The Lost Art of Dating

'Do you like me or love me'?
'I like you with all your faults and I think that is love'.

This was taken from the 2nd book in John Marsden's Tomorrow series, In the Dead of the Night.

It's easy to 'love' someone when you haven't seen their faults yet. People are so quick to say that they are in love, when really, a lot of the time it is lust. Lust doesn't always have to be in reference to sex. To me, the word lust can be used to describe a strong desire for some sort of comfort or satisfaction. Someone can lust the feeling of being loved. Someone can even just lust company.

Sometimes, one can fall in love with the feeling of being lusted/loved/admired. It gives them a false sense of completeness and leads them to returning the feeling to the person regardless of their compatibility.

Have you noticed that for a lot of people, they love someone because that person loved them first?
Like in high school, when a girl finds out that the jerk in her class has a crush on her. She will publicly humiliate him and put him down, but secretly embark on a long 'what if' journey in her mind. Eventually, she'll have a crush on him too and feel embarrassed about it.

Dating for the purpose of getting to know someone just as friends has died out. A pair getting to know each other will be pressured to 'go out' within weeks of starting to talk to each other. This wouldn't be so bad if 'going out' was just a guy and girl getting to know each other and sharing minimal psychical contact. But the thing is, going out isn't really going out. No, these days going out is like a trial marriage. The 14 year old couple will be acting like their married even though they've only known each other for a fortnight.

And it was all because all her friends were be like "Why won't he just ask you out already"?!

So there was a heap of pressure on the guy to 'pop the question'. He finally asks her...
"WOOHOO! They're boyfriend and girlfriend"! all her friends will squeal.
Wait, correction. Replace that 'woohoo' with 'EEEEEEEE!' and you will have a more accurate impression of the squealing teenage girls.

The 'getting to know you process' is ignored and the couple (who only just started talking two weeks ago) are now kissing (and doing so much more behind closed doors) and posting 'I luv you' with lots of kisses and hugs on their Facebook page.

Yuck yuck yuck. High school love is pathetic.

Have you ever....?

Have you ever heard someone exlaim 'wow' from a toilet?

I have.

It was because they were sitting in the dark and the light suddenly flashed on after having been busted for a week.

Have you ever sat on the side of a road with a box on your head?

I have.

It was because I live somewhere where there is no phone service and I desperatley wanted to text someone and I discovered that the only place in 10 kilometres where service can be found is in a certain spot across the road from my house. The box was to prevent drivers from recognising me (I don't have any neighbours). Hey, I live out in the country, I can get away with these things.

Have you ever not shut a window for fear that when you reached out something from the depths of darkness outside would attack your arm?

I have.

Have you ever been infamous for repetively doing embarrassing head bangers at a dance?

I have.

I was 13, I didn't know how to dance. Whenever I flicked my head back and forward my friends would make a swift exist from the dance floor, yet I kept doing it. Yet another one of those things that leaves me thinking I was a seriously strange person a few years back am so lucky to have friends who still love me regardless of the many embarassments I have subjected them to.


Have you ever looked at your drafts and found a really weird post that you wrote ages ago then decided to post it despite having a funny feeling that it's not the best idea?

I just did.

'I could die happy if I could just...'!

Everyone has that one thing that they claim if they completed or acquired or experienced, they would be able to die a happy man/woman.

What if your life aspiration was meet Michael Jackson then he died? Would you then die miserably because you didn't get to meet the 'Pop sensation'?

What if you just wanted a Twinkie and you lived in Australia so it wasn't possible to acquire a Twinky unless you ordered it online? I'm one of those people, ever since seeing Zombie land I have really wanted to try a Twinky. But I wouldn't go as far as saying 'I would kill for a Twinky'. I mean, maybe I'd kill a few zombies for one because they are already dead, so they don't really count but they also don't exist.

If I were in an American supermarket and there was one box of Twinkies on the shelf and the other person had took it, I would leave them to.
Except, maybe if they appeared to be a kind, approachable person, I would ask them super nicely if they would consider...hang on. Do Twinkies come in boxes or are they sold individually?
CAN AN AMERICAN (OR SOMEONE WHO KNOWS) PLEASE TELL ME!?

