Thao: AKA Thao the Cow. I was born in Saigon, Vietnam and I currently live in Sydney, Australia. A financially challenged uni student, I'm studying the BA Communication (Journalism)/LLB @ University of Technology. I'm learning through life and just like everybody, I aspire to one day be a somebody.

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PS: The site is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox. The main image is courtesy of Tuan. My appreciation goes to Tuan for hosting me all these years and putting up with my bullshit hiatuses.

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October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007

people have procastinated.

Friday, March 09, 2007

I finally got a by-line(s), despite them being shared. The first was a shared one awhile back. Kit and I pursued stories on Domestic Violence for a special report in time for International Women's Day and here they are.

Although it does give a buzz to be publishing with such a big name in the media industry, I've been a bit disillusioned and a bit bogged down with things that have happened throughout this whole thing. Maybe it's because there's politics involved since it's on the State election and everything; I don't know anymore. But partly it's because I was expecting too much of myself and others. It's another one of those things where I feel like I put in so much, cared too much but I don't get much in return.

I don't know if this is the right path for me anymore. Fuck I sound as if I'm having a relationship breakdown with a story.

Thao ranted at 10:27 PM | 22 Tippers » Tip a cow

So after four years...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

"Four years?? That's a long time to be FUCKING someone!" said the momentarily coherent drunk dude who had slipped down to the seat across from me as I sipped on my iced tea after I casually told him it was my four year anniversary early morning cafe session. Kit had just popped to the gent's room. I just laughed at the candid outburst.

"Well, pop over to the bar around the corner anyway after your celebrations! Here! Have some free drink coupons," his other drunk friend slurred. I took them, still laughing over what the first drunk guy had observed.

I don't normally talk much about my relationship these days. It's such a hard concept to put into words without sounding corny. People I know always ask me, "So how ARE things with you and Kit?"

It's the compulsory question that I don't really love to go into great depth with because you can't help but feel that they don't really wanna hear and they only ask because they can't not see you without associating your partner into the conversation. We're always viewed as the one entity these days. How's my other half. I'm not even worth a whole anymore. We're always halved and added up into one. I guess that used to tick me off but lately, it doesn't really bother me anymore. I've come to the part in my life where I've stopped questioning things. Stopped the adding and the subtracting and the dividing of the Kit/Thao equation.

I think after four years, you've gotten to know your partner so well that you can pretty much visualise their every reaction to a given situation, mannerism or word in your head before they actually say it. So much that sometimes you're already formulating what you will say in return to what they've said in your version of events. It's natural; like how you know exactly what the next song will be on a playlist you've played a thousand times. And some people may call it boring or that the "fire has died out" and everything is so repetitive or monotonous. I have to disagree. Yeah it does get annoying when you know they're gonna be doing something that will piss you off. But knowing it's coming gives you more time to gear up more muscle power to whack them in the head when it does arrive. Haha.

I've thought a lot and questioned a lot throughout these four years. But now, I have this great feeling that this could be it. I've never liked to make vindictive conclusions on my feelings in relationships purely because I don't want to be proven wrong.

But after all these years where we've communicated pretty much on a daily basis, everything still feels fresh. We still have our problems that haven't been solved, we still have petty fights, late night cruises, occasional "intellectual" discussions, angry days and plain stupid days.

I remember back when I was an insecure teenager, I used to fret so much when I liked someone even if we weren't dating or anything. I would project the future and think about how long I could get away with being with them and not letting them see me in my glasses. Now that I look back, it's probably because I had shitty glasses that made me feel so ugly when I wore them. But it is so liberating to be able to be so candid with someone. It's where you seek consolation and comfort for the pretentious world we live in.

But the point is, we still have something new to explore every time we're together and it's pretty amazing when I look back on it now.

In one of my favourite love stories, Celine said to Jesse: "You're a Scorpio, I'm a Sag, so we get along." I'm a Sag and Kit's a Scorpio. I'm an (normally) optimistic adventurer and he's a cynical dickhead. It works so well. I love astrology. Most people think it's a load of crock. But Einstein once said: "If you don't believe in any kind of magic, or mystery, basically, (you're) as good as dead."

