Good job Kevin Rudd. I, for one, will grieve you.

What I’ve realised over the last 24 hours is just how deeply my passion for politics goes. It is a passion that has been blooming slowly. Reading through old journals I laugh every time I see my childish scribbling detailing the outcomes of elections. I enrolled in University with the intention to study Journalism. I wanted to report Politics- an extension of what I’d been doing since I could write! After taking a single politics course- and with a push in the right direction from my tutors- I decided reporting wasn’t enough. I want to be involved.


This dream has altered over time. But if anybody asks what my ambition is my response is simple “I’m going to be Kevin Rudd’s press secretary.” This goal sticks, Prime Minister or not. He has been one of my key inspirations. I have a hard time understanding and accepting his demise. He was, for more than two years, the most popular Prime Minister in Australian history. That is ever, guys. In case you missed that. I can’t believe that a party could turn on a member as brutally as they have. Perhaps I missing something, but I was feeling very confident about Kevin Rudd’s prospects. Now? I’m feeling very pessimistic. Not to mention a little sour. As much as I want us to win, as loyal to my party as I am; if the election is a loss you can’t say that we didn’t deserve it.


Despite this distaste as a Political Science major and a Labor party member I’m feeling hugely inspired. There’s little denying that the events of last night and this morning are the most exciting to occur in politics of my young life. (Second only to the election of Kevin Rudd, but I appreciate not everybody will second this opinion). If only this had happened at the start of the semester! I want to know more, I want to do more, I want to be more involved. If I had doubts about completing a year of honors I’m feeling much more spurred on!


Over the last three years I’ve encountered a lot of negativity towards politics and my interest in it. This has come from a number of places; strangers who ask what degree I’m studying, friends, extended family members even my University colleagues. But those closest to me have always supported me; whether or not they can comprehend where my interest has come from. I’d like to say “without being offensive”, but it’s my blog so I’ll write whatever I feel like: people who say that politics is boring or make derogative comments about it are uneducated gits. Even if you’re not interested there’s no getting around the fact that it is important. The same people that are commenting on it have absolutely no idea. I read a status on Facebook today that said something along the lines “Kevin Rudd is a pussy. Man up and finish your term.” I know. I couldn’t believe it either.


While I go back to grieving for my long-time hero I’ll be keeping this in mind; if I work hard enough and commit myself enough next time I’ll be in the midst of it. Not reading about it on social networking sites.

This is for you...

I’m not a person of very much faith. I’m too cynical, rely too heavily on fact. But when I think about my life and the people that I have in it I truly believe that I am blessed.



There is little denying that what we’re all searching for is love. We all want to find that one romance that conquers all others. A person that we can connect with. We search for passion, understanding and beyond anything else we all seek acceptance.



I’ve experienced love in a great number of forms. And I’ve experienced an equal amount of loss. However I think that it is important to lose people. It’s a pain that can exceed any other, one that you will carry around with you. But if you can’t understand how much it hurts to lose, how can you know to appreciate love? If you don’t bleed how can you be sure that you are truly alive?



Love can be many different things. Butterflies dancing around in your chest. Anticipation that rolls circles around your stomach. The sheer disbelief that the person of your affections sees something within you that you can not.



But I think that a true love can be something else entirely. Something solid, something tangible, something that you can rest your head on. While passion and romance are significant, there is more to be experienced. What I have learnt, through an often perilous journey, is that love is about trust. Being able to blindly believe in another person. To be able to hand them your entire heart and trust that they will keep it in good condition. It’s about understanding. Knowing that some days they’re going to be in a bad mood, sometimes they need the space to breathe and that at times they need extra attention. It’s about acceptance. It is about someone accepting you’re silliness, eagerness to please and days of melancholy. Accepting them not as faults; but simply as a part of who you are.



I spend too much of time feeling anxious about the future and too little appreciating the present. Because after all the present is all we really have. I have a boy in my present who has taught me how to laugh at myself. A boy who, despite his strong desire for independence, has learnt to rely on me. A boy for whom I would sacrifice everything; but who will never ask me to. My present is centred around a boy who I love. A love that is tangible and huge.

