A Letter To The World

Quote

2006-11-09T18:35:00.000+13:00

There are two very good reasons to be a teacher: December and January.

The City of 6AL

2006-08-02T19:08:00.000+12:00

Hi guys!

I just thought I'd use the old blog to reflect on a few things that I'm doing in class at the moment. Maybe I can clear up a few things in this deep fried brain of mine that doesn't seem to working to well lately! Please please offer comments or questions.

I have a very energetic and excitable class of 12 year olds, and about 10 with different sorts of learning difficulties and its often hard to engage them. They all love acting and role plays (not many entire classes do!) and my boys in particular find it hard to get anything from in their head down onto paper, I know its up there, it just takes a while to come out!

The head of the campus I am at wrote an article a few years ago about a money system he started in his classroom where the kids were paid and/or fined for doing things in class with a class currency. For example, If you brought in your homework all completed on Monday morning, you would be paid, but if you are caught wearing incorrect uniform you can be fined. He had different ways of carrying this out in his class but the closing comment was : "You are limited only by your imagination!" But my imagination hurts at the moment, so can I borrow yours?!

Here is how my money system/City is operating...

- two desks in the middle of the room covered with paper and students who were town planners drew plots and roads
- students earn money to buy a plot of land by bringing their diary everyday to be signed, showing that they have completed their homework with a parent signature
- they saved up this money to buy their plots at a series of auctions, where they had to have paddles and were expected to buy if they bid
- some formed groups, pooled their money and bought plots next to each other
- i then limited the number of plots a group could own to one plot per person per group, ie, five in the group, maximum five plots.
- i elected five students as policemen to fine students who broke rules
- we wrote rules as a class
.... anyone in the wrong place at the wrong time can be fined, anyone who repeatedly talks when they shouldn't fined; fines go out for not doing class duties, not bringing homework, leaving property on the veranda, speed ticket for running in class
- payday happens once a week. Most students have another job to do, like policemen, or selling fence posts, driveways, trees and bushes. The money comes back to me and they get paid 100$ if they have been punctual with homework and class assignments all week, 50$ if they haven't.
- then came a maths lesson, i decided that from their pay they had to pay back tax. so we converted percentages to fractions to decimals so that we could figure how much each had to pay back in tax.
- also , by australian law (tehe) I have to pay them 9% super on top of their salary, so when they retire (this hasn't really been thought through!) they can get a pay out and afford to live!!!! argh! They have to keep accurate records of their tax and super.
-Now for the properties:
- this week each property had to have grass (coloured paper, which could only be bought from our class grass dealer (heh), a driveway, and a fence. We have a huuge container of matchsticks sold at $1 each, or $2 for the coloured ones.
- Oh by the way, one girl asked if she could be queen, so I said 'sure', and gave her a stack of money and the largest property on the table city. But because she has everything twice the size as everyone else, she has to pay more, and fortunately is the kind who is still motivated to earn her money the way everyone else is.
- then, because there are a lot of jobs that need doing here and there, that don't really have titles (or maybe they do/can) I have a list of 'casual' workers who can earn $20 by doing anything that I might ask them. For example, one girl made a prayer request book, another printed out bible verses for each class member, another made street signs
- everyone in the class brainstormed street names (someone suggested Macpherson street, yesssssssss) and then we all voted on the best 5 names.

Here is the standard pay system:
- $5 for having diary open on the table to the correct date with a parent signature
- $5 for recording how much silent reading was completed the night before. you cannot have just this without a parent signature
- $50 'slack' pay - job, but not punctual with handing in work complete
- $100 complete pay
- + 9% super
- 20% of that is tax, comes back to me
- Driveways $50 for 3x6 cm 100 for 3x12cm, 150 for 3x180 cm
- grass $20 A5 , $10 A6
- hedges and plants and trees, I am not sure of the price, or how much foliage per person to make compulsory!

- fences are more expensive, the closer you put your matchsticks together. most are spaced out along a bit of paper
- I am wondering whether we need some more law in relation to properties and housing...bills? rates? mortgages? inflation?!
- Oh, for houses, we are making these in maths this week, and covering 'Area & Perimeter' at the same time.
- what about the stock market?
- do we need a mail man? a river?

what about the mess?! I guess just about anything now can be fixed by a law and a fine, but there is just so much to think about!

! I should do a writing activity to see what they like and would like to improve.

the whole class is such a mess, but they all want to come in first thing and talk about it all the time! I have never had so many kids all in my face and i feel more tired! what have i done!? On the other hand, I've not had so many kids do maths so eagerly and quickly, and stay on task the whole time while doing it!

Speak to me!

Oxymorons

2006-05-31T14:59:00.000+12:00

Ever noticed that it's simply impossible to find seriously funny oxymorons online? The only choice is to ask one of those paid volunteers at the library - the ones in the long-sleeved T-shirts - for an original copy of some obviously obscure documents that were found missing amongst some paperwork almost exactly one hundred years ago.

http://www.fun-with-words.com/oxymora.html

2006-05-19T17:41:00.000+12:00

Sometimes I wish I was a Jedi Knight so that I could use the power of the force on my kids.

2006-05-12T13:55:00.000+12:00

I feel like I've said this before, but I have had it up to -here- with the work 'random' as a buzz word. Ew, yuck, I can't stand to even look at it.

For all my fans

2006-04-07T18:57:00.000+12:00

My hot set of wheels.

That tuft of hair on my wedding finger is really quite over-exaggerated from this point of view.

Em 'n' I out the back of the farm, taking pictures of ourselves as usual. Our favourite thing at the moment is to set the camera on ten shots, each taken at 3 second intervals. Its a challenge!

Suze 'n' I at our housewarming.

And thats all I can be bothered uploading for now. Maybe more later.

But this time last year it was still 30 Deg!!!

2006-04-05T16:09:00.000+12:00

THU Light Rain. Mostly Cloudy. Cool. 7 11
FRI Light Rain. Mostly Sunny. Cool. 10 12
SAT A Few Showers. Mostly Sunny. Cool. 9 11
SUN Light Rain. Mostly Sunny. Cool. 8 13

Eeeeek!

Lost Vision?

