If this year has a theme for me, it is "change" and so much has changed for me. My parents have split up and both left Melbourne, where I am. I have had to find a new place to live, and I have now moved out of the family house of the vicar and moved into the house where I'll be staying. Tonight will be my third night sleeping here. I've also, within the last week, successfully got a new job but it in sales and commission-based. It was not my ideal working situation but even in the last couple of days, I have learned heaps and I'm sure that this job will give me HEAPS of experience and help me get another job in the future if this one doesn't turn out ok. Having said that, I'm not actually minding it too much at the moment. I don't mind the work, the issue is whether it will make me enough money to live on, and that depends on my own performance.
Today was my first "official" day where I first started making sales, and I made my first sale.
One of the issues I'm worried about (other than money and long hours) is that doing this kind of job might change a part of me that I like about myself. I don't even know what that part would be, but, as at least one friend has warned me to be, I'll be careful.
01 March 2011
22 February 2011
Interviews, Houses and Earthquakes
I had a job interview today and even though I was late, have no experience in the area, and basically admitted to being "not very outgoing" (it's a marketing job) I've been invited to a second interview (the first time since I've been invited to a second interview since I've been looking.)
Also, if all things go to plan, I'll be moving into my new place in about a week's time, maybe a week and a half.
There's also been an earthquake in Christchurch, I've heard. Buildings have fallen down and bodies are being pulled out from them.
I really like staying with the people I'm staying with at the moment, although at the same time I am also looking forward to moving to the new place, (although I'll still see the family I'm staying with now quite often) and I'm not quite sure whether I want the move to happen soon or if I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer.
Also, if all things go to plan, I'll be moving into my new place in about a week's time, maybe a week and a half.
There's also been an earthquake in Christchurch, I've heard. Buildings have fallen down and bodies are being pulled out from them.
I really like staying with the people I'm staying with at the moment, although at the same time I am also looking forward to moving to the new place, (although I'll still see the family I'm staying with now quite often) and I'm not quite sure whether I want the move to happen soon or if I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer.
19 February 2011
My Friend's Giveaway Thingy
A friend of mine from another blog is doing a giveaway/review thingy with this other etsy person.
Details of the giveaway:
Mommy's Monster
Etsy shop in question:
OneTrueTree
Check it out! Or not. I'm just blogging about it to improve my own chances of winning. :)
Details of the giveaway:
Mommy's Monster
Etsy shop in question:
OneTrueTree
Check it out! Or not. I'm just blogging about it to improve my own chances of winning. :)
07 February 2011
One Step Closer
I've moved house again - but not finally. The house I'm supposed to move into is not ready and the house where I was staying, well, my agreed stay-time was expiring (and I wasn't in the mood to ask for an extension.) Fortunately, one of the people in charge of organising the house who told me that the house is being delayed knew that the place I was staying before was temporary and offered me a room to stay with her family if it put me in a tight spot (which it did). I accepted her offer and so I've moved in the area staying with ANOTHER family but not yet into the house. I'll be moving again before the end of the month.
I am grateful for the previous family for giving me a place to stay while I was in waiting, but at the same time, I am relieved to be out of there, even if it is with yet another family. Even from the beginning I felt tense with Eel, (the mother in the house), who cared about different things than I, (which was fine), and seemed to think I should care about the things she cared about instead of the things I cared about (which was less fine.) It kind of got a bit worse a bit later, and some of that was my fault as well, but I just felt tense around her and I think she was getting a bit tired of me, too, by the end.
Anyway, I feel much more comfortable with this new family I'm staying with, whose company in the house I'm actually enjoying and who seem to be making special effort to make me feel welcome without making it look like they're going out of their way (either that or they're just naturally good at it.)
My mum came to Melbourne on Saturday and even helped me move into the new temporary house, and only then found out that she actually knew the husband of the woman who I was in contact with about the house! Talk about coincidence. (Although not that much of a coincidence because this always happens within Christian communities, I've noticed.)
So there's Vicar, the male adult (who I've named after his occupation), his wife Fin, the female adult, and their children; Star, who is friendly, polite and helpful for a teenage boy, and the daughter (also an adult, but just not one of THE adults, in her early twenties) Shimmer, who I only just met less than an hour ago because she wasn't around the last couple of days since I've been here, but has made a good first impression by being friendly and sociable.
I feel a lot more relaxed than I've been in the last few weeks. I'm also trying to get to know the area a bit since, even though I've not yet made it to where I'm going to be living, I'm only a few blocks away from it. Being closer to the city than I was previously, there are plenty of places nearby that I'm quite happy are nearby.
I am grateful for the previous family for giving me a place to stay while I was in waiting, but at the same time, I am relieved to be out of there, even if it is with yet another family. Even from the beginning I felt tense with Eel, (the mother in the house), who cared about different things than I, (which was fine), and seemed to think I should care about the things she cared about instead of the things I cared about (which was less fine.) It kind of got a bit worse a bit later, and some of that was my fault as well, but I just felt tense around her and I think she was getting a bit tired of me, too, by the end.
Anyway, I feel much more comfortable with this new family I'm staying with, whose company in the house I'm actually enjoying and who seem to be making special effort to make me feel welcome without making it look like they're going out of their way (either that or they're just naturally good at it.)
My mum came to Melbourne on Saturday and even helped me move into the new temporary house, and only then found out that she actually knew the husband of the woman who I was in contact with about the house! Talk about coincidence. (Although not that much of a coincidence because this always happens within Christian communities, I've noticed.)
So there's Vicar, the male adult (who I've named after his occupation), his wife Fin, the female adult, and their children; Star, who is friendly, polite and helpful for a teenage boy, and the daughter (also an adult, but just not one of THE adults, in her early twenties) Shimmer, who I only just met less than an hour ago because she wasn't around the last couple of days since I've been here, but has made a good first impression by being friendly and sociable.
