Category Archives: Life

Catching the Trend

Posted in Life, The List by

As I have been working through my list for this year I have learnt something… well I suppose that’s kind of the point… but it was something unexpected… I have learnt that there is some benefit for jumping on a trend at the last minute.  Usually I am a little slow to get into things… or way too fast (as in before it is considered potentially cool… which by default, makes it uncool).  Either way, I usually want to let it be tested by others for a while first… for example, Wicked the musical had been playing for about a year in Melbourne before I went for the first time… then I loved it and went back at least 5 times.  Or fluro anything… I was convinced it would pass, but now that it’s been around for a while (I still know it will pass eventually), I have jumped in feet first… I have fluro sneakers which I am pretty proud of… and some most of my other work out gear also has a touch of fluro.

Well it turns out the same things go for books, as part of this years list I have challenged myself to read at least 12 books, that’s twice as many as last year and I am currently on my 6th book… so I need to lift my game a little… As a little extra challenge to myself, I also decided that I would try some different books, not just authors I knew, but some randoms… enter Marissa Meyer  and ‘The Lunar Chronicles’.  I choose the first book ‘Cinder’ because it intrigued me… it was the fairy-tale story of Cinderella, set in the future, in a world full of all things sci-fi… my Disney love and nerd interior rejoiced at the possible combination.  I noticed ‘The Lunar Chronicles’ written at the top of the page, but I didn’t think much of it, I didn’t really know all that much about the books… so I just assumed the whole series was available when ever I needed it…  At the end of book one it became clear that while some aspects of the story had finished the bigger story was just beginning, so I downloaded on to my kindle the next book… ‘Scarlet’… soon enough this was also finished and I need the next one… but I couldn’t find it on Amazon… a little perplexed I googled the author only to discover that series had only been half written, the 4 book chronicles was incomplete at the moment… the third and forth books were still to be written… planned but not available… so now I have had to move on… despite the fact that I feel a little incomplete myself… I wished I had not started the series until all the books had been written… I wished I had jumped on the ‘Cinder’ bandwagon much later… when I could have it all… I don’t want to wait to find out what happens… I want to no now… this is the down side of finding a good new series before its been finished… or even tested by others… If I had waited for it to be recommended I would have known about the wait,and the gap… I would have seen it coming, instead I pioneered something new and now I have to wait… until 2014… for the next book.

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Jesus Christ Superstar

Posted in Life, Practicing What I Preach by

Jesus Christ SuperstarI’m not sure that if Jesus had started his ministry today I would have followed… and it worries me.  I would like to think I would, but I am just not sure… in fact I am a little worried I would have been just another Pharisee blinded by religion… Don’t get me wrong I haven’t changed my beliefs at all, I am still a Christian and that hasn’t changed, but a few weeks ago, when Dave and I saw Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar I was really challenged about how Jesus would appear, behave and move people if he had come now, rather than 2000 years ago and I actually found it really scary.

This particular version was a re-imagined or updated version of the musical, set now, and it was confronting.  The 12 disciples and Jesus were portrayed as working class revolutionaries… their slogan was ‘Follow the 12’ and the they looked almost like the ‘occupy movements’, they were different, radical and in some ways extreme.  The thing is I am a rule follower, a go with the flow kind of person, someone who does the right thing because that’s what you are supposed to do… even when breaking the rule won’t hurt anyone… it’s just the way I am wired.  I figure that rules are there for a reason, so I follow them, some people think that’s a bit boring and it probably is, but that’s ok… I like the order and clear boundaries it gives me.

Often when I watch the news, from my relatively comfortable position in life, I see things like the occupy protestors and understand their motives, but wonder if creating a tent city and fighting people is the best way to go… I often dismiss passionate protestors as crazy and go about my business with out much thought.  Now I don’t think Jesus would have been a law breaker… or fighter… most of the time, his teachings are about love for God and love for each other… but I can see why Llyod Webber has made this link… they are counter cultural, not letting the powers of the world dictate the way of the world.  Now in the musical, Jesus didn’t damage property or people, he was the same as I imagine in bible times, doing his father’s work where ever he went, changing lives, and healing the hurting, but he was peaceful.  But when I think about social movements of today, even great social movements like fair trade and anti-traffiking my response is at best underwhelming.  I am happy for these things to change, but I am not passionately seeking out ways to make it happen… just passively waiting for it to happen without me…  and it makes me wonder if it were Jesus, would I just ride him off as a loony?  Wait passively for the him to change the world around me? Or be annoyed because he was rocking the boat I was quite happy traveling in.

