Not happy

This is the sixth post I have attempted to write this week but things keep going wrong, so the post has never been posted. The post I just lost was on the bushfires down south, exams, Christmas and news in general. Bad luck.I refuse to re-construct this post, or any of the others for that matter.

I am also not happy because while my readership has at least doubled in the last two weeks none of these new readers have posted comments. Do they not know how to do this? It is rather straight forward: click on 'comments,' write your comment and then click 'submit.' Perhaps, that sequence of steps is difficult for some to excute? I don't know? While I am the first to admit I do not wish my blog, nor my readership to be equated to that of other blogs at this university (or course with some exceptions), I would still like some of my 'friends' to post comments. If you can't take the hint: I am feeling neglected.

I am not sure how the law school will feel next semester. With exams concluding on Saturday a mass exodus, to the northern hemisphere, shall take place. Alas, some of these people will not be returning. If I could convince someone to buy me around ticket home to Melbourne via Canada, that would be fantastic. Then I could go to the Christmas party everyone is talking abut The likelyhood of this: highly unlikely. I must be in a very strange mood, presumably brought on by exam tension, lack of sleep, too much coffee, not enough tea, and far too many apples. This is because I was talking to my friend Sabrina and got upset because I think I will miss seeing Mark and Dave Lucenti everyday in the library. Who will call me emmmmmmmmma anymore. I am lost, especially because Dave has sworn not to set foot in this country again, with the exception of Sammy's wedding. However, I think that was on the condition it was a gay marriage, but don't quote me on that. With the current state of federal politics in Australia I doubt that will legally be possible in my life time.

Exams still in progress. Gross. Actually that should really say: study in progress exams still pending. If anyone is in the law school without circles, grotty study clothes, stress lines, and fatigued skin well they really should study harder shouldn't they. In the alternative, thye are obviously far too intelligent for law school, and should find something better to do with there time.

Obviously, I am not in a great mood. However, the weather is good. I should pass my exams. Yippy. Packing is progressing as scheduled and today I bought some oven cleaner. It's times like this I wish my Mum was around. I despise cleaning ovens, not so much because of the manual labour involved, rather because I can't breathe for the next five hours because of the fumes that send me into a wheezing frenzy.

Sorry for the rather dreary post, but I am grumpy I lost my previous one which was rather good, that I am writing this when I should be studying and that one of my friends has gone 'missing in action' after the PPT exam. You might not hear from me until next week, but then again you might. I don't make promises I can't keep.
Be well x em

Don't forget

Law school: who is this?...UPDATE: new information

Introducing a new segment for equivocallye emma.I am borrowing the idea from that section in the Hearald Sun that comes after the triva quiz. (I remember when I paid two dollars and reiceved the that paper everyday. I'm glad I didn't pay anymore.)

You will be given certain clues about a person. The clues will be given one by one, obvious. The less clues you need to guess the identity of the individual the better you score.

This photo depicts a female student from the law school.
Any guesses, post in comments. There will be a prize!
1. This person may not have lived in Qld originally, however, if they were to go home now this would be less than an hours drive.
2. She is older than twenty but younger than twenty-five.

My sworn enemy

Currently time is my enemy. There are not sufficient seconds in a minute, minutes in an hour, or hours in a day. There is simply not enough time available to complete what needs to be done. This is why I am sitting here at 3.05 am Qld time. If I didn't require sleep to function (unfortunately I am not one of those lucky people) I would probably just work for a week. Alas, it's time to go to bed. The alarm is set for a reasonable hour. Not a reasonable hour, however, considering I am going to bed now.

I often wonder why we have clocks. Why do we let them tell us what to do, when we have to do it and whether we are late or early. I would prefer to just go with the sun. The sun comes up - time to get up. The sun goes down - bed time. Pity that Queensland don't like EST, therefore there is no daylight savings. Daylight savings would have to be one of my favorite things at about summer. It's right at the top of the list, equal with; the beach, swimming, the sun, not being cold, swimming pools, hammocks.....holidays.

