People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

- Author unknown

i like this song, it's pretty nice :)

today was rather enjoyable. i managed to complete a few tasks and fulfil some plans (mostly uni related). i walked my dog, but as we were on our journey she got a bit excited and her collar fell off (luckily she's helpful and didn't run away from me). i drove in the rain, which was fun, but then the sun came out and attacked my sensitive eyes.
second week of uni, with full classes! i still haven't got all my books or my readers, most of them are on order from the UK - loads cheaper!
one of my friends is starting up a sketch show and he's asked me to help write some of the sketches (i don't know how good i'll be, but it will be fun). i'm planning to play indoor soccer for uni too - haven't played for ages but it will be nice to start up again.
in general, life's difficult but brilliant. there are issues and problems, as always, but i'm getting better at knowing how to deal with them. i'm accepting the unchangeable aspects of myself and my world, and i'm drinking less tea :) (even though tea is fabulous, limiting myself is probably a good thing. for a while i was having a cup of green tea at 5:30 each morning...in hindsight i don't think that was wise)
peace and love to you!

le lapin!

today i made a rabbit casserole/stew with my dad. we improvised the whole thing and it worked out really, really well.
the maltese love their rabbit, so we're not unfamiliar with it. rabbit's great in that it's very lean and bonds with many flavours, but it can become tough quite quickly.
here's a basic recipe, from memory: rabbit casserole with gnocchi.

oil, for frying
onion, diced
tomato paste (as always, be liberal!)
2 wild rabbit (we bought them from coles, they were nice and clean)
fennel (not too much)
2 cans tomatoes (diced, preferably)
marsala (again, not too much)
peas
pepper
gnocchi (2 packets)

1. preheat the oven to 180 C (fan forced, so 200 C for a regular oven). heat the oil in a frypan over low-medium heat. add the onion and tomato paste and cook.
2. cut the rabbits into pieces, using a sharp knife. the bones are brittle and may break easily around the legs. add to the pan and bring to high heat (but keep an eye on it because you don't want the rabbit to get too tough). cook until lightly browned.
3. reduce to lower heat. add fennel, tomatoes, marsala and peas. season with pepper. place in a casserole dish and cook for around 1.5 hours, checking the meat occasionally.
4. bring a pot of salted water to the boil. add gnocchi and drain when the water reboils. serve with olives, bread and grated cheese if you wish.

serves 6-8.