Sunset from the Observatory

‘Twas a lovely day today, but I spent most of it inside. Late in the afternoon, though, I decided to venture out, and ended up at the observatory, with a nice view out to the west, at sunset. Was nice, although a bit windy, and therefore chilly. Because silly I decided to wear shorts and t-shirt.

Walked all the way back, and dropped in on the Sydney Fiesta, or whatever it is. On the way out I thought it was some Chinese half-new-year festival or something, and avoided it, because I don’t like loud banging drums and crowds, but on the way back I had a look, and it was actually pretty cool. Might head to work a little early tomorrow to catch some of it…

Speaking of work, I am working tomorrow. Yes, on a public holiday. Overtime! Because we are super busy at the moment and have to get something finished. I’m actually looking forward to it – I’ve been really enjoying work recently!

Well, hope everyone is super! See you soon.

Urunga + Driving + Other Stuff

Time for an update, I suppose! From Sunday to Wednesday I was in Urunga, just south of Coffs Harbour. I had an awesome time, except for the fact that I bought three train tickets between Sydney and Urunga, but only used one (missed the first one, caught the second, and the third was replaced by Mum’s car). It was great to catch up with Mum and Cal, neither of whom I’ve seen recently.

Probably the highlight of the trip was our boat trip out on the river. We hired this dorky little boat with a pergola on top and a tiny little engine, and ended up have the time of our lives. Burnouts, doughies, slaloms… You name it, the boat did it! With Cal or I driving, of course. We eventually convinced Mum to do a doughie, but she was so embarrassed about it she only went around once. Loved it, though! We also parked it on a beach to eat lunch, and then ended up sitting in the boat to eat, as opposed to on the beach. Ironic? Maybe so!

I can’t remember too many more details… I read a fair bit, and am currently loving Portrait in Sepia by Isobel Allende. I also made friends with a baby on the train. Well, kind of… You know… They look at you, you smile, they smile, you smile more, they smile more, you smile even more, they smile even more, etc. Smile and repeat.

Mum and Cal were going to go back down the New England highway, but decided at the last minute to go back through Sydney, taking me with them (and staying the night in my apartment). This worked out well… Cal and I drove back (me through peak hour Sydney!) and then that night me, Cal and Steve went for a random drive around the eastern suburbs. Apparently Sydney is very hard to navigate without a map (I refused to let Steve get the map out, as it was much more exciting trying to find our way without it).

I think that’s it… Been working a fair bit since I got home, and probably will do some overtime on the weekend, which shall be interesting! I am really excited about my violin coming, except it will probably take quite a while… Oh well. I’m also excited because Dad is getting me some sweet Sennheiser HD-255 headphones for my birthday, which is next week. Oh yeah, and I keep meaning to organise something for that… Dinner + movie or something, I guess. Invite yourself if you wish (with my knowledge, preferably).

Also, did I ever get around to blagging about our APEC Road Trip? I’ll write something about it soon, along with links to photos, videos, and a map! When I get it done, that is. In fact, that’s right, the reason for the lack of a post about it is the fault of Google Maps. Dammit! Lol.

One last thing: I am currently completely obsessed with Belle and Sebastian. My currently playlist for last night and this morning has been Seeing Other People and Piazza, New York Catcher over and over again. How can you ever get sick of these songs? They are so totally awesome you do not need any other music in the world. Except for some occassional Ben Lee, who I am going to see later in October. YES!

Missed The Boat

Uh… Possibly not the best possible start to my trip to Urunga; I missed the train. I wasn’t even close to catching it. Still in bed, even. I woke up at the right time, because of my alarm, but then I guess I decided to go back to sleep!

I could blame Elaine, but it’s really not her fault. I mean, sure I was up talking to her after midnight, getting grossed out by some things she said, much to her delight. But truth be told, it was after midnight before I even started to pack. In fact, it was after midnight that I finished eating tea. So it’s really my fault. But maybe it’ll be better this way. There’s already some things I found I forgot to pack, and would’ve regretted not taking.

