The Life and Lies of Ashley Elisabeth

17: Do you have any piercings or tattoos? Explain them.

ashleyelisabeth — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:08:50 +0000

Yes. Pictures would probably be a hell of a lot easier, but here goes:

I have one set of ear piercings from when I was 2 and a half years old, and another single piercing on my right ear about half way up (not on the cartilage, though). I have scars from when I had my second set of ear piercings, but had to take them out because the amateur asshole who did them spaced them too close to my firsts. And I still have a hole under my lip from my lip piercing that lasted just over a year before boredom lead me to take it out.

I have one spade tattoo on my mid-lower back, and a few more tattoos planned. Nothing in-your-face like sleeves, and nothing that’s been done to death like Kanji symbols or a butterfly etc.

16: Your top 5 pet peeves.

ashleyelisabeth — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 08:09:22 +0000

Loud chewers
Bad grammar
Door-to-door religion promoters
Ignorant beliefs
Extremist patriotism

15: What kind of person attracts you.

ashleyelisabeth — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:21:15 +0000

Someone who is kind, but not oversensitive. Someone who is weird. Someone whose idea of a date isn’t getting ‘paro on the d-floor’ of a random club in town. Someone who is strong. Someone who has an opinion about everything, but isn’t a bigot. Someone who recognises that I am certifiably insane. Someone who refuses to read vampire books, but is well-read otherwise. Someone who wants to travel. Someone who doesn’t have the whole ‘white boy’ Australian pride. Someone who is happy staying in on Saturday nights, with a glass of wine, a blanket and a Gene Kelly movie.

14: Your beliefs.

ashleyelisabeth — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 09:06:06 +0000

Riiight, how very generic. I’ll answer as best I can?

Be a nice person. Simple, right? You can be opinionated, but don’t be hateful. You can love yourself, but don’t be selfish. You don’t have to give a lot, but give. It’s not that damn hard, ok. Help people when in need, and be a nice person in general. Easy.
If you’re going to shove your opinion in my face, I’m going to shove my opinion in your face twice as hard.
There is no god that would let its creations die. That’s like a parent letting their kid die because they don’t want to interfere with the tree that’s about to fall on them. I’m not going to burn your Bibles, I’m not going to tell you your opinion or religion is invalid, but I will respect your views and you’ll respect mine in return and we’ll all be on our merry way!
Women and/or men should not have to subjugate themselves to be with someone they love, or think they love.
Racists and homophobes are not welcome in my presence, and if they start running their mouths about said views, I have every right to inform them that they’re wrong. Not that I respect their opinion, or that they’re entitled to think what they want, that they are entirely, 100% wrong.
There is a criminal amount of money in this world. The rich keep getting richer, the poor die. Sorry to sound pseudo-philosophical, but I hate money issues.
The death penalty is ridiculous. Killing people to teach others that killing people is wrong is idiocy at its finest.
Blueberry Fanta and Hello Panda’s is quite possibly the most brilliant combination ever discovered.
Bombora and Indian food is quite possibly the worst combination ever discovered.

There’s more beliefs stored up in my mind tank, but buggered if I’ll type them all up!

13: Your highs and lows of this year.

ashleyelisabeth — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 07:00:36 +0000

Wow, it’s mid/late September so that’s a whole lotta year to recap!

Definite highs:

Getting a job
The rare times I get to actually hang out with my wonderful friends (99% of which are at Uni)
My really good friend and I getting to work together
Train trips to Sydney
New Years day
The entire Easter long weekend
My 18th!
Getting my first tattoo
Receiving an email response from Meghan Daum (an incredible writer for the LA Times and the New Yorker)

Definite lows:

Hating my job
Not having my P’s

Yep, that’s about it! This year has been relatively uneventful, to say the least. My life mostly consists of work, sleep, work, work, internet, sleep, TV, work. Scintillating, I know.

12: Your views on mainstream music.

ashleyelisabeth — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:41:42 +0000

Should I have views on mainstream music? Hells bells, it’s not even a genre. I know a lot of people who go with the whole “Gah, mainstream music is just fuel to the fire that is the unintelligent posers of society. Whinge whinge, angst angst” thing. That doesn’t interest me, that particular view. I like a lot of ‘Top 40′ music, I dislike a lot of it too, but that goes for every single genre of music.

Boring opinion time is officially over.

11: Bullet your whole day

ashleyelisabeth — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:23:41 +0000

I did absolutely nothing today, so I’ll bullet yesterday.

Woke up at 6:50am
Got dressed
Left for Sydney with my parents at 7:30am
Inspected a student accommodation place in Marrickville at 9:45am
Drove home and arrived back by about 12:15
Had a shower
Walked to Coles with Rachel, then up to Ally’s for a family barbecue at about 2pm
Had an amazing time at said barbecue
Got home at about 8:30pm
Watched Arrested Development until I fell asleep

Hot damn, how riveting am I? Cue massive eye-roll.

10: Someone who fascinates you and why.

ashleyelisabeth — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 05:00:50 +0000

Ok, this is insane because basically everyone that isn’t me fascinates me. In terms of public figures, I would say the most interesting would be Fidel Castro, Markus Zusak, Adolf Hitler and Marie Curie. Stereotypical, right?

