Mare

PS

marge — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:12:00 GMT

PS I think I'm going to go to Ghana for a semester next year.... hahahaha JUST KIDDING....

'Last night I was east with them, and west within...' -Ben Folds

marge — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 03:50:00 GMT

So it's 4am. That's a pretty good accomplishment on my part. I've been trying SO hard to stay awake for MOST of the night so that I'll be WIPED on the plane and maybe I'll sleep. I'm terribly excited about inflight movies. I love inflight movies. And all the free food, though lets be honest it's never good, but you always feel like MAYBE it will be just this one time.

Things I'm not excited about?

Leaving.

This doesn't mean I'm not excited to come home, it just means I don't want to leave.

I'm sitting in our almost completely empty room, where I've lived for the past 5 months with Lindsay (and let's face it, practically with Paris and Danny and Grace as well, since our room was basically the common room) and it's depressing. The walls too white where our pictures used to be. We pushed our beds together so we can all sleep in here, which makes the furniture placement awkward and and not what I'm used to.

Grace is sitting on the floor, straightening Lindsay's hair for the trip and I'm freezing, waiting for my sweatshirt to come out of the dryer. In 2 and a half hours, I will basically leave Melbourne behind. I don't consider a taxi ride and waiting in an airport STILL BEING in Australia, no more than going to the Houston airport means I've been to Texas.

This is the last time I'll sit on this bed with my lap top and hang out with these people. We're a bit ridiculous all hanging out at 4 in the morning. Danny has to sleep because he works tomorrow. He pretends like he's real badass and isn't going to be too torn up about us leaving, but I think he likes us pretty well and will probably miss us when he stomps up the stairs tomorrow afternoon and realizes we aren't there when I don't peak my head out to say "Do you HAVE to stomp EVERYWHERE?"...he may get sad even earlier if he showers and fondly thinks of us lecturing him on how he needs to hang the bath mat up or we'll get another mushroom.

Paris has the horrible task of going WITH us to the airport and then sitting around for four hours waiting for HER flight. I mean, on the plus side she's saving on transport, on the downside she has to sit and think about us till she goes home. I told her to make sure Spider and Annabel don't judge us based on the movie I made.

Gracie has to stay in the house and all day and think about how we're not here, though, knowing her and Jewell, they'll sleep all day : )

I have a feeling the 14 hours to LA will feel like I'm leaving something, and from LA to Chicago to Dayton will feel like coming home. I hope that my excitement beats out my grief, at least for the first few days so I can get used to the idea.

I'll miss talking to Paris through my wall and coming up with ridiculous stories/words to see if we can convince Danny they are real. I will miss greeting Danny when he comes home from work (sometimes with candy if he's had a good day and wants to make sure we are happy too). I will miss finding Grace buried in my bed when I come upstairs, leaving behind the BEST smell in the world when she climbs out. I will miss being able to roll over and ask Lindsay what she thinks happens when someone dies when I can't sleep at night. I will miss Jewell and her DELICIOUS doughnuts she always brings home from work. I will miss hearing "Are you okay baby?", "Baby, are you there?" from Sean and Tish's room downstairs. I'll miss how easy it is to hop on a tram. I will miss how pretty Melbourne is at night. I will miss the lulling effect of a trip to the city on the tram with a book. I will miss standing at the top of the hill in Burwood and being able to see the perfect skyline of the city. I will miss excessive movies about dance teams and trying to pretend like we know how to stomp the yard.

Gracie girl is curled up on my bed now. "You can stay if you want" she offers. HaHa. Thanks.

Blah blah obviously I will miss it all.

But still, it doesn't feel real. Right now it just feels like I'm going on a cab ride. It doesn't feel like I'm leaving a country I have lived in for five months.

I guess I'll probably realize it at some point in the next 29 hours.

I'll see you in the US of A.

"How easy...know the place I'm leaving, and the rest is just gone" -Guster

marge — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:10:00 GMT

So I'm approximately 87 hours from arriving in Dayton.

