First Draft Completed… Kinda :)

The beast that has been dominating my life is almost dead! As of today I have another 8 weekdays/ working days until my paper is due.  That count is leaving out weekends which I have been reserving for fun and I am also planning on turning the paper in a day early because the day the paper is due, Todd, Al, his new girlfriend, some other mates from Todd’s work and I are headed up to Moreton Island (near Brisbane) for a weekend of camping, snorkeling, hiking etc :) 

My paper has turned out better than I expected despite the fact that the marketing/ film industry is drastically changing right now and so I read about something every day that I want to include in my paper.  This issue translates to my paper as I am currently 400 words away from the word limit and I have yet to add in an intro, conclusion or review of sources.  I am sure that I will have to edit a ton but I have a strange fetish for editing so here comes the fun part! I have actually really enjoyed writing this paper and everything I have learned has made me really excited for the changes that are occurring in the industry.  Marketers and Hollywood studios are realizing that in order to survive, they have to cater products to specific demographics again.  This is a tactic that has been used before but then forgotten for the past 30 years or so with the saturation of blockbusters in the market and their hope that these movies would just appeal to everyone.  Anywhoo if anyone wants to read it, now or when it is in its final draft just let me know! Btw, brief overview in case you have NO idea what I am talking about: my dissertation is a review of the changes in marketing/ distribution/ exhibition in the Hollywood TV/ movie industry with specific focus on the 1920s/ 30s and the present.  It’s more interesting than it sounds, I promise! Ha ha

In other news, my constant search for new recipes has led to an amazing new routine.  Every day at 5 (sometimes earlier) I stop my work for the day and start to cook dinner.  This has given me a deadline each day to work towards, pushing me harder and giving Todd and I (or whomever I am cooking for) a nice reward! I love this cooking time.  I love looking at a recipe and choosing not to follow it, or following some aspects of it, or (in rare cases) following it to a T.  One of my most recent ventures I did follow very specifically (well kinda) because it required making a pie crust.  Actually, I didn’t follow it very well at all because I was making it gluten free but I did follow it as close as possible!  This slightly stressful/ nerve-wracking  recipe turned into an amazing butternut pumpkin and caramelized onion galette.  I found the recipe at smitten kitchen; (another variation on my part; pumpkin instead of squash because of availability issues) which I highly recommend y’all visit.  Super amazing stuff and fairly easy to make.  The pastry did turn out a little funky because of the gluten-freeness (not in taste, just in look) but the entire thing was really really good.  It is funny because I am always watching Todd’s face very carefully to see if he likes it or not and this was a definite success.  Poor Todd, my constant guinea pig, although I haven’t killed him yet! 

Mom and Jan come in 44 days and we have quite an adventure planned! Our travels include Melbourne, Tassie, Sydney and Airlie Beach (great barrier reef) and I can’t wait to explore new areas and show off places I have already been.  I can tell already that they last 2 ½ months are going to fly by WAY too quick :(

The problem with homework and having other things to do besides this blog is that I forget important things that I wanted to talk about.   All in favor of me skipping schoolwork so I can just focus on writing? Mmk :)
Becky was here in the month of Monday holidays.  Half of the Mondays we had off because of public holidays and one of those days was Anzac Day.  Since I am so used to quoting sources at this point because of my paper I will plug Wikipedia and state that “Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. It now more broadly commemorates all those who died and served in military operations for their countries.” (don’t worry, I usually reference my works properly and I don’t use Wikipedia :) ) 

There are many traditions on Anzac Day including playing two-up at all pubs, surf clubs etc and dawn services.  Originally, Todd, Becky and I were planning on bike riding down to Currumbin for the supposedly best and biggest dawn service on the coast.  It started at 5am or so and we would have had to be up at 3 in order to bike the 13K.  Well the night before we got a little crazy and were playing cards with some of Todd’s friends, Stef and Kristy, so we ended up deciding to sleep more that 3 ½ hours and we drove down to Coolie (Coolangata) for the service instead.  This is the city I have mentioned many times (where the airport is, good surfing, Al’s place etc).  

