I just spent the better part of the morning CLEANING the house. I say CLEANING because it's not the superficial chuck-everything-into-a-small-nook cleaning, but a wipe, polish, clean, vacuum, dust, sweep, wash, dry affair.

Mum and boy are arriving tomorrow and I don't want mummy to enter my home and call me a failure at keeping house. It doesn't matter if I don't decide to make housework my calling in life. In her world view, it's my biological destiny to be L33T at cleaning. BAH! Sometimes I wish I was just a messy boy. (But only sometimes)

WAH! This is *my* week!

My French friend Julien (with the soft "j") is passing me a copy of the Animatrix today! Woohoo! I think it's part of the bribery scheme to chope the last two Coldplay tickets I have I think, but that's okay. I can be bought!

YAY YAY! First bootleg KENT CDs now VCDs! Yippee!

Interesting fact: Julien can probably speak better mandarin than I can *shame*

Last night K&W brought me out for dinner. We went to dinner at Shiki - an uber expensive Jap restaurant at The Rocks. Fwah so yummy. We had salmon sashimi, prawn balls, rare beef tataki, sushi rolls (with no goddamn seafood stick inside, thank you very much, but a fresh juicy shrimp ^_^), battered oysters, chawanmushi, rice balls, quail and grilled snow crab (which we grilled ourselves on two tiny cute clay grillers). And Sake. YUM.

After, we went to Little Italy at Norton Street and I had the BEST tiramisu gelato ever! It had a light layer of sponge cake and was really to DIE FOR! *Drool*

I learnt how to speak Norwegian today! HAH! Cat in Norwegian is KATT. *beams*

Also, I got a lovely prezzie from Sexy Eivand today! 3 KENT CDs! In Swedish! HAHAHAH! YAAAAAYYYY!

Heeeeey! There are rumours going around that I've disappeared off the face of the earth. THIS IS NOT TRUE! I'm still alive!

Just 'cause I don't email, update my blog or appear on ICQ doesn't mean I've been whisked away by aliens to Planet Nowhere. Anyway, I *do* update (ahem, case in point), email (I just sent one a few days ago!) and go in ICQ (for at *least* the time it takes to send off a free sms).

Ahem. Feh

YAY~ I finished one article! It's half my word requirement for my web project, so I have to either just write one more long feature of about two short ones! I expect to end up writing all four actually (and blow the word requirement... again).

Sigh. Sigh. I crave KFC and orh luak and cockles. Sigh. Sigh.

I want to be able to get fed at 11pm at night. Eat oily supper things like prata or fish ball noodles with extra chili.

I want to be able to eat Chinese takeaway without gagging or feeling my tongue shrivel like a slug sprinkled with salt. I want to pay *less* than $6 for a meal.

Okay... there's a class coming in...I need to scoot.

oh my god! I just heard that more acts are confirmed for Jul/August! Death in Vegas and Interpol. ARGHHHH. I need to stop getting my friend to sms me about these things!
ARGHHHH!

OH MY GOD! (with a negative tone) Someone just farted in the Uni Lab and it being 930 at night, the ventilation's not switched on. ARGHHHHHHHH. BYE!

I had work this morning. Crawled out of bed at 8.30am and after work, crawled back into bed and passed out till 6pm. I awoke to the hum of steady rain and darkness, for moment there, I thought I'd slept right through the night and had to get up in an hour for work.

Major case of disorientation.

Anyway, yeah. I have loooooong working hours next week. But it's good I guess... $$$! *Ka-ching* I'm helping out in a Utilisation Survey - so I patrol classrooms and count heads... for 6 hours. Yowza!

Weather's dismal and drippy and windy and wet. I'm always cold now =(

HELLO!

I finished a couple of major assignments the last few days. Phew! Had a presentation Wed night on Social Justice and the Working Class. I did a case study on Sweatshop labour and Nike. Anyway, I though it went *great*, but the entire time while I was presenting, my class looked at me like I had horns. I mean, i know I'm mad and all, but I thought it would have been polite to at least try to answer the questions I posed. They answer everyone else's questions...

I really enjoy this class, even though at first it seemed I would never get the hang of it. It's really theoretical and academic... But everytime I go to class, everyone is all buddy buddy with everyone ielse and I sit in a corner and eat my apple.

In retrospect, maybe it was the desktop theme on my laptop that threw everyone for a loop. I have Shirley Manson grabbing her crotch on it. I happily hooked up my laptop to the projector and waited for the class to fill up... then I took a look behind my shoulder to check if the image was in focus and realised with some horror and amusement that my desktop theme wasn't exaclty orthodox. Man did I fumble to open my powerpoint presentation. Hee Hee Hee.

An wheee! I have only one last assignment to do... so YAY! It's been a fricken time warp the last month or so. I've never worked so much or so fast EVER. Woosh!

I have a whole week of casual work next week, which is great. =)

I wrote research notes from FIVE books today. My head is spinning and I ache all over.

