Okay, it's been a little bit since I last updated here and a totally amazing friend of mine demanded that I update here, so here I am... updating here.

Today was market day, being a Sunday, and so we went on an epic journey to the markets. Well, it wasn't that epic, especially considering the weather. At 9.47 in the morning it was insanely hot, it felt like an oven outside. At least the car had air conditioning, because the heat would have been completely intolerable otherwise. I managed to buy several beautiful new fruit plants... an isabella grape vine, a white flesh grape vine and a baby mulberry tree. The guy who usually sells me the trees and vines now considers me a friend and a valued customer. He can have a whole heap of beautiful and rare fruit trees. I've never heard of a Mallee apple before, but he now has one reserved for me for when it reaches the right age to be transplanted. I'm pretty excited, which is kind of lame, considering they're only fruit trees. He also has some rare varieties of mango and guava coming in, as well as bush lemons.

Here's the Mallee Apple.

The markets were pretty damn hot too, so we eventually retreated back to the confines of the air conditioned car. Then we went and grabbed a few things, six delicious types of imported cheeses because we were running low. Plus the goats milk romano is delicious in an omelet. We didn't do a whole lot else, really. When we got back I made a really tasty looking self-saucing chocolate pudding which we still haven't eaten. We only just had dinner half an hour ago so we're going to wait a little bit before we start on dessert. I'll post the recipe after this entry, because it's a really nice recipe and it tastes great too (I licked the bowl.)

Last week we bought a new bird, an Indian Ringneck that we named Cocoa. He's a curious and intelligent little guy, a pastel green in color. He's only a baby and is hand raised, so we're hoping that we'll eventually be able to get him to talk. The breed is supposed to be really good at mimicry, one of the better birds actually. So that should be interesting to see how it turns out. He's an inside bird like Crackers, as opposed to going outside in the aviary.

When we got back today from our little epic adventure, it started to massively storm. Hail too. I couldn't find Lucy (she was supposed to be outside and I wanted to bring her inside) so I rushed out in the backyard to try and find her. I eventually found her, but by that time I was totally soaked from head to toe. So I figured I'd live a little and enjoy the rain, so I went and stood outside the front in the hailstorm. The hail wasn't that big. Thumbnail sized, maybe. It was pretty refreshing, though, standing out there in the deluge. I'm not sure what the neighbours thought, not that I care. People these days don't enjoy the little things in life, which is pretty sad.

Aaaaanyway, I have written all that there is to write and consequently have nothing much else to say.

Until next time!

Well, as the name of this post indicates, I do not have tonsillitis. I suppose that that is a relief. I don't really see it as a relief, because being sick is being sick. Instead, what I do have, is strep. The treatment is a course of antibiotics, plus gargling warm salty water a few times a day. It can't be too bad, right? Except I hate gargling. It makes me want to gag, or vomit, or something. Anyyyyyyway, this was just the briefest of brief updates, I don't really want to prattle on about my sore throat.

As the title of this post clearly indicates, it is probable that I have tonsillitis. Tonsillitis is not good. In fact, I'm not sure tonsils even serve a function these days other than to make people feel miserable with tonsillitis. From where I stand, even though I'm currently sitting, tonsils seem to be just another bit of genetic surplus wastage from our more primitive days. Of course, I could be wrong. I oftentimes am. To be perfectly honest, it doesn't matter one way or the other. I feel rotten. I have been taking the recommended dose of paracetamol with codeine, and my herbal tablets which have garlic, horseradish, vitamin c and echinacea. They taste absolutely horrible, but should make me feel better if everything goes according to plan.

That is the bad news, and now for the good news. We have been 100% approved for our home loan. That is to say that we officially have our own house now. The settlement date is on Friday, so we have the weekend to move plus Monday and Tuesday because Nessa is going to be taking a few days off work to get this move sorted out. I'm pretty excited, because this is a pretty big thing obviously. I'll be honest. I'm not looking forward to moving whilst feeling this, well, shit. Hopefully everything passes quickly. I'm going to go see a doctor today about getting some antibiotics. That should help me get better a bit quicker. That's if the doctors have any available appointments. One can hope.

Nothing else new to report, besides those two things. Hopefully everything works out good with the settlement, and hopefully it's not delayed. That would suck, but it would also be pretty understandable. I think. Actually, I'm not sure that it would be understandable. I'm not even sure why I wrote that, to be honest. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time. Urgh, I hate codeine. It makes me feel so dopey and retarded. At least I'm not in agony anymore, so it's doing its job. I just want to sleeeeeeeep until I feel better. But I probably won't. Besides, I'm hungry. I might go make some vegemite on toast. At least I still have an appetite.

