Post-Christmas wrap up

We made it through Christmas with only a few minor Christmas tragedies. Christmas Tragedy number 1 – my cousin dropped my other cousin headfirst into the sand. Near paraplegia and hysteria ensued.

Unsure what heralded Christmas Tragedies 2 through 6 (my Aunts were keeping a tally), however Christmas Tragedy number 7 – Christmas eve and my parents dog terrorised my Uncles new wife’s dog. May or may not have been the reason why she (the wife) was ‘too tired’ to come to Christmas lunch?

Christmas Tragedy number 8 – For months now Triple J have been playing a song called ‘home’ by a band called ‘Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ . We have been patiently awaiting the release of their album. Two days before Christmas I miraculously found it in our local Alice Springs CD store (Christmas Miracle number 1). Nick loved it, I loved it. The tragedy ensued when Nick dropped the CD out of the rental car into a puddle in the pouring rain and then ran over it with the rental car. He phoned my (not in said car at the time) to run out and rescue the CD. The cover was ruined, however the CD itself remained unharmed and can still be played to this day (Christmas Miracle number 2).

Christmas Tragedy number 9 – Nick’s sister’s present never made it. We ordered well before Christmas and the magic of online ordering let us down. Turns out she bought the exact same gift for me (and stood in line for 4 hours to get it signed by the author) and already has a copy. So maybe, just maybe it was Christmas Miracle number 3 and not Christmas Tragedy after all.

My Christmas present from Nick, a mini-Diana! My Aunt has taken to calling me Lois Lane...

Christmas break

Heading off to NSW today for Christmas with my family, then onto Apollo Bay for a second Christmas with Nick's family. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I'll be here...

The 'Best' of the NT News 2009

Yes, this is our state newspaper......


Dishing out great headlines all year long. Surprisingly enough I haven't included a croc story.

My Place and Yours: The 'Me' Wardrobe

This weeks theme queen is Sandra and she wonders:
What's your favourite item of clothing, the one that you feel special in, the most "you" in, keep going back to, can be spotted in by friends from miles away, wear over and over and hope will never fall apart and die?

Mine is this black dress. I always feel awesome in it no matter where or how I wear it. Black is me, shift dress is me, it's me all over. It has one prerequisite, however, it must be worn with tights. So not too good for hot Alice Springs summer, but great for all other times.

Here I am at Nick's birthday ('09)

At our friend's wedding ('08)
At a poker night ('07)
PS Nick's snake skin cowboy boots are looking a lot like his 'me' wardrobe!

Becoming Xena

In October I took up the couch to 5km (C25K) challenge. I’ve dabbled in running before, heading out for my notorious run/walks which generally involved more walking than running. Through the magic of twitter I’d heard about C25K and inspired by @thedesignfiles I decided that C25K would be how I’d become ‘a runner’.

C25K is a trice weekly podcast aimed at training you to run. It starts out with small running intervals with brisk walks in between and builds to a 5k run. While in the past I never thought I’d be able to do anything like this, this time I went for ‘positive thinking’ and an ‘I can do it’ attitude (I don’t blame you if you feel like hitting me right now). Each week I went straight onto the next week not allowing myself to be discouraged by thoughts of ‘Dear God I’ll never make it’. I figured that if the program was developed to help you run then who am I to say that each stage is ‘too scary’. And guess what? It worked! I am now able to run for 30mins or 5kms without stopping!

By late November most Alice Springs days were above 36 degrees Celsius and running out doors became unbearable (not to mention the flies) so I’ve taken the plunge and joined the gym up here. Not only that, I’ve now got a weights program in addition to my cardio. I’ll be Xena in no time.

If you're feeling inspired you can download the Couch to 5k program here

Street Art Sunday

It's time I introduced you to my favourite graffiti artist, Deb. Deb's work adjoins many a laneway, door or wall in Fitzroy and throughout greater Melbourne. I love her characters and colours. Once, I got to stand near her at her exhibition opening at the Hogan Gallery - aah.

See more of her fabulous work on her flickr site - I heart Deb

He's not my dad

We saw this a few days ago on Meet Me at Mikes blog and it had us in stitches. Through falling in love with a gorgeous lady, a friend of ours over the past few years has become 'dad' to her little girl. When they first got together the daughter was only three and we tried to teach her to say 'you're not my real dad' but she had lot more integrity than us and it never stuck.

