That may be all I need!

The guitar thing is going remarkably well. The singing thing only happens when I'm by myself and then only under my breath..so its not going so well. BUT I would have to say one of my favourite songs is 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5. Its the song I cannot HELP to sing to in the car and its also STILL the ringtone on my phone. So it was only a matter of time before I attempted it. At first glance I didn't think I would have enough fingers to play it but with some easier chords and a little bit of singing it sounds pretty decent. I still have a lot of work to do on it yet though.
Which will have to wait because although my fingers aren't bleeding they ARE pretty sore.

- Jen

Kaiser Chiefs

kaiser
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

For the first time in ages I bought a cd! Yay! These guys did pretty well in triple J's hottest 100 and from what I've listened to so far I think they could be a 'jen hit'.

- Jen

Doesn't that sound familiar?

Excuse the lack of updating but what with the man's computer being stolen I have had limited access to a computer and went back to Albury for a couple of days this week (more on that later).

The title of this post comes from (Missy Higgins - Scar), I'm actually learning that on guitar at the moment. When I start getting better at the singing along thing it should sound pretty sweet!

Anyway at the behest of best friend I made the trip to Albury on Wednesday. Honestly she sounded so excited when I told her I was coming that I thought things might have been a little different to the typical goings out, but sadly not. Albury is still Albury...and I'm stuck here for another year. It's not that I'm upset at being stuck in Albury working because work should be okay, its the fact that once again I'm doing the long distance thing with the man. It also upsets me because having lived with the man for the summer now I know that it would have worked (living together) and thats brilliant. I mean thats a pretty serious relationship breaker - whether you can "live" together or not. For example turtlelips and I have very different definitions of what a clean toilet is. Where as the man and I are very neat people who have a similiar sense of humour (aka he teases me relentlessly and makes me laugh at myself) and similiar principles etc. I also love him to bits and I think that helps as well.

While I'm writing this the man and his housemate peter parker are playing "resident evil 4" on the remaining gamecube. RE4 being the first game that the man has rebought since the burglary. We had wafty box over for dinner tonight (corn and crab soup followed by roast pork and vegies) and we played "scene it" and "20 questions"...both of which she unquestionably won. It was still fun though with me referring to "tinkerbell" from "peter pan" as that **** fairy in the heat of the moment. There was also a short discussion on the possibility of their actually being such a movie as "dogs" or whether I just made that up (it was decided I was either getting confused with either "cats" or "cats & dogs").

Well I'm getting pretty tired and should get to bed.

- Jen
p.s. although my stomach is a bit rumbly tumbly at the moment - corn & crab soup rocks!

Robbed!

Sunday morning saw a phone call from the man's housemate peter parker bringing us the news that the man's house had been broken into. Unfortuantely for all involved and you my readers the man's computer has been stolen along with about 50 gamecube games, a gamecube, $1000 in cash that belonged to some of the man's friends staying here, clothes, alcohol and for some reason a jar of nescafe.

I say my readers too because it was the man's computer from which I was updating jentopia on. Luckily peter parker has kindly offered me his computer so I can keep writing.

Besides the fact that belongings etc are gone so is the feeling of being 'safe' in your own home (albeit it is the man's home). I feel a lot better than I did last night but nonetheless we are (and I say we because I think the man is feeling it too) on edge. We both got up off the couch to investigate the mystery of why the next door neighbours puppy was barking (it was excited about chewing up their hose) and we are looking for strange people (we both walked outside to watch the meter-reader before.... he looked a bit apprehensive about the staring).

Thats about it for now, will update about the rest of the weekend tomorrow. It should be a good story full of dramas about computer problems and other exciting events that happened in the last 3 days!

- Jen

Doctor Jen?

On Sunday the man had to go into work to set up some of his 'experiments' for the next day (it saves him time doing it on Monday and only takes about 20mins) so I waited downstairs in Cafe Kaz (at the Royal Melbourne). The shop that sells newspapers hadn't opened yet so I was forced to 'people-watch' and while gazing around an old man (who could be described as sprightly) was talking to everyone around him, eating a meal and clearing the tables as well. He seemed pretty chatty and before long moved around near me and started talking. He, turns out to be Eddie who comes in once a day for a hot meal because he can't cook much at home anymore. He asked what I do and I said that I work for the Tax Office and he looked at me and said "really, oh I thought you must have been one of those pretty young doctors that get about in here"..I WAS wearing a button up shirt and jeans so I supposed I looked a bit like a doctor in on a Sunday (minus the stethoscope). We got talking and it seems Eddie was knocked off his bike by a car (being driven with no headlights) and woke up three days later in the Royal Melbourne just as they were about to operate on his brain.The way he tells it, he was back riding his bike three days later but comes in for a hot meal and some company everyday anyway. Basically he lost some of his short-term memory so by talking to the staff and the customers he tries to remember names and recall them. I think he did a fantastic job. He might have called me the man's name once during our conversation when I told him why I was here but when the man came to get me when he was done Eddie said "hello the man and bye Jennifer". The man looked a little bit confused as to how this apparently batty old man knew his name but said g'day nonetheless.

