Lilly

Brave and Naked?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 24 May 2012 12:59:00 +0000

“She really has let herself go, hasn’t she?”

I stopped in my tracks.

For a minute there, I thought they might have been talking about me.

After all…. my butt is much larger than my self esteem....

I turned around to see two middle-aged women enjoying a latte, cake and pouring scorn over a magazine article. About this woman.

Hilary Clinton.

Apparently this is what "a brave, naked face" looks like. Clearly they have never seen most of us on a good day then.

Hilary, who is 65 this year and travels all over the world at an exhausting pace as the US Secretary of State, has apparently “let herself go”.

I missed the fuss. I am so out of the loop. It’s apparently been in the press, in all its forms for the past couple of weeks.

Who knew that "letting yourself go" really means wearing your hair loose, a pair of glasses and no eye makeup?

This picture was taken after Hilary had been travelling in Bangladesh for three days straight. Sheesh, if I had done that, I probably would have been wearing a paper bag over my head and my PJs at least.

And here was I thinking that "letting yourself go" meant stacking on 50 pounds of blubber, growing facial hair, drinking gin for breakfast and wearing velour tracksuits day in and out…..

I wonder when society is ever going to accept that 65 should not look like 35? Hilary Clinton is a great looking senior who doesn't need all that war paint to hide behind.

As a former makeup artist I can tell you it's just a tiny bit sad to see women (regardless of the work they have had done on their face) who continue to wear the same makeup they did when they were in their 20s or 30s. Resembling a crumbling statue held together with spac filler and paint is not really the kind of look most of us are intentionally going for.

I wonder if this public ridicule is the reason why more experienced, skilled senior women are not out there doing incredible things in the public sphere? Achievements don't matter but apparently your face really does. The pressure must be enormous for anyone in the public eye not to succumb to plastic surgery. I can just imagine Hilary asking Nancy Pelosi, “Love your face Nance, where can I get one?”

I can understand why younger people are judgemental about ageing. However, what I really would like to know is why are more mature women are so critical of each other's looks? We applaud those who have managed to "maintain" their looks and denigrate those who just want to age the way nature intended. And, then vice verse. We need to stop taking it all so seriously.

And if like me you have to see the funny side in everything, watch this video by the wonderful blogger, comedian and book author Linda Lou – I love her spirit and talent. Ageing is tough and funny but can be oh so liberating. We really should be grateful we got this far....without putting that bag over our heads.

It's all in the DNA

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:28:00 +0000

Somewhere or other.

Everyone looks at my daughter and me and says that there is no way that we could be related as we are nothing alike.

That might be a blessing for her but I continue to look for some evidence, other than her birth certificate, that we are in fact mother and daughter.

On face value I can see that it may not be obvious,

After all,

I am tall and she is petite

I am blonde and she's a brunette

I am on the creative side and she is logical and analytical

I am a glass half empty and she's a glass half full

She loves Laboutins and I love flats.

She loves exotic food and I love it plain and simple.

She loves wearing patterns and I like block colours.

She loves travelling off the beaten track and I like staying on the well worn one.

She loves to cook and I love to eat, .......

BUT..... I am telling you that if you look hard enough you will find the gene somewhere, even though it may be buried deep.

I was going through some photos last night after a beautiful Mother's Day and I found these.

Aww, see we are alike.....

It seems neither one of us knows how to use those giant velcro rollers.
Not only that but ~~I hope~~ I think we both have the same sense of humour ....because when she sees that picture....

And just in case she doesn't see the funny side, I really pray that she also runs just as slowly as me.....

PS As she is in the legal profession that photo may only have a short web life....

A belated Happy Mothers Day to all you Mothers, Step Mothers, Foster Mothers, Aunties who love like Mothers and Grandmothers. Yes, its our differences that make it all the more worth while, don't you think?

What do you think is fair game for sharing with the world?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 03 May 2012 01:27:00 +0000

“For better or for worse, our company is a reflection of my thinking, my character, my values.” Rupert Murdoch

Do you suppose he regrets saying that?

It is fascinating watching the downfall of 81 year old Rupert Murdoch in the very arena that he spent all his life manoeuvring and negotiating in order to build a 46 billion dollar media empire.

However, it’s the kind of grubby end befitting a person who chose to buy silence and paid millions and millions of dollars to make The News of the World phone hacking scandal go away rather than expose the truth.

The News of the World publication was a gutter tabloid publication but it was one Murdoch was happy to own for 31 years. It clearly made him lots of money. Its reporters bribed police officers, hacked the phone messages of hundreds of celebrities, royalty, government officials and others whose personal secrets could be tabloid fodder and then filled pages of their publication which a celebrity obsessed public devoured.

And unfortunately when questioned about these illegal activities Murdoch utilised the defence strategy favoured by every pre-schooler when caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Deny. Blame someone else. Then claim it was an accident.

The absurdity of his defence made me think of Bill Clinton's attempts at defending himself in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal (although completely different scenarios).

“I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I never told anybody to lie, not a single time; never.”

No-one believed him either and look how that turned out.

Murdoch first claimed that it was just “one rogue reporter” who was responsible for this illegal behaviour. Then, when the evidence became too overwhelming, the one reporter defence turned into “only one rogue newspaper”. More cringeworthy was that he said that the publication was an “aberration” and that he “would have gotten rid of it years ago if its readers had not liked it so much”.

If its readers had not liked it so much.......

What is it about us, the general public, that we love to hear the dirt about others’ lives, celebrities or otherwise?

Look at the rise of Reality TV and the increasing trashiness of magazines, newspapers and even blogs. I think social media has only exacerbated this. Sharing private moments is encouraged and bloggers/twitterers/facebookers seem to post more and more provocative, expletive laden, and confessional postings just to increase their followers. Hopefully, with the demise of British tabloids as we know them, the world may be turning. I hope so.

What is Charity?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Window dressing it seems....

Store window, Fitzroy, Melbourne

Middleage makes you more reflective.

You start wondering about the "big" questions like, What is life? Why am I here? What have I contributed to society? What will I leave behind? How much Healthy Choice ice cream can I eat before it is not a healthy choice.

All the big questions.

I decided a long while ago that I needed to do more community service. After all, if you listen to Bill Gates and Dick Smith, community service is apparently not just not for hardened criminals anymore.

So while I am doing some things, I know that I should be doing a whole lot more.

Last Friday, my rattled conscience and a service opportunity collided…. right outside a Vinnies store (St Vincent de Paul op shop).

I happened to wander past the store and I noticed a sign in the window asking for volunteers for a couple of hours a week. I could do that I thought. I walked into the store and was quite surprised. These days the stores look like small boutiques as opposed to op shops. Have you noticed? I wonder where poor people go to shop nowadays.

