Sunday Afternoon Reads - "Sepulchure" by Kate Mosse

Sorry for the absence of a review last week - my descent into the summer fever was fairly quick and it kicked my but for a lot longer than I had expected... showing up my lack of preparedness for once :D

Sepulchure is a novel that it is easiest to classify as a thriller. It doesn't have the graphic scenes that epitomise a horror novel but that's not necessarily a bad thing - while single I don't tend to watch horror films or read graphic novels because I have no one to cuddle me to sleep and protect me from the monsters.

The story is based in two different time periods, at the close of the the nineteenth century and the modern day. It's relatively standard "battling the forces of evil" fare although I do like the fact that the chief protagonists of both eras are female - call me sexist/feminist/gender favouritist but I do like seeing sisters kicking evil butt.

I felt that the story took a long time to get started - a lot of information before you get to the serious action. While this information all makes sense in hindsight, it made me wonder earlier on in the novel when we would meet this dark threat that you feel lurking in the background (especially in Leonie's storyline) right from the start. There are wee spells of action earlier in the novel, but then all goes relatively calm - or drama occurs off-narration - for a significant chunk of the text.

What I did love was the ingenious incorporation of Tarot into the text. While I don't really believe that cards (or stones, or palms for that matter) can predict the future or fight evil, I thought that this was the element that really pulled the novel together. It helped in uniting both timelines and added that spark of difference that made the book stand out from the crowd.

I'd give this book a "hire out from the library for your minibreak" rather than a "go out and buy".
3 stars out of a possible 5.

Forgive me, style goddesses, for I have sinned...

Since having my hair cut short about six weeks ago (which BTW, I totally love length and style) I have been resorting on multiple occasions to the humble claw clip... the humble hair accessory of the late nineties. On days where I can't be bothered styling and especially when I'm typing or writing (I can't stand to have my hair in my face), while my hair is still so short that any attempt at a bun looks really silly, it gets the twirl and clip.

I'd like to say that it's only at home, but it's not. Uni, the office... never to the bars though, I have a little more respect than that... I think.

My mother is the enabler - she used to wear her hair in claw clips for work all the time. No hair = no clips; she's not planning to grow it long even after treatment is done. So there's all these lonely claw clips just lying round the house...

If my hair got a report, it would get a "Not working to full potential" - I need to work out a cooler way of keeping back my hair without resorting to something that makes me look like I should be part of the cast of FRIENDS.

What's your daggy style secret? Share with Scribbles!

Little indulgences

It's the small things that make our days seem lighter, those gorgeous little rituals that make anything bearable. Not many of us can afford to satisfy our every material whim, but there are certain cheap things that I do that make the day sparkle brighter, regardless of what I have planned.

• Vanilla Soy Milk in my coffee - almost as good as getting a cafe coffee, also cheaper than my lactose-free milk at the moment.
• Painting my toenails - while my feet are really in dire need of a professional pedicure, painting my toenails in pretty colours makes me smile while looking at my ginormous feet.
• Lemon-flavoured V Energy Drink - okay, I know this one isn't a particularly healthy habit, but it just makes long hard days easier. Plus I just bought a case for half price... will have to ration it out.
• Organising a drawer - I get so busy that I usually end up chucking things in vaguely the right direction as I run in and out of my room. If I have time to spare in a morning before heading out, it gives me a kick to organise one of my drawers and feel like I'm a bit more sorted. Yesterday I sorted my jewellery box :D
• Slathering my body in Trilogy Everything Balm - silky soft skin and I smell like roses!

What are your special treats that make your days sparkle?

Preparedness

–noun
The state of being prepared; readiness.
Possession of adequate armed forces, industrial resources and potential, etc., esp. as a deterrent to enemy attack

And considering the nature of my blog, I'm guessing you know I'm going to talk about the first one (although I do play a mean game of Risk). If you've followed my tweets, you'll notice that I've been appallingly sick this week - in fact, today is the first day I've felt truly human again. I had one of those wretched summer fevers that makes you feel like you're boiling in the all-encompassing fires of hell while making you shiver like you've been dropped off in your panties at the North Pole. All while having to tend to myself and sponge my own brow because there was no way I'm taking these germs to Mum while she's in the middle of her chemo cycle.

Yet I've continued to post, and you've continued to comment, hopefully marvelling at how eloquently I write even though I am supposedly dying. Well, I wasn't...dying or writing marvellous posts either :D

I'm a planner... the girl who runs both paper day planners and uses Google Calendar to keep track of her committments. The girl who has the majority of her Christmas presents bought, wrapped and labelled, just waiting for a more appropriate time to give them out to people. The girl who starts writing her Christmas cards in the middle of November. And the girl who also auto-schedules posts three days out for her blog, just in case something happens.

I was talking to my mother about this last week and she didn't quite understand. I set her up on a blog a couple of months ago and she uses it to keep her geographically dispersed relatives in the loop about how she's going with her cancer treatments. I explained to her that its sort of different - a lot of my topics are generalised, I can talk about them on Tuesday or I can talk about them on Thursday and it's no big deal. Her blog is really "slice of life" - it's about how she is feeling and treatments she is having on a particular day. If I have something that I decide I really want to urgently communicate to you guys, I just change the day of scheduled posting out and impart my important urgent news to you all :D And it means that you get to enjoy my company, even when I'm not enjoying my own.

Preparedness just seems to be part of my personality, is it part of yours? What ways do you get organised?

