6.5 sentences

And I'm having a solo dance party. Music courtesy of the Black Eyed Peas. Shout out to my girl Fergie.

Wireless internet is standing between me and academic fulfillment. Damn the electric fence.

Procrastination/ADD

I’ve written 5 sentences of my 5 page philosophy paper. They’re pretty solid sentences. Good content, nice structure, proper punctuation. Instead of forging ahead, I’m taking a break to balance a carrot on my fingernail and think of witty phrases while I wait for facebook to load.

Adriane... Ad... A.D.D....

Coincidence?
Wanna ride bikes?

Somebody keep The Juice on the DL

There was a short news blurb in the paper yesterday regarding a book by O.J. Simpson. The title? "If I Did It"

In interviews, set to run later this month on Fox, he apparently describes how he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife and her friend "if he were the one responsible."

There is so much that is wrong in this whole scenario - I think it really becomes a study in just how arrogantly idiotic people can be. Is it too much to ask that he just fade from our collective consciousness and finish out his days in relative obscurity? Instead he's gotta come out with something new every now and then, just to peel off whatever scabs the involved parties may have been nearly through healing. There was the interview incident where he deemed it appropriate to wield a banana as if it were a knife, making repeated stabbing motions. Now there's this. C'mon man. You got off, consider it a favor from the universe, now do us one in return. The winds blew in your favor. Sail off into the sunset already. Pay your bills. Mow your lawn. Build birdhouses and brush your teeth. Keep to yourself. Above all, avoid the press.

Do it for the* kids.





*your

Of Microphones and Old Men

An empty podium is so potent. The microphone ensures you will be heard. The podium implies people will listen. Important people stand behind them and we all stop talking. They start out with a round of accolades to each other. Thanks and honor all around. It's hard to take seriously.

But the perspective is different if you see it from the side, when you see the guy behind the podium. The legs, the shoes, the fumbling of papers. For the first time you see not a stone-faced man getting blasted in the papers. You see a Grandpa. If the differences in clothing and culture are eliminated, the world's most powerful men become slightly different shaped versions of Mr. Rogers. It's hard to take seriously.

So I wonder, at the end of the day, towards the end of life, after they have spent years making decisions on a global stage, speaking to a world who has no choice but to listen, what is left to old men? The rest of the world is left to either laud or pick up the pieces of their lives' work. They exit stage left and watch from the wings. The future will judge them when it gets around to it. Bodies and minds deteriorate until they can no longer tie shoes or button sweaters. The world finds someone new to put behind the podium.

The White Boots Ranger

So I went to our exhibition game (men's basketball) on Saturday. And the question I have is this - I just found out the answer - yes Bob Huggins does have a wife. The reason I was wondering this was because he was wearing a black suit. And what appeared to be creamy white boots. The shirt was purple. So the more I look at him the more absurd he becomes.

And then he takes off the jacket.

The purple shirt appears to be a t-shirt mock turtleneck. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. Underneath a black vest. Double Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. I mean it was Nike, so maybe since we are a Nike school he had to have the logo somewhere. But wow.

And white boots.

Bottom line is Huggins = true dandy. We obviously didn't hire him for his class, his ethics, and I'm wondering about hiring him on the basis of winning either. We hired him for his white boots. End of story.

I'm kind of hoping he keeps this up though. I mean, fashionable coaches are so boring. Let's keep the white boots coming. After Labor Day? Of course, don't mind if I do! It's not like he's never been controversial before. If he can keep the craziness limited to his clothing choices, I don't think there'll be many people complaining. Stay posted for future white boots sightings.

Carrie's Song

There are certain songs that will always put me back in a certain place, a certain frame of mind, a certain camera's image. There's a song, named for a girl who isn't me, written by a guy in a band who never made it. And I remember a group of people who no longer bother to keep in touch. Time moves us along toward ever-new destinations. The song means something different to each of us. But it doesn't matter. At one point in our lives, we knew every word. We stood too close to speakers, breathing in too much smoke, singing it together.


Image from www.scythianmusic.com

The Bluemont Files

The vending machine was givin' me sass so I roughed it up and stole it's pocket change. And an extra bag of M&Ms.

Let them eat cake!

Reason's why life is grand:
1. When I first moved in for the year, our frige was filled with wedding cake and beer.
2. The First week of school I saw the largest preying mantis ever. It was honestly almost as long as my shoe. Pretty Cool.



Areas that could use a little improvement:
1. The lawn of the house on the corner, which I have to walk by every day smells like cat feces. I mean it is bad. I didn't notice it till they mowed, but wowee. And since it's a corner lot, I've gotta deal with two whole sections of sidewalk that get progressively stinkier.



It's been several weeks since I first wrote this. The cake is gone, the beer is left and the neighbors haven't been mowing so things are still hanging basically in balance. Now if I could just find that preying mantis.

Here we go again...

Here are some notes on the first few days of school:

On Monday, my fears regarding Ad Sales were unfortunately confirmed. I'm in the class with a bunch of other people who all already know each other and have their "groups". (most of the people I knew who would possibly form my "group" have graduated) Great. I spent my one hour break sitting at the union, chatting it up, enjoying the people watching. Then I sauntered on over to Philosophy. Ok, so I didn't think it would be that bad. I mean sometimes it's kind of fun to go round and round in circles and never reach a difinitive answer. And the professor's accent, though slight, was something interesting for my ears. However, to jump up to the present, I really am not going to enjoy this class. It's like he's taking the dullest approach possible. Whew. Could be rough. Work was pretty dull, but I had no complaint there because I already had an assignment I managed to do a little work on. Gold Star for me.

