Friday 4 January 2013

So, it's next year. I'm sure a lot of people have made resolutions. I'm sure a lot of people have looked back at the previous year and given themselves a pat on their back for their achievements.

Let's have a look at what I got up to last year.

I spent most of January wandering around, confused. I'd go from the beach to a friend's house back to the beach again and occassionally back to mine. I would always wear Jeans when my friends dragged me to the beach, to avoid having to swim. This never worked, however, and at one point I was picked up bridal style and thrown into the water. I was not happy.

Sadly, I lost my grandmother in February. I won't make any jokes here because she was a woman who lived and breathed love, the epitamy of sweetness. I remember to this day a comment she made on all the pills she had to take. "I just give myself a shake and all the pills go in where they're meant to go" she'd say, making light of anything she was given. I miss her and regret not getting to know her as well as I could have.

On Valentines Day, I was single. And life was depressing. I wore a singlet over a shirt that day. I think it was that Valentines Day that one of my friends bought me a stuffed toy bear holding a love heart. There was nothing romantic between us, she was just lovely.

I woke up on St Patrick's Day at a friend's house, and slowly headed home with Nell. The next morning, we woke up and made Green Pancakes & Milkshakes to celebrate St Patrick's Day a day late.

In April I think I went to Dubbo. My old dear friend Brodie moved there two years ago and I rarely get to see him. It was lovely. He showed me a terrifying manga animation while I was there, after which I proceeded to scream and jump on top of him. We also went shopping with his now-ex-girlfriend. I learnt all about Dubbo, what life was like for them in Dubbo, and about how a friend of theirs had contracted Herpes. I haven't seen either of them since.


Honestly, my winter was quite a blur. I went to parties and at one point made out with someone, but other than that I don't remember doing much. Other than being depressed. It was in July that I became interested in Sarah Blasko.

In the September holidays, I went on a school trip to Vietnam. It was absolutely astounding. None of us wanted to leave Halong Bay. It was a truly gorgeous place, unlike anything I'd seen before. We went canoeing at one point and saw the most adorable monkeys in existence. The only one in our group that had brought a camera dropped it in the water, so we decided to stay and closely observe the social structure of the monkey's society. They had a habit of jumping out of trees and falling down several atmospheres but remaining fine nonetheless. Much like the way that the Vietnamese had a habit of driving recklessly but managing to avoid nearly all collisions. I honestly think less accidents occur on Vietnamese roads than Australian roads, despite our strict road rules and their lack thereof. Or perhaps they just don't make a fuss when accidents occur. That sounds like a very Vietnamese thing to do.

At some point I became avidly interested in baking. I don't know when or why, but somehow it became a hobby of mine. The number of cookies I made last year is terrifying. I once baked over 100, with mum's help, to sell at a CoastOut stall. They sold really well, but after that, I never wanted to see another cookie again.

I also got into riding to school. I think this was 83% due to the fact that I'd lost my bus pass and I couldn't be bothered putting up with the crap bus drivers gave me when I got on. Sure, having to pay to catch a school bus bothered me, but what bothered me more was how rudely I was treated by the bus company. There is no need for such derision when someone who is clearly a student and has clearly caught the bus almost every day for a year lacks a bus pass. I don't even know why bus passes are necessary. If I'm going from my home to school and back every day, clearly I'm a student. I have never heard of someone pretending to be a student just to hitch a free ride from their house to a school.

In December, I went to see Regina Spektor in Brisbane with my friend Lola. It was beyond words. Her voice she takes me somewhere else. She manages to tell someone else's story so well, again and again. Her songs aren't manufactured to fit a mould - she herself said that something like that each song could fit a different genre. She creates such real characters and real stories, and then puts them into beautiful melodies.

I made a lot of new friends last year. There was a lot of drama, and a lot of good times. A lot of memories you don't expect too, not all of them drunken memories. I have one memory of dancing to Christmas Carols in Brisbane while going mad from the heat.

Brilliant Things

The Band "Shanteya & Jo" 


They're from Bellingen. Anyone who knows Bello will know what I mean. 
They're just so Bellingen.

Basically, they're two beautiful souls that come together to make ethereal, organic and poetic music. You can  find them here:

https://www.facebook.com/ShanteyaAndJo/info
http://www.triplejunearthed.com/ShanteyaandJo

Pretty Much All Australian Comedians

Denise Scott once described speaking with an Australian accent as going in a "long, flat line"

Judith Lucy once lamented on the absurdity of women's vanity by claiming that one day, she would pick up a magazine and read "now we all no how much men hate lungs"

Kitty Flanagan once told the elderly to "use their old people skills to ward off the gypsies"