Oh gosh, I just had an incredible idea.
If you live somewhere where you have access to Twinkies, and you are a really really kind person with a huge heart who would consider sending me a Twinkie in the mail, could you please contact me? (I will pay you).


'I could die happy if I could just get through this afternoon without hearing one single mentioning of Osama'.

So the person whom said this wouldn't mind carking it that evening as long as they hadn't heard someone say Osama?

I know that these things are not meant to be taken literally but honestly, it irritates me to hear such utter nonsense.
It makes me feel like confronting them in a sarcastic tone.  Note; I could have just said that I feel like ripping their throat out but I didn't because I'm not obliged to say anything I wouldn't seriously consider doing. Ripping someones throat out would be gory, disgusting, immoral, and MURDER. Not to mention that it'd be terrible to clean up.

I think people should say what they mean and mean what they say.

Cinemas

Going to the Cinemas can be a great escape from life. You pay to sit there, in a dark air-conditioned room in front of a huge screen and watch a movie. As soon as you sit down, all the realities of your life evade your thoughts and for 2 hours, you are a different person. You aren't thinking about your life problems anymore, you are in the movie.

The beauty of movie's is that, it's not real life, they're just actors. Yet these actors can evoke so many emotions in us.
Empathy, happiness, sadness, wonder, suspense, disgust, confusion, excitement, fear, and so much else.

If you're going through a tough time, watch a horror movie. The realisation of how blessed you are to have all 20 of your digits, not be possessed by some demon and not have a dead baby sitter in your closet will give you a much more optimistic outlook on life!

If you just had a really difficult break up from a serious relationship, watch a romance. All the kissing and love will help you to relive the romantic moments of your dead relationship and make you feel so much better!

Movies have a different impact on each person depending on their memories, experiences, values, personality and where they are in life. With so many movies out their, there is something for everyone. And what better way to enjoy whatever type of movie it is that you like then to see it in a cinema?

Some may argue that they can get a experience just as good in their own home or that it's highly over-priced, but I'm saying that it is entirely worth it. If people went to the cinema's at least once a month the percentage of stress would decrease a little, and people would be happier.

I don't know if a study has been done on this, I don't have any proof, but this is just my idea, and I bet you one hundred horses (let's pretend just for the purpose of this statement that we're all Indians and horses are our currency, and that I have one hundred horses) that I am right.

Cinemas make people happy. :)

I could blog about...

I could blog about how I have missed a substantial amount of days of school due to flooding...


I could blog about how all these global disasters are making me more grateful for what I have...


I could blog about  how much different this year is to what I expected it to be...


I could blog the idiosyncrasies of my family...


I could blog about how sad it is that people are shallow enough to ostracise a person for their different looks, beliefs, behaviour or race...


I could blog about how I am amused by over-sharers (people who constantly tell you more then you need to/want to know)...


I could blog about how it amazes me that I have never heard my parent's complain about the Internet bill...


I could blog about how I immediately assume any noises outside at night time to be axe murderers or mad gunmen...


I could blog about how I made a list of things that I could make a blog about but didn't blog about any of them because I didn't feel like committing myself to a structured post and ended up making a some what structured blog about all the potential topics for blogs but ended up sharing an awesome energetic, danceable song....

Man's best invention

Man's best invention, this bubbly concoction
A few times too many, now its an addiction
You just need a little to talk to that girl
Not too much or it'll make you hurl
Easy, easy, you still want to be able to walk
Is it just you, or are people starting to gawk?
Have they never seen you this way before?
Now you're basking in it, confidence galore!
"Hey, that's a nice rack you have there".
You get a left hook to the nose, but you don't care.
The music gets too loud, and you start to sweat
Tonight a bloody nose is all your going to get
Where did that llama come from?
Why is this guy calling you Tom?
It all becomes too much, you have to leave this bar.
You need to find your shirt so you can get to your car
The room is shaking side to side, you can't find it anywhere.
Screw the shirt, all it did was make people stare.
Out on the street, lights flash, red, blue and white.
"Good Evening Officer, isn't it a lovely night?"

