Poetically challenged

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don't make sense
Refrigerator

You've been served

No plans for dinner tonite? At the blink of an eye (or, more likely, the click of a mouse) you can find thousands of recipes. Better still, you can find hundreds of restaurants in your area – and you can even narrow down the options by specifying the cuisine or the atmosphere you crave. Don’t want to get out of yr PJs – you can find restaurants that deliver.

The internet is truly making us lazy. Everything can be done so easily and quickly with the use of technology, why bother using the traditional methods of our forefathers (or even the methods we ourselves used only a decade ago)?

Even our legal system is modernizing. Recently, there has been a rather shocking acceptance of the use of technology-aids by judges in Australia, which appears to have set a worldwide precedent (well, at least a precedent to New Zealand, our loyal little neighbour).

Service of court documents or orders on the other party to the case were traditionally required to be done personally. So, for example, if you were suing the crazy motorist who broke your leg, you (or your lawyer rather) would have to lodge an application of the matter into court, and would have to hand over these initiating documents to the crazy motorist in person to let them know of the court action.

However, things have changed. The courts in Australia have started accepting postal and email service of documents. Further, last year, the court made an order for "substituted service" by allowing certain court documents to be served by text message!

The latest craze in the service-revolution is the use of the social-networking website Facebook. Who knew that Facebook would have a valuable commercial application! In December 2008, Master Harper of the ACT Supreme Court ordered that the judgement could be served on defendants by notification on Facebook.

As expected, New Zealand followed suit. Recently, the High Court of NZ, convinced of the difficulties associated with conventional service, ordered that a legal judgement could be served on a party through Facebook. Details here.

My analysis leaves a number of technical questions unanswered: (a set of guidelines are needed to deal with these issues)
1. Do you have to be 'Facebook friends' with the person you are serving a court document on?
2. Has Facebook developed a specific application to handle the service of court documents?
3. Can the failure to check your Facebook account be a valid excuse for not following a court order that was served through Facebook? Will Facebook provide evidence to the court of your Facebook activities?
4. How many text messages are necessary to convey the contents of a court document?

To me, the use of technology seems to be spiralling out of control.

Legal documents being served on Facebook could lead to the demise of the social-networking site. Facebook is supposed to be fun and frivolous. I know that I, for one, would not rush onto Facebook nearly as often if my events notifications and social messages were replaced by parking fines, court orders and late-DVD-return notices.

Just some of my random thoughts.

Facebook status: Camille vows not to accept any ‘facebook friends’ who could potentially sue me.

Fun Runs to Corporate Boardrooms

There are some things in life that you hear and its startles you to your senses (or wakes you from your desk-daze). A paradox - A statement that seems contradictory, even to the extent of sounding absurd.

For example, the ineptly named FUN RUNS. It is a charity event, so I try to participate as much as possible, but really, how fun can running be? Those two words are so contradictory that they probably shouldn’t even be used in the same paragraph, let alone right next to each other in the same sentence!

FUN RUN: Sounds like a deceptive ploy to grab as much ttention as possible, once they’ve got your attention, they can easily convince you to participate by appealing to your generous and charitably nature.

Another interesting paradox that’s come to my attention recently was through a book by clinical psychologist Susan Pinker – The Sexual Paradox. Click here for the book. In the book, she explored why girls do some much better academically than boys, but boys generally go on to have more highly-paid, powerful jobs later in life.

I’ve got to admit that I have hypothesized about this myself. It seems strange, particularly in this day and age of equal opportunity. I concluded that grown-up boys are more hardworking (feeling the traditional burden of having to support a family), while most girls see their careers as one or more of the following: a social activity to fill the hours between meals/gym/friends/family; a constant source of gossip; the activity that provides income to support secret shopping sprees; the reassurance of financial independence (should the need for this arise).

In a way, Susan Pinker agrees with me, but her statements are supported by technical arguments and even statistical evidence. She claims that many women are exercising a conscious choice by opting for a healthy work-life balance, particularly after having children. By being prepared to make financial sacrifices, they end up far happier at work than men do.

Only one in five women are single-mindedly career-focused (like men), and they do just as well or better than male colleagues, but at the expense of their job satisfaction levels, which drop to male levels.

