Halloween!

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 6:25 pm. 1 comment

I couldn’t really think of an adequate title for this post, so I’ll stick with Halloween for now, because without it? My day wouldn’t have been nearly as awesome.

My day started off like always. Finished work at 7am, grabbed a piece of hot buttery raisin toast, and headed to the gym. As always, my fantastic trainer kicked my arse, and I’m currently lounging around in bed moaning and rubbing my calf muscles. Someone remind me- I need to buy one of those ridiculous looking exercise balls.
Anyway, after getting all hot and sweaty and disgusting at the gym, I wandered down to coles to do my grocery shopping. After assembling the ingredients for a weeks worth of salad, and fetching some soy milk, I made my way to the registers. Now, I don’t know if I’ve blogged about this before, but… my GOD. There’s a hot checkout boy at coles. A RIDICULOUSLY hot checkout boy at coles. A ridiculously hot checkout boy that every time I go through his checkout I start mumbling and going red. Yes. Me. Going bright red and mumbling.

I decided that today would be the day to try and strike up a conversation with the ridiculously hot checkout boy. Unfortunately for the people of coles, the company has insisted that they wear halloween shirts over their regular coles attire. It was through this that I saw my in, for some hopefully non awkward conversation. After composing myself and stacking all my groceries on the conveyor belt, I quietly cleared my throat and said-

“So I’m assuming you don’t dress like that all the time?”

And then I wanted to hit myself in the head for saying something so stupid sounding. Before I could start with the self semi-mutilation though, he replied with a cute grin.

‘Yeah, it’s.. something they’re making us do.’

“So you usually dress differently?”

‘When I can be bothered getting dressed at all.’

So now here’s this really hot boy standing there talking about being bothered getting dressed at all and I nearly reverted back to my mumbling, beet-red self. I paused, did my best to compose myself and completed my transaction.

Anyone need to go grocery shopping? Because I um.. you know. Coles is good. I’m a good shopping companion, too. I’ll totally come with.

In other news, I’ve become so ridiculously accustomed to getting jewed that it doesn’t.. I don’t know. I mean, we all know I’m going to stop doing this to myself sooner or later, and as such I’ve decided that I should probably come clean with the boy about a few things in hopes that he’ll get bored with ignoring me intermittently and either stop talking to me altogether or try his best to spend more time with me. We all know he’ll bow out and go with the former, but hey, a girl can dream. A girl can dream and start a horrible smear campaign >_>. I kid, I kid.

That said? I’m hoping to book myself out all week so I can keep myself from moping like I was earlier today before I remembered the encounter with the cute coles boy, so you guys. This Friday night we’re all going to montezumas in Taringa, and then back to my place for a few drinks. It’s invite only, so if you want to come, you best ask. Nicely.

Updates!

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 1:08 am. 2 comments

I haven’t blogged for ages and I feel like I’ve abandoned my faithful readers. I’ve recieved a couple of complaints so I’ll be sure to try and update more often.

I can’t be bothered filling in all the interesting things (read: working and going to the gym) I’ve been doing, so I’ll just start with the most recent event in memory. Last night there was a goonmeet at Castle Blokenstein, solely with the intention of getting pissdrunk and celebrating halloween.

The place looked amazing. As usual, Will had gone all out- the backyard was decked out as an awesome graveyard, complete with a giant headstone, a few smaller graves, and a k-rad mausoleum. Like always, the members of the Blokenstein household looked great, and some of the goons went all out with the costuming. I’ll see if I can source some photos.

In any case, a party wouldn’t be a party without copious amounts of alcohol. Ashley came over during the day and had lunch with Andrew and I, and then we went to the huge booze megastore near the regatta. While we were perusing the spirits section I looked up and saw Natalie and Andrew, and bounced over to them to dispense an appropriate number of hugs. After the incessant chatter ceased and we stood around looking awkwardly at one another, I lead Ashley and Andrew (housemate andrew) over to the cold beverages, and we got out of there mostly unscathed.

We went back to our place, I napped and showered and kitted myself out with the army gear I’d sourced from various people (Will loaned me an awesome vest that was practically built for carrying booze.), and we sat around until our ride (yet another Will) arrived. As usual, we got lost along the way- it’s to be expected. We arrived fashionably on time and started with the drinking pretty much the moment we got there. The drinking was good, and as such I can’t remember a great deal about anything that happened. I’ll try and rattle off a few highlights.

- As I already mentioned, the awesome decorations at the castle. The place looked amazing and I hope to get a few photos.

- Seeing all the goons in their costumes. Joel looked fantastic as a timid little mormon, Whalley looked wicked cute as Mr Hedonism, both Wills looked great as Hellboy and a Zombie, Nobody looked adorable as a scout, and Mooseface’s dominos getup brought back some painful, oily memories..
- Loungeroom spankings. Although these seemed to occur pretty much around the entire house and backyard, the lounge spankings are the ones I remember best.

- Scrounging through the freezer to find a frozen sausage roll at way too early in the morning only to burn it in the microwave and have to pick at the sad remains. The cat was the only one REALLY interested in it, to be perfectly honest.

I’ve managed to locate a few photos. Luckily for me (and my pristine reputation..), I’m in none of them.

Saturday!

