Tuesday, September 15, 2009

good people, good music, good vibes

so, i am officially the worst blogger ever.

post a handful of mediocre blogs, then disappear for ages - simply terrible. definitely not up for any blogger-of-the-year awards. im sure all of you, my (not quite yet a double-digit-number of) subscribers have been mourning the loss of my amazing blogs. maybe not.

regardless, like the pathetic person i am, ive returned to ask (nay, beg!) for forgiveness. and i come bearing gifts! not quite of the material, awesome kind.. more of the literary kind. like, words and stuff.

mid-semester break is fast approaching, and ive been forced to reasses my whole Uni experience, yet again (introspection is so addictive). this semester has been, without a doubt, about five times harder than last. my timetable's definitely lacking in awesomeness, my subjects are harder, my tutors are (on the whole) worse, and the work load seems to have multiplied. add to the mix new commitments throughout the week, plus my regular work shifts and things start to look a whole lot messier.

in a good way. when youre crazy busy and stressed most of the time, the snatches of laziness and glimpses of peace seem all that more great. sleeping in becomes a luxury, and watching tv is a total rarity. and you really do learn to appreciate the good things in life, like (as my title so aptly suggests) people, music and vibes*.

this past week ive seen both lisa mitchell and paul dempsey live, and both have rightfully restored my faith in australian music. please get both their albums, both are delightful and lovely and are absolutely dripping in Awesomeness (capital A).

once this week's crazy assessment is been officially done and dusted, i am very much looking forward to a couple of weeks spent soaking up the spring sunshine (finally!), turning the ugliest age ever (19), and vibing with the coolest kids i know.

over&out.

*i have no official definition for 'vibes' - other than general good warm-fuzziness that you get when things are going inexplicably well.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

like chocolate cake for your ears.

“God can be so hilarious, Ha-Ha” (Laughing with.. – Regina Spektor)


such an amazing song, such an incredible artist. ever since i bought this album (Regina Spektor – Far, do yourself a favour and GET ON IT), i’ve been listening to it literally non-stop. that’s usually how i am when i get a hold of new music - i seize it, and devour it greedily – playing it repeatedly and becoming so intensely involved in the intricacies of the song. i call myself a ‘lyrics person’ – i have an endless fascination with words and phrases, and that’s how a song really grabs me. i know a song’s good when i find myself recalling snatches of its lyrics - a word or a phrase that resonated especially.. and slowly i’ll remember the melody and the tune. i just feel like there’s something amazingly intimate about listening to a song for the first time, feeling the lyrics and the music wash over you, almost like being in deep conversation with another human being – definitely one of the greatest pleasures in life.


i think this song in particular struck me because of the simplicity of the lyrics – there aren’t any pretences, fancy phrases or plays on words, and regina’s just speaking plainly - honestly. musically, most of her music is just her and her piano – there’s a wonderful elegance in the sparsity, but it never sounds empty. her sporadic phrasing is something that i'm especially drawn to - there's something so beautiful and nuanced about her weird clicks and noises and how she smooshes words together (how obvious is it that suffering from severe girl-crush?).


here are the lyrics, for you interwebs’ reading enjoyment. but, seriously, listen to it. listen to her whole album – heck, her whole back catalog (you can come thank me later).



No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’re starving or freezing or so very poor

No one laughs at God
When the doctor calls after some routine tests
No one’s laughing at God
When it’s gotten real late
And their kid’s not back from the party yet

No one laughs at God
When their airplane start to uncontrollably shake
No one’s laughing at God
When they see the one they love, hand in hand with someone else
And they hope that they’re mistaken

No one laughs at God
When the cops knock on their door
And they say we got some bad news, sir
No one’s laughing at God
When there’s a famine or fire or flood

But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious
Ha ha
Ha ha

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God
When they’ve lost all they’ve got
And they don’t know what for

No one laughs at God on the day they realize
That the last sight they’ll ever see is a pair of hateful eyes
No one’s laughing at God when they’re saying their goodbyes
But God can be funny
At a cocktail party when listening to a good God-themed joke, or
Or when the crazies say He hates us
And they get so red in the head you think they’re ‘bout to choke
God can be funny,
When told he’ll give you money if you just pray the right way
And when presented like a genie who does magic like Houdini
Or grants wishes like Jiminy Cricket and Santa Claus
God can be so hilarious

No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughs at God in a hospital
No one laughs at God in a war
No one laughing at God in hospital
No one’s laughing at God in a war
No one’s laughing at God when they’re starving or freezing or so very
poor

No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
No one’s laughing at God
We’re all laughing with God


over&out.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

as i was driving home, it looked like i was approaching the end of the world..

