This thing was made for loving...

Family ties

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:45:03 GMT

Families are funny things. They range from wonderful to totally shit and cover everything in between. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who has a pretty good family. Not the best, by any means, but I still love them dearly. Unfortunately for a lot of people, their families are less than ideal. I have a few friends who have parents or siblings they can't stand, or families who can't stand the individual. It always worries and confuses the hell out of me when I hear about someone who has been disowned by their family, or have disowned a family member themselves. Up until very recently I thought it was the worst thing in the world. How could anyone want nothing to do with a member of their own family??? Sure, nobody's perfect, but they're your own flesh and blood! Surely differences can be resolved when it comes to family? Forgiveness is easy when you're talking about someone form your bloodline! Whenever I heard a tale of someone deciding not to talk to a family member (or even their whole family) ever again I think they're being silly and will surely get over it soon because no one can stay mad at family forever, right?!

Like I said, I'm lucky and have a really good family. I once thought my mum would disown me if I got tattoo. When I said this to her, she laughed and said that she could never disown me, especially not for something as trivial as a tattoo. My little sister used to be a pain in the arse growing up, a real little terror. Tantrums to get her way (which usually worked), bad behaviour to get attention, lies to get herself out of trouble and so on. Yet despite all the hell she put us through, we don't resent her or wish she'd been any different. Sure, life would have been a lot quieter, but nowhere near as interesting. My family isn't perfect but they are who they are and I'm glad I have them.

So it came as a real shock when I realised recently that it was time for me to cease contact with a family member myself. It was a long time coming I guess, but still a shock when I came to the realisation. My parents split up a few years back, after my dad had a total mid-life-crisis. It was all right at first, we had a family business which my parents still ran together. He moved out and they just worked together from the family home. It wasn't great but it wasn't that bad either. Then my dad started turning really nasty against my mum and it all went rapidly downhill from there. The last year or so was the worst, my ever-quiet father was suddenly becoming an ogre who cared for no one but himself. So when they finally parted ways it suddenly dawned on me that this wasn't the man I knew, he was my father still of course, but I really didn't know him any more. So after his final bout of nastiness I decided I didn't need to keep him in my life, and was only doing so because he was family, my dad. I wanted to put up with him, I really did, but neither of us were going to benefit from continued contact, so I finally told him that was it, I didn't want any more to do with him.

I now realise that sometimes it is necessary to rid yourself of the people who do nothing for you, even it means you have to do this to a family member. It hurt like hell but it had to be done, and I guess it's just a necessary part of growing up. It's also not something to take lightly, you can't go disowning your family because they gave you the shits one day and you're in a temper about it. It's about making a decision that you know is right, no matter how painful it might end up being (for your or the person you've decided you want to let go) and going through with it. It doesn't have to be forever either. Time does heal most wounds, so maybe in a few years time you can forgive them and make amends with them. I remain positive that down the track my dad will understand why I made my decision and try to make amends with me. Only time will tell.

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

How I am feeling...

Sun, 05 Jul 2009 08:42:36 GMT

After coming home and having my crazy, evil landlady have a go at me for parking my car in the car park (I swear to god, it's the first time I've parked there in ages, and she's been away for weeks...just my luck I park there 10 mins before she comes back) and finding the house as messy as ever, I find myself in a foul mood.

But trhen I saw this, which both summed up my mood AND kind of helped fix it:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Some sort of long-winded roundup

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:12:22 GMT

OK so I have been totally slack with LJ again, though this seems to be normal these days. I think I will use my ever-loved dot-points to organise this entry:

I am oncall this week which has meant extra money but I still hate doing it. Especially this time round as I have had the WORST week at work. I was feeling sick on Monday and wasn't able to leave work til almost 4pm because of all my work. I then had a bit of a breakdown on Wednesday when everyone was pissing me off, my manager told me I was the only one using Twitter and yet they still banned it and everything just hit me at once... There's a lot behind my stressing out which I won't go into now, but it took a few days to get over it and I have Monday off to recover. I did get a pay rise though, even though it was so small it won't really increase what I get each fortnight. But given this whole Global Economic Crisis thing going on, I guess it's a good thing that I got anything at all.
I've taken Michael Jackson's death kind of badly. Not like one of those nutty, hardcore MJ fans but it's still been a really big deal for me. I've gone nuts with reading everything I can find about him, and even bought three tribute magazines this afternoon. I've been a fan of his since I was a little kid (I worshiped him back then) and I've always loved the guy. I never, ever thought he hurt a single soul and only ever did good, both in music and helping the disadvantaged. I lost a few online friends because of this but whatever, I know in my heart he was a good man (even if he was really quite strange) and bugger those who refuse to accept my opinion (or dare I say it, the truth!). I just wish I got to see him live :(
I didn't win the $90 million jackpot like I had expected last week but I did manage to win $46 which was OK. I had so many wonderful plans for that money, such as buying this house, owning 20 poodles which I would dye various shades of pink and throwing PINK champagne bottles at City Cats. Aww yeah it would have been amazing (this will only make sense to people from Brisbane). I also had plans to buy Michael Jackson's NEVERLAND but I guess I was out of luck this time.
Anthony and I just booked accommodation for our week in Japan. We'll be staying in Shibuya. I would LOVE suggestions of what to see in Tokyo. Any fun or interesting sights, shopping districts, tourist attractions etc. I am mad with excitement about this trip, let me tell you!
Seen a few movies lately which I just thought I should mention. Got free tickets to Land of the Lost which I read really bad reviews for but LOVED. Seriously, it was hilarious and not at all what I was expecting (I thought it was going to be a kids film, but it certainly wasn't). Went and saw Transformers 2 which I enjoyed but wasn't overwhelmed by. It was over the top and didn't make a lot of sense. And in my opinion needed to cut down on the human-time and needed more robots-kicking-arse-time. But it was harmless fun and looked awesome on the IMAX screen. We watched The Hangover the other night, downloaded it as none of us were worried about seeing it in the cinemas. It was really funny but probably not as amazing as people have conveyed to me. It followed a fun, brainless formula and was silly fun, but not the epic comedy masterpiece I had been told it was. The best film I've seen in the last couple of months was Star Trek by far.
I have purple hair at the moment! My pink regrowth was so, so bad that I had to hide it somehow and so disguised it with dark purple. It's pretty cool but just not me, so mum is doing my hair tomorrow and making it lovely and pink again. I considered adding more pink but realised it was just going to be more work and I just couldn't be stuffed.
My work finally out up a new-look site. That's not so exciting in itself, but check out the SERVICE and the CONTACT pages. Aww yeah looking good there Nightlife ;)

R.I.P Michael Jackson

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:45:14 GMT

I was a HUGE fan of Michael Jackson growing up and have always believed in him, no matter how unpopular my opinions might have been. He was an insanely talented man who did so many amazing things. Not just with music but also with being a humanitarian. I never, ever believed he was anything but a gentle soul who never got the chance to have a normal life. He was famous before he was even a teenager and it affected him for the rest of his life. A life that ended too soon. I hope he is at peace, finally, because he deserves it.

