Outfit #142 - They Lied!

I checked the forecast for today.  I was promised sunshine, maybe some clouds.  They lied.  It bucketed.

Dress: Kinki Gerlinki. Cardigan: Levi's (from Jeannie). Top (not visible in photo, but present): Ambra bamboo. Stockings: Razza Matazz. Scarf: Atmosphere (gift). Shoes: Target.

Needless to say, the cardigan stayed on most of the day, and the scarf was also on for a substantial part.

Last time I wore this cardigan I promised a better close up shot.  So here I'm delivering.

Outfit #74 - The Sky and The Clouds

Outfit details:

Skirt: Sunny Girl (op shop).  Singlet: Hot Options.  Top: Sportsgirl (op shop).  Shoes: Target.  Earrings: gift.

One of my students used to tell me what my outfits looked like.  I suspect this one would have looked like the sky and the clouds and rain and flowers.

Although it was just drizzling when I was watering my plants this morning (as in, I got maybe 3 or 4 tiny mostly evaporated drops, and didn't feed the plants very much so when I got home they were droopy), thankfully it didn't rain any more after that. 

I was pulling up my singlet all day though.  Very irritating.

Today's photo:

Not as amazing as I was hoping... but when I stepped out this morning, the grey clouds contrasted nicely with the white branches.

...Or Not

I confess, I didn't really change today.  In fact, I feel I regressed.  And I can see that it's because my life is a bit murky and undefined at present, a whole lot of unknown and not-black-and-white-ness. 

A brief overview of today:  slept in (by a lot - thankfully it's still holidays, kinda).  Breakfast I felt very odd, and it seemed to take forever to make.  As much as I've trained my parents, they still have some different ideas about where things belong, and making breakfast for more than me requires different timings.  Yes, this throws me.  Finished (maybe) a painting, had coffee, did the vacuuming, had lunch, went to the gym, bought more paint.  Taught my Friday afternoon students, discovered my fingerboard is starting to come off yet again.  Had a quick dinner and went to church, as it was a eucharist in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the ordination of women priests. 

The only potential changes would have been the painting, and going to the gym straight after lunch.  It's fairly quiet then (good) but there was what looked like a school group arriving (potentially not so good).  And the 20th anniversary was a first, obviously.

Purple and green banners were hanging down the pillars, and there were green lights in the transepts, purple lights at the crossing.

People had been asked to wear green and purple for the event, and for the recent Synod, as these were the campaign colours.  I'd heard a rumour a while back that the ordained women would wear purple shoes - what a great idea!  I only spotted one pair, on our deacon Ann.  I wish I'd had the opportunity to take the photo when she was still robed.

Today's photo:

As I was leaving, walking down Ann St through a very light misty rain, it looked like the Suncorp tower was glowing.  Admittedly, it's a bit hard to tell here...  But this is also the first mildly-successful night shot I've taken on the iPhone.  I do like a rainy city night scene.

Avant Garde Patisserie and Invitations

Yes, it's holidays.  Some friends I only see when each of us is on school holidays.  This morning, I sent a text to Di (who has a blog too - find it here), asking if she'd have time for coffee today.  I must admit here, I'm a fairly slack friend.  I very rarely take the initiative in catching up with friends, and I'm very fortunate in having friends who will suggest things to do.  So the fact that I made the first move today is (in my head, anyway) a step forward.  I have a mental list of other friends who'll need a connection soon.

The weather today was a bonus too, as it wasn't raining the entire time.  I even had a rain-free run this morning!  However, considering the possibility of rain and parking, we opted for Baroona Rd, Milton.  Well, it was an interesting parking experience, but we had no dash through the rain so I'll consider that a win.  Neither of us had been to Avant Garde Patisserie before.  Very tempting treats - neither of us was very disciplined.... I had the Choc Date Pistachio slice.  I was expecting a mega chocolate indulgence, but it was quite light and chewy.  Dusted with cocoa and icing sugar resulted in me making quite a mess!  Nothing too embarrassing though.

There was nowhere really warm to sit which was disappointing, so I spent most of the time chilly.  And the seats were not superbly comfortable either.  Coffee was in the middle of the bell curve - not bad, but not something to write home about (or recommend to coffee aficionados - aficionadi?). 

Today's photo:

The sun came out for just long enough for me to grab my camera and take 4 photos before my battery died and the clouds hid the sun again.  It was so exciting seeing the water droplets sparkling in the sunlight!

Movie #16 - Brotherhood of the Wolf

DVD Sam loaned me 5 movies earlier this year.  A couple of weeks ago, he asked if I'd watched Brotherhood of the Wolf yet.  Not yet... if he'd told me that there are a few stripped-down fight scenes, I would have watched it ages ago!  At least now I have.