2006-04-04T14:51:00.000+12:00

2003: Idea: Study in Melbourne in 2004 while working for a year.
2004: Unplanned: Broken arm. Return to Auckland.
Missing: My friends back in Melbourne having fun without me.
Return: To Melbourne broke. Study not quite complete. Decide to stay in Melb.
2005: Finished study over a long year of being broke.
2006: Move from Melbourne to work at ideal school.
Missing: Friends and family in Auckland+Wellington+Gisborne very much.
Missing: Melbourne and all the fun that is there.
Liking: Living in the country.
Not liking: Being so bymyself.
Wanting: To make Melbourne the new Auckland and my school to move there.

Term Two is HER*E

2006-03-31T12:26:00.000+12:00

And my class are back and full of beans.

I am back and not so beanful.

Also, Melbourne was an awesome place to be during the Commonwealth Games! Too bad I was in Tasmania for half of it. I ended up watching the netball at New Zealand House - ye-ah! It was great - no aussies so none of that "oi oi oi" business. My bro Em and I bought "Go Kiwis" tee-shirts and we had randoms coming up to us everywhere we went saying "Yea, go the Kiwi's!". Also made me realise that my accent has indeed changed - heaven forbid - and I have now a versatile, trans-tasman Kiwi-Australian accent. Everywhere I go I will be teased!!! Everywhere in either of these two countries anyway.

I'm off now to have lunch. (Grapes, not beans)

Term One is OVE*R

2006-03-10T17:12:00.000+13:00

Wahoo!
Holidays: here I come!
Will be dropping in on a Bic Runga concert in Melbourne on my way to Tazzie for a week.
See ya!

Eeeek!

2006-02-27T20:27:00.000+13:00

Yesterday I inadvertantly held one of these!

Yes.

Held!

Huntsman are a supposedly harmless spider that like to live in trees (and warm fuzzy envelopes in classrooms)(and occassionally on the pillows of poor unsuspecting New Zealanders who live in rural Victoria).

Yes.

On my pillow!

At home (at the farmhouse) we have had a good run of maybe 7 consecutive no-huntsman-in-surprising-places days. Unfortunately the old Mortein doesn't do much since they're so huge, and half a can of spray would probably do yourself more damage than the spider.

Yesterday, I was showing a friend through my classroom. I put my hand into one of the warm fuzzy envelopes and ofcourse realised that I wasn't holding a note, no, but a LARGE LARGE SPIDER. (A different sort of warm fuzzy?!) I screamed and screamed and threw it at the wall and where it crawled up next to yet another huntsman... my classroom is not at all like a tree. Why were they there?!?!! Eventually I sedated them (Mortein), prodded them onto a metre ruler and escorted them into the nearest bush while suppressing screams, mainly because they ran up the ruler towards me!

Anyway, just thought maybe you'd like to congratulate me on actually coping with the situation, and on my creative problem solving skills!

Weekend Reading

2006-02-17T18:26:00.000+13:00

I found a load of info on the BoM on how to forecast the weather. Wahoo!

Still Alive

2006-02-10T14:35:00.000+13:00

Two weeks of teaching over. Phew! I am so exhausted!

I have a class of 25 Grade 6 (Form 1) students. They're gorgeous! Though I wish they'd pay more attention (surprised?!). Had parent-teacher conferences. They went well. Tiring. Each little kid in my class is so complex! How can I teach 25 at once, and reach them all?! My mini mission at the moment is to find out more about Star Wars and Holdens so that I can have some sort of common ground with two boys in my class whose minds revolve around those topics.

I did end up leasing that farmhouse, and found 3 other lovely flatmates, two of which are teachers, and, we still have a spare room. We need another guy but we're working on it. We get great sunsets from our living room, especially since there have been local bush-fires, which is not such a good thing. A bit smokey.

On the first night I was in the house and a bit lonely, that is until a teeny weeny black and white kitten came to visit and asked if I'd mind if she stayed over: "Meow, I am so cuuuuuute!" So I said, "Oh, alright" and in she came for a bubble bath and leftovers. Name's Connie and she is now a permanent resident at our house too. And so cute!

Thats all for now.
Will write next time I feel like it.
Give me a month or two to re-coop.

Totally herbacious dude

2006-01-11T18:41:00.000+13:00

As it turns out, my namesake is in fact a herb.

Be my, be my little flatmate

2006-01-11T14:14:00.000+13:00

G'day folks.

Well, after having a blast on New Years (it was too good to even write about) I am about to commence moving to rural Victoria for my new job.

I don't really know anyone in Drouin, with the exception of a few teachers at my school. But it is a gorgeous country town, with landscape similar to New Zealand, including GREEN grass and possibly more roses than you would find in Surrey Hills!

Heres the thing: I have looked at a couple of rentals and there is one very sylish, very large farmhouse for lease, for - wait for it... 100 BUCKS a week! If I can find two more flatmates, rent per person per week would be $33.33 recurring!
WHAT THE?!

So let me sum up the incentives for being my flatmate:
- Large vintage syle house (The fringing on one of the bedroom lampshades is 40cm long, my word!);
- Large lawn;
- Pretty countryside;
- Green grass;
- Roses everywhere;
- There is also a flower farm on the hill opposite;
- Cheheheheheap rent;
- 5 minutes drive to the two nearest main towns which come complete with antique and op-shops;
- An hour and a bit to Melbourne CBD;
- An hour to the beach;
- Maybe 7 hours from NZ;
- I'll be there (guaranteed fun times);
- Roses everywhere;
- I'll be there;
- Lots of roses.

How to end this spiel, I'm not quite sure. But one thing I am sure of is this: you'd be a darn fool to let this opportunity slip.

of the ye-ah

2005-12-30T14:23:00.000+13:00

Gig: Its a showdown between Bomba and Blue King Brown; both oh so so SO GOOD live; both play a lot of reggae.

Pastime: Sewing with my very good friend Emma in her 'studio'. "Time sewing is time well-spent", I always say, and what better company could I have asked for?

Book: The Three Godfathers by ?.. I've forgotten. My best book buys have been opshop bargains and this was no exception!

Achievement: Building a house. A gingerbread house! Yummo.

Songs: 1. Fever - The Michael Buble version; 2. The Biggest Lie I Ever Told - The Beautiful Girls; 3. Anywhere - Sophie Koh.

Meal: The good food that just kept on coming with the good people that just kept on coming to our Emergency Spring Picnic held at the dreamy Carlton Gardens.

Album: We've Already Gone by The Beautiful Girls, more reggae-ish, please don’t go acting all surprised if I start talking like a Rusta, jah.

Trickiest Question I Was Asked By A Stranger: "So why don't you have a boyfriend?" !!!

