a very sgp christmas

Just a few close friends from high school - more like sisters really - and a lot of good food. There's nothing more that I'd really need to have a great time. It takes me back to those carefree lunchtimes back at school where we just ate, talked, tried to finish the homework due next period and simply enjoyed each other's company. We were all unique, with our own interests and goals - but those differences were the things that brought us together and kept us together this year when we all went our separate ways to gain the skills, knowledge and experience we needed to do whatever it was that we had our minds set on. And although our busy schedules only allowed us to meet rarely, its nice to know that when we are together, it feels just like it did back then.

This post by the way will showcase some of the first publicly shared photos taken by Felix, my Samsung WB500, all resized of course.

So, the Christmas party was held at Chel's house, most likely because she did most of the work and its the easiest for everyone to get to. I was told the night before to come early and help her set up - and to prepare the salsa for the nachoes. So, at about 0900hrs on the 22nd of December, I showed up on her doorstep bearing salsa ingredients, a two-tier cake stand and two bottles of wine. Believe me, it was a little difficult to get it all there via public transport, but I managed =]

She gave me the rundown of the menu, and my mouth was already watering in anticipation of lunch. We prepared the table for all the food that was to come and got to work on the chicken and salsa while snacking on the chocolate covered cherries. And I set up the cake stand - it was hard work trying to put the cherries, strawberries and cupcakes on the stand and not in my mouth. Kass then showed up at about 1000hrs bearing the cake, and we both made suggestions regarding the chicken: "dude, put butter on it", "no dude, more" - all the while Chel was saying that she'd blame us if it turned out bad. Good thing it didn't, eh Chel?

In time, the others began arriving with their contributions: El and her potato salad, Jackie and the Caesar salad with homemade croûtons, Mariel and her pretty chocolate cupcakes. All who were left were Zari and Megz, bearing wine and buffalo wings. Lunch was set to be served at 1130, but of course that wasn't going to happen. You see, we have running history of never going anywhere on time. This was never pinned on just the one person, for we have all been guilty of being late. However, being late when the others are seated infront of food which smells delicious was not the best thing to do. It was almost torture to sit there and not consume anything but the appetizers while we waited - after all, it was the polite thing to do, to wait for the rest of the guests.

Mariel's very prettily iced chocolate cupcakes

THE MENU.

Appetizers

Sausage Rolls

Meat Pies

M&M's

Starburst Snakepit Snakes

Starburst Gummi Fruits

Starburst Party Mix

Nachos

Mains

Buttered & Herbed Roast Chicken served on top of Roast Potatoes

Home-made Garlic Bread

Lasagna

Caesar Salad

Potato Salad

Buffalo Wings

Dessert

Chocolate Cupcakes with Icing

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries & Cherries

Banana Cupcakes with Passionfruit Icing

Golden White Chocolate Mudcake

After lunch, we sat around the television like one big happy family. I think a lunchtime special of Beyonce's music videos was on and we sat around, still nibbling on bits and pieces. After a good dose of Beyonce and her body, feelings of regret at how much we ate settled in, which was only quenched by even more food. Which was then followed by 17 Again and Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince, again accompanied by some slightly healthier snacks such as cherries (covered in chocolate) - and took what seemed like a million photos.

We left that night, completely stuffed, but still wanting more. As was said multiple times throughout the day when we went for seconds although complaining we were full, or when we did things completely stupid or pointless like try to recreate Beyonce and Shakira's dance moves: "this is why we don't have many friends" - because we act like total idiots and love food a bit too much.

Dedicated to SGP, to another year of laughs, tears & good times

point & shoot baby

Capture Your Life Like Never Before - the tagline for my new camera the Samsung WB500. Christopher bought it for me for Christmas. Thanks so much =] As previously posted on my Christmas list, I wanted a camera: the Canon IXUS 95 IS in orange to be exact (because it was orange). After looking around for said orange camera and finding none, I went and searched for another: the Canon IXUS 200 IS in all its gold and black touch screen glory. Alas, another one that I could not find anywhere. But after watching Avatar in 3D (great film btw guys, totally recommend that you watch it), Chris took me camera shopping. After some time, I tried to find another camera that I liked the look and feel of and came down to two Samsungs: the WB500 and the DualView TL220.

Out of the box with the shutter closed

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS.

Samsung WB500	Samsung DualView TL220
10.2MP 2.7" screen 10x optical zoom Captures HD video 24mm lens MMC/SD/SDHC external memory	12MP 3.5" touch screen 4.6x optical zoom Captures HD video 27mm lens MicroSD/SDHC external memory Self-portrait screen

Awake & fully operational. Look at the ultra wide lens <3

APPEARANCE.