After explaining to the Manager that I was keen to 'sign up', she invited me into her office and asked me to take a seat. She then pulled out a thick pile of papers and started firing questions at me.

"What is Charity?"
"What is it you think we do here?"
"What qualifications do you have that could help us?"

Oh my, a full blown interview and I had not even brushed my hair.

I started to panic and before I knew it I was channeling Mother Theresa. I heard myself saying, “I have immense love and compassion for all living beings and I believe we all have a duty to give of ourselves and I just want to give my time to help the poor.”….

“Right”, she interrupted, “I hear you. It’s just that we really like to make sure our volunteers are qualified for, and happy with the work they do. Have you ever done retail?” she asked hopefully.

“Sure, I have done plenty of retail in my time, but possibly not much of the kind you are talking about.”

NO RETAIL she writes down, underlining it several times.

“So what is it you could do for us then?” she asked.

“Well, I could ~~clearly~~ ~~do your recruitment~~ file things in the office, empty the rubbish, sweep the floor, dust, fold socks, sort stock. Anything really." I said.

“No, no, I think you would be good in the front with the customers but I’m just not sure what doing. It’s just that we try and match people’s skills with the work that’s all. So what do you do in your spare time?

"Well", I say slowly, "I like art, blogging…", I didn’t get any further because she looked as though I had just told her I really enjoyed smoking crack.

So I said rather flippantly, “Right, well I know how important process is to you, and clearly by the look of that large pile of papers you have very strict procedures. Maybe this may help, I have a business degree and a theatrical makeup degree. I like working with order and colour in most things I do. So perhaps I could colour code your clothes in the store the same way the Kookai clothes chain does in theirs.”

No smile, no laugh, nothing.

She scribbled something down and looked very serious.

“Perfect”, she finally announced, “I have it. You could help do the window and instore displays. Merchandising, that’s it. Mother’s Day is coming up. Now here is a 20 page application form for you to complete. I will need two referees and we will have to do a police check as well. How does that sound?”

“Lovely, just lovely”, I say.

I stood up with perspiration forming on my brow.

Ok, so that really did not go the way I expected. At all.

And, I am just giving you the heads up, just so you can get your pennies all lined up in rows. If I don’t cut the mustard to be an unpaid volunteer window dresser at Vinnies for several hours a week, I am putting a donation button on my blog and becoming my own charity…..because clearly I would be so very, very deserving.

Do you do any charity or community work?

Do share as I am sure there are some fascinating stories out there, even though I can't imagine too many others dressing windows for the disadvantaged.

Gotye

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 13:19:00 +0000

and other fascinating things I found while ~~working~~ surfing the internet last week (yes procrastination is my new job and I have decided just to give in to it and go with the flow).

1. Where is Wally?

Well he has just made it to No 1 on the American Billboard charts with his song, Someone I used to Know.

Gotye (real name Wally De Backer) is the first solo Australian to hit number 1 since Olivia Newton-John racked up 10 weeks at the top in 1981 with Physical. Rick Springfield was the last solo male Australian artist to reign with Jesse’s Girl 31 years ago (no-one will admit they remember that song). Savage Garden were the last Australian group to hit number one in 2000. Have a listen, he may look like his name but I will guarantee you will be humming this all day. Best of all he is an independent artist from Melbourne and has been struggling for 10 years. Must be making all those big labels a little sorry right about know.

2. What would you do for five bucks?

Nothing much I bet. So why don't you go visit Fivver.com. No, you really, really, really have to because you will not believe what people all over the world are willing to do for just $5. I spent $20 there today hiring people in four different countries to do something for me. I will show you what they have done when its finished. Even I don't believe it could be possible.

3. Do you love Art?

This blog, This isn't happiness is a beautiful art scrapbook. It is one of the top 100 websites in the world and the blog has over 250,000 followers. PG rating.

4. Want to bring anyone back to life?

Did your see the footage of 2pack (real name Tupak Shakur) performing with Dr Dre and Snoop Dog at Coachella 2012 Music Festival? No, I wouldn't have either except that someone told me Tupak actually died in 1996. The special effects holygram was done by an LA digital studio. I am just hoping Joe Jackson doesn’t get any money making ideas to trot a Michael Jackson holygram out and take him on a world tour. It is freakingly real.

Warning. 2pac was a rapper so every first, second and third word begins with F….that music is 16 years old so don't go shaking your head about all this modern day music and all. It's not a high quality video because all the others around are copyright now. Just turn off the sound if you don't want to shock anyone (because you will) but it is incredible and kind of creepy to watch....

5. Think you are too old for high fashion?

Rita Ellis Hammer

Then go visit a blog called Advanced Style and be inspired. Blogger Ari Seth Cohen roams the streets of New York looking for the most stylish and creative older folks. Let these ladies and gents teach you a thing or two about living life to the fullest. Advanced Style offers proof that personal style (and bravery in some cases)advances with age.

Have a great weekend everyone. I am off to visit the home of a silent Hollywood movie star who married an Australian grazier three weeks after they met. She moved with him to his farm near where I live. They spent decades together before they both died in the 70s. They left their estate to the goverment and the farm continues to operate as a working farm and has generated many millions of dollars for the community since. Their homestead, left as they had it, is open to the public every so often. It's a love story that should be a Hollywood film. A most unlikely match. I will tell you about it next week.

Just Do It

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 03:31:00 +0000

I have perfected the art of PROCRASTINATION.

And I wish there was some way I could make a living out of it because I would be filthy rich.

Please don’t tell me it’s just another sign of the advancing years like greying hair, drooping jowls and memory loss. Because seriously, it would be impossible for me to get any better at it than I already am.

I’ve reached the pinnacle of this particular pastime. I can manage to do anything and everything except the particular task that has an urgent deadline.

And I choose to procrastinate even though I know that nothing is as fatiguing or as headache inducing as hanging onto an uncompleted task.

I don't know why. I’m too scared to put the 'why' question to Google. I know how brutal the answers would be. Lazy, perfectionist, fear of failure, good for nothing. I can guess.

However, like most of my faults, I like to view this particular affliction in the most positive light possible.

I tell myself that at least I’m not one of those lazy procrastinators. It's not like I am stretched out on the lounge in my PJs watching Mad Men episodes back to back and gorging on leftover chocolate eggs. And nor am I am lazing out on the deck in the gorgeous Autumn sunshine with a cocktail and the latest self help book in hand.

Although come to think of it I did try a bit of the latter last week.
I was looking for some inspiration to help me focus on the things that matter. Like my job.

