Worth celebrating!

The first day of 2010... has come to an end.  What a frustrating day it has been, frustrating in the sense that I kept experiencing hiccups with my internet connection, which means that my photo uploads were taking forever.  I then proceeded to mow my lawn in the evening but this also took longer than usual as I had to keep fixing the string.  Sigh!

The day ended quite well, thank goodness as I made dinner and it turned out well in the sense that I managed to turn some leftovers into quite a good meal.  I was then reminded of my grandma who could whip up a meal in no time with what she has in her pantry and visitors were always fed before they left.  No one left the house with an empty stomach.

Which brings me to my subject of being a woman...I was reading an old magazine, the Good Weekend, Oct 29, 2006 issue which was The Women's Issue.  I thought I'd pen some interesting thoughts and quotes:

-  "It's very important to be in charge of our sexuality and our choices, but if the choice is to be powerful by being beautiful in the eyes of men who are only interested in your tits, then there's nothing to that."
-  "I'd rather be average-looking and have full control over my intellect than be stunning and stupid.  Then again, perhaps you wouldn't know you were stupid and that would be a great thing, too."
- "Everyone blames women for trying to be a mother, a wife and a worker, but that's a seriously tough project, and many women have no option."
- "Female friendships are very intimate."
- "The ability we have to put up with things is probably both our greatest strength and and our greatest weakness.  When men don't like something, they make a noise."
- "Some women cling desperately to their marriages not because of the stigma of divorce, ... but because they have no sense of identity other than through marriage."
- the life expectancy (2006 est) of an Australian woman is 83.52 years.  The Afghanistan woman has a life expectancy of 43.53 years.
- in a survey conducted by the UK Harper's Bazzar, one in 10 British woman said she spent more than 1000 GBP on shoes in the past year and 8 per cent of women own more than 100 pairs of shoes.
- "Shoes give you instant uplift.  It's surgery without the knife.  Heels transform the way you walk and carry yourself.  You come over all womanly because you are forced to stick your butt out in one direction and your breasts in the other."
- "Growing older can focus the mind and give you the confidence to pursue activities or hobbies that have no concrete goals other than providing a deep-seated feeling of contentment."

I think that women are very versatile but by the same token we need to retain our own identities, love ourselves for who we are, have our own self worth and be surrounded by girlfriends who will inspire us, be honest with us and to spur us towards the finishing line.  Go girls!

Welcome 2010! Happy New Year!

Sydney ushered in the new year with a bang!  This year's theme is Awaken the Spirit and Sydneysiders were asked to celebrate Sydney's Spirit by wearing a touch of blue representing our blue harbour and stunning blue sky.  The fireworks were designed to represent the Stars of the Southern Cross... what a spectacular night!

The day started off being cloudy with expectations of showers.  However as the night approaches, there was no sign of rain, however it was very windy.  I was at a friend's house at Darling Point.  There were road blocks this year and unless you are a resident, cars were not allowed to go through.  People were strolling in to the park nearby with their picnic baskets.  The park nearby (which families had to pay this year to attend) was an alcohol free zone.  There were also quite a few parties in the various apartments in the surrounding area.

I wished I was out on one of the boats which were circling the harbour though... and the usual flotilla of boats parade around the harbour was very appealing.

As usual, there was the 9pm fireworks, followed by "teasers" at 10pm and 11pm and the finale at 12 midnight.  The harbour then came alive with colours of red, green... this year's fireworks was apparently the most complex to stage, using computer microchip to achieve the rare blue colour.  About 4.500 kg of fireworks were "fired" from 4 barges around the harbour.

As I was writing this, Paris ushered in the new year with less bang on the Eiffle Tower opting instead for a Twinkling Eiffle Tower... on the pretext of saving money as well as for reasons of rioting.  Hmm... wonder if Sydney will be able to have as big a party without our $5m fireworks and would our $$ be put to better use?