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

Day at Dreamworld!

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:49:33 GMT

Last Saturday Anthony and I went to Dreamworld. They had a deal where you can get an unlimited pass to Dreamworld for all of June for just $30. Unfortunately this was the only time we had to go, but seeing as how a regular ticket costs almost $60 it was still very worth it! I didn't take many photos because we didn't do anything that exciting, plus it rained half the day which doesn't make for great photos. We mostly just wandered around, looking at the animals and at rad merchandise, we only went on the Reptar rollercoaster (they have a Nickelodeon area, BTW) and we did the 'Alien vs Predator vs You' thing which was really just laser force - it was pretty fun though. I bought an amazing Sprongebob Squarepants top, a unicorn pen and a pink poodle toy (they have this amazing girly shop full of unicorns, fairies and stuffed animals, I always wig out when I go there).

Dreamworld June 09
Anthony and I at the start of the day.

Dreamworld June 09
One of the tiger cubs roaming around

Dreamworld June 09
This tiger was really pale (and lazy)...so cute!

Dreamworld June 09

Dreamworld June 09
Lying in the mud.

Dreamworld June 09
Peacock in the cafeteria.

Dreamworld June 09
Pink champagne for breakfast.

Dreamworld June 09
Anthony's breakfast was even healthier than mine though.

Dreamworld June 09
Tiger cub getting walked around the park.

Dreamworld June 09
Just before I got to pat him :)

Dreamworld June 09
Being forced to make damper at the Australiana show...

Dreamworld June 09
Gross!

This weekend I'm going to Seaworld, and if I can find someone to go with me, Movieworld as I got sucked into buying a $70 pass to Seaworld/Movieworld/Wet n Wild which I've not been able to use as such. I need to go to at least two parks to make the money worth it and at this rate I'll only make it to one :/ I need to stop spending money on random whim's :(

I'm shy, not a bitch!

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:36:13 GMT

I am horrendously, painfully shy. Always have been and always will. People who know me find this very hard to believe because I can very loud and even "in your face" at times. But that's only to the people I know really well and even then it's only an occasional thing as I can still get an attack of the "shy's" even with people I know really well. With people I don't know too well (ie. most of my workmates) I find it really hard to initiate conversations and in many cases, even say hello in the mornings. As a result I get accused of being a rude, stuck-up bitch all the time, which hurts because I know I'm not stuck-up or a bitch at all, it's just really, really hard to talk to people I don't know very well. Luckily I've been able to explain this to the workmates who've questioned me about it so no one takes being snubbed by me to heart, but there are all those times where I meet new people that I know I come across as really rude when in reality I'm terrified at the prospect at having to talk to a stranger!

I try not to let this rule my life, as many shy people tend to do. Life is too short to tremble in fear whenever someone I don't know starts talking to me. I also have to talk to strangers on the phone all the time, it's part of my job, so I can't let it consume me. I do find it hard to chit-chat to my clients though as most of my co-workers do, but it apparently makes me seem very efficient so I use this to my advantage. I also hate knowing I give a bad first impression to people when I meet them for the first time which isn't at all a true reflection of the person I really am.

So what do I do to get over this crippling shyness? To be honest, I try to suck it up for the most part. I know it's a problem and I accept it and try to get over it to the best of my ability. I'm constantly talking to myself, reminding myself that this person doesn't know how shy I am and therefore I don't want them getting the wrong impression, so I do all I can to blast past the fear of talking to a stranger and be as polite as possible. I also remind myself that I don't have anything to fear from talking to strangers - most of them are good people and it's not like they're going to shoot me for saying the wrong thing. The only problem with this though is that I'm usually so busy trying to pep myself up that I end up not being able to think of anything to say and so I look kind of dumb. But hey, looking a bit dumb is better than coming across as a bitch, right?

There's nothing anyone can do if they're excessively shy, except to just try to overcome it as much as possible and fool people into thinking you're the aloof, mysterious type (I work this to my advantage all the time, though many people still tend to think I'm just being a stuck-up cow which kind of sucks). If someone's first impression of you is that you're stuck-up, hope that you'll meet again and can prove otherwise. I have won over a lot of people by seeming rude after the first meeting but then turning out to be really quite nice after an actual conversation. And if you give the wrong impression to someone you never meet again, no sense stressing about it, instead just hope they were one of the smart few who took it as being aloof and mysterious!

Quick catchup

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:38:13 GMT

I need to stop watching movies every night instead of doing more important things like posting on my blog or cleaning my room. But I love movies so much! Tonight we watched "Starship Troopers" (the first one) which is always good for a laugh, except I felt sorry for all the poor bugs. Poor little guys, just wanted to devour all humans :(

I've not stopped fiddling with my new ear piercings since I got them done on Friday evening and they're kind of infected now. It's gross and owie but also satisfying to squeeze out the pus XD I bought sea salt so better go clean them up before I go into septic shock I guess.

Need to do a weekend roundup doowhackey but need to go to bed. Maybe tomorrow if I remember. Please someone remind me to write a new blog tomorrow. I never become a famous blogger at this rate :/

The pea & ham soup I had for dinner tonight is wreaking havoc on my right now. So much gas :S On the plus side, through healthy eating, exercise and not stuffing my face with food constantly (and convincing myself I didn't) I have lost about 3kg in the last 3-4 weeks. I am so proud, and confident I am doing it properly this time, so that it'll stay off this time.

I am going to Japan!

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:45:38 GMT

This afternoon when I checked my email, I didn't for one minute think I would end up booking a flight overseas by the end off the day. But I found an amazing deal for 2 for 1 flights that I couldn't resist and it just took one email to A and withing an hour two flights were booked to Japan in September! And for so, so cheap!

I've wanted to go to Japan for ages. I'm not one of those Japan-crazed girls who thinks everything the Japanese do is the best thing ever and so only listen to Japanese music, watch Japanese films/TV and dress like a typical Japanese school girl or do that cos play thing. I mostly just like weird and random shit, which the Japanese seem to have pretty much perfected. I also think Japan looks like a beautiful country, and I have had many friends who have been there say very good things about the place. So, now it's my turn!

It's for eight days so a short trip, really. We'll probably just stay in Tokyo as we're going to be a bit pushed for money given such short notice and everything. But a week in a crazy city like Tokyo will be perfect, I daresay. Plus I'm not wanting to do all the touristy stuff per say, I just want to experience Tokyo as thoroughly as possible, which probably means lots of wandering around and getting lost (something I mastered in almost every major and minor city that I've ever been to). It is going to be AWESOME!

The only things I'm determined to see is Harajuku (I'm told Sunday is the day to go) and Tokyo Disney. Therefore I need suggestions for cool stuff to see and do around Tokyo. Cool shopping districts, interesting sights, famous landmarks, crazy multi-leveled sex-shops, entertainment districts etc. So please give me some ideas of what to see and do around Tokyo! Oh and an idea of how much things cost would be a really nice bonus too.

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

I Love Links - 04/06/09

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 13:20:29 GMT

OK so I soon realised my internet presence is pretty weak (damn full times jobs and their limited access to the internet). So this will be more of a random thing, as opposed to a weekly thing as I'd hoped.

