I've been to cities that never close down,
from New York to Rio and old London town,
but no matter how far or how wide I roam,
I still call Australia home.

I'm always traveling, I love being free,
and so I keep leaving the sun and the sea,
but my heart lies waiting over the foam,
I still call Australia home.

All the sons and daughters spinning 'round the world,
away from their family and friends,
but as the world gets older and colder,
it's good to know where your journey ends.

Someday we'll all be together once more,
when all of the ships come back to the shore,
I'll realise something I've always known,
I still call Australia home.

but no matter how far or wide I roam,
I still call Australia, I still call Australia, I still call Australia home.
but no matter how far or wide I roam,
I still call Australia, I still call Australia, I still call Australia home.

-Peter Allen.

1. Health Care Administrator
2. Association Manager
3. Principal
4. Management Consultant
5. Hairstylist
6. Driving Instructor
7. Esthetician
8. Professor
9. Coach
10. Lifeguard
11. Research Analyst (Financial)
12. ESL Teacher
13. Foreign Language Instructor
14. Economist
15. Website Designer
16. Music Teacher / Instructor
17. Librarian
18. Security Systems Technician
19. Tour Guide
20. Sign Maker
21. Venture Capitalist
22. Purchaser
23. Desktop Publisher
24. Dental Assistant
25. Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator
26. Computer Trainer
27. Fashion Designer
28. Autobody Repairer
29. Electrician
30. Curator
31. Elementary School Teacher
32. High School Teacher
33. Special Education Teacher
34. Industrial-Organizational Psychologist
35. Fitness Instructor
36. Teacher Assistant
37. Set Designer
38. Early Childhood Educator
39. Makeup Artist
40. Costume Designer

That list is wildly varied. Weirder still, I've tried some of these, and considered others. Quiz is solid.

I gotta get dressed to take Claire to look at fixtures and such. Sorry I'm not posting much lately.

Ever feel like you're just treading water?

Yeah. Me too.

The piano tuner still hasn't called me back, even though he said he would. Honestly, the flat notes are driving me batshit. Argh.
Finally got Mother's Day gifts done last night.
House is still a wreck.
Work is tiring this week. Maybe tomorrow will be better.
I have yet to get the info I need from B to do the event laminates. I'm about >this< close to giving it up as a bad joke. He said he'll do it tonight. Urgh.

1. Can you cook?

2. What was your dream growing up?

3. What talent do you wish you had?

4. Favorite place?

5. Favorite vegetable?

6. What was the last book you read?

7. What zodiac sign are you?

8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings?

9. Worst Habit?

10. Do we know each other outside of LJ?

11. What is your favorite sport?

12. Negative or Optimistic attitude?

13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?

14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?

15. Tell me one weird fact about you:

16. Do you have any pets?

17. Do you know how to do The Macerana?

18. What time is it where you are now?

19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?

20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?

21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?

22. What color eyes do you have?

23. Ever been arrested?

24. Bottle or Draft?

25. If you won $10,000 dollars today, what would you do with it?

26. What kind of bubble gum do you prefer to chew?

27. What's your favorite bar to hang at?

28. Do you believe in ghosts?

29. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?

30. Do you swear a lot?

31. Biggest pet peeve?

32. In one word, how would you describe yourself?

33. Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you?

you are deeppink #FF1493

Your dominant hues are red and magenta. You love doing your own thing and going on your own adventures, but there are close friends you know you just can't leave behind. You can influence others on days when you're patient, but most times you just want to go out, have fun, and do your own thing. Your saturation level is high - you get into life and have a strong personality. Everyone you meet will either love you or hate you - either way, your goal is to get them to change the world with you. You are very hard working and don't have much patience for people without your initiative. Your outlook on life is very bright. You are sunny and optimistic about life and others find it very encouraging, but remember to tone it down if you sense irritation.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

PINK? ARE THEY FUCKING KIDDING ME?