On Tueday I left the house feelin' pretty frat-tastic. I was wearing the standard fraternity dress-code conforming attire: khaki cargo pants, flipflops, and a t-shirt advertising a witty sounding business (Dottie's Den - Lake of the Ozarks). Once I realized this, I felt pretty uncomfortable - as if I might somehow be mistaken for the wrong demographic. (male... greek.... alcoholic...) Anyway, I got to my first class and wham-o, the marketing dept. had pulled a doozy on me. I signed up for the 8:05 Business Strategy class, not because I like to get a nice intellectual jump start on my day, no I signed up for that section because I heard the professor was good. But oh, no, there was no James Bloodgood at the front of the room. There was a lady. And though I'm sure she'll be wonderful, this just really irks me. If they don't know who's going to be teaching the class, don't even list a name on there, so you don't enroll under false pretenses! Sheesh. I was still excited to take Sports Marketing, until I walked into the room and saw that it was completely packed. I had this professor before and I really enjoyed the class, however, there were only about 8 people in there so the dynamics were significantly different. I never realized just how differently I behave in these two situations. In a large class I will not speak up unless required. It just doesn't happen. It shouldn't matter, but apparently in larger groups I revert back to the 4 year old who stared at her shoes. Oh well, I happen to have very nice shoes that deserve to have a little optical attention every now and then.

Today was basically a repeat of Monday although today I did go for a rather disheartening run. Oh the hill is long and steep, but somewhere, up among the clouds, I think I can see the shadow of my former glory. And if I squint real hard I can see I'm wearing my cool green pants (Aubrie, their days in your closet are numbered, however do not fear, it is a very large number).

And now I'm at work for the next 1.5 hours. The year, is off to a start. What sort of start? The jury's still out on that.

Busy, Very Busy!

Since I've gotten home from Australia, I've had my roomate's wedding to look forward to and get ready for (I was in charge of the slideshow). And now it's all over. Despite a few minor hang-ups everything went wonderfully. The bride was beautiful, the groom was handsome, and one of the mothers wore her dress backwards all day. The flower girl broke her ankle at the rehearsal dinner but still carried out her duties like a champ. Just as their marriage is the beginning of something wonderful, it's also the end of something that was pretty darn good too. It's just a little sad to be in our apartment and know that Meredith isn't going to be living with me anymore. One more reminder that time keeps a steady pace and never turns around. Lives diverge never to meet up again in the same way - which for the most part is a good thing. Who really wants to go back to 7th grade? Honestly.

Between Thursday and today, I've been sleeping the way we've been getting rain - too little, too late. It's terribly annoying to go to sleep at 1:36 am only to wake up at 6:18 am and not be able to fall back asleep. The next night was basically a repeat of the first. I woke up looking like an extra from the set of FraggleRock which kind of appealed to me so I left it. So on Saturday I tried to take a nap but strangely couldn't sleep (this NEVER happens!). So I swept my room and went to Walmart instead. The two departments I visited were Electronics and Automotive. And I'll be honest, with my fragglerock hair, I pretty much owned the aisles. The great bias-cut skirt and beaded sandals I was wearing may have had something to do with it too. But 69 bobby pins later - my hair a post-fraggle rock disaster, my skirt in the dirty laundry, I'm just exhausted. Somewhere in the middle of all the craziness of the wedding and not sleeping and topping off my motor oil in the Walmart parking lot, I realized that for the first time in my life I felt like a bona-fide grown-up rather than a slightly heavier, more educated version of my 17 year old self.

It's great, but I'm exhausted.

Dust to Dust

It's hot in Kansas. The wind has been blowing like 47,000 hairdryers all turned on high and pointing in our direction. Everywhere I look, plants are in the process of dying. I watered the garden last night and the wind blew a fine mist back in my face. It smelled like rain and fresh tomatoes; a cruel dream that ended when I turned off the hydrant. The ground crunches under my old tennis shoes and dust collects around my ankles. I'm tempted to shoot firecrackers into the sky to try and shake down a little rain, like I've heard they did in the old days. Theoretically it should work based on chemistry and whatnot, but you'd have to ask my dad about that. I'd do a raindance if I thought it would do any good. But I'm stuck waiting for rain. It's a long line that stretches out far behind me. Countless generations of farmers and families who have stood, sometimes leaned back searching the sky, other times hunched over shielding their eyes, all of them with dusty ankles, waiting for rain.

Sizing 'em up

I went to a little league game tonight. There was a nice breeze and it was cool enough so that it actually felt good to be outside. We were watching the semi-finals of the peewee tournament. When I was little, the peewee's always seemed so grown-up and huge. Now, they are just little bobble head dolls standing bravely at the plate with an oversized head and scuffed hand-me-down cleats. Not so intimidating these days, but then I don't play tee-ball anymore either.

