Possibly the silliest thing I’ve ever been excited about:

 

We’re seeing Jeff Martin tonight (The Tea Party frontman). That is very exciting. However what I am actually more excited about is the opportunity/excuse to “goth up” – the black silk shirt, the black velvet skirt, the collar, black lipstick, etc. I’ve felt so normal for so long, conforming to corporate clone standards (wearing only black, but respectable professional black), it’s GREAT to be odd again. I dyed my hair last night, it’s an awesome kind of auburn, dark red-brown, loving it. Aidan did his blue-black, which is extremely funky. Tonight is going to be fun fun fun.

The latest news article I’m annoyed at:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/mps-block-online-howtodie-speech/2006/09/01/1156817070917.html

Essentially, an MP stood up and detailed ways of committing suicide, and they’ve suppressed online publication of that speech. The premier said “...if just one person follows the methods she outlined in the Parliament, she will have a death on her conscience” which I think is ridiculous. Let’s face it: if somebody wants to commit suicide, they’ll do it one way or another. Inspiration from an MP might suggest the method, but certainly not the urge.

Note to self Re: Recent trend with airlines

 

I keep reading articles in the newspaper about terrorism scares or other problems with aircraft, and one thing seems to reoccur – passengers are not being told what is going on. They may be asked to disembark, or told there’s a delay, but nobody says why. My first thought is that the lack of information may only scare people more, or lead them to jump to unreasonable conclusions. Having worked in customer service, I’m fully in favour of not telling customers everything, but you should always tell them SOMETHING.

The Wedding Transcript (first draft)

 

*** Introduction ***

Space is big. You just wouldn’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. You may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.

The chances of finding a soulmate in all that infinite space are close to zero, yet here we stand today to witness the union of Aidan and Stacy, who found each other with astonishing ease.

Aidan and Stacy have long believed in celebrating the small things; today they welcome you as their dearest friends to help them celebrate the larger things in life.

They will be joined in matrimony here today with the assistance of Katie, our young flowergirl. Stacy will be supported by her very good friend and the instigator of this relationship, bridesmaid Chantell. Aidan’s support is in his best friend Andrew as his best man.

 

I now invite Andrew Scarborough, a wonderful friend of both partners, to perform an introductory reading for us.

 

*** Andrew’s Reading ***

"To My Bride" by Victor Frankenstein
To my bride, I give you my heart
Sharing love each day, from the very start

To my bride, I give you my heart
Fry it up right, from the very start!

To my bride, I give you my kiss
Filling each day with joy and bliss

To my bride, I give you my kiss
Honey, you ain't seen nothing like this!

To my bride, I give you my being
To love, to play, to work and to sing

To my bride, I give you my bean
Please my dear, do nothing obscene.

To my bride, I give you my mind
Learning each day to be more kind

To my bride, I give you my mentality
Learning each day the art of venality!

To my bride, I give you my soul
Growing together to be more whole

To my bride, I give you my soul
Rock ‘n’ Roll, baby will make us whole!

To my bride, I give you my life
Rejoicing each day that you are my wife

To my bride, I give you my life
Credit cards, ear wax and marital strife

 

*** Giving Away ***

Rodney, as Stacy’s father, are you willing to support and strengthen this marriage by upholding Aidan and Stacy with your love, now and always?

Dad – With love, I will

 

*** Deb ***

Now I, Deb Stallard, a civil celebrant

Am duly authorised by the law to solemnise this,

your marriage, according to the laws of Australia.

Before you, AIDAN, and you, STACY are joined together in marriage

In my presence, and in the presence here of your friends,

I am bound as you know, to remind you publicly of the solemn, 

serious and binding nature

of the relationship into which you are about to enter.

Marriage, as most of us understand it,

Is the voluntary and full commitment of a man to a woman    

And a woman to a man.

It is made in the deepest sense to the exclusion of all others,

and is entered into with the desire, hope,

and firm intention that it will last for life.

 

*** Reading ***

Extract from Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables”, read by ...(undecided)

 

*** The Asking ***

Aidan and Stacy, marriage is the clasping of hands, the blending of hearts, the union of two lives as one. Are you ready now to make pledges of commitment together?

