Changed da house,
Changed da look.
BTW, my bathrobe's usually pink
and we don't have a fireplace.
Other than that,
it's pretty accurate...
Psst...click the words above to navigate.
Best viewed, unfortunately, in Internet Explorer.
Changed da house,
Changed da look.
BTW, my bathrobe's usually pink
and we don't have a fireplace.
Other than that,
it's pretty accurate...
Psst...click the words above to navigate.
Best viewed, unfortunately, in Internet Explorer.
Ever since God named Adam, and then gave him charge to name every living creature - including his wife Eve - mankind has been impressed with the intrinsic link between the identity and the name.
I've grown up bearing a first name that is pretty special. I have to admit that I am rather jealous of its uniqueness, and I was terribly upset when my friend's mother called to tell me that she had mentioned my name to her friend who was having a baby - and the friend immediately decided to brand her baby girl with MY name. (Granted, General Motors came up with that one first, but STILL?!) I think I actually cried over that one - that was how upset I was. I felt robbed of my personality and identity, unreasonable as that sounds. It was wrong of me, but I was angry with the unoriginal friend of my friend's mother because taking my name had somehow diminished my uniqueness. And how DARE she make me less special.
Same feelings came up when an Ah-Lian shop was so enamoured with my name after an old boyfriend had engraved it on a bracelet, that they engraved it on another bracelet and displayed that on their shopfront. I was secretly glad when I heard they closed down.
The funny thing about names? It doesn't matter how many gorgeous people you've met who've borne a particular name, like Suzy for example. Once you've met an Awful Suzy, you tend to regard that name with some measure of Yuck. (Disclaimer: I personally know no one named Suzy.)
When Tony and I chance upon a name we deem quite dodgy, we'll rule it out as a name to inflict on any poor future kids we might have. We've built quite a list as a result; a what-NOT-to-name-our-kid list. This includes all the names of our old flames; our friend's old flames; our relatives not yet deceased; our friends; our friend's children; Shakespeare characters like Lysander and Romeo; Hollywood Celebrity children with names like Tallulah and Apple; memorable television characters like The Fonz; Canberra suburbs like Bruce, Gordon and Kaleen; work colleagues, schoolmates and general acquaintances that cause(d) us grief, pain and suffering; and names that just wouldn't go with our surname. Like Herbert.
This gets all the more complicated as I realise how much I want a unique name for my future offspring. I honestly love having a special name and I suspect it's actually a pride thing which means it's BAD, but I still would prefer a more unique name to a more common one. Tony, however, isn't saddled with such baggage and would be quite happy naming our daughter Jane if he actually liked the name.
But yes, this has been a good measure of how quickly I transfer the character of any person to his or her name. Case in point: I don't think I'd name my daughter Gail, not because I think my bridesmaid's a meanie or that the name generally blows... but I see naming my kid after her as some weird cloning exercise. Gail will always be Gail as I've always known her. I'd like to keep her unique in my heart.
Likewise, all my run-ins with most females whose names actually start with the letter V have been reeking with bad juju. The only other V names I haven't met are Valentine, Viola/Violet, and Vana. (I know a Vera. Vera is very nice. Victoria, Vanessa and Velma are normal people. The rest make me break out in cold sweat and want to make for the hills.)
So yes... if I want to keep a tally of how many people I ought to agape better, all I have to do is run through this list. Brilliant system, isn't it.
We managed to celebrate Tony's birthday this past weekend; an interesting occurence since Tony really doesn't like making a fuss of his birthday EVER, but this year marks his 30th. The trick, my friend, was not to let him get away with a non-event for once, and yet celebrate it in such a way that he didn't mind the attention TOO much and it didn't embarrass him.
I also had to make it a surprise, because as soon as I were to tell him that a bunch of us want to herald his 30th year with him, he'd try to wheedle out of it for sure.
While I'd be quite comfortable if the congregation sang a birthday song and did a few Hip-Hip-Hurrahs (the norm, after Sunday morning announcements), doing that to Tony was tantamount to making him walk to work in his underwear. It's very ironic that he would marry someone like me who would blog about this, but I try to be sensitive.