My hate for horror movies

Hate is a strong word. A word that I never use against people. However there is a certain movie genre that I can hate without a trace of guilt.
Horror movies.

A form of entertainment that I absolutely detest.

To the people who are responsible for making horror movies (although I doubt any such people would be reading this).

SHAME ON YOU.

You have desensitised people to things that were once only seen in nightmares.

Crazy-ass Cyclone

 Yasi:

A tropical cyclone that crossed the East coast of North Queensland in the early hours of the morning on the 3rd of February 2011 (just over a week ago).

It was a category 5 cyclone with wind speeds of 295 kilometres an hour.

It was the first cyclone in Australian history to not lose any of its ferocity upon crossing the coast.

It had a 500km wide storm front.

I live just over 100km away from where the centre of the storm past.

I live in the district that was hit, the region that was the most devastated by the disaster.

The deadly cyclone only proved deadly to a number of people which you can count on one hand. Despite the low death toll the fierce tropical storm has still caused severe damage to property that has sabotaged lives and turned everything into pandemonium.

As a fore-word to the next paragraph to prevent the confusion that would inevitably ensue if I didn't provide you with this vital piece of information; I am currently on a computer in my school library.

I have been without electricity for a week now and it is expected that the power lines will not be prepared for at least one month, I've heard that power won't be restored for nine weeks but I am dearly hoping that this is just a miscalculation.

We were without a phone for five days, we live out of mobile range so using our mobiles was not an option.

"I went and saw the Smith's this morning. They've lost the roof off their house, everything is gone"
"Oh my, I'd heard about the Harpers and the Forgans but not them. Where are they staying"?
"They're at the neighbours house. The place is bloody packed and they've run out of bread and milk".
"Ooh, I've got a few litres of Long Life milk. I'll take it over to them soon".

Without the phones it was conversations like these that kept us informed of what was going on and how other people were coping.

Life without electricity can be a fun experience if you're camping or if it's only for 3 days. At any point in time when you are shivering in the cold shower or cursing at the TV, computer, light, fan, air-conditioning, or any other electrical appliance that people usually use to make life more comfortable; you can stop and remind yourself that many third world countries are without any of these luxuries and that 300 years ago electricity was non-existent.

But after a week...

Your optimistic "If-other-people-live-like-this-then-I-can-too" attitude wears thin.

However even without electricity I certainly haven't been lacking things to do. Half the roof was torn off my Dad's shed. As owner of his own windscreen and panel beating business, Dad had some important things in that shed. He had a filing cabinet of important paper work, windscreens and a shelf full of hundreds of dollars worth of paint and car parts as well as other vital business equipment.

It has been a whole family effort for the past week to clean up. We have pulled together and been more patient and co-operative then ever before. I love how disasters make people pull together.

Upon seeing the damage to his shed it would have been easy and entirely understandable for Dad to lose it. To yell and scream, or cry, or smash things or lock himself in his room, but he did none of these things. Dad has been very strong through out the whole clean up, maintaining achievable goals everyday to make getting through easier. He holds a good spirit and is pushing forward despite knowing so little about what is going to happen next. He was faced with the unexpected (he never imagined that the roof would come off), yet he is overcoming it with such optimism and perseverance that it is impossible to watch him and not question your own integrity.

Our flattened sugar cane farm

Reading through old diaries... :O

10th of Decemeber, 2005
I am so excited that I am in grade 7 next year! Next year I'll be the oldest student in the school by two weeks and I'll be a senior leader!

This is an old diary entry of mine that I came across today. It is a bit funny to read 6 years later. I am a senior in highschool this year (grade 12). I go back after 2 months of summer holidays on Tuesday and I can tell you I don't quite have as much enthusiasm...

I Got The Magic In Me

I'm not even marginally magic, never done anything magic in my life, so that title is mis-informing. I just used it 'coz that song is in my head.

