Carmody

I want to use just a little bit of space to talk about one of my favourite series of books. Isabelle Carmody's Obernewtyn Chronicles will have to be one of the most breathtaking adventure novels i have ever read. I have to admit that it took a few attempts to get into it. The first time I read it I didn't like it very much. Although the book can be found in the young adults section with al the other adventure/fantasy novels, the language, and the tone of the novel is much removed from the teen flicks, that use the word 'like' in the wrong context, base themselves around a fantastical romance. Written from first person, you don't feel as though you are following the story of a young teeny bopper. I wasn't ready for that.
I have to thank my mother here for not realising that i wasn't captivated by my first read and gave me the following sequel to me as a christmas gift. Eventually one summer a few years later when i was bored i decided to read it. So i reread the first book again and got into the second and really enjoyed them. Summer finished and my final year of high school sat in front of me. It wasn't until a year later that i decided to return to the fantasy fiction world Carmody had created.
The books are based in a post apocalyptic land that managed to survive the apocalypse. The land is run by a council that out of fear, and desire for control, destroyed all technology. The world the main character Elspeth lives is practically medieval. There is a religious cult that holds power through fear, for anyone born abnormal or against the ways of the council are burned alive. That makes life for Elspeth difficult for she has many mind abilities. The storyline follows our protagonists' quest to find and destroy the machines that caused the apocalypse many years prior before the anonymous antagonists reaches them. Of course that isnt the whole story, for it hasnt even been completed yet. Like Harry Potter, it has many subplots that weave together to form such an enchanting story.
One of the best things i found about the books were that both times i had stopped reading them i had forgotten everything that had happened. It wasn't because they were boring, but because they were so intriguing and fully of detail that i just couldn't remember everything. It was like rereading Harry Potter (which is still one of my favourite series) after not thinking about it for a few years. I know that in a few years time after i finish the series i will be able to return to this series and enjoy it all over again.
The only thing i can really criticise about Carmody's work is the wait. I started reading another series of hers, the legendsong triology, which has a similar feel to the Obernewtyn chronicles, and equally as brilliant, and i found myself waiting for a third book that stil hasnt been released, even though the first was written in the 90's.
But it isnt a big complaint for i understand such great books take time, and with many novels on the go at once it is bound to take a while.
I could have just bored you out of reading the series, but i hope you give it a chance, for i know it will stay upon my bookshelf forever......

Circum-moral-navigation

Dear Moral Compass,

Next time, either kick in earlier or don't bother at all.

'kay? Thanks.

Zoe

Epic

So 'Epic' is my word, possibly to the point of using it too much and most definitely not correctly but I love it, i love what it means, how it sounds, how it can just encompass so much in one little word.

Eric is epic, Godric, Damon, Dean (the only real person I consider Epic), Chuck Bass is epic. Klaus, Darien/Tuxedo Mask, Captain Shang.

However, of all these characters (and one actual person) Godric is the epicest, or more importantly, the real life person who plays him Allan Hyde, is epic. He was 20 going on 2,000 when he played the ancient Godric.


Alexander Skarsgård does old and epic as Eric Northman quiete well, Joseph Morgan does Klaus amazingly too but no on can do epic like Allan Hyde as Godric.


I dont know if it's because he's half Danish-half English and I flat out love all things European, in particular English, so it's automatic or if it's because he's just...epic. Maybe it's because he was only 20 playing the oldest vampire I've ever seen (which is saying something considering how many vampire shows/movies I've seen) whereas Joseph Morgan and Alexander Skarsgård (Klaus and Eric respectively, both c. 1000 years old) were both at least 10 years older than Allan Hyde was which is an extra 10 years life experience let alone acting experience. 
Maybe it was because he was in contrast to Alexander Skarsgård who is 6ft10 when Allan Hyde is 5ft6 (practically my height) and Eric drop to his knees in front of Godric and there's just this humongous man, the most ruthless and oldest vampire we've seen yet on True Blood on his knees before this kid, because Godric seriously looks like a boy (and he is meant to be just 16) and you can just feel that this guy is formidable but chooses not to use his power (anymore) for evil.

It just astounds me that Allan Hyde can come onto this show and outdo everyone, outdo everything, ever.

Godric is Epic.

