The One

6.5 hours till melanie gets back!

I brought a [Rubik's Cube](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubiks_cube) the other day when Melanie and I were wandering around Big W. I remember having a Rubik’s Cube as a kid and somehow the stickers got pulled off it and moved around (No doubt the same thing that happens to all Rubik’s Cubes given to young kids). When I was younger I never did get around to actually learning how to solve it so I figured I’d give it a try again.

There are heaps of sites on the internet giving step by step guides to solving it, there is also heaps of actual video tutorials about it. The best one I’ve found though seems to the the [one](http://www.rubiks.com/lvl3/index_lvl3.cfm?lan=eng&lvl1=commun&lvl2=cbegam&lvl3=compet) on the official [Rubik's site](http://www.rubiks.com/). It’s done by a guy who was the first to ever solve a Rubik’s Cude in under 2 mins while blind folded, I figure he knows what he is doing.

So yeah, I haven’t actually used a full tutorial or video yet to solve it. I kind of figured out the first two rows by myself but it gets hard after that.

The only major problem I’ve had so far is if I take longer then a few days to solve it, the “Rubiks Cube fairy” (Melanie) will use her online solving tutorial to solve it because it doesn’t look ‘pretty’ when unsolved. This of course is slowing my progress in learning to solve it but also helping me learn to solve the first parts as I need to keep redoing them.

I remember also having other Rubiks puzzles as a kid including the [clock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Clock) and the [magic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Magic). I also remember a silver colour magic that I think had 4 rings, although I could be wrong.

On a related note, the [Rubiks Revolution](http://www.rubiksrevolution.com/) looks interesting.

My Melanie is so cool! She got me a subscription to [New Scientist!](http://www.newscientist.com/) I blogged recently about buying a few magazines to read while travelling and enjoying them. They have some really interesting articles in them that I find enjoyable to read.

Anyway, apparently at the moment they have a deal going where you get a discount on the subscription and also get a free bag! Melanie, as thoughtful as she is, went ahead and subscribed me. It was a nice surprise to get an email telling me my New Scientist subscription had started and I could access all the ‘member only’ stuff on the website. I had no idea what was going on, I actually thought it was some kind of mistake except for the fact that the password was something I would have chosen

I have been reading the [RSS feeds](http://www.newscientist.com/feeds.ns;jsessionid=GBAGLLH) and also visiting the site regularly to read the huge amount of articles. My first printed copy came in the mail yesterday and apparently my bag is on the way.

My Melanie is so thoughtful!

Melanie pitched in and helped me get a [Nintendo Wii](http://wii.nintendo.com/) as a late birthday / early xmas present. I pre-ordered from [Target](http://www.target.com.au/) in Rockhampton and after a bit of bungling on their behalf I was able to pick it up on release day.

It’s a lot of fun. The new controller makes the games really interactive. WiiSports is an awesome example of how gameplay > graphics, something SONY and Microsoft should really take notice of.

WiiSports is the most fun so far. It’s pretty amazing how well the controller responds. I find I’m better at tennis and bowling over golf, baseball and boxing.

Zelda seems like it should be pretty good as well.

Melanie is on her way back to America for Christmas. I dropped her off at the Rocky airport at around 6:15am this morning. I’ve got no doubt that her family are really looking forward to seeing her this year. I think it’s been around 3 years since she has been home.

She also gets to visit her aunty Doris and uncle Tim this trip, which is really cool. It was kind of weird that I got to see their place before her when i was over in the US doing my internship. I’m sure she will be excited to see her old car as well.

While she is away I get to eat pizza with sauce on it, and play music and the TV as loud as I want and maybe even have fish and chips with cheese on the chips! Watch out! haha

Another year older, another year wiser? hrmm

Yep, melanie is another year older today (american time) or yesterday (australia time).

I’ve no doubt she will have a good time.

Its valentines day in america today, which of course means it was valentines day in Australia yesterday
This year im spending it away form Melanie boohoo, but thems the breaks.

Melanie and i have been ‘going out’ for around 3 years now. Neither of us know the ‘exact’ date we starting ‘going out’ (what determines that exactly?) but we decided to make our date we had 3 years ago on valentines day the day to count from. As melanies journal states, she was the one that suggested we go out. Im not known for my outgoingness (is that a word?) ya know, especially when it comes to girls.

But yeah, things turned out ok

She kind of restored my faith in girlfriends after my ordeal with the now infamous Tisha, the girl that put me through so much crap that i almost turned gay. But thats old news now, melanie is perfect in every way and i love her.

So yeah, i pick her to be my valentine, no one else, just her. easy.

Its Melanies birthday today! Hooray!

Happy Birthday to my Melanie!

