Give Blood

Last week, I gave blood. It's something I enjoy, and one of the best things you can do. Each donation can help or save three lives. One in three people in their lives will need blood or blood products, but only one in 30 donates! It's such an altruistic act, and is so helpful, only inconveniencing you slightly. Like, an hour of your time and a little scratch to save lives? Okay.
As a vegan, I feel good seeing my iron counts at good levels. I was once told 'you must eat a lot of red meat' - nope.
Please consider donating, it'll make you awesome(er) - New Zealand / Australia

Chained

I really love cycling. I've done it all my life. I love the feeling of cruising, making your own way from A to B, and that it's free and healthy. I've had a meaningful relationship with every bike I've had.
So I was pretty devastated when about a month ago, my bike was stolen. It was locked up while I watched a movie, during daylight. Mega lame. I was bike-less for a week, and had to rely on public transport (which I think is generally okay, but when you're used to cycling anywhere, anytime...). The wisdom is that you'll only ever have one bike stolen, so hopefully I (and you!) can learn from this. Buy a really good lock. Attach it to sturdy things. Read these tips.
I bought a second hand bike online, and I'm super happy with it. A Hallmark, by Kuwahara - it's a dream to ride. I call him Jerome. And just in time for winter, I found some mudguards in a tree on my street. Perfecto!

Loss

In the last week, my gran and aunty died. That's my dad's mum and sister. There are pretty much no words for these kinds of things, just that it's really sad. I've felt quite disconnected from my family, but have been sending out thoughts and love, and just thinking about the role these two women played in my life. It's been a weird series of thoughts - mainly focused on genetics, ancestors, and upbringings. Grief can take on all sorts of forms.

David Foster Wallace

Quite quickly, David Foster Wallace has become my favourite author. I'm part way through The Pale King, and it's great. I love his style, and the way he constructs a story.
The first of his I read was Infinite Jest when I was 20. It was okay, but after a month or so of my time, I couldn't believe the lack of conclusion, and don't think I 'got it', overall. Following a lengthy break, I read This is Water last year, and it was a really good insight in to the person, which is obviously a huge part of who the author is. I've since been reading my way through his works (check m' reading log). I think I could read an infinitely long essay on any topic he chose to write. What he wrote is amazing - it's so insightful and beautiful. It's taught me to view conclusions as a treat, rather than a necessity. And it captures what it means to be alive today.
So I'm pretty heartbroken that he took his own life a few years ago. It slipped past me at the time, and has bothered me the more I've read. Such a complex person, such a huge loss to the world. Read what he's written

Tell

If I'm being honest, I try and be a really honest person. Especially about how I feel about people. In the past, I think I've wasted time keeping my feelings to myself, especially with things like crushes. It's so much better to say how you feel and find out how they do, than to let it dwell inside you. I recently came up with the oxymoron: 'everyone just shut up and say how you feel'.
I also like telling people I love them. If someone means a lot to you, you should definitely let them know. You know the big cliches - 'I wish I'd told them how I felt' etc. It would be pretty bad if something like that happened. So if you love someone, let them know.
Beth and I tell each other often. She recently said "if we had a dollar for every time we said 'love'..." We'd be rich! And wouldn't die wondering

Swinging

One thing I really love is swinging on a swing. Like, at a playground. It's so endearing and frivolous, and also a great time to reflect on things. I enjoy watching the scene around me change as I sweep a parabola through the air.
As a kid, I wasn't a very good swinger. It took me ages to get the hang of it, and I was always pretty wussy about going too high. Even now, after years of experience, it takes a while for my insides to feel okay about flying up and down. And at 27, I wonder if there's an age when it's no longer acceptable to swing. While playgrounds are the domain of children, swinging is enjoyable (and light exercise!), and it feels too arbitrary to simply stop. You needn't let things slide into an unrecoverable childhood nostalgia. Stay young at heart, you're never too old to have fun!

