Gargh! I am adrift in this technological world

Our laptop has kind of shit itself, in a black screen of death kind of way. Which has severely hindered my ability to blog and upload my flickr photos, as the work computers have restrictions (on the photos particularly)

Of course, since we live so far from so-very-many-things not sure when we will have an opportunity for someone to look at the lappy either.

Stay tuned :(

{Carefully neutral post title unrelated to nudity}

Flickr can be really interesting.

This is my most viewed photo (497 views).

Key words that brought people to the photo, were mostly searches for a combination of "nude, beach, sydney, nudist."

Because I made a quip about how frequently I accidentally look like I'm not wearing any clothes in photos.

My next viewed photo has held the top spot for most of its Flickr life (until it was overtaken by the above). Its a full frontal shot from Puppetry of the Penis, and I even **'rd the rude word!

Other popular hits I get are searches for places we went in Europe, and image searches for "posh bob". Hehe

Sunrise at our place today

Sunrise, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

I'm going to be really sad to leave our apartment, I totally love it and views like these will be sorely missed.

My First Day - 365 Days

My First Day - 365 Days, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

So, as I mentioned a few posts ago, I'm starting the 365 day project on Flickr, and this is my Day 1 photo. (Yes, a little saturated, what can I say, I love colour)

Feel free to stop by and have a look, I've already found it very challenging. I won't post everyday's photos, I may post none at all. I might just stick with the ones I really love.

My 365 set http://www.flickr.com/photos/dataceptionist/sets/72157613296360914/

Ciao for now!

The only good cockroach...

Cockroach (a.k.a. plantation bug), originally uploaded by slippay.

is a dead one.

I was sitting in my cafe near work yesterday morning, and noticed a cockroach sneaking toward me. I was concerned it was headed right for my table so I continued to watch it until it was right next to my table. As I watched it sort of turned around and then did nothing for a few minutes so I thought I was safe to look back at my book.

When I looked down again I saw that it wasn't there anymore.

THEN I FELT A TICKLE ON MY LEG AND LOOKED DOWN AND IT WAS ON ME.

I was so shocked, I jerked my leg, it flew off and I didn't see it again.

To think that I hadn't squished it immediately as I sort of thought I didn't want to make a scene, and it wasn't "hurting anyone".

SO EW EW EW

Ever since I've been paranoid about feeling any sensation on my legs. Ew ew ew :(

Pink Wii!

Pink Wii Fit Board cover (1), originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

For Christmas M gave me a pink silicon cover for the Wii fit Balance Board. So here it is, in action!

We're trying to continue to use the Wii, and we're having good success mostly.

We went to a Rock Band party on the weekend and it was much more fun that I expected (the Rock Band part, not the party). Not being terribly musically inclined I wasn't sure it was going to be "my bag" but it was heaps of fun, and according to the game, I am great at singing. Hahahahahaha

Anyone else find this weird?

1233079811152.jpg, originally uploaded by Ríona.

Thanks to Riona.

Sunset in AZ

Sunset in AZ, originally uploaded by Vibranttaste.

Amazing! These kinds of photos are why I love Flickr. Its so much more than just somewhere to store your photos.

I'm getting better___

SNC00190, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

______________at making coffee on the machine at home.


I bought a new macch glass. Still playing with it

365 DAYS

A friend of the blog, Network Geek, has started a 365 project on Flickr. It's been around for a while on Flickr, and NG is the first person I "know" to have attempted it. And its a big project. The idea, for those of you unfamiliar-

The Challenge: Take one self portrait each day for a year.

Each day, take a self portrait, tag it with "365days", and submit it to the pool. It's that simple!

For our detailed rules, please have a read through our group rules.

So now I'm thinking of giving it a go. I'm still struggling however, with the idea that its a completely narcissistic and selfish pursuit. I'm starting to come down on the "yes it is, but who cares really" side of things.

