Caitlin, who is living and working in London at the moment, has written an article for the Australian about the RED project, an anti-AIDS campaign that has the backing of some pretty serious fashionistas:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20461342-2703,00.html
She met Tim Cahill…woohooin!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/5372458.stm
He has written a new book, The God Delusion, which as usual, pulls no punches. He describes it as a ’self help to atheism’. The link above includes a couple of very interesting excerpts, one of which suggests that although the political machine is unwilling to admit it, the war on terror is actually a war on religion.
The link above also includes an extremely interesting interview with Jeremy Paxman.
Swandives can’t let Grand Final AFL week go without the obligatory best wishes for the Swans. Roosy, you’re a legend! And that goes for the boys too.
The household is divided…the beloved showed his true colours a few weeks ago when Swans played West Coast and won by the narrowest of margins. His Perth roots are showing through…grrr. How can he possibly defect so! Oh well. I’m nervous…West Coast want it bad and they have Chris Judd, but I have faith.
EDIT: LOST BY A POINT!!! BAZZA, MATE, WHAT WERE YOU DOING? Don’t worry. We still loves ya. And there was a wonderful symmetry about it all….last year, Swannies lost by four points in the final, beat West Coast by four points in the grand final. This year, won by a point in the final, lost by a point in the grand final…you have to be philosophical.
Good news: I’m not the one person in 180,000 who has a life threatening reaction to iodine being injected into their veins.
But I wouldn’t recommend you try if for a larf. You burn for a bit, it makes you feel like you’re gonna pee and they make you hold your breath for what seems like forever (but is prolly only about 20 seconds). Fun stuff. Apart from that, it’s all pretty innocuous, and hopefully the result of my $700 (!!!) will be that I’ll have this cool 3D image of my heart and arteries.
That’s two down, two more to go.
87
When I was seven, I had a heart operation. The official term for my condition was a ‘coarctation of the aorta’ or, in real person speak, a narrowing of the main artery from the heart. Well, the last time I had a checkup was 15 years ago and I distinctly remember the doctor saying that there was a slight chance that the problem would return as I got older due to scar tissue but in general I was fine and to go off and have a nice life. So I did.
Well, today I went to see a cardiologist. And now I’m a tad worried. I know that I really shouldn’t be, but this is the list of tests I have lined up in the next month:
* A CT Aortogram and 3D reconstruction (where they inject an xray dye into a vein and create a 3D image of your blood vessels).
* Chest Xrays
* Holter monitoring system of my heart. I gotta wear it around for 24hrs.
* An echocardiogram (echo). An ultrasound of my heart.
That’s BEFORE I go back to the cardiologist. So now I’m broke and, apparently, not as fighting fit as I thought I was. Doc says I have a heart murmur (tell me something I don’t know) and that we may have to discuss whether I take medication to keep my blood pressure down (even tho, to my knowledge, it’s not up).
So I’m a tad worried. Made worse by the little gems of info these procedures provide such as “The chance of a serious life threatening reaction is less than 1 in 180,000″. Is that supposed to be reassuring, coz it’s not.
And I did the really STUPID thing looking the condition up on the internet. Dumb, dumb, dumb move. I knew it was dumb when I did it, but did it anyway.
Well, the good news is that it’s just as well I don’t really want kids. Because I’m considered ‘high risk’ if I get pregnant.
86
My official time in the Bridge Run was 62:23. That’s the fastest I’ve run! Here’s the official stats:
Place: 6085
Finish time: 01:10:04
Net time: 01:02:23
Gender place: 3018
The thing to look at is Net time. It’s weird: everybody walks up to the start line and then starts running. Not like the City to Surf when it’s hell for leather from the starters gun. So it took me a while just to get to the start coz everybody was dawdling.
