Sayonara, 2008

As we approach the final hours of this wonderful and eventful year, I sit in front of my computer, knowing that my celebration for the night, and thus year, has already happened and is now over.

I am just back from Bianca’s place. For the holidays, she has had some cousin’s family over. A few nights ago I had talked to her 8 year old little cousin on the phone. Anyway, I showed up a bit late today (after Carmaine…) and it was really awesome to see Carmaine again. Hey, Carmaine, you’re looking really good! No signs of peeling. Haha..sorry. Oh and I have to add Carmaine wore a really cool coat, from Nique.

We, that is, Bianca, Greg, Carmaine, Nicole the cousin and I went to a playground near Bee’s house, and we watched as Nicole played on the swings and so did Carmaine (haha they had a competition to see who swung higher. We figured that, body ratio wise, Nicole actually kicked a lot higher). Then Nicole and Bianca threw some tan-bark around and Carmaine still had some in her hair when she left and I have a feeling so do I.

I managed to convince Nicole to call Carmaine “Shark” whereas Bianca succeeded with “Car-minnie”. Nicole called me weird but funny (so, good, right?) and tried to sit on our (Carmaine and my) laps near the monkey bars. Then, Carmaine wanted a picture where she was holding onto the monkey bars while her feet are on the ground, and Nicole swinging from it. Well, I wasn’t tall enough to hoist Nicole onto the bars, so Carmaine had to do it, and then go hold the bars herself, and then Bee took the picture. But Nicole kept on letting go and falling, and then on the 3rd try Carmaine couldn’t aim Nicole to hold onto the bars. So Bee took a picture of them struggling (I think on the 5th try Carmaine said to Nicole “You’re doing this on purpose aren’t you?”).

On the walk back from the playground, Nicole kept on picking daisies (which are not dandelions, Bee) and gave them to us. We stuck a few in Bee’s hair (when I say “we” I usually mean Carmaine and me) and then I tried to stab Greg with some. Nicole took my hand and Greg’s and tried to swing (“WEE!”…”COOKIES!”) and then she took Carmaine’s hand, and Carmaine said “What are you going to do? It’s a bit scary!” which prompted me to swing Nicole, making Carmaine swing. When we got back to Bee’s house, we had to climb the small slope that’s her driveway, and Carmaine pulled us back and pretended to be dead tired and not be able to be dragged up. You know, Carmaine, you’re pretty funny with kids.

We settled down and were going to watch Meet The Robinsons but Bianca taped it badly (therefore confirming the stereotype that chicks can’t program things) so we watched Happy N’Ever After instead. I swear, that movie had some rather sexual jokes behind it, but I kept on trying to say “are you hearing this?” to Bee and Carmaine but they didn’t get it, and Nicole persisted to ask “hear what? WHAT?” so I had to drop it. Then, when the evil stepmother turn witch used her magic, Greg wondered how she managed to learn to use it so well, and I said “she’s good with a stick.” I could hear Bee and Carmaine sigh, and Greg said “that sounds dirty.” which made Adam, Nicole’s brother, ask “what did she say?” Greg said, “nothing” but Nicole piped up “she said, ‘she’s good with a stick’.” Adam said, “I don’t get it” and Nicole “What stick?” So I think I was in the clear there.

I left at around 4, and Nicole was surprisingly sad to see me go. I was hugging her and she just attached herself onto me. So I mimed carrying her out, and said to her dad “I’m taking her with me!”

So, actually, it was a rather fun day. It’s been a while since I’ve hung out with little kids, and Nicole is incredibly smart. She said I was boisterous. I didn’t even know what that meant.

Tonight, I think mom’s going to make dumplings again, I’m so sick of them. I guess we’ll just watch the fireworks and go to sleep, like we always do. Carmaine and Bee are all going to seperate parties, and Eunice is somewhere on the road, I think. I want to go online but I doubt there will be anyone loserish enough to still be on tonight, of all nights. The only reason I want to stay up until 12 is to do my customary text. Otherwise, I’d probably sleep away our step into 2009.

