of the ye-ah
Friday, December 30, 2005 @ 14:23 by Alana.

Gig: Its a showdown between Bomba and Blue King Brown; both oh so so SO GOOD live; both play a lot of reggae.

Pastime: Sewing with my very good friend Emma in her 'studio'. "Time sewing is time well-spent", I always say, and what better company could I have asked for?

Book: The Three Godfathers by ?.. I've forgotten. My best book buys have been opshop bargains and this was no exception!

Achievement: Building a house. A gingerbread house! Yummo.

Songs: 1. Fever - The Michael Buble version; 2. The Biggest Lie I Ever Told - The Beautiful Girls; 3. Anywhere - Sophie Koh.

Meal: The good food that just kept on coming with the good people that just kept on coming to our Emergency Spring Picnic held at the dreamy Carlton Gardens.

Album: We've Already Gone by The Beautiful Girls, more reggae-ish, please don’t go acting all surprised if I start talking like a Rusta, jah.

Trickiest Question I Was Asked By A Stranger: "So why don't you have a boyfriend?" !!!

Lowlights: Working as a PA for a complete swindling lying scumbag for a week before "I QUIT!"

Highlights: Celebrating my Nana and Grandad's 50th Wedding Anniversary in Gisborne with Nana, Grandad, all the extended whanau. Probably the most beautiful thing was hearing Grandad tell the story of how they met: ice-skating on a frozen lake in Holland. Ooooh, how romantic.

Being a leader in the youth group at church and seeing kids growing and learning and making the decision to follow Him. And all those moments where I could see little light bulbs pop up above their heads during bible studies, and they would say, "Oh, I get it!"

Helping in the Deaf Church and discovering a whole different world of community dynamics, as well as communication. Serving the Lord is definitely a privilege even though it more-than-likely comes at a cost.

Living in Surrey Hills, the most fragrant and floral suburb in Melbourne. You should smell it sometime. 'Twas as if I was a faery livin' a gaerden.

Goals for 06: Survive, nay, succeed in my first year of teaching GRADE SIX, gah! It'll be a year of prayer and fasting no doubt. Btw, my class for next year will be called 6AM (because my initials are A.M.), which makes me ever-so-slightly more excited about getting up at that time of the morning.

New blog template. Maybe.

Sew more and improve sewing skills.

Pray more. Magic away that ol' student loan (or meet Ray Porter).

Maybe learn to cook? I like entertaining and hate cooking but seeing as the two often go hand-in-hand, think I'll practise on my visitors. How would you (yes, YOU!) like to be on the receiving end of one of my kitchen experiments some time?

Happy New Year everyone; take care.



Why ask why?
Wednesday, December 21, 2005 @ 17:22 by Alana.

What was the best thing before sliced bread?

If corn oil comes from corn, where does baby oil come from?

If a book about failures doesn't sell, is it a success?

When it rains, why don't sheep shrink?

If the funeral procession is at night, do folks drive with their lights off?

If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?

Should vegetarians eat animal crackers?

If the cops arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat and dropped it from a height, what would happen?

If you're in a vehicle at night going the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?

How does the guy who drives the snowplow get to work in the mornings?

Do cemetery workers prefer the graveyard shift?

If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?

Can you be a closet claustrophobic?

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?



These are a few of my favourite things
Wednesday, December 07, 2005 @ 13:11 by Alana.

When I turned on the radio in my car yesterday, the voices told me that there are 16 people that die each year in Australia from being hit by lightening. This concerned me a little as there have been thunder/lightening storms almost every day for the past few weeks, and my biggest form of transport in the past two years has been my feet.

Also, the weather in general has never been small talk for us Macphersons, I think the 'M' in 'Macpherson' stands for 'Meteorologist'. I have to admit to obsessively checking the weather forecast everyday (hence the link on the RHS).

And probably one of the most fun things I've ever ever done is swim at the beach during a thunderstorm - once at Waihi Beach with JennieP and KirstenM, and another time in Melbourne. Thunderstorms make me feel this amazing sense of awe and "Wow God!", except in really scary thunderstorms that occur in the middle of the night and cause trees and powerlines to come tumbling down, in which case I feel less awe and more like singing "Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens/ Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens..."

Anyway, back to being concerned, if you are too, or just curious, you might find this interesting.



Oh Come All Ye Stressful
Friday, December 02, 2005 @ 13:14 by Alana.



This I spotted on Matthew's blog and thought I'd pinch it, but I'm sure thats the idea.

"This Christmas we'll be swamped with offers, ads and invitations to buy more stuff. But now there's a way to say enough and join a movement dedicated to reviving the original meaning of Christmas giving." More...