MelonQueen.com

I must apologise to anyone who checks my blog for the lack of updates. Though I’m sure if you like me enough to check the blog, then you must be a friend on Facebook so you would know what’s going on already… Anyway.

So the first bit of news I have to announce is that I finally got my license! I went for my driving test on January 29th and I passed first go I am now officially a P-plater and my lovely little red Yaris (Mel, short for the MelonCarriage) that I bought back in December 2007 is finally being used on a regular basis. I have been trying to get out an about as much as I can… Have already driven to Chapel St, around the city, to visit/shopping with friends plus not to mention the fact I don’t have to pay for taxis to work anymore! The freedom is fantastic Plus I’m saving money because instead of drinking I’m driving, I’m not paying for taxis and I’m not paying for driving lessons. Yay!

But on the mention of work, that is my other bit of news. I have left Coles The Glen to take up a 12 month position at Coles head office as a UAT Tester! I started yesterday and so far it’s going ok! Been easing into it, so it’s not too full on yet, but I’m sure it will pick up once I’m more settled in It was sad to leave behind the team at The Glen, but if nothing permanent comes out of this position, I will end up back there at the end of the 12 months. But I’m working with some pretty cool people in the office, so I think this is going to be a great experience! Plus I get to geek it up a little at work now, so we all know this is right up my alley

Well I think that is all I had to catch up on! Hopefully will remember to update a bit more frequently.

<3 MQ

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We all love seeing how much time we waste on gaming, and now it’s a lot easier with Raptr! Now I’m not sure if there were previous clients that could count all your PC gaming, xBox 360, PS3 etc. in one, but Raptr can, and I’m loving it! I’ve got it linked to my 360 account and Xfire so it can track my gaming, plus linked to my Facebook and Twitter so it can show my friends what I’m currently playing, plus it logs the time too and will show any achievements you unlock. It also has a chat client for the PC so you can hook up with your mates on there. I’ve been using it for a little while now and really enjoy at how I can track my gaming and celebrate when I clock up a few hours, or lament when I only get a few mins in one week! If you’re already signed up, or are going to sign up, add me as a friend… As usual, it’s melonqueen

I also picked up the Mass Effect 2 collector’s edition today, so as I haven’t finished the first one, I’m trying to race through that so I can start on the second. 3 day weekend = lots of gaming!!

<3 MQ

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I’ve been back since Monday, it’s now Saturday and I’ve only just gotten around to uploading my pics from my trip back to Adelaide! Not that I’m lazy… Ok well maybe I am a bit, but 2 days after I got back, I got a virus and have been sick and after going back to work for 1 day, I’ve spent the rest of it in bed! Sucks!

Anyway, Christmas was pretty good. i made a trifle, cookies and cream slice (using Philadelphia cream cheese and Oreos, got the recipe from the Philadelphia cookbook) and a vegan mud cake for Matt and Laura. Got some pretty cool pressies as well But it was just a nice relaxing day with the family, including a couple of heated games of Scrabble between me, my mum, my aunty Sav and my sister-in-law Laura.

Other events of the trip include a night drink on Grange beach with Shaun and Mark, dinner at Vegetarian Delights with Sam, Damien, Cailin and Shaun, New Year’s Eve with Sam and Damien that included a buttload of alcohol that got regurgitated on New Years Day and playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 and a low-key night in town with Tarlie, James, Chris, Danni, Ben, Sam and Damien

Of course keeping in tradition with last year’s Christmas trip to Adelaide, I got myself another tattoo! Done by Anthony at Ink Central on Hindley Street, it’s a typical power symbol on the base of my neck:

And can I just say, I’m much more impressed by the people that run Ink Central on Hindley Street than the ones that ran it when it was Ink Asylum a year ago! It was cleaner, friendlier and it didn’t make me feel uncomfortable!

Anyway photos of my trip can either be viewed via my Facebook or on my Flickr.

<3 MQ

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So I’m off to Adelaide today! I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Eat plenty of junk, drink till you’re pissed and be merry all the way through!

<3 MQ

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So I get a lot of spam come through for comments. It’s funny, for ages it’s all been about pills and erections. Now it’s all about cooking. Wtf?

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Just a quick update on my progress at the gym… I’ve lost 4kg in 4 1/2 weeks!! I’m awesome

<3 MQ

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Personal training hurts. It really does. It took me 3 days to get over the muscle pain from my first session, and it’s all going to happen again tomorrow. But without the pain there is no gain as I keep telling myself! So yes, I am still keeping up my gym regiment, and I’m increasingly finding myself with more energy and keeping up with my healthy eating habits!

I just finished watching the documentary Without My Daughter. Now, a lot of you would have heard of the book Not Without My Daughter and the film of the same name starring Sally Field. For those that haven’t, the basic gist of the story is that an American woman named Betty Mahmoody marries an Iranian man, Dr. Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody (Moody), and when they go on a family holiday to Tehran (the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran), along with their young daughter Mahtob, Moody keeps Betty and Mahtob there against their will and not for the two week vacation they had originally believed they were going on. According to Betty’s book, Moody became increasingly hostile and violent to both her and Mahtob, acting as a jailer more than a husband, until eventually she was able to organise to get herself and her daughter out of the country with people smugglers through the mountains and over the border into Turkey around 18 months after they first arrived in Tehran.

