Elevated Moods

So I've been happier in the last few days. I had a great weekend - that helped a lot!

Friday I went down to Ness' in the arvo, and we said goodbye to our Thursday night shows for this season - in what were pretty boring and uneventful finales...Pete collapsing on the floor excepted. Poor Pete!
Kay and Nick came over later and it was great to catch up with them again, I can't remember the last time I saw them before that...which is really sad and pathetic! Being poor sucks! We had a good night - even though we ended up watching an episode of Dark Angel - having never watched it back in the day, it seemed really lame...but it wasn't the worst thing I've been made to watch. :P

Saturday I had a great sleep in, and then spent the arvo tv blogging, and enjoying having the whole house to myself. My mum and sis were out, and my brother was staying at my dad's place since he was away for the weekend. Jacinta came over later in the arvo, and we hung out and caught up -she's been busy working, so we hadn't seen each other in 2 weeks. We went out and got pizza for dinner and came home and watched Tina Fey hosting SNL from the other week. After that we went in other room and watched Mulan of all things. And then watched Twister on foxtel. Overall it was good night, sometimes its nice to just chat and hang out and eat chocolate. I think she got me out of my mood. -It was quiet, but I'm sure there will be movies to see in the future! If we can find the time!

Sunday I had another good sleep in, and didn't do a whole lot. Watched some dvds and watched the tv I had to catch up on from last week. -Including the finale of The Good Wife!

Yesterday I had a job interview in the city, it was nice to be back in the CBD, its been a while since I'd caught the train in. It was fun walking around in my interview clothes - like I go to the city everyday.

Today I went down to my Grandparent's house with Mum, who was meeting with the realtor about renting out the house. We then went to McDonalds for lunch - needing a warm place to get some food and wait till it was late enough to go visit Grandma. We had a nice chat with her and then headed home. I was in desperate need of some coffee by the time I got home - having not had any all day cause I slept in this morning and had to get ready in a hurry. I also was dying to watch The Princess Bride, there have been a few references to it popping up lately, so I decided it was time I watched it again. I really love that movie!

Not a whole lot else planned for this week. Just some more job hunting I guess. I was supposed to have my annual doctors appointment on Thursday, but they moved it to next week.

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Carlie

Life is What DOESN'T Happen While You're Making Plans!

So my mood hasn't really improved overall. I've been out of touch with reality the last week - not having real internet means I can't access my world the way I want to. I was never up to date with my tv, and it took hours to read any news and check emails and the like. I also was unable to look for any jobs, as loading the home page would have taken ages -let alone searching for jobs. So I was feeling left out and doomy.

I know its my own fault that I don't have a job, that I'm not trying hard enough (probably), but at the same time, I try and try and get nothing and that is not helping me to keep trying. I don't get a lot of encouragement around here, only pressure.The longer I don't do anything, the less I feel motivated. I know that not having a set job goal isn't helping...but I have never had one and even when I try to focus my attention in one direction, it doesn't really go anywhere. -I don't want to end up like my mother, doing short term jobs with no permanent direction in sight. I don't want to be wondering where the money is going to come from all the time!

However perhaps the bigger problem now, is that I am running out of money. I wisely saved all my money from my December job which has allowed me to pay my bills this year, but I've only got enough for another month or so left. I'm drowning and I don't know what else to do. It is worse now because I don't have my family's money there to pay for living expenses anymore. My dad finally moved out and since my mum still doesn't have a job, there isn't a lot extra to go around.
That's the other half of my doomy mood - I thought I'd be happier when my dad moved out -having been expecting it since I was 10 or something. But they're still fighting, and being mean, and I feel bad, and I feel bad for my sister who is having her world shaken up, and my brother is mad at mum, and moody about it. I feel bad because I probably will have even less connection to that side of the family now. I feel bad that I wasn't told, he told my sister and my brother, but didn't plan to talk to me, until after mum told him to -which at that point I already knew so why bother?! I don't know where his new place is, well I know the rough location, but not the address.
I don't know, things are just weird around here for now. At least my mum got her room back, and a bed again. Plus its nice having extra wardrobe space in the house.

I'm not feeling great because my brother is mad at me too, and my sister always blames me for everything and won't talk to me, or acknowledge my existence. It sucks to be hated, I'm lonely -whats the point in having a family if they don't even talk to you?!