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 7:44 am. 0 comments

I woke up pretty early today. 6am early.

I decided to celebrate early morning by having a mini Law and Order SVU marathon. I’ve almost completely finished all the episodes I have, so I’m going to have to hit up the jew for more. Anyway. Plans for the morning include going to the gym, and making myself pretty for this evening.

I have a couple of things planned for tonight. Firstly, there’s an OCAU meet at O’Malleys- the guiness pie there is pretty awesome. I’m going to feel like a bit of an idiot though- I’ll be all dressed up. Secondly, there’s Rocktoberfest- a formal gathering with some pretty awesome people- one of the reasons I went shopping for a dress yesterday. I’ll be sure to update my post with some pictures later

Have a great day, everyone.

Shopping!

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 4:42 pm. 3 comments

Ashley and I went shopping today.

We have a faaantastic haul I finished work at 7am, stumbled home and had a bit of a nap. As previously discussed, Ashley came over at 12 and we headed off to Indooroopilly.

We both had a couple of things in mind to buy. I absolutely neeeded a new dress, and Ashley wanted to be rid of his daggy shoes forever. We started out at myer- they’re having some pretty big sales at the moment, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything that caught either of our eye.

I’m really tired, so I’ll summarise the rest of the day quickly. Ashley ended up with a pair of shoes, a mousepad, a really awesome pair of pants, and a shirt. I ended up with an adorable dress and waistcoat, a pair of pantyhose, new perfume and shower wash.

We ventured out, down to Mathers to look at some cute shoes for Ash. He tried on some shoes that looked cute on the rack, but turned out looking like big floppy flat bleh’s when he had them on foot. We chose a couple of other pairs but they didn’t have those in his size. So we packed up, got ready to leave, when the sales lady picked up a pair of really, really cute shoes. He tried them on, decided he liked them, and we decided we’d walk around to decide on it.

I spotted BWS, remembered that I wanted to buy some Chambord and skipped away merrily. As I made my way across the floor I kind of halted, did a 180, and gaped. Ashley looked concerned. I had just seen some really gorgeous dresses.

They were in Portmans, so we ventured inside. I tried one on, it looked pretty good, but I felt a little bare. I put on a little black waistcoat with it, strutted around the store for a while.. and I was sold. It’s hanging on the back of my door as we speak.

Here are some posey photos we took upon returning to my place, because I can’t stand an entry without pictures

Addicted to love?

Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 9:11 am. 1 comment

Biochemically, falling in love is pretty much like getting simultaneously smashed on low-dose speed, E, and heroin. That’s because most of the recreational substances we indulge in work on exactly the same brain bits that love does. It all comes down to what love does to a couple of chemicals in your brain: dopamine and noradrenaline.

Dopamine and noradrenaline are neurotransmitters - they get released from nerve cells, switch on other nerve cells that are sensitive to them, and then get reabsorbed. (Complicate that by a factor of about 40 zillion and you’re somewhere near the reality of how the brain works, because by switching on nerve cells in the brain, these chemicals control everything from hormone release to mood, anxiety and blood pressure).

Somehow, through all of its actions, dopamine regulates our mood. At the extremes, it’s responsible for Parkinson’s disease (not enough dopamine) and the symptoms of schizophrenia (a tad too much), but generally it just makes us feel good. Noradrenaline works by triggering the release of adrenaline, the hormone that gets us ready to fight or run. As well as the always delightful heart palpitations, blushing, and butterflies, noradrenaline gives us the drive to enjoy life.

When it comes to love, we each produce our own hit of speed to get things going - phenylethylamine (PEA), a kind of amphetamine that releases a flood of dopamine and noradrenaline and all that goes with them. As well as in the minds of the love sick, PEA is found in chocolates, but in levels so small they probably don’t explain our addiction to the stuff. It’s also a close relative of methylenedioxymethamphetamine - thankfully shortened to both MDMA and ecstasy. The big biological drawback with ecstasy is that it kills parts of some nerve cells - making them swell and burst. Nasty stuff.

As well as PEA, lovin’ action gives us a hit of our very own version of heroin - endorphins. These babies have the same pain-killing, pleasure-delivering properties of their cousins heroin and morphine, without the risk of overdose, AIDS, imprisonment, ajax or life-ruling addiction … They all work in the same round-about way: by stopping the things that stop dopamine and noradrenaline. The difference is that the hit you get with heroin is as big as you like - and generally much bigger than you’re used to. So your brain shifts up a gear and won’t respond to the lower levels of your own endorphins; without heroin you don’t get enough dopamine and feel sick (… and run the risk of overdose, AIDS, imprisonment, ajax and life-ruling addiction …).

Of course the feelings of love aren’t confined to the brain: general groinal action plays a fairly major role. Thunderous levels of endorphins are released during sex, contributing to its universal charm. (The painkilling side-effects are also well known to many a migraine sufferer). But the most interesting chemical involved in The Sexual Act would have to be oxytocin. This hormone brings us everything from orgasms (in both sexes) to the delightful contractions of period pain, childbirth and breastfeeding. To top it off, it also manages to give us feelings of attachment and maternal instinct, so if the unthinkable happens and love goes wrong, we get the agony and the custody. Nice touch, evolution.

From ABC Science.