Lowlights: Working as a PA for a complete swindling lying scumbag for a week before "I QUIT!"

Highlights: Celebrating my Nana and Grandad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in Gisborne with Nana, Grandad, all the extended whanau. Probably the most beautiful thing was hearing Grandad tell the story of how they met: ice-skating on a frozen lake in Holland. Ooooh, how romantic.

Being a leader in the youth group at church and seeing kids growing and learning and making the decision to follow Him. And all those moments where I could see little light bulbs pop up above their heads during bible studies, and they would say, "Oh, I get it!"

Helping in the Deaf Church and discovering a whole different world of community dynamics, as well as communication. Serving the Lord is definitely a privilege even though it more-than-likely comes at a cost.

Living in Surrey Hills, the most fragrant and floral suburb in Melbourne. You should smell it sometime. 'Twas as if I was a faery livin' a gaerden.

Goals for 06: Survive, nay, succeed in my first year of teaching GRADE SIX, gah! It'll be a year of prayer and fasting no doubt. Btw, my class for next year will be called 6AM (because my initials are A.M.), which makes me ever-so-slightly more excited about getting up at that time of the morning.

New blog template. Maybe.

Sew more and improve sewing skills.

Pray more. Magic away that ol' student loan (or meet Ray Porter).

Maybe learn to cook? I like entertaining and hate cooking but seeing as the two often go hand-in-hand, think I'll practise on my visitors. How would you (yes, YOU!) like to be on the receiving end of one of my kitchen experiments some time?

Happy New Year everyone; take care.

Why ask why?

2005-12-21T17:22:00.000+13:00

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

If corn oil comes from corn, where does baby oil come from?

If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?

When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?

If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off?

If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?

Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?

If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen?

If you're in a vehicle at night going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?

How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?

Do cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift?

If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?

Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

These are a few of my favourite things

2005-12-07T13:11:00.000+13:00

When I turned on the radio in my car yesterday, the voices told me that there are 16 people that die each year in Australia from being hit by lightening. This concerned me a little as there have been thunder/lightening storms almost every day for the past few weeks, and my biggest form of transport in the past two years has been my feet.

Also, the weather in general has never been small talk for us Macphersons, I think the 'M' in 'Macpherson' stands for 'Meteorologist'. I have to admit to obsessively checking the weather forecast everyday (hence the link on the RHS).

And probably one of the most fun things I've ever ever done is swim at the beach during a thunderstorm - once at Waihi Beach with JennieP and KirstenM, and another time in Melbourne. Thunderstorms make me feel this amazing sense of awe and "Wow God!", except in really scary thunderstorms that occur in the middle of the night and cause trees and powerlines to come tumbling down, in which case I feel less awe and more like singing "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/ Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens..."

Anyway, back to being concerned, if you are too, or just curious, you might find this interesting.

Oh Come All Ye Stressful

2005-12-02T13:14:00.000+13:00

This I spotted on Matthew's blog and thought I'd pinch it, but I'm sure thats the idea.

"This Christmas we'll be swamped with offers, ads and invitations to buy more stuff. But now there's a way to say enough and join a movement dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas giving." More...

2005-11-24T15:58:00.000+13:00

Gluckwunsche

2005-11-14T23:22:00.000+13:00

Congratulations to these two love-birds who were betrothed unto one another this weekend just been.

That guy you see there is my lil bro, and that gal my swiss sista to be.
Waaaaaaaaahoooooooooooooooooo!
All the best you two, I'm so happy for you both.

Tea and Scones Anyone?

2005-11-10T13:34:00.000+13:00

How Excitement!

2005-10-31T14:23:00.000+13:00

If the title above rings a bell in your brains and you are thinking to yourself, "Why does that sound ever-so-slightly familiar?" its probably because when you were 14 you read Girlfriend Magazine, and your favourite segment was 'How Embarrassment!', the part where young girls from across the nation sent in their embarrassing stories, like the time they meant to give some hot guy lipchap but accidentally handed him a tampon.
"Eeeeek!" and "I would just DIE if that happened to me."

If the title above sounds entirely foreign to you, and God has kept you from reading such rubbishy magazines, wonderful for you my friend, praise be. (Seriously)

Right ho, now time for you to hear about my NEW JOB! I have a teaching job for 2006 at Chairo Christian School. Chairo is in a country town called Druin, south-east of Melbourne. This is very exciting news because
- I am totally, like, so over office work, for sure. (And seabed)
- I am sick of studying
- I love the country
- The school is awesome, not many Christian schools like it
- I have only heard good things about the churches down there
- I will only be 45 minutes drive from my lovely kiwi teacher friend Andrea and just over an hour from Melbourne.

I will be sad to leave my church in Surrey Hills and all the wonderful people there. But I feel relaxed about the whole transition I'll have to make. I feel as though its time for me to move on again.

And there is more to be excited about:
- Mum is coming to visit me in December
- Silvia is coming back from Germany
- I am going to see my favourite band of the year this Friday night
- It is practically summer.

To balance out all this excitement, I'd better complain about a few things.
- I can't go to Christy & Tim's or Mark & Gina's wedding
- I'll probably have to buy a car for '06
- The bobbin case in my sewing machine is broken and probably unfixable therefore making the whole machine redundant. Grr.

But in the light of other worldwide catastrophes, I have a lot to be thankful for.

Also, seeing as visiting me is such a popular thing to do these days, I'm taking bookings now for VisitAlana2006. Just send me a blank email with the word 'eellogofusciouhipoppokunurious' in the subject line and I'll contact you with suggested dates for your intended stay.

Its not about me

2005-10-18T17:21:00.000+13:00

Everyone else should blog more frequently.

The Great Joke

2005-10-03T21:34:00.000+13:00

Yesterday morning at church Vinesy told us that some eastern orthodox churches used to celebrate Easter Monday by coming together and telling each other jokes. This was their way of remembering The Great Joke that Jesus played on Satan.

I am Napoleon

2005-09-13T18:10:00.000+12:00

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?

Party Farm 2000

2005-09-05T21:43:00.000+12:00

Hi,

My life is far too kool.

Went away for the weekend with a group of friends and strangers to a farm. Rode on motorbikes and tractors, roasted marshmallows and drank beer around bon-fire, caught yabbies in river, and enjoyed the fresh air and scenery. Also spent lots of time scooting along a lengthy polished conservatory floor in woollen socks. Fu-un! Other time was spend chatting, eating and lazing around.

