Singular Scene

So Singular in Each Particular

Giving Up

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Forgotten televisionToday is Ash Wednesday – the first day of the season of Lent.

I’m not now, nor have I ever really been part of a Christian tradition that observes things like Lenten fasts or particular High Holidays and Holy Days. But for whatever reason, in recent years I’ve found it an interesting, and productive exercise to observe some kind of Lenten fast. It seems to do the soul good.

So for this year, 2011, I’m giving up television between now and Easter. No flicking on old episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, no illicit downloads of Criminal Minds or all the other gratuitously violent crime shows I’m a little bit addicted to. No DVDs, so my quickflix queue won’t turn over this month. No small screen except for work/productivity related viewing.

I’ll allow myself a movie or two at the cinema, I’ll listen to my huge library of cds I’ve not heard in years, I’ll listen to the latest audio book in my Audible queue, I’ll read – both books on my shelf, and books in my Kindle (yes, I have a Kindle, I’ll introduce her in the not too distant future) and I’ll make some headway on the .net magazines I’ve been stockpiling. Hopefully I’ll even be able to pull out my camera instead of wasting Saturday mornings watching a week’s worth of TV in one sitting.

Gosh, this may even mean I’ll miss the season 2 opener of Offspring… Yikes.

I don’t think this is going to score me points with God, or man, but I do think it’s important to ‘restart’ or ‘reset to default’ now and again… so for this year resetting my leisure time seemed like a good place to start…

Image by autowitch

How to Convert an un-Shopper

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Bondi Junction Shopping MallIt is a well documented fact (and if it isn’t it should be) that I hate shopping.

I avoid the mall at most costs, unless there is a new season of Criminal Minds out on DVD or if, for whatever reason I have to go shopping for clothes (let’s face it, it’s usually because I have to replace items that are worn beyond threadbare). On those occasions I go to the shops full of sick dread and embarrassment.

Because. Nothing. Ever. Fits.

Or that which does looks dreadful.

So, as a rule, I come away from the shops thinking I’m the size of a barn (rather than a small toolshed outhouse) and feeling as though I am destined to go through life wearing nothing but jeans and t-shirts. Shopping, see? No fun.

However, my dear friend Bliss could make shopping an Olympic Sport, and it so happened she and I were both free on Monday and in Melbourne (the shopping capital of Australia) and so she and I went to the mall, with a view to kitting me out with a winter wardrobe.

And I didn’t hate it.

I didn’t hate it because we started the shopping with this. The Body Shape Bible: Forget Your Size Discover Your Shape Transform Yourself. It had been a revolution to Bliss, turning her into one of the better dressed people in my world. She was all sorts of keen to work its magic on me!

I was Bliss’ very own personal (very curvy) Barbie Doll – and, as it happened, the same shape as she is – an Hourglass. So, for a few hours we shopped until my credit card groaned under the weight of it… but for the first time in my life I stood in front of the mirror and wasn’t horrified. I put on clothes I would never have chosen for myself (pencil skirt???!!) and they looked amazing. Really amazing.

Me. Looking amazing!

We even shopped in stores I would never consider, because I was sure their clothes would all be too small. But I walked out of Country Road with 3 long sleeved t-shirts (deep scooped neck) and two jumpers (sweaters) and one of them is long and fitted and GORGEOUS.

Me. In Country Road!

Me. Gorgeous, still a size 16/18 but gorgeous.

I might finally be able to believe it.

Connective

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I spend ridiculous amounts of time online.  I know, you can scarcely believe it, can you?!  It, however, is completely true. I am online all day and half the night. In defense of this lifestyle, I am compelled to point out that I do also have IRL friends and relations, and that I do spend a healthy amount of quality time with them.  So it’s kind of interesting to me that I feel as though this year is all about  connecting some of those bits and bytes with flesh and bone and actually getting out from behind the laptop and meeting some of these strange and unusual creatures who also inhabit this thing called cyberspace.

I actually hadn’t quite realised this is what was going to happen this year, I seem to have stumbled into it… it started, as previously mentioned with the ABC or, at least the plans started. In actual fact ‘it’ will  start this weekend with my embarking on a short trip down south of the border to attend WordCamp Melbourne 2011.  I know, a whole 2 day conference devoted to all things WordPress (you thought it was  Bible Camp, didn’t you… hah, gotcha!).

A whole weekend of not only people who USE WordPress… but people who CODE for it.

I am giddy.

I am also working on being fully confident of NOT being completely intimidated by the nerds and code gurus who will be there but <positive affirmation>I will be unfazed. I am the Web Princess.  I am a coder. I use WordPress. I code for WordPress therefore I will be just fine. </ positive affirmation >.

Bonus is that I get to hang out with a couple of great (real flesh and bone type) friends who’ve moved there this year, one of whom is Bliss, who moved for a fella, no less, one she’s going to MARRY! And she met him on the INTERNET!!! Seriously, read the linked post to understand the magnitude that is Bliss meeting the MOHD on the internet thing.

Awesomer

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No really, this is the emoticon for 'awesome'.
Awesome

It’s about time there was less Christmas around here and I shared some of the currently awesome stuff I’ve been into of late…

[waits till everyone is up off the floor after the shock of 2 posts in one week…]

Here goes…

Currently Reading: God, Actually: Why God Probably Exists, Why Jesus Was Probably Divine, and Why the ‘Rational’ Objections to Religion are Unconvincing.Ok… yes, this is apparently heavy duty reading, it’s no Marian Keyes’ that’s for sure but it’s interesting. I appear to be surrounded these days by people who have subscribed to the opinions of Dawkins, Hitchens and their ilk, so it seems appropriate to have some kind of alternate explanation for my faith opposed to their atheism. This book is very useful in that regard and isn’t at all preachy or wishy washy.

Currently listening to: Muse: The Resistance. I have such eclectic taste… no, really… classical music at one end and Muse, Silverchair, and Evanescence at the other… Muse is my (I know, I’m late to the party) latest find and it’s been really hard to listen to anything else…

Picture Perfect: The Semeru. Go, lose yourself in this picture. You won’t be sorry.

Video of Awesome: Could have been a Love story. A serious ‘advertisement’ for taking a risk and putting yourself out there… How many of these conversations have you had that you wished you hadn’t? Yeah, me too…

Surf’s Up: An up to date take on the classic Mix Tape. I absolutely love this site, some very funky cool things!!! As I’m an eighties girl I saw these and thought they were absolutely perfect… I remember having a stack of mix tapes of songs I’d recorded from the radio… this is such a cute way to recreate that…

Posts of Note: What Katie Ate – Sydney Food Blogger and stunning photography. Go forth, observe, absorb and drool. Stunning pix and beautiful food, and mostly in Sydney… so completely achievable [snort] at home… (watches the kilos pile back on)…

You’re welcome.