new was fun whilst it lasted but after wearing the dress to a party, you realise that everybody has seen you in it. After a few weeks of using your new phone, you realise it's just like every other phone you've had only with a larger screen or a QWERTY keypad. Similarly, "friends" are tossed aside when you find somebody better; more fun. But eventually, you get bored of them and come back to the old toys that you threw to the bottom of the toy box because they got boring to you. Grow up.

The Nguyens go to Hawaii!

You may or may not know that my house turned into the closest thing my family had to a vacation in Hawaii last Saturday. It was a success and has started a trend in themed parties for the future (yay? I ernno). All of the furniture in the living room was removed to transform the room that I had so many childhood memories watching good ol' Arthur into an Asian Gabba Fest. Who knew my family were such lively, energetic, party animals? 

Oh, and some douche spilled beer all over my dad's laptop and now it's dead. 

CHRISMAKKUH

Every year as a child, a few weeks before Christmas, my aunty and my mum would take my sister and me to David Jones at Macarthur Square to pick out our Christmas presents. Although that completely ruined the element of surprise with Christmas gifts, it was always fun to pick out our own presents. We always loved the toy section but we could only choose three presents; one from my mum, aunty and dad (my dad never went with us though, he hated and still hates shopping). Then, my mum would put them in the storage closet on the highest shelf hoping that we wouldn't be able to reach them. But I'll admit, almost everyday leading up to Christmas, I would climb on a chair and just look at my presents. Oh gosh, I miss that feeling. I felt to bad-ass and stealthy. A week before Christmas, my mum would wrap up the presents and put them under the Christmas tree (which I haven't seen in several odd years) and there were always more presents that we didn't choose ourselves which was always exciting! AND WHEN CHRISTMAS FUCKING DAY ARRIVED... HELLZYAYER! I don't even know why we did this whole Christmas tree and presents thing, we are Buddhists after all. But it was fun. My favourite surprise present from my mum was this Delta Goodrem dvd with all of her songs and music videos and live performances and stuff... Cheesy, I know. But she was my idol, with the whole piano playing act anyways. Now my parents are old, lame and boring and can just buy me off with money. Don't get me wrong, I love it when they give me money but sometimes it would be cool to receive gifts like the good ol' days. Ahhh. I still have this bead set that I chose when I was like 8 years old. I never made a single bracelet or necklace. Now I don't know what to do with it.

Last Christmas I was in Vietnam after having spent an awesome week in Hong Kong. The one before that my dad was in hospital. I wonder what is on the menu for Christmas 2011...

▲

I hate arrogant people who feel the need to comment on everything on Facebook. Firstly, nobody was talking to you. I don't understand why people who are not good friends with certain people like to act as if they are on Facebook. Do you have nothing else to do but sit in front of your computer screen waiting for somebody to post  a status for you to leave an irrelevant and uber ignorant comment on? Yeah. I suppose you don't. What was I even thinking? You know what's even funnier than your non-existent life? The fact that you delete your comments once somebody owns your pompous ass. Get off your high, "conservative" horse and stop judging people. If you don't believe in homosexuality, that's cool. Just don't bag it out in front of others. Stop acting as if you are so cool by going against the supposed "mainstream" when the fact is that you are just an ignorant, loser hipster with no friends. How long did your """relationship""" last, a few weeks? Ha.

Cruel to be Kind?

I woke up today and the first thing I did was clean my table. My table had mountains of work and revision sheets for the SC that had I had accumulated from all of the teachers this year. DO YOU KNOW HOW GOOD IT IS TO THROW OUT ALL OF YOUR STUDY NOTES?! Oh, the adrenalin! IT FEELS SO FREAKING LIBERATING TO JUST THROW EVERYTHING OUT. GAHHHHH. Anyways. Today is World Kindness Day so I'm going to go shopping and be kind to myself and not so kind to my wallet. I didn't even know there was a World Kindness Movement but then again, what do I know? You know what I hate? After you have a really refreshing shower and then you realise that you need to pee straight after. I don't know if anybody else experiences this, but it occasionally happens to me and it sucks! I feel like it's a waste of a shower. Why am I even blogging about my peeing and shower habits? Happy World Kindness Day everybody :)

Frolicking in Freedom

My my, we are finally free! After a year of endless studying for exams, overloading on caffeine, super tedious assignments and almost no sleep, we are free for the next 3 months or so! I can come home from school and just  sleep without worrying about when to wake up to do my homework. I can also just sit in front of the computer for 6 hours straight. I can tell that I'm going to have a lot of fun during my last free holidays for the next two years, hehehe.