So, I’m still departing today, and will see my mother and brother by day’s end (well, it’ll be dark, but still…), it will just be a few hours later than expected! Cheerio!

Friendshipping vs. Relationshipping

Seriously, what’s with all the *shippingness? Okay, so that’s not the point of the post. This is:

There’s something that always confuses me about relationships. What differentiates them from friendships? I mean, essentially, are they just a good friend that you happen to want to make out with? Because that is one of the few differences I can find between being friends with somebody and being in a relationship with somebody. It would seem that pretty much everything else you can do with somebody who is just a friend.

Which is where things really confuse me. I’ve always had it in my head that a relationship shouldn’t be started for purely physical reasons. But by the logic in the previous paragraph… Is that not the only reason? Besides being friends in the first place, of course. I guess I feel bad if I feel that the only reason I want to go further with somebody is for that physical closeness (otherwise known as making out, etc). Everything else I can have just being friends. Which is the case with a number of my friends (in that I have a wonderful friendship with just about everything I want, but have no desire to make out with them).

So, is there any other difference between being friends and being in a relationship? Is it bad to want to go into a relationship with a friend just because you want to make out with them, or jump their bones or something?

Or maybe I am not understanding the point of a relationship at all. I kind of hope so.

Sleepy Song

Rebellion (Lies) by Arcade Fire is not a good song to encourage one to sleep. Hence why I am not currently sleeping, or even in bed. I am pretty sure the awesomeness of the song makes up for any unwanted anti-sleep effects, though, so everything is okay.

Although admittedly, this whole situation could make it difficult for me to Wake Up in the morning.

(Bad pun, I know. It seemed a good idea at the time)

Electric Violin!

HOLY COW I JUST BOUGHT AN ELECTRIC VIOLIN!!! I’M SO EXCITED!! AND BROKE! WOO!!

I forsee a new era of creativity and fun being unleashed upon the world (and my flatmates… Poor things).

Thought Train of the Day

Started because I had to pay Internet money to Errol, and I was contemplating the reason for seemingly random fluctuations in the price I pay each month, and then the price of Internets in general.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter, internet has become so important you can’t really put a price on it”

“Hmm, if it’s so invaluable, does that mean that ISPs won’t be around for too much longer, as the government will have to give it out for free?”

“That would be pretty cool, although people would abuse it”

“Wait… Telephones are pretty invaluable, but we still have to pay for them”

“And… We also have to pay for water…”

“And food…”

…

…

“FUCKING CAPITALISM!!!”

You can bet your arse that communists would pay for your precious Internets*.

*Disclaimer: I’m not a communist, and even though communists would probably pay for your Internets, chances are you wouldn’t have Internets for them to pay for in the first place. Well, good Internets, anyway. *cough*North Korea*cough*China*cough*

Seriously though, shouldn’t at least water be free? I mean, it’s not as if people save water because their worst fear is a high water bill. “Oh noes, my water bill is $3 instead of $2.75!!!” (Obviously, I don’t know how much a water bill costs, but it can’t be THAT much. I mean, for one, you don’t ever hear people complaining too seriously about water bills, unlike electricity and whatnot, and secondly, it’s WATER. It grows from clouds and lakes and stuff, and does not require feeding and looking after!

P.S. I’ve had If You Find Yourself Caught In Love by Belle and Sebastian stuck in my head for the past few days, at least. Bad thing? I think not!

All That Jazz

Steve and I went to the opening night of Jazz:Now in The Studio at the Opera House last night. ‘Twas pretty cool, too! First band was a little strange, and I wasn’t a massive fan, but I think I would’ve liked them a lot more in a different (smaller) venue, such as The Excelsior! They were all experimental-like, and their music was very minimalist at times. Pretty much, they didn’t suit The Studio, which was a shame, for them and for us (I did get a laugh out of the guy doing raspberries for like 10 minutes though =P). I did very much like the bass player though, it was really cool.