It's bit like that episode of 'the simpsons' where Bart's segment on Lisa's tv show is "Bart's People"!! I don't know how many more Jen's people there will be...probably none.

- Jen

Brokeback Mountain Kerfuffle

Brokeback Mountain
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

I don't know if any of my legion of fans (thats you) happened to catch the news last night but there is a bit of kerfuffle going on about the release of Brokeback Mountain (yes the gay cowboy movie). Sadly it stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake what have you DONE!).Anyway the movie is not being shown in parts of Queensland even though there are apparently gay jackaroos (and jillaroos). What tickled my sense of humour was a Queensland member of parliament (who looks and sounds about as redneck as you can get) who was interviewed on TV last night who came out with this gem "maybe there are some (gay cowboys) out there but I've never heard of `em," ...closely followed with, "I mean, it's not a profession that attracts those sort of people."

I thought it was great the way the paper put in 'em' instead of 'them' in his quote..making him sound so much worse!!!

Oh well...good luck to 'em.


- Jen

Walkies

walkies
Originally uploaded by trojen_hoarse.

In an effort to stave of boredom and in the interests of physical wellbeing I walked into the city today. I stopped at RMH (Royal Melb. Hospital) and the man and I went down and had lunch at the markets and then walked over to QV (visited Sugar!) and then the man went back to work and left me to my own devices (also known as shopping). Despite SatanLink paying me today and despite my need for work clothes...I bought nothing. Although I found some pants..I know I can get them in Myer anywhere and they weren't on sale...and what is the deal with there being no size 8's?? I found a nice shirt...a little baggy for a size 10 (I usually wear in between an 8 and 10)...but they didn't have that or anything else (besides the pants) in a size 8!!

I walked back..realising just how stubborn I am. I got halfway back and thought...I CANNOT walk a step further but refused to pay $6.10 for a tram ticket when I'd already walked so far...and I eventually made it home.

The man and I are supposed to be going for a run/kick the footy when he gets home..so that should be interesting. Hopefully I will be a bit more perky by the time that happens because right now moving my toes hurts.

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round Two a Draw

This morning I rang centrelink (I've never had a problem with their customer service on the phone) and a charming young man by the name of Daniel told me that he understood where I was coming from but it did look like I would have to apply for jobs. He agreed I should apply for jobs that I was underqualified for because with so many hundreds of thousands of people entering these forms they aren't going to check something like that.

So I spent this morning applying for 10 jobs, filled in my diary, filled out my fortnightly form and took it down to centrelink. I was disappointed to witness only 1 fight but as I got there at 1:50pm and there was a sign saying that if I wanted to receive payment that the form had to be in by 2pm (obviously unbeknownst to organised old me) I was hopping from one foot to another (the impatience dance). The fight I did see involved some guy yelling at the lady on the desk about why he had to go and line up again. The lady was a lot tougher than she looked and was putting up a hell of a fight without so much as a tremble in her voice (experience perhaps) and kept stating "either you go to the back of the queue or you leave". This went on for 5 minutes with the people at the desk, the people in the queue waiting to be served and the rest of centrelink gawping. Not Jen. Impatient Jen growled and said "oh COME ON!!!"..and the line started crawling forward again. At 1:57pm I handed my form in, no troubles and I SHOULD get paid tomorrow.

The next saga will be where they send my next fortnightly form to. According to yesterday's "Centrelink Satan" it should go to my home address which is so accessible to me right now. So Mum and Dad are going to have to send the form down here to me at my "de facto's" residence. Ridiculous.

Mr De facto otherwise known as the man has decided he is going to start "training for pre-season footy training"...if he doesn't go tonight it will be the third night in a row he has managed to avoid this so called "training". I'd love to go and kick the footy with him but he wants to "run laps" or something horrible like that!