Wrapping Up

So the final days of our trip found us out at the Yulara Resort near Uluru and Kata Tjuta. It was nice during the day but got down to freezing at night which was not to our liking but hey, I guess that's what you get when you go to the desert in winter. We watched sunrise and sunset at Uluru and did a walk around Kata Tjuta. It's sort of misleading because it always kind of seems like these are the only rocks out in the middle of nothing, when actually if you look off into the distance you can see other rock groupings, it's just that they're not as easy to get to and don't have all the tourist hype. That said, it is still a very vast and empty place. You have to really respect the people who survived out there without all the modern conveniences. We didn't actually climb the rock because the owners of it didn't want us to. I was still surprised by how many people did climb it. There were signs all over stating that Uluru is a sacred site and to please respect Aboriginal culture and refrain from climbing the rock, but apparently no one really cared about how rude they really were being. Oh well I guess that's the way it goes.

After long flights we finally got home in the wee hours of Friday the 14th. I think I'm finally back in the right time zone and today was about 15 degrees cooler than it has been recently. It's good to be home.

Cairns

Cairns in a Nutshell thus far:

Adriane got a nosebleed in her facemask and kicked the reef.
Kristi kept breathing.
We held a stumpy three-legged crocodile,
Sailed the boat,
Fell in love with the crew,
Rocked some pretty wicked braids for a day,
Almost got robbed,
Caught a peeping tom,
Ate ice cream every night,
Watched Goldfish races,

And Kristi ate a dread.

Ciao Bella

Well Sydney has been interesting so far. We're staying in Kings Cross which isn't in the nicest part of town and the showers really really suck but we've been making it. Imagine showering under the equivalent of the kitchen sink sprayer and you basically have to be touching the wall in order to be under it... I can fit about one shoulder under it at a time. It's really pretty amazing. We've been walking all over the place and in our first day encountered all manner of unusual species. Most of the two legged variety.

We started out the day with a big walk through the Botanic Gardens which ended with a great view of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. We followed that around and then decided to get tickets to see Romeo and Juliet that night at the Opera House ("well since we're here we may as well see something..."). We then wandered some more and saw a couple guys playing the bagpipes under a statue of Queen Victoria. A little further down the street we saw two preppy little boys picking a fight with 2 goth girls and a whole big group of both sides' friends standing around trash talking each other. The highlight of the exchange was when one unfortunate looking fellow from the gothic side shouted, (and I quote)

"I'd like to see you take as many bullets as 50 cent!"

What? We literally hid behind a sign laughing.

We walked on. Ended up by the Anzac memorial so we spent some time in there. We noticed that all the counter-culture kids (dyed hair and piercings, usually aged 11 asking us for cigarettes...)hang out around the stairs of major buildings and attractions. They had put a sign up around the Anzac memorial though that said no one could sit on the stairs so they had to be content to lurk around the edges of the reflecting pool instead.

We went back to our hostel and a crazy lady in green was talking to herself and moving about as if possessed. Slightly scary but we sort of wondered if maybe we were on Candid Camera.

We headed off to the Opera house and we were walking in a kind of dark area and this guy came up and said "?" (we didn't know what he said at first because, it turned out it was a different language. Italian to be exact) We kind of kept walking but stopped and said "What?" At which point he repeated it and it turned out to be "Ciao Bella." This then sparked a 30 minute long conversation that covered everything from the length of our legs and their attractiveness to sharks (they wouldn't bother us), what we should see and do in Sydney and Cairns, "What, only staying for 3 weeks?! You should stay for 3 months at least!", our long legs ("They're covered with jeans right now but I can just use my imagination."), flying foxes and probably 100 other things in between all of that. We also saw a bunch of bushy-tailed opossum, which are nicer to look at than our little rat-tailed fellas at home.

We then continued on to the show which was great except for the fact that I hate Romeo and Juliet. However during one of Murcutio's monologues he did throw in a little Chewbaca so all in all I think it was worth it. We made it back to our hostel and after another lovely shower, we decided against joining the four "ladies" on the corner and called it a night.

Today we started off the day heading in the direction of the bridge. We ended up underneath it so we had to backtrack a ways so we could actually get up on it. We did a quick walk across and ended up on the north side. We ate our PB&Js and took a nap on a concrete ledge. Oh it was amazing. We then decided, since I (Adriane) had picked the Luna Park nose in Melbourne, we should probably do the one in Sydney too. (Those pictures will be coming later, so try and be patient, cause I know it's hard to wait for gems like that)

(Sidenote: right now we are in a weird little internet place where there's way too many people wasting their lives away playing internet games, and some Asian in the back corner just said, "Oh my gah, Made in China!" This really is too much)

We took a ferry to Darling Habour went through Paddy's market (wow if you need a wig this is the place to go) and then went to a free didgeridoo performance at a cultural center. It was really really amazing. Probably one of the coolest things we've seen so far (apart from the street fight that is...). Seriously though, it was really cool and we learned alot actually. Turns out the little didgeridoos that you can get for $35 and manage to take back home in your suitcase don't actually work because they're way too short to be able to create enough vibration to make noise. So I won't waste money on that I guess. We had some food and now that brings us up to the present time. Creepy little internet basement. ("Paragon of ridiculous power" is what the kid that just walked by said... wonder what game he's been playing) Anyway we gotta go before we get sucked into the madness. More "members" keep strolling in and I feel like we're in someone's seat.

On that note, we'll make our merry way home.

