rode · in · on · a · lamb · & · rode · out · as · a · lion

oh hey guys what's up!

i'm in peru. today i saw a ¨mummy¨ (not actually a mummy because her organs were intact, but a frozen girl who was offered as a sacrifice to a mountain god and found buried in a volcano. HEAVY.)

i also spent two hours walking around a convent and bought alpaca legwarmers!

man i've been going crazy buying gifts for my beloved ones. in australia i hate buying gifts, but it is so much fun when you have six months to choose what to get for people! unfortunately i can't fit much stuff in my bag.

i always hated ponchos but NOW I OWN ONE and it's so great!

moriarty i think you would like it here! there are mummies AND jungle.

i really miss having long hair.

we are considering going to colombia but shhh don't tell my mum.

love caro!

hello internet! i felt like posting here for some reason!

thank you to you kids who sent me music for my birthday! you are flipping sweet (i guess). it was a really rock and roll birthday (assuming that hiking and eating chocolate and going to bed just after midnight is rock and roll which i am pretty sure it is)

we are in coroico, probably the greatest place on earth (maybe not quite but a great place to spend a week).

in two months and four days i will be amongst you all again, and i am getting really psyched for it.

here are some things i plan to eat when i get back (in the first couple of months, there's no real hurry, except for the rigatoni)

-truffle rigatoni with sundried tomatoes and snow peas, from siena's in leederville.
-a veggie moon burger and a caramel coke
-that really tasty vegetarian enchilada from the mexican kitchen in fremantle
-fish and chips (only without fish and with salad) from cicerello's
-anything from viet nosh

i have been thinking about things i like eating in perth a lot lately!
and things i like about perth in general, e.g. music that isn't pachanga, lots of people to speak australian english to, handsome boyfriend who lavishes me with love, beaches that aren't made of volcanic rock (awesome but not for every day). i wholeheartedly maintain that western australia is amazing and is beautiful and is one of the best places anyone could ever live.

that doesn't mean that bolivia isn't freakin' awesome though. for one i don't know where else you can get coffee, orange juice, eggs, bread, butter and strawberry jam for $3-4. man, i love breakfast! and the women wear wacky clothes. that's all for now!

ps. i've been reading so many books

hello everyone! i am in sucre, bolivia. although if you would like to learn about what i am doing in bolivia i suggest you check out the blog.

i have been looking into plans for next year and i am seriously thinking of doing my diploma of education. it is no secret that what i like doing more than anything is playing music, but since that is not going to get me any money, at least not any time soon, i am going to need a job in the interim.

it seems that UWA does not offer primary teaching, which is what i would want to do, so i would be looking at going to ECU.

this is kind of an exciting thought! i like the idea of being back at school again, just for a little while. and in this strange old world teaching is one of not all that many good and beneficial things someone can do with their time, and i want to be a good person, i haven't been trying hard enough.

in other news i'm wildly, fiercely in love with m.m., i haven't been jogging in two months, i went to a britney spears tribute concert last night (disappointing), i'm looking for a cheap banjo and/or 8-track in bolivia, and i miss you all horribly.

man is it just me or is today´s writer´s block written by jenny?!

guess what you guys, in 8 days ro_dent and i will be flying to BUENOS AIRES!

then once we've explored argentina we'll be chillin' in chile and ecuador and peru and bolivia and brazil, maybe!

then in six months we'll come back and have SOOOOO MUCH FUN with all you guys :D:D:D

i'm mainly excited today actually

it seems to me that one of the greatest cruelties of life is that, when you wake up on a monday morning with your arms wrapped around someone warm and sleepy and dreamy, golden light coming in through the window

you can't just go "i'm sorry, i can't come into work this morning, i'm in love"

or "sorry, i'm taking affectionate leave today"

without eventual repercussions.

i've tried to think about ways that companies and organisations could somehow incorporate this into their policies (one morning of affectionate leave permitted each week, no prior notice required? if you skip a week, you get a whole day of lovin' the next week?)

none of them really work out though. the problem with love is that there's always more to give. you can spend all weekend gazing into someone's eyes and living in their pocket, but once you wake up on monday refreshed by sleep you'll be ready to love them all over again. but i guess that's a good thing, not a bad thing.

NUMBER ONE does anyone with a bit of spare space want to inherit my CD collection when i'm away? it's not enormous, probably about 200 CDs or less.

there's a lot of bizarre shit in there (sergio mendes, anyone? blink-182's relatively obscure debut album?) but also some pretty cool stuff, especially if you like americana/folk/alt-country (lucinda williams, gillian welch, wilco, bonnie prince billy, lots of dylan and cohen) and obviously there's quite a bit of rock and roll.

i could put it in storage, but it seems a shame to let all that magical music go to waste when someone could be discovering a new favourite artist instead. don't be shy!