Oh well, enough of my doom and gloom, dark and twisty ways. -I must say there is one thing I keep watching to cheer me up - the trailer/promo for Katie Finneran's (of Wonderfalls, Promises Promises) new tv show. It cracks me up, I've watched it a few times already! Maybe it will make a great show, maybe it will bomb, but for now I have hope and laughter!

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Carlie

Weddingpalooza Weekend

So this past week I’ve been pretty quiet. Went over to Jacinta’s on Wednesday and we watched the move RED with Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis and Mary Louise Parker. It was great! I knew it would be good, but I loved it! I’d been meaning to see it since New York, so I was glad I finally got a chance.  We then decided to watch Helen Mirren’s episode of Saturday Night Live. –It was a great one! And then an old one with Tina Fey, back when Amy Poehler was still in it! We definitely got our fix of the funny!

Friday arvo I went down to Ness’. Friday’s are always chock-a-block for us - with all the US Thursday shows and whatever else we plan on watching. This week was also the big Shondaland Weddingpalooza! We started out small, with quality Parks and Recreation – although I still hate Parker Posey! We did the 30Rock finale – my 2^nd season finale for the season. They will all start fading out now. No idea what I’ll be watching this time next month!

We ended up watching our ‘Dinner show’ after dinner…but that’s okay, made it easier to concentrate on what was going on in Rizzoli and Isles. Then we moved onto Weddingpalooza! I liked the Grey’s weddings better than I thought I would…I did feel they stole Charlotte and Cooper’s thunder a little though! Mostly I was just glad that Meredith and Derek made it legal…I mean come on! I thought Charlotte’s dress was the nicest of the three. –It hate that I feel the need to compare the two shows so much.
And I gotta point out these were the at least the 6^th and 7^th tv weddings for this season alone! Crazy! I’m so over weddings!

Then we moved onto the last few eps of season 3 of Bones. I kinda knew what was coming, but at the same time had no idea. –Kay and Nick always talked about how they stopped watching Bones after the whole Zack thing, so I knew he was gonna turn out to do something bad, but I never knew specifics, and it was just really really SAD. Maybe it was cause I was super tired, but I was this close to getting teary! Maybe it was the tired.

And just when I thought we were done with the weddings, we went to see Something Borrowed with Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and John Krasinski in it on Saturday, and they spent way too much of the movie talking about weddings….couldn’t win! It was a good movie though. But they had many many scenes at the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park in NYC, which was right around the corner from where we stayed. They have the BEST shakes there and I am now craving them like crazy!!!

I got home around dinner time which was kinda refreshing, meant everything was unpacked and organized way before time for bed! I spent most of the evening trying to access the super slow internet. It went slow on Friday, I used up the last few mgs downloading Raising Hope. So that’s 11 days before it comes back again…I really gotta get my own internet! It took at least an hour to load a video that only went for 3 minutes! So the next week is gonna be A LOT of fun. NOT! At least I have last week’s TV to entertain me for a while.

Today I slept in, and spent the arvo on the computer. Mother’s Day doesn’t mean too much around here. Even my sis didn’t do anything this year! -Can’t really change anything in my family at this point.

I really can’t believe how time has flown this year. I thought I’d be better off by now, not just money-wise. I thought I’d have a job and finally some independence. I thought I’d be done wearing the same old clothes, and being thrifty, and missing out. Maybe that just means that when things work out they’ll work out well…or maybe I’m just doomed to be left behind my whole life!

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Carlie

Hairspray Weekend

So I’m a little behind on my blogging. I’ll do last weekend first, and try and get this weekend’s activities up soon.

Last weekend (May 1st) was the big final performance of Hairspray in Melbourne. Saturday arvo I went over to Vanessa’s and we did our thing. We watched Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, watched the 30Rock 100^th episode, watched more Bones, and started our new dinner show Rizzoli and Isles. That was Saturday night. Sunday we got up, walked the pooches, dressed smartly and headed into the city. We popped into the Ian Potter Arts gallery to see the VCE arts exhibition in which Ness’ brother Nick was featured. There were lots of cool stuff – like creepy costume, destroyed wedding dress and pretty photos. There was also some weird stuff that I just didn’t get – but that’s art for you. Not everything is for everyone. Nick’s work was very original especially compared to some of the other stuff. Creepy/Weird but in a cool Tim Burton way! I liked all the detail, but my golly he must use a ton of ink!

