Although I confessed to being an ANTM addict yesterday, there are only three shows that I actually watch regularly on normal – that is, free-to-air - television:

• Grey’s Anatomy;
• Heroes; and
• Ugly Betty

When we had Foxtel installed just a short time ago, I had an IQ unit set-up in my bedroom, because of my ultra-busy and fabulous life. Heh, or really just because I’m never home in time for primetime television, because of school. No matter! IQ can record shows, and it can be scheduled remotely and blah, blah, blah.

Only, here’s the thing: Foxtel, for some reason, isn’t airing Channel Seven.

Naturally, all three of the shows I listed above? On Channel Seven. Of course. At first, I was all, “It’s cool, because Heroes hasn’t started yet and Grey’s Anatomy is replaying on Channel W and I can always buy Ugly Betty on DVD.” And then Gentil messaged me, and said, “Woo! Heroes is starting on Thursday.”

That’s when I reached through the IM window and killed him. True story.

Anyway. Now I have this fancy, expensive piece of hardware sitting in my room, doing absolutely nothing useful for me, and I am faced with a choice. I can either go and stay at my ex-boyfriend’s house every Thursday (…) or, I can do without the new season of Heroes until it comes out on DVD in ten million years.

Bets, everyone?

Wow. Just, wow.

Just so you know, I’m an America’s Next Top Model addict. I have it set to record on my IQ, so I can watch the episodes whenever I want, and before watching the latest show, I watch the previous one, as a sort of re-cap. We’re only two episodes in, and I’ve already been completely floored. Kim walked out, left – went home.

Prior to facing the judges, Kim told Fatima that she didn’t believe people should pay $2,000 for an outfit, and that she didn’t want to support that. Then, she got up in front of the judging panel, and started off on her tangent about how much she doesn’t care about fashion, and how it’s not important to her.

The judges, their faces? Were like, “Whaaat?” They looked personally affronted.

Don’t get me wrong, here. I am the cheapest person you will ever meet; the most expensive item of clothing I have right now is my jeans, and I got them on sale for $50. I understand Kim’s opinion, and I AGREE. But she’s in a modelling competition! A high fashion modelling competition! She’s supposed to care!

Her abrupt departure left me conflicted, you could say. When Tyra asked Kim if she wanted to leave, I expected her to say no. Instead, she said yes – and walked out. Obviously, she wasn’t enjoying herself; maybe it wasn’t as glamorous as she thought it would be. She made the right choice for herself, which was good.

And then I remembered the other girls. The girls who stood, in tears, as the final ‘chosen one’ stepped to the side and they realised that they hadn’t made the cut. Kim stood there with her ‘diploma’ and smiled, and made out like she was in it for the long haul, and then she QUIT. I don’t like quitters, and I especially hate liars.

And then they kicked Atalya out, which was completely understandable. She’s gorgeous, but her shots were flat, and you know why? Because she’s 18 years old, living at home with Mummy, and she hasn’t experienced anything. She hasn’t been through any truly difficult situations, or ‘done it rough’.

. . . let’s do some searching on the internet, la dee dahh- WTF? . . .

So, the moral of this story right now? If you’re watching ANTM on an island – like, say, Australia – don’t search the internet to find pictures or links to the contestants. Because then, you’ll find out that Cycle 10 is old news, and that there are SPOILERS posted all over the internet for you to find, because America is over it.

Also, the plus-sized girl wins. Damn it, Australia. Get with the times.

So, I went and got the phone today. A beautiful Hiptop Slide, which is on the wrong network but has everything I want, and I am in bliss. I also got a new jacket, courtesy of my Nana (because I’m the first granddaughter, and so I’m SPECIAL), which is kind of charcoal black and buttons down the front. It’s very flattering, even though I didn’t do a very good job of describing it, I know.

I have to write a draft of my 750-word opinion piece and a 1,200-word short story by Thursday and Friday respectively, and I’m stressing out because I feel as though I have left them to the last minute, but really? I haven’t, not at all, because I have PAGES of notes and little written snippets and such. All I really need to do is piece it all together and make sure it’s coherent. Heh, yeah. Hush up.

Oh, and the strangest thing happened to me. I ate McDonalds today; I haven’t eaten there for ages and I really felt like nuggets, so I got a small meal and sat in the food court. Afterwards, I felt a bit off, but I assumed that it was just my body being it’s usual cheerful self. Next thing I know, I’m rushing to the nearest bathroom. My stomach felt like it was tearing itself into tiny, ragged strips.

As soon as I threw up, the pain faded and I felt better. I’m amazed by my stomach’s intolerance, because I can usually eat ANYTHING. My taste buds are the only reason that I can’t handle spicy food, and I’ve never reacted so violently to McDonalds before. I suppose because I haven’t eaten it in so long, my stomach wasn’t used to the crap. It’s not as though I’ve been feeding it other crap in the meantime, no.

I apologise for this being the most boring post ever. The phone, it calls to me.

I have much to do this weekend. That is, of course, why I am awake at this ungodly hour, because I have much to do. I was not awake all night because I just spent forty-eight hours sleeping off the world’s most persistent headache, and then I couldn’t sleep and INTERNET! Stop being so awesome! Of course not.

Just for you, all you lucky people, I have carefully constructed this post to inform you of how I will be spending my weekend, which for your information? Will be spent alone and surrounded by children (which is, to say, ALONE), and did I mention the homework, and the Hannah Montana concert (in 3D!), and the eight-year-olds?

