Walking the train line

Every now and then I get weird urges/ ideas. One which I've wanted to do for the past couple of months was to walk along my train line for as long as possible and one day to eventually walk the whole way. There are 23 stations on my train line and it's a considerably long way, however this Monday a couple of my closest friends and I decided to take advantage of the sunny day and attempt this task.

We took the train into the city and from there we headed off back the way we came, but this time on foot. We started at 10:30am and we didn't stop for any breaks or sit down until 4:45pm at our 17th station, and that was only because the sun was beginning to set and we didn't want to walk in the dark. But we walked the majority of the train line and I can honestly say that it was one of the most proudest moments of my life and I'm so glad that I got to share that feeling with my two amazing friends (who happily agreed to go along with my crazy plan).

At the end of the day, the area between my hips and thighs were a bit achy, and when I finally sat down after that walking marathon, I felt like a marshmallow melting on a hot surface. It was glorious having a long warm shower and curling up in my pyjamas that evening, while stuffing my face with a hearty roast and watching TV. But I had such a fantastic day. It was a really beautiful day with bright blue skies, and being winter, the sun wasn't harsh or burning. We got to walk through unfamiliar streets, noticing things we never would have realised existed if we were on our usual train journey. It was really interesting seeing the differences in suburbs as we got further and further away from the city, starting off with the old terrace houses of the inner suburbs then gradually moving through to houses surrounded by eucalyptus and native plants in more of our local areas.

Plus, it was great spending time with my friends and we're planning to finish walking the rest of the train line one day soon. And like the great selfie generation the 21st century has become, we managed to document our progress and the sites, but in the sake of anonymity, here is a photo of the scenery of our midway point in the journey:

Existential reading crisis

This year, because with studies becoming more hectic and full on, I hadn't the opportunity to read recreationally for so long. I would have to read two novels a week for some subjects, and other further readings with my other subjects, so I never had time to sit down, get a book of my own choice and just read recreationally. And because it had been such a long time since I had read recreationally, now that I have entered the winter holidays and have the chance to pursue this much loved hobby of mine, I realised that I had no idea what type of book I wanted to read. Hence the "existential reading crisis" heading.

I realised that the period of my life where I read almost a book a day, was when I was in high school. I used to read books that involved teenage girls in high school and the hot new guy would be paired up with her for a project and then they fall in love, etc. or when there was a new guy in town and she finds out he really is a fallen angel/ vampire/ demon hunter/ werewolf and while discovering this new world, she had to work out how to finish her maths homework... the point is, they were usually 16 years old and struggling through high school. It was a great escape for me when I was that age too, but now that I'm 21, I really don't want to read about school for fun. And I don't want to read books that my mum reads, about 50+ year olds who find out that their husband is cheating on them and so they decide to go on a holiday in Spain where they find new love. I wanted to read about people who are roughly around my age group, 18 years old minimum and 35 years old maximum, preferable in their early 20's (ha! just realised I sounded like a relationship website) so I can relate part of myself with what I'm reading. But where on earth are these books found on the library shelf????

My public library isn't that big, and walking through the 'young adult/ teen ager' section, I saw that I had read the majority of the books on the shelf. And the ones I haven't read, I have read the blurbs at some point over the last decade and had no desire to read them. So I ventured to the fiction section of the library and it was unfamiliar territory, where I had no choice but to pull out books at random and read the blurb. After 45 minutes of critical selection, I came back from the library with seven possible reads. And I'm actually really excited, but I want to be impressed because I just finished an incredible book.

At the beginning of this year, I saw the movie trailer of 'Me before you', which is coming out in a few days time. I have been so excited about seeing this film and have watched multiple versions of the trailer since I first saw it in late January. So I decided to read the novel before I see the movie. Jojo Moyes's novel is absolutely excellent! On Sunday, I spent the entire day in bed reading. I was so thrilled to be able to do that like I used to. It was such a wonderful day, of me just reading all day like I used to, and loving the story I was getting emotionally invested with.