Answer (in unison) – I will

 

*** Vows ***

Yet to be written

 

*** Ring Exchange ***

Wherever you are, there I shall be.

 

*** Declaration ***

May the sun bring you new energy by day,

May the moon softly restore you by night.

May the rain wash away your worries,

And may  you live the days of your lives in peace, love and happiness.

 

Friends, Aidan and Stacy have declared before all of us their special promises to each other, spoken vows, and exchanged rings. Now it is my pleasure to introduce Aidan and Stacy Irving as husband and wife.

 

You may kiss the bride.

 

 

Bush’s latest bungle

 

Giving Angela Merkel a backrub at G-8. Dear God, what’s wrong with the man? She’s the German Chancellor, not a stress ball.

I wonder how many inventions are a product of boredom. Aidan believes all inventions were prompted by either war or the reproductive urge. That may be true, but it took boredom to really make something of it.

Television – probably originally a wonderful new method of communication, so vital in warfare. But the bored masses needed something to entertain them, so now television shows us the war happening somewhere else.

Polyphonic ringtones – I can’t see that this has anything to do with war or sex.

Sticky tape – I can just see some nerdy grad student cackling with glee – “I’m going to make a clear plastic strip, and unbeknownst to my unwary victim, ONE SIDE WILL BE STICKY!!!!!”

Blogs – need I say more?

I’m bored.

 

Loz was talking about fire earlier, and how strange it was that almost all humans feel mesmerized by watching a fire. It got me thinking (although I didn’t have a chance to say anything) – it’s not that surprising at all that we should be almost hypnotized by a fire. Historically fire has been our only weapon against animals and the dark, our only source of heat and light, our only way of cooking what we catch, and the camp fire has been the centre of social life. Humans have a deep-rooted respect for fire; both for it’s usefulness and for it’s danger. It’s hardly surprising that it lulls and soothes us even as it terrifies.

****also unfinished***

On Patriotism

 

Patriotism can be simply defined as a devotion to one’s country. This, at first glance, may appear a good and productive feeling. However when considered in the cold light of cynicism patriotism assumes a more sinister aspect.

The inspiration of patriotism, undertaken by politicians and the media in general, is a poorly disguised form of propaganda. It is patriotism which motivates a country’s young to join armed forces and fight wars.

***essay un-finished***

Oh the irony. Music preference can be a very powerful expression of self. So you buy an MP3 player to listen to it on the train (and inflict it on everybody else if it’s loud enough). But everybody has an MP3 player. Merely having one is conforming to a norm, even if you’re listening to death metal on it. INDIVIDUALITY CRISIS!!!

I'm back!

It’s been a long long time between blogs.

 

Aidan and I have been back in Australia for almost four months now, after being away for three months. We had the most fantastic holiday: lots of places, lots of new people, lots of fun, etc! I won’t go into massive detail; suffice to say it was amazing.

 

Since then, we’ve been working and studying and still rather having a bit of fun! Things are tough, of course: I’m not qualified for anything so my jobs are always low-paying, and Aidan isn’t finding work within his qualification just yet. But otherwise stuff is really good. We have a beautiful unit in a great spot, and we have four goldfish (Halley the comet, There’s the ugly fish, Do Not Feed the zebra fish, and Beward the leopard fish). We’ve done some volunteer work with CVA (Conservation Volunteers Australia) which is fun. All in all, things are trundling along as nicely as can be expected.

I don't even know what to write. I just felt I should do a final Blog before leaving the country for three months. Yes, folks, we're finally out of here. In two days time, this Saturday afternoon, we will be on a plane. I still almost can't believe it. It won't be real until we're on that plane seeing the world from above.

Some of you have given me email addresses; I will be writing whenever I can to inform you of goings-on. I probably won't be Blogging while overseas.

Take care, everybody. I don't care too much if I get spammed, so I'll leave my email: stace8383@hotmail.com

Nice knowing you!

Stace

I suppose I should detail my Post-Post celebrations.