Blissfulness.

Subject: party, 10 Sept.

2005-08-17T01:14:00.000+12:00

>Hey Antiskeptic,
>My name is Alana and me and my flatmates really love your band and all that
>you stand for. Now, I'm not sure what you're all upto on the 10th of
>September, but if you're not too busy you should get along to our 3rd
>annual wig party. Its always a blast and we're a really friendly bunch so
>don't worry if you don't know of anyone else whose coming.
>If you're interested, get back to me and I'll throw a few more details your
>way. Oh and the reject shop have some great sparkly wigs for a coupla
>bucks, or if you need to borrow, I'm sure we can rustle up a few spares.
>Hear from you boyz soon...
>
>-Alana
>Melbourne.

Thanks Alana but i will be away....i can not speak for Andrew but im fairly
sure hes doing a solo gig that night.
Nick lives in QLD so he wont be there either im afraid!

Thanks for inviting us though....thats very nice of you!
I havnt been invitied to a party in a long time!!

Sean/Skeppers

Tech no no no logy

2005-08-11T21:23:00.000+12:00

Someone once said to me that
Technology is just a way of re-arranging the world so that you don't have to experience it.

And I feel like a hypocrite writing a quote like this on my laptop and posting it on the internet. Doh.

i vant to suck your blard!

2005-08-04T18:13:00.000+12:00

My guardian angel

2005-08-04T18:07:00.000+12:00

One day I should tell you about my guardian angel.

ringa ting ching on the bling bling.

2005-07-19T20:28:00.000+12:00

i want to be a millionaire.

The Cutest Thing

2005-06-08T20:25:00.000+12:00

Two baby possums tight-roping along the power line above the street.
Aww...

Garrr ugh baaah!

2005-05-31T06:03:00.000+12:00

I have had it up to here with the word 'random'.

There is an itchy bite between my shoulder blades.

AND I can't view anything @blogspot.com on my stupid computer. But don't think you can get away with any obscene commenting... it will all come back through the grapevine... richard stinking steenhof!

Jacob the Baker - Noah ben Shea

2005-05-20T22:44:00.000+12:00

At the end of the school day, the children came and sat on the flour sacks. Jacob would sit across from the children, and they would talk.
As Jacob told his stories, he would from time to time shut his eyes. It was as if he were remembering what to say, not by searching through his mind, but by remembering what he saw....
"What do you see when you shut your eyes, Jacob?" asked a little girl.
"Well," Jacob said, "once upon a time there was a man who had a vision and began pursuing it.
"Two others saw that the first man had a vision and began following him.
"In time, the children of those who followed asked their parents to describe what they saw.
"But what their parents described appeared to be the coattails of the man in front of them.
"When the children heard this, they turned from their parents' vision, saying it was not worthy of pursuit."
Jacob leaned toward the little girl who had asked the question.
"So, what do we discover from this story?"
The children were quiet.
"I'll tell you," said Jacob.
"We discover children who deny what they have never experienced.
"We discover parents who believe in what they have never experienced.
"And from this, we discover the question is not 'What do I see when I shut my eyes' but 'What do you see when you open yours?'"

For your listening pleasure

2005-05-11T17:39:00.000+12:00

Rob Sawyer

Go to the bottom right
And you can listen
I recommend to you
'The Masses'

Funky guitar w harmonica that makes you want to tap your foot.

Meet the Flatmates

2005-05-08T21:10:00.000+12:00

If you've ever wanted to meet my flatmates, now you can. This is a photo of us last Saturday night. Can you guess what the party theme was?

Audrey's Beauty Tips

2005-05-06T15:20:00.000+12:00

For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day.

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.

As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others.

New Favourite Place

2005-05-06T15:14:00.000+12:00

Manchester Lane is, like, the coolest place in Melbourne.

that was nice

2005-05-05T12:36:00.000+12:00

Yesterday a gentleman, similar in age to me, gave up his seat for me on the train. I was a little embarrassed at first. After all why should I get the seat, there were a million (well, atleast 3 or 4) other women standing up. After gracefully accepting and feeling somewhat guilty, I began to wonder, what did this guy expect back from me? He was standing next to my seat just looking out the window as if it was no big deal. He didn't even try and strike up a conversation. And the fact that he wasn't being a sleeze made me want to chat to him!

I bet this guy has women all over town after him. After all, IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of *gentlemanly manners* must be in want of a er... never mind.

i heart crina

2005-05-02T08:44:00.000+12:00

Hello Children

First of all I would like to dedicate this post to my good friend Corina Eldershaw, my biggest blog fan... "Why did you have to stop blogging Alana?!" Corina, this one goes out to you sista!

Now I would like to share with you some glorious moments from the last couple of weeks.

As you may know Anna B came to stay with me for just over a week, just over a week ago. Anna is a blessing to have as a friend because a)she has a great sense of humour and b)she is a great encourager. and c) she just reeks of koolness.

The highlight of her stay was when her and I and Andrea were waiting for a tram at the top of the CBD so we could get down to see a (think late 80's Merc) band outside Starbucks. I thought we should just walk down, Andrea couldn't be bothered, but Anna thought it would be a nice idea to run and see if we could beat the tram. So we bid Andrea farewell and started to sprint down Swanston Street. This folks, was not an easy task as you can well imagine there are a good deal of people about in the city on a Saturday night. So there we were sprinting down the street, arms flailing madly about, weaving in and out of the masses. I must admit our running was a rather animated, ie, we were being stupid... but it must have looked great, we had lots of people cheering for us on the way down!!! Actually they were cheering for Anna "Go Blue!!"
By the time we got down to the band, we were so pumped and had lost all sense of shame/embarrassment so we had wee boogie to the music (everyone else was sitting around) and a few others starting dancing too :). I think we provided more entertainment for Melbourne that night than any band could!!!
It was such good fun, and I'd do it all over again, even if I was paid to. Er.......
Thanks Anna for coming!

Here ends today's posting.

McCrap

2005-04-29T20:35:00.000+12:00

Today I had the misfortune of trying the new turkey and cranberry sub-wannabe McDonalds roll thing with a very very extra generous amount of mayo.
Just thought you should know that I don't recommend it.

