I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine the other day and they told me that they felt that they would never find love. Naturally my reaction to this information was, why? In my mind this person is more than lovable, attractive, very intelligent and financially stable, why would someone like that have any trouble finding a meaningful and loving relationship? And then when she started to answer me, it all became very clear why. She had a list of potential partner prerequisites that would make a Harvard post-graduate with a six pack and a Lamborghini run away screaming, it was insane! And it got me thinking about realistic expectations when it comes to meeting a potential partner. 
My friend's list of requirements (and I am pretty sure that you would have heard something similar before) went a little something like this:
My potential love interest needs to be fit, financially comfortable, funny, adventurous and have a really good job. 
I would imagine that there millions of women that have lists very similar to this as their personal  prerequisites to love and I have to say that it is extremely disturbing. Finding a combination of traits like that in anyone at any one given time is going to be extremely rare, but are any of these individual ideals actually realistic anyway? 
My husband is certainly not what anyone would call funny most of the time, but sometimes he is gut bustingly hilarious! Does that count as funny? Who is funny all of the time anyway? That is creepy! And what about being fit? What level of 'fit' are we talking about here? A marathon runner is fit and a bodybuilder looks fit but they are completely different body types, and someone who is super fit would be at the gym or working out all of the time, is that what you're looking for? I asked her. 
And what if some great guy was rich and then gave it all away to charity, would he not be financially stable enough to be considered a good partner? What if he was just between terrific jobs, but was currently unemployed because he had just given up 12 months of his life to go and vaccinate children in Botswana against typhoid, would that guy not be worthy of consideration because he didn't have 'a really good job' at the moment? 
You can see where I am going with all of this right? I said. You have put up walls and expectations that are not only unrealistic but they are not allowing any potential partner to infiltrate that barrier because you don't want them to be human, fallible or individual. How bloody sad! And what about me as a friend? Do you hold me to ransom with the same high expectations? I am not fit, or wealthy and I only have a low earning job, does that mean that I am not good enough for you? 
Of course my friend said no, that they loved me dearly and that they would never see me as anything but a terrific friend and lifelong confident, and that was where I got her and I could see the look on her face. The penny had just dropped and she could finally see that she was actually holding herself back from having meaningful and lifelong relationships with men because she had put so many expectations on them. 
At the end of the day, love cannot be put into a pigeon hole and neither can anyone that you allow yourself to love. Sometimes we are all funny or more stable or flush with funds; and sometimes we are stronger or fitter or more secure, and then other times we are none of those things at all, and that's called life. In life, and love, there are no perfects...at best you may get some pretty perfect days and moments but nothing is ever permanent.
There is nothing wrong with aiming high for yourself, but expectations need to be kept realistic and viable or they are just going to hold you back from life and love. Love doesn't exist in a tiny perfect package, that's just what everybody wants you to think. Instagram is rife with snippets of perfection and people get really caught up in that bullshit and start to aim for something that isn't even real. Let me tell you that real love is messy and unpredictable, it farts on the couch and drinks milk from the carton and will probably make you angry and even cry sometimes, and that's okay. That means it's real. 
So in the end I reassured my friend that she has no reason to believe that she will never fall in love, because any idiot can fall in love, and there are millions of lonely people in the world looking for a connection, she just needs to put her phone back on the hook because she hasn't been receiving! And besides, any fool that decides to have someone as nutty as me as a best friend can definitely find love out there in the big wide world! Stranger things than that happen every damn day!  

STRANGER THAN FICTION
Release Date: 2006
Rating: M
Running Time: 113 mins 
A fantasy romance tale, directed by Marc Forster and written by Zach Helm (better known for his work on Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium) that offers a sweet and entertaining look into the lives of ordinary everyday people with a whimsical and quirky backdrop. 
Harold Crick, an insanely regimented IRS agent, has his predictable life turned upside down when he begins to hear an internal voice that is narrating the events of his life as they occur. When he falls for Ana, the baker that he has been assigned to audit, things rapidly get even more out of hand for Harold. 
Will Ferrell delivers one of his best ever performances as Harold, and Maggie Gyllenhaal offers another believable quirky indie-chick performance. It is actually the incredible cast that really brings this film to life; Emma Thompson, Dustin Hoffman, Queen Latifah and Tom Hulce all bring levity to the story; which although isn't life changing, is intelligent, charming and quite good fun. 
FINAL SAY: I brought you flours. 
3.5 Chilli Peppers ​

I love going to the movies or sitting down to watch a film and finding a hidden gem. Sometimes I get the most delightfully unexpected surprise from a movie that I wasn't expecting it from, and I just love it when that happens, it really spins my tyres! And it really doesn't happen as often as I would like, a lot of the time when I leave a cinema or get off the couch after a movie I am left with a rather underwhelmed kind of a feeling or even worse, I start to contemplate the hours that I just wasted and will never get back again!
Life is way too short to waste reading bad books, watching poor movies and wasting your precious and valuable free time having mediocre experiences. Especially cinematic ones, after all that's why you have me! I've already found heaps of hidden gems for you, so you can just relax and enjoy the movies that I consider to be the best (and unmissable) hidden gems that you may have accidentally missed or overlooked.
Now, don't feel bad about it, people actually miss a lot of top quality viewing experiences all of the time because smaller and independent movies just get squashed by blockbuster movies, and most people just aren't going to the movies to see small budget or independent films. They also aren't going to the cinema half as much as I am either I would imagine, so it's more than likely that you've missed some of these rippers along the way, not through any fault of your own, but just from a lack of exposure; but never fear....I've got your back!
In no particular order (and remember that my full reviews of these films are on their genre lists if you want more information), here are my top 20 picks for hidden gem movies that you may have missed: 

1. The One I Love (Romance) 
2. Don Jon (Drama)
3. The Cabin in the Woods (Horror)
4. The Only Lovers Left Alive (Art House)
5. Short Term 12 (Drama)
6. A Ghost Story (Art House)
7. Wind River (Drama)
8. Once (Foreign/Romance)
9. Calvary (Art House/Foreign)
10. Moon (sci-fi)
11. Ingrid Goes West (Drama)
12. Son of Rambow (Comedy)
13. Sightseers (Foreign) 
14. In the Mood for Love (Foreign)
15. Young Adult (Drama)
16. Beautiful Boy (Drama)
17. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Drama)
18. Youth (Drama)
19. The Fall (Fantasy)
20. The Grand Seduction (Comedy)

I have only been back at work for two days and I have already found my number one hidden gem movie of the year! How good is that? And when you are as movie obsessed as I am and constantly thirsting for quality entertainment, then that is something to get happy about!

Age gap is something that regularly comes up in random conversation and everyone pretty much has their own opinion around what is an acceptable age gap for a couple and what is not. To be honest, I generally don't give that much of a shit about age gap, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't find some age gap relationships a little over the top and somewhat cringe worthy. 
If you ask google what is an acceptable age gap it comes up with this interesting statement:
The rules state that by dividing your own age by two and then adding seven you can find the socially-acceptable minimum age of anyone you want to date. 
My first wondering about that statement is who actually created this so called 'rule' that they speak of? And their definition of a 'socially acceptable minimum age' is, in itself, an extremely grey area, I mean can people outside of this equation still be accepted into society or will they forever feel the sting of being ostracized for their forbidden passions? And why are they assuming that everyone wants to date someone younger than they are? What are the rules for older partners? 
If this statement is true then I could be dating a 29 year old which may not raise too many eyebrows, and if the same applies in reverse then I could also be dating a 73 year old, which may raise even more eyebrows. So, according to this google formula I can date anyone between 29 and 73 and no-one would be put out or offended, but if I started dating a 28 year old or a 74 year old, well that would just be getting freaky. 
I don't think that there really are any 'rules' around age gap dating, because we all know that love is love and that consenting adults have the right to date anyone that they want to. However, as I said earlier there are some age gap relationships that do make me feel uncomfortable. I don't think that people should be dating anyone that is the same age or younger than their own children, and I also don't think that people should date anyone older than their own biological parents either.
In my case, if I was to date someone around my children's age I would be seeing a 21 year old and if I was to date someone around my parents age then my partner would be in their 80's and I am not comfortable with either of those options. Now I know that everyone has their own personal boundaries around age gap dating, and I am not claiming that my choices are correct, I am simply stating that that is where I draw my line in the sand on age gap romances. 
Hollywood is notorious for putting massive age gaps in movies that no-one ever bats an eye at because they are usually younger women with older men; in fact an older man with a younger lady is generally not considered to be nearly as controversial as an older lady with a younger man is for some reason. Perhaps it is because we are conditioned to seeing more older men with younger women romance dynamics in cinema and as a result of that we have become conditioned to accepting it as normal. 
Here are some prime examples of older men with significantly younger women in romance films that defy the realms of acceptable, and yet no-one seemed too bothered about them at all:
Drew Barrymore and Tom Skerritt in Poison Ivy - 42 year gap
Kevin Spacey and Mena Suvari in American Beauty - 20 year gap
Gary Cooper and Audrey Hepburn in Love in the Afternoon - 28 year gap
Woody Allen and Mariel Hemingway in Manhattan - 26 year age gap
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard in The Rum Diary - 23 year gap
Brad Pitt and Rose Byrne in Troy - 16 year gap
Gabriel Byrne and Winona Ryder in Little Women - 21 year gap
Richard Gere and Hilary Swank in Amelia - 25 year gap
Timothy Hutton and Natalie Portman in Beautiful Girls - 21 year gap
Tom Cruise and Olga Kurylenko in Oblivion - 17 year gap
Liam Neeson and Olivia Wilde in Third Person - 32 year gap
Denzel Washington and Lymari Nadal in American Gangster - 23 year gap
Hugh Laurie and Leighton Meester in The Oranges - 27 year gap
However, to be fair, Hollywood doesn't always get it wrong when it comes to age gap movies and there have been some truly tasteful and empowering age gap movies that are not only plausible but also liberating in terms of love and what both platonic and romantic love can look like. Some of my personal favourite recommendations are:

• Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool - Jamie Bell and Annette Benning - 28 year gap
• The Reader - Kate Winslet and David Kross - 21 year age gap
• Harold and Maude - Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort - 52 year gap
• Leon the Professional - Jean Reno and Natalie Portman - 33 year age gap
• Lost in Translation - Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray - 34 year gap
• The Graduate - Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman- 10 year gap
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World -Steve Carell and Keira Knightley - 22 year gap

At the end of the day, everyone knows that age is really just a number and that it can never define what is acceptable in terms of real love and meaningful relationships. I suppose that it is important to not get hung up on the actual age gap in a relationship but rather to look deeper at the parameters of that love and whether or not it is respectful, meaningful, plausible and genuine, and if it is indeed all of those things, then who am I to judge? 

That time has rolled around again, the time for me to collate all of my viewing efforts and put forward my recommendations for the best viewing choices of 2018. As I have mentioned before, quality television really dominated my time this year and I gave more 5 Chilli Pepper ratings to TV series than I gave to movies this year. To be honest, overall I do feel that the quality of movies this year was not as strong as it was in 2017, and I feel like I watched a lot more mediocre movies than I did last year as well, but sometimes that happens. 
In total I viewed 253 movies in 2018 and 133 TV series (some of which had several seasons). I have watched programs across every genre, and I can honestly say that there were excellent offerings in all of those genres in both movies and television. This year I am not going to list my least favorite viewings for 2018 because I have made myself a new years resolution to be more positive and to not focus on the negative things, so to list the worst things I saw in 2018 would be counterproductive to that resolution. Besides, as I have said before, even if I didn't love it, doesn't mean that someone else won't or that it is rubbish. At the end of the day, even the movies that we don't really enjoy have required a lot of time, money and effort to be produced; to shit on someone else's dream or vision is a pretty lousy thing to do, so I am choosing not to go there. 
I hope that you find something on these lists that you have not seen yet and can hopefully now explore. For full reviews of all of the recommended movies below, just go to the appropriate genre tab at the top of the page.
So without any further ado, here are my TOP MOVIE CHOICES (2018 release):  

• ROMA - Foreign 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Hereditary - Horror 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Beautiful Boy - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Isle of Dogs - Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• BlacKkKlannsman  - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• A Star in Born - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tale - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Paddington 2 - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Avengers: Infinity War -  Super 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - Art House 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Upgrade - Science Fiction/ Action 4 Chilli Peppers  
• John Leguizamo: Latin History for Morons - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers 

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• A Quiet Place - Sci-Fi/ Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Annihilation - Sci-Fi 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Black Panther - Super 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Ready Player One - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• The Breaker Upperers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Searching - Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Game Night - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Love, Simon - Romance 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Bohemian Rhapsody - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers
• Blockers - Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers

Here are my top recommendations for pre- 2018 releases that I didn't see until 2018: 

• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers (Hall of Fame)
• Bright Star - Romance 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Wind River - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Good Time - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Shape of Water - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Coco - Kid Friendly 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Mudbound - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• Call Me by Your Name  - Romance 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Ingrid Goes West - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers 
• Beasts of No Nation - Gritty 4 Chilli Peppers 
• The Tunnel - Foreign 4 Chilli Peppers 

BEST TELEVISION SERIES of 2018: 

• Master of None S2 - Comedy/ Drama 5 Chilli Peppers 
• One Strange Rock - Documentary 5 Chilli Peppers
• Atlanta S2 - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Sharp Objects - Crime 5 Chilli Peppers
• Patrick Melrose - Drama 5 Chilli Peppers
• Kidding - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Who is America? - Comedy/ Documentary 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Here and Now - Drama 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Maniac - Sci-Fi 4.5 Chilli Peppers
• Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events S2 - Fantasy/ Kid Friendly 4.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Mosaic - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• The End of the Fucking World S1 - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Dirk Gently S2 - Fantasy 4 Chilli Peppers
• Barry S1 - Crime/ Drama 4 Chilli Peppers
• AHS - Apocalypse - Horror 4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Inbetween - Crime 4 Chilli Peppers
• Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat - Documentary 4 Chilli Peppers
• Just Another Immigrant - Comedy  4 Chilli Peppers
• Mr Mercedes S1 - Crime  4 Chilli Peppers
• Wanderlust - Drama  4 Chilli Peppers
• The Miracle - Foreign  4 Chilli Peppers
• Anne with an E S2 - Drama 4 Chilli Peppers

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Britannia S1 - Fantasy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Ash vs Evil Dead S3 - Horror/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Swedish Dicks S2 - Comedy/ Crime 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Future Man - Sci-Fi/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• GLOW S2 - Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Detectorists S2 - Comedy/ Drama 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch - Horror 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• Wellington Paranormal - Horror/Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 
• The Kominsky Method - Drama/ Comedy 3.5 Chilli Peppers 

Gimme a high five, a kiss on the cheek and a slap on the arse - work has officially ended! I have now happily navigated (and survived) the Christmas Staff Party, the work place Kris Kringle certificate exchange and the obligatory tipples, cheerful chatter and tears of goodbye that come with all end of year farewells and the much anticipated and fiercely coveted Summer holiday escape. All of my Christmas work events were thoroughly enjoyable, as one would expect when you work with a group of wonderful people, and I was sweetly touched by the outpouring of love and care that everyone in my school community shared with each other over this busy and genuinely exhausting time of the year.
The children (literally dead on their feet by the final stroke of the clock) showered me with much thanks, many hugs and a ridiculously generous cascade of gifts that were both greatly appreciated and overwhelmingly touching; highlighting all of the reasons that the slog is always worthwhile and that we do indeed change tiny minds everyday for the better. It would be more than fair to say that Christmas definitely came early for me. I don't even need to open another gift now, I have already been insanely spoilt and my ego has had a mighty good fluffing up from the many compliments and thanks that the children's parents (who did not hold back their gratitude or appreciations) happily gave to me. 
And so now I move onto more personal affairs, as today I brave the supermarket hordes to shop for my pre-Christmas get togethers and my family Christmas Day lunch. And even though I know that the supermarket is going to resemble a looting escapade during a zombie apocalypse, this is truly a labour of love now and I will undertake it with a lot of thought and loving devotion, because after all, it is Christmas time and therefore an excellent opportunity to spoil your loved ones and indulge in the finer things in life without feeling guilty. 
I have my menu planned, my shopping list written and I have purposely set aside Christmas Eve to prepare desserts and spend some time with Zoe and Seth swanning about the kitchen cooking up some delicious Christmas fare. I like to do all of the hard work and as much of the preparations before Christmas so that on the day I just have to load up the oven and grab a glass of bubbly. No-one should be slaving away in a kitchen on Christmas Day, that is just downright criminal. The load on the day has to be shared; the kids will dress the table (which Zoe has a turned into an art form), I will fill the oven and carve the roasted beasts, we will all do a little dusting and turning out of pre-prepared sweet treats, Seth will organise some appropriate and festive mood music and Craig, as he always does, will provide a jug of good gravy which he makes with the precision of a surgeon. And voila - we will have ourselves a merry little Christmas family gathering. Nothing more to do on the day but pop open the crackers and enjoy a relaxed meal together, which now that I have written about, am getting very excited for.
​Come on Christmas, I am ready for you to arrive!

