Day 3 - Favourite Fictional Character

I thought about this a lot...I love books I've had my nose stuck in a book pretty much since the day I learnt to read and I've watched a lot of movies and TV shows too so I have come across hundreds, if not thousands, of characters that have captured my attention and imagination and really stuck with me. They've made me laugh, made me cry and, most importantly, made me love. So, when it came to picking my favourite I had lots of options: Hermione, Sirius, Fred & George, Dumbeldore, Aragorn, Arwen, Legolas, King Arthur, Robin Hood, Damon Salvatore, Tuxedo Mask, Captain Shang (I am particularly infamous for my quote regarding those last two: "Hey Zo, who would you want to play Tuxedo Mask in a real movie?" "Captain Shang!" "What part of 'real' don't you get?"), Piper Halliwell, Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, Simba (just to name a few).

However, who I finally did decide on was Sherlock Holmes. And maybe it's just a phase brought on by watching the BBC's version but Sherlock Holmes is my man (godly being) of the moment.
Whether it be Benedict Cumberbacht in the BBC's take on it, Robert Downey Jnr in the Hollywood blockbuster or whatever image my imagination conjures up, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created a god.

Sherlock Holmes is the original Sheldon, that slightly off-kilter individual we all love-to-hate who is far too intelligent for his own good and seemingly struggles with social interaction.
I first read Sherlock Holmes when I was about 16 and from the first short story I was in awe. The conclusions he comes to, so confidently and correctly, from a few quick observations seem so obvious and self-evident when he explains them that I can't believe I ever missed them yet I fail perpetually at deducing them on my own.

Sherlock Holmes leaves me in absolute awe each and every time I come away from any reincarnation of him and that's why he is my favourite fictional character.

Day 2 - Favourite Quote

I’m a quote addict and I honestly just couldn’t decide on just one so I’ve picked a couple of categories from which I will chose my favourite quotes.

Favourite Book Quote:
‘As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.’ 
– Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck.
I cannot for the life of me explain why this particular quote is my favourite out of the thousands of others I’ve picked out of books I’ve licked much, much more than I did Of Mice and Men but I just remember when I was reading this that these 2 sentences really struck a chord inside me and I just…I loved them. I love the way they sound and how they can just paint the perfect picture in your head and you know exactly what he means.

Favourite TV Show Quote:
‘I live in two worlds. One is a world of books. I've been a resident of Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County, hunted the white whale aboard the Pequod, fought alongside Napoleon, sailed a raft with Huck and Jim, committed absurdities with Ignatius J. Reilly, rode a sad train with Anna Karenina, and strolled down Swann's Way. It's a rewarding world, but my second one is by far superior. My second one is populated with characters slightly less eccentric but supremely real, made of flesh and bone, full of love, who are my ultimate inspiration for everything. Richard and Emily Gilmore are kind, decent, unfailingly generous people. They are my twin pillars without whom I could not stand. I am proud to be their grandchild. But my ultimate inspiration comes from my best friend. The dazzling woman from whom I received my name and my life’s blood. Lorelai Gilmore. My mother never gave me any idea that I couldn't do whatever I wanted to do or be whomever I wanted to be. She filled our house with love and fun and books and music, unflagging in her efforts to give me role models from Jane Austen to Eudora Welty to Patti Smith. As she guided me through these incredible eighteen years, I don't know if she ever realized that the person I most wanted to be was her. Thank you Mom, you are my guide post for everything.’
- Rory Gilmore, Gilmore Girls
I know, it’s insanely long but this quote from Gilmore Girls never fails to make me cry. Rory Gilmore was, and kind of still is, my role model, or at least as close to one as I’ve ever had. I wanted to be like her, I wanted to be smart and well-read and have that kind of relationship with my mother.


Favourite Movie Quote:
‘Be not afraid of greatness, 
Some are born great,
Some achieve greatness,
And some have greatness thrust upon them.’
Okay, so technically it’s William Shakespeare from Twelfth Night but it also features in She’s The Man which is loosely based on the play and considering I’d already done the book quote and didn’t have a favourite play quote option it featured here.

Favourite Song Quote:
‘And if you were with me tonight,
I’d sing to you just one more time, 
A song for a heart so big,
God couldn’t let it live.’
- Hear You Me – Jimmy Eat World
I don’t even think I need to explain this one…All I know is that when the book I write gets turned into a movie THIS song is the ending montage of the funerals for my characters.

The awkward moment when you're so insanely paranoid/afraid of someone reading something your wrote you have 60 pages hidden under your bed.