Happy Birthday Monica!
Have a blast. Don't let them take incriminating photos. ;>

For anybody who hasn't heard yet (this would have been earlier, except that it was very late when we got the call, and we were in bed already) - Zoe Ammerman was born at about 11pm last night by cesarian, she is 8lbs and 20" IIRC. :>

Good wishes should probably go through Bren's cell phone, as I'm not sure when they're letting Gin go home, or how much she's up to visitors, etc. He would be a much better judge of that sort of thing.

Our wonderful niece Zoe was a week late, after almost 24 hours of Gin in the hospital to be induced, and ended up being a cesarian birth because as the child of two incredibly stubborn, hardheaded people, she's just like her parents. :P Much love!

For someone who doesn't see a lot of people often, I did a shitload of entertaining this weekend. Friday was pre-boxing day party, Saturday Rob & I slept in and took some quiet time, then headed up to BBNDH to hang out, Sunday Pops came down for the day and I cooked dinner, Pi came down late, stayed the night, and then today we did breakfast, Dad & Amy came by and I cooked dinner again (two roasts in two days folks. what the hell is wrong with me?) and Mom, Papa Joe, Will and Grandmom swung through this afternoon also.

And weirdly enough, my oven behaved itself, my kitchen is still clean, and everything I cooked turned out really well.

And the details thus far are hazy, but I think we're hosting a few folks for New Years for the new tradition started with Ed & Marie of watching godawful horror movies (so bad even I can watch) and drinking way too much cider.

Good thing we're going away for our anniversary (which means we will not be at the next BBNDH game), we're gonna need a break from being all social and stuff :P

Merry Christmas Y'all.

Since the powers that be have decided in their infinite wisdom that Boxing Day shall fall on Tuesday when I have to work, we threw a small Pre-Boxing Day Party last night, where all but a few were successfully riproaring drunk.

And weirdly enough, my house, still clean. Word.

My friends rock, not only did they all bring stuff to help out with foodage and beverages, (with special thanks to Kat & Jason for being snack food legends) Tom and Jason manned the grill when we were way too drunk to do so, (fire + alcohol is bad apparently) and Marie helped with cleanup after I told her not to :P We even managed to see Gin (even in your current uncomfy state, you are totally still the most beautiful pregnant lady I've ever seen) :>.

And best of all, I have no hangover despite me and Kat destroying a bottle of the mint baileys, and drinking way too much cider as well. Ed snapped drunken photos and sent them to our cell phones, which I only saw around like, midnight maybe? later?

And we will be at game tonight to catch up with folks before the holiday officially starts, because clearly I'm mental, as we're hosting Pops and Pi tomorrow, and Dad, Pi and maybe Amy on Monday. And somewhere in there we'll see Mom, Papa, Will, Bren & Gin, most likely at the hospital though :P

And now, showering time. :> Happy holidays y'all.

I can't wait until my husband is no longer an OWBN ST. Having one or two STs in any of my relationships has never led to anything but fights. This blows. At least I have the house rule that no ST meeting shall ever take place in my home, or I'll set the lot of them on fire. God this shit sucks.

Happy Birthday Jenn! *hugs*

Sidenote: Apologies to those phone calls Rob & I have been ignoring, we've caught something. I'm at home, but he's toughing it out at work, so we're spending our evenings in bed with grilled cheese sammitches and tomato soup. We'll be better soon! :>

Ever get so frustrated with someone you love, you just want to shake them until their teeth rattle out?

Yeah. Me Too.

Happy Birthday Kest!

Hey Locals,

A bunch of people who had said they were going to the Family Values Tour tomorrow bailed, leaving Kat & I with extra tickets. They're $10 each, and we'll have them @ game tonight. We'll also be making carpool arrangements for the trip down to VA, from some designated central-ish meeting place, so odds are good that you won't even have to drive further than Bowie or Laurel by yourself.

Come find us in the Giovanni booth if you're interested.

Ta,

-Kris.