Things to do before I die...

With university finally finished I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what I actually want to do with my life. The idea that I may never get a chance to do all the things that I want to do is equal parts overwhelming and terrifying.


So I made a list. It seemed like the only practical way to go about it.


So here you are. These are the things that I am going to do before I die:


(1.) Write a novel (05/08/2011) Publish a novel (03/08/2013)
(2.) Go horse back riding (09/04/2010)
(3.) Read 70 books in one year. (2010) Read 100 books in one year (2013)
(4.) Graduate University
(5.) Run a 5km fun run  (2014)
(6.) Make a scrap book (29/01/2012)
(7.) Own 10,000 books in a personal collection
(8.) Meet 3 of my absolute hero’s (1. Sheryl McMahon 02/06/2013)
(9.) Visit the Eiffel tower
(10.) Go to Disney World
(11.) Eat American pizza in America
(12.) Watch a game of soccer in England
(13.) Grow my hair until it reaches my lower back
(14.) Adopt a puppy (11/2012 Noodle, 07/2013 Ash.)
(15.) Own my own house
(16.) Be able to communicate in French
(17.) Eat snails
(18.) Eat stuffed mushroom
(19.)Go a whole 30 days without chocolate (26/10 – 26/11)
(20.) Have a baby
(21.) Visit every state and territory of Australia – ACT, QLD , NT, NSW , VIC, TAS, SA, WA
(22.) Go Zorbing
(23.) Go to 10 different zoo’s
1. Australia Zoo 01/07/2010)
2. Taronga Zoo 07/12)
3.Canberra National Zoo (13/09/2013)
(24.) Purchase something from Victoria Secret (05/12/2011)
(25.) Do the bridge walk at Sydney Harbor Bridge
(26.) Attend a professional ballet company performance (completed: 25/06/2010)
(27.)Be drunk
(28.) Shoot a gun
(29.) Go on a 6 hour road trip
(30.) Cook something using a blow torch, like on Master Chef
(31.) Live to 100 years old
(32.) See a US president in person
(33.) See “Hotel Sorrento” performed live
(34.) See “Rent” performed live by professionals
(35.) See “Cats” performed live by professionals
(36.) Grow sunflowers
(37.) Hold a dinner party and cook a four course meal
(38.) Be hands on, on a political campaign (2009)
(39.) Get married
(40.) Ride an elephant
(41.) Feed an Elephant (completed: 01/07/2010)
(42.) Swim with dolphins
(43.) Feed a dolphin
(44.) Learn basic Reflexology
(45.) Practice yoga once a week for 6 months
(46.) Have a white Christmas
(47.) Climb Mt. Coolum (11/11/2011)
(48.) Do 100 hours volunteer work
(49.) Take pictures in a photo booth (05/08/2011)
(50.) Dine in the dark like at Opaque in San Francisco
(51.) See “Ellen” live
(52.) Do jury duty
(53.) Finally own a copy of “Hotel Sorrento”
(54.) Read “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov(completed: July 2010).
(55.) Read 2 entire novels in one day (14/03/2014)
(56.) Overcome my hatred of salad (13/09/2012)
(57.) Receive a package (completed: 03/12/2010. Thank you Dee!)
(58.) Play a game of hockey (20/03/2011)
(59.) Have a picnic
(60.) Celebrate a solstice/equinox in a traditional pagan way
(61.) Watch Sheryl McMahon play live (02/06/2013)
(62.) Mail Christmas cards to at least 10 people
(63.) Write an Autobiography
(64.) Write an article/column for a magazine or newspaper
(65.) Stand on the roof a building with at least 100 stories
(66.) Go jetskiing
(67.) Knit something (06/2013)
(68.) Make a quilt
(69.) Go scuba diving
(70.) Have a birthday celebration for myself
(71.) Go to the Ekka (Completed: August 2010).
(72.) Celebrate 10 anniversary’s by giving traditional gifts
(73.) Get a photo taken with a python (Completed: 01/07/2010).
(74.) Make love in a pool
(75.) Donate more than $100 to charity
(76.) Go to the Melbourne Cup
(77.) Go Whale watching
(78.) Own an environmentally concerned car
(79.) Take Mum and Danielle to a health spa
(80.) Get a pedicure
(81.) Learn to Ski (11/09/2013)
(82.) Get a Brazilian wax
(83.) Hold a monkey
(84.) Be kissed by a seal (completed: 05/12/2010)
(85.) Drive 150km/h
(86.) Get a tattoo (completed: 18/11/2010)
(87.) Ride in a helicopter
(88.) Get acupuncture
