'Battle Wounds'.

L = Friction burns from various people; R = Knees that would soon turn purple.


Anyway that's all.
xx

THE STROKES.

Before I begin to tell you all about this amazing first experience,
I just have to say--I SPENT SO MUCH OF THE DAY ON MY BUTT.
4 hours in a tutorial and 3 lectures,
1.5 hours waiting to get a new ID card (I got ticket 181; it started at 125)
and 3 more hours waiting for doors to open to fest hall (totally worth it).

Okay. Here it is.
I. LOVE. THE. STROKES. SO. MUCH. FRIGGING. MORE.
They were truly amazing--the guitar, the drums, the lights, the singing,
everrrrryyyyyttthhhiiinnngggg.

Als and I arrived at festival hall at around 4.45pm,
after frantically buying our dinner and then our resources at Coles
and going for a toilet run WITH THE FOOD, in our rush (ewww)
because she spied some crazies already waiting there at 4. D:
When we got there we sat right up beside door 11, and chilled.
We had our maccas/oportos, TV snacks, red rock deli etc and took photos.
Everyone there looked pretty much the same--jeans, tee, and converse.
We got up at 7pm (much to my relief)
THEN I had to put my bag away in the cloakroom and it was funny because
I surrendered my bag, and was going to leave BUT I had my jacket with me
so I went back and handed it up and was going to leave BUT
I remembered the receipt was in my jacket pocket so I went back and got it
and was going to leave BUT I realised my ID was ALSO in my jacket pocket
so I went back and got it and THENNN surrendered my jacket.
The lady thought I was a psycho and one of the orange staff was laughing.
And as a consequence Alison had to let some people through first
Although, it was alright in the end because we ran (no, we had to walk)
to the metal ramps by the stage and sat down (ARGHHH MORE SITTING).

Soon, the support bands were playing in front of us
(Gypsy and the Cat, followed by The Like)
and it was AWESOME because we were front-line audience.
I got to know a guy next to me, and he goes to Melbourne too
funniest snippet of the conversations we screamed into each other's ear:
Me: I'm fearful for her skirt! (lead singer of The Like had a REALLY short one)
Guy: I'm not. :)
LOL. Anyway, I was intrigued by the security and the tasks they had to perform
1. We couldn't bring waterbottles in, for fear of audience rioting
and so if you got thirsty, you had to wave and they pour it in your mouth
2. The crowd was huge and sometimes people couldn't breathe etc
so those who wanted to get out were 'carried' out of the ramp thing LOL.
3. The security had green blind-able lasers to keep us under control
It was so awkward whenever they had to perform any of their tasks
For example, one of the guys stood in front of me to get someone out
and I was like eating his belly due to the confined space. HAHA
Some girl was on drugs and got pulled out and it's like, seriously?!

And then. THE STROKES CAME ONNNN!!!!!!!! BOOYAH.
The commotion was unbelievable. While we were able to move before,
Now people pushed up against us from behind and went nuts
Lots of random arms and hands and jumping and screaming etc
I felt really repulsed at first because (forgive the language)
if you didn't jump to the music along with everyone else behind you,
it felt like they were totally humping you. It was so gross.
But then I got into the music and IT WAS JUST, AMAZING,
I was awestruck by the guitarists. Starstruck by Julian Casablancas.
It was sooooo funny at one point, because there was this chick behind Als
and she was so obviously into it she didn't notice anything around her
and had her arms around Als and was like fully jumping up and down
LOL. AHAHAHAHA. Crazies!
Much disappointment on their one-hour playing
and I'd kind of hoped I could hear them play 'Between Love and Hate',
which was my all-time favourite from their album 'Room On Fire'.
Oh well :) I'm so happy to be able to say my first concert was theirs.
They were through by 10.30, and left the stage immediately.
Everyone wanted their song-list, taped to the stage floor.
We didn't get one but by the end of the night,
Als had like a bajillion photos on her cam--I mean, phone.
(she totally disguised it :P good job though.)

