Kavinsky

Last Tuesday was the biggest Tuesday ever. It was so big that I have only now gathered enough strength to begin to write about it. It was monstrous.

There were some big things that happened that day. They were mostly good things. Let's see which ones I can remember.

Dad told Louise that he's going to put the centre on the market.

Richard dropped by to help with the computer problem.

I was assessed for my TAFE stuff.

There was a stack of children.

Reg had to go to the vet because he dislocated his elbow.

Erin had to go to the hospital because she had the spews and poos.

We had some Mrs Bowler's grandchildren in. They were a little disruptive.


I think that there was probably some other stuff. I can't really remember it. At the time I can remember feeling like I was in a daze and extremely tired. I can remember being extremely thankful that the next day was a public holiday.

Oh yeah, that night we had a barbecue at our house, and I received some money from my Mum's estate. And then I went to a concert at the Arena.

At the concert there was a girl who got up on some dude's shoulders at the start of the show and flashed the band. Stuart and I were standing upstairs, and she was down in the crowd near the back. A whole heap of people started hooting and hollering when she lifted her shirt up, and fair enough too. She had nice breasts. Anyways, an hour and a half later Stuart and I are standing next at the balcony when he says to me, "I think that this girl standing next to us is the one who flashed the band!" So we asked her and it was in fact her. She wasn't ashamed at all, and a pretty cool chick. I was surprised that Stuart could have picked her out, but he did well. Apparently she likes to flash at most gigs she goes to. It's her own way of saying thanks to the bands for touring to Brisbane. Good on her.

ANZAC Day was a pretty quiet day. Ria and I ate some baked goods in a park in West End. We also saw a crime foiled by an innocent bystander. These two dodgy dudes tried to steal some shirts from a rack by putting them up under their singlets.

"It's my colostomy bag!"

"Don't touch me, mate! I've got bi-polar!"

Ha! It was exciting! Good on the guy for stopping them. I didn't see them take it, but I don't know if I would have said anything. They were pretty out there characters.

Later in the day Ria and walked to where the J C Slaughter Falls used to be at Mt Coot-tha. They're not there anymore because of the drought. The drought makes me sad. Everything is extremely brown. Everything is dying. It doesn't rain here anymore. I can't remember the last time there was anything more substantial than a light spit. It makes me very sad.

To improve our emotional state and to get ourselves out of the doldrums we ate at Trang that night.

Next day was Thursday and it was a shit day. Actually, that's a lie. It's so long ago now that I can't really remember too much about it. Ria and my Dad both picked up Erin's bug, but neither required hospitalisation so that's good news. Both were in extreme discomfort though, so that's bad news. Everyone's better now though!

Friday was a day that I was glad to get out the way. It wasn't terribly exciting. I did get to watch First Descent though. It was billed as a snowboarding Endless Summer, and I guess that's true. I did make some awesome hamburgers Friday night. Ria helped. Well, she probably helped more than I did. Unfortunately for her she still wasn't feeling 100%, so I helped her by eating her hamburger too. It was awesome. I am lame and boring.

The weekend came and the weekend went. I saw Ria's grandpop jump out of a plane for his 80th birthday. That was pretty cool. I also ate alot of food for lunch. And I think that I won a speeding ticket in Redcliffe!

Sunday was made up of rescuing damsels in distress, dump trips, dumps and Bunnings. And attempting to electrocute myself whilst gardening. I didn't succeed. I also watched Children Of Men last night. It was a continuation of watching near future apocalyptic science fiction films on Sunday nights. They help with nightmares.

So in all, lots and nothing. I trimmed my beard too. I apologise for not posting more regularly. Like anybody really cares anyways.

Psyche!

Road To Recovery

I went a little bit crazy last night. Beer crazy. Photo crazy. Potato salad crazy. It wasn't good.

So Stuart's party was a pretty good time I guess. I fell in a hole. I fell off a skateboard. Lots of falling.