Three days and maybe 16 hours until I'm sitting in my house with my family and my friends and my dog and my big comforter.

I'm only 60 hours from getting into the taxi in front of 129 Burwood Hwy, Burwood Ghetto, VIC Australia and leaving for good.

I'm just 39 hours from my final exam that I have yet to study for because I don't want to waste the time that I could be spending with Paris and Grace and Danny and Jewell and Sean and Tish.

Lindsay and I are pretty much all packed up. We left out the essentials and are hoping our bags zip up. I don't think it's possible to hit the weight limit since we pretty much only have clothes. I guess the good news is that I don't need to pack for my new apartment. I already have a lot of it stored away. So that's good...

Soon I'll be home. And it will be warm. And I will be happy. I will be so happy.

But I'm also really worried about leaving. Because to me, I'm coming home to all the people I haven't seen in 5 months and all the places I haven't been and all the things I haven't done and I'm leaving behind all the people I've met and all the places I've gone and all the things I worked so very very hard for...and to everyone else, June 28th is just the day that Mary and Lindsay come home. Two little girls. Pretty small, pretty important, but just two people. We fit in easily for everyone else. But it will be so weird for me.

I've been planning and earning money for and organizing and worrying about and going through and experiencing and figuring out and living eating breathing Australia for over a year, and now it's over. All that planning, all that stress, all that hard work. The whole thing is over. Full stop.

And I'm excited about chicken fingers from Chumps with Valerie, and I'm excited about being in the same room as Josh and Chris and Casey and Monica all at once, and I'm excited about earning money and I'm excited about getting to see my whole family on vacation and I'm excited for the seasons and the weather and the manners and the attitudes and the food that I'm used to knowing but I've been here so long that maybe I'm used to this way of living too.

It was strange moving out of the Honors Dorm because it was my room with Monica for so long. And it was strange leaving 3D because SO MUCH had happened there and it was strange leaving Cristina's because we MADE our room there.

It's going to be the worst leaving 129 though, because inside are Paris and Grace and Danny and Jewell and Sean and Tish and the things that made being here worthwhile.

After June 28th, Australia just becomes another pin on my map. Maybe I'll put two there to emphasize it's importance.

There are the ups and downs to everything though and Australia both all at once. Like how I won't miss the crazy weather or the insistent happiness and simultaneous rudeness of Australia.

I'm home in THREE DAYS and I can't WAIT and I could wait for ever.

Regrouping, coke addict penguins

marge — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 10:42:00 GMT

We got to see Nick and Brett yesterday which was strange. Since you know, I'm on the other side of the world. We had lunch and ice cream and all sorts of fantastic things and talked about how DUMB Monica is (hahaha only kidding...) but I DID get to talk TO Monica. She screamed and did her Sheri voice for Lindsay and I was 1,000 times over excited.

THEN we saw the penguin parade. I wondered more if it was the people parade though, that penguins come out of the ocean to watch.

What happens is you go through this museum thing with a bunch of really morbid stuffed penguins (as in dead, not like furry stuffed animals), I guess so you get the general idea of what you're supposed to be looking for. They have a big model of a shark eating a penguin and a caption talking about how hard life is for a little penguin out in the ocean. Then there's little holes you can look through with a "penguins eye view" and you discover that all they see is trash, hands reaching for them and a really nice Canon Rebel with a gigantic flash going off. In one hole, someone set the stuffed penguins up so you can see what they look like when they have sex. I'm not sure why that's important but but I think it's so if you see it happening out in the real world, you know to avert your eyes and be politely quiet.

Further down was a hole you could look in and there were two little REAL LIVE penguins in their burrow huddled together, shivering like they'd just done a line of coke. It was pretty cute.

Then what happens is, you walk down to the edge of the ocean and you wait till it gets dark. Then you hear a description of the penguins and what they do in like 5 different languages. And then, all of a sudden you see little groups of tiny itty bitty "Little Penguins" (formerly known as "Fairy Penguins") floating in on the waves. Then they regroup, test the sand, maybe go back in the water for a second if they are scared. If they think it's safe, they waddle up the shore and to a designated climbing spot and climb through the grass and up the hill to their burrows, all the while screaming at each other and waddling along in a parade like fashion.