So at first, Chris and I looked at the WB500 and thought whoa! ultra massive lens, and we kinda favoured the TL220 more because the lens didn't dominate the front facade of the camera. It looked a tad bit intimidating, and bulkier. However, upon holding them both and trying them out I found myself warming to the WB500 despite the lower MP (which does not necessarily mean better picture quality), smaller screen and the lack of haptic controls. It was easy to hold because of the chunkiness, it felt comfortable and stable in my awkward hands. The WB500's surface however was much better in my opinion, the TL220's casing was smudgy and retained too many fingerprints for my liking. The touch screen of the TL220 was impressive though, it was responsive and very bright, and the front screen was helpful to aim self-portraits.

PICTURE QUALITY.

I had previously looked up reviews on the TL220 and TL225, and the ones I read said something about the lacklusture picture quality. I tried both of them out in store and the WB500's picture quality looked great. I much preferred how whites turned out on the WB500 to the TL220 - the whites were far to bright on the TL220 in my opinion.

SELLING POINTS.

The TL220's key selling points for me were the touch screen and the front screen for self portraits, whilst the WB500 made me fall in love with its ultra awesome zoom capability, lens size and the way it felt in my hands. Practicality won in the end - I do adore touch screens, but the zoom was just so much more appealing.

The full extent of the zoom

So I brought the WB500 home with me, let it charge up and then began my exploration of the different settings and features of the camera. I found my two favourite settings: manual and beauty shot. Manual lets you have control of most elements of the shot which is great because I like my photos to look uniform. Beauty shot, with the right amount of tweaking makes your skin look ultra smooth, your skin tone even and lighter if you want. A definite must.

I am still learning how to use all of its features right now, but I am enjoying it. I have still yet to name my Zune - so I better hurry up, because this baby needs a name too.

PS. Thankyou Chris =]

good things do come in small packages

Okay, so those that have had any contact with me over the past few months know that I would not shut up about the Zune HD and how much I want it, and how pretty it looks - and yesterday, I finally got it =] I had given up on receiving it from my parents for Christmas when they just didn't seem at all interested in it in all its amazing-ness (my mother even suggested that I get an iPod Touch instead because it was simpler to obtain).

The postman knocked on the door, terrifying me because of its loudness and randomness - no one knocks at that time in the morning, like ever! Stumbling out of the shower, drying off and pulling some clothes on I made my way to the door to find nothing there but a pick-up receipt addressed to my mother. Perplexed, I gave her a call and she acted quite shady saying that she will pick it up after work.

When the parentals arrived back home, mother came in with a package and made sure that I saw it: it was from a cousin in the USA. At this point, I was partially giddy and my fingers were itching to open the package - before I was sure that it was indeed the Zune.

The package - obviously with parts blurred

The box - it's so cute and little

So after the boring administration and setup - software installation and updates, initial charge and such, I loaded the music that was spared from my computer crash a couple of months ago and put this little baby to the test.

I love the user interface - it isn't at all rigid. The menus sort of flip over and back, it's quite fun to watch. In album, artist and song view, the items are alphabetised under these adorable squares that remind me of scrabble tiles (see photo below). I love the navigation - it makes it so easy to flip back and forth through the different views (sort of like HP Media Centre in which you side-scroll through artists).

Not mine, photo belongs to Ubergizmo. My Zune is currently charging and I didn't have the heart to disrupt it

During playback, the screen shifts from the usual boring display of album art, and track details to a dynamic screensaver-esque thing comprised of picture of the artist with rolling text, album art, time and other details layered on top. It's incredibly fun to watch =]

Another thing - I didn't have to compromise my values/preferences to get a fun music player. I got a non-Apple product instead, which means it is different to what others have, which is always a plus. (I promise that I won't Apple bash any more in this post).

To turn it on, you do the usual thing and press and hold the power button, and then lift up the screen (which I have changed to the usual Alice & Jasper tile wallpaper that I have on most of my devices) - and to turn it off, you press and hold the power button and lift down the wallpaper.

The things that could be improved about my darling Zune are minimal. I'd rather that it was a tad chunkier rather than the sleek body. That, and the fact that it was bought before they decided to release the coloured ones - the green one is particularly appealing, although the platinum one I have is rather awesome =]

But my main sadness lies in the social features - in other words, the music sharing and discovery which sets the Zune apart from other media players - are moot here in Australia. It would be great if it could work here - say if I'm on the bus with a friend and they've got this song that I've been itching to listen to. They could send it to me, and I could satisfy my craving for that song. And it's not P2P file sharing either - the license for the song expires, which is good because it will encourage me to actually buy it legally.

So it's safe to say that I adore it - I used up a good deal of the battery today listening to music and playing Texas Hold 'em today. I reckon I will pull a Kass and start naming all my own devices from now on. The name has to be every bit as awesome as my Zune, so it may take a while.

my christmas list

Listening to My Christmas List by Simple Plan, I was finally motivated to compile a list of the things I want for Christmas, and finally put the people who have been asking me about what I want to rest. Aside from my usual Christmas wishes of a great year in the year to come, to continue to be blessed with the splendid people that fill my life, my wishlist begins below.

