I've seen the sky orange (namely if I remember when the bushfires were super bad) and have seen things outside be yellow since we moved here (where I nicknamed the sky the Simpsons) but this was the first time I'd seen the sky turn red. It was an awesome sight to behold. I thought you might like some pics to see what it was like at my place 6am this morning (and DUDE it was so windy it looked like a freaking tornado was coming outside - I seriously feared for my life going to work. And the inside of the train was covered in dirt also. Ew.)

( Pics here )

Well I am about to run out the door so this is my official AWAY NOTICE. No time to pretty it up. Going to the USA - back in 3 weeks y'all!

Hi all

Just a quick note to apologize for my total lack of being around - work has been cracking the whip hard this week (early starts, late finishes, and bringing work home!) and I've still not got everything done.

I'm leaving at like 6:30am tomorrow morning to fly to QLD for 4 days. By then I'll probably have 2 weeks of stuff to catch up on, and even then I won't be able to as it'll be more of the same b4 shooting over to the US for 3 weeks. In other words I will FAIL at being part of the world (& your lives) for July/August so don't be surprised if I don't know anything.

This journal won't be seeing any real action for some time. Please take this as my away post.

Well I haven't done one of these in a while, but it appealed to me.

1. What do you feel is the most important quality in a close friend?
Trust. Above all else you need to trust that they won't betray, that they won't turn their backs on you, that they are there for you - it's the only real way you can love them for it.

2. What is the one quality in a stranger you'd just met that would make you want to get to know them better?
Understanding. The more understanding they are the more open I am with them as I know they know what I'm talking about and actually have a care.

3. What do you think is the most important quality in a good leader?
Knowledge. If someone knows what they're doing, where they are going, can be relied on to make decisions and will not make an error, then that is a good leader to me.

4. What is the one thing that makes a child likable to you?
Playfulness. I love seeing their imagination and generally running around having fun with them. Children get to live in a world of innocence and wonder until something adult/life in general hits them on their backside and the white starts to turn grey (or black)

5. What do you think is the one thing that makes a good parent (other than loving their children)?
Being responsible for your child - paying attention to them. Nothing aggravates me more with parents than if they continually ignore their child or just forget all about them (especially if they put their own needs first)

Yes I promise I will get started on my project now and stop stalling... *loading computer now*

*UNLOCKED FOR A SHORT TIME ONLY*

I know I have a million and one things to write about, but I'm just going to quickly post about the Star Trek premiere in Sydney last night. To be short-but-sweet it was a balmy night with very little crowd, which was surprising as we were a little late but still about 2 hours early after being kicked out of the hotel. The guys spent nearly an hour down at the start of the red carpet signing autographs and speaking to various people. Zachary Quinto spoke to Richard Wilkins for a good 15mins (all of which 2 mins of this was aired and only about the Leonard Nimoy thing which everyone has heard about already surely)and then he went BACK to him and we were all "Zach, c'mon!" He was Billy Boyding that carpet, really. Not a single person missed out down there I don't think. Which made for very limited time for us on the stairs - he didn't reach us until about 6:30pm, and what was worse was that a SWARM of ppl came up the stairs at that point in time engulfing all of them. I have to say Eric Bana walked the carpet the smartest of them all (and his wife was gorgeous to boot - we were all fangirling her dress but none of us knew her name so we could call her over and tell her!).

But back to the stars... Karl Urban was fantastically attentive to everyone. Zach seemed to be enjoying himself for the most part down the bottom, Chris we could barely see, and poor John Cho got ignored by most people. We were fully focused on Zach so when we saw him coming (and the crowd beginning to swallow him) all 5 of us - me, Zarina, Gen, Sherrie & Jess - shouted "ZACH!" (not to mention we had the aided help of a German guy called Christian who was there more just to chat with us than for the stars LOL). This was enough to grab his attention, and we kept calling and waving him over so he could locate his fanbase. And then once he was over there was a million and one things blurted out, but I do remember that we all practically pointed at Zarina and went "ZARINA!" and he threw his arms out (seriously, I thought he was going to hug her for a minute there!) and said "I met you in Paris! In France!" and we were all rejoicing the reunion of Zacharina! LOL Gen & Zarina had 2 missions - the first completed, the 2nd was to try and organise to give him his present (they had spent the day gathering very daggy Australian souveniors for him) but he was being pulled away *queue video* and only returned long enough to get photos with Gen, Zarina & Jess before racing off (sad I was, I missed out *sob*).

