the Half-Blood Prince

So I saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night. It was the best Harry Potter movie yet!! I want to go and see it again LOL It was a lot more epic that the earlier movies. The characters are growing up, and their world is becoming more and more unsafe for those not aligned with the death eaters. I think the characters are becoming more likable as well. More three dimensional. Harry is less "poor little me", Ron is starting to find self esteem and courage, Hermione is being more ... emotional (Anna, don’t get mad.. I know, she cries a lot in the books, but I mean more emotional diversity). And I have to say, my favourite of the kiddies in this movie is Draco. I’m really impressed with the way he is being portrayed. His character actually has personality now. I found in the earlier movies he was like Dudley - a mere cipher - a stereotypical bully character. He was the little Big Bad, with a sneer on his face and surrounded by his cronies... In HBP, he is a step apart. He still has his followers, but you can see how isolated he feels..... and that he is doing the isolating, because of changes to the way he perceives the world. His daddy is no longer someone who he can publicly praise, his family has forced him to do an important task, yet one which betrays his love of Hogwarts, and he has realised he is vulnerable to harm from others. He is no longer the big fish in a little pond, but just another juvenile fish in the chaotic ocean. There are all these scenes of him walking through silent corridors - however you can see groups of teens sitting around, chatting, laughing, snogging, being the little social creatures that abound in highschool. Yet here he glides through silent corridors, not a laugh or whisper to be heard.. Its very poignant, beautiful, and sad.


I still find Dumbledore to be one dimensional. I know they try to make him mysterious, but I think by saying nothing about his past (what about his sister?) they dehumanise him. He is this larger than life benevolent being that is hard to get attached to. I thought I would bawl at the end of this movie... I know I was heartbroken and shocked when I read the book... But I was moved more by the scene in the sea cave that I was by the one at the top of the tower....

The more they show of Snape, the more interesting he gets... I've always liked him, and not just because of his penchant for the dark (and omg, Alan Rickman has have most hypnotising voice...). You never quite know which side he is on until the end of Deathly Hallows, and before I had finished the books I remember agonising over this. Now I know, I can more fully appreciate the character he is. And the heartache he must put himself in for the greater good in the end of the Half-Blood Prince. He is a good fellow with a strong sense of honour and the fact that you are never quite sure if he is a reallygood spy, or gone to the darkside emphasises this more so.

I couldn’t tell you one thing about this movie that makes it better than the others... I think it is a lot of little things all working together. I think I mentioned the poignant moments this film dwells on? They are just so beautiful, melancholic and introspective, and at times heart wrenching. The scenery is gorgeous, as ever, and the set of Hogwarts has always been a favourite of mine. Its really hard to critique this movie without referring back to the book. The simple fact of the matter is that Harry, Hermione and Ron, and all their other classmates, are no longer babies. They are at the stage where they are leaving childhood behind them - its both sad and joyful, up and down, confusing and exciting. Both Ron and Hermione, and Harry and Ginny are starting to show their interests in each other, so you have the joy, heartbreak and confusion that involves. I think one of the things I like about this film is how people interact with each other... bonds are getting more layered, more diverse. The characters haven’t really set out doing grand things in their 6th year of Hogwarts. Harry is now just one of the crowd (when he isn’t playing teachers pet) and he finally has acceptance. The adventures are small ones, and I think this makes the ending all the more effective.... Harry isn’t out slaying basilisks, or rescuing maidens, but just going to school and being a teenager.

The other facet of the Half-Blood Prince is of course, that the Death Eaters are loose and wreaking havoc on a massive scale. All might be well in the insulated world of Hogwarts, but outside it is full of the smell of fear and blood. We didn’t even see Lord Volemort in this film... the threat was ominous and hanging over it, and then there was seeing him growing up with sociopathic tendencies... you started to get a glimpse into what help make Tom Riddle into Lord Voldemort. Fascinating stuff!! Oh, and Helena Bonham Carter, is as always, a jewel! God I love that woman! She is perfect as Bellatrix LeStrange....


Anyway, if I had to give a rating the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, it would be an 8.5 - 9 out of 10.

The fae in FAcEbook

You know how I NEVER dream? No, I dont mean I dont remember dreaming, but that I dont sleep deep enough to reach REM sleep... So I dont dream...

BUT I did last night..

And it was so frickin weird.......

It was a murder mystery, and the victim as a faerie... but she had myspace and facebook, and to find the killer I had to delve into her online life. It was totally surreal, but real at the same time.. The world of faerie mixed in randomly with the world of drear mundania... the every day mixed in with the unbeleivable...

