Wrapping Up Part I

I didn't say that the previous entry was going to be my last entry. Ever. I was merely handing in my resignation. Six weeks notice (or less) before I do my epic grande finale entry. Or maybe just this one. We'll see. Anyway, I thought I should let you all know what I'm doing now, and what the future might hold. Meme style.

Occupation: "Job Seeker" with two interviews for kitchen hand jobs coming up. One owner said he was "very impressed" by me.

Skillz I'd like to aquire: Learn all the graphic design programs. Auslan, it's easy to learn. I don't really have...er... "tangiable" skills (I should put that on my resume ;)), that's why I need to aquire some skills. I wish I had internalised this important requirement before I did my degree*...

Plans for August to Decemeber: Go to L'Abri in Massachusetts, God willing. New England is a beautiful place, the Colonial houses, the leafless woods, the green meadows.

Argh. I'm writing like a 12-year-old. I flicked through my diary from my last visit to the US (1996) and I read like an emotional/social retard. Just reporting of events, and descriptions not more finely tuned than "good" or "nice". No internal monolouge, self - reflection or even statement of emotional state. How did you write when you were 12?

Current Residential Status: Tweenty two year old leech living in the Bachelorette Pad behind my parents house. I have a double bed**. A constant quarreling*** companion and I'll have all the benefits of married life. Please visit me in my pad... Did I mention I actually have a circular bed? It swivels. In fact...



Romantic Status: Troubled.

Hmm...baad juxtaposition.

*That sentence - not serious tone. No regrets.
**To be said in best self-assured flaming queen voice.
***Cynicism not genuine, merely for alliterative purposes.

Quit While I'm Mediocre

I've been blogging for two and a half years now (my previous incarnation). As you're probably aware, my writing quality has rollercoasted, but I think it has got progressively worse. I blame this on other people; as more time passes, there are more people to influence you; to make your thoughts not your own. (This last poorly punctuated sentence is a joke. My writing is only ever good precisely because of others.)

It is not for this reason that I am considering abstaining from the blog-act. There are more pressing things that demand my attention, and the internet slurps up time, energy and allegience.

Thank you to all my keen readers. I would not have blogged if you didn't comment (I am that insecure ;-)).

Perhaps I will do something narcisstic like publish my blog as "memiors" (to be said in my Little Britian "I'm an actor" voice). The main problem with that is context. It's not like I'm famous. Then again, I hope there is something else that keeps people reading other than familiarity.

My time is up.

Homeschool...

...is the new cool. I don't mean that bush hippies or eccentric Christians no longer have the monopoly on educating their kids at home. I mean that activities like the "draw a head, fold it over draw a body" game is now a legitimate way to have fun. Have you also noted that hand-drawn style is in for posters advertising bands on traffic poles? And people are dressing like homeschoolers now too; shin-length skirts, loud wool jumpers... I think this cultral trend goes hand in hand with the coolness of geekdom. It's cool to know about obscure music stuff - that's why Spics and Specs is so popular. I don't need to elaborate on this. You already know this stuff.

I was just watching West Wing (which, by the way, is a very good show). It seems that in America, geekdom is not so cool. If you show of your neerdy prowess, no one nonchalantly acknowledges this, they laugh at you. So while we enjoyed and understood Napoleon Dynamite, they were probably just disgusted.

So, if geekiness is uncool in America, what of thiers do we find uncool (so that the law of all things being equal is honoured)? I reckon its the way they dress. You can always spot an American. They look like they're sponsored by Rivers, and the women look like they're wearing wigs. Seriously. It's because the hair is so big and hairsprayed and "coiffed". Kind of plastic like. Here's a visual example (not of the hair, of the American-ness)

I can't tell you who these people are, but I can tell you where they are from.

Nevertheless, America is a cool place. I'd love to take a bunch of friends on a Big US Road Trip and have a laugh. Meet an Appalachian hillbilly with scraggly hair and a gun. See cowboys (straight or gay, doesn't matter) doing their theng; shooting wildlife or whatever it is they do. Go bushpig in New York. Charm the Americans with our "cute [Aussie] accents". Who's with me?

P.S. Be aware, “Have you seen my thong?” means something different in the US.

Would You Rather See Heath Ledger...

...as a philandering fop or a cowboy's lover?

I like Heath Ledger; his broad grin, that twinkle in his eyes. He has courage and takes risks. He's the Thinking Woman's Aussie Bloke.

But I don't want to see Brokeback Mountain. I don't really want to see a relationship celebrated on the big screen that is not alligned with God's good purposes for humankind.

So I shouldn't want to see Casanova either, for God no more likes it when men do not honour the sanctity of marriage, whether it be defiling virgins or other men's wives.

Extend this standard of sexual morality to movies about the modern relationship; de facto-ing, and we can ask the same question: Should I watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and High Fidelity. The de facto relationship is the norm for most movies about relationships. We are forgiving with these kinds of movies because we identify, from two different sides, the relationship celebrated. It's a bit like a boy/girl friend relationship with its occilation of commitments, its fun and discovery. But it's also a bit like marriage, because they're sleeping together and they're living together. And if they break up, there will be as much pain as a divorce.

A natural question to ask here is, what does my act of paying $8 and walking into the darkened cinema signify? Does it signify that I endorse what the movie I am about to see celebrates? Does entertainment entail agreement?

One might argue that every movie contains evil, so if (as I am suggesting) I believe that watching a movie means that I endorse what it celebrates, then I ought not watch any movie. This objection misunderstands what it is for a movie to celebrate:

If I watch a horror flick, I am not endorsing the living dead, vampires, hexes or the gruesome murder of New England college students. Horror movies usually celebrate the triumph of the hero over the fearsome. Thus my act of watching shows that I endorse the courageous hero. So, for not every movie containing the immoral, must I endorse the immoral.

Around the Blogosphere

Angus has a great photo retrospective. My favourites are the "school girls" and Angus' 70's shot (although I think it looks more 80's).

Emi and Shaun have given us a run down of the Falls; the highs and lows.

John is being enigmatic.

Craig is talking about the dating game (again).

In other news, I finally watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If my brain wasn't fried, I would say something more profound about it than just that I identified with Clem and her relationships.

Ugly Snaps