St Kilda Beach Day

Today a couple of my friends and I went to St Kilda beach to take advantage of the sunny and warm day before it starts cooling down for the wintery months. And my right leg got so sunburnt, but it's not the whole of the leg, it's only half of it, which makes it look even stupider. Half my leg is pale and the other half is bright pink. But despite that, I had an incredible time.

My time at the beach today made the waking up at 7:30am worth while. I'm not a morning person at all and it was a struggle to not just roll over and continue sleeping when my alarm went off, but then I remembered "I'm going to the beach!" which overpowered the internal angry voice of "I hate alarm clocks. I hate mornings. Waking up this early should be illegal".
I love the beach. I always have and I hope that some day I will get the chance to live by the ocean (in my dreams, I'd be living in Edinburgh, which is near the sea). So even though we were wearing clothes, I waded into the water for as far as I could, before the water reached my hips. I'm the type of person who, if it isn't a wave beach- because in that case, I'll be going crazy jumping and diving into the waves- I like submerging into the water and just staring out at the ocean and just not think. It's so relaxing and I could just stay like that for hours with complete contentment.


So I'd really like to thank my friends who I went with, because I haven't gone swimming at the beach for such a long time (technically I wasn't "swimming", but considering I was wearing clothes, it was a solid effort) and I had such an amazing day, which they organised. Even though I didn't go away this mid-semester break, today was a nice change of scenery which contributes to me thinking that I'm making the most of this week before uni starts back again (and I have three assessments due when we get back, one which I haven't even started yet).

the perfect weather for a perfect beach day 

Stop

Firstly, Happy Easter for yesterday. I had a great day having a delicious lunch at my uncle's house and then spending the rest of the day watching tv with my parents. We started watching the series 'Ringer' which is so good! It's really intense with twists and turns that can match with the Vampire Diaries.

Secondly (the main purpose for the post) is the song 'Stop' by the fabulous Spice Girls. The reason behind why I chose this song for today, is due to the fact that I just got back from going out to dinner with a few friends and we were singing along to it in the car ride home. When I was little and my mum and I were in the car, I would always ask if we could listen to the Spice Girls and I'd sing all of Baby Spice's lines- it was only after a couple of years that I would then sing all of the other parts. It was a gradual thing, because Baby was my favourite, then Scary (so, naturally, I'd then sing her parts), until I just gave in and enjoyed their songs in it's entirety. My favourite songs were '2 Become 1' and 'Viva Forever.'

I was a massive Spice Girl fan: I had Spice Girl stationary, all their albums, one of my favourite movies as a kid was 'Spiceworld' and I even made a scrap book for them when I was five. I still have it somewhere in the pantry. In this scrap book I have cut outs of magazines my cousins would give me when the band were still together (so, a really long time ago) and I would write them letters and say how much I love them and how I should be a Spice Girl and I have a page of their autographs (which I did myself) and adding my signature to the list.

'Stop' came out in 1997 or 1998 (I was either two or three at the time, so I'm not sure exactly) and even to this day I belt out the lyrics and dance with the correct actions from their music video. In fact, I did this whenever it came on in a club when I was at Guildford and I did this tonight in the car, which I'm not ashamed of one bit. So I hope you enjoy this 90's classic.

Pre-Mid-Semester Break

Despite this week still having classes, I was already feeling like I was on holidays (next week is the mid-semester break). It started with last Sunday, it was a friend's 21st birthday which was a high tea at a really nice hotel in the city. It was fantastic, because not only was it a great day catching up with friends, but also it meant that I could eat as many delicious treats as I wanted! There were savoury finger sandwiches, including salmon sandwiches (so it was really fancy), as well as scones with jam and cream and also many a selection of mini cakes and macaroons. Also, of course there was unlimited tea. We got all dressed up and it felt like we were in Gossip Girl or something (you can tell that I'm not usually in fancy situations, so I was really excited).

Then on Wednesday I went out to dinner with one of my oldest friends, who I haven't seen in ages. It was such a lovely evening catching up on each others lives and eating really nice Japanese food.
And last night it was the 'Good Friday Eve party' at a bar, where a few of my closest friends and I spent the entire night. I was dancing for five hours straight and it was so much fun, as there was a mixture of live music as well as normal recorded music, so it had a great atmosphere. The songs were also a fantastic combination of old and new classics which everyone knew, so you could sing along as we all celebrated the end of the week.

So now I am well and truly ready for this coming week's break from classes (even though I have so much homework and have three assignments due the week we get back), where I will catch up with a few friends as well as take advantage of sleeping in for a change (my timetable this semester has morning classes). 

