Holy shit, it’s december 21st! Where the fuck did time go? I have about five posts half written but somehow time escaped me! 2011 has been fairly average for me, some good stuff happened and some shit stuff happened. We organised a highly successful and extremely professional zombie walk in October, and I got TWO puppies (one in August, the 2nd in October) who have changed my life so much, in a good way! I’ve also had my poorest year since I was a student now that I am finally being an adult and paying off my many debts and it SUCKS! I also lost my car of 6 years (which may be back in 2012, we’ll see) and my poor dependable HP laptop is finally on her last legs.
I have big plans for 2010, to make it worth my while in case that whole Mayan calendar thing ends up having some truth to it (if it does, we all die two days before my 30th birthday, mwahaha). Here’s a few:
SAVE MONEY. I’m almost 30 for crying out loud. Time to stop wasting money on bullshit and save money for travels, a new car and for things I actually genuinely need.
BLOG MORE. I have been terrible with blogging this year and I’m so ashamed of myself. Good news though, I got a new computer this afternoon (bless you Harvey Norman and your 24 months interest free) so I will be able to work to my full potential and bring to you some amazing stuff.
GET WELL. I’m not actually sick as such, but I have the back of a 60 year old which I keep ignoring and getting just enough physio to fix it for about a week. I’ve also started managing my migraines and gotten rid of a lot of them, which I hope gets even better next year.
LOSE WEIGHT AND GET FIT. Let’s be honest here, I will say this every year. But I’ve been AMAZING at it this year and while I’m not some skinny minnie yet, my fitness is at the best it’s ever been so I will just keep at it.
TRAVEL. My good friends are getting married in Thailand which I cannot miss! I’m also spending a few days in Melbourne next week which will be awesome and long overdue. I need to try and travel more, it brings me such joy and I need more of that in my life.
STOP WASTING TIME & BEING LATE. It runs in my family but it’s no excuse. I mean right now I am blogging at 10pm when I should be getting ready for tonight!!! Hopeless. But I will get better next year.
Thanks to those who’ve kept with me and still read/enjoy my blog. I promise to deliver more and more next year. I just hope I’ve kept a few of ya’ll entertained week to week. Lova ya gutses :D
About Ruby
My name is Cara (but you can call me Ruby) and I like the colour pink, swearing, fist shaking, daggy dancing and 90s RnB music. Often all at once. I live in Brisbane which is always warm and is famous for its zombies.
So I turned 29 yesterday and since it’s a bit of a non-event turning such an age, I decided against a party and just had a dinner with friends and family at Wagaya Japanese restaurant. As expected the food was delicious and everyone loved the neat way you order food on an interactive touch screen menu. I was also impressed by how many people could make it considering it’s only two days before Christmas. I love my friends :)
I decided to wear an amazing party dress that I bought recently from a Vintage market where it was love at first sight and I’ve been desperate to wear it ever since.
It’s a Victor Costa who I discovered, upon doing some research, is famous for copying designer dresses impeccably and selling them for a fraction of the cost. And then discovered some boutique in Hollywood is selling it for US$495! Man, I got a good deal on mine, eh? It’s such an amazing dress, there’s so much detail and it’s so ultra 80s I could die. I mean come on, colourful tulips, dropped waist, tiered skirt and a big bow on the back? Divine, dahhhlink.
Back detail. Click pics for larger images.
As I’m not at home right now, I can’t tell you what brand the shoes are but I also got them from some market but they’re much newer and one of the most comfy pair of heels I own and from an obscure brand in the UK so I doubt there are many others in Australia. The tiny purple top hat was a birthday present from a friend.
Apologies for not posting this on Tuesday but I found myself too exhausted to sit down and write last night! But it’s about an event that occurred on Tuesday so this is where it belongs!
I know it’s the week before Christmas and everything, so going out into the City on my lunch hour and getting bombarded with stupid people and harried shop assistants is to be expected. So when every jerk blocks the escalators in the shops, I will just deal with it and vow to get past them before the next set on the next level. But what I cannot abide by, whether it’s Christmas time or whenever, is shitty customer service. Yes it’s busy, yes there are thousands of idiots converging on the City for their last minute gift purchases, but adequate customer service should exist regardless of the time of year. I’m not asking for back rub’s and a stream of compliments from every employee whose shop I enter, I just feel a basic greeting is the absolute bare minimum of customer service when it comes to retail.
