When I was living at home, Mothers' Day never meant much to me. I saw my mother every day, why was this day so much more special? We celebrated her birthday and I gave presents at Christmas - wasn't that enough? Where was Kids' Day, anyway?

So we never celebrated the day beyond a "Happy Mothers' Day, Mum," in the morning.

This year, however, after seeing my mother about once a fortnight, the idea of making an effort, going round to see her, was appealing. Just to say thank you. So last night, I drunkenly baked some cappucino cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and this morning I got up early, bought some flowers, and took the whole shebang over to her.

She was surprised and pleased and very grateful. I felt kinda awesome. My sister bought her something, I made her something, and she felt loved. We went out today, just shopping and spending time together, and it was really lovely.

I am lucky to have the relationship I do with my parents. We're not close in that we see each other all the time, but I can go to them with anything, and I usually do. They've always treated me like an adult, and they respect me and are proud of me. I'm proud of them, too, for all their faults. I genuinely like them as human beings.

I hope you had good Mothers' Days, if you celebrate, and a wonderful Sunday if you don't.

Complete the blanks and post as a comment!

Dear liadlaith,

I _____ you. You have a nice______. You make me _______. You should _______. Someday I will ______. You + me =________. If I saw you now I'd __________. I would build a _______ just for you. If I could sing you any song it would be _________. We could __________ under the stars.

Love,
_____________

(P.S. ______________.)

Now post to your LJ for Fun Times!

I didn't brush my hair today.

It looks awesome.

No one can convince me otherwise

There is one fatal flaw to this study - it is fah-reezing in the winter (when I am at uni) and at night (when I am supposed to be studying). My hands are going to fall off : (

There was a party, and it was good. I had some lovely bubbly, and got pleasantly sloshed while making snarky comments about blockbuster movies. There was a crisis when I realised Andrew had stored all his childhood toys in plastic, in a box, in our garage, and I had to go rescue them. But once that was done I was happy to fall asleep on the study floor.

I think the mice survived the ordeal of a MiniJames party relatively well.

And now, to catch up on all that uni work I have been blithely ignoring.

I just got rickrolled by news!

Andrew's voice, off-stage: FAIL!

One good thing about the whole giving-up-dairy thing (aside from no longer supporting the veal industry) - all the biscuits in the tea room at work are now off-limits. Goodbye unhealthy snacking, hello apples! Or, to be more precise, hello bringing vegan treats in from home.

So Sydney turns off the lights for Earth Hour, and in response, Mother Nature turns on the lightning. Thank you, you've outshone us once again.

IT'S ONLY WEEK THREE AND I'M ALREADY MAINLINING SEMIOTICS STOP ARGH STOP SEND HELP STOP

"In fact, it is so hard to get into publishing that the Australian Publishers Association recommends 'killing an editorial assistant and assuming their identity'."

- Janet Mackenzie, The Editor's Companion



So, I've got a bit of freelance work for you, if you're interested in getting your hands dirty . . .

This week's reading for one of my courses is a YouTube video.



Check it out.

Some girls get flowers. I get chocolate-coated coffee beans and a red pen.

Andrew owes me £100

So, as you know if you read Andrew’s journal, we have adopted three mice. Now comes the all important task of naming them. And, being the democratic peeps we are, Andrew and I have decided to throw the floor open to our friends, and receive suggestions as to names.

Please find photos and personality descriptions below!

( Mousie #1 )

( Mousie #2 )

( Mousie #3 )

My uni woes have started already!

I have four compulsory subjects, see, (and three of them in first semester - WTF?) and one of them is currently clashing with my only elective. They're running two classes for the compulsory subject - but AT THE SAME TIME. Madness!

So now I can't do (and neither can anyone else enrolled in a Masters of Publishing this year, which is super annoying as IT'S LISTED AS PART OF OUR PROGRAM OF STUDY) Internet Cultures and Governance, and have to find something else running in first semester that I want to take.

My options are:

News Writing
Strategy Selection in Corporate PR
PR Management and Conflict Resolution
Sports Reporting
Broadcast Journalism
International Media Practice
Writers at Work: Poetry
Children's Writers at Work
Translators at Work

As I am neither a journo, a poet or a PR flunky, none but the last two subjects generally appeal.

Goddamn! I really wanted to discuss Anonymous and the Scientology protests!

Does anyone else find it interesting that there's no reportage of the Anonymous / Project Chanology / Scientology protests from yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald?

Is it just in the print version and not the online? I have used both Google and SMH.com.au's own search engine, and the most recent mention of Scientology is from 7 February.

Am I missing something?

In the first week of November last year, I stopped eating animals. I came home from a night out with friends, hugged Andrew and told him I just couldn’t do it anymore.

I hesitate to call myself a vegetarian, though that would be easiest, because I don’t know if I actually am one. I don’t eat meat, but not necessarily because I think it’s wrong – more because I simply can’t do it anymore.

I’ve always respected and admired people who abstained from consuming animals and animal products, especially those who do it from an animal rights perspective. I think the way we treat animals as commodities is horrible and the way we treat animals in general is criminal (see: factory farms, battery hens, etc). I think testing cosmetics on animals is unnecessary and narcissistic on our part.

( I just don’t know if I think eating an animal is wrong. )

"Andrew, gimme fifty cents."

"Why?"

"Because you're a jerk. Gimme fifty cents."

"No."

"Come on, gimme fifty cents. If you gimme fifty cents, I'll give you a dollar."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You gimme fifty cents and I'll give you a dollar."

"Promise?"

"Yes, I promise. Come on, you gimme the fifty cents first, I've got more to lose."

So he hands me the fifty cents, and I hand him the dollar.

A Singaporean dollar.

And then I go to the drink machine and get myself a can of Pepsi.

Andrew sleeps on his back, with a hand resting on his chest, fingertips touching his clavicle.

I don't sleep on my back, but I've noticed, when reclining, that my hand has begun to rest in the same position.

Pod people.