Hostage blogger

2005-04-21T12:19:00.000+12:00

Hi everyone,
I've taken over Alana's blog, or at least this posting. That's right, it's Anna B here holidaying in sunny Melbourne. It's a good place. Lots of graffiti-ed old brick buildings (nicer than it sounds) and zippy public transport system. I keep trying to not laugh too openly at the accent of the shopkeepers - they seem to have stronger accents than everyone else. We were in a clothes shop yesterday and Graham almost punched a girl with the most ridiculous Kath and Kim-ish put on voice ever. We managed to restrain him.
My being here has provided Alana the opportunity to reveal her hidden talent of cooking. Don't let her tell you she's not a good cook. Is there anything else she's good at that I don't know about?

thats a bit embarrassing

2005-03-23T17:46:00.000+12:00

the other day at after school care, a 7 year old said to me

"do you STILL bite your nails!?"

highlights from the last few dayz

2005-03-22T11:52:00.000+12:00

'who wants to win a million eggs' with Eggy McGuire, for youth group

retro ten pin bowling night

hearing Franklin Graham preach at Festival Victoria

walking to the station.

Aha syndrome - James Loder

2005-03-17T12:48:00.000+13:00

No matter how one searches with penetrating conscious analyses to make logically tight connections, the insightful resolution to conflict is always a gift that takes awareness by surprise.... This striking discontinuity at the critical juncture of the knowing event suggests intentionally cooperative intervention from a realm of reality beyond consciousness itself.

turning siamese i really think so

2005-03-15T12:37:00.000+13:00

i just ate two siamese grapes

my very good friend anna

2005-03-10T14:59:00.000+13:00

anna
will be hangin wit me for a week in april

this makes me a very happy chappy

lately i've been listening to...

2005-03-10T12:18:00.000+13:00

iron and wine

and

the beautiful girls

thats weird

2005-03-08T14:44:00.000+13:00

last night i dreamed that my flatmates heather and megan went op shopping and bought me a baby

thats not cool

2005-03-04T22:38:00.000+13:00

i often get the australian national anthem stuck in my head

FYI

2005-02-12T21:02:00.000+13:00

we had a "newspaper party" last sat

check it

what is the therefore there for?

2005-01-24T14:40:00.000+13:00

and so therefore it came to pass that alana macpherson of aotearoa had not the time nor the inclination to blog anymore

but if you want to know how she is going
please drop by for a friendly chat
or ring her on the telephone

kiaora

lately

2005-01-09T12:12:00.000+13:00

well it was a very busy week indeed
hanging out with nz sarah as well as working full time
we didn't see a mid summer nights dream but
caught up with the new tunes of joshowenband
supergreat
and had dinner at southbank - place where there are lots of nice restaurants on the south bank of the yarra river
and hung wit da owens in melton before dropping sarah to the aiport earli sat morning.

yesterday saw the incredibles. loved it.
what would your superpower be if you could have one? think i'd have healing powers, where if i was cut i could just heal.
more importantly, what supertalents do you have that you can be using right now?

why men shake hands

2005-01-06T13:22:00.000+13:00

ever wondered why?
i found this comment on a computer game website and is the best explanation:

Sinistre is the latin for Left Hand.
The history of shaking hands: The reason we shake hands is to show that we are not holding a weapon in our hands and thus come in peace. Which is why we link the word sinister in english to being untrusful, dark or grim, because in those days, the left handed warriors were not to be trusted as they could shake with their right hands and stab with their left.

'appy new year!

2005-01-04T13:57:00.000+13:00

i'm back and better than ever
doing more temp work
at the victorian institute of teaching

sarah my good friend landkroon is staying at my house this week
yay!
i have missed her so

tanya left last week :(

there's a girl who i'm temping with who has just come back from london. she'd been temping there and highly recommends it. after london she went and backpacked around europe. i like this idea.

going to see a mid summer nights dream tonight
at the botanical gardens
i am excited
msnd is my fave shakespeare play
i'll let you know how it goes

my sista

2004-12-16T19:20:00.000+13:00

hello beautiful people

just thought you should know that my baby sister from nz who is kool (and who is not a baby - 15 years old in fact), is staying at my house for 18 dayz starting last monday. woohooooo
we are going to have a blast.

look! there goes a picture
of her now... (lhs)

lovely sounds

2004-12-12T13:06:00.000+13:00

have a listen

maybe baby

2004-12-08T14:41:00.000+13:00

maybe i'll go to the UK next year

heres a photo

2004-12-07T20:31:00.000+13:00

this
is me and zac at a melton mark's bluey 21st partay on saturday night

melbourne has weord weather

2004-12-06T21:35:00.000+13:00

this i read just noo:

Current Temperature: 24 C
Forecast Max: 25 C
Warning: A severe thunderstorm warning is current for the Northern Country, North Central, Northeast, Western and Central districts until 9.30pm. A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the northern and western suburbs of Melboune.

Lucky for me i live on the east side, yo, of both country and city.

Still, there has been quite a display so far.

the grand chop

2004-12-03T12:39:00.000+13:00

yesterday morning my hair was long enough that it almost reached halfway down my back.

yikes, now its all above chin-length!!! looks all bitsy and funky now and i can do so many more creative things with it.

if a women has long hair, it is a glory to her, but it can also be a pain in the poo bum.

wha

2004-12-03T12:22:00.000+13:00

blah.

redemption - switchfoot

2004-11-30T21:12:00.000+13:00

Four A.M., two hours to go
I'm wearing out a lonely glow
I miss you more than I could know
Here I am, here I am

I've got my hand in redemption's side
Whose scars are bigger than these doubts of mine
I'll fit all of these monstrosities inside
and I'll come alive

With my fist down at your feet
I was running out of mysteries
Insecure and incomplete, here I am, here I am,
won't you get me?

My fears have worn me out

and again!!

