I'm not a huge fan of singing karaoke, because I usually sound like shit, but tonight and did my duty to please a friend from work at her birthday. Three times. I have to admit, I got into the vibe, but now that I think about it, karaoke is like eating a while tub of icecream and enjoying it at the time, then feeling hideously guilty later.
Not that I really feel that way about singing karaoke, but without a fairly large volume of alcohol it's not really my thing.
I rang mum when I got home because she'd tried to call when I was out, and she'd rung to tell me that the parents of one of my really good friends are splitting up. The news made me quite upset because it brings back unpleasant memories. I also sometimes feel like taking bets on who's going to go next, it's starting to seem inevitable. And that is, indeed, a fairly bleak way to think.
On a lighter note, when I was walking down the path tonight coming home from this party, I saw one of the possums in the bushes. I managed to coax him over to me by sitting down and making little cheeping noises. I haven't seen this one up close before, he had a little black band of fur around his nose. I think he would have come closer because he seemed fairly inquisitive, but then he got scared by two small asians coming down the path, who were, I think, in turn scared by me because I was kinda...just sitting in the bushes for no apparent reason. So I pointed up into the tree where the possum had retreated and said, "possum", and making my merry way into the night.
Not that I really feel that way about singing karaoke, but without a fairly large volume of alcohol it's not really my thing.
I rang mum when I got home because she'd tried to call when I was out, and she'd rung to tell me that the parents of one of my really good friends are splitting up. The news made me quite upset because it brings back unpleasant memories. I also sometimes feel like taking bets on who's going to go next, it's starting to seem inevitable. And that is, indeed, a fairly bleak way to think.
On a lighter note, when I was walking down the path tonight coming home from this party, I saw one of the possums in the bushes. I managed to coax him over to me by sitting down and making little cheeping noises. I haven't seen this one up close before, he had a little black band of fur around his nose. I think he would have come closer because he seemed fairly inquisitive, but then he got scared by two small asians coming down the path, who were, I think, in turn scared by me because I was kinda...just sitting in the bushes for no apparent reason. So I pointed up into the tree where the possum had retreated and said, "possum", and making my merry way into the night.
I'm going to Sweden!
That's genetics out of the way! And what a bizare exam it was, example:
"The cause of homosexuality is a) environment, b) significantly genetic etc." No, e) nobody's really sure that it has a 'cause'. There were some other really nonsensical questions as well where you could tell they were written by the crazy lecturer who wore a bow-tie and shouted at people to get out of the room and come in the fire escape door if they were more than three minutes late. But it's over now, I think my mark should be reasonable but I don't care as long as I never, ever have to do it again.
Rock on micro.
By the way, I have a facebook account now...not totally sure what that means but my mum made me get it because she's doing some UNE experiment thing. It's a sad day when you realise your mother is more technologically advanced than you are. Sigh.
"The cause of homosexuality is a) environment, b) significantly genetic etc." No, e) nobody's really sure that it has a 'cause'. There were some other really nonsensical questions as well where you could tell they were written by the crazy lecturer who wore a bow-tie and shouted at people to get out of the room and come in the fire escape door if they were more than three minutes late. But it's over now, I think my mark should be reasonable but I don't care as long as I never, ever have to do it again.
Rock on micro.
By the way, I have a facebook account now...not totally sure what that means but my mum made me get it because she's doing some UNE experiment thing. It's a sad day when you realise your mother is more technologically advanced than you are. Sigh.
I booked my flights to Sweden today. FUUUUUUUUUUCK! Ahem, it' just freaking me out a little because the reality of things is starting to hit me, and if my acceptance comes soon and my Visa application goes through fast enough, I'll be leaving Australia for a year, in exactly two months. Two months.
I'd been putting off booking them because I was really trying to hold out for the acceptance, but I got the last seat on that particular fight and the availability is soooo bad in January that there wasn't much else. I'm flying JAL Sydney-Osaka-London, and I'm going to book my own internal flight to Stockholm, probably with Scandinavian because Ryanair doesn't fly into Arlanda, only Bromma and Nykoping, which are too far from Uppsala. On the return flight I fly into Tokyo instead of Osaka which is great because I'm spending 7 days there and I can visit some old friends and maybe travel to Osaka for a couple of days too.
All I have to do now is get through my stupid exams. I'm so sick of studying and thinking intelligently, it's inflaming my brain. Bring on full-time Myer for six weeks and that's gonna completely do me in.
Right now I'm trying to make a flickr photo album (re: procrastinating because I have an exam on Tuesday), if I figure out how to do it I'll put the link on this page somewhere.
