A series of nude photographs of Jennifer Hawkins will be spared the Photoshop paintbrush when they appear in an Australian magazine this month.

The 26-year-old model appears “all natural” on the cover of Marie Claire as part of a campaign to promote positive body image among women.

“I’m not a stick figure — I thought it would be great to tell women to just be themselves and be confident,” Hawkins told the magazine.

Hawkins’ unedited photo shoot follows an emerging trend of magazines running specials to promote realistic images of the female body.

In October, a non-airbrushed photo of Sarah Murdoch’s face appeared on the cover of Women’s Weekly along with an article saying women should be able to embrace the beauty of ageing.

“I think when I’m retouched in photographs it’s worse, because when people see me in real life, they go, `Oh, God, isn’t she old?,” she told the magazine.

Earlier this month curvy celebrities Bianca Dye and Tiffani Wood also made headlines by appearing nude in Madison magazine.

Ms Frank said the new shots of Hawkins will raise funds for the Butterfly Foundation, an eating disorder support group.

She said the shoot was inspired by a magazine survey that found only 23 percent of women were happy with their bodies.

(http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/989827/hawkins-poses-nude-unedited-for-magazine)

In recent events of the Victorian 5 crash, authorities are looking more and more to increasing the licensed driving age from 17 to 18 or 21.

No!

As an 18 year old licensed driver, here’s a few reasons why I don’t think that should happen and a few reasons of what influenced my driving when I was a learner…

1. Increasing the licensing age to 18 or 21 is not going to work…. 18 are you serious?  That’s the same age that is usually a young person’s first year out of school, meaning that they move away from home, and sometimes family/friend’s healthy influences.  It is also the age that drinking starts, and you’re allowed to do other things which may / may not add pressure onto a young person.  21?  That’s not really going to work either… with both the age of 18 and 21, it’s just too late.  Young drivers need to be learning to drive, and getting their license whilst their still in positive influential environments.  Not when they’ve moved out of home, and there is no restrictions.  Also when you’re in your final year, sometimes final two years… the teachers expect you to be doing certain things, some of these things are extra curricular, after school hours, in which many kids who do not live in the school district have no way to attend, as their parents are unable to provide transport, other than when the school bus times run (which may I inform you is NOT after these after hours extra curricular activities have concluded, it’s usually before).   Teachers expect kids to be at these sessions and the ones that have their license can afford it easier, than the ones that don’t have their license.
2. Changing the age will also only cause more problems with trying to find a job.
3. The older generations complain about the Y Generation being the generation that’s staying home the longest (e.g. 25s, 30s, etc.).  Maybe this is why.  Think about it!  A question to the older generations… When did you start driving?  I have friends who grew up on farms, and even some who grew up in the city, that were driving around from the ages of 6 and up…  you got the practical experience that young people are missing out on because we’re expected to get too many hours in too little time and with certain constraints in place.  It may appear to you guys, to be protecting us, but it’s also making us frustrated, stressed and disheartened when we’re expected to grow up but can’t.

Things that influenced my driving whilst learning how to drive:

1. The supervising driver’s actions whilst I was driving, and whilst they were driving.  Monkey see, monkey do.
2. Seeing open license holders speeding, etc. and going “Well if they can do it.  Why can’t I?”

Therefore instead of increasing the licensing age to 18 or 21, think about enforcing the road rules on people who are already on open licenses.  It is not really fair to restrict and take away a learner’s license because they were speeding, or ran through a traffic light, etc. because they’re still learning.  The supervising driver should be watching them, even though they don’t have control of the car… Maybe actually lowering the learners age from 16 down to 15, so that they have 2 years of learning to drive, or are more road wise before they hit the drinking age, and the out of home, influenced by mates age. 

Providing training on how to avoid crashes, defense driving, and actual driving classes whilst at school would be a positive as well. 

More side shoulders on roads. 
Tired drivers are dangerous drivers?
Well where are tired drivers supposed to pull over?
There’s not enough side shoulders on road, or not large enough areas to pull over.  If someone is fatigued and there is no side shoulder to pull over, it may be a few kilometres till the next one, and when they get to that one they’re probably thinking ‘I’m almost home now, no point pulling over’, which may be the very last words they say.

So think Australia.  Don’t just do the first thing that pops into your head.  Stop bubbling wrapping the younger generations and provide some decent training and positive influences to stop the road kill… not just change the ages!  Changing the ages is not going to work!

I just found some of my favouritest childhood TV show…

The Adventures of Sam

Northern Territory police locked a crocodile behind bars yesterday after a teenager turned up at a local police station with the reptile.

A 19-year-old man presented officers at the Palmerston police station with the half-metre long salt-water crocodile he had caught in a lagoon, the NT News reports.

Senior Sergeant Greg Pusterla told the newspaper the crocodile spent some time in the lock-up before animal rescue workers came to collect him.

“It was secured down in the cells area,” he said.

The crocodile was one of four spotted in the lagoon and officers are planning to search the area for the others.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/1039424/nt-cops-throw-croc-in-jail/?rss=yes

This year has been an interesting year for me, and whilst things haven’t gone smoothly, it doesn’t mean that it’s not going to get easier.

One of the things I have been hugely battling with is socialising with others and feeling accepted, and whilst there aren’t people around, there are some who are truly friends.

I deleted facebook for part of this reason.  I didn’t like being just a number in someone’s attempt to ‘gain the most followers’, I wanted it just to be able to keep in contact with friends that I have made all over Australia and the World, and family, but yet again, it is also something which more and more often now, people go one to just see how you are going, instead of taking the time to ask AND listen personally.  Fair enough if you’re galaxies away across oceans, or vast stretches of land, but if you’re within the same day’s drive, then some contact, a phone call, or a letter/email really does seem more appropriate than just looking at people’s statuses, posts, etc. 

Part of me however, has also been wanting to get facebook again because I feel left out of some of the events that are happening, and I fear that people won’t remember my birthday; whilst lately, at the same time, I also hope people do forget it, and that the ones that do remember, if any, are the ones that have remembered without any prompting.  I don’t know, that’s who I am right now.  And whilst I’d like to go on facebook and see a page full of happy birthdays… it scares me to think that I’d go on, and see none… or very few… and it scares me a bit more, if no one remembers, because it becomes clear how many people remember things like your birthday, likes, dislikes, etc.

I have one house mate who wrote my birthday and age up on the calendar, over a month ago, but I don’t know, last week I just had to white it out… I guess for the same reason above.  Funny thing also is that Australia’s stamps are going up, yet AGAIN!!!, to now 60c.  Which is ridiculous!!! They say it’s the 3rd time they’ve done it in 18 years… It’s making me wonder if they’re following my birthday… or my life…. no I know the world does not revolve around me… it just feels like a bit of a spoiler… I have a stack of 50c ones still from my Teen Missions days, and another stack of 55c ones from last year’s Byron Bay… stupid price increase.

I also have a few of my house mates asking what I would like for my birthday, but as I was in such a complacent mood for most of this semester, I really don’t know.  Feeling loved by them in some ways was / is the greatest gift right now, but then in the same way it hurts, because I want to feel loved by people most of the time, not just on the one off occasion, or if someone needs somethings of me, wants to suck up to me, etc.  I suppose I should find that listography list I wrote at the beginning of the year of ‘things I would like to have’.  I’ll paste it here, if I find it AND remember the username and password… (http://www.listography.com/peacetruthlove)

I now, however, know my ring size.  It’s embarrassing… but I really would like a nice ring, just to get re-accustomed to again, before I get my engagement ring.  I don’t want my engagement ring, to be my first proper ring… as sweet as that sounds in some ways… but yeah.