Literary Inspiration - 26th November 2008

“Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will be powerless to vex your mind.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci isn't the first person to leap to mind when you think of writers - he's far more renowned for his brilliant painting abilities and to a certain extent, his technology. I went to a brilliant exhibition in Christchurch earlier this year called "Da Vinci's Machines: The inventions and designs of a genius". In true Renaissance Man tradition, however, Da Vinci was also a fanatical observer of nature and human life, writing screeds of journal work in mirror script. I like the thought of having a Renaissance attitude - learning about everything that fascinates you, rather than just fitting inside the box.

I have huge patience problems. I don't mind admitting that. I want the whole enchilada and I want it right now! I think that's part of the reason that I'm a meticulous planner (I'm now wondering whether that's why the women in the gift shop asked if I was a Virgo) - if I can't have it now, I want to know exactly when I'm going to have it. I do need to chill out some times though - appreciate that not everyone has the same driven inner time line as I do. And I'm definitely going to have to learn patience before I start sprogging any little doodles. I think what's important to learn is that patience has a time and place - as Leonardo says, when you need it to deflect the pain against wrongs. Be patient after a break up, that the guy who is worthwhile will come at the right time. Don't be patient when it comes to seizing the good stuff though - run out there and grab it with both hands!

Sensitive Skin...

And by this, I don't mean I have an skin that doesn't respond well to criticism :D

I was a late bloomer in my teens; as a result of this, my skin cleaning regime was... well, non-existent. I didn't have the problems with pimples and acne that my friends had, my boyfriend at the time preferred me without makeup on so I didn't worry about clogging pores. I washed my face when I washed my hands, and that was about it. It worked for me right up until the end of high school.

Roll in the uni years. Poor diet combined with undiagnosed PCOS and my skin was at the worst it has ever been. It was never the cystic acne that I know other teens have had to deal with, but it was pretty horrific for me. Combine that with being at my fattest and having these inexplicable (at the time) abdominal pains and I felt revolting! I tried the usual supermarket brands but they didn't do much... I just resigned myself to having zitty skin. I figured it was a punishment for the awesome skin I'd had during my teens.

I started my marketing and PR career and was introduced to the skin care brand Dr.Hauschka. It's more than just a cleanse, tone, moisturise routine - there's a deeper philosophy behind all the treatments. I tell you what, being told to use a moisturising oil on my already oily skin was the most bizarre thing I'd ever heard - but it worked. Every time I had a break out, I'd prime my skin with Normalising Day Oil mixed with RejuvenatingMask and layer my foundation on the top. By the time that I'd take my foundation off at night it was like "BAM... and the pimples are gone" (bonus points if you get that reference). I'd found a solution that really worked. Once my skin was more normalised I switched to the Rose Day Cream Light. Rose oil has a balancing effect on my naturally combination skin.

Fast forward to the start of 2008. BIG problem. I left my full time job and suddenly that price point seemed way beyond what I could justify. While Dr.Hauschka isn't as hideously expensive as products like La Mer, it is imported from Germany and created from organic and biodynamically grown ingredients and the price reflects this. Back to the supermarket brands I went... and my skin went crazy. It felt like this one particular product I had used had actually chemically burnt my skin. In desperation I ran to the pharmacy to find something to soothe my skin and purchased the Trilogy Everything Balm. I was looking for something that would superhydrate my skin and let me move my jaw without feeling like part of my face was going to split off. It worked! More to the point, it was a lower price point than I had expected. I decided to purchase the range to use and I've never regretted it. I'm still yet to work out the miracle concoction like I had for Dr.Hauschka, but my skin is much happier with me :D

What's your skincare routine? Do you have any secret potions that work for you?

Awkward Situations

Ever get into those awkward situations where you just don't see an easy way of getting out of it without either embarrassing yourself or others? This happens to me A LOT.

Example A: When people ask how PCock and I know each other. While this may sound like a straight forward question, PCock and I actually met online, in a support network for people who have polycystic ovarian syndrome (or PCOS for short) which isn't the "Oh, we went to high school together/worked together/met through friends" answer that people are looking for. We became friends because we both have munted ovaries... and multiply that awkwardness by a factor of a million if its a guy that's asking.

Example B: At a baby shower for one of the girls at church, we play a game where an excerpt from a song using the word baby or mother is played and the teams have to guess the song. Cue song and
Scribbles : "Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-lot".
Reverend's wife (writing it down): "I'm not sure I know that song, by Sir Mix-a-lot you say?".
Scribbles: "Ah, yeah... it's on Shrek..."
Reverend's wife: "Oh okay, what's it about?"
Scribbles inner monologue: Oh she did NOT ask that question. I am going to die. I have to tell a Reverend's wife what Baby Got Back is about?
Scribbles: "Ah, it's sung by a gentleman about his appreciation of women with large derrieres. And as a woman with a large derriere, I can appreciate his appreciation of women with curves. Very good for a woman's self esteem to know all men don't like stick figures"

As you can see from example B, I tend to go for the diplomatic and tactful reply even while praying that I'll just dissolve into dust. What awkward situations have you got yourself into lately? How did you deal?

Apologies Scribblettes

My shoulder is out again and I can't type for sustained periods of time so Sunday Afternoon Reads will arrive tomorrow.

Love,

Scribbles

Saturday Afternoon of Love

• The view out my bedroom window at the moment - the garden is in full bloom and it can be very hard to concentrate on what I need to do when I get to gaze out on such beauty.
• On that note, the crazy beautiful weather that New Zealand has been having for the last few weeks - it hasn't been sunny ALL the time, but close to it.
• The fact that my exams are over! It means that I don't feel guilty when I am doing other things and feel like I should be studying
• Having the money to do beautiful things for my friends - I really appreciate the thought of being stewards rather than owners of our money, and the importance in how we spend that money in the world.
• In saying that, I also love this bag I managed to eyeball in Downtown Shopping Mall. It will make the perfect cabin bag in my travels next year.
  