This is what's supposed to happen. What really happened for us was our penguins were retarded. All the other watching spots, their penguins came out of the water twice, maybe three times, making sure it was safe and then began their parade. OUR penguins floated up, regrouped, came out of the water, saw a giant seagull and went back in. Then they came out of the water, seagull still there, and went back in. Then they finally all decided the seagull was not harmless and came out of the water, all ready to march up the sand, and then a little one in the back got scared and turn around and ran back into the water, probably screaming ABANDON SHIP!!! and everyone followed suit. And then they regrouped and this time they decided the seagull looked menacing again and retreated. About another 15 times until finally, one of the penguins in the front said "This is bullshit" and charged up the beach, with a considerable group behind. The rest of the penguins waited for a different group that was a little less willing to sacrifice their lives for a seagull. I don't blame them, seagulls can get nasty.

Then they all waddled around, one particularly stupid one waiting on the hill for god knows what. We finally gave up on him and left. They did this weird relay thing, where a group of penguins would come through and leave one behind, and then when the next group of penguins would come through the left behind penguin would join up in the front and a different penguin from the second group would stay behind for the next group.

We watched all this in the cold rain.

Surrounded by umbrellas and some really nasty Scottish uni-brows down in front.

The bottom of my jeans looked like I had gone swimming WITH the penguins. I used my scarf as a babushka which helped and then it started to pour. And then it didn't help anymore.

Then we all broke into Kyle's house and waited for him to come back with some fish and chips.

He, in fact, did come back so we ate the fish and chips and made fun of Monica some more (haha kidding again, except maybe we did mention your popcorn burning abilities once) and went home.

Seis days till I leave the land down under. Does that make sense? That it should be over already? I don't think it does.

The grossest conversation ever.

marge — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:59:00 GMT

Danny: Chick's poop isn't supposed to smell!!!

Paris: At least I flush!

Grace: It pooop! It supposed to smell! It doesn't matter who. Guy, chick, baby, old, granny, grandpa, big, little...dog, bitch whatever! If girl's poop smelled good they'd sell it in the market like perfume...scent "girl's poop".

MAKE SURE YOU FLUSH IT DANNY! Count it!

Danny: (from inside the bathroom) I think I'm up to 34.

Lindsay: Stop....hahahhaha

Danny: (out of the bathroom) Look at my acne. You guys need to go home! I'm breaking out!

I think we've lived here FAR FAR too long. hahahhahahahhaha.

Grace is the cutest person ever.

Lindsay: Grace you're my little wombat. I'm going to call you my little wombat.

Grace: You know the wombat so fat?

Lindsay: haha! I apologize, you are no longer my little wombat.

In other news, Sean and Tish said that no one ever comes in and does the "spring cleaning" that we paid $130 for. hence why we have to clean the ceiling fan and the window sill and the corners and vacuum and everything. It's ridiculous. She said we have to wash our sheet and she'll "wash them again" after we sleep on them that one night but I doubt that since she wants us to do it so badly and that grosses me out that our sheet probably weren't washed before we used them.

BLECK

I can't wait to be back in clean land.

One week.

We went out to eat with the boys today and then into the city and then tomorrow we're going to spend the day with Nick who is here and I think Brett is with him? Maybe? We'll see. I mean we're definitely seeing Nick, maybe on the Brett part. At least this Saturday outing we don't have to worry about wether or not this person is ACTUALLY a friend of Nick's or if they are some impostor pretending to be friends with Nick so they can steal us, because this will really be Nick.

My knee is KILLING me. I've been wondering about the whole teaching thing and being on my feet all day. Hopefully this knee thing gets better or my whole future career will be in jeopardy. I'll be using a walker by the time I'm 24. Oy!

See ya'll in a week.

One week and no internet.

marge — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:39:00 GMT

Almost out of internet.

Figures.

And I still have a final to study for with all the info online.

