Goodbyes

On Wednesday 9 June, I spent the day out with one of my best friends Molly. She would be leaving for her month-long European adventure on the Sunday, so I wanted to hang out before she left. We had to go to our university first because Molly had an interview for an Arts program there (which she did awesome in, so we're now at the same university together again), and I had to hand in an assignment, but then it was off to the city for lunch and to visit the Art Gallery.

We had lunch at Pancakes & Grill and were very naughty - we had pancakes for lunch.

Molly had the Brandied Apricots.
I had the Blueberry Heaven.
There was a new exhibition at the Art Gallery that we wanted to see, the Patricia Piccinini Relativity exhibit. It was just amazing, and so realistic, and ... frightening in a way. My favourite sculpture was The Stags 2008. The only thing that dragged the day down was me, literally. I still couldn't walk properly after injuring my foot, so I was limping around everywhere and Molly had to walk slower because of it.

The weather took a cold turn that day with Winter finally setting on (notice the matching blog template change). And the perfect way to stay warm on a cold day is ... coffee. Or a cold drink, as Miss Molly decided. She's nutty.

Here's Molly checking out my Wise Blood book.
By that time it was already past 5 o'clock, so Molly drove me the short distance to where my mom works in a business district and I got a ride home with my mom. I love being out at night.

This is the view from mom's 14th floor office.

When I got home I got a nice surprise: Jill over at the now finished blog, Today I Saw, had sent me another postcard. I feel so lucky to have gotten two from her considering she only sent out one postcard a day for a year.

Pretty good day.


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (want to read more non-fiction these holidays)
Listening to: "All The Right Moves" by One Republic, "Monster" and "Dance in the Dark" by Lady Gaga, "Don't Fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult" ("More cowbell!") and "Don't Fear The Reaper" (cover) by The Mutton Birds (from one of my favourite movies The Frighteners), and "Automatic" by Tokio Hotel (seriously fascinated by these guys)

I wish that I was Jessie's Girl

What an eventful week. It's the last week of semester and I have been running on adrenalin and coffee. I'm going to be feeling this later, I just know it. I will probably be found sprawled out on the floor somewhere in my house, away with the clouds....

The week started off with an Irish coffee. Things were going good. I was doing an assignment, writing about a university reading. I was in the mood to do the assignment. There was some great music playing on my computer. I stopped for a moment to stretch my arms. And managed to pull a muscle in my right arm. I'm right-handed, so my left hand can't type well without its beloved other half. See, assignments can hurt you physically.

My job requires me to have two working hands. I'm a clothing alterations assistant and need to prep the clothes to be altered. Unpicking threads is my main task. Boy, is that difficult when you have limited mobility.

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I ended up going to sleep at 5am on Wednesday. The hours around midnight are when I'm at my most motivated, unfortunately. And assignments needed finishing and editing. So, I was awake late.

Somehow I woke up at 8am that day to research another assignment, on postmodernism. I also decided to make cookies for my class that morning. Cookies from a boxed baking mix though. Class did start at 10am after all.

Not only did I bake cookies for my morning class, but I came back home during my break to make brownies (from a baking mix) for my afternoon class. I stayed awake for that afternoon class because of drinking about four cups of coffee throughout the day. (And I was supposed to be cutting back on my coffee intake.) Call me crazy, insane, nuts, to say the least.

I think wearing my red high tops all day yesterday caused me to walk abnormally: I may have pulled something in my left foot. Man, do I injure myself in the strangest ways or what? And it's the second time I hurt myself the day before work. I do like my job, honestly. I would have looked a right site hobbling around my workplace today (no, wait, that would be yesterday because now it's 4.31am) but I was in too much of a good mood to care.

One more class later this afternoon, and the semester will be over. And two essays after that, I will be on holiday for two months or so. I will probably spend most of that time working and sleeping. Sleep, what's that again?

This was written on my bus stop's schedule. I know it's graffiti, but it's also sweet.