Firstly Fidel Castro is a big hero of mine, though that particular view has gotten some weird looks from people many a time. People seem to venerate Che Guevarra (mostly for some sort of cool factor) and push aside Castro, though their efforts in liberating Cuba from dictator and all-round bastard, Fulgencio Batista, were joint. Castro became disillusioned with the way Batista had assumed power and his new political stance, so rather than proceed with his law practice job, he joined an underground group of rebels and a revolution begun. He was born to wealth, he had a wife and a close enough comaraderie with Batista that he received $1000 on his wedding night – most likely a signal of more benefits to come. Instead of exploiting his position within society, he lead an attack (on the Moncada Barracks, for anyone who gives a crap) that landed him a fifteen-year prison sentence. Castro was granted freedom two years after his sentence was declared and exiled to Mexico. He didn’t give up on his country, he didn’t take his freedom and relish in any sort of egocentric ‘lucky me’ parade, instead he joined forces with young Ernesto Guevarra. I won’t labour you with the intricacies – the Battle of La Plata, Operation Verano, the Battle of Yaguajay etc. – suffice it to say that Che and Fidel’s forces destroyed Batista’s army, forcing him out of power and freeing Cuba from a corrupt government’s clutches. Castro was 32 years old. I dare you to ask any 32 year old what the hell they’ve done with their life. Castro dealt with so much economical, political, personal bullshit after finally being sworn in as Prime Minister in 1959. He created Cuba into a functioning economy within itself, particularly after the big hit that was the U.S Trade Embargo. For all of the reasons above, I admire Fidel Castro. He fascinates me endlessly and I would have loved to have met him in his younger revolutionary days.

That went for longer than expected, so I’m going to go ahead and segue straight to Markus Zusak. Not only is this man my favourite author, he is another hero of mine. His mind is incredible, his genius unfathomable. If after reading any single one of his books you don’t feel changed, let me know so we can discuss your brain situation. I know I sound like an infomercial, but I can’t help but pour out my admiration in terms of endearing praise. The way he creates his characters, and the way he delivers subtle yet powerful social commentaries, is nothing short of brilliant. To have a mind anywhere near as impressive as Markus Zusak’s would be amazing, to be able to write novels that actually evoke epiphanies and life-altering notions must be bloody glorious. Sorry if my adoration came out in some sort of unintelligible girl-babble, it’s safe to say Markus Zusak fascinates the shit out of me and I plan on somehow tracking him down for interview next year.

Adolf Hitler fascinates me for a number of reasons. By saying this, I’m of course not condoning anything about his actions or his views – if anything I’m endorsing the opposite. He fascinates me because it’s almost hard to believe such a morally depraved, socially weak and personally corrupt man could gain as much power as he did – and it all boiled down to the power of speech. The only way he was smart – a perverted, anti-patriotic, sinister kind of smart – was that he recognised that Germany/Austria was so desperately seeking leadership that they’d follow anyone who showed the tiniest ounce of control. What he chose to do with that control was obviously lowly, disturbing and a gross overcompensation for a small dick – I’m sorry, but that’s what most male power issues are the result of, some sort of deficiency in their mind and their pants. The fact that he turned millions of people against entire races, entire sub-cultures, and entire groups of people is either a mark of his powers of speech, or a mark of how desperate the German & Austrian people were to become some sort of super-race. Hitler was a mass murderer – somehow that term seems too inconsequential for what he did – and many other words that I won’t write here, he was a fantastic manipulator, and a master of speech. For these reasons, I find him to be quite fascinating.

Lastly is Marie Curie. Madame Curie pioneered world-changing theories and practices in the field of radioactivity. She also discovered the two elements polonium and radium. Considering she was born in 1867, when women were expected to fulfill their expected roles, and female scientists were relatively unheard of, she was a particularly incredible individual. She was one of the only four people to win two Nobel prizes, she was the first female professor at the University of Paris, and her discoveries in the field of X-Rays saved countless lives of soldiers in World War I. Curie was an utterly amazing woman, I love that she had the courage to defy stereotypes, the brains to not let expectations oppress her genius. If a woman could do such astonishing things in a period of time heavy with patriarchal expectations, then imagine what women these days can do, considering they basically have all the freedom in the world?

That was a long post, but I tried to shorten it as much as possible! All apologies, folks.

9: Somewhere you’d like to live or visit.

ashleyelisabeth — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:44:46 +0000

Hmm let’s see…

Vancouver, New York, Los Angeles, Havana, Miami, Venice, Rome, Berlin, Vienna, Christchurch, Toronto, Cardiff, Ontario, Geneva, Dusseldorf, Bern, Luxembourg, Melbourne, Calgary, Montreal, Amsterdam, Athens, San Juan, San Diego, Glasgow, Jerusalem, Damascus, Tehran, Halmstad, London, Las Vegas, Dubai, Phuket, Tokyo, Honolulu, Brussels, Copenhagen, Kingston, San Francisco…

I have this list on a piece of paper that’s been folded and refolded to death, it’s nice to see it typed out.

ashleyelisabeth — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 06:19:48 +0000

I am craving summer so bad. This is unusual, I am entirely a winter person, but the way the spring-like weather has been teasing us with its presence has made me long for a gorgeous summer. I love those days when the weather is so perfect – sun perforating through the trees that provide a light breeze – that you just have to be outside, even if it’s just on your own driveway, or risking the itchy grass in your backyard. You just need to soak up every ray you can and feel the cool breeze play over your fingertips, through your hair and across your exposed legs. Your daily wardrobe consists of your new sunnies and your favourite summer dress, and you’re toting this as your standard outfit from the moment you wake up til the sun rests itself so gloriously beyond the horizon. Every memory is a happy one, every photo conjures powerful feelings and you always remember it as the summer of ‘that year’.