I managed to get drunk. Not the good kind either. The bad kind. Too drunk. I managed to lose my car keys. I wasn't planning on driving anywhere, but I was looking to get some shoes out of the car. It wasn't a big deal.

There was a couple of dudes there that I didn't recognise initially. They both had mohawks, and I think that was what made it tough. Stuart Dixon and Shannon. It was good to talk to them. Stuart told me something interesting about Nick, I don't know whether to believe him or not. It's pretty big.

I think that there was almost a fight. The big dude in one of the photos was getting upset about something or other. I don't think a fight eventuated.

I ended up leaving at around 10. I went and saw the Midnight Juggernaughts at the Zoo. It was a good show, but I was just too drunk. I kind of wish that I hadn't been so wasted, but drinking all that beer at the start just felt so right. Oh well.

After the show I went up to the Press Club to meet up with Tony and Emma. Unfortunately the girl at the door asked me how much I had to drink and when I slurred an answer at her I was refused entry. I didn't let this stop me though and I climbed in the window.

I saw Tony and Emma and was there for about 10 minutes or so. Then I decided that I really was too drunk and went and got a kebab. And 2 litres of orange juice. And a bag of snakes.

Then I lined up for a cab. Then when I was in the cab I fell asleep. I woke up on the bridge near my house and got him to stop so I could jump out.

Today has been a very rough day. The sun was very bright this morning and my stomach felt very bad. The situation was so dire that I purchased the Good Charlotte video for Keep Your Hands Off My Girl on my phone. It's crap.

I'm feeling a bit better now. I need to go and pick up the car at some point. Stuart has found the keys which is good. I think that Ria is annoyed at me. Probably because I was a drunk idiot.

Rare Flux

I had my resuscitation recertification this morning. There's been a few changes to the system. It's an attempt to make everything more simple and straight forward. And they've taken out the parts that people don't like doing. And the things that people aren't good at doing. Like checking for a pulse and things.

It was pretty painless. I always feel like a bit of a geeban at these things though. It's because when the instructor asks a question nobody else ever seems to want to answer a question. I don't know if it's because they don't know the answer, or if they're just shy. It's weird. I mean, if you think you know what the answer is you may as well spit it out. At least you'll find out if you're wrong that way. It's better than sitting there and listening to silence. It's a bit annoying. I kind of feel like the only person who answers. It wasn't as bad today as it has been in the past, there were some other voices.

I can only imagine what it must be like for the instructor. They must feel like they're talking to a wall. Or that their class is made up of dumb mullets. Oh well.

So after I'd finished that I headed into the careers expo. I might be looking for a new job in a few months, so I thought that I'd go and see what there is out there. I guess the time is coming up where I will have to make a choice. The only problem though was that as soon as I said that I had been working in administration, the people I spoke to decided that that was where I would always be interested. That sucks. Administration is okay, but I think that it's not where my strength lies. So I guess when the crunch comes I'll have to be more forceful about what I actually want to do, and what I don't want to do.

A highlight of the expo was definitely saying g'day to Toadfish Rebecchi off of Neighbours. He seemed like a nice guy. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance for a photo. It would have been a good one. Toadie had a stripey pink shirt on.

There was also some sweet break dancing b-boy action. Some of the breakers were great, some were broken. It was all entertainment. There was quite a few giveaways as well. I'm not sure what I ended up with, but I definitely had a couple of fortune cookies, some lollipops and a water bottle. There was other stuff, but I'm pretty sure that most of it will end up in the bin anyways.

Last night we had a roast at my grandmother's place. Nanna herself wasn't feeling too well, but the pork and veggies were still great. I was a little bit late as I had been wasting time on the internet. Then when I got there I was angry with myself because I had been wasting time on the internet. It's amazing how many crappy videos and uninteresting wikipedia articles and dodgy celebrity gossip sites you can look at when you've got something more important to do. Amazing in a sucky way.

