Monday, April 11, 2011

Two Months: Never Underestimate the Importance of the iPod

So, I had started on a post of the things I’ve learned in these rather eventful two months since I’ve arrived in Perth. However, it started looking pretty damn angst-y. Apparently, learning often takes place because you messed up the first time around, so I mostly feel like an idiot. Seriously, I have yet to get through a week without some kind of terrifying debacle to give me a pseudo-heart attack. I thought I lost my debit card on Saturday (found it in my jeans pocket –after I’d dumped my backpack, gone through my desk drawers, and the pockets of every other article of clothing). The Saturday before that I had trouble doing the electronic transfer for my rent (the saved info thingy was off by one number but it took me a week to figure that out). Before that I ran out of credit on my mobile (because there was some feature turned on that made texts cost twice as much, which I had no idea about when I got it), etc, etc, etc…..
 (PRO TIP #11: Use the “reverse trip” button on googlemaps and public transit trip planners so you know how to get back home…………. >_<;;)
These apparently weekly events mostly serve to make me feel stupid and anxious, which makes me feel tired and angry, which makes me feel like a masochist for having embarked on this insanity in the first place.

HOWEVER, my emotions are also swinging just as extremely in the other direction; Some things make me feel so incredibly….. right. Happy in a way that makes me want to just stop and live in that moment. Savor it, because I am exactly where I should be, right here, right now.

Guh. Forget a cutesy rollercoaster, I feel like I’m riding freaking Milankovitch cycle curve on frequencies that can last seconds. 

But, there are lots of little things that make me smile, feel satisfied, or just plain old cheerful. And those are things I can control, things I can use effectively to climb up out of the valleys after days when I suck at making friends or forget a book I need or fret over the cost of groceries or any of the million other slings and arrows.

AND SO, I present to you my list of the little things that cheer me up.

My Rule #32 List

  • Weet-bix with a teeth-aching amount of raw sugar.
  • Thai ramen (Mama brand, shrimp tom yum flavor).
  • Remember how my rose quartz necklace broke in the driveway? I found enough of the beads to make a bracelet.
  • My Warren Wilson farm boys calendar (so excited for May. And June. And *especially* July. XD)
  • Cresting the hill at Cottesloe beach and seeing the Indian Ocean sparkle in the sun.
  • Dark chocolate, which should be a part of every first aid kit.
  • The hip-straps on my backpack. Best. Idea. Ever.
  • The train. I love riding it. Even in rush hour. Not sure why, just do.  
  • The hope that the 45+ minutes of walking I do every day results in BUNS OF STEEL.
  • Watching Firefly and anime on my laptop, preferably with a bowl of Weet-bix or ramen. Or both.
  • The view of the city from the 1st floor porch of my flat.
  • Australian breakfast tea with milk and a teeth-aching amount of raw sugar.
  • Kookaburras. I’m going to accidentally steal one soon, just watch. 
OH. MY. GOD. I got a kookaburra to come sit next to me on the bench! I could have reached out and touched him!!! :D Ritz crackers = win.
 
  • The tree with the hot pink flowers at the corner of my street.
  • My donna (= down comforter). The temperature dropped last Thursday to a downright chilly 19*C (70*F) and I just about didn’t get out of bed on Friday morning it was so wonderful beneath the covers.
  • The blog that my wonderful incredible fantastic friends made to tell me what they’re up to.
  • Microwave popcorn in the UniSFA clubroom. I’ll have to have a good alibi if the case goes missing one day…..
  • Comments on this blog. ^_^ 
  • Seashells and wave-smoothed rocks. 
  • I totally opened the last two really stubborn jam jars all by myself! :D
  • A back massage. Guh. I never realized how much I depend on my loved-ones to keep me from being a cripple. Heaps of retroactive appreciation guys! 
  • When people are nice. It means SO MUCH to me when someone reaches out to me, since my batting average for making friends who call back has so far been less than stellar.
  • My fleece blanket.
  • Books. I’m plowing through sci-fi and Australian novels like a little kid with a bag of marshmallows.
  • My Totoro bookmark.
  • My collapsible water bottle. The fact that it’s orange and has a goose on it makes it even better.
  • Summer rain. Makes me feel transcendent.
  • Music and my iPod. HANDS DOWN, the most important thing for my sanity; it’s like aural Prozac. Besides my always favorite mixes (especially Struttin' and YTuMamaTambien series) and soundtracks (Garden State has an embarrassing number of plays, as does Princess Mononoke), I'm listening to a lot of Third Eye Blind, Matchbox Twenty, and The Killers, as well as getting into my BNL again (so depressing after the Stephen Page affair T_T) and getting to know the Violent Femmes, Incubus, Andrew Bird, and Ani Difranco. It takes exactly 50 minutes from my front door to getting off the bus on campus, so similar to my high school days, which has re-sparked my urge to create driving mixes. AND THUS I PRESENT a youtube playlist of my latest mix. :D Merry Un-Birthday, dear readers! And the tracklist below, for those who may want to build this mix themselves and burn it to a cd for a certain mother who has a certain commute......... (COUGHMAXIECOUGH).

Busin’
1. Waiting for the Bus – Violent Femmes (Appropriate, no?).
2. Push –Matchbox Twenty (I just love Matchbox Twenty).
3. Fences –Paramore (Addictive song, vid is the most watched version on youtube but not actually the band...).
4. Poprocks & Coke –Greenday (<3).
5. Tire Swing –Kimya Dawson (I am slightly in love with this lady. Live renditions are problematic in this use of youtube, but I couldn't resist how adorable she is in this vid).
6. M!zunderstood –Pink (also in love with this lady, and I read somewhere that Aussies love her too).
7. Blister In The Sun –Violent Femmes (I am in extreme danger of dancing in public whenever I play this).
8. Here It Goes Again –Ok Go (Besides this being the best music vid EVER, I ka-heart this song).
9. Albuquerque –Weird Al (I can’t decide if this is a good insight into abq or just me and my friends or what that says about ABQ and me and my friends. I always picture Emil and Wes and Brandon when I listen, I think because you guys knew EVERY. SINGLE. LINE. and sang it for us one time….)
10. Dance, Dance, Dance –Steve Miller Band (zomg, I really super love this song Kev ^_^ and it really REALLY makes me want to dance).
11. New Virginia Creeper –Old Crow Medicine Show (Another dance song. Seriously, I’m going to embarrass myself one of these days).
12. Mrs. Robinson –Simon & Garfunkel (Good song is good).
13. Albuquerque –Neil Young (I think this is a pretty good insight into abq).
14. Helicopters –Barenaked Ladies (Incredible song, but obscure so hard to find a decent rendition on youtube...)
15. Starlight –Muse (Claaaaasic).
16. I Can Walk On Water –Basshunter (Apparently I like the danger of dancing on public transit. Also, I just couldn't resist this vid special for Maxie and Alex Jordan :P).


Hugs to all. ^_^

 P.S. Two ridiculously awesome videos that I especially know Daddy will like. ^_^ Pink and Lady Gaga.

2 comments:

  1. Glad you appreciate the Steve Miller Band :P It is soooooo catchy, classic, and awesome!!! Miss you Smarty!

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  2. i'll need to listen to this playlist at some pt when I'm not doing hw (if there's lyrics hw doesn't get done)

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