 Lovely things that I done to my family as a child:   

• Put hand soap in my parents toothpaste then hid behind a cupboard and laughed hysterically when bubbles came out of their mouth.
• Poured bleach on my baby brothers head when I was 3.
• Gave my brother a hair cut on several occasions.
• Pushed my little sister over when she was a toddler, ran to the opposite side of the room, then pretended to rush to her aid when my parents came in the room and told them that she had fallen over. This worked fine until the day she learnt to talk. Her first words were "she pushed me"!
• Took all my brothers clothes off him and threw them up a tree then locked him out of the house 

Confession:  

Sometimes when I'm in peoples' bathrooms, I smell their perfumes. Terrible, I know. It's something I'm trying to stop.

   

JUST KIDDING!

   

What kind of confession would that be?

  

Here's a real confession:  

I don't talk much sometimes because my head hurts when I talk too much, not 'coz I don't have anything to say or because I'm shy. 

Also, 

I've observed that in a lot of conversations, the people who talk a lot are heard but not really listened to. Your more likely to pay attention when a quiet person talks because its not often that you actually get an idea of what it going on in their head. I want to be listened to, not just heard. If you talk a lot of rubbish all the time then soon people will stop listening to you and just hear you or they may even block out your voice entirely and it will just become a background noise to their thoughts. 

How Do You Express Your Anger?  

1. Crying  

2 Sarcasm  

3. Yelling  

4. Silence  

5. Pretend that nothing is wrong  

6. Talk about him/her to other people  

7. Calmly talk directly to him/her  

8. Physically leave the room.

  

When I am angry I will either go silent, talk directly to the person or use nasty sarcasm.

   

What do you do when you are angry with someone?

   

I used to have a fear of bananas. I was terrified of them. I knew that they could not hurt me but simply seeing a banana used to reduce me to tears.

What's in the box?

With the title that I have you may find yourself vaguely recollecting a song from a children's TV show that you used to watch...
it depends on how old you are I guess and whether or not its just me.
But if it is just me, it doesn't matter because that's not what this post is about anyway.
This post is about my findings...in a box.
So indeed, you will read about my discovery of what's in the box. ;)

I found a box full of my parents old things that they had forgotten about.

In the box was:

• All of my mum's high school report cards! Now I have seen her results and all I will say is, giving her my report card will no longer be so painful.
• Diaries, lots of diaries from when mum was a teenager and several diaries of dad's. (I didn't read any of them because as much as I'd love read about all the stupid stuff that they done when they were young, they deserve to have there privacy and dignity maintained).
• A koala stamp...it still works, prints a cute little green koala on the paper.
• Lots of cards from their birthdays, Christmas, engagement, wedding and the birth of their first child (ME!).
• Their school photos.
• Lots of my mum's assignments from a childcare TAFE course that she done when she was 19.
• The little plastic band that was clipped onto my ankle shortly after my dramatic loud entrance into the world.
• Tickets from the river cruise that they went on on their honeymoon.
• and a few other things.

When Mum wrote in her diary as a 14 year old girl, she never imagined that her 16 year old daughter would find it 26 years later.

I should write a note in my diary next time I'm writing saying 'My future daughter; don't snoop in your mother's diary! And don't get any ideas from what you've read'.

My daughter would do well to not do anything that I've done. :P
 Except she's allowed facebook. As much it corrupts children, hinders their capacity to achieve, wastes time, develops poor communication skills and many other evil things that my mum will passionately inform you of, it has connected me with the people I love, and for that I am extremely grateful. So I will overlook all its evil traits, and allow my daughter to use it under the condition that she has me as a facebook friend.

Technology has created a society that leaves much to desire, but like my mum sometimes says; 'Unless you are willing to take over, keep your mouth shut'.

Cravings (not the sort that pregnant women get)

Two things that I often crave are hugs and D&Ms (deep and meaningful conversations). Neither of these things can be accessed instantly or easily. Both of these things are experiences that I value for their flawlessness, and there ability to make me feel so at peace. However, certain conditions must be in place for these moments to be perfect. A hug has to be at the right time with the right person. You can't just hug a stranger or a colleague.

