Gillard, love and all things vegetable.

No, I am not in love with Julia Gillard. Just because those words are in close proximity to each other in my title should not suggest that I am in love with our newly unappointed PM. This is despite the fact that my significant other made the (dangerous) comment yesterday that my new haircut made me look like her. However, he also accidently headbutted me that very same day, laughed and said "take that you common whore" so I think I'll take the "you look like Gillard" comment with a grain of salt. He must have been having a bad day on COD and it seems that a bad day of COD has the equivalent symptoms of the female PMS.

Going back to Gillard, I am of a mixed opinion of her currently. Sure she has dyed her hair a more flattering shade of red which ever-so-slightly distinguishes her from the common ginger but I still think she is a real bitch at the moment. 100% undeniable bitch. And sure, as a politician I think she is brilliant and has displayed such brilliance in her ability to a) climb so high on the political ladder in what is otherwise a male-dominated arena b) manage the biggest portfolio in federal politics under Rudd's leadership (workplace relations and education) c) be able to relate to the "everyday Australian" - something that Rudd was widely criticized for not doing through his "intellectual jibberish" 4) turn around popularity poll's in the lead-up to the upcoming election. However, despite this, like I said, absolute bitch. She constantly stressed how she would faithfully serve under Rudd and quote "you will see me on the bulldogs forward line before you see me Prime Minister". On the Monday of Rudd's final week/early exit/betrayal/backstabbing/, ALP frontbenchers (including Gillard aka Judas?) stated that Rudd had the full support of the Labour caucas. Yeah...rightio. Whilst this was all happening the supposed "left-wing" socialist Gillard was consorting with her ideological enemies within the ALP - the right-wing faction. So much for "faithfully serving" you scrag! Sure Rudd had his own shortcomings however he was an intelligent man who had nothing but the best intentions and deserved greater dignity than to have the rug pulled out from underneath him after 25 years of public service. I will never forget his final address and the shattered expression on his face as he watched parliament proceed from the backbench. It was a look of total devestation. He was a broken man.

Enough of that, I will now move onto a happier topic. L.O.V.E. I am at the beautiful, giddy, all warm and fuzzy, wonderfully in love zone at the moment. It's amazing that after carrying around a considerable amount of baggage, bitterness and misconceptions about the male species, Rhys has in 6 months eliminated all of them. I struggle to think of anyone more loyal, caring, fun, selfless, kind and honest than Rhys. When I see his face I feel so much affection for him its overwhelming and I get this kind of involuntary spasm that means I must hug him when he's nearby. He is a good person.

Finally, vegetables. I have had it up to here (I wish there were some kind of emoticon that could illustrate me gesturing what "up to here" is) with people asking me "why the fuck would you want to be a vegetarian?" Consequently, my next blog shall provide a point-by-point guide as to why giving up meat is a) philosophically and ethically right b) good for your health and c) beneficial to the enviroment. Eight months on and despite the occasional slip-up (it's hard to go cold turkey - note meat pun), I am still dedicated to the cause and hopefully have proven that this is just not a phase. Taking moral considerations into account, I cannot justify the slaughter of animal for my momentary pleasure of tasting its flesh. We seem to live in an anthropocentric (human-centred) world, however animals and the envionment should not exist purely for human exploitation.

That's enough on that topic. I will delve into it more deeply in a future blog. Oh god... I just realised I have lost much of my readership by the fact that not only did I talk about politics for a considerable period of time but also about vegetarianism. Most people hate politics and hate vegetarians. So great, you probably hate me now.

Stay classy,
xoxo

Lessons we should learn from Riley

"The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley" is a children's picture story book by Colin Thompson that has got to be one of my favourite picture books of all time. You may be asking, "why is Emma reading picture books?" In response, refer to my previous blog and my mention of my Peter Pan Syndrome. Not only that, I love picture books for their illustrations and often cute little life lessons that accompany them. I can't wait to have kids one day purely so I can finally justify buying these books that are in fact marketed towards kids of about five.

Back to topic, "The Short and Incredibly Happy Life of Riley" tells the tale of a rat who appreciates the little things in life and is content with not being, having, seeing the best of everything. The book constantly juxtaposes what is wrong with humans and what we can learn from living a more simple, Riley-esque type existence.

An couple of example passages,

"Riley looked in the mirror and didn't think anything. There he was, not too big, not too small, simply himself - Riley. However people look in the mirror and get very depressed.... They want to be taller-shorter-thinner-here-but-much-bigger-there-curly-straight-younger-older-less-spotty-moustache-smooth-skin-golden-sun-tan-gorgeous-irresistible-not-bald-and-famous-in-a-painting"

"Riley fell in love with the first girl he met. He thought she was perfect and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. They had lots and lots of perfect children and all lived happily ever after, except Kevin who got hit by a bus but he was still happy because he never saw it coming. People fall in love all over the place... They fall in love with themselves and as many other people as they can. They want to spend the rest of their lives with the most-beautiful-funniest-curviest-clever-but-not-as-clever-as-me-exciting-I-wonder-what-I-ever-saw-in-him/her-my-wife/husband/partner/dog-doesn't-understand-me-do-you-come-here-often-anyone-everyone-in-the-world"

(Tompson, Hatchette, 2005)

In short, this book is gorgeous and everyone should read it! I pick it up when I'm feeling down and it never fails to improve my mood.

However in talking about moods, I'm currently extremely happy for the following reasons (cue mandatory life update)

1. I got into law at Monash. I start in late August! After years of studying I'm now preparing to embark on more years of studying. Wooohoo (?)
2. I'm in love
3. I have the best family and friends in the known universe
4. I've signed up to the gym again and I'm jumping back aboard the health train.

