the gimp!

My friend showed me this program that you can download for free called THE GIMP. It's basically like photoshop. So I've been trying to work it out. It's quite hard! For one... I have no idea how to use photoshop... and there seemed to be a lack of helpful tutorials on the net. Here is the before photo:
And the after photo:
As you can see... I've to a fair way to go on my air-brushing. I did make the faces a very nice purple before... but then forgot how I did that... so I had to settle for air-brush. I thought it was fitting to do a remake of this photo since we all look so weird.

Maybe Jen can show me how to do cool stuff on photoshop when it's holiday time ;)

From Car-O-Line

Weird & Wonderful World of Wikipedia

Check out this weird music trivia I found on wikipedia... I have no idea how that works!


From Car-O-Line

sigh of relief!

got soooo much done today. I've now officially finished harmony, aural and clarinet classes forever! :O I've also finished keyboard classes forever! I'm so happy! But I think I will miss harmony... that was a good class... and I like it.

recently I've had an alarming desire to own a ginger cat. which is really weird for me because all my life I've had a dislike for cats because they always look angry and they kill birds/rabbits/possums etc. I think I want a ginger cat because:
- they are a bit more responsive than rabbits (although velvet was the best rabbit and I miss him).
- they don't get myxomatosis and die (which is how velvet went)
- they are a good hugable size and don't weigh on your lap
- they like to curl up to you

hmmm... don't know if I'll ever get a cat. I should just be content with my nintendogs.... hmm should feed them eh!

*feeds my dogs, and washes them, and brushes them, and gives them soccer ball*

I couldn't believe my eyes today but if I was up to date with my bible reading plan... I would be reading new testament stuff! so I'm slightly motivated to quickly finish reading my old testament. only 6 small books to go! I'm up to Esther at the moment. it's a nice story. a bit hard to see true relevance because God isn't mentioned at all... but it's clear that he is working in her life. so that's awesome.

From Car-O-Line

many wonders of the uni world

There is so much to blog about. But I can't remember all that I need to blog! I'll just start and see where I end up :P

This week was the beginning of my busy season. I already had my keyboard test on monday. I think I screwed it up pretty bad. Played my improv in wrong key which totally put me off my other improv which was almost non-existent... so much for doing it in a style. Then three days of nothing until my 3 tests and one assignment tomorrow.

I've been practicing violin quite a lot. Practicing with Sam as well... there is this one piece which is really hard to play together. I've been practicing by myself and it's all been happy-go-lucky... but when I have to add Sam in... gah! So much more to think about. I think we sorta got it down-pat now though. Going to practice with him again tomorrow.

I've also been practicing my clarinet. I think there is something wrong with my reed... plus the fact that I haven't practiced in ages... so it's very squeaky. I played over the songs over and over again... 'over the break' isn't as bad now. So it should be ok.

Today I wrote my 500 words of Australia Ensemble review bliss. I was quite happy with it. It was less mechanical than my other reviews... hopefully the marker will have a bit more fun reading it. Not that it's worth anything though... you see if I don't do it... I loose 5%, but if I do do it... I gain nothing (except for 'music journalism' skills... pfft!).

Tomorrow I also have my Harmony and Aural tests. I been keeping up to date in class and understanding it all, and our lecturers are very good at making us practice our skills to make sure we've caught the drift. So those tests shouldn't be too bad... it will just be like doing class exercises.

Then on the weekend I've got to cram my gen-ed notes for the test on monday. Hopefully wont have to do much... it's only multiple choice anyways... and from my previous posts... you would have seen that I've enjoyed and learnt much stuff from that course.

Tuesday is my violin test... so will continue to practice hard. Had a scales/study lesson with my teacher tonight. He said it's looking pretty good. I've also heard that my examiner is an easy marker... so that should boost my marks a bit. But I would have actually preferred to get a marker who was fair... so I can know what exactly they want me to improve in and all that jazz.

Tuesday is also the CBS party!!! I'm excited about it. CBS has been really good this year. I can't get enough of it. It's like you can be on that Christian high all year round... and ever since MYC... I've met lots of cool Christian people who are really encouraging and cool.

