Segullah recently had a couple of posts that prompted me to comment - I always read them through google's Reader, so I only get the comments when I click through to the main site.
After reading "On Names", I commented about how mum's occupation as a teacher affected our names. We couldn't have any name that reminded her of students. I was also named for one of my mum's mission companions with my middle name "Blossom". I often think about names and the power they have to shape us as people. I don't think everyone has a name foreordained, much as I don't believe in soulmates - I value agency too highly to believe in fate.
I do believe, though, that our names affect things that we would otherwise experience differently. We moved a lot and my experience of moving was affected by the fact that my new teachers could never pronounce my name from the roll and my new classmates took a while to say it properly. It separated me from my new peers, and added to my high reading level, religion and family size made me 'different' on top of being new.
I've always seen it as a blessing, and being so obviously different allowed me the space to be who I wanted rather than feeling pressure to conform.
Names and Blessings
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Posted by missOlea at 7:46 PM 0 comments
Roadtrip!
Friday, April 9, 2010
I had a wonderful Easter, thanks for asking!
a park in Glenelg, South Australia - near where we stayed
I visited my new baby cousin, the fifth baby (all boys) born to my mother's youngest brother and his wife. I took so many photos! We stayed in Glenelg, a touristy beach suburb of Adelaide. We didn't know we were going to Adelaide over Easter until only a few weeks before, which made booking accommodation very difficult. Every family and their dog goes on holidays over Easter! We finally found a house for rent for the week, about 15 minutes from our cousin's house, at only triple the price we originally intended!
It was a little crappy for its price, but it was only 5 or 10 minutes walk to the beach and shops, and had enough beds for us all (well, almost!). There were the 6 people from my family (mum and 5 kids), 7 from my Melbourne cousins (auntie, uncle, their 4 kids and 1 boyfriend), Grandmama and my mum's boyfriend - 15 in all! We had three girls share a King size bed, two sleeping on couches and one on the floor, but we all fit!
I was pretty annoyed that mum invited her boyfriend (who lives in Perth) without asking us - especially as he was staying in the same house as us. He, in and of himself, isn't so bad (just annoying and embarrassing, but a basically good person) but he doesn't suit mum at all, and she's just so focused on having a relationship that she doesn't look at who that relationship is with, or how it affects her and her children. She spent almost every waking moment with him, and ignored the family we went to visit, her children and our Melbourne cousins. Gah!
The most frustrating part is that she thinks she's spending quality time with everyone. One of the days, we went to Hahndorf a gorgeous little town, about half an hour's drive out of Adelaide. Grandma, two of my siblings, mum and Fuzz (her BF) went along, and walked up and down the main street among the beautiful autumn trees, looking in some shops as we went. Hahndorf has lots of old-fashioned lolly (candy) shops, bakeries, ice-cream parlours and pubs/cafes as well as nurseries and souvenir shops. I walked with Grandma, my 21-year-old sister and 13-year-old brother messed around together, and mum and Fuzz walked together. The three kids and Grandma had some good chats, laughed and played around, but mum and Fuzz hung back or walked ahead, went into shops we had already walked past and generally avoided us. Yet mum felt like we had spent some quality time together! We didn't even drive in the same car!!
I have no clue how to get my point across without getting angry or being negative, but it's really driving me crazy that she lives in her own little world without paying attention to the emotions, interests and needs of those around her.
Posted by missOlea at 5:46 PM 0 comments
Resolutely
Monday, February 1, 2010
This year, I will blog more consistently, even if it is only weekly.
For now, an update:
I scared myself with Texas Ranger. I had practiced avoiding him so well that I just couldn't quit it! I saw him once on the first day of convention and he gave me a friendly hug but didn't seem too concerned with catching up - he didn't ask for my number or anything. I saw him again at the dance, but he was sitting with a girl and when I saw him again later on he was still talking to a girl one-on-one. (I didn't get a good look the first time, so I don't know if it was the same person - let alone a girlfriend, but I am pretty good at convincing myself not to take risks so I didn't get the chance to ask).
Westley dated my best friend (I had never admitted an attraction to either of them), and they split up after 6 weeks. He's going home in four weeks, so that was a non-starter. So I am still as unattached as I ever was.
I'm going to Sydney on Wednesday for four days, which will be fun! I even get to go to a show at the Sydney Opera House. It stars Frank Woodley (one of Australia's leading comedians), and is adapted from Voltaire's Candide (link goes to Project Gutenberg free eBook), which I have started reading and am enjoying immensely. And to think Voltaire wrote this in three days! Amazing.
I also read Orson Scott Card's "Ender in Exile", the sequel to one of my favourite books - "Ender's Game". I highly recommend both these books and all the others in the series, and anything else by him.
I enrolled in Uni and I start in the first week of March. I'm studying Primary and Secondary Education (up to Year 10), majoring in Math and Information Technology. I'm so excited!
Now you're all caught up, I'll keep you up to date with my random thoughts!
Posted by missOlea at 10:22 PM 1 comments
Labels: potential love interests
Rules I'll Have When I'm Married (Part 1)
Friday, December 11, 2009
I should probably warn at the beginning that I like rules, especially when I'm the one that makes them, and this may be Part 1 of many. As in, more than 20. On with the inaugural "Rules I'll Have When I'm Married" Post (Bathroom Flavour).
Rule 1: Toilet Seat Down Always
Lately, I have been considering the 'toilet seat' problem. Should the seat go up or down? Men want to be lazy and not have to put it down. Women want the path of least resistance when they might be busting to go (those pelvic floor muscles aren't what they used to be after a couple of kids, you know).
So I've been rationalising trying to explain why this rule is so important, and this is what I've come up with: women (as in I) will always need the toilet seat down, right? (Discounting gastro or morning sickness, of course). And men (my husband) need the toilet seat up sometimes and down sometimes, depending on 1s or 2s. So obviously the seat should go down more often - 3 out of 4 scenarios require the seat down!
Rule 2: Squeeze Toothpaste From The Bottom
Or buy your own and hide it from me. Because squeezing it from the middle or top is not only messier, but wastes time when you're near the end of the tube. Prior preparation prevents poor performance. If ye are prepared ye shall not fear. Prepare for a future scarcity of toothpaste in your tube by squeezing from the bottom.
Rule 3: Toilet Paper Goes Over
Any other way is gross unless you're trying to stop pets from unravelling the whole roll. And for real, what are pets doing in your bathroom? Also, I only buy Quilton white-on-white patterns. Preferably 3-ply. Please don't buy any cheap toilet paper that falls apart or is not soft. It just means I'll have to drive to the shops again, and find someone I don't like, so I can get rid of the gross paper.
And that might be all my 'bathroom' quirks (or neuroticisms if you want to be picky). I like a towel on the floor, and I hate when the bathroom gets swamped from people neglecting to use a shower curtain properly. My next series of Rules will focus on ... the bedroom. Or the kitchen. Or something else you suggest in the comments that could be interesting.
Posted by missOlea at 9:20 PM 0 comments
Labels: The Future, YSA
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