When the floor cleared, I felt my back and
it was wet with sweat that did not belong to me--yuck.
and it did not, would not dry for another hour. Revolting.
There was a giant line leading to the Cloak Room
so Als and I sat on some kerb and waited.
She couldn't decide how to rank the Strokes against other concerts
We concluded that it was GOOD but not AS good as we anticpated.
I went back for my ID--thought I lost it but the staff found it! (Y)
AND we were suddenly starstruck again because
we were inside an office building opposite to the festival hall
Als was like, 'I think they (The Strokes) were here before!!!' :D OMG.


On a side note..
Of the little photos we could take, I'm most proud of this one.
It's an uber-blurred view from the spot in which we waited earlier.

Later, we headed off to Hungry Jack's for some mangia mangia
before missing the Werribee train at Southern Cross:
'It comes in three minutes!'
Fact #1 - It was NOT 3 minutes. More like, 1. The screen lied!
Fact #2 - We went on platform 10--Werribee is always on 11. HAHA
So Als called her mum for us to get picked up at Footscray
This was at around like, 12.15am.
I was so stoned on the train. So tired.
LOL Als had a strawberry Big M and twice she tried to pass it to me,
and twice she dripped it on herself ahahaha.
And then at Footscray it was like 'Do you want some?'
I did. And when I reached for it she took a sip. LOL

I got home at 1ish. Looked at my knees. RED.
And my ears were crazy with ringing.
But it was an awesome night in awesome company :).

Adam Came First,

And I'm so totally overjoyed for him and all
and he's finally come first in something!
WELL DONE LITTLE BUDDHA-MAN :D
Buttt... I'm so excited Callum is coming to MELBOURNE.
LET'S GO TO.. THE PRESS CLUB (not mall!)!
:) He's adorable, I LOVEEE HIM.
Well done to both!!! Big round of applause from me.

Oh, and just a side note..

I really don't like when I get comments,
and it says 'Anonymous'
like, fair enough if you sign off with a name
that helps.
but when it's just anonymous
and some ambiguous comment,
I spend forever pondering upon who it is
It's rather creepy actually :P :/ :O
Be brave, SHOW YOURSELF!!!
:) That is all.

xx

WANTTT.

I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT
THE COMPLETE ANIMATED SERIES OF DARIA.
It was just good for looking at the drawings when I was little,
but now when I watch it again, it's actually quite funny.
:) I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT.

Therefore, plan: save up and buy it off amazon or something.
ASLKDNSLAKNDSHFDSKJGF :DDDDDDD

x

Goodbye, Jerauld :(

It was a pleasure knowing you!
I'm encouraged by your intentions to still go on with kendo.
Sorry you can't stay longer,
and more sorry that I couldn't see you today after training.
I hope the US welcomes you back with open arms
:) and that you remember us! And remember us fondly.

All the best!
xx.

Post Published!

Work again!

There was an elderly man on his knees at Southern Cross.
As I was walking out, he reached out for me
and at first I looked around because like it never happens
and it turns out, he wanted help getting up
'My legs are bad!' :( I felt so sad as I helped him on his feet.
Poor old man. I hope he had a nice day.
I worked with my boss today :) He's so nice and patient
And his wife is also friendly.
The same track was played for an hour
and my boss (his name is Jolly) didn't realise :P hahaha
We all stayed back half an hour late, chatting. Haha.
Played dominoes (the extreme American version--up to 15)
with the family when I got home hehe.
(I didn't win any rounds. Surprise? I think not.)
It was a nice day :)

But alas I have work again tomorrow.
At the 2 dollar shop for 8 and a half hours, vomit.
I can't understand my workmate's chinese accent
and she's 23 and makes weird voluntary noises.
Gughhh. Oh well.
Monies.. what can ya do!