Going to dinner. At "6:30" but it's already 6:40 because the of the girls (Tim, Dave, Ryan, and Darryl) that are taking 20 years to get ready. Three girls with one bathroom got ready faster.

AND showered.

Well, see you in a week!

"Uhh no speak engish tram officer"

marge — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:46:00 GMT

HAHAHHAHA

so Grace got caught on the tram without a ticket and tried to pretend that she didn't speak English to get out of it

hahahahhahaha

of course then it didn't work and she still got a ticket but she had to keep the act up until he was done explaining everything and had to pretend that couldn't understand when he asked for her address.

it took her like 20 minutes to get through the whole process because she had to keep pretending like she didn't understand and that she was searching for the right English words and she missed her stop and had to back track

hahahahha...she's so funny

The food. La comida.

marge — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:04:00 GMT

Jewell: I didn't want to tell my mom why I really want to come home. I mean, I miss my family and my friends...but what I really miss...is...the food...

HaHa

She's so funny.

Don't worry, I miss my friends and family more than the food but I can't lie. I would kill for:

Mac and cheese, Qdoba, Casey's bean dip, that rice stuff with veggies and cream of chick on top, and ham and cheese and potato casserole.

Those sound delicious.

And the first thing I want to do is have a big glass of milk (and not have it upset my stomach) and a big glass of water (and not have it taste like crappy city water).

Ummm...my mom wants me to write about Airlie. It was fun. Ummmm we went on a boat trip and I snorkeled and I cut my knee open on coral, but it's mostly healed now. Ummm I just don't know why but I'd rather talk about it when I get home, or I'll have nothing to talk about besides these people haha. Not that that's not enough.

Currently Jewell is teaching Paris Mandarin, Paris is teaching Grace French, Lindsay and I are throwing out some Spanish, Grace is throwing in some Indonesian and let's be honest, everyone is working on their English while Grace makes fun of the Australian accent and tries to determine between "warm" and "worm".

I think there's like five million versions of Happy Birthday going around while Paris does contortion and Grace tries to copy.

Only 10 days till we leave here. Which is nuts.

Soon I'll be lying in my living room with my besties and my family and Mark and eating mac and be barely awake but won't really notice because I'll be SO excited to see everyone.

Jessica (Josh's sister) is inviting me to her wedding. It's my first wedding of someone my age-ish. I'm so excited! She's so adorable. She's inviting Lindsay too so "the whole gang" can come. I swear she may be the sweetest person ever.

Grace is IN LOVE with Chris Carper based on the pictures on my wall. Josh be jealous ;) haha she thinks he's the most GORGEOUS boy in the world and she LOVES Josh's eyes and always talks about how big me and my friend's eyes are. HaHa.

Linday's whole body is peeling off after a sunburn, like a snake.

Father's day

marge — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:27:00 GMT

Sorry I've been too tired to write abut Airlie beach...

but I wanted to say HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Ciao

marge — Sun, 8 Jun 2008 01:48:00 GMT

In about three hours I have to be awake again to catch a cab to the airport.

Sigh.

I'll be back in connection on Thursday though so fill my mail box with love and cross your fingers for sunny skies and stress free fun.

At the very least I'll get to finish my second Watergate book haha.

And then three weeks from now I'll be catching another plane, one that will matter at lot more than this one.

I think I'm turning Australian, I think I'm turning Australian, I really think so

marge — Fri, 6 Jun 2008 12:43:00 GMT

Soooooo we're slipping. It's time to come home. We're turning Australia.

The other day, when reenacting a conversation I had in the car where I was the passenger (don't you miss my reenactments) I turned to the right to "talk to the driver".

Then, just now, I was just running some numbers through my head and wanted to see how much rent was costing me this year. I came up with the number $18,477 and 33 cents. And I was hyperventilating thinking NO WONDER my mom is always trying to get me to move home to save money and why hadn't I noticed how much this was costing me and how did I ever afford to live on campus which was decidedly more expensive than this apartment. I did the calculation 3 times. Then I realized I was multiplying rent by weeks, not months.