Milky white goodness

Well folks, after my flight from KC to Denver was delayed enough for me to miss my flight from Denver to LA, I was able to fly standby on a flight that got me to LA minutes before my plane left for Melbourne. Luckily there was room on another flight that left later that night and I was able to board that plane at no additional cost and I actually arrived in Melbourne 30 minutes before my original flight did. I thought, "Wow, after all that worrying things turned out alright." As I was waiting for my luggage and everyone from my flight started to leave, I realized that although I had made it safely and on time my luggage had not. I had to talk to someone and they informed me that when the bags arrived, they would call me and deliver them. I arrived here on Saturday morning and they delivered my bags this afternoon (Monday). You may be wondering if I wore the same outfit the past two days and the answer to that is kind of. For the first day I wore the clothes I had on for the 30 hours of travelling. Then I changed to some sweats and a shirt of Ad's. I did not however wear any of Ad's underwear, so I will leave that to your imagination.

Back to the luggage that arrived just hours ago. Adriane got a call from the cab and we were both excited to see that all of my things had arrived intact....or so it seemed. When we got them back to the room and opened them, I noticed the box of granola bars was opened but figured customs just had to look in there. Then I began to count them. Out of 24 bars, 9 of them made it. I could see if someone wanted a few bars, but 15?! They didn't even leave me half of them. Adriane gave them the benifit of the doubt and said, "Well maybe as they were opening the box, the bars just popped out and flew everywhere so they didn't pick them all up." However, as I looked at them I noticed there were exactly 3 of each kind left from the variety pack. So that little bit of evidence threw Ad's theory right out the window. Then I opened the side pocket and saw that the milky white goodness of my conditioner was spread all over everything. After I got it all cleaned up and thought back on all the trouble this trip has been so far, I thought to myself, "Heck, at least I'm in Australia."

True Class

Nothing says "Classy Lady" like doing a fake nose pick on the entrance to Luna Park...

Something tells me that's not what Grandpa had in mind when he said, "Keep making us proud." But I thought Curt would approve so I went for it anyway!

Not in Kansas Anymore

Here are the top 5 reasons I know I'm not in Kansas anymore

1. An overweight 50 year old man wearing a zebra patterned speedo taking trash out at 10:30 am wearing pink latex gloves. Now that's how I say welcome to Australia

2. Listen to a guy from Zimbabwe mimic the Australian accent. Thank you Tamu.

3. Way too many people who look to Billy Idol for fashion inspiration when getting dressed in the morning

4. A Snickers from a vending machine is gonna set you back $2

5.

Stick a fork in me

Well I finished up my exams today. I thought it would be a great feeling of elation but instead I just feel tired (could have something to do with me staying up till 5 am studying after watching the Brazil/Australia soccer game from 2:00-4:00am) and my room is a mess and I really need a shower. Ah, yes, I'm living the dream. The test went ok, I probably could have done better but I had pretty solid answers for the three questions so as long as I pass, I'm going to be satisfied. Now I just need to solve the problem of how to organize the next couple of days. There are a certain number of things I need to accomplish, but since the days are long and I have nothing to fill them, I probably won't get them done. It's my own special way of sabotaging my life.

And here's to the Big Fella

I think it's safe to say, my Dad is an original. In Aussie lingo - a top bloke, who never fails to be buffled and befaddled by my ability to be bawling my eyes out but still squeeze in a few laughs at the same time. He is a culinary pioneer, never knowing exactly what he uses or how things will turn out, and we've been lucky so far except for the unfortunate green eggs and ham breakfast incident of 1996. Let's not repeat that one. Stick to biscuits and gravy and we'll be just grand. That said, I'm eager to get home and see the new science room he's been talking about. Love ya, Dad.

Kicking into High Gear in Order to Better Wind Down

There is definitely a feeling about campus, especially among the international students that we are reaching the end of this particular road. While it may not yet be in sight, the road signs all definitely point in that direction with increasingly smaller kms before we get there. (just realized that's a bit of an oxymoron - increasingly smaller - nice work Adriane)
The past couple of weeks have been full of events that feel very much like end of the semester, goodbye it's been fun, never see you all again events. It's been fun and crazy, but in the morning you remember that people will soon be leaving. In groups of one and two the campus will slowly lose one face after another as each calendar day passes. Jill is leaving on the 6th, Kathryn on the 13th, Katie on the 24th and Laura on the 26th. And all of the others as well. I know this is the way it always goes and everyone here has been preparing for it in their own way. It seems to be a cruel joke however that the days when you really want to be living it up and reinforcing the bonds so they may stretch and remain strong when we are no longer in this place that we have exams hanging over our heads. Granted if I had put in a little more effort throughout the semester it probably wouldn't be such a big deal. Ah, hindsight. Anyway we have still been enjoying our time here and will continue to do so all the way to Tullamarine where we will board our long flights home.

So on that note, here's a few pics of all the cheery times we've been having.



Just a bit of red and white fun before the t-shirt signing party


Me, Mel, Flora, Laura and Suze at the t-shirt signing


The Barton Ball - kind of like prom, only semi-formal, you had to buy tickets, and there's alcohol. Never thought prom could be so fun for a 22 yr. old...