Hitting the hay now. Goodnight :) xx

Dearest Jack Johnson, Marry Me :)

TODAY'S GOOGLE DESIGN IS SO AWESOME.
(okay; it's technically yesterday; American time zone)

So much that as soon as I saw it,
I (involuntarily) said, 'Oooooh!!! PRETTTYYYY.'
Apparently it's the 125th anniversary of Josef Frank.
(okay; technically it WAS the 125th anniversary)
My friend Wikipedia says he was a textiles designer.
Well anyway, kudos to him,
he certainly got myyy attention :)

In other news I had work today.
I drove my supervisor a bit crazy!
I made her say 'freaking' D: Haha
She's nice. But she gets stressed out.
My friend summed her up nicely in a nutshell:
'shes nice but scary at the same time'
there we go.
:) But work is generally fun.
And the hours just flyyy by. Wonderful stuff.
Also, mum wanted coffee ground for her plants
so I brought some home (out of the bin!!!) in a bag
and now my bag-bag smells like coffee. Yuck.

Anyway goodnight!
Over and oot.

Aowww.

Sigh.

I was supposed to hang out with someone yesterday
and we haven't seen each other for YONKS.
And then most unfortunately she got sick last minute.
:( And I was looking forward to it so much!

Boo.
Generally: Going out with awesome person = Great Plans = Greater Disappointment.

Eeeek!
Oh well.
I'm hanging out with Alison instead :)

x

She Said 'Heyyyyy Babe', Take A Walk On The Wild Sideee.

New furniture. Came home to this last Wednesday night!

I like the shelf especially, because it's like a little window.

Anyway I had the nicest afternoon tea today :)
Fruit tea and blueberry muffins!
I may as well share that pictorially with you too.

Fin!
x

It's Been On My Mind All Day.

And there will be periods when I momentarily forget
but it never fails to return into my stream of thoughts.

Everybody is planning to leave.
Few will stay and help rebuild.
And what will be left of it when they go?
A messy place, at the least.

URGH just thinking about it is frustrating.

Red Hot Publicity.

So, I failed a subject.
Physics.

If you took a look at my post somewhere in June,
you would have known I panicked,
but also panicked because I refused to touch it.
Now I'm paying the price; no complaints.

Then I experienced the paranoia of confession--
to the parents.
I blabbed it out to my dad in the middle of dishwashing,
and he was concerned but I told him what I knew:
- First year subjects DO NOT matter at Melbourne
- All I was losing was 12.5 Credit Points,
and I knew how to get it back
- I just cannot afford to fail any non-first-year subjects.
With that he went to the living room to watch TV.

Then I sort of sat in a stunned silence with Mum,
while she was conversing over Skype with relatives,
my closest aunts and cousins around.
I went away, gathered my information, and returned.
Then I just held out the news and facts in mid air,
waiting for her to catch it as gracefully as my father did.
I didn't expect her to embrace it.
She didn't.
I know failing Physics was wholely my own fault,
but I wished my mother would understand sometimes,
that the belief someone else has in you might help you
in succeeding to prevent something and get elsewhere.
Anyway, I told her that the Board only cares about
what you get afterrrrr your first year at university,
that I just need to get back the lost credit points,
and that it wouldn't affect my goal of getting into Dent.
It didn't change a thing = =.
And mind you, Skype was still running through all of this.
She started to rant. Loud and clear.
Announcing my failure as audibly as possible,
to my relatives, who heard every word.
About how I'm always glued to the computer (somewhat true)
About how I never give up time to enjoy the new house (false)
About how I strive to stay up late JUST to chat despite fatigue
(false; too many listable reasons)
I just stood there in my shame and guilt and red ears and face.
How extremely naked that made me feel.
But oh well. The rents know now. My paranoia died today;
ever since the start of July I've been worrying over what to do.
Today that inner stress is gone; I just have to wait out the storm.

Dear Physics 2, just you wait. Just you wait.

Over and out, my listeners.

Damper in my Day.

I think I may have just failed physics.
Pretty self-explanatory, so the end.