I started to read Eckhart Tolle's, The Power of Now. Sheesh...

Sorry Oprah, I know it rocked your world but it may as well have been a Superman comic for all the good it did me. I'm already as Zen as I am going to get. In fact, I live in the Here and Now so much that I couldn’t be bothered if the consequences of what I do HERE, NOW, TODAY mean that I will be sacked TOMORROW and end up with no FUTURE.

No, I’m not lazy, I am just...well....busy. I like pottering, doing and achieving stuff in the now. I have a sense of purpose. It's just that none of it is a burning priority, helps pay the bills or actually matters.

Take my Sunday morning as a prime example.

My plan today was to do that urgent work and not get distracted until it was done.

I woke early and made coffee.

And all was going well until my gaze lingered on the fruit bowl a little longer than was absolutely necessary. Oh my, I thought, those bananas are going brown.

I detest over ripened fruit, food wastage and given all those starving people in third world countries...yada, yada. So before I knew it I was pulling ingredients out of the cupboard to make a banana cake (no, not to actually send the cake to Africa, although fair point to you for thinking this may have been a possible outcome).

Then I looked in the fridge for what seemed like ages. It was overrun with greens I’d bought to make the slightly questionable juice I've been inhaling over recent weeks. So naturally I thought that it would be more productive to make the day's juice now given I would be so busy later.

So, after whipping up my latest green concoction, I was then forced to clean the whole kitchen from top to bottom. I am sure I saw some green splatters on the floor, the blinds…..no, I so did.

I then sat down for a moment to drink the alkaline green goodness. Ah yes, I was really impressed with what the parsley brought to the mix even though I am still hoping, rather malignantly, that sugar will make a comeback in medical circles. This then led me to decide that I absolutely needed to buy and plant more herbs in the garden. Here and Now of course while the weather was perfect, as opposed to later when rain was expected.

So, rather than drive, like I have every other time, I decided to get some exercise and Vitamin D and walk to the Garden Centre.

When I returned some 90 minutes later I planted the herbs, watered them and then gazed at the green expanse of lawn before me. And I can tell you if that bloody next door neighbour had the common decency to have left me something to mow, it would have been the perfect time for me to cut the grass too.

I then wandered inside and made the mistake of opening my iPad. For just a wee look. An hour passed. Just like that. I am not sure how that happened except I have six months worth of blogs to catch up on. You all have incredibly busy lives, did you know?

I reluctantly closed the iPad but then suddenly had a thought about another silly cartoon about Ageing. Before I could forget the idea, I had to jot it down (see the collection so far here - a body of work that any self respecting pre-schooler would be happy to own).

Finally, after all that activity, I was ready to start the dreaded real work.

I held my breath and checked my email. As expected – my Boss had emailed me to ask if I would have the work completed by tomorrow.

"Yes, of course", I replied, “..... just finalising it now.”

Can you detect fear and lies between the lines of an email I wonder?

Guilt, headaches and nerves are closing in. I’ve got to rush people of the Internet. I've real work to do. Well as soon as I finish this blog post, that is.

How hard is it to JUST DO IT?

Any tips and tricks to overcome this insidious disease let me know.

Of course I will read them.... LATER....it's just that I'm so incredibly busy right ABOUT NOW.

I may have also decided to have some cake now rather then later .....sigh, sometimes procrastination has a place in our lives.

Neighbours, everybody loves good neighbours

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 14:21:00 +0000

Right?

Well, welcome to my neighbourhood.

My neighbourhood

There are a lot of people who think that good fences make good neighbours. And given I've mainly lived in inner city neighbourhoods prior to moving to a regional city nine months ago, I’ve always been inclined to agree.

In fact, it was no surprise to see the results of a property survey today which showed that a quarter of our population doesn’t know the names of their neighbours and more than three quarters do not know what they do for a living. However, more surprising is that 3.5million people have never even seen the person who lives next door and more than 20 percent of respondents said they had an argument with a neighbour in the past five years.

Well clearly no-one bothered to survey my little neighbourhood because the only arguments likely to arise here are that the neighbours are well...too damn neighbourly.

Country living is slower, calmer and way more friendly and hospitable than I could have ever imagined. However, at the moment I am thinking that there is a happy medium to this being neighbourly business.

I have this unusual problem with a neighbour that is on the verge of plain weird (yes, you are right, I do have more than one problem but I like to spare the people of the internet as much as I can).

Anyway, I recently asked my next door neighbours, Keith and Betty, if they would mind collecting my mail as I had to make an urgent visit to see my ill sister.

When I returned, not only had they collected my mail but Keith had done all the gardening, including mowing the lawn. Really lovely, right? I gave them a gift for their trouble and thought that was the end of that.

No. Of course not.

This is my life we are talking about.

Keith for some bizarre reason must have really loved the gift I gave them as he has taken it upon himself to continue doing my gardening ever since.

However, the only problem is I haver never asked him to or agreed to this. He only ever does it when I am out. I do not see him or his wife to speak with as I am always going somewhere. He just seems to have ‘a thing’ for my yard.

After he did this a couple of times, I tried to catch him to speak with him. When I finally saw him in his backyard I thanked him but told him that he did not have to do my gardening as I loved gardening and needed the exercise. I felt I was quite friendly, yet assertive. He, on the other hand, seemed to be quite miffed and became very red in the face.

Anyway, I thought that was the end of it and my problem was fixed.

Of course not.

I came home today and the grass was mowed again, seven days after he did it the last time and five days after I told him I did not want him to do it any more. The lawn did not even need mowing.

I need ideas people. It’s awkward and it makes me feel uncomfortable. I have to put an end to it because even if he was doing it to be helpful (which I think he probably is) I do not want to feel obligated to him. And goodness knows what his wife may think.

What to do, all you neighbourly bloggers? What to do?

I don’t want to be part of the 20% who fall out with their neighbours but I don’t want my neighbour thinking my yard is his to do want he wants with either.

My big question after the holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:45:00 +0000

I was left with a BIG question after the Easter holidays.

No, it wasn’t, Do we need to have family gatherings over the holidays?

Or, What is the real meaning of Easter?

Or even, What is the origin of the Easter bunny?

Or funny enough, Why don’t Columbians have chocolate easter eggs? (what a real shame for some),

No, my question is way, way bigger than any of those.

It’s…..

Why do they bother putting use by dates on chocolate Easter Eggs?

Hope you had a great holiday. Personally I will need to be running all week to undo the damage.

______________________________________________________

On another note, just a couple of blogging things, I've changed my comment system to Disquis. I like it better because I can personally reply to comments and it allows anyone to reply to other reader’s comments too. However, let me know if it is more annoying than the Blogger comment system. It is easy to use on your blog and automatic. They also transfer all your other comments within 24 hours too.