The second band, on the other hand, suited the studio really well, and I really enjoyed it! It was pretty big, and loud, and jazzy and stuff, with lots of saxophones and trombones and trumpets and an electric guitar and a double bass (awesome!) and a piano, all of which were very cool. Steve looked at me funny when I mentioned it, but there was a composition in there that had a couple of tiny bits which made me think “OMG SUFJAN!!” but maybe I just love Sufjan so much that I can see bits of him in anything. It made me like it a lot though!

I was out for a long time yesterday (9:30am – 11:30pm), and for some reason or another Jack (my flatmate) got wondering where I was and called me to make sure I hadn’t been abducted/kidnapped/arrested/shot, or ran off with a random girl or something. None of which actually happened, by the way, but it was nice of him to wonder! Hehe. Either that or he just wanted to borrow something…

Heading up to Urunga to see Mum and Cal Sunday morning, and was planning to head home with them, but that probably won’t be the case, as I wasn’t able to get all of next week off work – have to be back here to work on Thursday and Friday. Ah well, I’ll still get to catch up with Mum and Cal, so it’ll be hella worthwhile anyway.

Which means… I am totally flat-out until Saturday next week! (with a bit of a break this Saturday during the day). Well, at least I won’t be bored =P

Shut It!

I decided I should probably stop posting about all my girl-related issues on here. I mean, for one, I’m sure you’re all probably pretty sick of hearing it. And I guess I’m a bit sick of thinking about it, too, to be honest.

One of the other main issues for this decision, though, is one I just thought of. It involves the fact that a lot of the ‘profiles’ I have on various sites link to this blog, so maybe, just maybe, I get the occasional interested visitor to see what I’m writing about. Which is cool. Except for the fact that I’m always complaining about my love life (or lack thereof). These people visiting could be potential friends, if not for being put off by the aforementioned complaining!

That’s the theory, anyway. So although I might mention it very occasional, even if it’s just to provide context, I think I might try to stick away from that. That said, if I ever happen upon a wonderful encounter/relationship/whatever, prepare to be blasted with delighted posts regarding the situation.

Now, to print out my assignment and listen to some more Belle and Sebastian! And to figure out how to turn myself into an American aquarium drinker… (well, an Australian one, anyway).

P.S. Sorry if I’ve written ‘face’ instead of ‘fact’ anywhere. I noticed I did it a couple of times (beats me why), and fixed it, but there could be other occurrences lurking around.

Not So Bad At All!

Apologies, it would seem that I’m appearing rather down lately. Although I’m a bit on and off, in general I’m pretty excellent! Just a tad stressed and confused, but such is life.

I spent today with Dad and Bronwyn; we walked to Darling Harbour, and Dad and I went on a Jetboat ride while Bronwyn checked out the aquarium. Jetboating was AWESOME. Dad and I were the only ones on it, and they gave us raincoats and stuff because apparently you get wet. Also, some random pirate guy warned us before we get on that we should make sure we do up the raincoats very well, and pull pants up, so we don’t get so wet.

Well, turns out they were right! I did my raincoat up, and I rolled my pants up, yet still came off saturated from head to foot! Soo sooo fun though. Dad and I spent the whole time grinning, and holding on for our lives. Must do it again some time!

After that we wandered around, caught a ferry to Circular Quay, etc, and had an all-round excellent time, although we were pretty buggered by the time we got back to my place. Which coincided with the time Dad and Bronwyn had to leave, no less. So we said goodbye, hugs all around, and they headed down to Woollongong, or thereabouts (no second guesses as to what thoughts that brought up…).

I really enjoyed spending some time with Dad – makes me appreciate parents! I’ve talked to him to a pretty big extent about what’s been going on lately, and he’s been wonderful with his advice and all that. I’m looking forward to catching up with Mum next week so it can happen again!

For some reason I bought alcohol for the first time ever tonight – a bottle of red. I just wanted a small one, but they only had big ones. Not even sure why I wanted it… I mean, I don’t mind a glass of wine every now and then, but I’m not a big fan, and there’s no way I’m gonna come anywhere near finishing this. Chocolate is much cooler anyway. I’ll have to find other interested people who I can give it to.