Today was so funny. We were playing Signal in science and Anita was like "Hi-five!" to Aswathi (her partner) but Aswathi didn't hear her and Anita ended up hi-fiving herself!! Oh Renee, you chose the wrong day to be away! Anyways, right now I am eating Banh Bot Loc that my mum bought from the temple today. They are so yummy! It's like this Vietnamese dumpling thing and normally it's filled with shrimp and stuff but this one is vegetarian seeing as it is from the temple. I think it is my favourite Viet thing to eat, it reminds me of my grandma because she makes the best ones. ANYWAYS. Enough Vietnamese culture for this post. I have this new thing that I do. When people are trying to convince me of something, I go "Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?" I know it's been around for ages but I manage to find so many instances in which I can use them nowadays. I hope everybody has a nice weekend. Ciao!

Chicken Crimpy

On Friday afternoon, my parents and I went to the Party Warehouse to get our Hawaiian supplies while my sister was at cadets. We got all this stuff and it was very exciting, anyways, more to the point of this post... We went to pick up my sister from Hurlstone and while we waited, I was eating my chicken crimpy shapes (that is the best flavour of shapes, EVER!). My parents were really hungry so they ate them too, which is weird because my parents never eat junk food... ever. While we were munching on these deliciously salty biscuits, my dad was like "I bet Arnotts is in a multi-billion dollar deal with a pharmaceutical company" and I was like "WHAT LHAHAHIAOHEJAHAHHAHAHAHA" and he's like "Why else would they make these so salty? It's so that people who eat them get diseases and take medicine from their buddies who they have signed a contract with whilst holidaying together in Hawaii" My dad should become a business man right? Oh gosh. Haha. Today Joanne brought me a cake pop from wherever she got it from! If you don't know what a cake pop is, it's a cake ball on a stick like a lollipop but a cake. It is so awesome! The recipe can be found here, too bad all the stuff is American... Not that I could make it anyways. I cannot wait for SC to be over and done with, then I can spend my days doing whatever I want without a care in the world! YAYERZ. Normally I'm a Christmas grouch but I have a good feeling about the holidays this year, study hard my friends (if you read this before Tuesday, which I highly doubt because you will all be studying your asses off whilst I am here talking to nobody).

The Bold and the Boring

After listening to my mum lecture me about how I'm so useless because I couldn't even find work experience all weekend, I went to Specsavers today at Ingleburn and got it there. They are so nice and friendly! The sales chick was like "What's your name?" and I was like "Yvonne. But I don't really know how to say my name..." and I started going into the EEEE-vonne and a-von and e-vonne and so forth. And so did they. They had like this mini debate for 5 minutes about my name and what they would call me when I work there. It was so funny. Anyways, after spending half an hour or so in the shop, I went home and when I got home it was 4.30. Normally I would shower, eat and sleep or study or something but today I decided to watch tv. I remember when I was little, I would watch The Bold and the Beautiful with my mum everyday at 4.30 so today I decided to relive that childhood memory - minus my mum. The good thing about a soap opera that has been running for more than 20 years is that no matter how long you haven't watched it for, it'll always be the same story line. It's always about some rich guy that's having an affair, an evil mother meddling with her son's life because she is not fulfilled with her own and blah blah blah.
Anyways, Fitness First has this free thing in the holidays for teenagers, TIME TO GET MY FIT ON BITCHES!

mid-life crisis

My father is currently going through a mid-life crisis. As his young daughter, I ought to be mortified... I was, until he let me throw a Hawaiian themed party! YAHOO! Well, let me tell you guys the full story. This afternoon, I came home from school to find my dad standing on a chair in the middle of the living room with all these electrical cords dangling from the roof. I was puzzled but I didn't really care because it was so hot and I was tired so I just went to my room. An hour later, I came out and found my parents going crazy because my dad had just replaced the main lights in the living room with a disco ball and put reflector lights around it. WHAT THE HECK! And he also had bought another strobe light and those circular lights where they have the coloured lights and they revolve around in circles? Yeah. It was like a rave in my living room... with my 45 year old parents being the ravers. I was so angry. I don't know why. Now that I think about it, it's quite funny. A few months ago, I asked my parents if we could take on the task of the annual Nguyen family Christmas party because I wanted to throw a Hawaiian themed party and they rejected me. Today, when I asked my dad why he had bought these stupid lights and installed them almost permanently in our house, he said it was for the Hawaiian party. I was just like HELLA YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! OMG NOW I AM SO PSYCHED TO THROW A HAWAIIAN PARTY! But it's going to be in November because my mum is going to have an operation yada yada. My mum said you guys are invited but I'm not sure you even want to come because my family is kind of crazy. TIME TO PLAN A HAWAIIAN PARTY NIGGZ! Aloha! :)

uncivil, fat, dirty best friends forever

You are my best friend man. You have been there, everyday for the past two years or so. You are a serious person, listening to my problems and helping me and making me feel better. You are also the lamest person I know, but somehow your lameness translates into funniness. You are so awkward it's funny. If we don't talk for a day or two, I feel empty and sad (I KNOW YOU DO TOO, DON'T DENY IT). All those times I listened to your problems and you with mine have got to count for something. You are my best friend and will continue to be my best friend no matter what. Nobody is going to drive a wedge between us. Who else am I going to have happy hour with? Don't say that he is now my best friend because that is not true and you know it. Remember that time you stacked grass jelly cans? Yeah. That was fun. WE SHALL NOT DRIFT APART. NOT NOW. NOT EVER.