So anyway, I went to Myer as there’s a certain shop I love that has a concession stand in the men’s section (won’t name name’s… yet) because a) I love their stuff and b) because there’s a dress there I’ve told people I want for Christmas and wanted to see if it was still in stock before they headed in themselves. It wasn’t too busy in this part of Myer, but there were a few customers in this particular section, quietly browsing. I quickly note there are two shop assistants for this section, both of whom are folding and putting away clothing and chatting to each other. I figure they will end their conversation soon enough and walk by so I can ask them if the dress is there or not. But no, they seemed to be actively avoiding contact with all customers, not greeting myself or anyone else and definitely not asking if anyone needed some help.
After about 5 minutes I was getting pretty mad, I could see the dress wasn’t there but I found a great skirt and wondered if they had other sizes. But at this point the female employee was too busy describing the ugly underskirt she was wearing to her male co-worker, and upon turning the corner I witnessed her hitching her skirt up and him teasing her about it. The last straw was when they both walked into the middle aisle and kept chatting (this time about some “ugly” shirt of his), so that both myself and another customer couldn’t get through. I gave them a withering look and the girl said “We should probably move and stop blocking the aisle” which was when they finally stopped gasbagging and meekly walked away.
I was so angry by this point, I left, and left the section almost completely deserted as I can only imagine how put out the other customers were too. Not once did either of these so-called retail assistants greet a customer, nor did they ask if anyone would like a hand finding anything, or in fact acknowledge our existence at all aside from a cursory glance now and then (probably to make sure we weren’t stealing anything). Maybe I’m just old fashioned but I just can’t bust in on someone’s conversation, nor do I think I should have to do so in order to get served.
In conclusion, I have emailed them a letter of complaint. I’ve had great customer service there before (I actually bought a dress from that very shop which has featured in my blog before, but again, no names…yet). I don’t expect anything from them, I just hope those two twits get into trouble and they learn the value of good customer service!
Have you had a bad customer service experience this Christmas?
And this is another reason why Japan is awesome. If you’re unfamiliar with New Jack Swing, it was a sub-genre of RnB music that was hugely popular in the late 80s to early 90s. It was a clash of a few different genres, but was basically just dancey, fun RnB and hip hop. Think of anything by Kid n Play, early Bobby Brown, Bel Biv Devoe, Guy, Keith Sweat and Michael Jackson’s ‘Dangerous‘ album. I never knew much about the genre til my boyfriend introduced me to its magic, as he grew up listening to it almost exclusively in his high school years. Now I LOVE New Jack Swing and consider it one of my favoutore genres. Infectious, boppy RnB FTW!
Anyway, whether you’re new to the genre or an old hat, this video is fantastic and sums up New Jack Swing perfectly! I mean, check out those hi-top fades! Yeah boi! You can see the videos that they recreated for ‘New Jack UR Body’ right here.
My friend messaged me on Facebook today about how she found a photo of me while conducting a random Google image search. Naturally I assumed she was Googling “fabulous and beautiful ladies” but then she revealed what she actually looked up:
Whatever, internets. You can try to bring me down, but I laugh in your face. LAUGH!
I am actually pretty darn chuffed about this actually. I even appear another page down, next to a shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal so I feel that I won in some small way.
I am so sorry that I have not been posting very much lately but seeing as how it’s very nearly Christmas I think that’s fair enough. Plus I spent a whole week trying to create an audition tape to be the host of a music programme on one of our free-to-air TV channels here, only to have it ALL fuck up 20 minutes before the deadline so I missed out. Being a VJ is basically my dream job but after about 4500 takes and still struggling to get the whole 90 sec single review out in one go, I now realise that maybe I am not cut out for that particular type of job. Or maybe I am trying to make myself feel better. Either way, I’ve gone off track f what this post was meant to be about!