Don't worry, the number is closer to $4,264 which don't get me wrong is still a lot of money but I can imagine that I can make that much money. It's a rough estimate too because I tried making up numbers for heat and internet and crap.

Also, I'm pretty sure Lindsay said "I can't be bothered" the other day.

And...I have no work ethic anymore or desire to do well in school (that's more because I'm tired and want classes to be over, but it's very Aussie of me too)

Also...did anyone else feel really uncomfortable when all the Sex and the City girls made fun of Samantha's "gut"? That wasn't a gut! Good thing I don't wear belly shirts around.

93% chance I'd beat a housecat

marge — Fri, 6 Jun 2008 11:37:00 GMT

I saw the Sex and the City movie last night, that was good. I almost was able to take a nap too but then Gracia came over and rang the doorbell

Also, Casey sent me the link to the following test to see how well I would fare against various animals Would You Survive? House Cat: 93% Chance Racoon: 93% Chance Coyote: 71% Chance Medium Sized Dog: 52% Chance Large Dog: 45% Chance Wolf: 34% Chance Small Shark: 37% Chance Large Shark: 19% Chance Predetory Cat: 26% Chance Elephant 26% Chance Lion or Tiger: 19% Chance Bear: 19% Chance Alligator: 4% Chance Gorilla: 11% Chance Human: 22% Chance

"It's a small crime and I got no excuse"

marge — Tue, 3 Jun 2008 01:35:00 GMT

So it looks like there's no continuing student scholarships in the stars for me.

At least not based on the fact that they said they would be decided by June 1st and well, June 1st is gone.

So much for that...

I have effectively stared at my paper on gender politics in Tumble Turn for weeks now and have written just a bit more than nothing.

I sent a pretty professional and calm email to my Unit Chair of my children's literacy class because the tutorials do not cover what he says they will in lecture and I thought he should know. He thought I was judging/unhappy with her ability to assess my assignment and questioned my attendance and my dedication to the course and assured me that everything on the final exam would be taught in tutorials. Considering I just have a test left that is handled by the testing center, I sent him an email telling him that what I had been trying to say delicately before is that my tutor disregards what he assigns her to teach and that I was concerned that I would fail the exam based on this. I also let him know that I received an HD on my assignment and that I was not questioning her ability to assess at all.

This guy amazes me. About 10 students posted on DSO that they wanted to know if you had to pass the final to pass the class and he didn't respond and didn't respond and a couple people wrote "don't expect an answer because I've been waiting for weeks" and then he finally responded something along the lines of no you did not need to pass the exam to pass the class but that that was all outlined in the unit guide and if anyone had taken the time to look they would have found that out and that they shouldn't bother him with stupid questions that could be found in the unit guide. It was rude, to put it nicely.

I will fail that exam most certainly. You can't pass a test you weren't taught to pass. On the bright side, she was a good tutor in that she taught some very valuable things. Non-relevant to the course though.

My knee grinds more every day. I can't find a way to lie in bed that my knee doesn't hurt. Straight out is too straight and it locks, bent makes it sore and grind, on my side the pressure from one leg on my knee makes it hurt, on my stomach the pressure of my knee on the bed makes it hurt.

Doesn't matter too much since I don't sleep anyway but it makes the lying and waiting even more excruciating. Sitting indian style is basically out these days too. I think I hit age 82 at the ripe age of 20.

The headaches are rough too. Imagine wearing a visor. And imagine the shadow it casts on your face (when facing the sun but not with your head tilted towards it, if we're in specifics), right half way over your eyes and up is where I get the headaches. Like behind my eyes and then between my eyebrows and then really really deep in the center of my head. It's not a pressure, it's a sharp bunch of stabs that come in waves and I squint my eyes really tight and it goes away but then I feel sore and worn out.

What else can I complain about?

Oh someone threw my wet laundry out of the washer today instead of putting it in the dryer. That's always cool. And gross.

Our internet keeps going out in waves.

