This beautiful city of ours

**note to OJ1 tutors, while I wrote this months ago I'm tagging it #qutoj1 not for it to be marked but to give a background on why I decided to do this blog topic**

Grew up in a small town
And when the rain would fall down
I'd just stare out my window
Dreaming of what could be
And if I'd end up happy
I would pray

It's amazing how much feeling and emotion something so small can instill in you. Last night, as I walked home through the spitting rain from the ferry that had brought be home from the casino the song that occupied much of my childhood rushed into the forefront of my mind. As every small child does, I really felt like this song was about me. I did in fact grow up in a small town leaving us with not much to do but exercise our imaginations. My head in the clouds demeanor may be, in part, attributed to this upbringing.



As a child I always knew that I wanted bigger things. Each year as our family of five, packed into the back of a Ford Falcon, drove over the Gateway bridge in an epic conclusion of the mammoth 12 hour drive I would look at the city lights and know that I was better suited to a city of thousands.

To be fair, I loved growing up in a small town. Our house was surrounded by grass fields and towering sugar cane paddocks. I was all but unable to comprehend the notion of worrying about privacy. Our primary school, only a short walk away had guinea pigs and goats, and there was a caravan park beside the school that sold lassos for 5c a piece. It was the perfect, quaint, upbringing.

Still, this didn't stop me dreaming. Each time we visited our family in the city was like a new adventure to me. I think that growing up in a small town and seeing the same people in the same places doing the same things every day made me more excited for the potential to meet people and experience new things than someone who had seen this their whole life. Sometimes I get together with the friends that I grew up with who have also made the move and the wealth of culture and entertainment possibilities that surround us never seems to elude any of us.

This beautiful city that we are so privileged to call home has an infinite number of possibilities to entertain us each day and I think we take that for granted all too often. What I'm trying to say is that only boring people get bored. I don't know that I have been able to describe myself as "bored" once since moving down here (well, sitting in lectures excluded) because there is always so much to do and as country kids all of it is still new and exciting to us. If you ever feel bored in your city open your eyes and view is as a tourist, what would you do if you only had 24 hours in your city?

  

Self Evaluation

As I transition into adulthood I have been looking for a sustainable income to get me through the coming years. Luckily I've already scored a few job interviews which have made me realise that nothing makes you question yourself like a job interview.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
What are your biggest weaknesses?
How would the people in your life describe you?

These are some of the hardest question that you can be forced to answer about yourself. How would the people in my life describe me? Is the way they see me very different to the way I see myself? Do I think more or less of myself than they do? Does the positivity that I try to carry with me shine through or do my weaker moments in which I complain about trivialities let me down? Do I always succeed in treating others the way I would like to be treated? Maybe it's healthy to be forced to self evaluate every once in a while but that doesn't make it any easier.

In addition to being asked a myriad of difficult questions, in a job interview, particularly for the events and retail jobs that I've been interviewing for, you're trying to show the full extent of your bubbly and engaging personality in as little as 5 or 10 minutes all the while trying not to reveal your sweaty palms and hiding the stutter that is prone to resurfacing in stressful situations.

In the end I suppose that these stressful situations are character building, if nothing else. So go, apply for jobs you're not qualified for. The worst that could happen is a chance to practice your interviewing skills and what should we be aiming for if not to learn and make ourselves better?


Nb. This post is shorter than usual because just before I sat down to write it my roommate and I decided to make fairy floss which ended in a splatter of molten sugar and a now very painful, very blistered and unusable dominate hand.

To see the world through the eyes of a kitten

I am a girl obsessed. Yesterday my roommate and I made the commitment of bringing home two gorgeous kittens, Olive and Pandora (Panda).  Already we have spend hours dangling strings for them, watching them tumble over one another and boldly exploring the house. They are the sweetest creatures and I fail to believe that I could ever lose my adoration for them.

One thing about them that I have found myself enjoying is the way our kittens approach the world. Everything is new and exciting to Olive and Panda. The world is their oyster and each doorway reveals a whole new world to be discovered. Furthermore for these two kittens the land beyond the front door isn’t to be feared but it holds so much promise for excitement and new experiences. Even though both Panda and Olive have had rough times in their short lives, both fighting equally difficult paths to find themselves at the RSPCA for adoption, they are both full of curiosity, love and adventure. Despite the wrong that has been done to them by other people and animals they have taken us into their hearts and are already showing a full capacity for love and forgiveness. 