I love those hugs where you feel enveloped by the persons arms, and you feel so safe. You can fall asleep on your feet, you feel so at peace and the moment it just, perfect.

A D&M is like an exotic bird that occasionally sashays into the conversation amazon. This bird is sought after by many (mostly emotion filled teenage girls), but can only be truly captured by people with the right ingredients.

Ingredients for a D&M:

-2 or more people (no more than 5) whom you trust and are comfortable with.

- a comfy private setting with no distractions (TV, loud music, etc)

- 20mins- several hours. (There's no telling how long it can go for).

- and for best results, a small amount of lighting.
Great scenes for D&Ms are by camp fires, in rooms with the dim lighting, or outside at night. Bright lights tend to scare them away.

A D&M can only be achieved when all these ingredients are in place, but these ingredients must be put together unintentionally. You can't plan a really effective D&M, they just happen.

And so my dear readers, I would like to know what YOU often crave. :)

Finish well

It does not matter where you start, it matters where you finish.

You may have grown up with an alcoholic mother, and a father who works all the time and is never home.
You may not have a father because he left when you were little.
You have been one of those children who are only at school about 80 days out of the whole year.
You may not believe that love can last because you saw your parent's marriage fall apart.
You may have grown up with a disabled sibling and felt unloved as a result of your parents never having time for you.
You may have had a perfectly good home and loving parents, but got caught up with the wrong type of people and done things that you regret.

Even if none of the above describes you, I know that you have had some type of pain or difficult times in the past. I know it hurts to think about these types of things, and I'm sorry to bring it up, but I am going some where with this.

I'll dissect my opening sentence; It does not matter where you start (in life), it matters where you finish. This sentence can have a different meaning to two audiences, Christians and non-Christians.

A non-christian may understand this sentence as meaning that even if you have had a tough up-bringing or done some bad stuff, it doesn't matter as long as you end up being successful, wealthy, having a loving family, or happy.
A christian though, will understand this sentence as meaning something along the lines of the following.

That regardless of what we do in this life, all that matters is that we do what is necessary to ensure that we have an amazing place called Heaven to go to when we meet our end.

For many people, death seems like the end, the end of our existence, the end of what we know. It is the end of our existence on earth, and yes, it is a bit daunting to think of leaving all our friends and family and we will be going into the unknown. The end is just the beginning, just the beginning of eternal life. It is up to us, in this crazy messed up world, to seek the truth. The truth is that Jesus is our Saviour, He is our ticket to heaven.

He died for our sins 2000 years ago, this was so that despite our human nature we may go to heaven. It is impossible to not sin, God knows this. So what He has done for us (sacrificed His son Jesus in our place) has made everything a lot easier for us! All we have to do is believe with all our heart that Jesus is our saviour and that he died for our sins, ask for forgiveness, and ask that God may help you to do the right thing. A lot of the time it is difficult to know what the 'right thing' to do is. This is why God's help and guidance is so brilliant. We can gain knowledge about what the right thing to do it by reading the bible and talking to God.

Grabbing onto to Jesus is the best thing that I've ever done.

Naturally, when we find something good, we want to share it with other people. We will recommend music, movies, shops, restaurants, and we'll share jokes, photos, and stories and every other thing that has brought us happiness, We share it! Share the happiness, share the love.

Share Jesus. Jesus= happiness, love, fulfilment, peace, and every other nice adjective in the dictionary.

I've just shared Jesus with you and also my opinion of how people may understand my opening statement.

I'm not forcing my beliefs onto you, its your life. You have to find the truth for yourself.

Remember, it does not matter where you start, it matters where you finish. Regardless of how you understand this statement, I think its a good one to remember. Make the most of your life, and finish well.

Embarrassment, the essence of life

Embarrassing moments... We all have them, some moments are more embarrassing than others. Some you can laugh about afterwards, some you can't...

I, Jackie, will share some of these precious cringe worthy moments with you.
So, I hope you a mildly amused by these, erm, interesting little incidents.


