I am amazed how coherent I am late at night. I got off the computer about quarter to 1 last night after having stayed up (and stayed home from Focus) doing this stupid essay on defamation laws and free speech which is due on Friday. And I won't be home much today because it's David's birthday and we're going out tonight.

 

So anyway, I'm up late doing this assignment (and getting distracted by Prison Break, Lost, Spicks 'n' Specks and New Inventors- I have missed so many good shows while being at Focus Wednesday nights), just rambling on patching this essay together. I'd done quite a bit of research on it, so had heaps of quotes and real info to put into it which made things easier, and then I managed to fluff it out some more. Turns out it's only like 800 words (still have about two paras to go), but it needs to be about 2000.

 

Anyway, I manage to throw some more random 'linking' sentences in there and a few more summary sentences, do another paragraph and a half, manage to get it up to 1200 words. Right. Had enough for now. I re-read it... (remember, I wrote- and re-read- this at 12:30am) and basically thought, that is rubbish and sounds crap, it doesn't sound like a coherent essay. Not to mention there was a whole paragraph on a topic I knew had a purpose and meaning but for the life of me couldn't remember what it was supposed to be. Thought I'd leave it there, re-read it in the morning when I'd know what I was doing when I fixed it up.

 

So I got to uni today, open up my essay and begin reading. Get half way through and think "this is making sense! This is ridiculously coherent..." No, it wasn't finished, but what I had done, made sense. Turned out the only real changes I had to make to what I'd already done was simply rearrange some paragraphs and so change the linking sentences, and add a few lines into that paragraph whose purpose I couldn't remember but now could to make it explain itself.

 

Nice. I then finish writing the essay/ conclusion thing, rephrase a few things, and I'm at 1600 words. Not bad.

 

I may stick another paragraph in there, however I'll have to think about that one a bit more... don't know if I can be bothered :P

 

In other news, I have a 15 minute seminar to give next Friday for the same subject as this essay which is due tomorrow!!! Aaaargh. *Stab* And I haven't started it. Coz I've been doing THIS one!

 

But anyway. That's my surprisingly coherent ramble for today.

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*Shameless plug* http://maria87.deviantart.com <-- New stuff on there!

They name cyclones alphabetically. So this one was Larry, the next one will start with M. Cyclone Wati was named by the Fijian met. bureau, hence it doesn't start with M, and I'm guessing Floyd was named by the Indonesian met bureau.

 

*Scowls*

 

Well THAT was boring, wasn't it? Stupid cyclone. Ok, not only does it decimate Innisfail, but it can't be stuffed giving us here in Townsville anything of a novelty, can it? Ok, we got some semi-impressive wind in the morning (ok ok I slept through when the actual cyclone crossed over) and we had regular, consistent downpours all day (that was good) but nothing much more. No really impressive wind. I'm not asking for the 290k/hr winds that Innisfail got. Or the missing roofs, porches, McDonald's M's, or the sheds in swimming pools, flattened sugar cane and banana plantations, or the trees in houses or flattened houses. Just a novelty! Like...  we didn't even have any decent-sized branches on the ground.

 

And Townsville got so hyped up over it!! I mean, what the? I first heard about it on Thursday or Friday and didn't even realise the rest of the city was paying any attention, when suddenly at church Sunday morning everyone's talking about the cyclone! I was like, ok, then got home and Dad and Michelle are on the BOM site, it begins to get cloudy, go to Andre's place where he's been watching it on the net, then his Mum is listening to it on TV... then his Mum and Dad went for a walk coz the cool weather was beginning to make an appearance.

 

By this time I realise the town is really hyped up about it. Begins raining a bit. That night, I go to church, practically no-one there, same deal at HJ's afterwards. HJ's have the radio on. People being evacuated from Cardwell, Bluewater, Black River, Northern Beaches. People talking about massive storm surges while the cyclone is still 10 hours away!!! Still raining on and off. Virtually empty, windows all taped up. Get home, it's raining on and off, parents have the radio on, Dad's watching the cyclone on the net again. Pricey and Harro have made a special appearance on 4TO for the cyclone watch. I'm still like what the? The cyclone is still 10 hours away, there are NO storm surges yet, why are people being evacuated within Townsville? Cardwell or Innisfail or Mission Beach I could understand.

 

Anyway, so after all this hype, I'M finally excited about it- and then it doesn't even HIT. Well, we do get the outside of it, but nothing spectacular. MEH.

 

Sorry to Innisfail people. Don't think that I'm not grateful over the fact my house is still standing or that I still have power and running water, and that my town hasn't been destroyed. I am. I'm just whinging about the hype our town put up for no reason when even I could tell none of it was necessary.