I have found that i have not blogged anything for a while. You think that i would have, after having an amazing trip to bali, an entertaining and slightly controversial christmas, a fun new years, camping and a couple of awkwardly hilarious gigs. And i am only choosing to write now when i am stuck at home bored, unable to find a job, waiting for uni to return.
Its during this time that i think about the mistakes i have made throughout the years.
There are those mistakes that you regret almost straight away, and there are those where the consequences happen much later and are harder to undo, and therefor harder to admit to making.
The one i have been thinking of lately was not getting a job while in highschool. At the time i was so preoccupied with my music and art that i hardly thought of it. A few of my friends had jobs, but many didn't. Its not like i never did anything. I played in a band and still do, but there isn't really any money in that, and i did babysitting for a year. I have experiences and skills, but they arent what people are looking for anymore. Why hire someone who has had no formal experience when they can pay someone who is underage for less? I am hindered by my second problem....i have no car, and therefor must use public transport. Which highlights the fact that i should have started learning to drive earlier.
I could blame it all on my mother and say its her fault for convincing me to focus on my studies, and made me nervous about learning to drive, and for her unwillingness to drive me anywhere now.
But it is my problem and my fault. I was lazy then so now i have to work harder to fix it now.
It is a lesson learnt. I dont need a job now, but i may need money in the future. I have started trying to get experience for the future. I want a job in science, so this year i am volunteering to teach science in schools. The more experience i gain, the more contacts i form, the easier it will be for me when i finish my degree.
 Some lessons i know i will never learn, such as starting my assignments before the night before its due. But this one i never forget.

I don't wear makeup.

It’s not because I think I’m so beautiful I don’t need it, because I doubt any woman does.

I am well aware that makeup does make me look prettier, it makes my blue eyes *pop*, it makes my skin look smoother, it makes my lips look fuller.

I don’t wear makeup partly because I’m lazy and I don’t think it’s worth the extra 15-20 minutes in the morning but mainly because I don’t believe I should have to alter my appearance to impress you.

I don’t believe that in order for a guy to ask me out or hit on me I need to have thick black eyelashes, shimmering eyelids, accented eyes, a flawless complexion and sparkling lips.

If you’re going to love me, I want you to love me for who I am not for who I make myself up as.

That’s not to say I never wear makeup because I do, on special occasions, my Deb, year 12 Formal, Valedictory, the occasional birthday party or nights out, a christening or confirmation.

I just think that a much better picture of who I am is trackies, a singlet, bright coloured socks and wet hair watching T.V. at home on a Saturday night than dressed to the nines, all made up and out at 1am on a Friday night.

Eventually I’ll find someone who appreciates that and he is the one I’ll dress up for, put in the effort for. 

One day.

Wildy ♥

An amazing and inspirational man passed away yesterday.

A teacher, a father, a husband, a son, a friend.

He taught me, and countless others, so much more than was useful inside a classroom.
I havent seen him in 2 years but I remember him as always being positive, funny, intelligent, caring and kind, someone who most definitely did not deserve to have their life cut short by a disease that claims so many lives.

I am amazed, though I really shouldnt be, by how many people he so obviously touched. My Facebook feed was flooded with at least 30 people conveying their thoughts of his family, RIPs and memories  and that's just my friends, let alone all the other people I don't know that loved him just as much as everyone else.

He was a beautiful man and will be remembered as such by all who knew him.

Rest In Peace, Adam Wild, you're with all the other Angels now.

♥♥♥

Tu me manques :(

Dear French,

I. Miss. You.

Zoe

Coz You Gotta Have Faith (faith faith)

You know, sometimes I really wish I was religious. 

I wish I could have the blind faith in something/someone and just believe that someone up there is looking over everything. 

Buuuuuuuut I don’t.

I suppose I believe in some things, fate, everything happening for a reason, soul mates, I just don’t believe that there’s one omniscient being just chilling up there because if he/she/it was…I don’t know how they could live with themselves when strings of natural disasters have killed millions let alone the murders and serial killers that pretty much roam the streets going about their business.

But then again, a few months ago a 2-week-old baby was pulled out of the rubble in Turkey that she’d been buried under for 2 days, so maybe there is a God.

Can there still be a God if I don’t expressly believe in one?  I guess so because others do and I admire them for that. I don’t understand but I admire their dedication and faith all the same.

I wish I had that.

Family=Friends

"Here's to the nights that turn into mornings and the friends that turn into family."

I had one of those instance last night, I sat up with friends last night until morning came, and they are becoming my family.
Sometimes I fight with them like I do my family and I love them unconditionally like I do my family.

Some Things Never Change...

I am 18 and a half years old.
How the hell do I still manage to get pen all over my hands when I write?

Because we can....

I've recently been playing the same online games over and over on sporcle. My favourite is the country naming game. It has become my memory exercise. All it is is a map of the globe with a text box above it. All you do is write names of countries in the text box and they pop up on the map, and you have 15 minutes to write in as many countries as you can, as well as spelling them correctly. I have played it so many times that i know nearly all of them....and there is almost 200 of them. They also have a harry potter game where you name the top 200 mentioned characters and another where you have to name the 50 most mentioned characters without naming any outside the top 50 which is really difficult. I don't know why i love playing these trivial games, but i mustn't be the only one. I have a friend who is really good at memorising complicated lyrics and another who knows over twenty decimal places of pie....why we do these things i don't know probably just because we can. Maybe it is another way in which each and every one of us is uniquely and extremely complicated...

