The bittersweet smell of ennui.

I have major assignments coming out of my ears, my first teaching round coming up in a fortnight (school still unknown) and all I want to do is curl up in bed and read a (non-study-related) book.
I'm not in a teapot-panic...I just can't be arsed.

Unlucky only for SOME...

Friday the 13th has blessed me!
I finally finished the puzzle that has been languishing in pieces all over the kitchen table this week! Hazah!













Why is it that a puzzle that was obviously a promotional gimmick is okay and pop-culturally cool when it is a daggy icon of my generation's childhood, but were it a Hamburgler game or KFC jigsaw it would be very NOT cool and a terrible attempt at brainwashing our children?
Dunno, but you can't deny the coolness of a plate of tinned spaghetti pieces as a jigsaw puzzle!
(Credits to Dan's family treasure chest for this gem.)

old

...and yes, I know I sound OOOOOLD when I complain about too loud punk bands. I know. What can I say? Too loud punk bands make me FEEL old.
I am becoming a person who takes earplugs to concerts.
When my parents use to put their fingers in their ears during the extra-loud Hollywood on the Gold Coast ads at the movies, I used to die inside. Now I see their point.

At least the tickets were free...

I'm on a mailing list for a local burlesque troupe, and last week won free tickets to the High Society Ball at the Regal Ballroom in Northcote.
"Kewl!" methinks. On the playlist were The Wagons (always worth a see), Bob Log the third (had never seen but heard was kinda funny), Legends of Motorsport (one Dan had heard were good) and various burlesque acts throughout the night. We went along, relishing the fact that everyone else was paying $34. The venue is awesome, a grand old ballroom. If I were a wedding type of person, it would be a cool place to do a thing like that. The Wagons were up first, and they were excellent, as usual. Then there was a tap-dancer, who I think was probably fairly good, but given that all I could see was the back of tall people's heads, I'll have to trust that what my ears heard was capable tap-dancing. Then the night began to slide downhill. The utterly inept DJ filled in the gaps between acts, and the patrons gave it a red hot go at ignoring his shoddy work and had a bit of a boogie, but then Legends of Motorsport came on and the fledgling mood of the night just leaked away with the thrash and scream of punk. Now, their music isn't my cup of tea, so I can't really criticise it given that it just aint my genre of choice, but it seemed so out of keeping with the proposed vibe of the night, and judging by the number of people who legged it out to the bar where it was slightly less painfully loud, that was the majority opinion. Finally they finished and we all trooped back in hopefully, where we waited and waited for the next burlesque act to start. When the work experience DJ cocked up the burlesque dancer's music for the tenth time (I shit you not) and she cracked it and left, Dan and I looked at each other and knew that the evening was drawing to a close for us. We pushed on a bit longer, but come 12ish we'd had enough. All I can say is, thank christ the tickets were free. I think we'd have had some 'give us our money back' argy bargy if they hadn't been.
Gift horses, eh? Sometimes they shit on your foot when you're not looking!

These are a few of my (new) favourite things!

1. John Marsden's the Tomorrow series. I devoured the first two books over the weekend and I'm hooked. I've always been drawn to the post-disaster/apocalypse/nuclear war genre. I guess it comes from growing up with the ever-present threat of the man pressing the button. Whilst the Tomorrow series are not post-nukes, merely your garden variety domestic invasion, the first two books have proven to be a gripping, thrilling exploration of the effect of this almost unthinkable (in our country anyway) event. The characters are wonderful - thoughtful and emotional and human. I've heard criticisms of the notion of teenagers becoming soldiers, but I think the way that Marsden handles this delicate and complicated subject is brilliantly done. These kids perform acts that would have been undreamt of to them prior to the invasion, but now they feel compelled to act, and it is not something they take on lightheartedly. They are changed people. And there is real food for thought in this story. More than once since finishing book two (I am not allowed to go to the library for the next until I have finished more Uni work) I have stopped mid-washing-up to reflect on how much of an impact a national invasion would have on my own life, and this reflection leads to the thought that there are plenty of people out in the world who have been living this reality for years, and will continue to do so despite my sheltered, comfortable, ignorant existance here. It's potent stuff. I just have to ration the reading and not glut on it and end up OD'ed in a corner somewhere.

2. Wilfred. We caught this little gem on SBS last night. It's only an eight-part series, and I'm not sure how far into we are, but I sure hope it's early days. This is comedy gold. Wilfred the dog, basically a bloke in a crappy rent-a-dogsuit, wanders around the house, ciggie dangling from his mouth, bored look on his face, tormenting his owner Sarah's new boyfriend Adam. Sarah only sees her wittle Wilfred, but Adam knows Wilfred's real self, and the battle-lines seem to have been drawn. I loved it.
3. The new kitchen butcher-block, made by the brilliant male I have the honour to live with.