Embarrassing moments:
- So I was at a party, and I helped myself to some of the potato salad and then I was like 'Mum! This potato salad is disgusting, what did you put in it?', because her potato salad in normally really good. Mum replied, 'That's not my potato salad'. Then I realised that I had just insulted the hostess who had been in ear shot, the genuine maker of the potato salad.
- The time I went swimming in a pair of hand-me-down togs at the age of 10 and had heaps of people pointing and laughing. It all made sense when I realised that there was a large hole in the back of the togs and my bare bottom was visible.

- Telling a kid about something that I over heard the principal say when I was in the staff room one day and being tapped on the shoulder by the Deputy Principal who told me off and took me to the Principal's office to apologise for 'gossiping'.
- Drowning in a swimming carnival because I'm such a terrible swimmer and having to be saved by my Math teacher.
- Having a huge laughing fit in Math one day and not being able to stop even though everyone was staring at me. I ended up being kicked out of the classroom for 'disrupting' the lesson. and even then I couldn't stop.
-The time I secretly took a photo of a guy that I had a crush on. The embarrassing part? When he went through my camera, found the photos and asked me to delete them.
-Having a girl 'accidentally' slip in a rehearsal for a Kung Fu performance for Drama and sit on my face. Everyone watched and laughed as she sat on my face for another minute unable to move because she was laughing so hard. I was wearing a plastic mask thankfully but this created a 'hilarious muffled scream'. This is what my Drama class fondly refer to as the funniest Drama moment ever and they love quoting when I said "It was warm, and dark in there". It was bloody scary, that's all I'm saying.

And, Ladies and Gentlemen, our trip down memory lane is coming to an end, so please re-attach your asses (in reference to that hideous acronym , LMAO (laughing my ass off) that is used far too often amongst teenagers online), wipe away those tears (the tears that I doubt exist because there is nothing funny about these events..),scroll down and read my other posts.

Ciao! :D

Tinted Glass, Man’s Best Invention

‘From our sun, we receive light rays, heat rays, and ultraviolet rays, and that’s it. All other forms of radiation are filtered by our atmosphere. Of all the rays we are exposed to by the sun, the ultraviolet rays (UV = 3% of the suns total radiation) are the worst for human beings, and is partially responsible for unwanted health conditions.’

Blah blah blah blah, then some wonderful, considerate, thoughtful man/woman (whose name I cannot find in Google) invented
TINTED GLASS.

Let’s look at the history of tinted glass. ;)
‘In the beginning...’ What?!

Hem hem, this article isn’t very informative, DATES PLEASE?
‘In the fifties...’

That’s a bit better. :)
‘In the fifties the rise of air conditioning led to the marketing of tinted glass that would absorb and reduce solar gain’.

Then in the nineties, some smart people made a "hybrid" film containing dye to absorb heat and metal to reject the sun's rays. This hybrid design window film often provides 25% greater heat reduction...meaning that...’.
‘...which is helpful to...’
‘...in addition....’.
‘blah blah blahhhh’...TINTED GLASS IS AWESOME! :D
Why?

Not because it provides 25% greater heat reduction than normal glass...
Not because it filters UV rays that cause unwanted health conditions...

BUT BECAUSE IT
PROVIDES


PRIVACY! :D
Privacy so that you can make sweet, passionate....


Sandwiches in your kitchen without those nosey neighbours commenting on how much butter you use.

Also as technology has advanced, the US company SAGE Electrochromics have been able to manufacture a special glass that can be made tinted by the press of a button. The amount of sunlight filtered is entirely up to you with the handy, magical tinting control system that is capable of providing up to :
• 40% savings on energy bills
• 20% savings on operating costs
• 24% reduction in peak demand
• 25% decrease in the size of HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) systems.

Yippee! Privacy AND all those savings.

You can own this magical tint control system now* if you call:

1800-CAN-I-HAS-MAGICAL-TINTING-SYSTEM in the next twenty minutes!

*only available to citizens of the US who drive silver McLaren F1s, eat organic food, have a personal assistant and a hair dresser on speed dial.

The McLaren F1 I will buy if
 I win the lottery





Thank you.