You can probably ignore this next post. I'm just posting a delicious pasta recipe that I found online, so that I don't forget about it or the website that it came from. I'm pretty dysfunctional like that. Anyway, I can pretty much guarantee that this pasta recipe works and is delicious.

It is Halloween today in America. Yesterday was Halloween for us, but I've never really celebrated the holiday. It was always an Americanized (bastardized) version and the jumbled remnants of two dated and meaningless holidays. It seems that Australia has only recently started celebrating the holiday within the last five years, this year has been the biggest that I've seen. Maybe next year I will celebrate the holiday, with a small handful of friends. But I don't know, I'd rather not be sucked into yet another Hallmark bastardization of a tradition that isn't applicable to Australia.

I am cooking a roast tonight, for dinner. It is lamb, roasted in honey and mustard sauce. Plus a vegetable medley, slow roasted and topped off with diced tomatoes and all that jazz. It should be delicious. You know what else will be delicious? Duck. I know I wrote in here quite some time ago that I could never eat a duck, because of the degree of intelligence that they seem to have. But things have changed. Willow, our second bought duck, appears to be a drake. He is also noisy, messy and obnoxious. Plus he seems overly obsessed with water, and makes a huge mess splashing it everywhere. He's so stupid that he'll stand in his food bowl and eat, then shit in the same food bowl. The other ducks don't do this, and it's so frustrating. We have aptly renamed Willow to "Dinner Duck". The plan is to eat him for Christmas, as he'll be big enough by then.

I suppose most people would think that's mean, rearing a duck and then eating it. But I'm not most people. He's a drake, and won't lay eggs. I got the ducks so they could lay eggs, so my time and effort raising them pays off. Poor Dinner Duck had the misfortune of (95% likely) being born a male, and even if there was a duck sex change surgery he still won't lay eggs. So my investment has to pay out another way. Plus it's a good lesson to the other ducks too! If you make a lot of noise you're bound to be consumed. Life isn't fair, and I'm pretty sure that they'll get over it. I know I will once I've moved on to dessert. I'm thinking of duck l'orange for Christmas, but I've got almost two more months left to make up my mind. Anything can happen in two months.

Anyway, I'd better go and check on the vegetable medley. So until next time...

Just under a week since my last post, and once again nothing much has happened. We did get another duckling, though, bringing our total to three. This one is a Muscovy duck which would have to be one of the ugliest breeds of duck in existence. Her name is Wanda, and being only a week old she's so tiny in comparison to Willow and Wendy who are one and two months old, respectively. Or thereabouts anyway. I'm probably off by a few weeks. Meh.

We heard back from the real estate people on Monday. The loan has been 96% approved, they just need to get Nessa's other property evaluated and assessed. It needs to be at least 215 thousand dolars, otherwise we'll have to jump through the super lame hoops of getting mortgage insurance. I'm pretty positive that we have this place, but like Nessa I'm also very cautious about actually thinking we have the place. A lot can change in a week.

I've been lazy this week, which is probably no surprise to anybody. Least of all surprised is me. But I was surprised at how engrossed I got in that new video game, Borderlands. I haven't been that engrossed in a game since Fallout 3. I probably won't be that engrossed in a game until Dragon Age:Origins comes out. That's not too long a wait, either. Depending on whether or not we get this place, I might have to wait a little while until I can actually buy that game.

I'm cooking tacos for dinner tonight. I'm gonna have mango in the salad mixture, that'll be delicious. Mango goes great on tacos. I discovered that randomly one day. I discover a lot of things randomly. I guess a lot of discoveries are random. I mean, I doubt the first person who discovered fire actually set out to discover fire. He was probably messing around with something he shouldn't have messed around with, and went up in flames. Or she. But it's usually guys that do stupid things like that. It's not always the case, though. There was some sixteen year old girl that was taken to court for lighting fires. I doubt she was the person who discovered fire though, you know.

Anyway, enough rambling for one entry.

-Lexi

Well, it's been a little over a week since my last post. I figured that it was about time that I updated the journal and whatnot, not that a whole lot has changed. There's still no word from the financing people, hopefully we hear back from them soon. With positive news, anyway. Tonight is late night shopping. Nessa and I are going to drive down to the gold coast to shop at Pacific Fair. It's a fair way away from here, but all the nearby shops are bogan-filled cesspools. No, seriously, they are. I'm not really sure if glitzy Gold Coast tarts are any better though, to be honest. I doubt either of them would score very high in an IQ test, as they'd have trouble just spelling IQ.

