Bulletin Board: Another attempt at being up myself

Major news as to the reason why I'm not blogging as often as I should be on this website is because I'm radiating a huge smile that I wish you readers could see. Here's a picture of my toothsome smile:



The reason why my beaming smile could light up the neon lights of Las Vegas is because I'm now working at Immigration Solutions Lawyers. As many people can tell you, any gig which revolves around your passion is something pursuing.

What I really wanted is a mentor and combining my passion in media and law into one, it was like the universe heard my calls and this job dropped in my lap. The legal industry is still trying the grasp the concept of online media and I was exciting to inject a bit of pizazz into this world. As we all know, making legal related stories interesting is a hard job to follow.

So if you want to follow up on any news related to immigration law, or law in general, just search me here.

Though my profile on the website is not up yet, when it does, I'll definitely show it to you because I like to be applauded with my achievements.

Now, I must get off the soap box before someone else thinks I've become a massive know-it-all.

Happy reading,
5ft0

The Truth About The Truth

As a student of law, I'm trained to be a skeptic. This is because most of our future clients will most likely lie to us.

We're told from birth lying is bad. Constantly. This is demonstrated in the fairy tale story of Pinocchio, where his nose grows every time he utters a lie. Those cliche sayings such as, "The truth will set you free" and "The truth always comes out anyway" are some other examples where it's drilled into our heads that lying is bed. Even the law will whack us a fine, or even gaol time if we've misconstrued the truth in any shape or form.

However, when it comes to avoiding trouble, or sparing someone's feelings, many will find themselves lying to save themselves. We lie with much abandonment. Even Hollywood would go broke if people didn't lie. Just go to the cinemas and chances are, plots are based on deceit of some form.

The fact is lying is a necessity. We're taught from an early age by our parents to protect someone else's feelings. Like telling Uncle Ned he looks fine in his bathers, when really his stomach hanging over his bathers like a sore eye.

So why do we do it? Because the truth hurts. The pain of hearing a news that you didn't want to hear, even sends the innocent to lie.

No matter how hard we try to ignore or hide from a situation or a person, the lies eventually fall away. Whether we like to believe or not, the truth about the truth? It hurts. That's why we lie.

Happy reading!
5ft0

The Six Month Bludge

According to the Macquarie Dictionary, the term bludge is:

" n. An Australian, NZ Colloquial term to describe someone who is avoiding responsibilities and almost has no work".

I think this term describes the reason why my blog is remained inactive for the last six months. I have been a bad blogger and I expect it to scream at me at any second now. Who wouldn't scream at someone who hasn't been feeding her favourite confectionery, green apple liquorice? Or go on a six month absence without notice? I wouldn't be a happy lady either.

I shall stop the self depreciating jokes and tell you what's been happening in the last six months.

Until recently, the only sweets I'd been consuming on a regular basis was green apple liquorice. That was until I stumbled onto the quiet streets of Newtown and discovered this little gem:



And until yesterday, I think I consumed approximately 203 pieces of this humble dessert:



Who knew lemons could make delicious desserts? I was taught lemons were acidic little buggers that'll weaken the enamel of your teeth. Maybe it's the copious amounts of sugar used in this dessert, but it has kept me company through the recent examination crisis - where I had to memorise the changes of certain legislations and hear my fellow law comrades moan about closed book exams.

I shall be writing posts which contain more meaningful topics in the near future.

Happy reading!
5ft0

Shortcuts for Christmas

My cooking skills are elementary. Christmas is the time where you’re suppose to consume glace cherries, plum pudding and turkey. However, I think I’m the only person on Earth who dislikes consuming all of these produce.

Glace cherries repulse me. Their red or green jelly appearance makes me feel ill. They don’t resemble or taste anything like cherries. Even on December 25th, I wouldn’t go near one.

Plum pudding? Its appearance, without the custard reminds me of the content of animal waste, whose diet consists of vegetables and legumes. It’s big and brown and the thought of sticking this into my mouth, also repulses me.

In regards to turkey, I know I can hear readers through Twitter screaming, “But Christmas isn’t the same without a turkey!” This may be true, though I wish I could be consuming other forms of meat like a roast chicken instead.

So I decided to look through recipes for inspiration. Looking at the pictures of food books makes my mouth water. Following the instructions implicity however, is a different story. No matter how many times I re-read instructions of a recipe books, it never turns out the same way it’s shown in the book.

What I should be cooking should resemble something like this:



After reading through recipes to make bolotti bean brushchetta, salmon arancini and pork and chive dumplings, I’ve resorted to doing something which should be considered a Christmas crime. Instead I bought this:



And then pretending I made this all from scratch.

I don’t know why I bother, it’s not like anyone would care. It’s obvious I didn’t make it; I don’t re-stock the fridge with fresh vegetables, meat and fruit. It’s filled with fully-prepared meals and nothing in between. I can imagine my extended family sitting in the table, with my Dad putting on a straight face saying, “This is delicious, Tina”.

Has anyone taken drastic short-cuts to shorten Christmas preparations? Or dislike certain foods which were only meant to be eaten during Christmas? Please do tell me.

Happy reading (& a very Merry Christmas!)
5ft0

**Pictures courtesy of Better Homes & Gardens

I'm being up myself again - another blatant promotion

I know I haven't attended to this blog in a while - but I do have a very good reason for it. Other than end of year exams for uni and partying.