So many people have asked me if I think that a remake can be better than an original version of a movie, and my answer is always the same: 'Yes! Of course it can!' With movie technology continually improving, we can now enjoy advanced CGI effects and superior sound and visual experiences, which in short means that we can have a more immersive cinematic experience than we ever could have had before. However, that does not necessarily make the original version redundant or of lesser value and importance, because if I was also asked if remakes were always better the original versions, I would most definitely answer 'Hell No!' 
To this day I still watch a lot of classic movies, and by classic I mean movies from the 1930's to the 1970's. Movies from that time period didn't have a lot of options in the effects and sound department compared to today's standards, so they are often movies that relied on excellent acting and directing to deliver their stories. I have a stockpile of movies on my 'still need to see' list (which seems to be ever expanding and absolutely endless) and around 70% of them would fall into the classic film category. Most of them are very good, some of them are downright legendary and could not be improved upon by a remake, but some of them certainly could. 
To be better than the original movie, there needs to be an improvement on all fronts, and not just in the effects department, because if the storyline is thin then my attention is never held for very long by CGI effects and all of the other bells and whistles that filmmakers feel compelled to throw at movies. For me, there needs to be something fresh about a remake that warrants the movie being remade in the first place. The perspective needs to alter in some way or the story has to become enhanced or given more depth or meaning in a remake. The actors need to be every bit as good and preferably better than the original actors and the director needs to be an avid fan of the original in a way that forces them to keep the integrity of the original intact, in other words it needs to not feel like a director's ego trip, which has happened so many times in remakes. 
There have in fact been heaps of excellent remakes that are deserving of your time, even if you have seen and enjoyed the original version. 
Here is my list of the best movie remakes that I have experienced, in no particular order:
Romeo and Juliet -Baz Luhrmann perfectly remixed this Shakespearean classic by installing a couple of modern heart-throbs and infusing it with a funky fresh soundtrack, and it is slice of pure brilliance. 
Mad Max: Fury Road - I also really liked the original, but the heart-pounding, high octane, adrenaline rush action of the remake was just so damn good, oh and Tom Hardy was in it, definitely a bonus. 
The Jungle Book - Jon Favreau's version of this Rudyard Kipling's classic is a perfect example of how CGI can be used to enhance an experience. It is magical!
Dawn of the Dead - This comedy/ horror homage to George A. Romero from Zack Snyder is a brain eating spectacular, so much blood and tasteless humour! 
Blair Witch - I didn't really like The Blair Witch Project original, but I really got creeped out by the 2016 remake that was simply called Blair Witch. Kept me away from camping for years!
A Star is Born - remade four times, and finally they got it right! The onscreen chemistry  of Coops and Gaga and the modern musical score made this new take an old romance a real winner. 
Ghostbusters - The girls had a swing at it in 2016 and were every bit as good as the boys were in 1984, and they didn't try to 'remake' it so much as have another go at something similar and I enjoyed it a lot. 
The Ring - The 1998 Japanese version was still really good, but the 2002 Gore Verbinski English language remake had an expanded storyline and some extra creepy CGI visuals. The acting was seriously stepped up in this version as well. 
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Dracula has been done to death (pardon the pun) but when Francis Ford Coppola had a go, well it was just magic, finally something Stoker would've loved!
IT - Probably the best horror remake of all time, the effects and storyline have been fine tuned to perfection, unmissable remake material. 
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory -Tim Burton takes us on a delicious and disturbing romp into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in this accurate realisation of Roald Dahl's classic tale that his own family were involved in creating.
King Kong - Peter Jackson's epic realisation of Skull Island and the tragic tale of Mighty Kong is by far the best version to see for all of it's impressive CGI effects and in depth story telling. 

Craig and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary this weekend by getting away on our own. We headed out to a quaint and quiet Bed and Breakfast in Skenes Creek; if you don't know where that is, it's an extremely picturesque location just a few kilometres away from Apollo Bay and a stone throw away from The Great Ocean Road. The excellent location meant that we were able to enjoy the Otway Ranges on our drive there and the amazing coastal drive on the way home, giving ourselves the best of both worlds when it comes to road tripping. 
Craig and I haven't been away by ourselves for a while now, and I think that as the years tick over and things get a little rusty it is really important to escape the daily routine and getaway together at least once in a while, even if it is only for a short time. And I must say that a couple of days of salty air, sandy feet and hand held strolls did not do us any harm whatsoever. In fact, it probably did us the world of good, because we had been a bit niggly with each other in the weeks leading up to our departure; which is kind of par for the course in long term relationships. Sometimes when you've been married a long time, you can just annoy the shit out of each other and you need to find more creative ways to break that cycle of annoyance and remind yourself of why you love this person so much. 
Over my 24 years of marriage, I have found that a few days alone together can be very rejuvenating for a tiring relationship and I always make sure that wherever I stay when I get away with Craig has as little distraction from each other as possible. Farming your kids out with good intentions of spending some quality time alone at home never ever works. Regardless of how amazing your home may be, being at home alone for a romantic weekend is never as good as getting away together.
When you're at home, you really don't have your full focus on each other for very long, it is way too easy to get swept away or distracted by chores that you feel compelled to complete, unfinished jobs or projects, or other mundane things that may be going on around the house. You may have the most terrific intentions of spending quality time together, but from my experience, you'll soon be spending time doing loads of other things and not actually doing anything special together at all. I've done that so many times that it's just not funny, and it's most definitely not the best way to rekindle a little magic into a relationship.
However, when you're in a completely new place that has no WiFi connection, an alluring natural setting and heaps of tasty restaurants nearby for dinner, well that's what I call a recipe for success, and a success it was. The Airbnb that we booked was even better than we had hoped that it would be and boasted a huge outdoor soaker tub, generous self serve breakfast and a late check out. It would've been completely perfect if poor Craig hadn't found the bed a bit uncomfortable for sleeping on...ahh, the trials of being a 6'3" man, you just have to have a huge bed to accommodate that much leg! However, apart from that hiccup, it was a great little escape and a terrific opportunity for us to rekindle the spark and recharge the batteries before the madness of the silly season dominates all of our free thinking and spare time over the coming weeks. 

What the heck is going on? The last two movies that I went to the cinema to see were romance movies. Trust me when I say that I hardly ever go to see romance movies at the cinema and it is the genre list that I had the least amount of movies on for ages, but given the recent spat of not just decent but actually enjoyable romance films, I have found myself going to the movies to watch people fall madly in love with each other and kiss each other all over the face! Seriously what the hell is happening to me? Am I getting soft and doughy eyed? Thank God Halloween is just around the corner, I really need to get back on track with my horror viewing. 
To be fair, I am not completely adverse to romance, I do quite like a bit of the luvy-duvy stuff from time to time, but there is just a heck of lot of really shithouse romance to wade through to get to the good stuff. Any film that plays on matters of the heart is at great risk of getting super cheesy and erring on the side of ridiculous; and sometimes the onscreen chemistry is about as exciting as a helium balloon three days after a party. 
There are actually quite a few elements that romance movies do really poorly and I am getting pretty tired of it. The first and most common mistake, is making the main love interest an alpha male or a 'spirited' female that abuses men all the time. In fact they often put the two of them together in movies as the two lead roles. Come up with something better than that for fuck sake, a jock body and a loud mouth chick are never going to live happily ever after now are they? They may wring a decent screw out of it but that's about the extent of that relationship, so stop implying that is a match made in heaven, it's utter crap!
Don't even get me started on the love at first sight stuff, you should know by now how much I don't want to see that old trope rolled out, and can we stop making villains turn good for the sake of love? Again, that 'gone good' shit won't last, so don't paint happily ever after on that crap sandwich and call it a delicious burger because I ain't eating it! And please romance movie makers, could we stop having people need to change to get the person of their dreams? Ever since Sandy Dee went all hot pants, cigarette puffing bad girl to get rough-house Danny Zuko in Grease to notice her, movie makers have been capitalising on the 'change to find true love' trope which not only annoys the piss out of me, but bothers me even more when idiots try to replicate it in real life as well. If you have to change yourself to get someone to love you, then they aren't the right one for you, and romance movies should never have people losing their identities or morals to find love, it's crass and it's sad. 
The best romances have two people in them that know who they are and just want to share who they are with someone else. Sure a little My Fair Lady action is all good and well from time to time, but we also know that it's old fashioned, archaic and is certainly no reflection of a good 'modern romance' tale. Just like all movie genres, you need to be discerning when it comes to the types of romance that you watch as well because Hollywood is exceptionally good at disguising really tasteless romance and selling it off as funny and plausible; but thankfully, that is happening less and less these days. 