Some will say “small things amuse small minds” but I admire Panda’s ability to spend hours playing with a piece of al-foil that I rolled into a loose ball for her. That kitten doesn’t have much but she loves and appreciates the little that she has been given.

I am sure that by now my analogy is running thin, but this something that has stirred an interest in me. Why do we claim that being amused by small things is a sign of a simple mind? Why do we often write off curiosity and optimism as naivety? And why do cats, an animal generally seen as inferior to ourselves, have a greater capacity to forgive and give each person a fresh opportunity to make an impression than we do?

I have heard friends and acquaintances use specific examples of unfortunate events and wrong doing to justify racism that I have called them out on, but if an animal beaten by it’s owner is able to open it’s heart to other people, and we claim to be of a higher level of sentience, then why would we ever accept this justification for prejudice? This is a level of ignorance that I am not willing to tolerate.

What is it that drives us to criticism others finding enjoyment in things? Is it formed by some form of bitterness and jealousy of those unable to enjoy as much of what is around them? I have decided that I don’t mind if you make this snarky comment at me. I will simply tell you to stop and smell the roses and then I will leave with the satisfaction of knowing that I am enjoying things in life that others are incapable of.

I wouldn’t mind if I could learn to see the world the way my kitten does, she seems blissfully happy.

How much influence do popular artists have over their young listeners

Today I am in a hangover like state, dwelling in the come down after seeing many of my favourite bands play at Soundwave. It's in seeing these bands play live that a flood of emotions can hit you and you realise what a tremendous influence these bands, and their members, can have on shaping the lives of the young and impressionable. 

The crowd was littered with all sorts of people, many of them identifiable to their respective fandoms. Black Veil Brides fans were easily the most notable with stitches drawn across their face akin to Andy Sixx’s makeup. While these aesthetics are mildly amusing at best it made me think about how much deeper the influence these bands ran. 

Even today I am frighteningly devoted to the band that has had more influence on my life than any other and I hope that I am not naive in my belief that this influence has been positive. I am drawn to wonder how much of who I am has been crafted by that band that I adore so much. Without their influence would I still be living a vegetarian lifestyle? I like to think so but maybe it was their influence that pushed me over the edge. They are a band who’s lyrics I have not only sort comfort in but my endless hours of watching interviews may have led me to adopt their beliefs. Or perhaps this is a chicken or the egg scenario. Was it the similarity in ideas that drew me to them or were my ideals shaped by their words? While it would be wonderful to have an answer to this I don’t, and in the long run I don’t think it really matters. I think that regardless of which causes the other it is important for the band members to be aware of the influence they have on young and developing minds. Promoting anarchy and self-expression is all well and good as long as it isn’t hurting anyone.

I know that I lot of parents and guardians get hung up on the lyrics of what their child is listening to but I think we need to be more aware of what the artist behind it is promoting. Lyrics are where comfort is sought but the ideals of the artist that are far more likely to influence the behaviour of the listener. This is from my experience of course. 

My favourite band might sing the lyrics 

While I waited I was wasting away
Hope was wasting away
Faith was wasting away
I was wasting away

But if at the same time the members whom I admire so much are spreading messages of compassion towards other people and animals and promoting abstinence from drugs and alcohol, this is the message I am going to take away from them and their lyrics just become a way to feel less alone when the world seems to be against you. 

What I am trying to say with all of this is that I hope public figures take upon themselves the serious responsibility of influencing the beliefs and lifestyle choices of the next generation. 

Moving out blog: What if these little accomplishments lose their merit?

It's been a week now since move in day, and although I haven't had a lot of responsibilities (uni hasn't started yet, I still haven't found a job yet, etc). I have been finding joy in the merit and sense of accomplishment I feel each time I complete a "grown up" task. For example a few nights ago I quickly whipped up a vegetarian lasagne for dinner, added some of my roommates leftover salad on the side and wah lah, a home cooked dinner for four. It’s small things like this that make me feel responsible, give me a sense of achievement and make it all worthwhile. This motivation has begged the question, what if these chores lose their merit and just become a monotonous routine that I am obliged to follow? I’ve never been good at routine and it’s always been a sense of achievement that keeps me going. If I lose this in the everyday tasks such as cooking and cleaning that I am obliged to do will I continue to do them? What if losing this sense of achievement leaves me stewing in an uncleaned apartment surrounded by empty two minute noodle packets that I am too unmotivated to even throw out? The dumpster is on the ground floor after all, that’s four floors down and few locked doors away. Whose design was that? Don’t they realise I’m busy and sometimes taking out the garbage isn’t my top priority? On F.R.I.E.D.S. they have a garbage shoot on their floor and a super to unclog their toilet, where is my garbage shoot and super?