Jill and I at Aussie Prom 2K6


Josh (proudly sporting his "Prohibition Chic" red suspenders), Katie, Mo and Jake


Colin and I at Aussie Prom 2K6. Colin's from Iowa and has promised to come down for the K-State/Iowa State football game this fall


Scary close-up pic of Kathryn and I


Marty and I - Prom 2K6

Sorry for the long, drawn out picture display. I'm sure I could have done it better somehow but didn't want to really take the time to redo it all. My personal apologies go out to everyone's scrolling finger.

Tuesday Thoughts

Everyone talks about how the world just keeps getting smaller. Technology has made it accessible in a matter of seconds and kilobytes. But it is still physically a big place. Even as the oceans are rising and spaces are being filled with all manner of human existance, it is still a big world. There are events happening every day that matter not one bit in the general life/style of the average person. We make a donation and pray for peace and the end of suffering. We make grocery lists and do laundry. It is still a big world. But I have seen the other side of it and it is blue and green and brown much like home. The colours do not change, it is only the arrangement, intensity, and proportion of hues that changes, that and the names. So I think it's not what you see in a new place, but rather who you become. Some people change. For the better, for the worse, or maybe not at all. Sometimes you fall down, sometimes you lose an eye. Sometimes you limp around for a long, long time. Sometimes you are finally able to acknowledge and recognize who it is you see in the mirror. You miss a bus, you ride a unicycle and finally, in the end, you go home, taking with you the memories and scars of the person you were in that particular time, in that particular place. They'd better be good ones. They'd better be worth it.

The SoHemi Dispatch : The Food Issue

Well, I've attended my last tute and lectures are over as well, so it's nothing but free time and procrastination from here on out till exams. Neat. So here's just a few pics to give a little insight into the past 4 months. Yes this is another random listing of the daily events that color my days here in Australia.
So I finally buy some eggs one day cause we need to make some cupcakes. I open them up and viola (or walah as janell would say) they've got little smiley faces on them. My first thought was, "good grief, no wonder everyone's so laid back in this country, even the eggs are smiling!" I acutally didn't think that, because I was taken aback too much to do anything but stare incredulously. But it was a neat little surprise. They probably made me pay extra for it though!


This is RA Joe licking up the frosting drippings from the cupcakes we had made for him (with the smiley face eggs I might add - the lil buggers aren't smiling now are they!). We usually share them amongst other people in the block but in this case since there were 4 of us and 12 cupcakes, we decided we should each have 3. And this is why people (people = me) gain weight when they study abroad.

I think we all know what this is, well you should anyway, but I've run into a surprising number of people who are not familiar with the heavenly creation we call puppy chow. We have introduced it to both Australians and fellow American's alike and all have marveled at the peanut buttery, chocolate goodness that flows forth from the ziplock bag. And it wouldn't be complete if I didn't personally clean out the bowl. Meredith and Lacy, you've seen this pose before.... Basically me doing what I do best.
And then there's Stuart. My neighbor and birthday buddy. Proudly posing with some caramel and chocolate cupcakes.
He's a generally lovely left-wing bloke who thinks Howard is akin to one of satan's lesser personal assistant demons (ok, he's never used those words but that's the impression I get, lets just say he doesn't care for the fella - "Howard" and "fella" refering to the current prime minister). He sometimes listens to his music a bit loud for my taste but as it is generally during a reasonable hour of the day and not 3am, I really haven't felt moved to complain.

Mom asked me the other week about the food here. Well, it's alright and I generally clean my plate, so I can't complain. Everyone else seems to think it's way healthier here, but I don't really find that to be the case. Maybe I'm just stubborn and biased and wierd, but I ate way healthier at home. Regardless of all that, we get three evening meals a week and then money to spend on campus food during the day. It's annoying though because everything closes down on the weekends and that's when the busses have shortened schedules anyway so it's even more difficult to get anywhere when we really need to. But we have been surviving obviously.

That's about all the food stories I have to relate, so I'll leave you with an image of the beans and weenies we made weeks back. Just to get the ol' appetite roaring..

Idol Ordeal topped off with a Cocktail

Last weekend: May 12-14 will go down in history as one of the most random, uncomfortable, and yet still fun weekends I've ever experienced. To start out, it was the weekend that Australian Idol was holding auditions in Melbourne. Dan, of Easter Buddy fame, has been waiting to try out since season 1, but has always had some obstacle that stopped him from making his dream come true. But this year it was meant to be. Auditions started on Saturday at 8:30 so his plan was to get there on Friday and camp out so we could be at the front of the line. And Katie and I were priviledged enough to be a part of the support crew.