Then on Friday I have my Music Literature test... you know... that dreaded test that everyone dreads (yeah... we really do dread it... dread dread dread) because we have to listen to 20hrs of music, memorise how it sounds, and all this almost useless information about it. I've listened to about 11hrs of music. But that's ok... because the way this test works is... we get tested on half of the list in S1 (ie: 10hrs of music) and then get tested on the whole list (ie: the 20hrs) in S2. So I just need to refamiliarise myself with the music from S1... and listen to a few more pieces from the S2 list. But definately need to listen to the music non-stop from wednesday and keep on repeating composition dates in my head.

Then when that's all done... I'm going to re-listen to all my education motivation lectures because I was hardly awake in any of them... and I need to take notes so that I will actually pass the exam. Motivation has totally been a blur since mid-sem break. For a course on motivation... the lecturers aren't very motivating. But I guess that comes with the fact it's an Arts course.

Has anyone heard Sandi Thom's "I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair"? I think it's a cool song. She has a cool voice. I like how there is really simple accompaniment so you can just hear her voice. Go tambourines!

Oh and the coolest funniest thing of my week (no I didn't bump my head on the train again)... the Neopolitan Dynamic video from the MYC Live 06 cd. It is so so funny! I showed a couple of my friends but they didn't really get it (partly because some of them hadn't seen Napoleon Dynamite, or they didn't go to UNSW). But I think it's hilarious. I must have watched it 10 times already. The recorded live music from MYC is pretty cool too... saves me buying a EMU cd. kekeke. It has good songs on it (except for the suspect songs 'till your time' and 'oh how dark the night'... I'm not really sure what they are on about). Finally got "Before the Throne of God Above." That is definately my song for the year... ever since WKC... it's just the maddest song... and Hebrews ROCKS!!!

favourite non-christian song at the moment: New Slang - The Shins
favourite violin song at the moment: Appasionato - Josef Suk
favourite music literature song at the moment: Violin Concerto in E minor - Mendelssohn
favourite bible book at the moment: Daniel 3, "God is able to save us... but if he doesn't... we don't care... because our God rocks and you suck" - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to King Neb.
favourite Neopolitan Dynamic quote: "Do you think anybody's going to refuse the gospel while I'm holding one of these bad boys? Forget about it!" - Ben Gooley, SOCM trainer.

From Car-O-Line

Noah takes a photo of himself everyday for 6 years.

I love the music in this video... and seeing the guy changer is quite interesting

The Devil Wears Prada

Today me, Cler, Grace and Queenie went to see "The Devil Wears Prada" at the movies. It was a good funny movie... very relaxing to watch... Meryl Streep acted really well in it. Now for some photos:

Woah Gracie so much food!!!

Check out the sheer size... as big as Gracie's biceps!

MMMmmm tasty! Lucky for Grace, we all did our bit in eating/drinking it all. :)

Hmmm I guess I should have taken more photos... will remember that next time. MMMmmm that popcorn was tasty. I seem to be hanging more with my bible study girls this semester... it's awesome... they are lovely chickadees.

Later on tonight I should really practice stuff for my keyboard exam... then tomorrow I'll have more time to practice violin stuff. I finally finished reading Ezekiel... so now I'm on to Daniel. I remember Daniel being a good book... so hopefully I'll be more motivated to read my Bible.

You gotta check out this journal... and especially read the two articles on singleness. They are really good... in fact... the whole journal is really helpful! I think I quoted from it a few posts ago.

another love poem...

hmmm that love poem generator site is truly addictive. here is my latest attempt at trying to compose a poem that makes sense (highlighted the funny parts):

Your skin glows like the tomato, blossoms majestic as the daffodil in the purest hope of spring.
My heart follows your double bass voice and leaps like a poodle at the whisper of your name.
The evening floats in on a great rosella wing.
I am comforted by your beret that I carry into the twilight of spicebeams and hold next to my liver.
I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of H2O.
As my knee cap falls from my collar, it reminds me of your highlighter.
In the quiet, I listen for the last whistle of the day.
My heated kidney leaps to my jeans. I wait in the moonlight for your secret pen so that we may chase as one, kidney to kidney, in search of the magnificient violet and mystical laptop of love.