It makes me wish I didnt have to wake up, so I can find out who killed her and why.... and why the big clue had been hidden in her online persona..

I wish I was a writer so I could finish the story for myself...

From A Whisper To A Scream

I have a new blog devoted soley to music. Basically, so much of my blogging seems to end up revolving around music, as it is one of my passions in life. And my main blog seems to be cluttered up with just random posts so I thought it was time to make it a little bit more ordered. So, from now on, all posts that are on the topic of music - which is normally when i share a video, lyrics, have a new band or song I am raving about, or on the odd occassion I get out and catch a gig (damn but i miss uni! back in the good old days when i caught a gig or two at my favourite pub every weekend with sami or greg *sigh*). So instead of posting it at Into The Fire, I will be sharing these at From A Whisper To A Scream! If it is really juicy I will cross post, but for all else, i will just be posting them at my music blog. I also have various accounts at music sites around the web, as well as a number of resources I use to keep up with music news and new releases. I have feeds and links in the side menu, as well as a last.fm widget which shows what I have been listening to on my home computer. I've been playing with colour schemes and designs and I think I am finally happy with it! So check it out and let me know what you think!?!

From A Whisper To A Scream

'\m/. (^_^) .\m/'

May 12: ME/CFS & FM International Awareness Day

And the day comes around again.... May 12 is the International Day of Awareness for Invisible Illnesses such as Myalgic Encephalitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome(ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia (FM). Its a day when we hope the Normals - those without these sometimes debilitating illnesses - take notice of ME and FM and become more accepting and aware of them. Over the years I have been part of many campaigns for awareness, been to parties,, fundraisers, created and distributed posters, ribbons etc. This year I am just too damn tired.. So, instead, I am blogging everywhere, and hoping someone who would not otherwise know about these illnesses might stumble upon my post and take something away with them.. Will you?

I'm going to give you some basic info on the conditions - I warn you that I have brain fog at the moment, so it is a bit scrambled... but I don’t have time to find a decent blurb on both of these conditions... If you are interested, or know someone with ME/CFS or FM, I suggest you contact your local support group or ME/CFS and/or FM association. FM and ME/CFS are both debilitating illnesses which affect those with them in a number of varied ways. There are a LOT of associated symptoms, but the main ones tend to revolve around pain, fatigue, and cognitive dysfunction (memory, brain fog etc). Commonly those with ME/CFS have more serious symptoms revolving around fatigue and sleep dysfunction, and those with FM tend to have more serious symptoms that revolve around muscular pain. Just saying ME/CFS is more fatigue than pain and FM is visa versa is too broad a generalisation. It is impossible for me to write a detailed list of symptoms for each condition - there are so many, and not every sufferer has every symptom, or the same severity of each symptom. Even me, my brother and my mother are all different. I have a double whammy - my pain and fatigue symptoms are always fighting to see who is more prominent - these days the fatigue is winning, but that is because I work full time and cant give in and sleep for a few months..

How you get it
There are three main triggers for ME/CFS and FM. Traumatic (accidents, personal upheaval like a divorce or bereavement etc) environmental (chemical exposure (factories, hair dresser chemicals etc)), or viruses (Glandular Fever, Ross River Fever, Dengue Fever etc). Some people have a triggering event and they gradually decent into ill health. Others, like me, were catapulted. I know so many people around the world with these conditions (I have both) who have told me their personal stories of ME/CFS and FM. I know people, like me who had accidents, others who had traumatic divorces, exposed to chemicals by living near factories, or long term exposure to hair dressing chemicals etc, others who had Glandular Fever, Ross River etc. Its never fun. Basically, there is a major stress on your body which triggers the illness. There are so many theories about why some people get it, and not others. I personally think there are a number.