(89.) Pat a giraffe (completed: 07/12/2010)
(90.) See the “Mona Lisa”
(91.) Jump off a water fall
(92.) Ride in a hot air balloon
(93.) Buy each of my family members something they couldn’t afford for themselves (1. Mum Cirque du Soliel tickets. 2. Jade Turtle Aquarium set up)
(94.) Watch Queensland win a State of Origin match live
(95.) Ride in a gondola in Venice
(96.) Order room service (completed: 08/12/2010)
(97.) Tour old and new parliament house (New: 13/09/2013)
(98.) See a wild squirrel
(99.) Eat a Hamburger in 5 different countries
1. Australia
2.
3.
4.
5.
(100.) Do a first aid course
(101.) Tour the White House
(102.) Mow a lawn
(103.) Be a grandma
(104.) Fly first class
(105.) Change a tire (13/10/2013)
(106.) Learn coffee art
(107.) Do a high ropes course
(108.) Teach
(109.) Eat an oyster (28/12/2010)
(110.) Taste truffles
(111.) Make a snow angel (10/09/2013)
(112.) Be part of a world record
(113.) Drive through a car wash (2012)
(114.) Go to the daffodil fields at Carterton
(115.) Ride shotgun in a convertible
(116.) Lick, sip, suck a shot of tequila (16/08/2012)
(117.) Go to River Fire
(118.) Grow a mulberry tree
(119.) Dip my toes in a loch in Scotland
(120.) Quote Shakespeare at his birthplace
(121.) Spend a month overseas
(122.) Eat at Wendy’s burger chain
(123.) Shop at Harrods
(124.) Take a photo with an English Guard
(125.) See the Cirque du soleil (15/07/2011)
(126.) See the Colloseum
(127.) Visit Stonehenge
(128.) Conquer a rock climbing wall (30/09/2013)
(129.) Swim at Bondi Beach
(130.) Go to question time at House of Representatives
(131.) Own an I love NY t-shirt
(132.) Visit a butterfly house
(133.) Milk a cow
(134.) Go 24 hours without speaking
(135.) Have my fortune told (30/01/2011)
(136.) Find out my blood type
(137.) Go to a concert that Jade wants to see (10/06/2012)
(138.) Pet an otter
(139.) Swim with a seal (30/01/2011)
(140.) Conquer the aqualoop at Wet and Wild (12/2012)
(141.) Taste something red velvet flavoured (05/12/2011)
(142.) Play Glee drinking game (09/06/2011)
(143.) Feng shui a room
(144.) Go to a strip club (04/12/2011)
(145.) Bake a cheesecake
(146.) Ride a bungy bullet type ride
(147.) Make a grand gesture
(148.) Play with penguins (05/12/2011)
(149.) Visit Vatican City
(150.) Go paragliding
(151.) Get a boob job
(152.) Cook my way through an entire cookbook
(153.) Visit a planetarium
(155.) Random acts of kindness month
(156.) Drive the south island of New Zealand
(157.) Go to Boston
(158.) Take a burlesque class
(159.) Read "Eat, Pray, Love" (31/05/2013)
(160.) Drink a pina colada (04/06/2013)
(161.) Attend a high tea (10/05/2013)
(162.) Go to a Taylor Swift concert (07/12/2013)
(163.) Get a cut and colour that I love (16/03/2013)
(164.) See the Niagra Falls
(165.) Go to the Grand Canyon
(166.) Own a pair of designer sunglasses (15/11/2013)
(167.) Eat lobster
(168.) Ride a camel
(169.) Ride on the South Bank ferris wheel at Brisbane (20/06/2013)
(170.) Ride in a limo
(171.) See the Australian Ballet / Queensland Ballet perform
(172.) Do a "Yes Man" day
(173.) Watch 1,000 movies
(174.) Make 1,000 paper cranes and make a selfless wish
(175.) Have more then my salary in savings
(176.) Go to Lake Hillier in Western Australia
(177.) Visit a Cadbury Factory
(178.) Croc cage of death
(179.) White water rafting
(180.) Go to a Commonwealth or Olympic Games sporting event
(181.) Horse riding on the beach
(182.) Go out for Tappas
(183.) See a Kodiak bear
(184.) Drink Sangria
(185.) Take an "Oh What a Feeling" photo
(186.) Study interior design
(187.) Knit an afghan
(188.) Get a henna tattoo (23/03/2014)
(189.) Weigh 50kgs
(190.) Start a push pin world map
(191.) Swim in an infinity pool
(192.) See turtle hatchlings head into the ocean
(193.) Gold panning
(194.) Jet boating
(195.) Buy something from IKEA
(196.) See Romeo and Juliet performed live
(197.) Eat street food at Central Park NY
(198.) Eat a fresh pomegranate
(199.) Play two-up on Anzac Day
(200.) Read 1 million pages 