Bad Head Day

Today my trip on the train was pretty normal... except for 2 things:

1. I actually got around to doing my quiet times! I'm doing Ezekiel at the moment which can be pretty interesting.

2. When I stood up to get off the train, I fully smacked my head on the ceiling. There was a lot of momentum when I stood up so I hit it pretty hard and I currently have a huge bump on my head. So yes... it sucks! When I bumped it I cried out loud "grah! ouch!" so I made sure that the whole carriage knew of my anguish. This embarassed me quite a bit but funnily enough... I found myself cracking up as I was walking through the boom gates at central. I'm not sure if this is because I had just hit my head and my brain was doing funny things... or if it was actually a funny thing.

I'm still kinda in a daze... I'm also a bit peeved that I got to uni early and have to wait 40mins for the one class that I decided to come to today. (I missed my first class because I thought sleep would be more important... especially since I only got home at 10.30pm last night after orchestra)

Epping Road sucks! Me and mum decided to go home by the pacific hwy to avoid the traffic on the gore hill freeway... the pacific highway was good... but when we got onto epping road... before the intersection for mowbray road... 3 lanes into 1!!!! And there were so many cars... we basically just crawled about 100m in 30 mins... so that was bad.

But today should be good (even though I started it off bad with my whole head bump thing). I'm hoping to finish my harmony composition and aural transcription today, which may not sound like fun... but it will be heaps good to have gotten it out of the way! Then I'll have bible study. woo hoo!

From Car-O-Line

p.s: I forgot to say thanks to Elsie who introduced me to 'java java' at uni... where I am currently blogging and wasting time before my class. It's the best!

LOVE POEM GENERATORS <3

apparently there is a competition to get tickets to the arias. so me and jen been searching the net and experiencing the joys of love poem generators. here are the results of our expedition of love (corny corny love):

www.ego4u.com/en/chill-out/ecards/love-poem
Dear Human Nature
Make up your mind or I'll be gone
For me, you are the only one.
I'm desperately waiting for your call,
I can't think of anything else at all

For a long time I've been watching you
I'd kiss you till our lips are blue
You're sweet and funny and always right
I'm Amidala and you're my Jedi Knight

www.links2love.com/poem_generator.htm
Your skin glows like the pear, blossoms fabulous as the tulip in the purest hope of spring.
My heart follows your marimba voice and leaps like a ferret at the whisper of your name.
The evening floats in on a great dove wing.
I am comforted by your dress that I carry into the twilight of clockbeams and hold next to my elbow.
I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of goo.
As my ear falls from my shirt, it reminds me of your calculator.
In the quiet, I listen for the last music of the day.
My heated knee leaps to my pyjamas. I wait in the moonlight for your secret magazine so that we may run as one, knee to knee, in search of the magnificient blue and mystical computer of love.

Your skin glows like the peach, blossoms sultry as the pansy in the purest hope of spring.
My heart follows your flute voice and leaps like a horse at the whisper of your name.
The evening floats in on a great penguin wing.
I am comforted by your beanie that I carry into the twilight of chairbeams and hold next to my eyes.
I am filled with hope that I may dry your tears of water.
As my nose falls from my skirt, it reminds me of your chair.
In the quiet, I listen for the last music of the day.
My heated lips leaps to my shoes. I wait in the moonlight for your secret phone so that we may leaps as one, lips to lips, in search of the magnificient blue and mystical ocean of love.


with love <3
From Car-O-Line

This looked amusing

have you ever:

(x) =YES. ( ) =NO.?