Whilst we watched him race around and Jess frantically tried to get John Cho's attention (which ultimately failed), I think it was Gen who managed to flag Chris Pine and get him over to us. He took one look at the Spock picture on the cover of Zarina's magazine and burst out laughing, then couldn't resist turning and mocking Zach about it *queue 2nd video* I tell you, Chris Pine was an absolute delight XD Mind you they were all so late now that the interviewers on the platform above took priority and they were dragged away leaving us with very little time with them at all :(

My pictures are mostly poor (thanks to distance and the guy in front of me who kept getting in the way and rocking the fence, and leaving me with the edge of one step to stand on so I had great difficulty keeping balance - especially with my bad foot *is seeing a doctor today about this*), but I've tried to upload the best or most noteworthy and put my videos up as well (score that I got Zach in the 2nd one and didn't even realise he was in frame in the background! LOL)

( Star Trek red carpet pics & vids )

This is my official notice of absence. Unfortunately I was only just told what was happening and between school and work I will not be here for when our phone line shuts down so I cannot create any pretty graphics or the like.

I WILL OFFICIALLY BE ON HIATUS FROM NOW UNTIL 4TH APRIL
(or whenever the phone gets reconnected)

Please leave me any important info about what's going on with you guys (or the world I love in general) in comments to this post. For my best buddies who have my mobile - you can still reach me on that if needed. I may text a note or two to Twitter if I'm seriously bored.

I will let you know if I come back earlier - and can someone please keep an eye on Twicon for me and let me know if the world hates me and Jackson's photoshoot, etc. go on sale while I'm off? Thanks.

*MWAH* Love you all

Title: The Gathering
Fandom (is so, include details) or Non Fandom?: Non Fandom (ie. Original)
Chapter Number: Chapter Twenty-One
Word Count: 2,734 Words
Rating: M (due to language & adult content... not entirely sure where this thing is going)
Summary: In 1692 a group of witches sacrificed their powers to prevent death. Almost 3.5 centuries later, these powers have befallen new generations. Those that would be heroes are lost. It is up to those who are left behind to save themselves & the world they're in.
Author's Notes: Probably another 5-6 chapters to go on this.

( The Gathering - Chapter Twenty-One )

Title: The Gathering
Fandom (is so, include details) or Non Fandom?: Non Fandom (ie. Original)
Chapter Number: Chapter Twenty
Word Count: 2,312 Words
Rating: M (due to language & adult content... not entirely sure where this thing is going)
Summary: In 1692 a group of witches sacrificed their powers to prevent death. Almost 3.5 centuries later, these powers have befallen new generations. Those that would be heroes are lost. It is up to those who are left behind to save themselves & the world they're in.
Author's Notes: This is nowhere near finished...

( The Gathering - Chapter Twenty )

Title: The Gathering
Fandom (is so, include details) or Non Fandom?: Non Fandom (ie. Original)
Chapter Number: Nineteen
Word Count: 4,844 Words
Rating: M (due to language & adult content... not entirely sure where this thing is going)
Summary: In 1692 a group of witches sacrificed their powers to prevent death. Almost 3.5 centuries later, these powers have befallen new generations. Those that would be heroes are lost. It is up to those who are left behind to save themselves & the world they're in.
Author's Notes: This is nowhere near finished... (And a mighty TBC!!!)

( The Gathering - Chapter Nineteen )