25/10/11

My mum bought some tights/pants thingy from David Jones and it was $170 or something and she got it for $40 and she was so excited (as Asians get with their discounts) and then my dad was just like "they look like jockey pants" and now she's devo 4 lyf. At dinner, my mum was like "if you're going to marry an old guy, make sure he's really rich so when he dies, you can have all of his assets" and I thought she was kidding... but she wasn't... I think... omg so confusing. Anyways. I was like "I WANT TO MARRY A YOUNG GUY!!" and she was like "well, he has to be super handsome." Why did I just tell these pointless stories about my mum? Oh and one more retarded thing my mum told me today she was like "Bosses don't like to hire women because they get pregnant and they have monthly madness". Who the heck calls it monthly madness? WHERE IS MY MONTHLY MADNESS? GAHHHHHH.

Para-Para-Paradise

Welcome to Miss Joanne Ly, my newest reader, hopefully you can fit my blog into your hectic schedule ;) Anyways. I think that my body is finally giving in to all of the torture I put it through everyday. It is quite confronting. All these headaches, muscle tension, unexplained blotches, nausea and extreme tiredness is probably due to my "lack of sleep", eating a lot of crappy junk food and not drinking enough milk and water. OOOOOH, big problems right? But to me it is. My body feels like crap nowadays. I can't really focus and I'm always sick in some way or another. I really don't know what to do. My doctor is such a big help and so is the internet T_T Maybe my periods are just super duper late... which they are by the way. The only thing that's been getting me through these past few weeks are those good friends of mine. Oh, and Paradise by Coldplay :)

They call me Osama

Today at English tutor, I had to deliver an "inspirational" speech. Henry and Anthony kept laughing at me which made me laugh and made me mix up so words which lead to me dropping the F bomb in front of the teacher and my fellow classmates. This always happens to me!! Once, in debating this year, I mixed up some of my words and then I was like "FUCK!" and then after that, I was like "SHIT!" because I realised I had dropped the F bomb. Gawwwwwwww. Anyways, after tutor Joanne took out a brown paper bag and gave it to me. To my surprise, there were macaroons in there! One was supposed to be for Emily T but she didn't want one which is a surprise because Emily Truong is a fat whale (not really). They were blueberry flavoured and very yummy, thank you Joanne! (even though you don't read my blog)

Weekly Notices

This week has been a weird week. To my dismay, I rediscovered a flame that I thought was dead. I also had a crazy migraine through out the week. It was bearable for the most part but sometimes it felt like somebody was squeezing my brain between two heavy metal slabs. It was fucking painful. I also watched SNSD's video of The Boys or whatever. And yes this is in my negative paragraph. I kind of liked it though. But it's still in the bad part of my week.

Not to worry, there is a cherry to my pie (or several cherries actually). We got our English trials back and in my eyes, I could have done better. But I'm pretty satisfied with my mark so whatevz. This week, Richard, Renee, Sabrina, Anita and I reconnected by reminiscing our crazy, stupid, love we have for each other as friends. It all started when Richard was like "I have no friends." and I was like "I'm your friend Richard!!" and he didn't believe me, so I answered all these questions about him to "prove" that I really am his friend. I obviously prevailed. It's surprising how much we all know about each other to the most minuscule aspect of our lives! That was such a good lunch. And today in English, Miss Rizk was imitating people and we asked her to imitate Matthew but she was like "Nah, I can't be bothered" and everybody just cracked up laughing because that is exactly what Matthew is like! I guess rediscovering an old flame could be good as well, because that's always fun... while it lasts. AND I FOUND WORK EXPERIENCE! HALLELUJAH! 

High School Sweethearts

You know that wedding I went to yesterday? Well, it turns out they have been dating since Year 10 and it's been 10 years. It was so cute because the whole bridal party have practically known each other since Year 7. During the groomsmen and bridesmaids speeches, they all had inside jokes from high school and stuff. It was so sweet!! Then they played a slideshow of the couple and it full had photos from their high school formals and stuff and I had this weird feeling, like I was actually touched by it or something. I'm not a sucker for corny, love stories but this was just too cute!! Although I am anti high school relationships (oh the irony, I was young and stupid and they don't even count to me so whatevz), this just goes to show anything can happen.  *sighs* I hope I will have a fairy tale ending one day. But life is life. Forever alone bitches.