• Getting to really know people - both new friends and deepening friendships with friends I already have.
• And this is hammering yet another nail into the anonymity coffin, but the biggest thing I'm loving this week is that my mum entered a magazine competition for breast cancer stories... and WON! The prize is flights and five nights at the Peppers Resort in Northern Queensland but possibly even more exciting is the fact that she will be interviewed by the magazine, raising awareness for her particularly rare type of breast cancer - Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The opportunity to get her story and that information out to about 1 million New Zealanders is completely priceless.
  

Christmas Cards!

Photo Credit to Kakapo2 - it's Pohutukawa, the NZ Christmas Tree!

I know, I know, you guys are thinking "What is this woman rabbiting on about? It's not even December yet!". Well aside from being it established many, many years ago that I am a Christmas nut, I'm also a big fan in being prepared ahead of time. I'm one of those annoying people who has almost finished her Christmas shopping (apart from the ingredients for the h0memade portions) and at the time of this post, I will have been working on my Christmas Cards for the best part of a week.

A week, you say? Man, that Scribbles is a slow writer. Just as well she types this blog, otherwise we'd get a new entry once every month. Hee hee. Just kidding. I use my Christmas cards as an opportunity to tell people the ways in which they've influenced my life, why I'm grateful for them and how important their friendship has been to me that year. I throw a "Merry Christmas" in there for good measure but as the Love Actually quote goes "If you can't say it at Christmas, when can you say it?". I don't buy Christmas presents for everyone, but hopefully they find my words give them warm fuzzies that are equally as valuable. The end result is that each card takes me at least five minutes to compose and write, and if they're really awesome it may take even longer!

So Scribblers and Scribblettes, when sending out your holiday greetings, think about more than just wishing them a "Merry Christmas" and let your recipient know exactly how much they mean to you. And if anyone would be keen to do a Christmas card exchange, leave your email address in the comments and let's get posting!

Funk Update

Had an awesome time last night - $4 drink night is always a good time, combined with feeling silly and acting crazy. Stomach feeling slightly seedy this morning but considering it a price well paid for a perkier mood this morning and fun times with friends.
*PCock's face smudged to protect her dignity. Plumber's facial obscurity all his own work.

Best way to get out of a funk?

Photo Credit

Make plans with one of your best girls to go to a bar on a school night... and put out an open invite on your facebook allowing people to come and celebrate/commiserate/just drink for no damn reason whatsoever with you. Dangerous? Will let you know.

Pointless Depression

I just have to share with you guys how silly I am when it comes to that silly old thing called "Money". Being at home I've been able to save a lot of money over the last six months and stop living such a hand-to-mouth existence. I've been happy about the way that my bank accounts/credit card/general financial existence looks healthier and it's allowed me to make exciting plans for the future (January holiday to Christchurch, July holiday to Sydney) as well as cover my irregular expenses - I have a separate account I put money aside in for this, and it covers things like car registration, WOFs and general larger item purchases.

A week ago, I had to fork out some money for car registration (which I'd saved money for, and needed urgently as it had expired already -oooops), some presents (which I had saved money for and were on sale at an insanely cheap price and also needed to be purchased before Christmas) and tickets to Christchurch for January holiday (which I had saved for and were on an insane discount, almost 20% off regular cheapest price). I had plenty of money earmarked for all of this, plus my weekly spending and it was lovely to just be able to make all the necessary payments without having to do a lot of mental mathematics to make sure I'd be able to survive.

That was until I opened up my online banking a couple of days later to make an electronic transfer. My heart just dropped. Where had all my money gone? The hysterical thing is that most of it was still right there. I was all depressed because my account balances were lower than they had been, even though I was only spending money on things I had already earmarked it for. I'm not living on the bones of my butt but it just made me feel so poor. Regardless of how much money I earn in future, I don't think I'm ever going to feel any different about this.

Do any of my readers have this problem? This pointless depression at watching numbers go down even when it is for things you have already planned? Or am I a miserly nutcase?

Literary Inspirations - 20th November, 2008

"Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love" - George Eliot.

We can see this truth in our lives all the time... ever wanted to see your ex after you've broken up even though you're so pissed? Hang out with a friend who you are particularly envious of? Anger and jealousy, like love, usually require someone else to trigger the emotion, someone else to pin the emotion upon and sustain it. When the other person refuses to play the game or participate, or the situation changes, its hard to sustain it. In some ways anger and jealousy are even worse at sustainability than love... we can claim that absense makes the heart grow fonder, whereas anger and jealousy die when the target is out of sight.

George Eliot was a controversial character in her time. Born Mary Ann Evans, her introduction to more liberal theologies and her refusal to attend church caused a rift between her and her family. A move to London in 1850 saw her adopt a literary career, assisting an editor under the name Marian Evans and associating in a largely male literary world. A single woman taking a strong role in a male-dominated lifestyle was bound to attract ill attention, and whether true or not, connections were made between her and several of her close male colleagues. One attraction, however, had her family refuse to speak to her.

Marian Evans fell in love with George Lewes. Who was married. He had an open marriage with his wife and, whilst they had three children together, she also had several children with other men. Because one of these illegitimate children had his name, George was unable to divorce his wife under grounds of adultery. What was Marian to do? She pursued the relationship anyway, George becoming her lover, confidante and publicist all in one. He helped her get published under her pseudonym George Eliot - victorian novels such as Middlemarch, Adam Bede and my personal favourite The Mill on the Floss. While she lived a life of scandal, her literary genius was enough to bring around most of "polite society" and she lived out her days as one of the eccentric doyennes of English Literature.

Starstruck!

Apologies in advance, Wellheeled, if this makes you blush! But this just goes to show how awesome you are!

