General – Page 15 – all said and done

Published February 19, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Creativity is not dead

You don’t have to drag me kicking and screaming from animation, I’ll run with glee. It’s a tedious and painstaking task. Infact I got out before we truly got there.

I’m still skipping out of the world of moving parts and swallowing print media whole. And yet it is movies like The Corpse Bride that leave me with that little twinge of, ‘oh to be a part of something like that’ (same goes for Lord of the Rings).

I saw it last night, The Corpse Bride and loved it! Tim Burton is hideously clever and movie itself is funny, brilliantly directed, animated and shot. It was simply nice to watch an adult cartoon for once without having to contend with your average romantic comedy typicals. Very refreshing. A delightful (in the truest sense of the word) way to spend a bit over an hour. I had a grin smashed to my face the whole time.

General Movies

Published February 6, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

2am Tasks

I seem to have not quite gotten around to going to bed yet. Anyway figured I’d point out that there are a few new photos up on my Flickr account. They stretch back to the tastes-so-moreish-because-it’s-so-amazingly-good dinner that Geoff cooked for me and New Years Eve, forward to the wedding in Canberra. I had a bit of fun taking photos after stealing Geoff’s camera and remembered how much I miss getting that ‘really good’ photograph – the ones you end up dropping into a folder that is more easily accessible if you ever need to produce the stunners. NB. I have only got this in a very abstract kind of way and haven’t quite had the opportunity to flash the nice ones around – at least not so to earn me enough money to actually buy a replacement camera. Alas, the poor hobby must be put on hold. I must pay rent, food, bills, uni-books, petrol and 21st birthday presents first.

General Photography

Published February 5, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

The Issue of Appliance

This afternoon I mention to mum that perhaps I should do a bit of an op-shop/other-shop crawl to get a few more things for moving out. So we did. It yielded some very positive results namely (of which I am most pleased) a pyrex casserole dish thing which – when you are restricted to a very small convection oven is pretty much what you need. Did I mention it cost me $2, and the lid becomes it’s own dish?!

A little pathetic, but homewares do kind of float my boat.

After talking about getting cheap kitchen stuff a couple of nights ago. My mum chimes in with her never ending knowledge of all things shopping, that if you really need to, you can get your basic toaster/kettle/sandwich-press for about $10 at say… Aldi, The Warehouse even Big W or K-Mart. Despite the fact that I do already have such things (inheriting ancient white-goods is after all the cheapest means) the comment my Dad made regarding sweat shops directly after Mum’s low-cost bombshell has left me… I’d say sweating, but that’s too corny – a fraction disturbed.

As much as you can skimp, borrow, glean from op-shops and Grandparents there are some things you wind up buying – or even needing to buy new. I really don’t advocate spending money buying really old tea-towels.

There is an almighty problem when you start to think about environmental/social-awareness issues because it elaborates in to one almighty ball of fire, an appealing one but realistically ugly and enormous. This becomes particularly difficult thinking about it all from the experience of being on a low budget. I am a uni student, moving out of home for the first time and someone who only very recently got their job back, in fact I haven’t even started working yet- my budget is low. Quite low.

Getting home I jump back on trusty Google and attempt to yield some kind of brilliant search where I can get something that isn’t going to leave me wishing I’d waited until I were a millionaire to move out.

To be fair the results were pretty dry.

I did manage to come across Green Pages Australia, and it’s nice to know something of the kind is out there but that doesn’t do a whole lot of good for the monetary constrained student who wants a in-state means to get those practical things that’ll leave her with a cleaner conscience.

Am I overthinking this? Can I justify ignoring it? Is it something you can even easily deal with on a slightly weightier budget? Can I compromise on some things if I only worry about a few? What is a realistic way to manage ethical concerns?

As a side note I started discovering things about ‘green’ graphic design… a whole field of soon-to-be reality I need to explore.

Christianity General Life Social Justice

Published February 4, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

House

Pending a conversation about the all important, life enriching internet access I will be moving out on the first weekend of March!

Not according to prior plans (which is unfortunate because I was very much looking forward to living with Spanna and hey who knows, I might still end up in a place with her some time) I am not moving out with Analise – at least not straight away/this time. I am moving out with Isobelle. Ana has of course an open invite and a reserved spot on the sofa-bed.

Yes the place is small. Too small for three. It’s pretty much a glorified granny flat behind Iz’s sister’s house, but: it’s cheap, it’s new, the bedrooms are actually bigger than where I currently hermit, we don’t have to deal with real estate agents, a bond etc. and we can move in pretty well straight away.

Why wait three weeks or so? Well, Iz is off to Tassie, I have a youth camp and we’ve both got orientation stuff at uni (okay one day) and all that starting up, so that’s simply the way it works best.

It’s a bit bizarre thinking about all. I’ve been talking out getting out for years.

If you have a spare:

Microwave
Wireless Router
Coffee Table
Other stuff

lying around, and it’s not made of asbestos give me a yell.

Alternatively, shoot me an email.

General Life

Published February 4, 2007 by Rebecca Matheson

Mystery of clarity

It’s been an interesting week. Always a bit of a surprise to discover something as an elaboration of yourself. It seems I don’t fully know every bit of what’s going on. It has been a good week, a challenging week in some regards and altogether indescribable – despite pinpointing something new, I’m not altogether entirely sure what exactly it is.
I have been consistently reading A Year with C. S. Lewis which I was somewhat delighted to find on the shelf a few days after my, ‘I’d like to take a class with him’ statement.

“For it is not so much of our time and so much of our attention that God demands; it is not even all our time and all our attention; it is ourselves. For each of us the Baptist’s words are true: “He must increase and I decrease.” He will be infinitely merciful to our repeated failures; I know no promise that he will accept a deliberate compromise. For He has, in the last resort, nothing to give us but Himself; and He can give that only insofar as our self-affirming will retires and makes room for Him in our souls. Le us make up our minds to it; there will be nothing “of our own” left over to live on, no “ordinary” life. I do not mean that each of us will necessarily be called to be a martyr or even an ascetic. That’s as may be. For some (nobody knows which) the Christian life will include much leisure, many occupations we naturally like. But these will be received from God’s hands. IN a perfect Christian they would be as much part of his “religion,” his “service,” as his hardest duties, and his feasts would be as Christian as his fats. What cannot be admitted – what must exist only as an undefeated but daily resisted enemy – is the idea of something that is “our own,” some area in which we are to be “out of school,” on which God has no claim.

For he claims all, because He is love and must bless. He cannot bless us unless He has us. When we try to keep within us an area that is our own, we try to keep an area of death. Therefore, in love, He claims all. There’s no bargaining with Him.”

-from “A Slip of the Tongue” (The Weight of Glory)

I have been thinking also about some lyrics,

“Pray for the bravery
To act upon the kindness of forgiveness
And the mystery of clarity sometimes
Mercy is grateful to go under all our failures
Thanks be to Christ for severity
That’s kissed us on our cheeks”

-from We are a Beginning (Sarah Masen)

I am satisfied in who I am. There is room to move and change and grow. Living with God is not boring although sometimes it seems to take directions all of it’s own.