Issues with labelling
The names Myalgic Encephalitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome can be interchangeable, and are used in different countries. If you are talking to someone from the UK they will mostly use ME, in Australia CFS is most predominant. I’ve started using Myalgic Encephalitis because it doesn’t have so many connotations in the public mindset. Because a lot of connotations are wrapped up in the myths of ME/CFS. When it started having more diagnoses (it takes a while for doctors to be comfortable with diagnosing conditions), it picked up the name of Yuppie Flu - simply because when you work too hard - do a 40-50 hour week like I do, you are pushing your body to the outer limits of its capabilities. Add a debilitating illness, and you can end up crashing... system meltdown, system malfunction... it hits you like sledge hammer and it takes a while to recover. The only thing you can do is drop everything and try and recover.. Listen to your body and take it easy. The thing is, ME isn’t like cancer or a broken leg. It isn;t outwardly visible. You don’t have a cast on your leg, or start loosing hair from chemo. Instead, you curl up in bed, or on a chair somewhere, and try to breathe through the pain, or keep your brain working through the fatigue. It isn’t the easiest thing to do, regardless of what you may think.. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is just turn on the bedside light. Just lifting your arm off the pillow is so exhausting... It feels like lead, heavy and lethargic. The problem with being sick with these illnesses is that when you are sick it unfortunately, to the unaware Normal, looks like we are being lazy. However, talk to anyone with these conditions and they would rather have energy and be fully able of body - to be able to get up, go outside and do stuff! sometimes just being able to do the housework sounds like it could be the highlight of the week/month. If you haven’t had a chronic illness, or been extremely sick for more than a week, you may know what I mean... it is so frustrating when your body wont behave - when it wont function properly, regardless of what you do. The name Fibromyalgia is a recent one - it was coined in 1976, as the previous diagnosis of symptoms, Fibrositis did not explain the symptoms properly [fibra" (fiber) "myo" (muscle) "algos" (pain)]. Some old school doctors still diagnose patients with "fibrositis" and I know some older relatives and associates who still refer to it as such.

Why May 12?
May 12 is the birthday of Florence Nightingale, who had an "undiagnosed, debilitating disease for many decades". It is suspected by some that she had one of these conditions, but whatever she had, she is a perfect icon for sufferers of the invisible illnesses.. She was undiagnosed, and despite her health, battled on to help others in need and in pain. She later went on to found the Red Cross. The ME/CFS ribbon is blue and the FM ribbon is purple. You will often find that butterflies are associated with the illnesses, campaigns and supportgroups. For example, my friend ~VelvetMist has a forum called Blue Butterflies [link] and my state ME/CFS association's logo is of blue butterflies flying free [link]





What you can do
Educate yourself. The biggest problem with ME/CFS and FM is we suffer in silence. There isn’t a major awareness campaign out there like their is for breast cancer, or even for arthritis. We are out on the margins, hidden in the shadows. This means there isn’t funding for research, which keeps us more in the shadows. So do some reading, talk to some sufferers (I hate that word - let me know if you have a better one!).

If you know someone with ME/CFS or FM the best thing you can do is be there for them. Don’t push them around and try and force them to act normal. We aren’t a Normal like you are - we have to listen to our body and rest when we need to. Just getting out of bed and running a marathon will not cure all our ills. Being "positive" (as some people have lectured me) = preten’ing I’m not sick - it causes more problems than it cures. You can be positive and sick, but pretending you aren’t sick wont make it all go away. Our nearest and dearest not believing us, not trying to understand what we live with each minute of each day - that hurts. It makes it harder when you have no support network. It is bad enough that society doesn’t always accept us, but when our loved ones don’t, its utter hell! When they think you are crazy, pretending or exaggerating, it causes such anguish. I've been there, I can tell you that from personal experience. So if you know someone with ME/CFS or FM, just be there for them. Don’t cut them off because they "aren’t fun anymore" - if they are really your friend you don’t like them just because they are good fun at parties.. Understand that why will not be able to go out clubbing every night, or go out for dinner and drinks daily, or shopping - or go hiking or what ever - as frequently as they used to. Don’t get pissy at them when they say they aren’t up to it! If that person has said they aren’t up to it, believe me, they aren’t! Do you know how boring it is laying in bed and staring at the roof is? I'd rather be out socialising! Instead of ostracising someone because they are sick, talk to them and ask them what they would like to do.. Maybe instead of going out for a night on the town you can have a DVD night at home. Maybe, instead of going hiking, you can have a picnic in a park... its all about working around the illness. And listening to your friend/loved one. they know their body intimately - we have to - and we know when we can get up and do things, and we know when we should stay in bed and conserve our energy. talk to your friend about their conditions and learn more about them, or do some research - there are quite a number of good books and web resources out there!

On May 12, wear a blue or purple ribbon in support...

If you have time, check out Creative For a Second - its a book of art by people with CFS. It includes art by some of my online friends, my best friend ~VelvetMist and was compiled by one of my online friends ~kirrily. I was going to submit some of my art, but was sick at the time of the deadline... The book is AWESOME! The art tour launch is this Tuesday, 12 May in Bondi Junction - guest speaker is Leigh Hatcher, author of the book "I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell".