Camp A Low Hum 2012

This past weekend I went to Camp A Low Hum in Wainui. I think it was the best Camp I've been to, and one of the best weekends ever. The more I think about it, the more it makes me happy, and though it sounds cheesy, it feels like I've 'been a part of something special'. Euphoric times, and I was very lucky to see a whole bunch of (new and old) friends from NZ and abroad. Weather on the first day was wet and pretty bleak, but there was heaps of great music. My friend Dove and I chose what the other would wear: he got a a shirt with a cat and his name on; I got an incredible kaftan. Mysticism ensued, and my sunshine ceremony may have helped, for the remaining two days were beautiful.
There were heaps of musical highlights: So So Modern (epic in the rain), Kikuyu, Terrible Truths, Dan Deacon, Aa (maybe my fav show?), Castlecliff Lights, Guerre, Shenandoah Davis, Kirin J Callinan, Hawnay Troof (killer party/killed my voice), Spring Break (Sexiest Pool Party), Jon Lemmon, The Shocking and Stunning, All Seeing Hand, Prince Rama.
And there were heaps of non-musical highlights: crazy dancing with friends; palm readings (love dat Party Line); thanking Kikuyu for playing and having her remember me from Camp '09; corn chip sandwiches, a capella bleep bloop accompaniments to songs; playing The Ninja Game, The Fruit Game, Wrestle Quest; getting an amazing mixtape-in-a-coconut; finally learning to 'whooooo' at a concert.
Such an incredible festival! I'm in complete agreement when people say it's one of the world's best, and I'll be back next year

Treasury of We

When I moved to Melbourne in May, I was impressed with the amount of gigs. 'It's nothing', I was told: 'wait for summer'. And true enough, there have been a lot of great shows. Here are some thoughts on a bunch I've seen
Fran bought me a ticket to see The Gin Club play a christmas eve eve show. They were great, all ten (or so) of them. Big band, good sounds
I went with my friend Jasmine to see Metronomy at the Hi-Fi, and they were phenomenal! They played every song I could've hoped, and were thoroughly entertaining.
John Maus and Dan Deacon played at 'Fright Night'. Maus was amazing, playing his tracks via a sampler while he yelled/sang over the top. Really atavistic performance, shouting and self-hitting. Wow. And Deacon was absurdly fun, his live band involved three synths and two drummers. Tears in my eyes during audience participation in which we were asked to think about the person we loved the most. 
Julianna Barwick played a Sugar Mountain sideshow at The Toff, and I went with my flatmate James. Great voice; a haunting show
Fran and I saw Feist's Laneway sideshow at the Palais Theatre (amazing venue!). She was great, very entertaining, and a great performer. My Moon, My Man was superb.
And off to Laneway yesterday. A really brilliant day out, I really enjoyed Girls, Givers and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Cults were spectacular, and worth the price of the ticket alone. And I felt the same about Glasser, who was better than I could've hoped. The Horrors played a great set, with all the songs I wanted (a good theme of the day) before I snuck off to catch Toro y Moi play Elise (yuss). Washed Out were fab, full of feeling, and I headed over to catch the last M83 song (Couleurs!). I boogied my way through the crowd, and the girl in front of me turned around: it was Naomi! I'd not seen her in months, and here we were, among thousands. I was spun out, it was a poetic moment.
All of this leads on to next week's Camp A Low Hum in New Zealand! Also coming up: Neon Indian, Slow Club, St Vincent, others

Minutiae

At my work I find there are a number of things which seem trifling, and these are the things that really delight me. As Hank Scorpio said, 'it's the little things that make up life'
-Wineglasses are suspended in groups of three, upside down on rails. When you replace a row, they swing and hit each other, producing chimes. The beautiful thing is that they continue swinging for many minutes, and faint 'clinks' can be heard long after you've walked away. I love the harmonic, periodic nature of the swings, and the sounds they produce seem like the music of the spheres.
-Rainbows! The wineglasses, glass shelves and mirrors by the benches produce rainbows. So simple, so stunning.
-At the end of the night, the coffee machine is cleaned. Part of this involves emptying the grinder, and grinding a handful of beans to 'season the machine' the next morning. You hear the blades grind and whir, and as the last of the beans go through, the blades spin unimpeded. It sounds like a perfect moment.
-Coffeemaking, it's fun to try and make pictures in the foam. I'm still learning, but it's often best to simply interpret the shapes that arise. I've 'made' pictures of a moustache, question marks, and a hyperbola.
-Customers. People are beautiful and strange. It feels like every interaction has the potential to revolutionise how you relate to others.

