Incendiary

I may be having delusions of Oprah right now, but I'm urging EVERYONE to read the novel Incendiary by Chris Cleave. It's heartbreakingly amazing, and I'm loving it sick. It hooked me from the opening line:

Dear Osama they want you dead or alive so the terror will stop. Well I wouldn't know about that I mean rock n roll didn't stop when Elvis died on the khazi it just got worse.

So the whole thing is written as an open letter to Osama Bin Laden from this woman whos husband and four year old son were killed in an horrific terrorist strike on a London football stadium, and it's totally engrossing. And not just in a morbid sense, either. It's one of the most engaging books I've read in a VERY long time. Let me show you one more bit:

As for you I know you'd stop the bombs in a second if I could make you see my son with all your heart for just one moment. I know you would stop making boy shaped holes in the world. It would make you too sad. So I will do my best with these words Osama. I suppose you can see they don't come natural to me but I hope this letter finds you before the Americans do otherwise I'm going to wish I hadn't bothered aren't I?

I know that makes the book sound kinda preachy, but honestly, the earnestness of the narrator dispels that within the second page, and you just get really caught up in this lost, desperate womans memorial to her family. It's wonderful. Although it's books like these that make me doubt I'll ever actually become a writer, when you see just how amazing other people tend to be at it. It's funny- I didn't have the same thought whilst reading Stori Telling by Tori Spelling. I wonder why that is...

Week 4- Call me Tarzan

Mission Four: Climb a Tree
Staus: Accomplished

Now that everything has worked itself out, I can admit that I have been TERRIFIED of failing this weeks task, since we've been pretty much inundated with torrential rain ALL DAMN WEEK! When it got to this morning, my last day to achieve the task before moving onto week five, and the weather still hadn't looked like improving, I was beyond nervous. Because four weeks in still seems kind of early to start lagging behind.
Luckily, about half way through the day, Beau organised to come over, and I knew that, rain or not, I had to make it happen. So we loaded ourselves into Emmett and went hunting for climbing trees. First, we thought King Edward Park would be able to provide something suitable, but after driving in there, we realised I was hardly experienced enough to attempt the trees they had there. So instead, we explored the weird barracks things that are there, but Beau wouldn't let me climb in through one of the broken grates. Probably because of monsters, which IS a valid concern.
Next, we tried Civic Park, and had a lot more luck. The trees were MADE for climbing. Although I did learn the valuable lesson that, whilst Converse All Stars may LOOK amazing, they hardly make suitable footwear for climbing trees in the rain. So, you know. We've learnt something today.
And did I achieve the task? You tell me.

VD doesn't have to suck!

Who knew? I was amazed! Suprisingly, Valentines Day didn't suck balls at all! It was, in fact, a fantastic night, involving Sarah, Bec and I finding an awesome burger joint and drinking lots of Beer. Well, I drank lots of beer. They watched. And got blamed for it. So there is a waitress somewhere in the Junction thinking Sarah is a total alcoholic. (Which she IS)
Although the same waitress attempted to push me through a glass fridge door. Tell me again why we liked that place?
The moral of the story though, is that despite my fears of having an utterly miserable time on my first Valentines Day as a single person, I was reminded just how fabulous life is when you have the most awesome friends on the face of the planet, and that they make everything better. Or maybe it was the beer. Who can say?

Does this mean I'm giving up?

Quite possibly. Because, suprisingly, the idea of reading all 100 books on Angus and Robertsons list is starting to SERIOUSLY PISS ME OFF! I realised today that I'm spending all this time plowing through books I really don't care about, like Eragon, or The Secret, or anything by Matthew Reilly, and it's causing me to bypass books I actually want to read! I work in a bookstore, I'm constantly being exposed to things that look like they could be amazing works of literature, and yet I'm avoiding reading them to make my way through this ridiculous list. It's dumb.
So, while I'll continue to use it as a guide (which is why I'm still planning to read "Persuasion" by Jane Austen) I'm not letting it dictate my reading patterns anymore. I'm now free to read all the fabulous books I've looked at with longing recently, like Incendiary, by Chris Cleave. Or Berlin Noir by Phillip Kerr. And the Ingenious Edgar Jones by Elizabeth Garner. Or Neil Gaimans entire back catalog. There are so many I've been dying to pick up!
So while it's sad that I wont accomplish my goal of reading each and every book, I think the fault really lies with Angus and Robertson for picking such crappy books.

Week 3- Live and Fabulous

Mission Three: See Live Music
Status: Accomplished

This mission caused a little procrastination as I tried to figure out how broad the definition of "live music" was allowed to be. Because technically, I saw people singing karaoke on Friday night, and if I failed to find anything more exciting, that was going to count. LUCKILY, in the true spirit of this little project, I found something a lot more exciting to experience, and thus, on Saturday night, went to Maddy and Savannahs Drag Bar! (I don't care if they mime- it's live, thanks very much)
And, just to make it as camp as humanly possible, they were performing the Cher show, so naturally, I was in Gay Nirvana. Have I ever mentioned how much I love a good drag show?

The list is COMPLETE!

After much deliberation, concentration, and badgering of my friends, I've finally filled EVERY week of my diary with awesome entries as part of No Week Will Be Wasted 2009. Thanks to the fantastic brainstorming session with Bronwyn, Rene and Deb today, the list has been completed, and my year promises to be the most epic of years...EVER.
Entries include:

• Make some art
• 
  
• See a strip show
• 
  
• Host a dinner party
• 
  
• Attend a life drawing class
• 
  
• Bake a pie from scratch
• 
  
• Road trip: Destination unknown

There are more, but I'd rather not reveal everything too early. Just rest assured. It will be amazing. Thats a promise.

My Skin Cells Hate Me

Had the BEST night on Saturday night. Leesh was up from Sydney, so we reuinited the remaining Parkhillians and hung out, first at a pizza place on Darby Street that we're all so find of, then we celebrated her return by dancing our brains out at G. It was great, trashy fun. In the spirit of trashy fun, shortly into the night, I decided my initial plan of remaining sober and driving home was stupid, and that if I left my car at Beaus, I could get a taxi home, and enjoy a few cheeky beers throughout the night. Ended up not needing a taxi, because Sarah is the worlds most awesome friend, but still. The point remains my car was at Beaus.

Beau lives in Cooks Hill. I'm in Adamstown. How far is that? Let me show you.

I walked the black line. Which is much further than it looks. Because I'm an idiot who can't judge distance. But anyway, the worst part about the trip, was, being the kind of boy that doesn't play outside often, I forget the usual precautions, like, you know. Sunscreen. Hence, I am burnt like a mofo. But that Oh So Attractive burn that manages to show the world the exact shape of my single. Some people tan and look attractive. I look like Dr Zoidberg.

And to make matters worse, because of the recent advertising campaign warning people against skin cancer, all I can think is how I've traumatised my skin cells, so not only am I in ridiculous amounts of pain, I feel guilty about it! I feel like I should give my skin cells a little cuddle and say sorry.

This is why I don't go outdoors...