2004-11-26T09:03:00.000+13:00

well i certainly haven't been in want of exciting things to do despite my incredible indecision and confusion over what to do next year.

excitement from the last 7 days includes
-going to the Darkside! a restaurant where you eat in the dark (the waiters wear night vision goggles).
->>>>SPEIGEL tent last friday. the friday night programme includes swing dancing, 3 or 4 circus acts from some very muscular girls and boyz, and more and more dancing for anyone who wants to bust a move 50's style. going again tnight
-going to cool anglican ch that reminded me of trinity and made me want to go there. but its too far from here to get to without a car.
-going on a free cruise up the yarra river, the river that goes through melbourne city, on a beeeeeeeeeeutiful day.

and this weekend
-going to youth group in melton
-going to 'jowenfest: the festival of fellowship'
-going to meet up with cool lecturer from canada

coolya

kitchen thugs

2004-11-26T07:30:00.000+13:00

look over here

Alana and Silvia making pizza.

oh look friday again

2004-11-19T13:00:00.000+13:00

feeling quite achy and tired
apparently i'm feeling a bit insecure at the moment
don't know when next pay cheque will be
don't have a job for next year
haven't finished my degree
don't really feel like doing anything about it
want my mum
want a hug from sarah l
want lunch

aside from that, my ears have been blessed with beautiful tunes, including goldenhorse last night - which was ok. they played for 30mins in a very intimate setting and a fair few of my aus friends even bought their cd. i think i'm owed a commission. then this morning went to hear boyd owen's music recital - my first opera experience. and now that i've had a taste of it i want more! and, i want to learn german. but i guess i better finish what i've started first.

kool kwotes

2004-11-16T16:00:00.000+13:00

i've been quote-surfing on the net
here are a few of my personal favourites:

Mothers of teens know why some animals eat their young.

Half of the people in the world are below average

Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.

My father carries around the picture of the kid who came with his wallet. (Rodney Dangerfield)

Time's fun when you're having flies." (Kermit the Frog)

*The Lord's Prayer is 66 words, the Gettysburg Address is 286 words, there are 1,322 words in the Declaration of Independence, but government regulations on the sale of cabbage total 26,911 words. -From an article on the growth of federal regulations in the Oct. 24th issue of (National Review)

I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain, no pain.- Carol Leifer

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody. Now I see that I should have been more specific. -- Jane Wagner

i'll stop there.

sacrificing for The Sacrifice

2004-11-12T16:49:00.000+13:00

this afternoon i was on the phone grumbling about how i had to go take youth group tonight instead of being able to go the work bbq with all the cool people i work with. my good friend will taylor was listening to me grumbling (poor guy) and he said
"-sigh-, the sacrifices you make for christ, eh..."

thank-you will for the wake-up call.

this i heard last sunday

2004-11-12T12:07:00.000+13:00

summer is coming. in anticipation of a beautiful (auckland) summer, mum was cleaning out the swimming pool. she had emptied most of the water out and was standing in water up to her knees. and then she felt something slither along her leg... eeeeeeeew!
after persuing the slitherer with the skimming net she discovered two long fat goldfish (atleast three times the size of the aforementioned-in-a-previous-post goldfishes).
apparently theres now a small aquarium at home, the home of one of the two goldfish. the other one died after dad accidently water-blasted it. poor fishy.

i am excited

2004-11-11T09:09:00.000+13:00

goldenhorse are playing for free next thursday just around the corner from graham's new house. i am like so totally there.

the news is a business

2004-11-09T14:47:00.000+13:00

It's amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world everyday always just exactly fits the newspaper.
------Jerry Seinfeld

i scream for ice-cream

2004-11-09T14:37:00.000+13:00

Went to an engagement party on melbourne cup day and tried some delici-mo ice-cream. mrs stokes (mother of the bride-to-be) told me how to make it. so i did. and i like it so much i think you should too.

ingredients:
- 1 L cream
- 1 can condensed milk
- flavouring (jam, chocolate chips, choc sauce, caramel sauce...)

wottodo:
1. beat the cream til thick
2. stir in the condensed milk
3. add the flavour
4. freeze it

in the batch that i made on sunday i used 600 ml of cream, about 300 ml of condensed milk and a jar of jam. but it tastes mainly of condensed milk so perhaps i'll have to work on getting the right proportions next time. i wouldn't add canned fruit 'cause then it will turn icey.
its very rich but yum yum yummy!

new and improved

2004-11-08T11:01:00.000+13:00

You may have noticed that a few things have changed over there on the 'blogs are nice' panel. allow me fill you in.
all blogs that aren't blogged on anymore - dead or dormant blogs - they have been removed. let me know if one day a blog erupts from someone i know.
starbelly's, eco-justice and jasonkill i like to read every now and then.
and
everyone should welcome james marsland, aka mars
to the world blogging. mars
is cool and good and nice.

a kindly gesture

2004-11-05T14:30:00.000+13:00

today andrea (bless her heart) bought me a cd. just like that. just for fun.

Its by a band called ApologetiX - a christian parody band. they re-do lyrics to well known pop songs and christianise them with great humouressness. Some of the hits on my new cd include 'love the jews' parody of 'Love me do' by the beatles and 'smooth grandmama' parody of 'smooth criminal'. I am looking forward to listening to it when i get home from work tonight.

yerk!

2004-11-04T13:05:00.000+13:00

This morning the lift dropped down before each time it went up. i think my bad case of liftphobia just got worse.

the weekend and some-thoughts on some-things its lead me to think about

2004-11-01T14:00:00.000+13:00

Hi. How was your weekend? Get up to anything exciting?

This is how my weekend went:

Friday: After a busy day at work I took a train to a new (for me) part of Melbourne, where the traffic was shocking but the shopping looked great. There I met the principal of South Coast Christian College. He was a friendly chatty guy and he drove me down to Leongatha (near the south coast, directly under the 'b' in 'Melbourne' on the map provided below). It took about 2 hours to get there.

When we arrived I was interviewed by five (gah!) teachers and members of the school board. It felt as though it went well. But sometimes you never can tell. I stayed the night with a teacher from the school.

Saturday/Sunday: I caught the bus back to Melbourne at 7 am. I was sad that I didn't get to check out the town and the people a little more. I arrived back in Melbourne just before 9 and caught the train out to Melton at ten past. Melton is five twelvths of the way to Ballarat (map). I used to live there, remember? From Melton we (M&M Brightwell and Sarah) drove to Swan Hill, 4 hours NNW and on the Victoria side of the Murrary River. I had another interview in Swan Hill on Sunday afternoon for a Christian school there. The people were lovely, the weather was gorgeous (36 deg!) but its only October and it gets stinking hot up there in summer. I think I'd like everything about working in Swan Hill, apart from the fact that its so far from Melbourne. I should find out whether or not they like me this weekend.

I also have two other job interviews this week. One on Wednesday and one on Thursday. One is second interview.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF NEXT YEAR. I know I shouldn't worry and that God's got something up his sleeve. But I have no idea which job I'll choose - if I get to choose. I don't know if its best for me to stay in the same area and teach at the local christian school or if I should go for swan hill where i can see myself having a great teaching experience but getting so so lonely.