Why do we call cranberries and blackberries berries? | The Hot Word | Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com

Why do we call cranberries and blackberries berries? | The Hot Word | Hot & Trending Words Daily Blog at Dictionary.com

Just a random article that I found interesting.

a bucket for my creyz

This morning I woke up at 7am to get ready and go to yet another wedding. This time they weren't that close to us (literally and figuratively), the family are like my mum's cousins in Flemington and we never see them. It was a pretty cool wedding though, even though I didn't know anyone *CREYZ* and I'm just wasting time before I have to get ready for the night reception. Ughhhh. This side of the family is my teochew (is that how you spell?) side and we aren't very close so it will be lame and uber boring. Gahhhh.

Anyways, I'm so excited to see 'The Thing' and 'Contagion' and maybe 'Paranormal Activity 3' (if I muster the courage and balls to do so). WHY MUST THEY RELEASE ALL OF THIS NOW?! WHY! WHYY! Does it look like I have money to go see three movies? No. I need to find a freaking job. I miss having money in my bank ): I also need to find work experience. I am so screwed.

Art of Dessert: Quick Fix Microwave Brownie

Art of Dessert: Quick Fix Microwave Brownie: Okay, I have my moments when I'm really REALLY craving for a chocolate brownie topped with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and I don't wa...

Angry Angus Burger

You think you are so good at everything but you aren't. You criticise everybody in everything and it's so annoying because you are no where near any better. You think everybody loves you, but actually, people are just too pussy and nice to say things to your face. I can't say the same for you however. You just say everything to people's faces without any regards for their feelings. I want to imprint my fist on your face but I'm too big of a pussy to do so. You piss me off so much that I needed to rant to my mum about you. She thought I was weird for being so angry about a person but whatever. You are the second most irritable person right now. I think everybody knows who the biggest douchebag on planet Earth right now is. End of rant one.


YOU'RE A CUNT. There, I said it. I said that word. And yes, this is douchebag numero uno. You go around calling people losers and fake. Why don't you stop social climbing for 2 seconds and take a look at your bloody self? You are the most fake and two-faced asswipe and you don't even deserve this space on the internet but I need to release this bottled anger or else I am going to kill someone. You are all talk and no walk. You think you are top shit because you have all these "friends" who you talk to online but can't even talk to in real life. You are a fake bitch. YOU ARE SO FAKE. You need to pretend to be a different person online because you are so insecure about yourself. You don't think anybody will like you for you, so you turn yourself into a sweet-talking, pompous jerk. That's it. You are so freaking insecure. You have no confidence in your personality. Maybe that's because you have very little. I hope you're satisfied with your new Facebook friends, knowing that they don't even talk to you for the real you. That is just pathetic. End of rant two.

hippopotamus

It seems that all of the hype right now is One Direction or is it 1Direction? or whatever. I don't know. I was like, ewwwww, lame, crappy, English boy band that can't even sing! I never looked them up or anything, I just decided to leave it at that. But I got really bored and after having Gloria nag me about them for weeks, I decided to open up youtube and check 'em out. What started as a mere act of curiosity has turned into a fleeting obsession!!! Now I'm a horny fangirl on the internet like Sylvia. I was always kind of one but now that I have something new to feast my eyes on, I guess it's fired up again. AHDGWJAGRAGHHHHHH!!! Don't get me wrong, One Direction cannot sing. I won't even deny it! THEY SUCK! Their failed attempts at harmonising makes my ears bleed. They can sing individually, but not together. It's so icky and messy and ejrhwjekrhkwjer. Why did X Factor decide to make groups anyways? That totally restricts peoples talents. Oh well.

Niall (what kind of name is that?!!), Zayn and Liam. MY FAVOURITES!!! Niall is so freaking funny. He does these weird presenter voices and stuff erjkhewkjrehkaraghhhh and his eyes are so blue!! Zayn is so hot and he is good at eating chili. Maybe it's because he is so hot. And Liam is so quiet (like Liam at school) but this Liam kind of looks like Andrew Garfield, anyone else see it? 

ZAYN AND NIALL. HNNNNNNG. ARGHHHH OKAY IM GONNA STOP NOW. 

SILLY PHOTO! AHHHHHHH OKAY. BYE PEOPLE. 

Wedding photos!

My little cousin Angela, it's tradition for someone to bring the groom a pot of tea when he arrives at the bride's house and she got a red pocket from him. Right before this happened, she fell down the stairs. So she was fully crying, as little kids do. 

This is my aunty coming down the stairs with my grandpa. Doesn't her ao dai look beautiful?!! I'm not a fan of the traditional Vietnamese dress but hers was spectacular... Obviously because she was the bride. 

The bride and maid of honour (my other aunty), both of their dresses are stunning! GAH! 