The whole camping out thing didn't seem like such a bad idea until we realized we would be sleeping not on a nice grassy area but instead on a sidewalk surrounded by a bunch of idol freaks. Bless their little singing hearts, these people were for real! The people you see on TV do exist, and it is a scary scary thing to witness. We passed the 13 or so hours before the auditions by playing games, using my mittens as puppets, taking walks, and helping Dan and Joe (Collins RA who decided at the last minute to try out) rehearse their songs. I would say though that we were all a little sick of it long before the auditions started. (Except for Dan - he was in Australian Idol Heaven) It was cold and rained a little bit and some girl puked 3 times in the parking lot. Gross. Which was how we felt by the time the next morning when they started getting us all organized to start filming stuff. Needless to say, Katie and I looked a little rough around the edges, so we were thrilled to discover that once inside, Maybelline and Garnier, sponsors of Australian Idol had big areas set up where you could get your hair and make-up done. So we stepped right up for that. I ended up with the crazy little hairdresser guy who had some kind of accent that I really didn't understand, but who really loved Madonna and wanted me to sing something for him. Katie got her hair done by one of the ladies and wound up with a very high-fashion french twist thing and I got a braid. Of all the things I thought he would do, the little half up and slightly off center braid wasn't even in the top 10. I could feel it hangin off the back of my head like a separate entity. We had Dan take pictures of it but I haven't gotten them from him yet so I'll just have to add those in later. The makeup went well except for the people kept asking what my number was and what I would be singing and I didn't want to tell them I wasn't actually auditioning because then I thought they wouldn't do my hair and stuff, so I had to keep kind of telling lies and they didn't really all add up so I think they probably thought I was a big bozo. But I did score some sweet chapstick from the Telstra people who were running an online blog about the audition. There should be a couple pics of us on there, so if I can find the address, I'll send it out, cause I know it'd be a great way to kill a little time. Dan and Joe didn't end up making it to the next round so they were actually done before Katie and I were.

Then Katie and I were planning to go to the Victoria Market, but first we had to drop some stuff off at some friends' house so we wouldn't have to carry it around with us all day. There had been some talk about a cocktail party put on by their footy club, but then they specifically told us they wouldn't be going. Well this all changed when Matt got home with the good news that, yes in fact we were going to the cocktail party! This is great and all except, I didn't have any cocktail worthy attire and my hair was in a braid and I had only about 6 bobby pins with which to work some magic and make it all presentable. Oh the horror and awkwardness that then ensued. Just because of the situation there really wasn't any way I could gracefully bow out so I ended up wearing a dressy shirt and jeans, brown shoes and a smile that said, "even though I'm highly under-dressed I'm going to pretend I don't notice and have a good time hanging out in a room full of people who are noticing I'm highly under-dressed". Even though it started out pretty painfully, it ended up being a fun night all in all. First of all, Matt and Ben, the guys who took us to the cocktail party went off to mingle and told us to stay there and wait for them. Well this is even worse because with them gone, Katie and I didn't know anyone. So we decided that in order to make this bearable we might have to play some games and do a few missions. We decided that by the end of the night we both had to dance with a guy wearing a bowtie and Katie had to wear the drummer's hat and I had to hold the guitar. Katie managed to get the drummer to let her try his hat but I wasn't brave enough to ask to hold the guitar. We failed on the bowtie front as well, although one bowtie-wearing gentleman did kiss my hand and compliment me on my accent and tell me that it reminded him of a Canadian lover he had once years ago. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Matt had came back, however, Ben, my "date" has been snatched up by the footy coach's wife and daughter. Apparently Miss Paula had a thing for Ben and Momma was gonna help her make it happen... at first it was a bit awkward, but then once I found out Ben didn't like her at all, it got to be quite funny. The Mom would casually walk up and ask Ben if he could hold Paula's drink for her... then Paula would come to fetch it and would confide to me that Ben was keeping his eye on her and was her "babysitter" for the night... Poor fella, between the two of them he could rarely catch a break, but I told him if he ever needed to be rescued to just give the signal and I'd come save the day. Since he was usually busy fighting Paula off, I had ample time to have several deep and meaningfull conversations with some of the other footy players, all the while thinking, "Well isn't this about the most bizarre place you've ever ended up, Miss Adriane Ohlde".

#1 Mum

Just want to take a moment to honor my momma. She's a great lady who works hard and makes me laugh. She makes the best green bean casserole and I sure am looking forward to having some of that when I get home. If you see her today, give her a hug for me.

We're gonna have to send Grandma (aka Sidebar Stories Vol. 2)

Well I bought some dried apples on Sunday. I had some reservations just because mass produced dry fruits are never quite as great as you expect, but I thought I'd give them a try. They were made in Tasmania, "straight from the Huon Valley", which if you know your business, and your business happens to be Australian Apple Growing Regions, you know that this is one of the best. So I gave them the benefit of the doubt, tore into the package, and the apples taste like rubberbands. I know you're wondering, "What does a rubberband taste like?" Well find an old nasty rubberband that's been in your desk drawer since 1993 and put it in your mouth and then you will know the depth of my despair. Grandma could show these imposters a thing or two. The thing is, I'm going to continue eating them because:
1. I paid good Australian plastic money for them
2. If a snack is bad, I won't overdose on it like I would if it was cookies
3. They've got some nutritional value and it's better for me than most other things

So they are my new study snack (as long as they last that is, I'm not gonna waste more money on the nasty things) and it actually works out quite well. Like I said they keep me from eating things that are bad for me and since they taste bad, I drink more water because of them. It's a win win situation I guess.

(cue triumphal interlude music)

Last week on Thursday, caf. was a glorious experience. I had missed caf. earlier in the week, so come Thursday I had a swipe left on my card (I get three meal swipes per week) and we were having chicken enchiladas! Now these aren't like the chicken enchiladas you'd have in the states, but they're still pretty tasty. So, what did I do? I went through once and ate my meal. Then since it was so darn good, I boldly went back through the line again. Oh yeah, victory was mine. Two enchiladas, two desserts. It was the gastronomic equivalent of winning the lottery. (ok, maybe not quite that good, maybe more like getting your tax return back)

(cue jock jams interlude music)

Some of the boys from the block have invented a new game which goes by the name "Hammerball" apparently it combines elements of soccer, cricket, and croquet and is played with a large rubber mallet. So far no one has been injured so we'll consider it a success.