The pool of photos is here and when you get away from the fact that people are taking a photo of themselves, some of the pictures are fantastic. I think its a really interesting creative project, since you have to keep coming up with new ideas and new concepts to keep it fresh.

You can look at NG's 365 days set here.

I'm still undecided.....

Well I'm freakin' exhausted...

5 pairs of shoes
3 handbags
3 dresses and 2 outfits
5 cups of coffee
1 energy drink
copious glasses of champagne
25 bobby pins
too little sleep
too much glitter
and $800.
Thats what a weekend looks like in retrospect when you're trying to figure out where it went....

And a crippling desire for a foot massage

 Event # 1 - The Races

Event # 2 - Costume xmas party

Event #3 - Lunch with the girls.

In other news, we now know 7 girls that are pregnant, all due June/July next year. September was clearly a busy month....

English people are weird

I have heard, on more than one occassion that Australians are in denial about the weather. Some people think we pretend its not cold, shirking warm clothing for thongs and singlets. While this is not always true, I agree with it for the most part. The sunday before we flew out of Sydney, the sun came out and I perservered with shorts, for the first time in 3 months or so. It was awesome, for about 12 seconds, and then the sun went behind a cloud, I put a jacket on, and it felt less like summer after all.

Me at Tower Bridge. Loved it.

The point is, I think English people do the exact same thing : in reverse. The convince themselves its really not that hot!
Our first full day in London, it was gorgeous weather. We walked the banks of the Thames, being utter tourists, but it almost felt like we could be at home, most definitely a bare legs day, thongs and sunscreen.
But the "natives" were all walking around like it was 10 degrees colder than it actually was. I think it hit 25-26 degrees and I spotted a woman in Ugg boots (sheepskin slipper boots).
It was insane! And people were carrying coats everywhere!! Nuts.
Sadly we even saw a little boy, whose parents were only wearing T-shirts, but for some reason they thought he needed a woolen vest. I assure you he did NOT.
I think I mostly found it weird because we're just leaving winter at home, and they're just leaving summer, but they were wearing very similar things. Jeans and boots, knitwear etc. Scarves!

We managed to squeeze in a Soccer/Football game while we were away also, and that was great.

 West Ham United vs Blackburn.

The atmosphere was just incredible, and one of the things I was amazed by was the tiny number of spectators for the other team. Go to an NRL game in Australia and the ground might be 60/40 home to away. But in a ground of 33,000 people that turned out for a regular round match of soccer, there would have been lucky to be 1,000 supporters for the other side. Their section wasn't even full.

The "away" supporters at the game 

Oh yes, Section. They're not allowed to sit together! The black mesh in this photo spanned about 5 rows of seats, (its not standing up) and there were police all over the section too. Crazy!

The other amazing thing was that we were at West Ham for the ground, and its Suburban! 33,000 had to then catch the train back to wherever they came from and they have it so wel worked out we were on a train within 20 minutes of leaving the stadium. That would NEVER happen in Sydney. We're very impressed with the Tube system!

Hard work CAN pay off

Almost a year ago, I bought a dress on eBay to wear to a wedding for friends of ours. 
Shown here
<---

It arrived and it didn't fit because I'd gotten fat, which was a bit devastating to say the least. I distinctly remember struggling to do the dress up and M standing behind me wrestling with the upper clasp (the part across the middle of the back does up like a bra) and I said to him "Will it do up?" and he replied "I don't know if you want it to do up" (Ma, these straps, ya look like a HAM)

 

So we abandoned the kerfuffle. I ended up wearing this black dress, which while not horrid or anything, and while beautifully made, was not how I wanted to look.

I've had some great success with Ebay dresses, and I refused to admit defeat with this one. So I kept it, in the hope I would eventually be able to wear it, as I was also refusing to admit that I was never going to be able to fit into it.

So I have mentally had it as a bit of a benchmark, and was emboldened to try it on.

I got the urge last Thursday night, home from the gym, showered at 10.30, I put it on, AND IT FIT!!!