..and it really scared me.

the sun was doing that thing where, as it set, it looked like it was setting the sky on fire. the sky was this deep orange-y, fire slash hellish kinda colour (hence the armageddon vibe i was getting), and the clouds looked especially menacing and end-of-the-world-like.

but then i made it home alive, and it was all good. i was, however, feeling the after effects of 3 hours sleep, too much junk food (mexicanaaa night!) and like 10 straight hours of dvds.

but all thats better than the world ending before ive even done this (just one from a ridiculously long list of stupid tourist photos i simply MUST take):



(with nicer shoes..naturally)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

i should be so lucky

just a quickie tonight (haha). still feeling physically drained, but unfortunately mentally awake. mind and body, cant you get along? i am very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow - i feel the next 10 hours are going to be amazingly restful.

the other day during my shift at work (woolworths, represent y'all!) i noticed the weirdly constant line of about 10-15 people in front of the Tattersalls stand opposite my safeway, for my entire 5 hour shift. apparently (upon consulting a few of my customers) there was a massive jackpot that day. something to the tune of 20 million big ones. which is a lot.

naturally, i started thinking about what id do with that much money. which, lets face it, is a ridiculous amount. especially when one is contemplating that amount as a current arts student, future arts-graduate, and permanently poor (if fulfilled) member of society. i thought about my dream around-the-world trip, and year long exploration/discovery/journey/marathon trek through europe, the sweet as studio appartment id buy, the following of bands across continents (like groupies, but without the sexploitation), and the countless hours i would spend buying beautiful, yet useless things to fill aforementioned appartment.

and then (it was a long shift) i thought about one of my all time favourite songs. or rather, a lyric from it. Bright Eyes - First Day of my Life. its such a sweet, unassuming little song.. (if you havent yet, please do listen - its so good im quite sure its going to be involved in my wedding somehow)
anyway, my favourite lyric is :

"id rather be working for a paycheck, than waiting to win the lottery"

i love how he turns the metaphor on its head. usually people compare finding 'that special someone' to winning the lottery, or striking it lucky, or having that 'one in a million' moment. but here, Conor Oberst (genius that he is) is saying that relationships arent about luck..theyre about hard work. theyre about being there everyday, clocking in and out and earning that paycheck. which sounds completely mechanical and void of romance, but i think thats part of the beauty of the phrase. most of the time, relationships arent like John Hughes films (its something ive gradually come to accept - Blane would've never ended up with Andie), and not just romantic ones. all relationships take work and go through difficult, sometimes downright ugly, periods.

and i think in a lot of ways, the analogy extends to life itself. life isnt really about picking the right numbers, or being that 1 in 261623201i43917412863 that 'wins'. its about working for that paycheck - paying your dues, putting in the time, effort, sweat, blood and tears to get what it is you want. whether its that dream guy or girl, or an exorbitant amount of money, or just getting to that place where youre content with the way things are.

sadly, there isnt going to be a giant novelty check at the end of it all. but, im with Bright Eyes. lottery's are overrated (except for whoever won last Saturday's jackpot, i guess).

over&out.

Friday, June 19, 2009

wahhh

don't you hate bad timing?

just as soon as ive finished with final essays, stressing, "studying" and exams.. my body decides to GIVE UP ENTIRELY and be all sick and gross? admitedly, i havent helped the process by junking up my diet, getting minimal sleep and choosing not to set aside time for r&r. but still, body, youre supposed to be on MY side. going ice-skating tonight and pretty much getting frostbite probably didnt help either.

so now, im sipping on some herbal tea, listening to stars and trying to will my tonsils into submission. i do not fancy my odds.

in other news, i watched arrested development for the first time at a friend's house today. ive known about its supposed comical genius for ages, but have only (sadly) just gotten around to experiencing said genius for myself. believe the hype, its really *that* good.


now, i must attempt to recreate some pocahontas magic for tomorrow night. given the fact i cant sew, am largely devoid of any creativity and am extremely sleep deprived.. this should go swimmingly.

wish me luck, interwebs

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

on the brink.

so, yes. this blog has officially become an outlet for my procrastination and headstrong determination to not-study the night before my exam. i think it may have just become a self-fulfilling prophecy, but here we are nonetheless.

had a pretty craptastic day. i have been making a conscious effort to not let this blog become a place to rant and rave about the stupid, trivial, annoying and altogether *yucky* parts of my life.. because there's enough of that going on in my own head. but i think today warrants a slight rant.