At the dinner last night we went through a checklist of things for my sister's 21st. It's coming up in about a month. It should be a good time. In the past my mum was the big organiser behind the parties, but this time she's not around so my dad has stepped up. It should be interesting. Last night there was a discussion that went on for ten minutes about what type of envelopes we should send them out in. And what format the addresses were going to be. What ever happened to the days of just putting the invite into an envelope and writing the address of the person you're sending it to on the front? I'm pretty sure that's what Erin wanted to happen, but I guess some people just need to share their opinion.

We also went through the menu for the night. That took a long time. I tried to explain that people at 21sts don't really care what there is to eat, as long as there is plenty to drink. This is the system that has worked for my party, and my brother's. I don't think that there was any major problems. I certainly can't remember any. That could be because there are large portions of that evening that I can't recall. If you build it he will come.

The rest of the week has been good. A little bit busy in the afternoons and stuff, but that's okay. I finally finished the garden bed at the centre. It looks good. I'm happy with the work I put in there.

This afternoon my brother Stuart is having a housewarming party. He wants it start at 1pm, but it's after that now. He also wants David and I to bring over a heap of shit for the party. I'm not so sure about that. I still remember cleaning up all the shit from his party in the park. And David can remember cleaning up the shit from his Australia Day party here, while he went down the coast. Stuart seems to like hosting parties, but doesn't seem to like getting everything organised for them. Maybe we're all like that in some respect.

I had a very nice chicken and pumpkin risotto with Ria the other night. It was sensational.

Shining Bright Lights

Sunshine on Sunday night was really intense. I wouldn't reccommend it for a Sunday evening movie. It's not exactly easy viewing. I did really enjoy it though. Some of the science was a little bit dodgy, but that's what happens. I thought that it made some interesting points. Ria thought that it was a bit hardcore. Especially for a Sunday.

Today has been a day of good and bad. I took it on the chin. Some of the good things were my ham sandwich (which I have every day, but it's always good), the return of the lady in the bakery (she's been on a cruise), we interviewed a suitable applicant for a job, I was able to get out of the centre a couple of times to drop some children off at another pre school, the school kids were back in full effect, Kapila was back from New York and some other stuff.

Some things that were not so great were the school kids being back in full effect, the behavior of some boys that I had to sort out, the resignation of the Irish girl, the inability to get in touch with the applicants referees because of differing school holidays and some staff being away.

It was a pretty big day. A bit of drama.

One of the staff, her son was back at school today. He had woodwork in the morning and apparently the teacher couldn't handle having everybody back in the class, so he threw a piece of wood at the staff member's child. There's every chance that the kid deserved it because he can be an annoying know it all, but that doesn't mean that the teacher should have done it. I'm pretty sure that it's against the rules. Anyways, apparently the police were called.

Another drama was that one of the families at the centre is breaking up. Again. This is always distressing.

Was there other dramas? Probably. I can't remember.

Last night my Dad went and saw Wilco. Why on Earth he went to their concert, I don't know. But I guess it's good for him to get out of the house. He's been acting very strangely recently, and I found something weird in his car when I was driving it on the weekend. It was not something I would have expected to find in his car, that's for sure.

That's about it I guess.

My brother Stuart is having a party this weekend. He is saying that it's going to start at 1pm. That's pretty early, I don't think that I'll get there then. If Stuart starts drinking at that time, he will definitely be a shot duck by the time the sun goes down! If it was me, I'd probably be passed out by 3!

Butterfly Or Moth?

Flash Before My Eyes

Good news! I'm a whole lot more sober today than I was yesterday,so you're not going to get some incoherent nonsense.

I tried to read what I had written yesterday, and it was very disappointing. I can't even spell definitely right. Although I think that has been a long term problem.

I'd forgotten how nice a beer can be on a Friday afternoon. Unfortunately I'd also forgotten how much they mess me up. I was shattered. I actually put a bid on a watch, which is something that I don't need. Oh well.

So Ria came over and she wasn't terribly impressed with the state I was in. I didn't worry too much. I was a proud and defiant drunk.

We went over to Laura's place. Dirty Dave drove us. It was good. I played some pool with Adam and drank a couple of more beers. I was excited when the Thai food arrived. It was great. Afterwards I was tired.