I'll give you old and then some

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:05:00 +0000

So yesterday I got a phone call from a Retirement Village inviting me to come along to one of their High Teas.

"For what? Free Food?" I asked.

"Well", she said, "we thought you might be interested in what we have to offer with a view to seeing if our lifestyle is right for you."

NO sniggering please, it was crushing enough as it was.

I hung up.

Right for me!!!!!! An old people's home?

My mirror tells me I'm middleaged but aren’t these places for people who are long retired? For geriatrics who have given up on life?

I am not that old, not retired and not even a grandmother yet, give me a break!

No, I did not laugh simply because I must be getting sensitive to the fact that now when I am finally getting my head together my body is breaking down. How do they happen to know that?

Either my daughter did actually read my last post and is playing a practical joke or someone is doing some very long term marketing.

I would like to let it to be known that I will not be considering one of these places for at least another 40 years.

Besides, I come from a family of hard nosed, really old people. Most of you met my father on here. Well this week I also shared a story about his mother with a couple of very dear bloggers who are fighting cancer. My grandmother was diagnosed with terminal cancer at 40, and bluntly told to go home and die. Fifty years later she was still mowing her own lawns. I have her firmly in my sights.

How can I be over the hill when I haven’t even reached the top yet. I'm still climbing, albeit a little more breathlessly with each passing year, but still trekking and looking upwards.

It’s bad enough that I am getting all these letters from government agencies strongly encouraging me to make appointments for medical tests that a woman 'of my age' needs (its essential I know, but just another reminder of the creeping years).

It must be true what they say, from your late 40s up the only names going in your little black book seem to end in MD.

However, something I've also noticed in recent times is that my personal details are getting sold to others so they can annoy the hell out of me trying to sell their wares. The ageing population is one hell of a market just remember that.

Only last week I got a call from a health fund trying to sell me something which strangely co-incided with the fact that I had just made an appointment with a new doctor two days before. I am very careful about giving out my mobile number so I knew immediately how they got my number.

Surely this is illegal? I mean there was no small print anywhere on the new patient form. I did not have to tick a box that said, I give permission for you to sell and make money off my personal details.

Fortunately, something ~~rage~~ age has done for me is that it's given me the balls to fight back. I rang the practice manager and said that if they are going to make any money off me then I want 'my cut'. She coughed and spluttered but didn’t deny it either.

I told her I would no longer be going to their medical practice as the next thing I know I would be finding my sexy x-rays plastered all over the internet. And while I accept we have to focus on inner beauty the older we get, I am not sure I would be making the same kind of fortune Kim Kardashian did when her nude pictures were uploaded for all to see. The manager didn’t laugh. Clearly you don't acquire a sense of humor until you are 45 at least.

Now I don’t know when old age, let alone middle age starts and when it ends but I think it all happens largely in our heads (well if you choose to ignore a few annoying symptoms).

I am just going through another stage in life, but IT’S DEFINITELY NOT OLD AGE. YET. Ask me again in another 40 years.
_____________________________________________________________________

I did the following cartoons for a friend's birthday. (They are my originals - I did them with the Windows Paint program regardless of the fact that it looks like a 5 yr old did them)

If any of the following cartoons apply to you, well I have the phone number of a very nice retirement village, just saying....

You know you're getting old when ......

(click on image to enlarge it if you are way too old to read the small print)

Message from your Mother

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:21:00 +0000

Dear Daughter,

I haven't written one of these letters to you for a long time BUT... this morning you left for New York and Columbia and there were a few things I wanted to say but I didn't.

You see, while I am super excited for you to be going back to New York again I'm a little worried about the other parts of your trip.

I MEAN TRULY, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

COLUMBIA???

Yesterday I googled Bogata. Big. Mistake.

Yes, you would have thought I had learnt my lesson about googling anything that troubled me after I looked up root canals (and if dear reader you are seriously going what the hell is she talking about, then google root canals - you will never be the same again.)

So while I was saying goodbye and wishing you a great adventure, I was silently replaying all the bad stuff I read about Columbia. Like,

the Mayor of Bogota is a former leftist guerrilla,
according to a 2011 article in The New York Times, 'street muggings and thefts have surged since 2007', leading certain commentators to declare a crisis of security in the city, and
in several recent polls, around 72% of the inhabitants say they have been victims of violent crime in 2010 and 2011.

Then last night, I watched Modern Family and lo and behold, Gloria referred to Columbia as the "murder capital of the world." It's just a comedy though, right?

Did you know about this? I know you can't change your plans but I am just going to pray you don't drink or eat while you are there because I read that they slip things into your food and drink so they can rob you. No, of course I don't know who 'they' are, as it could be any one of them. Yes, I really said that.

I know I worry too much to the point of being irrational. At least I kept my mouth shut until you were safely out of the country. And, given you have no Internet access, you won't be able to read this until you are safely back in the country. So by then, it won't matter what you think about what I thought.

Yes, I know, that made a whole lot of sense to me too.

However, in my more rational moments I do realise it is how it should be - Age Considers and Youth Ventures.

Take Care

Your Mother

(Readers,just in case you think I am worried about nothing, today I got a message from my daughter who arrived safely in New York, part of which read as follows, ...." Today went to 9/11 memorial, then shopping (nearly got arrested for shoplifting). Tell you bout that one later. Nightmare. ........" And that was the first day of her holiday and she is no where near Columbia..get down on your knees and pray, lol....Lilly 31/03/2012)

Oh No! Keep a close eye on your Grandmother!

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 23:26:00 +0000

My sister recently went to a wedding which had been planned and timed to perfection.

Unfortunately, despite all the planning, the Bride had absolutely no control over what her guests did, particularly her own Grandmother.

Guests kept offering Granny glasses of Scotch thinking they were being hospitable and looking after her. However, no-one was really aware just how much she was actually drinking.

So unfortunately, smack bang in the middle of the Bride’s speech, she collapsed, falling off her chair and pulling the tablecloth and everything with it onto the floor. She had to be rushed to hospital and she missed the rest of the wedding.

Granny fortunately made a good recovery although she naturally feels a little sheepish about what happened.

However, I’m sure the Bride and Groom will eventually forget the episode even though their guests may remember the interruption for a long time to come.

Something similar happened at my brother’s wedding 20 years ago. The wedding reception was outdoors in a gorgeous garden setting.

However, the ground was a bit damp and during the speeches my Aunty felt the legs of her chair sinking into the ground. Feeling as though she was about to fall, she grabbed on to my Grandmother who in turn grabbed onto the tablecloth. They ended up falling backwards and my parents ended up wearing their wine.

