Not Too Hot On Summer

   

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.  ~Wallace Stevens


Well Mr Stevens, clearly you never spent a night in Perth during summer. 


It is currently 10.42pm, pitch black outside and still 26.4 degrees Celsius. Thats 79 degrees Fahrenheit, for all you Americans.


Todays grand total was 34.3 Celsius (93.7). Yesterday was even worse - 38.1 (100.5). 


I hate summer. Its great during December, when it doesn't get too hot. January sucks. February sucks. Half of March sucks. I walk around constantly sweating, its disgusting. I haven't been properly dry since New Years, possibly before. 

Although my mum put me onto this wonderful deodorant - Rexona Women Clinical Protection. It is my lifesaver. Although, its not like you can put that all over your body, so you still get that fun sweat dripping down your back, behind your knees, back on your neck, top lip, forehead. Basically everywhere bar underarms :).


SO I'm guessing you have all realised I am not a summer person. Summer makes me uncomfortable. Plus with all that sweating I am paranoid I smell. 3 months of paranoia - not healthy. 


I don't like the beach. **GASP**


Yes its true. I do not like the beach. I, Ashleigh of Student Myths Uncovered, would rather do almost anything instead of going to the beach. I burn very easily, and get very hot very easily. Therefore, a beach with little shade = not happy. Then theres all that sand, and the salt water. **Shudder**


It kind of sucks that I live in Western Australia, home of the great beach. 

My own personal form of hell. 

Anyway, give me winter any day. This could be because in Perth we don't have very intense winters. So therefore its more attractive to me than people who have very intense winters. 

Grass being greener and all that. Or in Perths case, grass being browner. 

Food for thought.

Until next time 

Ashleigh xxx

What I Actually Did for Australia Day

This is a sad story.


Not really. But it is a stupid one.


The stupid part being me. As usual. I have a tendency to stuff things up. 


After I wrote my blog post on Tuesday about how much I was looking forward to Australia Day and the great plan I had for it, I was sitting in my room thinking about Australia, and listening to Australian songs and felt a little lonely. So I texted my friend (who I MUST think of a name for) and she invited me over to her flat.


Well.


That turned into 4 vodka cruisers and half a bottle of vodka each, a blackout by yours truly, random Australian flag tattoos all over me, a bird feather in my bathroom, showering fully clothed, vomiting, sleeping on the floor and somehow making it into my bed, my friend undressing me and me subsequently spending the entire next day going from the couch to vomiting in the toilet. 


I have never, but never, been so hungover in my life. I drank water. I threw up. I took Panadol. I threw up (just FYI, that does not taste good). I had plain spaghetti. I threw up. I had cola (see how desperate I was to get something in my stomach? I don't even like soft drink of any kind and I recently gave it up completely). I threw up.  I drank more water. I threw up. 


I had a throbbing headache. I felt so sick, no matter what I did. 


And my dear friend? Well she managed to suffer almost not at all compared to me. 


Just the thought of vodka makes me feel ill. 


But I did feel a bit better by the end of the day and made it down to the foreshore to watch the fireworks and have dinner. Didn't make my dumplings but had a hot chicken, potato salad, pavlova, mars bar slice and chips. Plus the careful sipping of orange juice and some peppermint tea. Yes I drank peppermint tea on the foreshore. I did feel old, but god it tasted good. 


Anyway, feeling much better today thank god. I just took my bike I got for Christmas out its long overdue first ride. I was a little shaky at first but in the end... it was just like riding a bike! 


Cheers


Ashleigh 

My Favourite Day of the Year

YES!

It is Australia Day tomorrow!!

I'm so excited! I absolutely LOVE Australia Day.

I will be having a sleep in, then working on my essay (no rest for the educated), then in the afternoon I'm going to go for a bike ride, then make a pavlova and some chicken dumplings (not strictly Australian, but I figure we're multicultural right?) then a couple of my friends from school and I are going to head down to the South Perth foreshore to hang, listen to the Mix 94.5 Australia Day programme, watch the BP Airshow then my favourite bit, the fireworks!!

I'm going to wear my white dress with Australian flags on it, thongs of course, and Australian flag tattoos!! I will try and remember to take many pictures to show you all my shameless patriotism.

