oh PS I got the job in Nepal.

Awesome

So the other day i was trying to make a doctor's appointment (nothing serious just trying to get my self sorted before i head o/s again) and the receptionist put me on hold for about 15 mins. I was really starting to get pissy when one of my all time favorite songs came on the hold music.

This song makes me so happy. It is 80s awesomeness at its best. Overalls, pompoms, mullets, no socks, bad blonded and teased hair. I wish i was a teenager in the 80s I would have rocked it.

I love the part where they walk down the road in a big group, clicking in time, and then they run. *sigh* I wish a man in a denim jumpsuit would run down the road singing my name. HEY don't judge me we all have our freakish fantasy... my just happens to be an 80s flashback.

Food Choices

I thought about my commitment to Four Years.Go for a week or two. I want to pick something i would actually stick too. I have decided to give up meat for the next four years. I do not eat THAT much meat anyway but after watching a few docos and reading up on the environmental impacts of food lots, i decided I didn't want to support an industry with so many negative effects.

It has been harder than i thought it would be. I suddenly realised at lunch yesterday I may have eaten my last cheese burger. I have a weird love of cheeseburgers. And I live with my mum. She loves a steak. She doesn't pressure me to eat meat, there are plenty of vegetarians in my family, but i know she enjoys meat. It is hard to keep saying I won't eat that when she want to make something with meat for dinner.

In order to celebrate my vegetarianism I made some banana bread (like you need a reason). My mum's banana bread is the best. Here is the recipe.

3 or 4 ripe bananas

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar(can reduce to 3/4cup)

1 egg beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of plain flour

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. with a wooden spoon, mix the butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from the pan and slice to serve.

I have also decided to walk more. In the last week I haven't even been in a car. Normally i would drive the short 10 min walk to the supermarket. I have been getting out and enjoying the sunshine. Now that i have broken the habit of driving everywhere, it doesn't really even occur to me to take the car for short distances.

I know these two things won't change the world alone. I wanted to pick something i could stick to during the next four years. And if i find it really easy I can always add more things. To find more information or to make a commitment to changing the world go to Four Years.Go

Me in 100 word MAX

So it is job application time. I actually really rock at writing a job applications. I can nail a selection criteria and a cover letter... unless i really want to job and I REALLY WANT THIS JOB. My ability to be impressive has completely vanished. Now i just feel like an old lady with limited skills and now pizazz (yeah i know only a fading hack would use the word pizazz).

The application states, tell us about yourself, describe your personal and professional interests in 100 words MAX.

I am AWESOME.. hmmm that might not be the best start. They are about to red my portfolio, which is somewhat

I am a responsible and dependable employee... well that isn't really common for a writer so maybe?

I have moments of creative genius but they are generally far between. I'm a good writer with a steady, reliable output. I can write whenever, about whatever. I love writing but i am a little rusty.... SHIT NO. I can't tell them the truth!!! I'll never get a job with that.

Moderately attractive, 20 something, out of work writer seek assignments for reviving her will to write. Likes variety, open to new experiences, will work for minimum wage. Dislikes... this application form. Hmmm nope don't think that's it.

I like to write. I am good at writing. I have more story ideas than i could possibly write up in one life time. I have never missed a deadline.

Ohhhhhhhhh. If I could just convince myself I don't actually want the job maybe i could come up with something brilliant and witty.

dance like nobody is watching...

So I am working on a new banner... well at-least thinking about it. I've been playing around with the timer on my camera trying to come up with something i can edit. I did enjoy the morning spent with my camera, a huge old shirt of my dad's and some Justin Timberlake to dance around too. As you can see mostly I just look like a crazy person, not sure if i got anything usable yet.

Ok the layout on here is having a negative effect on my creativity. I know that sounds ridiculous but whenever i log on here to write i feel really let down when i view the results.

what to do? I guess I can go back to wordpress but i didn't really like it over there. I think there is more of a community on blogger. I am not very HTML savvy so changing the templates is beyond me. *sigh* what to do?

Blog Bullies

I have been looking for work in Nepal as a writer / photographer / creative type over the last few weeks. During the researching phase i've been following heaps of blogs, magazines and writing collectives and I noticed something which i think really blows.

There seems to be very little feeling of camaraderie, support or even general respect between writers or artists on these Nepali sites. Most of the comments are discouraging, critical and verging on the kind of cyber bullying i thought only went on between teenagers.

If i disagree with something i see on someone's blog I am not afraid to comment. There is a difference between disagreeing with an argument or offering constructive ways for someone to better their writing and with attacking a writer personally. I believe in constructive criticism when it comes from a place of wanting to assist a fellow writer. But if you are just an insecure ass who wants to prop up your own ego then it really pisses me off.

The thing that most annoys me is it is always the people who leave anonymous comments so there is no chance of viewing their perfect work. It is cowardly and it has a negative effect on the creativity of others, especially young writers who can use an environment to float ideas and styles.

I have been blogging for a while now. I've had numerous other blogs and contributed here and there. I've always experienced the blogging community as friendly, welcoming and helpful. When I lived in Melbourne there were regular blogger and writer meet and greats. The writers i met were so encouraging of young writers.

Why is the writing community in Nepal so volatile? Maybe it is because there is so little opportunity for publication there. Or maybe it is because the majority of people who use the internet in Nepal are quite young. I am not sure but I am so disappointed.

I was looking forward to meeting writers from my new community. Now I just feel like i don't want to put my work out there and be ripped to shreds over the placement of a comma.

It may not look like much but this is a beginning of something new. In 59 days i am heading off to Nepal and hopefully will make a new life there. First i have to box all of my belongings and send the things i don't need to St Vincent de Paul's. It is hard to know what you might need when you set out on a new life... who will i be, what will i do, will there be a dress code?

my new toy...

Yesterday after zombie hunting with my dad i realised my lens was bit loose. One one side it was actually coming undone. It had been doing funny things for a while but i'm not a very good photographer so i figured it was my lack of skill. When I unscrewed the lens a piece of plastic fell out. I had cracked two of the brackets which hold the lens in place.

I am famous for breaking things. I believe even luxury items, like expensive lenses, should be used to their full extent. My lens had a hard life. I dropped it a million times, I carted it across Nepal with little thought for its longevity, I let children use it to learn about photography. It only lived for six months but it had a full life.

And now thanks to my dad (who shows he cares by buying us expensive and unnecessary items) I have a brand new 55-300mm lens. It is so crazy that i have this lens. I am never going to make proper use of it, it just too much! I haven't had any chance to test it out yet but i do like to look at it and stroke it and call it my precious.