Gracia is trying to sell our room so people are tramping through all day long. I exaggerate, but they do come through often. She made the executive decision that since she has so much business so can no longer give us 24-hour notice of her bringing someone over so she just comes when she please now. She said she'll try to not come in the morning when we're sleeping but "it's a busy season" so she might need to.

And scene?

Popcorn naps

marge — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:40:00 GMT

Since our internet died I couldn't really do homework so I just lazed around today and almost finished All the President's Men...next I'll get The Final Days out (by same people) and endure another week of my housemates making fun of me every time I tell them an interesting story about something I read.

I panicked a bit today because I bought a 24 pack of coke and I realized, if I were to drink one a day (since I'll be gone for 4 days at Airlie beach) I will have just enough to get me till the day I leave. It seems strange that I'll be home in a 24-pack of cola's time. Strange, good and really really sad.

Anyway, we went and saw "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" because it was the only movie along the tram line that wasn't in a foreign language or Indiana Jones (which I heard has an ALIEN and vine swinging but NO Phil Collins-Tarzan reference-so that was out). Pettigrew was cute and Paris and I agreed, if we had gone on a mother daughter date to see it, it would have been TERRIFIC, but as it was, it was a bit silly and boring. And ironically, after I filled up on some popcorn, I fell asleep on Lindsay's shoulder for a brief period. Tim and Dave came with us and considering the movie contained not only a woman and her social secretary, but a fashion show, cocktail parties, a shopping montage and a makeover I don't blame them for falling asleep too.

Goodbye-ish till the end of the month

marge — Thu, 29 May 2008 20:40:00 GMT

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand our internet ran out

we were at 83% used yesterday

and then today

we were all mid research, fingers poised ready to click on a terrific resource and BOOM

internet went ka-put.

no one is sure who is at fault.

but being not being SURE doesn't mean being wrong.

So until the 1st (aka your May 31st) I'll be around at dial up speeds if you need anything. I guess this gives me an excuse to waste the day away reading about the Watergate scandal without feeling bad about not writing my paper on gender stereotypes. Not that I can't still write it, but there's still a lot of research to do which involves the world wide web.

ciao bella

Put THAT on the fridge mom!

marge — Tue, 27 May 2008 16:39:00 GMT

Hi Mary,

I was wondering if I could please use a copy of your assignment anonymously as an example of a good assignment in tomorrows class as I am going to go through some more tips on better assignment writing. You did a great job, so it would be good to show the other students. If that's ok could you please email me a copy today.

Thank you,
Sonia

Gay Energy Crisis?

marge — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:42:00 GMT

I have the ENTIRE Deakin library on my bed right now.

If you're looking to check out a book, this is the place to go.

Jewell was actually PURUSING through the books that were piled around me the other day! PURUSING!

I currently have 7 books on homosexuality, 4 on the population explosion, 4 on the energy crisis, and one book on Enron, if you're interested.

So much paper writing going on that I'm getting confused. I'm not sure if I'm writing on the wind power explosion, the gay energy crisis, population prejudices or homothermal energy.

I'm sure I'll figure it out at some point though.

Cheers!

oh...PS

Got my letter today. $162.00 for "not buying a tram ticket" those bloody F@#%ing Tram Goat F@#%ing Australians!

"Failure to buy a tram ticket" my arse.

"Ah yes, we are thick as thieves"

marge — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:52:00 GMT

My theory on M&M's is this:

The orange ones weird me out.

I particularly like the brown ones, the green ones and the red ones. I think it's because I like chocolate, and that I gained a creepily strong passion for Christmas from my mother. I didn't even convert to hating it when I met Amy and I converted to just about everything when I met Amy. Except Thanksgiving. I still hate Thanksgiving, which might explain the orange M&M issue if I actually based my M&M decisions on favored holidays. I guess I might hate Thanksgiving because of orange M&Ms but that's just ridiculous. We all know I hate Thanksgiving because of stuffing.

Anyway, back to the issue at hand.

I miss the tan M&Ms and I don't know why we when we voted for a new M&M that the purple one lost or why we had to get rid of the tan M&Ms. People said it had to do with completing the rainbow one step at a time, but I think that's crap because if we wanted rainbows, we'd eat skittles.

