Monday, December 05, 2005

ten thoughts for the day

1. why do i eat so fast? i just devoured a fruche in about 20 seconds.

2. why are some friends such hard work? i want friends who don't get shitty when i don't call them. who understand that i am just too busy to indulge their high-maintenance needs. don't call me, i'll call you. and if i don't, just get over it.

3. why do i have such problems with my feet? my feet and my hands. they are always sore or blistered (feet, not hands). i have never had a pedicure or manicure. i think i will try to one day.

4. following on from that, the one disadvantage of wearing thongs, like every day, is that my feet are dirty come bedtime. like every day.

5. i need some more pictures to put on the walls.

6. should i try and upgrade to a phd or finish my masters?

7. what should i get my sweetie for christmas?

8. is my little toe really broken. it's still really sore from falling of the stool last sunday. it's over a week now, surely it would be feeling better.

9. where should i take all my stuff i don't want from clearing out the garage? i don't want to take it to an op-shop to be picked over by dealers. i want to give it to people who have nothing and who really need something. any ideas? last time i tried to get stuff to people who needed it, they didn't have a truck to collect it. but this stuff is smaller; kids' books, kids' clothes, some kitchen stuff etc.

10. why does my mojo come and go? what is mojo?

13 comments:

Chai said...

my take on #2, TV shares a lot of blame. U get shows like Seinfeld and Friends. except a lot of them dont realise they're the Kramer or Newman of my life.

#3. It's the shoes. You could try getting some sorbothane, which is those shock absorber for shoes thingys.

#6. Are u sick of your masters thesis? If so, can u stand another 18 months of it? Have u got an idea for a new PhD thesis?

#8. If u see a podiatrist, you can ask about #3 as well!

BEVIS said...

... And for MG's non-Australian readers:

By 'thongs', she means these. Sorry for any confusion! :)

BEVIS said...

PS - You've been tagged!

(Sorry ...)

GS said...

8. Yes it probably is, not a lot you can do for toes - but you can probably play the sympathy card for a while.

9. Maybe call The Smith Family. They are the only non-religious charity in Melbourne working directly with local people. In the past they have taken good quality used household items and toys. Give them a call and see if they are still doing so.

No offence, although the Salies do some good work, I have never forgiven them for publicly opposing the homosexual law reform bill in NZ in 1985. They later sacked/failed to renew the contract of a lesbian friend here a couple of years ago and I wonder if their prejudices still linger?

elaine said...

I used to give to the Salvos until I found out they decided to sell the beautiful hand made wooden toys crafted by my parents neighbour because they thought they would get more money from them and they were too valuable to give to poor children.

1. I used to eat slowly until I an ex of mine used to sneak my dinner when he had finished his. Now I shovel. I fight against it.

4. the advantage of wearing thongs is that you don't get back pain/leg pain/ingrown toenails.

6. If you want advice on this. I recommend only convert it to a PhD if you are 250% certain (or more). If you can't decide, don't. That said, only you can know what is right for you. A PhD isn't just a longer Masters. It is a different approach to the work and the thesis.

10. mojo comes and goes with what is happening in your life, how much your head is spinning, random things that strike you.

sublime-ation said...

I used to give to the Salvos until my friend told me he knew the Salvos truck guy who picks all the stuff up and he just went around and flogged it all to those over priced second hand/antique shops. Also they are a cult. They do some good stuff but are very, very Christian and brainwash people in AA into hating their partners. Well they did to someone I knew.
They also seem really picky these days, like 'I don't want that couch it's not good enough'. Dude, your'e the Salvos. It's not broken or dirty, it's fine.
Hell, it came from you.
RE No2 :I get that to, what the fuck is up with that? Did you ever call me? No, but you put the guilt trip on me for not calling you. Fuck off, I've been busy. Good explanation though, Chai.
And I eat really, really slowly and it sucks. You are always left sitting there still eating while everyone else's plates are being cleared away. Which I also don't get. Why do waiter people do that?

Melba said...

ok all problems are dealt with now. pumice stone, check. whether to update or not. check

[pen wavers]

[sobs]

"i just don't know what to do with myself"

i think i need a break from everything. except blogging. and my sweetie. and fruches. it's all crowding in.

what happened on neighbour's tonight?? i'm losing the plot. ha. get it?

BEVIS said...

*sigh*

I'm here for ya, MG.