Not Quite Nigella is a wonderful blog by a Sydney girl who is obsessed with food. She bakes and cooks and posts pictures and recipes, as well as reviews food wherever she goes. It's all so delicious. I am the worst cook ever, so much so I stuffed up my first batch of these! Oh yeah, I am that bad! I just usually admire other peoples skills on the internet instead.

I was going to write my own blog about this very thing, but someone beat me to it: How to be supportive of someone on a diet. Non-dieters have no idea how hard it can be to diet. If you're on a diet, show this to the people in your life who don't quite "get it" because it'll make a world of difference!

I rediscovered the Perry Bible Fellowship and spent the last week or so laughing about skub. Seriously, it cracks me up constantly. In fact I have that comic as my desktop at work and it makes me chuckle every morning. I also plan to get the Unicorn Power shirt one of these days.

This is what it would be like to swim with a blue whale. It breaks my heart to think these poor creatures are endangered.

When I first heard about the Eminem and Bruno stunt I was gullible enough to think Eminem had really been that pissed off. Then I was told it was all set up and was happy again. I love Eminem (shhh!) so it was a great relief!

Some sound advice about chick and lad mags. Every time I read something like Woman's Day I want to throw it out a window in a fit of rage. Lad mags don't worry me as much simply because 90% of their readers would never, ever have a chance in hell of pulling any of the hot girls in any of those magazines. Reading them does tend to make me feel like a big of a while though :/

I was told it was common but I never heard of anyone else being allergic to mangoes. But then I did some research and realised I'm not the only one! I don't eat mangoes any more. Screw having to eat fruit with gloves after someone else removed the skin ffirst! No fruit is worth that much effort, even mangoes!

And lastly, Blueprint has a new website. His blog is great - go check it out!

And now we have the YouTube section of this post:

Guy dancing at Sasquatch Festival. This is one reason why I love music festivals. Good times.

Philipino boys dance to "Single Ladies". This is so cute! I got a lecture from ym best friend who is Filo about how these boys are probably being groomed to become go-go dancers in Japan (aka male prostitutes) but I can't resist cute kids doing cute things!

Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Version. I can't decide if I love this more than the literal version of "Take on me". Classic!

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

Weekend Roundup - Laidback Luke and other clubbing adventures

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:04:32 GMT

This weekend was massive. On Friday night I went to an indie band night at Allumbrah (which is usually a funky house sort of club so it was a bit of an unusual change) with Lara, Tallulah and Chelsie. Indie music so isn't my thing, all those skinny jeans, nerdy glasses and beards! Also the music is totally wussy. But I stayed a while and observed all the indie kids in the natural habitat before wandering down to Ric's to watch SixFtHick. They had a last minute charity show which was excellent as always, even though Ric's is a total dive and reminds me of a big, communal toilet. Once that was over, I went back up to Allumbrah to dance to the indie DJs (who were actually pretty good). I didn't stay out for too long, due to a general queasy feeling and lack of much cash.

The next day I slept in late and lounged around a great deal. I did manage to wander up the Valley Markets for a bit but they're as crap as usual so I went and bought some cheap, cute Emily the Strange clothing before heading home to nap as I was getting more and more hungover by the minute. On Saturday night we all had some drinks at our place, before heading to Corner Bar where Anthony plays every Sat night, then headed up to the Family to see Laidback Luke who was really, really good. The whole night was excellent, a fine bunch of friends and most of the Brisbane DJing and clubbing scene all in one place to see a great DJ/producer. I got exceptionally wasted even though I made this huge deal about not wanting to drink much earlier in the day...oh well! After LBL's set I managed to go say hi and get some photos. he's such a cute little Philipino DJ! Awww!

Daz and I at Corner Bar. Check out my amazing false lashes <3

Me and the boys at Corner Bar.

Me and Laidback Luke. Awww how cute is he?! ^_^

On Sunday I was hungover as fuck, but managed to drag myself out of bed to go to a fairly new bar in the valley called Sky Room as Anthoy had a gig there. It's such a cool bar, and we can't wait to check it out on a Fri/Sat night. As it was Sunday and kind of cold and rainy it was really quiet, which was a real shame. Hopefully their Sundae sessions will take off though as it's a much better place to spend a Sunday arvo than somewhere like Birdee's with all the derro's or Powerhouse with all the yuppies.

Today was the longest day of my life and it makes me glad I've eased up on my big weekends out because damn are Monday's hard to deal with at the best of times, let alone while I'm coming down!

Growing up is OPTIONAL!

Thu, 28 May 2009 12:35:49 GMT

I was linked to this article the other day, which got me very, very angry. In fact I ranted about it for the next couple of hours to anyone who would listen. Luckily everyone who endured the rant ended up agreeing with me (and joining in on the ranting). It's about having to grow up once you're 25 years old. Not in the "you can't have fun ever" way (though they're not far off it, actually), more like a "you're an adult now, so start acting like one". I admit everyone around the age of 25 ought to smarten up a bit if they hope to survive in the real world, but according to the douchebag who wrote this article once you turn 25 you pretty much forfeit any of the fun stuff you did prior to turning 25.

Well I say balls to that! I am a firm believer in the saying "Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional". There should not be a certain age where people have to grow up and start acting like a well-balanced, respectable adult. Some people choose to do this early in life, some choose to do it when they're in their mid-twenties, and others don't seem to do it at all. And it's all good! Personally I am the latter, I haven't "grown up" yet and I don't plan to any time soon. I mean, I have a job, I pay rent and bills, I have responsibilities, I look out for others instead of being a selfish teenager all the time and so on. But I take great offense to this particular article implying that doing the things they listed should kick into gear by the time you're 25 years old.

The fact is, there is no deadline for when you have to become boring.

Let's look at this article in more detail, shell we? The first example is Remember to write thank-you notes. Unless we're talking about a wedding, there is no need to write thank you letters. If you're a letter-writing sort of person then fair enough, go nuts and write as many as your hand will let you, but most people aren't and most people don't care. One friend stated that if he got a thank you note for giving someone a present, he'd probably throw it out without even reading it. He didn't give the gift for puncy little thank you notes, and so doesn't expect people to give any to him.

The next one is Do not invite yourself to stay with friends when you travel anymore. Well excuse me! The reasoning is because you should have a job and can therefore get a hotel room. Well maybe I spent all my savings on the damn plane ticket and the hostel beds I used while being in places where I don't know people. Perhaps a free stay with a friend would allow me to see something I wouldn't have been able to afford, had I stayed in some hotel. This leads on to the next point Do not expect friends to help you move anymore which is pretty much the same thing. Moving house is expensive, getting removalists to move all your stuff when you're only moving to the next suburb just adds an extra expense that many people can't really afford. If your friends are too busy to help you move, then ask some other friends (and maybe think about ditching those scumbag ones who won't lend a hand).

