The Life and Laughs: Revenge of the Laugh

Oh, subscribers, are you still there? Are you surprised to see me again?

As of this moment, I have finished all the assessment tasks for my university degree. There is the small matter of handing it in and, oh, passing, but I have confidence that I will receive a high enough score to get me the certificate.

So, where I left you last.

I was about to start my two-week internship, which turned out really interesting. I found out lots about myself in those two weeks – how quickly I can really write, how to self-edit, how to take criticism (although, the sub-editor who sat me down and went through my work was very nice about correcting my mistakes, much nicer than my actual class teacher), how to make phone-interviews.

I also learned how much I hate journalism. Well, not all aspects of journalism – but I wasn’t a fan of slow moving, methodical get-the-interview-and-write-it journalism. I’m not knocking it, I just guess it wasn’t for me!

I also did some tough interviews for a writing class, since the assessments needed us to go interview complete strangers. I interviewed two research professors, and a few of my friends. For one article, I chose to interview April and Bianca about their personal lives. They were toughies, I had to fight to keep tears back with Bianca.

Overall, I did pretty well in Semester 1. Of course, I knew Semester 2 was going to be a bitch and half. But before that…

I went on the SAMA camp. SAMA is the Monash Anime club, which Mela is a part of. It was in the middle of July, so it was cold and wet – and the place we went to seemed to be creating mud out of every crevice. As the club is a nerdy one, most nights were spent playing Mahjong, watching anime or horror movies. The last night, however, saw everyone wanting to get rid of all the alcohol that was brought. Much drunkeness and throwing-upness occurred. Cindy drank til she was a bit beyond tipsy (we thought she was outright drunk, but a few weeks later we saw a video of her being actually drunk and talking in an infectious British accent). And my girl? Well, she went much beyond drunk – bashed through hilarious drunk by hugging everyone and telling them she loves them, and then crashed into bad drunk and threw up what smelled like pure alcohol. The next day, suffice to say, she suffered.

There was also the SAMA Social Night, which happened in August. I was forced to go, and went through a horrible process of trying to find clothing for the formal event. In the end, I put together some dodgy looking pieces, fixed with the bowtie that Amelia gave me for my birthday (oh, did I mention? I turned 21! I got loads of presents, but Amelia’s was the best: the bowtie, a great scarf, and a crap-load of Nerds lollies). I ended up winning best-dressed male. Clare, who went, could not stop smiling at me when I was up on stage. If I could have melted with embarrassment, I would have.

Semester 2 was tougher. I had 3 subjects again, but all requiring research, and none were creative. One was a whipping 8000 word mini-thesis. Amusingly, the other two subjects overlapped each other almost completely in content, simply from different ends. And so the first six weeks saw me learn a whole load of new information, and the last six saw me revise it in the other class.

Annie and I worked very hard, for once…and the last time. We holed ourselves up in the library every day we were in (which was, granted, around twice a week), for a whole month, and worked our asses off while we were at home. We did up to 20,000 words of research for a 2,500 essay, and sure we laughed about it later, but at that time, it was horrible. I once wrote so hard that my arms cramped, something I haven’t really encountered since VCE exams.

I also got a new laptop! A Samsung Series 9, which is as light as an eyelash and about as thick. It’s a beautiful machine, and I want so much to keep it beautiful I haven’t taken off the plastic cover on the front and on the wrist-rest.

Amelia bought me tickets for and attended with me Maroon 5. It was a shocking concert – although there wasn’t a mosh, and we sat further back than we thought we would, they made up for it with their relentless energy. I did not stop dancing the whole time they were on stage, and neither did they! Jen and I shouted ourselves hoarse (we both wanted to go, and dragged our other halves with us).

Amelia turned 20, and I took her to the Conservatory at Crown. It was a bad start, because I got lost and was late to the restaurant, but Amelia ate a massive fill from the buffet, and I gorged myself on the chocolate fountain. The food was very good (considering how much it costs), but the thing that got me the most was the service. First-class waiters and waitresses were patient as hell, despite covering about two dozen people each.

We also celebrated our 1 year anniversary (yes, it HAS been that long!) but, unfortunately, on the day I had classes I had to attend. We delegated the celebrating to her birthday, since they’re both very close to each other. Amelia also held another birthday dinner at Paesano’s at Knox O-Zone, and so many people showed up that we had to get two massive tables and squeeze together.

Meg, Amelia’s dog, has gotten extremely cute – and much bigger! Although she is still quite small, she no longer fits just on one arm, and I need to carry her with both. She’s not gotten much smarter, but she’s very loyal, and the other week when I visited her after a long break, she was so excited, she peed! I love Meg very much, and I can’t stop talking about her when I’m with other people. I think it annoys them but if they were loved by Meg, they’d do the same.

