eastern europe

i'm in krakow, poland. i honestly never thought in a million years i would ever be here. it's friggin cold - negative 6 as a maximum? ahh. suicide. but day by day my body is slowly but surely getting used to the cold. and by february (with luck) i will be able to handle negative 20 without so much as a flinch.

i was torn whether to go to auschwitz or not. i have a bit of a complex with prisons/wars/history etc etc and it's just something that gets me really upset, something i have absolutely no interest in, and would rather not see. so $50 AUD to scare the shit out of me and make me cry? i don't think so. i can buy countless books on the subject for much less for that. and yes, it seems a bit of a waste to go all the way to krakow to NOT go to auschwitz but why should i? 

X

it's cold

i woke up in rome. it was 20 degrees.
i am now in nottingham. it is 2 degrees.
i want to be in brisbane. it is 27 degrees.

god i miss summer.
X

roma

roma! it's a beautiful city, with ancient ruins, historical gems and lots and lots of pickpocketers. i got my wallet stolen on the metro this morning on the way to vatican city's st. peter's basilica.

otherwise, it has been a blast! have managed to visit many architectural gems: tempietto, santa maria della pace, facade of something something quatro fontaine and palazzo farnese. the food is delish - pizza, pasta, gelato etc. i'm in love.

colleseum tomorrow.
X

happy birthday emma

today is emma's 20th birthday. 
we are stuffed full of sushi, cupcakes and champagne. 
perfection.
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torture

sunday : 5pm - 2am mushrooms
monday : 5am wake up, 9.40am flight, 11pm sleep
tuesday : 9.30am wake up call, 10am jog, 10.30am tute, 1pm lunch, 2pm - 1am interim crit prep

what does the rest of the week bring? 

wednesday : 24 hours of architecture?
thursday : interim crit, emma's birthday?
friday : dinner?
saturday : 4am wake up, 6am flight to rome?
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the dam

amsterdam was fabulous. such a beautiful, yet disgusting city. my eyes have seen too much, and are scarred for life.

mushrooms were incredible. absolutely nuts. i was there, but not really. literally floating above my own body. my head wasn't screwed on and everything and anything seemed to be hilarious. we walked around and around in circles, we pushed our pad thai around on our plates due to our inability to eat it and we spent hours doing literally nothing. 


a good fun weekend - one that only comes once in a blue moon.
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a moment of weakness

i am not sure whether it's because my eyes are dry, or because i am actually sad/homesick/exhausted (feel free to add any negative feeling to that list), but things just seem to be terrible at the moment. and although i do love eating my body weight in sub-par food, if i continue this way, i most certainly will be the size of australia and will have to buy two plane tickets on the way home - depressing thought. it's getting colder, work is getting harder and i want to be on a beach sunbaking more than anything in the entire world.

91 days until my flight home.

X

ps: amsterdam was fun.

20091119

i couldn't think of a title for this one, so this one's simply the date.

things have been relatively fun. last night was the nusex booze cruise which was fantastic. free booze all night with an after party at bodega (my new favourite hangout). malibu & pineapples all night, with trashy brit-pop as well as a few sneaky old school 90's classics...hit me baby one more time.

monday was my first notts archi-hangout. gatecrasher's traffic light party. wheyyyyy. fun all round, but drinks were ludacris. £5.50 for a jagerbomb? i don't think so. i'm sticking to gatecrasher on wednesdays and fridays strictly.

architorture hasn't been too bad. i whipped up a quick 1:50 sketch model in the two hours before my tute and it was relatively successful! interim crit on thursday - i will have to put my head down and butt up after this weekend.

in my intoxicated state, i finally applied for chipperfield's berlin internship last night. fingers crossed. i don't even know if i want it or not, because it will fuck up my life about 100 times more than exchange has...and i kinnnnd of don't speak german. i'm kind of keen to settle down and stay in one place for a while after this. perhaps a few weekend trips around australia, but nothing too drastic. i'm the most elderly eighteen year old ever.

speaking of travel, amsterdam tomorrow.

it shall be a blast.

i intend to have enough crazy stories to fill this blog for years by monday afternoon.

big love.

X

chipper's does it again

in love with david chipperfield's private house for richmond.

right-click, save picture as does not work on his website, but i can assure you, it is probably the nicest thing you'll see all day.

