http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/index/ en april.lea21@hotmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-23T11:58:11+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/political_wars_like_never_before/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/political_wars_like_never_before/#When:11:58:11Z I don’t think it’s much of a secret what has been happening in Australia within the political ranks over the past few weeks with Julia Gillard calling a ballot for this Monday, 27 February 2012 in which Kevin Rudd has finally confirmed he is a nominated contestant. I have always personally kept myself on the back bench when it comes to opinions about politics and the artistry behind the craftiness of each of our Prime Ministers and their wily ways of sucking us into voting for them only to never hold out on what they promise during election times. I have watched my parents many times over vote for Independent parties, each of them never having much faith in either the Australian Labor Party or the Liberal National Party. In July of last year, I enrolled to vote, and with that, I have slowly watched the disaster unfold that is Julia Gillard. It was never the right way for her to become Prime Minister - nevermind the fact that it wasn’t the right way for the first woman to be Prime Minister of Australia. She unceremoniously pulled the High Chair of Prime Minister from beneath Kevin Rudd’s plump ass and proceeded to sit her rather bony, weasel-like and sneaky behind in his place. She made promises to ”...stop the boat people…” and kept this as her strongest argument and instilled within the Australian community a fear that they would somehow be “overrun” by asylum seekers or, as the media has so tactfully called them “boat people”, if Kevin Rudd were to maintain leadership, or the ALP become the Opposition on the back bench. Naturally, with Australian’s being their typical patriotic and bogan selves, liked the idea of a woman who could “...give jobs back to our own….” and stop the towel-heads moving in next door. Her argument, ridiculously flawed and full of holes, was hailed by the Australians and they put their faith in her that she would deliver all that she had promised. The fact that she is also the first woman Prime Minister of Australia also goaded many female Australians into believing she was the way to the future. Many congratulatory tweets and Facebook statuses and radio calls were reeling in when it was first announced her new title. A bit pathetic, really, how quickly so many Australian women were to flock to their fellow gender’s aide. I’m sure if she had jumped off a cliff, the women of Australia would have hailed her a saint and built her a shrine. I strongly disagree in everything that was, is, Julia Gillard. Yes, Kevin ‘07 made mistakes but he also had modern ideals, values and a strong sense of Australian iconism. In the areas that he failed, he succeeded in another area ten-fold. The things that he has done for our schools, for our health systems and also for our technology, strongly outweighs the mistakes he made and Julia Gillard’s depthless argument of “I will stop the boat people!”. During Kevin Rudd’s speech, he strongly emphasised the path in which the Australian Labor Party was headed if it continued with the processes in which it was. And I, as an Australian, agree with him. With Julia Gillard leading the Australian Labor Party, she will lead it where she has for the past 18 months: political hell. Who will you vote for? Australia, Boring, Opinions 2012-02-23T11:58:11+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/the_bucket_list/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/the_bucket_list/#When:03:58:19Z This isn’t an entry about the movie, but it is definitely about lists of things that you aspire to do before you kick the bucket, so to speak. I was out for my afternoon run yesterday and I don’t know why I was thinking about death, but I was, and thinking about how pissed off and sad I would be if I got hit by a truck tomorrow and didn’t complete at least a quarter of the things I wanted to do. I have quite a large bucket list but if I wanted to rule out the silly and unimportant ones, I would most likely have about 10 things that I really want to do. There are things on my list that I want to do at different stages of my life. For example, when I turn 60 I want to go skydiving as my birthday present. I think this age stands out most for me because that is what my great granddad did for his 60th me being 10 at the time thought that was just the coolest thing in the world to do and it just kind of stuck with me, I guess. I have created a list of my most important wants and desires. They aren’t in any particular order; Trek the Kokoda Trail. Travel the world - namely to Africa, Europe and New Zealand. Travel Australia. Swim with the sharks at the Cape of Good Hope. Be in a job I love. Have a family. Meet my grandchildren. Go skydiving when I’m 60. Die happy. This is my bucket list as 18 year old April Lea. I can appreciate and understand that these things will most likely grow, change or evolve as I grow, change and evolve and for this reason, in 5 years time, I will write another. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what is yours? I know, it’s not much of a list Boring, Growing Up, Opinions 2012-02-17T03:58:19+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/i_start_univeristy_this_month/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/i_start_univeristy_this_month/#When:04:58:01Z Talk about this fact hitting me like a big yellow school bus! It felt like just yesterday that I was blowing off looking up my Course Outlines and thinking, “I have months to do this”, when now, all I have are a few weeks. It has kind of freaked me out with how quickly it has come up. My two free days a week are all of a sudden going to become 8 am - 8pm hour days and my weekends are no longer going to be chilled out times and all spare hours of my day are going to be taken up by studying and oh my god I think I’m having a minor panic attack. I am super happy and relieved that I have managed to find a workplace that is so flexible with my university hours and decisions. This was a major thing for me as there was no way I could not afford to work and even though I could have easily found a job bussing tables down at the local cafe or something of the likes, I’m way too fussy and picky for that. It would have been a nightmare for me, and for everyone around me as I have a tendency to become very moody if I spend more than a few days being miserable. I know, I’m such a selfish person! But in all actuality, I feel super lucky to have been privy to this, when so many others have not had this amazing opportunity when picking their potential employers. I have gotten so used to having such an easy going lifestyle - 4 day weekend with 3 days a week work with a better-than-your-average-18-year-old-uni-student’s salary and spare time coming out of ass. This is all going to change on the 27th of February, 2012. I really think it is going to be a massive shock to my system, seeing as I have settled into my current lifestyle so well. I can’t imagine someone much older than me that has been working full time since they finished high school and deciding when they were mid-20’s they wanted to go on to tertiary education. That must have been an even bigger shock to the system, and I applaud their courage and bravery for it. I want to know if there is anybody out there that has done this, and how they have gone at it. I need some pep talk!! Growing Up, OMG!, Uni, Work 2012-02-03T04:58:01+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/turf_wars/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/turf_wars/#When:09:58:44Z When you’re living with someone, be it your boyfriend or your parents or a flatmate/s, you obviously have certain areas that are your things, and your things only. I mean, in a shared household, if you don’t mark a bag of cookies as being yours in the “shared pantry” - for sure someone else is going to eat them right?? It’s common sense that you would label things that are yours, as yours, or else put them in that space that has been designated to you so that you don’t need to label every single fucking thing you buy from the supermarket. It would go for rooms too, obviously. Your bedroom would be like your personal and private space. However, if you were living with your boyfriend, then you share that bedroom. So no longer is anything in that space safe. It is no longer a space for you to go where you are surrounded by things by you, that you like, and that you find pleasure in. It is open slather, my friend. This is the current situation with me. I live with my boyfriend, Jason (as I’m sure you guys are well aware) and since we obviously share a bedroom, we each have our own spaces that neither of us really try to intrude upon. And then you also have your shared spaces, naturally, like the living room / kitchen etc… Well, back on topic, my space is our study. It has all my belongings, to which I mean, everything that I entered the relationship with, including my computer and personal filing. Obviously Jason is allowed his filing etc… things in here also but overall, this office is my turf. I will often be found in here skulking around watching Gossip Girl, lurking on Snark or fiddling with this blog. Jason gets the shed. That is almost the size of this house. He will often be found down there, skulking around fiddling with his ute or his bikes or whatever it is boys do that manages them to get so unreasonably dirty to which he will then tramp said dirt through the house. How aggravating! Anyway, when we aren’t in either of our two spaces, we usually enjoy time together cooking in the kitchen and snuggling on the couch watching movies. The kitchen and the living room belong to nobody - maybe Allie (the cat) but that’s about it. Neither of us control the remote and a little bit of both of us exist in this room - I have pretty flower canvases and he has pig skulls. It’s a win-win. Or so I thought. On the weekend, I was watching a movie in the living room enjoying having a stretch out on the couch. Jason was downstairs with his brothers, mucking around. Everything was great. Until they came upstairs to cook the barbecue. They came tumbling into the house being loud and rude and completely ignorant to the fact I was watching a movie. Jason came in, took one look at me watching said movie and said these words: “I think we need to listen to some music.” I stared at him, in utter disbelief that he had actually dared to dominate the living room. HE HAD DARED TO! I pursed my lips, not wanting to make a scene, and stood up and stalked off into the study, my space, before slamming the door dramatically and flicking Facebook onto the screen. I was absolutely furious that he had done this. It wasn’t a simple, “Hey, do you mind watching the movie elsewhere?” or “Hey, do you mind if we put some music on after the movie is done?” It was a holy and solely dominating line. And it had done it on open turf. Dude, what the fuck! What I want to know is, after this huge ass rant, is if this has ever happened to any of you before? Has a public space in your household been rudely snatched from you by another one of equal superiority? And what was the outcome??? Attempted Funnies, Family & Friends, Men & Sex 2012-01-23T09:58:44+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/i_am_so_sorry/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/i_am_so_sorry/#When:04:28:27Z The other day, I went through all the old files on my computer and through all the old messages on various forums that I am apart of (I lie, I only belong to one religiously - Snark). And what can I say? Jesus, I was an annoying, uneducated, IMMATURE little twat! From the way I spoke, to the things I said and spoke about…I am so disgusted in myself and cannot believe I put so many of you through that part of my growing up. I had liked to believe that I was always a proper, intelligent young girl while I was growing up but with the evidence right under my nose, I