NUMBER TWO (hee hee hee) also if anyone wants to look after hannah's drumkit for me while i'm away then they are completely welcome :/ i'm really struggling to work out what to do with that one

NUMBER THREE m.m. has claimed most of my novels, but i have a small collection of coffee table books on art/fashion/design/music that i don't think he'd be interested in. about 10-12 books in total. FRUiTS by shoichi aoki, about three books on vintage & sixties fashion, books of prints by escher/monet/hiroshige/hokusai, a pretty cool book of stills from mark romanek videoclips, my beatles anthology, probably a couple of others. again, they can go into storage if needs be, but i'd prefer for someone to enjoy them.

"the stand ins" by okkervil river is probably my favourite album that i bought last year. i love the way will sheff writes songs. i think he's brilliant, with a wonderful intuitive sense of melody-writing, and his lyrics are both incredibly accessible and extraordinarily poetic. this is one song i've been listening to an obscene amount lately. it's the perfect song to listen to when you travel to visit your family on christmas, leaving the person you love in a different city.

---

She was once mine: that smile that shines
from the glossy magazine
that's stuck inside the Sunday times.

She was so sweet on Christmas eve
With the snow set deep
When we went walking through the pines.

I had just been fired and her first offer had arrived
And the new year would see her flying far away from me
though I didn't know it at the time.

With outstretched hands
Now she commands a famous figure for every picture
And she stands up strong and she demands
And they deliver; yeah she's a fixture

And it's mixture of dumb jealousy and fear
that I might feel should she appear
Just like it hasn't been three years

And there's distance to her voice over the phone
and that's because she stands alone
while I'm still sitting here

Girl you see me here on another quite night
I will wait until another indistinguishable day arrives
I'll sigh when the light is even and bright
Where my life is sweet while it's slightly disappointingly just gliding softly by

Girl, you won't wait for me
in some secluded stand of trees
Some Christmas Eve
some God was kind enough to set aside

Although I love you too
I'm proud of you
God knows I'm feeling really stupid now
for ever having said goodbye

During the fight I said, "yeah, right"
when you insisted that I visit; that you'd write
Now I know you're working hard
So I never hear from you
And that's fine
You look the same on TV as when you were mine

I walk in from the kitchen and I finger the remote control
I watch you from the distance: you go walking through the terminal
I remember every instance when you stunned me:
Yeah, you're so lovely
Oh, you're so smart

So go turn their heads
Go knock them dead
Go break their hearts.

---

there's a link to download it on this blog, if you like. i think you will like.

or you can watch a live version, if you want.

01. what did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
kept a job. worked full time. saved money. bought a plane ticket by myself, with my own money. err... fell in love? i hope i don't offend anyone by saying that.

02. did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
didn't make any. probably won't make any more. i would like to be more efficient.

03. Did someone close to you give birth?
nuh.

04. Did anyone close to you die?
nuh.

05. What countries did you visit?
none.

06. what would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
i agree with young damien, adventure. there was some, but not enough. OH and free time (for adventure).

07. what date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
i'm terrible at remembering dates. but i will remember when i got the letter from M.M., and the night we kissed for the first time, and also I am unlikely to forget buss'08 in a hurry.

08. what was your biggest achievement(s) of the year?
not getting fired or quitting my job. actually saving money. getting my shit together enough to organise plane tickets etc (admittedly Ro did a good chunk of the organisation on my behalf). OH and discovering that I'm pretty good at hiking! OH and the couch to 5k, and going to a few swing dance classes by myself when Hannah couldn't make it!

09. what was your biggest failure(s)?
not getting fired or quitting my job.

10. did you suffer illness or injury?
minor illness. gastric flu was the worst, and my insane periods. and a bit of depression brought on by the medication i needed for my insane periods.

11. what was the best thing you bought?
a flight from sydney to argentina.

12. whose behavior merited celebration?
m.m.'s. and that of everyone who gave a shitty santa gift.

13. whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
well, no one's, really.

14. where did most of your money go?
rent, films, music, restaurants, travel fund

15. what did you get really, really, really excited about?
LOVE, travel, buss, music, secret/shitty santa

17. compared to this time last year, are you
i. happier or sadder? i was really, really happy this time last year, because of what had been happening. this was a tough year but now i am really, really happy for what is to come.
ii. thinner or fatter? same-ish. i lost some weight with the c25k, i think i have put it back on.
iii. richer or poorer? oh god so much richer

18. what do you wish you'd done more of?
i wish i'd gone out a little more and been a little braver, but i did okay i guess

19. what do you wish you'd done less of?
work, sort of, but if i had then next year would be rather more anticlimactic

20. how will you be spending christmas?
i'm spending it with my family down south. we've eaten lunch and now everyone's just chilling, and tomorrow we'll go down south to augusta. my dad just made me download tabs to "the times are a-changin'" and "positively 4th street" and play them on guitar while he sang the words

22. did you fall in love in 2008?
where do i start.

23. how many one-night stands?
none

24. what was your favorite TV program?
i really enjoyed watching lateline and enough rope and letterman even though they are not exactly my favourite shows

25. do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
i probably hate less people. i didn't really hate anyone last year but i think i have less hate, overall

26. what was the best book you read?
even cowgirls get the blues was good. and i really loved god bless you, mister rosewater. i can't remember what my favourite would be.