Went to dancing lessons again last night, im slowly getting the hang of it i reckon. Anyway, enough about me…

I think ive figured out Melanies dancing ’style’. She seems to like counting the steps out loud while she does it. i.e. “1, 2, cha cha cha, 3, 4, cha cha cha” etc which at times gets a bit repetitive but i figured she needs to do it for timing or whatever. Anyhoo, last night i actually watched her feet while she was saying the things out loud, and it seemed kinda funny that her feet were not doing the same as what her voice was saying.

It then dawned on me that her saying the steps out load is actually a big smoke screen! People hear her saying the steps and assume she is doing it right, when actually all she is doing is saying the steps and stamping around! Its funny to see

Mouth says ‘1, 2, cha cha cha, 3, 4, cha cha cha, twirly round, twirly round, 1, 2, cha cha cha, 3, 4, cha cha cha
Feet do “stomp, stomp, stomp stomp stomp, stomp stomp, stomp stomp stomp, stompy stompy stompy stompy, … …. ”

Its so funny to see

I think we are both getting better though, and as long as everyone else THINKS we know what we are doing – thats all that matters right?

Melanie just dismantled a floppy drive using nothing but a simple screwdriver.

After much ‘ooooing’ and ‘arrrring’ and ‘oh its so cute!’ (referring to little parts) she finally has it in about 100 pieces scattered over the desk.

Here comes the plastic bag to throw it all out.

Another fun filled sunday afternoon.

Happy Birthday to Melanie.

*smooch*

Melanie dear – your on strike two.

Strike three and you cant pick a movie for us to rent and watch ever again.

I say we go back to watching action movies where people get shot and stuff – at least then we dont get dissapointed.

Setting the Scene:
Friday morning, as usual Brett gets up at 7 and does the usual stuff. Melanie is still sleeping.

At around 8:30am, Brett goes in to wake Melanie up. She rolls over opens her eyes, looks at Brett then closes her eyes again. Brett sits down on the side of the bed and says:
“Are you very sleepy?”

Melanie replies:
“Too sleepy to buy a drink for 50 cents”

Melanie then proceeds to roll back over and Brett says:
“ohhkaaay”

Brett leaves Melanies room and comes back later when melanie is awake, he asks her about her comment and she doesnt remember.

To Summarise:
What the heck was she dreaming about?

Righto, whats the deal… I dont get it…

Melanie would prefer to walk round and round and round a shop looking for something instead of simply asking the people who work there, but wait… it doesnt stop there…
She (we cause im with her when she does these crazy things) walks round and round, doesnt find what she is looking for, so leaves. Week or so passes and back to the same shop we go, walk around and around and around again, and walk out with nothing.
Is it just me and my boy thinking to consider it a lot eaiser to walk in and ask “do you have any of these such-and-such?”, wait for the response and depending if the person says yes or no, continue on?.

Thats not the only thing, after walking round and round and round the shop looking for somthing, not finding it, and starting to walk out she says somthing like “Gee i wish i knew where i could get such-and-such a thing”, and im like “why not ask the people if they have it or know where to get it?”, to which she replies “blah blah” (some silly excuse).

I dunno what it is, but its weird…

To illustrate this further, i have constructed the following simple algorithms to show how a melanie goes about these things and how a brett goes about these things.
Firstly, ill set the scene. Say we need something from a shop. We arnt sure if the shop has the item, but we would like to buy it.

A Melanie way:

1. Walk into shop, staying away from friendly sales assitants and wander round looking
2. Make some comment about not being able to find somthing
3. Wander round some more (usually back tracking or taking the same path as before)
4. Make a weird screwed up face look like you are in pain cause you cant find the thing.
5. Continue to walk round
6. Get annoyed
7. Walk out, staying away from friendly sales assistants
8. Make some comment on the way out like “i wonder where i can get….” or “why cant i find ….” etc

A Brett way:
1. Walk into shop, as we know what we want, walk straight up to desk and ask for help
2. Ask sales person “Do you have ….”, Get “yes” or “no” response
3. If “no” – go to step 5
4. If “yes” – follow the person while they show you where it is, take it and buy it.
5. Leave shop
6. At this point you either have the item or you know the shop doesnt have it so theres no point looking there again, try somewhere else.

The conclusion from each of these is as follows:
The Melanie way, you leave the shop annoyed cause you cant find the thing your looking for and know you should go back there within the next week just incase you find it next week.

The Brett way, you leave the shop with a definate answer, they had it and you bought it, or they didnt and you know if they are getting any in or arnt likely to get any.

Now please – tell me, which way is more logical?

Is she just doing it cause she wants to browse? in which case why doesnt she say “I just wants to browse”.
OR
Is she doing it to try to make me go insane?

