Quoth the Raven

Project Runway!

I must admit that Joel and I have gotten hooked on Project Runway. Yes, me the person who often critizes reality tv and the people who watch it - has fallen victim to its curse charm.

What is not to love? It has all the makings of a soap opera - the egos, the drive to win (at any cost), the bitchiness and we cannot forget the gay guys who are guaranteed to add some gay pizazz to the show. Gee, these guys could make 'The Bounty Hunter' show enjoyable. Though I was expecting the gay guys to be more cut throat in the competition, but they were actually very sweet and very professional AND lets not forget stylish. Hey, this could be the perfect daytime soap.

Now, lets not forget the judges. Firstly, we have the star of Project Runway, Heidi Klum. I always thought Heidi had this sweet Euro thing going for her, not too mention being totally gorgeous - but enough already. I must admit that I preferred observing her from a distance without the whining voice. Yes, maybe models should be seen and not heard. Then we have our favorite (NOT) judge Michael Kors. Please, Michael maybe you should step down of that pedestal and smell the roses sometime. With his overly priced mediocre clothing line - that is far from original - I wish he would just shrivel up and crawl into a hole somewhere. As the saying goes - Out of sight, out of mind - I wish!

Lets not daudle we have more Judges to judge. Another person who is seen evey week lining the Runway with pen and paper is Nina Garcia. Now I actually like this woman. She could definitely do something with her hair but her appraisal of the Runway fashions has been tough but very fair. Unlike, Heidi and Michael who tend to bounce of each other as if they were really just one person. Maybe they are? It is amazing  what visual technology can achieve these days.

You must know by now that they have guest judges each week I especially enjoyed the one where Ms America, or Ms Universe sat on her mini thrown alongside Michael and Heidi and spouted about very little. I mean I saw her lips moving but nothing of real substance was passing through them. She would also fair much better if she was 'seen and not heard'.

Oh, I failed to mention that this weeks project was to create stylish outfit for the mothers of the designers. This was a difficult task as those of you who know anything about designer fashion are fully aware that the outfits only look awesome on a size 2 0 figure. Admittedly, a couple of the designers failed miserably. I mean, come on, what you would put on a size 18-20 woman? Nothing looks good on fat people. Hey, I can say that as I am not a waif, far from it, and I have a wardrobe of skinny clothing just waiting for me to look good in. Anyway Michael Kors, of all people, had the nerve judge these designers attempts at making the larger women look attractive. Hey Michael, really rich opinions coming from a person who does not cater at all to plus size women. Larger women would need to buy 2 or 3 of your reshashed designs to even attempt to sqeeze into them! Judge not.

WHAT....you think I am being too harsh.  Oh, please. They are judges - should we not judge? Where is your sense of humour. Ok, so I am expecting intelligent conversation from a fashion reality show - my bad. So when the hell is this show going to end so I can get back to the Discovery Channel?

Are you going to San Francisco?

You bet I am! Actually, Joel and I went down to celebrate our 11yr wedding anniversary and I wanted to tell you all about it before I left but it was a secret. Honestly, it was. Joel planned the trip, our anniversary dinner plans and the tour of Alcatraz as a surprise and I didn't find out where we were going until we arrived at the airport. It was funny that while we were heading to the airport a dance remix of the song "Are you going to San Francisco" came on the radio and I had to tell Joel how much I hated the song when it came out the first time.

Joel did suggest that he contemplated drugging me so I wouldn't know where we were going until we landed in San Fran, but we figured that airport officials may think he was kidnapping me and he just might get himself arrested.

What a wonderful city! We had a great time hitting all the local galleries and viewing numerous beautiful works of art - many that we could never afford. We were fortunate to find that the Fine Arts Museum was hosting a fabulous Monet exhibition. We also took a tour around Alcatraz which was interesting - I recently watched a documentary about life on the island for both the prisoners and the officers who lived there so it was an even richer experience to see it for myself. Of course, now it is basically a huge bird nest where numerous seagulls and other birds stop to mate and poop but the views are awesome.

