Ford's new car for young women

Ford has a new car that they are marketing specifically to young women. Is this going on in the US, too? I don't remember which car it is, because although the ads are directed at "my demographic,"* the car itself is boring and in no way more appealing than any other car (but girls won't notice, cuz they don't even like cars to begin with!) But Ford really wants young woman in Australia to buy this car.

One ad features the type of girl who likes to shop and party and go out for drinks on the town. She describes an incident where she was headed to a party in her animal-print, platform heels, and her dad stopped her and told her she couldn't drive in heels. So she grabs her pink sneakers, puts the right one on, and keeps her animal-print, platform heel on her left foot. Problem solved! Except, oh no! Where on earth can she store the other sneaker and the other heel? She couldn't possibly toss them on the passenger seat, or on the floor, or in the backseat, or in the trunk. No no, women need a special drawer under the passenger seat to store their extra pairs of shoes. A dedicated shoe drawer. Don't you dare try to use it for anything other than shoes.

She then goes on to say, "I had to get petrol; I had to quickly swap over." Because God Forbid you get caught pumping gas in sneakers. Oh, the horror!

Another ad features The Girl Next Door, who is so glad that she has her new Ford Whatever because she just got engaged and now she and her fiance can drive to the place that they got engaged (the ad doesn't say why they need to return to that place, but it's the sentiment that counts, cuz you know, women are sentimental.) She then goes on to describe the benefits of the car, ending with, "And there's lots of space, for babies and that."

Thank you, Ford Australia, for considering the needs of young women: shoes and babies.

Now, don't get me wrong. I like shoes. I even like babies! I'd like to have lots of shoes and babies at some point in the future. But I don't see how this particular car is any different from any other car, save tiny sports cars, in the storage-of-shoes-and-babies arena. As a youngish woman, I am not convinced that this car offers anything that I want and can't get elsewhere. I'm also not convinced that my car needs differ greatly from those of a youngish man!

Hey Ford, you want me to buy a car from you? Make one that's exactly like a Honda Civic. Or a Prius. Ooh, or a Lexus IS 200! Love that car.


*Actually, I suspect that I may now be too old for the target demographic of these ads. After all, I am over thirty these days. Also, I don't have more money than sense, which is obviously the type of woman these ads are targeting.

Monday was my first day of freedom (read: unemployment). The plan was to go to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). I left the house in a t-shirt and light sweater, but just as I got into town, it started chucking with rain. I ducked into Melbourne Central, a posh and trendy shopping centre on top of a train station. There was a belt I'd been thinking about buying for the past two months, and I decided to just go for it! My pretty rose print jeans are constantly sliding down and revealing a bit more of my behind than I'm comfortable with, so I did actually need the belt.

While at Melbourne Central, I also returned some books to the Little Library, a volunteer library where you can take books as you please. I love the idea, so I've been borrowing and returning, and also donating books I'm finished with. Sadly, most of the stuff on the three tall shelves is pretty crap, but I'm trying to do my part to add good books.

I ventured back outside and found that the rain had mostly abated, but had caused the temperature to drop significantly. I started walking towards ACMI, but fat raindrops started falling again just as I reached Bourke St. I took this as a sign that I should forget about ACMI, and instead pop into the nearby yarn store, Morris and Sons. They have beautiful, basic, soft wool. I usually buy strange and interesting wool, then struggle to figure out what to make with it. I need to learn to appreciate basics, because they are the foundation of most of the knitting projects I admire.

Anyway, as tempted as I was, the prices were a little steep for my cheapskate sensibilities, so I didn't purchase anything. Yet.

stars in the pavement

tea towels!

I made tea towels! When we moved from Adelaide, I only brought my one tea towel, the Cath Kidston commemorative Royal Wedding tea towel (it's cute, oh yes). But after two months, it was getting a bit, let's say "crusty." So I made some new ones!

Sewing tea towels should be easy, as long as you have fabric, thread, and a needle, right? Probably, for talented types, but for total manual idiots such as myself, a few tools help. Of course, as this was my second ever sewing project, and my first ever sewing project that didn't come out of a kit, I didn't know what tools I would need! The book I bought was all, "cut out your fabric, fold the hems, and sew!" As if it was that easy.

Here's how it happened for me:

August: Get sewing machine from Hugh's mum (it was his paternal grandmother's machine)
February: Get Hugh's grandma's odd assortment of notions (which end up being super helpful!)
March: Get first sewing book of patterns!
April: Buy fabric. Wash fabric. Realise that you don't have an iron.

At this point, my wonderful, wonderful boyfriend bought me a seamstress' iron. Yeah, that's right, he coulda bought me a normal iron, but he fully supports my craftsy ambitions.