1. YOUR PORN STAR NAME: (pet and current street name)
Dexter Bricin

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy)
Ruby Zero

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two of your middle name)
K-AN

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Black Shark

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Ann Penrith

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)
SmiKiWiAus (no fair I didn't grow up _anywhere_, I grew up _everywhere_)

7. TERRORIST NAME: (middle name spelled backwards, your mom's maiden name spelled backwards)
NaaRosdniw

8.SUPERHERO NAME: ("The", your favorite color, favorite drink)
The Black Baileys (sounds sort of like a really drunken gang...)

Annapolis Police Department
Public Information Office
Media Release

For Additional Information Contact:
Officer 1st Class Kevin Freeman
(410) 268-9000 ext. 7214
or
Officer 1st Class Hal Dalton
(410) 268-9000 ext. 7310

Release Date: September 6th, 2006
Release Time: 10:30 AM
RE: SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT

SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT:

The Annapolis Police Department will be conducting a DUI Sobriety
Checkpoint on Friday, September 8th, 2006 from 6 PM to 10 PM. The
Checkpoint will take place on Bay Ridge Avenue at Monroe Street and
observe the southbound lane.

During the last checkpoint on August 24th, 2006, seven hundred vehicles
passed through, and two vehicles were stopped for further investigation.
There were no arrests made.

Post a list of 10 books/movies/TV shows that you've had a fannish love of at some time in your life.
-- Have your friends guess your favorite character from each one.
-- You can cross out the show/movie/book and put the character when someone guesses.

1. The Velocity of Gary (movie)
2. Love Actually (movie)
3. Dead Like Me (tv show) Roxy - apathys_girl
4. WWE Wrassling (tv show, & to be fair, on a current roster)
5. Law & Order SVU (tv show) Munch - apathys_girl
6. The Commitments (movie)
7. Harry Potter (books) Sirius - angelfacegin13
8. The Chronicles of Narnia (books) Susan - apathys_girl
9. A Series of Unfortunate Events (books) Sunny - angelfacegin13 (and kest :>)
10. The Tribe (tv show)

Bonus Questions, since I just got done sniffling my way through two movies!
1. The Notebook Noah - angelfacegin13
2. Mad Love

I know I picked series for books, but most of the books I read are fairly insubstantial as far as a cast of characters is concerned, and mostly revolve around a single well developed character, with wiffly supporting characters. Which is odd, because I read a lot, and until now, had not noticed this trend.

Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects and pick out five quotes that best suit your life as it is now. Tag at least five people on your f-list: slipped_seeming, kalilove, boztopia, kenshusei, peepofdoom!

My work is a game, a very serious game.
M. C. Escher (1898 - 1972)

One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.
Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), Conquest of Happiness (1930) ch. 5

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), (attributed)

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
Rita Rudner

You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche

So I was ridiculed by a bunch of folks, and given questioning stares by others, for choosing Omaha as a vacation destination. And to those people, I say only - you should have come. It was rad. To Hopey who's lived there - you're right, it's beautiful, and I totally understand why people want to live there. It's a really great place.

( Leaving For Omaha )
( Arrival In Omaha )
( Old Market )
( The Casino )
( Onward To The Zoo, And To Safari! )
( Return To Our Sad Little Lives )

During this trip I made many random texts to Claire and Rob, who probably both thought I was losing it. :P Pi and I shouted "OMAHA" excitedly at each other many, many times, and probably will do so on and off for a while. I learned that Omaha is also hot, but _dry_, which is a good deal more tolerable. It is beautiful, green, relaxed, sells cloves, houses go for $125k, and gas is almost $0.50 cheaper than here. We heard no honking whatsoever, motorists know how to merge, give adequate following distances, indicate, and it's not uncommon for Omaha motorists to drive below the speed limit. It's really refreshing actually. We saw only one officer giving someone a ticket, the only other time we saw cops pulled over with flashing lights, they were CHANGING SOMEONE'S TIRE! It's somewhere I will definitely go back to, had a blast at, and kinda wish I was still there ;>

Photos are at: http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y31/avariael/ under Omaha 2006.