One day I'll get over this phobia.

Favourite Quote....day 2

I cant remember exactly how it went... something like "Judge a person's character not by how they treat their superiors, but by how they treat their inferiors" It's simple, and I don't read much literature so I haven't many romantic or beautiful quotes up my sleeve. I even think that one may have been in Harry Potter. Or was it Othello? Or maybe even the Colour Purple? (the only thing i can remember about that book is that i read it) Dumbledore probably said it. Its not really a quote, more of a moral, but it has stuck with me and made me think more than any 'to be or not to be.' People aim to climb up the ladder, whether it be a social one, or one in the workplace. From the top of the ladder you see hands reaching out to you. You may help people up, but you may not see that the people you are helping up are trying to push others further down and off the ladder with their feet. Take a look at the way a person treats others and don't be blindsided by how they treat you, because one day there may be greener grass.

Day 1 - likes and dislikes

Like

Boys

One Direction

Basketball

Chocolate

Shoes

Snuggling

Boys that smell nice

BFFL

Comfy socks

Rosie

Dislikes

Vodka

Peas

Wet feet

Salt

Friends not acting like friends

Traffic

Bad spelling and grammar

Ball hogs

Doof doof music

Spiders who live in my letter box. 

Just in the nick of time!

10 LIKES 10 DISLIKES

I dont know exactly what to write for this first day of the challenge. Is it things i like dislike/like doin or things that others do that annoy me/make me happy.....i'll do a bit of both. I'll start with the negatives, coz they are easier to list...

1 I dislike peak hour traffic...i can almost see my fuel draining away and polluting the atmosphere...
2 I hate it when people write were instead of where or we're. They are different words with different pronunciations.
3 It's [insert name here] and I, not me and [insert name]. A teacher once told me that it was selfish to put your name in front of someone else's so every time I hear it, the same statement rings in my head.
4 I don't like the way live music has lost popularity. I'd prefer going to a bar/pub and listening to a band tear it up.
5 I dislike the way people try to be "indie." It's making indie mainstream....
6 I dislike cold weather.
7 I despise heavy metal/screamo/any other genre that believes screaming into a microphone like a pig is a talent that needs to be expressed.
8 I dislike the way tv programmes like a current affair consider themselves as "news" when halve of it is just advertisements.
9 I dislike the joy people get out of hating celebrities, whining since they are jealous of fame and money, whining about people whining. On facebook there is a bunch of people commenting on the weather and twice as many complaining about people commenting on the weather.
10 Gift giving. At the moment i'm at the point where there are too many birthdays and not enough money.

Likes

1 I like singing in the shower; great acoustics!
2 I like steak....a rare beef stake....and a side of chips
3 Mum's beetroot and chocolate cupcakes
4 Japan; beautiful country, beautiful people...i also love using chopsticks
5 Olympic Diving/Gymnastics. Sports that require dangerous manoeuvres that look like works of art...and badminton, badminton is fun.
6 Hanging out with my friends.
7  Physiology and genetics. Understanding the way we are, why we are different, interpreting evolution. It fascinates me.
8 English comedy.
9  When I find that i have more money in the bank than I expected.
10 Reading in bed on a rainy day.

For the first time in a long time I feel i don't need anything. I go where life takes me, and at the moment it's fairly good. The band i play in is finally getting somewhere. We are getting auditions with the prospect of earning some good paying gigs. For a while i had been complaining about trying to find a job, trying to find something to fit into my uni timetable. I didn't have any urgent debts to pay off, my parents are fairly supportive. I landed myself in a pretty shitty job, working at a lil pizza/crepe hut at uni... until they changed bosses and i wasn't given any shifts. I don't think i have ever though of anyone as a c*** until that point. It wasn't that i wasn't getting any work (the place was dodgy paying in cash etc) but it was the way she went about it that made me angry. I asked if i had any shifts and she would say "we'll see." And that was it. But life moves on and a week later i got myself into a new job. Mum works at a primary school in the office and when she heard that they needed someone to help out at the after school care she put in my name. Its only a casual job, filling in when needed, but its good money, nice people, fun job, close to home, easy hours. Some weeks i don't work, others i do. And because of it i actually got around to doing my first aid course. Uni is great at the moment, most my subjects are interesting, i have friends there, friends from high school, my band girls, and friends i've met on the way. Things are pretty swell. I dont have any plan on where i will end up, with music, with uni, with my job, but for the moment;  Everything is balanced.
Tune in within the next 23 hours for the 30 day challenge post #1

I distinctly remember mentioning that I don't particularly enjoy watching sports, live or on TV, sports I like or sports I don't but I have three exceptions: the Olympics, anything starring Ricky Rubio and my club's women's team (whether it be Dandenong or Cranbourne). Even with those few exceptions me watching a game occurs rarely but tonight I went down to Cranbourne to support the lady Cavs as A) 3 girls (1 out with injury) from my U/20s team play and they're my friends and I want to support them B) it was a final of some sort C) I'm contemplating playing Big V next year. 