I feel a lot more relaxed than I've been in the last few weeks. I'm also trying to get to know the area a bit since, even though I've not yet made it to where I'm going to be living, I'm only a few blocks away from it. Being closer to the city than I was previously, there are plenty of places nearby that I'm quite happy are nearby.
29 January 2011
Marysville
Today I went to Marysville with a bunch of other people from church to a trout farm where, every now and then, a group of people from church go to help rebuild in the aftermath of a devestating fire a couple of years ago.
This was my first time going.
So today I got in some good, old-fashioned physical labour (mostly moving dirt), I learned how to gut a fish, and I celebrated friends' engagement within an hour of the proposal with sausages and champaigne. He threatened us not to put it on facebook but I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog so I'm safe. At least, no one who knows who I could be talking about.
Tomorrow I'm going to a birthday barbeque, and then I'll be going to church (in the evening) to what will be my last service as a member (but I will probably still visit but as a guest).
I'm currently reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne which is great! I'm reading it on my kindle.
I may have missed an opportunity out of shyness.
This was my first time going.
So today I got in some good, old-fashioned physical labour (mostly moving dirt), I learned how to gut a fish, and I celebrated friends' engagement within an hour of the proposal with sausages and champaigne. He threatened us not to put it on facebook but I'm pretty sure no one reads this blog so I'm safe. At least, no one who knows who I could be talking about.
Tomorrow I'm going to a birthday barbeque, and then I'll be going to church (in the evening) to what will be my last service as a member (but I will probably still visit but as a guest).
I'm currently reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne which is great! I'm reading it on my kindle.
I may have missed an opportunity out of shyness.
24 January 2011
Pizza and Pancakes
Pancakes were good, a lot of people turned up and they seemed to be enjoying themselves and their pancakes. Um... I hope, anyway?
So what did I get for my birthday? As mentioned before, I got a kindle, I also got this nice, green jug thing which would be good when I move! Also these ice cream cups designed to eat ice cream out of (I've already used them twice), and a pillow and a notebook and a whole lot of gift cards, a book called "The Writing Class", and a desk calender with encouraging notes written on them.
I think that's it... thereabouts.
I've also decided that I definitely want to see "The King's Speech" and that I want to see it with a specific person, although that specific person doesn't know it, yet.
I'm at my mum's place in the country at the moment. She came over for pancakes and I decided to go with her to stay with her for a couple of days, and she's making pizza at the moment.
So what did I get for my birthday? As mentioned before, I got a kindle, I also got this nice, green jug thing which would be good when I move! Also these ice cream cups designed to eat ice cream out of (I've already used them twice), and a pillow and a notebook and a whole lot of gift cards, a book called "The Writing Class", and a desk calender with encouraging notes written on them.
I think that's it... thereabouts.
I've also decided that I definitely want to see "The King's Speech" and that I want to see it with a specific person, although that specific person doesn't know it, yet.
I'm at my mum's place in the country at the moment. She came over for pancakes and I decided to go with her to stay with her for a couple of days, and she's making pizza at the moment.
20 January 2011
Library in my Pocket
It was my birthday yesterday, and jestar took me out to see a movie - "Tangled" - and then bought me lunch. She also gave me a kindle, and I have to admit - I really love it! Since yesterday I've downloaded and read The Screwtape Letters by C S Lewis - a book I've been meaning to read for years now but never got around to buying. I've also downloaded Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (for free), The Mysterious Stranger by Mark Twain (also free), Household Tales by Brothers Grimm (also free), The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (99c), and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (free).
I've also downloaded free samples of books to decide later if I want to buy them - American Fairy Tales by L Frank Baum, Complete Works of Jane Austen (I've never read Jane Austen and this is a good opportunity to find out if I like her writing), Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know, plus a couple different versions of the Bible including The Message. (I intend on buying one for my Kindle but am undecided which version I should go for. I was also experimenting how easy it would be to look up specific bible passage with the different versions on kindle.)
It's like having a library and a bookstore in your pocket all in one. Also, for people who like the touch and smell of books (who doesn't?) and thinks that an electronic book doesn't have the same soul, well... strangely enough, the kindle actually smells a little bit like ink.
I'm also pretty impressed at how easy on the eyes it is to read, and bright sunlight doesn't create glare. I've heard a lot of people say that the ipad can do everything the kindle can do but more, plus it's in colour. But there's no way I'd stare intensely at an ipad screen for hours at a time reading text without getting a horrible headache and probably ruining my eyesight at the same time. I could play games, browse the internet, look at pictures, etc. but those things don't require the same optical concentration and endurance as reading a novel does. The Kindle isn't meant to be everything an ipad is - a kindle is for readers. You might be able to download books on an ipad, but it's not the best way to read a novel.
I've also downloaded free samples of books to decide later if I want to buy them - American Fairy Tales by L Frank Baum, Complete Works of Jane Austen (I've never read Jane Austen and this is a good opportunity to find out if I like her writing), Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know, plus a couple different versions of the Bible including The Message. (I intend on buying one for my Kindle but am undecided which version I should go for. I was also experimenting how easy it would be to look up specific bible passage with the different versions on kindle.)
It's like having a library and a bookstore in your pocket all in one. Also, for people who like the touch and smell of books (who doesn't?) and thinks that an electronic book doesn't have the same soul, well... strangely enough, the kindle actually smells a little bit like ink.
I'm also pretty impressed at how easy on the eyes it is to read, and bright sunlight doesn't create glare. I've heard a lot of people say that the ipad can do everything the kindle can do but more, plus it's in colour. But there's no way I'd stare intensely at an ipad screen for hours at a time reading text without getting a horrible headache and probably ruining my eyesight at the same time. I could play games, browse the internet, look at pictures, etc. but those things don't require the same optical concentration and endurance as reading a novel does. The Kindle isn't meant to be everything an ipad is - a kindle is for readers. You might be able to download books on an ipad, but it's not the best way to read a novel.