This one just made me really angry: Do not share the crazy dream you had last night with anyone but your mental wellness professional. If I want to tell my mates about this twisted dream I had that they were in briefly, then I will. We all know dreams aren't as interesting to other people as they are to you, but if you want to tell people about it, then go ahead. There's nothing childish about sharing a dream where you and your friend won a million dollars and bought a marshmallow and puppy factory and married famous rockstars.

Do as invitations ask you. OK so you'd be a totally shit friend if you took five friends to a party when the invitaion said +1 only. But that time thing is bollocks. Unless you're having a dinner party (which is usually a very boring and lame thing to do, in my opinion) then people should be able to turn up whenever they can. Most people tend to have informal parties at their homes or out at bars so it's not a case of having to be there on time or else miss out. The way people are these days (check out my Case of the Flake People article) you can't set a specific start time and expect people to adhere to it. Most people can't and won't, and so we all suck it up because only arsehole friends care if you turn up late to a party. Your turned up, after all!

Then we have Drinking until you throw up is no longer properly a point of pride. Now, most reasonable people over the age of 19 know it's not totally awesome to go out four nights a week and drink enought to spew everywhere every single time. But dammit, if I have a massive night out that ends in hilarity/masisve embarrassment/vomiting into someone's front garden then I am going to recount it to my friends and have a good old laugh about it. Now I'm 26, I'm not going to suddenly stop all my binge drinking completely and start drinking fancy wines in sensible amounts, or start drinking cognac and swishing my glass around so I can smell the aroma. Fuck that! I like my big nights out like the next average, well-balanced person, and by god I will gloat about my misadventures the next day if I want to!

Then there's Have a real trash receptacle, real Kleenex, and, if you smoke, a real ashtray and get your speakers off the floor which are some of the most boring statements I've ever read in my life. I use toilet paper to blow my nose all the time? That makes me immature does it? What-the-fuck-ever! I will use whatever paper-like substance I want to blow my nose, and there's not a dman thing anyone can say to make me feel like a kid for doing so!And by the way, my speakers ARE on the floor becaue they look good there and I don't have a proper unit to store them in - if anyone has an issue with that, they can bite me and get out of my house.

I could go into great detail on every single point this girl made, but I've already made myself exceptionally angry just by looking at that stupid article the few times I needed to refer to it. My point is, acting a certain way at a certain age doesn't make you a grown up. Using a hankie, being able to walk in heels, keeping dreams to myself, learning to change a tyre, buying shelves for my speakers and taking my earphone out when talking to shopkeepers does NOT make me an adult. Being my own person and loving myself despite my flaws and bad habits does. Friend are there for you no matter what, a good friend will help you move houses or put you up for a few nights if you ask them nicely. Adhering to these dumb "guidelines" will just end up making you a boring loser and will not win you any new friends.It will probably also cause you to lose you more interesting friends too.

My bestie just summed it up nicely when I asked what he thought I should add to this blog: "They can go and suck my dick". Very well put.

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

My first hypnotherapy session

Tue, 26 May 2009 13:35:03 GMT

I had my first hypnotherapy session tonight. It wasn't quite as I expected but still really good. I was surprised by how aware and focused I was throughout, I could hear everything the hypnotherapist was saying and yet I was in a deep state of relaxation. It was kind of uncanny actually, nothing like the movies or what you see on TV. It wasn't a case of me nodding off to sleep when he clicked his fingers, and I didn't snap out of it when he clapped his hands, wondering where the hell I was. I have a CD of this session which will help me hypnotise myself at home (as he explained it, hypnosis is self-done as it is you who listens to the "suggestions" the hypnotist makes and it's up to you if you want to oblige).

Personally I am going because of my obsession with food. I could eat an eat until I explode, and then eat some more. I feel like I need to eat the moment I am doing certain things like watching TV, going to the movies, sitting at my computer (home or work) or whenever I'm not doing something with my hands. I also have this problem where my mind blocks out a lot of what I eat, especially the bad stuff. So at the end of the day I'll think I ate really well and then I'll suddenly remember all the fatty and sugary snacks I had during the day at work. Often I'll start snacking regardless of a lack of hunger, and half way through or right after I will realise what I did and have the worst eaters remorse. If I was able to make myself throw up I'd surely have bulimia. If I didn't go to the gym as often as I do, god knows how I would be. I'd be fat as a house, I guess.

It's a psychological issue of mine, and willpower alone is not enough. My hypnotherapist actually said to me that willpower alone usually won't cut it for most people - we have routines and habits stuck in our subconscious minds and they're not biased, they do what they know and your conscious mind is virtually useless to stop it. Hypnotherapy is meant to teach your subconscious to stop its bad habits and learn new, better ones, the ones we have know consciously but struggle so much with because it goes against what we have ingrained in out subconsciousness.

I'm going back for a couple more sessions over the next few weeks, so I'll keep you all posted. I have high hopes for this, so fingers crossed this changes my mentality about my eating habits!

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

Weekly Wrap 25/05/2009

Mon, 25 May 2009 12:34:46 GMT

***

Given my appalling couple of weeks, I figured it'd be nice to wrap up my week - just the nice stuff that happened and have stuck in my mind.

Spending lots of time with my mum and getting stuff done / Doing a lot of exercise and feeling like a million dollars afterwards / Changing my eating habits and losing a few kg's as a result / Seeing real-life macaws and hundreds of wild kangaroos on a unexpected bus trip home / An unplanned day off work that did me wonders / Fantastic news after a lot of bad / A bunch of flowers greeting me at work / Finding money while cleaning and having an amazing meal and seeing a film for FREE as a result / Excessive tea consumption / Silver platforms / Delicious perfume on sale / Finding amazing false lashes and nail decals for CHEAP / New Livejournal layouts that suit me far too well / Magners Cider / Singing bad pop music as loud as I can at work (without getting into trouble) / Anticipating my first ever hypnotherapy session...

This week is going to be so much better. I have a few interesting things to look forward to, like my first ever hypnotherapy sessions. I'm getting it to help my food-obsession, but I'm mostly excited about the whole idea of it, a friend got it done recently and said the experience was unbelievable, plus it worked! I'm going to something called a "Leadership Breakfast" through work on Thursday morning which sounds a little bit fancy and totally delicious. My mum got her loan approved which means she can move into her new house and not stress so much! This was what caused at least 40% of my stress lately so it's a HUGE relief for us both.

I hope everyone else is having a good week too :)

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

New LJ design not featuring a German rock band!

Sat, 23 May 2009 07:48:18 GMT

I finally got a new LJ layout - not a customised one but one straight from LJ. I couldn't be arsed making up a new one myself and I really needed a change. Plus this one suits me pretty prefectly. I also hated how my blog posts looked on here, so a white background makes it look HOT! I also tweaked my userinfo page too a little while back, in case you were curious.

Meanwhile the worst week/s ever continue, last night was awful. I don't want to ellaborate but not sleeping all night long and then having to help mum pack everything in the MASSIVE shed (it's as big as the house, seriously) after a garage sale was just awful. I should be having a nap now actually, as we're going out for dinner and a movie a bit later (we found all this cash while packing so it's essentially for free).

Holy shit I hope things pick up soon. I'm normally a pretty strong-willed person but lately I've been about as weak as a baby and it sucks.