X

frank

 

sam in notting-ham

dream

last night, i dreamt you were here. & not sure why, how or what it was related to, but you saved me.
X

madrid 2010

http://www.bdonline.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=453&storycode=3153008&channel=783&c=2

super lazy to repost.

have a look.

X

weather forecast

nottingham weather theory:
if you wake up, and the sun is shining, it will be pouring by 5pm.
X

my two loves

friends, and songs that remind me of them (in no particular order):

fraser: metro station - shake it

gordon: arctic monkeys - i bet that you look good on the dance floor

daniel: art vs. science - flippers

helen: anything by ben folds

tess: justin timberlake - sexy back

charlie: midnight juggernauts - tombstone

kit: crystal castles vs. health - crimewave

claire feng: deadmau5 - i remember

shaun: pnau - embrace

emma:  yuksek - extraball

ben: michael jackson - don't stop til you get enough
cho: killers - all these things that i've done

daniella: dizzee rascal - bonkers

sean: the style council - shout to the top

wendy: dappled cities fly - holy chord

lucy: rooney - when did your heart go missing

annie & merrin: kid cudi - day n nite

kiran: jens lekman - opposite of hallelujah

ali: fratellis - chelsea dagger

marley: baywatch theme song

(more to come)

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like can lead to like like

a day off in architecture? never heard of.

it's my day off. my lecture was kindly cancelled last night. fantastic. means i have more time to study (i.e. facebook) & clean (i.e. facebook).  last night was 'miss nottingham', which meant lots of drunk/half naked girls doing ludicrous things in the name of a figurehead position. it was entertaining, to say the least, and UQ would never allow such a thing, but pretty much pointless.

the uni work is piling up. i don't want to be stuck in january with so much work, so i am aiming to start now, but failing. it's so incredibly difficult to get into the right frame of mind.

last night, ben, simon & i edited wikipedia:

good times. they're no longer there (thankyou, wikipedia censoring) but it's funny nonetheless.

today, i am to wrap sam's present. do laundry. have a shower. buy urban design text book. have a healthy lunch. clean room.

wish me luck.

X

places

so a lady on the bus on the way to dublin airport asked me where i was from.
good question.
my parents are from hong kong & singapore.
i was born in melbourne, australia.
i now live in brisbane, australia.
but i'm studying in nottingham, england.
so what does that make me?


i am starting to see the affect of gen-y's & their travel. i alone, know at least 10 people from australia in europe at the moment. everyone is constantly jetsetting - & through the aid of lamespace/blogs/email/skype - frankly it doesn't really matter. in some cases, i am speaking to some people more since i got here...now how does that make sense?
X

mourning

thought i'd have a squiz at my very old teenage myspace. i'm now reminiscing many lost friendships from high school. tash sorensen? annie berquist? merrin mahon? various others. i hope you're okay. 
X

red riders / ordinary

to you, love me.

58.51

that's exactly how much i made tonight. lies. okay. that's how much i came home with. ben and i found ninety quid at maccas. god. what a loser who left that there. went to gatecrasher tonight. fun fun fun. 'kaiser chiefs'? lies. again. ergh. but okay. i did slam my pointer finger on my right hand in a door. i am lacking feeling. but that's okay. i did make 28.51 quid tonight. so yay. hell yeah. amsterdam here i come. 
X

flobo

"No nightclub floor was too adhesive for the Florence Boot freshers. No '80's rock anthem proved too corny to sing along to at a deafening volume, no fancy dress theme too obscure, no novelty item from Portland Atrium too ridiculously overpriced, and bollocks if they were ever going to get tired of Week One's mandatory, 24 hour-a-day, anti-any-other-hall-which-happens-to-be-nearby-chanting. Bollocks if they were going to back down in the face of any of the bigger halls on campus either: FB seems to have quite a reputation for being a bit quiet, a bit sultry and mysterious, skulking round the West Entrance, loitering just outside Beeston like a chav on a BMX, but this year, by God did we hold our own. It's worth noting that one of our freshers in particular took our good-natured (ahem) anti-Rutland banter to heart more than any other in living memory, and in no way am I condoning what he did as a result of his feelings, but suffice to say it will remain the stuff of Florence Boot legend for many years to come. If I was allowed to, I would say that the man in question's act of vandalism was brilliant. But I'm not. So I won't."

