The Times They Are A-Changin'

So right now I want to vomit. It has been one of those days where everything feels wrong. Personally, with the world, with the people I love. There have been earthquakes, self realizations, and many harsh spoken words. So here is my vent. I don't care if it sounds whiney. Read it. Get over it.


I hate the fact we are fighting a war against a concept that can't fight back, and we are losing. 


I hate nukes


I hate that we are scared of nukes


I hate that we need to be scared of terrorism


I hate that natural disasters can destroy entire countries in less than an hour


I hate that those disasters can't be dealt with because the world lacks resources


I hate that people kill other people


I hate world poverty and it makes me really sad thinking about it


I want to change the world at some point in my life


I want to find all the answers to the questions that haven't yet been answered


I want to live my life like I will be alive forever because I don't want to rush anything


I want to be a person who is remembered for making progress, for making people laugh, for creating happiness


I want to see things that no one else has ever seen before, and see all the things that other people have because they are just that good


I want to capture the good times and never let them go 


I want to wake up in the morning, knowing there's something new waiting for me to explore it


- chronically day dreaming, as always.

The greatest word I ever heard.

NOVOCASTRIAN.


Person 1: Where are you from?
Person 2: Newcastle.
Person 1: Oh you're a Novocastrian eh?
Person 2: Yeah.
 (Urban Dictionary)

Just some completely irrelevant and random literary knowledge for you. It means a person from Newcastle, NSW, Australia. I was so in awe of this masterpiece of a word I felt that it should be shared. It's funny because it is such an interesting, almost medieval jumble of letters. It reminds me of a castle somewhere in the UK, maybe Scotland or Wales. It reminds me of silver armor and knights on horseback and yet what it represents today is so far from this it is ridiculous to even make such a connection.  Although I suppose to be fair, they did name their NRL team "The Knights".  Next time they play, I am going to yell out "Those damn novocastrians!" Just because I can.

                                        (So there is a round table... but alas no knights :(  )

                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                           (Except for these knights... fierce no doubt. Lacking shining armor.)
                                                                          

One Sexy Vampire

I love that the mythical phenomenon, vampires,  can be so very cold, such icy creatures of the night, and yet, so hot. Edward Cullen has become a universal sex symbol and lets face it, there is a pretty good reason for it. Vampires, have always been such supposedly evil creatures, who have feasted on the blood of humans (despite an apparent recent move to vegetarianism) and prowled the nights, scaring us mortal human beings, forcing us to lace our homes with garlic, and keep a spare stake handy in case we should find the hearts of the perceived heartless to drive it through.

 Now, it seems as though all we really want to do is love them. Sleep with them. Put their posters on our walls. Brad Pitt, Robert Pattinson, Tom Cruise are perhaps some of the more famously good lookers who have graced our screens with their... horrifying... depictions of vampires over the past few years.

Today, they no longer sleep in coffins, but rather "sparkle in the sun". They will swing you through treetops watch you while you sleep, protect you through thick and thin. They are the ultimate romantic.  Edward Cullen, is the new age vampire that every girl dreams about. Forget the princes and the ponies and the shining armor.  Exceedingly good looks, charming personality, a sense of adventure and mystery, and to top if off, the vampire is a genius. Who wouldn't want to date a guy like this?  Prince charming was never this delicious! I say, screw the fairy tales, and give me a horror story any day.

 Regardless of your opinion on the literary merit of the twilight novels, regardless of your opinion on the cinematography in the film, I think both the casting crew and Stephenie Meyer  deserve a high five for their efforts in creating one sexy vampire.

Dirty Little Secrets

                                                                          ( Frank Armani- Photo by Dave Revette)

I was in a class today, learning about legal ethics, and what duties I will or will not have to my clients  if I choose to follow a career in the legal profession. I must say, the ethics in the world of law often scare me, and even more often leave me wondering what my own views are. We looked briefly at  a case that I thought was noteworthy on the basis of the ethical dilemma it posed. It left me wondering what I would do in the same situation, whether I could follow the rules in the name of confidentiality.