Ciao!

The Bucket List

I have Peter Pan syndrome. I miss my childhood more than I can say and the thought that with each day, each hour and each second I'm getting closer to my death frightens me. I'm not scared of death as such. I know that a) there is no afterlife, b) that I will rot and decompose in the ground (without my vital organs) c) it will be exactly like the nothingness before life. I comforted by the fact that after I die, the world will keep turning, the sun will rise in the East and set in the West, people will keep living their lives and my fleeting existence will be soon forgotten about. The only reason that death frightens me is that I don't ever want to get to my death bed and feel like my time has been wasted, or I have pursued a career that didn't interest me or worst of all, just settled with what's comfortable. Like the saying goes, "life begins at the end of your comfort zone"... In saying this, I have decide to compile a "bucket list" of sorts that includes both outlandish childhood aspirations and current goals that if I were to fufill one (or ideally more than one), I would die relatively content...

*Please note, this list gets quite lengthy so I encourage you not to read on too far. It is more of a personal reference list that I will one day print and attempt (as much as time, funds and circumstances permit me)

1) Get married, have a happy family and my own two little kiddies that I can teach to become awesome little humans
2) Write a book
3) Become an orphan elephant carer
4) Get a job on 'Getaway'
5) Jump off a cliff (into water of course, otherwise the bucket list would end here)
6) Travel around South America
7) Work and live in Europe for at least a year. Visit every European capital
8) Buy my own house that includes a veggie patch, library, open fire place and a display cupboard for all the teacups I will have collected by the time I can actually afford to buy my own house.
9) Study law, get into practice and one day offer my services pro bono to the disadvantaged
10) See the Great Wall of China
11) Go trekking in Nepal
12) Go on a safari in Africa
13) See the Pyramids of Giza, visit the Valley of the Kings and the Karnak temple
14) Visit heaven on Earth (the Maldives)
15) Bike ride around the French countryside
16) Eat as many different types of cheese and try as many different wines as possible
17) Go back to Vietnam for a couple of months.
18) Drive around Australia in a van, doing casual jobs here and there and living on beaches in Northern Queensland.
19) Explore the Amazon.
20) Get my photo taken at Times Square
21) See Harajuko girls of Japan...actually just see Japan in general.
22) Learn to play the guitar.
23) Teach myself Spanish
24) Snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef
25) Go shopping in London
26) Drink guiness in Ireland
27) Visit the Berlin wall
28) Be alive to witness aliens first contact with Earth
29) Learn salsa and ballroom dancing
30) Be able to do the splits
31) Teach myself to juggle
32) Take kickboxing classes
33) Join a book club/start a book club
34) Swim with sharks
35) Own a pet snake
36) Sky dive
37) Learn how to drive a manual and drive a race car
38) Be in Rio for Carnival
39) Watch the running of the bulls in Pamplona
40) Be in the crowd for an English soccer match
41) Spend a night in a French Chateau or a European castle
42) Visit the Lourve in Paris
43) Kiss the Blarney Stone
44) Get a photo on the crossing outside the Abbey Road Studios
45) Visit Havana in Cuba
46) Host my own high tea party
47) Sail around the Greek Islands
48) See the biggest democracy in action in India
49) Buy a DSLR camera and do a photography course
50) Do lessons in painting
51) Buy the Rolling Stones 'Best 500 records of all time'
52) Go to Oktober Fest' in Germany
53) Go whale watching
54) Road trip to Byron bay with friends
55) See the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan
56) Visit Gion and the old geisha districts in Japan
57) Learn to play chess
58) Become a skilled Barista
59) Try my hand at poetry
60) Experience weightlessness
61) Participate in the World's largest food fight
62) Be in Thailand for a latern lighting festival
63) Become an aunty
64) Learn how to do a backflip
65) Learn to make a least 20 different cocktails
66) Keep a recipe journal
67) Attend a ball (a proper ball)
68) Live in the city and have a view of the city skyline
69) Buy, grow and maintain a Japanese Maple Bonsai tree.
70) Become self-sufficient (veggie garden, chickens, eggs etc)
71) Build a pond
72) See Cirque Du Soleil
73) Go on a long, long train journey (destination currently unknown - possibly the Trans-Siberian Railway or the Orient Express)
74) Explore the Galapogas Islands
75) Go rural for a while
76) Fly in a fighter jet
77) Drive along Route 66 in the US
78) Fly over Antartica
79) See an active volcano
80) Shower in a waterfall
81) Gamble in Vegas
82) Make my bedroom look as picturesque as an Ikea catalogue
83) Get into optimal physical shape
84) Invent somthing
85) Finally be organised and be completely on top of everything
86) Do the Kakoda trail
87) Volunteer (regularly) at a Salvo's soup van
88) Sing in front of a crowd
89) Learn the inner working of a car and learn to do car maintenance myself
90) Try the national cuisine and drink of every country I visit
91) Visit a blues bar in Chicago
92) Learn to surf
93) Sew my own dress
94) Watch turtles hatch and make their epic journey from sand to sea
95) Adopt a dog that is about to be put-down
96) See how long I can stay awake for in one stint
97) Read every Pulitzer Prize winning novel
98) Read my massive history guide (front to back)
99) See the Terracotta Warriors
100) See the Taj Mahal
101) See the monuments of ancient Rome
102) Visit Russia in the Winter
103) Witness the Northern Lights

Wow! This quickly got out of hand! However I will surely add more soon. Let's just hope I live until about 200 years old so I can fit it all in...