You cant tell me boys are illogical….

*sigh* Girls are weird…..

Installing MySQL = Install a squirrel in your computer

*sigh* She is a maths person – thats her excuse

Setting the scene:
9:30ish at night, Brett and Melanie go to the video store to hire out some dvds. We are the only two people there along with the two people that work there.

Melanie says in a normal tone voice:
“Brett, lets get this DVD, it was good and you can copy it for me”

Brett almost dies – waiting for the feds to bust through the door and slap a $50,000 fine and a few years imprisonment on him.

Copying DVDS is bad… mmmmkay

Ive thought of a new Mr Men / Little Miss book title, Little Miss Croaky. The story is about a little miss asian girl who woke up one day and had a craky squeeky voice. Not a constant one either, one that changes pitch without notice. Its mystery where this comes from as she doesnt scream ehr head of to make it go like that and ive never heard of a flu that makes your voice go that way.

So yeah, the story is still unfolding, but i think kids would like it.

*Note: Any resemblence to actual people is purely coincidental

M is for maths – something she likes,
E is for everything she does that is nice.
L is for the love i feel when she grins,
A is for my attention that makes her spin.
N is for nose – its pudgy and cute,
I is for innocence – a whole lot to boot.
E is for eyes that sparkle and shine,
Melanie’s her name and i know that shes mine.

Whilst starring longingly into Melanies eyes this morning, i had a brainwave thought of genius proportions. Following is my theory –

“Asian people are built for the perfect cinema experience”

why? – well its all in the eyes. Built in widescreen!, yup thats it. Us caucaision people have eyes that are built for the normal tv viewing – square. Whereas asian people are have eyes that are naturally widecreen. How cool is that!?

So, does that mean that they see a lot more ‘extra’ stuff then us caucasian people, just like you see when you watch a widescreen movie as compared to a normal sized movie…

hrmmm i shall ponder on that.

Silly? maybe. But i could be onto somthing here…

Happy Valetines day too!

7th December @ 11:53pm

Found this too – again, i dunno when i wrote all this down in the first place…

Thanks for being you.
Thanks for letting me love you.
Thanks for having long hair.
Thanks for letting me play with your hair.
Thanks for smelling so good.
Thanks for smiling at me.
Thanks for having sexy eyes.
Thanks for being cuddly
Thanks for having a cute pudgy asian nose.
Thanks for being short.
Thanks for being with me.
Thanks for wanting to be by me.
Thanks for cooking brownies!
Thanks for making icing for the brownies!
Thanks for putting up with my geekyness.
Thanks for my mac posters.
Thanks for talking to my family.
Thanks for being so excited.
Thanks for reminding me that its fun to be silly.
Thanks for the surprises you give me.
Thanks for staying with me.
Thanks for being down to earth.
Thanks for your great accent.
Thanks for telling me stories about your family.
Thanks for telling me stories about your friends.
Thanks for being easy to get alone with.
Thanks for being so damn cute.
Thanks for getting dressed up somtimes.
Thanks for being curvy.
Thanks for wanting to do stuff with me.
Thanks for appreciating the little things i do.
Thanks for wanting me to be a better person.
Thanks for making me want to be romantic.
Thanks for making me remember how to be romantic.
Thanks for giving me inspiration.
Thanks for putting up with my stupidity.
Thanks for letting me do geeky stuff.
Thanks for letting me take care of you.
Thanks for knowing how to take care of yourself.
Thanks for being my friend.
Thanks for laughing with me.
Thanks for laughing at me.
Thanks for blowing in my ears.
Thanks for washing up stuff.
Thanks for cooking stuff.
Thanks for letting me be annoying.
Thanks for reading to me.
Thanks for teaching me card games.
Thanks for making me play cards with you.
Thanks for paying attention to me.
Thanks for letting me be a boy.
Thanks for being girly.
Thanks for painting your fingernails.
Thanks for being feminine.
Thanks for letting me perv at you.
Thanks for letting me hold you.
Thanks for being trustworthy.
Thanks for tilting your head to the side.
Thanks for making pigtails somtimes.
Thanks for being able to read my messy handwriting.
Thanks for writing me little letters when i went away.
Thanks for knowing what to do
Thanks for knowing how to do it
Thanks for being everything i could ever ask for.
Thanks for being more.
Thanks for sharing your grandfathers funny emails.
Thanks for playing games with my cousins.
Thanks for liking flat coke.
Thanks for wanting to look pretty.
Thanks for being adorable.
Thanks for being shiny sometimes.
Thanks for making me squirm inside.
Thanks for letting me roll over by you.
Thanks for letting me distract you.

hrmmm this will get added to….