On our anniversary we dined at a sophisticated little italian restaurant called Venticello, located on Nob Hill I would advise anyone going there to get a cab or to wear sneakers because the hills are a nightmare. Joel definitely made the right choice for our anniversary as this place was absolutely fabulous. Venticello serves truly authentic italian meals and the service was exceptional; warm and friendly while still maintaining a professional attitude. Our meals were served in a timely fashion, with each meal portion almost large enough to feed two people! There was no way that we were even going to contemplate squeezing in dessert, that was until the waitress arrived at our table with a complimentary dessert, a glass of port and a glass of deliciously sweet dessert wine. We had a wonderful time at the restaurant and then headed to a local bar - actually it was right next to our hotel - for reasons of convenience. This proved to be a very good idea after we consumed more alcohol than our bodies needed.

So am I going back to San Francisco - you bet I am!

Alcohol is bad....mmm'kay

So yesterday was Joel's last day with Pure Networks, which meant the dreaded farewell party. So now you know where this post is going, and the reasoning for my more than appropriate title.

Joel has been through the hardships, and shared many good times with his friends at Pure - but it is now time to move on.So where is he going you ask? He is off to join the world of Google.

But it wouldn't be a proper farewell without a farewell bash. So Joel knew he would have a drink or two so he decided to leave his car at home. Of course, he is a responsible guy and this seems like the responsible thing to do. Mistake Number 1. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend as I had to tie up some lose ends at college. No problem - I would pick up Joel from the Eastlake Bar & Grill when he finished saying his farewells and we would have a relaxing evening being that I finished my finals for summer quarter just the night before. Mistake Number 2.

To cut a long story short, I picked Joel up at 8.30pm (yes, this doesn't sound like a big bash but when your other half who never drinks has been drinking since 4.30pm then it is a hello of a long time). We arrive home just as Joel is about to throw up in my car. That wasn't going to happen as I managed to kick him out before the projectile vomit hit my car door. By now he is laying sprawled on the pavement throwing up.

You know if someone was telling me this story I would be in fits of laughter, but it is strange how things become less amusing when you (as in I) have to deal with the repercussions of someone else's stupid actions. So it wasn't funny at all when I had to take care of the drunk (aka Joel) who was sprawled on the pavement, and had been there for the past 45 minutes - with no thoughts of coming in the house any time soon. Should I remind you my blogger friend that it is now nearing 9.30pm, I haven't eaten dinner yet and will need to get to bed so I can get up at 6am.

Well, I soon learned that this was not going to be a relaxing night vegging out in front of the soap box. It wasn't even going to be a night where I would get a whole lot of sleep.

I managed to convince Joel to drag himself into the house; only after yelling at him that it would not be wise for me to leave him outside like he suggested. So he drags his arse inside, and ends up on the bathroom floor where he continues to throw up till about 11.30pm. By now I was a little concerned as I had done my research online and it appeared that he had a case of alcohol poisoning. Out of concern for my man, and selfish concern that I would not be getting nearly enough beauty sleep tonight, I called 911. The medics felt that he may be fine but I should keep an eye on him and call them if I needed them. Well, it is hard to keep an eye on someone when they are sprawled on the bathroom floor and you are snuggled into your cosy bed with a dog who is traumatised by the evenings entertainment. I surmised that as long as Joel was vomiting then he was still breathing, which meant that he is still alive and has not choked on his own vomit and died...which means I get some shut eye.

At 6am I awoke to the sweet sound of Joel vomiting, which I might add, is not as bad as the dreadful sound of my alarm, and I dragged myself to work. Just another day.....

Upcoming Artist Exhibition

Mark Moody's 'Investigation X-2' will be on display at the Shoreline Community College from September 6 - October 30, 2006.

The Artist reception will commence on October 14th from 2-5pm.

Mark Moody combines art and science to come up with some really interesting photographic images.

For more information go here.

Summer Quarter is over!

