Photo editing

Today I have been photo editing for part of the day. I had lots of fun editing a photo of a friend and I loved the result. Here it is:























Apart from that I have been busy studying and also had a few part time work days which is great for the extra money. I should have been studying instead of editing this pic, but I felt rather creative so ignored the little voice that said "study girl!! study."
Ah the joys of creativity!

Solution to telemarketer problem

From here.



I think I might need to say a bit about this vid. First of all I have had a few telemarketers ring up lately and they really annoy me. I found this video, it is perfect, funny and so true.

Also the whole site where I found this video has some really funny videos about relationships, sex, and other aspects of life.

Thursday; the new Friday

Thursday has now become Friday in my mind. I used to always clean the house on Friday to prepare for Sabbath etc, but now I like to get the cleaning done before Friday so I can relax and enjoy Friday rather than stress and have to do lots of work. Of course it probably has something to do with the fact that my husband has Fridays off and I want to spend time with him doing whatever. Its sort of messed with my mind and weirded me out a bit as I feel strange not cleaning the house on Friday. I was so used to cleaning on Friday, but now Thursday has become the day to clean.

I do like getting the cleaning done early though.
Cleaning is also calming for me. There's nothing like a good clean to chase away frustration, anxiety and fear.

Really excited!!

I used to live in NZ, in fact I lived there for 16 years of my life, so I am familiar with the culture, accent, food, mannerisms etc over there. There is one particular cookie that NZ makes and sells and I cannot buy it over here. I have missed it very much, its the yummiest cookie I have ever had in my life. Its a large cookie, with massive chocolate chips. I have known and eaten it all my life whilst in NZ. However since living in Australia, I have really missed it. Its called 'Cookie Time.' Due to missing this cookie alot and also being reminded of it on someone's facebook, I decided to research about it and see if I could find out about it online and if there was a way of buying it online. Amazingly enough there is and I am very excited about this. I am going to buy 20 or something ridiculous like that because I have missed them so much. They are $2 each (NZD) which works out cheaper so am going to buy lots. Plus my husband will get to eat some, if he's lucky. I might eat them all. The website is called NZedge and it has lots of NZ stuff on there.

Anyway, am super excited about this, going to buy lots to eat and share (maybe).

The cookie time cookie!

Too long since I last wrote

Thoughts

It has been nearly a month since I last wrote something, a lot has been going on and happening in my life. Firstly I made a decision that I was not going to spend my days attached to a computer, I wanted to do stuff, be more active and proactive, be alive. So I started a new routine, instead of lazing and feeling sorry for myself because I was alone all day or whatever. I decided to do something about it. I got up the same time as my husband (6am) so we could spend more time together and be more of a team and not feel so disconnected from each other. That was great. I also wanted to get the housework etc done early so it was done and I didn't have to worry about it. Anyway. I found it made my life so much easier and I felt happier too. It worked wonderfully for 2 weeks and I was doing it all so well. I have also been exercising for an hour everyday, 6 days a week and feel fantastic. Now I am at the stage where I am struggling to keep the routine going, but I have been pushing myself to keep at it. I have realised that I give up way too easily and then get mad at myself for giving up, but then don't try again. Realising this I vowed to not let it happen again, I must keep at it.
So anyway that is why I have not written anything, I have been busy and happy with my life, till now. Isn't it funny that life can seem so wonderful for a bit and then it goes downhill...
Happens to me all the time, I get so frustrated when that happens. I think to myself, why can't life be easy? Of course I then realise how unrealistic I am being and that its this way for a reason.

Alot has been going on in my head too. I have been thinking and realising that I need to change and be a better person. There are so many things I wish I wasn't. Partly because it hurts me and also because it hurts others. I want to be the person that God wants me to be. That's the journey I am on.

Another thing I am trying to do is to be honest with myself and not deny things. Its so easy to pretend that nothing is wrong and that everything is alright in life. I do not want to be like that. Sadly most of the world is like that, pretend 'its all good' and then try to get on with life. Well I refuse to be like that. I have problems, upsets, make mistakes, get mad, don't forgive when I should, lie to myself about problems, be negative instead of positive, hold onto grudges, stay in my comfort zone, don't reach out to those who need it, try to make my life perfect (not caring about others), judge others, the list goes on...
While it is good to be honest, its also very hard. I hate admitting that I have done something wrong especially to someone I have wronged that I don't know very well (eeek!)
Beside the point though...it is very much a freedom process being honest with myself and others (when I can). I am alot happier for it. Being honest is not the end for me, thats the beginning, it marks the process of change for me.