17 January 2011
Summer Under the Son
This weekend I went to Phillip Island for Summer Under the Son (SUTS). It's actually still going on until Wednesday but I only went for the weekend. Last year I went for the whole time and, hopefully, next year I'll be able to again but this year just for the weekend.
And... I forget how it is at SUTS. Last year was my first year going since I was about 13 (where I went to the youth camp which is at a seperate site) and it's like... well, like being surrounded by family. Many Christian communities are all close-knit, and I turn up and find myself surrounded by people who knew me as a child, or knew my parents, etc. Of course not everyone, not even most people, but even those people, well... everyone is brothers and sisters in Christ.
SUTS is an Anglican Missionary Convention, where CMS (Christian Missionary Society) give people the opportunity to hear what work the missionaries are doing, and the Missionaries who are with them who are on Home Assignment (visiting home from whatever country/area they are serving in) tell stories and what tehy've been up to and what work God has been doing. A lot of them, serving in dangerous countries, have gone through a lot yet they're all eager to get back.
It's also my birthday in two days and one of my friends is taking me out to see a movie and then lunch :) And then a few days after that, I'll be having a party-thingy at Pancake Parlour.
And... I forget how it is at SUTS. Last year was my first year going since I was about 13 (where I went to the youth camp which is at a seperate site) and it's like... well, like being surrounded by family. Many Christian communities are all close-knit, and I turn up and find myself surrounded by people who knew me as a child, or knew my parents, etc. Of course not everyone, not even most people, but even those people, well... everyone is brothers and sisters in Christ.
SUTS is an Anglican Missionary Convention, where CMS (Christian Missionary Society) give people the opportunity to hear what work the missionaries are doing, and the Missionaries who are with them who are on Home Assignment (visiting home from whatever country/area they are serving in) tell stories and what tehy've been up to and what work God has been doing. A lot of them, serving in dangerous countries, have gone through a lot yet they're all eager to get back.
It's also my birthday in two days and one of my friends is taking me out to see a movie and then lunch :) And then a few days after that, I'll be having a party-thingy at Pancake Parlour.
07 January 2011
Pancake Day!
My birthday will be arriving soon and I've organised myself a party! Not on my actual birthday but a couple days after it. I'm looking forward to it :D
Anyway, it took me ages to decide what I wanted to do and I ended up going for a little party with friends at the Pancake Parlour.
Anyway, either I or Pancake Parlour must be popular (my money's on the pancakes) because I already have more positive replies than I thought I'd get by now, and from people who I didn't necessarily expect would come but who I invited anyway.
It might be interesting. I have different people from different parts of my world coming. From school friends to church friends to TAFE friends, all with very different ways of approaching life and many with colourful lives and personalities. I had one moment when I looked at the guest list and who was coming and I thought, "What have I done?" but I think it'll be fun, and some of these people have encountered each other before.
Anyway, it took me ages to decide what I wanted to do and I ended up going for a little party with friends at the Pancake Parlour.
Anyway, either I or Pancake Parlour must be popular (my money's on the pancakes) because I already have more positive replies than I thought I'd get by now, and from people who I didn't necessarily expect would come but who I invited anyway.
It might be interesting. I have different people from different parts of my world coming. From school friends to church friends to TAFE friends, all with very different ways of approaching life and many with colourful lives and personalities. I had one moment when I looked at the guest list and who was coming and I thought, "What have I done?" but I think it'll be fun, and some of these people have encountered each other before.
25 December 2010
Christmas Time
So it's Christmas now... about one hour into Christmas in Australia. I've just come back from my church's midnight service. I'm going to be moving (again) next year and this time, I'll be changing churches, too. Actually, I'll be living next door to a church. Actually, I'll be living on the church's property... so, of course, I'll be going to that church.
Which means goodbye current church.
Anyway, as much as I'm looking forward to it, I'm going to miss my current church a lot. I have a lot of history with that particular church, way back when I was a kid. Actually, tonight at the midnight Christmas service, I ran into an old babysitter of mine who I haven't seen in years.
I have a lot of friends there. A good community, too. It's very sad. It wasn't that long ago when I had to say "goodbye, possibly forever" to people from TAFE. I doubt it'll be "goodbye forever" to people from church because people know each other within the Christian community and I know I'll see them again in this life and the next. And I know where I can find them. But I basically grew up in that church. Most of my best growing-up memories are at that church. Some of my best grown-up memories are there, too.
I still have the whole of next month at that church, though, so it's not all happening yet. And unlike at TAFE where giving people proper goodbyes may be awkward and not always appropriate depending on my relationship with said people, I know that at church I can give proper goodbyes and they'll send me off with prayers and hugs.
And I believe that this is the move that God wants me to make.
And actually, this was a pretty crummy year in some ways, but looking back at it what overshadows the crappiness is that I can see how God has looked after me and guided me so I didn't have to find my way on my own. This house is part of that, too.
Anyway, goodnight. I'm sleepy and it's Christmas today.
Love Green.
Which means goodbye current church.
Anyway, as much as I'm looking forward to it, I'm going to miss my current church a lot. I have a lot of history with that particular church, way back when I was a kid. Actually, tonight at the midnight Christmas service, I ran into an old babysitter of mine who I haven't seen in years.
I have a lot of friends there. A good community, too. It's very sad. It wasn't that long ago when I had to say "goodbye, possibly forever" to people from TAFE. I doubt it'll be "goodbye forever" to people from church because people know each other within the Christian community and I know I'll see them again in this life and the next. And I know where I can find them. But I basically grew up in that church. Most of my best growing-up memories are at that church. Some of my best grown-up memories are there, too.
I still have the whole of next month at that church, though, so it's not all happening yet. And unlike at TAFE where giving people proper goodbyes may be awkward and not always appropriate depending on my relationship with said people, I know that at church I can give proper goodbyes and they'll send me off with prayers and hugs.
And I believe that this is the move that God wants me to make.