( ) smoked a cigarette
( ) smoked a cigar
( ) smoked a pipe
( ) smoked hookah
( ) smoked a joint
( ) been high
( ) been drunk
( ) thrown up in a compost bin
( ) used a gun
( ) made out with a member of the same sex
( ) crashed a friend's car
( ) stolen a car
(x) skipped school
( ) been called a slut
( ) had a one night stand
( ) had more than just one one night stands
( ) lied about how many people you've slept with
( ) lied about it so you can just sleep with someone
( ) slept with someone when you don't even know their name
( ) seen someone die
( ) been in love
( ) been dumped
( ) shoplifted
( ) been fired
( ) been in a fist fight
(x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) been arrested
( ) made out with a stranger
( ) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend
(x) had a crush on a teacher
( ) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
(x) been on a plane
(x) thrown up in a car
( ) purposely set a part of yourself on fire
(x) eaten Sushi
( ) been snowboarding
( ) been moshing at a concert
( ) been in an abusive relationship/family situation
(x) taken painkillers
(x) love someone or miss someone right now
(x) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(x) made a snow angel
(x) had a tea party
(x) flown a kite
(x) built a sand castle
(x) gone puddle jumping
(x) played dress up
(x) jumped into a pile of leaves
(x) gone sledding
(x) cheated while playing a game
(x) been lonely
( ) fallen asleep at work/school
( ) used a fake id
(x) watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake
(x) touched a snake
(x) slept beneath the stars
(x) been tickled
(x) been robbed
(x) been misunderstood
(x) petted a reindeer/goat
(x) won a contest
( ) run a red light
( ) been suspended from school
(x) been in a car accident
(x) had braces
(x) felt like an outcast
( ) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(x) had deja vu
( ) danced NAKED in the moonlight
(x) hated the way you look
( ) witnessed a crime
( ) pole danced
(x) questioned your heart
(x) been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) squished barefoot through the mud
(x) been lost
( ) been to the opposite side of the country
(x) swum in the ocean
( ) felt like dying
(x) cried yourself to sleep
(x) played cops and robbers
(x) recently colored with crayons/colored pencils/markers
(x) sung karaoke
(x) paid for a meal with only coins
(x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't do
(x) made prank phone calls
( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) danced in the rain
(x) written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) been kissed under a mistletoe
( ) watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(x) blown bubbles
( ) made a bonfire on the beach
( ) crashed a party
(x) gone roller-skating
(x) had a wish come true
(x) worn pearls
( ) jumped off a bridge
( ) ate dog/cat food
( ) told a complete stranger you loved them
(x) kissed a mirror
(x) sung in the shower
( ) bathed someone
(x) taken a bath or shower with same sex - probably when younger
( ) taken a bath or shower with opposite sex
( ) have a little black dress
(x) had a dream that you married someone
( ) glued your hand to something
( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole
( ) kissed a fish
(x) worn the opposite sex’s clothes
( ) been a cheerleader
( ) sat on a roof top
( ) screamed at the top of your lungs
( ) done a one-handed cartwheel
( ) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours
( ) stayed up all night
( ) didn't take a shower for a week
( ) pick and ate an apple right off the tree
(x) climbed a tree
(x) had a tree house
(x) been scared to watch scary movies alone
(x) believed in ghosts
( ) have more then 30 pairs of shoes
(x) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others say
( ) gone streaking
( ) played ding-dong-ditch
(x) played chicken
( ) been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on
( ) been told you're hot by a complete stranger
(x) broken a bone
(x) been easily amused
( ) caught a fish then eaten it
( ) caught a butterfly
(x) laughed so hard you cried
(x) cried so hard you laughed
( ) mooned/flashed someone
(x) had someone moon/flash you
(x) cheated on a test
( ) had a Britney Spears CD
( ) had a Hanson CD
(x) forgotten someone's name
( ) slept naked
( ) gone skinny dipping in a pool/lake
( ) been kicked out of your house
(x) had a job
( ) been to all 4 corners of the USA
(x) laughed at the wrong time

the wonders of gen-eds

Gen-Eds: those supposedly useless subjects that you HAVE to do at UNSW for measly credit points... in order to broaden your minds.

Recently I've been able to shock and amaze people with my knowledge of physical fitness and health... thanks to the gen-ed I'm doing at the moment. Ask me about exercises for pregnant women and I can give you a 15 presentation on the benefits, precautions and examples of exercises! Just the other day... we were learning about dangerous exercises, which made me think about what sort of exercise violin playing does to you.