was just the absolute complete opposite. Reading through 14 year old April’s writings and opinions and general banter just makes me feel like shooting myself in the face. My question to you all is: How the fuck did you put up with me? Seriously!. I am so ashamed and embarrassed at who I used to be that I almost want to just disappear under my bed and never emerge. I now understand the true meaning of the word “teenybopper”. That is exactly what I was. I thought I was some hotted up young piece of ass that could go around talking like she knew everything and that everyone loved her. Oh god, this was not the case. Don’t get me wrong - I never lied with anything about myself, but my opinions and the way I spoke was just down right disgusting. Part of me fears that maybe I still am as annoying, uneducated and immature as I was back then but I do like to think that I have definitely evolved into a somewhat-intelligent, well-rounded young female that doesn’t sound like a twat when she attempts to voice her opinion or just join in on a conversation. This is, an official apology to all those who have known me from that ripe old foul age of 14: I am so, so sorry. Feel free to bash me around the head with a brick, or squirt mandarin juice in my eye because that really stings. Online, Growing Up, OMG! 2012-01-20T04:28:27+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/im_at_a_crossroad/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/im_at_a_crossroad/#When:00:31:42Z ...and I need help. I’m having one of these moments in life where I am finding it absolutely imperative that somebody else make this decision for me. In front of me are two paths - one leads towards actually going to university and proceeding to have a healthy 10 year career following that and then having a family once I’m happy with where I am in my chosen field; and the other leads to me not going to university, accepting that I am happy where I am in the world right now and instead make myself a young family (not kids just yet!!) in the years to come that I normally would have spent at university. I’m really really stuck. I suppose I better give you a bit of background information. Jason, my partner, is 26. We have an 8 year age gap. We are fine with that - there is no problem there and he completely understands that I would want to go to university and actually have my own career, and fully supports me in this endeavour. He’s not the problem. I am. As I’m getting older, I’m finding myself far more family oriented than career driven. Back when I was in high school, I always wanted to have a big career,  go places and be rich. But now, I’m not so sure. I don’t know whether it’s because everyone around me is getting married and popping kids out or whether it is just me emotionally growing into myself and my true values as an adult. I understand that it is possible to have both, to a certain extent but I do definitely want to be a young mum - and I don’t want to have my child, take the 9 months paid maternity leave and then stick her/him in a childcare centre for 12 hours a day while I go and be selfish and focus on my career and getting to the place I want to be instead of watching him/her grow up, say their first words or start walking. I understand, or I believe, that when you have a child, pretty much 60% of your life (maybe more!) is taken up by this beautiful little creation that was hopefully born into a loving family. This is where the problems start. If I wait until after I have reached my career peak, I will most likely be around my 30’s or maybe even mid-30’s. With this 8 year age gap with Jason, that means he will be in his early 40’s. And he doesn’t want that. And I don’t want that. We both want a young family. But, what I want to know is, is this possible??? Is it possible for me to go to university for 4 years, have a nice career after that but still have a young family?? Is this possible??? I’m just so maddeningly confused and unsure of myself and I just don’t know what to do. So many people in my life are so proud of me for deciding on tertiary education because I’m the first child, grandchild and niece/nephew to go on to further education but at the end of the day - they aren’t going to be the ones with a $0,000.00 (since edited) HECS debt if I finish uni and decide I don’t want the career I just spent 4 years of my life studying for. I’m just so lost. So I’m reaching out to the void of the WWW, to seek answers, advice, ANYTHING! Family & Friends, Growing Up, Uni 2012-01-17T00:31:42+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/how_australian_murderers_are_born/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/how_australian_murderers_are_born/#When:09:04:47Z Today has so far been the hottest day of summer here in the land of vegemite. It was a whopping 38 degrees Celcius here which is so far the hottest Queensland day of Summer. We’ve had such a weird bout of weather lately - its been rainy with cold nights and then you wake up and plummet into a sweltering hot day where nothing will stay cold, and parts of your body you never thought possible to sweat from, just proved you wrong. Summer here is beautiful but its on these days when the humidity is so high you can barely breathe, and the temperature sits at around the 40 degrees; you just feel like you’re going to melt. Everything just sticks to you and you get so sweaty that you get itchy and then you get a sweat rash and you get irritable and frustrated and just when you think it can’t get any worse, it goes on into the night and makes it impossible to sleep. You think to yourself, oh, I’ll put the fan on (because us middle class people don’t always have air conditioning…) but all it manages to do is blow that hot air right into your face and make you wonder just what the hell you did to deserve being put in this hot sticky climate. And thats when you realise, OH, I have a pool (you lucky assholes) so you go outside still fully clothed and dive straight into that pool. You expect to feel the coolness of the water envelope you and bring your core body