its beginning to look a lot like christmas

with the nutcracker playing outside dj's, santa's driving buses through the city and starbucks' pretty crimson christmas cups, theres no excuse for me not to get into christmas early this year. plus, the department stores of this crazy place had their decorations up in september! SEPTEMBER i tell you!

therefore due to popular demand, i have decided to post my christmas wish on cafejodie. some of these are unfulfilled reoccurring events, while others are new due to new circumstances and new releases. In addition I have a wish list on Amazon which lists all the books, movies, n music i have an inkling for .

...so the list begins

small salad spinner
mortar & pestle
grater/zester
queen bed sheet set
room fragrance diffusing sticks

harry potter 5 dvd
justin timberlake crazysex|lovesound concert dvd
Australian ballet season tickets
Body Shop new vanilla &/or ginger bubble bath
Emporio Armani's Diamonds perfume

Marie Claire Zest, Flavours, or Spice
Womens Weekly "Cook"

A Poison Tree

I'm reading a Phryne Fisher detective story by Kerry Greenwood at the moment, and this has led me to rediscover a schoolage passion of mine - the poetry of William Blake. Now I'm no goth, satanist or super christian, but the language and imagery of Blake just gives me the shivers. The first poem I ever read was A Poison Tree in The Songs of Innocence (1789) and Experience (1794), which dealt with the innocence and joy of the natural world, advocating free love and a closer relationship with god, and then the loss of innocence after exposure to the material world and all of the mortal sin of adult life. The thing I love most about his work, is his imagery. The short sharp but perfect lines of flowing rhythm and the almost nursery rhyme feel. His poems taunt, warn, comfort and advise all at once, twisting the way a mind contemplates good and evil. The second best thing is his art. Every poem comes on a plate illustrated by him and glows with the patina of time. In the same rustic way that pieces by William Morris touch me in their hand worked perfection, Blake is the same - just a hundred years earlier.

Are you free for a coffee?

I did an unthinkable thing tonight. You're probably hoping I jiggled the Professor but unfortunately no...instead I had a coffee from McCafe. Several years ago, during those desolate nights in interiors, I turned to Macca's to keep me awake in the wee hours, and my latte was so vile I vowed never to drink the stuff again. I remember it vividly - it was boiling, burnt and bitter. Horrible stuff, badly frothed and so bubbly you could bathe in it.

Tonight's coffee however, was a different story. Creamy, smooth and hot enough to last the walk back to campus without scalding the tongue and burning the senses. Neither did my heart pound nor my body buzz once having consumed this fine beverage (not that I need any additional stimulants where matters of the heart are concerned). Too bad it didn't really help my understanding of Logit and Probit though, but we can't have everything.

So I'm posting something I wrote while studying Literature during A-Levels. I have a strong affinity with cafe culture and a certain Coffee Bean beverage which I pine for occasionally. Sometimes Starbucks just doesn't do.

Patron of Coffee

A turn of the sign, another day
In the life of a lonely.
The door opens, and lights – on,
The newspaper arrives.

A man sits, regular in aspect,
Not in mind. His café latte,
Is placed afore him. One flick –
The cig is lit.

He is waiting, waiting for something
No one knows. A girl, a guy, a job, a day
As his latte cools – Diurnal.

sleepless in sydney

Unfortunately I seem to have spent another sleepless night, lying in oblivion, while the birds wake at 4am, and the buses begin their brickie pickup. I feel dead, my eyes have met the sandman and yet, all he did was nod and continue on his merry way. Why is this? Does anyone know? I am not menopausal, although my body clock seems to have reset itself to Greenwich Meridian Time, nor am I stressed, worried or saturated with variants of caffeine. I have tried everything recently: chammomile tea, warm milk, exercise, reading, watching a movie, staying up all night to tire myself out and nothing works!

Only when the sun has risen and the birds taken flight does my body think it needs some rest, but even now I have class in 4 hours!!!

sun, skirts & slingbacks

It being Sunday, I thought it might be time for a recap of this weekends events . We've had 35 degree heat, searing sun, gusting winds and now glorious drizzle with the hint of thunder in the distance. So aptly needed in such times, the accessories of the moment have ranged from my bikini, sarong, sunnies and comfy thongs, to an umbrella, cardigan and scarf a la Grace Kelly...my wardrobe is a mess!

In search of some respite from the craziness of our meterological system I headed down to the Myer sale yesterday (at the very ungodly hour of 9am) to laybuy some bargains for my new summer internship (SCORE!) On the way I picked up the perfect work tote...classic in shape and style and in the go with everything colour of subtle taupe. The next mission was to find a black skirt...not so easy to achieve when the reign of high waisted apparel is in full glory. But as a friend aptly put it, anything with waistline in the region of normalcy was just way too "auntie" to be seen in apparently. So after deliberating between 3 very similar fabric constructions, a rather fitting and extremely elegant high waisted black skirt was laybuyed (or laybought? semantics anyone) and we quickly left before Marcus was to convince me of anything else. To give the guy (and the skirt) some credit, it does make my legs & arse look fantastic so I'm sure it'll all be worth it in the end! =P

Beware David Jones' discounts are higher than Myer's at the moment, so don't be caught with your cash out!

Apart from that, the fashion this season is dismal, thank god I'll be in the office most of the season. Our only saviours are the maxi and mini dresses best found in the less mainstream stores of Bondi and Coogee. Even then they're only appropriate to wear to dinners, parties and clubs, so what are we meant to wear on recovery from Sun - Thur? Highlighter yellow oversized tees and pink leggings anyone?

ironic deviants

i thought this was fitting in the context of my last post...the irony of an image found before the moment *sigh* i spend a lot of time on deviant, trawling through the trash (ah the beauty of alliteration) to find spectacular wallpapers and photographic pieces. such are the reminders of a field i gave up to further my studies in finance. if you search hard enough you might even find some of my works.

english breakfast & earl grey

What do you do when you're attracted to an older guy, who happens to be your professor? I mean I'm not talking about someone who's old enough to be my father, he's just under the limit of the 10 year boundary, its the professor bit thats more of the problem.

I still have 6 months left of my degree, plus a Masters to complete, where he is very likely to be one of my advisers. Apart from this, he's very well known in the industry I'm about to launch a career in and people will talk - we have both our reputations to uphold. Conceited I know but true.

The feeling is mutual I'm sure of it, the little things he says and does; "you're looking very 'spring' today", noticing me through a crowd in the city, flicking a bug off my shoulder while we're having tea, buying me tea for that matter. The quantity of his hint dropping is phenomenal, but at the same time never dodgy.

We both know nothing can happen until next year but that hasn't stopped me lying in bed all day dreaming....this is insane! I feel so inadequate next to a 34 yr old finance professional!