Yesterday I was reading through my Google Reader and one of the bloggers that I have been following since I first had an RSS reader (and even a little beforehand) had written what I considered an excellent article. I'd lurked on her blog for the longest time but I'm a big fan of letting people know when they have blown me away with their truth and honesty and felt I had to comment.

I got back to work and later that afternoon I looked at my gmail... Wellheeled had commented on my page? NO.FREAKING.WAY! And she liked my blog?? It was like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy had all shown up on my desk and invited me to a party. I struggle to explain it but when someone that you have admired for so long thinks that you are worth admiring... crazy wonderful. I know that Miss Corrine experienced this recently when Lady Melbourne commented on her blog. It's a hyper-validation of what you do.
The hilarious thing is this. You know Well-heeled? She's just a person. Like you, like me (albeit extraordinarily good at saving) - as the saying goes, she hops into her pants one leg at a time. It's the interesting thing about the blogosphere. You can anonymously read people's blogs and be excited and amazed by them, building up to this superhuman status when they are really normal people. I'm pretty sure if I saw Gala Darling in the street I would pass out, but while she's a spectacular specimen of a human being, she's still a human being.

I'm still pretty much gobsmacked whenever anyone comments on my blog to be perfectly honest... I clasp my hands to my chest and think "They like me, they really, really like me!". So comment if the feeling inspires you! I love to hear it.

Sometimes this happens in real life too... I leave you with this story...

My dad has worked in the same company pretty much all his adult life. As part of his roles over the past fifteen years, he's liaised with the CEO of a company in Germany (we'll call him Arnie). Arnie would come over every year and take my dad, some colleagues and their wives out for dinner. My parents would gussy themselves up and head out for dinner in some of Auckland's finest restaurants. We'd wake up in the morning and the parents would show us the gorgeous gifts that Arnie had brought, which always included something beautiful for my mother (expensive perfume, fine china, etc). Arnie would call our home about every three months and my parents would laugh and joke away over long-distance, even talking about what we were up to at school. Needless to say, Arnie became a Santa Claus figment in mine and my sister's eyes... someone who came and brought our parents wonderful presents.

About five years ago, Arnie came on his annual visit. My youngest sister was very sick and my mum couldn't go out to dinner! As Arnie had brought his daughter on this trip, Dad asked me whether I would like to take Mum's place at the dinner. Would I?? Even at eighteen, and supposedly worldly, I would have chewed my right arm off (and that's the one I write with) to be allowed to go. I dressed up in the prettiest clothes I owned, and went out to this beautiful restaurant in Parnell, so flash that I didn't even have to open the door to the restroom (the wait staff move swiftly to ensure you don't have to lift a finger). And I met Arnie. Who was a wonderful, friendly guy, but it was a little like meeting the Easter Bunny in the flesh. I was a little bit starstruck and needed a chocolate martini to calm my nerves. By the end of the night we were chatting away like old buddies! And to this day, Sister#1 is hideously jealous that I got to meet Arnie, because he's still Santa Claus to her.

A bit of a mutt article...

There's several little bits and pieces I want to catch you guys up on so I figured I'd smush them all into one article for your reading pleasure.

I am now study free until February next year! I finished my last exam this morning and while it wasn't quite what we'd been led to expect, I think that I did fairly well. I'm getting really excited about next year already - the teaching papers were the entire reason that I left my full time job, so it will be exciting to finally start them. I spend seven weeks per semester teaching next year (which means new wardrobe!) and then I'll be a certified high school teacher. Not a registered one, however, you need to teach for two years to get that.

I am so grateful to have my job. This does not mean I love my job all the time - there are definitely times where I find it less than perfect - but it gives me the money I need to live my life and a little bit more. One of my friends has quit her job at very short notice (believe me, totally justified) but now has barely enough to keep a roof over her head, let alone feed herself. My job enabled me to have the money to chip in with friends to provide her with some grocery vouchers and petrol vouchers to get by. And hopefully she finds a new job soon! I can't imagine how scary that must feel.

I saw the movie "Traitor" on the weekend and it was AH-MAY-ZING. Starring Don Cheadle, whose a talented guy, and a brilliant support cast, it has the bombs and explosions that guys love with the serious mind-fuck (! - pardon my language, but its true) that us girls tend to like. It's got a islamic terrorism plot and it was really interesting to see that from a different perspective than the Western Christian perspective that us kiwi/british/aussie/american girls are used to hearing on the news. Not bad for a "hey, we're at the mall, let's see what's on at the movies" pick.

I think fascination is a great basis for the start of a new relationship. For you loved up couples out there, what was the overwhelming emotion of your "courtship"?

BTW... love the word "courtship"

I love Billy Joel - the song "She's Always a Woman to Me" was just on the radio at work and I danced around the office swirling my skirt out to it. My sister and I used to walk to school singing "Sing us a song, you're the piano man, sing us a song tonight, well we're all in the mood for a melody and you've got us feeling alright". That and Little River Band's "The Other Guy"... it's funny how your early music tastes are so influenced by what your parents listen to. And I bet that my parents wished that they had a video camera when my sister and I did a can can rock musical number to "Bohemian Rhapsody"!

I had the worst indigestion before my exam this morning. I had chest pains and thought that it was maybe a sign of an anxiety attack (I've heard they have similar symptoms to heart attacks) and thought it was weird because I wasn't THAT nervous. Sure enough as I was sitting in the exam room I hear my stomach start to burble-urble-urble-urble - REALLY LOUD. Quelle embarrassment. At least I didn't belch. That would have pissed people right off. There was a girl in the exam that kept clearing her throat so loudly it sounded like she was dry retching... that was annoying.