Math class poem

Below is a poem that I wrote when I was particularly disgusted with humanity. Funnily enough, I wrote it in a math class.

Self-explanatory perhaps?

The reality of the situation is that...

We say we’re trying

But we’re not

We say we’re good people

But we’re not

We say we’re sorry

But we’re not

We say we won’t do it again

But we do

We claim that we care

But we don’t

We claim we know what we’re doing

Ha, could we be so delusional?

We are so hopelessly lost...

Lost in ourselves

Lost in the world

Lost in expectations

Lost in time...

We’re like a flame

Tearing across a fuel soaked rope.

Recklessly going forth,

Feeding off every good thing in our tracks,

Trying to make ourselves feel good

Trying to have fun.

This way of life ends

When we reach the end of the rope

And

Extinguish.

Palm tree madness!

One of the first poems I ever wrote...

Enjoy. ;)

Palm tree Madness
They say dreams come true,
I certainly hope they don’t.
Reality is a nightmare to me,
my dreams are beyond nightmarish.

If the things of my dreams came true,
the government would have to put a
restraining order on palm trees...

It was the dream I had
the night before last.
The dream I've been having
that never does pass.

The dream always comes
I've noticed,
the same night that Mum watches
her gardening show…

I succumbed my fear after the
fifth episode,
'Palm tree madness',
by searching Dad's shed

Ahah! Found it...

NNNNnnnnnnnn,

the chain saw squealed as
I brought it to life.

The palm tree stood there
all serene and innocent look...
it knew what was coming.

I could see the sweat
trickling down it’s leaves

As steel made contact with bark,
the screams grew louder...
and LOUDER.

The screaming stopped.
The palm tree wobbled there
for a second,
in shock.

Then it came CRASHING down
it gave one last pleadingrustle of leaves then was still

Now if my dream comes true,
that is one less palm tree to worry about.

However, there are more palm trees out there.
More than any amount of police officers could
ever restrain!

Please, if you have a palm tree
in your backyard
dispose of it
NOW!
They say dreams come true
I certainly hope they don't
'cos then they will come for you...

My Miraculour go-cart accident

‘Miraculour’ is a word that I invented one day after accidentally making a typo when trying to type miraculous. Go to the link below and you'll be able to read my very own definition. ;)

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=miraculour\

If for some strange reason the link doesn't work then simply go to Urban dictionary and type in Miraculour. :)

Anyhow, here goes my story. (True story)

I live on a sugar cane farm in Australia with my Mum, Dad brother and sister. My brother Cameron and my Dad both have motorbikes and race monthly at a motorbike club. We have a dirt track on our property that Dad and Cameron practise racing on. I don’t like to ride the motorbike but I love to drift in our go-cart!

One day (a few months ago) Mum, Dad and my sister Celina were out. Cameron and I decided to ignore our parents rule about not using the go-cart when they are out and take the go-cart for a spin. The go-cart has a single seat, a roll cage, a broken seat belt and a space at the back where a passenger can sit (although it’s not designed for that purpose). The go-cart can reach a speed of about 50km an hour. Dad had put a bolt under the accelerator to prevent the go-cart from reaching full speed but the bolt had fallen off. I was excited to be able to drive the go-cart at full speed and not be stopped by anyone.

Cameron sat on the back and we went speeding down the grassy headland. On both sides of us was tall green sugar cane and in the distance trees and tall blue mountains made up the beautiful landscape. I was admiring the scenery as I drove and the wind in my face felt good. Something reminded me that what I was doing was dangerous so I said a quick prayer, asking God to protect Cameron and I. I was aware that any accident would potentially be fatal for Cameron where he was sitting as he had no seat belt or roll cage to protect him. After driving 2 km which only took a few minutes we reached the dirt track. The track consisted of four sharp corners and a 20 metre stretch of dirt that is commonly known as the ‘straight’.