So, I salute 2008, a hell of a year. Hopefully you had fun reading about my life for the past…when did I start to blog this frequently? August? Late August. So I hope you had fun reading this for the past 4 months. It’s actually been a hell of a pleasure writing it, and even though sometimes I got stuck on what to write, it’s gotten easier. I was quite pleased that so many people read it, and also quite pleased I don’t have to recount things too many times, and definitely happy that I made a friend in Sneakerologist.  I am happy that I influenced a few more people to blog, and happy that I got to know Vania more through her blog. I will probably post something up tomorrow just for the sake of it, but I don’t see myself doing anything fun tomorrow.

Stay safe tonight, everyone. And tomorrow too if you’re partying tomorrow. God I want to party…ehhh…I’ll wait for another year. Next year, maybe. Try to go into 2009 with a huge smile on your face, and if you’re lucky or just in the right place, a hot boy/girl on your lips.

De Fluffe, Out.

P.S. Next year I might do a new signout. I don’t have a good repertoire of inspirational quotes, so I might do something along the lines of “De Fluffe, De Activate.” Or I could keep my current one. Someone suggest a good one.

P.P.S. I finished Claymore.

P.P.P.S. Welcome back Carmaine! I should’ve written that yesterday but I didn’t get around to it.

New Year’s Resolution

Alright since it’s been mentioned thrice in just as many days, I think I should talk about it.

My resolution last year – or this year, whatever, 2008 – was, if I recall properly because I remember telling Carmaine and Eunice about it at Knox when we went to see P.S. I Love You, to be a better friend and open up channels of communication.

Personally, as in on a personal solitary level, I think I actually achieved both of them really well. I’ve had good talks with people, and I’ve found more about myself and so knew what I can offer as a friend.

I mean, I can think of one instance later in the year when communication wasn’t so great, not on a personal level but as in making sure outside communications are good. But. Again, it all worked out.

The strange thing is, I don’t know what this year’s resolution is going to be. I want to say “do so well in school that I weed out all unforced B’s and B+’s”, but I think that that’s a pretty bad resolution to have, seeing as it shouldn’t take a NYR to make me want to do well in Yr 12. I want to say, “finally kiss someone” but I’ve received such a response to the “flower” post that again, it’s not in my best interest to. But I honestly don’t see a resolution, unless I want to do the “get my weight back down to 45-46 kilos”. Or “give some sort of ending to the vampire story” or the usual love crap like “make sure I make every member of BRuCE laugh really hard at least once a day”. But 356×3 laughs are a large number of laughs.

Ahh, someone help me.

De Fluffe, Out.

P.S. Maybe “quit smoking”? I need to take it up first.

Claymore Part 2

Okay I watched just one more episode, and now I know why there are only female Claymores (sorry if I looked foolish yesterday).

At the beginning there were male warriors as well, and they were a success but remember what I said about Claymores going over their limit and turning into an Awakened Being? Well, when male warriors unleash their Yoki, it equals a kind of sexual pleasure for them, so it is tempting for them to keep unleashing their Yoki and going over their limit, so they because AB’s a lot more often. Because of this they stopped creating male warriors and just let loose the bunch of male Awakened Beings into the world.

Right, well I had that off my chest. On with watching Claymore.

De Fluffe, Out.

Claymore

A while back (I can’t even remember how long ago) Carmaine introduced me to an anime called Claymore. Then, Mary gave me some episodes. Just today I decided to start watching it. And it is AWESOME! So to do a quick summary to get someone interested:

It’s set in a world where humankind coexist with monsters called Yoma. Yoma basically eat human guts and they can disguise themselves as humans so they’re rather sneaky bastards. To fight the Yoma, the humans will have to request help from an organization of Yoma-hunters. The humans call these hunters Claymores (the hunters themselves don’t call themselves by that title, it’s just what the humans do). Claymores are half human, half Yoma, and when they do battle they unleash some of the Yoki, which is Yoma-power. Their eyes turn from the usual silver to gold. At some point, all Claymores will lose themselves and turn into a Yoma. Usually when they sense their end is coming, they will send out a black card that in their sword, and on the black card will be the symbol of the Claymore that they want to be killed by (each Claymore’s symbol is unique, like their DNA or name or something) and that chosen Claymore will have to kill them before they become completely Yoma, so that they can die “with a human heart”.