Highlights and lowlights

Did you realise a Canadian network owned part of channel ten. I tell you this country is trying to take-over ours. First they start with the Media outlets. They infiltrate Bond University Law School....this is the beginning.....However, those from the northern hemisphere are trying to sell. Perhaps they have concluded that conquering Australia may be a little harder than originally thought.

I have been following the bushfires in Victoria. The outlook is not positive. The Army and firefighters from New Zealand have been called in to bolster people power. What is worse is that these sort of fires usually occur in late January/February. Occurring in December, some commentators have posited that these could continue to burn all summer. Stage 4 water restrictions are a must. I think I might write a letter to Premier Bracks. Better still I might protest when I get back to Melbourne. Oh, but Parliament will probably be on holidays then. To all those people who do not believe in global warming, or do not believe it is a problem I wish to say something to you that I will not permit myself to publish on this site, given my guidelines published previously. I can still recall what the sky over Melbourne looked like during the Ash Wednesday fires. I was in my parents bedroom, which looked out to the park adjacent to our property. The sky was angry, red and full of ash. These fires could be as devastating. I have been reading about these fires, and following the news. I am actually learning a great deal. For example, fires generate their own weather conditions. It is also possible to follow the bushfires via the interactive site provided by google.

AFI (Australian Film Industry) Awards currently taking place. Candy and Jinderbyne would be two of my picks, as award recipients. However, I have not seen Ten Canoes. I have read some fantastic reviews. Cate Blanchett looked absolutely amazing (what's new.) Daniel Radcliffe headed 'down under' to attend these awards, his Australian fans were very excited. I love Australian cinematography.

7.30 Report on the Great White Shark, follow the sad shark attack of the South Coast of Western Australia.

Stolen wages should be repaid. With interest. Further reading, here, here. here http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20888754-1702,00.html

Last exam period I reported on this, once again I am suffering.

I have a spelling illness. No matter how hard I try it is not getting better. My grammar seems to be suffering a similar fate.

If I must

As noted I am short on material. This is not attributed to an actual lack of existing material, rather a self imposed restriction on reading, partaking in enjoyable past-times thus severely curtailing access to potential material.

As suggested, in the previous post , any material thought suitable would be appreciated. Accordingly, my dear Dad decided he would sent me an article, because I am interested in cricket. Not, particularly. For him, I will make an exception. (I imagine my Mother would be furious to find out my Father actually did this within hours of reading my blog. She can nag, and nag and nag at him for weeks, actually months, oh and in some cases years to do some things. Guess we are both lucky she is too busy to read equivocally emma.)

Moreover, I would think my Father would be aware that I find Shane Warne a disgraceful example of what an Australian, a cricket player, a Melbournian, and basically a human being should be. Perhaps not. I could superficially point to his white zinc, peroxided hair, sporty car or attempts at harassing numerous friends of mine with inappropriate comments (not text messages this time, but that was before everyone had mobile phones.) However, his actions and attitudes gives me sufficient material, that I don't need to appear superficial, as such. He takes diuretics. When caught out, he suggests that his mother gave them to him to assist with weight loss. Interesting to research what drugs the diuretic, found in his system, effectively masks. Shane obviously isn't terribly intelligent, but c'mon. There is his involvement with QUIT, obviously not terribly effective. Then, there is his problem with mobile phones. I'll leave it at that. Thus, I am hoping that my Father notified me of this article because:
"Peter Roebuck is a fine cricket journalist, poetic and appreciative of very good cricket. Post it for your Canadian friends, they will be confused and the English ones that came out to the wedding, Patrick in particular. Then again theses things tend to come back and bite you.....humble in victory,gracious in defeat. Sounds English to me."

Obviously, when reading, keep this in mind. Poor Dad, Canadians probably don't care too much about cricket; it's ice-hockey, baseball or American football. Confuse them? Well, many are still perplexed with the side of the road we drive on, that the water goes the opposite way down the plug hole in the southern hemisphere, Australian fashion and then there is the 'Australian' language . By the way my name is Emma not Amma. No, I am not English, I am Australian and many Australians have similar accents, we are not all occas, who have some bizzare way of pronouncing the number 13.) Confused, hence, may not be the right adjective here.