What I discovered was a 40-minute basketball game can last almost 2 hours and my coach is an absolute asshole with his heckling.  I just had this moment where I realised that he's not perfect. I kind of half had this epiphany months ago but it really rang true today. Don’t get me wrong, this hasn’t ruined my world bubble, I never idolised him or anything. At first I thought he was kind of hot but I never aspired to be like him, I just respected him and respected what he had to teach me.
I also realised tonight that…I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready for the next level. It's rough, and it's mean, and I’m not there yet.
Basketball is not my life. It never has been, even when I played 5 out of 7 days a week, 2 games, 3 training sessions, it still wasn’t all I did. I have a life outside of basketball, I go to school. While 5 days a week of sport was good, great even, when I was in the early years of high school and top(ish) of my class, at Uni, surrounded by people as smart, if not smarter than me, I can't afford to spend 8 hours a week (plus drive time) playing a sport I love, not when it won’t take me where I want to go.

Should I give it a shot, knowing I won’t, can’t, give it my all or should I finally let myself have enough time to do what I need to do for Uni and be able to hang out with my friends? On the one hand, I’m only young once, I can’t come back and play at this level later, not like I can with Uni. On the other hand, I. Will. Not. Go. Anywhere. I won’t play in the WNBL, I won’t go to America the best I can hope for is Big V at Cranbourne. Is that really enough for my education to suffer?
All this mental deliberation is probably pointless considering I don’t think I’ll actually make the team anyway. 

Crankin' out the CCR

As a 19 year old green P-plater I don’t really feel that Creedence Clearwater Revival is appropriate blaring music, however, after the day I’ve had…if CCR makes me feel even marginally better, I’ll listen to CCR.

Why did today suck? It started off quite well actually, I got a massage which was nice, apart from the fact it was at 9:30 which resulted in my getting up before my requisite double digits but overall massages are nice and getting up early gave me plenty of time to do my assignment that was due at 5. Wrong. I don’t know how I managed to almost fail at writing 500 words in 6 hours and the 500 words I did manage in what was plenty of time were more than likely complete and utter rubbish.

But okay, my assignment was not my bitch, I’m the least motivated I can ever remember being, whatever, tomorrow’s a new day, not the end of the world.

But then I played…or well, I can’t even say “played” I participated in the worst basketball game in the history of forever. I can’t even…just nothing. There is nothing to say. It was shocking. We played horrifically. Said game left me in the kind of mood where I wasn’t sad exactly, so I couldn’t cry, I wasn’t really frustrated so I couldn’t scream I was just…nothing. I was in the kind of mood where I just wanted to drive. Fast. But it was raining, making going 40ks over the limit potentially dangerous and I could just imagine the conversation with my mother when I had to explain how I crashed into a tree and why I was going so fast in the wet. Normally, something sucks, I come home and do something fun, tonight I didn’t even want to make myself feel better it was that bad. 

On my way home I tried to think of some song in my repertoire of over 2,500 songs that would suit this moment or make me feel better or make me feel anything but I could not think of anything. So I just chucked the thing on shuffle and skipped any songs that were “too happy.”

Then came Bad Moon Rising and as soon as I turned it up, I felt just a tiny little smidge better. I can't tell you why it made me feel any better but I listened to that song on repeat, up so loud I couldn’t hear anything else.

One good thing did come out of today, I ran into the BFFL at the supermarket pretty much right when I really needed a hug so that was nice.

Well, tomorrow’s a brand new day, here’s to that.                

The Elevator List

So a friend of mine introduced me to an interesting concept - The Elevator List. Basically, it's a list of 5 Guys, 5 Girls and 5 Fictional Characters you'd do if, hypothetically, you were stuck in a broken down elevator with them. 

We had a lot of fun on our girls night detailing who exactly is on our lists. Mine (as they stand at the moment) are as follows:

GUYS
Harry Styles
Matt Czurhy
Niall Horan
Ryan Reynolds
Josh Hutcherson

GIRLS
Kate Beckingsale
Liv Tyler
Eleanor Calder
Scarlett Johansson
Emma Watson

FICTIONAL
Damon Salvatore
Henry Fitzroy
Caption Shang
Chuck Bass
Tuxedo Mask

I kind of laughed when my 'Fictional Characters' list consisted of 2 vampires and 2 cartoons. At least Chuck Bass is human.