I was at the mall the other day - I know, what a surprise - and saw a new shop being fitted out. The billboard said "Smiggle coming soon". It stuck in my head so vividly because it made me think about the whole Lady and Mr Smaggle and Mr. Smaggle's brother Mr. Squiggle thing so I had to look it up on the web. Turns out it's a gorgeous stationery shop. Now lord knows I love me some Kikki.K and some Nut and Bee, but I feel like this feels an unsatisfied niche in my stationery fetish market :D

You can look forward to daily posting for at least the next four to six weeks! I make a conscious effort to never go more than a couple of days without posting, but with uni over and full time work a wee while away you guys get more Scribbles! Hooray!

Sunday Afternoon Reads - Tom Stoppard's "Arcadia"

This week we move to a contemporary playwright, Tom Stoppard. Also famous for such plays as "Jumpers" and the alternate story of Hamlet "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead", "Arcadia" contains an equal if not superior amount of wit to these plays and provides really belly-aching laughs in a world of canned laughter and sitcoms.
The excerpt I included this week in "Literary Inspirations" comes from the early scenes of the book. Septimus is the tutor of young Thomasina, a precocious young girl who is extraordinarily scientifically gifted - a peculiar talent for a person of her age and gender in 1809. Even those who haven't read the play may be familiar with one of Thomasina's quotes:

If you could stop ever atom in its position and direction, and if your mind could comprehend all the actions thus suspended, then if you were really, really good at algebra you could write the formula for all the future; and though nobody can be so clever as to do it, the formula must exist just as if one could.

The 1809 story line is a delicious mix of this simplistic stating of complex scientific theories (including the pudding bowl/second law of thermodynamics analogy) and hysterically funny interactions between the characters. Another layer of interest is laid on with the introduction of the parallel modern day story. The two storylines take place in the same location (a Derbryshire country house) but in different times. They explore similar things - search for understanding, search for truth, sex, heat - in the ways that the characters mix and relate with their time contemporaries. It is only in the final scene that the times truly collide in a poignant waltz depicting relationships that can never be - unrequited love forever.

This play is beautifully written and I would give my left arm/Care Bear Penguin/suede wedges to see it performed live, although I understand the thespian criticism that it is almost impossible to get an actress who can play the role of Thomasina to a convincing degree - you would need to find someone that looks young enough but is also a really old soul. Go out, buy, beg, borrow or steal (not that I'm condoning theft) this play and give it a read - you'll be entertained and in love, guaranteed!

5 stars out of a possible 5 (and I can promise you won't see this very often)

Book Giveaway! "Sushi for Beginners"

Upon trying to organise my room this morning (and in particular the corner that functions as my "library") I decided that as much as I love all my books, some of them need to find new homes. It's all part of the circle of life, the baby bird grows up and leaves the nest, etc, etc. So I thought that I would run a series of little giveaways of my little babies and find them new homes.

Up this week is the recently reviewed Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes. To be in to win, just leave a comment in the comments section along the lines of "Yay, pick me, pick me!" or something similar.

Some terms to note:

1. I will post this book to anywhere, so please enter even if you live on the complete opposite side of the world to me. In fact, I'd get a kick out of thinking that my book had to catch a truck and a plane and a bike and a donkey to get to you
2. If more than one person comments I will use a random number generator to pick the winner.
3. Bribery will not be accepted - I run a clean house here, people!

Okay lovelies, hop to it. I'd love for this book to find a new home :) Hope you have a magical weekend. I know I'm hoping to ;)

From the Lady Smaggle files... come sit with me!

Lady Smaggle just filled out this wicked meme today so I will post my answers on my page!

1. Were you named after anyone? Sort of, mum went to school with another girl with my name and then stole it. She had mine and Sis #2's names (first and second) picked out when she was 15

2. Do you still have your tonsils? Sure do!

3. Would you bungee jump? Why not? Will you pay me to do it?

4. What is your favorite cereal? Toast and marmite :P

5. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Not if I don't have to - how efficient.

6. What is your favourite ice cream? Can't eat the real stuff so it would have to be Chocolate So Good Soy Ice Cream.

7. What is the first thing you notice about people? The way they move usually. Guess that comes from being a dancer for so long.

8. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My thighs - I don't mind the Kim Kardashian butt as much as I hate the ham hock look at the tops of my legs.

9. What was the last thing you ate? Chicken, rosemary and garlic potatoes and salad.

10. What are you listening to right now? The birds tweeting in the window outside my toom

11. Last movie you watched? Mamma Mia - my mum's just got the DVD to ease her Pierce Brosnan fetish.

12. What did you dream about last night? Nothing. That's not too unusual for me. Either I have dreams I can't recall at all in the morning or I have these crazy

13. What book are you reading? As in just one book? LOL what amateurs. I'm still in revision mode so I'm reading the story of "The man who mistook his wife for a hat", "Arcadia" and "Pale Fire"

14. Summer or winter?I have to say I love them both equally, and at some point during them I start to bitch that I wish it was the other one. Autumn cause then it's my birthday!

15. Do you have any special talents? Other than a scathing wit? Nothing exceptional pops to mind. People when they are around me seem to want to tell me their secrets :D

I tag: Any of you lovely readers! I want to know more about you! Leave a message in the comments letting me know you've done it!

Pets and Peeves

Pet: The cafe that I went to for lunch today and the gorgeous people who entertained me and listened to me moan for an hour.

Peeve: The overwhelming "tireds" I am feeling today making me a bit nauseous and not that hungry. The carrot cake muffin I had was delicious, but I would have like to have tried one of their meals

Pet: The gorgeous sunset I can view out the windows at work.

Peeve: That I am at work, I am usually okay with this but am so tired (see above) and all I want to be doing is lying in bed sleeping right now.

