Why You Should Pose for Photos.

This is my beautiful sister and her lovely boyfriend.

She is one of the best subjects for me to photograph because she just lets me point the camera at her and she stays natural while I do.

My mum has always had this phobia of being in front of a camera but all it's resulted in is a lot of home movies of her doing that silly, face-hiding with hands gesture. My favourite is a film of her in the kitchen after a dinner party, relaxed, probably a bit drunk, talking to the camera with ease. She is beautiful.

Next time someone tries to take your photo, just relax. Think about something that makes you happy...puppies, bacon, Ryan Gosling shirtless in Crazy, Stupid, Love...If the photo doesn't turn out great, who cares?* I'm sure your grandkids will get a good laugh out of it. Most likely it will be a lovely picture and even if you don't like it now, I'm sure you will in 10 years, max.**

*unless the one taking the photo is of that rare, nasty breed that takes pleasure in posting awkward photos all over the internet. Tell them to shove off and go get yourself another wine.

**anyway it's just a good life philosophy - relax! smile! love yourself! it's hippy but you know it's true....xoxo

Tracking the Progress.

One of the reasons I have had a few blogs is that they start to....embarrass me after a while.
I will read back at old posts and cringe at things I said, wrote, thought.
So it's interesting to me that one of the reasons I have come back to this blog is that I've realised I now enjoy going back in time and seeing my own progress - in whatever small way a blog can represent that - and I suppose I want to continue documenting that...the changing ME.

Here is a list off the top of my head of my past blogs. No I am not going to try and link them...if I can even find all of them.

>>The First One. Had a name to do with Fairies. I think I posted one short story. My initial, brief foray into the blogging world.

>>My MySpace blog. Probably could still log in? Dear old MySpace. That was fun. Left behind to join Blogger.

>>My First Tumblr. Before I understood reblogging and Tumblr LYF. Only posted my own pictures, no reblogs.

>>My Main Tumblr. /icanucan . The fun one. The one that lead to hours of scrolling through my dash. Mostly reblogs.

>>This blog.

>>Silver Birch. Still exists.

"Girlfriend" Don't Work No More - A Rant.

So there's this lady at work who is one of the older ones in the crew - I guess she's mid forties - and she's the only person I know who still refers to her female friends as her "girlfriends."
- I'm having dinner with a couple of girlfriends tonight.
- I'm helping a girlfriend move house this weekend.
- Can you take over for a minute I'm just going over to say hello to my gorgeous girlfriend.
I can't remember a legit time when she actually said the first two, but they sound like things she says and I know for sure she said the last one because when I heard it was when I felt the urge to write this post.

No one says girlfriend anymore.
I know people used to say it a lot. I seem to remember hearing it a lot in the 90's and early 2000's but I just don't hear it anymore, I just don't think anyone says it and if you ask me why, I think it's because it's actually an entirely homophobic term to use.
For one thing, men don't use it. You never hear guys say "yeah just off to play golf with my boyfriends," "might pop down the pub later to meet some of my boyfriends." It's due to the greater fear among males to appear at all homosexual, women, for some reason, have always had greater boundaries for how close they can get to their same sex friends without seeming gay. The fact that men don't use boyfriend to describe their friends arises from a homophobic origin but is (unwittingly, I know) more appropriate today.
The thing is, is that to use the term to describe someone you're NOT in a relationship with goes hand in hand with a general assumption that ALL relationships are heterosexual. Because think about it, it's totally ok to call your platonic female friend your "girlfriend" because no one will think she is actually your girlfriend in a lover kind of way because that's not "normal."
This is why I think the term has fallen out of use. We live in a gradually more open and educated society and people realise I guess, whether it's a concious realisation or not, that it's a bit wrong to call someone your girlfriend if you just mean friend-that-is-a-girl when the term has a much deeper meaning for other females. Ditto boyfriend for guys-that-are-my-mates if you're a guy who ever used it that way. That's another point - no one ever says boy/girlfriend in reference to a member of the opposite sex who is a platonic friend. Don't want people thinking you're in a relationship! But it's ok with same sex because no one will assume we're together. Do you see what I mean?
I wouldn't call my friends that are girls my girlfriends because what does that mean for my lesbian friends when they call their actual girlfriends their girlfriend? It's not all on the same level.
And it's wrong that people assume when you say "girlfriend" as a female you mean "friend that is female" because behind that is an assumption that relationships on the deeper level are only heterosexual.