Some Random Things

* Days of Continuous Rain: 6 (!)
* Limit of Library Books I Can Borrow: 15 (pitiful!!!)
* Number of Library Books I Have Borrowed: 15 (boohoo!)
* Number of Presentations/ Assignments Due Next Week: 4 (aiyoh!)
* Number of Presentations/Assignments I've completed for Next Week: 4 (phew!)

I can't believe how many weekends I've spent Doing Work (3? 4? 8?) Sigh...

It's *saturday* again...

***WARNING: MATRIX SPOILERS***

Watched Matrix Reloaded last night. Giant movie outing - there was about 22 of us. Anyway... it was cool and all... but the first one is still better. I didn't much like the Blatant Overuse of The Old Formula Multiplied Three Times Over.

The World's Biggest Dance Party cut Porn Scene cut World's Biggest Dance Party cut Porn Scene sequence was way too much man. We get the idea! Bumping and Grinding = SEX. D'uh. No need to repeat four/five times.

Trinity is so uber slick man. She makes shiny leather look so cool.

And yes Robin, the whole Buddah/Zen/Confusionism stuff was also a bit much. All that "you get here because you get here" crap was quite funny. I wanted to giggle.

But wasn't all the fighting kinda cool? (If a biiiiiiiit too long). The fact that he flies is also pretty funny. I had these images of Superman and was wondering about what colour undies Neo was wearing. Heehee. (I'm such a perv)

But the movie was still enjoyable. At least it didn't piss me off too much. I loved the highway part! Trinity on the bikes speeding against traffic. Cool shit! (Though the first though that came to my head when she was about to jump off the overpass onto the bike trailer was: Wait no! They don't transport bikes with gas!)

Oh... and it struck me that the budget for the movie must have been the GDP of a small nation (or a very poor big nation). Obscene!

Concert Frenzy Update:

Just bought tickets to Placebo stop 25 Jul stop Heading back to bed stop

*yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay yay yay yay yay*

Work Frenzy Update:

One and half assignments to go stop Tired like fuck still stop I have work today sob I mean stop

Hey hey hey. So tired. Overworked. Stressed. Going crazy. Just have to hang in there for a wee bit more.

Sigh Sigh Sigh.

I have nothing interesting to say. So pah! PAH!

I'm off to find a computer with a *working* floppy drive...

OOOO OOOO OOOO! I bought tix to Bic Runga! HAHAHAH!!!!!

*collapses from exhaustion*

HAHHAHHAH! YAY YAY YAY! Placebo is playing Sydney 25 July! HAHAHAH! *Jumps around like a mad monkey*

HAHAHA! YAY YAY YAY! I got Coldplay tiiiiiiiickets!!!!! The first show sold out in like 10 minutes, but I got tix to the second show. PHEW!!!!!

Happy like fuck!

And I've completed 65% of my assignments over the weekend, so now I only have 3 major ones to finish. YAY YAY YAY!

Go Baby Go Go

Worked till almost 4am last night and completed Immediate Concerns 2 & 3! Also finished half of number 4!

Yay! Yay!

Slept like the dead till noon and had a nice long leisurely breakfast. It's a nice sunnyish *Saturday*

Was supposed to head to Uni to get work done, but decided to stay home and take it easier today. Shall do web research and muck around with my essays.

*Nerd Mode: Levels down* bzzzzzzt....

Why Hello.

No, I'm not dead. Near death maybe, but still alive and kicking (death throes?). Sigh.

I have to complete these assignments before June 1 [When mum and boy-boy come down]
1. International Communication Final Essay (50%)
2. Professional Practice and Culture Final Essay (50%)
3. Online Journalism 1 Final Web Project (50%)

Immediate concerns are:
1. Online Journ 1 Class Presentation [in the next hour]
2. Online Journ 1 Class Project [on Christianity and Capitalism] *quake, cower, cry*
3. International Communication Panel Discussion [role of UTS Academic: public sphere, democracy, public broadcasting]
4. Professional Practice and Culture Class Presentation [Globalisation, Post-Industrialism & Sweatshop labour]

*Breathe* Okay. I feel a little better. *Tough growly growl* I WILL DO THIS!

OOOoo ...OOoooo....OOOoooo! HAPPY BIRTHDAY REDZMAN!!!!!!!!

And guess what?! My brother's coming to visit meeeee!!!! Yay!!!!!!!

Redzman, I gots me a new mobile, so I didn't get your SMS. Have a GREAT ONE! I'm so glad it reached you on time. I'm sorry for the cheap-assness of it though. I'm broke (read: saving for Concerts!) Heh.

*Laugh* Just thinking of the way I flipped out over a couple of days back. To say I went MENTAL is a huge understatement. Redzman, you might remember the Norbert incident (The "You walk away from me now Norbert, you die. You hear me?! You'll FUCKING DIE! Get back here! You're gonna FUCKING DIE!!!!!" speech while standing on the bench at at Mac Tables while Mariam cowered in fear at her crazy group mate.)