And actually, this was a pretty crummy year in some ways, but looking back at it what overshadows the crappiness is that I can see how God has looked after me and guided me so I didn't have to find my way on my own. This house is part of that, too.
Anyway, goodnight. I'm sleepy and it's Christmas today.
Love Green.
26 November 2010
The Issue with Casual Work
At the moment I have two casual jobs while I'm looking for a more regular full-time job. The problem with casual jobs is that they often change on you.
ORIGINAL PLAN:
Wednesday: job (2)
Thursday: job (1)
Friday: visit friend
So I go to job (2) on Wednesday and boss (2) asks me if I can come in tomorrow (Thurdsday) as well. I have job (1) on that day so I tell her no. She asks about Friday. I have social plans on Friday but I do need the work, I already felt bad for saying no to Thursday, and as much as I was looking forward to it, the social engagement is something that can be rescheduled.
After work Wednesday night I get a message from boss (1) saying that he won't have the work ready for me on Thursday after all, can I come in on Friday, instead? Now, I've already cancelled social engagement so I can go to job (2) and it's too late to reschedule job (2) to Thursday so I tell boss (1) that I can't and he'll have to wait until Monday.
So that means I have Thursday off even though I thought I was going to be working. But then on Thursday evening I get a call from boss (2) asking me they don't really need me on Friday after all, they didn't have as much work for me as they thought they did. Which means now that my Friday is free after all. I already told boss (1) that I can't come on Friday, so I decide to messsage my friend to see if she's up for un-cancelling. Quite reasonably, she already made alternative plans.
We've rescheduled, though, and maybe this time I will give the social engagement priority over work if either of them ask me to work on that day.
ORIGINAL PLAN:
Wednesday: job (2)
Thursday: job (1)
Friday: visit friend
So I go to job (2) on Wednesday and boss (2) asks me if I can come in tomorrow (Thurdsday) as well. I have job (1) on that day so I tell her no. She asks about Friday. I have social plans on Friday but I do need the work, I already felt bad for saying no to Thursday, and as much as I was looking forward to it, the social engagement is something that can be rescheduled.
After work Wednesday night I get a message from boss (1) saying that he won't have the work ready for me on Thursday after all, can I come in on Friday, instead? Now, I've already cancelled social engagement so I can go to job (2) and it's too late to reschedule job (2) to Thursday so I tell boss (1) that I can't and he'll have to wait until Monday.
So that means I have Thursday off even though I thought I was going to be working. But then on Thursday evening I get a call from boss (2) asking me they don't really need me on Friday after all, they didn't have as much work for me as they thought they did. Which means now that my Friday is free after all. I already told boss (1) that I can't come on Friday, so I decide to messsage my friend to see if she's up for un-cancelling. Quite reasonably, she already made alternative plans.
We've rescheduled, though, and maybe this time I will give the social engagement priority over work if either of them ask me to work on that day.
17 November 2010
See You Later, Alligator... or not.
Just had my last day of TAFE and I can't help but feel sad about it. There may be some people I saw today that I may never see again, and it's like, a part of me wants to make some epic goodbye to these people I've known for a year, for some of them more, but my relationship with most of them isn't really sufficient enough for anything more than a regular "goodbye" to be appropriate, maybe a wave or a handshake at most. And I leave with a feeling that I haven't expressed myself to these people who have shared a stage or part of a stage of my life with me. Maybe I've gotten too attached to these people, many of whom are merely friendly aquaintances at best.
Truth is, many of them I will see again. Tomorrow, in fact, with the Awards Night. And who knows? Maybe I'll bump into them every now and then, but I can't really guarantee which ones I will see again and which ones I won't. Also, facebook makes it almost seem like goodbyes aren't as significant anymore because I might still be able to follow them on facebook and keep tabs on them, which is a bit of a double-sided coin. On one hand, it means that goodbye doesn't necessarily mean so long, but on the other hand, the goodbyes seem almost lessened, less significant, and I like my goodbyes, at least my "I won't see you later" goodbyes to be at least somewhat meaningful.
Speaking of "I won't see you later", that is one of my pet peeves, the term "See you later". Having said that, it's a term I use all the time myself. And I don't really mind it when I know I will see them later. But it's like, end of class, I go up to my teacher to say goodbye. I'm about to say, "I'll see you later" as I usually do at the end of class when suddenly it hits me that although it's possible that sometime in the future we may cross paths, it's not guaranteed and I may not, in fact, see him later. So I say, "Goodbye," instead. And, "And I might not see you later, this is my last year." And I tell him I appreciate his teachingness and all that stuff, and he says thanks and that he appreciates that and blah blah blah and then as I leave, he says, "See you later, Green."
And I'm thinking, NO, JUST SAY GOODBYE! WHAT IF I DON'T SEE YOU LATER? THEN IT MEANS THAT YOU'VE JUST LIED TO ME!!
In any case, I saw him again about two minutes later when I was with my friend who went to re-enroll next year and he was doing the re-enrollments so he hadn't in fact lied to me that time at all. Except that he said, "See you later," again when I left again. Humph.
I've occasionally fancied that on my death bed, my last words would be "See you later."
Anyway, there's the awards night tomorrow night and I'm going to say goodbye to some of the people who aren't necessarily my friends but who I am fond of. Some of the people will be going into the city to this pub afterwards and I'll go with them, so I can spend more time with these people who are only barely my friends before our association is doomed to the shallowness of facebook-following.
Truth is, many of them I will see again. Tomorrow, in fact, with the Awards Night. And who knows? Maybe I'll bump into them every now and then, but I can't really guarantee which ones I will see again and which ones I won't. Also, facebook makes it almost seem like goodbyes aren't as significant anymore because I might still be able to follow them on facebook and keep tabs on them, which is a bit of a double-sided coin. On one hand, it means that goodbye doesn't necessarily mean so long, but on the other hand, the goodbyes seem almost lessened, less significant, and I like my goodbyes, at least my "I won't see you later" goodbyes to be at least somewhat meaningful.