All Claymores are females, because for some reason that is the only way you can have half human half Yoma (maybe there is a reason, I’ve only seen 10 eps). All Claymores are blonde, fit, ninja-like, and have silver eyes. Except for some reason their boss is male.

So the story is about a Claymore called Clare, who, in a mission meets a boy called Rika, whose family has been slain by a Yoma. Rika follows Clare around, and at first you don’t know why Clare lets Rika do it but then you find out that when Clare was a human, she was in the same situation as Rika, and she was adopted by a Claymore called Teresa. Teresa was the best Claymore ever, being Number One, and in order to protect Clare, Teresa killed a human. That act is taboo in Claymore society, and Teresa was meant to be executed, but she wounded all her executors and turned her back on the organization. Therefore, the male boss sent Numbers Two through to Five after Teresa. Number Two was a rookie called Priscilla, and she hated Yoma very much and was so strong that one day she could surpass Teresa (Teresa is so strong that she doesn’t even need to unleash her Yoma powers when fighting). After a really long battle, it seems that Priscilla has lost control over her Yoma side and was about to turn into a Yoma, and Teresa offered to kill her. But Priscilla tricks Teresa and kills Teresa, and then Number Three to Five. Priscilla turns into a being stronger than Yoma, an Awakened Being (or Voracious Eater), and leaves the terrified and human Clare behind. Clare finds the male boss, and requests to be made into a Claymore.

We then find out that Clare is the worst Claymore. In the 47 regions, she is ranked Number Forty-Seven.

The last episode I watched was when Clare joins three other Claymores who are hunting an Awakened Being, but was surprised when they realized that the AB is much stronger than they were told and they would be screwed with a Number Forty-Seven.

I like it because it has a lot of gruesome bits. For example, when Priscilla killed Sophia and Noel, Numbers Five and Four, she did so by punching her claw into their brains, through their eyes. And when Clare killed Yomas, she did it by slicing them through the middle. The fighting animation is also very well done, on par with that of Naruto and I guess DBZ as well, but DBZ would be considered from “another era” of Japanese animation. It also reminds me of Appleseed, however Appleseed would be considered a different genre, it being a 3D animation of sorts.

Anyway that was my ramble about Claymore for today. I’ve found my new addiction. I need to get more episodes, now.

De Fluffe, Out.

P.S. I guess I have to add that it’s similar to Naruto also because they drag battles on for a few episodes.

A Day Late

Yes, I did go out today. A day later than the Boxing Day usual.

We got to Knox at around 9:40, and mom had to go return the two right feet. Then we went to Harvey Norman and we emerged with a new toaster – I kind of wanted that cool new one where you can have all different shades of brown, with the “A Little Bit More” function thing, but we didn’t get it, of course – and a new hair shaving kit for dad (hey what if I become a skinhead?). Then we went around for mom to get some clothes, and had lunch at Dragon Boat. It wasn’t really that great – maybe the day was too warm for Yum Cha, but I just didn’t like it – but it did provide me with something funny to tell you.

Last year for Eunice’s birthday the four of us went to Tao’s and there was a strange waiter (or waitress? I can’t remember now) who, when he was serving the soup for Eunice, shook so hard the entire bowl chattered on the plate. Then there was a waitress who somehow missed the cup by a good 3 cm and poured tea onto the floor. Anyway, it just reminded me today when the young chick waitress refilled our tea pot and poured so much she didn’t compensate for the space the lid will oocupy, and when she put the lid back in she soaked half the table cloth. Not to be insulting to my own kind, but asian chicks are kind of dumb sometimes.

Bianca called me during lunch to tell me she was at Dandenong Plaza and bought a bunch of clothes for 45 bucks. Showoff.