It’s upon typing this that I realise that maybe I still have some growing up to do. Adults aren’t rewarded for doing what is expected of them. Tasks like the ones that have been giving me a sense of pride since moving in are simply expected and much less than it being an achievement for getting them done, it is a sign of slothfulness to not have them done. Naive as it was I had come to adopt an idealistic view of what it would be like to move of and live with a best friend. This may be a result of the countless hours I spent watching sit coms in my adolescence. However the truth remains that once again, TV shows little resemblance to reality. After all, when was the last time you saw one of Ted Mosby cook a meal or Joey Tribbiani vacuum the apartment. Even though I now live above both a bar and a coffee shop I guess I have to accept the fact that my life is not a sit com and I will have to endure all the mundane aspects of living that are so purposefully skipped over in my favourite TV shows. This is not me resigning myself to a life of routine boredom, this is simply , me accepting the challenge to complete all my grown up activities and still have enough misadventures and laughs to fill a 45 minute sitcom each week. 

I thought I would end this week's blog with a quote that I read recently and has become yet another life motto of mine. 

"Spend your life doing strange things with weird people."

Missing deadlines- The Wasabi Punishment and apartment tour

I missed my 5pm Sunday deadline to post my blog so as agreed I ate a teaspoon of wasabi. Stick around to the end to see a quick tour of my new abode.

Nb: See if you can catch the moment where I gag on the wasabi.

I've missed my Sunday deadline and as a result I'm being punished with a teaspoon of wasabi as set out by a friend a few weeks ago. So, I will have the promised video posted in the next few days. I could make a thousand excused for why I didn't post a blog in time, moving into my own apartment for the first time has kept me very busy and Sunday was the day most of our furniture was delivered, we don't have internet yet and as luck would have it my laptop is chucking inconsolable problems, but the point remains that journaists face deadlines regardless of what is happening in their own lives and I have failed to meet mine. A few friends have also asked for photos of my new place so within the next few days I will not only give you the wasabi video, I will end it with a tour of my new apartment.

The changing of our culture: Body Modifications

It has been drilled into me that two of my greatest passions cannot coexist. When I search myself for things that I love I am only ever certain of two things. The first is obvious, the reason that I am here writing this blog. I love words and want to be a journalist more than anything. I am even prepared to compromise, as I am told is necessary, my second passion. My love of body modifications.

I really can't explain this love any more than I could explain why I prefer skinny jeans to summer dresses but it just the same is a fact of who I am. This is a part of me that I love to express and it is something that I enjoy for myself and not for the approval of any other. However currently in our culture there is still a great deal of stigma around modified people, one that I (and many others I know) enjoy disproving. While we are doing our best to reduce prejudice towards modified people I know that it won't happen overnight and I tend to wonder if we will ever reach a time at which we will be able to have professional journalists, teachers and lawyers with tattoos, piercings and stretched ears.

My desire to be a journalist is stronger than my desire to be modified so I am prepared to remove my piercings the day I graduate or get an internship but I am inclined to wonder if one day myself, and other like me, won't have to make that choice.

It is a bizarre thing, our cultures hostility towards decorated people. I know that it stems back to times before my birth when body art was affiliated with gangs, violence and rebellion. This is the most common explanation that I have heard and it seems to be one that is rapidly evaporating as body body modification becomes more common amongst the wider parts of the younger demographic. One day today's youth will become the CEOs and nation leaders, will this cause a cultural shift? It would seem logical but let's not forget the trend to veer towards conservatism that frequently happens as people age. It only takes a look at the our current world status and an acknowledgement that many of the people ruling our world in suits and ties were the same protesting against the same principles that they now abide. Maybe this cultural shift that I dream of will happen, even if it takes decades. I can only hope, any progress is good progress in my eyes.

Australians all let us rejoice for we are young and, free?