Speaking of "I won't see you later", that is one of my pet peeves, the term "See you later". Having said that, it's a term I use all the time myself. And I don't really mind it when I know I will see them later. But it's like, end of class, I go up to my teacher to say goodbye. I'm about to say, "I'll see you later" as I usually do at the end of class when suddenly it hits me that although it's possible that sometime in the future we may cross paths, it's not guaranteed and I may not, in fact, see him later. So I say, "Goodbye," instead. And, "And I might not see you later, this is my last year." And I tell him I appreciate his teachingness and all that stuff, and he says thanks and that he appreciates that and blah blah blah and then as I leave, he says, "See you later, Green."
And I'm thinking, NO, JUST SAY GOODBYE! WHAT IF I DON'T SEE YOU LATER? THEN IT MEANS THAT YOU'VE JUST LIED TO ME!!
In any case, I saw him again about two minutes later when I was with my friend who went to re-enroll next year and he was doing the re-enrollments so he hadn't in fact lied to me that time at all. Except that he said, "See you later," again when I left again. Humph.
I've occasionally fancied that on my death bed, my last words would be "See you later."
Anyway, there's the awards night tomorrow night and I'm going to say goodbye to some of the people who aren't necessarily my friends but who I am fond of. Some of the people will be going into the city to this pub afterwards and I'll go with them, so I can spend more time with these people who are only barely my friends before our association is doomed to the shallowness of facebook-following.
13 November 2010
Bedtimes
So as I mentioned in my last post, I've traded my own family with a new one as a small step before setting out on my own. Except... the mother here is a little more mother than my own, and I feel slightly less independant than when I was with my own parents. Nothing that's a big deal, just... well, it's not so much that I'm not ALLOWED to stay up after midnight to watch TV, just that I feel a lot of pressure not to.
Whereas my own parents (although my dad would occasionally declare "bedtime" at anywhere between 8:30pm to 3:00am for no reason other than that he wanted to hog the TV - and I'd usually ignore him), my parents normally left me alone when it came to regulating my own bedtime.
Part of the reason, I think, is that I've taken a nap during the day on a couple of days, and Eel's assumed that that's because I didn't get enough sleep at night, but it's more that I walk everywhere, and it's summer, and the sun of the heat makes me sleepy, and when I've walked for a couple of hours out in the hot sun, when I get back to the house, I feel like taking a nap. It's nothing to do with how much sleep I got the night before.
Anyway, I am a guest and going to bed before midnight isn't that big of a deal, (and I have my computer set up in my room anyway so...) but I just think it's ironic that, in a baby-step of stepping out on my own, I feel slightly more regulated than I did when I lived with my parents.
Whereas my own parents (although my dad would occasionally declare "bedtime" at anywhere between 8:30pm to 3:00am for no reason other than that he wanted to hog the TV - and I'd usually ignore him), my parents normally left me alone when it came to regulating my own bedtime.
Part of the reason, I think, is that I've taken a nap during the day on a couple of days, and Eel's assumed that that's because I didn't get enough sleep at night, but it's more that I walk everywhere, and it's summer, and the sun of the heat makes me sleepy, and when I've walked for a couple of hours out in the hot sun, when I get back to the house, I feel like taking a nap. It's nothing to do with how much sleep I got the night before.
Anyway, I am a guest and going to bed before midnight isn't that big of a deal, (and I have my computer set up in my room anyway so...) but I just think it's ironic that, in a baby-step of stepping out on my own, I feel slightly more regulated than I did when I lived with my parents.
10 November 2010
What Are You Looking At?
Well, I've officially moved out of my parents' house... into another family's house! I've traded my family for a different one. For the time being. It's only temporary but it gives me a bit more time to find a more permanent place.
In case anyone was wondering what happened to the houses I mentioned in a previous post, I was almost going to move in to one of the houses when I just got a bad feeling about it. I didn't like the way the landlord was doing business, and so I kind of bailed at the last minute. A couple of times I wondered if it was the right thing to do, considering how cheap the rent was, but... well, there was a reason the rent was cheap, and I think I am a fairly good judge of character. But some family friends have offered to lend out their room for me for a couple of months, which gives me a bit more time to find a new place.
My mum probably would have moved out by now, too.
The family is a lovely one. Eel, the mother, has been lovely and welcoming. I haven't seen as much of Bike, the dad, since I moved in, today being the first day I've seen him at home. (He may have been around yesterday but I was out until late then.) Then there are the daughters, Cubby (who is finishing her first year of Uni) and Jet (who is nearing the end of year nine.) Then there is Millie, the dog, who has decided that she is my new best friend.
One thing I'm sad about, though, is that there's only one week left of TAFE, and what's worse, I don't plan on going back next year. I'm going to miss it sooo much! I'll miss the people there, the teachers, the classes, probably even the buildings... it's such a cool place to be. I recently got an email from a friend of mine who used to do the course and now is studying something else at Box Hill, and she said that while at Holmesglen everyone talked to each other and knew each other, and she felt welcomed and made friends, but at Box Hill she said there's no social equity, that it's all organised into cliques, and that she just hasn't been able get to know anybody. And I have felt that I've always been able to talk to people at TAFE, I have made some wonderful friends who I still am in contact with even though some of them are no longer doing the course, as well as those people who I probably won't stay in contact with but who have been a pleasure to know and have always been willing to hang out or chat. It is the latter that I'm going to miss, (as the former I can always make plans to see each other and visit each other.) It's those people who you like and get along with, but haven't quite gotten to know each other well enough to make plans outside of TAFE. This is what facebook is good for, I imagine, as I would still be able to stay in contact with many of them, but it's still not the same.