Basically, Toadie confronted Connor about the all time he's spending with Harold. Connor politely told him their friendship was over (Connor's & Toadie's; not Connor's & Harold's), and after Toadie left, Harold (who was conveniently holding a Bible at the start of this scene for no reason at all, of course - just in case you forgot he wasn't playing with a full deck) said something silly like "You handled that temptation well", which of course is just meant to colour Harold as some religious freaky weirdo, because that's the only way religious people are portrayed on TV, and we wouldn't want to disturb the Natural Balance & Order of Things.

Later, Toadie comes to the soup kitchen Connor and Harold are running, and speaks to him again about their friendship being 'over', and how he doesn't know how to get Connor to change his mind. He eventually leaves, feeling very angry and dejected, and speaks to Lou (who feels somewhat similar about losing his friendship with Harold). They decide to band together to win their respective friends back.

That night, Harold shows Connor the $150,000 life insurance cheque he has received for David. (Nothing is mentioned about the same thing coming for Liljana or Serena - does that mean that they don't have any such life insurance policies; that the cheques are still being processed [although no mention is made of there being any more money to come, either]; or perhaps that Harold somehow wouldn't be the beneficiary of those other policies? Of course, these are probably questions that shouldn't be asked, because this cheque was a very literal plot device for today's episode and nothing more.) Harold says he's going to take up what Connor and Sky have been saying to him, and live the "charity begins at home" philosophy they've been trying to convince him of, which means that Harold wants to split the money between Connor and Sky for their futures. Connor tries to refuse, but Harold is adament. Connor asks if he can sleep on it (the idea; not the cheque, silly!), and Harold says yes.

The next day, Connor approaches Harold in the coffee shop and asks him to speak with him in private. Toadie and Lou are there, and Toadie sends Lou after them to eavesdrop. Lou hears Connor thanking Harold for the offer of the money but says that he's not going to take it; it's for his (Harold's) family and that's where it's going to stay. Clearly Harold's behaviour is starting to sound a little creepy and wrong even to Connor (or maybe something of what Toadie said to him about how they used to be such great mates and what happened? the night before spoke to him - or maybe a combination of both).

Connor then comes over and asks Toadie what he's up to and how he's going, to which Toadie gets all childish and says "Oh, so you're talking to me now, are you?", causing Connor to leave. Lou berates Toadie for not responding well when Connor finally tried to bridge the gap in their friendship, and Toadie says he has to treat 'em mean to keep 'em keen. Lou tells him that Connor just knocked back a large sum of money from Harold, and Toadie looks as though he may have made a mistake with how he spoke to Connor (I'm unsure what he was thinking, actually - I think he looked like he was regretting what he'd said, but I could turn out to be wrong about that).

However, Harold is the one who feels angry and dejected now, and when Paul comes in with a box of Christmas gifts "for the needy" (based on a conversation on 'good gift giving' that he was having with Izzy, which I'll get to later), Harold takes the gifts without a word but dumps them carelessly behind the counter with a contemptuous look at Paul's retreating head. In fact, he looks downright evil at that point, which is of course how all freaky religious wack-jobs behave when someone has given them a box of gifts for children in need. I encounter it all the time. I'd say that Harold is going to go psycho before the year is out.

Meanwhile, Steph is having more dreams about Drew while napping in the afternoon, and this time Max hears her say Drew's name and wakes her up. She tells him the story of Drew (apparently no one's ever mentioned his name to Max before) - how she loved him but he loved and married Libby, then they had a son Ben, then Drew died in a horse-riding accident and she (Steph) just had to deal with it.

Max points out that she mustn't have dealt with it yet, because she's still dreaming of the guy. Although he's not too pleased about it, he's not being terribly unreasonable either, but Steph gets really defensive and walks out. Later, she reassures him that all is fine and they go to bed that night only to have Steph dream of Drew again, but this time Drew turns a bit scary when he won't let her look at her (apparently newborn) baby. When she break free of his grip and looks in the pram, she sees that the baby is missing. She wakes up in a panic for the well-being of her baby and Max tries to console her.

The next day she is acting very strangely, even crawling underneath the house where she is unable to find some sort of magic box that Liljana apparently made her and cast a spell on for luck or something (I didn't see the backstory being referred to here, but I think I understood it from what they were saying). Steph got almost hysterical because she felt that the box was now gone so the baby won't be safe, and she tells Max she won't spend another night in the house without the magic box there.

Loco.