Went out last night with some Posties - Pete, Dave, Amanda, Serita, Michael (ex-Post), Louise, Mus, Stacey, Mark, and Richard. I think that's it. I got very very drunk. I didn't really feel it until after I left... managed to get home ok, and even coherently talk to a lady on the train. But once I got into bed... well, I got up, puked, went back to bed, and passed out. Apparently when Aidan got home he was all looking after me and stuff, wet cloth on the face to stop me getting a hang-over, and talking to me... I vaguely remember something wet. Nothing else, I was that out of it. He's such a sweetie.

Tonight I'm by myself - Aidan was working, and staying at his parents' place tonight. So I watched School of Rock (yes, the Jack Black one), and then started listening to full-on rock music way up loud... moved on to some punk/ska kind of stuff, and I've been dancing around like an idiot.

So, my Post-Post celebrations are complete. I have made a fool of myself both in public and in private, and I don't regret a moment of it!

Well, that's it. My days at Post are over.

It's been an interesting couple of years. I started there in November 2003 - young, naive, inexperienced. It was part of my "utter change" - breaking up with Dave, moving back to Hawthorn, leaving Teletech behind me for a new job. It was a month of turmoil. So, into the International section of the CCC I went. Only problem was - for my first week, I was taking Domestic calls. So, I sat with a group of people who only knew International things, asking them Domestic questions. Odd. Things got easier in my second week when I was taking International calls! There I remained for about nine months or so - going through several Team Leaders including Ness, Nick, and Damo. Damo was the beginning of my REAL time at Post. He was annoyingly encouraging and positive! He took me with my apathy and ignorance, and he schooled me and obtained training for me. He eventually got me placed in the Domestic Resolutions Team - for "two days", mind you - where I actually stayed for the rest of my time with Post.

Time in the Resolutions Team was far more interesting, and there I discovered that nobody knew everything about Post. The team's knowledge was spread over each member of the team, so that all together we knew everything or where to find it! The team was diverse, interesting, intelligent - among the best people I've worked with. Once again, I out-lasted several Team Leaders: Carolyn, Vicky, Dale.

Everybody says this about Post - whilst the work itself may suck like a vacuum cleaner, the people there are fantastic. I didn't say it, because I didn't want to sound like a parrot. But it's true. I will miss a lot of those people, and I hope we all keep in touch.

Anyway, I'm now well into my first day of unemployment in about three years. The morning was lovely... laying about, breakfasting in a cafe down the road (they're not kidding when they call that the Big Breakfast), op-shopping... Then Aidan had to go to work. I finished my jigsaw puzzle, made some nachos, had a cup of tea... and now I'm a little bored. Retrospective, too. Looking back over the last couple of years...

Before he left, Damo once said that he'd seen the changes in me since I started dating Aidan. I didn't see it myself, but he said I was happier, more confident, and optimistic.

I just received a very sweet and supportive email from Carolyn, who I'd
completely forgotten I gave this blog URL to... Oops. Thanks Carolyn!

How Odd

I'm in a bit of a funny mood today. I feel like a schoolgirl looking foward
to the Christmas holidays! I'm all excited about leaving Post.

People

I think all my friends have personality problems.

I won't name them.

One's an antagonistic bugger.
One gets on the defensive and wants to prove he's better than everybody.
One has major self-confidence problems.
One is clinically depressed.
One is anti-social in the extreme.
One laughs when she gets angry.
One believes the rest of the world is insane but he's fine.

There's more, but I can't be bothered listing them. What does this say about
me?

Countdown...

2nd day of my final week...
29 hours, or
1740 minutes, or
104400 seconds,
of time left AT WORK!

Yay!

Today is the beginning of my final week with Australia Post.

...

Louise has been asking me what I want for a going-away gift. I'm hardly used
to asking for things and even less used to having a chance of getting them.
I feel very very selfish and mercenary and guilty about giving her a list.
Is that weird? Guilty. That's definately how I feel. I'm trying to play it
down and make a bit of a joke of it, but I still feel funny.

eeek

Louise is organising a farewell lunch for me, next Friday. Eeek! Social
situations are not my cup of tea. Cups of tea are my cup of tea. Oh well,
I'll let everybody else chatter and have fun, and I'll sit as usual and not
talk.