| 8:04a |
The Stud Man
I forgot that my last entry was about going to Indonesia. Hmm. This has been a rather eventful week. It's been one of those weeks where nothing huge happens, but lots of decisions are made and places are visited. So I feel like lots has been going on inside of me.
Well, I decided not to go to Indonesia this time around. The decision, in a way, was made for me. I really, really wanted to go. I wanted to be spontaneous, and I wanted to see my grandparents. I wanted to get away from the daily 7am buses and the 7:43am trains. I wanted to give my grandfather a hug. But at the same time, I felt so much anxiety about the trip. I found out that not only was my passport expired, but I'd have to apply for a brand new one, now that I am over 18. I also found out that the trip was going to cost way, way more than I expected. It was really hard to make that decision not to go. In a lot of ways, I feel like I have chosen the materialistic, selfish option: I have chosen my future and my money over my family. But I also know that my circumstances prevent me from doing a lot of things that I really want to do. Maybe that's what growing up is about- realising that you can't always do the right thing and that you can't always have fun, but at the same time, accepting those facts and making the best with what you've got. I sort of hope that my father and sister cancel their trip now...it is so sad and scary how Bali has been bombed again.
So deciding not to go to Indonesia kind of threw me around a bit this week. It made me feel sad about a lot of things. So, praise God, He provided lots of good things about the past week, as well as lots of pleasant things for me to think about. Well, first of all, a photograph of me was in an exhibition! Here's the full story. Almost exactly 3 years ago, I was ambling down Glebe Point Road in Glebe. It was a rainy day. I was reaching the end of my eccentric design student days. I was wearing a weird outfit- a sparkly, stripey top and a pink, shiny, ruffled skirt. My hair was quite short (I couldn't afford a hairdresser at the time, so I had to hack it myself). This lady jumped out of a shop and asked if she could take my photograph. She said that she was working on an exhibition of street fashion in Glebe. Being the attention-loving girl that I am, I willingly posed for her. The following years, I always wondered what happened to that photograph. This month, I found out! Patricia Baillie (the photographer) is exhibiting all of the photographs in a slide show at Glebe Library. The slide show (which runs all day) is on until October 18th. Geoff and I went to hear Patricia speak last Wednesday. She was a real sweetie. I introduced myself to her when I saw her (in case she didn't remember me), and she said, "Oh, YOU'RE Carla Gypsygirl!" She then said lots of nice things about my photograph, which was very nice- especially as SHE was the one who deserved compliments, what with being the photographer and all. About 30 people attended the talk, and it got rather fiery at the end, as everyone debated why people dress in an eccentric way in Glebe. Argh! Surprisingly, I looked rather ordinary in my photograph, compared to other people- everyone else had lots of piercings, tattoos and multi-coloured hair.
At work, we have been dealing with a fellow that we refer to as The Stud Man. I am not sure what his name is. I have also never seen him, so I can't confirm for you whether he is actually a Stud or not. Quite simply, he puts studs onto jeans for us. We had a few problems this week- The Stud Man's stud machine broke, so he couldn't finish our jeans. Lyn, our sales manager, had to make a lot of phone calls saying things like, "I'm sorry, our jeans are with The Stud Man, and his machine is broken." Conversations like these were routinely punctuated with my boss declaring, "I'M The Stud Man! Look no further!" Work has been a little bit more interesting than usual. I got to drop off clothes to the David Jones buying office. It's always exciting going there. I feel like I am at the hub of great fashion decisions, and I keep hoping for the moment when someone will approach me while I am there and say, "I can tell you have great style. Would you like to leave your job and become a FASHION STAR with us?" It didn't happen when I was there this week. But I did walk past some of the meeting rooms. The meeting rooms have white doors with a window in them. In one of them, a group of black-suited men and women sat around a table. One of the women was holding up a pink, frilly bra, and everyone was looking at it very seriously. People were nodding and making hand gestures.
If you are an avid blog reader, you would know that bloggers love to write about two things: their haircuts, and their health. As I do not wish to break this tradition, I will tell you something interesting that I discovered this week. I, Carla Gypsygirl, am most probably LACTOSE INTOLERANT. Argh! I realised that milk makes me queasy and gives me tummy aches. So I have switched to soy products. It has all been a bit of a novelty so far. I do have to say, though, that soy yoghurt is an acquired taste that I might never truly acquire, and that nothing can beat a good slice of cheesecake.
And furthermore: I, Carla Gypsygirl, am now AN OFFICIAL MEMBER OF THE 21st CENTURY. I bought my first MP3 player on Saturday. It is a Sony NW-HD5, which is meant to be better than an iPod, but just with a very non-catchy name. I have become obsessed with my little NW-HD5. I am sorry to say that I have spent a large chunk of my long weekend loading music onto it, and that I am very particular with how I categorise the music. This little machine, you see, is going to change my life. It will do more than eliminate the daily carting to-and-fro of many CDs between work and my home. It will do more than eradicate horrible sounds, such as CDs played at doctor's waiting rooms that could be entitled "The Crappest Songs in the World, Performed on Wind Pipes". That's right, my friends: this little NW-HD5 is in fact part of MY PENGUIN PLAN. I cannot reveal more, as I still feel paranoid that people at work will one day read my blog and discover all of my secrets. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile: I have discovered that one of my favourite authors of teen fiction, Meg Cabot (author of "The Princess Diaries") has a BLOG! Check it out at www.megcabot.com. If you like Carla Gypsygirl, then you will like Meg Cabot. I wish that I could meet her, and that she would be my friend!
Okay, friends. Time to get out and enjoy the rest of this warm long weekend. Oh, who am I kidding...I'm going to put more CDs onto my MP3 player, that's what I'm going to do. I am going to be PASTY AND PROUD. |