1. Elaborate on your default icon.
Made In Australia. Cos The Buck Stops Here. (And if you're not an Aussie, you probably never saw those TV ads, and it probably means nothing to you, but that's okay!)
2. What's your current relationship status?
Married. Beyond that is sort of nebulous.
3. Ever have a near-death experience?
In hindsight, the night J thought he was going to have a "dead white girl in the tub" sort of night and Annie got to trash my clothing and clean my jewelery (What a great first impression no? She's amazing. I suck.) probably counts.
4. Name an obvious quality you have.
I'm very blunt. It's not always good, but it's very difficult *not* to know where you stand with me.
5. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now?
Desert Rose by Sting. I was listening to it on my PSP in the car.
6. Any celeb you would marry?
Probably not, having not spent any time with any celebrity's real personality, and only seeing their public personas...
7. Who will cut and paste this first?
Mmm... Claire?
8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity?
Not that I can recall. I don't particularly think I resemble anybody.
9. Do you wear a watch? What kind?
I wear a Fossil watch that has a black leather band and a grey face with an outlined tulip that's rather punk rock. It's a very thick band. It was my 21st birthday present from Bren.
10. Do you have anything pierced?
Not anymore, although I could open the holes in my ears I suppose if I cared enough.
11. Do you have any tattoos?
Oddly enough, no.
12. Do you like pain?
Sometimes.
13. Do you like to shop?
Not really. I can fake a decent interest though. I like to look in bookstores, but I don't like parting with my money.
14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
Soda three days ago at lunch. I hardly ever use cash.
15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit card?
My bar tab at the Caton House tonight.
16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
Probably Rob. I don't answer my phone much even for people I really like.
17. What is on your desktop background?
Tim Roth from a movie, with a quote from an unrelated movie he was in (The Musketeer), it's also one of my LJ icons. It says "No mercy, no heart".
18. What is the background on your cell phone?
Mr. Bonejangles from Corpse Bride.
19. Do you like redheads?
Sure.
20. Do you know any twins?
Yes. Stacey & Suzanne Heidler (two of my boss's daughters) and Pops (Rob's dad) has a twin Cathy.
21. Do you have any weird relatives?
Tons. Who doesn't? Examples include a cousin named Butch, some cousins who are married to each other, grandparents who hate each other (and are still married and live together) who speak poor english (they're pretty funny though), and my favourite Aunt is a professor at the University of Minnesota, is a department chair, who does things like climb Kilimanjaro, but saw My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult in concert. She's awesome. :>
22. What was the last movie you watched?
We saw Monster House with Ed & Marie last night as part of Ed's birthday celebration. It was good. I was officially a little scared, cos I'm a wuss.
23. What was the last book you read?
I just finished a book called Basilisk by N.M. Browne.
The book is set in an alternate/fantasy world, believed to have been created by the Arche, a dual being whose creator image is a golden dragon, and whose destroyer image is a green/black basilisk. Our two heroes are Rej from the underground dwellers called the Combers, and Donna, an oppidan scribe in the world of Abovers. They both share dreams of dragons. Their lives become intertwined and lead to a revolution both above & below ground to overthrow the dictator Arkel & his religious regime which is driving everyone to starvation & poverty. Donna, a beautiful young woman is drawn into working for an aristocrat whose tongueless, tortured sister arouses her pity. Rej, finding his way to the world above, determined to avenge a murdered man, falls in love with her, and Donna tries to protect him while becoming trapped in the wiles and drugs of a former slave. There's torture, betrayal, sacrifice, drug-induced erotic scenes (not explicit though disturbing) and the author has no problem killing characters you like. It's a very taut world, rather claustrophobic, and while I had no problem unravelling the relationships between various characters before the author let on, I'm fairly sure the book is meant for young adults, so that's hardly surprising. It was a good airplane read that I picked up at Borders when I couldn't find any UMDs to play on the PSP, and the cover art took my fancy (I often choose books by their cover art). Slow to start, but the pace picks up about a third to half way through, and rushes like a car wreck to the end, which I was very satisfied with. :>