Well. This was like that, magnified by like 20 times. I think I threatened to staple someone's testicles to their foreheads this time...

Ah well.

The Crisis is not past, but the rage is managable. I'm so stressed out it's crazy.

The Virgo Character Portrait

You are a pain in the ass. You regulate your breathing and color-coordinate the clothes in your closet. No Virgo in history has ever belched.

Virgos clean every square inch of everything they own twice daily with a toothbrush. Everything has its place, and yours is on the floor scrubbing with a magnifying glass, checking for germs. Obsessive-compulsive disorder? A nice euphemism for the word "Virgo".

Virgos use pointers and elaborate charts to describe philosophical concepts.

You commit a lot of drive-by shootings. When you are questioned, you tell the police that it was because "the bastard had a filthy car". The police usually let you go because they are Virgos too.

It is easy to freak out a Virgo. Tell them they have something between their teeth. Then watch them scrub frantically at the imaginary thing. Virgos are a hell of a lot of fun for assholes like us.

Hell for a Virgo is being locked up in an elevator for eternity with a naked Aquarius. That is because in hell, Aquarians are allowed to bring beer, which they leave all over the floor. Virgos, however, have to surrender their brooms and squeegees to God.

Virgos also have a hard time coping when they find out there's something under the fridge. But it's usually just a depressed Taurus. Virgos have read enough Hints from Heloise to know that the depressed Taurus can be coaxed out from under the fridge with a banana wine cooler.

Virgos don't see the world in shades of black and white. They see it in shades of clean and dirty. Cat hair makes Virgos foam at the mouth.

Virgos are cool because they will do your laundry for you. They'll separate everything by color and fabric until it consists of fourteen loads of three things apiece. Then they will put them in the washer in alphabetical order by name of manufacturer.

Virgos are often found opening and shutting the refrigerator door, attempting to trick the light inside. Don't put cheese where it doesn't belong in a Virgo's refrigerator. He or she will go Jack Torrence on your ass. You will be stabbed with a cuticle pusher. Jack Torrence was probably a Virgo in the first half of "The Shining". After that, he went all Leo.

*Breathe* I just had a fucking crisis. To say I screamed the neighbourhood down would be an understatement. My voice was at SONIC level for almost an hour. It's been half-an-hour since I've recovered, but I'm still shaking from frustration and anger. *Breathe*

Yeah, anyway, moving on. I was working today (Saturday) because they installed new security gates at the library. It's to reduce theft, cos the library's in a really public location and lots of strange people wander in and walk out with laptops, backpacks and stuff.

Anyway... My work routine is now thus: "Student cards please. Barcodes facing up and towards you as you swipe down firmly. Please step away from the sensors at the gentry. Please try that again. Students at any other Uni can apply for a Day Pass at security over there. Yes, you need to swipe your card. Barcode faces up and towards you. Picture on its head. The other way please. Barcode facing up. Let me help you. Day Passes over there please. Please wait for the gate to close before you swipe. Barcode facing up and towards you as you swipe. Student cards please. The other way please. The other way. The other way. Flip your card the other way, barcode facing up and towards you. Let me help you......" (continues for 4 hours)

And such. Have one more week of herding people in and the Library Rover project is over. I can't say I'm disappointed. It would be good to still earn money, but I'd like to concentrate on my work more. And have some free time again.

Irreverant Ponder of the Day: Do you hold your kukucheow unconsciously? But why?

Wheeeeeeee! I'm planning to go for Splendour in the Grass in July (19 & 20)! Wheeeeeee!

Powderfinger will be playing, as well as Coldplay and Placebo! *Hops around in glee* Also Death in Vegas, Goldfrapp... *beams*

Also! Also! I heard Coldplay will be playing Sydney on 21 July! I wannanana go!

*Hops around even more*

went to my first rally today - to get contacts for a final web project on online activism. It was a protest march to Boo! Shame! Hiss! at Halliburton's Australian subsidiary company. (Current vice-prez Dick Cheney used to be its CEO).

They gathered at Martin Place (much like Raffles Place), a motley crew of rather raggedly dressed, dreadlocked/neon-haired assortment of people. Armed with banners, leaflets and loudspeakers, they BOO! Shame! HISSED! at the Dubya, Howard and all the players in the recent conflict as they stood among the towering symbols of capitalism and money.

Later, they marched to Kent Street to protest at the office building. "The best thing is you get the jaywalk like fuck," said my friend and project partner, Waye. Hear! Hear!

I thought the most ridiculous thing was the ratio of police officers to protesters. It was almost a 2:1 ratio. I imagine these protesters trying to storm the Powers That Be and wanna laugh. Placards and banners will do jack schitt against the guns, batons and tear gas.

I wonder if movements like this will ever gain credibilty. And as much as I think they will get nowhere, not anywhere significant, really, the thought that they actually feel that they can do something, anything about the Way Things Are, is kinda heartening.

So yeah, my first rally. No riots, no molotov cocktails, no bra/flag burning. Ah well.