Family photo. Nyah! My dad wasn't even looking. 

The bride and groom and two flower girls! So cute :)

Bride, groom, maid of honour, best man, flower girls and page boys! 

This is my super wacky uncle and whenever he meets his nieces and nephews, he ruffles their hair like a maniac. IT IS SO SCARY. 

This is so mad. Looks like a lot of fun even though they aren't even riding it. It looks cool. 

I really like this photo. I dunno why. I have a soft spot for pro wedding photos, even if the couples look really fake and cheesy most of the time. It's so cute. 

Spring Has Sprung!

...Not really. The last week has been completely dismal and almost impossible to plan events according to the weather. Spring is supposed to be a lovely season, if not the best season. Flowers are supposed to bloom, pollen heavily present in the air (hahaha hay fever sufferers!), sun rays penetrating through the curtains to wake you up from a moderate 15 degree slumber. Spring of 2011, however, is the complete and total opposite. If you went out for a picnic, you would probably drown in the insurmountable waters present in the grass. Why am I talking about Spring? One of the days of the challenges is "talk about your favourite season" or something. So much for my favourite season. I just finished up my take on 'The Road Not Taken' for the English assessment. Hopefully the analysis I created with a massive migraine due to a messed up sleeping pattern will suffice. I highly doubt this. I had the biggest mind block today but then I watched the video on Jacinda's blog and got inspired. Thanks to Jacinda's video and old school Maroon 5 background music, I'd say today was productive... Compared to how I've been spending my past few weeks anyways.

melted ice cream

The anchor has been brought up from the ocean floor and the ship has sailed. The kite has finally detached itself from the string and flown to wondrous places, far away from here. I guess you could say the fire has completely burned out. Finally, that pathetic and unrequited feeling is gone. This is quite a milestone.

Roy G. Biv

Hooray for my title (if you didn't get it, its the mnemonic for the order of colours on the colour wheel/spectrum). Why am I mentioning it? It's the oh so bothersome challenge I decided to do.


5. Tell us your three favourite colours
Firstly, who even has THREE favourite colours? I don't even have one favourite colour, let alone three. That's ridiculous. People may have a colour scheme of three colours that they think work well together, but who the heck has three favourite colours? Just sayin'! I like black. Hey, don't attack me art fanatics because black is technically not a colour or whatever. When I buy clothes, I tend to opt for the black version of everything. Black is just so versatile and "sleek". Sea foam green is very nice as well. So is coral. And teal. I love teal. My power chains are teal right now. Speaking of which, I'm going to the orthodontist next week and if all is well, I should be getting my braces off soon (FINALLY). Yay!

The Rembrandts

4. Talk about your closest friend(s)
I probably have a few very close friends but for the most part, I have a lot of good friends. Although most of my close friends have left/leaving our school for Hurlstone, I know we will maintain our friendship even though we won't get to see each other everyday. For my good friends, as we venture into the senior years together, let the good times roll! Why am I even excited at the prospect of starting Year 11? I should be soaking up all of the freedom of being a Year 10 student while I can. Why is the title of this post The Rembrandts? They are the band that sing the 'FRIENDS' theme song (I'll be there for youuuuuu) and I thought it was relevant. I used to judge my friend Heidi for watching Friends for some weird reason, but then I got into it. I do that a lot. My good friends will tell you.

MIA

I have been 'MIA' this past long weekend because of certain events such as Maria & Helen's, Zarin's and my Aunty's wedding! Oh, the wedding. IT WAS FREAKING AWESOME! I'll do a post about the wedding with photos later :) I shall catch on some of the challenge because I've been too lazy to do it but now I have nothing better to do, so I might as well do it now.

3. Your favourite television program
I love, love, love television! I remember as a little kid, my favourite show was Lizzie McGuire. I loved the way it depicted high school or in their case, "middle school". Americans are so weird. What's the purpose of a middle school anyways? But right now, my favourite shows are The Office (US) and Modern Family. Every episode makes me almost cry of laughter and all this waiting for a whole week for a new episode is making me really angry! D< I love mock-umentaries. On the contrary, I also love overly dramatised shows such as Gossip Girl and 90210. It's like, that messed up drama is a missing component of my life which I need to be fulfilled by watching it. Because really, does that melodramatic shit ever happen to anybody in this world?!! *sigh*

Just a thought (again)

You are so ungrateful of what you have. Learn to appreciate everything that you have because there is always somebody out there that has it tougher than you. Your school placed you in a nursing home for compulsory volunteering... Oh, how dismal your life must be. 