As I may have mentioned here, I have a Kobo eReader and enjoy using it thoroughly. One day I will do a review on the few eReaders I have used, but for now let me just say they are AMAZING and you will get extremely angry the next time you have to read from a real book. I’ve read more in the 6 or so months that I’ve owned my Kobo than I have for the last 10 years. It’s proved esoecially handy when it comes to really large books. Imagine being about to carry all seven Harry Potter books with you at all times? I know, right?
So, I started reading George R R Martin’s series “A Song of Ice & Fire” after finally watching the TV show. Let me just say it would have been a LOT better if I’d read the books first as I quickly discovered I got it ALL wrong while watching the show (I didn’t realise Theon Greyjoy wasn’t Ned Stark’s son and also thought Jon Arryn was the king… I know, I obvs wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention or something). But once I’d worked out how everything actually was, I was immediately OBSESSED with the series. Oh my god, I cannot devour them fast enough. I am almost finished the fourth book and am going to die when they’re all done and I have to wait for another one to be written.
Since the Christmas holidays are coming up and most of us will have some time of and probably be a bit bored at some point, I thoroughly recommend you start reading them. No, you do not have to be into fantasy or really dig medieval history, as a number of friends who thought they hated both are just as obsessed as I am with the books. You just need to be aware that these books are loooong. And Mr Martin spares no one. No matter how safe you think a character, he’ll find an awful way to kill them. And no matter how deserving a character is of death, they’ll never get their comeuppance. Ever. It’s a mind fuck and the third book will essentially ruin your life (it’s both incredibly long and has some of the most intense scenes I’ve ever read in my life in it). But it’s a damn good read and you learn a lot about the medieval times, even if the books are set in an alternate reality. Oh and it’s likely you will also start talking like they do in the books (ie. on the morrow = tomorrow, braking my fast = breakfast, moon’s blood = period etc). Good times, all round.
Have you read this series? What do you think? Doe you think the TV show compares?
Can you believe it’s already December? What is with this year going by so quickly? I just checked and there are only 15 days til my birthday so that means only 17 days til Christmas! Guess who still hasn’t done their Christmas shopping either? Uh oh!
I love Christmas. I may be atheist and come from an atheist family but we’ve always considered Christmas a special time of year, though not for any religious reasons, but just a time to be with family. I absolutely love getting presents, and while I’m not really the best gift-buyer myself, I love thinking of what to get my family and friends that they’ll like but also haven’t directly asked for (I’m a big fan of surprise gifts).
I love the traditions that come with Christmas. I love getting up early for presents on Christmas morning. I love having miles of wrapping paper strewn across the house while mum tells us off for not saving the paper for future use. I love the bacon and egg breakfast with fresh, pulpy orange juice that we have after the frenzy of the gift-giving is over. I love having a HUGE lunch with ham off the bone, cold chook , salads, prawns and too much dessert. I love the full and sleepy feeling after lunch where you just want to sleep. I used to love having a swim regardless of the weather an hour after lunch back when we had a pool, usually to test out the awesome new pools toys we were given (which we’d usually manage to break in the first 10 minutes, much to mum’s horror). Then the lazy, relaxing afternoon where we’d attempt to eat some more before falling asleep in front of the TV, usually watching ballroom dancing which always seemed to be shown on Christmas day for some reason.
I’ve only just put up my Christmas tree (above – and yes it is black with pink and silver trimming) and am wondering how long the presents will survive with two maniac puppies on the loose. Maybe it’s a good thing I always leave my shopping til last minute so that there’s less time for wrapping to get chewed up! It’s kind of exciting that I’m about to have my first Christmas as a “mum”, I might even be super lame and get the boys a little present for the under the tree each ;)
What are your favourite Christmas traditions? If you don’t celebrate Christmas, what do you do during this holiday period?