27. what was your greatest musical discovery?
lots of good country old-timers- hank williams, guy clark, woody guthrie etc.

28. what did you want and get?
money. and i didn't want love but i got it.

29. what did you want and not get?
i can't think of anything. everything i lacked was my own responsibility, really

30. favorite film of this year?
hunger was amazing althoughnot exactly fun. burn after reading was stellar. man on wire moved and inspired me.

31. what did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
i went to work and pretended it wasn't my birthday and then i went to mojo's with my friends and watched jeff and jimi and juddy play music. i was 22.

32. what one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
having the same outcomes, but not having to work for it very much and consequently doing more interesting things. travelling a little more.

33. how would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
simple and increasingly disillusioned with fashion.

34. what kept you sane?
writing songs and journal entries and playing guitar.

35. which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
OWEN WILSON although i think i love him less than this time last year. oh gosh of course, LEONARD COHEN

36. what political issue stirred you the most?
i was interested in the u.s. presidential election although not ecstatic exactly

37. who do you miss?
i missed mark and also adam a bit. now they're both back in the state. i don't really miss anyone now, except m.m. a little but in a nice sort of way.

38. who was the best new person you met?
the year was a bit of a fail in terms of meeting new people although i did get to know some people who i'd previously only met briefly. adrian is probably the most interesting new person i met.

39. tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
i have to stop thinking that everything can be summed up in a life lesson.
i don't know very much about anything.
and sometimes (often) other people know what's better for me than i do. (see: not realising i was in love with m.m. even though everyone else seemed to be perfectly well aware)

40. quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
the songs that will always remind me of this year are "don't think twice, it's alright" and "love minus zero" by bob dylan and anything by ABBA and "escape (the pina colada song)." OH and "rhapsody in blue" by gershwin. but a song lyric that sums up my year... i might have to come back to that one.

i am so happy that m.m. has moved back into his old apartment. i love hanging out there, it inspires me! i can't wait to live with other people again, when i get back from south america.

on days like this i think that being in love is different to what i always sort of expected from it. better, too. not a series of tunnel vision explosions or a smoked up obsession that you carry around in your chest every day. but a glittering gold-yellow glow that illuminates the surfaces of your life. when it's working it's not inhibiting or suffocating, it's only inspiring and exciting and makes everything worth doing!

EVERYTHING IS INSPIRING

and it's friday tonight!
and a party-themed-party on saturday night!

i think i'm getting over my cold although i've been coughing in a hacking sort of manner.

today i was running sooooo late for work

but when i opened the door to leave the house there was a book there, between the fly-wire and the door

it was what i talk about when i talk about running by haruki murakami

there wasn't a note. i ran in to show m.m. we puzzled over who it could be from

and then i flicked it open and saw a note written on the third page, it said

"Cool Runnings Sis
Love Greg"

i love my family, we don't always know how to tell each other that we love one another but we find ways in the end :)

ps. i finished the C25k the other day

man sometimes i think that the very best thing that has ever happened in music is that moment in you got it by roy orbison with the lyric-less chorus, you know, the bit that goes: DOO DO-DO DOO and then roy's voice comes soaring over the top.

also if i could have been in any band ever i think i would have been a travelling wilbury (this is additionally good because it means i must have been in another awesome band prior to joining up with the fellas). i don't even know that much stuff by them but dang they seem like they had a fun old time.

hello kettle_drum if you still flick over this livejournal! just so you know i have procured a copy of the history of love and am excited to read it.

on friday i saw joe bludge/veescars/stereoflower/blackmilk at the norfolk basement. and then i saw men's group at paradiso on saturday and went up to the hills on saturday night.

on sunday i didn't do much, except shot some hoops and played guitar and watched school of rock and the office in bed with m.m. he's so fucking great. i'm all tingly thinking about him.

you know it's been a weirdly long time since i made "a new friend". remember when you were little and there was a new kid at school? it was so freaking exciting because the only people you knew were the other kids in your class and your parents and then suddenly there was someone new you could potentially be friends with, oh my goodness!

now i am grown up and not so shy so really i can be friends with whoever i want
but it is still kind of excitingly awkward when i meet someone i think is really cool. and i still occasionally have fantasies of sleeping over at each others houses and getting dressed up and going out dancing and buying birthday presents for each other. and i still plot ways that we can become best friends. it's kind of pathetic.

i hate my job i hate my job i hate my job i hate my job i hate my job.

alsoooooooooooo i feel a bit sick!

but much less sick than i have been lately (i didn't go to work yesterday. this is my second sick day in two weeks. not going makes me feel like shit but i felt like such shit anyway that i figured i'd be home again within the hour.)

i think i am just feeling sick now because i hate my job. BUT i am just going to suck it up from now on, now that i am getting better, because i need some flippin' cash.

ummm i've done a couple of updates to my blog so if you feel like reading then you should do that!

i haven't done anything creative for a couple of days though. i've been sick.

ANYWAY. from now on... i am IRON WOMAN!

nothing can faze me!