Elsewhere (and you realise that these stories all jumped back-and-forth between each other over the same two-day period, as per normal - but I'm doing each storyline in one go, right?), Lyn is upset to find out that Gino (her boss at the hair salon) is not giving her the raise she asked for (although since when does asking for a raise automatically mean you're going to get one?), and feels overworked by all the extra time she's been doing there (which doesn't make sense, as she's always seen at home or socialising at the Scarlet Bar, etc - I sometimes forget she even has a job! - but anyway ...). Her mood goes from bad to worse when she hears that Janelle (who also works for Gino) has not only received a raise, but time off (probably due to her sons being in gaol, but Lyn doesn't seem to consider this ... and come to think of it, Janelle and her husband Kim were mucking around kissing under the mistletoe - nothing like an American tradition based on an American plant for an Australian Christmas! - and stuff, not looking too upset about anything), and I think there was a third thing Janelle had gotten from Gino; possibly just not having to work overtime or something. I forget what the third thing was exactly. Janelle says it's because she "sucks up" and has offered to do hair and make-up for Gino's play (starring Ned Parker), and suggests Lyn offer to do the same.

Instead, Lyn sees an ad in the paper for a personal assistant in the Lassiter's complex but it doesn't say to whom it reports. (Ooh, surprise surprise - I wonder who it'll be!!) After Kim & Janelle convince Lyn that she has in fact got the necessary experience she feels she doesn't have because she was basically a PA to her ex-husband (ocker Joe # 1) when they ran their own business, Lyn realises she's capable of doing the job, so she turns up the next morning for an interview (because it's always that easy). Paul Robinson (wait for it!) walks in and asks her what she's doing there. Lyn explains, and Paul looks at her with a weird smile. She thinks this means that he knows who the job reports to and that they're not a very nice person and she won't like them. (Psst! Spoiler: Lyn is a bit thick!) Paul gives her another smile, says something like "Well, that all depends on who you talk to", and there is a forty-five second pause while the camera cuts back and forth from Paul's weird smile to Lyn's Look of Utter Stupidity (TM) before a crew member eventually holds up a cue card for Lyn and she remembers that it's her line and exclaims "You mean it's for you??!"

Balloons and confetti fall from the ceiling, and everyone applauds her brilliant strategist-style thinking. Way to underline your intelligence to your new boss, dip-stick.

Paul asks her if she still wants the job, and thankfully the editor must have agreed that this was a crap scene because he got bored and decided to cut away without waiting the necessary 7.64 minutes for her to come up with an answer to Paul's question. (Lyn is not my favourite character; does it show?)

The only other waste-of-time subplot was Izzy being told by Paul that she's a crap present giver (apparently she's a "re-giver", and Paul has witnessed her give both Max and Summer gifts that were once given to her - although we haven't seen these birthdays ourselves, and the pair have only been dating a relatively short while anyway ... all of which - I'm pretty sure - has been while Summer has been away [but let's not get too critical]). This conversation spurs Izzy on to buy Elle a fantastic Christmas present. She asks Steph what a good present would be to get for a young woman (it's during this conversation that Izzy lets slip in front of Max how much Karl used to rave about how great a son-in-law Drew was and how handsome he was, etc), but as far as I can recall, this subplot hasn't led anywhere yet.

It's while Paul is teasing Izzy about her gift-giving skills that she tells him he tries to buy people off with gifts. I presume it's this conversation that leads Paul to feel compelled to buy a box of gifts, wrap the majority of them, and then take them down to Harold the next morning at the coffee shop. Pretty good for an overnight show of charity! I guess it's possible that Izzy was in fact referring to this box of gifts that was already ready to be taken down to Harold when she said this. But why a man with a fake leg who has to use a walking stick most of the time would take a box of gifts down to a local coffee shop when he could drop them at any Salvation Army centre or even clothing bin - or better yet, at Harold's own doorstep next door - is beyond me. Can anyone else say 'plot device'??

And when you look at it, that's quite a lengthy "summary" for 22 minutes of footage.

!!

I hope you appreciate what I do for you! :)

Melba said...

i do appreciate it BEVIS.

see i even used caps for you.

princess and i thank you.

Anonymous said...

Why are all the people on Neighbours growing bad teenage mo's?

Anyone?

BEVIS said...

They're bad teenagers.

(Maybe it was for Movember.)

If, however, you're referring to Stu, it's because he's gone 'undercover' as a criminal in gaol to catch Roo out and hopefully (read: obviously) clear Dylan and Stingray in tmie for Christmas.

Melba said...

who else is growing a bad teenage mo? i saw a goatee shaving kit the other day at priceline. let me explain i was with my friend, and i was helping him buy deodorant and hair gel, and it's ALL ABOUT THE PACKAGING let me tell you. anyway, saw this kit. it is scary. it has stencils i think. yes, stencils.

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