For me a balanced life sounds good – work, relationships, FUN RUNS, they all have a place in my life. But its also nice to know that there is nothing between me and a corporate boardroom, except my own choices.

Just my random thoughts

Confessions of an amateur pole-dancer and a reformed shopaholic

Pole-dancing, an unusual and fun activity (although I do recognize that it might not be so unusual, or fun, for professional pole-dancers). The challenge, the rhythm, the sexiness and the risk of falling on your head, all contribute to making this an unforgettable experience.

Pole-dancing classes are all the craze in Hollywood, on Hens nites and with fitness fanatics.

So what does pole-dancing have to do with being a shopaholic you ask (besides the obvious link of being popular in Hollywood). After watching ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’, and relating a bit too well to Becky (I’m on a first/nick-name familiarity-level with Isla Fisher’s character), I realized that I too was once addicted to shopping. Unlike Becky, I was fortunate enough to pay off my credit cards without having to dispose of my worldly collection of shoes, accessories and clothes (oops, am I giving too much of the movie away here? Oh well, its all in the book anyways).

Click here for more information on this hilarious movie (Camille rating: ****). Click here to get to the book by Sophie Kinsella, on which the movie is loosely based (And we all know that the books are always better than the movies).

After witnessing the heart-breaking devastation of Becky (my new friend), I realised that there are lots of girls out there experiencing exactly that. Being a shopaholic is strongly discouraged by financial advisors, particularly given the Global Financial Crisis. I note that shopping to stimulate the economy can be valid justification, however, to avoid bankruptcy, I recommend you use this justification only in limited urgent circumstances.

So how do you cure your shopping addiction? Rebecca seems to suggest that the easiest and most effective way is by shifting your addiction to something else. As we are not all so lucky as to have a handsome Prince Charming waiting in the woodwork, I suggest an exercise addiction, pole-dancing in particular.

From one class, I can confirm that Pole-dancing is a fun, yet strenuous, workout. My muscles are still recovering. Regular pole-dancing appears to have lots of well-publicized benefits such as improvement in cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, posture and balance and strength and muscle tone. More on health benefits here.

Dance classes have the fun element that the gymming or jogging don’t seem to have and will no doubt improve your confidence levels, as you learn to strut your stuff upside down on a pole (in a sexy way, I'm sure). As for the social aspect, you can replace your girly shopping dates with girly pole-dancing classes (its better than girly cupcake-devouring sessions, although this option would stimulate the taste-buds AND the economy).

Just some of my random thoughts.

Cake or Art?

In my view, enticing kids to read is one of the most imperative and challenging things in the world, they need to develop a fascination with books. I, for one, am still fascinated by the first book I was ever fascinated with. As a child, I turned each page delicately, analysing each and every piece of art, as I ‘read’ the entire book cover to cover.

Once upon a time, I discovered that I loved cake. And since then, I’ve continued to be dedicated to cakes. Over time, my experience built up, my tastes diversified and my serving sizes contracted (hopefully). Now that I think about it, perhaps I grew relative to the pieces of cake I consumed (I can’t be too sure, maybe I’ll save that topic for exploration in another blog entry).

However, I remain dedicated to THAT book, the book full of cake inspiration. My mum’s copy of the original Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake book holds a special place in my heart. Particularly since my childhood dream of having a cake from that book remains unfulfilled due to my parent’s considerable laziness and disdain for cake.

I thought I was the only gigantic fan of the book, but was recently shocked upon discovering that most of my friends and workmates, now aged between 20 and 35, grew up with the same fascination for the same cake book – the one with the pretty pictures of unique cakes and the tempting train cake on the cover. It was truly devastating to discover that some of their mums had actually made them the world-famous train cake or other equally challenging cakes for their birthdays. My childhood suddenly seems so bland.

As a child, I had aspirations. Everytime I ‘read’ the book (which was at least once a month), I vowed that when I grew up, I would make every single cake in there. I even took steps to reach my goal. I ‘practised’ my baking skills (on simple cakes, scones and cookies) in anticipation that one day I would be skilled enough to take an attempt at the Women’s weekly birthday cakes.

But, as yet, I have never attempted one, I have yet to achieve my full potential. As a result, I have decided to renew my vows and pledge that by the end of the year, I would have successfully baked at least one of those cakes.