Regarding the reference to the English guests at Meg's wedding, and Patrick, I have to actually read the article to determine whether it's my Father rambling, or other.

Article

Odds and sodds

• I have finished classes for this semester. This week is swot-vac. Then a week of exams. I remember when I had exams spaced out over six weeks. I remember when I didn't have exams and handed in papers instead. This was a liberal approach to education, or so I was once informed by a Professor. I enjoyed that. I don't really enjoy exams. Two hours. Answer this question in 20 minutes. Don't tell me what you know, tell me what I want to know, and do it and get it over and done with very quickly. You probably will not be able to finish your advise. Nor will you have the opportunity to put this advice away for a day and consider it, nor will you be able to check, or cross reference what you have done. Oh and by the way odds are you probably will not recall anything you attempted to cram into you brain in the week and night before your exam, so you get to re-learn it all again in practise. Yippy! Well that's only the case if your not lucky to have a fantastic lecturer, who enjoys what the are doing, who has a passion for the subject matter and who is a great teacher. I am happy to write exams for people like this. However, I do feel bad when I don't do well. I am letting them down as well as myself.

• Today someone informed me that I try to tell people what to do. I 'mother' people and this can be seen as prying. I don't know if I agree. They said this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The also told me that I care too much. A very good friend of mine, who has known me for sometime, and also knows me very well said that I am naturally inquisitive, I am interested in people, I like learning (yep that's why I am 27 and still at Uni.) They are one of my favorite friends for many reasons, but especially as they always make me feel fantastic about being who i am. The person who informed me of my mothering tendencies also said I can be negative. Yes, I agree. I shall try and curb this behavior providing people don't bother me too much. Since my very great meeting with the Registrar of Bond University I have been having a much better time, am looking at the University and the people here in a more positive way. I actually told my Mum when I came out of that meeting, that perhaps finishing my degree up here wouldn't be too bad. It's amazing what can happen when someone has a little faith in you!

• Weather on the coast could be better. It's very windy. I don't like wind but I guess it helps ships sail. Oh sorry that was two centuries ago. It's good for wind farms which are more environmentally friendly than burning coal so wind is a good thing.
  
• Bushfire's are proving to be a problem down south.

• Victoria are considering moving to stage 4 water restrictions. Stop considering and do it now. In fact why didn't we do it two days after the elections. I would prefer to spend summer on stage 4 water restrictions and have water left, rather than straining the all currently strained dams. I would also like to know why we have not been on stage 3 water restrictions permanently since 1997. It makes sense. My mother has also become convinced that carting water from the bath to the garden, primarily to water her roses, makes sense. I remember something similar when I was very young. However, it was my Grandmother draining the bath water to water her roses. I believe it may have been the year Ash Wednesday devastated Victoria.

• Since re-introducing the comments option on this blog, yet retaining 'publishing privileges,' there have been 42 comments I have not published due to content. Apologies to these people. However, I will not post: racist, sexist, unkind or cruel comments. Constructive criticism is permissible but think before you write! If you can not recall when I have previously stated this, please read here, here and here. I also have lots of new readers. In fact, a few days ago there were over 50 people who dropped by to see what I had to say. It was probably disappointing, as lately I have been rather preoccupied. Anna and Erin are popping by, Caro also, there is Cait, Meg, Lex, George, Sally, Jaz, Dave, Suz, Phil, Tom, Mrs Danielson, Kirsten. That will finish there, only because it's starting to sound like the ending to Young Talent Time.

• I have changed the blog over to the program betta blogger. This was forced decision by blogspot's continual prompting to move, or upgrade - I can not actually work out what it is I have done. This seems to be a good move as now I can publish each post under a 'label.' Probably only people I have lived with, house sat for, and my family truly understand my passion for labelling.