The Garrow case of 1973 was about a murderer/rapist who had hidden his victims bodies in various locations near New York.  He was on trial for the murder of an 18 year old boy, and he let slip to his lawyer, where the bodies were located. Admittedly, I would not go looking for the bodies. I would much rather leave that for people who are trained to find them however, this is what his lawyers did. They found the bodies, and did not report them to authorities on the basis of client/lawyer confidentiality. The issue is, should they have reported those bodies, or not? The legal profession have hailed them as heros as a result of this case. They never breached confidentiality, they kept their secret. Was there any harm in taking this approach? People have said that they were outrageous for not telling authorities, but would you risk your job for that? Would you risk not being able to provide for yourself or your family just so that a family of a victim can have closure? The more I think about this, the more it makes sense that you wouldn't and shouldn't tell.

People were dead. Reporting where they were would not bring them back. Reporting where they were would not make anything better. Reporting where they where would lose you your job. Reporting where they were would bring the profession into disrepute for breaching confidentiality. Reporting them really had no benefit other than personal emotional closure. The fact that the lawyers refrained and continued to defend their client was a display that I think is honorable, as it shows how seriously they take the profession. Would you want to tell a secret to your lawyer, and have them blab to police? No, you wouldn't. You have a right to keep certain information confidential and therefore your lawyers should ensure that this is possible.

Later, when all was said and done, Garrow actually managed to escape from prison, and stay on the run for 11 days. In fact, he was hiding in the bushes just outside the prison. He was, shot dead when he was found. This case seemed like something that I would be torn about should I be faced with such a scenario. I would like to say that I would have the heroic strength to do what Armani did, although I am just not 100% sure I would.  Still, we should all be hailing lawyers like Armani, because without people like that, secrets would become futile in the legal profession and there would be none of this "Everything you say here will be kept confidential" business. Trust in your lawyer,  would be a thing of the past.

http://law.gsu.edu/ccunningham/PR/Garrow-NYTimes.htm  (Check out this link for a report done, in June 1974 on the matter)

No, you are absolutely ridiculous!

                                       

Jessica Watson is a name that has been all over the media these past few weeks. If you don't know who this girl is, you should. 16 years old, and sailing solo around the world? Everyone should know that name. The question is, is she to young? After reading the opinion at:

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,26062332-5007146,00.html

I admit, I was enraged. Not only does the writer compare Jessica to a 13 year old girl, but she continually refers to her as a child. A child who should be stopped, sheltered from herself. At 16, society says it's okay to have your own children. It's okay to get behind the wheel of a car. It's okay to leave school and go out into the workforce. So... if 16 year olds can do all this,  should they be stopped from following their dreams? When I was discussing this at length with my father, he dutifully pointed out to me, that he would not let me take such a voyage (Although I pointed out this is probably wise since I have never sailed a boat in my life). He used the example also, that as experienced as a surfer my 16 year old brother may be (and he is exceptionally good)  for someone his age, there is no way he would allow him to attempt to be the youngest person to say, surf the biggest wave in the world. I concur, letting him do so would be seriously risking his life. There is one fundamental difference however, between this example, and Jessica Watson. She wants to take this risk.

I think after her collision with an oil tanker last week, she has proved that she can handle an emergency situation. Her ability levels are such that skill wise she is ready for this adventure.  Enough life experience? Well that is yet to be seen, although on that note, would we let a 90 year old to sail solo around the world? Imagine the risks. They might have been sailing for 80 years, but do they have the physical strength? no. Would we stop them? No we wouldn't. What about a 20 year old who was compromisingly physically disabled? No, we would not stop them either.  They would be, as this girl should be, deemed adventurous heros.

Personally I am jealous of this girl. She is so passionate about her dreams, so motivated to live them. Where am I? University, with only the vaguest idea of where I want to go with my life, and certainly not a lot of time to have such passion for anything. Her education from here on in, is meaningless if sailing is her calling. And who is to say she won't finish her education anyway?  It  would be like saying to someone who desperately wanted to be a model, and was given a contract with Chanel, no, sorry, you need to finish high school. I assure you, you do  not need to know how to read shakespeare in order to become a supermodel.

My point is, dreams are important. Jessica's parents recognize this and so do her sponsors, friends and myself. We should be thankful, that our youth is daring to be just a little bit dangerous.  If you think this is an "absolutely ridiculous" notion, maybe you should look at how ridiculous you are being, and consider what else society allows young adults to do at the ripe old age, of 16.