What I did instead was to mention in passing that Aileen had invited us to her place for lunch on Sunday, and to make it up to him, we'd celebrate his birthday quietly on Saturday. Even THAT had its little drama because he was initially hesitant about wasting a productive Saturday afternoon on a birthday lunch in a chi-chi restaurant. It wasn't until I faked annoyance that he eventually complied.
Saturday lunch turned out intimate and delicious. We had lunch at The Green Herring - a truly gourmet cottage experience. I don't quite know how to explain it, but the blue eye cod I had melted in my mouth along with the lemon butter, and his beef pie thingy was tender, succulent, and absolutely satisfying. We spent the rest of the Saturday afternoon NOT doing housework and working on assignments and freelance jobs, but just snuggling under the covers and watching 5 hours of West Wing reruns on his work laptop.
Sunday morning, he looked worriedly at the church newsletter to make sure his birthday wasn't on it, winced towards the end of the announcements as he anticipated the birthday song, and when neither happened, beamed.
The afternoon fellowship after bible class was uneventful; a handful wished him a Happy Birthday quietly and moved along to other topics. We had split into classes according to gender, so while he was blissfully unaware in one room, I was tying up loose ends in the other.
It was only until he drove up to Aileen's place and noticed the Chapman's car parked in front, that the side of his mouth twitched as he said, "I think I've just been set up."
And as soon as he walked in, the Chapmans, Kirkpatricks, Randalls, Audrey and Aileen started singing Happy Birthday as boisterously as possible. I think that was the most fun part.
The lunch was simple and quick, filled with weird anecdotes about prosthetic legs, the definition of Thongs in different countries, and health check ups for primary school students in Singapore. He was presented with 3 cakes - one chocolate cherry ripe mudcake, one sponge cake with icing and rainbow sprinkles, and one upside down tupperware covered with 30 stuck-on Mars Bars.
He admitted very grudgingly later that he had actually enjoyed himself. Surprise, surprise...
And that, my friend, is how you bully your introverted husband into celebrating Life. He'll learn to appreciate it eventually.
Radio guy: 3-blah-blah-blah-F-M, this is Graeme speaking, how can I help you?
Me: Hi, Graeme? My name is Velle and I'm calling from the [INSERT 18 SYLLABLES HERE]. How's your day been so far?
Radio Guy: Oh, my day's been alright. What about you?
Me: Yes, it's been good too... for a Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday morning/afternoon/evening
Radio Guy: (laughs along)
Radio Guy: Uh... could you say that again?
Me: Oh, I'm calling from the [INSERT 18 SYLLABLES HERE, STUMBLE TWICE, ENDS UP BEING 28 SYLLABLES]
Radio Guy: Oh... uh, what do you do?
Radio Guy: Good.
Me: (Hears the crickets before filling in the silence with...) That's good to know. I faxed over a media release at around 4 yesterday afternoon... did your radio station receive it?
Radio Guy: No idea. The fax machine isn't with me.
Me: (Waits for elaboration. Nothing happens. Definitely not a radio personality.)
Me: What? It's ringing already?I think part of the problem lies in so much energy being used to keep myself warm. It's getting cold again in Canberra. There are nights that leave my teeth chattering in my head. Tony recounts what his PhD supervisor - a Russian who'd lived just south of Moscow - had commented as soon as someone had complained to him about how cold it is in Canberra.
Me: You must have set it last night by accident.
Me: Turn it off! Turn it off! The light in the room... it's Saturday, lah! Go back to sleep!
Brain to hand: Kill the alarm before Tony wakes, quick.
(Silence.)
Singaporean Chick embarking on
Adventure of Lifetime with
Cute Aussie Bloke.
Crazy turn of events officiated
18th December 2004.
Online Communications Officer
~ Accomplishments So Far ~Still Married After 13 months
Attained Driver's License!
Manual one, too!
On my first try!
Found a Real Job
BOUGHT A HOUSE
Bought a coffee table
Climbed part of Mt Kosciusko
Chilled with Mum
Organised a house warming party
Good health
Good friends
Renewed relationship with God
"A house is a machine for living." -- Buckminster Fuller, designer/architect/inventor
Check out back entries,
predating the emergence of Mrs Velle