Yadda Yadda Yadda

My new job is going really well. The people are lovely and I'm doing well at my job. I'm working in the 'contracts & compliance' department of an IT company doing admin stuff. I've had to learn new computer programs and do lots of weird stuff, but it's all good. The people are great and I can do the work, so yay! Looks like it might turn into a permanent thing too! Yay!

Someone tell me why I know the song 'Summertime' by The Sundays. Why do I know this song?! It's driving me nuts! I feel like we sang it in a band I was in about 6 and a half years ago (called 'captain superfluous and the inconsequentials'), but I don't know all the words, so it can't be that. Help me!

I started my new job today. I haven't actually told many people I have a new job. I got it on Thursday and I started today. It's at the same place my mum works. She got me the job. Isn't she wonderful? They like her so much that they gave me the job sight unseen! Being her daughter was enough for them! I hope I live up to the expectations! My mum does have a great work ethic. The job is kind of boring (office admin, mostly data entry), but the people are nice. I am working there 3.5 days a week, so about 30 hours. I'm now earning more money than I've ever earned in my life! I can't believe it. So my week now looks like this:

Monday morn - lifeguard
Monday arvo - On Q (the name of the place I'm working now)
Tues - On Q
Wed - On Q
Thurs - On Q
Fri - Uni

So now my week is full! Bit of a change for me. I've had to give a couple of things up for this, but I think I need it. I'm so over being poor, and I need to have some savings! Currently I have only a couple of hundred dollars in my savings account, and I always end up spending that on my car. Then I have all the night time things I do. I think I'll be a bit busy, but not too busy. I'll just need to learn to manage my time better. I'm not good at that. Never had been. I'll report back in a week or so on this and let you know how I'm doing.

It's this Friday (tomorrow) night!

I'm playing a gig at the Park Orchards Chalet (near Warrandyte) this Friday May 25th. I'm getting a band together for a one off gig that night. We have Marcus on guitar, Ben on bass and Mark on drums. It'll be mostly originals (some old Synergy stuff, and some of my own stuff) and a couple of covers thrown in there. Details:

579 Park Rd
Park Orchards 3114
Friday May 25th
7:30pm

It's a restaurant, so come and have a meal, or just have a drink. It'll be a great time to chill out to some music. There will be another band after us who are great and lots of fun! Hope to see you there!

It's been a while since I've played a gig, and I miss it, so it should be heaps of fun!

Well, Kathryn left for America yesterday and Alison left for Queensland a week ago. I won't see them for 6 months. Very sad. Exciting for them though. I'm sure they'll have amazing times!

I'm really struggling to find a counselling placement. I have to get one for my uni degree, but I'm finding it really hard to find a place. I've been applying through lots of organisations/government departments to get a placement in a women's prison. It's so hard. If anyone has any ideas. Let me know! I'll take almost anything at the moment.

I've just finished listening to a special on Triple J (the radio station) on Jeff Buckley. May 29th marks the 10 year anniversary since he died. He was 30 years old. It was an amazing hour of music and interviews. He really was a very talented man. I'm shocked that he's so well remember and so influential and he only made one album, entitled 'Grace'! He was in the process of recording his second album when he died. After his death a double cd was released of soem of his best unreleased tracks. There are lots of live recordings of his around too. I was very impressed listening to all the live tracks (which is mostly what Triple J played). I'd forgotten how much I like his music. Check him out if you're interested. He does an amazing version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". R.I.P Jeff Buckley.

Very clever political satire!

So I had a moment of insanity this morning. I was at work and I realised that today was the last day of the Melbourne Australian Idol auditions. So what did I do? I headed off there after work, by myself, to wait for 6 hours...

I finally got my audition just before 5:30pm and I was happy with the way I sang. Probably could have chosen a wiser musical choice, but it was all ok. I got past the first round of judges and in to see the producers. The guy said I had a good voice, he thought I had talent, but he didn't think I had enough power or my own style enough. Honestly, I think that was largely due to my complete lack of preparation given I only decided that morning to go.I didn't chose the best song. But he had a point.

Without sounding arrogant, I think I have a good voice, but not a great voice. So I was happy with the day all in all. Apart from my unbelievable boredom... I was happy with the way I sang, so that's all I can ask for. However, I don't think I'll be auditioning again...

I'm kind of sad at the moment. I'm also excited. But sad. My 2 best friends are both moving away at the same time! Kathryn is about go head over to America to do one of those summer camp things and travel around a bit. She'll be gone for about 6 months. She leaves in just over a week. And Alison has taken a job in Mt Isa (central north Queensland) as a locum physio for a few months, then she's going to travel around our fair country for a while. So she'll be away for about 6 months too. She leaves in a few days. While I'm excited for them, I'm sad for me. These guys are my 2 best friends in the whole world and I'm going to miss their friendship and company. Email just isn't the same.

Got this from Howie's blog a while ago:



A Chinese woman survived a fall from a sixth-floor balcony after she landed on a large pile of excrement dug up by workers clearing a septic tank, state media said.

The unnamed woman was stretching to hang washing when she lost her balance and fell from the balcony at her home in the southern city of Nanjing yesterday, the semi-official China News Service quoted a local newspaper as saying.

The woman suffered only minor injuries after the 20cm heap cushioned her fall, the agency said.

Workers had been dredging the tank after complaints by local residents, it said.





On another note we play volleyball again tonight. Did I mention we won our grand final a few weeks ago? Can't remember if I did. Anyway, beacuse we've won the grand final the last 2 seasons we've gone up a grade. Lots of fun! But we lost our first game in the new grade last week. However, we did win a set, so that's encouraging. It's nice to be challenged. We haven't been getting much better because we're not being forced to play better. Now we are and it's great! It's a bit faster and pushes us to play better. Wish me luck for tonight!

As per Rob's request, here is my interpretation of the happy couple. Given that I forgot my camera, this is the closest you'll get to a photo of them from me. It's pretty accurate, it's like you are actually there! Damn I'm good!



By the way, I honestly can't draw. This is not me being stupid. I don't know how to draw.

Ok, so yesterday I went to wedding number 9. It's been 9 weddings in about 14 months now. Tammy & Rob got married yesterday! Yay! It was a lovely day, they were so happy! Once again, I sang in the wedding. As Chrystal said, I'm becoming the wedding singer! The reception was heaps of fun too! Great time had by all! Great food, great people, fun music. They all looked stunning and happy! Guess what though? I FORGOT MY CAMERA! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! No wedding photos! Yes, I am hanging my head in shame.

I've just finished a critical book review for a uni class. I studied a book by VIktor Frankl called "Man's Search For Meaning". It's a book on exetential psychotherapy. I know that sounds complex, but give it a chance. It's actually mostly a narrative based on a Jewish, Austrian psychologist's imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp. His idea of "Logotherapy" is basically about our need for a purpose (meaning) outside of ourselves. He quotes Nietzsche: 'He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear with almost any ‘how’.". I think that's a profoud quote.

It seems not only great in theory, but it also matches up with my own experience. Here is a quote from the book:

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."

We need hope, and a purpose outside of ourselves, otherwise, what meaning do we have? Frankl says that we need meaning in order to survive. I tend to agree.

Thoughts? Comments?