april 27, 2005
body. clock.
I suppose that one of the benefits - or maybe it should be side effects - of getting older is that you become familiar with your body. This familiariy doesn't just relate to an acceptance of your body shape, but an awareness of how it works. Over the last year or so I have become so much more aware of the little signals that my body is sending me.
Take for example the signal of a slightly itchy sore throat on Friday afternoon, two years ago I would have ignored it, but now that I'm 25 I can tell that I was getting sick.
Five days later and my throat is sore and very itchy and now my head is beginning to get clogged. Even though I did take some garlic, horseradish and vitamin c tablets and slept in extra late on the weekend, I know that I could have headed this lurgee off if I hadn't been staying up so late for the last couple of weeks.
I blame the lack of sleep on having a tv in my bedroom and my return to reading voraciously.
So rather grandly I'm making the following statement:
"That's all going to change!"
Well, hopefully only the sleeping thing will change - I didn't enjoy myself when I wasn't getting opportunities to read very much. And you ask, "Why are you suddenly going to get more sleep Pippa?" Well, I'll tell you.
I'm starting French classes next Monday evening and that means that I'll have to leave work early which means that I'll have to start work earlier. And in order for me to be at work an hour earlier I'm going to have to go to sleep way before my current bedtime.
However, considering that it's now 23:10 and I have dishes to clean and ants to kill and some clothes to fold I think that I'll postpone early sleep for another day.
pipstar @ 10:58 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
we will remember them
tcrbaker
It's the 90th anniversary of ANZAC Day and for the first time in my life I woke up to go to the Dawn Service to commemorate the war dead.
I'm really glad that I went along. Prior to the service there was a introduction by a representative of the RSL. He read statements from some [now deceased] veterans of the Gallipoli campaign. All condemned war and felt that the Gallipoli campaign had been a failure and that the ANZACs had been fighting some one else's battle.
"These heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country.
Therefore rest in peace.
There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours...
You, the mothers, who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your teas; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace.
After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well."
A couple of times over the last few days I've heard this passage written by Ataturk. I first read it displayed on a plaque at ANZAC Cove in Turkey. Everytime I hear it, tears come to my eyes. Remember, the average age of soldiers was under 23 years, and not even 1% of the Gallipoli peninsula was captured.
I figured that today would be a good time to post some images from my Great Uncle Richmond's photo album. He was a pilot during WWI and served in Belgium.
There are a number of photos of his fellow soldiers, ruined buildings in Belgium, crashed Nieuport planes, Belgian locals, and snow (which would have been such a novelty for Australian troops!).
Richmond died in the weeks leading up to the end of The Great War. He was only 19.
[NOTE: This photo has previously been published via The Mirror Project.]
pipstar @ 05:17 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
nieuport plane crashed
Nieuport Plane Crashed
In honour of ANZAC Day I'm posting some pictures from my Great Uncle's photo album from WWI.
pipstar @ 04:33 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
soldiers walk past ruins
Soldiers Walk Past Ruins
In honour of ANZAC Day I'm posting some pictures from my Great Uncle's photo album from WWI.
pipstar @ 04:32 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
inside dugout. nieuport, belgium.
Inside Dugout. Nieuport, Belgium.
In honour of ANZAC Day I'm posting some pictures from my Great Uncle's photo album from WWI.
pipstar @ 04:31 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
'sam' coote. the mail clerk
'Sam' Coote. The Mail Clerk
In honour of ANZAC Day I'm posting some pictures from my Great Uncle's photo album from WWI.
pipstar @ 04:31 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
lest we forget
Richmond in Flying Suit
In honour of ANZAC Day I'm posting some pictures from my Great Uncle's photo album from WWI.
pipstar @ 04:29 PM | link | Comments:
april 25, 2005
using the force...
In the next month I'm going to be moving out of my pretty house in town and into a currently unknown location with my friend Karen. Except I think that I may have found the house I want to move to. So I'm going to use my the good forces of my blog to strongly influence Karenski...
"You won't have far to go to work and Sesame will love it... And it's cheap and though it's further from the city than we'd like, it's on the nice side of town... Mikey G would love riding his bike there! Cheap movies around the corner!"
pipstar @ 12:46 AM | link | Comments: *
april 24, 2005
oh you've got blue eyes, oh you've got green eyes, oh you've got sore eyes...
This most recent week has turned out to be way more interesting and exciting than I would have predicted.
Missy
On Tuesday I went into the local purveyor of movie and television show figurines on the off chance that they might have some Blythe dolls in stock. (Not, of course, that I can afford to buy a Blythe at the moment, things like a heater and food and a laptop are really way more important than a doll.) And luckily they don't carry Blythe dolls, but one of the girls who worked at the store recommended that I go to another store where there were Little Big Eyes (a.k.a. Blythe doll rip offs) available.