I think we're going to watch a movie tonight too, it'd be nice. Either Saw 6 or Final Destination 4. What is with sequels these days? Everything seems to have a sequel, following the same bad plotline when time could be more efficiently wasted in creating new and creative plots. It's so great living in the 21st century, where civilization is at its peak with cheesy sequels and remakes of movies that were never any good in the first place. Or worse, movies based on toys. Or video games. Because we all know that Doom was an epic success of a movie. Next they'll make a movie that chronicles the life of a tampon.

Anyway, I've started ranting again. Its what I tend to do. Speaking of what I intend to do, I'm looking forward to shopping tonight. There are a few games I want to get my hands on (Borderlands, Tales of Vesperia and Brutal Legend). I'll probably only get the first two tonight though, I also want to find a swinging chair thingy. I've no idea what they're called, but they're usually for sale for about 200 dollars. I probably won't get that tonight either, though. We'll see. It depends if I find something I like, really.

Anyway, it's time for a nap.

Lexi.

So, I'm not really sure how long of an entry this is going to be. I don't have any exciting news to update anyone with. The animals are doing great, we have so many when you think about it. Six birds, two ducklings, two guinea pigs and a dog. They're all good and fine, as am I. We might actually have a house, it's 95% likely but subject to finance. It's a beautiful 3 bedroom highset home on a quarter of an acre, with a saltwater swimming pool and a massive downstairs area. It even has black marble tiles, chandeliers and polished wooden floors. It sounds very fancy but in all honesty the backyard needs to be fixed massively, and there is a fair bit of work to do with the downstairs area and fence renovation. But it's a great start. In saying that, I also don't want to get my hopes up high because of the five percent chance that we don't get it. Either way, the owners have our written offer.

It'll be good to have our own place again, and our own space. It was great that Michele and Sharon had us here as long as they did, but they need their own space as much as we do. I see my psychiatrist tomorrow, he's a really good guy. He's all the way down on the Gold Coast though, which is quite a drive from here. He's worth the trip though, considering I've been seeing him the last three years. Time slips by silently, when you're not watching it with a wary eye. Nessa and I will probably do some shopping whilst down on the Gold Coast, they have some really nice shops down there. Although, I have to admit that we'll be tight with money for awhile until we know whether or not our house is ours.

Today once marked an important day in the family calender, and ordinarily thinking about it would make me depressed. But I came to the realization that I shouldn't care anymore, sometimes you just need to move on. I should probably call mum at some stage, though, to see how things are going with her. It's been awhile since we last spoke, and she was saying that she was wanting to come up this way for a visit. If all goes to plan then she can come up here and see our new place. If not then I guess we'll come to that bridge when we get there. As for dad, I'm not sure. I haven't spoken to him for some time now, and am not even sure if I should contact him. But yeah, long story.

I don't have a whole lot more to say today, overall my mood is pretty stable. I'm cooking spaghetti bolognaise for dinner, but other than that little tidbit of fascinating information there isn't a whole lot else to add.

Until next time!

I came across a rather amusing article that I thought I'd randomly share:

Ducks behave pretty badly, it seems. It is not so much that up to one in 10 of mallard couples are homosexual - no one would raise an eyebrow in the liberal Netherlands - but they regularly indulge in "attempted rape flights" when they pursue other ducks with a view to forcible mating. "Rape is a normal reproductive strategy in mallards," explains Mr Moeliker.

As he recounts in his seminal paper, The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard anas platyrhynchos, he was in his office in the Natuurmuseum Rotterdam, when he was alerted by a bang to the fact a bird had crashed into the glass facade of the building. "I went downstairs immediately to see if the window was damaged, and saw a drake mallard (anas platyrhynchos) lying motionless on its belly in the sand, two metres outside the facade. The unfortunate duck apparently had hit the building in full flight at a height of about three metres from the ground. Next to the obviously dead duck, another male mallard (in full adult plumage without any visible traces of moult) was present. He forcibly picked into the back, the base of the bill and mostly into the back of the head of the dead mallard for about two minutes, then mounted the corpse and started to copulate, with great force, almost continuously picking the side of the head.

"Rather startled, I watched this scene from close quarters behind the window until 19.10 hours during which time (75 minutes) I made some photographs and the mallard almost continuously copulated his dead congener. He dismounted only twice, stayed near the dead duck and picked the neck and the side of the head before mounting again. The first break (at 18.29 hours) lasted three minutes and the second break (at 18.45 hours) lasted less than a minute. At 19.12 hours, I disturbed this cruel scene. The necrophilic mallard only reluctantly left his 'mate': when I had approached him to about five metres, he did not fly away but simply walked off a few metres, weakly uttering a series of two-note 'raeb-raeb' calls (the 'conversation-call' of Lorentz 1953). I secured the dead duck and left the museum at 19.25 hours. The mallard was still present at the site, calling 'raeb-raeb' and apparently looking for his victim (who, by then, was in the freezer)."

