Around after highschool everyone was celebrating that they had finally escaped prison and could roam the big, wide world. Around that time I was still struggling to choose my uni course, and was juggling a few options. I did apply for Environmental Engineering at Melbourne but eventually chickened out as the deadline drew closer, and ended up doing Business and IT in Brisbane. But after a semester, realised it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be, and dropped IT cos you couldn't join a double degree in half-year. And then at the start of this year picked up Creative Industries, but now I'm thinking of changing to Interior Design or something.
I think the problem is that I have too many broad interests, and I didn't know which one I wanted to focus on and expand. These two years of uni seems more like a test run, a long seminar on what I should do in my life, and as I've done a few more things, seen more, learnt more, went from 16 to 18, I think I've got a better idea now. There was a bit of family pressure when I said to my sister and dad that I wanted to do Interior Design, that they'd support my decision, but I shouldn't change courses again cos I'd never graduate. I think that they're kinda annoyed I didn't research this properly before I enrolled, but it had never occurred to me that I actually wanted to study Interior Design or alike until I had done my Business courses.
The inherent problem with me is that I want to do everything at once, and end up doing nothing at all. I don't have a very strong grasp of time (including time management) and I feel like I'm wasting the time I have away if I'm not doing everything I want to do, but I have so many interests I never prioritised them, I just ended up picking something cos I couldn't choose between them. But now I'm thinking - I'm 18 this year, I'm still young, in two years I'll be 20, and what can I have done by the time I'm 20? I'm never one for setting goals, but it gives me something to do now, rather than wishfully thinking I wish I could do something, and not acting towards it. When the average Australian life span is about 60-70 years, that means I'm only in the 25-30% of my whole life.
So I'm going to finish this degree, and find a job in the advertising industry. Earn some money to pay for my next set of tuition fees, where I can study Interior Design or something like it, and eventually move into that industry. Meanwhile, be more proactive in finding another job where I can get more bar experience, while at home I'm going to buy my own mixing set and wallpaper my room with cocktail/drinks preparation instructions so I can learn them myself. I think I'm a bit happier now that I know what I like and what I want to be doing, as well as more focused. If something else crops up that I want to do, even if it's not what I planned it to be right now, then so be it I'll follow it to the end.
And when I'm 20, hopefully I can say to you guys, hey look, I've got a degree that's gonna set me on my road, I've got good opportunities ahead of me, and I'm a bartender in my spare time, I'm still spending a lot of time with friends, and I'm loving what I'm doing.
Well well last night I finally went clubbing with Liv (my birthday didn't really count cos the place was almost deserted). After missing the train back to my house, I managed to make it to Milton and rushed to my house only to find the outside gate locked. We live on the lower level, and there's a small gate to the left of the house that leads from the upper level to the lower, and sometimes if we don't hold onto the gate properly it slams pretty loudly and we must have pissed off the people up top pretty badly because they put some stuff between the gate and the wall to soften the fall, as well as locked it. And I didn't have the gate key on me.
So I called my trusty housemates, who turned out they had just arrived at IGA about 10 minutes away to do some shopping. So I told them to stay put and I'd run over, grab the key and run back. There are two routes from the house to IGA, one shorter but goes uphill then downhill, and the other a bit longer and mostly flat the whole way. I was carrying a pretty heavy bag so I decided I didn't want to run up a hill just at that moment so I went the other way, and just as I made it to IGA and found Demon, he was on the phone saying "...she's standing right in front of me now..." Satomi had grabbed the key and gone home, walking the other way from me, saying "there's no way we could miss each other on the way" and arrived at home about 2 seconds before I got to Demon. Too good.
Well anyway I finished shopping with Demon and went home, him treating me to some ice cream on the way so I guess that made up for it :P Living in a sharehouse we made a lot of rules, and sectioned off most parts of the kitchen and bathroom for food/items that aren't to be shared, and sometimes we have to be careful we don't accidentally eat/use someone else's stuff. We also have to buy our own ice cream cos everyone eats it too quickly XD When we first got the house, it was meant to be Demon, Justin and I - but then Justin bailed. So Demon got Satomi, and now there's this Mainlander chick called Lin (there's four rooms in the house - but only one bathroom T__T) who I haven't even seen yet cos she's either already out or not back yet every time I'm home. And I haven't moved in yet because there wasn't any internet, and we had to get a phone line installed, and it's taken ages, and we can't get internet for another two weeks. Goes to show, can't live without internet :P
Anyway back to the story. I grabbed the stuff I needed from my house and headed over to Liv's, now that she lives only three streets away from me. I still had to print off a map to make sure I was on the right road though. When we got there, her brother took us out to get pizza at Pizza Capers, a pizzeria (?) that makes gourmet pizzas. I wouldn't say it's the best pizza I've ever eaten, but I suppose it was ok? :S The potato one was pretty interesting to have on pizza haha. Cal and Raye were supposed to join us for dinner, but they were still in Sunnybank so we said we'd meet them outside Klub Kandy. After pizza we got dressed, and our dubious ride, Alex arrived.