My Mother is still mortified to this day about what happened.

However, when I asked my brother about it he says he has no memory of it at all.

So perhaps unplanned wedding interruptions are oblivious to the blissful Bride and Groom.

It would be good to think that this was the case because this story just reminded me about how I personally contributed to a Bride’s wedding disaster. I was working in Event Management many years ago and told the caterers to cut the wedding cake up (including the top layer). I seriously thought that was what the Bride asked for. Err no; she wanted to keep the top layer for her first child’s christening. She was hysterical.

And just so you know, there is really no easy way to glue a cake back together….believe me I tried…

So tell me, do you know of any wedding stories which have turned a little sour?

A really long summer

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 08:09:00 +0000

Southern Queensland from a plane window

Well summer is just about over for us and the days are getting cooler.

Yes, five months is a bit of a long summer hey?

Life has been very busy for me and blogging was something I kept telling myself I would do 'tomorrow' .

Except, like most New Year's resolutions tomorrow never came. Then before you know it, the months go by and it’s hard to get 'back on the horse'.

So tomorrow has finally arrived .

I realised how long a blog break it's been when I finally read a blog that I used to religiously follow. The blogger, who seemed to be very happy in her marriage when I last read her blog, has now separated and is dating again. I've clearly been gone for a while.

So please warn me if there is a lot to catch up with on your blogs.

One thing I have been working on for some months is a much healthier lifestyle (I really am a slow learner). I’ve given up the layers of peanut butter on toast for breakfast and replaced it with oats with puffed amaranth, fruit and chai seeds and walnuts. Yes I've become one of those people I used to mock. I start the day with a big cup of hot water and lemon juice then end it with green tea. In between I do nice things with hummus, eggplant and goat’s fetta. I drizzle everything with a good olive oil. And of course I have the occasional anti-oxidant in the shape of a teeny piece of dark chocolate and a small glass of pinot noir.

Although I still have a way to go. I cannot come at chick peas unless......well unless they are dipped in chocolate.

Anyway, for those of you who may be interested in health & well being please watch this new documentary, called Hungry for Change, from the makers of Food Matters. It has been released online for 10 days only up until 31 March 2012. I promise you will not regret the hour or so you spend watching it and will want to share it with others. www.HungryForChange.tv

Slaughterer, Sex worker, shelf filler or lion tamer

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 22:50:00 +0000

Oh phew, the old blog is back without the fancy hair extensions. I will be carefully what buttons I push in future...

I've just been doing my tax return, online of course and just days before the deadline.

I got distracted which is not difficult to do when doing something so engrossing.

Like the classifications of employment.

I mean those lists are long.

Kids have it so lucky nowadays. So many jobs to choose from and literally anything goes.

Now you can be weed controller, weight loss consultant, trolley collector, turf grower, trapper, slaughterer, sex worker, shelf filler, lion tamer and on and on. I looked for the drug trafficker but I think that's listed under medical professional..(ouch).

When I left school the choices seemed to be well........far less exotic........and there were probably more jobs come to think of it as well.......

Sign of the times

I saw this sign outside a Sports Club - you mean people need to be actually reminded about this?

Made in where?

Once upon a time we were being warned about fake designer goods. Well now it seems we should be aware that people are trying to fake Made in China goods. I bought something yesterday that was clearly a Made in China rip-off. Who'd have thought it!

Fancy a ride

I am loving these bikes that you can hire for short trips around the city. Only problem is that you need to carry a very large handbag to fit your helmet in. And to the person who suggested they hire helmets out as well....two words to you...YUK and NO...

You don't say

I visited this shop yesterday but burst out laughing and had to leave quickly.

I walked in and heard this guy say very loudly to his wife, "Jesus, it looks like a fairy threw up in here". His wife glared at him and almost dragged him out of the shop by his collar....personally, I thought he had a point.

Dear Mr Weather

It is Spring you know. I know you have a hard year but please a little sunshine never goes astray does it? Rain and Hail....(and of course it's a Mr...ever heard of females being so fickle?)

Stalking

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:11:00 +0000

Mark Zuckerberg has a lot to answer for........it's amazing how socially acceptable facebook stalking has become...

I found this image on someone's Facebook page, how else? No, of course I wasn't stalking, I was merely browsing.....go on hands up, who is guilty?

Sunday Life - blogging

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:01:00 +0000

As you may have noticed, Lilly's Life has a new look.

By accident though.

You now have to click on the post title to see the post in full and to see the comments.

You see I decided to get a bit serious about blogging again just as it's apparently going out of fashion. It seems that everyone is too busy facebooking and twittering to blog or read blogs these days.

Except me and maybe you too.

Anyway, in my efforts to makeover my blog, I clicked on a Blogger design template called Dynamic Views and .......abracadabra .....I got a little more than I bargained for.

I can't seem to get it back the way it was and I am not sure if I like it. So I'm kind of stuck with it.... just like my new hair cut...

I am hoping they both might grow on me.

Dynamic Views is apparently a unique browsing experience that makes it easier and faster for readers to explore blogs in interactive ways. You can use the Sidebar view, to preview the blog in different ways by using the view selection bar at the top left of the screen.

You might want to try out the new look on your own blog—read the official Blogger Buzz post for more info. Blogger says in the next few weeks we should be able to customise the templates which will be good because I kind of miss a few things I used to have ......including the rest of my hair.

Happy Sunday.

Do you want some neurotoxins with your greens?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Well you might just get them whether you like it or not.

We all know that fresh is best but when it comes to frozen vegetables, I've always been confident that the difference between the two in terms of their vitamins and mineral content is negligible.

However, my sister, bless her, just destroyed that fanciful notion.

Clearly I must be the last to know or was too busy eating rubbish to pay attention.

I was opening up a bag of frozen spinach a couple of nights ago when my sister rang. I told her what I was making and she asked me to look on the back of the packet and see where the spinach was produced.

It said, Made in New Zealand using local and imported products.

She then asked me the brand and I said McCains (founded in Canada, has 55 production facilities in 12 countries, and sells in 110 countries).

I felt kind of smug thinking how could the combination of McCains and NZ be wrong. It wasn't a no name brand after all.

She then told me to throw the bag in the bin.

As if.

When she uttered the words likely carcinogen I decided to rethink my dinner plans and ask a few more questions.

The fact is, I was not going to be eating New Zealand produce.

If you look at most frozen food packets (anywhere in the world) you have no real idea where the food comes from. It doesn't say. In most cases companies bring the product from China, repackage it, in this case New Zealand and then put it on our shelves with no testing required.

It gets to us via the back door because New Zealand has lax laws. And with no testing we do not know what we are really eating.