Unshelved

haha i do so love library strips... i think i was a librarian in another life..

got the travelling bug

I just had a very interesting conversation with the new person at work. He is originally from Singapore and has done a lot of travelling. I seem to have travelling on the brain at the moment. Everything seems to come back to it some how. I think it may be because I have had this job for nearly 2 years, and the majority of my Annual Leave has been used for sick leave, not travelling. Yes, I have had my designated time away from the office, but you don’t notice time when you are sick. When you are in hospital, or crashed on the couch for weeks you have no concept of time. You go back to work when you are on the road to recovery, and you feel like you were just there yesterday. I had used up my sick leave before I was in hospital – in retrospect, I am sure I would have tried to battle some of the less severe migraines at work.. and probably been sent right back home again! LOL I think I am pining for a good holiday! But it simply won’t be happening any time soon. So, knowing this, I have been making long term plans… Rather than making plans for next month, or next year, my best friend and I are planning a visit to Mexico in 2014. Its for her 30th birthday. Of course by then I will be 31 (OMG!) but its for Linda so I guess I will deal with it LOL And maybe see if I can afford a small trip somewhere before my 30th.. maybe around Australia or something..

Back to the conversation with my colleague. Part of the discussion we were having was that most people, when they travel, only see the highlights of a region, over a space of days. My housemate Frangger moved out over the weekend. She and her boyfriend are moving to the UK, and have plans to spend their weekends travelling the UK and Europe. As far as I am concerned, that is the way to do it – the problem comes down to when working full time interferes with the greater plans for travel. I’ve seen this on the small scale. I moved to Sydney, and I had all these plans… But the weekend comes around, and you think – why go to the Blue Mountains when I can sleep in for two whole days?! My colleague saw lots of sites around Europe and Asia to rave about, and said he regretted he didn’t get to see more of them. I think this is the quandary when travelling; should one see the main sites and sights of a country, or should one delve into the culture and see a region in detail? I am all for going and seeing the main landmarks of a country. I want to see the Louve, the Parthenon, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall of China, etc.; at the same time, I want to get down into the nitty gritty. I want to soak up the culture, travel the lesser trod path, and see things the general tourist normally skips. If I am going to save up all my hard earned pennies, take time off work and fly thousands of kilometres away, I am bloody well going to see as much of that country as I possibly can! I am the sort of person that when I take road trips, I stop off on the side of the road to take in the sunset, appreciate the landscape or to take a dozen photos. I stop at little fruit stalls, visit galleries, cafes, second hand stores. I take a detour to see something I like the sound of, and I sleep in my car if this means I can't reach the closest caravan park. And most of all, I love the open road. Just getting in my car and driving… it’s the possibilities, the unknown, the beauty, the adventure, the joy of being unfettered and free!

I have a long list of countries and regions I want to visit. I work a full time job, and it means I can't really get to do as many things as I want. Added to that if I have a choice between a new book and $15 extra in the travel kitty, I tend to go with the book LOL Below are some places I need to see and some events I need to attend.

Australia*:

• The Blue Mountains (I am going for a road trip later in the year)
• The Great Ocean Road
• Around Australia (do you think I can fit that in before Mexico?)
• Tasmania
• Atherton Tablelands
• Great Barrier Reef (I lived next to it for years, but I was a student and couldn’t afford it)
• Woodford Folk Festival
• Womad Festival

Asia:

• Thailand* – culture, archaeological sites (esp northern Thailand) and a metal concert
• Vietnam – culture, archaeological sites
• Cambodia – culture, archaeological sites
• India*
• Sri Lanka
• Tibet and/or Nepal
• China

The Americas:

• Mexico*
• Peru * (ARCHAEOLOGY! I have way too many sites to list… there are about 14 cultures throughout their prehistory I am fascinated with!! Also fascinated with their ecology and culture)
• Brazil
• Cuba
• Canada
• New Orleans, USA (yes, that is the only part I want to visit LOL friends will just have to fly from New Jersey etc to visit me!!)

Europe:

• Spain* & Portugal
• Sweden, Norway, Finland & Denmark (love my skandies!)
• Germany
• United Kingdom & Ireland
• France

Also New Zealand, Easter Island and some parts of the Middle East. However, only the starred countries (*) are definates. Those are the countries I yearn for. The ones I absolutely have to visit. The ones I spun day dreams around, the ones whose archaeology, culture, ecology, landscapes and landmarks have fascinated me for years….