After signing up for a Psychology course for Summer  quarter I began to wonder whether I had done the right thing. It took only two weeks into the course to realize that this was a very stupid move on my behalf. Don't get me wrong, I loved the subject matter but the workload was ridiculous. In order to cram a 12 wk course into 8 wks we were advised to study for 4 hrs per day. This could be difficult! Actually, this is an impossible task with my 10hr work day, caring for an active pit bull and 5 ferrets...not to mention wanting to spend some time with Joel. So on a scale of 1-10 of impossible tasks, this is right up there - unless I am able to function on 3 hrs of sleep per night - which I am not.

So I had 2 options:

1. Work as hard as I can, and if all else fails re-take the course to obtain a higher grade.

OR

2. Withdraw from the class and take it later on in the year.

Now if you know me at all you will know that I am too proud to back out once I commit to a task, so option 2 was out, which left me with no other choice but to work, work, work!

So I did just that. Hey, don't get me wrong it was still extremely difficult. Especially being that my Psych lecturer majored in Biology so he wanted to cover all the heavy biology material such as the Brain, Neurons and cell structure, Neurotransmitters, etc... Again, this was interesting material but was a hell of a lot of information to cover in such a short quarter.

To cut a long story short - I completed the course AND I passed with an A- so I am feeling pretty darn good...and totally relieved that I can now start to enjoy life again and maybe do some much needed housework!

* If you are questioning the relevance of the dog photo in a Psychology discussion it is relating to Pavlov's classical conditioning experiments - very interesting study and highly useful to practice in the workplace. 

Another myth crushed!

I was perusing the website for All-Star Auto Glass after they did a wonderful job replacing our windshield, and I noticed that not only is the company owned by Jamie Moyer from the Seattle Mariners (not that this means alot to me as I am not a huge fan of baseball), but he and his wife also founded the Moyer Foundation. The Moyer Foundations main aim is to "offer encouragement, comfort and support to children and families enduring a time of profound emotional, physical or financial distress while providing opportunities for enhancing overall wellness, stability and quality of life". As I was reading this I assumed, or even questioned whether this couple had experienced something devastating to be so concerned about others - or whether they just had a great idea and ran with it.

So what does this have to do with the actual statistics about pit bull attacks? You'll see...

It seems that people, including myself, become more concerned about the suffering of other people if we have suffered in a similar way. I, for instance, volunteer with the Seattle Police Departments VST Program to assist victims of Domestic Violence. I feel a great deal of empathy for people in these situations, because I was in a d.v relationship and was also stabbed after I involved myself in someone else's domestic violence situation. So this enables me to have some sort of understanding of why people are in, and often stay in domestically violent relationships, and not just accept the myth that the victims - both men and women - could just walk away if they wanted to. Easy as 1-2-3.

Take the myth surrounding pit bulls for instance. Before owning a pit bull I knew that people often associated them with being vicious dogs who attacked people - and usually nothing positive. As much as I did not believe these accusations, I didn't really think much more about them until I adopted an American pit bull from the Seattle Animal Shelter. She is a sweet natured little girl and would not hurt a fly, but this did not prevent people from glaring at me when I walked down the street JUST because of her breed. Now if the worse thing that I had to deal with were a few stares from people that I don't even know then I could deal with that. But it doesn't end there. Instead, in many states within America it has led to nothing more than a witch hunt. The naive mentality of many people has led to many states initiating BSL - breed specific legislation - that not only discourages people from owning pit bulls because of the heavy insurance required, or the fear of being discriminated against from Home Owners Associations or even when trying to rent a property. Some place will force pit bull owners to muzzle there dogs if they are out in public - if they are friendly or not does not matter.

The funny thing - if there is anything funny about condoning such discrimination - is that any breed can bite, any breed can cause serious injury to people, and any breed can kill - if so inclined to do so. So why pick on all the dogs that come under the umbrella term of 'pit bull?'

Why? Because it is easier for people to paint a picture of fear on the face of a pit bull and fear only 'pit bulls' then it is for them to face the fact that any dog could be a potential attacker. It is easier for people to think that a pit bull could maul their baby, then it is to think that the labrador down the street could tear off a woman's face so that she is unrecognizable - as was the case with the labrador in France who tore off the owners face because she stepped on it by accident.

