Category Archives: Peace and Conflict

Fine! I’ll admit it. I like popcorn – are you happy now?

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This morning as I was eating NOT yummy gluten-free pancakes from a mix (note to self – stop being so lazy and make your OWN pancakes which ARE yummy) I was serenaded by some screaming crazies not too far away. “I HATE YOU!” blah blah blah “I WANT YOU OUT OF MY LIFE” blah blah blah. I think maybe someone hasn’t been watching enough “The Farmer Wants A Wife” because if they HAD been watching it they’d know all of their problems would be solved if they’d only move to the middle of nowhere and be farmers!  And even if it didn’t solve all of their problems at least no one else would have to hear about it.  YAY!

I have good news and bad news today.  GOOD NEWS:  The members of my group at school have stepped it up and are now officially pulling their weight.  YAY!   BAD NEWS:  The Uni of Syd did NOT get back to me about my application as promised.  BOO!

And in OTHER NEWS: I learned today that a “Sausage Sizzle” is the not-too-distant cousin of “The Barbie.”  The difference being that “The Barbie” is for steak – not sausages.  Oh and my FM’s GF informed me that kebabs are also not for “The Barbie” unless you are trying to lose masculinity points – in which case – chicken kebabs are the way to go.  Thank goodness I am clear about that now!  hmm …

Oh and I just remembered I have a confession to make.  Yep.  That’s right.  I am craving [dun dun dun] movie theater popcorn.  Say what?  Oh yes.  It’s true!  GROSS!!!  And tonight my FM, his GF and I are going to see a movie and the motivating factor for our decision wasn’t really the movie.  It is the artery clogging goodness of movie theater popcorn.  GROSS!  And this is where if I were having a conversation I would be like, “But dude – for real – it’s not that bad.  Like seriously, popcorn is like my only vice.  I don’t even eat potato chips or candy bars.  That stuff is gross.  But popcorn?  Mmmmm mmmm.”

OOH!!!   Australian trivia for you!!  AUS doesn’t do microwave popcorn.  And if you go to the popcorn section in the grocery store – wait popcorn section?  haha!  I tricked you!  There ISN’T a popcorn section.  No lie.  There’s just a little shelf, usually hidden somewhere in the middle of the chicken flavored potato chips (which is practically their only flavor) and it houses the two flavors of popcorn made in Australia.  Bland and Bland Lite.  You can forget about that yummy gourmet chocolate popcorn stuff.  Or the gourmet caramel stuff.  No no – not here.  [tear]

Cruise Pics

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Today the Maitre D from the cruise requested to be my friend on Facebook.  Oh yes.  That’s right.  ) Here’s a pic of the Maitre D et moi.  He was so cool and I had so much fun making friends with him and everyone else on the cruise ship!!  Seriously – I had so much fun.  It was a BLAST!!!  ) And it’s always to good to know that YAY! I’m not forgettable!  ;)

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And here are a whole ton of pics from the first few days of the cruise.  I’ll post the second half soon.  ) I have an essay to write tonight – so this is all I’m posting.  I hope I don’t go crazy!  Essay writing is kind of a BIG SUCKS!  But the GOOD NEWS is I made gluten-free brownies and they were to die for – YAY!  ) – my flatmates are addicted to my gluten-free goodness!  lol.  Have a happy Sunday!   Mine was fantastic!

Oh and you should check out the song “1, 2, 3, 4″ by Plain White T’s.  I’m in LOVE with this song.  It’s definitely the kind to put on repeat!!!

A new superhero power

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I should really start keeping track of how many cool super hero powers I have. I figured out another one the other day. And then of course – let us not forget that I have SUPERHUMAN PERIPHERAL SPIDER RADAR VISION which is about the coolest thing evah (spelled “ever” in the U.S.) (read about it HERE – oh lol. And no I’m NOT graceful.)

Anyway – today I am happy to announce that I have discovered I have Extraordinary Obvious Pocket Locating Pow-ah (Power). Are you impressed?  Because you should be.  You see, as I mentioned in the linked post above, superhero powers that are a mouthful to say are better than those that are not.  And that means Extraordinary Obvious Pocket Locating Pow-ah is awesome by the title ALONE.  HOWEVER that’s not the ONLY reason why this power is so flipping sweet. No no, this power rocks because it gives me the ability to hide/store stuff – like cool superhero stuff – like lipgloss.  )

Want to know how I discovered this cool power?  I found a “new” pocket on one of my skirts today and then – the VERY SAME DAY (which is still today) – I discovered that the “decorative” pocket on my super fly new hat is actually functional! Decorative AND useful. How cool is that?

So anyway – that’s my BIG news for today. Extraordinary Obvious Pocket Locating Pow-ah.  I can’t really top that.  It’s just too cool.  Oh wait – omgosh – I ALMOST forgot!  I can’t TOP that but I do have other important news.  I’ve fallen in love with lychees.  Have you ever had a lychee? (spelled “litchi” in the U.S.) YUM. I LUV them.