All that remained of the cookies and brownies.

The sky around 5pm. Now that it's Winter, the sky is pitch black by 5.30pm. I adore Winter.
A face to go along with the words. I'm part-Indian, part-English (and part-Irish, according to my sister, but that hasn't been confirmed). Yes, my room is slightly untidy. In my defence, this was before I cleaned it up.
(About this post's title: When I was a kid, I used to think that was the lyric in "Jessie's Girl" by Rick Springfield. Well, it made sense in my five year-old mind. I really wouldn't mind being Jessie's girl now - he sounds like a nice lad.)


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: "Baker Baker" by my favourite redhead Tori Amos (seems appropriate), "Love" (live version) by Sugarland, "Secret Garden" by Bruce Springsteen

Southern Gothi-what?

It feels as though I'm in a lair at the moment. I sit upon my bed surrounded by various university readings, assignment drafts, and notes, a small dome of light illuminating my working area.

My brain is full of postmodern theory and theorists, elements of storytelling in non-fiction, editing principles, key arguments ... and then I put on my The Holiday soundtrack. And the light gets bigger, my room begins to feel warmer (it's Winter here), I'm multi-tasking with three assignments, and my toes start moving to the jazzy sounds of Hans Zimmer's musical creations ....

Been trawling through Southern Gothic Productions' various blog and vlog archives over the past few months. Huge fan of the SoGoPro book club. Then realised didn't know what made southern gothic fiction, well, southern gothic. Then felt silly after researching it and noticing I'd seen/read a fair amount of southern gothic films/novels:

• A Streetcar Named Desire (1984 film version)
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (the novel)
• Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994 film version)
• The Green Mile (1999 film version)
• Big Fish (2003 film version, Note: love Tim Burton)
• The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (which led to reading The Secret History - a book of epic awesomeness)
• Cool Hand Luke (1967 film version, "What we have here is a failure to communicate." Ha, sounds like my assignments and me.)

... to name but a few. I do need to credit Nick Gray for the current book I'm reading. (I would've read it eventually - knowing me it would've been years and years - as I'm currently reading through this list but now, thanks to Mr. Gray, I'm reading it sooner.) Come to think of it, I need to thank the whole SGP gang for my sudden foray into the realm of the southern gothic because I. AM. LOVING. IT.

The only way I am awake now, at 2am, is because of four serves of coffee all in one mug. Oh, assignments, how I wish you would write yourselves.

Kiara.

Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: The Holiday soundtrack

If I read any more Baudrillard, I fear I may go insane

Taking a break from studying....

I realised last week that I'm surrounded by people based in the arts or those who are creative beyond a doubt. Which is unintentional, I might add, the part about being surrounded by all this creativity. My interest in the arts has to have come from my mom's side because there is a long line of artists down the generations: one of my great-aunts was an Indian dancer/singer, my grandmother used to sketch and draw, an uncle of mine was a cartoonist when he was younger, another couple of uncles are musicians (one of them only part-time), and my lawyer mom moonlights as a painter on the weekends.

While mom's interest in the arts is visual and mine is written, I'd like to think I get my arts-based mind from her.

And the list continues: my sister plays piano, two of my friends design/make clothes (I mention one of them, Molly, a lot), another three or so sing and/or dance, and one is a musician. Update: I forgot to add that my musician friend is also a theatre actor, which is good for me because it's easily accessible and I know the plays will be good as he chooses interesting roles. And my only female cousin wants to be (and is going to be, after reading her work) a writer as well - it's funny that out of the five of us grandchildren, all three girls want to be based in the arts. So, my friends and family round out the arts nicely.

Not such a bad crowd to be around, huh?