Today is a day of national pride. We "chuck a shrimp on the barbie" and celebrate all that it means to be Australian. To me being Australian means a sense of pride in the diversity and multiculturalism of our nation. We are a nation largely of convicts and refugees. We came here in search of a better life and I sincerely hope that everyone has found it. I know that I am probably in the minority, but please don't let me stand alone when I say this. Nothing makes me happier than walking down the street and seeing another person speaking on the phone or to a friend in a language other than English. Isn't that amazing? That person has, more likely than not, come from another country to be in Australia. Of all the countries in the world this person decided that there best chance at a brighter future lay in our country and I find that the greatest compliment available. These people who easily slip between their native tongue and English are intelligent individuals whose presence in our society can only enrich our culture. This may have selfish subtext coming from someone who thrives on Indian food and Asian teas, but I can't understand why we would not welcome these people with open arms and hearts.

On that note I want to mention that only 2.5% of our population identify as indigenous. I know that regrettably in the past, and even more regrettably, at present we have treated and still treat these people inhumanly. I am among the population that wholeheartedly regret and apologise for our treatment of indigenous Australians and believe that it is only these people that we have taken so much from that I feel have any right to hold any ownership over this country of ours. I deeply thank the traditional owners of our land for sharing this beautiful place with us and resent any early immigrants who believe that they have a divine right over this nation and show hostility towards additional immigrants and refugees who are, as their descendants once were, looking for a better quality of life on our shores. Our country is one of the least densely populated, and one of the most economically stable in the world. We have built our country on a foundation of Indigenous cultures, European settlers, English convicts, Chinese miners, Jewish refugees and Kanak slaves, just to name a few. So please remember this before you decide that you have any more right to be here than a man fleeing from prosecution from Iraq, Congo, Afghanistan, Syria or any other country suffering conflict today. They are likely in worse positions than your descendants were when they arrived.

In saying all of this I am not trying to deprive you in any way of a sense of nationalism. Be proud of your country for we are great and we have achieved so many great things. Just be inclusive with your pride, we all deserve our spot in this country and someone who received their citizenship last week is no less an Australian than a 5th generation Australian. Our country is a wealth of natural beauty and agricultural gold, let's celebrate that. We are a democratic nation of people free from the fears of war, poverty and prosecution, let's celebrate that!

So cheers Australia, here's to many more years of fortune, cultural growth and development!

Happy Australia day. 

"As you get older you will gain a bit more control over everything. Don't let anyone, even your parents, break you. Find good people who care about you and surround yourself with just them. If you can't find them at first, find good music and fall into it and let it hold you until they come..."

-Davey Havok 

I have spoken a lot lately about expelling negativity and allowing yourself to be surrounded by positivity and it is something that is ever prominent in my life. As I grow older I'm becoming more secure within myself and allowing only positive people into my life is helping with this. 

There are two people in my life that would never suspect that they have such a tremendous effect on my self-esteem. They are just two people that I work with once or twice a week in a little pizza shop, but when I am with them there is never a dull moment. I have known for a long time that they are fun and lovely people but it was only last night, when we laughed so hard that my chest felt like it might cave in, that I realised that when I am with them I am fun as well. These two people probably can't even imagine my weaker sides as every time I am with them I myself can't even fathom anything less than the extreme confidence and happiness that I feel.

I think that it's important for your best friends not to be "yes" people, at least not to you anyway. Your best and closest friends need to be people who challenge you and make you better. Just a few days ago while driving two of my best friends to the movies the first in the car for the ride pointed out on more than one occasion that our conversations would quickly become very heavy (as we spoke about concentration camps and questioned our responses to potential inhumane treatment of our loved ones). The three of us are different people and I think that's important in the dynamics of our relationship.We need people to challenge us and be critical of our views or we may remain stagnant in our world views. 

Another of my best friends is someone that I know I can call at three in the morning when I am having a hard time and she will be my by side in an instant. I will be lucky enough to be calling this wonderful human being my roommate in the coming months. She is a girl more wonderful, caring and intelligent than words could ever do justice. She is that person that it is important to have in your life because you would never need to tell them a lie. She is too open minded and supportive to hide any detail from and she is the kind of friend that everyone needs to have in their life.

These are the kind of people that I have been privileged enough to surround yourself with, and although it took some trial and error, I think I have it right this time. Sometimes it is hard to find the people that bring out the best in you, but never stop looking. Sometimes the best way to love yourself is to see others love you first.

If these people are missing from your life know that they will come, provided you keep looking. Forge friends at every opportunity, you can never have too many. In the interim surround yourself with good music and things that you enjoy. There are some songs that it is nigh impossible to feel sad or lonely while listening to.