#9 cities of the plain

This was also very good, but I must read some slightly less depressing stories I think. Although the story was very sad, in a way it was less sad because the whole situation seemed ominous from the beginning, you just knew it wasnt going to work out well - although I kept hoping it would. Also realised too late that this is part of a trilogy, of course the final part of the trilogy. not sure if I should read tehother ones anyway or not bother sicne I now know what happens to the characters.

#58 the hard road

hill top hoods. apparently this is 'skip hop'. anyway mostly its pretty good - not every song, but in general I'm happy with it.

#9 this side of brightness

I really liked this one although it was full of tragedy. hard to remember that there can be so much misery in a life. The most tragic part I think was when the (white) mother pretended she didnt know her black son in front of her boss and work colleagues.
it was very engaging though.

#64 season 4

finally got around to getting this and watching all of season 4. brilliant. This show is just so good. Now just have to wait for season 5 to become available to me at the library. I'm third in the queue. or I could go down to the video shop I guess but then I'd have to see the weird people who work in the video shop and pay, and I probably could do with a TV watching break actually.

#52 basil, parsley, fennel and marjoram

Bunnings was selling 4 in1 packs and since I wanted basil, parsley and fennel I figured I could work out some use for marjoram. when I got home I realised I wanted dill not fennel - they look so similar. anyway, they are now planted in pots and lets see if they actually grow. got carried away and also planted cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, zuhcinni, radishes and lebanese cucumbers. I'm hope at least the cherry tomatoes will work out since they went so well last time. not holding my breath on the rest given my track record, but hopeful.

#48 hairdessing school

so I decided to take a risk and get my hair cut at the Brisbane School of Hairdressing. Although the last haircut I got was fine it was nothing exceptional and I reckon it was likely a student could probably do just as well. When I rang up the girl who took my name seemed to barely be able to speak English and when came in I had to sign an indemnity form releasing the school and its staff and students from any accountability for losses or damages I might incur as a result of whatever treatment they performed on my hair. hmmm, not overly confidence inspiring. still, thats all just precautionary surely, what could really go wrong?
As it turns out the student assigned to me was charming despite her lack of proficiency in the English language (she was much better in her native Vietnamese she informed me), and although the hairdressing school is kinda time consuming with having to get all the supervisor approvals at every step, she did a great job including a very good head massage.
an added bonuses were a lack of inane conversation due to language barriers, she did ask a lot of direct questions in that Asian kind of way - how old are you? are you married? why arent you married yet? - but that was much better than the usual bullshit. and since they're all so busy there's none of those stupid style icon questions or pressure to buy this or that rip-off product or treatment.
The major drawback being that you really have to know exactly what you want before you go in, and I never know that, since I'm still unsure about what will suit me. one of the reasons for this item on the list was that I want to find a hairdresser that does a good job and can advise on what will suit me, isnt afraid of doing something different from what I already have if they know it will look good. The school does however have an 'advanced' salon which I think will allow for more help with picking styles so that might be worth a go next time.

all in all for 10 bucks I can say I left happy, yay!

#60 pabloz

theres only so much refried beans a girl can stomach and after too many episodes that seemed to be Old El Paso sponsored I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that this task was unachievable. Then a new mexican place opened in West End. yay! good food, pretty good service not too over priced and minimal refried beans. without ever having really been to Mexico (I dont think a day in Tijiuana really counts) it seemed more like proper Mexican food. I'm not even that fussy about Mexican food - in Melbourne I'd generally be happy with Taco Bills, but the options in Brisbane were appalling. Pabloz was a vast improvment, yay! I'll be back.

#40 sorting

having a part time long distance relationship means long phone calls, which kinda means sitting around doing nothing for ages. but while on the phone today I discovered I could sort through my clothes at the same time. so I now have a pile of stuff ready to go to the op shop to add to the other stuff I meant to take ages ago, and once I do that I will have acheived #16 too, yay! however, I'm not sure I can count 40 as acheived because although I put a fair bit of stuff I like but know doesnt look good on me in the pile I suspect I have left a a few dodgy piece in the wardrobe that I'm not quite ready to part with. so this will be an iterative process with a tougher stance next time

# 9 morality for beautiful girls

a easy read but quite a sweet story. I think I might read some more in this series but might have to go back to the beginning with the No 1. Ladies Detective Agency