1. You know the meaning of the word "girt".


2. You believe that stubbies can be either drunk or worn.


3. You think it's normal to have a leader called Kevin.


4. You waddle when you walk due to the 53 expired petrol discount vouchers stuffed in your wallet or purse.


5. You've made a bong out of your garden hose rather than use it for something illegal such as watering the garden.


6. You believe it is appropriate to put a rubber in your son's pencil case when he first attends school.


7. When you hear that an American "roots for his team" you wonder how often and with whom.


8. You understand that the phrase "a group of women wearing black thongs" refers to footwear and may be less alluring than it sounds.


9. You pronounce Melbourne as "Mel-bin".


10. You pronounce Penrith as "Pen-riff".


11. You believe the "l" in the word " Australia " is optional.


12. You can translate: "Dazza and Shazza played Acca Dacca on the way to Maccas."


13. You believe it makes perfect sense for a nation to decorate its highways with large fibreglass bananas, prawns and sheep.


14. You call your best friend "a total bastard" but someone you really, truly despise is just "a bit of a bastard".


15. You think "Woolloomooloo" is a perfectly reasonable name for a place.


16. You're secretly proud of our killer wildlife.


17. You believe it makes sense for a country to have a $1 coin that's twice as big as its $2 coin.


18. You understand that "Wagga Wagga" can be abbreviated to "Wagga" but "Woy Woy" can't be called "Woy".


19. You believe that cooked-down axlegrease makes a good breakfast spread.


20. You believe all famous Kiwis are actually Australian, until they stuff up, at which point they again become Kiwis.


21. Hamburger. Beetroot. Of course.


22. You know that certain words must, by law, be shouted out during any rendition of the Angels' song Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again.


23. You believe, as an article of faith, that the confectionary known as the Wagon Wheel has become smaller with every passing year.


24. You still don't get why the "Labor" in "Australian Labor Party" is not spelt with a "u".


25. You wear ugh boots outside the house.


26. You believe, as an article of faith, that every important discovery in the world was made by an Australian but then sold off to the Yanks for a pittance.


27. You believe that the more you shorten someone's name the more you like them.


28. Whatever your linguistic skills, you find yourself able to order takeaway fluently in every Asian language.


29. You understand that "excuse me" can sound rude, while "scuse me" is always polite.


30. You know what it's like to swallow a fly, on occasion via your nose.


31. You understand that "you" has a plural and that it's "youse".


32. You know it's not summer until the steering wheel is too hot to handle.


33. Your biggest family argument over the summer concerned the rules for beach cricket.


34. You shake your head in horror when companies try to market what they call "Anzac cookies".


35. You still think of Kylie as "that girl off Neighbours".


36. When returning home from overseas, you expect to be brutally strip-searched by Customs - just in case you're trying to sneak in fruit.


37. You believe the phrase "smart casual" refers to a pair of black tracky-daks, suitably laundered.


38. You understand that all train timetables are works of fiction.


39. When working on a bar, you understand male customers will feel the need to offer an excuse whenever they order low-alcohol beer.


40. You get choked up with emotion by the first verse of the national anthem and then have trouble remembering the second.


41. You find yourself ignorant of nearly all the facts deemed essential in the government's new test for migrants.


42. You know, whatever the tourist books say, that no one says "cobber".


43. And you will immediately forward this list to other Australians, here and overseas, realising that only they will understand.

I figures I may as well add this in, it's been a while after all.

Well, in light of my camera, I still love it! In fact, I love it more - it helps when you learn how to manipulate it. It's a relationship, you know

Another relationship I seem to have growing is me and birds - sure they're very cool and dandy, but I never thought I would be taking too many photos of them. Sure beats the typical Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays stuff you see around though. I dunno how half them pictures you see around get on postcards.. I sure could take a more flattering picture of a kola then half of the ones I see.

Anyway, it'll happen one day, if that little voice in the back of my head that says: "that camera's going to pay for itself in the next year" has any sway.

Okay, ya'll can get back to your lives now

It's a lie.
But I'm so damn close to it it scares me!

I got my Nikon D60 on Thursday, one week earlier then I was going to, but the waiting was killing me so much I used some of the money put away for my car to pay the rest off. No worries though, I'll have it all back by next Thursday - it was totally worth breaking my good saving habits!

So anyway, I was looking forward to rushing it home and taking pictures that I forgot the very basic and well known fact that: batteries are never charged when you buy anything! You're lucky if it even comes with batteries! But, in such cases as cameras and mobile phones, you do get the batteries. They're just dead.

So, to my disappointment, I had to charge it for 90 minutes. Don't get me started about the charging times. Little did I know, my brother had been plotting with mum about going to some school Shakespeare play, and I was to be the driver. I didn't get home till 9:40pm. And then there's work on Friday, and so on.

Now that you know that, I can officially say that today was the first day I got to go out and take pictures of everything! And I did just that. After finishing with the house and balconies I'd decided to go for a little walk, considering the views from our neighbourhood and such.

A couple of hours before the ocean had been sparkling in the sunlight, and it promised very many excellent photos. Although, by the time I had gorged myself on some much needed chocolate, the tide had gone out, which was a bit of a let down.

I stopped to take the pictures anyway, and this little dog starts barking at me. I tried to make friends, but all he wanted me to do was go away. So I took a few pictures till I couldn't stand the barking any more, and carried on down the road a bit more.

Needless to say, I didn't go unnoticed, standing on someone's lawn taking pictures of the ocean with a shiny new camera. A lady, the owner of the house I presume, invited me to take pictures off the balcony of the house out of the front of which I was standing. She said that I'd be able to get better pictures from up there, out of the road of the many roof tops obstructing my view.

Then she bashed me over the head with a frying pan. Actually, she was rather nice, short, but nice.

Anyway, that was the most exercise I've done in the past four months, and I hope it takes the all the chocolate I've been eating off my thighs. The Nikon D60 is supposed to be a light DSLR right?? I don't want to carry around a heavy one!

I'm a little slow on the uptake but; Omg! I have to wait till I'm 18 to turn off the mature content filter now?!! --- What about blood and gore?? What about artistic nude?? What about sexy anime chicks who just happen to have no shirt on?? What about that small amount of content that is just basically porn???

I can honestly say I am shocked- I mean c'mon, 4 more months people! I'm basically grown up!

But then, I guess I would wanna keep my innocent naivety until I'm 18..... I guess I should break the news to the bf; 'Sorry hun, no more- uh, I mean, no sex till I'm 18: it would be unfair on the mature content filter'.

I'm having serious issues over people's opinions of traditional art; where's it all going to?? Just cause you can do nifty things with digital art and make things look real.... damn you computers!!

Now I have to go get good at digital art overnight