Yesterday was Stereosonic, an Australian dance music festival that started back in 2007 and is absolutely huge now. I’ve been going to it ever year since 2009 and this year was really looking forward to it. I haven’t been to a festival since Summafieldayze at the start if the year and was eager for a good dance and a massive day. My sister had her 25th birthday party the night before so I was feeling a bit rough when I got out of bed, but not bad enough to stop me from being excited! My sister and best friend Sarah came over where we all got ready, ate a healthy lunch and listened to LMFAO to get into the spirit of the day. We started walking from my unit to the festival (a handy 10 minute walk away, lucky me) which is when we started seeing the types of people who would be sharing the day with us.
Sara, Erin & I on our way to the festival
So, apparently we missed the memo where compulsory wear for girls was bikini tops, teeny tiny denim cut off shorts, sandal and bad tans. For the guys, it appeared the uniform involved dicky short-shorts and spaghetti strap singlet like body builders wore in the 80s and those ridiculous thin-material boat shoes. Option extras for the ladies were boobs jobs (extra points if we could see the scars/surgery tape) and tattoos of “meaningful quotes on their wrists, ribs or thighs. For the guys, acne caused by steroid use on their over-muscled bodies and terrible, stereotyped tattoos straight-from-the-wall, including a plethora of Southern Crosses, boxing kangaroos, grim reapers, wizards or general colourful cityscapes.
Now don’t get me wrong, this is what all festivals have too much of these days. But this was just…ridiculous. Sarah and I were seriously two of about 25 other girls there NOT wearing denim shorts. The three of us were the least tanned there and showing the least flesh by far. About 60% of the guys there weren’t wearing shirts, despite the festivals “TOPS ON” policy (which was definitely not being enforced). It was… mind blowing. The extra special part was seeing just how little the girls could get away with wearing. It seems to me there’s a new trend of denim shorts that are cut up so high in the arse area that half your arse is exposed. ON PURPOSE. We’re pretty sure next year they’ll just be wearing denim g-strings and pasties to cover their nipples.
My sister took a few sneaky photos of what we witnessed while having a sit-down earlier on the in the day (please note, we are not sitting in a forest, all of those brown things are actual human legs):
And our absolute personal favourite, this girl:
Except for the last “lady”, these aren’t even the worst, in fact they’re not even that bad. My personal highlight was seeing the woman who was pushing her late 40′s at least who looked like she was trying to emulate Barbie, with her bleached blonde hair, giant boobs, crazy dark tan and cutesy pink and white bikini. Shame her skin looked like old, soft suede that was about to peel away from her otherwise fit body. Or the guys who were so friggen buff their backs had cleavage! BACK BUTTS! Does anyone find this attractive? Well I guess they must, but I know I don’t and it was such a shock to see so many people rocking this atrocious look. Seriously, even the folk from Jersey Shore would have found it totally over the top.
Needless to say, they’ll need to have a damn good lineup and sort out their shitty layout (and get MORE figgen toilets) before I’ll go back. Admittedly half the fun was people watching and thinking of witty comments to go with all of the more “noticable” patrons.
Oh and here we are at the end of the ight, looking a little worse for wear but still, SO much hotter than everyone else there!
Leaving my phone at work when I have to get up at the arse crack of dawn tomorrow for work is pretty bloody disappointing. So are the numerous calf cramps I experienced while at gym doing Body Attack tonight. Accidentally steeping on dog poop without realising it and smooshing it all through the carpet is also right up there as massively fucking disappointing. But none of these compare to how disappointed this video made me:
I can’t imagine there are too many people out there who don’t find this extremely disappointing also. It’s not just the blatant racism that pisses me off (and believe that, it really pisses me off), it’s knowing that her poor little son has no chance in life. He’s going to be surrounded by that for god knows how long and will more than likely share the same views as his fuckhead mother because that’s what he was brought up with and it’s all he’ll know. I mean, look at how calm the kid is, that’s not a child who’s never heard his mum abuse strangers on the tram before, the poor thing is used to it already. Then there’s the fact she’s clearly on drugs (check out how she’s chewing her face off) and is probably the kind of classy lady to throw her son down to engage in fisticuffs when someone dares retaliate to her horrible rants.
Thankfully there are numerous reports that she’s been arrested. I believe in free speech but inciting hatred, racism and provoking violence (because if I’d been there, it would have been ON) should not be tolerated or allowed. EVER!