After lunch, when we walked from OZone back to the main store (er if you don’t know Knox then just…OZone is an entertainment area that’s about 50 m away from the main mall) and I actually had that thing where you turn on the light at night and your eyes feel like trying to grow mouths to scream in pain, but much longer all the way from Dragon Boat to Borders. So I wanted sunnies. Besides I’d been wanting sunnies for a while. Wandered (okay gonna go off tangent, but I just wanna know how some people keep writing “wondered” instead of “wandered” because otherwise your musings can get you many places without an aim) to Myers and hey hey hey they had a massive sunglasses sale! 30 – 50% off some big brands (I’m bullshitting. I only know Le Specs and Ray Bans, but meh) so I dove in, elbowed away a couple of fat ugly tweens, and got myself a pair of Envy (apparently a brand. I only saw the actual object and the pricetag. $49.95 down 50%, woohoo!). I wore it on the drive home, and as I stepped into my bedroom I remembered Vania writing about how she liked her new sunnies so much she wore it around the house. Well, seeing as my house is really dark and I’m not a lame-wad (no offence), I didn’t. I also need to get my fringe out of the way when I wear it. Now there’s a funny image to laugh at.

I was at Red Rooster to get some chips (Maccas, Hungry Jacks and KFC was packed to the nines) and the chick who took my order greeted me with a tone that kind of said “go die, you fat fuck” and when I’ve done my order, she goes next please. I hear a deep male voice behind me and immediately she smiles and says “Hey there, how may I help you?” and I think “slut”. Or maybe I’m just pissed off ‘cos I didn’t warrant a nice greeting.

I’m talking to Sneakerologist right now. Just found out she’s 175 cm, just like Carmaine. Seriously, since they’re both Malay-Chinese, I think they’re related. That, or they’re from the same lab.

Curiouser and curiouser.

De Fluffe, Out.

Pilin’ boxes at the door, tryin’a block it

I can’t believe I actually forgot to update today. So this is a rather late entry for today.

Well, I was right yesterday, we stayed home today. I went online but of course no one was really on because, come on, it’s Boxing Day, everyone’s gone shopping.

I’m going out tomorrow, though, because mom still has to return a pair of shoes she bought. Well not so much return as exchange…because the clerk gave her two right feet. I don’t know. It’s just one of those crazy stupid things that are done by the same kind of people.

Hopefully tomorrow we will go to a good Yum Cha place for lunch. I haven’t had Yum Cha for a while, even though I have had my fair share of dumplings recently. We made a huge batch of them, ate them for nearly 2 weeks, and besides that Carmaine and Bee had wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant on the last day. So. Lots of dumplings.

I remember going to Knox’s (or was it Chadstone?) Myers on Boxing Day 2004. It was boring and we only managed to buy a toy bear, Patrick. I think that day was rather overshadowed in my memory by the fact that we had that tsunami in Indonesia and whatnot, and my friend was holidaying there at the time.

I also remember, it must’ve been 2001, because summer of 2002 I went back to China, or was it 2000? Anyway, I remember in the summer of 00/01, my cousin’s family from Canberra came over, and we went to the city on Boxing Day (now, back then, city was like, an awesome place you go to every once in a while for a treat. Unlike now. For school. And for general living.) and a few shops were closed but we went to Crown and we must’ve walked down Southbank (I didn’t know at the time, it was all a blur to me, basically in my head, Flinders St station was next door to Crown and Exhibition Centre). I was on the tram, and my cousin Julia (different Julia to the one I usually mention who is from my school, of course) was trying to explain what Boxing Day was, but I don’t think she knew it either. Seriously, what the hell is Boxing Day?

Speaking of Julia, I remember on the train back that day (now, it had to have been 2001, because that year we went to Melbourne Zoo. Why the hell do I sound like an old grandma recollecting childhood memories?) it was one of the old ones, I think they all were the old ones back then, and the driver for some reason kept on sounding the horn so Julia and I sang along to that. Okay we were numbskulls. I was also 10. Back then we lived near the Glen, so it was a walk from dinner on Kings Way. We went to Rock Kung (I remember for the following reason) and Julia and I took home the refresher hand towels. We pretended that the air was poisonous and we had to cover our mouths with the hand towels, and we made a racket walking home screaming to each other “NO YOU HAVE TO KEEP YOUR MOUTH COVERED!”

