Tea Accompaniments, With An Ounce Of Hyperventilation.

OH WOW.

I found out last night that probably my favourite author ever, Mitch Albom, is going to be at an 'Author Evening' at a bookshop about 10 minutes away from where I live! If you've never read any of his books you should, he is amazing. I AM SO EXCITED. I have read a few of his books and loved them. :)

I'm phat.

So I'm home alone, and I started watching this show:

Personally, I found it disgusting. The intense pressure placed on girls and women to be thin is seriously horrifying. I felt like retching at images of Keira Knightley's shoulder blades and Kate Bosworth's collarbone and ribcage. Seriously. Don't these people ever eat? They'd get blown away in a light breeze.

And yet, they are renowned for their body image. They are paid to flaunt their bones.

What is wrong with society? The world is seeming to embark on a significant starvation revolution with the overwhelming need to be skinny rising up the agenda.

I exercise and watch what I eat, but I'm curvy and happy.

Funny how eating more than a salad a day actually makes you feel good.

Current Infatuations

Wow ok! I am going to tell you about the wonder that is Bircher Muesli. I love this stuff. I have it pretty much every day, and boy, does it taste good. You know that stuff that tastes really really good for you? Well, that's Bircher Muesli. Basically you soak the rolled oats in orange juice overnight/for a couple of days and then I like to add natural yoghurt, fruit (passion fruit is good, as is banana) and sometimes honey.

BY THE WAY!!!!!

Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr_MJAOyOeU

It wouldn't let me embed it. Sorry. But I lovelovelove this song!!!!

Tea Accompaniments.

Telling Tales

edited by Nadine Gordmeyer

After a long time trying to find something adequate to quench my literary thirst, Telling Tales answered my search. I loved this book so much I borrowed it out from the library twice (which, I assure you, I only do if I REALLY like the book). I didn't endeavour to read it simply because it features works from writers such as Susan Sontag, Woody Allen and Margaret Atwood, or because the proceeds go towards educational programs discussing HIV/AIDs.

No, it was a combination of the two, the fact that all these authors, from vastly different walks of life, could unite to raise awareness of the widespread and devastating problem that is HIV/AIDs. These are works of the highest calibre, and I know that I will once again have to renew this book from the library in order to read it a third time.

I give it 4.5 stars.

Bite Ya Bum.

The recent celebration of our national day got me thinking - I am, painfully and potentially irrevocably un-Australian. I'm not tanned (I'm the equivalent of living, breathing paste). I never frequent the beach. I don't know how to surf or play rugby (soccer is more my thing). I have no idea how to throw a boomerang (I'd probably decapitate myself), fish, light a barbecue, and I can't remember the lyrics to 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport' - actually, I don't think I ever learnt the lyrics. In my defence I do watch the cricket, but I don't think many other people do so that probably doesn't count.

So my only saving grace is language and the wonder that is Australian slang. Sure, I don't say 'Austray-an', but I have friends who do so they make up for it. Yet language in itself divides us. It's hard to believe that we're all from the same country with the number of Australian accents we've got going. The one thing that truly unites us Aussies is joy in the complete naivety of foreigners. Boy, do I love taking the mickey out of tourists. My dad's sister recently came over from England with her husband and kids, who all have polished Yorkshire accents. The number of times I had to refrain from laughing when they didn't understand what I'd said! Yet for people who describe 1:30 as 'half-one', who call a ute a 'truck' and who say 'trousers', they do pretty well. Though I'll never forget the time when I once said 'No worries' to a foreigner, who then replied 'Why do you think I'm worried?'

Just in case there is another deprived soul like myself who does not know the lyrics to 'Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport', our trusted friend Wikipedia describes it as 'one of the best known and most successful Australian songs'. So get learning.

Calling it a day.

Game, Set, ARGH

Who doesn't like to watch a bit of tennis now and again? Sure, if you look away for even a second you risk missing a fantastic volley or the like, but you can't deny it's a highly entertaining sport - and a direct cause of its addictive nature is the increasingly prevalent 'tennis grunt'. No two grunts are the same. You have Maria Sharapova's imitation siren wail, which was said to reach a record 101 decibels at Wimbledon. There's the Williams sisters' one sided screaming matches. And who could look past Yanina Wickmayer's 'whoopee'?

But is the grunt necessary? An increasing number of people are labelling it as cheating, a way of throwing of opponents by producing an inhuman shriek capable of causing deafness. And frankly, I don't blame them. I mean, look at Roger Federer. He always goes out on the court looking calm and relaxed, and he never makes a sound.

Makes me wonder why he wins. :)