I prefer to spend Australia Day with Australians as opposed to my copious amounts of international friends. Not that I don't love them, I see them more than I do my Australian friends, its just I don't feel like they get it in quite the same way. I don't blame them for this at all, I've been born into and indoctrinated into it my whole life, and they have a different perspective. I am intensely proud of being an Australian and all that it represents, and yes, even if that means I have a bogan accent and I drink too much and sometimes we are all a bit racist with our 'Love it or Leave it' and 'I Grew Here, You Flew Here' attitudes, but I don't think about that stuff on Australia Day. I think about how lucky I am to have grown up in a country that lets people have those sort of attitudes. Google 'why I won't be celebrating Australia Day' and plenty of articles come up spouting why we are a bunch of racist, loud-mouthed, holier-than-thou loutish bogans. Now say if that article had been written about somewhere in the Middle East, or perhaps Russia, North Korea, do you think it would be allowed to be published? Probably not. And Mr Brull would not be allowed to have his photo on the Internet, nor be allowed to say these things.

But we don't live there.

We live in Australia. We can pretty much say what we want, without fear of retribution. We have amazing weather. We have (almost) equal rights (ok, it could be a lot worse). We have a highly educated society. We have low unemployment. We managed to pretty much avoid the GFC. We have a mix of cultures, who are ALL part of making up the mesh of Australia.

In my opinion, I live in an amazing country. I love Australia. I cannot see myself living anywhere but here. For one thing, people from other countries don't tend to understand me when I talk (the bogan accent coming out and all). But I just think, I live in the luckiest country in the world. Why would I leave?

And if you don't think so, well thats ok. But I think it is. And I will celebrate Australia Day proudly. And one of the perks of living here, is that I don't get judged for this, and I won't judge you for not celebrating it.

2010 - The Year That Was

Ok so you all know how I like to be a band-wagon-jumper right? Not all the time, just sometimes. Well as I didn't jump on the proverbial write-a-blog-about-Christmas-and-its-general-stresses-and-joys bandwagon I will leap forth onto the shit-its-the-last-day-of-the-year-and-i-haven't-written-a-post-for-a-while-yet-don't-have-a-lot-to-say-probably-coz-i'm-not-at-uni-right-now-thank-god-for-holidays-i'm-such-a-slacker-uni-student-with-my-5-months-a-year-off-anyway-how-was-2010-for-you bandwagon. 

Uni Students: Working Hard, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, 2 weeks a year 

(those two weeks being the one right before each set of exams when you realise you slept through most of your lectures, and even though it was a good reason at the time, just coz your lecture is on the other side of campus, in the smelly Vet building, at the hideously early hour of 9.30am, you still should have gone). 

What did I love about 2010?


- the day I found out I got an internship - god that felt good!
- booking my flights to London. Oh you didn't know I'm going to London? I'M GOING TO LONDON BABY!!!!!!!! 
- heading to Bali..... twice
- getting an high distinction on a written assignment. Oh did I not mention that? It happened twice. Boo yah!
- finishing my acne medication - pretty skin for me :)
- having a personal trainer
- my new pink laptop
- The Boyfriends sister getting engaged - and asking me to be a bridesmaid!! And then asking me to do a reading during the ceremony - apparently I'm the only one who won't 'fall apart'. 
- passing all my assignments, exams and units :)
- finding out my friend is coming back to Australia!! I will have to think of a pseudonym for her - she is one of those people stories happen to 
- turning 20 - leaving behind my teen years. And as my dad always says, every day is a new personal best - you've never been alive for this many days before!
- suggesting the wedding dress to The Boyfriends sister, which she subsequently fell in love with and cried over :) ***best bridesmaid ever***
- my school friend Dani having a beautiful baby girl - Charlotte
- Volunteer as a FYERST helper 
- A female Prime Minister!!
- playing social basketball
- seeing my first 2 strippers ;)
- starting a Certificate IV
- deciding that when I get married, I'm doing it at the zoo :)
- My blog and my lovely blog followers - all 4 of you :D






What I didn't like about 2010
- Flying Monkey getting drunk, falling off a wall, and injuring himself very badly. 3 months in hospital or something ridiculous like that?
- The Boyfriend and I nearly breaking up a couple of times - although I think it has made us stronger
- Not being able to leave the Village!!!!!
- My constant inability to deal with the heat :)








2011?
I have no idea what it will hold. Hopefully I will get skinny. Hopefully I will leave the Village. Hopefully I will be a bit more social. Hopefully I will get a graduate job. Hopefully................ well, hopefully lots of things. 






These things are certain. 