Overall there were 9105 entrants, 7853 starters and 7853 finishers. So I was back of the pack (no surprises there) but these are people who are serious runners, as opposed to me who jogs a bit 
Feeling mighty proud: Mikey and I completed the 9km Bridge Run yesterday in fine style - we both posted excellent personal times. We’re still waiting on the official results (you wear little tags strapped to your shoes that record your exact time) but Mike’s was a cracking 44:19, and mine was somewhere between 62-65 mins. Felt good most of the way. The worst bit was the start, actually. I had convinced myself that it was going to be sheer hell and that I’d come last. I thought it would be a lot more full on than the City to Surf, but it was actually more laid back. And the course is sooo much easier. And it’s 5km less, which is always a good thing! Most of the full-on runners did the half or full marathon and we cheered some of the marathon guys to the finish line at the end. I hate to admit it, but I really enjoyed myself. Some other highlights:
* Watching the eventual Marathon winner do the dash from the dunnies (he missed the start coz the lines for the toilets were so long, but he still won the race!)
* The lovely amount of downhill - first from halfway across the bridge through to Macquarie St and then the 1.5km to the finish line….should be more of it
* The incredible crowd at the finish. Many were from the Sydney Striders running club, lending support to fellow striders. They made for a great atmosphere.
* The wonderful Sydney weather.
Next time I do one of these, I am going to remind myself to stop and take in the atmosphere. After a few kms I get running brain and become completely incapable of concentrating on anything. Consequently, I can’t remember big slabs of stuff after the race. Next time I’m gonna make myself look around and take more in.
84
83
There was a time when I swore blind I would never marry. And I still think that, had I not met my beloved, I’d be a lone sole in the world. But there are times when the universe, thankfully, decides otherwise.
And the nice thing is that some of the best bits of our courtship (such an old fashioned word, but wonderfully evocative) were recorded for posterity thanks to the modern wonder of email. Here is an excerpt, in which I explain my supposed prediliction for single life - highly ironic in hindsight of course. This comes in halfway through the conversation, but needless to say Mike has just made a comment that I considered rather salacious:
Mike!!
I’m blushing.
Clearly, I’m outclassed here. On so many levels.
“Pure mind” indeed!
—– Message—–
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2003 10:20 AM
Subject: RE: married yet?
Why are you blushing …
I didn’t think I said anything that embarrassing – did I?
Outclassed … pourquoi?
Pure mind - of course, what else would it be. I claim to be “horribly misunderstood”. All that innuendo is in the mind of the beholder, you see.
mikexx
—– Message—–
The innocent act will not work. You have no defense. That email is positively racy.
>My mind, pure as it is, has done nothing to your ‘umble box, umm, of a flat.
I cannot confess to being so irreproachable that this went over my head.
However I like to at least project the illusion that I am nice little daddy’s girl from the north shore, whatever the realities…
I had a moment of realisation the other day. It occurred to me that it would be far more liberating were I to embrace being young and single rather than maintaining the citadel mentality that has loomed over me for the last two years. I have the advantage this time around of having that most desperate of belief systems knocked out of me - being in love is complete bollocks.
Like religion, the idea of true love is a social meme that is perpetuated by romance novels and soppy ballads. The realisation of this was initially devastating (and not surprisingly as it was coupled with a breakup), but I am beginning to see it also holds advantages, in terms of my being happy.
This, Michael, is why I will never wed. It has nothing to do with Qld boy. I suspect you already know that I am all talk on that subject - a mere diversion to make me sound more interesting;)
You are probably nodding knowingly, smug in the knowledge that all this Has been said before by countless young things, many of whom have found themselves with a couple of snotty-nosed little ‘uns tugging at their skirts five years down the track. Well, all I can say is you are not the only one who feels horribly misunderstood;)
Me, me, me, me, me. You have an uncanny knack, my boy, of luring me into discussing things that would normally remain mere whisps of consciousness.
I wish to turn the tables. Are you happy with your lot at [publication], objective as it seems to be? Do you deliberately put yourself up as a Greek chorus to the follies of [company name], or is it just coincidence?
xg
Don’t want to sit through 10+ hours of epic grandness? Don’t worry. Here’s the abridged version, with minor changes
Gee muses