(cue something, maybe a polka if you've got one handy)

OH, and now, for the REALLY BIG NEWS! Ok, now that you've all picked up on the sarcasm, you can back away from the edge of your seats. So one long evening in the computer lab sparked the implementation of a new goal for my life. Yes, you guessed it, I decided that I would listen to my "The Grind" (as in the daily grind) playlist on my ipod all the way through, without switching to anything else because that makes the counter start all the way back over at one. You have to understand there are 717 songs on this playlist. On May 5th at 3:30 pm Australian time, I finished. The accomplishment is slightly marred by the fact that, since I had it set to "random", I have the sneaking suspicion that I heard some songs twice. I'm a little disturbed, but I mean there's always tomorrow. I can always do it again, now that I know it can be done, it seems so much more conquerable than in the past. And next time, I'll be smarter, I'll go in alphabetical order so I'll KNOW if it's trying to mess around on me. Also, I am a loser. (just in case you hadn't picked that up in the prior paragraph)

ANZAC Day

Anzac day was March 25th and it started very early in the morning. A bunch of us got up at 4:00 am and headed to Torquay for the dawn service overlooking the ocean. Structurally it was quite similar to memorial services at home. The flags were different as were the uniforms and battle references, but the mentality was the same. Then around 9:00 we took the train to Melbourne to watch the marches (parades) and attend the Anzac day game, the 2nd biggest game of the year, after the grand final. I'm just going to add some pictures from the day to give an idea of what it was like.


Service men and women at the dawn service wearing their distinctive hats.



Sunrise over the ocean



Honoring ANZACs in Melbourne


Playing footy at Ben's family's tailgate before the Collingwood/Essedon game. Tyson is Ben's younger brother and he is a blast. I'd bring him home if I could, but I think there's some sort of import restriction on 14 yr olds.



The guys playing footy


Inside the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) for the pregame festivities. It is an enormous stadium. Holds about 100,000 people and it was a sold out game.


The Game - Collingwood is in Black and White, Essedon is Black and Red.


Falling asleep for a few minutes right in the middle of it all. (Remember I did get up at 4 am)


Since Essendon lost, Adam had to wear a Collingwood jersey and sing their song.


By the time the game got over it was quite late. This is one last shot of Melbourne as we were heading for the train station to get back to Geelong.

Sidebar Stories: Vol. 1

I've discovered that the majority of the events here are not big and earth-shattering and probably not worthy of an entire post (me going to class at the wrong time = case in point). Most people don't care to know about the nitty gritty details of the daily grind, but at the same time they are the things that will be memorable to me down the road and will make me laugh at inappropriate moments that I won't be able to explain to other people. So I'm going to combine the smaller events into collections of sidebar stories and leave it at that.

In March we tried to make beans and weenies. They did not turn out that great, but they were close enough to the real thing to satisfy that little section of our stomach that craved them. The beans were in "tomato sauce" so maybe that was teh problem, but it looked like our best option at the time. The Australians thought we were crazy. We also managed to get into a huge argument because they think it is morally reprehensible to cook hot dogs on a grill (or barbeque) because "they would get all crunchy." Honestly, it's not that much different from a snag (sausage) if you cook those on a grill you can cook a hot dog on a grill. Sheesh. And my pants weren't hiked up as high as they look in the picture. I'm really not sure what was going on there.

Somehow we've gotten in the habit of making cupcakes for people's birthdays. It's kind of nice because we try to surprise them, which is sometimes hard with communal kitchens or because Laura is the only one with a muffin pan... it was tricky when her birthday rolled around... I casually mentioned I was going to make blueberry muffins the next morning and asked if I could borrow her pan. Worked like a charm! She wasn't even suspicious. Then last Tuesday we made some for Joe, the RA for the Collins side of the Blocks, he totally walked right in while we were making them and even asked if we were having "cooking club" cause he's seen us do this before. We thought he was on to us, but it turns out he is Captain Oblivious and had no idea the whole time. So that was great. Usually we share them around the block so 12 people get to enjoy them but on Tuesday we each decided we'd each have three. It was wonderful.

Have I mentioned my feelings about public transport? I'll admit, sometimes it's nice. It can be a relaxing way to unwind, just roll with the rhythm of the bus, you know. But for the most part I think it is a joke the world likes to play on me. I think it proves that I am just not in sync with city life. I can't get the timing down, I end up on the wrong side of the road to catch the bus I need, I look at the wrong day's schedule, a different bus driver gives me bad directions so the next bus driver yells at me.... It's more than just getting from Point A to Point B. Trauma, pain, social humiliation, angst, self hatred, and 90 cents poorer each time I ride, this is what I get from public transport.

Have I told you about my family?

So I kind of figured that this goes without saying but recent events make me believe I should reiterate certain facts of life, namely that my family is truly awesome, probably the best in the world actually.