Most of the time I not only feel extremely lucky to have the kind of lifestyle that I have, but I also feel exceptionally guilty when I think about all of the people around the globe that do not have nearly enough of anything in their lives, let alone an abundance of anything. Being born in a first world country does tend to make us all a bit jaded about just how fortunate we truly are and how much abundance we get to experience on a daily basis that we don't really take into consideration. 
When was the last time you stopped to think about the people who don't have access to clean water when you turn on a tap in your house? Do you ever think about how lucky you are to have a flushing toilet or water connected to your home or food on the table every night of the week? Most of us don't think about that stuff very much of the time at all, but we do spend a lot of time complaining about the internet dropping out, or the traffic being too heavy or the line at the check out being too long. Many of us go about with surly and inconvenienced attitudes and angry unwelcoming faces, and totally forget to remember just how lucky we are most of the time. 
I think that many people in developed countries actually have a dreadful case of 'glass half empty' when in fact around 85% of the time the glass is actually overflowing and we are just too spoilt to realise it. When was the last time you had to worry about whether you would be able to eat because of a lack of food?  When have you stayed awake worrying about whether your children could access an education or appropriate medical care and vaccinations? When was the last time you yourself got dreadfully ill and could not see a doctor because there wasn't one to see? And when was the last time that you had to walk for two hours to the nearest well to get some water to drink, or even worse wait in the sun all day for a water truck to come by and provide you with a small amount? I would imagine that you answered never to all of those questions, absolutely never. 
And that makes you lucky; very, very lucky. Luckier than most of the people that are sharing this planet with you. And I think that that is something to keep at the back of your thoughts next time you feel like having a whine about something insubstantial or irrelevant, that your blessings in life far outweigh your misfortunes a lot of the time. Singer songwriter Willie Nelson once said - When I started to count my blessing my whole life turned around, and I do believe that there is a lot of power in thinking abundantly and being grateful everyday.
Try it for yourself, adopt an 'attitude of gratitude' and see how you feel about your station in life after a few weeks. Once you begin to focus on how tremendously full your glass is, I guarantee that you'll be delighted with how rich and lucky you are. And feeling abundant has a wonderful flow-on effect, because you will also start to share that abundance more freely with others, filling their glasses in the process, and guess what? It doesn't cost a thing. It's totally free to change your mindset and focus on how lucky you are, and the benefits are huge!
However, that being said, if you are in fact 'crazy rich' (and 'crazy rich' people know exactly who they are) and reading this, then you definitely have more than you are ever gonna need and you should really pass some of that wealth along to those who do need it the most. Impoverished countries are always begging for substantial donations, and helping others feels so damn good. You could change your mindset and someone else's world as well, and that's definitely something to raise a very full and overflowing glass for! 

How often do we hear about a relationship failing or a marriage ending in divorce? It seems to be happening more and more all of the time. Just last year 47,638 people got divorced in Australia, which means that 2.1% of the Australian population got divorced in 2017, and that doesn't even count the people that just seperated or broke up in a non-marital relationship. When you think about it in those terms, you do have to wonder if people are just giving up too soon on their relationships or if people are just picking the wrong partners to hook with up in the first place. 
The top ten most common reasons for getting a divorce are:

1. Getting married for the wrong reasons (eg. for the money) 
2. Lack of individual identity or codependence
3. Becoming lost in the roles 
4. Not having a shared vision
5. Lack of intimacy
6. Unmet expectations
7. Lack of finances
8. Being out of touch
9. No shared interests
10. Inability to resolve conflicts

Interestingly, no mention of infidelity there, so cheating or being unfaithful is not one of the main reasons that people break up, it is more about a lack of common ground and vision than anything else when you really look at it. Which is why I wonder if perhaps people just give up a little too easily.
I mean there must have been some common ground, shared vision, idea, expectation at some point for these two people to decided to walk down the aisle and pledge their undying love for each other in front of everyone that they knew, and I have to ask - what the hell happened to those feelings? How do two people that completely loved each other (enough to put themselves through a wedding) just  decide to stop loving each other and break up? Was there no sign that this person was going to do your head in before you went and married them? Did you just ignore that and go for it anyway? 
I know that some marriages are certainly better off ending than enduring, but I do think that maybe some people do quit a bit sooner than they should these days. The arrival of online dating and hookup opportunities has made a lot of people wonder if they are just settling, and the lure of a possibly 'better option' is definitely changing the amount of crap that people will put up with in a relationship. You can literally jump onto any dating website or download an app like Tinder and start looking for the next best thing right away after getting out of a relationship. People used to wait up to 3 years to start dating after a divorce but now some couples confess to being back on the dating scene within weeks of a separation in order to 'fill the space' that has been left behind, which is really quite concerning. 
41% of first marriages end in divorce now, 60% of second marriages and 73% of third marriages, which basically tells me that if it sucked the first time, it will probably suck the second and the third time around as well. And although I am not in any way advocating that you should never get married, divorced or remarried, what I am trying to say is that you need to make sure that it is really, truly and 100% absolutely what you want to do before you just start or end a serious relationship.
Breaking up sure is hard to do and staying together can be equally as hard if it just isn't working. I can tell you with all honesty that if I took flight everytime that my husband gave me the shits, that we would've been over a thousand times by now. Staying together takes work, a bloody shitload of hard work but you have to try, and if you've given it all that there is and it still isn't working than it is totally okay to walk away. Just don't give up too easily, because sometimes it's not as bad as it may seem at the time, and tempers, just like pie crust, soften after a few days and you don't want to throw away something really great because of a few hard yards. In short, what I am trying to say is, that it is totally okay to give up if it's really not working, but just don't give up too soon. 

A dear friend of mine showcased her art for the first time this week in Ballarat. It was a mixed media exhibition entitled When I Grow Up which was produced by an art collaborative called SHEILAs which stands for Strong, Honest, Exceptional, Inspirational Lady Artists; the collaborative consists of local female artists of all ages. The art depicted in When I Grow Up was a reflection of each lady's unique experience of growing up; reflecting on what they had wanted to be, who had influenced them and who they had aspired to be when they were younger. Needless to say, it was terrific and gathered a diverse crowd of art enthusiasts and admirers, and it was fabulous to see so much support for my lovely friend who is generally known for being a quiet achiever and a generous spirit who always gives of herself in epic proportions to us all. 
The exhibition certainly got me thinking about what I had aspired to be when I was younger, and about the different people that had personally influenced me along the way. Growing up, even though I am one of five children, I do remember being on my own quite a lot of the time. My parents were very often busy since they both worked and were also extremely house proud, which did take up a big chunk of their time. I never really felt like my mother understood me completely as a child but I did always feel valued by my father who would often take time out to chat with me and as we got older, shared some of his deeper thoughts with me. Looking back on it now, I can see that he was probably the most influential adult in my life as a child.
My siblings were all older than I was and quite busy with their own lives when I was small, and they have always been outwardly vocal about how much of a burden I was as a child so I cannot identify any of them as influential to me; in fact I do believe that seeing me fail would have made some them exceptionally happy, which pretty much puts my relationship with my siblings into perspective. 
In light of this, I did spend a lot of time by myself growing up and that did allow me plenty of time for daydreaming, lollygagging and fantasizing, which was always a very big pre-occupation for me. ​For as long as I can remember I have always been interested in story telling and had wanted to be a writer from a very early age. I remember being mesmerized by picture storybooks when I was small and then became obsessed with writers like Roald Dahl, Judy Blume and Robyn Klein when I got a little older. ln primary school I would write all kinds of quirky stories and I was quite good at spinning a tall tale as well. I got into  a lot of trouble for lying as a kid, but I didn't often do it maliciously, it was just that my stories were always so much more exciting and interesting than my real life was, and storytelling was something that I was actually good at.
In secondary school I loved all of my literacy based subjects and spent much of my time reading books and writing bad poetry that no-one would ever read about the plight of being young and privileged! I had some truly terrific teachers over the years, really intelligent and inspirational people that not only encouraged me to write and tell my stories but who also took me under their wing and showed an interest in me as a person as well. I can fondly recall being invited over to my English Literature teacher's house with two other students to meet his wife and have a very adult dinner party at the end of year 12, because we had in fact all become very good friends. I felt like I finally had a voice and that people cared about what I was saying and as a young adult, it was pretty exciting. 
​Back then, I always thought that I would one day be a writer, teacher, lecturer or public speaker of some variety; but I equally adored the chance to perform and was very interested in drama, dance, the theatre and (no surprises here) all things cinematic. And how did that all pan out for me? Well, I won a Rotary public speaking award, I had some of my teenage angst poetry published by the Ballarat Writing Company, I started a teaching degree that I never finished, I tried writing a children's book that never got published (and rightfully so, it was trash) and I got a Diploma in Professional Writing and Editing, which did allow me to enjoy some small print publication success, but certainly nothing substantial. In the last four years the only thing that I have written aside from this blog (which I do love writing) has been some mediocre drunken poetry that no-one should ever have to read; and although I do like what I do for a living, I didn't exactly land where I had first aspired to be. 
I would be lying if I didn't admit that I would still love to work in theatre or cinema, and that I still do aspire to one day write that novel that has been burning within me for so very long, and just because I haven't done those things yet, doesn't mean that I won't do them either. I still have plenty of time to fill in the gaps and achieve my childhood dreams, but for now I am more than content to live out my dreams by regularly haunting the cinema and theatre and filling an enthusiastic seat, writing my blog twice a week and sharing my hopes, dreams, memories and aspirations with you all. Besides, there is no written law that says that we must be what we set out to become when we were children, we don't have to be the person that we pledged to be when we cried 'When I Grow Up,' we just have to be who we are, right now... and there is nothing wrong with that. 