After that we headed up to the theatre district. We got lunch in this little café next to The Comedy Theatre. It looked nice, but they took forever with some of our orders, and I had to go ask about my milkshake and I wasn’t the only one reminding them about stuff. –So I definitely wouldn’t recommend it if you were in a hurry! I mean they took the orders on Post-its!

After that we headed up to The Princess Theatre. I went to join the line for the toilets while Ness waited to meet her friend outside. My friend Laura from high school was working there again, and I chatted to her for a while, while I waited to move through the line. We had seats right near the end, at the first door, so we had a ton of people climbing over us cause they were not early getting into the theatre, but the seats were pretty good once things got started. Even though we were only 1 seat from the end, you can see just about everything from there.

Now I love Hairspray more than the next person probably…but its not MY show. This one belongs to Ness. It is her obsession, and I accept that. It’s hard to be obsessed when you only see things for the 2^nd time at the final show. The last show was a blast. Everyone was extra excited and cheering which was fun! It didn’t have quite the same ‘rock star’ vibe that the final Wicked had, but Wicked is a very different show altogether vibe-wise. Hairspray had a lot more kids in the audience…some who were very annoying and had annoying parents!

At intermission I ran into Laura again, and chatted to her about the shows I saw in NY and about what I’d been up to. It was really good talking to her. I don’t really see anyone from school anymore and always end up running into Laura at the theatre, but we never really have a chance to talk.

After the show, and the tons of cheers and applause we gave the cast, Ness and I raced straight out the doors and to the front of the line for the stage door – we planned our seats especially for that!

It was my first Hairspray stage door experience and my first since New York. I brought along the program and decided on having the cast sign the front cover, because it would have taken too long to find the pages – cause it was crazy busy…but I probably would have had time, but I know who they all are! Oh well. Everyone was really lovely and that made it really fun!

After it was all over…Ness went looking for her missing cardigan, and ended up having to go through the stage door to get it…which I thought was really cool! – She crossed through to the other side! Nobody does that!

We headed  home…well back to Ness’ place, after picking up the puppies from her parent’s house. We ate some toast – having not had any dinner, and watched some more Bones to cheer us up.

It was a very full on weekend, but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately there are no good future musical prospects! I have no interest in ‘Dr Zhivago’ or the Phantom of the Opera sequel ‘Love Never Dies’.  I don’t know what the next big show to come to Melbourne will be, but hopefully it will be something awesome! –Maybe I should start saving in advance, always keep a little musical savings fund going!
I’m surprised Hairspray didn’t stay very long…it seems like a short run in Melbourne to me, same for Mary Poppins. But maybe I’ve lost perspective after Wicked was going for over a year in Melbourne!

But I guess really when it comes down to it, I just need a job – regular income. That would make musicals easier.

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Carlie

Rock of Ages

It was so nice to be back at the theatre. My 2nd time this year. Saturday night I got all gussied up and drove into the city to see Rock of Ages at the Comedy Theatre. I was on time, until I started looking for parking...that's always my downfall. I must remember to leave earlier next time. I ended up parking in Lonsdale street just down from the theatre in a parking garage that only charged 7 bucks for the night. -A pretty good deal if you ask me!

I met Ness at the usual restaurant in Burke st and ordered the first thing that popped into my head - pizza. Which I don't think I've actually ever ordered from that place before, so its ok. -not that I NEED to justify my food choices to anyone.

We headed down to the theatre around 7:30pm, bought our programs for a respectable $20, and hung around in the lobby till it was time to go in. -I haven't been to the Comedy Theatre since I saw Avenue Q with Brett and Nick years ago, but the lobby of the theatre reminded me of the Broadway Theater in New York where Promises, Promises was.

We had good seat on the aisle, with no great visual blocks or anything. It was an interested crowd of people in the audience. We were definitely on the very lowest end of the age scale...except for maybe a few teens. Mostly it was oldies..but that's to be expected with the kind of music.

Once the show got going, I really started enjoying it. I didn't really know what to expect. It was definitely funnier than I expected, and the legendary music was worked in really well. -It was hard to not sing along.
They gave us fake LED lighters to wave at the door...but no one really used them till near the end.
My fave characters were Regina, Franz and the narrator guy..whose name I can't remember right now...I want to say Lonny...The main two were really good too!