ACCESSORIES.

I'm a fan of big bags, clutch purses, headbands and jewelry. Lace? No problems here. Feathers? As long as it isn't too over the top. Bows? The bigger the better. Aged metallic finishes? Awesome. Animal prints? Hell no.

The Jolly Post Clutch

ModCloth.com

It's a clutch that is designed like a well travelled envelope. What's not to love? Apparantly nothing because its out of stock now. Boo =[

BOOKS.

I love the written word and I find myself spending quite a lot of my wages on books. I think I currently have 10 books on order at Angus & Robertson and I am eagerly awaiting them to come in.

I read across a variety of genres - from the classics to modern literature, children's books to revisit the tales that taught me to appreciate the written word, fantasy, romance and speculative fiction. I do NOT merely read through vampire novels, despite having quite a few in my possession. I have told myself that I will not place any more books on order (or buy any) until the holiday season is over - for now, I will just keep my shelf on Shelfari up to date with all the titles I want and receive.

Fire

Kristin Cashore

Spotted this in Angus & Robertson a few days ago. I do like the cover (I am guilty of judging books by their covers), and the blurb on the back seemed intriguing.

DVDS.

There's a certain sense of contentment when you pop in a few discs and and just vege out. You know, an all night marathon of some really sappy and cheesy chick flicks or that series that you just cannot get enough of. Sure you can stream or download them, but there's a certain satisfaction to actually having the discs don't you think?

Kyle XY Seasons 1 & 2

Kass (Kassy_) and myself found the Season 3 DVDs in Penrith and we just had to buy them, however it turns out that our Season 3 was really just Episodes 14+ of Season 2. Me thinks it was because they wanted to keep the DVD cases in that normal size. The real third season apparently is not available in Australia at the moment, so we will just have to wait.

Greek Seasons 1 &2

Just started getting into this series and I say, it is quite interesting. I must point out though - does Rusty look a teensy bit like Jackson Rathbone in the OC?

GAMES.

I love my Wii, I really do.

Guitar Hero 5

Yeah, sure the Wii versions of the Guitar Hero titles seem to have fewer songs than their XBox and PlayStation counterparts, but I only have a Wii (I've been a Nintendo fangirl since the age of three).

PRINTS.

I like pretty things, and during this extra long holiday I have, I plan to renovate my room - and what could be better than getting some art to spruce things up?

One of my favourite bands, Fightstar had this awesome album art in the their first two albums by a guy named Daniel Conway. You can find some of his work on his DeviantART and his website. Aren't they pretty? And they fit in with the orange, chocolate, cream and blue palette I have in mind.

Scarlet Wind

16x16" Fine Art Print in an Espresso Art Block Frame

A crop of this was used Fightstar's Grand Unification Album booklet - from memory I think it was for Hazy Eyes.

Her Silent Silohuette

12x18" Fine Art Print in an Espresso Art Block Frame

Used as the Grand Unification Album cover, and the topic of an Extension English essay in Year 12.

SHOES.

I have a slight weakness for shoes, and not the stereotypical female sense (in other words heels). What I do have a weakness for is sneakers of all various shapes, brands and colours.

I think that Converse Chuck Taylors are a staple in my wardrobe, and the three pairs in my possession are seeing the end of their days (although the various other brands of hi-top sneakers I have are doing just fine =]). I'm a US Women's 9 (US Men's 7), and I don't really mind what colour they are, so long as they aren't pink. In particular, I'd like the Light Low Tops in white leather or silver Low Tops.

TECHNOLOGY.

Well really this stuff is just me dreaming, or setting myself a goal to save up for. But who said dreaming is a bad thing?

Canon IXUS 95 IS in Orange

Compact Digital Camera

So I wanted a compact digital SLR camera, but figured that it was a bit too pricy for me to think about right now (I must take baby steps afterall. I am new to this saving thing). From what I could gather, this is a mid-range camera, which is fine by me. The main thing is, it was orange and saves directly onto the expandable memory.

Zune HD 32GB in Platinum

Personal Media Player

I am a Microsoft fangirl when it comes to OS Systems and devices, however I was greatly tempted by the 32GB iPod Touch, however as people have pointed out to me (sarcastically, I hope), if I were to get one, I would look at it everyday and hate myself. That is possibly a bit drastic, however I do get their point. It would feel like treason. Who cares if all the music discovery and sharing features become moot here in Australia? All that would matter to me was that my music was coming from a Microsoft device and not an Apple one*.

*I am sorry if I have offended any Apple fans that may have stumbled onto this. My opinion is my own and I do not expect anyone to share it.