Ok – better start my homework. I’m the only one in my group who does the reading so I have to do 3x as much. Have a happy Friday! And please feel sorry for me ;) as it’s going to be a scor-cha tomorrow (spelled “omgosh it’s so hot I think I’m going to die” in the U.S.) with temps close to like 1,000,000 Celsius and at least 134% humidity.  That’s hot.  So hot I won’t be able to wear my super fly new hat.  ( But hey – at least I’m a superhero. Do YOU have any cool superhero pow-ahs?

First Day of School

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OMGOSH!  I can’t believe I forgot to take the classic First Day of School Pic!!  How remiss of me!

So this morning started out at 6:30 am, and even though the sun was already well above the horizon, it was my flatmate and his GF who were my little rays of sunshine this morning.  Aw – that’s so cheesy – but true!  We had a good laugh about D.B. from last night and my flatmate decided that I should cut D.B. from any future episodes of what he likes to call “Daisy-s of our Lives.”  No worries there!  He didn’t have a chance at a leading role anyway.

Next on the agenda – COUNTERTERRORISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS.  Doesn’t it sound absolutely thrilling?  What?  It doesn’t?  Why ever not?  You mean not everyone wants to write essays on Western Liberal Democracies and the resulting changes in their domestic terrorism policies post Sept. 11? CC+4 (who I still think is adorable) says he thinks it sounds interesting and I suppose it DOES sound interesting but my background in the University of Sydney’s Peace and Conflict department makes me VERY WARY!!! Very.

Class started at 10:00 but guess what time I arrived?  25 minutes EARLY!  Oh yeah – that’s right.  I figured a little aberration to the norm would be good to help shake things up a bit.  ) And NO it doesn’t matter that it was completely accidental – it still counts (thank you magic express bus that I never knew existed before today!!)   And I would appreciate it if you please do not use this example of punctuality as a frame of reference in the future.  ;)

So my class has 9 students.  1 of them being American.  (me!)  And 2 of them being slackers.  Of the 9 students in class only 1 was 2 hours late and only 2 (including the tardy boy) didn’t read the text before class.  Guess which two boys are in my group of 3 for the rest of the semester?  I am SO lucky!  Hmm …

It’s ok.  I didn’t want to get a good grade in the class anyway.  And WOW do I sound like a very optimistic and pleasant peach today!?  lol.  For real though – the good news is that I’m actually kind of excited to read the textbook.  And wow I can’t believe I just wrote that – I think I just lost a few cool points.  Thank goodness this private diary/blog is public – now NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW what a nerd I really am … oh wait.

Summer School – Wahoo!

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Back in June and July 2008 I consistently complained about, bemoaned, and HATED on the University of Sydney.  Why?  Because their application process is the WORST!  Sure it’s easy to apply.  Just sign here, here and here and submit the application fee.  That’s the part they tell you.  What they don’t tell you is that from the point you’ve completed the application you should expect that it will be lost in the darkest, largest, deepest and probably creepiest black hole you could ever imagine.  Am I being dramatic?  I think not.

I was all pumped to take “Coaching in Organizations” for my summer school class.  I registered, applied for a prerequisite waiver, and waited.  Then when I never heard anything I called.  Then I called again.  And again.  And again.  I was ASSURED that the class I was SO EXCITED to take was all good and I was set to take it.  So I started doing packing preparations because I’m supposed to leave in a few days and then I thought – I better call one more time (as if the 15 trillion times before weren’t enough.)  Why did I call again?  Because nothing at the University of Sydney is ever easy and this process smelled kinda fishy.

THANK GOODNESS I CALLED AGAIN!!!!

My prerequisite waiver was NOT actually accepted.  Wait what?  But wait a minute – didn’t they say it was accepted last time I called?  It’s all good in a terribly horrible way.  I’m not surprised.  For some reason Aussie English and American English are completely incompatible and the language barrier is almost insurmountable.  ERR.

But on the bright side of the black hole (umm Daisy? Black holes don’t have any light) I am super duper lucky because now I get to take the lamest, suckiest (whatever spellcheck – underline away!  suckiest IS a word ;)) class EVER!!!  The class: Counterterrorism and Human Rights.  LAME!  Sooooo not what I wanted to take.  But it means I can postpone packing for a bit.

Maybe if I’m even luckier the class will be taught by another hippy anti-American convict.  And she can pick me out of the class every session like I’m in high school and ask me what I’m whispering about.  I’ll lie like I did every last session and say, “Oh sorry I just didn’t understand what was said.”  When REALLY I was whispering about “What the flip is she wearing today?  Seriously?  Two headbands that don’t match, five bangle bracelets, two shawls, one, two, three – I can’t count how many earings and oh no she didn’t – please tell me those are not white socks with those ugly black lace-up commando boots.”

Cross your fingers for me!