happy 100th post... aka WHY WAS THIS IN MY DRAFTS I NEVER POSTED IT????????

Totally irrelevant now, but I just found this in my drafts. Welcome to one of the best photos on the internet.

On Bad Days & The Bright Side.

I'm having a bad day. 

I was late for work because I forget I was meant to be covering a shift today, one of my chooks ran away, I got a bad nasty splinter & just now I took leftover pie put the oven & the glass baking dish exploded. It cut me a little, there's glass all over the kitchen. 

Yet somehow, the more worse stuff that happens the better I feel. Granted, I'll probably drink more wine than I may have but every little bad thing has made me focus on a positive, to make me feel better I suppose, and that in itself is not a bad thing. 

Look, I wouldn't say I'm happy right now, but what are you going to do when your kitchen is covered in glass & your hand is bleeding? You just have to let go. 

I'm tired of the bad things. I'm tired of bad news. I'm tired of hearing about bad things happening to good people. I keep thinking about Kate Berry & her powerful recent blog post about her girls - she is an amazing, strong woman & mother & I find than inspiring. She's not letting the bastards grind her down.

I think about my dear friend coming to visit from interstate tomorrow who has a had a truly bad time lately - and stayed strong.... I am surrounded by inspiring woman. (Men too, yes.)

I think about people who can't afford a few dollars for a bus ticket but I put $50 of petrol in my car the other day & I'll still eat & drink & pay bills. 

The worse things get, the more I feel like giving up & succumbing to all the shit. But at the end of the day, we are tiny humans on a tiny planet, living tiny, short lives and I am taking that cliche & riding with it, I am going to hug some dogs, drink some wine, hug some babies and probably sleep ok tonight. And hopefully not bleed all over the sheets. (From my cut hand...just to be clear.) 

Wedding Envy in an Event Way not a Commitment Way or I Wish I Had Been a Guest at These Weddings.

I really love stalking bash, please to see what they have been up to.
These are a couple of dreamy weddings I drooled over at Silver Birch.


http://silverbirchofwinter.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/welp-this-week-im-obsessed-with-these.html

http://silverbirchofwinter.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/im-not-most-into-weddings-kinda-gal-but.html

blog/personality crisis

First post here since Feb last year.

I have another new blog. Every blog I have started has signalled the beginning of a new stage in my life, cue silverbirchofwinter.blogspot.com .
However reading through this blog it sounds much more like me than the new one. ffs.
So now I don't know if I should abandon ship over there, keep it if I do morph into that person I thought I was becoming...enh no biggie, I was just trying to focus on nice things and swear less I think.

Funny things from old posts - I see the BDO organisers ignored my advice to downsize, having schelduled the likes of Pearl Jam, Blur. har har.
Also the little note about wanting to 'avoid getting instagram.' Thank god that foolish notion passed, #instagramaddict. Have you noticed how everyone says 'hashtag' now, no one says 'hash' like in the old days, when you punched in 'star ten hash' to check your last missed call on your landline?


I guess in the meantime I'm going to re-watch Community (any new tv show tips out there?) drink some wine, possibly succumb and smoke a guilty cigarette (wouldn't admit that over at the new blog. Lies, it's all lies!) and eat pizza made with the AMAZING dough my buddy Bridget's girlfriend sent me home with last night after a dinner/doggy playdate. It smells so fucking good. I want Amber to be my girlfriend. Did I mention her apple and mulberry pie sitting in my fridge?