Oh, I properly-worked for the first time in ages.
Hudsons Coffee :)
But I didn't make any coffee--and I won't be for at least a while.
I cleaned up, took orders, cleaned up, and cleaned up.
It was okay... and they let me leave early! Hehe.

But yeah. :( Physics... what a partypooper.
But the thing is, it was only a semester 1 subject
so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to make up for it.
Science stinks. I stink. Physics reeks to high heavens.

Over and out..
x

Oh and something really funny but you can ask me about it later.

'HAAAACCCCKKKKRRRRRR'
-slight pause-
'Do you want to see?'

Thanks Alison :) I'm glad we've come this far in our friendship.
It's always good to see your personal triumphs. Personal morning triumphs, that is.

Anyway, over and out.
HAHA! x

Kendo Kendo Kendo!

I got my uniform (at laaast!) today :)
It consists of 2 parts--the top, gi, and the bottom, hakama.
IT LOOKS SO PROFESSIONAL!!!
But soon I will spend all my sessions sweating in it so.. yeah.
Anyway. Today's session was awful.
Before warm-up I was told I didn't pack away the armour properly,
and then during warm-up my armour kept loosening itself
so that was fairly annoying.
And then came the most dreaded part--when we sat in a row,
and put on the men (head-gear) to prepare for training.
STUPID TENEGUI (cloth that you put on before the head gear)
I selflessly and stupidly gave away the only hairtie I had on me,
and so the cloth wouldn't stay on my head
and also kept falling over my eyes.
I was doing really poorly, and when my men became loose,
I went to sit down outside the 'arena' to fix it up.
then I somehow stuff it all up and the strings come apart
and I just cracked.
I packed it all up--the armour, the headgear--everything,
took my stuff, and left.

:( and then I felt really terrible about it
kendo's supposed to be ceremonious and civil and stuff
but ARGH. I always fall behind,
or my clumsiness drags me behind.. sigh.
I think I might skip a couple of sessions,
just to get my head and my coordination right again.
This'll be a little kendo house-arrest,
hopefully more for better than for worse. sigh.

But yay with the uniform!
There's so much air down there and up HAHA
one feels completely free in it :)
Oh and got the bokken (woodennn sword) today--red oak.
So exciting!!!


Anywho I'm going to go read the Book Thief now.
Cheerio, lovers. xx

Fourtha Julahhh.

The 4th of July was lovely.
I'll just list it all in point-form because I'm hopelessly lazy.

1. MCBC's (church) 26th birthday.
- I played the violin alongside Daniel and Christine's piano (the mamas sang)
- Awesome food, but there was a contest and tasting so the hungry had to wait
- Ronald dropped some noodle--out of hunger I believed it a crime
- Number 1 won, I think :/ (Sandy's mum made meat skewers)
- Rumour has it that one of the contestant dishes was actually purchased!
- Book club afterwards; Grace led the chapter on Witness.

2. Hanging around after the service and so on.
- The bad news and disappointment, just a slight drawback to the day.
- Sitting around with Alison not knowing what we were planning to do
- In the end we got 'kicked out' (not really) so we went to her house
- She gave me a bible-reading plan and we went through a bit of Genesis
- IT WAS INSIGHTFUL. All the details learnt from summit; very interesting.

3. Highpoint; Max Brenner's and Playtime (haha)
- Chris drove Brian, Jacky, Alison and I to le H.P.
- We joined John, Paul, Zoe, and ummm 2 people whose names I don't know
- I ordered a hot chocolate with waffle balls and Alison copied me, the copycat
- We talkkkkked for some time and then everyone went home,
except me and Alison so we called Daniel and met him downstairs at Playtime
- There was this touchscreen game, like DDR but with hands ahaha it was so..
AY-SHUNNN.