I'm not sure this is a movie I would watch again - although maybe if I saw it while slightly less exhausted it might make more sense.  So, if you're hoping for an intelligent plot discussion or something, I apologise.  It's not going to happen.  Set in 18th century France, there is a lot of violence, and there are a few scenes in a brothel - if you have delicate sensibilities, find something else to watch.  Especially if you get squeamish.  I started watching at the start of dinner - mistake.

Some little things before I get into it.  This was a dubbed version, and I put the subtitles on as well - weird.  The subtitles corresponded in the same way Google Translate will correspond.  There are some very funny bits, like the brothel madam indignant about the possibility of a scandal in her house.  Or the description of how Florentine women get their men to sleep at home, by giving them poison in the morning and the antidote in the evening.  I found the camera work a little annoying.  There are some aspects I really enjoyed, like the close-ups of the puddles splashing, but the frequent slow motion in the middle of action was irritating.  Not to mention the special effects of the Beast itself, which really dated the movie.

At one point, I heard phrases of music reminiscent of Dances with Wolves and it was only at that point I went "oh yeah - duh".  Native American in this movie about wolves, so how could you resist?  Haha.  There were 2 other distinct musical flavours, a fairly ecclesiastical sort (similar to Allegri's Miserere), and a gypsy style like that found in Chocolat.

In fact, the underlying theme of the movie reminded me a lot of Chocolat: the power of the cultural norm.  (It also corresponded, incidentally, with yesterday's sermon).  Everyone is born into a society with a cultural norm.  Those in power dictate what that idea of normal is, and class anyone who doesn't fit into that mould as inferior.  When those ideas are challenged, our instinct is to fight.  And in hindsight, that is often ridiculous.  In this movie, the ideas were surrounding race (is a Native American really the same race? surely he is inferior, a savage - "you don't avenge a savage with Christian blood") and the Age of Reason (Catholic practices in a world blossoming with scientific knowledge).  Some of the questions they asked were, to this 21st century view, laughable.  I had to remind myself a couple of times that they really wouldn't have known these things, and we only find out by asking and experiencing.  Compare that to now though, with the debates surrounding gay marriage - there is a photo doing the rounds of Facebook, showing a scene from a rally 50 years ago against inter-racial marriage, and a scene from a present-day protest against gay marriage, and a caption along the lines of Think How Ridiculous You'll Look in 50 Years.

And then, the atrocious things Christians do to maintain the status quo, or the Right Way, or to hold onto power.  There is even a scene so like a KKK meeting, all these robed people hiding behind the anonymity of a mask, with strength in numbers - how many of them, if they sat down with the tracts they say they are upholding, would turn around and act and think differently?  And if you are really in the right, why do you need to hide your face?   Or even, the things we do in a fight or flight mood - in this case, if we think this beast is a wolf, let's go and kill all the wolves we can find.  That way we're sure to get it, right?  But how silly we look after a bit of waiting and learning when we discover it's not actually a wolf and all those animals have died for nothing (King Herod, anyone? witch hunts?).

I write this as a Christian but more, as a human.  Much of what Christians have done in the name of our religion is indefensible.  I think though that it's more that Christians have been in power for a good portion of history, and we are human and react in human ways.  Without knowledge that what you are doing is actually wrong, but with a background of this is probably right, we'll tend to go with the probably.

Actually, I'll amend the theme of this movie:  There is nothing to be feared, except fear itself.

And now for today's photo:

Funny story here.  I put washing on the line on Saturday, which was a beautifully sunny day, if rather cool.  I didn't have time to get the washing off the line between gym, blog, and heading off to a games night... It rained Saturday night.  It rained on Sunday.  It rained Sunday night, and it's been rainy and blustery all of today.  Which is wonderful for the June long weekend, but not great for getting my washing dry.  Now I have to work out what I can possibly wear to work tomorrow.

Outfit #42 - Matching the Weather

Outfit details:
Pants: Hot Options.  Shirt: Miss Shop (from Jeannie).  Vest: Portmans.  Cardigan: Jeanswest.  Shoes: Pulp.  Earrings: made by me.

These earrings are the green version of the 'world' earrings - I also have them in black and blue (you can see the black earrings here).  This is my token spot of colour for the day, obviously.  

I wish I'd been wearing an extra layer today.  Until lunch I was fine, and then the weather went all wintry and I got cold.  Only a cardigan, just regular stockings, and no scarf. 

