Blog Hill

Monday, August 27, 2007

Shirley Henderson on Ovulation

My good (older) friend, Shirley Henderson, who I met when she was looking for a place to live, has written this guest post. Shirley moved here to Hobart from WA after a painful break-up with her life-long partner Graeme. She's trying to rebuild her life, by walking new paths such as going to university. This is her story.

I haven't ovulated since my partner Graeme, left me for another woman (her name is Jolene but that's another story). This is most distressing. I miss the sharp pains. The sharp pains that call to me, "Shirley, you are a woman and everything is going to be alright". I long to feel that ache again because, when Graeme left me, he took my gender with him.

If you're not familiar with ovulation, allow me as an expert ovulator, to educate you. I won't go into too much detail because I like to believe that I'm a tactful lady. Unlike Jolene, the bitch. In short, I like to describe ovulation as "my cycle of femininity". I can remember feeling the first movements when I was 6 or 7, which I presume is the normal age for all women. It was at that time, I realised I was no longer a girl but a fully-fledged lady. One of the main ovulatory features is the development of a super-human sense of smell. Needless to say, I dearly miss the smell of Graeme's body odour and Brut, as I'd watch him complete his jigsaw puzzles. Sadly, despite the super sense of smell, I was blessed with, I didn't catch a whiff of my partner's pungent affair.

Generally speaking, men are not able to ovulate. It's an affliction that's been forced upon women from years of oppression and abuse by the rival gender. I've also heard that it originated from the bible; when Evelyn stole the apple from Noah, she was punished by God with a lifetime of ovulation. But I'm not a very religious person, just church with mum at Easter and Chrissie, so we won't go down that path.

A little known fact about ovulation is that it stops when a lady becomes pregnant. Now, I don't want to reveal my age but I haven't felt the signs of ovulation for quite some time. I'm quite sure that I'm not pregnant because I haven't enjoyed the sensual touch of a man for two to three years. Not since Graeme left. But it is my dream to wake up one morning, wipe the sleep from my eyes and vomit in to the bedpan. I haven't taken a pregnancy test because I don't want the disappointment of finding out that I am indeed, barren. That would be the end for me. From what I've hear, Jolene is quite fertile, with child number two on the way. I'm not a jealous lady but if I am honest, I envy Jolene's femininity, but I can't blame Graeme for picking a well-endowed, beautiful fully-functioning ovulatory woman over an old chook like me.

It might sound strange but I would dearly love to experience that calling from the overies again. I do try to fill in my days; adult education (I'm currently a mature age student), coffee with Adrienne at the Bellerive Quay, and of course that ill-fated life drawing class where no-one wanted to draw me. Not to mention my new computer and my recent dabbling into the "singles chat" scene. However, one of these activities are able to conceal the fact that I am not currently ovulating.

I would love some advice from all you women out there in the cyber web. What can I do to achieve ovulation again? Or to feel like a woman again?

Alternatively, If you have any questions about ovulation, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

Another Celebrity Blogger

A Few More Hopefully Familiar Faces





Thursday, August 23, 2007

Some Peeps



I did these caricatures of people I know in Bible Study last night. Most are from memory. See if you can guess who they all are (hint: all except no. 7 go to Crossroads Church). Bonus points if you can answer the Bible Study questions.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Power Colour

Your Power Color Is Gold

At Your Highest:

You are engrossed in passions that mentally stimulate you.

At Your Lowest:

You seek thrills and neglect what's important in your life.

In Love:

You see dating as adventure and approach it with an open attitude.

How You're Attractive:

You passion for life makes others passionate about you.

Your Eternal Question:

"Am I Having Fun?"

Brain Colour

Your Brain is Green

Of all the brain types, yours has the most balance.
You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver.
You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns.

You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

No touchie, Kevie.

The best way to wear your Kevin '07 T-shirt...



Kevin 07, stairway to heaven...

Italian Stallion...

You Should Date An Italian!

You love for old fashioned romance, with an old fashioned guy
An Italian guy is the perfect candidate to be your prince charming
If your head doesn't spin enough, just down another espresso with him
Invest in a motorcycle helmet - and some carb blocker for all that pasta!

This Is Your Life

The Movie Of Your Life Is Film Noir

So what if you're a little nihilistic at times?
Life with meaning is highly over-rated.

Your best movie matches: Sin City, L. A. Confidential, Blade Runner

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Gay childhood icon??

You Are the Very Gay Peppermint Patty!

Softball is the huge tipoff here...
As well as a "best friend" who loves to call her "sir"

It'll only take a minute...

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

Hey there Ma'am would you like to take a personality test?

Your Personality Profile

You are elegant, withdrawn, and brilliant.
Your mind is a weapon, able to solve any puzzle.
You are also great at poking holes in arguments and common beliefs.

For you, comfort and calm are very important.
You tend to thrive on your own and shrug off most affection.
You prefer to protect your emotions and stay strong.

Monday, August 13, 2007

What's Brewing

I'm been thinking about this for a long time but I haven't said much about it yet.