The full article is here.

I have ducks. That is a fact. One which nobody can deny. I say ducks because I have invoked the law of the plural, meaning that I have more than one. One could debate as to whether or not they are ducks, because they are currently ducklings. But I do not debate this. They are ducks. The first, as I have spoken about before, is a Pekin. Her name is Wendy Waddlesworth. I believe she is a she, and hope she is a she. It would be horrible if she was a he, but also delicious too. Only kidding, I could never eat a duck.

The second duck is a Welsh Harlequin, and her name is Betty. I am assuming that this one is also a she, I would hate to be stuck with two drakes. That would be pretty terrible. Lucy graduated puppy preschool yesterday. I have decided to give her a graduation present that she will never forget. We are going to get her spaded. This will probably not impress her, but alas it is something that is necessary.

This is all that I have to say today, so until next time...

Go duck yourself.

Today is Tuesday. In most Western civilizations Tuesday follows Monday. Okay, so not the most original introduction considering yesterday's introduction. I just felt like being cheesy, in the cheesiest sense.  Not cheddar, though. More romano than anything else. Preferably a pecorino romano. Gorgonzola would suffice too, but gorgonzola is hard to come by. Brie and camembert are tasteless in comparison. Anyway, now I've gone and flown off on another silly tangent about cheeses. I have also made myself hungry. I might have to make myself an omelete with bacon and cheese, pecorino romano though, not gross cheddar. A gal's gotta have her standards, ya know?

I am pondering writing a book, now that I have found a unique and compelling writing style that I feel could work. I have decided to give the book a rather ambiguous title. It shall be called "The Misfortunes of a Fortunate Life" by Lexi Winters. It will be written from both a first person perspective and a third person perspective. It will be about a seemingly ordinary person with a content and happy life who gets caught up into a web of fortunes and misfortunes. Or something. I don't know. I might not even bother writing it, I'm too busy thinking about cheeses. And my damn omelette. I am hungry! RAWR!

Nessa will be home late tonight. She is getting her hair cut. I think we will have fast food for dinner. Fast food is rarely fast, and definitely not very healthy. It also isn't as tasty as slow food. Give me a slow baked butterflied quail served on a bed of rocket, gorgonzola, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes any day. Mmm. Delicious. We are going out to the Roman Empire Restaurant this Saturday. They don't have quail there, but they do have a lot of cheeses. Seafood too. I love their Moreton Bay bugs and their oysters Kilpatrick. I should probably Wiki into what Kilpatrick actually means.

Anyway, food time. Then maybe a bit of online Xbox Live game trolling... er, I mean playing. Then possibly a nap of some variety, preferably the sleeping kind. Speaking of food, Wendy is growing pretty huge pretty fast. We'd better find ourselves a house to live in soon otherwise we'll have a fully grown duck wandering around the house and shitting all over the furniture. If that happens, Michele will probably cook roast duck for dinner. She really likes Wendy Waddlesworth anyway, so I doubt that she'll consider her a meal of the eating variety.

That is all!

Today is Monday. In most Western civilizations Monday follows Sunday. In fact, I am almost certain that Monday follows Sunday wherever one is situated in the world. Regardless of that small tidbit of information, most Mondays are despised. It is the start of a working week. I, however, do not currently work. At least not in the traditional sense anyway. Most people would say that I don't work in any sense. But I am not most people. Life is a tedious job at times, which must be performed.

I forgot to take my avanza last night. I was too drunk to remember. Sure, I only had two glasses of red wine which was only two standard drinks and wouldn't classify most people as drunk. But once again, I am not most people. So therefore, today, I am in a hyperactive mood. I had the equivalent of eight cups of tea this morning. It was delicious tea, but not exactly the best thing to drink if one wishes to prevent the effects of hyperactivity settling in. It could be worse, I could have another caffeine overdose. I have actually had one of those before, they are interesting to say the least. I am now consuming a can of coca cola.

I think that something may be wrong with Emma, Michele's dog. She spends a lot of her time sleeping, and doing not much else. I know that this is what cats and dogs do, but still I worry. I'll have to bring it to her attention tonight when she gets home from work. I am thinking of Fasta Pasta for dinner tonight. I like pasta. It is delicious. I like going out, too. It means I can throw on some decent clothes and spend some time with the girl I love whilst enjoying myself.