To be honest I am actually glad that I was born now rather than back when Jesus was around… and that even though I know Jesus is coming back, I already know and believe in him… and I would like to think that by his grace I would recognise him when he comes… I don’t have to um and ahh about whether or not he is the real deal because I already know that to be true… but it also challenges me to think about how Christlike my life actually is?  Am I still more of a Pharisee with my rules and regulations, or am I open to change when it is in love and equality… I don’t know… but it’s got me thinking.

Praying for break-through

Posted in Life by

This is my husband’s blog, I think he has some pretty wise things to say, but I wanted to share this one to ask that you might join with us as we pray for breakthrough, it’s an exciting and scary idea, but its worth it…

Cleaned Out

Posted in Life, The List by

Earlier this year my faithful laptop died… it was unexpectedly painful because I didn’t realise how attached I had become to it, even though it was an inanimate object. In fact I wrote a little obituary for it back in January which you can read here if you like.

The day before my computer died, I finished my list for the year which had included two computer specific tasks…
No. 56 Clean out my computer properly and…
No. 73 Tidy up my iTunes library

The truth is, while I didn’t think my computer would die… I knew it needed a good clean up, it was like someone how had been living on fatty foods and had been clogging their arteries, with so much plaque and crap floating around it was only a matter of time before my poor little computer had a computer heart attack or stroke… little did I know it would be the next day. I had planned to give it some TLC and a massive purge of data so that it could once again live a healthy and I had hoped long life… but it was not to be… perhaps it was a case of too little too late.

Anyway, it is now June and earlier this semester I finally replaced my computer… I got my new laptop at the end of March and I have been very careful about what gets transferred across and what remains on the hard drive from my old mac, which now lives on like a brain in a jar… supplying information as I need… As part of this process I have had to choose which music I take and by default cleaned out my iTunes library. The hoarder in me is secretly happy that all the information is actually just sitting right there on another drive if I change my mind and what it back, but I still feel able to tick it off the list all the same. The same with no. 56 – my computer has well and truly been cleaned out… not the way I had imagined… but off the list all the same…

As part of this whole process, I feel like my new laptop has given me a new opportunity to keep the file situation down to a minimum from the beginning. And while it may have gotten a little file crazy during uni, now that my uni semester has finished… a long and painful semester… but that’s another story… I have stopped and taken the time to do another mini clean out… just to make sure everything stays organised and not just repeated piles of things I really didn’t need to keep in the first place. I have actually found this quite cathartic and I think I will have to sit down and do it regularly so that is stays neat and tidy… but I guess still a little by default these can come off the list…

Oh and here is a selfie with me and my computer… cos everyone does that right?

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No. 17… Camping… in Winter

Posted in Life, The List by

I survived… that’s probably the first thing I need to say… but the second is, it actually wasn’t that bad… seriously, it turns out I am not that bad at camping. This weekend Dave and I headed north to Echuca Moama for a spot of camping… now in fairness, it wasn’t as rough as it could have been, it was really just a warm up. We stayed at a caravan park… but still in a tent and it was still very very very cold.

Generally speaking I am a bit soft… well at least that’s the way I think of my self. I am not super good at things that require co-ordination or are outside, I am not really sure why this is… it just is, but for a long time I have wished this wasn’t the case. Recently I have had lots of blogs about wanting to be better, healthier, fitter and stronger… generally a better person, because when it comes down to it, even though I know they are good for me sports are not my strong point… in fact usually they don’t go well, it’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I am just not very good… and I had putting camping in this same boat. I have actually been camping more than I realized, a few school camps, lots of years at SYG and even a previous trip with Dave and his family. But between trips I always start to panic and convince myself that it isn’t a good idea, but it turns out I was wrong. I actually enjoy it, sure it would be nicer a little warmer, but I still enjoy it. My sleeping bag is warm, my tent is generally dry and I usually get to see a part of Australia that I haven’t seen before, plus it usually means getting away from the business of everyday life and spending some quality time with Davo… which I love and as a bonus he loves too… (camping that is… not always having constant attention from me).

Prior to the trip Dave decided that he would encourage me with getting me some gear to making camping easier… earlier this year I go a new sleeping bag… which was awesome, and just last week I got some new walking/hiking shoes so that I didn’t have to wreck my nice purple runners out in the bush… and now that he knows we can do it… camp that is… the list of potential purchases is growing. One thing I will be looking into before our next trip though is how to cook on a trangia (camp cooker) properly. I think we did a pretty good job for rookies but I am sure we can do it better… Maybe even perfect our new favourite dish ‘Peachy Keeny Custard’.

Anyway, here are a few of my favourite photos from the trip… oh and some of my new favourite tradition, photos using the camera timer with the town sign.

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Oh and I got to cross number 47. ‘Lie on the ground and look at the stars off the list too… win!