The reason why I didn't write a music post yesterday was because I was out all day and when I got home that evening, I continued reading  and couldn't put the book down until I finished it at 2am, where I was silently bawling my eyes out (because of the content, not because I finished the book). It is an absolutely beautiful read which I highly recommend and I can't wait until I see the movie. 

'Me before you' has helped me overcome my existential reading crisis, giving me faith in recreational reading again. When I was younger, I was really addicted to reading, to the point where I would take off days of school so I could just read. I still remember the first time I did that, which was when I was 12 and the last Harry Potter book had just came out; I took a week off school for that. There was a point when I didn't do homework because all I wanted to do was read, and my mum threatened to confiscate my book from me... yes, I was the child who would read until the early hours of the morning with a torch under the blankets. 

Broken

Occasionally I have a habit of listening to one song on repeat throughout the duration of writing an essay, if I'm writing in a long block. I think my record was 'Alone again (naturally)' by Gilbert O'Sullivan, playing it 166 times over the course of three days. Yeah, I don't think I'll even manage to break that record (and I feel like that might be a very good thing), but last week when writing my final essay for the semester, I was listening to a variety of musicians and albums, until I ended up listening to Jake Bugg's song 'Broken'.

My iTunes library was on shuffle, and I'm the type of person who has to listen to music when working because it actually helps me concentrate on the task at hand, instead of allowing all the random thoughts that would normally pop up in my mind. After a while, I somehow manage to tune out the songs, still listening to it, but it's just sort of like white noise in the sense that it is always there, but I don't really notice it unless I really change my focus back to the music. But when 'Broken' came on and it was late in the evening after a long day of continuous work, I literally was broken from the "essay-trance" and was quite spellbound. And that's when I began listening to it on repeat. It's one of those songs that has the ability to stop you in your tracks  and your heart sort of flutters achingly with a sense of loss, which you don't know where it came from.

The lyrics themselves, I find are quite mysterious, not quite able to grasp the meaning, so I just think it's really open for the individual to reflect for their own interpretation. For me, I imagine it's about someone who tried and then gave up on life, and the singer is mourning and trying to hold on to them and the possibility of hope for a future, despite the brokenness of the person left behind. I don't really know. I may be just completely stupid and missing the obvious which everyone else gets, but that's what I imagine.

The acoustic guitar opening is soothing and when the subtle beat of the drums, it's like a faint heartbeat that grows stronger and it becomes your own heart which motions the song forward as well as the listener. It's just beautiful in every sense.

Study Buddies

After what felt like endless amounts of homework and multiple essays and assignments due each week, it is finally the end of the semester and the beginning of the winter holidays!
This week I had two 2000 word essays due and I was really proud that I finished each of them before the due date, which is so unlike me. I was so productive each day and the only reason why that was  possible is because I discovered the perfect study buddy, who just happens to be one of my best friends ever, which makes it even better. As she likes to put it, we create "positive peer pressure" for each other, because despite doing completely different subjects... like total opposites, we work hard when we are together.

I've finally acknowledged the fact that my home environment is too full of distractions for me. Being the only person who has to study in the household, it means that I don't really have anyone to tell me they need to do homework and need quiet, or they need everyone to focus. But at my friend's house, which is already my second home anyway, we both need to work. So, sharing a table, we both can see the other studying, which means that I feel like I have to study too because I don't want to distract them from doing their absolute best. Because, she is one of the most amazing person on the planet, I want her to do well and I don't want to stop her from doing her very best. Which means I can't complain about being lazy, or procrastinate or muck around. I need to work hard too!

And it works so well! I wish I was able to discover this earlier in my university life, but the main thing is that we have figured it out now. So last weekend, I stayed over Saturday through Monday where we worked in 2 and a half to 3 hour blocks, from early morning (well, 9:30) until late evening, and in between we'll watch a couple episodes of 'New Girl' as a reward and drink tea. That weekend I managed to finish an essay on Saturday night that was due on Tuesday, so on Sunday I was able to start working on an the essay that was due on Friday. I went back to her place on Wednesday and stayed until Thursday evening, when I finished and submitted the essay. I don't think I ever enjoyed essay writing so much in my life, because it was also an excuse to spend time with my best friend and watch one of my favourite tv shows.