I think I am now off to play Guitar Hero with Lina, a Texan friend that I met over in Thailand earlier this year. She will probably kick my ass. It is inevitable. I would much rather play an RPG of some sort, but alas, Guitar Hero it is.

Until next we meet,

Lexi.

Today is Sunday. Earlier this week, one of our budgies passed away. Pippy was only a year old, a chirpy little yellow and green budgerigah who was good friends with Crackers. Whilst enjoying a movie (Cable Guy) Pippy had a heart attack and fell off his perch. We heard the thump but thought nothing of it. It wasn't until later when Nessa went to feed the little guys that she found him laying there, limp and dead. Poor thing. He was a nice little bird. We buried him beneath our passionfruit vines. That way we can be reminded of our faithful little companion whenever the plant yields fruit.

As for lighter and brighter news, we went out to select a replacement for Pippy. We couldn't leave Molly (our white budgie) without another bird of her own species. After some perusing around I found a cute little blue budgie, who was incredibly calm and docile. He seemed perfect, and could even become very well trained if I put in the effort to work on him. I doubt I will, though. Training birds can be really exhausting work, and as of yet I'm not up for the task. I will be later on, though. We named our new blue friend Gizmo, and he and Molly get along really well.

Today, after puppy pre-school, I went to the markets for our usual weekly supply of fruit and vegetables. I was also after another baby duckling to keep Wendy company, I'd imagine she'd get lonely as she's not ALWAYS around people. I know I would, anyway. Much to my dismay there were no ducklings, they'd had some but sold out moments before I'd arrived. I figured I had planned on buying something anyway, so I bought another budgie. This one was fluro green and yellow with bright patches of blue, a really pretty bird. I named him Gadget.

Gadget is a jerk. He bit me, and really hard too. Most budgies never bite a person, but this one did. He's like the total opposite of Gizmo, and a lot like Salsa our lovebird. I put Salsa and Gadget in the same cage, hoping they'd be good cage buddies, but that wasn't the case. Gadget was terribly freaked out by Salsa, and Salsa was doing his usual anti-social thing, bullying other birds. Some day I'm going to buy a cockatoo and stick that in there with Salsa. We'll see who becomes the bully after that. Hah!

So now our pet count has reached ten:

-Molly, Gizmo and Gadget the budgies.
-Crackers and Speckles the cockatiels.
-Salsa the peachface lovebird.
-Wendy Waddlesworth the duck.
-Mr Fluffles and Charlie the guinea pigs.
-Lucy the border collie / Siberian husky.

I'm chasing a few leads on obtaining another duckling as well, they aren't that easy to find, but this season is the season when I'd actually find one, so I'd better do it while I can. Oh, there are two new games added to our collection too. Blue Dragon and Bully. I got the both of them for under fifty dollars, which is a pretty good deal. Nothing much else to report. I'm off the valium now, and just taking Avanza at nights. Now I wake up in the mornings with a gross gunky throat instead of a horribly dry one. I'm really not sure which is the better alternative really.

-Lexi

Yesterday went well, and Lucy seemed to have fun. We had pizza for dinner, just cheap Dominos pizza but it was nice nonetheless. We also watched a documentary, which was absolute garbage. I only bought it because I thought it was a different documentary of a different name, but alas it wasn't. It was just some pathetically lame try hard reporter trying to earn a few bucks by naming his crappy documentary the same as the hugely successful documentary that I was after. Such is life.

Sharon starts her first round of electric shock treatment today, the poor thing. I can't imagine how horribly painful it must be, the only good thing is that she won't actually remember how horribly painful it is because the shock will wipe her memories. I wonder if she will still remember myself and Nessa. I wonder if she'll remember any of the horribly stupid crap that has happened with her family in recent times. At least she won't remember the pain, I suppose.

Nothing new to report today, just resting and taking it easy. Got my guitar yesterday, have no idea how to play the damn thing. I guess I'll figure it out in due course. I need to find a good website and do a little research, especially in regards to tuning my guitar. That shouldn't be too hard, there are a myriad of websites available for that sort of thing.

Today I am taking Lucy on a playdate. It will be fun. Michele's sister breeds boxers. Boxers have a tendency to be the degenerates of the doggy kingdom. Border collies tend to be at the top of the intellectual food chain. Regardless, there is a four month old puppy that they have. His name is Nick, and he is absolutely adorable. This will be a good playmate for Lucy. In two months time she will not be able to have him as a playmate, however, unless she has been spaded. I don't quite fancy the idea of having a dog that is a quarter border collie, a quarter husky and half boxer. That would be the very concept of a nightmare.

