It’s not that I don’t care about how you’re feeling, it’s more why should I after the way you treated me?

Dear Gamespot,

Read More

So, on Monday, while already in stupid amounts of pain from straining my side at the gym, I got given a program at work that I had started on Friday afternoon and then handed off to someone else.

When I took a look, I realised the guy hadn’t done very much at all, so I went on to his timesheet (everyone’s is saved in a communal folder) to see if he got it mid shift, which would explain barely any being done.

Lo and behold, what do I find but him claiming to have done my part, his part and a minute’s extra captioning. In other words, to keep his productivity ratio above the obvious “I’ve done fuck all”, he’s LIED.

I should probably also point out that he and my boyfriend were mistakenly in a class together for a few weeks at film school, and this is also the guy that plagiarised a whole assignment from another student by simply switching the name up the top.

It’s people like him and my head of department that have me job hunting at work… Then again, my department may be made redundant in the next year or so, so maybe I should just stick it out.

I have fairly particular habits when it comes to books and reading.

- No breaking the spines
- No dog-earing pages (people who borrow from me are warned that I may kill them if they do this to one of my books)
- Donate any books I’m not likely to read again
- Return borrowed books in a timely fashion, usually before they’re missed
- Don’t form opinions until you have read the book (though Twilight is the exception here…)
- Recommend favourite books to others
- Pay no more than $35 for a book (with BookDepository, you’ll probably never need to)

And the most important:
- Read widely and often!

Just had a very busy weekend.

On Saturday, I was meant to go to a hen’s kitchen tea for Red’s friend’s fiancée while Red went on the bucks day and night. Because I didn’t know anyone and wasn’t feeling too well, I cancelled (sending her present along with Red). I then drove halfway across Sydney and hung out with my grandmother, had lunch with my aunt at ‘Jane Eyre Cafe’ and then came home to rest for a few hours.

That night, I had tried to organise a movie night but cancelled due to lack of availability and interest. Instead, I picked up Red’s sister (who’s my age) and we went to see My Week With Marilyn, then had a post-movie snack at a nearby cafe.

On Sunday, we went out for breakfast and then headed into the city for him to meet his friend to give him the short film they’d made together. I shopped while he did that, then we took the train back together, went grocery shopping and cooked dinner. I retreated to bed to read 1Q84 and then the storm hit so we ended up going to bed early.

A fairly eventful weekend all up, really. Oh, and apparently people are quitting at my work left, right and centre. All the people I like, too. This will be fun when I try to get any of my annual leave…

It’s actually kind of depressing when your boyfriend leaves while you’re still in bed and then is already in bed when you get home from work…

Day 29 – A book that makes you cry and Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time
They’re the same book so now I’m a day ahead on my schedule! Persuasion by Jane Austen never fails to make me cry with happiness at the end, and also is a book I can constantly go back to, over and over.

For the uninitiated, who are too lazy to go back and read Day 10, where I talk about this book, it’s the story of Anne Elliot, the middle daughter of a widowed baronet, Sir Walter Elliot. When she was young, her mother died and she was left to the care of her father and her mother’s best friend, Lady Russell. Her elder sister Elizabeth is a spinster and has taken her mother’s place in the household, looking down on the sweet and gentle Anne at every opportunity, while her younger sister Mary is married to Charles Musgrove, who once proposed to Anne himself. When she was 19, she fell in love with a sailor, Frederick Wentworth, and they were briefly engaged before Lady Russell counselled her to break the engagement. The story begins eight years on from that event, with the still-single Anne and her family being forced to let their house because they are in debt. By chance, they let it to Wentworth’s sister, a Mrs Croft, and her admiral husband. Thus, Wentworth and Anne are thrown into each others’ company again, but his pride is still wounded.

Even if you’re not a fan of Jane Austen, this is a masterpiece of a novel - a true study of human nature and the meaning of love.

Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde has been on my list ever since I read The Eyre Affair, but I just haven’t found the chance to do it so far. It’s actually sitting on my nightstand as I type this and I’m about to start a new book…so maybe today is the day!

Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry. I haven’t come across anyone else who’s read it (except for one person who read it on my recommendation, so that doesn’t count). It’s definitely a weird book, but I really enjoy it and (luckily for me) I can’t remember too much about it, so I can re-read it without always thinking of the ending. I hate my memory sometimes because it means I will probably never re-read Agatha Christie’s novels because I remember the end as soon as I read the blurb on the back of the book!

Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
I think for this, I would have to say Katherine Grey from the novel The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. The novel begins with Katherine’s employer dying and leaving her enough money to be considered very wealthy. While people are eager to befriend her on account of her money, she keeps her wits about her and, apart from ill-fated love interests, she manages to stay alive, sensible and out of trouble.

Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Maye this is a good time to talk about Monster Love by Carol Topolski, where it proves books can really be terrifying. Set in a small town, and told through varying viewpoints, it’s the story of a couple with a seemingly perfect life. However, behind closed doors, horrible things emerge and then are slowly trickled out into the open. If you’re interested in psychological books of a sort, then this might just be up your alley.

Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
I am going to cop out here and say that I NEVER spoil books for others! So this goes against basically all I stand for.

Day 28 – Favourite title
Love & Other Near Death Experiences is the name of the novel penned by the author of the Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About (hilarious if you haven’t read it) - Mil Millington. It’s basically the story of a guy who works in radio going through a mid-life crisis. A funny little novel with a few twists thrown in - definitely one if you like a laugh!

Day 22 – The book that made you fall in love with reading
I honestly can’t remember a time that I didn’t love reading. My grandmother taught me to read at two and a half, and in my childhood, I read anything I could get my hands on. But maybe I should talk about the book that propelled me from strictly fiction and mostly kids novels to the definitively adult world, and that is Jeffrey Steingarten’s The Man Who Ate Everything.

Those of you who are fans of Iron Chef America will know him as the white-haired and outspoken food critic, but for the rest of you, here’s a little background. A lawyer by trade, Steingarten decided one day to become heavily involved with food, on the critic side of things. This novel, with one whole chapter devoted to bottled water, is an interesting glance at the journey of a man who wanted to eat everything and overcame his food phobias to do so.

This was the precursor to my love for Anthony Bourdain, and it finally let me see what my mum (a chef by trade) and her work friends used to swoon over - food, glorious food!