German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once quoted that people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed; meaning that humans prefer to be lied to. Having a personality that it somewhat 'tell it like it is' myself, I can assure you that this quote is absolutely 100% accurate and that people do not ever really want to hear the truth about themselves or about the things that are going on in their lives. They may tell you that they want the truth, but don't be fooled by that one, they most definitely DO NOT want to hear the truth. As Jack Nicholson famously shouted in A Few Good Men, they can't handle the truth and it will just about always freak them out and send them into a frenzy of hate, self doubt and/or depression.
People are far more comfortable with you going along with the flow, keeping your thoughts to yourself, accepting things as they come and generally not 'rocking the boat' as it is often termed. As humans we do have a strong tendency to adhere to the 'flock with birds of a feather' ideology. We conform, almost on autopilot, to groupthink situations, often succumbing to pressures that we don't really agree with just so that we can maintain the status quo and have a sense of belonging. 
There have been a few times in my life when speaking the truth has gotten me into a lot of trouble. I rarely mince my words, and I like to be honest about my thoughts and feelings; I don't really see the point in going along with things that I find upsetting, unfair or just plain ridiculous. However, as I said before, people do not want your honesty, so being skilled at 'telling it like is' is not really seen as a very good social skill to have; well not if you want to fly with the flock anyway.  
This 'skill' of mine has on a few occasions led to me inadvertently upsetting or offending people. Sometimes I have felt bad about that, sometimes I have not, depending on the situation of course. However, as I get older I realise that Nietzsche was not only right about people not wanting to hear the truth about themselves, but also that his advice should probably be followed if you don't want to continuously alienate the people in your life. 
And this is where the real conundrum lies, because I don't actually want people in my life that I can't be honest with. I value people being genuine and up front with me and I don't want people feeling like they have to follow any social norms or pretend to be anything or feel anything that they don't in order to be in my life. I respect people for being forthright and I would expect that the people that I have in my life would feel the same way. Of course, I understand that there is a fine line between speaking your truth and being a totally intolerant asshole all of the time as well. There are certain things that never need to be spoken about or commented on; and yes, a white lie here or there is absolutely necessary when it comes to us all getting along, but are we all generally over editing ourselves to appease the flock most of the time?
I do feel like many people probably do drastically over edit their thoughts and opinions in favour of 'flying with the flock.' Everyone is so scared of being seen as the 'opinionated' one, or the 'difficult' one that they just adopt an insincere tolerance to things that they do not agree with and an allowance of others to behave as they like and dictate how things should be, even though it may fly in the face of their own personal values or ethics. I can assure you from personal experience, that over-editing yourself and being ingenuous about how you feel will inevitably only lead to unrest, anger, resentment and hostility, which is hardly a terrific result or positive outcome. 
I suppose that the only really zen thing to do when it comes to speaking your truth is learning to become more adept at identifying when it is and when it is not appropriate to do so. Every situation and person is unique and therefore the levels of honesty that can be used varies constantly from situation to situation and person to person. Much easier said than done I know, because I have spent a good deal of my spare time overthinking things that I have said and removing my foot from my mouth on a regular basis.
It is important to find a happy medium in life where you do feel comfortable to stand strong in your own values and truths, but in doing so, to also make sure that you are not making everyone else feel uncomfortable when you do. If you succeed at doing this, please let me know how so that I too can become better at finding the 'happy medium' where I am sometimes flying with flock and sometimes flying solo as well without making any of the birds feel bad about themselves. 

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Release Date: 2017
Rating: MA 15+
​Running Time: 132 mins 
A coming-of-age romance drama directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by James Ivory. Based on the 2007 novel of the same name by Andre Aciman, Call Me By Your Name was released at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and has since received numerous accolades for its melancholic and powerful portrayal of a first love romance. 
In the Summer of 1983 in Lombardy, Italy, 17 year old Elio meets Oliver, an older handsome American that is working for Elio's father. Against the sumptuous sunburnt landscapes of an Italian summer, Elio and Oliver become involved in a passionate love affair that will change both of their lives forever. 
This film feels like a foreign language/ art house movie, and perhaps that is what makes it so good. The script never feels like it is conforming to cinematic or societal expectations, it is completely genuine and honest in its portrayal of budding first love discoveries and gay relationships which makes it uniquely forward thinking and exceptionally refreshing. 
The 80's era is portrayed perfectly and the two lead actors, Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, are absolutely flawless as the infatuated lovers. I was so impressed by Chalamet's notable onscreen presence, he will definitely be one to watch in the future and Hammer shows us some serious acting chops that I have not seen before as well. 
Call Me By Your Name is nothing short of a modern gay classic and is powerful viewing that shouldn't be missed. 
FINAL SAY: Is it better to speak or die?
4 Chilli Peppers ​

There is a line in the song Everybody's Free (to Wear Sunscreen) that says - Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. I have been thinking a lot about that line lately, not because I read beauty magazines because I most certainly do not, but I have really been paying a lot of attention lately to the incredible job that advertising campaigns, the media and the money making 'fat cat' corporations of the world do when it comes to making us regular people feel like we are not enough.
The constant barrage of subliminal and non-subliminal messaging that we are bombarded with on a daily basis is just astronomical, and they all seem to be aimed at making us all believe that we are not conforming, not cutting it or that we are just not very good looking. And, it is not surprising to know, that these constant attempts to make us feel lousy about ourselves have been extremely effective, because not only are we (the consumers) buying more beauty, fitness and diet products than ever before, we also have far lower levels of self confidence about the way that we look and the way that we generally feel about ourselves as well. 
Once you step onto the treadmill of media-fed fear and self loathing, it is a never ending cycle of ugliness. You will catch yourself saying horrible things to yourself like: I am too fat, I need to change, why don't I look like the women in the magazines?....blah ....blah ....blah....and boom, they have won, they have got inside of your head and they have won. They have got you self doubting and not really liking yourself very much anymore, and once that begins, so do the attempts at 'fixing' yourself, and that is damn good for business but not so good for you. 
The path of self improvement is paved with good intentions but so very often it just lines the pockets of very bad people. There is more than one reason that models in beauty magazines are so thin, and it doesn't have a lot to do with looking good, because a lot of them don't really look that good at all in real life, it has everything to do with creating an unattainable and unrealistic ideal that will force us consumers to keep on spending and pushing in some mad pursuit of an unattainable goal. We actually buy in to the idea that some photoshopped, emaciated, plastic surgery victim looks amazing, because we have been programmed to think that fake bodies look great. We sucker ourselves into thinking that being wafer thin, fat lipped, big titted or getting a washboard stomach will complete us and make us more satisfied, and so we spend money willingly to do it. Beauty has become so sad and so removed from reality; and every day more and more people buy into it's glossy and fraudulent ideal. 
And when people can't attain these unrealistic goals, what do they do? Well, they just keep on spending! They spend on binge food, or comfort food or a therapist to try and rebuild their smashed self esteem, but the bottom line is that they spend. And that is all that any of this is about really, money. Beauty magazines, advertisements, campaigns, the media in general, they are all constantly pushing you to reach for your wallet or purse so that you can be more, be better, have more and look amazing. You never see any of them saying, you are perfect just as you are or you don't need to change a thing or you don't need to be any more than you already are; uh of course you don't, that shit doesn't sell! 
I guess what I am trying to say is that yes, beauty magazines will only make you feel ugly, but so will a lot of other things and some people as well, and you have to stand tall against it. Don't let the fat cats win, be true to yourself, love who you are and never believe that anyone in a beauty magazine really looks that amazing in real life; well not every day anyway.
Ignore the haters, enjoy your body, eat well and don't feel like you need to buy anything to be better than you already are. No product can ever replace your own peace of mind or your sense of self worth and you should never sacrifice believing that you are perfect just as you are for any fad, fetish or fanatical behaviour that the media can try and entice you with.
Just be you and be perfectly free, that's about as beautiful as anything can ever get in my mind. 

