Listening: 'Alice in wonderland' by Jewel (& the raindrops outside)

Perfect day to sleep in but I couldn't sleep in at all. Last night was so humid and warm. Best to get up and start the day early. Dad left yesterday and Mom's here for christmas. Being a mom and she wants to do something about the house. I only gave her access to the kitchen. I like my mess in my work areas of the house. It's something to keep her busy and she can't stand the mess in the kitchen. I thought it looked pretty neat to me. *shrugs*

Finished a sketch of Nicole Kidman. Just felt like drawing her after I saw her in a Chanel ad.



I finally went surfing. It's the most awesome feeling in the world. After I felt the strong urge to get out there, I called up Dad and asked if we could go down to Middleton. I thought it'll also be good for mom and dad to see that it's safe to surf down there. After I called up Dan, I text Nick if he wanted to come. Both of us are dying to get out there.

Probably not such a nice day with clouds and drizzle but it was still great surfing. Lots of suctions in the water where my legs and toes had to work extra hard to keep my ground. My toes would dig into the sand after a surf and working my way out there. Nick and I caught a couple of great waves and I didn't know I caught a barrel till one of the instructors said I did. I was like 'Sweet!!' Meg gave me a quiet tip for the blue waves. I can go for the blue ones quietly. Heehee. Dad had fun taking photos of Nick and I falling and getting up. So there's gonna be heaps of surf photos. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The cheapest way to continue surfing while I save up for a board and wetsuit is to stick with Dan and Meg. Getting there!

Nick, mom and me

Safety checks

Warming up

Heading out

Nick and I happened to get up at the same time

Nick's surf's up







And then we all got distracted by this face

Listening: 'Baby did a bad bad thing' by Chris Issak

I had a scare last night. I smelled something funny in my house but thought it could be something outside. My neighbour knocked on my door and said there was a car parked behind our bedrooms and it's on fire. I just grabbed my keys and went out back to check. True enough. A midnight blue holden commodore had smoke coming out of the windows and roof. The inside was full of smoke. I rushed back to my neighbours who had already called the firemen. It was just 5 of us waiting outside for the fire truck. We suspect that it's a stolen car cos no one would ever drive a car through that small passage way. Only a panicked or crazy person would ever do so. The car was less than a metre from my bedroom. The firemen put the fire out and the police came and asked if we recognized the car. It was unknown car and it's brand new. The firemen said that someone started the fire on the car seat and the police said it's a stolen car alright. Pretty lucky that my neighbour went outside to throw the trash. If not, you know the outcome.

I couldn't sleep much. I was in bed, staring at the ceiling in the dark, listening to car being checked. The tow truck finally towed the car away past midnight. Pretty hard to sleep after such a scare. It's definitely someone who live in any of these units or someone who used to live here. That passageway is unknown to outsiders really. And I got a weird dream about that car last night. *growls*

Listening: 'Kiss the rain' by Billie Myers



My current project that I'm painting for both my grandmas and my grandaunt for christmas. To make up for spending christmas for the first time without them overseas. No worries. Got my christmas tree with presents for family. Been abit lazy to blog these days. Rather, I don't know what to blog. Zeren wanted me to put up a new entry so here it is. Happy birthday Zeren! *hugs*

I was talking to Zeren about the movie, Good luck chuck. Had a good laugh and mentioned abt Jessica Alba's clumpsy character in the movie. And then we recalled one incident when we were having our internship together in this company. A bunch of us were leaving the building and we had this outdoor carpark. I didn't notice the pole barrier that allows cars in and out of the carpark. It was high up in the air and when it came down, it came down on my right cheekbone. I felt so numb, dizzy and I couldn't speak but I know that I wanted to kill zeren. 'Claire! Can you speak chinese?' *growls* But overall, I prefer the other chuck movie. I now pronounce you chuck and larry. It's a great movie and go watch it.

Mom and dad arrived on friday and gave me abit too much love. They were coughing in front of me and I had a really bad sore throat for 2 days. I'm just stuck with a dry cough but I still went swimming this morning. Today's session was much better compared to the two weeks. I have to teach mom lots of things about the aussie lifestyle and hope she follows the culture here while she's here. Surfing was on my mind all night long. I miss it and I really wanna catch a wave. It'll be so hard with my parents around especially with my mom being anti-sun. Vitamin D deficiency people. Haha.

I managed to catch up with Romano who asks where zeren is. I told him he's back home and he frowned. 'You should find a nice italian boy like me.' I told him if I did, he better be a good cook. 'I'm a good cook!' Romano, the 79 year old ladies man. Though I'll miss our conversations once he goes on his Europe and China tour. Who knows when he'll be back.

I'm glad the number of ducks have reduced to 3-4. A much managable group and Stewie is being such a diva. My theory of the ducks have come true. They hate it when there are people with me. They won't go near the house or near me. Stewie didn't like Robin, the ducks didn't like my dad and his car in front and I'm pretty sure they'll be against zeren when he moves in next month. No good luck chuck, only good luck zeren.

There are people who come to me for advice or I'll just lend a listening ear. But there are sometimes where I think the answer is right in front of them. There is a case where my mate has been coming to me since I got arrived in adelaide but it has escalated. I really don't see the beauty of dating married men and wanting the attention and money. I can understand if you're Paris Hilton. I pretty much share the same characteristics as Temperance 'Bone' Brennan where we see the reality of stuff and not the superficial side of things which most people do. I don't see the value of the material world. I don't see the value in bling or rocks. I don't see why people especially girls have to be fake to get what they want. What do you get out of money and married men? And when you cannot cross over a professional working relationship into something more? A diamond? I rather spend the money on getting a car or more camera accessories to my collection or a surfboard. If my friend is reading, just be yourself and just go with the flow.

And I'm grateful that my sister's wedding has been postponed to 2009. I can concentrate fully on my uni. I was a bridesmaid, then dropped to a photographer and now back on as a bridesmaid. I don't really care if I'm bridesmaid or not. Just no pink, red or orange dresses. *shivers with goosebumps*

Sorry for the long draggy post. Been so long so more ranting. Here are some photos. I'm rusty in my shots so do forgive me. I need to practise more.