I think if I were Mexican I'd sue Mars for trying to colonize our M&M choices and that replacing the tan M&Ms for blue is, is symbolic of clearing out the Mexicans for "the pure". But that may be because I've been spending too much time in literary analysis classes, that skew everything, including how you view your M&Ms.

My girls say I put too much thought into this. In fact, I have. They are, after all, just small little chocolate chips covered in a thin candy shell.

You never think about M&M's. You just take one (or if you're daring and don't have a problem with the colors clashing in your mouth, a whole handful) and shove them in your mouth and go on your way. You don't think about what's inside (unless they are peanut M&M's whose insides are very in-your-face about it all) and you never even notice that the candy shell is actually WHITE, painted blue or red or what have you.

I think JLo said once in an Off-Hollywood film that she only eats the brown ones because they don't have artificial coloring.

That's silly.

Because even the brown is artificially brown.

Anyway: Bring back the tan M&M!

That is all.

Helen Hunt NO!

marge — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:08:00 GMT

Lindsay and I decided last night that we really should go see a movie that we'd heard almost nothing about, starring and directed by Helen Hunt. All we knew, is that it was a chick flick of sorts.

Lindsay: Danny you're welcome to come.

Danny: Hell no!

Mary: Helen HUNT no!

It wasn't really a chick flick. It was geared for women, of course, but it didn't have Mandy Moore or Kate Hudson or anything.

We were in a tiny little theater, with the only type of characters you'd expect to be going to see a Helen Hunt movie on a Wednesday night in Melboure. There were about 3 sets of women over the age of 47, who talked loudly through all the previews about the length of the tram ride to get a decent melon from the farmer's market and how service on airplanes isn't what it used to be, and how one time, after ordering a bloody mary, a cup of V8 was received, but who no one shushed because we all wanted to talk through the previews too.

There were two guys who sat directly next to Lindsay and I, who made me feel like we were watching the movie with Josh and Chris. Mainly because the one guy had shoes that look like Chris' white, flat toed shoes and because the other guy made the quip (after a preview for My Brother Was an Only Child) "Brought to you by the director of My Mother Was a Woman", which made me laugh unnecessarily loud. (Ellen, think Tartuffe.)

The movie was about a woman (Helen Hunt) who's life basically went to shit all at once but she made it turn out alright. Colin Firth was in it and was delightful and awkward as always. He smiled a bit too much though (mom, you understand the dangers of that).

In the end, Lindsay and I left missing our mother's a great deal and full of too much popcorn.

Today has been okay, mainly because I got a "Hache Dee" (aka HD aka A+) on my Timber Plantations paper.

If you have any questions about the dangers of even just using the undergrowth in native forests for commercial production, I have a "very thorough" essay you can read.

Diving into round two

marge — Sun, 18 May 2008 20:16:00 GMT

Timber plantations and class politics?

No more.

Now?

Slowing the population explosion, renewable energy sources and queery theory.

I spent almost an hour in the sexuality isle of the library today and left with a large pile of books that made look suspiciously like I was having a sexual identity crisis.

"Cultural politics- queer reading" (the cover is on a trip, but the insides are pretty textbook)

"She's my wife, he's just sex" (a raunchy, blunt book with raw accounts of men who live double lives)

"Virtually normal" ("an argument" over homosexuality which is so far VERY interesting)

"The other face of love" (a medium sized purple book that is missing it's dust cover and that seems a liiiiitle mushy gushy)

"Queer theory/sociology" (textbook definitions one what it means to be gay)

"Homosexuality" (straight up. it was actually published in 1955 so THAT should be interesting)

"What happened to gay life?" (which has a man on the cover who is sneaking along with his back to the wall like he's on some espionage mission to FIND the gay life"

and

"Yes means yes" (which is actually about heterosexuality but I needed something for comparison. Sort of like a control group.)

We shall see if any of them work for my paper about the gender politics encoded in children's literature eh?

Mary