Jacinta's Blogs

From sleep disturbances, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck, appliances turning on by themselves, animals acting out, and unexplained noises.  This place had them all.  I never believed in ghosts or anything paranormal for a long time. I would consider myself to be a person based on logic, rationality and facts. Strong evidence. Tangible evidence that you can see, touch and feel. Mostly black and white logic. I admit that there is a minuscule area of grey. It's that small little voice that says 'W hat if it's true? ' and makes you start questioning things, usually around the time you want to sleep and are at your most vulnerable. Why doesn't that voice make itself known at other times? You know when you aren't by yourself? Let me ask you this though, would you willingly go and live in a house that was rumoured to be haunted? Some die hard skeptics would holler 'yes it wouldn't bother me'. However, I am going to speculate tha...

Anyone who has worked in an office environment may come across these personality stereotypes at some stage (if they haven't already). Which ones are you familiar with? 1. The Hipster Most likely in their mid 20s. Cool with everything. Never seen eating anything unhealthy. Common phrases include:  'Is that gluten free?' 'Can I please have a soy chai latte?' They use keep cups and rarely drink from anything plastic. They are environmentally and socially conscientious. If its a guy, his dress sense will be from the 1990s but he will possess a beard from 1860s. They ride bikes, they don't adhere to stuffy corporate attire. They are the newest addition to office stereotypes and 5-10 years ago their kind didn't exist. 2. The Work Wife/Husband Your BFF. The one you go to when you need to vent over a coffee. She/he is a good listener, a good problem solver and you see her/him so much that she may as well be your wife/husband. 3. The Over Achiever ...

Liam Gallagher (LG) didn't disappoint in Sydney last night. He still sings with his hands behind his back with his knees slightly bent. He came out singing some of his older songs, sung the opening line to Rock n roll star 'I live my life in the cittaaay' which got the crowd going initially. His new songs are sounding just as good as the older ones and his voice has not weakened with time. LG is a character. He is consistent, has his unique walk and still wears his iconic parkas (despite it being an Australian summer). He promised to wear it and he delivered. As with every LG concert most Oasis fans will inevitably ask 'Where is Noel?' That question was never asked last night in Sydney as LG held his own and did not appear to need his big brother. He proved that he can pull off a 'one man show'. He was professional, was was due to come on at 9.30pm and came out at 9.30pm. There were no tantrums like his younger 90s days. Or perhaps tantrums are r...

It is very important to be pretty. Never mind about your personality, or your grades, if you're pretty, your life is sorted. Everyone will like you. The above were the kinds of messages that I received as a young girl. Of course, I learnt pretty quickly that you needed to be more than looks to have a successful relationship with someone. Or successful anything really. Looks aren't going to get you through university, they aren't going to guarantee you employment or happiness. No matter how many sparkly tank tops with crude messages such as  'Caution: contents extremely hot'  I wore circa 2004 I never quite hit the mark. I was young for my grade and definitely a late bloomer. I had acne, braces and didn't attract much attention anyway. I tried to be 'hot'. I failed. While it is embarrasing to look back at the things you used to wear, the majority of the clothes I wore as a teenager were due to the messages that I received. The kind of messa...

From having his sister stare at us when we made out, to his sister sleeping in the same bed as him...   How close is too close? I once dated a guy called Jack.* Things started off really well, he was a lovely guy, sensitive, into music and art. He was intelligent and good looking. He was the type of person who never had a bad word to say about anyone. He ticked most of the boxes and was well liked by my mum and friends. He introduced me to his family. I met his parents and I got the impression that they were a tight knit family which I liked. It wasn't long before I was then introduced to his sister, Melinda.* Melinda was nice to me and they seemed quite close. There were loads of pictures of them together around the house which I thought was really sweet. Jack was so supportive of Melinda and everything that she did. If she would walk into a room he would flood her with compliments on her choice of clothing. It is said that you can tell a lot about a boy by ...

How many times have you heard the term 'selfie' generation or generation me me me? As an outsider looking into the behaviour of millennials it is not far fetched to come to that conclusion. With our abundant use of Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. We are constantly sharing every minute detail of our lives. Any photo opportunity is usually done with a selfie. Boredom is satisfied with selfies. We are shameless posers. We will willingly take quite a few photos of ourselves until we finally find the one we are satisfied with. So the question remains...were millennials always like this (narcissistic)? or has the technology revolution of Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook exacerbated this and made us more narcissistic ? To answer this question, lets look at the facts.. Social media is a relatively new phenomenon. Previous generations growing up in the 1960s-90s did not have access to social media and iPhones were not around prior to 2007. If you wanted to ta...

Dear Sydney, You and I have been together a long time. You have seen me grow up and I have seen you evolve into the scenic beautiful city that you are today. You leave me spoilt with choice when it comes to food and restaurants and yes the harbour is very pretty.   I know how lucky I am to live here and as a warning the majority of this piece is regarding first world problems. There is no such thing as perfect, most large cities will have some pitfalls. Maybe I am getting older or maybe you were always like this, it just bothered me a lot less. Lets start with some basics.. Sydney, Where have your manners gone? I caught the train into town the other day and saw a heavily pregnant woman standing up on her own when it was 35 degrees. No one moved or offered this woman a seat (including me because I was standing up too). This used to be a standard social norm, if someone needs a seat more than you, you should offer it to them. You let her down Sydney. To the young man ...