I had met Alex a few days prior in one of Liv's lecture, and he was pretty weird: quiet, looked a bit shifty, spoke quietly with a bit of slurring, dressed down. I was tired that day so I was annoyed when he was trying to talk to me but I couldn't understand him much so I mostly ignored him, but Liv said "he was a bit weird but a good guy, just give him a chance" so I decided I'd try to be friendlier, since he was driving us around. He had to charge his phone a bit cos it was out of batteries, and while we were waiting we chatted a bit, which confirmed my suspicions, that he really is just weird. He was also older than I expected, 26, and Liv is only 19, so... well I made some assumptions right there.
He drove us off the the Valley, his driving a little whack and sometimes sped but got us there at 10pm, and we joined Cal and Raye in the line. Since we were there early the line was pretty short. Cal and Raye were holding a pack of beer and, not wanting to ditch it, tried to slam it all down before we got it. I tried to help, but it tasted so bad I passed mine on =.= Beer is definitely not something I'd wanna binge on, I prefer my sweeter drinks. We got in, got some drinks, and went downstairs and started watching people dance. The music was hmm so-so, I'm not sure what the big fuss about KK is, it's a nice looking place and all, but nothing really spectacular. The music was a mix of rnb, pop and some technoey stuff, not bad but not always great. The theme was Halloween so a lot of people came dressed up, but I couldn't be bothered. I was surprised at the efforts some people made though: there were quite a few well-costumed vampires, a chewbacca, a bloody ghost, lot of angels/devils, and two girls who turned up in masks and lingerie (it was hot XD) Oh yea and Alex disappeared because he didn't like staying in one place for long and to call him when we wanted to go.
We alternated between downstairs and resting in the middle level a bit, the upper level being way too crowded and consequently way to hot to stay there long. Everyone ran into a lot of friends there, sometimes good sometimes bad, from highschool friends to Liv's ex. But it's always the company that you keep, and Cal and Raye were great company. I think it would be so weird, and probably a bit awkward if it was only Liv and I dancing together, and we'd probably end up leaving early cos we'd get bored, but the guys were there to keep things interesting. There were three small, round platforms on the dancefloor people could get up to dance on, and a few times Cal would make people get down from there so we could get up XD KK also had some dancers that, well, danced :P and fire spinners, that was pretty kool.
When we finished our fun and wanted to go, we called Alex but his phone had run out of batteries completely, and nowhere to be found. We walked back to where he parked the car and found that section was actually a no stopping zone and all the cars around there copped a $60 ticket each. We eventually decided to go back into the club to look for him, and just as we were about to split up and search Liv spotted him near the entrance, and we nabbed him to take us back home, Alex looking a bit more burnt that before. Cal needed to go to the bathroom so I said I'd wait for him while the others went back to the car, sitting on the couches at the entrance next to a half drunk girl and her friend. She put her face really close to mine to look at my face, then turning back to her friend to slur something, then looked back at me and said "I love you" I was really tempted to give her a kiss to see what she would do, but I guess I wasn't really game haha. And also if her friend turned out to be her lesbian lover I don't want my eyes scratched out. So I gave her my glowstick and went out after Cal.
I joined Cal and Raye chatting near the car while Liv and Alex went to 7-11 to get some food. In a bit I got a call from a distraught Liv who said Alex was getting into a scuffle with a taxi driver, and we ran over to 7-11 but the taxi driver was already gone. Apparently Alex was giving the cab weird looks, and the taxi driver yelled "what are you looking at?" which made Alex mad and he went over and hit the bonnet. The taxi driver got out and they both started yelling at each other and Liv got really scared. She started crying and when she calmed down a bit we trekked over to the car and drove off, though I really would've preferred Raye to drive. Alex drove Cal and Raye back to Sunnybank to get their car, and then us back to Paddy. On the way he was asking us "oh, can you spend some time with me smoking and chatting and stuff?" like he had absolutely no clue Liv was scared and had been crying. I got pretty mad, but Liv was half-asleep on my lap in the car so I just told him to drive us home.