I start a summer unit on 4th January - Human Resource Economics. I am applying for a second job as I am soo poor right now. I am going to Europe. Uni will begin 'full time' mid February. I will find out one way or another about my graduate position mid February. 


Let me know how you are feeling about my blog. Do you like it, is it smeh, is it so awful it burns your eyes whenever you open the page? Would you like more uni stuff, would you like more personal stuff, would you like to hear me rant, would you just like to shut me up? 


Until next time (hopefully the not too distant future)






Ashleigh x 

Q&A About Me

Hi guys


So I thought today I would give you a bit more of an insight into 'Who is Ashleigh?'. That way, when I'm a famous CEO and general all-round awesome person, you will win those trivia games. Kind of a reward for reading me now, while I still have my biggest successes ahead of me. Ok here goes:
1. What is your best friends name? - True Blue Kangaroo. She's been my best friend ever since we were 12 and at school together. I love her to pieces. 
2. What color underwear/boxers wearing now? Black bonds
3. What are you listening to right now? OMG Almighty Mix - Usher. I didn't even know I had this song, and my iTunes is on shuffle right now. I wouldn't have even realised if it weren't for this question.
4. Whats your favorite number? Ooh tough one. My least favourite number would have to be 7. I do feel better about even numbers as opposed to odd but a favourite? Can't say I have one. I do like 6, its admirable that it manages to be next to 7 and still be ok. 
5. What was the last thing you ate? The filling from my chicken and spinach lasagne  from last night - I added chilli! Yum!
6. If you were a crayon what color would you be? Hot Pink. Preferably with glitter
7. How is the weather right now? Well, its nighttime. So dark? But warm :)
8. Who was the last person you talked 2 on the phone? Smiling Tiger. I edited her resume for her this evening, but I was running massively late. 
9. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Whether they have a 'quality'. Some guys have it, some don't. I'm sorry I can't define it better, but I don't know exactly what it is. It's just a quality. 
10. Do you have a significant other? I do. The boyfriend has been around for nearly 2 and half years. He gets up before me in the mornings and gets me coffee and massages my feet at night so he's pretty much perfect. Pity he works away (12 days on, 6 days off)so I don't get to see him as much as I want. But he always calls when he says he will. I don't think I can ask for more than that :) 
11. Favorite TV show? Without a doubt, Friends. I cannot live without that show. 
12. Siblings? 1 sister, she is 4 years younger than me. Much more social and popular, but shes shorter than me - no mean feat since I only top 5 foot 4 (163cm) on a good day. 
13. Height? LOL I just answered that! 5 foot 4, or 163 cm
14. Hair color? Brown. I've been most colours, but I am a fan of being au naturale. I keep thinking maybe I'll go blonde soon though. 
15. Eye Color? Blue. I love my eyes :) 
16. Do you wear contacts? No, I wear glasses for long distance though. People often ask me why I don't get contacts but since I am not allowed to look at anything too closely with my glasses on, contacts aren't an option because I would be reading things all the time with them in. 
17. Favorite Holiday? Bali is amazing. Just lying by a pool, drinking cocktails, relaxing and basically living like a king is awesome. But I have Europe next year so maybe Bali will be edged out. I'm thinking it will be. 
18. Month? August. My birthday! 
19. Have you ever cried for no reason? Plenty of times. Usually once a month. Also if I'm really tired. One time, the boyfriend told me he loved me and I cried. 
20. What was the last movie you watched? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - AWESOME
21. Favorite Day of the Year? Australia Day - drinking, socialising, fireworks, wearing hideous patriotic clothes = best day ever! 
22. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Yeah. But I would let them know I was interested :) 
23. Can you do a headstand (not using the wall)? No. I'm too scared
24. Hugs or Kisses? Kisses every time
25. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla
26. Do you want your friends to respond to this? I don't think my friends read this. So whatever 
27. Who is most likely to respond? No idea
28. Who is least likely to respond? No idea
29. What books are you reading? Anything and everything. I love reading and will devour anything I can get my hands on
30. Piercings? My ears and my belly button. Got my belly button done when I was 14 - if I had my time again, I don't think I would get it done. 
31. Favorite movies? Anything chick flick 
32. Favorite football Team? West Coast Eagles!! 
33. what were u doing before this? Drinking - we are celebrating the end of exams
34. Butter, Plain or Salted popcorn? Salted - I am a salt fan
37. Dogs or cats? Cats. I cannot stand dogs
38. Favorite flower? Lilies. Such a pretty, unassuming flower. But I don't really go in for flowers much. I like to get them, but the type doesn't bother me too much
39. Been caught doing something you weren't supposed to do? Plenty of times :) 
40. Do you have a best friend of the opposite sex? I thought I did, but due to recent events, I guess not 
41. Have you ever loved someone? Two people - my ex who I was with for 2 1/2 years and the boyfriend
42. Who would you like to see right now? My cousin, Macy - she lives overseas and I adore her