Socks

My whole life, I've put my socks on a certain way. I simply pulled them on: toes in the opening, the rest follows naturally. If the sock were inside-out, I'd half turn it the right way out, then whack the balled up sock in my hand, like a poi. People have teased me for this. I see that it's not ideal, though it gets the job done.
My whole life, my dad has put his socks on a certain way. Starting with the sock inside-out, he makes a dent in the toes, and pulls it back over his foot, inverting it as it goes. He stands up; his socks are on.
Recently I changed methods. I adopted the Dad Method. Faced with an inside-out sock, I calmly slide it over my foot, and carry on with my day. No more whacking socks to make them comply. I put on my shoes and leave the house.
As I walk, I wonder if I'd ever been taught a certain method. I was always aware of how my father dressed his feet - had he always been like this? Or was there a point at which his method changed, presumably to that of my poppa. At 27, what did this change mean to me? I was acutely aware of it, though it was seemingly triggered by nothing.
At 27, my dad was a recent father of twins. He'd been married a few years. And he'd been working as a carpenter for close to 10. He was unquestionably a Man. How do I compare? With my life, I feel like a man, though definitely not a Man.
I sit down on the grass at the park, and take off my shoes and socks. I leave the socks, inside-out, on top of my shoes, ready for when I walk home.

Christmas

I made a crochet tree for a friend. Hope you have a lovely christmas. I'll be spending it with a few friends, then working at the cinema in the evening

2011

In the last couple of years, I've had reviews of my favourite musical releases. As I didn't work in radio for most of the year, I felt rather disconnected from what was happening musically, so decided to branch out my reviews (also inspired by these guys)

Gigs of the Year
4 - Parking Lot Experiments @ Workers - a great way to cap off my first week in Melbourne
3 - Wintercoats @ The Evelyn - far exceeded my very high expectations
2 - Caribou @ CALH - kinda 'lost my shit'
1 - Beach House @ Laneway - I was covered in shivers the whole time

Albums
5 - Memory Tapes - Player Piano
4 - PJ Harvey - Let England Shake
3 - Cults - Cults
2 - Tennis - Cape Dory
1 - John Maus - We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves

Songs
Glasser - Ring (Delorean remix)
Summer Camp - I Want You
Neon Indian - Polish Girl
Rhianna - Only Girl
Shocking and Stunning - Salvia Gravity
Atlas Sound - Te Amo

Best Books I read this year
Sherman Alexie's The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven blew my mind. And I loved David Foster Wallace's Consider the Lobster

Favourite Films of the Year
Midnight in Paris was delightful. Source Code and Tyson were probably my fav dvds

Food items of the Year
Anything from La Panella (vegan bakery!), Log Cabin nachos, Gina's bagels, vegan licorice all sorts from Northcote IGA

Best Kebab
Abbott House of Falafel (aka 'King of Falafel'), Coburg. $5 of incredible

Girlfriend of the Year
Gina - Practically Perfect in Every Way

Suburb of the Year
A tie between the wonderful St Albans, Chch; and Northcote, Vic

Art Gallery Shows of the Year
Stabs @ Backwoods
Nior @ No Vacancy NGV
Eveline Tarunadjaja @ No Vacancy QV

Clothing of the Year
Probably a really nice fitting white polo I got from Tasman Traders. Also, cut-off shorts were the only way to short in '11

Most Aussie Thing
A drunk guy saying 'fair dinkum' regarding my review of Tyson

Event of the Year
Without doubt the earthquake. Changed most parts of my life, and was a very big motivator for the runner up: moving to Melbourne

Overall Trend
Learning that things will happen and people will do things that are totally outside your control, so you've just got deal with it the best you can