So I ended up buying Missy (a.k.a. Artemis) for $15. She was initially wearing gold lame jeans and her hip snapped straight away but I helped her out with some superglue and made her a new skirt from an offcut of a green corduroy. She looks so much better.
Thankfully, getting a LBE has somewhat dampened my enthusiasm for a Blythe as I can now make some tiny little clothes for a doll with changeable eyes without forking over $150. Eventually I can get a Blythe, but I won't need to jump into such a huge purchase now.
Eyes
On the way back to work from lunch on Wednesday I figured I should get my eyes checked because they've been hurting lately. And having had the eye test I find that there's a reason why my eyes hurt.
The difference was really quite noticable when the optician put on some crazy technical looking lenses and it made looking at a printed page so much easier. I'm slightly long sighted and need to get some reading glasses for when I'm using the computer and reading.
Now of course I need to find a pair of frames that I'll be happy with.
Hair
On Thursday I went to get my haircut and I found out that I would be a model in a photo shoot for a hair product. Wicked! I'm really happy with my haircut (which was free) and I'll get two more free cuts. Considering that I'm paying about quite a bit per haircut that's super!.
Bowls
I'm in charge of organising social events at work and the first event I organised was a visit to the Sturt Bowling Club on Friday. I never realised how hard it would be to get 28 grown ups from one destination to another!
Whilst being a skipper up one end of the green I found the above photo.
Hair II
I felt extra happy and very flattered by the invitation to model, especially when I arrived to find very skinny teenage girls providing their hair for the occasion. Thankfully, I got to wear clothes which I would have chosen myself - though the chiffon top fit in a really odd manner, but the jacket I wore was affordable, teal and looked great. I may very well justify the purchase of the jacket with the money I saved on this haircut.
Never in my life have I worn so much makeup. I felt like some kind of geisha girl because my skin was so obscured by foundation. However I did learn that powder and makeup should always be applied to ears in a fashion shoot because ears can be very shiny.
[I absolutely promise that as soon as I have a photo available I'll put it up online.]
pipstar @ 08:10 PM | link | Comments:
april 24, 2005
women in games conference 2005, dundee, scotland
I've just found out about a cheap flight via Finnair to Europe, so it looks like I may be able to afford the trip. Work will allow me to pay in pre-tax dollars and will help me out with the conference registration.
The flight that I'll be organising looks relatively flexible. I’d have to go through Helsinki which will not be a problem for me at all as Finland is one of the countries I have to visit one day.
pipstar @ 07:58 PM | link | Comments:
april 24, 2005
getting tested
pipstar @ 06:58 PM | link | Comments: ****
april 17, 2005
three things.
I'm not at all ashamed to admit that buying lovely things is a very good compensation for having good things happen to you. And in some ways they can help make days better.
So the three things that I've bought in the last [two] day[s] that have made me feel happier:
- a three legged Danish chair for $20. It's comfortable, cute and in excellent condition. After doing a bit of research I've round that it's by a designer called Hans Olsen and was part of a dining set.
- I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith. I love the film, but as I expected the book is better.
I've been slowly reading a couple of books lately, but one requires too much concentration and the other is interesting but written quite stiltingly. - Some quark which I had on toast with honey and later on with sweet chilli sauce and home made potato wedges.
[I'm feeling much better now, thankyou for emailing and asking and offering advice - I really do appreciate it.]
pipstar @ 01:39 AM | link | Comments: ***
april 10, 2005
photo friday: plastic
Hoi An, Vietnam (LOMO LCA)
pipstar @ 03:07 PM | link | Comments:
april 10, 2005
nerdy gerdy
I suppose that not every job will list "Needs to play more computer games" as an action for an annual performance review. However, my performance review listed such an action.
I've bought a cute little PlayStation 2 and a tv for my room. And while I've played Ico a couple of times, I've ended up spending more time watching my Spooks dvds and repeats of Wildside. But, adventure games have never been my thing, I've either gone nuts for fighting games like Tekken or for cute platform based games like Sonic or Lemmings. So I've got Herdy Gerdy on order and am eagerly awaiting Katamari Damacy 2 in the hope that a PAL version will be released.
And out of the PSP and the Nintendo DS, it's the kawaii approach to the design of the DS which attracts me.
Check out Retro Atari Classics, games like Pong have been remixed by the team at OBEY and other street artists.
It looks like the DS and an ever increasing number of games will have to be purchased after I've picked up my other geek toys such as a powerbook, ipod and digital slr.
I'm going to need one hefty, yet stylish gadget bag.
pipstar @ 02:11 PM | link | Comments: ***
april 01, 2005
the mirrored bag
i've got a new mirror project submission.
© 2002 - 2007 Pippa Buchanan