Armistice Day (aka Remembrance Day)

I think that maybe the one thing I actually miss the most about high school isn't my friends, my teachers, the structure, the uniform, the familiarity, it's the Remembrance Day ceremony that Beaconhills had every year. The entire school assembled in the only area that could fit us all, the junior and middle schools in the hot sun of November under hats and their blazers while the senior school got the relative coolness of the shade.

It's not the speeches, the memories or the knowledge shared with us, it's that one minute of complete and utter silence.

Over 1,500 people, the great majority of whom are children (many below the age where they are truly able to understand what Remembrance Day means), totally silent. From 11:00 on the 11th of November there is silence in a school where there is usually no such thing. I don't mean to say that what I love about Remembrance Day is that it's finally quiet. What I love is that for one minute, everyone is thinking about the same thing, about those people who fought and died to ensure that we can live the way we do today.

It may be slightly morbid but I love it, and the song the Last Post in particular. What this one piece of music evokes in people all over this country when they hear it. It's sombre but every time it's heard it reminds us of how lucky we are, and how thankful we should be for those that went to war for us, whether the war was "just" or not.

I think it's so unbelievably important that we pay homage to all the men and women who have fought and died in the many wars that have been fought. It's nowhere near enough to just dedicate one minute  a year to this but in it's consistency, it's a start and I have no doubt that there are people who are personally affected by these wars who think about this every minute of every day.

Lest We Forget.

Just pay your respects guys, at least on this day, it’s the least we can do.

 'The shall not grow old as we that are left grow old

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them'

- For the Fallen, Lauren Binyon (1931)

I want me some Calvins

Ok, so I know that it's shallow and superficial but half-naked actors, models, athletes etc really is the best way to sell underwear.
And if they're happy to objectify themselves I really dont see why we cant ogle shamelessly.
Why women find abs attractive, why men like boobs, that I can't explain, honestly they're just lumps, but I suppose it comes down to some arcane, primitive, provider thing from way way way back when.
However, this cK ad campaign goes above and beyond in the way that apparently cK does well. I'm pretty sure it's been pulled from the air for being vulgar and "suggestive" but I can't actually find proof.

Take a look for yourself but be warned, if half-naked men and almost-swearing isn't your thing...don't press play.

I get that we shouldn't objectify them, they're real people blah blah but if they are going to pose/do ad campaigns in their underwear it's their own damn fault.
As for the almost-swearing, honestly, they're just words. And cK is obviously doing something right even if they're doing it the wrong way.
This raunchy ad gets people talking and thats all they wanted.

Nonno

In a follow on from what Han said, my nonno wasn't perfect, but when I was little I thought he was.

He wasn't selfless in the same way other people are. But he did ship his family half-way across the world to a country where he didn't speak the language. He did start at the bottom and he did provide for his family.

But he wasn't perfect, far from it.

It's not until I've grown up that I've discovered he's a possessive, jealous, angry alcoholic.

He's still around but he has Alzheimer's so he's not my nonno anymore. He doesn't remember me.

And that's sad but what's even worse is some of my cousins aren't going to remember him the way I do. My little cousin Zara, who isn't even two yet, isn't going to remember nonno taking her to the shops and buying her ice cream. She isn't going to remember "Nonno's bread", she isn't going to get to make her own pizza bases with the off cuts. She isn't going to get the chance to hinder more than help in the garden on tottering toddler legs.

He'll probably be dead before she's even old enough to remember anything about him at all.

So I know that Nonno isn't perfect but when I was 4 and he used to take me up to the milk bar and buy me ice cream when my bratty cousin was asleep, I thought he was pretty damn close.

Even though I know he's not exactly a great person I'm still going to cry at his funeral.
I'm crying now.

Poppy

I just want to write a small paragraph about how selfless my grandfather is.
For the last couple of months he has been looking after my grandmother who had broken her foot while on holiday. She wasn't able to walk on the foot so he wheelchair proofed the house, did all the chores, everything without complaint. He is always fixing things, and many people call him the handyman. He got in the roof on a stifling hot day and installed our home theatre speakers, dug up all our pavers in the backyard and trimmed the roots that had been causing them to lift, he takes me for driving lessons while somehow managing to remain calm, teaches me how to fish and if we manage to catch something big enough he will gut it for me.
He used to be a paramedic, and now after retiring he volunteers with the CFA and helps out at the local funeral parlour. Always giving his time and energy to help others. I recently visited them for a week and in one day he got a call at 5 am on a rainy day for a fire and he went and had got back before i even got out of bed. Then that night he had just gotten into bed and the sirens could be heard in the distance, his pager  went off and he was up and getting dressed. The next morning he was off helping with a funeral. My Poppy is a genuine person who doesn't even realise how selfless he is, and that's why he is my role model.