Pet: Getting emails that I've been waiting for.

Peeve: Not being able to do anything with those emails because the websites that I need to action are blocked on the work computer.

Aside: Why block universally anyway? As long as I meet deadlines and do everything I am asked, what is the issue? My position is one in which a large percentage of my job is just being on site, rather than active work. Ah well, at least they haven't banned Blogger and Twitter yet.

Pet: Lunch out with a friend tomorrow, a couple of errands paying off things I have purchased and going to a show tomorrow night with free tickets.

Peeve: Having spent money on plane tickets to Christchurch for end of Jan and on trying to finish off my Christmas shopping, I am SO poor. Not on the bones of my ass or anything, but my bank accounts look considerably less healthy. Going to have to tighten my belt over Dec, when I only have part-time income and no student living costs.

Pet: Going to Christchurch at the end of Jan - my cousin and friend down there are already in the process of planning a fantabulous weekend for me. If you are a reader from ChCh and you'd like to meet up, let me know - that would be wonderful.

Peeve: Crud, I just had a thought - my car registration might be expired. *Runs outside work to take a look. Crud, it is!* I have been driving around for almost a week with an invalid rego. Add to list of things to do tomorrow.

Pet: Being asked to take a dance class if it works in with my uni and normal work shifts next year - heck yes! How fun!

Peeve: Uni not being over yet - still have one exam on Sunday but it is so long since we had classes that it is really hard to get into the studying habit.

Pet: All you wonderful people who read and comment on my blog - it makes me feel extra special gooey loved!

Peeve: Not being able to get Google Analytics running on this site (I am a techno-spaz) - I want to know about you shy guys out there that don't comment as well!

Literary Inspirations - 12 Nov 2008

1809, in a large country house in Derbyshire, we enter halfway through the scene:

Chater: I have heard of your admiration, sir! You insulted my wife in the gazebo yesterday evening!

Septimus: You are mistaken. I made love to your wife in the gazebo. She asked me to meet her there, I have her note somewhere, I dare say I could find it for you, and if someone is putting it about that I did not turn up, by God, sir, it is a slander.

Chater: You damned lecher! You would drag down a lady's reputation to make a refuge for your cowardice. It will not do! I am calling you out!

Septimus: Chater! Chater, Chater, Chater! My dear friend!

Chater: You dare to call me that. I demand satisfaction!

Septimus: Mrs Chater demanded satisfaction and now you are demanding satisfaction. I cannot spend my time day and night satisfying the demands of the Chater Family. As for your wife's reputation, it stands where it ever stood.

Chater: You blackguard!

Septimus: I assure you. Mrs Chater is charming and spirited, with a pleasing voice and a dainty step, she is the epitome of all the qualities society applauds in her sex - and yet her chief renown is for a readiness that keeps her in a state of tropical humidity as would grow orchids in her drawers in January!

-Tom Stoppard, Arcadia, 1993

Stream of Consciousness as I leave work on a Tuesday night...

Man, why did I park so far away... duh, because there were cars closer when you arrived.
*singing away eighties song acapella*
Hmmm maybe I shouldn't leave the car engine running while I lock the gate considering the break-in in the area yesterday
LOL who cares... if they stole my car, it would be them that got the bum end of the deal
*hop back in car singing eighties song again*
Hee hee, me hitting that note sounded just like a dog howling
Ah crap, I just stalled the car because I was distracted with the laughing
Mmmm... fish and chips... so my favourite takeaway... no wonder I have a fat ass.
Why is that asswipe parked so far over? Do I have room to squeeze past him to the petrol pump?
It appears that I do.
Long line... oh look, Kings of Leon CD
*deal with petrol station attendant*
Damn this car is taking a long time to fill up...
where is the scrubby windscreen brush? Man, I've been gipped... no windscreen brush for Scribbles :(
Better turn the radio on before I pee myself laughing at my "diva singing attempt"
No one could ever seriously call me "Shorty" - I am a giant...
Like Andre the Giant, from Princess Bride...
pretty sure that wasn't his name in the movie.
All I can remember is "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die!"
Sigh, I am such a child of the eighties.
Whatever happened to bike shorts? In the general populace I mean, not in the cycling afficianado sort of way.
Okay dickhead, stay in your own lane buddy. (Yes, I have a dirty cussing brain - I try very hard to filter what comes out of my mouth though)
*some quick mental calculation of where my money is disappearing to this pay check - it should be in my account when I get home*
Man I'm thirsty... what do I want? Do I need to turn left and head to the supermarket rather than right and head home? Nah, I want juice, and there's plenty of that at home.
Oooh look at that, I'm speeding. Better slow down a bit.
My street... I could drive it with my eyes shut and that would probably scare everyone because it's quite windy.
Man, I suck at parallel parking. Eck, bite me.
Hello cat!

An insight into my frazzled brain at close to eleven at night. Hope you enjoyed!