- Jen

The Perils of Payment - Round One to Centrelink

Today I had my (what I thought was final) interview with Centrelink (down at Newmarket). Being the conscientious and organised being that I am I had my birth certificate, statement from the lan mine saying I don't work there, and my 3 bank statements all ready to go. I arrived early about 4:30pm (for a 5pm appointment) because I had nothing better to do and at 5:35pm they called my name (35 mins late but I wasn't counting..much).

The centrelink staff member (who I will get to in a minute) and I sat down and then the fun started.

CSM: So you are living with your boyfriend
ME: Er no, not really..I mean I'm staying with him but I'm not paying rent or anything
CSM: So he is your de facto
ME: WHAT? No!
CSM: In order to pay you we will need statements of his income
ME: WHAT? No! I don't LIVE there..I'm just STAYING there!
CSM: Thats not what I have here
ME: Well yesterday they asked me if I was living with any males...so I said yes because I am!
CSM: You shouldn't have said LIVING...you should have said STAYING
ME: ...er ok..right (raises right eyebrow)

Anyway I ended up feeling like the lowest piece of scum in the world. To top it off..I have to look for jobs...and apply for 10 a fortnight...even though I ALREADY HAVE A JOB. Brilliant isn't it?
So instead of them just paying me the money, now I have to waste MY time (although I have a lot of it), I have to waste the companies whose jobs I apply for time (by them having to assess me as an applicant...EVEN THOUGHT I ALREADY HAVE A JOB) and I'm wasting centrelink's time because instead of just paying me (very easy) now every fortnight they have to check I have applied for the jobs I have, which is a waste of human resources (something that their obviously understaffed organisation should take into consideration)!

The centrelink staff member made me feel horrible. I was nothing but polite to her, I asked her "is it stressful working here?" (being the brilliant conversationalist that I am) and she replied "it is when you have to go through and change all these details because people give you incorrect information".
Once I had been given my "job diary"...I signed a "preparing for work agreement" and left. I stormed home (it was a very quick trip), kicked some rocks and then had a cry to the man about it when I got home.

So: Round One to Centrelink. But tomorrow I am going to ring them and find out why I HAVE to do this. It seems pretty ridiculous (considering they already told me I didn't have to).

I will update on what happens soon,

- Disgruntled Jen

Back to Broadford

This Saturday was the annual family reunion held in Broadford (for my mum's side of the family). Regrettably other events such as going out, sleeping and as I recall even a 'dusk till dawn' at The LAN Mine have resulted in this reunion being the first I have attended (at least as an adult). The man was dragged along to finally meet some of my extended family and despite being up until 2am having "a non-verbal argument" over the intricacies of icing a sponge cake he seemed happy enough to be there.

It had obviously been awhile since I had seen that side of my family because a boy walked past and I thought "gee he looks like Andrew, but Andrew isn't here and he should be a lot older anyway"..and I turns out this "boy" was Benjamin who my sister and cousin and I looked after when he was about three....weird. Some other guy who I just presumed was one of my cousins boyfriends turned out to be a cousin of mine who I hadn't seen since he was about 7 or 8.

Much ribbing about joining a family of tax office employees took place which was to be expected!

After I had eaten some lunch I strolled out to investigate the cricket game going on. After discovering I have literally forgotten how to throw a ball (I hung my head in shame a couple of times)..I got my eye in a tiny weeny bit (I'm pretty sure I still looked...uncoordinated).
Having done my time "fielding" (if you could call it that) I got called into bat. I won't lie...I did ok. My cousin Matt and I had what we "reckoned" to be the "longest partnership in backyard cricket history" strolling up and down the pitch while we smacked the ball around the park (apparently I was "carting" them). Eventually I retired by tipping the ball to my younger cousin, fielded for a little while and then sauntered back over to the rest of the family. Somehow I scored the nickname of "Ricky"...but it was a lot of fun.

The afternoon finished with compliments on the sponge cake and chocolate roll (yay!) and then someone (maybe it was me) threw ONE little piece of ice at someone and then all of a sudden there was ice and water flying everywhere. My uncle busted out the water filled fire extinguisher and then the fun really began. For some reason all the kids ganged up on the man who up until that point had been very quiet but was now wrestling with 3 kids/young adults wielding cups of ice. I think just about everyone bar my nan ended up with a cup of ice down their back (which wasn't altogether unpleasant given the temperature). How my nan managed to escape I don't know but I did turn around at some stage and she had her fists up so I can only assume she threatened some form of violence or more photos...the truth remains to be seen.

It was a lot of fun and the man and I both agreed we would be back next year.

