parfois...

How hair colour can affect your childhood

2008-09-26T10:27:00.006+10:00

So I'm a brunette. I've always been quite happy with my hair colour, especially now as I'm older. A lot of my friends have actually dyed their hair darker colours to make themselves appear more mature. Some even wear glasses when they don't need them (I do need them and also love my geeky glasses). But I was thinking the other day about hair colour and how angry I used to be when I was younger with having dark hair and dark features. In all the magazines I used to collect (Dolly etc) all the pretty girls in bikinis had long blonde hair. All the models used by Dolly were blonde. The brunettes were relegated to those pre- and post-acne ads. But I suppose they got more of a look-in than red heads.

During my soul-searching the other day I realised what exactly it was that used to get under my skin about being a brunette: cartoon characters. Every single cartoon character that was around during my childhood (think Alvin and the Chipmunks, Sailor Moon, Lady Lovely Locks) was headed by a blondie. They were always the smartest, always got the man, always saved the day. Of course there was also a brunette hanging in the background somewhere, usually as the geeky sidekick who knew the answers to any logarithmic algorithm*

As a result, at school whenever we re-enacted any storylines from the previous afternoon, I was always the default brunette. I was never Brittany, Sailor Moon (Sabrina) or Lady Lovely Locks. I was always Jeanette, Sailor Jupiter (Lita) or Maiden Fair Hair. I know it sounds trivial now - and I have since embraced being the geeky brunette - but it did upset me.

So, I would implore Disney et al to give non-blondes a fair go. Let us be the main cartoon character! Give little girls with brown and red hair someone to look up to, to channel in the playground for a rendition of the theme song. We need more Belles, more Ariels and less hair-discrimination! We aren't living in Nazi Germany where Arians reign supreme!

* N.B. Whilst I have completed several stats units, I'm still unsure whether this term can be used in this context. But it's staying because it sounds complex.

Summer is on the way...

2008-09-24T18:43:00.007+10:00

...And so I took the plunge and bought myself an ice cream maker! I've wanted one for ages but could never justify the price. But as I just celebrated my birthday I actually have some cash and figured I should spend it on something fun rather than saving it.

I already have a whole heap of websites bookmarked for recipes, including ice-cream-recipes.com. I'm particularly excited about the peanut butter flavour, and the boy is looking forward to drowning himself in lemon sorbet. And now I'm sure my mother will be visiting us every weekend. It will be a great summer :)

For those who are interested, I purchased my ice cream maker from Deals Direct.

I'll be posting my ice cream creations in the near future. Firstly I need to write a few essays, move interstate, and then I can resume being a domestic goddess!

If anyone has any awesome ice cream recipes they want to share with me, please feel free to post!

Hello World

2008-08-22T11:48:00.002+10:00

So here I am, on a dreary Friday in Sydney, procrastinating.

This is a common hobby of mine, procrastinating. It is a wonderful thing. It ensure that the day passes speedily, and the next thing you know its 7pm and the news is on.

As a uni student, procrastinating is a good skill to have; I say 'skill' because procrastination - good procrastination - is a fine art. Sure, anyone can waste away their day, sitting on the internet, avoiding their pressing work. But a proper procrastinator never forgets that they are procrastinating; the work that you should be doing is sitting there firmly at the back of your mind, constantly but gently nagging at you. The good procrastinator never lets that little voice of reason and logic get to them - but they never tell it to shut up and leave them alone in blissful silence (except for the clicking of the keyboard). This ensures that at the end of the day you're feeling guilty as hell and maybe, maybe you won't do it again tomorrow. But you always do.

I am currently avoiding a litigation essay on Adversarial vs. Inquisitorial systems. I have absolutely no motivation to do it. It might be the weather. It might be the fact I'm in my last semester of a very long five year degree. It might be the fact that I just don't care that much about whether the Adversarial system is better or worse than the Inquisitorial system. I suspect it is an amalgamation of all these things.

So, this is what has driven me to create my own blog. I highly doubt that this will last; I will not be one of those people who have something to write about everyday.

Parfois is my favourite French word. It sounds sexy; it slips off the tounge like water in the shower, and can answer any question. It is so cool, so nonchalant. So that's why it is the title of my blog.

That, and I couldn't think of anything else!