Yesterday was the booklaunch for our class to launch our book, "What Are You Looking At?" for Small Press Publishing, and we had John Safran (who contributed to the foreword) launch the book for us. The booklaunch was at Borders. Anyway, the teacher had given me a tray of sushi to offer to people, which I was doing when I saw John Safran arrive. I just happened to be the first to notice him arrive and so I approached him and offered him some sushi. He said, "Oh no! I just had that exact same thing downstairs. If only I had known!"
Anyway, they did the speeches and the launch and I went around getting my copy of the book autographed by the various authors in it, as well as John Safran. He writes on my book (in large, capital letters)
HELLO GREEN THANK YOU FOR OFFERING ME SUSHI. I WOULD HAVE HAD SOME BUT I'D JUST HAD SOME DOWNSTAIRS. (signed John Safran).
Afterwards some of us went to the city to celebrate at a pub, and it was fun. I didn't get back to my (new) home until just after midnight.
27 October 2010
Arthur
Yeah, I know this show is for eight years old. Yeah, I'm twenty-five and I watch it. What of it?
And no matter what age you are, you've gotta love the opening theme song!
And no matter what age you are, you've gotta love the opening theme song!
26 October 2010
Today and stuff
I used to be good at writing interesting blogs (I think) I mean, before this blog. Now this blog it's all about, boo, my parents are splitting up! Boo, I need to find a place to live! Boo, I need a job! Bleh. Whatever. Boooring.
Not that it matters. I have, like, one person who looks at this blog. Maybe occasionally two. And I'm not sure if I really want more people to. I mean, maybe I do a little bit, but maybe there is one or two people who I might not want to read this blog. I mean, not that there's anything here that I would be required to ostracise myself from society if the wrong person looked at it, but... um... I dunno. Whatever.
So, uh... I'm not good at being interesting when I'm trying to be. I'm sleepy.
People keep saying that the more interviews I go to, the more confident I'll start to be in interviews. But I don't really get how being rejected after an interview makes me more confident about them.
I had some talky thingy today for class and I did my talky thingy as part of a group. It went okay, I think. I mean, at least, it didn't go horribly. When I picked my topic (earlier in the year) about what I was going to talk about, I was like, "Ooh, look at me being all controversial and brave!" And then as it got closer and closer, I was thinking, "This was a stupid idea and I only chose it in a moment of rebellion to demonstrate my difference to the majority of the people in the course and that's a stupid reason to pick a subject when I should've picked something that is actually informative and useful to the class." But whatever, I'd already chosen it and I didn't do enough research, anyway, because I'd been busy about worrying about stuff in my life and stuff, and so in the end it was probably a good idea that I picked something that I had some interest in because even when I got up there thinking I was completely unprepared and would have nothing to say but complete fluff, I found that I did have more to say about the topic than I thought I did and I don't know if any of it was actually informative and useful to anyone else, but standing up there and saying, "Yep, I didn't do enough research on this topic that could've been informative and useful" probably wouldn't have been much good to anyone else, anyway.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, our group had to do a presentation on non-fiction, and each member of our group focussed on a specific form of non-fiction, (except one who did a general overview) and I chose to do Christian non-fiction. Well, religious non-fiction so I also talked about the atheist books and stuff, but mostly concentrated on Christian non-fiction because that's what I knew and that's what was in my bookshelf. Anyway, the majority (although not all) of the people in the course are atheists and regularly ridicule Christianity.
The end.
Not that it matters. I have, like, one person who looks at this blog. Maybe occasionally two. And I'm not sure if I really want more people to. I mean, maybe I do a little bit, but maybe there is one or two people who I might not want to read this blog. I mean, not that there's anything here that I would be required to ostracise myself from society if the wrong person looked at it, but... um... I dunno. Whatever.
So, uh... I'm not good at being interesting when I'm trying to be. I'm sleepy.
People keep saying that the more interviews I go to, the more confident I'll start to be in interviews. But I don't really get how being rejected after an interview makes me more confident about them.
I had some talky thingy today for class and I did my talky thingy as part of a group. It went okay, I think. I mean, at least, it didn't go horribly. When I picked my topic (earlier in the year) about what I was going to talk about, I was like, "Ooh, look at me being all controversial and brave!" And then as it got closer and closer, I was thinking, "This was a stupid idea and I only chose it in a moment of rebellion to demonstrate my difference to the majority of the people in the course and that's a stupid reason to pick a subject when I should've picked something that is actually informative and useful to the class." But whatever, I'd already chosen it and I didn't do enough research, anyway, because I'd been busy about worrying about stuff in my life and stuff, and so in the end it was probably a good idea that I picked something that I had some interest in because even when I got up there thinking I was completely unprepared and would have nothing to say but complete fluff, I found that I did have more to say about the topic than I thought I did and I don't know if any of it was actually informative and useful to anyone else, but standing up there and saying, "Yep, I didn't do enough research on this topic that could've been informative and useful" probably wouldn't have been much good to anyone else, anyway.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, our group had to do a presentation on non-fiction, and each member of our group focussed on a specific form of non-fiction, (except one who did a general overview) and I chose to do Christian non-fiction. Well, religious non-fiction so I also talked about the atheist books and stuff, but mostly concentrated on Christian non-fiction because that's what I knew and that's what was in my bookshelf. Anyway, the majority (although not all) of the people in the course are atheists and regularly ridicule Christianity.
The end.
22 October 2010
Things are moving
Well, I guess things might be happening, soon. There are two houses that I'm looking at, and whereas I don't yet know whether the one I'm most interested in is going to be offered me, there is another one which I'm fairly sure I've got if I want it. So I guess things might be happening soon.
I'm also getting plenty of job interviews, so, if any of them go well, I might also be having a job, too. Unfortunately, job interviews aren't my strong suit but we'll see.
So... yeah, I guess it's happening. Good thing, too, because I was starting to run out of time to find a place.
Nothing's certain yet, but I feel a bit better about the situation than I did a couple weeks ago.
I'm also getting plenty of job interviews, so, if any of them go well, I might also be having a job, too. Unfortunately, job interviews aren't my strong suit but we'll see.