...and if you can find them. Maybe you can hire the A Team! Heck Yeah!

I don’t usually watch action movies, as a rule. Unless I’m getting something out of it, that is. For instance I sat through Iron Man 2 with the promise that his-self would return the favour and accompany me to Letters to Juliet.


So you can imagine his surprise when I suggested we see The A-Team. I’ll admit my interest stemmed from Mr. T’s starring in the Snickers ad’s. Whenever I feel someone needs encouragement I do not hesitate in yelling “Arghh! Get some nuts!” I was hugely interested in finding out how this line was born.

So tonight we went and saw The A-Team. I was not sure how I was going to feel about it. But I was not disappointed!

I was not at all convinced about the choice of Quentin ‘Rampage’ Jackson to play B.A Baracus. He can fight, yeah? But can he act? I was sceptical. Also with Mr. T as his predecessor he had some big boots to fill. I left converted; and with a full-fledged crush on Rampage. He might even find me to tuning into UFC next time it’s on television!

Jessica Biel’s character Charisa Sosa helped make the movie for me. She was tough, smart, sexy and the object of desire of a super hot guy. Isn’t that how we all dream to be?

The movie was humour, explosion scenes and drama thrown in to a mixing bowl and given a good stir. The result was unbeatable.

As a girl who yawns through gun scenes, let me advise you that even if you are a romantic comedy sort of person; go and see it!

I’d also like to suggest that Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel consider getting together. They would have very pretty babies.

The Stumbling Blocks Encountered in Finding Oneself

What I’ve discovered over the last month is that I’m very bad at being honest about who I am. Not many people actually know me. Out of all the people that I talk to, work with or know from university; only two or three actually know who I am.


I do this on purpose. I keep everybody around me at arms length. Because if people don’t know me, they can’t judge me.


I’m like this with writing as well. Writing is more then something that I’m passionate about, it’s how I define myself. It’s the very essence of who I am. Yet I have a hard time being honest about it. I’ve always wanted to be an author, ever since I was young. Since that impressionable age people told me that writing is not a respectable career. Maybe because of this I’ve always been shy about sharing my writing. It’s not until recently that I’ve found myself admitting it. Jade, a person who knows me better then just about anyone else, looked at me in surprise when I confessed that what I want to achieve more then anything is to write a novel.


I haven’t written many posts on this blog, not really. Yet I can feel myself growing with everything that I post. Becoming more confident, taking ownership of who I am. What is more, is that the large amount of time I vest in reading other people’s blogs is helping as well. It constantly amazes me how connected I can feel to complete strangers. I read their posts and think “Wow, that sums up exactly how I’m feeling right now.”