I am crazy about poetry, I have been all of my life. For as far back as I can remember I have been making up ditties and prose about my environment and experiences. I have volumes of notebooks filled with not so great poetry that I have written, much of it from a very long time ago, however even today I do on the odd occasion still write pieces of prose if the mood hits me. Unfortunately, the mood usually hits me now when I am shitfaced drunk, so the writing is still primarily drivel, but I do enjoy writing it. 
Once I won an award in the Ballarat Begonia Festival Writing Competition for a piece of poetry that I wrote when I was 16, it was all about teenage suicide. I got asked to read that piece of writing at a variety of things on stage, talk about nerve wracking stuff! Looking back on it I think that people may have thought that I was actually a bit suicidal at the time, but I wasn't. The piece of writing probably would've been a lot better if I had had some actual experience with the emotions that I was trying to convey because it really wasn't a well written piece at all, but I was still pretty chuffed about getting a $20 book voucher as a prize for it. 
Even as a small child, I was always fascinated by nursery rhymes and spent hours trying to remember lines of simple prose. I believe that my father may have ignited that spark within me, because he has always liked poems and would often recite extracts from Rudyard Kipling poems and other simple limericks that he had picked up himself as a boy. I remember many ditties that he shared with me over the years, perhaps my favourite of all was the Three Jolly Gypsies, a poem that he told so often that I can recite it word for word still today. 
As children, we had a series of Colliers books in our home and one of them had dozens of poems and rhymes in the front section, recently I came back into possession of a copy of that book and was so excited to see the prose and sketches that had so enchanted me as a child once again. I reread it from cover to cover, relishing in the nostalgic trip down memory lane. 
Poetry is a bit of a lost art these days and there are not nearly enough poets in the world anymore. People also do not long to hear poetry being read anymore, well not many people do anyway. I do still love to listen to good poetry being read and I love to get lost in the mystery of really good prose, but the opportunities to indulge are few and far between these days. Generally, anyone wandering about reciting poetry these days would be considered a bit of a nutter really; alas the days of the poet are truly over!
Anyone that can string a few sentences together now becomes a singer, whether they can actually sing or not is irrelevant, in fact 99% percent of rappers are really just poets anyway. Unfortunately though, no-one really wants to be known as a poet these days because there is no money in it. There probably never was to be honest, but at least poets were somewhat revered back in the day before mass media and online distraction.
Well, poetry may be a dying art, but it is an art that I personally adore, and if like me, you feel like getting lost in some quality poetry anytime soon than I highly recommend a look at this little gem of a movie. Everything about it is pure poetry!

Yesterday Craig and I hosted Zoe and Lachlainn's engagement party out here in Enfield. Around 55 friends and family members ventured out in the evening to join us, and the weather could not have been any more perfect. A spectacular pink sunset greeted our guests as they lounged around the garden, resting below bobbing lanterns and sipping beers and champagne in the still coolness of the evening. It was such a wonderful evening, everyone appeared to be having a really great time and most importantly of all, Zoe and Lachlainn had a terrific time sharing their special event with everyone else as well. 
Zoe had a very clear idea about how she wanted the evening to look, kind of rustic, relaxed and country themed; which involved hay bales, wild flowers, mood lighting and a variety of seating arrangements for guests to choose from. The preparations started the day before with a massive all day baking session and then by 9am on Saturday the real setup had begun and all four of us pitched in to make it happen; and it all came together very nicely. To be honest, I think that we managed to pull off a pretty respectable engagement soiree. If only the clean up today had been as much fun as the actual event, because I tell you when I awoke this morning sporting a nice little champagne hangover the last thing that I felt like doing was cleaning up from a big event. Nevermind, c'est la vie, you have to endure the after party clean up, and if there is no mess to clear up then it probably wasn't a very good event in the first place.
Zoe and Lachlainn are just the cutest couple, it was so lovely to see them enjoying the company of their nearest and dearest together. There was certainly no shortage of smiling faces around them last night, everyone was super happy for them both and obviously agree that they make a fantastic couple. Everyone that I spoke to was 'over the moon' happy for them to be getting engaged, clearly they too had seen the makings of a good long term relationship growing over the last six years and were not at all surprised that the two had decided to make things more official.
I know that we were more than pleased to be sharing in the celebration of such a wonderful declaration of love, especially between two such wonderful people. When it comes to celebratory events, this one topped them all for me. My daughter has found someone that makes her so happy that she wants to spend her life with them - now that's truly an event that is totally worth celebrating!

It so lovely to have the luxury of free time to spend doing whatever I chose to do. I am always amazed at how easy it is to fill in that spare time by doing things are not really necessary or important, but are incredibly enjoyable, and make the hours and days just melt away. This has been one of the laziest summers of my life, and good god it is truly wonderful! My days have been filled with sleep-ins, reading, yoga, journaling, French lessons (yeah, I am learning to speak French), drawing, painting, pilates, gardening, meditation, long breakfasts, late lunches and moonlight tipples. Bloody glorious! What a wonderful couple of weeks it has been. I can literally feel my batteries recharging and my wellbeing realigning, and it has left me feeling really positive about the year ahead. 
Apart from a couple of trips to the movies and a pop around to the local plant nursery, I have pretty much avoided all contact with the outside world so far this year. I have gone 100% introvert these holidays and have spent more time watching the ducks swim on the dam than I have spent with anyone apart from my immediate family. I have been indulging in my own passions completely, and I don't feel even slightly guilty about that, but I do feel gracious that I have been given the chance to do so.  
I am loving the opportunity to not have to be anywhere or do anything unless I want to, and guess what? I haven't wanted to! I have relished in the chance to just be restful and relaxed, because I know that these moments are fleeting and should be embraced when they arise. I have spent so many of my past holiday breaks racing around doing things and trying to catch up with people and I always just feel exhausted by the end of it; but as I am getting older (and wiser?) I am getting a lot better at prioritising my time and learning to put my own rest and wellbeing at the forefront of my break periods.
If I have learnt anything worth knowing in this life it's that you have to take care of your own needs and embrace your own passions. You have to steer your own journey and to do that well, you need to be able to put yourself first sometimes. 
I have always wanted to have a  life that I never felt like I needed to take a holiday from, and I think that I have found that. I have absolutely everything that I could ever need to feel fulfilled right here in Enfield, and I am taking full advantage of it. There is a lot of peace to be had in the stillness and sanctuary of home and there is a certain type of grace in not needing to be on the move all of the time; and I am truly grateful for the time that I am getting to spend unhindered doing those things precisely. What a marvellous beginning to a brand new year. 

As we prepare to send off the old year and welcome a new one, I sit and reflect on the finer moments of 2017 for me. It was most certainly a big one, a year that was filled with farewells but also filled with opportunities to uncover new aspects of myself and to grow as a person.
Here's my highlights, best bits and fave moments of 2017 in a nutshell:
JANUARY: Yoga mornings, Torquay, The Maticevski exhibition, Seth's 12th birthday in Geelong, Seppelt winery, Queenscliff ferry, Triple J's Hottest 100, Chinese New Year - Year of the Rooster, Long Summer Nights.
FEBRUARY: Meeting my new students for 2017, Seth starting at Damascus, Coffee dates with mates, Curry and Movie Nights kick off.
MARCH: White Night Festival, International Women's Day, My Birthday, The Lost Trades Fair, Harmony Festival, Japanese dinner with friends, The Arts Trail, Blackberry picking. 
APRIL: Easter School Holidays, Sydney Road Trip, Staying with family in NSW, eating Hot Cross Buns and chocolate eggs, Orthodox Easter, Craig's Birthday, Autumn afternoons. 
MAY: Mushrooming, Mother's Day, Wicked at Her Majesty's, Day Tripping to Daylesford, The Festival of Light at the Great Stupa in Bendigo, Fruit Tree planting. 
JUNE: Spicywatch's Birthday, Rockwiz, Winter Solstice Celebrations, Zoe's Birthday, Winter School Holidays started.
JULY: Winter movie marathon nights, Sleeping in, Yarrowee Trail hiking, All Day Baking Sessions, eating Apple pie!
AUGUST: Middle Eastern Banquet with friends, Silvers Circus, School celebrates it's Birthday, George A. Romero zombie tribute night, starting Positive Visualisation techniques.
SEPTEMBER: Father's Day, School Art Show, Getting my Colour Analysis done,  Dave Lachapelle photography exhibition, School Holiday Break.
OCTOBER: Spring Mornings, Long drunken lunch dates,  Daily Meditation Practises, Clothing Swap charity event, Getting a Job Interview, The Edith Head exhibition.
NOVEMBER: Días Los Muertos, Romancing the Skull exhibition, Zoe and Lachlainn got engaged, Got a new Job and met my new student. 
DECEMBER: Scienceworks, Staff Christmas function, Student Graduation, Farewell dinner with my work team, Cherry and strawberry picking, Summer Holidays start, Christmas Day, New Years Eve. 

