Went to some gardens today, the weather was amazing, gorgeously sunny with the valley below covered in fog.

When in Rome....

Ah rome, I am in love with this place. I am so tired right now, though I just got invited to drinks and the little party lady in me was saying 'go go go' but the responsible course tutor was saying 'you have to get up at 7am and you have been up since 2am'. So here I am in bed on the net which is rather luxurious.
Today has been lovely.
Well it started rather early with a choice betweena bad omelette or spicy fish for breakfast at 2am Rome time whilst somewhere over eastern europe.
Then we had a lost bag, grr. Poor girl, first intro to europe is they sent her bag to London
But then we did a lovely walk to the pincio to look out across Rome. It is so breathtaking I love taking people there, it is so beautiful.
Pictures.....

( I am taking as many pictures of the lecturer pointing as possible teehee)

More pictures... Honestly?! Villa Medici and Roman umbrella pine ( and beautiful blue sky, the weather is gorgeous) San Trinita dei Monti, has been covered in scaffolding and a vodafone ad for two years so is now beautiful. baby cheeses! eat your heart out myer as Bulgari does christmas windows. Romans at their coffee, I just realised you can see my reflection.

Gosh I didn't realise I had been so neglectful. Ah well, christmas, no internet connection at home, cricket etc.

Have spent all day alternately working on a paper (that I didn't want to write, grrr) and watching england go doooown. Ha. Unfortunately Mark has swapped allegiances to Australia (sensible I suppose) so i can't have a go at anyone.
Christmas was good, though I was ill most of the evening and just slept in mum's room while everyone else played a mammoth monoply game, including teaching my 91 year old aunt to play for the first time (Naomi sent her bankrupt!)

Getting ready for Italy, have been assigned 20000000 things to talk on, I have no time, I need to spend wuality time workingout my wardrobe, not reading about the Colosseum (big, was in gladiator, is falling down now, the end.)

I have no spare time at the moment. Poor me. I am trying not to come to uni too much at the moment as it annoys me and is a waste of time. In fact on that note I am going to go home again.

Because an illustrated blog is a happy blog...

Coming soon... "HAMISH IN THE JUNGLE" starring Hamish McGoo and Abi the Brittany, with a special apperance by Larla loo.


STOP PRESS "Crane steals rare tomes from State library in stealthy midday robbery"
Crane later admits he was actually after something more frivolous about dating "The World's 101 best pick-up lines".



Drivers appear oblivious to last weeks invasion of Russell St by Aliens.

This is why boys + shopping for underwear is bad. Or maybe he is also a mannequin, hmm.

I am so bloody tired, I haven't taken any medication for a week or more and feel like rubbish, well today is a bit better on account of waking up to some lovely messages from Finland. Should be working but can't be arsed, might read later and tidy office, need to start moving all my things back home from uni so I don't have a huge rush in December. Probably no casual work this week which is good and bad. Bad because no money which I need for Rome. Good because they drove me nuts on Friday, gah picky picky about everything. Bloody hell we are triple checking things because doing 500 applications leaves room for mistakes you knobs, don't point out every single bloody thing! Even more annoying because nothing I did would have affected anyone's chances of getting a scholarship, instead it was that I forgot to initial one form out of about 500 I did on one day, gah. Then that I didn't initial other forms I checked because no one bloody told me too, or that my comments weren't long enough ?!? Plus the fact that I found errors but just fixed them and didn't run to the boss to point out who was making mistakes. Anyway nevermind, over it. Went out for $10 dinner on Victoria St (mmm prawn and vegies with crispy noodles) Then wine at the wine shop. Had breakfast with Carla yesterday. Bless Gertrude st, one minute we were findling expensive designer jackets and the next I was offered some stolen steaks by a guy outside the milkbar. Went for lunch at wine shop again, oops. We saw Ted Bailleau, how exciting..... not.