April (later): Iron fabric. Cut fabric completely crooked because you don't have a rigid ruler and have never in your life been able to do anything in a straight line. Also, realise that your scissors are totally shit.
Even later in April: Buy new scissors and long metal ruler.
May: Nod, "yeah, yeah, I know" to your sewing book which has crossed its arms at you and is saying, "I told you so," regarding having the correct tools for the job. It turns out that having a rigid ruler and scissors that work and a little blue chalk pencil (thanks, Hugh's grandma!) makes your life a million times easier! A simple task that took ten months to prepare for is finished in a couple hours (it would have been finished sooner but my prowess with the sewing machine means that several mysterious knots of thread appeared on the "right" side of the towels.)

All done!

(P.S. The pictures are pretty awful. Sozzles!)

Strategically-placed leg slit

Oh my gosh, I cannot stop laughing! I can't breathe!!

Hugh asked me to find a sewing pattern for him to learn to sew (isn't he awesome?) So I searched "men's sewing patterns" in Pinterest and this came up.

from Daddy Likey

I don't do the one-word sentence thing very often, but: Oh. My. Word. I am totally making Hugh a pair of those trousers as soon as I have any sewing skill whatsoever.

Exploring Prahran

It is Saturday, and I have the day off! Amazing! Hugh has the day off, too, but he needed to study for his upcoming distiller certification test (nerd alert!) so I left him alone to go explore this great city.

The poster is from the BEST PUBLIC SERVICE AD CAMPAIGN EVER! There's a video and a song that go with it, all to remind Melbournians to be careful around trains and trams. Go watch the video!!

I saw a thing on Twitter saying Australian American Apparel are giving away pairs of mesh leggings. I'm not one to pass up a freebie, so even though the closest AA is clear on the other side of town, requiring two train rides and about an hour to get there, I made the trek. But hey, it was an opportunity to explore. A coworker recommended I check out nearby Greville St for hipsterish-ness. I was not disappointed.

There was a great magazine store, Mag Nation, with lots of exciting stationery and gifty things. I was not impressed, however, that knitting magazines were $15-$20. Sure, they're imported from the US and UK, but really!

There's was also a trinkets boutique that had cute vases and ceramics. As my wonderful boyfriend recently bought me roses, we need a vase, but I think his antique cocktail mixer will work a bit longer.

In a clothing boutique, I bought a swingy, sparkly skirt for $29. What a steal! I've decided lately that I need more sparkle in my wardrobe.

Then on to American Apparel, where I picked out some navy blue leggings (it was that or hot pink and I had to chose under pressure!) I also bought a totally impractical but adorable strappy, knit crop top. (Hugh told me to buy anything cute that I saw.) Yay, fun times! But can you see how exploring the city is not cheap? This definitely does not qualify as a Free Melbourne adventure.

A new mission

I was just writing a letter RR, and expounding on something that has been worrying me a bit. I haven't been able to explore Melbourne much because I've been working so much, so I'm excited for lots of free time coming up. But...I won't have any money. Not having money can make it hard to explore a city. When you're out and about, you get hungry. And you have to pay to go into certain buildings. And you see pretty things that need to be bought! Okay, I'm not even convincing myself.

Anyway, I need to make it my mission to explore Free Melbourne. So, yeah. Monday, 13 May, check this space. I think I'll start by returning to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, which we visited when we first visited Melbourne for Hugh's interview. While we were there, I spent ages in the gift shop (sidenote: I LOVE gift shops! Why do people always rush you past them and complain about museums emptying into them? They're the best bit after all that boring culture!) The gift shop had these journals from a company called Compendium which I quite liked, but couldn't quite afford. But I wrote down the name and eugoogled them when I got home, and did you know? They're only $12.50 and delivery was free! So I bought two, one for myself, and one for Hugh's sister.

When they arrived, the box was full of other little goodies with the Compendium brand: a mechanical pencil, some stickers, and little inspirational quote cards. One of them said, "Compendium, Seattle, WA." Can you believe that? I come all the way from Seattle to Australia to buy a journal that came all the way from Seattle to Australia. Just think of the carbon footprint involved in that! But I've been writing almost every day, so that's good, eh? It almost justifies me buying a brand new journal from work tomorrow...

Today is the day!! After six weeks of waiting, we finally have (drumroll, please...) Internets! And yes, I am going to pretend that a lack of Internets at home is the reason I have sucked at keeping up my blog, even though I have the Blogger app on my phone.

{Note: the photos are all from Port Melbourne. I work down there on the weekends and it's pretty fancy. Can't complain about taking my lunch break by the beach!}

Probably the real reason I haven't been updating is that I have been journalling and Instagramming  away and that has been meeting my need for expostulation and validation from the general public. Also, let's not forget that I was never very consistent about posting before the move.

But I've missed reading other people's blogs. I have a feed set up through Blogger that makes it easy to read all the many blogs I like, but you can't access the feed through the mobile app. So I'd have to go individually to everyone's blogs and it's making me tired just thinking about it.

So, what have I been up to?