See? Good memories. I think the last time that Julia came over was just before I started MacRob, so summer of ’05. I haven’t seen her since then. I kind of wish they’d come over again (‘cos like hell I’m going to Canberra. If they met us halfway at Sydney maybe) but apparently mom and Julia’s dad, mom’s brother, are having some kind of misunderstanding that Frank, Julia’s dad, doesn’t know about. I mean, it’s stupid because our house is actually rather large now (the last time they came over Julia and I slept on the study floor. While we still don’t exactly have enough beds, we have more bloody room). But I guess it’s all for the best. I mean, what is the kind of person I am now, if family comes over they’d just complain about my hair in my eyes, or the way I talk, or whatever.

Well this turned out to be a long blog.

Hey, a small bit of info about me you might not have known: I love stuffed animals. Soft fur, huggable, either small enough so I can make it a puppet in my hand (small) or large enough to bear hug. I don’t want any hard limbs, I want the really soft kind, with an open and cute face. I have 3 teddy bears (as well as a tiger, a rattlesnake, a dog, a Tassie devil, a Toyota penguin, a very large duck and of course the dog that Viv gave me this year. All of the abovementioned animals are named after their specie, ie Tiger, Snake, Dog, Taz, Toyota, Duck, and I called the new dog Andrew…guess why. And the bears are Patrick, Ranger – being a ranger bear – and Bear).

Wasn’t that edge-of-your-seat-interesting?

Hey, whoever comments, tell me something about yourself that I don’t know.

De Fluffe, Out.

Christmas 2008

I’ve taken a leaf out of Vania’s book – at the rate I’m going, I don’t think Vania will have a book left – and am writing my blog to type up later.

So let me tell you about my Christmas, up until right now, which is 2:02 pm.

Yesterday I found that my internet capped, so under excruciatingly slow loading, I wrote my Christmas Eve blog. I stayed online for a while, complimented Jen on her raw sexual appeal – what? You think I’d drop it? – then went offline, upstairs, and started watching Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. It was…nice. I didn’t much get the fashion parts but to watch near human perfection flaunt across a runway…that was nice. After a while it occured to me that the drawing I was doing at the time became influenced by the show. I flicked to ABC and was delighted and surprised to see the Vicar of Dibley. I guess ABC bought it from Ch 7. Watched it until nearly elevent something. Replenished myself with instant noodles. Then started watching this old movie which was a rather good piece of satire. Eunice’s text message came through, then about 11:40, I decided to call her. We chatted for a while, about her recent camping, snorkelling, what I’ve done, and comparing a certain someone to a lobster. Then, midnight came and I said Merry Christmas to Eunice – because of QLD, they’re 1 hour behind – and then sent a few texts out. Vania congratulated me on my accuracy. Go me.

I went to sleep, and woke up at past 8 by my bladder. Got a few replies, and started cleaning my room because of the aforementioned dad and son coming. I went online, (haven’t updated, of course) and saw no one on. Got a bit lonely, so I checked my blog. Found a complete stranger wishing me a good Christmas, despite. That really made me s mile. So hey, maybe the Christmas spirit is in me.

Or maybe not. The dad and son ended up being nearly an hour late, and I found myself smiling at my dad’s annoyance. I watched A Carol Christmas which was badly scripted, then the son and dad came. Had a late lunch, sipped some wine, then finished watching The Grinch. And so here I am now (thank you April, for a funny reply).

And you know, unless something really awful happens between now and when I type this up, I had a good Christmas.