Apologize

I know it has only been a few weeks since I wrote about '7 Years' by Lukas Graham, however, over the past week, I have bought a few more songs of this Danish band and have been listening to them on loop. I only have six of their songs now and am planning on eventually getting more because I really love their music. The song that I have been playing more than the others though, is the song 'Apologize' which has an old-timey sound incorporated into the piece. This adds some more interesting layers to the music, as well as making it stand apart from the other songs in their first album, which was released in 2012 (so I'm a bit behind in my discovery of them).

I love how it is a really chilled sounding song, yet the lyrics tell a dark story of a guy who is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend and he says it isn't his fault because she cheated on him and "she deserved to pay"... so it's really twisted.

Sorry for being a really short post today, it's just I forgot it was Monday and I was about to go to bed when I realised what day of the week it was. But before I go to sleep (or attempt to), I also want to mention another song that has been playing regularly on my iPod over the past few days, and that was 'You are your mother's child' by Conor Oberst who is an American singer songwriter. This is song is absolutely beautiful and the only reason why I decided to write mainly about 'Apologize' was because I talked about a singer songwriter last week. But I highly encourage to give it a listen too.

Hair cut

This is probably going to be a boring post (sorry), but I'm procrastinating from homework. So today I'm just going to briefly talk about my most recent hair cut... (I know, illuminating)

A lot of my friends would agree with me when I say I'm pretty erratic with my actions. I am the type of person who alternates between trying to grow my hair long and then cutting it shoulder length. I also was the person who would alternate between fringe and non-fringe throughout high school. But over the past half year, because I was in the UK, I didn't get my haircut due to the fact I only let my lifelong hairdresser touch my hair (I'm loyal like that), which meant that my hair grew very long and even though I was always getting compliments, I really really really really wanted a hair cut. I wanted my massive ringlets to stop getting knotted after a night out or even just every time the wind blew. I pretty much was going through my "short hair longing mode" which I get every now and then.

And after a couple of weeks back in Australia, I finally was able to get my hair cut (YAY!) which I had been wanting for probably four months in the lead up. I would normally not dedicate a post about having a haircut, but it's just that I was really amused of how some people have responded to my hair going from halfway down my back to being approximately an inch and a half off my shoulders. Which, for me isn't a big deal because I have quite often had my hair shoulder length, but for some people they were shocked. For example:
-Some random teenage guy who was waiting for his haircut and when he saw my hairdresser just cutting the majority of my hair off. He actually had a look of horror on his face, which was highly entertaining.
-My mum, who I think was still just getting used to me being back at home, so she would just would stare at me for no reason and she'd keep on complimenting my hair as if I just made the most radical decision of my life, which is hilarious and slightly weird.

And that's it. That's the fun fact about my current hair status (as I said, illuminating)

Before and after while still attempting to be anonymous 

Staring down the sun

Today I woke up and was in a Josh Pyke mood. I really love his songs, but I find that I have to be in the right mood to listen to him, because he has a really strong Australian accent, so sometimes I just think "oh, that's very broad sounding"- that's not necessarily an insult, because as I said, I really do like his music and at the moment I'm listening to a couple of his albums. Maybe because I'm just embracing my culture, by walking around my suburb and uni and breathing in the eucalyptus scent that fills the air (I didn't know it while I was in the UK, but coming back to Australia, I realised that I missed the smell of the eucalyptus trees. It smells like home). So, maybe I just thought that Josh Pyke's music adds to the "welcoming" myself back to Australia. I don't know, but either way, I think he is a truly talented singer/songwriter.

Because I'm listening to three albums worth of his songs at the moment, I thought I'd just pick my favourite song of his for today, which is 'Staring down the sun' which is from his 'Feeding the wolves' album, released in 2005. It's quite terrifying when I realise that was eleven years ago- I swear time is flying so fast! 'Staring down the sun' is probably one of his least known songs, but ohmygoodness I love it so much and it doesn't matter if I am in a Josh Pyke mood or not, I will always welcome it onto any playlist (well, maybe not a really cheerful playlist, because it is a sad song). The lyrics are so beautifully poetic and I think are so truthful, with my favourite phrase:

We ask these questions, then we cover our ears, 

but I think a question unanswered is much worse than an answer you don't want to hear. 

When your silence grows wings and your doubts start to travel 

now the seams between the virtual and real they unravel now. 

Absolutely love it and the music is just stunning- the type, as I have described probably many times with other songs, as the type you turn off the lights and sway in the dark in the middle of the night. 

If you aren't familiar with his other works, his most well known songs would probably include 'The Summer' and 'The Lighthouse Song' which I encourage to listen to as well, because he really is a great musician. 

The awkward moment when... #5

I feel like my awkward moments are becoming more and more frequent. I thought you were meant to grow more mature when you entered your 20's, but apparently that isn't the case at all. It's actually ridiculous how many awkward moments I've experienced so far this year, and it's only March, so here is yet another update on some of the embarrassing snippets of my life's awkward moments when...  