woke up tired as feck because i tossed, turned and coughed my way through a horribly sleepless night. upon close inspection, i find my tonsils are disgustingly red and swollen (interestingly ive had tonsilitis at least once a year for years now, but not in any serious way. my tonsils swell, i cough for days, but i dont get a fever or any other symptoms. i should probably get them out, but unnecessary surgeries scare me so). my stomach was sore from coughing, and i felt like something had died in my throat. yeah.. it was that bad. went to the doctors, waited for ages. didnt get seen, went to work. struggled through my shift, went through an entire packet of anticol and tried not to cough in customers' faces (i hear its rather rude). i resorted to coughing into the crook of my elbow - i hear this is the "new" way of doing it.. apparently more hygenic than coughing into your hands, since your elbows dont really come into contact with much else. whether or not this is true, i did manage to look like a raging moron for about five hours. got home, popped a pill, ate cold chinese leftovers and .. here we are. now must attempt to study (at this point anything i do is largely symbolic. i certainly do not deserve a good mark for this subject.. its more of a "ok, PPE.. i dont like you, and you dont like me, lets just get this over and done with").

also, going to have to set my alarm to 4.00am, take another antibiotic, wait half an hour, eat something, then somehow get back to sleep. this is going to be an interesting night.

and now, here's something for the kids:


audrey tautou is something to *obsess* over, isnt she? very much looking forward to this biopic, even though im not usually into them.. especially the ones about musicians. walk the line? bored me to hell.

hope you interwebs are doing better than i am,

over&out.

Monday, June 15, 2009

i think i see a pattern emerging

so, i think ive just made a very important realisation: i only ever feel compelled to blog whenever there is a rather pressing academic task on my 'to do' list, that i want to avoid at all costs. last post there were the three essays (which i handed all in ON TIME - the last one being started at 1.30am the day it was due, handed in exactly 10 minutes before the official cut off period - HELLS YEAH!), and now i must study for my first and last exam, in two days time.

unfortunately, starting uni for me has been a lot about lowering standards. while ive never strived for mediocrity in my life before (read: massive nerd), i find myself caring very little about my marks, and more about passing or getting things in on time. i certainly hope this is some kind of temporary 'i-dont-wanna-try' phase, or some kind of delayed rebellion after going to an uber competitive highschool, because i actually do need to build a nice looking transcript for next year when i will *hopefully* be going on exchange. which i think is cause for some MAJOR excitement. since im looking to do an international relations/political science major, and dont speak any sexy european languages, im tossing up between the UK, the US and Canada. While the UK would be amazingggg (i have a crush on the city of London, if thats possible), somehow i feel an American school's IR program would totally own. even if Brits > Yanks. i also have to somehow find a spare $5000+ to finance said exchange (even with the uni's $2000 scholarship + the $5000 i can add to my HECS), so i shall proceed to look underneath every single couch cushion i come across and will set up the 'Lace's Exchange 2010: Please Give, so she can see the World' fund.

in other news, i have the world's driest, scratchiest throat ever and feel yucky all over. im currently drinking tea with lemon and honey and have been sucking down Soothers/Butter Menthol/Anticol like its going out of style. i know the packets say not to consume more than two sticks a day, but.. its not like they can kill me, right?

to cheer myself up ive been contemplating getting a debit credit card. the thought of which is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. thrilling because it will open up a whole new world of 24/7 internet shopping, concert-ticket buying, and that i can finally consumate my long-term affair with ebay (ew!). on the other hand, its terrifying because i dont think my bank balance can support the aforementioned shopping.

what would my first purchases be?

a snuggie (completely dorky, but its a blanket! with sleeves!) .. look how comfortable (slash crazy) she looks!

and these sexy headphones (my gross ipod ones are no longer white and are splitting.. not to mention terrible with noise-blockage.)


ohh and tix to Bobby Flynn's gig (July 9 @ Blue Diamond, if anyones interested!).

so now, im gonna crank the "atmospheric study mix" (sigur ros, kaki king and iron and wine) and will attempt to learn an entire semester's worth of Philosophy, Politics and Economics/PPE/WORST SUBJECT EVER in a few days.

Good Day :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

destination? procrastination nation!

this is what being a media comm student has done to me.

on the eve of possibly the most stressful 7 days i will endure this semester, i have created a blog.

roughly 5000 words unwritten, 8 unread books and countless minutes to be had deep in meditation, here i am.. blogging. i am such a technologically dependent, shameless time-wasting gen-y-er.

will probs give up on this after the next shiny object catches my eye.. but for now, i bid you, interwebs, adieu.