Today, Craig and I are enjoying our 23rd wedding anniversary. Are we off to do something whirlwind, spectacular and insanely romantic? No, we are not, and I am totally cool with that. A 23rd wedding anniversary is not really one of the big ones, and in my mind it hardly constitutes an enormous hoo-ha. Craig and I are not exactly known for our  'let's go out and paint the town red' attitudes at the best of times; we are however known as the people that leave events first and prefer to be around each other more than anyone else, and perhaps in that common and very unsocial ground that we like to tread together, lies the key to a long and prosperous marriage. Whatever the strange glue is that holds us together, it works and it does not appear to have lost any of its adhesive abilities over the past 23 years that we have been married to each other. 
This morning we just slept in and then spent the morning chatting over long coffees and a very late breakfast on the deck in the glorious morning sunshine. The small luxuries are most certainly the things that we like to celebrate together, and sleep-ins and late breakfasts are most definitely small luxuries to us. Just being together and being happy is a luxury if I am being completely honest, so many people will never know a love like ours and for all of its complications and intricacies, we really do have something wonderful.
We have truly created a mighty fine lives for ourselves together over our combined years of blood, sweat and tears. I have put more effort into my relationship with Craig than I have put into anything else in my life, and I wouldn't change a thing; Craig has been the most rewarding thing that I have ever invested my time and effort into. 
Craig is most definitely my very best friend in the entire world and although I love my friends dearly, Craig is my go-to guy on all fronts. No-one makes me want to do better, be better and try harder than he does. No-one has stood by me when the chips were down like he has, no-one has loved me in spite of all of my idiosyncratic shit like he has, and no-one knows and accepts all of my weirdness like he does; and I doubt that anyone else ever could have. 
Like all great romances, we have weathered the best of times and the worst of times together. We have loved each other harder than any couple could ever love and we have also hated each other more than any couple ever should as well; because really loving someone truly is the agony and the ecstasy. It is about accepting the sunshine but also welcoming the rain. It is about loving all of the beauty and all of the ugly bits as well, it's about being vulnerable and brave all at once. It's the guts and the gizzards, the nitty gritty parts, it's about every single bit of yourself seeing every single bit of someone else.
It's completely raw and utterly compelling, it's frustrating and intriguing and the best part of all is that it just keeps on evolving as you grow and change together - side by side and hand in hand. After 23 years of loving my man, I can honestly say that I love him more now than I did on the day that I said 'I do' 23 years ago, and I think that that may the best thing of all, the fact that it just keeps getting better and better all of the time. 

Some exciting news in our household this week. Zoe and Lachlainn got engaged on Sunday and have embarked on the next thrilling and very adult leg of their lives together. After six years together and almost two years of living together, it wasn't really that surprising that Lachlainn got down on one knee (Craig said he should have gotten down on two because she is worth two knees) and popped the question. Of course Zoe said yes, she adores Lachlainn and the two of them have been googly eyed for each other ever since they first met in their formative years. I know that they do not appear to have lost any of that early spark for each other over the years and they make each other happy, so I see no reason whatsoever for them not to make it more formal and committed. 
With Zoe still short of 21, many people's first reaction is that she is too young; but why can't the young fall in love forever? Why is that the go to? Age has nothing to do with matters of the heart, when it's the real thing you just know and you grab hold of it with two hands. I was married at 21, and Craig and I have managed to weather the tests of time together; sure we've had our rough patches but we have managed to go from strength to strength. When you grow up loving the same person, you really do get to know an awful lot about them and I don't see that as a bad thing at all, it's actually quite lovely to have someone to spend your life with; especially when that person loves you equally as hard as you love them. Why wouldn't you want to make a vow of commitment to that person?
Age-smage I say, the heart knows what it wants and holding back on the really beautiful things in life has never made anyone happy. So, cheers to you Zoe and Lachlainn, congratulations to you both for being brave and bold enough to tell the world that you really do mean forever when you say it. True love never goes out of style and everyone knows that the first cut really is the deepest. 

Yesterday Seth and I were sitting in the lounge room enjoying a lovely breakfast when a tiny little bluebird, no bigger than a mouse, flew right up to the window and hovered there. A blue flat edged tail like a Willy Wagtail and a striking white and bright blue bonnet, this was the cutest bird that I have ever seen up close.
And it wasn't ramming into the glass or anything, it actually looked like it was just watching us from the outside; gently hovering from side to side with its tiny wings fluttering so fast that it was impossible to track the exact movements. It was almost like it was trying to find a way into us. We were both absolutely awestruck by the beauty and grace of this little bird. It was one of the most beautiful things that I have ever witnessed an animal do, and it lasted for a full minute or so.
You see birds all of the time, but you rarely see pretty little blue ones, and I have never seen any wild bird behave like that before. It was truly fascinating. So, you can imagine our surprise when we saw it again this morning as well. Behaving in the same fashion, fluttering up at the window and trying to get in. There must be a reason for this I thought, perhaps it is seeing its own reflection in the glass and is performing some kind of a mating ritual. However, I was wrong, because later in the day I saw a group of them in the yard and I think that the males and females are actually quite different, so unless this bluebird is in love with itself, (which could be possible) it seems unlikely that it is a reflection thing. 
Google told me that a bluebird is a harbinger of happiness in many cultures and its symbolism dates back thousands of years. And universeofsybolism.com said that a bluebird beckons simple pleasures and sings the song of happiness - it is the gift that you give to yourself. If you are going through dark times a bluebird is a reminder that brighter days are ahead and when a bluebird appears to you it can be bringing messages of love from heaven. According to all accounts really, the bluebird is only ever seen to be a positive omen. 
So, just as the song 1946 Disney classic tune says:  
Mr Bluebird on my shoulder
it's the truth
its actual
everything is satisfactual - 
zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-A
Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!
Now it seems almost spooky that only the day before I first saw that bluebird, that I chose to watch this movie, weird! 

I couldn't function without music. It is my second love after cinema and I always have music playing when I am at home or in the car. I like to read to music, paint and draw to music, bathe to music, cook and eat to music and I especially like to listen to music when I am drinking. Music is so therapeutic to me and I don't know what I would do without it. 
Lately I have been sorting all of my fave tunes into playlists, which has taken me some time, but with some help from Spotify I have got my music sorted out into some pretty sweet playlists. Basically, I like to sort my playlists by mood so that I have a soundtrack for every occasion. I am not literal about it, it's not like I have a happy and sad playlist or anything that daft, but do have playlists called 'easy' and 'shake what ya mamma gave ya' to name a couple. 
I am constantly on the hunt for new music, which is the reason that I listen to Triple J. They are pretty reliable for new discoveries, but I also love it when I discover something new on my own, without any prompting from anyone. Which is a weird thing to get chuffed about I know, but I do love it. I really don't want to sound like an asshole when I say that, because I do value the recommendations and opinions of others, but discovering things for yourself is really hard to beat. 
Unearthing things on my own reminds me of some of the best times that I have had in my life; a time before the internet and social media, a time when everyone had to discover everything for themselves, and it is an experience that feels really lost in today's society. Sometimes I feel like I am literally being spoon fed new discoveries and opportunities because they are always some one else's first, and I am really not into that at all. It's probably the reason that I still don't have a facebook page and probably never will.
I still love to hear about things first hand and straight from the horse's mouth, I still crave first discoveries and I do love to uncover something new and fresh on my own, but I guess -who doesn't? It's pretty hard to beat that first rush sensation of a new discovery or experience, it's one of the best free things in life, and as far as I am concerned, we all deserve to have as many of those discoveries as we can get. 