A blog entry at dA about our trip to mexico: [here] - this includes some pics on Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead)
A gallery I have been collecting dA pictures as inspiration for our trip to Mexico [here]

I guess I am feeling listless. I have friends going all over the world, and I have still only been to three states in Australia. About 3000km by 1000km of the country… Obviously not all of it, but I have been to West and Central Queensland, which adds girth to the distances.. Mostly my travelling has been in Queensland and New South Wales. We lived out in the bush, and we have always loved seeing more of our country.. Just love this land.. Who wouldn’t?! It’s so wild, untamed and beautiful! We would go for road trips every holidays, and when I moved to Townsville I would drive there and back a number of times a year.. We used to vary the journey to see different things. There are about three main ways to get from Toowoomba to Townsville. One is up the coast on the A1 all the way. Another is going up the A3 highway, through Mount Morgan until it joins the A1 at Rocky. The other is the back way.. Back roads, and I couldn’t tell you from glancing at the map, except that it is the same as the other two routes up until Goomeri. God I miss that!! I love road trips!! I think the next on my list should be around Australia… or down the coast to Melbourne or something… Somewhere with the open road that I haven’t been before… But I need to either have someone car handy with me, or rent a car… Dad is revamping my car – she needed a tune up, a new coat of paint. I trust her now, but I don't think I would take her round Australia unless I had a mechanic on board.. Either Dad or guitar boy. However, Dad always wants to get from A to B… Where as I want to see everything in between.. Hmmm something to think about… Renting a car is expensive.. Just a small car is $50 a day.. Not cheap! And I don't have any mates with good cars to go with me.. I have RACQ roadside assistance anywhere around the country, but if it’s gonna have hiccups over the smallest things…. I guess if I saved up I could afford to rent a 4wd… If I’m going over the Nullarbor and the other sparsely populated regions with dirt roads I don't think I would want a small car. I would want a diesel engine (so it doesn’t seize up if I go through a creek) and space to pull down a back seat if I need to camp in the car… not a campervan… they just seem like such a cop out.. why have a van when you can have a tent? Pop up tents don't take too long to put up LOL and if I had a pump up mattress I could sleep in the car if it was raining heavily (Have you ever been flooded out in a tent? Not fun!!). Wonder who I would go with? I guess I should start sussing out friends and see who has a yearning to see more of the country – and doesn’t mind roughing it.. That and researching how much I would need to budget……… Petrol, camping supplies, car costs (including bumping up my RACQ coverage), food, spending money, accommodation when possible, bought a grand emergency money (repairs, etc), as well as dealing with time off work.. More things to think about *sigh*

If you know of any of my friends who might be up for this in the next couple of years, please let me know!! And any advice or stories are welcome :)

Band Survey

Band Survey

From Bonnie

Pick a band and answer all the following questions with the titles of their songs.


Chosen band: Tori Amos (cos i know most of the songs so I can do it from the top of my head..)

1.) Are you a male or female?
Girl

2.) Describe yourself:
Strange Little Girl

3.) How do you feel about yourself?
Silent All These Years

4.) Describe where you currently live?
Pass the Mission

5.) If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Don't Make Me Come to Vegas

6.) Your best friend is:
Heart of Gold

7.) Favourite colour:
Scarlett's Walk

8.) You know that:
She's your cocainne

9.) What's the weather like?
Winter

10.) If your life was a television show, what would it be called?
Jackie's Strength (LMAO)

11.) What is life to you?
Precious Things

12.) What is the best advice you have to give?
Snow Cherries in France!

13.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Datura

14.) What do you want to do right now?
Cars and Guitars

Rise Against - Collapse (Post-Amerika)

Rise Against - Collapse (Post-Amerika)

When our rivers run dry and our crops cease to grow
And when our summers grow longer and winters won’t snow
From the banks of the ocean and the ice in the hills
To the fight in the desert where progress stands still
When we’ve lost our will

That’s how we’ll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as all fall from grace

When the air that we breathe becomes air that we choke
When the marsh fever spreads from the swamps to our homes
When your home on the range has been torn down and paved and
The buffalo roam to a slaughterhouse grave
What more will it take

For us to know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
Kissing the ground as well fall from grace

This is a chance to set things straight
To bend or break the rules back into place
There is no middle ground, no compromise, we’ve drawn the line
With perfect aim, we stand back and throw
Glass windows break and it’s all about to blow
Lights go out as we pass the torch again
In hope that it stays lit

Neutrality means that you don’t really care
Cause the struggle goes on even when you’re not there
Blind and unaware

That’s how we’ll know
This is not a test, oh no
This is cardiac arrest
Of a world too proud to admit our mistakes
We're crashing into the ground as we all, yeah we all, all fall from grace

Listen to it on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-_ze1rluDI

Introspective: 8 April 2009 - 14 April 2009

Echo by =Sugarock99 on deviantART

This one is a bit boring, as I havent bought anything... but here is what I have been reading, watching and listening to..