So a good night, ended up a little whack. I wouldn't say Liv's judgment of people is bad, but being the sociable person she is, attracts a lot of other people. She doesn't really wanna see him again, but seeing that she really likes going to the lectures he'd be able to find her, and I'm making sure she isn't going to be copping any harrassment from him. On the other hand, that was a hella fun night with Cal and Raye. Next time I want to try find a techno or electronica club, or maybe even trance XD
Well well my advertising unit is going quite well, and has been pretty interesting so far. The fact of the industry is that most of the times, as a creative designer or copywriter for ads, you'll get pretty boring stuff you have to make it seem like it's the greatest thing on earth, even if it's literally just a pile of bricks or something. But the tutor has been liking my work, so I'm pretty proud of that, but apparently my headlines are pretty weak, which is strange, because I've always thought that my written creativity was stronger than my visual, but I guess that's kinda been gettin rusty since I read so little lately. Reminds me I gotta get the sequel to Bridge to Holy Cross off Calvin. And the book Dexter seems pretty interesting too.
Anyway the focus of this post is about the journey of a drink, and about branding.
Ok so I was in my advertising lecture, and I had just rushed over from another lecture from the other campus, and I had forgotten my lecture notes as well as my notebook so I had to take notes on a piece of paper with printed words all over it already so it was quite messy. When the tutor called for a 5 minute break, most people rushed out either to go home or get food. I sat there, stretched, and took a breather. Then someone came back with a cup of coffee they had bought from a stall from the next block. Now I had forgotten my water bottle so I was pretty thirsty, and water seemed pretty bland compared to the enticing and unique smell of coffee wafting over from two seats away. But I thought about the stall where he had bought it from (and I could be sure because it had their logo printed on the cup) and I remember the coffee didn't taste so great last time I got it there so I would restrain myself this time and go without.
After enduring the coffee smell for the rest of the lecture, I walked out and went past the net black, but the caffee craving was still there, so I said to myself "if I see another coffee place I'll buy a cup." Forgetting there was another coffee stall at the entrance off the uni. So when I walked past I said I'd go get a cup, even though I didn't really trust the quality of the coffee there either, but I'd give it a try anyway. So I ordered my coffee from the dude there, after two other guys in front of me, and waited to the side, and after me another girl ordered after me. And it took ages and ages. While standing there waiting I was wondering if I should tell him I didn't want it anymore and walk away since I hadn't paid yet, but I was justifying in my mind "well I already asked him for it, and he seems to be pretty confident with coffee-making.... this better be an awesome cup of coffee..."
Turns out the delay was because there wasn't enough hot water in the coffee machine, but when I finally got my coffee, walked away and took a sip, it was pretty bland, not creamy and overall a really bad cup of cofee. I was pretty disappointed since it completely did not justify standing there waiting for it for 10 minutes, and instead of fulfilling my coffee craving, it only increased it. So my mind immediately popped to Gloria Jeans, where I usually get coffee from, so I walked into the city, and as I walked into the GJ store in Borders, I changed my mind from their vanilla latte to the vanilla chiller. I had it last time and the taste suddenly came rushing back. So i oredered it and paid, but then the counter boy said "ooohh sorry, I just forgot, we don't serve cold drinks anymore tonight. I'm so sorry it just completely slipped my mind. Would you like a latte instead?" No sorry, I don't really feel like a hot drink anymore, even though it was a pretty cold night. Disappointed even more than before, I took my money back and walked out of the store, wondering where I could get my coffee chiller buzz.
And looked over the road to see the green glowing sign of Starbucks. Oh that's right, I had almost forgotten there were any other brand coffee places around except for GJ. Walking into Starbucks, I looked at their menu, and found the prices were even more expensive than GJ, who was already more expensive than that no-name stall outside QUT. But I was already inside, so I would get my cup of whatever. Then I saw their green tea frappe, and instantly remembering I used to love it and I hadn't had it for about 2 years now, changed my mind again, and this time successfully got a green tea frappe.
Sipping happily through the straw on the way home, I realised I had just spent about $10 on fulfilling an impulse desire, no less guided by brand names embedded in my mind. For this small (but expensive) pleasure, it took quite a long journey to get to it. What is this addiction that makes us go buy something we don't need, or the obsession that makes us keep chasing? Lately I've been spending quite a lot of money on impulse food and drinks, even though I should be saving money and eating thriftily. I blame a lot of it on stress (I've also been eating a lot of choco and snacking quite a lot so my weight is kinda expanding) but I guess I brought it on myself. Just goes to show I really don't have a lot of self-control when it comes to food, or I guess istuff in general. I usually don't buy much, and I think my mind justifies for me that when I do spend it's ok cos I usually don't, but when I do buy stuff it can get pretty expensive.
Well well that concludes this post; a big story for something very very trivial. Another post on other stuff later.
It's so hard to separate need and want nowadays when the whole world is telling us there is no such thing as want, everything is a need. I think I'm lucky that I'm ridiculously stingy so I'm used to limiting my needs =) It was an interesting read