Yay! 
(I went to show M in the lounge room, and he looked up from the computer saying "where are you going?" LOL)
Now I just need an occassion hahahaha

I've noticed actually a shift in the clothes I've worn this winter. Last winter I weighed a good 6-8kgs more than I do this year, and I realise in hindsight I was wearing a different set of clothes, lots of empire line/tummy hiding type tops, which I just haven't worn this year.
Pretty happy all round :)

I'm kind of thinking I'll lose/maintain my weight while we're in Europe as well (due to all the walking and stuff) but possibly kidding myself?

(And I'm thinking of doing the Lemon/water thing again)

Liar liar pants on fire!

I, Dataceptionist, your faithful blogger, am a liar. There. I said it! I’m sorry!

(slightly less faithful recently sorry, been a bit busy at work)

Doing some tag maintenance recently, I found a post called Cops are Tops. It’s a recount of my first ever breath test, making my post  recently about my breath test, false! I completely forgot about it. I can’t remember WHAT I was doing in Castle Hill, at midnight, on a weeknight, but I got pulled over. Seemingly without incident, as I don’t even recall it after reading the post. Its like someone else’s story funnily…

It has reminded me however that I was going to recount another tale of Police brutality (aka a routine traffic stop) of mine.

I’ve had to go back to the high school archives for this one, and have even gone to the trouble of scanning a photo or two, so you can really feel part of the story. 

First off, some background info-

 

So way back in year 12 at school, I was  the proud owner of a VW beetle, here she is. ---->

I was devastated when it came time to sell her, but an enormous relief also (it broke down quite a lot. I often joked that I knew all the NRMA [roadside assistance] mechanics on a first name basis) . 

That said, I actually shed a tear when I watched it drive away after I sold it. *sniff*

Anyway, I did Drama as a subject for my HSC (final year high school exams for those outside Oz). One of the components of the subject was a group performance with the class of 24 split into small groups to work on a piece that, from memory, could be on anything you wanted, there were no limits. 

So one day, I was on my way to a rehearsal at one of the girls houses. I used to tear around quite a bit in my beetle, and so was ever vigilant for the police, but I was almost at my destination on this occasion, so was paying less attention than I should have been, and suddenly theres a police car stopped on the side of the road. I was in a 50 km/h zone, going 80, by the time I got to the car I would still have been going 55-60, but thankfully was turning just after the car.

So you can imagine what happened then, as I watch in my rear view mirror, he turns a little after me. The follows me for about 2-3 minutes. This doesn't sound very long, but when you're crawling along waiting for the sirens to sound, and the lights to flash, it can be an eternity.

Eventually the siren sounds, and I hasten to pull over, so I look like an innocent obliging citizen.I quickly rummage around for my handbag, so I have my license at the ready, and the window down by the time he ambles over to me. Later my mother tells me not to look so "practiced" at being pulled over LOL

I imagine he made small talk or something before asking me to step out of the car. Remember how I said I was on my way to a rehearsal? A DRESS rehearsal, I'm in costume...

I'm second on the LEFT. In the lime green. 

You can't see the rainbow knee high socks I'm wearing as well as the full makeup. 

So looking like a clown missing floppy shoes, I climb out of my, now equally as silly looking, Volkswagen so he can demonstrate to me I haven't got my "P" plate displayed correctly. 

I'm certain he saw what I was wearing through the window and decided it would be funny to haul me out of the car. My father helpfully points out later also, that he was probably checking out my tits as well. Nice Dad.

ummm, just me that thinks this is weird?

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by Ríona.

Face washer swans anyone? Its like taking the cute toilet paper triangle to a WHOLE new level! (And check out the paper cups in the background, wrapped in plastic? Sealed for your peace of mind?)

Also -hilarious, can you imagine a resort in Australia called "Gaylord Palms"?