Books Bought:
n/a

Books Read:

• Tears of the Moon - Nora Roberts
• Finding the Dream - Nora Roberts
• Ocean of Fire - Christine Feehan
• Winter Warriors - David Gemmell

DVD Purchased:
n/a

Movies Watched:

• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
• Austin Powers in Goldmember

CD Purchased:
n/a

Music I have been listening to (Stereo, MP3 Player & Computer):

• Opeth
• Heaven Shall Burn
• Morbid Angel
• Tool
• Arch Enemy
• Dredg
• Rise Against
• Tori Amos
• Vast
• A Perfect Circle

Exploring Sydney

It's been fun! I've had a friend visiting me from the UK. We met online about 6 years ago at a nerdy forum (LOL 99.9999% of my forums are nerdy!), became online friends, and followed each other around the web. Its because of Aenima that I joined Y360° and met Bonnie - who is one of my best friends now. Ironically, these are the 2 out of 3 online friends i have met in real life ;-p Anyway, she has been visiting for about a month. And in that time, I have actually be seeing Sydney and playing tourist... I've lived here for 2 years now, but when i first moved to Sydney, I was working on an archaeology dig. I would leave home at 4am, get back after 7pm - 7 days a week. Then i was unemployed and I had the time to sightsee, but not the funds. I worked for Greenpeace for a while, and got to see a lot of Sydney, which was great. But it wasnt really sight seeing.. it was hanging out in Hyde Park, Haymarket, Town Hall, Summer Hill, etc. It was flexible though, and I did see more of Sydney than I had previously. Then I was unemployed again, and could only really hang out in Parramatta (I love that place!). Then, i hit luckly and got this job.. Its a good salary and for the first time in my life i am not scrapping to make ends meet. Instead, I am working between 40-50 hours a week, five days a week. I have money, but not the time to see anything... When I do go into the city on weekends (I mostly sleep my brains out...) I tend to go to my favourite places - like the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour, or shopping in Newtown. If i am feeling really adventurous I will visit my Nan on the Central Coast or Bonnie about an hour n a half away. So I havent really done the touristy thing in Sydney before. When Lillian or Linda or Sabrina visited, we did the basic things, like seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, but that isnt any real effort. Catch a train to Circular Quay and its laid out right in front of you. So the fact that Aenima is visiting, and I am showing her the touristy things, means that I am seeing some of these things for the first time in memory! And I'm loving it! I miss sleep, and I realised I was whingeing too much previously about having no social life... the thing i would most dearly like to do right now is to curl up with a good book for a few days and just breathe.. no walking around, no getting up early on a weekend (which is scaralige as far as i am concerned LOL) but at the same time, i am loving actually doing stuff! My budget is shot, of course. I havent even bothered while she is here.. Its been a month of excess. Going to places like the Sydney Aquarium, catching ferries, going out to lunch and dinner a handful of times in just one weekend.... its really cutting into my wallet.. but i think it is worth the scarifice... because i am actually experiencing sydney, instead of passively living here. She is leaving next week. So far we have done:

Sightseeing:
Sydney Harbour Bridge x2
Opera House
Darling Harbour x2
Chinese Garden of Friendship
Manly & a ferry to Manly
Sydney Aquarium
Wildlife World
Circular Quay x?too many to count
The Rocks x?too many to count
Shopping in Newtown
Luna Park

Eating out:
Pancakes on the Rocks x2
Mama's Kitchen x2
Thai x?5
Tea House in the Chinese Gardens
QVB Jet Bar (best sorbet!)
Pub food in Newtown
Waga Mamas
China Town food court
Fish & Chips in Darling Harbour (fish at the Aquarium made us hungry LOL)
Picnic at Manly on the beach
Various stalls at Luna Park (fairy floss, hot dogs etc)

And I have taken so many photos........... will share some here... a few are already at my art account at dA http://obsidiantears83.deviantart.com

Botannical Gardens *


Sydney Aquarium*


Manly*


Sydney from the Manly Ferry*


Luna Park*




Me eating tofu with chopsticks at Nakashima Restaurant at The Rocks...


* All rights reserved to obsidiantears83 AKA me! dont steal these images. I have them uploaded to deviantart, and i dont like rippers..