Give it a go, it's good fun.

100

We were going to write a whole spiel about how amazing it is to have reached blog post #100 when the reason why we co-blog is because we never thought we’d stick with it, instead we took a whole bunch of photos that were both fun to take and look at.

Enjoy.

Our “what-are-we-going-to-do-to-commerate-100-posts” date has/will result in the compilation of our very own ZoHan 30 Day Challenge which we will start on the 13^th of August. For now, here is a list of all proposed challenges.

Day 1 – 10 likes and dislikes.

Day 2 – Favourite quote.

Day 3 – Favourite fictional character.

Day 4 – If you could have a super power what would it be?

Day 5 – Pictures of 3 celebrity crushes.

Day 6 – A picture of your hand writing.

Day 7 – Put your iPod on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that play.

Day 8 – Someone that fascinates you and why?

Day 9 – Write about a CD the other has made for you.

Day 10 – Favourite book, movie, TV show, band/artist, artist, colour, number, season, actor/actress, animal, name (boy and girl), food, flower, author, teacher, comedian.

Day 11 – Favourite holiday destination (that you have been to).

Day 12 – Dream holiday trip

Day 13 – Last movie you watched, book you read and person you spoke to.

Day 14 – How the first boyfriend asked you out.

Day 15 – Bullet point your whole day.

Day 16 – What you would buy if you had infinite money.

Day 17 – Least favourite book, movie, TV show, band/artist, artist, colour, number, season, actor/actress, animal, name (boy and girl), food, flower, author, teacher.

Day 18 – What would your last meal be if you were on death row?

Day 19 – Describe your dream home.

Day 20 – What book is sitting next to your bed?

Day 21 – Favourite classical song.

Day 22 – Photo of your backyard and/or from your window.

Day 23 – Something many of your friends have that you envy.

Day 24 – Favourite book turned movie.

Day 25 – Who would you go camping with? Describe them.

Day 26 – Movie that made you laugh the most.

Day 27 – Concerts you have attended and your favourite.

Day 28 – What are some little things that make you feel warm and fuzzy?

Day 29 – go to the movies by yourself and describe the experience.

Day 30 – Write a short story or blurb for a book featuring the other person.

"Oh, look it's comic! I like comic!"

*Zoe stares creepily at Hannah*

SMILE

"It's a bit dark." "Just show the white of your teeth."

Hmmm...

Look FRIENDS!

There's something "artistic" on the ceiling.

Gypsy - get out of the way!

"We're glowing!!!"

Glowing 2.0

"Look old. Try and look old."

'Cause old people don't smile, you know?

We're being drawn on...

Dory and Alvin.

Chipmunk and the yellow guy from Lilo & Stitch

I hold the future in my hand.

And...merge!

Fish.

Nom nom nom hair.

Big boobs, no neck.

Alien-Hannah

Kissies!

Stare deep into my eyes...

Sexy and I know it.

Tunnel vision.

"We're ectothermic - like lizards!"

[Insert caption here]

"Look Fred, I'm holey!"

'Cause old people eat food...

HOLE!!!

There's nothing wrong with second best...

With every gold comes a silver. We are a nation so obsessed with getting gold that we don't see that silver is better than bronze, or that bronze is better than all the other competitors that didn't even qualify. We teach our kids that as long as you try your best it doesn't matter where you place. The Australian media are turning these olympics into the worst ones i have ever seen (haven't really seen many but thats not my point). All i have been seeing is dummy spits and complaints about where we are sitting on the ladder. And to top it off they decide to try point the finger at china. "China use drugs" "China have all our coaches" I have been working at an outside school hours care, and one of the kids told me china were only good because they were taking drugs. I had to explain to him that it was only a suspicion and that they would have been tested for drugs in their system. Kids are impressionable. Yes we were a dominating team in sports a few years ago, but we can't expect to maintain that level forever. We can't let kids think that we only accept the gold. No one can believe that an olympic team can  put in the hard work and come out on top. Hell, I'd go and train Chinese olympians if they paid me the money that they do their coaches.  And on the topic of drugs....i learnt about EPO the other day and if you don't want a physiology lesson then skip the next bit.
Basically, your red blood cells (RBC) carry ~98% of the oxygen in your blood. Your kidneys keep tabs on how much oxygen is in your blood. At higher altitudes there is less oxygen in the air, which means less oxygen will be in your blood....but wait! Your kidneys detect the lowered oxygen levels and release the hormone EPO. EPO triggers your bone marrow to produce more RBC so that more oxygen can be carried around your body allowing you to climb mount everest or live on the side of a mountain. But when you you climb down the mountain, or decide to visit your relatives in Melbourne, you are moving into an increased oxygen environment. Eventually your RBC will return to normal, but there is a time when your RBC is elevated and therefor your oxygen carrying capacity is increased. Everyone who does sport knows that correct breathing techniques is essential. The more oxygen available to your body, the longer it takes to fatigue. So many competitors to high altitude training to increase their stamina....so whats the difference in climbing a mountain and injecting yourself with EPO? The later is considered illegal. I'm not saying that we should be injecting our athletes with EPO (elevated RBC levels lead to a higher risk of heart problems) but it is basically the same thing.....
The only way we can support our Aussie athletes is to me there with the green and gold yelling AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE OI OI OI! Not sitting at home on our couches telling them we are disappointed with every second best.