Happy Lunar New Year! I finally went for my P's after bludging on my L's for all its worth and passed. 2007 is looking uber coolio.

Thao ranted at 4:09 AM | 21 Tippers » Tip a cow

New beginnings

Sunday, January 21, 2007

You know you're growing old when you arrive home after a party before your parents do even though you left after them. Fuck I'm old.

I've been busy with renovations around the house ever since getting back from Melbourne. It's the second time I've gone down there and it was a nice change. It does feel good to be breezing along on your own lane instead of fighting with the cars next to you. But the only shopping I did was window shopping 'cos I sure didn't have the money for those fancy boutiques. Sheesh.

I also went to Phillip Island and saw 4000+ seals during a cruise. The brochure wasn't lying. There were literally that many and it was amazing, despite having my nose violated with their very pungent smell. Imagine 4000+ bottles of fish sauce opened up right in front of your nostrils.

My bathroom finally got its very much anticipated makeover for the new year thanks to my very handy uncle and his posse of semi-professional Vietnamese tradesmen who are lazy bludgers and diverge from the job by going swimming instead of tiling the joint. They pulled through in the end and it looks pretty good.

Before and afters.

Kit also installed new shelves for my room to give my poor bookshelf a rest since it was giving way to all the crap I had managed to squish into it. But it seems that every time I get new forms of storage in my room, I just find myself filling up the new space and I'm back to square one. But they are spunky shelves I must admit. Observe:

I moved all the shit from my bookshelf. Now the shelves are packed.

After these past few weeks of renovations, I think I'm growing a dick because Bunnings Warehouse is my new favourite hang out.