And now, I’ve finished all the assessments for my university schooling. I’m not going back to class next year, nor have I a job lined up. I was hoping to take a year off and see what my options are. Perhaps I can pay Amelia more attention too, as I have neglected her a lot this past few months.

I’m about to go to China for a two week holiday, by myself. I’m utterly terrified, because I’m about as good a flyer as a rock, and I’ve never had to go by myself before. But, hey, I’m 21 now, I should learn how to hack it.

It also means that, despite this lengthy and vigorous attempt to revive this blog, I will not be blogging for the next 2-3 weeks, because WordPress is blocked in China. But I will strive to come back.

So, Revenge of the Laugh! The Life Returns. Etc.

Alex.

/edit: Also, Brendan happened. He had to carry my drunk girlfriend since I couldn’t, and she kept on thinking she was flying, causing him to nearly drop her a lot. (This was at SAMA camp by the way.) Also a bunch of other stuff including him took place, like um. I don’t know. Also he got a new girlfriend.

All Hopes I Had Become Surreal

[My Heroine – Silverstein]

Today was my first official day at Melbourne. And, actually, you know what? Today was the first day of Autumn; that means that Summer has ended. I need to update my Summer playlist, and also it means that I’ll stop posting lyrical headings. This will thus be the end.

I think a lot of songs I REALLY WANTED TO USE didn’t get posted on. Well. Too bad. Perhaps I’ll do a Winter title thing as well.

Alright, to cut a long and obviously predictable story short: Yes Uni was pretty good. Lectures haven’t kicked in yet. There WAS one subject which reduced me to dozing, so I actually just changed out of it to something hopefully better EXCEPT I need to get it confirmed and get my timetables done. I hope I don’t get crappy times. I still get Tuesdays off. The food was expensive in Union House so I will start doing packed lunches. I’ll get a Union member friend to go heat it up for me.

Points of interest for today:

1) Josh and Annie are in the same lectures and breaks with me for the first 3 hours.

2) I am actually very excited about doing Professional Writing, even though a lot of the styles will be out of my comfort zone. But I think the Tutes will definitely help.

3) Seeing Zhen (3rd year student and friend) and saying hi to him at the cafeteria actually makes me feel really cool because I know a 3rd year.

4) The Norwegian guy I was talking about is also in my Professional Writing class. I really hope he never finds this blog or he’ll think I’m a complete freak.

5) Josh does not hesitate to tell disgusting stories while I eat.

6) Anna is very gullible. This I’ll go into detail soon.

7) I FINALLY MET SNEAKS!!! I FINALLY MET CHERYL! AFTER GOD KNOWS HOW LONG I ACTUALLY MET HER AND SHE IS RIDICULOUSLY TALL.

Alright, so Cheryl first. She’s doing Uni classes this year, so, because today I was going to stay back a bit to have dinner with Josh, Annie and Anna, I met up with her. This was the first time we ever did this.

I waited with her outside her room, and I swear, when she gets nervous she says the oddest things. CHERYL! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! But actually, it was so good to tall to her in person, and be dwarfed, literally, by her presence.

After that, I went to dinner at Red Silks with the other three.

I think I haven’t laughed that hard or frequently through a meal in ages.

Somehow we managed to convince Anna that the bottle of water she was pouring from is actually pure tequila. We pretended to down the “tequila” with some effort, while she obviously effortlessly chugged it down. She got rather worried that she had “alcohol” without knowing it. It went on for nearly 10 minutes of us just half pissing ourselves laughing.

At the end of the meal, and I swear this happened, I told her that “gullible is written on the ceiling”…AND SHE LOOKED! Man, the fact that she took all of this in good humor and still laughed and had fun with us, that is a sign of a truly awesome person.

We also, for some reason (which I think was mostly Mai), had a huge conversation about cleavages. I remarked that it is awkward for me to hug friends above a certain height, because it means my face is level with some awkward – albeit comfortable – cushioning. Annie asked, “well why don’t you turn your head to the side?” I replied, “I ALREADY DO?! What, do you think I currently hug people by burying my face in their chest?! NO!”

And then, and I can’t remember why, I started singing “Do your ears hang low, do they sway to and fro?” I think it’s because Josh said, “You can just throw [your breasts] over your shoulder when you hug someone.” And, if I recall correctly, the song goes, “Do you throw them over your shoulders like a marching band soldier?”

Alright, so, I think I may have laughed too much today because I read back on what I wrote, and not only does it sound insanely immature, it also sounds a bit high. So I’m sorry if it was tedious to read, but there you go.

I have tomorrow off, to do my subjects. My books, however, are a worry.