My favourite cake from the book is pictured above – the beautiful carousel. And might I add, sadly, this cake wasn’t made for me. I just found the picture on facebook – there is a facebook group called “Womens weekly birthday cake book is awesome”. I think it is a worthwhile group and I completely agree with their claim to fame!

Just some of my random thoughts.

Love is Blind (and Dum)

Quoting Woody Allen, the difference between sex and love is that sex relieves tension and love causes it. My thoughts exactly, so like everything else in life, there is a balance to be achieved. If there is one thing I have learnt (and learnt to ignore) from my mum, it is, ‘Everything in moderation’. Although, I’m not entirely sure that she was speaking in the context of love and sex, but I guess it applies nevertheless.

So what if you are getting one and not the other? Well, it seems that either way your life is unbalanced. Depending on which way it is unbalanced, either you would be overly happy and tension-free, or you’d be rather frustrated, as a friend of mine recently discovered.

In the blink of an eye, he went from being a suave Casanova-type to being a sappy love-sick puppy. He claimed to be in love. Being a cynic and a non-believer in the love-at-first-sight concept myself, I wasn’t completely convinced.

What followed were months of late-night meetings in cars, non-stop conversations about this new obsession in his life, trips interstate, gifts, giggling and giddiness and grand declarations of commitment from him. And although she participated in these meetings (ie. she showed up to them), she didn't speak much, and when she did speak indications from her were somewhat closer to ambiguity. She switched on and off as quickly as a light bulb, always leaving my friend confused and wanting more. Might I add, that this ambiguous-association (for lack of a better descriptor) went on for longer than any of his previous proper relationships, before it fell apart in the most dramatic way.

Like a true friend, I tried to listen to as much of the heart-breaking story as I could tolerate, after which I referred him to www.askmen.com

All this drama got me thinking. Was my friend in love? I guess it could have been anything from Love to Lust. Perhaps he had a fascination with this girl because she is something just slightly out of reach, almost attainable.

Just some of my random thoughts.

You make me SICK

Lets admit it, we all worry about our health. Some of us are more interested in our health than others, even perhaps to an obsessive compulsive extent.

Its shocking how often people blame others for their own flaws or illnesses, with genetics being the key target for blame. In some cases, it is obviously the fault of someone else, for example my iron deficiency is clearly my mums fault (these things are often genetic), and my slight weight problem is surely caused by my boyfriend, who naively thinks that I don’t secretly resent him for buying me lots of dinners, desserts and cupcakes!

With my ailments being the clear exception, it is so apparent to everyone around when people try to pass the blame for their problems, which are often the result of their own unhealthy lifestyle, off to someone else. For example, heart patients often blame work or family life for not allowing them time to exercise.

Similarly, we are able to justify our own actions one way or another. I know having a cigarette may cause cancer, but if I don’t have it, I’ll probably eat more, and may consequently get a heart attack, at some stage in the distant future.

Despite our ability to blame others and justify our own actions, we do still worry about our health.

Some of us worry so much that we are often preoccupied by the chances of getting some newsworthy virus, even going to the extent of researching and diagnosing ourselves with numerous peculiar and unlikely diseases, with our worries not easing even when dismissed by a doctor. In some cases, a trivializing wave of a doctor can alleviate our concerns in one of 2 possible ways. (1) We are terrified that we may have something so unusual that even the doctor hasn’t heard of it; or (2) We have to get a second opinion, given that our current doctor is clueless.

Perhaps this phenomenon is a result of unrealistic television shows, like ‘House’, where the patient is perfectly fine, until something completely horrifying happens to them out of the blue, following which they are informed that they have only 3 days to live. Dr House then solves the mystery illness, which is often a combination of numerous ailments, viruses, genetic issues, diseases or allergies.

Regardless of the cause, being a Hypochondriac (ie over-worrying about ones health) is a seemingly common illness in itself. Click here for more information.

You may be interested in the following, I know I am! The book by Dennis DiClaudio ‘The Hypochondriac’s Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases that you probably already have’ that is available here; or the ‘Confessions of a Hypochondriac’ blog that can be found here.

To me, it all seems a question of degree. Being a minor hypochondriac and googling your apparent symptoms every now and then in search for sympathy, doesn’t seem to be particularly harmful. But if you take lots of pills based on a self-assessment of your health, it could be time to see a doctor (or two). Just some of my random thoughts.