That's about it really. I didn't feel too bad this morning. Ria and I had pancakes for breakfast. This time we didn't have maple flavoured syrup, we had actual maple syrup. It was nice.

I think that tonight will be a quieter night, but who knows?

He Who Makes A Beast Out Of Himself Gets Rid Of The Pain Of Being A Man

I'm drunk in front of the computer and that is never a good thing.

I've been drinking by myself in the afternoon and this is never a good thing.

I've been smoking and this is never a good thing.

I've been looking at watches from my birth year and this is never a good thing.

I've drunk about 9 beers now and I don't really know why. I finished work a little bit early today and have tried to make the most of it. Well, not really. All I've tried to do is buy a carton of beer and then hang out by myself. I've definately succeeded in that.

So why am I doing this now? Especially after my previous post about finding myself and finding my goals?

I don't know.

I know that I've been thinking about those goals, and I've been thinking about what I want to happen. That's a good thing. I've also come to the realisation that I need to start taking more control of things.

I'm not happy about some things that are going on at the moment.

I like my job. I think that it's a great one, I think that it's important, and I think that I am good at it. I am not happy about the renumeration that I receive for the work that I do. I am not happy about the lack of opportunity that my work provides. I am not happy about doing something for someone that doesn't understand what is involved with what I do.

Jeepers creepers.

Lunch time today and I was my normal self. Now it's 4 hours later and I'm fucking drunk and having all these thoughts going through my head. It seems that what I want and what I am doing are not the same thing. Well, it's possible that they are the same thing. I just need to change some of the influencing factors. I need to stand up for myself again.

Shit. Maybe I'm just drunk.

Maybe not though. Maybe I need to start making the future happen for me again. Maybe I need to stop doing work for other people who don't appreciate it. Maybe I need to start being my own person again.

Anyways,

I've sewn up a gig for 6 months from June to July. It's housesitting for a family that I know. They are traveling to England to visit relatives for 6 weeks and I am going to look after their castle. Their place is in East Brisbane, in Edgar Street. Opposite the Lord Stanley Hotel.

I'm looking forward to this time already. I want to do something for myself again. It will be good.

I want to make something my own. I want to be in control again. I don't want to have to be concerned with other people's interests.

Blah.

Wasted.

Help Group

I don't really know what's going on at the moment, but for the last few months I've really noticed a change in myself. Not a huge change, and it's not something that happens all the time. It's just that when I see somebody succeeding at something they've been working really hard at for a long time I start tearing up.

It's kind of embarassing, but after watching a show like The Biggest Loser I'll be blinking back the tears at the moment of triumph. Or when somebody is facing hardship with courage and determination. I feel the heat rising up through my chest and infusing my body with a warmth. Stories where people have worked hard to change something about their circumstances or something within themselves.

I don't know what's causing it, or why it's started happening now. I don't even know what it means. Does it mean that I want to set myself some hard goals to work towards? Do I want to finally put myself to some good use and achieve something? I think that for too long now I have been on cruise control. I think that I'm starting to think of what I want for myself and, more importantly, from myself. Does this mean that I'm becoming an adult?

It's a new territory for me I guess. I can't really remember the last thing that I really wanted that wasn't material. Sure, I've craved experiences. I still do. But now I think that I want something more.

Hmmm.

So this past weekend I went up to Woodgate again. It was a nice break, even though things were hectic at points. It was a fun time, even if at times the house did seem like it was going to explode.

Woodgate had an Easter fair on the Monday which was pretty awesome. I was a bit sad that I didn't have more time to check it out. We were pressed for time though, and we managed to get stuck in traffic anyway. At the fair there was the usual assortment of crap. You know, leather belts, old knick knacks, iron work, dodgy knock offs. I did have a very nice lemonade though. And some great nuts.

I also saw Gordon Nuttall. He was shorter than I expected. He didn't look very happy, but then again how happy can you be when you're in the trouble that he's in?

Today I had a surprise visit at work. It was a Ghost of Girlfriends Past. Surprise!