Today it rained.  It wasn't heavy rain all day or anything.  In fact, when I left for work it was blue skies, mostly.  I knew there was a good chance this would change, and actually took a few minutes to sort out shoes - I figured (incorrectly) I would be too warm in boots, and they aren't quite tall enough anyway.  Flats had no chance of keeping me dry, but I wore some to and from stations and swapped into these heels at school.  All was going well until I had to leave school, when it was raining more than mist.  D'oh!  By the time I got home I was rather chilly (and soaked) in the below-the-knee vicinity (if you look closely you can pick the colour difference in the lead photo).  As soon as photos were done I was into jeans and slippers.

Best Foot Forward

I remember hearing the phrase "put your best foot forward" when I was a child, and asking an older brother, "But which one is my best?"  Apparently, your right foot is your best foot.  At least if you're right-handed.  I don't know if this is because we live in a right-handed world, or if there is in fact some reason for our right foot to be our best foot.  Even though I'm right-handed, I feel left sided for everything else.  Especially in the feet.

For a long time, I have started off on my left foot.  This goes for stairs, kerbs, lunges... (which is fine for even-numbered workouts, not so great for odd numbers!).  Knowing this often looks really weird when you have to take a teensy step not to use the right, I bow to my desire to at least appear normal, and can use either foot.  The right often results in a mental face screw-up, though, but the more I do it the less it bothers me.  I'm still quite conscious of it though. 

Now for the Change bit for today.  Every time I start running, it's starting on the left.  Every time.  For the last few runs, I've been thinking I should try starting on my right foot.  I didn't think this would be so hard, but it is.  I couldn't do this spontaneously.  My brain kept thinking it over, how I would actually manage to get my right foot to be the take-off foot.  I started having flash-backs to age 4 and ballet (note: I didn't continue ballet). 

Tonight, I was having second thoughts about running (it was raining).  But I decided to just do it - I've discovered it's much nicer, in some ways, to run in the rain.  Once I was in my running gear my brain kept on thinking about this right-footed thing.  Not wanting to totally embarrass myself in my street, I had a couple of little practices in the hallway. 

Running is a mental thing for me.  Tonight, it was super-mental.  Every time I was about to run (I have 3 or 4 walking bits), I had to remember how to start on the right foot.  I'm sure I must have had a weird expression every time.  This was not a great run.  I'm not sure if it was actually from the right-footed running, or if I was just a bit tired or hungry or under-hydrated... I will be trying to do this more often, but more so that I know that I can do it.

Tuesday January 24 - Plan B

I'd earmarked today as the last real day of holidays.  I didn't expect any students yesterday as it was the first day back (wrong! - the girl who comes straight after school showed up, very keen) and I don't have students at home on Tuesdays.  My plan was to go to New Farm and Teneriffe to take some photos, as it's been ages since I've taken photos artistically.  This was, incidentally, to be a Change...

The weather forecast heavy rain - but I didn't want to let the weather dictate what I do with my life, or I'd be a hermit.  Determined to carry through with my Plan A, I went to the gym first thing, despite the rain.  On the way home, I snapped these photos of local flooding.  It's a little hard to tell, but the water is over the footpath.  Turns out there was a lot of local flooding, and police were urging people to delay non-essential travel.

Plan B - pajama day.  I love wearing pajamas and do so as often as I can.  So after breakfast (back in pjs) I had a mini-nap, coffee at my brother's (not in pjs) then came home for a more substantial nap/sleep.  I usually reserve such decadence for when I'm sick, but with the rain this was the best way to spend a day.  After lunch I watched Amelie while making a dent in the substantial ironing pile, then started a button-sewing frenzy. 

It's been a really long time since I saw Amelie.  Checking Imdb afterwards to find other places I'd seen all those actors, I caught the movie bug and even braved the rain to go to the video store...but that's for a different blog post.

Wednesday, January 18 - Just Go

I had to leave the house Wednesday afternoon.  I left with no actual plan of what I was going to do, where I was going to go, how I would get wherever I was going...  I figured I'd just missed the next train, so opted for a bus, then thought I'd see which bus came first and think about my options as I went.

The first bus would take me by South Bank, so I got off there (at the same time as Mary Poppins ended its matinee session - think swarms of happy pint-sized people), walked through the arbour, picked up a coffee at a deli, and continued walking to the Maritime Museum.  This photo is from there - I love the contrast of the grey storm clouds against the white bridge.  When the rain became more than just threatening I wandered back and went home.

Things to do better next time: remember ear phones.  An escape is better with music.
If it really looks like rain, forgo the water bottle for an umbrella (or use a bigger bag).
Anything else would really require forward planning so wouldn't qualify for a Just Go experience!