I can now finally reveal the project I'm working on:



I'm just so excited that OntheSOS was launched today. I woke up at seven this morning just to check out OntheSOS. It's pathetic, but I'm excited as a little kid on Christmas Day. I lie on my bed, telling myself to act like a twenty three year old and lay back and not think about it. But I can't resist. My mind was swimming with images of beautiful pictures taken around Sydney as well as my profile. I could picture people looking at my website reading intently, or not even give a toss about it. But I can finally see my ideas coming to life now.


Photo courtesy of Jessica Klingelfuss, OnTheSOS

What are people going to see? My name of course! Along with the other members of the team. But still, I can't contain my excitement at the moment.

Anyway, tell me what you think about the website. To see it, click here. I shall write more soon!

Happy reading,
5ft0

Is the concept of originality dead?

There's no such thing as originality. The need to be unique is condemned to be a thing of the past.

As a growing amount of authors, singers, designers - hell anyone who's in the creative field is accused of plagiarism these days. You only have to listen to every second song to hear a melody was taken from another song. Modern day films are identical to copies of classical films, we're stuck with the notion that we're running out of ideas. Ever since history was written onto books, we've always reworked themes to suit the context of our times. However, we may have a certain limit to how much imagination humanity has.

These days, everybody is copying everyone else. From chain store brands copying the latest fashion from the catwalks of Milan at the fraction of the price, to television stations copying each other in genres such as food and talent shows. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It encourages participates from both sides to do a better version of a theme. In recent years, the quality of the copy is either similar or even surpasses the original. It's accessible to the ordinary citizen and may bring a multitude of enviable characteristics. There's no need to chime the phrase, "Copy is inferior".

I prefer watching shows like "The 70s Show" than going through a time machine to live in the 70s, because I feel like it's a boring time for me. While plastic flowers will never die and don't require watering. My understanding of copies comes from personal experience.

As a kid, my parents bought a tea towel which featured "The Scream" by Van Gogh. It displayed all the aura a portrait has, as well as being a humble rag which was functional. It also had a ghosting effect, due to a printing fault. The towel was laid out in our kitchen, unlike the pompous 10 inch bullet proof glass.

When I saw the painting years later, it wasn't as magnificent as I thought it was. I missed the grease and vegetable oil that the man his jaundiced glow. What about the scorch mark that left him with one eye? The tea towel of "The Scream" was far better than the original.

The field of creativity has always been plagued by plagiarism and copy cats. Take a look at Britney Spears' version of Joan Jett's song, "I love Rock & Roll", or when Ryan Tedder used the same back tracking for the lyrics to Already Gone by Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce's Halo songs. Even in Copyright Law, there's no law about copying the idea itself - it is only copying the exact final product which will land you in hot water.



Did Chloe or Hermes steal the idea of the 'padlock' to be a main feature on bags?

In my case, if you copy the exact words or pictures from a writer or an artist, that's plagiarism. If you steal from many, it's called research.

Perhaps, the main aim of originality is to be copied. Take a look at the ubiquitous amounts of Louis Vuitton counterfeit bags sold at the markets, or hidden street corners.

We can delude ourselves to believe that our latest project is original - but most of us are born to copy. Even human nature is born to copy - from our bodies constantly replacing skin cells and blood, to the fact that when we reproduce, they're copies of ourselves.

In fact, we are the copies of our own ancestors.

So what do you think?

Happy reading!
5ft0

The Beast Called 'Real Life'

When I sixteen, my best friend and I had a dream, we detested the school we went to and wanted to leave it as soon as our last year of school came to a close. This plan consisted of us being wealthy in a matter of months of leaving our home town: she’ll be the first person who made millions selling worry dolls and I’d be in New York as a fashion stylist to Anna Wintour.

With the money we had from our fabulous jobs, we would buy every apartment across the globe – whatever we fancied, we could get it.

Even though our lives didn’t pan out the way we imagined, we’re still young. I feel my school girl frivolity is still alive – moving overseas may take a while, but it’s still simmering. There were other things I didn’t expect when I graduated all those years ago, to still be studying at a ripe old age of twenty three.

But what society thinks there should be a certain way to live life? To have a cool job, getting married and own a house by the time we’re twenty five? Are we setting ourselves a deadline that’s impossible to reach? Or are we trying to rush through things because we want to achieve everything now?

Recently, I had dinner with a few friends and all of them were talking about the dilemmas of life. One of them was particularly exhausted after she finished her rant.
“We worked hard at school to go to uni and study the degree we wanted. When we got to uni, we had to study hard to get the jobs we wanted. Then after that, we go back to uni to boost our qualifications. Not only that, but we need to get married. Then once we have kids, the cycle starts all over again”.

Few of the people at the table nodded. On the other hand, I didn’t agree.
“There are other ways to live life. That’s just one life, but you don’t have to live with it”.

“You’re still at uni. Uni life isn’t going to stay forever Tina. Real life has to begin sometime and this is it.”

I think to myself, I’m not going to be a university student forever – but if this is what real life is, it sounds tedious to me. Who says ‘real life’ is all about university degrees, marriage and wearing dull clothes?

Why do we feel the need to rush through our career, marriage and life in general? Do we always need to outdo our peers or is it something more than that?

I don’t hold the answers either –but I’ve observed that people finally reach ‘society’s expected goals’ such as graduating from university or being accepted into a corporate firm – it wasn’t as exciting as they first imagined. To compensate their disappointment, they try another goal such as getting married by a certain age, or some other goal. And again, to realise once they’ve attained it, it wasn’t as exciting as they thought it was.

What do you think?

Happy reading!
5ft0