One of the worst weeks ever

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:22:16 GMT

This has honestly been a dreadful week. Not just for me, but for a lot of people, particularly people very close to me. I don't want to go into details, it's all very complicated and going over it will probably only upset me more, but it's just not been my week. I have to wonder if there's some sort of supernatural or cosmic force behind this? In south-east Queensland we've had horrific weather and flooding, and have been declared a natural disaster zone for all the damage that's been caused. Numerous friends of mine have had nothing but terrible luck and awful situations in their lives and it seems like everything is going to shit for a lot of people I know.

Personally I have been trying to combat the negativity in my life by just doing things for myself. I have been exercising relentlesly, because I feel so good after a hardcore workout and an extra dose of serotonin can't be beat. I have also been taking my issues head on and trying to deal with them as they come, instead of bottling them up and feeling all the worse for it. It meant taking a day off work to just chill out and work some things out, but it was necessary for my own well-being.

I can only hope this bad news week is almost over for everyone affected and things will start looking up soon. I wish I had advice for anyone else going through similar things to me, all I can suggest is taking on your problems as they arise and fix them as soon as possible, and not bottle them up or repress them. Hopefully you will pull through and be all that more stronger for it!

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

My teef hurt + winning at gym + my dad is not very nice :(

Mon, 18 May 2009 13:19:09 GMT

Today my mouth was hurting BAD, specifically around the area where I had that tooth pulled. I was worried it was infected and how it hadn't stopped hurting all week and now felt like someone was stabbing me in the mouth with an ice pick. So I went to the dentist in case it was serious. It wasn't - just healing pains and my dentist said it seemed to be healing nicely, so he's out some swap in the hole to help it heal (I'm pretty sure he said it dissolves away, god I hope it does, and doesn't get infected and nasty because I misheard him). While I was there, he also gave me a filling which was easy as, though half my face went numb from the needle - not the side that's sore though, of course. I have to say, not having been to the dentist in 5-6 years and only having a filling and a tooth pulled is a pretty good effort. I mightn't leave it so long next time though...

I manage to go to gym after work, whih was a struggle as I was hurting so much. But I kicked serious arse this time! I did Body Combat which is aerobics combined with martial arts moves and last time I did it it nearly killed me. But I did the whole lesson without dying, in fact I barely ran out of energy at all! Hopefully this means I am getting fitter and stronger!!! And hopefully I will start losing weight because of it!

In totally unrelated news, my dad has been the biggest prick ever lately. I need to do a weekend roundup for this weekend just past in which I will go into more detail. I've pretty much disowned him now, which is really sad but he's treating mum like shit and I've had enough, which I told him this arvo. Mum is pretty much homeless in two weeks time because of him. It's fucked up.

Various weekend roundups (aka tl;dr)

Mon, 18 May 2009 13:04:07 GMT

I've just realise I've not done a proper weekend roundup in ages. This sucks because I am meant to be using LJ as a diary for myself (having people read and comment on them is a nice bonus) so now there are all these fabulous memories of mine that don't really exist anywhere but my dodgy brain! I'll try to remember the last few weekends and make sure I post more often! BAD CARA!

Thursday 2nd April. I went to see Sneaky Sound System with Sarah, Aaron and his partner Terry. None of us took the next day off soo we were all very sensible. had a few pre-drinks at Cloudland, the swanky new club in the Valley (I really need to go back again, have dinner and do a blog about it - most amazing venue I have ever seen in my life). After we had been overwhelmed with the amazingness of the place, we headed to the Family. I always thought the Family had a cool, funky design but after Cloudland it was dark, dingy, smelly and tiny. But I wasn't there for the architecture! Sneaky were great, I've seen them play once before at a festival which was very grand and fun, this was a club gig so much more intimate and included a lot of their remixes, which was cool. Went home straight afterwards because I am a cranky bitch without enough sleep!

Friday 3rd April. Quiet one due to Supanova the next day!

Saturday 4th April. SUPANOVA! It was a great day as I already posted about at the time. Bought a shitload of comics and figurines. We also bought an XBOX 360 randomly which I can't play (mix of Anthony on it all the time and me being shit with computer games). That night I met up with a bunch of the girls for dinner - Spanish Tapas. The place we went to in the Valley is AMAZING and OMG their sangria is to die for. Ghian was about to head back to London for another few years so we all wanted her to leave with a bit of a bang! Once done we checked out Anthony's gig at Empire Corner Bar (where my sister hung out for a bit) then headed to to Moon Bar for Jannette Slack! She's a DJ from Hong Kong who lives in London and is just the nicest girl ever. We have the whole pink-and-black hair thing going on plus she's kind of goth/punk and has an awesome sense of style (OK I admit I have a bit of a girl-crush on her!). Her set was awesome! We all had a great night and danced so, so much!

Janette and I hanging out (on the Monday after her gig):

Sunday 5th April. Anthony and I went back to Supanova for a few hours and bought more stuff and spent ridiculous amounts of out money!

Some photos from Supanova:

I almost didn't recognise you, theravensclaw!

YESSSS!

The haul!

Ummm I already posted about the Easter long weekend here.

Thursday 16th April. Janette Slack was back in Brisbane after playing around Australia and played at Little Jumbo in the City. Iyan manages the place so it was a great night because the drinks were all free and it was lovely and chilled out. Well, until some dicks at the Irish pub two shops up got into a huge fight and had a dozen security all over them. It was a pretty big scene, especially when this huge, manic looking guy (who appeared to be a mate of the guy causing all the trouble) started causing a lot of his own trouble which ultimately got him arrested too. Aaaand that's why I don't like going out in the City and stick to the Valley - there's so much more drunken violence there :/ Stayed out a LOT later than planned but went home hours before everyone else did so I did good.

Friday 17th April. Nothing here, move along.

Sunday 18th April. This was the night of our first fundraiser for the Brisbane Zombie Walk. Didn't go as well as we hoped. There are a tonne of reasons why but I can't be arsed going into them. Basically I was left responsible for organising it, which I didn't really want to do in the first place and am too shy to be the host of something like this >:/ It was a good night though, I mostly got drunk, as they have a BYO thing going on at Elysium, and played "Left 4 Dead".

Some pics from the night (via InTheMix.com.au):

Shane and I "playing pool".

Me and some of the people who dressed up!

OH MY!

Man my short-term memory is shit. I can't remember what I did except for Saturday night. We went to karaoke with a bunch of mates - took my friend Erin along which was god because she was the only one who truly felt the same pain I did. We went to ben's which is a Chinese restaurant + karaoke bar. It's BYO and obviously a popular haunt for dickheads. I can't say they were bogans really, just your average, not-very-smarty, no-taste-in-music typical 20-30 something Aussies. None of which could hold a tune and all chose the shittest songs in the world. I wish they'd turned the mic's down because they all just SCREAMED into them, I swear to god it almost deafened us. The food is also totally crap, so there really isn't any saving grace. But it was a bit of a change to the norm and we did have fun nonetheless. Afterwards Sarah came and picked us up and took us to a friends house party. It was really quiet and we weren't in the mood so only stayed for half an hour (thank god Sarah wasn't drinking and was driving as it was way out in the sticks). We then went home, finished our drinks and watched old music videos (there are some major advantages to working at Nightlife, having my own system at home kicks arse at times like these!).

