catty catty/muggy muggy

Check out this mug I bought today - WIN!

yes, I am wearing my pyjamas. It is 39 degrees (C) today okay?!

some passive aggression

1. Winding your car window 3cm down does not make it okay to leave your dog inside your car while you go shopping, you awful, awful person.

2. Merging lanes on the freeway really should not be that difficult. See that car that is already a metre in front of you? Don't try to overtake them when the lane merges! Easy.

3. Hey boys I live with, how about you pee *into* the toilet bowl as opposed to anywhere around it. Why is this so difficult for you?!

4. When you meet someone, try to act like you're not socially retarded for at least 10 seconds, maybe even make eye contact and utter some form of greeting if you're feeling generous. Fek.

5. If you feel the need to spend every waking hour of your day with someone to the point where you cannot spend half an hour alone, please, please, please can you pick someone that isn't me.

Phew!

"I'm just so tired Billy, I never thought I'd be so tired at 22"

Oh, St Elmos Fire, you are so cliche I cannot help but love you.

I haven't blogged for a while, have been busy and not really motivated.

Updates:

* I am moving to my dream home in a few weeks. It is so pretty!

* I have had some pretty excellent summer nights in the past week or so

* I am continually losing my voice. I need to stop yelling (and drinking?) so as not to permanently damage karaoke skillzzz?!

* Me and the bf are no longer me and the bf

* If I have to mark one more ridiculous assignment I am going to go crazy. Note to 3rd year HR students: "hypothesisis" is not a word.

I really want to have a brat pack movie marathon soon. Maybe when I move to the new place.

Sorry this is a shitty entry, more panda pictures soon :)

This is what I woke up looking like this morning

THREE PIMPLES ON MY NOSE!

THREE!

ANNNND ONE NEAR MY MOUTH. SO GROSS.

What am I, fifteen years old?

Given my splattering of freckles I LOOK LIKE A DUCK FARTED ON MY FACE!

Also I am really, really tired. Immune system, you really suck.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go nurse my self esteem.

while you wait for the others

Seriously, how good are grizzly bear? The layering of vocals are so beautifully full. The lyrics are interesting and (i think) relevant. They are playing southbound in January. Hopefully I won't be too sunburnt to enjoy them.

I am currently also really enjoying this one song by carla bruni (yes, the french president's wife!) it is called Quelqu' un m'a dit. It is on the 500 days of summer soundtrack. I like her natural, laid back vocals. French pop is so much better than American. Too bad Sarkozy doesn't feature in the (boring/awkward) video.

more changes

Wassup internet?

Since I quit my PhD (actually, I still haven't handed the forms in, but this is more of an admin issue) I have made two more changes:

* Last Sunday I moved out! weee! Now I live with a very nice Elvis Costello look alike NEXT DOOR TO A SEX SHOP! scandalous. My room is basically an ikea advertisement it has high ceilings and it is quite large so I am happy. My credit card is not so happy. The other day we microwaved mars bars and watched the bold and the beautiful. This is pretty close to domestic bliss (IF I HAD MY PUPPY, soooooo sad).

* I got a job doing test administration for an organisational psychology company. Basically when candidates apply for jobs with big companies they contract us to do the ability/personality testing. So my job is to administer the tests and score them. So far I am really enjoying it.

A few nights ago I saw 500 days of Summer and it scared me how much I related to both characters! I think if you haven't experienced the unrequited love deal you are quite lucky. I can also relate to summer's feelings about sparks and not knowing blah blah blah relationships are so complicated.

Anyway, I really loved this film and it has a beautiful soundtrack. Also, Zooey has been my girl crush for quite some time now. She is annoyingly perfect, she is in a sweet band and I want everything she ever wears. The end of the movie was pretty lame though - her name is autumn? seriously. Here are some cartoons which essentially sum up the entire movie.

In other news:

* I have finally sorted out southbound accommodation thanks to the lovely dj lm so that is one less thing to worry about.

* My skin appears to be allergic to moving/life. ughhhh.

* I really miss my dog

* I really hate group assignments and weekend classes.

* I am not adjusting to a 'living out of home' budget

* I want either a diana mini or a 35mm Holga - opinions?

Sorry if I have been a bad blog/real life friend lately, I am back now :)

coolest dog

This dog is amazing, the owner (Heather, 20 years old) has trained Jesse to do so many awesome tricks.

It can even walk on its front legs in a hand stand!!! Jesse also has a blog!

dear pandas, you are freaking awesome and you make me happy

I quit.

image

Today I quit my PhD.

I never wanted to be a quitter. I am extremely driven and competitive, I wanted to be one of the 50% that finish. I won't go into all of the drama that has happened with my supervisors/topics up until now because it is boring, but I have finally decided that it is not worth the constant depression and guilt.

Living life like this was turning me into a person that scared me. Landing myself in hospital a month or so ago was a huge wake up call. There is more to life than this.

There are so many reasons that brought me to this decision and it has taken me a really long time to know that this is the right thing for me to do, and that I don't need to have this qualification because other people think it is what I should do or simply because of the prestige or need to win.

I feel like now I will finally start living out what I want to do instead of constantly waiting for everything to happen down the track and putting my life on hold.

I am still finishing my masters, so one year to go until I am a psychologist. I should start my first placement in a month or so.

This decision was more difficult because I had a scholarship for PhD, which was my main source of income. This means that I am now looking for part time work while I am finishing my masters. I still really, really want to move out because I think this is the next step to shaking things up and climbing out of my comfort zone, which funnily enough is not at all comforting. I know that it will be financially much tighter now but I will have to make it work.

Although I am clearly relieved, I also feel a sense of loss/sadness/disappointment. I know I have let myself down in some ways and some other people. But I had to do this for me and my health - it is really hard to do something you hate for so long, your body starts to let you know.

So I suppose this is a tentative beginning of a new chapter.

Schmap London Eighth Edition: Photo Inclusion

I received this email tonight:

Hi Jillian,

I am delighted to let you know that your two submitted photos have been selected for inclusion in the newly released eighth edition of our Schmap London Guide:

Leicester Square
www.schmap.com/london/sights_sohoandwestend/p=352975/i=352975_8.jpg

Soho Square
www.schmap.com/london/sights_bloomsbury/p=339093/i=339093_16.jpg

...[photo links for iphone etc blah blah blah]...

Thanks so much for letting us include your photos - please enjoy the guide!

Best regards,

Emma Williams,
Managing Editor, Schmap Guides
www.schmap.me/ej.williams/

yay!