Sunday Afternoon Reads - "Sushi for Beginners"

Just thought I'd start out with something light and fluffy, possums! The novel "Sushi for Beginners" by Marian Keyes is an ideal read for a weekend after a hectic week... it's not too complex and doesn't require your full and absolute attention to read.
Set in Dublin, the novel follows a fairly standard Keyes formula, following three heroines as they struggle through life and love, triumphing against their personal adversities. In true chick lit fashion, it shows the ugly side of the beautiful people and the inner beauty of those that tend to be passed over. Lisa is displaced, having moved from the buzzing metropolis of London to a start-up fashion magazine, with the added stress of an impending divorce. Ashling struggles with the aftermath of a childhood of a mentally ill mother and the woe of a very mundane life. Clodagh is gorgeous and appears to have the perfect life but she isn't satisfied...
A lot of the action in this novel is fairly predictable, especially in the first half of the novel. Keyes redeems herself in later scenes when the resolution to the twist is not entirely what you are expecting. She has a habit of leading you down the wrong path before quickly killing off that particular arc of the plot - this can lead to quite a jarring reading experience but adds some excitement to a plot that would be otherwise average. We know that those who deserve a happily-ever-after will receive it.
One thing Ms. Keyes excels at in this novel is fleshing out her secondary characters so that they become characters that we can know and love. We see the flashing debonaire smile of Jack Divine; we smirk at Trix, the punk rock receptionist that smells of fish (thanks to her "fish-mongrel" boyfriend); our heartstrings are pulled by Boo, the homeless intellectual that Ashling takes under her wing.
It may sound harsh, but the best way to describe my experience of this book was that it was "perfectly adequate". I wanted something light to break up the heavy reading of university texts and this fit the bill. It's not the most complex novel I'd ever read, but you wouldn't expect it to be. In saying that, I felt that "Sushi for Beginners" is in the shadow of some of Keyes' more emotive works - "Anybody out there?" in particular. A pick-up-from-the-library read as opposed to a must purchase.

2.5 stars out of a possible 5.

Saturday afternoon of Lurve... Nov 8 edition

• 
• Girls nights out - there's just something nice about chatting with your girls that doesn't seem to happen when guys are around. It's not that chatting with guys isn't equally as awesome, it's just different and nice.
• On that note, having and exercising the right to vote! Woke up this morning a little worse for wear but strapped on my walking shoes and wandered down to the local school to vote. I'm not going to go into who I voted for and why (I've had enough of those conversations to last me the next three years!) but I feel blessed that here in NZ we have the right to fair and unprejudiced elections and that women have had the right to vote for 115 years!
• The new shop at one of my favourite malls, T2! More on this spectacular shop later!
• Costume parties... and being able to whip a fabulous costume up out of what I already have.
• Going to the beach and playing with doggies... speaking of which, gotta jet! Have a fabulous Saturday guys!
  

Villa Maria Cult Couture Preview Night

As one of the thrilling perks of working under an arts directorate, I scored free tickets to the annual Cult Couture awards - a sort of mash-up between wearable art and couture displays you might see at fashion week. Despite the opening night glitches that had the stage manager in me cringing (and that were mutually bitched about by our performing arts director and I), the show provided an opening for many amateur fashion designers to get their names out there in a very public way. The quality of the entries were pretty spectacular, and I've chosen a few of my favourites to share with you guys. Two entries that I loved unfortunately did not photograph well under the harsh light - a black dress with stunning sparkly detail did not agree with the lighting, and the jacket with fantail inspired train had a similar disagreement because of the sheen of the material.
Number 1 - simple black jersey material, beautifully draped and even more beautifully modelled. This dress could have so easily have fallen into the amorphous blob category but instead the model carried it off like a regal Grecian! Can I be her?
Number 2 - cross culture! A wonderful evening gown combining both Maori and Japanese elements. I particularly love the sunset coloured obi!
Number 3 - very natural and earthy, and I love the unexpected hood to the outfit! She looks like an ethereal dryad, in the best possible way.
Number 4 - a different take on the bubble skirt. I think the haphazard draping of the skirt gave the model more shape. I'm not usually a fan of the bubble skirt but this I like.
Number 5 - I'm such a red girl and I love the print on this skirt. I would have preferred the skirt to flow rather than gather, but nonetheless it's still spectacular.
Number 6 - this particular model has an incredible tattooed sleeve running down her arm. She seemed to get some of the more intriguing outfits of the show, including a pirate-inspired minidress in the "Flight of Fancy" category and a punk gothic outfit. I like how this dress shows how tattoos are just as "at home" in formal evening wear.
Number 7 - this outfit is hot and this model is even hotter. Permission to eat him?
Number 8 - the winner of the "Matrimonial Bliss" category and also the supreme winner of the competition. The dress is completely hand woven out of flax and painted with Tatau designs. So much effort must have gone into this!

The entertainment between categories was amazing too - aerobatic tap dancers, beautiful singers and a cross-dressing Tina Turner! Couldn't have asked for a better night :D

Wow, 100 posts! New Directions!

It seems like just yesterday that I was starting this blog, with no idea what it was going to be. Inspired by the great "personality" bloggers that I had read so far - Gala Darling, Gilda Su - and some of the wonderful personal finance pages in the Blogosphere - The Simple Dollar and the currently-on-hiatus "An English Major's Money" - I wanted to see what I could do.

As much as I drool over Super Kawaii Mama's vintage styling, covet Lady Smaggle's divine accessories and wish I had the thrifting nous of one Miss Nubby Twiglet, any "Daily Style Outfit" post of mine would be "Hey! Look, she is wearing the only pair of pants she has that fit her since she threw out all her really fat clothes - AGAIN!". I try to dress things up and wear them creatively but I'm not hesitant to admit that there are days when I rush out the door to uni in a hoodie, black pants and sneakers. At this stage of my life, I think I'm definitely the follower, rather than the fashion icon.

As much as I like to put my two cents in, I'm not really an advice giver either - and I know of at least two gals that do a far more spectacular job of answering your questions than I could! The lovely Miss Corrine and Tres Lola are brilliant at delivering you cosmetic reviews and handy hints regarding life, the universe and everything...

Which leads me to what I've been dwelling on recently, coming up to my 100th post - what's my niche? If you picked it up at the end of the last paragraph (bonus points if you get the reference!), what I know inside out and back to front is BOOKS. I am the original bookworm, devouring at least one book a week. While this blog is going to retain my random mulling over and philosophical conjecture, I would like to introduce two regular features!