What’s that, dear internets? What sweet nothings are you whispering into my- oh. I see. Yes, I know that my life is pretty much non-existent. Thank you very much, for pointing that out. And yet, I haven’t even told you that there’s three of them! Three eight-year-olds, can you imagine? And Hannah Montana: in my bedroom.

This is going to be the best Saturday ever. Like omygawd.

I used to be firmly entrenched in the ‘I hate iTunes’ camp, so much so that I boldy proclaimed, “I would rather use Windows Media Player than iTunes!” Those words have come back to bite me in the ass - surprise, surprise – because last night I discovered the beauty that is iTunes, and the Cover Flow view.

Why yes, shiny things do distract me easily! Why do you ask?

I’m also enjoying the fact that I can buy the songs that I like, instead of an entire album. Plus, well: Britt and Adam are on iTunes. This is a good thing, and they are both so much funnier than I thought, and their accents are SO CUTE. Plus, I love the fact that Britt gives Adam shit, the same way I pick on Gentil until he cries.

Speaking of Gentil, he actually came over for an all night movie session on Sunday night. We were trying to get our body clocks under control, and ended up having so much fun that we’ve decided we need to catch up more. Plus, you know, he has all the movies that I’m too cheap to buy, but really want to watch.

Also the ones that I’m too scared to watch alone.

Aside from organising my music collection, which is somewhat larger than I thought, I’ve been in bed since early morning. My throat, head and neck are killing me; I’ve resorted to using Advil, so you can be sure the pain is awful. It’s a stiffness, and an ache that makes my head feel about three times too big for my body.

Even with all the laying around, being sick sucks.

These last couple of days, I’ve been meaning to write, and meaning to write, and I just haven’t. Now, reading back over my written ‘notes’, I wish I had blogged since Friday. I kept putting it off ‘til tomorrow, but I’m really only cheating myself of those days. I won’t be able to read back and know how I felt yesterday.

So, moving forward – take a seat and let me tell you about my day.

I woke up late this morning, and despite sleeping for over thirteen hours, I was still exhausted. I’m guessing that my iron levels have dropped especially low, at the same time that I’m having trouble sleeping. A combination of the two has made for low energy levels and more procrastination than usual.

I made it to the train station on time, found a seat by myself in the last carriage, and wrote a whole list of things that I needed to do. Mostly it was boring stuff, like paying my phone bill or checking my e-mail. I also need to respond to comments, which I promise, I will get around to. Plus commenting elsewhere.

I owe Bronnie more comments than anyone else. Soon, I swear!

I mentioned on Twitter that I was annoyed about a fellow Australian making an ass of himself on an international forum. He has since apologised and has made amends, although I notice he has been less active recently. If that’s the price we pay, so be it; he was a pain in the ass and annoyed me to no end.

Desktop Publishing was fantastic today; we had to recreate two magazine pages in Quark Xpress, but that’s not why it was fantastic. Next week, we’re working with Photoshop and InDesign – and dropping Quark entirely. At over $3,000 to purchase, I can understand why it’s no longer the industry standard.

I was out of class just after 3pm, and although the train was busy, I was actually able to sit down. It’s a sad reflection on the public transport system that I consider finding a seat the highlight of my day. Anyway, my Nan is back from her holiday! She picked me up from the station, and we went to the store for stuff.

I really need to get out more.

In other, more personal news, don’t you hate it when you meet a really nice guy.. but something just doesn’t quite fit? Maybe they have a really annoying voice, or they seem to be stuck and not moving forward, or maybe they just turn out to be an ass? Yeah, I hate that too. Especially when you end up feeling all judgmental.

You know what else I hate? How easy iTunes has made it to buy ‘just one more song’. I can rationalise a dollar so easily, and all from the comfort of my computer chair! The best part is that I don’t have to worry about CD cases, or nine songs that I don’t like – and that’s exactly why iTunes is so successful. Curses.

Last night, I developed an awful headache. I wouldn’t compare it to a migraine, but it wasn’t your standard, run-of-the-mill pain, either. Instead of taking a couple of Advil and going to bed, like most intelligent people would, I decided to struggle through it on my own. I don’t like drugs; not even Advil.

So, to take my mind off the pain – which, by the way, had wrapped itself around my brain and was using it as a stress ball – I decided to have a long shower and pamper myself a little bit. And by pamper, I mean doing more than hastily scrubbing myself clean in the shower and towel-drying my hair.

Which means that I wasted a lot of water, and still towel-dried my hair. But hey, I also trimmed, filed and painted my nails. Plus, I took the time to lightly moisturise my skin and all that good stuff. It made my soul feel better, but didn’t seem to help my headache much. Thankfully I fell asleep quickly, and slept through it.

I’ll tell you what else made my soul feel better? Buying STUFF. I went to Smiggle today and bought some manila folders, plus a marker. Then, I got some paperclips and a new (working) version of my favourite pen. Yes, you heard right. To make me happy, the only thing you need to do is buy me paperclips.

I guess I’m a cheap date, or something.

(I have SO MUCH to write about, pages and pages in my notebooks that I want to mention, but I just have not had the time or – to be honest – the inclination to do so. I hope to write like a FIEND this weekend, so that I have a whole list of draft posts to put up next week when I don’t want to write about my oh-so-exciting life.)