Thao ranted at 4:45 AM | 16 Tippers » Tip a cow

	tunapuff.net/thao

Thao: AKA Thao the Cow. I was born in Saigon, Vietnam and I currently live in Sydney, Australia. A financially challenged uni student, I'm studying the BA Communication (Journalism)/LLB @ University of Technology. I'm learning through life and just like everybody, I aspire to one day be a somebody. about the girl Other www.flickr.com This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from thaothecow. Make your own badge here. Fotos on Flickr My VOX Blogroll Tuan Amanda Ben Billie Bubz Cessi Cheryl Clauds Fiona Georgina Jade Jennee Jennifer Jenny Julnhi Kirk Leeanne Louise Maggie Maria Ngan Peggy Renee Stella Thanh Tom Veronica Wendy Wunnie Almost Daily ABC Online Ayusaki Crikey Eating Asia Guardian Facebook Global Roam Livejournal Marrickvillia Myspace New Mathilda Noodlepie Rambling Spoon Reportage Ricebowl Sticky Rice Sydney Morning Herald The Superficial The Traveller's Lunchbox Travelling Vietnamese God PS: The site is best viewed with Mozilla Firefox. The main image is courtesy of Tuan. My appreciation goes to Tuan for hosting me all these years and putting up with my bullshit hiatuses. Archives October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 people have procastinated.	My by-line Friday, March 09, 2007 I finally got a by-line(s), despite them being shared. The first was a shared one awhile back. Kit and I pursued stories on Domestic Violence for a special report in time for International Women's Day and here they are. Although it does give a buzz to be publishing with such a big name in the media industry, I've been a bit disillusioned and a bit bogged down with things that have happened throughout this whole thing. Maybe it's because there's politics involved since it's on the State election and everything; I don't know anymore. But partly it's because I was expecting too much of myself and others. It's another one of those things where I feel like I put in so much, cared too much but I don't get much in return. I don't know if this is the right path for me anymore. Fuck I sound as if I'm having a relationship breakdown with a story. Thao ranted at 10:27 PM \| 22 Tippers » Tip a cow So after four years... Saturday, February 17, 2007 "Four years?? That's a long time to be FUCKING someone!" said the momentarily coherent drunk dude who had slipped down to the seat across from me as I sipped on my iced tea after I casually told him it was my four year anniversary early morning cafe session. Kit had just popped to the gent's room. I just laughed at the candid outburst. "Well, pop over to the bar around the corner anyway after your celebrations! Here! Have some free drink coupons," his other drunk friend slurred. I took them, still laughing over what the first drunk guy had observed. I don't normally talk much about my relationship these days. It's such a hard concept to put into words without sounding corny. People I know always ask me, "So how ARE things with you and Kit?" It's the compulsory question that I don't really love to go into great depth with because you can't help but feel that they don't really wanna hear and they only ask because they can't not see you without associating your partner into the conversation. We're always viewed as the one entity these days. How's my other half. I'm not even worth a whole anymore. We're always halved and added up into one. I guess that used to tick me off but lately, it doesn't really bother me anymore. I've come to the part in my life where I've stopped questioning things. Stopped the adding and the subtracting and the dividing of the Kit/Thao equation. I think after four years, you've gotten to know your partner so well that you can pretty much visualise their every reaction to a given situation, mannerism or word in your head before they actually say it. So much that sometimes you're already formulating what you will say in return to what they've said in your version of events. It's natural; like how you know exactly what the next song will be on a playlist you've played a thousand times. And some people may call it boring or that the "fire has died out" and everything is so repetitive or monotonous. I have to disagree. Yeah it does get annoying when you know they're gonna be doing something that will piss you off. But knowing it's coming gives you more time to gear up more muscle power to whack them in the head when it does arrive. Haha. I've thought a lot and questioned a lot throughout these four years. But now, I have this great feeling that this could be it. I've never liked to make vindictive conclusions on my feelings in relationships purely because I don't want to be proven wrong. But after all these years where we've communicated pretty much on a daily basis, everything still feels fresh. We still have our problems that haven't been solved, we still have petty fights, late night cruises, occasional "intellectual" discussions, angry days and plain stupid days. I remember back when I was an insecure teenager, I used to fret so much when I liked someone even if we weren't dating or anything. I would project the future and think about how long I could get away with being with them and not letting them see me in my glasses. Now that I look back, it's probably because I had shitty glasses that made me feel so ugly when I wore them. But it is so liberating to be able to be so candid with someone. It's where you seek consolation and comfort for the pretentious world we live in. But the point is, we still have something new to explore every time we're together and it's pretty amazing when I look back on it now. In one of my favourite love stories, Celine said to Jesse: "You're a Scorpio, I'm a Sag, so we get along." I'm a Sag and Kit's a Scorpio. I'm an (normally) optimistic adventurer and he's a cynical dickhead. It works so well. I love astrology. Most people think it's a load of crock. But Einstein once said: "If you don't believe in any kind of magic, or mystery, basically, (you're) as good as dead." Happy Lunar New Year! I finally went for my P's after bludging on my L's for all its worth and passed. 2007 is looking uber coolio. Thao ranted at 4:09 AM \| 21 Tippers » Tip a cow New beginnings Sunday, January 21, 2007 You know you're growing old when you arrive home after a party before your parents do even though you left after them. Fuck I'm old. I've been busy with renovations around the house ever since getting back from Melbourne. It's the second time I've gone down there and it was a nice change. It does feel good to be breezing along on your own lane instead of fighting with the cars next to you. But the only shopping I did was window shopping 'cos I sure didn't have the money for those fancy boutiques. Sheesh. I also went to Phillip Island and saw 4000+ seals during a cruise. The brochure wasn't lying. There were literally that many and it was amazing, despite having my nose violated with their very pungent smell. Imagine 4000+ bottles of fish sauce opened up right in front of your nostrils. My bathroom finally got its very much anticipated makeover for the new year thanks to my very handy uncle and his posse of semi-professional Vietnamese tradesmen who are lazy bludgers and diverge from the job by going swimming instead of tiling the joint. They pulled through in the end and it looks pretty good. Before and afters. Kit also installed new shelves for my room to give my poor bookshelf a rest since it was giving way to all the crap I had managed to squish into it. But it seems that every time I get new forms of storage in my room, I just find myself filling up the new space and I'm back to square one. But they are spunky shelves I must admit. Observe: I moved all the shit from my bookshelf. Now the shelves are packed. After these past few weeks of renovations, I think I'm growing a dick because Bunnings Warehouse is my new favourite hang out. Thao ranted at 4:45 AM \| 16 Tippers » Tip a cow

My by-line

Friday, March 09, 2007

So after four years...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

New beginnings

Sunday, January 21, 2007