It is now 6:36 pm, and nothing really awful happened. Yep, my parents more or less left me alone for a solid 3 hours and chatted with the dad. Don’t know what the kid did. This morning mom bashed her foot into something and didn’t realize it until it started bruising later. Now it’s voluptiously bruised and shes got a towel stuffed with ice on it. I made the ice for drinks. I think we should get ice packs. She’s applied some heat bandage onto it now. I never understood ice then heat. But whatever suits her. Bianca hasn’t yet emailed be about tomorrow, so still don’t know if I’m to spend Boxing Day with my parents, and having my mom complain all day about the bruise, or if I will spend it with Bianca. I almost kind of want to stay home alone, but the net capped and well, that’s no fun.

Hey, thanks to GK for her nice comment, seriously. I hope you had an extra good Christmas ‘cos you did a nice thing.

Merry Christmas, to all those who read this. Have lots of fun, but be safe. Don’t turn a night out into a nightmare. The government should pay me for this ha.

De Fluffe, Out.

Christmas Eve

I like hearing about other people’s Christmas plans, because it feels very homely, and I like imagining the moments. Sure, every scenario does get twisted in my head so that everyone’s wearing a sweater, in front of a fireplace, and toasting marshmallows, no matter what it is that they do – watching American TV does that to you – but it’s still a nice image.

Like one time when I called up Bee and her mom answered the phone, saying, “oh hi, Bianca’s just laughing really hard at a joke she just told.” And I said, “Oh, is the joke funny?” and she replied, “No, but she’s laughing really hard anyway.” And then in the background I can hear Bee laughing hysterically to herself, Greg telling her how weird she is, and it was a really nice – and slightly amusing – scene to listen to.

I think it would be really cool, in the not too distant future, to wake up one morning to a Christmas with a tree that the people I’m living with worked hard on, and then open the presents, and then spend a day together just goofing off.

And, I’m pretty sure I’ve already blogged something like this last Christmas. Actually I can recall 3 pretty bad Christmases in a row (I already counted this year’s in). Hopes for a good 2009.

Last Christmas and the Christmas before, my family had invited the bunch of “family friends” over for lunch. This year everyone was busy so I thought, finally a Christmas where I’m not being yelled at by my mom to clean up and tidy up and be a slave. But instead she decided to call over another family, and they have a small son who I’d have to entertain. I don’t see how this is really helping either of us, because the son is bored by me and I am bored by him, so wouldn’t it be a better Christmas for the both of us if he and his dad went to the city or someplace fun, and I get left alone at home? Apparently, that’s a really rude thing to want, because my parents want to “have fun” with the dad. I’m pretty sure my dad hates his dad. So just my mom then.

But count on it that I’ll blog tomorrow.

De Fluffe, Out.

P.S. On the offchance I don’t, because, well I can’t imagine what…Merry Christmas.

Phineas and Ferb

A quick update to tell people to watch that cartoon ‘cos it seriously is so funny and awesome and Ferb has the best accent..when he DOES talk.

De Fluffe, Out.

Where have all the flowers gone?

I was just watching 20 to 1 life changing moments, and in it at I think number 18, was losing your virginity. There was a stat that said that the average age most Aussies lose their virginity is at 17.

Damn.

I also remember back in Brentwood when we were having a chat in history class, and one of the guys asked the teacher who was a bit of a dork when she’d first kissed a boy. She said that her first boyfriend was when she was at 16, and everyone laughed at her for being “frigid”. I remember that instance quite strongly and thought at the time that I’d have a boyfriend before I turn 16, for sure. Well I didn’t. I still haven’t been kissed. In a couple of months – during which I don’t foresee any chance of me having sex – I’d turn 18, and be a whole year later than the average age.

But let me just justify myself here. While I don’t exactly plan to follow the “sex after marriage” thing, and maybe I might take a one-night stand or two here and there, I don’t think I’d be a nympho. I won’t exactly do it with anyone or use sex as a bargaining tool.

While some people say that it’s an important part of life and I should wait for the right person, I’ve had people tell me it’s not that big a deal, really. So I don’t know. Losing it would be a relief. I hope I don’t sound like I’m soliciting.

Oh how naive I had been last year to think I could lose my “lipginity” before I turn 16. And then 17. Now 18, please, 18.

De Fluffe, Out.