4. Sleepover plans.
- Daniel went to drive Winnie and Sandy home, while Ronald, Als and I waited
- Dad was gonna give Als guitar lessons, so we decided that she should sleepover,
because I lived in a land far far away and it would be fun and save time and all that
- I was stuffed. Fact. And fact until 1AM that night (technically morning).
- We discussed VCE
- He came back ages later and we went to Als' place so she could get stuff + guitar
- Daniel dropped us off at my place and mama, strangely, came out to greet us LOL
- Introduction of the house etc etc etc and DINNERRR. Still stuffed.
- Masterchef and doonas. AND I FOUND OUT I WAS HIRED!!! Hudson's :)
- We invited Daniel and Jacky to come over, which they did we offered Daniel dinner
- Als and D. took a giant lesson (they refused breaks!) from Papa,
and Titus and Jacky went crazy with the Wii HAHA
- This lasted for ages.
- Mum joined Jacky, Als and I for card games--Hearts and Big 2.
- At 1-something, Daniel finally took Jacky home and we went to bed.
- Popping noises haha. (no, not fart.)

:) xx

Ps. That was a giant diary entry; not a blog entry. Sorreh gahhhs.
PPs. I'm sorry but I have to avoid uploading pictures; or I'll be capped until the 15th D:

Slave Labour.

Yesterday has got to be the most illegal experience I've had personally.
I saw for myself just how evil the world and everyone in it (and me) are.
A few days beforehand, I was casually roaming King St and Bourke St,
and went by this asian take-away *cafe* (whatever)
so I dropped my resume off,
thinking yeah whatevs, not betting on a place like this
but ohhh I get a call from their manager to go in for an interview
so I was like alrighty I'm up for it.
And by the way the manager and her workers weren't even in the same boat
the workers thought I was going in for just an interview
and the boss wanted me to go in for a trial so there was mixed messages
Anyway.
I go in, and they hurry me and get me to put on their ridiculous uniform
and this hat thing that made my head feel way too big
and then I'm like awkwardly standing there wondering what was expected of me
The boss comes through the door, conducts an interview with me
and tells me the pay is $8 an hour so I swallow my pride and accept it.
I told her I'd think about it.
I get a call later on in the day saying I could go in on Friday for a trial
and what do you normally consider when you hear 'trial'?--2-3 hours, right?
WRONG.
Yesterday I turn up promptly at 11,
and the lady-in-charge (not the boss) told me gruffly to read this book
which described everything and nothing about how to work in the store
stupid instruction.
And I won't go through the entire day in detail
but these are the basic mentionables:
- The first couple of hours I was directly taught NOTHING.
- The lady-in-charge did not look or act or speak like a lady (fact. not opinion)
- The kitchen floor was slippery and yuck.
- The personal responsible for supposedly 'training' me was leaving
and he was the nicest; which was not a very good incentive to stay
- I was told to do things but without any relevant background info
eg. 'Get a bucket and fill it to 80% with water' and then he runs away
so I do as I'm told and I stand there waiting and then the kitchen hand guy's like
'Go pass it on to him!!!' and then I realise it was for cleaning out the food-tubs
and it's like seriously you could tell me what you were doing at least.
- The boss decided to pay me $6 when I actually START because
she said I wasn't fit for **full** pay yet--yes, but what training was there?!!
and it's not like she even saw me help with the store anyway,
she heard it from the lady/man-in-charge.
- I was taught how to handle the cash register but nobody let me do it for real.

I HATE THAT PLACE. I WORKED A TOTAL OF 10 HOURS FROM 11 TO 8.30

I did all that I was told to do, and what pay do I get?
Not even a mere $10 for the travel I had to cover getting to and from the city.
Stupid cheats, the lot of them. I'll bet money that it was probably illegal.
As if I am going to work at a rate of $6--what a joke, and insult.
So I smiled throughout the day, 
even when the lady/whatever-in-charge was all, 'AIYAAAAA' on me
and when I finished I just walked to Southern Cross Station and wept.
Told my parentals in the car, and Mama was furious with them.
Then I facebooked my frustrations
and sent a very angry but civil text message back to the boss,
basically and curtly explaining that I would not be working for her
because she's cheap and evil.

The end, URGH.