Unfortunately, China appears to have some very questionable growing practices. In fact you can google the horror stories slowly filtering out of China - vegetables being grown in human excrement and watermelons exploding after being sprayed with a growth accelerant. Even the Chinese middle class have started growing their own vegetables, because they don't trust the mass-produced produce.

So, if the Chinese won’t eat the food why are we?

A recent study done by the National Toxics Network tested bags of frozen vegetables from McCains, Heinz and Birdseye, plus Coles and Woolworths home brands. Most were imported from China or New Zealand, and a few were Australian home-grown.

Twenty percent of them came up positive for four nasty chemicals.

The four chemicals found in the vegetables are all pesticides that have been banned.

The worst chemical found was procymidone in the McCain’s Winter Vegetables - a product made in New Zealand from local and imported products.

This chemical has been shown to cause birth defects. The regulator recently updated label instructions to make sure that pregnant women, or women of child-bearing age, don’t come into contact with the chemical. They’re worried about the fact that it can actually stay in the food.

Even more worrying is the fact parathion methyl, an organophosphate, was also found in the same bag of vegetables. It was banned in Australia from July this year, with a two year phase out.

The fact that parathion methyl was found in the same food with the procymidone is concerning because with food residues it’s not necessarily an additive effect - one plus one doesn’t necessarily equal two. Here one plus one can equal ten.

In the Heinz chopped spinach, clearly marked as a product of China, omethoate was found – it’s an organophosphate and is under investigation here.

That’s an extremely dangerous group of chemicals that work by poisoning the nervous system.

The chemical Permethrin was also found on an Australian product Birdseye Broccoli Florets. Permethrin is a neurotoxin. The US Protection Agency has said it’s a likely carcinogen. It’s also turning up on the international list for concern on hormone disruption - its toxic effects are more profound in children than in adults.

Both McCains and Heinz have left Australia for New Zealand. In fact the only processor of frozen vegetables left in Australia is Simplot - they make Birdseye products. So why have they all left?

Apparently in order to remain competitive their production facilities have to move overseas. Many of the Woolworths Home Brand and Select labels and Coles Smart Buy products are all clearly from China.

At the end of the day these foods are coming onto the Australian dinner tables and people just like me do not even give it a second thought. It's probably safe to eat poison in small quantities right? I am sure that is what these companies and even the regulators would tell us.

Going to the supermarket and buying anything is a leap of faith these days.

In fact it's a lucky dip.

I better work on extending that vegetable garden and putting into practice everything my parents and grandparents have been preaching for years (and out of convenience and supposed lack of time, I ignore) - join the slow food movement and stick to eating food grown in your own local community or better still in your own backyard because at least you know how its grown and that it is actually food.

What do you think? Are you careful about where you buy your food from? Love to hear your thoughts as this is a problem which affects us all and not just contained to frozen foods.

Have you seen Food Inc - well worth watching - you can see the trailer here.

Sunday Life - Sea Murals

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 13:48:00 +0000

My daughter sent me those photos on her Iphone today - she was visiting Melbourne Aquarium.

Looking at them made me want to go there and dive into the abyss and enjoy the enchanted underwater scenes myself, except for the fact there would bound to be a whale alert and all get rather awkward...

What great art nature makes!

So relaxing and a reminder that Summer is fast approaching.

I hope you had a relaxing Sunday, doing whatever it is that makes you happy.

Come back and visit on Tuesday to find out what my sister told me about frozen vegetables just when I was opening a packet of frozen spinach this evening (she always had unfortunate timing)...yes, another opinion post and something we all should be aware of now most of our food is produced in foreign countries ie China. I won't be going near a packet of frozen vegetables in a hurry without some careful reading. Or I might just expand my vegetable garden instead. Love to hear your thoughts and what you know as well.

This is my opinion, what’s yours?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:43:00 +0000

For as long as I can remember I have hated drugs.

Hard core illegal ones, legally prescribed ones and even the more innocuous ‘over the counter’ ones.

We all see the ravages of drug abuse and if you live in an inner city area like me, you are reminded of this daily. I get off the tram on occasion and see police searching people looking for drugs or paramedics tending to an injured person lying in the gutter. No, it's not really palatable but it's a fact even in this most liveable city in the world.

However, while illegal drugs are one thing it's the legally prescribed drugs and their abuse that terrifies me the most.

My fear of prescribed medication started when I was about 10 and my grandmother was given some new pills by a doctor who was filling in for her regular practitioner. After she took the pills for a couple of days she started to hallucinate and shake uncontrollably and had to be hospitalised. The doctor had given her the wrong medication.

It scared the hell out of me.

So much so it takes a lot tooing and froing for me to take anything whether it is a cold tablet or something stronger. It is a last resort only.

For ten years I saw my father take a cocktail of drugs, one pill after another, mostly prescribed to counteract the side effects of an earlier prescribed drug.

But just like my grandmother and my father thought, the medical profession knows best. Right?

I wonder. I really do.

A couple of years ago my sister was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease at way too young an age. We have recently learnt that she acquired this disease as a direct result of the prolonged use of another prescribed drug she has taken for another illness she has. Just bad luck the doctor said. Was she warned ever? No, but maybe there was a warning on the small print somewhere.

Then in the last 12 months the young adult son of one of my friends became addicted to his prescribed drugs and developed horrific side effects. He was feeling anxious so his doctor’s immediate course of action was to prescribe antidepressants, anxiety drugs and sleeping tablets. One of the side effects of one of the drugs, which no doubt was written in small print on the leaflet, was that he may suffer from addictions. Well sure enough he was one of the unlucky few that, as a direct result of taking this drug, he became addicted not only to the drugs but also to gambling and alcohol and goodness knows what else. He had absolutely no prior history of addiction. It took a long time to establish and then accept the link between the drug and his other addictions. And then an even longer time to try and get him off the drugs that he had become addicted to and to start treating the real causes of his anxiety.

I could go on with horrific examples just like these as they are littered everywhere. And I mean everywhere. But somehow the side effects and damage from taking legally prescribed drugs is more palatable for some reason. How bad could they be when we are taking them for our health and well being. Right?

Of course it goes without saying that there are a lot of people who have to take medication in order to live quality lives or in fact, live a life. I get that.

However, there are a lot of people who take medication to either mask symptoms with no real regard for the primary causes of their illnesses or those whose quality of life completely diminishes.

Yesterday I watched a documentary called Cut, Poison, Burn which has just reignited my loathing for drugs and drug companies even more so.