I'd been putting off booking them because I was really trying to hold out for the acceptance, but I got the last seat on that particular fight and the availability is soooo bad in January that there wasn't much else. I'm flying JAL Sydney-Osaka-London, and I'm going to book my own internal flight to Stockholm, probably with Scandinavian because Ryanair doesn't fly into Arlanda, only Bromma and Nykoping, which are too far from Uppsala. On the return flight I fly into Tokyo instead of Osaka which is great because I'm spending 7 days there and I can visit some old friends and maybe travel to Osaka for a couple of days too.
All I have to do now is get through my stupid exams. I'm so sick of studying and thinking intelligently, it's inflaming my brain. Bring on full-time Myer for six weeks and that's gonna completely do me in.
Right now I'm trying to make a flickr photo album (re: procrastinating because I have an exam on Tuesday), if I figure out how to do it I'll put the link on this page somewhere.
A lot of the time I'm frustrated that the people in our house leave the door to the living room unlocked, but tonight I was glad since there was no one home, it was raining, I had no keys, and one of the boys next door climbed up on to the balcony to let me in. Far be it for me to be security conscious.
Anyway, it was brought to my attention, that the last post I made was about the fairly dramatic fainting-at-work episode, and that I haven't posted for a while since then, and that the reason for that might be that I had died. Clearly that isn't the case.
But I did find out the cause of the fainting: I really tried to put it down to not eating enough that day etc, but I did go to the doctor the next day because I still felt awful, and she made me have some blood tests. Turns out I'm severly anaemic, not just the kind where your haemoglobin is a bit low, but so bad that my iron storage level, which for most people is in the range 15-200, was 4, and my serum level, which is supposed to be 15-25, was 3. My red blood cells had gone pale because they had so little haemoglobin in them, and some were turning elliptical and staining the wrong colour when they tested them. Still, the doctor reassured me that it's only the second lowest she's ever seen.
So, the reason I was fainting was because I was getting no oxygen to my brain. Some of you may know that haemoglobin is a red iron-containing pigment that allows your red blood cells to bind oxygen molecules with high affinity. If you don't have enough iron, you can't make enough haemo, and you have not enough oxygen getting to important places. It actually explains a lot though, like the way my fingers and toes are always cold, to the point where they go white and numb; the splitting fingernails; the general feeling shit and tired all the time; and most strangely, my obsession with eating ice. Apparently, people with a nutritional deficieny sometimes develop a fixation for eating non-food substances like chalk, dirt, and ice. Laundry powder is another, and sometimes when I do the washing, the smell of it makes my mouth water. Mmmn.
Anyway, I'm on these really huge amounts of iron per day and I have to go and have some more blood tests in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime I can't tell if I really feel any better because I have exams at the moment and I'm stressed and feel like shit anyway. Oh well.
Also, we have a new possum in the bathroom cupboard. We named him Jim in honour of The Doors (well, to be honest, Robert named him and didn't give anyone else much of a choice: Simone wanted to call him Luciano). He's very cute.
Anyway, it was brought to my attention, that the last post I made was about the fairly dramatic fainting-at-work episode, and that I haven't posted for a while since then, and that the reason for that might be that I had died. Clearly that isn't the case.
But I did find out the cause of the fainting: I really tried to put it down to not eating enough that day etc, but I did go to the doctor the next day because I still felt awful, and she made me have some blood tests. Turns out I'm severly anaemic, not just the kind where your haemoglobin is a bit low, but so bad that my iron storage level, which for most people is in the range 15-200, was 4, and my serum level, which is supposed to be 15-25, was 3. My red blood cells had gone pale because they had so little haemoglobin in them, and some were turning elliptical and staining the wrong colour when they tested them. Still, the doctor reassured me that it's only the second lowest she's ever seen.
So, the reason I was fainting was because I was getting no oxygen to my brain. Some of you may know that haemoglobin is a red iron-containing pigment that allows your red blood cells to bind oxygen molecules with high affinity. If you don't have enough iron, you can't make enough haemo, and you have not enough oxygen getting to important places. It actually explains a lot though, like the way my fingers and toes are always cold, to the point where they go white and numb; the splitting fingernails; the general feeling shit and tired all the time; and most strangely, my obsession with eating ice. Apparently, people with a nutritional deficieny sometimes develop a fixation for eating non-food substances like chalk, dirt, and ice. Laundry powder is another, and sometimes when I do the washing, the smell of it makes my mouth water. Mmmn.
Anyway, I'm on these really huge amounts of iron per day and I have to go and have some more blood tests in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime I can't tell if I really feel any better because I have exams at the moment and I'm stressed and feel like shit anyway. Oh well.
Also, we have a new possum in the bathroom cupboard. We named him Jim in honour of The Doors (well, to be honest, Robert named him and didn't give anyone else much of a choice: Simone wanted to call him Luciano). He's very cute.