Labour Day Weekend

• Friday: Maria & Helen's 16th Safari party! I'm excited to see everybody dress up in safari/jungle costumes! Going shopping tomorrow to help Alex with his costume as well as complete my own. Livo is so shit!! jkthkjehtkjeh I hate it.
• Saturday: Hurr durring at English tutor and then Zarin's 16th Masquerade party in the evening! Woohoo! Masquerades are so overrated that nobody chooses it as their theme so it becomes very underrated? Does that make sense? Excited.
• Sunday: Got to get to grandparents place by 7am for my aunt's wedding! WTF 7 bloody am. We do the Asian thing at the house and then a trip to Royal Botanical Gardens for photos and then back home to get ready for the night reception which goes into the next morning!

Obviously, I am the world's biggest party animal. Obviously.

2 skool for kool

2. Talk about your piercings and tattoos, if you have any.

I only have my ear lobes pierced but I got them pierced twice. The first time was in year 5 or 6 and they got infected so I had to take the earrings out. The holes closed up after all the blood and pus seeped through (graphic, right? It wasn't that bad. But it was pretty gross). My ear lobes were red and swollen for weeks! I got them re-pierced in year 7 and they are still pierced right now, even though I barely wear earrings. Why am I talking about my ears? Well yeah. I'm not a cool person like Queen with multiple piercings, nor do I wish to get any more piercings D: The same with tattoos. Personally, I wouldn't get one (parents, beliefs but mainly the pain) but I love people with cool, meaningful tattoos. Not a random sleeve on a buff guy. Nope. Never. Yuck.


Anyways. These holidays have been terrible. I've been sleeping late and waking up early everyday (even though it's only been 2 days). I have absolutely nothing to do this early in the morning. It's my sister's 13th birthday today (hooray) as well as Google's (hippity hip hip hooray). I didn't get her anything because I'm poor and also had no time to go shopping. I am such a good sister. Well, I started writing this before her friends came over and I just want to say that they are the most ungrateful and rude people ever. There were like 2 nice ones which actually thanked me for cooking their bloody lunch but the rest were so rude. Did I mention I hate rude people?

Transcend

1. Your middle name and how you feel about it. (of the challenge thingy)

Well, you guys (if anybody still reads this nonsensical crap of a blog) may or may not know that my full name is Yvonne Tran Nguyen. "Tran" is my mum's maiden name, nothing special or anything. I mean, half of the Asians I know have my middle name as their last name. My middle and last names are so bloody common! I guess my random first name makes up for that... But as I've spread myself among people (not sexually), I've come to realise Yvonne isn't as uncommon as I thought it was. *sigh*.

book recommendations

I have a feeling the person that asked for book recommendations was Renee. Colour me embarrassed if it's not :$ I used to read a lot but not so much anymore, so I don't know if I'm the most "qualified" person to make this list. These are books I think everyone should read:

• All of Roald Dahl's books!! They are great for your imagination and for recapturing your childhood, my favourites are "The BFG", "The Twits" and "George's Marvelous Medicine" :) 
• "Harry Potter", DUH. 'nuff said. Fantasy at its best right here. 
• "Memoirs of a Geisha" is great for exploring a whole different culture. Who knew such a world existed? 
• Another good one which exposes you to a different culture is "Does My Head Look Big in This?". It's a coming of age story through the perspective of a young Muslim girl which chooses to wear the customary hijab(?)
• "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland". If you are in D English, you probably never want to hear that name again! But after weeks and weeks of critical analysis, this book grew on me. It's very weird and out there. Be prepared to read with an open mind! 
• The Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown ("Angels and Demons", "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Lost Symbol"). These books are absolutely thrilling! I feel so exhilarated when I'm reading, as if I'm actually experiencing the journey of the characters. It's crazy. I feel an adrenaline rush as I read which urges me to read the book faster. Has that ever happened to you? These books explore symbology and it's role in religion (exciting, right?). I highly recommend this to anyone looking for an exciting read. 

This is all I can remember off the top of my head. Sorry if it's really limited D:

HOLIDAYS!

The holidays have officially begun! Exciting, exciting... Even though I'm not going to be doing anything remotely exciting these holidays except for my aunt's wedding (YAYAYAYAY I FREAKING LOVE WEDDINGS :3) and the odd party or two.
Things to do at home:

• Read (Wizard and Glass - Stephen King and Magician - Raymond E. Feist)
• BAKE! Yay, I haven't made anything in ages because of all the studying and whatnot 
• Learn some new piano songs
• Exercise (I highly doubt this will happen) 

Yeah. Fun holiday for me. hahaah. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

new challenge thingy

movie>book

It's not often the movie of a book is better than the book itself. Usually, copious amounts of the book are left out and key features of the plot not even slightly touched upon (*cough* HP 5,6,7 *cough*). I have never found the movie of any book to be more interesting and emotional. However, I just read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas over the weekend after watching the movie a few weeks ago. The book wasn't very well written but  maybe that's because it was being told from the angle of a nine year old boy and his style of speaking. Although it's supposed to convey a young boy's experience with the extermination camps in WWII, I didn't think the language was very good in communicating raw emotions and especially the ending! The movie was done so much better!!!! I cried for hours upon hours after watching the film and this book didn't even trigger a tear. I am deeply disappointed.

