Is it incredibly vain to make ones cartoon "online" version of oneself so cute?

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Christmas is over. I celebrated the silly season with my family in Gosford in the usual "family" style. Lots of food, alcohol and laughs. I had a great time with my family but my time in Gosford was spent sweating. It felt like it didn't get below 30 degrees the whole time I was there. Ridiculous weather!

But this morning back home, back in Melbourne I awoke to rain and a cool 14 degrees - it was beautiful. I snapped this photo while I was waiting for the pubescent emo kid to make my coffee.

Not a great photo and you can't actually see the rain like I was hoping.....

A Favourite!

For lunch today I took L to one of my all time favourite places to eat .

I refer to this place as The Waiters Club. It is known as the The Waiters Resturant and previous to that the Italian Waiters Club.....back in the day.
This charming little restaurant has a long history and no doubt some very interesting stories and has been run by the same family for eons, it was nice to find Denis still at the helm today.

It has been years since it was a regular lunch and Dinner venue for myself and everyone I could drag along. But what surprised me is that I am still remembered. I understand that it is purely an ego thing, but having your favourite restaurant notice when you come back is pretty damn cool.

The food is great, I love the chatty down to earth atmosphere and Denis is a great host. Love it!

I need to go back there more often.....it makes me happy.

Morning Tea!

So free coffee at the station this morning, then free coffee and morning tea at work. What a day!

As the pendulum swings......

.......so do my moods. From the edge of tears of hysteria yesterday to the giggling mess of today.

So I declare today the start of the festive season. Two reasons. One I am deliriously happy today (the only worthwhile sympton of lack of sleep) and two Santa made me free coffee at Carrum railway station this morning.

I have been glared at and chided by my fellow co-workers for being that annoying girl that sits at her desks and giggles to herself. I tell myself they are merely jealous because I am exuding such happiness today. But I am sure they can see through the manic and temporary excitement just as I can feel it slipping every now and then. And anyone who has felt this knows that you need to hang on to it as long as possible because what comes next is that tiredness that nags at your eyes and slows the brain.

I am pretty sure that my lack of sleep is directly contributing to my mood swings.....and I think I know what is causing my insomnia. Loki. My pathetic, cuddley black and white cat. He likes to cuddle with me, but he is a dominating little fellow and likes to sleep on my head. I could just kick him out but as with all animals he acts out when he doesn't feel loved enough and his version of acting out is making the whole house smell like his pee pee.

Another thing that is adding to my happiness of late is an increase in consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. GB and I have promised for the duration of the summer that we will always have a big bowl of fruit salad in the fridge. This means I get to eat this at work every morning:

The ‘Three Things’ meme.

I should be working…..I feel emotionally yuk and can’t really focus…thought that I would do this instead:
Stolen from GB who stole it from Elizabeth of scarletwords.com

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Lenore
2. Norey (family and friends)
3. Blue (GB)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. Hair I guess…..
2. I like that I have limbs and they are functional
3 I don’t mind my lips…..this is a lot harder than I expected

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. Number one thing would be my skin
2. Followed very closely by my weight
3. Feet – I would like to be able to wear high heeled shoes more but my feet always nag me about it when I do

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Italian
2. Irish
3. English

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Spiders. Spiders – any size or shape…heck even talking about them is scary
2. Missing out
3. Heights

THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Sunscreen. Stupid skin!
2. Mascara….girly I know
3. Food. I hate the feeling of being hungry

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Top 3 t-shirt
2. Black Cardigan (told you I wear them a lot J)
3. My new Doc Martin Airwalkers Mary Janes

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE MUSICAL ARTISTS:
1. P!nk
2. Nick Cave
3. David Bowie

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS AT THE MOMENT:
1. Caruso – Pavarotti – Always a favourite
2. Funhouse – P!nk
3. Dream Catch Me – Newton Faulkner

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Support - Someone who will try and understand me
2. Generosity – GB had this one and I will keep it
3. Fun

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Eyes
2. Smile
3. Nice arms (read: Strong body)

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBIES:
1. Dancing – that would be my number one hobbies if I was actually doing it.
2. Knitting
3. Sewing…..well I am trying for it to be a hobby.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. Wave a magic wand and make things better for GB and his family
2. Be having afternoon drinks with friends
3. Be standing in front of the Sagrada Familia

THREE CAREERS YOU’RE CONSIDERING/YOU’VE CONSIDERED:
1. Teacher
2. Librarian
3. Journalist – just don’t have the skills nor the talent for this one.