Well, whatever happens, i can rest in the fact that i know where to find Pinpandoor.

folk who folk-dance

2004-10-28T16:27:00.000+13:00

leaving the train station in the evening reminds me of folk-dancing at primary school.

we all start by getting off the train together, then we go for a skip to the right, then i go right and you go to the left, meet new partner, a step in time together up the ramp, then bow to your partner and off you go home.

i wish bowing was still in vogue.

sticky the cat

2004-10-11T15:08:00.000+13:00

does anyone have a copy of Krusy's Sticky The Cat album from years back? if you do, can i have it? or a copy of it? Pleeeeease :):):)

eat fresh

2004-10-07T16:12:00.000+13:00

Recent studies conducted in the beautiful city of Melbourne have confirmed that it is actually possible to send mail using subway coupons as opposed to postage stamps.

BIG WIG

2004-10-05T18:25:00.001+13:00

We had a big party at our house on the weekend. But my friends, this was no ordinary party, this was a big WIG party.

When we decided to throw a 'welcome to the house Alana and Silvia' party a couple of months ago, I was prepared to leave it at that. But my wiser and insistent housemates decided that a wig party was just the ticket. I thought that noone would take to the theme but everyone did and it was ueberGREAT.

I wore a wig of big blonde bouncy curls. Sunny (another flatmate) wore blue plaits and her sister wore a flouro afro (my fave wig).
Jonathan Owen wore his own hair as a wig! He sellotaped his hair down then shaved it off, turned it inside out and wore it on his head. If we had prizes, I would have given him one.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable night. Lots of cool people, lots of good music, lots of bad dancing and lots of wonderful wigs!

pardon moi?

2004-09-30T17:20:00.000+12:00

er... um what?!

contract extension

2004-09-28T16:54:00.000+12:00

Wahoo
My contract at Mercer just got lengthened by 2 weeks! COOL!
I'm really enjoying the job. Everyone here is really friendly and I don't feel i get treated like a lowly dum blonde receptionist even tho I often am one. There are five or six people who stop by for a chat everyday which suits me just fine 'cause it gets a bit lonely out the front here on my own. And once a month the company shouts everyone free drinks - alright! I'm not sure if most companies do... this is my first time in the rat race and its not nearly so bad as I expected. I guess I expected cold, unrelational, people-machines. Instead, they're warm and friendly people-machines.

Yesterday I discovered the big red panic button under the desk with my left knee. Oops. Fortunately for me, the security guy is also friendly and forgiving.

Hope that you're also have a spectacular day!
Xoxox
Alana.

busy today

2004-09-27T15:42:00.000+12:00

I’m busy, busy
Terribly busy
You’ve no idea what I have to do
I’m busy busy
Shockingly busy
Much much too busy for you

oh look, theres my building + how its all going so far today

2004-09-20T17:09:00.000+12:00

this is my first day going solo at reception at mercerwealthsolutions.com.au and so far i have been run off my feet. i have no time to blog (like, obviously), write personal emails, talk on the phone and count down the minutes til hometime. i have been overburdened with phone-calls (3 today i think) and the pressure is just overwhelming. i think if it gets any worse, i just might crack. or take crack. or something.

ha, not really.

btw, did i tell you about the water feature in the foyer downstairs?
http://home.informatik.tu-muenchen.de/~wasner/Galleries/Australien/melbourne-101-collins-street-statuen.JPG if you're interested.

if you're also getting paid to do not-a-lot, gimme a holler!

2004-09-17T16:57:00.000+12:00

good afternooon
mercer wealth solutions
alana speaking...

i'm still alive

2004-09-13T15:02:00.000+12:00

i start work at "mercer h r" on thursday. (said "mercer heych har" but i shall have to teach them aussies a thing or two about correct pronounciation).
in the mean time i'm just busying myself by tring to finish assignments.

my uncle Nick had a bad fall two weeks ago. hes a builder and he fell of a two story building, fracturing his skull, bruising his brain, and breaking bones. he also had internal bleeding and spent a while in intensive care. but i am pleased to report that he is progressing well. he is in a ward now but not yet up to seeing visitors. i'm going to pop down to the xian book shop and find something nice, yet challenging for family who believe in god but not really. if you know what i mean. i'll go and visit them this weekend.

also
on my way to the supermarket with sylvia a month ago, a friendly looking white bird dive bombed poor sylvia and ruffled her feathers (ahehehe). then on wed when i was walking to the supermarket, taking the same senic bush shortcut again, i warned poor sarah brightwell about sylvias experience with that not-friendly bird. she didn't actually believe me, hehe, unitl, lo and behold the same bird of deceitful appearance gave sarah a taste of what i'd been warning her about!!!!
heheheheehe
oh so funny for me
anyone care to join me grocery shopping this thursday? i can't garantee your safety, but i can garantee exciting encounters with australain nature!

praise ye the lord

2004-09-03T23:18:00.000+12:00

my employment here in melbourne has been somewhat since i've moved back with a few casual jobs here and there to get by
but
today i got a proper job!!! its a two month contract with a company down the 'paris' end of collins street in the cbd (surrounding shops include gucci, prada, etc for lunch break shopping). this is perfect for me because it gets me through to nearly the end of the year with a bit of money for fees so i CAN graduate! hoooray!

and
andrea got given a car. YES. GIVEN A CAR! We were jumping up and down screaming a minute ago... She is a nanny and while picking up one of her kids from school she got talking to one of the mums and explained how it was a bit difficult not having a car. the mum then said something along the lines of "oh, we've got a spare one that we're not using. do you want it?" !!!
its a 1971 White V-Dub. They're quite happy for her to just use it until the end of the year or until it dies. its so cute (oh, alana you're such a girl) who cares how fast it goes... or doesn't go.

>sigh< so much good news and its only 11:00.
bring on the rest of the day!

try this for a tune

2004-08-31T19:04:00.000+12:00

click
http://www.stinaonline.com/colours/index.html
then when the ferris wheel starts spinning press stop once
and
VOILA

verse of the day

2004-08-31T17:58:00.000+12:00

John 5:4 (NIV)

i'm not a very faithful blogger, am i?

2004-08-30T12:07:00.000+12:00

I feel like I haven't had a good laugh in a long time.

I am job hunting again this week. Worked last week at my flatmates work in a fashion outlet 'cause they were pretty busy in the distribution centre.

I currently have rather long and feminine looking finger nails. I wish you could see them for yourself. I'm sure you'd be impressed.

