December 31, 2011

On walking, the new year, and a guy who makes great coffee...

The heat of the bitumen scorches Jim's feet as he walks down the highway, his gait slow and hinting towards the feeling of pointlessness that had engulfed him. The overcast grey sky and the muted green, grey and brown of the native shrubs that shrouded the edges of the highway suited his mood, if only that sunlit patch of cloud would disappear. It was too hopeful...
Photo courtesy of Timothy Lock Photography,
A man who not only takes rad photos, but also makes some fantastic coffee at the Fremantle Markets
You should go and try one sometime, and ask him what he got up to in Scotland while you're at it
I've been writing little tidbits about Jim and Sam lately, but I only ever seem to be able to write a few sentences at a time before it becomes forced (the little bit above this is yesterday's effort). Does anyone have any suggestions for curing writer's block? My personal opinion is that some time lying on the ocean floor staring at the sun would help, but until this dratted sling comes off that's not an option. Oh well, only one more week! :D

On a more cheery note, buon anno! I hope you all have a fantastic night and make the most of the year ahead. I'm not big on New Year's resolutions, but this year I have thought of one - make it through the year without having surgery :P Wish me luck!

They're so rad :D

December 16, 2011

Headed for the Antarctic

I passed all my units, in fact, more than passed them all. I still can't really believe it, especially given I was genuinely failing Italian at the end of the semester - 48% had become my arch nemesis, but I mustered up all my Dislocato Girl skills and owned it, and this song is a pretty accurate summary of how it made me feel. Oh yeah :D



Over the past few weeks I've had a ridiculous amount of spare time on my hand, and as people seem to do in this day in age, it's led to a lot of clicking random links on websites I've stumbled upon and seeing where it takes me, and this has got to be one of my favourites.

When I was a little kid, I did a project on Ernest Shackleton and his expedition on the Discovery to Antarctica in 1914, and I fell a little in love with the place (which is strange considering how tough that expedition was). After I'd done the project, we got to go to the IMAX theatre and watch a movie about it, which I thought was the greatest thing ever, and not wanting the joy to die, my 7-year old self proceeded to read a rather large book about it. Safe to say, I've wanted to go to the Antarctic ever since, and these photos, credited to Frank Hurley and taken between 1911 and 1914, make me want to go all the more. Enjoy!






Photos courtesy of the National Library of Australia

December 14, 2011

Placebo of Adulthood

The last 18 months of my life have been so unbelievably dramatic, and it all seems to stem from this idea that we've finished school, we've turned 18, and magically, we're mature adults. I don't get it. At all. And it's really making me nostalgic for the days of being a kid. When there wasn't some kind of invisible barrier between the sexes (that society has since magically placed there), and when life just seemed a lot simpler. But it more makes me wonder when and why this placebo of 'adulthood' settled on us all, and how on earth we let it happen without a fight.

December 02, 2011

Happiness and The Smiths - One week down.

I'm writing this blog because of something I read in Smith Journal, so I was going to post a song by the Smiths, but ended up with a scene from 500 Days of Summer, one of my all-time favourite movies, featuring Hall & Oates and the mighty attractive Joseph Gordon-Levitt. But I figure that works (somehow) because 500 Days of Summer is what got me into The Smiths in the first place... :P


One week post-surgery and things are going well...except I decided to stop taking pain meds because they were giving me headaches of epic proportions and so now my brain is returning, and I am getting antsy. I'm so bored!

And then I read this thing in Smith Journal, which is a pretty rad magazine that you should totally get a hold of, and it helped a little. The next 5-7 weeks of hell-in-a-sling means no more dislocating shoulders, which will be well-worth it and I'm sure will help with this dudes* notion of happiness which I really like, so I just have to focus on that.

"HAPPINESS
This is an uncomfortable word, too full of associations of cheerfulness and mindlessness. I prefer fulfillment. The goal is to have a fulfilled life, which may have enduring periods of great difficulty, but in the name of something worthwhile**. Also, it feels vital to conceive of happiness as something one might, at best, sample in 10-minute bursts. To imagine a decade of happiness seems insane - happiness is a rich food that we can't stomach for very long. We're creatures of anxiety and apprehension. That's how we survived."

And besides, there's a stress ball attached to my sling and who doesn't like stress balls?


*Alain de Botton, who is apparently an author and philosopher.
**My friends and family are making this far less difficult though - thanks everyone :)