 - Gabriella DeMatteis, week one rep

b noc

b noc = big name on campus.
X

it's almost too hard to speak to you now, & that hurts more than ever.
X

quote of the day

"my microsoft word now auto-corrects "voldemort" to "he who must not be named"."

lazy wednesday

i must admit, it has been a while since i have had a wednesday night in. & tonight, i have achieved a lot - & it's only 9.30 (half nine, as they say in the united kingdom). 


facebook/youtube is being incredibly unkind & not letting me upload videos. i have hours & hours of entertaining video that should be released into the dangerous world wide web (even if it comes back to bite on the bum years later). i officially give up!


my dear friend sam is coming to nottingham next weekend for a visit & his 20th birthday. it should be fun. 
X

chat

"i never knew you found paninis to be homoerotic"
 - clan three chat, overheard at hallward library

this is how we do it

autumn

dublin, ireland

as i sit in dublin, comforted by the warm ambient light in daen's room, i realise how much i miss nottingham. it's the gaelic on every street sign, the torrential rain as i am trying to cross the road to topshop & all the damn green that is getting to me. i miss florence boot & the comfort of home. & i miss everyone back home in australia. 


where are you? come back. you know who you are.


i am sick. i am sick of the feeling of being sick, the fear of getting sick & the wondering whether i am sick or whether it's all in my mind. 


things just aren't the same on the other side of the world. 
& i'm not sure they will be the same when we get back. 
X  

group work

it's not that i hate you. or that i'm racist. or that i pick fights. i was tired and we were stressed.


a day in the life of an architecture student.
X

i love florence boot

i love florence boot.
woohh.
X

get better soon, sina!

a diagnosis of meningitis.
group work, A2 panel #4802402093.
3 x visit to cripps health centre.
video diary of life as a second year architecture student.
arguing about primitive communities - should we let them go to sainsbury's and buy their food? tv or no tv? one computer - what if they all want to facebook at the same time?


get better soon, sina! 
things are a mess when you are ill! 
X

look around

"baby, wake up. baby, come see. and if you lose your way, just hold on to me. the flames have all died out, our hearts are still beating. the rain is gone, the rain is gone. just look around.

 our time is not up,
 our place is in the sun.
 so just wipe the ashes from your eyes, girl, 
there's so much work to be done. 
and there's no way to be sure,
just be sure to keep breathing.
 we'll just keep movin' on,
 we'll keep movin' on.
 and look around.
 we're not okay.
 but, baby, we're alright.
 so just make love to the day,
 and hold each other tight. 
just remember your song,
don't forget to keep singing.
cause our love is a bomb. 
our love is a bomb. 

just look around.
 keep your eyes open, it's alright.
keep your eyes open, it's alright.
 make better years from bitter days -
this is our time, this is our place.
 look around. 

just look around."

X

facebook vs. wikipedia

"facebook will ruin your degree. wikipedia will save it."
X

disney

happy birthday rosie and emily. campus fourteen tonight - disney style. and now i sit here, in 64 florence boot eating horrible, disgusting chicken and mushroom pot noodle. yuuuuck.

today was fun, despite 2 x 2 hour lectures and another 2 hour arch sesh in between. i have so much love for clan three. heyohhh.


sleep calls. 
brunch tomorrow.
then nusex (nottingham university exchange society) cafe and vintage shop thing.
X

thursday

it's thursday. 


in first year, that meant eight hour drawing torture. in second year, that meant design lecture and studio. in nottingham, it means four hours of mind-numbing archi confusion...survived only by designing clan logos, scribbling people figures all over sketch books and coming up with ridiculous nicknames. 


it was fascinating, though, what we came up with. theories of space vs. place. is there a difference? is there a boundary? what is the relationship?


thursday, also meant the booking of various flights for the christmas time. i am berlin, krakow, barcelona, vienna, munich and edinburgh bound. how exciting. 
X

a thought

i'll be back soon. 
and we'll make it work.
X

australians in nottingham

last night was karni's seven legged pub crawl...more than 6500 keen university students descending on the bars and clubs of notts. in typical fashion, i roped seven australians together (well, tried to. one canadian - but close enough) and we went as australians/bogans/sports fanatics. with our faces painted green and gold, dressed in wifebeaters, fake bikini/six pack-clad t-shirts, pluggers/thongs/flip-flops and with aussieaussieaussie oioioi written everywhere possible on our bodies, we headed to walkabout. all in all, a fabulous night. 

however, with less than two hours sleep under my belt now, i feel downright terrible.

and surfthechannel isn't being kind to me, despite having new episodes of gossip girl and how i met your mother. please have some sympathy!