I also go to pick up my guitar today. It arrived yesterday but I was being lazy and napping, so the air express man took it to the local post office. I am looking forward to getting my guitar, even though I have absolutely no idea how to play. I am a driven person, though. Or at least, people say I am a driven person. Either that, or they say I drive them crazy. One of the two. I will spend today fooling around on the guitar while Lucy plays with the dogs. It will be fun. Michele's sister also has a pool. I am contemplating bringing along some swimmers and going for a paddle. I haven't done that in a long, long time. Not since before the days of transitioning.

I need to get my hands on a guitar tuner as well, so that I have a tuned guitar. Well, duh. Why else would I need a guitar tuner? I have nothing else terribly fascinating to add to today's entry. Nessa is at work as it is a weekday. We watched The Cable Guy last night, which neither Nessa or Michele had seen before. It was absolutely hilarious. Most Jim Carrey movies are pretty hilarious in my opinion. We also had a delicious thai chicken salad for dinner that I made. It had red onion, wombok, thai basil, mint, corriander, red cabbage, cucumber, green mango, lemon juice, birds eye chili and chicken. It would have been nice with peanuts and dried shallots in addition, but we didn't have those on hand. The sauce was made of soy, lemon juice and sugar. It is supposed to be sweet, salty, sour and hot all at the same time. It worked.

Wendy Waddlesworth has gotten more accustomed to her new life with us. She is a lot more social towards us and doesn't chirp as much for her brothers and sisters. I introduced Lucy to her yesterday, and Lucy didn't try to eat her. That is a good sign. Lucy was interested in playing with her and quite curious, though, but not in a "I am going to nom on you" kind of way. I guess that's good. Anyway, I doubt anyone reads these entries, they're mostly for myself if anything. I'm going to get dressed and ready to head out the door. Michele had a doctor's appointment and should be back shortly. Lucy is laying beside me in bed, still damp after having a bath. I don't mind that she's damp, I was planning on washing these sheets today anyway.

Until next we meet.

Wow. I was looking back on what I wrote as my first ever LJ post. Times have changed a fair bit since then. I remember writing about the games I wanted to get, a wishlist as such. I managed to get most of the games on this list, which wasn't hard considering that it was actually quite a short list. Unfortunately Metal Gear Solid 4 didn't end up coming out on Xbox 360 and I've yet to get my hands on a PS3. Perhaps in the near future, but I'm not really holding onto any hope with that.

Here is an updated list of the games I currently own for the Xbox 360, in no particular order except for the order I remember them in:

-Oblivion
-Grand Theft Auto 4
-Mass Effect
-Viva Pinata
-Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise
-Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
-Fable 2
-Fallout 3
-Saints Row
-Lost Odyssey
-Guitar Hero 4: World Tour
-Eternal Sonata
-Orange Box
-Crackdown
-Left for Dead
-Dead Rising
-Bioshock
-Perfect Dark Zero
-Condemned 2
-Just Cause
-Gears of War
-Gears of War 2
-Halo 3
-Dead or Alive 4
-Burnout Paradise
-Dead Rising
-Marvel Ultimate Alliance
-Tenchu 2
-Call of Duty 3
-Call of Duty 4

Wow. That brings our total to thirty games.

Today I'm going to a transgender support group. It's known as ATSAQ, which stands for the Australian Transgender Support Association of Queensland. They hold their meetings on a monthly basis. It's not so much a meeting, more so a group of 'like-minded' individuals gathering in a backyard for conversation and randomness. I am one of the youngest that attend this meeting. A year ago when I first started attending I was the youngest. Most of the transitioners there have stubble. They are in their 40s and 50s. It makes me feel good and pretty to surround myself with these people. If it were in a public place I would not go. That is the sad truth.

I probably will not stay long. I started a new round of anti-depressants the day before yesterday. I started taking Avanza which is commonly used to combat severe anxiety, stress and agitation. I have severe anxiety. These new pills have made me sleepy and dazed. I do not like being dazed. I like being witty, sharp and caustic. Caustic is good. Alas, I asked my psychiatrist for something to combat the anxiety and he suggested this. The drowsiness should fade after the first week. Even though I have become a lot more milder since my surgery, I have found myself snapping at people more frequently within the last week. I have been overburdened with my best friend's schizophrenia as well as my own problems.

My best friend has been hearing and seeing things that don't exist. And they aren't fluffy bunnies either. Fluffy bunnies would be better to see. Alas, she is in the psychiatric hospital currently. She is awaiting electric shock treatment. Will she ever get better? The sad truth is no, she won't. She will always remain sick, just less sick at times. She will relapse. She always relapses. The best we can do is be there for her. I am considering visiting her after ATSAQ today. But I probably shouldn't. Going to the psychiatric ward reminds me of the bad places I have been in, and puts me into a shocked frame of mind for several days. Usually after visiting her I am unresponsive to most people, overwhelmed by all the negative energy that flows within the place.