-you notice that you can see your bedroom window from the street. You realise that this means at night when you have your window and curtains open and light on, people can see in. People would be able to see you getting changed, as well as dancing around your room, which you do.

-you have to take your shoes off through security in an airport, and because you don't want to hold up the queue, you pull your shoe so hard in the rush, that the heal rips off

-you go to the laundry and see a friend and ask if they are going out to a particular club event that night and they laugh a "no" and give you a look as if clubbing is the stupidest idea in the world... and you've already gone out for the past three nights consecutively already.

-you say a comment of how you feel, thinking that everyone else would identify with you, but instead, they just look at you weirdly. For example: "I feel like a cat right now and just want to sleep on an old lady's lap" - I thought everyone has those moments. I can't accept that I'm the only one who feels this sometimes.

-you are staying at your friends house over night and you have a laughing fit in your sleep, which wakes up your friend. You wake up briefly for a second but still continue laughing so hard while you fall back to sleep and the laughing just continues.

-you are on a plane with around fifty really buff guys who all know each other and then there is you (who is a petite girl), so you stand out quite a bit

-you keep getting Clear Blue as a suggested post for you to like on Facebook

-for a class you have to post writing activities online and you accidentally post yours on the main page where the teacher would write instead of the 'weekly activities' where you're meant to

-you and your friend are in a park and talking about divorce rates and a bride and groom walk past for their wedding photos 

-you're sending a friend stupid photos of yourself to cheer them up, and then another message pops up on your Facebook page and you accidentally send that photo to them instead. And it was a photo of you looking constipated.

this isn't 'Jess' being constipated, but it certainly isn't the most flattering

The day before you came

I just realised then that I have never featured an ABBA song for music Monday (other than when I spoke about the musical 'Chess')- what a calamity! I grew up with ABBA playing in the household whenever it was mum and I at home. When I was really young, whenever the song 'Ring Ring' came on, I would run to the phone and pick it up and sing into it. Winter time in the house, I was never cold because to keep warm mum and I would dance around the house to our favourite songs from the 'Best of ABBA' album (mine was 'Waterloo' during the time that I'm referring to). Long drives to my nonna and nonno's house, in the car we'd listen and sing along to the songs and even to this day if both mum and I are in the car and I want to sing, mum will always request 'Thank you for the music'. I can also say quite proudly that the first CD I ever bought with my own money was an ABBA one. And one year for my birthday, mum took my best friend and I to see the live production of 'Mamma Mia' which we all enjoyed.

Dad, on the other hand, never was a big fan of the band, however the couple of days ago (I'm not actually sure why), he showed me a cover of an ABBA song that he really likes. I already knew that he actually likes this particular song of theirs, which is 'The Day Before You Came' and considering the random nature of this choice of song made by my dad, I thought, why not share it. It's a really great song and probably one of their most bleak lyric-wise, which makes me love it even more, as it isn't the typical pop-y sound you expect when you think of a lot of ABBA hits. When I say 'bleak' it isn't an insult at all, I just mean that song narrates the daily mundane rituals of the singer, having strong realistic storytelling feeling to it which you follow and imagine vividly as the listener.

This is the original version of song, however, if you're interested to listen to the cover which my dad showed me (which is also extremely good), that is by Blancmange. When I hear both of them and hear the very different voice styles, I certainly see the different music tastes of my parents and understand why they like these respective songs.

The Six Word Memoir Game

Today in one of my tutorials, we had to write a "six word memoir" which apparently is a thing that has some link to someone who is somehow connected to the show 'Orange is the new black' (okay, I mightn't have been listening to what the tutor was saying the entire time). But basically, the "six word memoir game" is pretty much you composing a sentence of six words that sums you up: how you feel in the present, in a certain situation, or just how you feel about life in general. And being the quite self-absorbed person that I am, I really enjoyed this task and decided to dedicate a whole post to this game, going further than the:

"I overslept and now I'm hungry" 

that I wrote in class today. This particular line was about my state this morning, but I think it just summarises most of my mornings (cough- all of my mornings). But here are a few more that I have thought of since then, which also sum up my life:

"Wait! What? That was due today?!?"

"I'm so confused! What is life?!?"

"I'm crazy and I don't care"

"Food is the reason I breathe"

"The world revolves around only me"

"I'm such a cow: Moo... see"

"Waking up early should be illegal"

"All I want is hot tea" 

"I'm completely obsessed with this song"

I could go on, but I don't want to bore you all with my six word memoirs. Instead, try to make up your own (if anyone actually reads this), because it is a great way to pass the time. In fact, next time I'm on a long car ride, I'm going to introduce this to the mix of car games that I want to play (but somehow people seem less enthusiastic).