It clearly outlines many reasons for the MASSIVE failure on the war on cancer. The film follows the struggles of Jim and Donna Navarro, whose young son is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. The conventional treatment methods, which included potent chemotherapy drugs and radiation, offered virtually no hope. Even if their son survived the treatment, side effects included hearing loss, brain damage, cumulative reduction in IQ and other cancers, just to name a few.

Cut, Poison, Burn is available for viewing on Vimeo for free only up until September 24 and I have posted it below. Given two out of three women and one out of two men will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, it is relevant to us all.

I know that when we get sick we often don’t get a choice in our health care for many reasons but we need to be as informed and educated as we can about what we are being prescribed and our treatment. It’s scary, not palatable, not nice and easier to bury our heads in the sand sometimes but quality of life is incredibly precious and worth fighting for wouldn’t you say?

Our health or our lack of health results in BIG BUSINESS for some. Could keeping people sick be more profitable then keeping us well? Unfortunately, I think so.

What do you think?

Cut Poison Burn from Nehst Studios.

Web Cam 101 for Seniors

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:21:00 +0000

Just adorable!

Elderly Oregon couple Bruce and Esther Huffman (both 86) were trying to figure out how to take a photo using their laptop last month, not realising they were actually recording their endearing attempts to use technology.

Their grand daughter found this as put it on You Tube and it has spread like wildfire.

The pair said they are pleasantly surprised at their new found fame.

While the couple are still grappling with technology, Esther says she has learnt one thing - to stop chewing gum.

"I guess I have to quit chewing gum. I look like a cow chewing gum so quickly."

Warning, a whole weeks post in one....

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:45:00 +0000

I am an all or nothing kind of blogger it seems....so you might want to come back and visit a few times to read them all....or just read one or two....

Designated driver

Yes I know your kids, step kids, grand kids, nieces and nephews are clever but are they this clever? I was fascinated to see this video of a cute 4 year old Chinese girl apparently driving in traffic in Shandong Province while her parents are in the car.

In the video, posted on YouTube, the child can be seen calmly overtaking other cars. After a couple of minutes her father is heard apparently saying: “Jia Zheng, stop the car. Let daddy drive.”

Once the car is pulled over, the man gets out, walks around to the driver’s side and gets behind the wheel as the girl moves onto the back seat.

He is seen removing some sort of implement from the driver’s foot that appears to have been used by the girl to operate the pedals.

I am not sure whether it’s a fake or not but its a little bit risky given China’s one child policy isn’t it? It’s not like they have a spare...if something goes pear shaped.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Edward Scissorhands....


Is as bald as a badger...I kid you not...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I saw the light

and unfortunately not much else.

Recently I had to change my licence and car registration to a new State and only had one day left to do it because I’ve been travelling and was running out of time. Unfortunately to make matters worse this was also the day that I was expecting furniture to be delivered to my house.

As I could not be home when the removalists came my daughter’s lovely boyfriend volunteered to be there to let them in.

Sweet, right? All easy.

When I left home it was pouring rain. I arrived at the Motor Registry in plenty of time for my appointment. I took a ticket and went to sit down. My mobile rang. It was the removalist.

“Where are you”, he growled, “no-one is answering your door.” I said, “My daughter’s boyfriend is there so keep pressing the intercom and yell loudly as he might be listening to music or the TV and can’t hear you. I will try and contact him by phone as well”.

I tried. Nothing, Nada. Oh, great!

Meanwhile, my name is called out and I walk up to the counter only to be greeted by Mrs, I hate my job so I am going to make you suffer”. For expediencies sake I will just refer to her as Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP from hereon in.

“Have you got your number plates?” she barked at me. “Yes, I have”, I calmly reply,“they are still on the car. Do you want me to take them off now?” ” Yes”, she said. “NOW”. So I go out in the pouring rain, get my screw driver out of the car (like everyone has one in their car right?) and try and get the plates off.

My phone rang as I was in the middle of it. It was the now very disgruntled removalist telling me that he could not make any contact with my daughter’s now totally irresponsible, deaf boyfriend. He said he was going to wait another 10 minutes and then would have to leave and I would have to make other arrangements.

After futile attempts to contact my daughter (who was in meetings) and her boyfriend (who was god knows where), I ran back into the registry office. Dripping wet but with the plates in hand.

Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP called me over. I handed her the number plates and she said, “Oh, I’m sorry, I should have told you that before I can process the registration we need to check the chassis number of your car. Now to do that we need you to jump through six million more hoops. So, how about you go and get your car and drive up the hill and round and round in circles until you find the depot where one of my colleagues will check the engine". I pointed out that she only had to look at my previous registration papers to see the number. She glared at me and said through gritted teeth, “No, that is not the way we do it here. We need to check the number and it will cost you an extra $40 for us to do this.”

“Right.” I said. And off I run out in the pouring rain again like some stupid competitor in the latest reality show, Red Tape Survivor.

On the way I rang the removalist. A development. My daughter’s boyfriend managed to wake up after falling asleep on the couch. Just in time. Bravo!

I drove up the hill and pulled up sharply at the pit stop just avoiding the toes of Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP’s colleague. “Open the bonnet”, he yells over the pouring rain. He stuck his head under the bonnet for two seconds, got what he needed and yelled, “Fine, you can go back to the car park now.” Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph. And that was a prayer folks not blasphemy.

I parked the car and ran into the Motor Registry. Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP looked over at me in a rather sad, pitying way and said, “Aww, you’re soaking wet now. That’s a shame because now we have to take your licence photo”.

My hair was stuck to my head like glue. Just beautiful.

"Smile", she said. “I am trying”, I replied.

The photoshoot finished and I made a promise to myself that I will bury that licence in my wallet and never let it see the light of day. Even if the cops stop me I will just hand over my wallet and tell them to find it for themselves because I am never going to look at that photo. Ever.

Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP then announced that I needed an eye test. “Read the third line please”, she said pointing to the chart behind her.

I was seriously lucky even to see the chart behind her let alone the third line. It was a complete blur. And I do not even wear glasses.

Mrs IHMJAIAGTMYP’s day was improving as mine got worse. I could swear she was enjoying the moment. “Well, unfortunately”, she said, “if you can’t read it properly you are not going to get your licence today you realise that, don’t you? And, if you can’t get your licence today you are not driving anywhere as you have no licence.”

Of course her voice, like a megaphone, bounced off all four walls making sure that every other person in the vicinity all knew that they had a blind person in their midst.

“OK, last chance” she said, “come up to this chart as it has a light shining on it and that might help you”. I started reading out the letters and clearly got one wrong. “Are you sure that’s an X?, she said. No, I am bloody not I thought. So I went through every letter of the alphabet until I got the right one and she finally......let me have my new licence.

Yes it was humiliating but not for a blind person who was not even aware of their disability.