Maybe I am selfish.

Instead I think I might go and do some retail therapy with Nessa. I need a new skirt. I only own three skirts and the one I prefer is a dark plum color, and it has vanished. It is probably in storage with all my other stuff, and was not moved into my clothes pile when I left the old place. I am tired of staying at this place, so hopefully we can find a place to buy really soon. That would be good.

I am wearing an Emily the Strange dress today, a pair of sexy boots and am contemplating wearing my tight white pants beneath the dress. My tight white pants are flattering, and make me feel less like a slut than I would with no pants at all. I do not like looking like a slut. I prefer either punkish, geeky, or strange and eccentric in a way that doesn't draw attention to yourself.

There is a guy who goes to ATSAQ. He likes to draw attention to himself. He sports a long bushy beard and wears womens clothing. He smells like BO and has the intellectual capacity of a twelve year old. Nessa and I cannot help but giggle about him. It is probably not a morally proper thing to do, but sometimes people joke about the things that make them uncomfortable. In all honesty, he shouldn't be at ATSAQ. He is not transgendered, he even admitted this. He says he identifies as something confusing, that none of us will ever understand. I believe this is his way of saying that he has no idea what he is.

We are going to be inspecting a house before we go to ATSAQ. It is a two story house with four bedrooms. It also has an above ground pool. It is chlorine, though. Hopefully the place is good so that Nessa and I can move on from here. That would be good.

This is my day. Hopefully I don't overload and turn into a puddle of ectoplasm.

~Lexi

After a delicious buffet breakfast at the cafe restaurant of our hotel, I decided to go out by myself and take a quick walk to check out my surroundings. There were cars literally everywhere, it was pretty frightening. As I was walking along, every passerby smiled and nodded their head politely. That was also pretty surreal, considering how in Australia pretty much everybody ignores you.

So I was walking along the street when a man pulling along a cart stops on the side of the road, and asks me something in Thai. Of course, not speaking Thai, I had no idea what he was saying. But it was obvious that he was trying to sell me these roll up mattresses. I shaked my head to indicate that he wasn't interested. So I continued on my way.

I came across this really, really weird small shop. I only went into it because it had a fridge that sold coke. I walked up to the fridge and took out a coke, the salesman kind of looked at me strangely (I think they're supposed to take it out of the fridge, rather than you). I asked how much it was, and he couldn't speak English so he asked his wife.

The coke only ended up costing me 10 baht, which is equal to 40 cents Australian. And it was in a glass bottle too. I say was, because it wasn't for long. The man got a small bag and indicated at it. I thought he was asking if I'd like a bag, so I nodded and smiled. Then he did the strangest thing. He filled the bag with ice, opened the bottle of coke, and poured the coke into the bag. He handed me the bag of coke and ice, and a straw, I stood there completely shocked and surprised. I'd never seen anything like that before.

So I decided to walk back to my hotel. I passed it a few times, not knowing where exactly it was. That was pretty scary, I thought I was lost. Then I turned around and saw a sign for the 'Chon Inter Hotel'. That's where I was staying. That made things infinitely easier. So I found my way back to the hotel and back to my room. Gee it was hot outside though. And really, really humid too. It's now 10am and we're about to head out to explore again, this time all four of us. We've decided to limit it to an hour of exploration though.

Michele, Sharon L and I went out to explore our surroundings at around 11pm. We were a little more adventurous than I would have been by myself. We walked to what could best be described as a shopping center. It had a whole ton of stuff, really cheap. It even had a KFC and Dunking Donuts. We explored that place for quite a while and found a media shop. I purchased a DVD animation which was completely in English. "The Ugly Ducking and Me". It cost me 79 baht, which is equal to $3. It turned out to be an amazingly good DVD too.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at that shop where earlier I'd bought the drink which was put in a plastic bag with ice. We bought three bottles of water and a red fanta, which only ended up costing us 80 baht in total, just over $3. The guy asked me if I wanted a bag again this time, and I said no. Then he asked if I'd like the drink opened, and I said no again. But he opened it anyway, then poured it into a bag with ice. Again. I think maybe they keep the bottles and sell them back? It was really weird.

Speaking of weird, there are a lot of dogs in Thailand. And I mean, a LOT of dogs. They're 'wild' dogs and can be found everywhere in Thailand. They  just snooze in the alleys and on the streets, and beside the shops. Nobody shoos them away either. But they're definitely strays. Apparently they have rabies too, and they growl at you if you try to pat them. I learnt that the hard way, about the growling I mean. A lot of the shopkeepers have cats all around the place too, and will eagerly let you pet them if you show an interest.