Thanks to Ríona for this pic, from her recent business trip to Gaylord Palms.
(Sidenote, Ríona works for Google, how awesome would it be to tell people that was your employer? It would also be ultra cool to have a google domain work email address LOL.)
{Ok maybe that's slightly nerdy.}

Cruiser Free-Verdict (well, half)

Cruiser Free, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

Hmmm what to say?
I finally managed to find them for sale at Dan Murphy's. First off I only bought two. One in Pine Melon (left) and one Orange Mango. There is also a Mixed Berry Flavour, but I just thought it had too much potential to be vile, so I skipped it.
I only bought one in each of my two flavours, (even though they cost the earth when you do it like that, its such a rip off) because I couldn't face the thought though of them being horrid and being stuck with another three, so obviously I went in with high hopes.
So I went with Pine Melon first up. We had friends round, and we all clinked our (bottles) "cheers"! One sip- YUK.
The best way I can describe the flavour is "Midori Illusion with a chaser of Splenda"
EW! They fool you by making them pink, but they honestly taste like they should be green like Midori. Too sweet, and where was the Pine!?

Overall I shoved it down my throat, but there will be no repeat performance I'm afraid. Our friends had been kind enough to bring Guava with them, and I was so afraid of the Orange Mango I stuck to Guava for the rest of the evening.
Thumbs down I'm afraid...

Tequila Premix -"Slammer" by Sierra

Tequila Premix, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

Fond of tequila, fond of premix, what could be better? Found these in Dan Murphy's yesterday, think I'll try them out this weekend.

I know Reanan in a fan of the Jose Cuervo premixed drinks, Vivezo's (especially as they're 2 standard drinks) but I find them a bit...ick.

So I'll give these a try, two varieties, Tropic and Margarita!

My Makeup Construction Space

Makeup, originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

I'm lucky enough, in my home, to have a whole second bathroom to myself for my makeup. Ok, we don't call it MY bathroom, or my Makeup bathroom or anything, but its the "guest" bathroom essentially, so gradually I've moved all my makeup in there.

Initially I had just spare hair stuff, and all my spare toiletries and supplies in the cupboards. Then when I did my cousins makeup last year I had to pack up all my makeup to take with me, and it just somehow seemed easier when I got around to unpacking it all, to unpack it in the spare bathroom.

The result, an awesome space for all my stuff to be spread out, without worrying there isn't enough room for M's shaving cream, or whatever.
(Ok, confession, M only really has one small shelf in our main bathroom for his few things also, I've got my everyday stuff taking up loads of space in there too.)

So this is my space. If you click on the photo above, you can find little notes on things in the photo, like the toothbrush cup, full of makeup brushes.

I use this space as my "getting ready" space in general. I suppose if I was a lady from eras gone by, I might have a boudoir for this sort of thing, with a dressing table and tasseled perfume spritzer. I do feel spoiled. It's my mother's fault though, when she redid the bathroom at home, she organised the cabinets so that there was a power outlet inside the cupboard so the hairdryer would always be plugged in (like the "appliance" cupboards in kitchens now with the toaster and kettle). She also had discreet lighting installed above the mirror expressly for makeup application. So, with lessons like these, whats a girl to do?

What would your ultimate makeup space be do you think?

What about the rest of us?

Target underwear (original photo site), originally uploaded by dataceptionist.

Not surprisingly, the new Collette Dinnigan underwear line at Target doesn't feature anything higher than D size.
Bastards.

It really irritates me when that happens. If they do feature DD's its not until the 16's or 18s. HELLO? So I'm a freak am I? I demand the right to affordable, pretty underwear that fits me properly.

I don't think I'm really in the minority, I know lots of other big busty girls who would appreciate the market widening. Or do you think big boobs make friends with other big boobs?

Tiananmen Square in Lego

A guy on FLickr has recreated 9 classic photos in Lego. See the whole set.

Tiananmen Square, originally uploaded by Balakov.

Recreation ofSet up of this shot here.