Cook. Cooking. Cooked; in preperation for Australia Day

So it's 3 days away from Australia. Although I am not patriotic in the slightest, Australia Day provides me with the perfect opportunity to over-indulge myself upon pavlovas. (Disregarding the "is the Pavlova a New Zealander or Australian culinary invention") Pavlovas are easily the all-time-greatest Australian dessert. Not only do they taste amazing, they are simple as!

Because I'm a lazy teenager, I bought the pre-made mini meringue nets from Woolies (Coles and ALDI also make them...I think). I've made the meringue part of the pavlova before, but I find the long baking time too tedious. Which means all I have to do is:
-whip some cream
-make a batch of lemon butter
-and garnish with fruit (for mini pavlovas I prefer to use berries such as blueberries, raspberries or strawberries; for large cake pavlovas I think an assortment of fruit is best).

Then just put the whipped cream on first, then cover with lemon butter and garnish to your liking.

Viola! It's done.
Pavlova- you bloody beauty.

Paint. Painting. Painted.

I just got back from a surfing trip to South Australia with a few members of my family. When I get the photos back, I might put a few up and give a brief overview.
But not right now.

If you've ever been to South Australia, more specifically the Eyre Peninsular, you'll know that there is absolutely jack shit to do. So when there was no surf, or the polar opposite, the surf was too big- I drew, sketched, painted...whatever. I've enevr considered myself an artist, particular not a Fine Art artist- but I did produce a few pieces that I'm rather fond of.

My cyclops owl...inspired by the art of Walter Moers
I used black Indian Ink and a quill (his eye is edited, because the original was smudged from water)

And then an oil pastel landscape of Smooth Pools...but I left it in dad's van.

But also, for my friend's 18th birthday I did a watercolour of Lady Gaga for her. This was another rarity, where I produced something that i didn't feel the urge to instantaneously incinerate or tear into millions of little pieces...


P.S. The surf was amazing, and faaarking huge!
It may well have been worth the 3 day drive back...but only maybe

Surf. Surfing. Surfed.

So we find ourselves at my second activity, surfing.
Now don't start to fill your mind with image of me doing aerials, viscous cut backs and floaters...no. I'm not quite at that level of m@d $kiLz?1?1 In fact, I quite often need dad to give me a push onto waves because my arms are so pathetically feeble.
Okay, I'm not totally hopeless, I'm not totz pro, but I'm not the biggest kook out there.

I have, to my dismay, developed a very prominent "wetsuit tan". My legs are lovely and brown until my mid thigh, in which there is a harsh line that divides the tan from the pale. Furthermore, around my left ankle (being a goofy) I have a band of pale from wearing a leg rope. Sexy? Oh don't you know it -___-

I used to almost exclusively surf at Dee Why Point, but recently I have found myself almost always going to Northy- of which I have grown very fond of indeed.


However the waves have been...well the beaches have been devoid of waves. The ocean is super flat. So to pass the time, I have borrowed several of dad's vintage surf films: Bustin' Down The Door, Off The Wall, Cosmic Children, Fluid Drive and Free Ride...

(Bustin' Down The Door)

Oh my gosh, I love the look of vintage photos and video recordings; these films are magnificent. These films make me resent my generation even more than I already do; why coudln't I have been born in the 50's so I could grow up thorugh the a bit of the 50's- but mostly the 60's and 70's :)

The 21st Century sucks- I hate Western society, how we have to define ourselves by material items. Everyone is a massive consumerist; for instance, when you see a 10 year old kid with an iPhone! I mean...seriously!? ...okay, I'm going very off topic. I tend to rant about my distaste for Western society (cause I'm such a communist anarchist and all... pfft) But life seemed better back then...


Anyway, I'm leave for South Australia in just under 2 weeks, which is super exciting! Except for the minor detail that we're driving there...which takes 3 days of straight driving... o___o Oh yes, and that dad has chosen to take us to the most shark infested part of SA, with the local record of the largest Great White being 1.2 tons..FFUUUUUUUUUCCCK!!!
But I do pity sharks. They don't really intentionally attack humans, I mean shark attacks are so rare and even more rare for them to continue attacking humans after the initial bite. They are just chilling in the ocean, cruising and what not, then they see what they think is a seal or turtle- so they go in for the kill...but when they bite into a human, they realise their mistake, and say "oh shit, sorry mate...seriously I;m so sorry!" in their sharky language (which humans are still yet to understand) and then they swim away. Poor sharks have earned such a bad reputation for their errors :(



And then two weeks after I get back from South Aus, I'm off to Oahu- Hawaii. Which is going to A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ! ! ! I am so pumped for it, I'm going to live off pineapples, coconuts, taro and shaved ice for a fortnight ^_____^

Eat. Eating. Ate.

Food, glorious food!
I'm anxious to try it.
Three banquets a day --
My favourite diet!

Oh, food,
Wonderful food,
Marvellous food,
Glorious food...

Since I've finished my HSC, my life has consisted of three primary activities:
-eating
-surfing
-fucking...not really.
The third activity is more a trio of small hobbies: painting, reading and x-boxing.

Firstly, let's begin with my first activity- eating.
As I am writing this (note: as I wrote "writing" I noticed I had actually written "righting"...I have been out of school for too long so it seems) I have some brown rice cooking; I am making my lunch.



Okay, skip forward half an hour. Lunch is done, and I am eating it as I write.
The recipe you ask?
-organic medium grain brown rice (use as much as you feel, I used 1/3 cup)
-generic green salad
-1 can of tuna (whatever flavour you like, I used tomato and basil; we had nothing else)
-Kecap Manis (or "Sweet Soy Sauce")
-sweet chilli sauce

1. Cook brown rice as directed- I prefer the "absorption" method; whatever floats your boat, the method is of no importance really
2. While rice is cooking, dice salad
3. When rice is done, heat tuna in microwave for 1 minute
4. Place rice in a bowl, followed by the diced salad, then the tuna.
5. Garnish with Kecap Manis and sweet chilli.
6. Done :)

And to drink I am having a chai tea. A Sultry Chai by Madame Flavour to be specific. With organic "multi flora" honey (I bought while up at Cres on a surfing trip) and Vanilla soy milk by Vitasoy (WHICH IS FUCKING LUUUSH!!) Seriously I strongly recommend it- I have been drinking it straight from the carton, it is mindblowingly delicious!
P.S. The pear, jasmine and green tea by Madame Flavour is amazing also