- Jen

BRD101 - Introduction to Boredom

If you have read any of the posts published in the last week, or you are the man then you will know that I am bored. Very bored.

Now see the thing with boredom is, in order to not be bored you need to somehow alleviate the boredom. One could do this by finding an activity that is stimulating enough to attract the attention of the person who is bored (the boredee) for an extended period of time. Often it need not be just one activity but a string of activities that can often maintain the interest of the boredee.

There comes a point, I have found where you can become SO bored....that it is nearly impossible to find any activity that will engage the boredee. EVERYTHING is too much effort and even though you desperately want something to do...nothing is interesting enough. Here is where the boredee must "fake it". The boredee must pretend that they are not bored and create small activities such as "oohh I could take out the rubbish!" so as to give the impression they are participating in a fun, engaging activity.

The boredee in question is of course me. There has been guitar playing, sleeping, movie watching, long walks, computer game playing, gardening, short walks, shorter runs, sleeping and of course blogging. I definitely have a shorter attention span than I used to because I cannot play computer games anymore. Which is quite sad because the man has quite a wide selection. "Age of Empires 3" held my attention for all of 25 minutes which is how long it took me to get to the 'fortress age' before I succumbed to boredom and hit the 'esc' key.

But today...today I went past the "fake it" stage well and truly. For this afternoon I am walking up to 'puckle st' (around a 4km return trip) and buying some ingredients so that the man and I can make cakes when he gets home from work...and I am seriously excited about it.

...thats just how bad it is guys. Cake Making. There are all kinds of dangerous hazards that will present themselves. For example the oven hasn't been used for making cakes yet so the 'ideal' temperature has yet to be determined...possibly resulting in the cake being "burnt on the outside and NOT COOKED on the inside" (the man's words) ....but being the courageous people we are the cake making venture is going ahead anyway.

Wish me/us luck

- Jen

Song Quiz

Choose one of your favourite bands/artist: Jack Johnson

Answer all the questions using SONG TITLES from the BAND or ARTIST

1. Are you male or female: Never Know
2. Describe yourself: Good People
3. How do some people feel about you: Flake
4. How do you feel about yourself: Mediocre Bad Guy
5. Describe where you want to be: The Horizon has been defeated
6. Describe how you live: Sitting, waiting, wishing
7. Describe how you love: Cupid
8. What would you ask for if you had just one wish: Dreams be Dreams
9. Share a few words of wisdom: Staple it together
10. Now say goodbye: Gone

I think I did alright! It was a lot of fun!

I tag....everyone!

- Jen

I'm turning pro!

A pro BLUDGER that is!

I had absolutely nothing to do today, and so far it has been brilliant. I stumbled out of bed at 9:52am because I got to that "I'm sleepy but I can't go back to sleep stage"...an excellent sign of a successful sleep in. Then I debated about going for a run but upon peeking outside decided that running was a silly idea! Situps were also deemed "too much like exercise" and after a shower I put on "kicking and screaming" ate two bowls of cereal and then curled up on the couch under a sleeping bag.

I awoke 3 and a half hours later (kicking and screaming is obviously not that good a movie) and decided...I'm going for a walk!! Right after I update my blog and play some mario baseball.

The only thing that I did wrong today in respect to being a pro bludger is the having a shower and getting dressed business. I will have to see if I can improve on that tomorrow!

Well having updated my blog I think I will..play some guitar AND then mario baseball...and well if there is any time left in this hectic day I WILL GO FOR A WALK!

- Jen

Vail 2005: Chapter 2

I have mentioned in previous posts how my 2004/2005 new years was the best I have ever experienced and I have to admit I was a little unsure as to how it could be topped or at least equalled. I needn't have worried though because like the rest of 2005, New Years was brilliant!

I spent New Years in Bendigo with the man, and a couple of his friends. We had tickets to the upstairs of a Pugg Mahones which while costing $100 was well worth it. After all can you really put a price on a seafood buffet, dessert, all you can drink as well as great music and being with your friends?..well I guess you can...but anyway it was a great night. Midnight kind of snuck up on us which usually happens after drinking beer all afternoon...then vodka...then more beer. Like last year I think having the people you love (or at least people close to you) with you is the key to a great time.

The 'all you can drink' drinks ran out at 1 and I would like to think that Mick and I got our money's worth drinking two drinks between 12:55 and 1:00am. Not long after that the man, Mick and I walked back to the motel and despite being intially knocked back by the hitler wife of the motel owner eventually managed to obtain permission for a swim (from the husband once his wife had left).