So... yeah, I guess it's happening. Good thing, too, because I was starting to run out of time to find a place.
Nothing's certain yet, but I feel a bit better about the situation than I did a couple weeks ago.
06 October 2010
My Future
Well... life has been kind of stressful for me lately for various reasons. One of them is that I'll be forced to move in about a month's time, and I don't yet know where I'm going to be living or who I'm going to be living with. I do know that, no matter what, the details of my life are going to change. I don't know how, but it definately will.
None of my options are ideal but I do have a couple.
1. Live with Mum.
This has a couple of pros but one big con. It's far away from my life and stuff I care about. She's moving far away out into the country. I visited the house she's going to buy and it's a really nice place. There's two bedrooms. She even mentioned that if I did live with her, I could have the master bedroom (since she won't need it and there's not much room elsewhere where I could keep my computer. She uses a laptop) which is really generous of her. It's even aross the road from this all-purpose convenience store. It's a nice place to live, and I wouldn't hate it. Living with mum would be really nice, too... but I'd have to leave my life, and I'm not quite willing to do that.
2. Live with Dad.
Okay, this isn't really an option and I've already decided against this. Dad's moving to Sydney, even further away than mum is, and to probably somewhere not as nice. Nor do I even get along with my dad that well. I love him, but he's a very stressful person to live with. The one benefit to this is that it's geographically closer to my brother, but it's not like I'm that emotionally close to my brother or anything, and I'd just be trading proximity to one sibling for proximity to another.
3. Live with my sister.
My sister and her husband have kindly offered me space in their house until I can get my own place. They have a spare room I can use, and one of the most tempting parts of their offer is their electronics and gaming system. The other is that they live in Melbourne. Unfortunately, they live at the wrong side of Melbourne, which means that commuting to places where I have commitments might, unlike the previous two options, be plausible, it'd also be extremely inconvenient and problematic. The other concern is that although I'd have no issues with taking advantage my parents's hospitality, who are my parents, staying with my married sister, I'd feel like a bit of a burden. In any case, it'd be a temporary arrangement most likely and this may be the best option in the short term if I don't get any better options.
4. Find my own place.
This is the one I'm hoping for but it is also one that I don't know if it will be on the table on time. Until recently, this was impossible since I did not have a large enough income to support myself, to pay for my own food let alone pay rent. I have recently started being on the dole, however. (One of the other things I have been stressed about lately.) So now I'm getting some money from the government, it's a matter of finding a place that is both cheap enough and close enough to public transport that I can get to places I need to get to. It's also scary. I have no experience in how much it does actually cost to eat and buy stuff, or any of that stuff that most adults probably should know about, as I've never had to take care of that kind of stuff and there's a good chance I'm going to bad at it.
None of my options are ideal but I do have a couple.
1. Live with Mum.
This has a couple of pros but one big con. It's far away from my life and stuff I care about. She's moving far away out into the country. I visited the house she's going to buy and it's a really nice place. There's two bedrooms. She even mentioned that if I did live with her, I could have the master bedroom (since she won't need it and there's not much room elsewhere where I could keep my computer. She uses a laptop) which is really generous of her. It's even aross the road from this all-purpose convenience store. It's a nice place to live, and I wouldn't hate it. Living with mum would be really nice, too... but I'd have to leave my life, and I'm not quite willing to do that.
2. Live with Dad.
Okay, this isn't really an option and I've already decided against this. Dad's moving to Sydney, even further away than mum is, and to probably somewhere not as nice. Nor do I even get along with my dad that well. I love him, but he's a very stressful person to live with. The one benefit to this is that it's geographically closer to my brother, but it's not like I'm that emotionally close to my brother or anything, and I'd just be trading proximity to one sibling for proximity to another.
3. Live with my sister.
My sister and her husband have kindly offered me space in their house until I can get my own place. They have a spare room I can use, and one of the most tempting parts of their offer is their electronics and gaming system. The other is that they live in Melbourne. Unfortunately, they live at the wrong side of Melbourne, which means that commuting to places where I have commitments might, unlike the previous two options, be plausible, it'd also be extremely inconvenient and problematic. The other concern is that although I'd have no issues with taking advantage my parents's hospitality, who are my parents, staying with my married sister, I'd feel like a bit of a burden. In any case, it'd be a temporary arrangement most likely and this may be the best option in the short term if I don't get any better options.
4. Find my own place.
This is the one I'm hoping for but it is also one that I don't know if it will be on the table on time. Until recently, this was impossible since I did not have a large enough income to support myself, to pay for my own food let alone pay rent. I have recently started being on the dole, however. (One of the other things I have been stressed about lately.) So now I'm getting some money from the government, it's a matter of finding a place that is both cheap enough and close enough to public transport that I can get to places I need to get to. It's also scary. I have no experience in how much it does actually cost to eat and buy stuff, or any of that stuff that most adults probably should know about, as I've never had to take care of that kind of stuff and there's a good chance I'm going to bad at it.
13 September 2010
Bringing Back Memories
Yesterday our church had a special "Horizon" service. Horizon is their sports-and-outdoors ministry. They have netball and futsal teams that play against other teams and stuff like that, and also organise the outdoors stuff like hiking and skiing for those who are interested.
So yesterday they had a football day followed by the "special Horizon service" which took place of the regular evening service. I didn't go to the football thing but I did go to the service, which had an emphasis on "goals" and "athletics". They also looked at Timothy where it says stuff about goals and reaching for the prize or something.
They framed the service to relate to people who are into sports and appreciate athletics and competition. In other words, not me.
And halfway during the service, I got a flashback of my own athelitics-related traumatic memory that could very well be the source of my aversion to be a part of any formalised competetion to do with physical ability!