Gah I am so busy. My dress (see below) arrived, molto exciting. Fits like a glove, well not exactly it fits like a dress that fits well. Haha. I am doing data entry but the program is broken and the casuals here have filed everything that could possibly be filed so I have nothing to do. Life is all work work work, play gently, work again. Luckily this work is at the office where my friend works so we can have little chats. Hmm what else. I have a symposium on Tuscany all day tomorrow and I have decided to stay in Florence for 3 weeks in February to use a library, very exciting as it is my most favourite of libraries and I can go for coffee at my favouyrite little cafe full of ladies in fur coats and with pastry crumbs on the floor and good lookin Italian barmen who sing and a doggy who comes and eats aforesaid pastry crumbs. I also realised with a shock at 6:15 this morning that it is 6 weeks till Rome with Christmas in the middle and marking to do before next Monday.

Gosh, I hear you say (well if anyone else is daggy like me and says 'gosh') Kat doesn't usually update on the weekend, well its because I am AT WORK on saturday. Not that bad really, only just came in and feeling very virtuous. Have done market shopping, bought nectarines, yum. Went for a swim, did over 30 laps, yay me. Butr I am absolutely determined to finish these chapters this weekend. In other news, I got a phone call this morning at 9:30 from one of my uni colleagues and was thinking something must be wrong. But, it turns out that she was just calling to ask if I wanted a teaching job at Latrobe next year! Apparently she had too much on and two art history lecturers have just retired and they wanted an 18th century expert so they all suggested me! Little ole me! How examiaciting, better finish this bloody PhD now, the subject is in semester 2 next year so still have first semester to myself.

Just broke my ebay virginity, how exciting, bought this dress



now I am worried it won't arrive, gah I want it now.

I realised I have no concept of how much work i should do a day, that is why i hate editing. Writing is better, I could think, today I wrote 3000 words that's good. Whereas now it is, today I fixed up some grammar and put in references and re-wrote a sentence then took it out altogether.

Had a phonecall from a student whose essay is 3 weeks late, apparently it is because she damaged her car and had to get it fixed, for 3 weeks Then she asked if it was alright if just wrote her opinions rather than doing research then she asked if it wasn't that good could she have another try

Horst P Horst.

Society photographer.
















The man himself.















A nude.





























Advert for the Mainbocher corset.






















Advertisement w/Carmen



















Marlene Dietrich

I am so slack. I should be finishing a chapter, indeed I am poised to finish a chapter. But instead I google stalking people.

Photos from weekend.












































































I

hello journal, not much happenin, just work and exercising. I have banned beer andpastries for a bit, but today I have eaten a vanilla slice, and if I go to see lizey tomorrow that will probably involve beer, oh well.
I have to finish a chapter this weekend.


Here are some trees, they are about 1500 years old, very impressive.

In August I wrote:

I also found a conference on Baroque villas in Warsaw next year, so I will apply. I am intrigued by Poland. Things I know about it.

-The old pope was from there
-My friend Cezar is from there
-They have vodka with grass added that bisons have peed on and it tastes... interesting
-Hitler invaded

I know also now that....

- I am going in October next year.

My favourite websites at the moment.

www.pandora.com make your own radio station, very fun though I get impatient and want to see what else it will choose so I don't actually listen properly.

www.bartleby.com/116/ the king's english online!! oh the joy of discovering the true purpose of the colon

Thank god for sunshine. Thought today was going to suck but no, one of my friends here bought me little present for no reason a little hairclip with a 'k' on it.
Had my meeting and feel soooo much better about my chapter, it is going to sub-divide like bacteria and become many. Also talked about Rome with my supervisor, feeling excited, I will get to teach teh students on my own and give lectures and free accomodation, flights and get paid maybe $1000, yippeee.

Also my sister is picking me up a white faux fur jacket from an op shop in blackburn, for $7, I have been wanting one for agggeees but all the ones in city shops are a big fat rip off.

Plus I am sitting in my office in the sun with no shoes on listening to Dusty Springfield.

Let's do something more interesting, like look at my photos of BIG things from my trip. Big submarine at Holbrook THe big merino with double chins in Goulburn The Big Guitar in Tamworth The Big CHicken, somewher en route not oversized, just odd and alongside it.... THe big apple the big avocado at Tweed Heads and my sister sent me this one that i missed because I came home early