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Spain
2. South America
3. Prague

THREE KIDS’ NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Sylvie
2. Olivia
3. Charlotte...I am going to be stuffed if I have a boy :)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Travel
2. Do everything on my bucket list
3. See my family happy and content

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY LIKE A GIRL:
1. Love the Sparklies
2. Quite emotional
3. Like to talk alot

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY LIKE A BOY:
1. can’t think of one thing that makes me boy like
2. ummm…Does liking beer count?
3. ooh and I like to BBQ

Things that make me smile

I was standing on platform 2 of Melbourne Central rail station waiting for the 6:00pm all stations to Frankston when I hear a familiar song start up.......it is the theme song to Buffy The Vampire Slayer (I have recently started watching Season 1 again). I look to find the owner of such a ringtone. It is a 50+yr podgy, glasses wearing man in a cardigan. Awesome!

Happy 33rd

So what does the best geek boyfriend in the world get his girlfriend for a birthday/christmas present:

And the fesitval begins!

My first birthday present of the year......given to me by my top 3 Friend

MoR #6

Every year a little club called the Hi-Fi Bar holds a rock and roll extravaganza called Monsters of Rock.

Nationally successful coverbands from around the country on the one stage for one night only!

X-Halen (Van Halen)

Bad Medicine (Bon Jovi)

Poisoned (Poison)

KISStroyer (KISS)

Thunderstruck (AC/DC)

The OZ Queen Show (Queen)

Blood Sugar Sex Magic (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

It was AWESOME. So much fun. Lots of fun people, lots of fun bands, lots of alcohol....what more could you ask for.

This is X-Halen:

Finger Food

Made this for my lunch the other day. So healthy :)

Do you have plans for lunch?

This is where I go..........I loiter, I search, I browse, I wander, I read and I am happy.

It is my lunchtime refuge. The place that calls when I have no socialising planned, the place that I feel safe.

New workstation

We moved to a different level in the same building. This is my new desk

Although, I don't usually have 2 dozen red roses on my desk. GB spoiling me for our 5th!

Check out The Cute Little Dead Girl Lenore, Mr Gosh and all the TMNT's :)

1/20th of a century

GB and I celebrated our 5th anniversary in contemporary style. Usually our tastes run to the older styled venues with lots of character and charm, some might call them dingy.... However, this year I decided a little something different was in order. The hotel we stayed at is The Adelphi which boasts very modern styling and one of the most photographed hotel swimming pools in the world.

Prior to our retiring from the world into the edgy hotel room - and I mean edgy in the way that I have bruises on my shins from walking into all the edges from all the jutting furniture which is supposed to give it the "modern" feel. (Give me rounded, wooden, polished pieces anyday!) - we saw a contemporary reworking of Romeo and Juliet, by Lithuanian director Oskaras Koršunovas', which sets the infamous conflict between the Capulets and Montagues in rival pizzerias.
What I hadn't noticed when I booked was that the play was in Lithuanian with English subtitles. But it didn't matter - the actors were simply amazing. It was a funny and moving rendtition that relied on universal humor to convey the amusing qualities of the characters. The imagery was powerful, so much so, with even knowing the end I was moved to tears. It is hard to describe just how great I thought it was. To convey perhaps how talented the director and actors are is to acknowledge the greatest stage prop they had was flour - and boy did they use it well.

I could ramble on about how much I enjoyed it for eons and I prolly will annoy everyone at work today with my inarticulate praises for the show.

This morning we stopped off for Breakfast.

This is the cafe we were sitting opposite....to me it is so "Melbourne" and that feeling makes me fall in love with this city all over again.

MotoGP 2008 #9

Thursday 2nd October 2008 was the start of my MotoGP weekend. I picked T up from the Airport at 8:30am and it was straight down to the island. We made record time and arrived at the Red Rocks Golf Ranch a couple of hours before check in time. We decided to check in anyway so we could lose the bags and spend the afternoon hanging out in Cowes and checking out the track, which is our usual Thursday ritual.