So if anyone is struggling to study for exams or write essays at the moment, if you find the right person, study buddies is actually a really affective way of getting stuff done.

Hero of War

Rise Against's song 'Hero of War' has been in my head all week and I've played it so many times because it's such a moving, confronting piece. I think about it as broken into three sections of the narrating voice's state of mind: the first being the glorified idea of being a soldier and becoming a hero fighting for one's country. The second being exposed to the battlefield and the horrors that occur with the violence and ill treatment to innocents while morals are being abandoned. The third is of complete disillusionment. 

I think the best way to talk about this song is actually just listening to it, so here it is: 

The Awkward Moment When... #6

I can't believe I've reached #6 of these posts in only a couple of years... actually I don't think I should be that surprised. But I've noticed that in my old age (well, in my twenties), I've become a ruder person who has much less tolerance than I used to. I'm literally a premature grumpy old lady, which is actually really upsetting. I used to be so nice! What happened?!?!?!

Anyway, the awkward moment when...

-someone tells you that a singer they liked played in England, in a city called Wales. You think this person is an idiot, but you keep it to yourself. This same person later sees a photo you've taken and asks where that was. You say Cambodia, and they ask where in Australia that is. That's when you accidentally say out loud "wow, you're stupid!"

-you're with a group of people and your friend asks "when you were in that band, wasn't there that girl and guy who were going out and then broke up or something?" and you have to admit you were the girl.

-(same night) you're telling a friend about your baby cousin who just was born and someone overhears parts of what you said and asks loudly "are you pregnant?" The whole room is silent and now staring at you, including your friend's grandparents.

-you're on the bus and a baby is staring at you. Not in a cute way, but in a freaky, unblinking, expressionless way and you smile and it just keeps staring at you. The grandmother is apologising and you're like "it's all good" and keep on smiling even though you are secretly freaked out by this possessed baby.

Jess is portraying what I felt on the inside so perfectly with that baby

-it's the middle of the night and you need to go to the toilet, but your leg gets tangled in a sheet and you end up falling out of bed with a loud "BANG!" which causes your dad to run into the room to see if you're okay

-when you're in a play and the group Facebook page has colourful condoms as it's cover picture and your parents are behind you when it pops up on your newsfeed

-when someone really pisses you off. Like REALLY pisses you off, but you can't confront them because you can't be rude to them, so instead, you read your past messages between you and your ex (who is constantly in your bad book anyway) so you can channel all your anger onto him instead of the other person.

Because violence is never the answer! 

-when someone stops you randomly at uni and says "you're really beautiful. Can I have your number?" And your reaction is "No. Do I look like a prostitute?"

-(speaking of which) when you walk into a room and you're greeted by someone saying "hi! Would you like a condom?"

Secret

Last week one of my friends made me listen to the song "Secret" by The Pierces. They said it was creepy and dark and that I'd absolutely love it, and they were absolutely right. That night when I got home I bought the entire album 'Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge', which was money well spent. I hadn't heard of this duo before, but if you like Lana Del Rey and Melanie Martinez like I do, then you'll really enjoy The Pierces as well.


Also, apparently 'Secret' is the theme song to 'Pretty Little Liars', which I haven't seen and now I really want to watch it because I love this song so much. The singing is chilling and the lyrics are catchy as well as extremely twisted. And to add to that, the fairground sound that is accompanying all of this, just is the icing on the cake. I played this song to my dad the other day and compared it with Melanie Martinez's 'Dead To Me', which too had the threatening suggestion explicitly expressed in the lyrics. I also mentioned that it reminded me of the eeriness present in Tim Burton-esque films. Imagine a film in The Corpse Bride style, with this song... just realised that may be why they chose it as the Pretty Little Liars theme song... okay, I'll stop talking now.

So, just a short post today, but hope you enjoy 'Secret'