On a happier note, TRIALS ARE OVER!!! HOOOOOORAY!

Pessimistic or just realistic?

If I said that an ATAR of 99.7 was impossible for someone like me, would that be pessimistic thinking or just thinking realistically to prepare myself with alternative options?

10/09 (couldn't think of anything creative, not that my titles are ever creative)

Met up with Joanne before tutor to get some gelato from that new gelato shop which just opened at Cabra. OH MY GAD. There were more than 20 flavours to choose from, seriously! They have the typical ones and also weird ones like Nutella, Snickers, Red Bull (?!), green tea blah blah blah. Maybe green tea isn't so weird but it was weird for me so I decided to try it (and Joanne said it was nice). The first few spoons were nice but after a while it had a weird green tea aftertaste (well, duh right?). I'm not really a green tea kinda gal, black tea for the winz. Also, what's with the random boom in new restaurants/cafes/eating places in Cabra and the Canley area? Whatever. It's good. The next thing on my culinary agenda is Crispy Crepes (or is it spelled with 'k's?), which I will probably have as a post trial celebration, anyone keen?

Also, I have got my costume for Helen+Maria's party sorted (yay!).

studying, studying, yeah!

Today was the strike thing (suck shit rich, private schoolers!) and now that I think of it, it's been a long while since the last strike, yet somehow, it seems as though the teachers are always angry and protesting against the government. Whatever. I don't think anybody went to school... or had any reason to anyways. On that account, I spent the day with some of the D history gang doing some history studying/making notes for the trials/PE studying. We were fully focused at the beginning but as more people began to arrive, we became quite restless but nonetheless focused on our work. It wasn't until people started leaving to buy food (Happy Hour at Maccas!) that we started to get distracted. Then out of nowhere Ramya shows up and she blames us for her procrastination as she had planned to study by herself at the library! LOL. I blame Alex's Facebook account and the library's free WIFI for my time-wasting. I came home pretty exhausted so that must count for something right?
Oh and as for the title? While we were studying, a group of random African kids began watching Rebecca Black's 'Friday' on a nearby computer. That was not distracting at all...

FRUSTRATION

If you are going to ask me for advice and  not listen or even consider what I have to say then screw you! You go ahead and act upon your stupid, irrational impulses anyways without considering the slightest of my opinion. What's worse is that when you fail, you come back to me and I am the one that has to deal with it and try to make you feel better about yourself (my obligation as your friend) and quite frankly, I am sick of it. If you're going to ignore what I have to say and not listen to my advice, you can run along on your path of self-destruction without me.

suffocating

Do you ever feel like you are suffocating in your own life, being completely overwhelmed with stress, anxiety and angst? Do you feel like you are surrounded my ignorant people who think they can do whatever they want without any repercussions? Do you feel spite and hatred towards people for no good reason? Yeah, me too.

today

Some fag and came late so we missed the 12.30pm session for Rise of the Planet of the Apes (couldn't they have just called it Rise of the Apes? Seriously...). The next session was at 2.45 so we had some a lot of time to kill so we decided to go to the library! We just sat down and read random books, it was the most fun I've had with anyone for a long time. Every time we hang out, I forget about the things that are bothering me and I am able to just enjoy the present. I think that's why I like you. Somehow, you make me forget about my problems and stressful life, even if it is only momentarily.

So what did I think of Rise of the Planet of the Apes? The movie wasn't as great as I had anticipated. I think they highlighted the unjust, brutal treatment of animals in labs and testing facilities brilliantly. It took forever for the movie to reach the climax (the apes going against the humans) and when it did reach the climax, it didn't last very long. It was a pretty good movie though, lots of symbolism and motifs throughout. However, I would have been happy to just torrent it and watch it on my computer. Juz sayin'.  

From watching The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas last night and the Rise of the Planet of the Apes today, I am one hundred percent sure that I want to study humanities/law in uni (hopefully). Don't even get me started on The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I went to bed at 10pm and didn't sleep until 3am because my mind was running wild with all of the injustices that the Jews suffered for simply being a Jew. The world we live in is a cruel and unfair place. That's all I can say.

friends

I have been so busy and caught up in my life that I have failed to be a good friend in the past month or two. The worst part is that it is not only to one specific friend, but to all of them. Not only has it been busy and hectic, but I have also become selfish in the sense that all I do is worry about my own problems and my own life. I have rarely stopped to ask someone how their life is and what's on their mind. I feel as if I am completely disconnected from most of my closest friends right now and it is eating me up inside. I just wanted to let my friends know that I do care and I am sorry for being such a shit friend lately. I am starting to try harder, be less selfish and self-centered for you guys. I mean, it's the least I could do for what I owe to you guys. *queue corny music*

