the fire...

The other night, I was going home with my step-dad and we saw this smoke over a hill. So I got my trusty camera and we went to the scene! Actually, we thought a school was on fire when we were driving towards it, but we found that they were just burning some grass off behind the school. Here are some of the pics I took:




In other news, I am burnt! I shot the Athetics Day at my school today and it was a beautiful day and I didn't put on any sunscreen.. All my fault off course. It is a very funny-looking burn actually. I had a thick necklace with a big round bit on it and the burn is around the shape - it look silly! And tomorrow is when I get to go to the music festival and be a photographer, so I might have some shots to show later! I am so completely and totally excited!! Yay!

photography, photography...

I am so excited! I get to do two full days of photography! I am taking the photos for my school magazine at our Athletics Carnival (not great subject matter, but lets see what I can do..). Then on Saturday I am going to a Music Festival as a media/photography person with my step-dad who is recording gigs for the radio program he does. I am supposed to be taking photos for the radio station - yay!! I am so incredibly excited! Hmm.. that is actually all I have to say except that I am excited that it is a long weekend.. Wish me luck!

the noisy bus...

After the first day back of term 2, we weren't really in the greatest mood. Jo and I were on the bus on the way home, chatting quietly in the back hoping that the terror would decide to hang around and leave us in some amount of peace. Unlucky for us, the terror decided the 3:45pm bus was perfect for her.. In fact, she even decided to sit right in front of us with her noisy friends. The swearing, slapping and yelling that ensued and the 'norm' for the terror. She has actually been complained about by the public.. We tried to just chat and block the terrors piercing voice from our heads, but to no avail. What a lovely thing it is to have peace and quiet.. After the bus ride home particularly.

I got home, put New Buffalo on and sat it mellow peace and quiet - lovely.. Then, lucky me, I got to sit for an hour and chat to three of my favourite people (on msn, but nonetheless) with my beautiful white cat (Jessica) curled up on my lap.

She is the most bizarre animal really - she thinks she is a human baby! She sleeps on my bed and sometimes on my pillow, and occasionally burrows her way under by doona. She likes to be held like a baby - with her head supported by the crook of your arm. And if someone comes to the house and doesn't say hello to her she gets mighty grumpy. Actually, she is really quite old. I think she is about 8 years old now, maybe nine. I remember choosing her from a friends litter - she was pure white but with a little black stripe down the middle of her head - ever so cute! Now, however the black stripe is gone. And all of our clothes are white! I haven't seen another cat malt as much as Jess does - you touch her and you get covered it fur. Really quite annoying when my favourite colour to wear is brown and my mothers is black - well, now it's black and white...

What a lovely evening I had..

page 123, the fifth sentence...

A new book meme is circulating and its rules are these (via Keri Smith):

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

"He is not a true monk who harms another nor a true renunciate who oppresses others." -- Venerable Buddharakkhita (Dhammapada: a practical guide to right living)

This is actually the fourth sentence, there are only four sentences on the page...

hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go...

Just this weekend then it is back to school for my third last term at high school. I should really be excited, and lots of people are, but I am more scared. I'm not a big one for the unknown. For about a week (last week actually) I though I knew what I wanted to do next year. Just one week of certainty...and now it is gone! I had decided on the course I wanted to do next year and it was set, I had something to focus on. For once I actually had something to tell people when they asked me what I wanted to do when I finished high school. Until I told a lecturer friend of mine... Then it all became unknown again... She told me that I should be doing the course I wanted to do somewhere else and I should add different things to the course and I should watch what I choose because the one I was thinking of could be boring... And now I am confused again... I had decided I was going to so a Bachelor of Art (Media and Communication) and add some Psychology and IT perhaps, then do a Bachelor of Education (fourth year) so I could teach at secondary schools in Psychology, Media and IT - my favourite subjects. But now I am not so sure... I have been told by some people to keep working on my photography so I should do a visual art course in photography/digital photography. Others have said that I would be a good teacher so going in that direction is good... Well, I suppose most peopl change their occupation five times on average in their life. But I still to do something next year. Whinge, whinge, whinge... The one good thing is that everyone I have talked to says that Uni is great and the study is fun because you have chosen it and it is something that interests you. I am looking forward to Uni...I just don't know what I am going to do when I get there...

sugar hit...

After an evil weekend at my dad's (with the step mother) I desperately needed a sugar hit. So, here I am eating little red gummi bears and watching trashy tv. However, the weekend wasn't all that bad. As a heat-hater, the walk down the street in 31 degree celcius heat wasn't nice, nor was walking around a market in the same heat today nice, when the tropics-like weather change hit I was loving it. Walking around the streets of artsy precinct St Kilda was lovely. I bought a couple of arty books (for inspiration of course!), some gorgeous handmade beads and a gorgeous handmade purse from cybertart. The purse is denim on the back and a picture with plastic covering it as the front. The pic is a digital illustration of a girl - it is so very awesome! And I also officially (not yet completely, but I'm sure I will get there) love St Kilda. The shops along the only street I went along were great! Gorgeous gift shops, and one awesome "hippy" shop. Oh, and I must say it, great cafes! That's it for my advertisement... Sugar!!

