I took some photos around the neighborhood today:

Stone Wall

I went straight to a car dealer from work last night and found out just how nice people can be.

First, I ended up standing at the wrong bus stop. I moved to the other side of the street when I saw a bus coming and asked the driver how to get to where I was going and if I was in the right spot. He ended up taking me to the nearest major bus port and explaining what  bus stop to go to. Then another bus driver came over to me and explained to me how to get to my destination. When my bus came, he also explained where I had to be dropped off to the driver of my bus. I was running late so I had to call HHRay and let him know.  I asked a guy on the bus if I could borrow his mobile to send a message, feeling guilty. He said “Sure, you can call too, you know, I don’t mind.”

Today I ended up spending half an hour on a bus talking to the bus driver – he let me get on his bus to wait until it was time for him to to my street so that I wouldn’t have to go outside. It was so nice of him, too! We talked about our travels, politics, and tons of other things.

So many nice people in such a short timespan!

After not having blogged in so long I’m finding it difficult to get back into the swing of things. I’ve been reading a lot – and by a lot I mean a lot. I’ve literally barely been able to put a book down whenever I have a free minute. My current almost-finished book is God’s Callgirl by Carla Van Raay. It is an autobiography about a woman who goes from being a nun to a prostitute. It’s quite interesting with some very boring parts inbetween. 

Reading autobiographies recently has reminded me of a commercial for the Army I saw in the U.S. when I was still living there .The main slogan was something like – “If you wrote a book about your life, would anybody bother to read it?” 

If I wrote a book about my life, would it be interesting enough for people to want to read? Honestly, I think so. And if not yet, it will be eventually.

I’m working on some stuff for a presentation tomorrow and my brain is refusing to cooperate. Hopefully the internet will be up when I try to publish this post – must remember to copy the text first just in case. Anyway, I’ve decided to make a quick post.

I rarely read books in the same series one after the other. For example – I read the first book in the award-winning series by George R.R. Martin – A Song of Fire and Ice (the book was called A Game of Thrones).

I am now reading a book from a series called The Old Kingdom Trilogy by Garth Nix (known as the Abhorsen Trilogy in the U.S.). The book, specifically, is called Sabriel. I remember reading this years and years ago, but barely even remember the plot anymore. This is what I like about my forgetfullness when it comes to books – I can finish reading and then start all over again in no time with no idea as to what the details of the books are. I also remember reading the second book in the series, called Lirael – I think it was my favorite, can’t wait to curl up in a chair with that one.

Nix’s ideas just seem so original to me – and I’ve read lots of fantasy novels, it’s my favorite genre along with self-discovery. His plots revolve around a whole new type of magic and he builds his world to seem so solid and real.

Back to work for me, but this series is definitely a must-read for any fantasy lover.

“Somewhere, under the layers of self-delusion and confusion, there exists a God-like being. Stop searching outside of yourself. Stop feeding your ego. Will you passionately dig for truth, or will you be yet another victim of mind? This is the greatest secret of psionics.”

– Sean of http://www.alittleweird.com

I’m watching Australian Idol and Matt just sang. And HOLY CRAP! I haven’t been following the show, but this performance was so much more than outstanding. That one high note will stick in my mind FOREVER. I can’t believe it. This is the best thing I’ve ever heard since Chris Daughtry on American Idol. I can’t even put how much I loved Matt’s performance of It’s Too Late by Evermore into words, which is why this post is so short. I’m sure I’ll be raving about it for weeks to come. He HAS to win.

This makes me want to do something great.

I just watched Three Kings. It is such a good movie. It was a bit funny at the beginning – a twisted sort of humor. Then it became an action film, then it was emotional. Three Kings is set in post Gulf War Iraq, in 1991, during the Iraqi uprising. Basically, President George Bush encouraged the Iraqi people to rise up against Saddam Hussein and then left them there. U.S. soldiers weren’t allowed to interfere.

Three (well, four, really) U.S. Army soldiers found a map in a guy’s butt (seriously, it was in a guy’s butt). They realized that the map led to a bunker full of the gold Iraq stole from Kuwait. So they went out to look for it. On their way, they do find the gold, and see innocent Iraqi civilians killed by their own army because they listened to Bush and are rebelling, but are getting no help from the U.S. The soldiers decide to help them cross the border to Iran. They give out some of the stolen gold to the citizens, who hide it as they’re crossing. Just as the Americans about to illegally lead them across the border (the Iraqi need the Americans to lead them through, otherwise they will be killed), the U.S. Army drops in with helicopters, arrests their own soldiers, and the Iraqi are refrained from crossing.

The main dude (George Clooney) then bribes the main army dude to help the citizens cross over the border by threatening to not release the location of their hidden Kuwaiti gold if they do not. The citizens cross over with some of the stolen gold hidden in their robes, the “Three Kings” are arrested and will go to jail. Then, the reporter who is with them writes a heroic tale about their journey, which causes the three soldiers to each get an honorable discharge rather than go to prison for helping innocent people and keeping a promise Bush made but had no intention to keep.

This is such an awesome movie.