I exercised my need for speed as much as I felt I safely could. I wasn’t hitting full speed because I didn’t want to put my brother in too much danger. I loved drifting around the corners. It gave me such an adrenalin rush and after 5 minutes I started going faster, trying to make my drifts better. It both scared and excited me whenever I rounded a corner at such an angle that it felt that we were going to roll. I had stopped considering safety and was just focusing on my control of the accelerator, breaks, and steering wheel. This did not impress Cameron at all and he asked me to stop. As Cameron dismounted the go-cart he called over his shoulder “be careful”.

The words echoed in my head for a second before I carelessly disposed the advice from my conscious.

As I took off in a cloud of dust I was filled with excitement, adrenalin and fear. Next thing I clearly heard a voice, a voice that I had heard on several occasions that I recognised as God. My Heavenly Father firmly said to me “Slow down”.

I said “Just one more lap”!

As I was speeding towards the last corner I turned a second too soon. Aware that at that speed correcting the mistake could cause an accident I held the steering wheel in place and tried to ride it out. However the sharp right handed corner appeared to suddenly freeze. Everything felt as if it were in slow motion as I felt the right front tyre hit a bump sending the go-cart air-borne. At this point I became aware of the absence of a seat belt and helmet as I was thrown out of the go-cart. I enjoyed a brief lovely view of the scenery while my mind screamed ‘this isn’t good’! Before being greeted by the grounds solid presence. In the corner of my eye I saw a less appealing sight, the go-cart suspended in the air for a second before landing on top of me.



If I stop the story here, it sounds quite bad doesn’t it? However I can assure you that the only injuries I received were a shattered knee cap and a few bruises.



My knee before
the pretty bruising
started

The go-cart however, has never quite been the same...(the roll cage is a bit bent, the battery a bit damaged, and err well, it needs a bit of repairing).

I thank God that my injuries weren’t worse and I feel more obligated to listen to him from now on (no matter how much fun I’m having).

On another note, Dad asked me if I wanted to start riding his Kawasaki Ninja 250 today. Should I take up the offer?

The urge to write

It is 11:38 pm. My parents are sound asleep in there cozy bed in there nicely air conditioned room completely oblivious to the fact that I am on the computer. My parents have the best air conditioner in the house, the one in my room just blows air... it never actually gets the room to a nice comfortable cool temperature!

So, why am I online at this insane hour I hear you ask...or maybe I don't hear you ask that because you don't consider 11:38 pm to be an insane hour...well not many people would I guess.

3:45 am. Now THAT is an insane hour.

I feel like making up a story, I probably won’t finish it, but it should be interesting none the less. Let’s see what my tired brain can come up with...


Are you ready?

From within the darkness of her son's bedroom, she heard it, that laugh. The laugh that makes her stomach somersault and her heart miss a beat, the laugh that she had missed for so long. She brushed her hand past the door frame, flicked on the light switch and tip toed into the room. In the middle of the bed the odd shaped lump of her son was rising and falling slightly. A little tuft of his black hair was vivid against the white doona. She fought not the laugh. Four year olds are so cute; they pull a doona over their head and think that you will never find them.
"Where's Tony? I can't find him anywhere".
Tony's laughter once again tickled her ears and she fought the urge to pull the cover back and hold her son in her arms. As tempting as it was, she didn’t want to spoil the fun. She walked towards the bed then turned and opened the closet. "He's not in the closet...or behind the curtain". Down on her hands and knees she peeked under the bed and saw the same toys that she had seen the night before when she 'couldn't find Tony anywhere'!
The 'search' had almost become a routine to her with Tony running in his room and 'hiding' in his bed every night. She hoped that the day that Tony realised that she was pretending was far, far away. She enjoyed it as much as he did, maybe even more.
"Here are all of Tony's toys, but no Tony"! She exclaimed in mock surprise.
More giggles escaped from the little boy.
“I’ve looked everywhere! Where ever could he be"?!
Right on cue Tony exclaimed "Here I am"! And threw the covers back with a huge grin on his little face.


How's that for midnight writing? ;)

If you thought that that little story start was rubbish then I'd agree with you. Haha. But please, don't leave my blog yet. I'm going to post a better entry after I've had some sleep.

I fear I must now succumb to sleep.
Nite. :)