Much confusion was caused when we rocked up to the Ranch and tried to obtain our keys. The kind couple that were running the establishment couldn't figure out why 2 girls had booked the Queen Studio room. There is a bit of a story behind that - but to make it short.....we left the accommodation organisation a little late and couldn't find anywhere. I did however try to make a booking for a room at this ranch. Apparently one of the parties that had booked several rooms had a DEATH. Yep - that is what they told me. So we got their room. Fair enough I guess since they couldn't use it anymore. But as you can see a Queen Studio really wasn't a choice but all that was left available to us. When the couple still couldn't work out if we knew what we were doing.....they asked us straight out if we knew we would be sharing a bed. I wondered if we were a lesbian couple what we would have made of their reluctance to believe in girl / girl relationships.

The afternoon trip to the track was in enough time to see the hundreds of bikes that made the Barry Sheene Tribute Ride make their way around the GP circuit. It was quite the spectacle. One poor sod broke down on the road beside the track after making the trip all the way from Bairnsdale.


The weather was some of the best that the Island has managed to put on over the last 9 years. The only downside to the weekend, well their was two. 1. M couldn't make it this year and 2. They didn't have the jets this year either. So it was just T and I for most of the weekend. Madjid and Amanda joined us on the Race day and we had a nice picnic on the grass with the thousands of other fans and wannabes.

The Friday and Saturday of the weekend share a very similar ritual. As soon as we get to the track we get a coffee and go to the fence or our seats and watch the free practice sessions for all the bikes 125s, 250s and MotoGPs. The only exception is that Friday I will line up in the merchandise tent to secure my hat for the weekend. I now have 9 of them!
After free practice it is time to walk around the track - taking in the qualifying sessions from every angle the track has to offer. I think it is something like 4.2km around the track. So I get just enough exercise in to balance the beer consumed on race day :)

Here are some of the photos from the podium and the excited crowd storming the track. There really is nothing like seeing thousands of people converge into the one area. These photos don't convey the thrill and sheer size of the crowd.

So far I am still riding the buzz from seeing some of the best sportsmen in the world. Rossi took the championship in the prior race, however seeing him ride out of 12th position into 2nd was just amazing. He is most definitely the best rider. EVER. Hehe I feel privileged that I have been around for his reign as champion. Almost makes me want to spawn some kidlets so I can tell them and their children all about it.......

Until next year.

Sunny Corner

This little old duplex, sitting dwarfed by the large looming apartment blocks that surround it and bulge onto the once quiet street, features prominently in any reminiscing that I do. It represents the time I consider my coming of age. When I fell headlong into a hedonism of the poor and dysfunctional. Sunny Corner. It saw many late nights and early mornings as occupants sat buried in a daze of ciggerettes, journal keeping...the walls trying to contain the smoke, the low noise from Rage on the tv and the huntsmen.

I discovered I wasn't a goth, that I didn't belong on the "Gold Coast" and that Jeff Buckley was magic. I pawned all my unneccesary possessions and traded them for even more unnecessary ones and spent the rest of the money on coffee. Britpop was massive and being an elitest, purest or generally self obsessed self righteous twat seemed easy and natural. The rose-tint that memory glosses over this time forges it in my mind as the best time of my life.......

When the mould grows

I am feeling very sad and just a trifle cranky. Today I went to get my Starbuck glass from the work fridge and empty out the Chia seeds which were slowly fermenting and festering. I was 2 days late. After not being able to find my beloved glass in the fridge I announced to my department in a slightly strained voice that my glass was missing. To my horror I was then informed, bravely by the HR lady herself, that she had indeed thrown my glass and its contents into the bin. Didn't just empty out the collectors memrobillia glass and put it in the dishwasher. NO! Threw it and it's contents into the rubbish without a warning.

I don't really remember what was said after that. I was trying to quell the rising tears and keep my voice even.......

I'm sad.

Rookie mistakes and Soy lattes in the sun

This weekend just gone was close to the best weekend I have had apart from the Phillip Island MotoGP round.