I have just been to Melton to visit all my old Melton Boyz Ya'll. I miss everyone there! Going back to Melton was like going back home. People and trees grow older and new traffic lights pop up at old intersections, but old friends and places are still there and the smells that linger in peoples cars remind you of good old times you spent heading to 'destination: ADVENTURE!!!'

But enough about I! How are YOU?!

good idea

2004-08-23T23:18:00.000+12:00

the melbourne freeway has a transit lane that is only for veichles containing 2 or more people to encourage car-pooling. works like a charm - traffic still moves at the speed limit during rush hour... in that lane anyway.
auckland could learn from this!

silvia the cool german + other musings

2004-08-10T00:52:00.000+12:00

silvi has a blog
shes german
she writes in german
if you can read german, take a visit
http://www.livejournal.com/users/lenyah/ or click over there ->

i'm feeling quite homesick at the moment

saw a group of mungrel mob look-alikes as i was walking to andrea's on saturday night. i thought "oh crap, i should cross the road quick" as i heard "aherherher bro, eh cuz". then i thought, "hey they're kiwis! they're in black cos they're going to the ruggus too!" and i wasn't afraid anymore.
most victorian australians no knowthing about rugby. it only features in the sports news if they win.
their minds are filled with "footie footie AFL AFL"

hehe, 'ruggus'. 'footie'. and when we went to adeleide we stayed with frog and bren. gecko, tiny and dave-o were freqent visitors to the house and it seemed wrong to call them by their real names. come to think of it, we weren't introduced to them by their real names! (apart from frog/andrew)

sometimes i use too many cliches. sorry.

today was a nice day.
sunny
i have a job at an after school care programme. i loooooove working with kids again. i'm so glad i didn't take that well-paying (doh) full time (doh) office job that would have bored me to tears. (cliche) (doh)

my right foot is quite sore. might be paying (and paying for) a visit to the podiatrist v soon.

i've got a voucher for a free facial.

went to the closest presbyterian church to me yesterday. 2 mins walk. nice. quite small but definitely a lot of opportunity for me to be used in minitries which makes me excited.

i hope i'm never one of those people that complains about how bad stuff was "when i was a kid" and then never attempts a solution or wonders about the reason why things were that why then and why they should change or not be changed now.

auf wiedersehn darling!

2004-08-06T18:25:00.000+12:00

hi again everyone!

all week i have been thinking to myself "i should write that on my blog" but now that i finally have the opportunity to write, i can't think of anything really worthwhile!!! doh.

i have moved into my new flat in surry hills, east melbourne which is just over an hour away from where i was living when i was last here. its a lovely area. lots of trees and nice smelling flowers. and its only a 5 min quick-smart walk from the train station.
there are 5 of us in the flat altogether. heather, sunny, bek, silvia and me. silvia is a student from germany - the one i went up st. patties bell tower with. she is lovely and has fast become a close friend of mine. we've started doing morning devo's together. its a bit weird living with people i don't know from a bar of soap but it would be even more weird if silvi wasn't there!

anyway, hope to write more when i get a net connection. this net cafe is creeping me out.
love alana.

exciting adventures

2004-07-18T08:52:00.000+12:00

off to adelaide today to study hard for a week
so much fun has been had this week
meeting many more new people
talking to many more new people
dining with many more new people
having fun fun fun with all these new people!!!
cya in a week
wish me luck, mate

i feel no inspiration for a heading today

2004-07-14T18:24:00.000+12:00

today i went for an interview at a temp agency on the 30th floor of a building on collins street. went well ish. my excel level, apparently, is 'intermediate'. thanks mark!!!
i've had a painful headache all day since. might have had something to do with staying up til far too late playing balderdash, dressing up as LOTR elves and sleeping with my hair in a french roll. ah well, such is life.

give my love to my mother.

climbing st. patties bell tower

2004-07-12T14:02:00.000+12:00

SATurday...
wehehell, so much has happened since we last spoke.

the first exciting thing was checking out a flat for me in surrey hills, a flash suburb 20 mins train from the city. i met silvia -girl who lives there- at the station and we walked up and she showed me the flat. four other girls live there, lovely girls, rent is cheap, house is well kept, silvia is cool, they all want to lend me furnature... seems perfect! i'll look around a bit more but i'm pretty convinced already that i'll be living there.

and then
silvia invited me to go and watch her friend daniel who plays/rings bells. yes! bells! big ones the size of small cars that live in bell towers inside cathedrals. we went back into the city only to find he was playing for a large catholic wedding. so we climbed round and round, up a teeny weeny grey brick staircase at the back of the church while the beautiful sounds of geogorian chanting echoed up the stairs behind us. at the top of the stairs we were met in the ringing chamber by daniel's fellow bell ringers and they sent us up more stairs to meet daniel and friends in the bell chamber. so many chambers! from there we took a sneak peak at the wedding service from above the massive stained glass window at the inside back of the church. it was the most amazingly stunning view of rows and rows of pews of people and a bridal party. i'm sure the front of the church was atleast 100m away from us. it was like being in a beautiful big tunnel. then, after a little gallavanting along the roof of the cathedral, we went back inside to the ringing chamber where dan and fellow ringsters stole the show and played for us 3 pieces of bell music. when the peeling was all done dan took us to the very top of the bell tower. it really felt like we were at the top of the world! the wedding photos were taking place below and we could see everything and everyone, and they hadn't a clue we were there. oh, it was so good, words cannot describe... or i can't.

i went up there!!!

sore feet and a new handbag

2004-07-09T23:14:00.000+12:00

Aaahhh, here I am in the city of melbourne, relaxing all alone in Andrea, Graham and Emma's city apartment, while they, and many more kiwi kids are out for dinner. I decided I'd spent enough money for one day for someone who is jobless, so I resisted the temptation to go out. For now. Besides, my feet are aching from my hectic handbag mission, accomplished today in the most massive mall I have ever been to in my life!(think St. Lukes x10) How it is that it is so hard to find just the right handbag in an area that must have a million of them IS BEYOND ME. If all the shops stopped trying to copy each other then every second handbag would not look like a pink pencil case with '79' stitched onto it. My new prized possession has a natural cotton look with dozens of tiny orange, green and brown stars printed all over it.
Nice.

my new cellie numba

2004-07-06T21:43:00.000+12:00

+61400 422 153

i wonder

2004-07-01T10:34:00.000+12:00

what did mosquitoes and fleas eat before the fall?