Archive for December, 2006
Of Bond and Work
Posted on December 29, 2006, by soph, under Movies Music TV.
Okay, I have to admit: Daniel Craig wasn’t as bad as I thought he would be. In some ways, he’s even more interesting than Pierce Brosnan as Agent Double O Seven. But that does not in any way justify Casino Royale’s newly-acquired status as highest grossing Bond film ever. I’m no big fan of Bond - mindless action sequences, unless very, very well-choreographed, generally bore me - but Bond without the gadgets and a fancy car that actually makes decent screen time… I don’t know. Add to that a mediocre plot, gag-worthy/cheesy/corny romantic scenes that border on the campy…
Anyway, work through the year-end break has been lovely. Save for the fact that I have to rise early and actually get to work, it’s actually pretty alright once I step in. With just two people in the office, it simply means plenty of peace and quiet and a general license to do pretty much whatever we want - even though we’ve been absolute angels and chalked up some good productivity. After lunch is a completely different story. The combination of food and the impending long weekend meant we were generally restless slash sleepy slash lazy past three o’clock, and so we turned to the good ol’ WWW for entertainment. I must have visited like 30 blogs yesterday. So if you think I never read your blog, I probably did. Yesterday.
Let the long weekend begin. Woohoo.
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Chrissy Oh Six
Posted on December 27, 2006, by soph, under Hanging Out.
Our first Christmas abroad looked set to be… a very cold one.
Forget that it’s December and technically summer in Australia, Christmas day saw alternating rain clouds and sunshine, a shower of hail and a maximum temperature of 16 degrees! Well, that’s what the weather forecast said. Someone must have been praying really, really hard for a white Christmas, because snow has fallen in Victoria and Tasmania (that’ll teach the bushfires). Amidst the drought and raging fires, perhaps it is only apt that Christmas day would bring rain and snow. After all, is Christmas not a season of hope and miracles?
As I trudged into an empty-save-for-one office today, I settled down to my three-day work week knowing I have had one of the best Christmases. Fantastic food, precious company, an abundance of chit-chat, laughter and - on a slightly different note - sleep, what more could I ask for? Dancing in the day, drinking at night (plus more dancing!), eating until we can eat no more, then sitting around and talking (and nibbling) for hours and hours because we didn’t want to - or need to - move.
And on Boxing day, it snowed.
Just the tiniest, barely-perceptible flakes, mind you, but snow nevertheless. In summer. To all who made our first Chrissy and Boxing Day abroad so special, for your culinary contributions, presence and pressies, thank you. To yous who weren’t there, you were missed. Merry Christmas all. Now for the New Year.
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smoky wednesday
Posted on December 20, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Been a while.
Have been so busy like you wouldn’t believe. Between work, Christmas and The Wedding, I do not remember the last time I bummed around at home. The fact that I’m in the perfect holiday mood, a feeling compounded a thousand-fold by the presence of g who has been gallivanting around Melbourne with y (and without me!), only makes me that much more easily distracted. Oh well, just 3 days to go - 2.5 if you count the fact that it’s now 12.45pm.
The Wedding was absolutely, simply lovely, and a few hurriedly-scribbled words during a couple of free minutes at work just will not do it justice. In fact, words just won’t do it justice full-stop. Wait for the pictures; you know it won’t come from me but if I’m in an extra good mood, I’ll link you to them.
I thought I was falling sick this morning when my head went all light on me and my eyes felt kind of teary - not quite but almost there. Then it turns out everyone else was feeling the same. Damn smoke from the bushfires, I’m surprised we have that much forest to burn. The fires must have wiped out like a a billion hectares by now or something. And we’re in the middle of a drought to boot! You reckon if my colleagues and I went around dragging an oxygen tank on wheels we’d get the rest of the day off?
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legible titbits
Posted on December 13, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
thoughts: -
It’s been a while since I truly appreciated the giddy anticipation of Fridays and experienced the depressing doldrums of Sunday evenings. The week is shaping up to be a wonderful mish-mash of impatient excitement and general busyness. The latest houseguest from afar has left me in absolutely no mood to be productive in any way, except to pass time feeling like the world is on holiday without me. Which, depending on which way you look at it, may not be too far from the truth. But because reality continues to move at its breathtaking pace, I am forced to come out of my happy (mental) bubble and conduct myself in the business and presence of other productive human beings, reminding myself constantly that while there is much to look forward to and anticipate, that which I cannot wait for will also all be over in just a jiffy.
confession: -
I have been a terribly slack blogger. In my defence, the recently-passed days have simply been a whirlwind of happy moments and early risings. I barely blog not because I have nothing to say, but because I can barely find time. What you read now is a golden mini-nugget of opportunity before I close my eyes and blissfully allow my body to go into shut-down mode. I’ve been feeling like this since nine o’clock. This better not be a sign of my (only) 24 years.
doings: -
To prove that I really do harbour intentions of blogging, and also because I really wanted to blog about this anyway, I attended a ballet school end-of-year concert last week (that’s how long ago I’ve been intending to update but haven’t had the time). The concept may have bordered on the corny, but the painstakingly hand-made costumes were gorgeous. The hard work on the part of teachers, parents and students were astounding, and the effort to include everybody, from the youngest three-year-olds who would not stop waving at mommy when they were supposed to ‘catch a falling star and put it in (their) pockets’, to full-grown, uber-graceful dancers. I was inspired to dance all over again, and for a while, even felt a tinge of regret for quitting ballet after all of five or six lessons when I was well, five or six. While the typical Asian parents might have to safeguard themselves, or rather, should safeguard themselves (amidst their kicking and screaming will) against pressuring offspring into ‘money-making’ professions such as doctors, dentists, accountants or engineers, something tells me I’m going to have to be careful not to force the arts upon my children. Now wouldn’t it be just so ironic if I spent every effort cultivating music and dance in my kids, only to have them become geeky doctors? Not that the two words are innately associated, nor that all doctors are geeky, of course. But seriously, the irony.
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peanut
Posted on December 6, 2006, by soph, under Uncategorized.
Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’ was on the radio three times between 9 and 5 yesterday.
It is not helping my McAddiction.
Why are the men on the show called Mc-this, Mc-that or Mc-the other anyway?
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