Cosplay...?

I have a new obsession. Cosplay. Yes, you read right, cosplay (read: costume + play = cosplay). Depending on your intention, it's like playing dress-up for older people (except much MUCH more expensive and infinitely more perverted) where you dress up as bestest you can as an anime character, or it's a perfectly rational excuse to cross-dress or wear something that would normally classify you as clinically insane.

WIN!

So basically weirdos like-minded people like me get together at anime conventions (like animania) and dress up funky and oogle at each other and dance on stage and get voted Best Cosplayer of 2008 or whatever. Seriously fun. I was planning to go with Am and that crew but OTHER people suddenly were interested in it to so alas! We are at an impasse.

Anyway, I'm going as Orochimaru, that snakey tongue-flicking (PERFECT!) baddie from Naruto. I tried his face today using acrylic paint as face-paint (don't think that's too healthy for me skin) and it turned out COOL. Just need to make the rest of his costume now. Which, if I am totally true to his character, would involve me losing 20 kilos, piercing my ears, buying $400 yellow cat-eye contacts and growing long luxurious shoulder length hair.

GOOD LUCK TO ME....

Luna PARK!!

LOL had a cracker of a time at Luna Park on Saturday for Ahmed's birthday. The actual place is really not that great (read: quite shitty) and there are only one or 2 good rides, but we make our own fun wherever we go, spreading wacky teenage havok everywhere. I'm on the left posing with Luna-Bob (totally the craziest one out of the lot *LOL*):

"Who needs crack?"

Prime Minister Rudd Says "Sorry"...

Australian News.

BBC coverage.

Full text of Formal Apology.

Video of apology.

Some Aboriginal responses.

Today, for the first time in history, the Australian government (Rudd-Labor) has formally apologised for the mistreatment of Aboriginal people in the past, especially the Stolen Generation (something John Howard completely refused to do for a decade)! It's a very proud day to be an Australian.

Maybe people outside Australia won't really recognise it as such an important event, but it is seriously such an amazingly important symbolic act. The types of things that were done back in the age of the "paternal" attitude towards the "sub-human" Aborigines will shock you. If you want a quick overview of the subject watch Phillip Noyce's "Rabbit-Proof Fence". If by the end of it you don't feel like crying you're a heartless demon who deserves to die.

Some people (about 30% of the population; mostly snobbish rich-kids) say "Why should WE apologise for something our forefathers did? WE had nothing to do with it!" but I think that if you take that stance you are acknowleding a wrong but choosing to do nothing to try and fix it. Kind of like if you see a person getting raped and not doing anything to try and stop it. "It has nothing to do with ME!" You have to realise that in reaching true reconciliation we need to have both symbolic and practical solutions. Apologising was a vital step forward.

But anyway, that's just my opinion...

Ah well! I get to tell my kids that I lived through Sorry Day! HAHA.

Bayt-Al-Zakat

Look! It's ME accepting my GIFTSIES! Hehe.

Yesterday was the Bayt-Al-Zakat dinner celebrating the Muslim High Achievers of the 2007 HSC. One by one they led the students on to the stage in terms of UAI from lowest to highest and gave them a gift...and I was the last one! They gave me a standing ovation. Everyone in the hall was standing and clapping I was SO embarrased but so happy as well. One of the proudest moments of my short life.

I got a $500 Parker pen too! YAY A COOL PEN!!

Obama '08

For change we can believe in!

(link)

On the subject of jobs...

I went to my first EVER job interview today. I found an ad in the local newspaper and called up for funsies and somehow ended up with an interview. It was for some sort of an educational company. It went well I suppose. The only hiccup was when I asked, "How big is this company? How many people do you employ?" and the interviewer woman GLARED at me and said, "We do not discuss such details."

SCARY.

Anyway on the same day (i.e. today) I get a call from some parent of a kid from my old high school (I'm so incredibly famous you see) asking to tutor her kid. And another parent too. How cool is that! Lots of moneys soon to be rolling in....

I hope Myer accepts my job application! I really wanna work there!

Computer fast again!

I just formatted c-drive (C:/ for the DOS oldies :P) on my comp and now it's all fast again! YAY!! I think I used to accidentally (or not so accidentally) reset the computer too much and maybe just hit the hard-drive every now and again (LOL) so the bad sectors and crap started to build up. Windows went bonkers and took half a lifetime to load everytime I booted up.

So I said STUFF IT! I'm deleting YOU! Had to copy all the files and crap. Fun fun. And had to install all the programs and drivers ALL over again. Oh the pain. Well it was worth it I suppose.

Anyway, on the 'new' comp (before I installed Photoshop) I went to my blog and the Header ("Evil Lemons") was PLAIN UGLY. I didn't realise maybe some ppl didn't have the "Juice ITC" font. Anyway, THIS is what you're meant to see. If you don't then go install Photoshop!!