Today my violin lesson was a real workout. I had already been practicing for 3 hours before my lesson... then I had to walk to my teachers house... and play all my pieces for him. 2 of my pieces weren't doing too good... but I must say that I thought I did very well in my other two pieces. My Bach piece is 8 and a half minutes of constant allegro up and down arm movement. So so tiring. My other piece is all about strong bow grip and bow control... with added force. After learning about dangerous exercises... it makes me wonder about how much grinding of the elbow joing I'm doing while playing. It's not very natural for an arm to be in that position for 4 hours straight either. But maybe because I've been playing violin for years... my body is used to it. It's not hurting... so that's good.

Here are some interesting facts that you probably didn't know about violin playing:
-breathing at the right spots is as important for violin as it is for wind instruments.
-strong core is important. by just tightening your abdominals you can get a different sound out
-painting up and down strokes in karate kid is how your bow hand wrist should move while playing

hmmm I can't think of any more. except that scales are boring and I really should practice them more :P

From Car-O-Line

Switch Leaders Retreat

Cler beat me to writing a fantastic blog about switch leaders retreat... so I'm going to be rude and just copy and paste her blog here :P

I'll probably make a few alterations though (look for the blue writing)
:)

wooooooooo.. got back from SLR on the weekend just past. oh the fun and memories! located at the entrance, we stayed in the top floor of a 3-level unit.

Forgie drove me, Grace and Queenie up. It was quite a nice drive. We talked a lot about very random things and learned about all of Queenie's dirty little secrets... like her title of "female chowdown champion" and her absolute love of KFC (especially the skin). She was drooling about KFC for most of the trip... it was lucky that KFC was just down the road from where we were staying at.

friday night was spent watching the Princess Bride (for those of u too young to know.. it is in the generation of Robin Hood: Men in Tights. another funny-lame-kool movie )

awesome quotes in that movie which a couple of us (caz, un-named-potential-future-girl-switch-leader, who i shall name Q and i) used to make a funny funny song, which is most amusing to us. I may have to get a myspace now so that I can upload the song on the net!!!

saturday was spent sharing about how we've been going (as leaders and personally), as well as beach in the arvo.
there was this kool lagoon/river type thing, which went straight to the beach.. we were there for the time in between low and high tide (medium tide?), and the current was soooo strong! gracie, caz and i decided to brave going across to the other side (the boys were doing their own thing further down the beach). although the width of the lagoon was only around 5m, when u started on one side and got to the other side, you were around 13m further down towards the ocean. got abit scared at some instances.. "will i get across? won't i?" but we got across fine.. tho tired by the time we crossed the 2nd time. Us girls also went shopping while the boys cooked lunch. Then after the beach... us girls went on a secret trip to KFC to get some chicken. It was tasty tasty. I took photos and we look so guilty in the pics. HAHA. The guys still don't know!

saturday night was spent on eye-toy, was quite amusing coz matt, dave and Q had never palyed eye-toy before. (oh, leaders who went were: josh, dave, jonny, matt, gracie, caz, Q and i)
Q seemingly had the most fun with this game "Sonic Sub". aim of the game is to safely bring this submarine through tunnels (lines with jagged rocks, had to keep doing up and down to avoid them). however, unlike most games, there are no physical controllers. the way you guided it up and down through the tunnels is through the use of.... vocal pitch. thats right.. to make it do up, u had to squeal like a girl, and to bring it down, rumble like a man. quite amusing, caz has a video on her phone. sooooo funny! Another reason to get a myspace :P

sunday was spent on eyetoy again and speaking about our groups have been going throughout the year.

the weekend was just a great time to get to know each other better, becoming more comfortable with each other. think its important to have it every year, coz business of life draws us apart, and you dont feel quite as unified towards the end of the year. we dont really get the chance to hang out as a group (unless we're with the kids), so unless you're leading with someone else, you feel quite segregated. not quite alone.. but not quite a unified team either. spending time as just a group was awesome and good to get a perspective on everything again.

think it was particularly good for me, coz ive just needed a break from life (uni and work), which have just felt like a drag and getting too routine for one's liking. feel alot more refreshed now, despite having used more energy than other weekends.

So all in all.. it was a fantastic time! Time for photos!!!