Without My Daughter is a documentary made in 2002, around 16 years after Betty and Mahtob left Iran. It shows Dr. Mahmoody’s attempts to get in contact with his daughter to try and reconcile with her after years of isolation. Now of course there are two sides to every story, and Dr. Mahmoody claims many things in Betty’s book were untrue. Dr. Mahmoody was unsuccessful in his attempts to get in contact with Mahtob and he died in August this year without ever being able to see or speak to his daughter.

Now, I can understand what it’s like to be isolated from one’s father. I haven’t spoken to mine for about a year. This documentary tends to play on sympathy towards Dr. Mahmoody, and I’m not sure whether it’s my own prejudices from my own experiences or prejudice from reading Not Without My Daughter many times, but I did find it hard to give him sympathy. While I do feel that it is always a good idea to try and reconcile and re-establish a relationship with a parent, sometimes scars can run deep and there can be a certain wariness and even fear with taking these steps. If the circumstances in Betty’s book are true, then Mahtob can be quite justified by not reaching out to her father when he tried to reach out to her. However, if her accounts were an embellishment, then I do believe that Mahtob should have at least given her father the opportunity to have his say. It’s a tricky situation as we, the general public, have no idea what really went on behind closed doors, both in their home in the US before they went to Iran, and in their home in Tehran. It is sad to think of someone growing old without their children around them, but if they did something to seriously traumatise them, then is that child not justified in trying to protect themselves from further hurt and anguish? The thing that I did find about this documentary though was that Dr. Mahmoody didn’t really try to explain his side of the story too much. It was mostly an “I’m sad, I want to find my daughter” vein along the whole thing. I think a bit more depth on his part, and that of the film makers, would have made a more valid case for his argument that Betty’s book was untrue. I think that’s why I found it hard to swallow a lot of this documentary, because it didn’t truly give his account on the time they all spent together in Iran. If you Google Mahtob Mahmoody, there are some articles where she is quoted correlating her mother’s story. Seeing as she was between the ages of 4 and 6 during her time in Tehran, she was old enough to retain the memories and I’m sure, as many of you may know, it’s the more horrific memories that tend to stick in your mind, the ones that truly change your life, that will haunt you for the rest of your life. It is one thing for you to say you miss your daughter, and yes you can, no matter what passed between you, there is still that bond and no one disputes that fact. But to show no remorse for the events that your actions led to, then that’s quite another thing… And it’s hard to feel sympathy for someone like that.

To view Without My Daughter, click here (6 parts, roughly 10mins each)

For more information on Betty Mahmoody and Not Without My Daughter click here

<3 MQ

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Isn’t it amazing how making such a change in your life can bring results so quickly? After 1 week and 5 workouts which have developed from 1hr to 2 1/2hrs, and having eaten quite healthily for the past couple of weeks, I have lost 2kg since last Saturday night. I already have more energy and just feel a lot more positive! Not that I rarely didn’t feel like I was in a good mood, but it’s a different kind of feeling Exercise + Healthy Eating = a lot less scary than I thought!

<3 MQ

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So, I joined the gym last Friday! I’m going to Fitness First here in Glen Waverley, and have already worked out 4 times At the moment I’m just doing cardio workouts, but I have signed up for personal training, so hopefully should start that soon. To get myself into the regular routine, I’ve set certain days aside for me to go straight after work and I’m sticking to them, no excuses! I have to admit, even after just 4 sessions, I feel great. I’ve never done the whole exercising thing, so it’s new to me. I’m not doing it to necessarily lose weight (though I know it will happen naturally), but rather to tone up and improve my physical fitness. I can’t ever remember a time in my life where I was fit. It would be nice to be able to run for more than a metre without feeling like I’m going to have my lungs explode or something I do eventually want to also use this as a tool to quit smoking, but we’ll take that step when I come to it

So today I went, and slowly I’m increasing the amount of time I spend on the machines. For instance on Friday when I first worked out, I spent just half an hour on the cross trainer and half an hour on the bike. Today I spent over an hour on the treadmill, 45mins on the bike and 30mins on the cross trainer. Eventually I’d like to get it to the stage where I can do an hour on each, until I am confident enough on the weights machines to add them to the routine. I know absolutely nothing about them, so this is where the personal training will come in handy I’m hoping that I start to see the benefits within the next few weeks, and have given myself a timeline to my birthday (May 19th) to reach my goal, which is a more toned body and increased fitness. I’d like to be able to go for a jog in the morning sometimes, but at the moment I just can’t handle that. I’ve never really been able to run, I just don’t have the strength or fitness for it (plus large breasts don’t help!).

But keeping checking back, I will update on my progress!

Also, currently enjoying Red Alert 3 on 360, and have just started playing Red Alert on iPhone as well, so will do a write-up on how well it handles on a mobile (when I have time though )

<3 MQ

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Last night we had Halloween Karaoke down at Strike on Chapel St! Was a brilliant night, there was a great turnout. I went dressed as Lara Croft in a costume I put together myself (was a lot cheaper than buying a ready made one!) and I think I looked pretty good But I do have to say the best costumes there were the Willy Wonka and Oompa Loompa and Buzz Lightyear! I sang my usual Ice Ice Baby and then decided to Rickroll every and sang Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up. Was also great to see everyone who I haven’t seen since the last karaoke back in May Props go to Jay and Thomas to hosting and to Amanda and the rest of the staff at Strike for providing an awesome venue and alcohol!

Photos can be found on My Flickr

Also I’d like to wish my Mum a very Happy Birthday!

<3 MQ

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