 

Oh, and then some IDIOT was out doing donuts in his car and smacked into a power pole, apparently taking out the power lines. Must have hit it pretty damn hard.

 

And now the country is putting up a big fuss and they're all "oh poor North Queensland" when Townsville is sitting here in the background just like "Meh".

 

I'll bet the aftermath of Cyclone Larry gets nowhere near the media attention in the US as Hurricane Katrina did in Australia.  And Larry was a more intense storm than Katrina. Was worse than Tracey back in the 70's too. (Less damage, but a worse storm. Buildings are better these days.) But Katrina victims are sending aid for Larry victims, which is kinda cool :)

 

So that's my little rant. :P

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*Shameless plug* http://maria87.deviantart.com

Had to lol @ the name. Veggie Tales fans out there will get it.

 

For non-Townsvillians out there who don't know what's going on, or for those Townsvillians who are living under a rock under their bed with the music up really loudly...

~ Cyclone Larry is a Category 4 (Cyclone Tessi 6 years ago was a Cat 1 for those who were around for her. Althea, which was back in the 70's, known as Townsville's worst cyclone, was a Cat 3 or 4.)

~ Very close to becoming a Cat 5

~ About 10Hpa off the intensity that Hurricane Katrina in Florida was

~ Is cruising towards Innisfail/Mission Beach, possibly turning a little south

~ Possible 4m storm surges closer to the affected region tomorrow (ie. there are NO 4m surges YET, most certainly NOT near Townsville.)

        * Just received warning for T'ville residents about a higher tide

~ Most of Cardwell has been evacuated

~ A lot of Townsville's northern beaches are being evacuated

~ All public and Catholic Schools are closed tomorrow (as well as uni.)

~ Is being called North Queensland's worst cyclone ever.

~ Winds 280 k/hr

 

And I'm having a whinge to people coz it's hardly even raining at my place! Boring!!

 

Will update more later if something interesting happens.

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*Shameless plug* http://maria87.deviantart.com

No, the name isn't what it implies. I have not run out of Mars Bars.

 

Instead, I'm doing an assignment on the PR campaign that MasterFoods ran after the Mars Bar/Snickers crisis last year. Everyone remember it? How some random threatened some company with poisoning Mars Bars and Snickers? (It wasn't MasterFoods). Well anyways, yes, I'm doing an assignment on the PR campaign that they ran throughout the whole deal. I was wondering if anyone can remember some of the stuff they did. I can't really. I didn't pay much attention at the time.

 

What I DO know is this...

~ They sent complimentary boxes of Mars bars and Snickers to newsrooms throughout NSW once the chocolates had been reintroduced onto the market

~ The CEO Andy whats-his-name was on every second news program saying how they were recalling everything and destroying all the possibly poisoned chocolates

~ They alerted the media as to when and where the destroying of the chocolates would take place

~ They handed out free samples in front of movie theatres when they reintroduced the chocolates

 

This is what I've learnt through research. Was just wondering if anyone could remember anything else?

 

Thanks :)

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*Shameless plug* http://maria87.deviantart.com

Wow.. yes Sharon, you ARE sad... and I must be too for filling this thing out!! It's WAY too long!!!

 

BASICS

1. Your name: Leah

2. Single?: No

3. Want to be?: Nope, not at the moment :)

4. Your birthday: 30/12/87

5. Age you act: Uh... 18, I think, maybe a little older, but that really depends on my mood and the people you're comparing me too. Eg. I can act like Beebs who is 20 but I can act like Penny who is 16...

6. Age you wish you were: I wish people would talk to me as if i was 40, protect me as if i was 3, and look to me as if i was 16 <--- o.O that is a very cool answer, but not sure I would answer it for myself. I think I like the age I am right now.

7. Your height: 170 cm

8. The color of your eyes: Green-blue-grey with citrusy patterns

9. Happy with it?: Yup definitely

10. The color of your hair: plain old brown at the moment ^_^ with those random blond streaky things which I never actually put there... (they're natural)

11. Happy with it?: yeah getting a little bored with it again tho, might change it soon.

12. Left/right/ambidextrous?: Right handed

13. Your living arrangement?: at home with family

14. Your family: mum dad michelle (16) david (almost 14) christine (12)

15. What's your job: student lol... oh ok.. "seeking employment"ish... that depends

16. Piercings?: none yet

17. Tattoos?: nope

18. Obsessions?: dunno. dont know if i have any

19. Do you speak another language?: no.

20. Have a favorite quote?: haha where do i start.

"STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP!!" -Jack Sparrow
"If you were waiting for the opportune moment... that was it" -Jack Sparrow
"And Australia, being the loyal suckers we are, said yes, please bomb our country" - Mr Bellocchi
"That's not even a tree! Oh, what, it's green, and clearly anything that's green must be a tree? What about frogs? They're green and they're not trees, are they?!" - Justin