Facebook, the Online Democracy.

Facebook – it connects us to the world around us, or that’s what it claims to do. But more so it helps us market the best versions of ourselves, flaunt our best pictures (while untagging those that are not so flattering), allows us to ‘face-stalk’ our ex-partners, research the intimate private lives of our workmates and go through pictures of the ‘cool’ kids from high school who are now fat and jobless. The pleasures of facebook are endless.

[I was about to write a little section on how facebook is a social network, where users chat, and send each other messages, upload photos etc, but then I realized that anyone who doesn’t know what facebook is probably lives on another planet, and if so, its not likely that they would be reading my blog in the first place! Considering the state of the world, I’d probably be better off explaining what a democracy is!]

This week, Facebook has creatively taken a political stance. That’s right, the online community of Facebook is now endeavouring to become a democracy. Details are here.

Given that there are already 175 million active users (who, based on the number of online protests on facebook, are no-doubt quite opinionated) this could be quite a challenge.

Facebook’s terms and conditions (which seem comparable to a country’s constitution or the Bill of Rights) will be changed to reflect this democratic policy. The new policy basically states that if more than 7,000 users comment on any proposed change, it would go to a vote. The decision of users would be binding to Facebook if more than 30 percent of active users vote. This is certainly more democratic than countries like North Korea, Iran, Cuba or Fiji, if the people from these countries want to experience a democracy, they should join facebook.

I have a couple of questions for founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Firstly, is facebook contemplating a community anthem for the near future. Most countries have a national anthem, I see no reason why users of an online community can’t show their loyalty towards facebook by singing.

Secondly, now being democratic and all, would you consider implementing a citizenship test for all new users proposing to enter the facebook community. The US and Australia have them for migrants seeking citizenship. A facebook migration test would ensure that new users understand facebook cultures and goals and how to use facebook effectively! Another idea, facebook could release a free publication allowing prospective new users to study for the citizenship test.

These are just some of my random thoughts.

Photo Genius

The first permanent photograph, pictured above, taken by Nicephore Niepce in 1826 required an 8 hour exposure. Compare that will all the photos Gen Y take with snazzy little cameras to upload onto facebook! And they are all in colour! How far technology has advanced.

Further still, at this link you will find a photo of the entire crowd from the 2009 Inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the US president.

Be patient, it might take a while to open, but it is worth the wait!
The picture was taken with a robotic camera at 1,474 megapixel. (295 times the standard 5 megapixel camera). You can focus in on the face of every person in the crowd, and each face is clear enough to be recognisable.

On a lighter note, scanning the picture for famous US political figures is like a game of ‘Wheres Wally’, just with real people. And everyone looks frozen!!

Mouth-watering religion

Today is Ash Wednesday. In the Western Christian Calendar it the first day of Lent.

That’s all background.

Now to the important details.

Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday, which is frequently referred to as Pancake Day (endearingly, I’m sure). It’s a day when religious people (who may or may not fast during Lent) indulge in feasting and merry-making.

Why the compulsory intake of pancakes, you ask. Traditionally, eggs were among the forbidden foods of the Lent season, so one way to use them up was to cook pancakes. Long live tradition!

Let me enrich your life with a bit of a history lesson on the strange and wonderful customs associated with Shrove Tuesday.


In Britain, Shrove Tuesday was appropriately called 'goodies day' and the bell that called people to church was known as the pancake bell. There is an annual pancake race held in the town of Olney in England, which apparently started in 1445 when a housewife who was late cooking her pancakes heard the church bell and ran to church, and like a dedicated housewife, took her griddle and batter along with her.
She started a tradition, the Olney pancake race involves women who must run from the town square to the church, tossing a pancake in their pan at least three times along the route.

In Sweden the day is known as Fat Tuesday. The dish of the day is the Fat Tuesday bun which is filled with almond paste and whipped cream and served floating in a bowl of hot milk. It does not seem like the Swedish would have a low-fat version of this dish!

In Belgium, children sing Easter carols, for which they are rewarded with nuts, apples and strips of bacon (which should traditionally be cooked outdoors on long willow sticks).

I think any religious customs have an amazing ability to bring people together, and its usually because of food! I'm off, this blog posting is making my mouth water! *Looking forward to my Easter Hot Cross Buns*