Friday 1st May. I was meant to go to mum's but ended up getting a free ticket to see The Living End from gumbuoy! Erin got her name on the door as she knows one of their roadies and brought her kind-of boyfriend Dennis along (he's just moved to Australia from Belgium). We got there late, the Living End had already started as we forgot it was an all-ages gig and sort of expected it to start later than it did. Plus we procrastinate a lot XD It was a good gig - my first time seeing them live as a matter of fact, How un-Australian am I??? After that we headed back to my place, Erin and dennis left and I ended up going out with Lauren and Anna to the new Mystique nightclub (to clarify, there ate TWO Mystique nightclubs, the original one where the owners ripped off the people who ran the place and the new place where the crew moved to after being ripped-off. It's very confusing and I wish they'd all get over it and change their names because mystique is a tacky club name anyway) to listen to some RnB music as we all love that shit. It was lots of fun, I miss going to RnB clubs so was pretty stoked to ind some friends who like RnB too!

Saturday 2nd May. Erin organised a dinner at mecca Bah at Emporium - it's a fabulous restaurant and was a really nice dinner. Had a few drinks there before moving onto the Valley for a big night out. We said hi to Anthony at Corner Bar then went to the Cabaret Club (a strip club) as I'd promised to take Erin there ages ago. Got a few lap dances, but mostly sat around chatting to each other and a few of the dancers who were really nice girls. I also found Naomi and Ben there (shock horror!) and had a good chat to them about their wedding and honeymoon. After that we went to Fringe Bar where Anthony was playing and danced or the rest of the night before crashing in bed in the wee hours.

Sunday 3rd May. This was the Caxton St Seafood festival, which I sort of posted about the other day on my blog. It's always a messy affair and never worth the money or effort but I still go anyway because I like routine. Went with Erin and Dennis as we had free tickets and spent a few hours there in a quiet area of one of the pubs, listening to pub rock and laughing at all the drunk people dancing up a storm. We did have some damn good seafood though, which was it's only real saving grace. Afterwards I went to Birdee's with some of the guys and had some drunken fun there as is the usual thing that occurs there.

Some pics from dinner at Mecca Bah on Saturday night (I accidentally wiped all my pictures like a dickhead):

Check out my rack in my new dress!!!

Friday 8th and Saturday 9th. I stayed at mum's place, we didn't get up to much which was good as it meant not spending much money. Saw Star Trek which we LOVED! I'm not a Trekkie really, but mum brought me up watching the original series so it has a very special place in my heart. I've seen most of the episodes and once did an assignment on the show, so I was able to get the "in jokes" and recognise characters before they were introduced which filled me with a lot of pride ^_^

Sunday 10th May. Mother day - I spent the first half of the day with mum before heading home as it was also Anthony's birthday. Got dressed up and headed to his party at Little Jumbo for a little bit, then went on a ghost tour of Toowong Cemetery which was his birthday thing. It was fun though not at ALL scary which was a shame. The girl who took us on the tour over-acted something shocking which kind of ruined it, but it did make it funny so I can't complain. My mum and sister came along too so it was also a Mothers Day thing (mum loves ghosts and paranormal stuff even more than me) so it was pretty cool. After that we went back to Little Jumbo and kept getting free drinks, dancing, learning to DJ, watching more fights from the Irish pub next door as we did last time we were there and then headed to the Family for Fluffy (the gay night) which was fun despite it being a really, really quiet night.

Some pics form Sunday night:

Before the ghost tour...

...and after the tour.

So, so badly over-acted :/

Some of the boys at Fluffy later on.

Anthony and I at Fluffy. This is probs the first photo we've had together in a very long time :S

OK that's it! It's way long so not worth reading unless you're really, really bored. There are a bunch of photos though, if you're curious (on top of being bored).

And if you weren't arsed reading any of it, amuse yourselves by watching the best rap video ever! (I mean best as silliest and with the best dance moves since Soulja Boy).

Ruby Talks Fashion

Thu, 14 May 2009 13:10:01 GMT

I'm not really someone you could call fashionable. I don't wear the latest fashions and instead wear unusual items of clothing most people wouldn't dare touch. I do actually really like fashion, even if I don't follow it personally. I don't have the figure or the personality for a lot of what you see on the catwalks or in the shops, plus I like to be as individual as possible (hopefully without looking too weird). So why am I here to talk about fashion? Clothes are a very big deal to me, as with most girls, and since I have a fairly unique style, I thought it would be nice to share a few of my style tips and secrets for those of you who aren't into wearing what everyone else is wearing right now.

Despite first impressions, my outfits tend to be pretty simple. In fact I tend to wear a fairly limited range of outfits. The reason for this is because I believe in picking a look for yourself and sticking with it. That's not for everyone, but that's how I manage myself and my zany styles. I also go for a certain fewcolours, mostly black, pink, purple and green. I do sometimes buy other colours but only if the item is to die for. I do this because I am obsessed with matching colours! I almost exclusively wear pink and black, which means I am always matching and I can combine most of my clothes with most of my shoes. Sometimes I wish I would delve into other bright colours and mix it up some more, but for now this is how I do things.

My ultimate favourite thing to wear are tutu's! I cannot get enough of them and have quite a collection. It started with some cute black ones I got at Supre and then progressed into complete madness as I found them more readily available in stores. I've always been a skirt girl and I really do think tutu's and I are clothing soul mates. Coupled with leggings (plain for day-to-day wear, fancy patterns for going out) and you have half of my perfect outfit. I usually wear a plan singlet top with the tutu/legging combination, often in a bold colour like flouro pink, to really set it off.

I also love dresses, especially 50's style ones with big skirts you can twirl around in and have lots ot tule under-layers. Given my body shape, this style of dress tends to suit me the most as it accentuates my little waist and big boobs, while hiding my lage rump. They can be dressed up and down so they work during the day and when going out at night. Leggings a ballerina flats amek these dresses casual while staying excessively cute and girlie. Changing into stocking and heels dresses them up and makes them smoking hot at night. Dresses are one of my main exceptions to the pink/black rule because you don't have to worry about colour co-ordinating as much and if a dress is cute then it doesn't matter what colour is, chances are you have to get it anyway (I'm always so excited when I find the perfect dress in pink though).

I used to wear jeans all the time, but don't wear them very much any more as I kind of grew out of it. Not that I mean that in a negative way against jeans, it's just that I wore them so much from when I was a teenager til my early 20s, that I got over them. I do still love black skinny-leg jeans, even if they don't look too good on me. My latest pair are from London and feature white embroidered skeleton hands on the back pockets. Cute! With jeans I tend to wear just about any top, though I find it's ideal to wear extra-sexy tops with jeans to tone them down a bit. I often buy lingere to wear as tops but you can over-do it if you match them with skirts so I find jeans creates the perfect balance. Oh and if you haven't worn a cami or corset as a regular top before - you don't know what you're missing out on!