Subject Selection Mayhem

It seems as though as soon as I am happy with my selection, a new thought seeps into my consciousness. What if I do this subject instead? Why am I doing that subject anyway? And so the reshuffling of subjects begin. This has happened almost everyday this past week, no joke. It makes me doubt whether I have the decisiveness and determination to achieve my goals and aspirations. As of this afternoon, my subjects are:

• Ext. Maths
• Ext. English
• Economics
• Earth and Env. Science (PEOPLE CHOOSE THIS SUBJECT!)
• Society and Culture

I think these subjects suit my humanitarian (or so I like to think) nature and this is probably the final draft. Also, I am ordering Kazuo Ishiguro's "Never Let Me Go", Ron Rash's "Burning Bright" and Nicholas Sparks' "The Notebook" to read after I finish my seemingly endless collection of Dan Brown books.

partying like yeah

Whilst everybody is partying at Danny's, I am sitting back in my snuggie, drinking some hot black tea and shopping online for books. Today my mum allowed for me to "splurge" on stationery for my studies (a generous Asian she is). I don't know what it is, but I love going to Officeworks. It must be my inner-nerd or something. Oh but, my parents get even more Asian people! At dinner my dad was like 'hey, seeing as you're doing ext. English, I expect that you will be reading a lot so I set up an Amazon and Paypal account for you to purchase books online because it's so much cheaper!!!' He was fully boasting about his newly found 'Amazon' and how cheap everything is and my mum was just lecturing us on how we will get scammed by con-artists (ASIAN MUCH?).

Today at English tutor I had to read my choice of a Bruce Dawe poem followed by a 2 minute analysis of it. I have to say, this was the most nervous I had ever been! It was really weird. I have never been this nervous for debating in front of random people or English speeches. This speech wasn't even fully serious and I was so scared. Maybe it's because I'm new, but I've found myself getting nervous over petty things recently. Bruce Dawe is a very interesting poet, everybody should check him out (I analysed 'Homecoming' if anybody is interested).
You know what else makes me nervous? Job interviews. Although I've only ever had two in my life, they make me hella nervous. I had one on Friday for the City Beach store opening in Macarthur in a few weeks. I was freaking late! My mum missed the turn and we had to go straight and go all the way around. I was five minutes late to a GROUP interview - colour me embarrassed. The experience of a group interview was completely new to me. We had to stand up and introduce ourselves and why we wanted to work for City Beach and after that, we had one-on-one interviews with the HR crew. I believe I did pretty well apart from being late.

Watching Beauty and the Beast now - Walt Disney a member of Priory of Sion? Nahhhhhhhh.

#firstworldproblems

I no longer have my job at the Newsagency (creyyyyy). It's funny how much I resented my job when I had it but now that I've lost it, I'm filled with emotions of sadness. Hilarious, really. I just felt so much more independent with a job. I never needed to ask my parents for money which was good because most of the time when I ask for money, I don't get it anyways. I want to find another job but I'm hesitant with senior years coming up (not too mention my boss still has not written my reference yet...after a whole week of promising to do so - reminds me why I wanted to quit in the first place). Ah, the problems of being a melodramatic teenage girl living in the first world. 

give me the money or I'll give your kids AIDS

Some man (heaven forbid what his name is) who is a father of two allegedly attempted to extort money from families by threatening that he would inject their children with AIDS if they did not pay up. He targeted a total of 18 victims, some of which were his family friends, friends of his children, his former colleague and his doctor. He demanded from $6 000 to $105 000. On some occasions, families paid him $50 000. His defense is that he was  more than $150 000 in debt excluding his mortgage. That's not gonna cut it mister. If this guy gets let off in our much out of tuned court of law, I'm gonna inject someone's kid with AIDS.

I said no, no, no

Why is it that once notoriously scandalous pop stars die, their talent is more widely appreciated? Why did multiple Michael Jackson albums surge to the top of the charts after his death? Why were people more public about their admiration for his music? It seems as though all of the scandalous things that he did (or got accused of doing) during his life were forgotten and thus forgiven once he died. The same goes for Amy Winehouse. Ever since her death last week (?), the public have finally given their empathy and support for the alcoholic that was. People have been calling her a "troubled soul" and saying how it was such a waste of talent blah blah blah. Can I just remind you how harshly Amy Winehouse was scrutinised in the media for her drug-use and alcohol addiction. Now, her album has rocketed to number 1 on the British charts and it seems as though people have swayed their opinions of the pop star due to her unfortunate death.
I don't mean any disrespect to Michael Jackson nor Amy Winehouse (don't get me wrong, I love their music) but it's kind of strange that people's views are able to be changed so easily.