I have been sewing again finally, and found it to be very fulfilling. I enjoy the process of making an item of clothing from start to finish and then being able to proudly wear something that I made, it is definitely rewarding, alot more rewarding than buying clothes, for me anyway.
When I have finished sewing all items of clothing that I have material for I will have sewn 4 skirts, 1 pair trackpants, spring/summer dress top, polar fleece hoody/jacket. I might put photographs of these items on here when I have finished them. At the moment I have finished 3 of the skirts, the trackpants and nearly finished the top. I am in the process of making the polar fleece hoody.
I don't like following the instructions for the patterns though, they are annoyingly confusing. They say what to do and then don't explain how to do it and show a tiny diagram of how to do it that I can't really see what to do. My husband has been helping me alot with my sewing in the pattern instruction bit anyway...he can understand what to do better than I can. He can sew too, which is good. He sewed himself a polar fleece hoody, I am going to get him to make himself a pair of cord pants. I have the material, just need the pattern, zip, thread and button.

I have been enjoying exercise, I have forced myself to get into a routine. There have been days where I really did not want to go outside, but made myself do it because I knew it was good for me. I didn't regret it. I am also going to try pilates, I have a DVD, and mat. I tried it the other day and it is so hard. All the correct breathing, odd poses and coordination, none of which I am good at all at the same time. I want to learn though. It will definitely be beneficial. In fact, my husband and I would like to do it together three times a week. I think he would benefit from it too, its just a matter of motivation on his part.

That was an odd assortment of thoughts, catch-up and phrases that I can not repeat now. Its all done and has worn me out. I have enjoyed just being able to write again, to get my thoughts flowing out of my mind like a river, its great.

Ok, so I can't change the size of the font in the second half of this post, odd. I have no idea why.

Banksy

TV Has made us Monsters

While I was studying, in one of my art classes all students had to talk about something that they were passionate about - whether it be an artist, book, saying etc.
Anyway one girl in my class talked about this graffiti artist Banksy from London. She was fascinated by his work, she brought along his book to our class so everyone could see his work. I was amazed. It was fascinating work. Since that class alot of stuff happened and changed in my life and I kinda forgot about stuff I had learned. I even forgot his name. Recently though I remembered his work and still could not remember his name. However I googled him and found his name - Banksy. I was looking at his website and also fan page on facebook and was mesmerised once again by his work. It is very thought provoking and interesting. What's more no one knows his real identity and the police want to arrest him because of his supposedly offensive work.
I have added one of his drawings to my blog, I really like this work, it speaks so much more powerfully than words. I also like some of his other drawings from his website, one about the fall of man. There is also one of the Pope flashing and he has legs like Marilyn Monroe, rather random, but funny.

I also liked what he did, he went to the Louvre in Paris and put up a similar painting of the Mona Lisa but with a smiley face over her face, he also put an official looking info card with information on it - it got taken down soon after, but it proved a point. I like his approach. This is a quote of his regarding that incident, "To actually [have to] go through the process of having a painting selected must be quite boring, It's a lot more fun to go and put your own one up."

He primarily works at night, but plans his stencils beforehand. He makes sure no one sees him and spray paints his work onto various places that will have impact on people.

Recent thoughts

Lately I have been thinking a lot about certain things, in particular atheism, evolution, values (morals) and suicide, not necessarily in that order. last Saturday morning I attended a meeting/breakfast thing. It was about realness in life and religion. It was quite interesting, the guy gave a history about evolution, atheism and also schools of thought from Modernism to Post Modernism. I found it fascinating how different schools of thought and philosophers are still influencing our society. The phrase "I think; therefore I am" was said by Rene Descartes in the 1600s and it is still influencing society today. "Therefore, Descartes concluded, if he doubted, then something or someone must be doing the doubting, therefore the very fact that he doubted proved his existence. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if someone is wondering whether or not he exists, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist" (Wiki site about Rene Descarte). Hmm...I can understand where Atheism fits in. I digress; this talk was interesting. He talked about how postmodernism is impacting our current culture. Post modernism was a movement that began with architecture, however it has moved into all parts of society, even to how people think. "Postmodern architecture began the reaction against the almost totalitarian qualities of Modernist thought, favoring personal preferences and variety over objective, ultimate truths or principles. It is this atmosphere of criticism, skepticism and subjectivity that defines the postmodern philosophy" (Wiki site about Postmodernism). There are no absolutes with postmodernism, what another person believes is ok as long as they are ok with what I believe. In other words it doesn't matter what I believe, it doesn't matter what someone else believes. It's all relative. I remember when I was studying in my first of Uni in NZ I had to do an essay on Cultural Relativism, I can't remember what I wrote, but I do remember being confused. If there is no set law or set of values then how does one know what is right? Relativity is defined as the absence of standards of absolute and universal application. Hm... this was one of the points the guy was trying to make about our society and why it is becoming so confusing to live in. I don't know enough about post-modernism, relativism and such. I do know one thing though, I am a product of the post-modern relative society. Many times I have not said anything about my beliefs because in the end it doesn't matter anyway, who is going to listen to me and who is going to believe that what I believe is right? Its all relative.