• Working! I transferred with my retail job (I think I said that already), but I have to leave them in two weeks because I can't work for any one employer longer than six months. I'm a bit relieved, though, because they've been running me ragged! Ack! I need a break! But I'm glad to have been busy for the first couple months in a new town, because I think I might have felt a lot lonelier and more displaced if I hadn't been.
• Applying for a PhD! Er, what?? Yes, that's right. I've had no luck applying for jobs in Melbourne. No interviews whatsoever. I don't know if this is because my visa is expiring so soon, or because the competition is so much higher here, or both, or what. And then this PhD was being advertised, and I was like, "Nah, it's only for permanent residents and I can't afford to study anymore." Hugh told me to take a day to sit and write what I'm passionate about and what I really could envision myself doing, and I realised I'm really interested in health literacy and education. So I searched for a short course that would teach me a bit about health promotion, even though health promotion isn't quite what I'm interested in. Then this same PhD advertisement came up again, and I re-read it, and realised it was exactly what I'd written that I wanted to do. More or less. So Hugh told me to contact them and have a chat about it with someone, which I did. She said that it would be fully funded, even for an international student, if I can prove that I'm an exceptional candidate. I'm not sure if I am, but it's worth a shot, eh? I mean, it's free to apply!
• I did get a lovely email today from my concerned father, saying, essentially, "WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY YOU OWE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT FOR YOUR MASTER'S DEGREE?!" Thanks, Dad, I had forgotten about the $75,000 debt looming over my head. How should I fix this? Oh yes, dump my boyfriend and move back to Seattle, where I can live at home while I choose between all the thousands of juicy public health jobs that are currently on offer in this stronger-than-ever economy.
• One of these days, when both of us have a day off, we're going to "register our relationship" at city hall. It's like announcing that you're "In a relationship" on Facebook, but loads more official. It's something that's only offered in certain states, including Victoria but not including South Australia. And it may allow us to waive the "living together for 12 months" requirement for a de facto partner visa. So although my current visa expires at the end of June, at which point we will have been living together exactly 12 months, I may be able to file my application sooner. This would be good for my stress levels.

I think that's about it for the mo'. I should really get back to writing an exceptional proposal so I can get funding...

More drawrings

Ages ago, Jody sent me a postcard from Loosiana. It had an alligator on it and inspired me to draw the picture below.

I'm quite pleased with it, to be honest. Not too bad, even if I did need to google pictures of alligators. Also, I think it's clever of me, but SOMEbody who shall remain nameless but happens to be Australian didn't get it. He was like, "It seems like it's saying it wants to eat me." Yes, Einstein, that was the point!

Jody appreciated it. That's all that matters.

Then the other day, I wrote a letter to Jocky and decided to try decorating the envelope. There's an adorable photo on Pinterest of a kitten in a bow-tie, so I tried to copy it. The result is not displeasing, I think.

Easter fun times

When I lived on London, every once in a while I would stop and think, "Holy crap, I love in London! This is awesome! I'm awesome!"

I realised the other day that I haven't had a single moment like that in the nine months I've lived in Australia, despite Australia seeming to be so much more exotic and cool. I've had moments where I marvelled at the fact that I'm in a real relationship, with someone awesome, and I've marvelled at the soft sand beaches, but even in Melbourne, I don't feel like I've achieved something big by living here.

But it's early days. I'm still recovering from the move and settling into this vibrant new city, finding my place in it. I'll get there.

I've been working lots, but got a few days break at Easter. Easter is a big deal here. Not like, people talking about Jesus or rushing to church, but it's a four day weekend for lots of people. I was surprised to learn that pretty much everything was shut on Good Friday, including my store. The rest of the retail world and I had to work on New Year's Day, but Good Friday is off limits to retail. And it's a bigger deal here than Easter itself. Hugh pointed out that the important bit was that Jesus died. The rising again on the third day was a bonus. He has a point...

Anyway, I didn't have to work the Friday, Sunday, or Monday, so instead, I decided to get a urinary tract infection that traveled up to my right kidney! Woo hoo! I had no idea UTIs were so painful! Holy crap, I now feel suitably sorry for anyone who gets them frequently. Yeesh. Thank The Lord for antibiotics and painkillers.

Photos: I wasn't too sick to buy a new teapot. Ain't it perdy? And pretty fabric for new tea towels. Jody and Amy sent me birthday presents! Yay, Redneck Life!!

New Books!

Pops and Michele got me an Amazon gift card for Christmas, and I finally spent it. After extensive research, I got 1,2,3 Sew! Each pattern builds on techniques used in the previous ones, and the patterns look like things I might actually make for the house. I'll tackle clothing at a much later date, I think.

On a whim, I also purchased the Meet Me At Mikes craft journal. I wasn't sure what the inside would be like, but I was really pleasantly surprised. I love it! I've really enjoyed using it so far, though I have have a few things in there at the mo'. I was thinking the week before it arrived that I need a vision board with organisational bits where I can write down what I want to make and when I need to do it by, and the craft journal comes with a huge poster with prompts for all that! It's grrrreat!