Friday: The Run Real Estate called to confirm that GB and I were successful in our application for the house we wanted in Seaford. Hooray! I am going to be a proper commuter now.
I left for the airport straight after work and arrived at Coolangatta at 9pm. T picked me up (yep she has her car licence now) and we went for a burl around the coast and had coffee at Kingscliffe’s new resort. I haven’t seen T or M since the MotoGP in October 2007.

Saturday and Sunday: I spent the weekend on the coast with the Bott’s and indulged in every way a person does on holiday. Overate and drank too much :)
It has been about 10 years since I have been back on the coast, so there was the obligatory drive by the old house and wandering around the old haunts exclaiming how much things have changed. T is not much of a drinker and M is 2 weeks away from having her second child, so it was up to Dr Bott to be my drinking partner. We shared a lovely bottle of wine over a seafood lunch sitting on Tweed River, then followed that up with drinks at SaltBar in Kinglscliffe.

GB was playing the perfect boyfriend and was there waiting dutifully at the airport and surprised me with a bunch of welcome home flowers. But the weekend was way too short and I found myself a little bit sad on the trip home from the airport. I miss having my friends close by.
The perfect end to the great weekend was waking up to the Leguna Seca MotoGP live on TV. Rossi and Stoner put on quite the show. Chris Vermeulen got another podium which I was happy about. Stoner made a Rookie mistake which saw Rossi take the lead by over 10sec , then Stoner whinged about it like the bad sport he can be at times.

So I find myself in the best mood - at work, although not working yet, and I feel reinvigorated and motivated and excited for all the changes coming up.

Camp Coalville

The weekend just gone I went along to the Elite-Ops Bootcamp Weekend at Camp Coalville…………and it turned out to be the most physically gruelling and mentally (emotionally) challenging thing I have ever done in my life.

I personally was pushed to my physical limits on the weekend and my muscles are still recovering. I was going to take photo’s of the bruises I have all up and down my arms and legs but decided that it was probably best to keep that sight to myself.

We had 3 training session on Saturday (all up about 6 hours) and on Sunday we had 2 training sessions (approx total of 3 hours). This photo was taken after the last training session on the Sunday.

My name is Lenore and I am an addict

I have purchased over $200 worth of items from ebay in the last 35 days.  

1 x knee-hi boots
1 x black suede lace up boots
5 x transfers (to make groovy t-shirts)
1 x Cute Little Dead Girl Lenore stationary
1 x black skirt
1 x Brown Skirt
1 x Brown polka dot wrap dress
1 x cute cream and red type floral skirt
1 x Alannah Hill floral skirt in salmon

All of them are bargains thats for sure. But they are unnecessary and one bargain quickly turns into an addiction and I find myself spending hours scouring the millions of items that either someone else doesn't want anymore or even worse from an "ebay shop".

A self imposed ban has been put in place that starts..........as soon as my last auction ends  :)

a blogger at heart

So it is painfully obvious that I am doing a woeful job at this blogging thing.

A couple of fun events have come and gone since my last post and although it did cross my mind to jot down some words about them....I didn't.   I find that the times I am most compelled to write is when I am feeling reflective and a little self indulgent.    I gain clarity in my confused thoughts by writing them down, however records of such ramblings 
are best kept in long hand in the little book under my socks.

I have just been for a little jog around the block, as part of my training for the Mother's Day Classic
I am a little nervous about my first fun run, but I figure not much can really go wrong.  I am doing the baby run.  4kms.  Going from a couch potato of epic proportions to someone who can even jog for a kilometre has taken many early morning bootcamp sessions.  That has been the one thing that has kept me happy over the last couple of months.  The fact that I am actually achieving results in my bid to become fit and healthy.





 

BBE

So the best boyfriend ever took me to the Portsea Hotel for our valentines weekend.

Friday night arrival  - We had a seafood platter (pretty ordinary) and a couple of drinks outside, then slept a great deal (bootcamp and a head cold ) but were up in time for breakie.  I have two favourite things about staying in hotels.  I love room service and I love the buffet breakfast.  They can make or break the hotel stay for me  :)  
Usually GB is too alseep to ever indulge in breakfast and the not 
eating for a couple of hours after waking doesnt lend itself to morning 
food consumption either.  I usually do breakfast on my own
But I think GB made an effort for me this time round and
actually joined me for breakfast. Hooray!