I have always known that pit bulls are great dogs BUT now I can say that I have seen firsthand, on a daily basis, that these dogs are sweet, loyal, playful and will do anything to please you. Unfortunately, the pit bulls that make the headlines are often owned by thugs, drug dealers, or people who have not properly socialised them - a fact I am noticing more often with many other breeds I am meeting on our daily walks, even thought I do not see them coming under the same persecution as pit bull owners. Just the other day I tried to walk Zoe down the street and we were confronted by a family with two retrievers who were nearly frothing at the mouth to try and attack my dog - who, I might add, walked past without even looking in their direction.

I would like to encourage people who dislike pitbulls to at least get to know one before you start fighting for BSL. As I said previously, there are now parts of America, and even some counties within Seattle that have placed a ban on owning pit bulls. When certain ordinances are in place the city then has the right to enter those premises who have pit bulls and euthanize them. I am not talking about city officials entering a meth house where vicious dogs are roaming around. I am talking about these officials who enter the homes of families with children who have owned the family pit bull for many, many years, and order it to be destroyed because of legislations - where is the justice! 

Ok, I think I have ranted for long enough....

FYI

1) Four places I’ve worked.
Horse-riding club
Sydney Hotel
Advertising Company
Architectural Firm

2) Four movies I loved.
Blade
High fidelity
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Birds

3) Four places I have lived.
Caulfield, Melbourne - Australia
Bellevue Hill, Sydney - Australia
Surry Hills, Sydney - Australia
Ravenna, Seattle - USA

4) Four TV shows I love to watch
The First 48 Hours
Family Guy
Workout
Forensic Files

5) Four places I have been on vacation holiday
Ireland
Korea
Mongolia
Tonga

6) Four webshites I visit daily

www.seattlepi.com
www.abebooks.com
www.baumanrarebooks.com
www.nytimes.com

7) Four of my favourite foods
Mexican - Chicken Fajitas with a Midori Margarita
Grilled Salmon with mashed potato
Ravioli - any pasta really - scrumptious!
Grilled chicken salad - please!

Four places I would rather be
Sleeping
Sunbathing on Bondi Beach, Australia
Reading a good book
Travelling around Italy or Paris

9) Four fave CD’s (this hour)
RATM - self titled album
Revolver - Contraband
Bif Naked - Super Beautiful Monster
A Perfect Circle - Mer De Noms

Good morning Seattle!

It is a dreary Friday morning here in Seattle and too brighten my day I thought I would visit one of my favorite sites, BlogExplosion. Yes, I know that I may visit the site for purely selfish reasons as the more sites I visit, the more people that will visit my site. It is all about people helping people...but it is about more than that.

The main reason for visiting BlogExplosion is that I can hook up with some really great blogs. You know there are blogs and there are BLOGS. Most blogs are generally like mine and we talk about nothing extraordinary...but every now and then I hit upon a blog that actually makes me think more about the world around me. Well, today I got lucky. Today I stumbled upon Belfast Thoughts and read the most moving post I have read in awhile. The post is based on the premise of a simple good morning and the impact that greeting can have on those around you. You can read it for yourself by hitting on the link for Belfast Thoughts.

I should also admit that is wasn't really a big coincidence that I stumbled onto the site...I love anything Irish so when I visited the Irish blog list on BlogExplosion I couldn't resist the urge to visit a site titled Belfast Thoughts! Did I ever tell you my parents are from Belfast? Well, they are and as long as I could remember I always wanted to be born in Ireland rather than Australia. I don't know what it is but I have always felt a strong connection to that place - a land of tranquil beauty. Of course, all that most people think of when discussing Belfast is the conflict that is/was anything but tranquil. Well, you can't believe everything you read, and there is alot to be said for the people of Belfast - namely being extemely warm and friendly.

Well that is my rant for this Friday morning in Seattle. I wish you all a wonderful day!

Rain in Blood

Ok, so I ripped this title from that brutal, but brilliant Slayer song 'Reign in Blood' which also became one of the cover songs on a Tori Amos album which she titled 'Rain in Blood'....so that is a little background and now on to the point of this post...