Is love at first sight really a thing? Books, movies and real life relationships have been based on this theory of the possibility of falling madly in love with someone upon the very first viewing of them. Personally, I think that theory is a load of malarkey! I think that people confuse the laws of attraction for love all of the time, and that is why so many relationships just don't last. Once that first rush of attraction is replaced with the reality of who this new found muse is, well sometimes that reality just doesn't match up to the initial impression that they gave off when you first saw them. 
​That first rush of blood to the head when you see someone attractive is what relationships are often started from, but that feeling is just lust not love, it's your body physically responding to someone that is quite possibly a good physically match for you. The love stuff comes later, much later. Couples that say that they fell in love at first sight are daft; they did not fall in love at first sight at all. They got the hots for each other upon first sighting, hooked up and then continued to enjoy a mutual appreciation of each other, which in turn, with quality time and shared experience, they really fell in love. However saying all that doesn't sound nearly as romantic as "we fell in love at first sight" so I just let people say it when they feel like they need to, but in my head I'm thinking otherwise. 
It is possible to believe that you are in love with someone that you have just met, but you would have to be pretty dim witted to believe that that feeling of attraction was love. True love cannot be attained by one glance, true love is something that needs to be cultivated, cared for and tended to over time; like pretty much every other thing in your life that is worth having. 
I do believe that love can surprise you though. For instance, we have all met someone that we didn't find all that attractive upon first sight, but then after getting to know them we see something else shine through and we fall in love them for that reason. Which really proves that physically attraction is not the only thing can spark love, and probably not the best reason to run off and proclaim your undying love for either.
I absolutely despised Craig the first time that I met him, I thought that he was a stupid grunt. I didn't even speak to him for about 2 years after that first meeting because I was certain that he was dickhead and that we had zero in common. I was 14 and he was 16, so we were basically kids, and Craig really was a dickhead back then if I'm being honest about it. Anyway, a couple of years down the track and things had changed, I started to see him in a new way and it wasn't just because his biceps had filled out either, he had actually changed and so had I and something started to brew. It had to brew in the background, because I actually had a boyfriend, who was one of his friends, but brew on it did and eventually we got together, and the rest is history. 27 years we have been together, and we have been through some shit and some sugar in our time, but we love each other now more than ever, even if we do occasionally fight like we are on the set of  Clash of the Titans!
To sum it all up, I don't believe in love at first sight, I believe in infatuation at first sight. I believe that just like they say, you can't hurry love, because the really good long lasting kinds of love take years to create, but that is one of the best things about love, it isn't easy and anything that good shouldn't be too easy, but it is totally worth all of the effort. 

Recently on Triple J there was some discussion about Public Displays of Affection or 'PDA' for short. This is a topic that really seems to divide people on what they think is publicly acceptable and what is just taking things too far when it comes to getting up close and personal in public places. 
Interestingly, there is actually a general etiquette or social expectation in our country when it comes to the topic which is designed to make sure that everyone's comfort levels are respected and that no-one gets arrested for indecent exposure. However, in spite of the guidelines, I'm pretty certain that everyone actually has their own beliefs and individual comfort levels when it comes to PDA. Sometimes the differences are defined by cultural beliefs or upbringing or a person's level of comfort with touchy-feely things. For others it can be the heat of the moment and the law of attraction that dictates what is acceptable at any given moment. For example, someone getting hot and heavy at a nightclub after a skin full of vodka seems like a lot less of a big deal than macking on out the front of local church on a Sunday morning, but that's just my opinion and you may well disagree. 
Personally a bit of public pashing in the park is not really a big deal for me, but rubbing up against each other like a couple of cats in heat and anything that leaves one feeling breathless is taking things too far, that's 'get a room' stuff. Generally for me, public groping is a no-no and touching people on any of the private parts of their bodies in front of others is just not okay in public at all. Licking and biting each other is not something that I want to be seeing in the aisles of Kmart and if I see a tongue when people are kissing each other in front of me I am not in my comfort zone any more. 
The most explicit public display of affection that I have seen was on a stretch of grass in the city of Rome where I saw a man with both of his hands thrust straight up the front of a woman's shirt as he busily fondled her breasts whilst lying on top of her and eating her face off. They were clearly getting hot and heavy and were getting a lot of toots from passing cars as they went about their business. I thought that it was hilarious, but I didn't have any kids or my nanna with me, so it really didn't worry me; it certainly wasn't bothering them that everyone could see their passion for each other that's for sure. And maybe that kind of thing is okay in Italy, how would I know? But I have never seen anything quite so intense in Australia before.
We have all been around couples that are fresh in love (or lust) with each other and cannot keep their hands off each other for a minute, I did it myself when I was younger. A bit of touchy-feely is not really that big of a deal for me, it's okay depending on the time and the place. I think that as long as the couple are considerate of the comfort levels of other people in their space, then things usually don't stray too far out of left field. Some people say that if you wouldn't do it in front of your grandmother than it is not okay to do in public, which probably does have some grain of truth to it. Odds are there will be an oldie around when you are in full on pash mode, so unless you're at a dimly lit nightclub at 4am you should probably put a lid on that shit until you are no longer in the public eye. 

It is so hard to be demonstrative of love when you are an emotional cripple. As I said a few posts ago, everyone has their own specific love language, but regardless of what your love language is, you still need to be able to demonstrate it so that it can be given and taken in equal measure. 
Loving and being able to be loved is a true art form. It is something that one needs to feel to be able to reciprocate, and that is quite a difficult thing to do for many of us. Speaking for myself, I love to love and I love to be loved, but it has taken me years to master the art of loving.
No, I am not talking about The Kama Sutra, that's the art of love-making, a skill which I also happen to be very fond of, but what I am referring to is the emotional aspect of love. That feeling of connectedness, fondness and belonging that comes from a mutual, meaningful, loving relationship. It's the stuff that makes the world seem brighter, the difficulties more tolerable and when it is at it's grandest,  it shines with more light than a thousand suns. 
Lately I have been getting a lot of love from people that were picking up on my 'stuck' vibe from my last post, and it has certainly helped me to find a pathway out of the forest. Friends and family have been very supportive, and if you are one of those people reading this right now, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It is your love, kindness and time that has helped me and restored my faith in humanity. Ahh, love. If we could buy it bottled, I would drink it everyday.
I was online earlier and was looking up the actual meaning of 'love' as defined by the dictionary because I thought that it might make a good discussion point when I stumbled on this terrific little piece from the urban dictionary. It is written by some love struck dude called Sabes and I just had to share it with you all.
​
Love is the greatest gift God ever gave man. Love is not wanting to go anywhere without her. Love is not caring what other people think about the two of you. Love is when you feel depressed and sickly when you're not with her. You feel like your life has no meaning or purpose without her. And that if she wasn't holding your hand you would float away to heaven from where she came. Love is caring for her physically and emotionally. It's telling her everyday, anytime, anywhere, anyhow, for no just reason that you love her. Love is telling her u want to spend the rest of your life with her. Love is wanting to marry her even tho ya'll haven't been dating that long. That you would do anything and everything for her. It's the feeling that you would give up everything just to see her smile or look into her beautiful eyes or hear her soft, soothing voice. Love is pure happiness. Love is the feeling you get when all you have to do is think of her and it brings a smile to your face and a yearning to your heart. Love is not being able to think about nothing but her. Love is having the sweetest dreams about her and waking up with a smile on ur face. Love is an overwhelming feeling of pure bliss when the 2 of u kiss. Love is wanting to hold her in ur arms till the end of time. Love is wishing ur time with her never ends, that your lips would be locked together forever, that she'd be in ur arms till the end of time, that u could cuddle with her for all of eternity. Love is being helplessly and deeply in love with her and knowing your love for her and your feelings for her will never change/end. Love is the world, the world is love, and she is the world to me.

And what more can I say Sabes? You nailed it man, you really nailed it. 

I went to a seminar on Wednesday evening that was ran by a guy named Nathan Hulls. He is a motivational speaker and the seminar was about 'Understanding Teens: Their Fears, Their Questions and their 6 Core Needs.' I did get a few good takeaways from the seminar and even gleaned a bit of new information as well. 
Nathan talked about The Five Languages of Love, which is based on a book by Gary Chapman. Basically, it outlines the five main ways in which people give and receive love. The five areas are:

• Gift Giving
• Quality Time
• Words of Affirmation
• Acts of Service
• Physical Touch 

According to this theory, every person has a primary love language and it is the way in which they express and receive love. You can take an online test at proprof.com that comprises of 30 questions that will help you to determine which style you lean towards. We all took the test to see which style that we each prefer, because knowing the styles of the people that you love is just as important as knowing your own mode. 
Turns out that Craig and Seth both prefer physical touch as a vehicle for giving and receiving love, so there is certainly no lack of hug availability for me around here. I lean towards quality time for my mode of expressing and receiving love, which really makes a lot of sense to be honest. I am always organising events and outings for the people I love and I get a lot out of spending time with family and friends. 
By understanding the way in which we love and prefer to be loved has been a bit of a game changer for me. I could tell Seth and Craig that I think they are amazing a hundred times over, when a good hug would actually mean so much more to them. And they can tell me that I am terrific all they like, but if they aren't giving me quality time, I am not going to be receptive to their modes of love expression.
Interesting stuff I think and something worth investigating, because we all just want to feel like we are loved and that we are giving love in the best way that we can as well, because we all know that love is a many splendored thing.