We got back to our hotel room and watched "The Ugly Duckling and Me" whilst the maid cleaned out our rooms. I got a little drowsy around this time, it was close to 2pm.  So I went to bed and had a little nap halfway through the movie, leaving Michele and the Sharons to enjoy the movie. When I awoke everybody was eager to head out and enjoy the city some more, so I eagerly tagged along. We went to a 7Eleven and bought a few supplies.

I managed to get a bag of weird flavored chips, shrimp crackers, salted watermelon seeds, two bottles of wine and a can of coke for only 120 baht. Not even five dollars Australian, and the can of coke was only ten cents. Then we went to a fruit shop and I bought some rambutans. Those were only a dollar a kilo, which is utterly unbelievable considering that they cost 20 dollars a kilo back home. That was all we wanted to do for that little excursion, so we headed back to our hotel.

At 3pm Sin came by to pick us up and take us to the Suporn Clinic via car, even though it was literally a two minute walk. We were briefed on the procedure and made to sign some legal documents, we were also given this beautiful thai jasmine circlet and a 'box of thai boyfriends' which was a dilating kit. I had a thai tea while we were waiting for Dr Suporn to see us. The tea tasted really nice, actually. It was served cold and tasted more like an unsweetened milkshake than anything else.

When it was time for Dr Suporn to see us, he asked if we wanted to see him individually or all together. He also had to give us a physical check over and examine the area he was going to be operating on. We decided we'd all go in together and just turn around when the other person was undressing. It was otherworldly, stripping for somebody. We all seemed to pass with flying colors, got our next appointment times and headed back to the hotel again.

We met another transgendered woman named Rhiannon who is staying in the same hotel as us. MIchele had known her for awhile but they'd never met in person. She had come to Chonburi to have facial feminization surgery. We stayed and chatted to her for awhile before heading out to get some dinner. We told her we'd be back at 7.30pm if she was interested in joining us for a conversation.

We originally went to a Japanese Tepenyaki restaurant where you cook your own food. It was a buffet, and only cost $5 per head. It was really nice, but incredibly complicated to learn what to do. Especially because we didn't know any of the Thai language. So we stayed for awhile before heading to KFC for dinner. A lazy option, sure, but at least we knew what it was we were getting.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped at a 7Eleven. I picked up three lollipops and a red fanta for Rhiannon. Michele got her some ice cream. Then we stopped at a fruit shop and I decided to buy some fruits I had absolutely never heard of before. Salak and Santol. Now I've eaten a LOT of fruit in my time, but I'd never even heard of these things before.

I went home to the hotel and after an hour found them. The salak is a spiky brown fruit with white pulp on the inside. It tastes exactly like pineapple. The Santol had me worried, because I had no idea how to eat it. Eventually I worked out that you had to cut it in half and scoop out the insides. It tasted like citrus, with a bit of a tang to it. It's hard to explain, but it was definitely a delicious fruit.

Back at the hotel we had Rhiannon over whilst we ate dinner, and she ate her icecream. We sat around chatting for awhile before I got too tired and decided to head to bed, which is where I am now. Tomorrow should be a nice and eventful day. We have nothing sceduled so it should be fun. I'm so exhausted, I definitely need sleep.

Okay, the title of this blog post has little to no relevance to the content actually held within the post. However, I will mention that I saw a Pluck A Duck teddy on Ebay the other day (yesterday, I think) and I want it! Pluck A Duck was awesome. For those of you that don't know who/what Pluck A Duck is/was... you're going to hell. I'm sorry, but it's true. Oh well, at least they make good pancakes down there. They're... to die for.

No, but seriously. Yesterday Jess came over and crashed the night. I made gourmet tacos (mmm) and we watched "Boy's Don't Cry" which is a really, really good but horribly sad transgender movie. Honestly, I'd recommend it to just about anyone. Usually I don't watch or like transgender related movies because, let's face it, most of them are crap. Just because a movie has undertones and themes doesn't mean I'll instinctively like it.

We saw Jumper today, which was fantastic actually. Probably one of the better movies I've seen in a long time. Nessa was supposed to come with us but she had obligations to attend to, which is understandable. Hopefully she can come over Monday (I invited her). Other then that, nothing is really new and exciting. Kimmy's still not home (what else is new?). She said she'll be home Monday or Tuesday but these days I'll believe it when I see it.

Hmm. I've run out of things to say now so will end this post here!

xoxo Lexi