Saturday we went to the Sorrento back beach to try out our new camera. 
We got a little point and shoot that is waterproof. 

Not the best quality but - So much fun!



These were taken in little waterholes in the rock formation

Some where back in time

Iron  Maiden flew into Melbourne on Ed Force One Tuesday  night for two nights of serious Rock.
GB, his friend Colin and I went to the Wednesday night concert. It was everything you would imagine a 'Maiden' concert to be like.  
90% of the crowd were wearing black jeans and either longhair/a mullet or shaved head.  
The other 10% was split 50/50 into "normal" and "goth/skank" girls.  
Everyone was so excited to see Maiden back in the country 
and they went off.
When Bruce asked Melbourne to scream for him I thought that 
the little hairs in my inner ear would never stand up again. 
I witnessed some guitar playing that was so phenominal and the energy this band has was fantastic. Iron Maiden has fans comparable to other same generation bands -  
They all look pretty mean but are a generally friendly bunch.
 
So begins the year of the bands!  Next we have Rock to Wellington.  Counting down - 5.5 weeks to go!

This is the t-shirt I got :)

 

One down four to go

So this whole posting business hasn't gone as planned - but I intend to keep on trying.

I mentioned a post or so earlier that I am intending to check some stuff off a list.  I never got around to posting a list....

One of the items on the list that I never posted was to complete a bootcamp.  This was to kill two items with one activity.....I am determined to become fit and I wanted to actually complete something.  
Fit eh...my goal is the kind of fit and healthy where there are no longer diets just a way of life.  So as the first step I joined the Original Bootcamp , 
it consists of 3 x 1hr session per week for 4 weeks.    I completed the first week yesterday and was so proud that I managed to get through the first week without crying.  First session was scary and very tough.  Second session was even tougher and made me quite hesitant about going back.  I really though that I had jumped into the deep end a touch too soon. After the third session I actually feel like I have made progress.  I am still last at everything we do and I still do the least pushups and situps and burpees.  But I am not there to compare myself to others - I just want to see progression with my fitness levels over the 4 weeks.

Today I am off to the gym near the train station.  This is step 2.  I am going to take up boxing.  Not competition boxing or anything.  Just training  :)

ChChChChanges

I don't want to be where I am in my life in 12 months time.  I have spent quite a few of my 32 years not striving for anything...just being, going with the flow.

I am feeling determined for some change.  

There are five steps that I am going to take.  I will list them soon. 

Right now I have to pick up my crumpled car from the mechanics.  

Whinger

It is 37 degrees, I am hot, bored and slightly annoyed.

I have been trying to learn some chords for my new guitar.  I am finding it extremely hard.  My fingers don't bend the way that the pictures show me how to do it and holding down the strings hurts like a mother after a while.  I am feeling frustrated by not being muscially gifted and am trying to get over the feeling that this whole guitar rock chick business is beyond me.  

I will blame the heat for my bad attitude...

GB is sleeping.  Since he has been on holidays we have reverted back to weekends of old
where our waking hours only seem to be in sync for about 4 to 6 hours.  I am busy pottering around or cleaning and he sleeps.  Then while I am sleeping he sits at his computer for hours on end.

I think I am feeling daunted by all the new tasks I have set my self for the begining of this year.  I want to learn to play the guitar and I also bought a sewing machine.  The sewing machine came about because I dislike the fashion of today.  I thought that making my own clothes was the best solution to this.  Hehehe  I can't even sew in a straight line let alone follow a complicated pattern.  All this is on top of a general feeling of needing something to change.  I cut my hair short for a change.....it didn't seem to ease the feeling all that much.  Silly me thinking something as shallow and meaningless as a haircut could cut through the apathy and discontent.

HA! Do I detect some self pity there?

The lottery tickets that we got for Christmas gave us nada.  I was hoping that a move to Europe with all the money to buy my Italian Villa and a beefy American muscle car was going to be just around the corner  :)

Bugger it - I am going shopping!