temperature down but WHOOPS the pool is hot enough to make a tea out of. You clamber out of the pool none the better than when you jumped in and go inside to change your clothes. You get half way through changing your clothes before you collapse on your bed naked and have a half hearted attempt at a sob. Life just isn’t fair. It’s hot, sticky and there is nothing that can satiate this feeling of hot and stickiness and irritability. Nothing. This, my friends, is how murderers in Australia are born. They get hot, sticky and go on a bloody rampage. Attempted Funnies, Australia, Boring 2012-01-09T09:04:47+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/a_new_year_a_new_list_that_wont_ever_be_done/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/a_new_year_a_new_list_that_wont_ever_be_done/#When:09:25:43Z I know I’m 4 days late with writing this but I’ve been busy with other stuff..like making this shiny new layout! Anyway, this new year means a lot of new things for me - some exciting and others a bit daunting. Like, I will be starting uni full time officially and while this is exciting I’m secretly a bit nervous and freaked out by it all! I don’t know how well I’m going to do seeing as I didn’t like school very much but that wasn’t really due to the work; moreso to do with the fact that we were so restricted back then… But anywho, wish me luck and if you are at uni give me pointers etc… etc… because seeing as I enrolled for waaay too many classes I definitely think I need the help! This year also officially marks that I have not lived with my parents for over a year now WOOHOO! At least that New Years Resolution was successfully completed…I love being independent! I never was one to be completely reliant on somebody. I just don’t think its my thing. And even though Jas and I went through some pretty rocky patches during last year, I do believe that we are going to work out for the long run. I know, I’m a bit soppy and all that but I think I am allowed to be after the tricky times that have since been over. The new year resolutions for this year, however, will still be made but I’m not too sure if they are going to be achievable: Run the Bridge to Brisbane in it’s entirety of 10 kilometres. This one is a big one for me because it means that I will have reached the peak in my fitness goals. I can currently do about 5 kilometers in 40 minutes but that is with me sweating like a pig. I can do 3 kilometers with a light sheen of sweat in about 20 minutes. My goal is to be able to do 5 kilometers in 30 minutes and from there I will work into doing 10 kilometers. Ideally I would like to finish the Bridge to Brisbane in an hour like my dad but I understand that for this first year of actually running it, this might not be possible. Save at least $10,000.00AUD in our General Savings This one, I really want to complete. I want nothing more than to be completely comfortable with our Savings. Right now, we have a strong $5,000.00AUD but that isn’t enough for a deposit on a house, and that’s what I would really like. It is definitely an achievable goal…well…for now it is. Get at least a Distinction in all my courses at uni Again, another achievable goal, for now. I really want to do well with my first year at uni to prove to myself that I will be able to do the following 2 years after this year and not flake out. It’s a big step for me. So, there’s my resolutions. I don’t have many but I do definitely want to complete them all, regardless of what the title of this entry implies! Do tell me your resolutions or your hopes/dreams for 2012! We all have them! Family & Friends, Growing Up, Uni 2012-01-04T09:25:43+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/a_very_merry_christmas/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/a_very_merry_christmas/#When:22:06:21Z Just wanted to take the time to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a good time into the New Year! Online, Family & Friends 2011-12-22T22:06:21+00:00 http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/that_time_of_the_year/ http://www.mynameisapril.org/index.php/site/that_time_of_the_year/#When:20:57:40Z Of course I’m going to post about the current time of the year! Unlike last year, when I positively hated this time of the year (the floods etc… were happening), this year I am just so jolly and full of happiness and excitement! The weather has been ridiculously hot, which is traditional for a good ol’ Aussie Christmas but it also feels like Christmas this year. Last year, it was wet, flooding and literally nobody was in the mood for it. This year is so much better! One of my most favourite things about Christmas, however, is that I get to buy things. I get to think, uhm and ahh, purchase, wrap and give someone a gift. IT’S JUST SO MUCH FUN! Yes, it is definitely expensive - Jason and I’s Christmas Gift List Budget is well over $1,500.00AUD and that is just for immediate family (and Snark Secret Santa of course!). But I just love the fact that everyone gets up off their asses on Christmas and gives - to their friends, family and even to charities. The amount of Christmas Hampers I have seen out the front of stores that are full just makes me really proud to be Australian - we might be shitheads sometimes but there are still a few of us that aren’t rotten out there! The only thing that does make me sad at Christmas, is when I’m not spending it with my family. I don’t mean to be selfish but the thought of spending a Christmas with Jason’s parents out at Stanthorpe (buttfuck nowhere) instead of with my own just makes me sad. I will do it for him, obviously, but I just love Christmas with my family. This year I won because my Aunt has just come back from a 2 year trip around Australia so it would be nice to spend Christmas with her and Jason understood this. But next year, it’s his turn. I bet so many families/couples out there have this same dilemma every year - which family to do Christmas with? Do you have a preference or do you just swap between the different families? Family & Friends, OMG! 2011-12-01T20:57:40+00:00