So, I bid you my reader, welcome to Autumn. If you also started Uni today, I wish you the best for the future, and I hope you didn’t get TOO ripped off by the expensive food today.

Alex.

Time flu…ahem flew…

I procrastinated rather guiltily last night, reading through my old blog posts instead of doing Legal homework. Soon it would be 1 year since I started blogging frequently.

I was reading through some of the first ones I wrote when I first started. There was that once when BRuCE sat outside the crepe place in the wind laughing loudly and having fun together. Or that time in assembly last year when Dani and I sat together and wondered at how there were only 6 weeks of school left…for Yr 11. And yet here I am now.

Relived Sale all over again. Every word brought back the amazing moments that we had in Sale, the drinking contest that Julia lost, Jen’s mozzie bite through the jeans…

I was going to relive those first few weeks of holidays too, the few days I spent with Bianca. But it all became too nostalgic. The knowledge of how close I am to the next big step in my life…

Well, Term 3 starts tomorrow. It’s my final full term ever. Soon I’ll be blogging about how we’re six weeks away from ACTUALLY graduating.

Alex.

First Day Of The Last

Today I had my first official school day of Year 12. Actually, I suppose it wasn’t really a full day considering it was a Wednesday and most of it were interrupted by school photos, but nonetheless a working day.

We were given the outline for English and Legal, my two classes for today, and while both of them are a bit daunting, I think if I pull my head in I can do it. English will require me to put in a bit more effort with notes and prep than I usually do, and it was a bit sad actually not having April in my class to relieve the stress like I usually have her. I have some pretty big personalities in my English class this year so if I don’t watch what I say I might get onto the wrong side of things. I don’t know, maybe I want that. So far, I’ve been dubbed as the knife-killer due to a misunderstanding in an activity we did. And Legal Studies I see to be a rather hard but fun subject, because Julia and Jen are really good to sit with, and Mr Sh- is an interesting speaker.

Tomorrow I have my first Methods and English Language class. I shudder to think what will happen in Methods. I hope that I’m keeping up with the work. And it will be interesting to see how Miss Madd- teaches, as compared to Mr And-. Oh, speaking of which, Ino- Sensei has officially changed her name so it is hyphenated with Mr And-‘s as well. And here I was thinking that it just meant they were being coodinators together.

I got the bottom locker, but I suppose it’s not too bad, despite the crowding. Most of my classes, bar Methods, are all on the same level and building as my locker, with my form room and my Legal Studies class right next door to it. So I can afford to wait for an opening.

I sat under the aircon in Legal and I’ve got a bit of a headache. I’m sure it’s nothing a spot of water, a good sleep and my immune system can’t kick, though. Bee, Carmaine and Fel studied at the Glen library after school while I waited for my mom to pick me up. It annoys me that, because I don’t study much, I sometimes get shunned from them when they do need to study. This probably won’t be too big a problem this year, considering I want to pick up my slack (baby steps, as Mr Sh- advised) but nonetheless…

I don’t know if I will blog as frequently as I do from now on. It’s become a habit to log on every night and tap in a few (hundred) words. But at the same time I want to keep up in Methods, and stay on top of the reading for Legal. And then, Chinese will start. I’m pretty glad I did an extra year of Chinese beforehand, because I’ve got a fair idea of what Year 12 is like. I’m just worried about my Detailed Studies.

Socially, Year 12 is shaping up pretty well. I stepped into the Common Room for a bit today but it was crowded by quite a few people – if I’m honest, it was crowded by the group of people I expected it to be dominated by – so we didn’t do much. I haven’t yet taken advantage of microwaves and whatnots. The canteen has adopted a new menu this year. I mean, yeah, it’s healthier, but frankly it’s a lot more expensive for food that we can all bring from home anyway, and bloody hell they’re charging 20c for a packet of ketchup, whereas before it was liberal dispensing of soy sauce, ketchup, mustard…and plus they’ve taken off most of the greasy foods which we rely on in winter. Interested to see how long this new health kick can last for.

It was pretty good to hang out a bit with the people in my form, I didn’t do much of that at camp. Form is going to be awesome this year, because we’ve got our old Geography/History room, and there were many a good memory made there in the past. I feel that everyone’s being pretty happy and nice to everyone else (at least as far as I’m aware) because it’s our final year. That is not to say I haven’t also noticed how much distaste I have for some people who laughed and made fun of other people behind their backs (case in point the envelopes of postcards we made for English, with our personalities on them. A few girls have been looking at them with their friends and laughing and guessing some postcards to be representing “retard” or “pedophile”).

Oh well, one more year and I can be rid of those idiots forever. Spend more time with real friends.

Keep Cool (and motivated)

D.F.