You can check out Jessica Watson's website here http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/

"Most WTF moment ever!"

                                                                              (Flickr)
So, there I was, sitting in a contract law lecture, learning about remedies for breaching a contract and I feel this poking of my shoulder, so I turn around and out of the blue, a friend says to me " I had the most what the fuck moment ever this morning! I was driving to uni and I saw a camel on the side of the road!"  Her WTF moment instantly became mine. A camel? Seriously? Does Australia even have camels? Getting excited, I responded with "Did it have one hump or two?" Apparently it only had one. It got me thinking about all my other wtf moments in a day and I realized that while they may not be all as exciting or random as this one, I have many. Today, My wtf moments were excitingly bizarre! And they all seemed to be associated with camels. They were as follows.
1. My friend telling me she had seen a camel on Picton Road
2. Finding out it only had one hump when I very clearly expected it to have two
3. Finding out Australia actually had wild camels
4. Another friend telling me that in America Kevin Rudd was labeled a murderer because he is allowing wild camels to be shot because they are bigger pests than rabbits!

All this led to much deeper philosophical thinking. What other wtf moments have I had?   I remember driving down a random street on a random road trip and seeing a street called "Dingo Street". Underneath this it had a sign saying "Preschool". I remember thinking "wtf? is this some kind of sick joke?" (See http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/29/newsid_2467000/2467665. if you are unfamiliar with the "a dingo ate my baby" story) There are so many of these moments, I actually had trouble picking out pictures and anecdotes for this blog because they seem to be never ending!

                                                          (Seriously? WTF?)


I decided to ring my parents to get some perspective and hear some of their own wtf moments, find out how their week was going and to ask them to send more food up to me.  My dad told me that the biggest wtf moment in his life was finding out my mother was pregnant with me, followed closely by my birth. It was so much more than just a wtf moment.

Seriously, FML.

Reduce Me, Seduce me, Dress me up in Ecstasy...

I am the seduction that drips from your lips as your breath blows slightly on my face and your eyes search mine. I am the dreams your life is made of, the imagination that is so ever present. I am the subliminal experiences you always wanted to experience and the lipstick kiss on the mirror you liked to wake up to if I had to leave before you. I am the hope you always invested in life and the piece of the puzzle that never had a problem fitting. I am the energy that radiates from your heart that is connected to my heart that I will never let go of. I am the one who knows the secrets you were never meant to tell but you whispered to me late at night as we lay side by side looking up at the stars. I am the tears that fell in the hard times, and the one who wiped them off your cheek as you stared into my eyes and told me you loved me. I am the the rain that hit the umbrella as we walked along, humming to that song we used to love. I am the essence of the ecstasy that made us crazy in love and lust and admiration. I am the time that ticked as we watched the clock on the wall and giggled drunkenly at its hands and where they were going. I am the hangover that you never wanted to recover from. I am the end of your world as you knew it. I am the years of happiness that you never thought you would get. I am the reason, I am the answer, I am the good, I am the everything and I love that I am all these things. 

Springtime!

Flowerpots that don't look half dead, or worse. Flowers popping out of nowhere, out of walls, out of the ground, and up on dresses in vogue. The smell of sugary springtime hits you with temptation and you wonder what, really, you are doing inside.

Bees invade, but thats okay, your too scared to go near them anyway, just the buzzing is enough to get the hype on. Backyard BBQ's and pool parties are begging to be planned, salad recipe books are dusted off, because it's been so long since you made one, that you can't remember what springtime should taste like... or even what should go in it!

It's still too cold to swap your pajamas to summer short shorts, but it's to hot to leave the heater on at night which is lucky, because you were starting to feel like global warming was all your fault with the
amount of energy you have been using between that and your forty minute steaming showers, which you just had to have in order to de-numbnify your toes.

It's time to get out. Stop pretending to "enjoy" winter. Stop pretending that snuggles, hot chocolate, movie nights and open fires excite you. Remember that these things are referenced because it's to fucking cold to go outside. It's springtime. Get excited. Go pick some flowers.