As for accessories...well I've only recently gotten back into wearing them. I used to only wear a necklace, my rings and watch and nbothing else. These days I now wear lots of brooches - I adore cameos, blingy spangles and big, gaudy flowers the most. I have also started wearing things in my hair (I love brooches that double as hairclips) and large, obnoxious earrings. I don't believe in the theory you can't wear big earings and a necklace (and others like it) and tend to go for the "more is more" philosophy. As long as there's some continuity in all you wear, then wear as much as you want! Loud and proud!

Shoes are the bain of my existance as I am hopeless with high heels. I love them so dearly but have weak little feet that blister easily and I am exceptionally clumsy so the higher the heel, the more dangerous they become. I wear a lot of ballet flats by day as they're cute while staying confortable. When going out I wear kitten-heels or wedge-heels the most as I can walk in them better than other heels. Any other shoe I have needs to be worn in thoroughly before I venture out of the house in it. Luckily I live withont 500m of the best clubs and bars in Brisbane though, as I often have to run home to change shoes during the night!

Do you have a particular style that defines you? Do you obsess over matching colours like me, or are you mad for colour?

Weekend roundup - Ghosts, dentists and falling down stairs

Tue, 12 May 2009 13:44:07 GMT

What an eventful couple of days. This weekend was another long weekend for me. I spent Friday night to Sunday arvo with mum, chilling out and helping her pack. Then I headed home as it was Anthony's birthday on Sunday (having Mothers Day and your boyfriends birthday on the same day is kind of crap). For his birthday a big group of us went on a Ghost Tour of Toowong Cemetery. Not really very scary, but it was fun. It would have been a lot scarier had we not been with a huge group of people (there were 25 of us) including a few gigglers. After wards was a huge party where we all had free drinks most of the night and stayed out very late. We had the sense to take Monday off thankfully.

Monday wasn't a lazy day though, as I had to take Anthony to get moulds done for the invisalign braces he's getting (fancy "invisible" plate-type thing that straightens your teeth without looking like a goofy 10 year old with a metal-mouth). Meanwhile I had started getting a nasty tooth ache which got really bad on the weekend. I bit the bullet and took myself to the dentist and had the culprit pulled out. My family have all had serious problems with their teeth - except me. I've had a few fillings but nothing serious, especially like my poor sister who goes almost every week to get something fixed. Getting a tooth pulled sucks almost as much as I remembered from being a kid - it feel gross, it hurts, and you have a huge hole in your mouth you constantly want to poke. It was a wisdom tooth though so no one will ever see the gap and hopefully I won't be hurting any more there. Now I have to go get a proper checkup because I haven't seen a dentist in a good 5 years - but I think my teeth are pretty good anyway so will hopefully only need a filling or two and be all right for a few years again.

I was hurting in the mouth area as a result of my tooth being ripped out - but I sure found a way to stop me thinking about it by falling down half a flight of stairs and twisting my ankle tonight, while taking out rubbish out. It sucks because this ankle was so weak for years, but then it got strong again and never bothered me. I sure managed to ruin that today. It hurts and now I'm not going to be able to exercise much which is a bummer because I had a really intensive scheduler planned for this week :(

Hopefully this week will pick up a whole heap because I'm a bit of a wuss with pain and would rather not have any of it, thank you very much!

Anyway, here's a random picture of myself and Anna at a friends fashion launch:

Fangirling time!

Wed, 06 May 2009 11:37:06 GMT

I bought this little wallet thing off Etsy for $2 because I was a bit drunk at the time AND I very much consider Twinkie Chan to be a hero of mine. Because she has pink hairs, is obsessed with food and has some of the best tattoos of all time! ^-^

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

How to Survive the Caxton St Seafood Festival

Tue, 05 May 2009 12:50:57 GMT

After making the effort to go to the Caxton Street Seafood & Wine festival last year, I vowed not to go again this year. But a combination of a friend who's new to Brisbane and free tickets was what convinced me to give it another go. This guide applies to just about every street party/festival that's fueled by specialty food and excessive alcohol consumption, not just this annual event.

Dress comfortably! This is not the place to wear anything too revealing or your new high heels. It's crowded and on a street in Brisbane city, which means uneven footpaths, unexpected gutters, rubbish everywhere and rowdy people who have no manners. Chances are your heel will break or you'll twist an ankle when you stumble on uneven ground. And once the night wears on, anything you wear that shows anything more than a little bit of cleveage or leg will get your harassed or groped once the sun goes down.

Make sure you're tolerance levels are at their peak. Guaranteed 90% of the people attending will be the types of people that you never normally deal with or even pretend to tolerate. We're talking bogans of every type, families with kids who are tired and grumpy from all the excitement, girls who wear high heels regardless of any good advice and break your toes when they stamp on your feet in the crowds, kids who just hit 18 and are out to PAR-TAY etc. Aside from some of the friends you bump into, most of these people are not the types of people you want to spend any times with. And you better believe they're gonna get in your face! So make sure to be tolerant and try to smile and go with it. No one likes a party-pooper, especially at a huge street party!

Make sure you're cashed up. Drinks are expensive and not too easy to come by. If you don't have much cash (like I was this year AND last year, as it turns out) then have a few pre-drinks because you're probably going to need a decent amount of booze to deal with the crowds, and $50 is not going to get you very far at all.

Take cash and cigarettes with you. Unless you're keen to wait in a line ffor an ATM for 45 mins plus, you should have all your cash withdrawn in advance. If you smoke, get a packet or two in advance because you'll have nowhere else to buy them but the expensive machines at the pubs. It's also likely that both ATMs and cigarette machines will run out by the end of the day/night.

Find a good spot and stay there. Once you've done your wandering, you're best off finding a spot that's not too busy, has a bar nearby and (if you have smoker friends) has a smoking area nearby. The street becomes chaotic pretty early on, but nowhere near as bad as when the sun starts to set and people are well and truly wasted. If you find a good spot, claim it and enjoy it for as long as possible. If you're lucky it'll even have good music (in our case it was pub rock which was horrifying at first, but as we drank more it was kind of fun). If you can find a place with decent toilets then you're clearly better at this than I!

Leave earlier rather than later. Hanging around for the sake of hanging around means you will just get shittier as every minute passes and all your hard work at getting drunk and being tolerant will fly out the proverbial window. If the party starts to drag, get the hell outta there! Parties are only ever good when you leave on a good note so don't stick around without good reason.

There are many more tips I could give you, but these are the main ones that will get you by. By skipping these steps you run the risk of having a terrible time. This festival is very hit and miss and usually tends to disappoint more than it engages. It's a highlight on the social calendar of Brisbane but you must be prepared if you're going to enjoy it in any way. Chances are you won't enjoy it much anyway but it's a bit of generally harmless fun and should be experienced at least once in your lifetime!

(The worse example of a street festival is the Notting Hill Carnivale in London. Holy shit was that intense. Fun, but very very full on. I'd like to go without a recently done tattoo though...man was I hurting by the end of the day)

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

RnB music blog post + work rant + shopping for free!