• Currently, I packing up the flat at Central Park. I'll miss the high ceilings, waking up in the morning looking out onto the balcony and the oval beyond that, walking out past the silver birch trees and smelling the Jasmine, also the swimming pool and out door spa (lovely at night as it's out doors and you can look up at the stars.)

• The new relationship is working out well. There are few issues, but these are being worked through.

• Further, if anyone has an material they would like me to post, or thinks I may be interested in, please email me. Obviously, I have more pressing concerns for the next week or so.

Goodness gracious

I miss everybody, most of the time. Well that's a fib. There are some people I don't miss. While I hope they are well, I am glad I don't have to see them.

Obviously, study and are not a happy couple. The material here is verging on pathetic. Taking submissions from everyone everywhere.

This evening's study break

ABC - My Favourite Album
7:30pm Sunday, 03 Dec 2006
"It's an issue that's sparked debate across the nation - turned neighbour against neighbour and husband against wife. Now the votes are in, Australia has spoken, and on December 3 at 7.30pm, ABC TV will reveal the identity of Australia's favourite album - the results will surprise!

Following the success of My Favourite Book in 2004, and My Favourite Film in 2005, My Favourite Album will be hosted by Spicks and Specks panellist and triple j presenter Myf Warhurst.

Will it be a fight between the classics such as The Beatles' Abbey Road or The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street, or something more contemporary such as Eminem's The Eminem Show or Madonna's The Immaculate Collection?"

Rambling, like father, like daughter

You may have read the following comment. You may have not. Momentarily I was perplexed, when I read it. Then realised it was my father up to his usual antics.

Once, he read a paper I had written for a History Subject 'South-Africa Under Apartheid.' His skills with English are far better than mine, and it also helps to have 'fresh eyes' to consider something you have been looking at for two weeks straight. Anyway, Dad fixed a few commas, moved a few full stops and corrected some 'typos.' However, at the end of the paper he decided to write the comment: 'Have you read Coetzee.' Well yes of course I had but nothing said in the text was remotely relevant to the paper I had written. So I gave my father a written response, something along the lines of just because Disgrace is about South Africa and is a very interesting commentary on contemporary issues in post-apartheid society in no way is it relevant to a paper that has a word limitation of 4000. Especially when I have 5000 words and that's with removing 'the', 'forgetting' to put a space after full stops. I am obviously going to have to re-write at least half of it to bring it under, so material not related to the the topic, although interesting, should be avoided at all costs. But more to the point, did you actually read the essay? I would be interested to see how my thesis related to anything Coetzee addresses. Well I guess they have the point of commonality; that being they are both based around South Africa.

Well that was a nice little journey. If you were not aware of the ,comment to which I was referring to:
Anonymous said...
only got to 2 minutes, but your mother is singing on Sunday at the market, perhaps this will inspire something other than the dreaded carols. But then again she is doing the wedding on Saturday so I will update, either the Healesville Howlers or 'the hills are alive with the sound of log trucks and open throated two wheel road bikes' or perhaps the 'friends of the gang gang parrot' choir, sponsored by Friends of the Earth. The sound of protestors being crunched while chained to the log trucks,a new protest sound. Another possibility, the Lilydale Station and copying being the big compliment of originality plan for the Lilydale Railway Station Choir. Keep studying..."

My mother, despite what my father may appear to suggest in that comment is an amazing singer. Fantastic range and really missed her calling when deciding not to pursue this or take her position up at NIDA. My father, also thinks this, so I am not sure why his making reference to gang-gang parrots. I think the key point of this comment was that the Choir Mum recently decided to join (a very small one so she can't make a business appointment and not go as he absence is duly noted) was singing this weekend. Her debut, however, was not at the Sunday Market (that isn't for a while) rather it was at a Wedding. At the wedding they were singing a numerous pieces, including one of my favorites John Rutter's For the Beauty of the Earth. The rest was obviously commentary on what is happening up at Healesville, but so not related to my Mother's singing.

Apparently, the performance went well.