43. Are you still friends with people from kindergarten?

No, we all fell out when I went to boarding school

44. Have you ever fired a gun? Yes, on a friends farm. I was awful at it 
45. Do you like to travel by plane? Love it - no stress, just sitting in a chair reading, watching movies, listening to music, having food brought to me - what's not to love? 
46. Right-handed or Left-handed? Righty Tighty 
47. How many pillows do you sleep with? Four or five when I'm alone. When the boyfriends home, I'm only allocated two :(
48. Are you missing someone? My lobster (aka the boyfriend)
49. Do you have a Tattoo? No, and I don't think I will ever get one 
50. Anybody on Blogger that you'd go on a date with? Maybe..... Lachlan. He seems very interesting and I think we would get on well ;) 


So there I am. Hope I'm not too awful :) 

A Whinging Culture

It is quite often said that Australia has a drinking culture. And thats true, we do. We drink all the time. We drink to celebrate, we drink to commiserate. Something happens - hey lets have a drink. Oh Oh the sun is rising - crack open a beer! 


I have absolutely nothing against this drinking culture, given that I grew up with it, and my mother and father have been giving me sips of alcohol since I was about 4 and I'm pretty sure that wine was a base ingredient in all my food growing up. I even think they may have used that old trick when I was teething - you know stick the dummy in some bourbon and then the baby has no more pain. This is NOT recommended by doctors, dentists, or really any health care professional. It could explain some things.......


I don't really know the opinion of the rest of the world in regards to Australians - although I've been told we are fairly highly regarded. And our drinking culture is acknowledged. HOWEVER - does the rest of the world know that Australians whinge? We whinge like no tomorrow. If there was an Olympic sport of whinging, we would win gold, silver and bronze because the whole event would be filled with Australians. 
I do not like our whinging culture. I believe it has stemmed from our insistence on being tied to the apron strings of Britain, England or the United Kingdom or whatever name it is I should call them. Lets become a republic already!!!!! 


I mention this because I was reading the 'news' yesterday - yes always a dangerous thing when trying to keep anger levels low. The thing that struck me the most was not the news articles themselves, but the comments people made on them. This was online news for anyone stuck in a paper world and doesnt know how to get out. Turn on the computer. Things will happen on the screen. This is exactly like reading paper but about five gazillion trees are saved. Not quite sure how your reading this blog, unless I'm really famous, and you are one of those bosses who gets their assistant to print everything off for them to read. BTW - your assistant hates you. She (or he, but probably she - I'll do a blog post on gender next time) is probably young, technology savvy and resents you for not being able to get your head out of your own arse and catch up with the rest of the world. And you know what? One day you will be dead and she will still be ruling the world - even though you are misogynistic and rude and don't believe in her. Guess what? The world does not actually revolve around you. Get over yourself.


Anyway...


The whinginess of Australians. I mean come on. These people took time out of their day to comment on these news stories. The comments are not well written and I don't think these people actually understand what they are talking about. I detest people who have all these wonderful opinions and stick firmly and very vocally to them, but have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.


Case in point. The mining tax. Personally I was for it. Not going to go into that now. But I could also see negatives, and I think that the idea could work, but the technicalities probably needed to be ironed out. But the amount of people I met who just swallowed the anti-tax ads on the tv (which were funded and developed by the mining companies, I might add) ran into the hundreds. Hook, line and sinker. Please people, apply some critical thought here. 


Also, I bet on the online forum things - nobody actually cares what is written. The reason that people comment is so they can get a response from other people and then that can degenerate into an online slanging match. Whoop de fricken doo. If you care that much about something, get out there and do something about it. Don't just comment on a news article then sit there smugly while hundreds of other people get upset. You have achieved nothing. 


I love how I am whinging online about others whinging online. But then I'm Australian. Its my culture. Think I'll go have a drink.


Till next time


Ash