"On Tuesday, I got out of PT, went to the gym, looked at some weights... went back to the sports centre, left again, went back to the gym-"
"And looked at some more weights?"
"-went back to the gym, walked past the gym..." - Justin and me

21. Do you have a webpage?: www.freewebs.com/lilabearsworld/ and http://maria87.deviantart.com

22. Do you live in the moment?: hope not

23. Do you consider yourself tolerant of others?: generally

24. Do you have any secrets?: yeah a few i spose

25. Do you hate yourself?: no

26. Do you like your handwriting?: yeah if i'm being neat

27. Do you have any bad habits?: yes.

28. What is the compliment you get most from people?: umm... cool eyes lol? i dont know. compliment i get the most often, probably that i look beautiful/nice from Andre and Joel

29. If a movie were made about your life, what would it be called?: i have no idea

30. Can you sing: yeah. when i dont have a cold like the one i do at the moment.

31. Are you a daredevil?: kinda

32. Are you passive or aggressive?: both. i can be both passive and aggressive.

33. If you could change one thing about yourself?: dont know

34. There are three wells - love, beauty and creativity. Which one do you choose?: Love... love is like oxygen, love is a many splendoured thing, love lifts us up, all you need is love! ok.. *quits quoting moulin rouge...*

35. How do you vent?: crying, singing, playing piano, praying

36. Do you think you are emotionally strong?: oh that depends, i have my strengths and weaknesses depending on what/who is affecting me

37. Is there anything you regret doing/not doing in life?: i spose God has a purpose for everything, and i can see the lesson learnt in certain thigns, but i'd have to say yes.

38. Do you think life has been good so far?: yes, and it will keep getting better.

39. What is the most important lesson you've learned from life?: wow thats a hard one. i dont know. use your head not just your heart? heh thats a lot like sharon's...

40. What do you like the most about your body?: my eyes :D 

41. And least?: meh... dunno

42. Do you think you are good looking?: um, yeah reasonably

43. Are you confident?: ish. that depends too.

44. What is the fictional character you're most like?: haha. dunno. probably a mixture.

45. Do people know how you feel?: some people do

46. Are you perceived wrongly?: sometimes, but not about anything major, i think

 

DO YOU...
47. Smoke?: no

48. Do drugs?: no

49. Read the newspaper?: yeah

50. Pray?: YES

51. Go to church?: YES

52. Talk to strangers who IM you?: sometimes

53. Sleep with stuffed animals?: Yeah i have a few on my bed 

54. Take walks in the rain?: YES

55. Talk to people even though you hate them?: dont hate anyone. but yes i talk to people i'm not particularly fond of

56. Drive?: no, but hopefuly will get my Ls soon :P

57. Like to drive fast?: nup

58. Like your voice?: yeah...ish

59. Hurt yourself?: nah

60. Been out of the country?: nope

61. Eaten something that made other people sick?: no

62. Burped?: Yeah

63. Been unfaithful?: in a relationship, NO

64. Been in love?: heh... thats something i want to be very careful in making a statement about... for now, i will say no... i think... :D oh stuff it... YES :D

65. Done drugs?: haven't i been asked this?

66. Gone skinny dipping?: nope

67. Had a surgery?: No

68. Ran away from home?: no

69. Played strip poker: no

70. Gotten beaten up?: no

71. Been picked on?: oohhhhh yeah *_Looks_ @ John and Daniel* NO COMMENTS YOU TWO...:P

72. Been on stage?: Yep

73. Slept outdoors?: Yep

74. Thought about suicide?: um yeah... i think a lot of ppl have and we dont realise it...

75. Pulled an all-nighter?: Yep

76. If yes, what is your record?: uh, like 3pm the next day, but i had about 45 minutes sleep in there somewhere. without ANY sleep, dunno wat the record is

77. Broken the law?: Yeah

78. Met a famous person?: cant remember

79. Have you ever killed an animal by accident?: possibly

80. Stolen anything?: dont think so

81. Been on radio/TV?: Yep

82. Been in a mosh-pit?: Yes

83. Had a nervous breakdown?: no

84. Considered religious vocation?: no

85. Bungee jumped?: No

86. Had a dream that kept coming back?: Yes, unfortunately. and whoever said you cant feel pain in your dreams doesn't know what they're talking about

 

FASHION
87. Shoe brand?: dont know. i've had new balance a few times but thtas not what i have now

