Today I made a trip to the post office (with about half the pile I have to send) with stamp money kindly donated by C;

^ sem.

:(		:)
✖ Phone bill		✔ Lovely mail
✖ Lack of health		✔ Lovely boy
✖ Lack of motivation		✔ Lovely friends
✖ Money woes		✔ Lovely family

And now to help quash the gloominess, here is a badly disguised wish list;


^ Lobster pad, by Linda & Harriet.


^ Par Avion / Silkscreened Boy with Airplane - Kraft by Humunuku


^ A Gentleman's Notecard Set by Little Red Fox


^ Piggies in ruby and lavender card set by Linda & Harriet.


^ Stamp set - Western Style Moustaches (Large) by Girl On The Rocks.


^ love / spoon / letterpress card by Louella Press.


^ The Small Object Labels & Stickers from Fred Flare.


^ This Is Not A Book by Keri Smith.

Here's a list of ways to cure hiccups I made several years ago:

• drink a teaspoon of vinegar.
• drink water out of the wrong side of a glass.
• yell or sing as loud as you can.
• get someone to drop an ice cube down your back.
  
• eat a spoonful of sugar.
• make yourself sneeze.
• blow up a balloon.
  
• plug your ears with your fingers and drink through a straw.
• pinch the middle of your palm as hard as you can.
• eat a wedge of lemon.
• somebody unexpectedly pulls out a fifty dollar note and says "if you can hiccup again I'll give you fifty dollars" (my mum did this to me).
  
• eat a teaspoon of peanut butter.
• recite "the litany against hiccups" – as follows;
  

I must not hiccup.
hiccups are the lung-killers.
hiccups are the little deaths that bring total obliteration.
I will face my hiccups.
I will permit them to pass over me and through me.
and when they has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see their path.
where the hiccups have gone there will be nothing.
only I will remain.

The latter is the weirdest I've heard.
Can you think of any really strange ones to add?

New TV obsession: Breaking Bad. Doug lent it to me.

Yesterday Doug and I went for a swim at the famed Newcastle Bogey Hole. As the council is apparently intending to develop the site, I'd like to try to go there once a week until that happens. There's even a Facebook group in it's honour;


^ img credit; mark snelson.


^ img credit.


^ from above, img credit.


^ img credit; andy gock.

^ Atherton Lin (via we love you so)

Listening to: Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band - Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gives To Me.
Eating: Eggs on toast.
Wishing: I could go swimming today.

I am a little miffed (I like that word) today because I have a pile of... *counts*... exactly 20 letters and postcards sitting beside me, some that have been sitting there for over a month, written, sealed, finished and waiting for stamps and I haven't been able to afford any! This is why I should really post letters one by one, as I write them, so that I don't end up going to the post office on the day I get paid with an armful of mail and come out $40 poorer. Oh well. If I owe you a letter and it's late, I do apologise - it is probably written and waiting to be posted. They'll all get to their destinations at some point. And sadly, glorious plans of going swimming today have been foiled by C being called into work. Boo! I did get some great mail today though;

Here's some wonderful incoming I received today;


Isn't this the loveliest postcard ever? Kindly sent to me by Megan. She's doing a great little giveaway on her blog this month, get in on it!




A great letter from Stephanie from Lunsh - the back features the list of 10 people she'd invite to a dinner party I requested.




Another great piece of mail from Garci.


A sweet letter from Laurine in France.




And a wonderful package full of goodies from Bruno in Brazil.

And some outgoing;




Metallic envelopes never scan well. You can actually see yourself in these envelopes.




A long overdue letter to Missive Maven.

Here's a really boring list of things I need to do before I go back to university:

• Sort through internet bookmarks, cull.
• Stretch, every day.
  
• Respond to all of my current mail (12)
  
• Pay my $28 library fine.
• Sort through my Google Reader, cull.
• Call my brother, visit.
• Buy credit.
• Make Doug take me to the ocean baths one night each week while it's hot.

:)

^ andreas m. wiese (via share some candy).

Today the postman delivered to me a large packet of very aromatic chilli and a recipe for 'Chilli Con Vege', odd but delicious. My hands smell very strongly of chilli just from opening the envelope. Our friend Ash stayed over last night, took us out for Thai food and later introduced me to the wonders of Degrassi Junior High. I'm not very far in yet and I have a long way to go. I think my favourite character so far is Lucy. Today I am having a sneeze-a-thon and have dosed myself up with antihistamines, lounging on the couch, watching Six Feet Under. Riveting stuff.

Here is a picture of me pulling a ridiculous face at dinner last night. I'm really good at unflattering photos. I just wanted to show you my sweet jacket;


And here is the chilli package;





When C gets home I'm going to bake these biscuits again and perhaps photograph them to show you, if I don't eat them all up first.

I came across this little piece of writing entitled Things to Do in the Belly of a Whale by Dan Albergotti and I rather liked it;

Measure the walls. Count the ribs. Notch the long days.
Look up for blue sky through the spout. Make small fires
with the broken hulls of fishing boats. Practice smoke signals.
Call old friends, and listen for echoes of distant voices.
Organize your calendar. Dream of the beach. Look each way
for the dim glow of light. Work on your reports. Review
each of your life’s ten million choices. Endure moments
of self-loathing. Find the evidence of those before you.
Destroy it. Try to be very quiet, and listen for the sound
of gears and moving water. Listen for the sound of your heart.
Be thankful that you are here, swallowed with all hope,
where you can rest and wait. Be nostalgic. Think of all
the things you did and could have done. Remember
treading water in the center of the still night sea, your toes
pointing again and again down, down into the black depths.