There was one bad thing about the show - that they served drinks during the show and took orders...people would walk up and down the aisles taking orders while the performers were on stage...it was somewhat distracting.

By the time the show was over, my ears were ringing like a real rock concert! There was no where to go afterwards, so we dawdled around for a bit before heading off to our cars. The 7 buck carpark worked out good -although it was a little dark up there when I was leaving, but I was parked right next to the elevators so I felt safe. I was home pretty quick too - its always an easy trip, only 20 minutes give or take.
I was singing the songs and was way too hyper to sleep, but after starting to watch some tv, I became exhausted very quickly, and was out like a light when I went to bed. -I did have weird dreams though....long episodic ones...

Anyways all in all it was a good night, a lot of fun and I might see it again before it leaves Melbourne if I can find the money.

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Carlie

Quiet Times

Well so much for the dancing thing...I haven't done that in weeks! I am still playing Wii almost every day though. The cold weather has come in and I am feeling less energetic. I'm thinking about getting back into the walking...maybe.

Nikki's birthday was last week, the 9th. I was at Ness', stayed over Friday night and we went shopping on Saturday. I bought a pair of slippers, and new black boots. We then proceeded to watch an additional 6 episodes of Bones, after 6 the night before. -She has me hooked...and its trouble, cause I'm gonna have to keep myself away from spoilers...and new eps! haha.

So after a great weekend, last week sucked! We basically had no internet for a week cause we used it all up with a whole week to go. After a couple of days of not being able to do anything or download anything, I was in hell! At least I could access twitter...otherwise I would have been completely miserable! I can't believe with all this my parents still haven't done anything about getting a higher internet limit! I've offered to pay towards it and still nothing! By Thursday I was ready to bang my head against a brick wall. I imagine it is only gonna get worse each month, and so will probably use our quota by halfway through this month.
To make matters even worse last week, my external hard drive decided to act up and not work, so I couldn't even spend my time watching stuff stored on it, like old SNL or anything! I've spent the past few days trying to get the important stuff off it in case it gets lost when I try fixing it.

This weekend Ness and I are going to see Rock of Ages. I don't know a whole lot about it, other than its all 80's rock ballads - which should be good! Today Mum and I went to Chadstone in order to find something to wear. It was pretty quiet for school holidays -which was awesome! We tried Myer, but they had nothing. I bought some cheap makeup from Priceline, and we looked around a few more shops, before finally finding a few options at Just Jeans. I ended up getting a dress which Mum suggested -which is why I don't go shopping alone...I tend to not like stuff on my own. We stopped in to visit my Grandma after shopping, because Mum had to deliver a check there anyways. So we had a little chat, then stopped at Ashburton on the way home to get a few groceries. We got a few things cheap at Not Quite Right. Bought a bunch of things which only cost 18bucks in the end -which is awesome. But I dropped the thing of pasta sauce and it went all over the floor...it was icky, and it went all over my mum's shoe...I felt bad for the poor guy that had to clean it up.

Still nothing on the job front. The net was too slow to look last week. I did have an interview a couple of weeks ago, the job sounded sorta ok, but it was a very small office and was all the way in Moorabbin, which would get annoying to drive to all the time. Ideally I'd really like to work in the city. But we'll see what turns up.

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Carlie

Dancing My Cares Away

So since I'm mostly homebound these days, I don't get a whole lot of exercise as a result.

I've tried to do what I can, I don't like walking...I find it kinda stupid...or maybe its just that I've been walking around the same streets for 25 years.
I've tried pilates and stretching, not that that does a lot...but it counts. I try to be more active when I play wii sports....moving around when I can...

But I've found that I miss my dancing days, so I've made a few playlists that make me want to dance around my room...and before I know it, I'm doing a proper dance workout. The problem is I find myself doing it late at night...I should try to do it earlier.
I started out with my 'dance playlist' on my ipod. A few Glee songs, and other active songs. Tonight I moved onto old hits from parties and dances, stuff with actions...YMCA, Blame it on the Boogie, Nutbush etc. Its not quite as good a workout, but it still gets my heart racing.

I'll have to come up with some new songs though, cause I think I'll get bored quickly.


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Carlie