We got into bed around 2:30 and was woken by a friend of the man's looking to...how do I put it...have a good time with his girlfriend in the pool. Luckily they were dissuaded by the man and left. The man's phone rang at 7:15, which he didn't answer and then mine rang...and I hung up because it was 7:15! All I can say is that Trent is very persistent and rang back. Turns out he was in Melbourne...at the man's house...where we weren't. So his surprise sort of backfired I guess.

We didn't do a lot that day, met Mia, the man's friend Mick's baby daughter (who is very cute). Ate chinese, saw Cheaper By The Dozen 2 (it was an hour wait to see Chicken Little and we were not in a waiting mood).

All in all....another great new years and I'm on a roll now...I think I will try and go for the hatrick by having another great one next year too!!

- Jen

Vail 2005: Chapter One

Although it is already 2006, I figured this was one post I had to do.

I had an absolutely brilliant year in 2005 and although this post probably won't put just how great my year was into perspective I thought I would give it a go.

I had another great year with the man, finished uni, got a job, went overseas for two weeks, had a great 21st, a fantastic Christmas, had a blast working at The LAN Mine, made even more friends and spent time with them where I could whether it was only snowboarding for a day, drinking with them for a night or stressing THEM out about exams!...and did I mention I started this blog!

While things were pretty great, there are always times when things don't go so well. Not a lot of bad things happened in 2005 (to me at least) and I can be grateful that apart from stresses at uni, a couple of parking tickets and an 'incident' involving leaving my radiator cap off and trying to drive to Melbourne I was pretty lucky.

I don't know if you have seen it but if you have been to the movies recently there is an ad for ninemsn's news site with a version of "mad world" playing in the background and asks where you were for various events that occured during the year like Schapelle being sentenced, the London bombings, Douglas Wood being freed etc. It's a great ad and for most of the things I could remember where I was. The two that stuck in my mind most were Schapelle and the London bombings. I remember I had just bought Season One of The O.C and was in Melbourne watching it and flicked the t.v over and it was at that exact moment when her face crumpled (when she was told). I was shocked because there is so much hype and drama in the media that I didn't really think she would 'get done' for it. The London bombings really shook me and I can remember quite clearly that I was watching tv while my housemate was on the phone and 'everybody loves raymond' was on (which I was only half watching until it got interrupted). I skidded out of the loungeroom, hurtled down the hallway and had the Herald Sun site loaded up in about 30 seconds. You have to love the internet at times like that! Information superhighway is pretty well right. I've always liked those things at the end of the news on New Years Eve and it shows everything that happened during the year because you look back and go "oh yeah, Schapelle!".

By far the great things that happened during this year far outweighed anything bad that did happen. I'm looking forward to starting work (even if it is in Albury) and am really excited about getting into 2006!

Chapter Two: New Years Eve

Tagged for Four

Just by visiting Rae over at 'The Brew That Is True' I have been tagged!

Four Jobs you’ve had in your life:

- Bakery Assistant
- Checkout Chick at Coles (love the alliteration)
- 'Sales Associate' at EB Games
- Nerd who takes money at best internet cafe in the world otherwise known as working in Desktop Services or some similar name on my resume.

Four movies you could watch over and over:

- Ferris Buellers Day Off
- Shaun of The Dead
- The Blues Brothers
- Donnie Darko (have to keep watching it so I can work it out)

Four places you’ve lived:

- Wagga
- Sydney
- Lismore
- Albury

Four TV shows you love to watch:

- The O.C
- Black Books
- Family Guy
- The Office

Four places you’ve been on vacation:

- Thailand
- Tawonga
- Broadford (seriously!)
- Gold Coast


Four websites you visit daily:

(I have done the four I freak out about if I DON'T VISIT)

- Herald Sun
- my.csu (for forums and email)
- Penny Arcade (comic & forums)
- Pumpkin Diary (besides the blog itself I use the blogroll to keep up to date with the other blogs I read from there).

Four of your favorite foods:
- Nachos....with avocado and sour cream
- STEAK!!! (one good thing about staying in Albury is that I will be able to keep going to 'Steak Night' at The Bended Elbow!
- Sadly chocolate..
- Not so sadly fruit especially apples

Four places you’d rather be:

- ....
- ....
- ....
- ....

I'm really happy where I am right now. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world unless the man was with me as well. As Ed from 'Shaun of The Dead Says' "gay"....but oh well.

I choose to tag anyone who reads my blog, hasn't already tagged ME or been tagged and has a blog...which leaves....turtle-lips.