Here's the story - I like to check my mail just because it's kind of a treat and makes the day great if I get something, and if I don't get something it just means that there's a greater chance that I'll get something the next week. Well I went for a run the other morning and on the way back to the Blocks I decided I'd just walk over to the residential life office and check my mail. Well immediately when I walked through the door I could tell that the "O" box was pretty full. And I take a few more steps and there's a bunch of envelopes that all look the same. So I just figured that Deakin had sent out a bunch of stuff to everyone. But the first one had my name on it and as I looked at the envelopes I could see all the labels were the same and I just kept flipping through (and my eyes and smile just got bigger and bigger) and on about the fourth one my brain finally processed all the information and I just couldn't say anything for a couple minutes, which was fine because no one else was there and it would have been weird if I had started talking. Then even though I had 11 envelopes in my hand, apparently that wasn't enough so I flipped through the rest, and lo and behold there was a yellow slip that said I had a package! That just put me over the moon. It was a bit of an overload for one day but so so great. It was so great to walk back to the Blocks with this huge stack of mail I felt very conspicuous in a very good way. Like those people that deliver the great big checks to peoples' doors, you know as they're walking down the sidewalk and everyone is just thinking, "whoa". That's how I felt and I was thrilled.

I just want to thank everyone for the cards and prayers and everything that have helped me stay connected with people back home even when I'm so far away. It really is amazing to know you have so many people that care about you.

So cool

Today I woke up and got my act together to go pick up a package that mom had sent me, and let me just say there is no better way to start the day. Then I pulled a cool move and went to class at 10:00. Walked in, didn't recognize any of the people, realized my class is at 11:00 not 10:00. You would think after a couple of months I wouldn't still be having these sorts of problems. I guess it's the constant minor screw-ups that keep life interesting.

An over-the-rainbow kind of girl in an under down under kind of place

Tasmania was the next stop after Mulwala. It was a beautiful country but sadly didn't photograph very well. What follows will be a brief rundown of our escapades, in no particular order of significance or chronology. It rained alot so most of the time it was dreary and gray but there were a few shining moments when the sun burst out and everything became a magnificent green. So what did we do? Well bright and early Tuesday Katie, Aman, and I rented a car and got the heck out of Hobart (just kidding it really was a nice town). From there on we saw some animals, drove on the most windy, curvy roads imaginable, went to Kettering, Tasmania for Katie who is from Kettering, Ohio, drove on some more curvy roads (this will be a recurring theme),
came across some cows that were being herded up the road (brought back memories of the good ol' days on the farm), saw some funny signs, petted a wombat, slept in the car, learned the location of every public toilet in every town on our route, went to Lake Barrington, talked about how much Tasmania looked like the landscape in Lord of the Rings (yes I know that was filmed in New Zealand),
did a grueling hike to Wineglass bay (and when I say hike I mean we did the equivalent of 2 hours on a stairmaster - by the time we got done it hurt just as much to go down as up), enjoyed a cold and rainy day at the 2nd best beach in the world, saw some rainbows, tried to see some monkeys at Launceston but it was night so we had no luck, got to see little (formerly known as fairy) penguins on their nightly trek in from the ocean, drove on some more windy roads, found out we couldn't get on tours of the Cadbury factory or the Cascade brewery (the only two things we had really planned to try and do), did a ghost tour at Port Arthur, almost hit a possum on the road, spent a little time in Bicheno (Tidy Town Tasmania 2003 by the way), discovered a wonderful treat called Quatro's by Arnott's, the same company that makes TimTams (Quatros by the way beat TimTams by a mile and a half, that's how absolutely good they are), did some mermaid poses, tried to take artsy pictures (as a result we have lots of pictures of rocks that will possibly look cool in black and white, but I'm not holding my breath), wrote things in the sand, saw the "Remarkable Cave" (it's remarkable because it's a little tunnel, not really a cave at all, but the ocean comes rushing through and at one end, you can see the outline of Tasmania - it really is pretty remarkable), climbed a tree, filled the Nimbus up with petrol,
and, you guessed it, drove on some curvy, windy roads.

Easter in Mulwala

Easter was different this year just because it was the first time I had ever had to celebrate it away from home. Our residence had secret Easter Buddies which made things kind of fun. Mine happened to be Dan (turned out to be not so secret), one of the loudest individuals you'll ever meet. He's a pretty nice guy though and gave me the wonderful Eggosaurus pictured at the left which I promptly ate. (ok not the whole thing but a good portion of it was gone by the time I left on Friday). On Friday Katie and I left with Mel to spend the weekend with her family at Mulwala, New South Wales. On Friday we went out to eat with her family and an uncle and aunt from her mom's side. Her uncle Mike had spent about 5 years being a sales rep. in Kansas so he knew a lot of the towns etc. and it was so nice to talk to someone who actually knew what I was referring to! Mel's two younger brothers both play footy so on Saturday we watched them play. It was pretty cool just to see the Australian version of high school sports. There are some big differences but for the most part the atmosphere is pretty similar. On Sunday evening we visited her Grandparents and met some of her extended family. No matter where you go, families are the same. Her Grandpa was bald and sat at the head of the table and her Grandma was making sure everyone had enough and not really taking time to eat. Her younger cousin had an accident and her uncles told jokes. It was great to be there but at the same time I was wishing I was home with my family. It was pretty neat though when we had dessert, the bowl I ate out of was the exact same green flower pattern that is on our plates at home so I was thrilled. It was great to be able to spend Easter with a surrogate family and be so welcomed into their home, and I guess that's about as close as you can come to the real thing when you're half way around the world.