Just last week as I was casually strolling down the road - actually my dog and I were just about jogging - we stopped as people with dogs are prone to doing. Now, I don't really have  a problem with stopping, unless it is every minute to sniff that tree or this blade of grass. So we stopped so Zoe could take care of business and then I anticipated continuing our walk...but that did not quite happen. Instead I turned around, took one step forward and found to my amazement that I was passionately embracing the concrete paving.

Of course, if you are like me and you fall, you prefer to just bounce back up and hope that no one noticed you...well, I managed the bouncing back up part, but that is where the similarities ended and the raining blood fell. I cannot believe how much blood was lost at the scene. Gee, I could have collected my own donation for the blood bank - would it still count?

5 minutes later.... I am still standing there....still bleeding.

5 minutes later...yep still bleeding...

Now it wasn't a drip, drip, drip kind of bleeding but the 'turn on the fire hose' kind, which is why I was standing in one place and not getting my butt home asap.

By now Zoe is looking frantic. I am still standing in the same place somewhat dazed and not really knowing what to do. The blood is still pouring down from my face and I cannot walk anywhere as I am unable to see much through the outpouring of blood...

But wait. Here comes a person walking along the path.....and there he goes. Maybe he didn't see me. At 3.30pm on a sunny afternoon - I really doubt that he didn't notice me. Hey, here comes another person...maybe he too was having issues with his vision. Or maybe they both live in areas where people often stand in the middle of the sidewalk, dripping blood on the paving with a distressed dog sitting by their side? It's a possibility, isn't it?

Now, don't get me wrong. I can seriously understand why a person would not want to come in contact with my blood, aids and other blood born diseases would cause me to be very cautious about handling someone else's blood. BUT I wasn't expecting someone to hold a tissue to my face! All I really expected was for someone to offer assistance. Offer a tissue. Offer to call someone for me as this was the one time where I left my cell phone at home. Gee, we live in a society people and it will fail to function properly if everyone just fends for themselves. Where is the love??

I decide that I cannot stand here forever so I went and leaned against a short ledge - at least this way the next person won't knock me over as they are racing past me, while acting indifferent to my dilemma. I soon learn that was a preemptive move on my behalf, as the next person came racing past soon enough. As soon as I could see somewhat clearly I noticed that there was a t-shirt just laying along the ledge...it seemed to be placed in a manner that someone had left it there knwoing that I would need it. Well I did need it thankyou very much, and although I did contemplate the amount of germs that it could be hiding - all that really mattered to me was being able to stop the bleeding.

To cut a long story short, Zoe and I proceeded to walk the 8 blocks home and on the way I stopped at a storage office and asked the guy at the desk for a tissue. The guy made me sit down, cleaned my wounds, gave me and Zoe a glass of water - actually Zoe was given a bowl of water as she would find it difficult drinking from a glass - and we headed home. My faith in mankind somewhat restored by this guys simple act of kindness...

Just as a precautionary measure I decided to pop down to see my doctor to ensure that I didn't need any stitches - it did help that the medical center is on the same street as my house. No stitches required but I was bandaged up and looked like a car wreck victim. But all is well that ends well...apart from the fact that we were leaving for our surprise anniversary trip the next day...vanity, vanity, pure vanity.

Graffitti or not to be - that is the question

Let me introduce you to Banksy. No, Banksy is not the rat sketched on the side of this building. Bansky is the artist who's artwork is displayed on the building. Bansky the man has been the center of a little controversy surrounding his gift.

What do we call this? Is it Art of Graffitti? As most people well known you certainly do not have to admire works by the likes of Van Gogh or Monet or even Picasso. As the saying goes 'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'. Well, I think the same can be said for Art as the appreciation of Art is surely in the eyes of that beholder who decides that it is art and something to be admired.

Now anyone knows what Graffitti looks like. Or do they? For me the word Graffitti summons up ghastly images of huge words sprawled wrecklessly destroying the appeal of a fences, homes and walls wherever there is space to spray, and minimal light in order to remain discreet while  defacing someone else's property. But I do not see this as I view this guys creations. His work only enhances the street appeal - without the assistance of garish advertising billboards.