However, I think now is the time to write my manifesto:

McNaturalSelection & McEvolution: Problems with the Paradigm. Coming soon.

I think I've hyped that up a bit too much. I haven't even written it yet...

Courage

"That was really brave of you, Shy", said my big brother Lukie,"to run out there and grab the animals near the end." Doing so scored me some bruises. It didn't feel brave, I was just doing what I had to do to win the game.

Crouching behind the inflatable barriers and hearing the paintballs rattle above us, just two choices occurred to me. I could 1) be a coward and huddle in safety firing a few shots and hoping others would run out and complete the mission and win the game for me. This feels like the most natural choice OR 2) shift my paradigm, change my mental state and do what seems completely unnatural and run out in the line of fire and onto enemy lines, because if I don't I can't expect anyone else to do so.

Then I realised that's all bravery is. No one is born brave. Bravery is just a choice you make. It's almost clinical, and devoid of emotion. "Just do it." Courage is not an emotion, it is found in action.

Not that I often do brave things. I hate the cowardice in me. That I'm always self-censoring. That I seek comfort like a cat.

Mikey did a kick-ace sermon last night. He talked us through the parable of the Good Samaratin. If we are followers of Christ we will choose to acts of mercy and give of ourselves. To see someone in need on a dangerous stretch of the road and go and help them, to take them to safety - that's brave.

Of course just to honour the value of bravery isn't the reason we should help someone in need. But if your excuse for not biting the bullet and showing mercy is that it feels unnatural or uncomfortable or out of your sphere of desire or whatever, then you don't have a very good reason for not showing compassion.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Would You Trust Me With Your Children?

Have you seen the Hobart airport recently?



Well, now you have. It looks like a real airport now.

Here's a salad I made in Melbourne at my brothers' place. Baby spinach, cashews, feta, grape tomatoes, avocado and roasted pumpkin (plus chicken, if you wish). Add balsamic vinegar.


This is my cousin Phil (from England. Alex's little sister, for those who have met her) with said salad.


In Melbourne we played paintball. When a paintball hits you and doesn't splatter, it hurts like hell, and delivers these bruises:


I have a few more of these, but it would put us in a compromising situation if I showed you. Paintball "markers" (guns in PC) are classified as weapons, so we had to sign a waiver and were outfitted in starship trooper gear. I wouldn't want to wear it on a real battle field. Instead, a light weight Kevlar vest would do just fine. I don't know how the boys do it in fatigues.


I drew these for the Cornerpebbles to colour in. We did the story of the Garden of Eden.

"Where did evil come from?"

"I don't know the answer to that question."







Getting the theology right is tough and a huge responsibility, with fragile souls in our care. I need to pray for Cornerpebble more than I do.

Note the theology in the second drawing above. Adam looks on, failing to stop Eve from disobeying God, thus committing the first sin by not taking responsibility for his wife's actions.

People of Hobart: Man About Town...

...of a very different kind.



This guy is omnipresent. Or maybe he's following me around.

Tell me if you've seen him. Pryderi thinks he looks a bit like Jeff Daniels, although I haven't drawn him to look like the Dumb and Dumber co-star.

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

I'm posting a lot tonight.

I want to take an informal survey, which is ultimately about me, like this blog is.

Has anyone else who has studied philosophy and took it seriously, in particular when they were young and at university, found that it has made them apathetic? Or at least accentuated your tendencies to burn bridges more? I dunno, I just find I seem to care about stuff less than my friends do.

The apathy wasn't sudden, but came in Kuhn like stages, where I questioned the paradigms of conventional wisdom. And when I found that one wasn't necessarily true, more conventional wisdom unraveled. I guess it's because a philosophy course will usually take you through Cartesian skepticism, and when you're young and impressionable, you take this on as mode of thought. You find yourself thinking: "people think X is true of human nature/people's preferences/social convention/etc, but where's the proof for that? No one has provided a good argument for it? Not-X is equally possible, but people just accept X because it is popular opinion, and popular opinion is not good grounds for accepting anything." And since you find both X and not-X equally possible, you find yourself disbelieving both of them.

I guess I'm just explaining the practical manifestation of taking on philosophical skepticism. It's a also a defense mechanism. The less you care, the less you get hurt.

I'm actually at a point of apathy right now where I don't even flinch when the phone rings.

Well, they're my thoughts tonight. In the clarity of the morning light I'll probably recant, but for now...

Monday, August 06, 2007

A Lovely Old Bird

Homebody

I'm going to Melbs tomorrow. Whenever I'm about to go somewhere, I get cold feet, as if it's a huge hassle to go holidaying. And when I arrive, I feel uneasy for a few hours and pine to be home like a little kid. It's probably Freudian; have you noticed how babies cry when they're first in a new place?

Does anyone else experience this?

The Great Fight


Girly Man: Hey Mark, wanna massage later? I'd feel really good about that.

Marky Mark: Go choke on herbal tea, you chickified excuse for a man. I am heterosexual!