"Remind me to send him a red cap and a Speedo..."

In perfect holiday style I went to the movies. I saw the new Wes Anderson movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou", and to my delight found it completely delightful! It was ludicrous, funny and nutty. However, it was not as good as Anderson's previous flick "The Royal Tenebaums" (which I loved). What I was most excited about, though, was the trailer I saw before the movie (which is not to say that I wasn't excited about the movie, I was, I just found the trailer excited too). It was the trailer for a movie called "Sin City". I think the movie is based on a comic or something from a comic (not being a comic fan, I wouldn't know). But, lately I have been wondering why more modern movie makers forget that black and white films can be great. The use of light and dark in films like "Citizen Kane", "Psycho" and "The Third Man" are awesome. I always wondered why modern directors/cinematographers didn't 'embrace' the black and white medium - it would be such fun to play with! Then... I saw the trailer for "Sin City" and, lo and behold, a black and white movie. Given, it has been made in 'comic book' style and that is the reason for the (not complete, by the way) lack of colour, but I was still very excited! And it was completely done digitally. The whole movie was shot in a back lot in front of a green screen, and the backdrops were added post-production. I am muchly looking forward for this movie to be released (in Australia) and look forward to seeing it - yay for black and white movies!

I must also admit, in holiday style, and with absolutely no regret, that I, Jem, have been a vegetable for most of the holidays so far. I have been out at some point in the day on less than half of my holiday days. I, with absolute relaxation on the agenda, love the holidays! I was talking to my cousin, who has a personality pretty much the opposite of mine, about this use of holiday time. She was commenting how even when she has a free day from uni, if she doesn't go out and do something she gets very bored. But it is my nature to adore the 'alone' time. I love vegeing and have no apologise for doing nothing! While I do love being with people, I think I am introverted and thus too much time having to worry about awkward silences and being 'chirpy' really starts to piss me off and make me grumpy. So here's to the days when I am so totally allowed to do nothing - cause I can! Ha!

hot in autumn?

The weather lately has been odd. Being in the Southern Hemisphere, we are one month into Autumn. Now, in Autumn you expect the temperature to drop, to be below 25 degrees celsius or some such. But here, we have just had two days of 30+ degrees celsius - in AUTUMN!! I think of Autumn as the season where the leaves change colour, and the temperature drops.. not as the season when some days are warmer than in summer. The good thing is, the warmth (which I hate; cool weather is my thing) has given me an excuse why not to venture outside and thus take photos around the house of various bits and pieces.

"to dare every day to be irreverent and bold. to dare to preserve the randomness of mind which in children produces strange and wonderful new thoughts and forms. to continually scramble the familiar, bring the old into the new juxtaposition." -- gordon webber

the holidays begin...

I had my second English SAC on Thursday (the last day of term). I think it went ok, it was the right length at least. I wrote about the imposed limitations on the characters. I now have to wait until school goes back to find out how I did. I actually hate this waiting until marks come back. Depending on the subject and the SAC I might be nervous or worried, but I always want to know how I did - no matter how badly I expect to have gone. Oh well, I only have two weeks so that's not to bad.

But, that SAC marked the end of the term! Two weeks of (hopefully) fun. I always have good holidays, I can't remember one when I haven't had a good time even if I spent it at home pottering and doing homework. Just the break from school is nice. But these holidays I have had many offers of fun - new friends, new excitement... maybe even some alcohol - hehehe! Movie outtings, themed-video nights, photograph-taking trips. Fun to be had!!

I come from...

Here is the piece I wrote in English:

I come from two houses - one with a mother and one with a father.
One with a dormant artist and one with a suit-type.
One with a sister and one with a wicked witch of the west.
One with Christmas Day and one with Christmas Eve.
One with my own room and one with a shared bed.
One with green towels and one with beige towels.
One with a gold and black lounge room and one with an apricot couch.
One with two cats and one with no company.
One with late night laughs and one with late night tv.
One with full priced clothes and one with discount meals.
One with sleep-ins on Sundays and one with yoga on Saturdays.
One with a wardrobe and one with an overnight bag.
One with lazy Saturdays and one with day trip Sundays.
One with pate for lunch and one with a barbeque down at the park.
One with freedom to use the phone and one with constant permission.
One in the suburbs and one an hour away.
One for the week and one for once a month.
One with the real me and one with the good me.
One with a Hindu goddess on the wall and one with a painting of a rose.
One with a new car and one with fluffy wool seat covers.
One with a bathroom draw and one with a toiletry bag.
One with an electric blanket and one with slab heating.
One with netball and one with education related discussions.
One with friends and one with none.
One with warmth and one with falsities.
One with my mum and one with my dad.