This is the work of fibre artist Erin M Riley

The image was seen on Meet Me at Mikes and is from here

Committal Hearing - Day 3

Day 3 and the hole these guys have doug gets deeper. Calls to friends just after the attack. Racist slurs hurled at campers just before the attack. Heartbreaking to hear on the news tonight that the brother of one of the accused had to testify against him as he had called his brother shortly after the attack. Heartwarming to hear of the courage of the campers in testifying about the attack on them. When you are living in a creek bed, you generally are not operating within the power structures of society. Testifying in court is a big deal for most people, let alone those who are not usually part of 'the system'.

The hearing continues.

Source: ABC News here & here

Committal Hearing

The committal hearing for the 5 guys charged with murdering Kwementyaye Ryder began yesterday and contrary to my earlier fears, the local media has not refrained from reporting. ABC News Alice Springs has posted updates through out the first two days of the hearing, see their reports here. The events of that morning as they've been told to the court are as shocking as the rumors we heard at the time.

Yet, there is still hope for town and it's people. The victim's sister-in-law stated here that she feels education on reporting incidences of racism has helped control the level of violence in town. While she acknowledges that racism does exist, on the whole she feels that 'we've got a good town here'. It is surprising, but good, to hear this optimism in the face of what has happened.

Gardening

I'm not much of a gardner. My forays into gardening have been few and far between. I buy a pot plant, forget to water it or over water it, and it dies. The End.

Since the gate has been fitted with a lock we are now parking our car off the back lane. The fence next to where we park it is ugly and the next door neighbours' porch light shines through our bedroom window making our room akin to daylight most nights. It was begging for some quick growing sunflower action.

I picked up some lovely seeds from the local big superstore, grabbed the shovel and attempted to garden. I scraped off the weeds and dead leaves from the top of the soil. Doug two small trenches. Dropped in the seeds. Covered them with topsoil. Watered them. The End. Whether they end up growing remains to be seen. I really should pen the Lazy Girl's Guide to Gardening.

My Place and Yours - Wherever I lay my hat

Wherever I roam I can't live without my pyjamas, they come with me everywhere, always the first thing to be packed. However, when I really thought about this theme, what makes my house a home, it's having Nick there with me. He makes me laugh, makes me feel comfortable, helps me celebrate, makes me happy. It's not a home without him.

This photo, from 2006, is of Nick returning home to the small place where we lived in Richmond, Victoria.

See more Wherever I lay my hat here.

Dear Miranda Devine

In response to your article 'Abbott's real trouble is the Sisterhood', I'd just like to take the chance to thank you for giving me the opportunity to re-affirm my views on feminism and abortion. It is always wonderful to read something I so thoroughly disagree with.

I fear that you may have missed the point. 'The aggresively secular, paleo-feminist, emasculating Australian broad' (by this I am assuming you mean 'women who believe in choice'?) does not appose Tony Abbott on the basis of his blokeishness, we appose Abbott due to his views on issues which greatly impact women. His views which seek to decrease our freedom and choices. Freedom and choice won by the 1970s and earlier feminists you so clearly despise.

I'd aslo like you to clarify for me a few points in your article:
Who are 'the abortion fundamentalists posing as women'?

What is their 'extremist viewpoint'?

What on earth is 'abortion on demand'? (as far as I'm aware one needs to go to their GP and then be referred to their local gynacologist and/or hospital to obtain an abortion and this is in the states where women don't have to 'prove' that continuing the pregnancy will cause physical or mental defect - not exactly 'abortion on demand')

One last thing, it is not, nor has it ever been ok for the Health Minister to infer that the current abortion level is attributed to a lack of virtue.

So yes I have a problem with Tony Abbott and I am sure many other women do too.

Sincerely,

Alli - Girl in the Pyjamas

These Days

I've been feeling fairly down the last few days and have somehow come down with a sinus infection and sore throat despite the number of vitamins I take each day. Sometimes life just sucks. So I thought I'd share some funny twitter posts from a few of the fabulous people I follow on twitter.......

“I picked up the gun and put it in my pocket. Blanche had told me about holiday dinners with her family. I wanted to be prepared. #vss”

@veryshortstory “When you get down and hopeless in life, remember: the fat kid from “Stand by Me” married Rebecca Romijn. Never give up.” @capricecrane “Here is Rule No. 1: It is not a virtue to “get kids to read books” when the books are shite.” @benpobjie “A Peruvian gang killed dozens and sold the fat to cosmetic companies. Maybe it’s mass murder…Maybe it’s Maybelline.” @capricecrane