The Anzac Day dawn service was extremely impressive.  It was set against a bay leading into the ocean and throughout the service we watched the sun rise as speakers discussed the bravery of the Diggers (slang term for Australian and New Zealand soldiers) and the other soldiers still fighting today.  Dawn services occur all over Australia (there were 3 happening between Mermaid Beach and Coolie where we went) and they all contain the following elements: introduction, hymn, prayer, an address, laying of wreaths, recitation, the playing of "The Last Post", a minute of silence, "Reveille", and the playing of both New Zealand and Australian national anthems.  As we discussed later, Becky and I stood there linked arm and arm both thought about how respectful and well done the service was.  There was no more than 150 people and we were all linked together in this incredible spot to pay tribute to fallen soldiers.  I have never experienced something so simple and considerate in relation to Veterans Day in the states.  I would say my only experience that comes close is during Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) at Hillel, all 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust are remembered as their name is read aloud in a continuous cycle that often lasts for 28 hours or so.  In any case, standing there watching the Anzac Day dawn service unfold made me think about what an incredible country I have been living in the past year and how much I will miss elements of it when I go home.  

Of course Australians cannot have a remembrance day or a holiday in general without some extra hubbub at the local pub.  For Anzac Day the key event is a game called two-up, the simplest form of gambling ever.  The game is played as so: one person calls out an amount they are betting such as $5.00 on heads and then someone else in the pub that is standing around in the circle will take that bet and say $5.00 on tails.  The spinner (the person flipping the coins) flips three coins in the air and best 2 out of 3 wins that round.  Nothing more complicated than that! Of course one can lose a lot of money very quickly this way (not that gambling in general is a big money maker).  This game is only played on Anzac Day in remembrance of the Diggers as they played this game to pass the time in the trenches.  We didn’t actually play any two-up as we ended up going water skiing later that day and then passing out early because of our crazy card session the night before ;) but it was really fun to learn about another unique Australian tradition. 

Ps. Happy Mother’s Day to all you special women out there! :) 

Long overdue updates!

Time definitely speeds up when you want it to slow down… the whole idea that minutes and seconds are a finite  measurement is all BS I say! Everything seems to speed up as I approach deadlines: my paper, going home, more visitors (which is the best part of that list).  The end of Becky’s stay was absolutely marvelous.  We had a good mix of study time and play time and managed to knock off nearly everything on the list of things that Becky wanted to do.  We went and pet a kangaroo and she held a koala, made Mexican food, ate TOO MUCH Mexican food, made and devoured golden syrup dumplings, went to Burleigh Heads, ate some Smiths Crisps (best potato chips around), ate steak, went to Byron Bay, made curried carrot soup (inspired by this soup we had in New Zealand) and last but not least, made and ate a ton of oatmeal cookies! My goodness I had no idea that our list was basically comprised of food… well we ate and conquered and are all the happier for it! :)  It was wonderful to have such an incredible friend experience my life here with me for a whole month.  We didn’t even get tired of each other one little bit and I promise we are still friends (in fact we talked today).  Becky is such a kind person and my friends really loved having her around.  I think they didn’t want her to leave just as much as me! The final week or so Becky started a list of differentiations in object names/ phrases between American English and Australian English and I am going to “borrow” her list, add to it, and post it at the end of this blog. 

It is weird to think of this chapter of my life closing soon.  I have met some incredible people and I hope that I will stay connected with some of them as I move back.  I remember that when I left some of my friends warned me that I was going to meet all these amazing people and then have to say good bye to them.   Therefore, the friendship/ effort wouldn’t be worth it but I have learned that sometimes the best friendships are formed when there is so much more at stake.  Come on, who wants to life to be easy, right?

In other news… I can now officially say that Todd is certifiably insane.  Two days ago we walked some of the Kokoda Challenge track that he completed last year.  For those who don’t remember/know, the Kokoda Challenge is a 96K hiking race in which the competitors walk the 96K track in one go, no sleeping.  It took Todd and his team 28 hours and I remember that last year when he returned from this insanity, he looked like death… ha ha.  Well on Monday Todd and I walked 13K of that track and I was feeling ok by the end but definitely ready to go home and eat and go to bed.  I have no idea how he managed to walk those mountains for 28 hours!  I have already had so much respect for his athleticism and slight craziness but now that I have walked a few miles in his shoes, I have to say that I will never be as crazy as him : )