I'm off to see 300 tonight with Richard. I hope that it's great!

Oh. Did I say anything about my new haircut? The free one? Well, it took an hour and 15 minutes. I spent the first 5 sitting on the couch filling out a survey (sample question: What do you like about your current hairstyle?) and drinking a green tea from a shot glass. Next 10 minutes were spent having a consultation with my stylist. She basically asked the same questions as the questionnaire, and I gave her the same answers. I wasn't very helpful. After the consultation she told me what she was going to do. Which was basically a trim.

Next up I went over to have my hair washed by a first year apprentice. She was very green. Only a couple of weeks in. She was very thorough with the hair wash though. It also included a massage. The whole time she was asking me about finger pressure and whether she'd missed any parts. She also told me about how she has spent the past 4 years working on Christmas Day at the Cheesecake Shop. I wouldn't have thought that they would be open. Apparently they are.

Half an hour later I got up from the basin and headed back to a chair in front of the mirror. There I was told that there had been a change in plan and that the stylist had been talking to someone more senior who had made some suggestions. The senior girl came over and went through what was going to happen. She explained it to the stylist, and said, "You know, kind of like Dave Grohl's hair."

"Dave Grohl?"

"Yeah, Dave Grohl. From the Foo Fighters. You know."

"Uhh... No?"

So the girl who was cutting my hair didn't know what it was supposed to look like and she didn't know who Dave Grohl is. She looked about 20, so I don't know what's up with that. She didn't look like she lived under a rock, but you never know.

The stylist started cutting my hair, then after about 10 minutes she didn't know what to do. So we spent the next ten minutes waiting for the senior stylist to finish up with her client. Then the senior stylist spent ten minutes cutting my hair and then I walked out the door.

In all, the haircut was worth what I paid for it. It really doesn't look any different to the way that it did before I went in there. It's just a little bit less thick. And it was exceptionally clean.

Not anymore though.

King Of The Bush!

His kingdom? Woodgate.

Blistering

It's the last week before the school holidays now. The Easter holidays. I'm looking forward to the four day break. Sure, I had two and half weeks off only a couple of months ago, but things are just ridiculous at work at the moment. I was there for a very long day yesterday. I was there for another long day today. I'm kind of over not being able to leave on time at the moment. It sucks.

Tomorrow I am leaving on time. Definately. I've got an appointment. I've got a haircut tomorrow. It's gonna be free!

Ria saw a sign up down in New Farm. Apparently it said something like, "Free Men's Haircuts!" So I rang up the place where the cuts are being made and asked about it. The girl on the end of the line booked me in for Wednesday afternoon. 4:45. I'm not too sure why it's free. She said something about a new girl and hair modelling or something. Ria's a little bit worried that it's going to be some weird crappy haircut. I'm not too worried. I mean, how bad can a free hair cut be?

So that's happening tomorrow afternoon and that means that I definately have to be out of work on time. Kapila isn't going to be there tomorrow. She's going to New York again. I'll be working with Karen. If there's a heap of kids there tomorrow I'm not too sure what I will do. I guess I will just have to shuffle some of them around. I will be walking out the door at 4:30.

I hope.

So the weekend was okay. The bowling on Saturday night was really fun. Cheap beers too which was nice. Unfortunately things went downhill a bit after that. We went to Chalk which was really busy because of an AFL match. I did run into Richie Finnila though, which was nice. We eventually bailed on Chalk and headed to the Normanby. It was also pretty crap. I was kinda drunk by this time. We ended up going home and I had a drink with John out of his new wine glass. It seemed to do the job well.

There was some drama and then it was the next day.

Sunday was a pretty relaxed day. There wasn't too much happening. Ria and I went to see Bra Boys in the evening down at the new Cineplex cinemas at Victoria Point. The documentary was okay. It was a little bit biased, and the boys are unapologetic about beating people up, but some of the surf sequences were astounding. The wave at Cyclops was particularly scary.

So that's about it really. It's been busy, but not for much longer. Bring on Woodgate!