One of the most famous lines from existentialist Friedrich Nietzsche’s book in which in proclaimed “God is dead” (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) is one of my favourite quotes. No I’m not being an atheist, this line has been misrepresented in so many ways that it has lost its original value. When Nietzsche says god is dead, he doesn’t mean that god has physically died, it is not a literal statement. In his view the idea of god and religion in modern society has died. According to Nietzsche there is no longer a universal moral law which human beings live by. This gave opportunities for humans to fully develop and exist to their fullest nature since the death of metaphysical belief meant that humans had more individual freedom. The concept that individuals define their own meaning in life is one of the key ideologies behind existentialism.

Nietzsche is my favourite philosopher, not only does his work bear such relevance in our contemporary society but his perception about individual morality and existence is what I try to live by each day. Similar to the Enlightenment philosophy, existentialists believed that there is no such thing as fate/destiny or predetermination of life. To simply put it, life is what we make of it. Living through someone else’s moral code (whether it be god or society) is meaningless. Existentialism is about individual freedom. Nietzsche’s philosophy emphasises on rising from the masses to reach transcendence and to find our own personal meaning of existence. We can never be truly happy unless we break from social and religious moral codes, otherwise we are simply following and not living.

Simple enough isn’t it? Nietzsche stated the modern man is just apart of a herd (society/religion) and shapeless since all we do is follow. If we continuously try to perfect ourselves and shape our own destiny, we can reach transcendence.

Of course Nietzsche’s philosophy does have one flaw. If everyone were to follow it, then society would be in complete chaos. But if you understood the essence of what he was trying to say I think it’s an excellent philosophy to live by.

But I definitely recommend you give his books a read, he is a fantistic writer.

After a recent release of the top 20 most beautiful cities in 2008, I discovered that Sydney has been ranked at 9th place. I suppose there is some charm about the place, I mean it is relatively clean. But beauty doesn’t cut it I’m afraid since it has dropped 2 ranks when it comes to ‘livability’, Melbourne has taken over Sydney’s place. And why shouldn’t it? When it comes to livability Sydney shouldn’t be ranked anywhere near Paris or Venice, especially from the significant changes that has happened in the last two years.

Everyone in Sydney is slowly but surely migrating over to Melbourne, and yes personally I have to say I’m tempted myself to move there. There has been a rise of everything in Sydney, petrol prices, unemployment, house prices, interest, food etc.

Everything is getting more expensive but our government still have yet to fix our abysmal public transport system (which was promised to be fixed two years ago). For one of the most populated cities in Australia, it has the worst public transport system. Forget trying to find a seat when trekking your way to work during peak hours. And forget trying to get on time anywhere when relying on the trains here in Sydney, in order to get somewhere on time (no matter how close or far) you would have to plan at least an extra hour into your travelling time. I remember it took me 2 hours to get to uni, when it took only 20 minutes driving time to get there.

Due to the rise in petrol prices there has been a significant increase in commuters, overpacked carriages are common now, yet the other day on my way home from work two carriages were locked off due to ‘vandalism’ issues. I don’t know about you, but I’m sure there has to be other carriages tucked away in those train yards they could’ve used (especially considering it was peak hour). Now the government wants to increase train fares by at least 30%. Why do we have to pay more for something that doesn’t even run smoothly or on time? And instead of using money to fix the current problems (too many to list) they are planning to build another rail line. I have no idea how this will magically fix any problems (besides we’re going to have to wait at least 4 years for the new line, which might I add isn’t going to be anywhere near populated suburbs that need it most).

Getting around in Sydney is a nightmare, so why not just stay in? Oh wait, did I forget to mention the soaring prices in housing? Not to mention the staggering rise in interest rates. There has been a drop in first-home owners in the past year. It is now near impossible for someone with a middle-class income to afford a home. Unless you some how can manage to spend only $100 a week on yourself, there is probably no way you can pay your mortgage repayments. Unlike in Melbourne where you can purchase a beautiful two-story house with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, double garage and only 30 minutes away from the city for only $320k, you probably would end up paying at least $550k for a place like there here. For $320k here in Sydney you’d be lucky to find a 1 bedroom apartment, somewhere, forget trying to find one in the city for that price unless you want your bathroom sink next to your bed which would be next to the bathtub and kitchen.

Don’t get me wrong, its a beautiful place, great people and the weather is not too bad, but you’d probably have to work your ass off to afford to live here that’s all.

I’m so so happy! I have the most wonderful guy a girl could ever ask for. Sometimes I still can’t believe I found someone so perfect, when I’m not with him he is always on my mind, not a moment am I not grateful for him and all the little things he does for me! I’m in love.  And thanks to him I’m building quite a collection of adorable plushies which I all love so much:

So uber cuteness! He won me the gray bear at the arcade, very determined to get me something. The white fluffy one (which is so soft) was a Valentine’s gift, and the care bear (I think I squealed when I opened that) was for our one month. I’ve always wanted a care bear, it was so cute I didn’t want to take out of the box, he got a special edition care bear with crystal eyes and sterling silver nose. And now he just got me the chubby super cute Totoro cushion. Thank you so much baby! I love them all.

Your such a wonderful person baby and I love you so much. Can’t go one day without seeing that cheeky grin of yours or that very hot  ass . Want to be with you always.

The new series of ‘How to look good naked’ just premiered here in Australia and personally it’s the first make-over show I actually like. I’m not really into the whole ‘reality television’, why would you want to watch someone else living their life? But this new make-over show is rather honest and raw about the realities of self-esteem and the perception of what is considered beautiful in today’s pop culture driven society. The brutal self-criticism women give themselves every time the look or choose not to look in the mirror causes serious low self-esteem. I don’t think I’ve met one single girl who is completely happy with what they have and seriously the little things we worry about are most of the time trivial and unnoticable to others. The show indicates how society perceives us is completely different to the way we perceive ourselves, which I think is a good lesson for all women to know that we are own worse enemy.

Its interesting to see how most women find their bodies disgusting but when really if you feel beautiful they can portray it, even if our bodies are not size 0. That’s what I find so amazing about the show! It demonstrates that we should stop self-criticising ourselves and stop feeling pressured to look a certain ‘ideal’ (and might I add unachievable) perfection and does so without the means of cosmetic surgery/ starving diets or completely changing the way we look. The show emphasises that we start to love what we have instead of hating what we don’t have, which comes to one conclusion that we are all special or beautiful in one way or another.

I think the show is great since it deals with people on a more personal level, it explores the relationship we have with ourselves. How do we find what’s beautiful about ourselves, just for our eyes, rather then the eyes of society? I think it’s a fantastic ideal especially with all these images of anorexic, plastic looking models bombarded in our faces everyday! I mean come on how often do you walk pass a girl with perfect hair or bone structure, who also seems to have great long legs and skinny as a stick? I rarely see that type of girl.

Of course unlike the people in the show I doubt you can do all this within 30 minutes, but it’s a start to creating a more realistic image about what women really look like.