I went to get my eyes checked the next day. There was nothing wrong with them. Stress perhaps? Non waterproof mascara maybe?

And thank goodness I don’t have to do that again for another five years....because next time I am hiring a 4 year old Chinese girl to take my place.

I just cannot do red tape, truly.

~~~~~~~~~~~

I was walking in the mall yesterday and overheard a teenage girl saying, “Mum won’t let me go. She's such a bitch now all the time. She reckons it’s because of menopause or something. Honest, she needs to be locked up until she gets over it and she’s back to normal. “ I didn’t really want to burst her bubble and tell her that it might take years for that to happen....just like adolescence ha ha!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wise words

Melbourne graffiti spotted today: "Fight Apathy.. Or don't.. Whatever..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

And to Lisleman, you bet it's Spring over here and our turn to have the sunshine.

Who knew?

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:52:00 +0000

That Edward Scissorhands lives up the street from me.

The jury is out whether this is some drug induced extreme gardening frenzy (which in my neighbourhood is unfortunately the first thing that comes to mind and the subject of my next post) or someone with too much time and come to think of it, too many hands.

I'll be watching who comes out that front door though......what does the garden say about them I wonder?

Rolling, rolling, rolling

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 12:16:00 +0000

I have so much to tell you but it's so very rude to speak with your mouth full.

Heavenly or what?

Drawing the short straw....

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 00:43:00 +0000

It happens to the best of us sometimes...

This picture was sent to me by a friend. Hope it makes you smile too.

Have a fantastic weekend wherever you are.

It's a surprising and welcome sunny Saturday morning here in Melbourne - it's the middle of winter with a top expected of 14°F (57°F). An attractive view of blue skies & a not very attractive view of sprawling suburbia from my balcony. I'll enjoy the day as rain is expected tomorrow.

There's colour in winter

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 07:11:00 +0000

Oh Melbourne, your winter days start off so cold and grey.

but as the day goes on, you start to thaw out.

One of Melbourne's many gorgeous old Arcades. And it's Sale time.
It's always sale time.

The pavement outside the arcade

I have to pass this every day - its cruel I tell you

Lunch

Melbourne has the best buskers. What a character this busker is
He never disappoints.

I saw these same guys busking in Stuttgart, Germany
a few years ago. Small world.

Hot pink and orange my favourite colour combination

Legomen, who can resist?

Even the post office dresses up here

Oh what courage - I love the hair.
It's a work of art.

So by the end of the day, you really do look like a different city.

.
I really love you Melbourne.

Vibrant. Colourful. Easy on the eye.

And so damn delicious

that I can just about forgive you for this freezing weather.....

or at least .......until early tomorrow morning, anyway.

Free speech, apples, swearing and Ukraine love

noreply@blogger.com (Lilly) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 22:37:00 +0000

Life can get ridiculous at times. Here are some snippets from mine, just to round the week out.

Core blimey!

Last night while out at dinner my sister in law was telling us about her first time visit to an Apple store to buy an ipad for my brother. Everyone else at the table soon joined in waxing lyrical about the genius of Apple designs, their marketing and their OTT customer service. My daughter reminisced how she learnt to touch type on my first Mac when she was 5 and said she really wanted the latest ipad too.

Well, be careful what you wish for.

Early this morning she got a phone call from her bank. Someone had bought an ipad at the Apple store in London (about 1.30am our time), an Iphone from the 3 store and then tried to make a purchase of a computer using her obviously swiped credit card details.

Good job the Bank was on the ball but someone is running round with some ill gotten gains - a couple of shiny new apples.

I think it’s turned her off Apple ownership for the moment. Forbidden fruit and all that...

For F.. .ks Sake

Last Saturday I was walking in the inner city searching for an out of the way book shop. These days finding a book shop is like searching for a needle in a haystack isn't it?

I was preoccupied looking at the buildings on the opposite side of the road trying to find street numbers.

I started walking across the road and suddenly I could hear a roar of voices coming towards me followed by a crowd of people waving Free Speech banners in the air.

Somehow I managed to get entangled in a public demonstration about proposed new legislation against swearing. As you do.

The most confronting thing though was their loud and angry chant.

F**K, F**K, F**K they screamed. Over and over.

I pushed my way through the crowd trying to reach the other side of the road in one piece. All the while thinking to myself, grrr, you people have taken the words right out of my mouth.

So, what could I do but join in.

Therapeutic, this freedom of speech thing is, I tell you. Like some kind of primal therapy.

The cloak of invisibility - does it exist?

Apparently there is an age where we females become invisible to the opposite sex. It’s 46 if you must know.

No, I haven’t made this up it’s supposedly a real research outcome which I will tell you about next week.

However, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Yesterday, my friend Marie was thrilled when she got wolf-whistled when passing a building site.

She took off her sunglasses and turned around to see whether the whistler in question might have been wearing coke bottle glasses.

The young guy looked at her, took his hard hat off and said very apologetically, Oh I am so sorry, Ma’am.

She looks younger from the back it seems. She was a tad disappointed.

Doesn't she know that a smart woman never looks behind or was that never leaves a man behind. Oh I forget now...

However, she will be walking everywhere from now on, guaranteed. She looks pretty hot in any direction. I would have posted a photo but she wouldn't be in it - supposedly she really doesn't like that much attention. Who knew?

Invisible and Stupid?

I was evaluating some beauty consultants for a makeup house last week. Unbeknownst to them, of course.

I had to go to two large department stores next door to each other and visit consultants from the same brand.

Consultant number 1 applied some foundation to my face and told me that it was the perfect colour, just beautiful, yade yade yade.

I then visited the next department store and saw Consultant no 2.

No 2 takes one look at the foundation applied by No 1 and says, “Oh no, that makeup you have on is not right for you”.

She has the perfect product, she says. Why, of course she would.

Out comes the exact same product and the same colour as No 1 used.

Then applied in the exact same way on the exact same face.

She told me it looked amazing, so different, yade, yade, yade.

Yeah great big tick, they ~~lie~~ sell really well.

And the makeup industry continues to thrive and grow exponentially…...wonder why…

And finally,.....

No matter what ridiculous things happen in my daily life I will always have this to cling on to……I have a Ukraine friendly blog.

The largest contiguous country in Europe (have no idea what that means but it sounds impressive right?) hits on me more than any other country in the world.

Maybe they think from the way I write that English is my second language too.

Didn’t you ever want to be a tiny bit big in the Ukraine…yes I thought so…but

Budmo!!!!!

Thank goodness for free speech and a little Ukrainian attention....life sustaining ridiculous moments in an otherwise topsy turvy world.

Have a good weekend everyone!