Saturday, 30 September 2006
@ 3.07 pm
Being busy is the key
Sometimes it seems the only thing constant about my life is the fact that my plans keep constantly changing. I don't necessarily view this as a Bad Thing (tm), but I can definitely understand how it could be frustrating for others (read: my long suffering parents) who might make at least some effort to keep a handle on just what my future might hold. I would charitably call this "taking advantage of opportunities as they arise", although a rather more uncharitable version of myself might go so far as to describe it as a "lack of overall vision or direction in my life".
On reflection (and given I started writing this post about four and a half months ago, there's been some), I'd say the real truth of it lies somewhere in between, and that when you get down to it, one point of view in many ways causes nor at least encourages the other. I guess in order to be even a little bit successful in navigating a singularly vague and directionless existence, you have to be able to take advantage of your opportunities where and when they arise, and if you're going to live your life through the taking of said opportunities, then this rather does tend to undermine any firm, over-arching ambitions. Not that it has to be this way, I know. It's just that one approach to life would appear to reinforce the other, if a person wasn't being careful about it...
So, not surprisingly then, in the time since I last wrote there have been a few changes in both my current life and future plans.
I have now moved into my Mother's house (there are indeed cats to cuddle) and out of my little Mona Vale flat, shedding a whole heap of unwanted kibble that I've managed to accumulate along the way. Many an old bank statement from years gone past was consigned to the recycling bin, and I even discovered my old high school exercise books I'd been dragging from flat to flat for the last decade. After a brief trip down memory lane (any one else remember the Milky Bar Kid exercise books?) I decided that maybe, just maybe, me having a successful and fulfilling life did not in fact hinge on my ability to lay my hands on a set of faux book reviews I had to write for a fourth form English exercise.
Unfortunately, even after throwing out boxes of stuff, and returning a whole pile of things back to their various rightful owners, I still seem to have material goods aplenty. I'm not always sure where they've come from, or why I have them, but items such as my two Mac Plus and one Mac Classic computers are now sitting in Mum's hallway, and if you were to check the garage you'd find boxes of books that I have never and will never read. The plan (ha!) is to have a giant garage sale to disperse some of the accumulated guff to more caring owners, and perhaps make a little cash along the way. Or perhaps TradeMe would be a more enjoyable way of getting rid of it all - avoiding Saturday morning hagglers and the like. Hmm.
This junk has arrived in Mum's house at quite an inopportune time for her as well - she is trying to clear out the house for imminent placement on the market (I think her plan is to start advertising sometime around Labour Day?), so I'm not sure whether boxes of books and piles of stuff are exactly what she's after right now.
At this point there were notes in my "blog in progress file" to write about the 48 Hour Film Competition (heaps of fun, rather hard, the TBALC team totally rocked out for the duration) and about my lack of theatre activities and how relaxing this was (an observation superseded somewhat by agreeing to sign up for some hot Catch 22 action during the next Orientation). I was also going to mention the general lack of creativity that had been affecting everything, not just my blogging, and about the way my future plans were evolving, and about how, four months ago almost to the day, I started seeing the wonderful Yoonah (not, as Tim would suggest, a North Korean spy) (to my knowledge).
But time has rushed by, and events have moved on, and there are now other things to write about and other stories to tell...
Actual 30 September Blog
This morning I woke up with a bona fide hangover for the first time in months. After the usual hour or so of "Oh my god, I actually played guitar *and* sung in front of actual real other people", I got over myself and reflected on how HAIR had totally rocked at last night's Madcaps Awards, winning Best Set, Best Promotion, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Musical, and the Supreme Show Award (and possibly even more...). Congratulations to everyone involved, especially the awesome dynamic duo of Mel and Luke! Damn it was a good show. Damn it was fun to be involved. Let's do it again sometime, say, next Orientation? Why the hell not...
Right at this moment I find myself with three books on the go (A David Suzuki Collection of Ideas, Inhaling the Mahatma, and, fresh from its Amazon packaging, The Revenge of Gaia), many songs at various stages of completion, an MBA proposal to write and scholarships to apply for, that long-delayed (suffering?) production manager's guide to finish, a marketing plan for Catch 22 to finalise, up to three summer school courses to enroll in (including Korean - which once completed, will put me well over halfway to achieving a Certificate of Proficiency in Languages! Which is a crazy thought), two months left in my current job before I hand it over to someone else... I'm well busy, and well happy because of it.
And to top it all off, later today Yoonah and I are heading out to visit Clinton at his new place of work to buy tickets to head to Vanuatu for seven days over New Year's! Very exciting. While it'll be my first real holiday away for quite some time, and my first time overseas for years, it'll be approximately the 47th Pacific Island Yoonah's visited this year (slight exaggeration, but seriously, if you're thinking of doing a PhD in the future, make damn sure it's about a place you want to visit often!).
There's more news to be had: James had his stag party, and I believe all who attended can attest that Laser Strike was the winner on the day; James and Penny have a little baby Sarah, coming to a Christchurch near you in December this year; Corey's child has been born, a little boy named Manato; Warwick and Bhumi are expecting their first child; Dave is now President of Dramasoc...
You know what? There's more, but I can't remember, so I'm going to end it there and actually post this entry before another four months slips past with barely a whisper.