I’m not sure that it occurs to me that people may actually read what I’m posting on here. I’m surprised every time somebody says “So, I was reading your blog…” When I do think about it I think that I shouldn’t be writing posts like these, I should be writing the silly little anecdotes I’ve taken to posting. Things that people might enjoy reading. But I don’t think it works like this. I started this as a form of expression and I’m going to write what I feel at any point in time. Someone close to me expressed their concern that I’m being to personal. I hope that’s not the case. I hope that I’m not offending anyone. But this is me. It feels good to finally share that.

A review: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

I’m usually very up-to-date with when authors that I read are releasing books. However, just in case a book sneaks up on me, I visit Angus and Robertson’s at least once a week to scop out new releases. (I don’t care if this isn’t a socially acceptable activity. Angus and Robertson’s is my happy place. Whenever I’m in a bad mood who ever I’m with warily suggests a trip to the store. Give me five minutes of inhaling new book smell and I’m smiley faced again.)


Despite my vigilance a book has in fact snuck up on me. On a walk past Angus and Robertson’s yesterday my mum was all “Hey! Look at that! A new Stephenie Meyer book!” Right she was. Thus I spent the good part of last night reading “The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner”.


I finished it this afternoon and I have mixed feelings about it. It’s written as an Eclipse novella and does a very good job at telling an unexpected side of the story. Following a largely marginal character through her own experiences of what it was like to be a new born vampire on a mission to destroy the Cullen’s. As can be expected from Stephenie Meyer the characterisation was excellent. Bree was very real and very easy to relate to.


However there were an equal number of things I didn’t like about it. Firstly there were no chapters. I can understand why they made that decision. It’s only about 200 pages and its set over a very short period of time. But it makes reading the story tedious. It would have benefited from being broken up into chapters. It lacked Meyer’s trade mark ambience. While I can accept that it was written in a different style to the Twilight series the language was dumb-ed down to a point that was a little insulting. I’m still very much in the intended age group, give us a break teenage girls understand words!


If you’re a Twilight fan I’d definitely suggest reading it. I feel a little disappointed though. Maybe Meyer could have focused her energy on finishing Midnight Sun? Because I’m literally salivating with the urge to read it.

A lonely winters night is only enjoyable when you have a good book as company

I’m suffering a little from writers block at the moment. If you haven’t experienced it imagine trying to suck a roast meal through a straw. Unpleasant, exhausting and the parts you manage to get up the straw aren’t the enjoyable bits.


So with that part of me on the blink I rely more heavily on my other favourite activity, like leaning on a crutch. Reading. I have consumed more books over the last few weeks then I have in months. I am literally finishing a novel a day. This is helped by the fact that I’m re-reading, for possibly the seventh or eight time, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series.


I was a lonely kid, sometimes by choice, sometimes circumstance. As a result the majority of my childhood was spent lost in either my own dreamed up fantasy worlds, or those created by others. This is what I love about the Stephanie Plum series. I can so easily get lost in the world that Janet Evanovich creates for me. Forget my own. This is what I resort to at my lowest moments: the awfulness that accompanied my final year at high school, the break up of a year long relationship, the death of my grandfather and bouts of depression.


The series follows it’s main character Stephanie Plum’s antics. She is a less then successful bounty hunter with a knack for running in to trouble. It’s almost a relief that, no matter that she is fictional, whatever stupid thing I have done that day she can trump it. I am in love with Janet Evanoich’s wit, light hearted humour and superior writing ability.


Considering the copious amount that I read I’m extraordinarily picky when it comes to books. I have been known to put a book down if I’m not impressed by its first few sentences. The fact that I have read this series so many times and am likely to continue to do so is the highest compliment I can give. If anyone’s interested in experiencing it the books for themselves the first one is One for the Money and is found in the crime section. Consider yourselves converted.


If you’ll excuse me I think I’ll be off, Fearless Fourteen awaits me.