Drum roll please...

Sunday Afternoon Reads
Once a week, on a Sunday, I will be publishing a book review. This will be a completely independant book review, taking into account my personal enjoyment of the book rather then the surplus hype. I will be open to recommendations of books that I should read and I am more than happy to review your own books, novels or manuscripts - just contact me here. I hope to have a good mix of genres, authors and novel lengths, so there should be something for everyone!

-and-

Literary Inspirations
Published every Wednesday (to help with that midweek hump), this will include a short quote from or story about an author that I find particular inspiring, fascinating or just plain fun! In celebration of this new direction, here is your first Literary Inspiration - may you always choose the road less travelled!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost, "The Road Not Taken", 1916

Want to know more?

Hi Scribblers and Scribblettes,

In recognition of my impending 100th post, I've decided to share six quirky facts about myself, in order that you can get to know my crazy inner workings a little better.

1. I have a disabled younger sister - mild physical but mainly intellectual. This has lead to some pretty awesome things growing up (free nannies for my parents supplied through the nanny training school, someone who even as a teenager is super-excited about all the holidays, experiences that may never have been made available to us otherwise) as well as some downsides (no family vacations since I was eleven - we'd go with one parent or the other, having strangers look at you funny when a fifteen-year-old throws a tantrum in the supermarket, etc) but she's part of the reason I am who I am today and I certainly can't shake that. She's now the only one of us kids NOT living at home... which is a little humiliating LOL... but she loves her new supervised flat.
2. On the other end of the spectrum, I grew up a certified "gifted" child... talk about a mixed bag for my parents. I was that precocious child not afraid to argue with my parents' dinner guests that a spider was not an insect, it was an arachnid; doing high school french in primary school and advanced placement classes in high school. Like many other of the "smart kids", around sixth form I got bored and stopped trying. I could have done much better in my latter years of high school than I actually did.
3. I did gymnastics and ballet for years... in fact, pretty much until I gained the height, the hips and the boobs that ruled out these options as future career choices. As much as both have helped lead to the less-than-positive body image I have of myself, they've given me grace and agility that I wouldn't give up for anything. If I have girls, I'd like them to do gymnastics and ballet too - I'd just find them less bitchy teachers.
4. When my first serious boyfriend asked me out, I asked him if he was asking me out of pity! It was my fifteenth birthday party, I had a serious crush on him and everyone had been hassling him all day. We went on to date for almost two years, and now he's like a brother to me... that closeness has migrated into something other than puppy love and I'm so glad it has because he was my best friend too.
5. I'm a fierce mamma bear when it comes to my friends and family - when a party guest at one of my sister's parties pushed my mum over, I sprinted off after him down the street and picked him up by his shirt collar when he tripped over. Likewise, if anyone says anything about the friends I love, I'm not afraid to unleash the vitriolic side of my tongue that I usually keep under wraps. Be careful not to get on my bad side!
6. I feel like I live my life half-and-half: part of me wants to be the 50's housewife, cooking, cleaning, crafts, church. The other half is this schizophrenic creative who wants to skinny-dip in the ocean then party on the beach until dawn. Could it be that I can be both?

So there you are... some insight into my deep inner psyche. Hope it hasn't scared you too much! If you feel so inclined as to share some of your hidden secrets, I'd love to hear them!

You are living someone else's dreams...

Have you ever noticed, my girl readers, the curly vs. straight hair desires? Every morning my curly haired cohorts will be sitting there patiently straightening out their hair with their GHDs or their TCIs while the straight hair sisters will be doing everything they can to inspire their hair to a bit of bouncy volume. One of my most vivid memories of my first flat was sitting in the lounge with GinjaNinja, getting ready to go out on the town. I'm pulling the ceramic irons through my hair to get that sleek straight look at the same time as she's madly curling her hair with the tongs and hairspraying in the hope that she'll be able to make this creation last the entire evening. Regardless of what we have, we seem inspired to go against the grain (or the follicle as it may be) and live the hair we don't have.

I promise I have a point, this entry isn't as shallow as it sounds...

We often fall into the mistake of thinking that our life isn't what we wanted or expected. I know for myself that I always had this thought in the back of my head that I'd be married by 25 (heck knows where I pulled that number out of) and clearly, I'm running out of time for that to happen LOL. It's more important to me to find the right man - I'm one of those old-fashioned girls who believes that marriage should last a lifetime - but it doesn't stop me eyeing up my gaga-in-love girlfriends and wishing that I could have the same type of relationship in my life that they do. In a way, it seems like they are living out my unfulfilled dreams.

I'd never even thought about the fact that it could flow another way. I had lunch with Smiles yesterday (strawberry pancakes - yes I am a pancake fiend, that is why I am ten foot wide - and a piccolo of bubbly) and we were catching up on what we'd been doing recently. I told her about a few floppish dates I'd been on and her somewhat unexpected response was "Oh, but that's such a good thing... don't settle down! You want to have fun!" Say what? Coming from the girl who has the five-year long relationship, the mortgage payments with her man and is just waiting (and prob not that much longer) for the ring? As the conversation continued, I had a "A-ha!" moment *thanks Oprah*... for Smiles, I am living her unfulfilled dream! She's never had the late teens, early twenties single experience and so she's living vicariously through little old moi! It's not that she doesn't want to be with her man, but when she hears about me going to fashion shows and taking off on solo holidays and being bought drinks by random men I bring something to her life that's a little bit different (I'm her only close single friend). She's a little bit jealous of what I have, in the same way that I'm a little bit jealous of her. We don't want each other's lives in the way that we want each other's hair, but sharing our tales with each other gives that window into the life we "could have" had.

Any friendships of yours that you think share this same dynamic?