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:22:09 GMT

New blog post about RnB music. I love RnB music. I also love hip hop and rap. Always have and always will. It shits me when people say they hate the music when they really don't. The RnB and hp hop scene is pretty shit the world over, but the music itself is great. There's the popular stuff (which is what I assume everyone hates so much) which is good, but then there's the more "underground" and unusual stuff which is simply amazing. I got introduced to the Elekrons recently and saw them live...they were amazing and are mostly RnB (with a few other genres thrown in for good measure). All I say is, don't disregard Urban music just because you hate Rihanna or Beyonce, because there's a lot more to it and you're just falling into the trap of hating RnB because everyone else seems to.

So anyway, this week has been SHIT TO THE POWER OF FUCKED! I don't know why it's been so busy, but all I know is, I've thrown more tantrums at work the last few days than what I've thrown all year. This was how I was feeling this afternoon which gives you a very clear understanding of how crap it's been. I can't even get into it without starting another rant, so just understand it's been rubbish and I can't wait for the long weekend (we may have missed out on a day off for ANZAC day but there's always Labour day, baby).

I bought a gorgeous new dress and a hot pair of shoes today. Both for $50 a pop and both FREE! I got a $250 voucher from work for Myer as an incentive for getting my friend Erin a job there. Nothing in the world beats spending without actually spending. Buyers remorse? Forget about it! The only hard part is narrowing down what you want so you don't go over the spend limit! I will post pics after I wear them both on the weekend!

Case of the Flake People

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:12:07 GMT

There's a party on tonight, hosted by a good friend who's been going on and on about it for the last few weeks. It's not for a couple of hours yet but you're really don't feel like going, maybe you're feeling a bit sick or just lazy, but basically going is the last thing you really feel like doing. So what do you do? More than likely you probably make up some elaborate excuse so you don't seem like a jerk who just couldn't be arsed going, right?

I saw an article about this a while ago and it struck me as being something we all do all the time without any thought about its effects and how detrimental it's being to ourselves as well as the people around us. Why is it that people just can't be bothered turning up to the things they said they were really keen to go to. And why must we creat all these massive stories to excuse the fact we just decided to flake out. Whatever happened to honoring your RSVP or being honest when it comes down to why you've decide to be a no-show. And in some cases, why do we think it's OK to say yes to something then not follow through with it, without a simple call or sms to give a heads up?

In my experience (as someone who gets people flaking out on me a fait bit, and as someone who's done a fair bit of flaking out myself) there are a few reasons why we do these things. For example, say you've been invited somewhere, like a friends BBQ but you find you're still in bed and couldn't be bothered getting up to go. In most cases, instead of pushing ourselves to go, we'll find the mobile phone and send a text saying you can't make it for whatever reason pops into your head (some classic examples include taking someone to the airport, visiting someone in hospital, family issues, being called into work etc). Personally I believe we do this for two reasons; 1) because we don't want to look like an arsehole who's too lazy to bother coming to something your friend asked you to; 2) we don't want to hurt their feelings by admitting we are arseholes who are too damn lazy to make the effort to go to something they've asked you to. As for those who don't even text/call to give some warning, while it's not a very cool thing to do, I find people do this because they usually don't think anyone would notice they didn't turn up so don't see the point in highlighting the fact they won't be there. You'd be surprised how untrue that is. If a friend has personally asked you to come along to something, they will notice if you don't turn up. Just because it's a huge, rocking party doesn't mean you won't be missed, because you will be!

These days, what with just just about everyone in the world being on Facebook or other similar social networking pages, we seem to be flaking out more so than ever. It's so very easy to "accept" an invitation when all that you have to do is click "yes" or "maybe" without really thinking about whether or not you're going to be able to go at all. I'm constantly being spammed with event invites, and although most of them are from people I don't even know or for events I don't know a thing about, I always consider each one carefully so that whatever option I click I know I have been honest with my response. I know it seems kind of silly when it's just a Facebook invite, but if you ever want to stop being a flake, it's something you should start working on so that you can fix the problem in all aspects of your life. If you know you can't make it to that CD launch, club night, 21st party or whatever, then say "no" and comment to say why! If you're hovering between "yes" and "maybe" then make the decision right then and there: either you make a concerted effort to turn up or you say no. I think it's better to say no and then randomly turn up anyway, than say yes or maybe and not turn up and be a flake.

So, in conclusion, try to be more honest with these decisions (and you know, everything in life). If you do decide to flake out, be honest and don't come up with crazy/cliche excuses. No "visiting an obscure relitive in the hospital" or "I got called into work", be honest and tell them you're not up for it and apologise. Offering to make it up to them is also a nice addition (so long as you're willing to do so, that is). By constantly flaking out, you're going to end up being "that" person who never turns up to anything even after RSVPing yes. We all have at least one of those people for friends, so why would you want to become that person too?! If you say yes to an invite, then make a damn good effort to honour your word and go. So what if you were invited to three parties on the same night? If possible, go to all three. That way you've honoured your word and you've also given yourself a range of options instead of going to the one party and finding out it was a dud.

Originally published at rubyvelour.com.

Exercise and dieting + best workplace safety video ever!

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:16:59 GMT

I have a sore butt cheek from all this bike riding. Hopefully this means I am working on formerly unused butt muscles which means my butt will soon look fabulous in a pair of bike shorts ;)

My diet is going terribly. I am such a guts, it's awful. I do one good deed food-wise, only to ruin it later that day by eating something very bad for me. I saw a girl at gym tonight who looked amazing, as I watched her running on the treadmill it struck me how she and I have the same build, she's just slimmer and fitter than me. She had it all from the long torso, nice round booty and not-very-defined ankles! And yet she looks awesome! Like a proper woman, curves but so lean and fit. Her "bad" features, the features I HATE on me, looked really quite good and so I am going to make actual PROPER effort to lose weight now! My exercise regime has been top-notch but I am going to take it to the next level by getting a personal trainer. This is a BIG deal because I loathe personal trainer with every fiber of my being...but I have to suck it up if I ever want to lose these nasty 10kg that won't go away.

And to conclude this in the most unrelated, hilarious way possible...I present to you the funniest workplace safety video ever. There's a fair bit of gore but it's in a fun way:

Brisbane Zombie CHARITY Walk

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 06:11:05 GMT

OK so I haven't announced it "officially" yet but this years zombie walk will be for charity! Which means I don't have to pay for the police presence! It's a pretty exciting development and has already made it all 1000x easier. So now any fundraising we do goes to the charity we choose.

We have a charity in mind BUT I would like to donate to something really worthwhile. I wanted to chose an animals-related one but most people I say this to have rejected the idea (still on my agenda though). Can anyone recommend a really good charity, preferably one that's not so well known and would benefit from us donating to them immensely. I'd also prefer them to not be related to any sort of religion and preferably Brisbane-based.

It doesn't matter what sort of charity it is, just something that doesn't get much media attention or is new/obsure and would benefit from a decent sized donation (and don't mind the idea of a zombie walk representing them).