88. Brand of clothing?: watever

89. Cologne/perfume?: i have a few :)
90. What are you normally wearing to school/work?: School, i wore navy blue skit with 4 pleats in the front (basketball shorts, sometimes) with navy/grey shirt with school emblem, joggers and watever socks i could find... (*supposed* to be white... i prob wore white socks twice a week :P)

Uni: whatever

91. Wear hats?: yeah sometimes

92. Wear make-up?: hehe YES that stuff is so much fun

93. Favorite place to shop?: target, jayjays, valleygirl, that new ally place looks good, supre has *SOME* good stuff

94. Favorite article of clothing?: hmmm... dunno. my jeans?

95. Are you trendy?: Can be

96. Would you rather wear a uniform to school/work?: Yes

 

BELIEFS
97. Believe in life on other planets?: no

98. Miracles?: Yes

99. Astrology?: um kinda. i would never endorse it now, but didn't the wise men find Jesus coz of what a star told them?

100. Magic?: Yes, but I DO NOT practice it and I DO NOT support it in ANY way WHATSOEVER <-- ditto

101. God?: most definitely

102. Satan?: Yes

103. Santa?: No

104. Ghosts?: not sure.

105. Luck?: no

106. Love at first sight?: no

107. Yin and Yang?: No

108. Witches?: Yes, but I DO NOT support them in ANY way WHATSOEVER <-- ditto

109. Believe it's possible to remain faithful forever?: Most definitely

110. Believe there's a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?: no... :( :P

111. Do you wish on stars?: no

 

WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON...
112. That haunted you?: dunno

113. You wanted to kill?: hehe prob my bro or someone... but not really :D

114. That you laughed at?: haha can't remember. prob andre or heidi or jessie.. (ina good way)

115. That laughed at you?: prob Andre :D

116. That broke your heart?: haven't had a broken heart :)

117. To disappoint you?: hmmm. cant think of anyone who's done that recently

118. To ask you out?: ANDRE :D

119. To make you cry?: um well the last time i cried was about Andre but it wasn't his fault

120. To brighten up your day?: Andre

121. That you thought about?: well after all those questions, it'd have to be Andre :)

122. You saw a movie with?: Andre!

123. You talked to on the phone?: Jacinta?

124. You talked to through IM?: um, Paul, Alex, Tenille

125. You saw?: Mum

126. You lost?: Don't think i've "lost" anyone recently, either thru death or otherwise

127. You thought was completely insane?: dunno :D

128. You wanted to be?: Me

129. You told off?: hmmm. probably Andre lol

130. You trusted?: you can't say "who was the last person u trusted".. u either trust someone or u dont.

131. You turned down?: dont know

 

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU...
132. Smiled?: yesterday?

133. Laughed?: yesterday

134. Cried?: three or four weeks ago

135. Bought something?: dont know.

136. Danced?: again... dont know!

137. Were sarcastic?: hmm probably yesterday. cant remember.

138. Hugged someone?: ANDRE :D

139. Talked to an ex?: dont have an ex. and hopefully i never will :)

140. Watched your favorite movie?: :| I haven't seen Moulin Rouge in months!! MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

141. Had a nightmare?: cant remember

142. Talked on the phone?: friday

143. Listened to the radio?: friday?

144. Watched TV?: yesterday

145. Helped someone?: dont know.

146. Were mean?: dunno.

147. Sang?: yesterday in church and i SUCKED coz of this STUPID COLD grrrr

148. Saw a movie in a theater?: 25th feb

149. Said "I love you"?: cant remember. to mum a few nights ago?

150. Missed someone?: *is currently*

Well it appears the scientist I always bag out seems to have had something intelligent to say after all. Got this from ~GodsLilTurnish http://godslilturnish.deviantart.com

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Did God create everything that exists? Does evil exist? Did God create evil?

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning
challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that
exists?"

A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil.
And, since evil exists,
and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can
assume God is evil."

The student became quiet and did not respond to the professor's hypothetical
definition.
The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he
had proven once more
that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question,
professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been
cold?"

The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man
replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of
physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody
or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat
is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460
F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable
of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this
word to describe how we feel if we have no heat."

The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does."

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist
either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but
not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into
many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot
measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness
and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure
the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by
man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said.
We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man.
It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These
manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does
not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of
God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man
does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes
when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young man's name -- Albert Einstein

A true story.

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Nice. I'm forever bagging out Albert Einstein. :D

Here I am again, ready for another week of uni...

 

Oh, and sorry Marnie for nicking so many photos that I've stuck in my Grade 12 Tribute photo album, but they were so good!!! :D I will have to put some more of my own in there. Hrm. I should have scanned all my grade12 photos that I've now scrapbooked. MEH.

 

Well I'm not here for long... just saying hi and bye and thanks to Marnie... and... yes.

 

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