My mom hasn't painted in about 20 years, so I got her an easel and acrylic paints for Mother's Day. She painted this on Mother's Day, and it was her first time using acrylics:


Reading: Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor
Listening to: "Cloudbusting" by Kate Bush, Jack's Mannequin's "Dark Blue", "Give Me Heart" by Susie Suh, "Welcome to England" by Tori Amos, "Buy Now Pay Later" by The Whitlams, "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, "Fine Line" by Little Big Town, "Stand Back" by Stevie Nicks, "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel

Meanwhile during my stagnant Wednesday morning class

Finally, something more closely related to writing: I broke my no writing spell. I wrote about 3/4 of a handwritten page on Monday night continuing on from a story I started two months ago. That may have been the last thing I wrote before this huge break.

I only have 4 more weeks of classes and due assignments before the winter break. And then there will be 12 more weeks of university before I graduate later this year. Argh! My university degree (a Bachelor of Arts, or as people in other discourses like to call it - the 'Get a real job' degree) is three years long, and boy, have those three years gone by at lightning speed. Or it will have.

Blogging may be the last thing on my mind over the next 4 weeks because I don't do exams and my tutors compensate by piling up each class with assignments. Since I've been good at keeping up with work this semester (and starting assignments early) I'm hoping it will leave me with time to blog regularly.

I watched a cartoon version of the double slit experiment (in quantum physics) in class today. The Big Bang Theory boys would love that, although I'm thinking Sheldon would find many inconsistencies in the experiment. I, however, did find it interesting, although I was completely lost when it came to the last half.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Planets of the Universe" by Stevie Nicks (there is a short guitar solo towards the end of this song that I just can't stop listening to), "Come" by Fleetwood Mac

Quirky things

In case you missed the allusion in the last 'What I'm Reading' section, I have finally finished Bret Easton Ellis' Glamorama! I actually finished it last week, reading the last 40 pages or so in one day. It wasn't that it was a bad book - it was, surprisingly, an engaging and interesting book, but it was the graphic sexual scenes and violent fights that let me put the book down at times. I'm not averse to reading material of that nature (if it contributes to the story) but Ellis describes bloody and brutal bombings and amputations in such detail that I almost started to feel pain in each part of the body that was being blown off in the story. If you're interested in technique, and structure in particular, I suggest you read this book. Ellis uses stream of consciousness very effectively and seamlessly.

On another note, I love finding quirky things anywhere, so here's some of my most recent purchases.

I had to buy these black shoe socks when I saw them, and then bought the same pair in red. The striped socks just seem really witchy.

I've heard that these masks can sell for up to $300 (in the Australian dollar) so to find this mask in a crystal and knick-knack shop for $20 was incredible. I was immediately fascinated by the black one in the store because the last time I had seen Venetian masks was in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette and all these thoughts about where this mask would have been and who would have used it if it was made during that time started to flood my mind.

That day I also bought the 2 candle lights behind the mask. They're battery-operated and are made to look like old 17th-century candles in gold holders. I bought them in a $2 shop.

And these are my first Argyle socks. You can tell I have a thing for socks. Now I want to find an Argyle vest in these same shades.

Now I have to finish off a reading for tomorrow's class, watch the last 5 minutes of a Big Bang Theory season 1 episode, and get some sleep before this all starts again.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice, and Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl?
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Everybody Finds Out" by Fleetwood Mac

Breaking the chain

I honestly haven't written anything in about 2 months. Any stories, that is. (I have some from class but I don't think they count because they were written for assessment). Things have been really hectic for a while; between classes, work, assignments and general tidying up of my room and house I have little time for sleep, let alone writing.

This is the first time I've had a writing break this long. Yet, the longer I don't write the easier it is to continue in that frame of mind. I'm going to break out of it though. Tonight. Even if it's just half a page, I'll write something. I'll post some story fragments up here soon.

Grown from my mom's garden. Pretty much the size (actual size) of my inspiration at the moment.

Reading: Thomas Mann's Death in Venice (for class), Alexandra Potter's Who's That Girl? (because I love me some real English - as in the country - fiction)
Listening to: Legacy: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac, "Illume" by Stevie Nicks, "Silver Girl" by Fleetwood Mac