I was about seven or eight years old and it was one of those school athletic days where our school was competing against other schools. I had never been a sporty person, always preferring to stay indoors reading a book than be outdoors and running. But the teachers would put a lot of pressure on the students to compete, and I was one of those kids who took things that teachers said seriously. Not that I was a suck-up and wanted to impress the teachers or anything like that, but because I was a "true believer" and took to heart everything that adults told me. So when they urged the students to "support the school" and to have "school spirit" and all that rubbish, I took it to heart and considered it a duty to do that which I would normally choose not to, and to try my best.
So I participated in the relay race. And when I had the baton, I ran and ran, I ran as fast as I could which, although I knew wasn't very fast at all, it was faster than I had ever ran before. I was actually enjoying it, getting excited, thinking that I probably wasn't doing too bad! I had no idea how well I was doing compared to the competitors, I'm pretty sure I was completely oblivious to them, being completely absorbed in my own running, feeling that this was the best running I had ever done in my life. I get to the end and passed the baton on, where immediately I am confronted by one of my righteous team-members, who immediately begins lecturing me about how, as part of a team where others were relying on me, I should have at least put an effort into my running and how I should be ashamed of myself for not really even trying and how I let the team down.
I remember that from that moment, I told myself that I'd never, ever let a teacher use "school spirit" and "duty" to guilt me into participating in one of those athletic days, whether it was an external thing against other school or an internal thing against team houses. I didn't care. I had ever since been adverse to any kind of formalised competition, as well as to running. I also, perhaps unjustly since (with the exception of one other non-sports related incident where, again, she was being self-righteous and telling me off about something that she didn't understand) she never did anything to me that I could criticise in the coming years, I had a strong dislike of that girl. (Her going out with the boy I had a crush on in highschool probably didn't help, either, actually.)
On a brighter note, they talked about the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt, which always twinges my heartstrings.
So yesterday they had a football day followed by the "special Horizon service" which took place of the regular evening service. I didn't go to the football thing but I did go to the service, which had an emphasis on "goals" and "athletics". They also looked at Timothy where it says stuff about goals and reaching for the prize or something.
They framed the service to relate to people who are into sports and appreciate athletics and competition. In other words, not me.
And halfway during the service, I got a flashback of my own athelitics-related traumatic memory that could very well be the source of my aversion to be a part of any formalised competetion to do with physical ability!
I was about seven or eight years old and it was one of those school athletic days where our school was competing against other schools. I had never been a sporty person, always preferring to stay indoors reading a book than be outdoors and running. But the teachers would put a lot of pressure on the students to compete, and I was one of those kids who took things that teachers said seriously. Not that I was a suck-up and wanted to impress the teachers or anything like that, but because I was a "true believer" and took to heart everything that adults told me. So when they urged the students to "support the school" and to have "school spirit" and all that rubbish, I took it to heart and considered it a duty to do that which I would normally choose not to, and to try my best.
So I participated in the relay race. And when I had the baton, I ran and ran, I ran as fast as I could which, although I knew wasn't very fast at all, it was faster than I had ever ran before. I was actually enjoying it, getting excited, thinking that I probably wasn't doing too bad! I had no idea how well I was doing compared to the competitors, I'm pretty sure I was completely oblivious to them, being completely absorbed in my own running, feeling that this was the best running I had ever done in my life. I get to the end and passed the baton on, where immediately I am confronted by one of my righteous team-members, who immediately begins lecturing me about how, as part of a team where others were relying on me, I should have at least put an effort into my running and how I should be ashamed of myself for not really even trying and how I let the team down.
I remember that from that moment, I told myself that I'd never, ever let a teacher use "school spirit" and "duty" to guilt me into participating in one of those athletic days, whether it was an external thing against other school or an internal thing against team houses. I didn't care. I had ever since been adverse to any kind of formalised competition, as well as to running. I also, perhaps unjustly since (with the exception of one other non-sports related incident where, again, she was being self-righteous and telling me off about something that she didn't understand) she never did anything to me that I could criticise in the coming years, I had a strong dislike of that girl. (Her going out with the boy I had a crush on in highschool probably didn't help, either, actually.)
On a brighter note, they talked about the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt, which always twinges my heartstrings.
11 September 2010
Writer's Sports
So I mentioned I'd write about writer's sports so... it was fun! Lots of games, lots of lowbrow humour and making fun of the teachers... it was first years vs second years vs teachers vs all-stars (all-stars being those who don't really fit into any of the three previous categories). I played for second-years (although, actually, I only participated in one game) and second-years won! Wooo! (Just so you know, the teachers never win.)
This sememster it was organised and run by a couple of the students (because I guess the teachers decided to stop doing it or something? I'm not sure), Mullet and Mace, who are also in my Small Press Publishing class. (Mullet doesn't actually have a mullet.) But... anyway, the games, (which were things like short story relay - that was the one I participated in - writing limericks based on a picture - other stuff that they only had a short amount of time to come up with) were lots of fun. On one game, one of the guys, Psychic, burst out in song of "Every sperm is sacred" by Monty Python (he had to write a speech for the Catholic Mothers against Condoms party) which everyone proceeded to join in.
The after-party is probably worth mentioning, too, mostly because I got to meet and talk to a couple of people who I had seen around but hadn't had a chance to talk to, before. Plus an odd comment from Mace which probably didn't mean anything.
This sememster it was organised and run by a couple of the students (because I guess the teachers decided to stop doing it or something? I'm not sure), Mullet and Mace, who are also in my Small Press Publishing class. (Mullet doesn't actually have a mullet.) But... anyway, the games, (which were things like short story relay - that was the one I participated in - writing limericks based on a picture - other stuff that they only had a short amount of time to come up with) were lots of fun. On one game, one of the guys, Psychic, burst out in song of "Every sperm is sacred" by Monty Python (he had to write a speech for the Catholic Mothers against Condoms party) which everyone proceeded to join in.
The after-party is probably worth mentioning, too, mostly because I got to meet and talk to a couple of people who I had seen around but hadn't had a chance to talk to, before. Plus an odd comment from Mace which probably didn't mean anything.
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