I have decided to skip the start of my first lecture because i have had the same lecture before, and i don't want to drive in horrible traffic, and mostly because i dont want to get out of bed. The first world dilemmas of a uni student.
I also want to complain about my uni's stupid idea to get rid of a first year and a second year subject and merge the into one...I've already done the first year one! I feel like i've been doing revision for the past 5 weeks! But i suppose the uni's silly decision not to organise it better means i can stay in bed a little longer!

That Mastin kid...

So I assume you've heard of Reece Mastin, he's that kid who won X Factor Aus or whatever and kinda looks and/or sings like a girl. 

He's basically the Justin Beiber of Australia except I have so much less respect for this kid.  


However, the reason why I'm even writing about him is he "sings" (/howls) a song called "Shut Up an Kiss Me" and I LOVE it while simultaneously hating myself for that fact. This is different to how I hate myself for loving Pitbull, whose songs/general demeanour just make me cringe and feel insulted. 

This is the kinda of hate where I know that as a member of the previously mentioned post-teeny-bopper generation I cannot, in good conscience, like this guy. I can at least justify my love of One Direction by the fact that I want those boys naked, if nothing else. I am not, however, attracted to Reece Mastin in any way shape or form coz he kinda looks like a girl and I'm not into that which leaves me with no justification, however shallow, for liking so I must, alas, hang my head in shame because I am so so so addicted to this song.

I will leave you with the audio and accompanying lyrics in case you can't decipher the "singing" instead of the official video clip to spare you from actually looking at this kid too much.

After watching the video I've come to realise that you do actually see pictures of him and for that I apologise.

Also, upon reading over this post I kind of sort of noticed it came out quite bitchy and demeaning and just generally harsh and I did not mean it in that way. Reece Mastin has been relatively successful in his chosen career and he is young so more power to him.

Ricky Rubio

I’m not entirely sure who will remember my obsession with this guy from circa 4 years ago so I’ll just give you a bit of history:

His name’s Ricky Rubio and he’s a Spanish basketballer. I first discovered/saw him while watching some game or another during the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was just 17, and he was a god. He still is a god now, even though he’s out of the Olympics with a knee injury.

I don’t enjoy watching sport in any way shape or form. I don’t watch the footy, I don’t go to the footy, I don’t even watch my own basketball club’s women’s team, (half of whom are my own team mates and friends) unless I’m already there. I used to watch the Dandenong Rangers women when I played there but only because it was free entry and chance to hang out with the girls. My point is: sport – not my thing.

But for Ricky Rubio, I stayed up late, I watched every game I could get my eyes on, I sat on YouTube watching his highlights, I waited 4 years to watch him again only to find he stuffed his knee in March but once he’s back I’m gonna sit down and watch him play in the NBA on ESPN.

It’s not about him being hot (for once) or about how he’s Spanish (cue my xenophilia) it’s about him being good. Not just a good player, but a good person, and most importantly, to me, a good team member.

I had a whole spiel about how awesome Ricky Rubio is but it got long and presumably boring to anyway who isn’t as passionate/in love with him as I am and what it boils down to is he embodies the saying “There’s no I in team”. I hate watching basketball because I hate how selfish players, more often than not of the male variety, can be so I find it refreshing to see a guy whose focus isn’t how many baskets he personally can score but how many the team can score.

I just…he’s amazing.
And, look I'm not gonna lie, sans the beard he's kinda cute too.