X

bullshit in architecture

"The perpetual enlargement of the human estate cannot be sustained because it will eventually overwhelm the capacity and fecundity of natural systems and cycles. The unrestrained development of any and all technology canot be sustianed without courting risks and adverse consequences...a world of ever increasing economic, financial and technological complexity cannot be sustained because sooner or later, it will overwhelm our capacity to manage. A world divided by narrow, exclusive and intense allegiances to ideology or ethnicity cannot be sustained because its people will have too little humour, compassion, forgiveness and wisdom to save themselves" (David Orr, Last Refuge: Patriotism, Politics and the Environment in an Age of Terror)

university lake run

i went for a run this morning around the university park to clear my head.
saw the cutest family - mum, dad, baby and four little puppies.
absolutely adorable. i was tempted to steal one.

X

the other side of the world

it has been quite a while since i have blogged, i know. 
how slack of me.


but what a perfect excuse - i am now in the uk! how exciting. the last few weeks have been a complete emotional rollercoaster (to be completely cliched). i went to so many international student talks about culture shock and how to deal, blah blah blah. but honestly, nothing can prepare you for being on the other side of the world, completely by yourself (fortunately in the same language as yours) and having to make friends - quicksmart.


fortunately, i have been lucky. i've been popped into the smallest, arguably most beautiful hall on campus with my now-best friends literally two or three doors away - florence boot hall. it's a half hour walk to lectures (i choose to take that as a positive - massive campus university which allows me to exercise whilst walking to my lectures?) but definitely the nicest part of university park. the people are great. of course, they are all eighteen year old high school graduates who constantly want to get drunk, but they are great fun. the food, however, not so great. i have never missed asian food so much! (and eaten so much sweet corn for that matter...the english are nuts about sweet corn). 


freshers week a few weeks ago, was intense. every night was some kind of stupid themed party, starting at the ripe hour of seven pm, meaning i was wasted, and in bed by about one. unfortunately, that has meant that even now (third week), i have been unable to stay up past twelve when out. highly embarrassing story #1 - i may or may not have fallen asleep at ocean (student club) on friday night...


architecture is fun, but not quite what i am used to. firstly, there are 180 of us in second year, almost double what i am used to back home. we have been separated into 'units', and i have been lucky enough to be selected into unit one - solar decathlon! we are the only UK entrant in the european solar decathlon in madrid in june 2010. how exciting! it gives me a fantastic excuse to come back in june, providing it doesn't clash with uni work back home.


travelling plans are going better than i could ever imagine. i was in london last weekend with one of my oldest friends, charlie. it was a truly amazing weekend. we managed to fit in all the main sights on london into four very short days (thankyou for the great weather, london!) and went out as well. the londoners certainly know how to have a good night out. i don't remember much, i am sad to say, but i believe we were out in mayfair. not this weekend coming, but the weekend after, i am off to dublin, to visit daen, a fellow UQ architecture slave. it's also halloween at this time - so we might head up to derry (northern ireland) to have a look around. then a few weeks after dublin, is rome with gordon, yet another UQ student over here on exchange. it should be good to have a look at the architecture, now that i know what i am actually speaking about. and then - a massive winter/christmas trip with grace, sina, ben, simon and matt: berlin, krakow, barcelona (with sam), vienna for christmas, amsterdam, edinburgh for new years, glasgow and perhaps back to dublin for a little before uni starts again in mid january.


it's past midnight here, so i will call it a night.
more stories from notts to come!
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it's the beginning

it's the beginning of something different. something new, planned and not spontaneous at all. something which is going to work out, no matter what anyone says. something that should be carefree, cost free (i speak of both beans, and hearts) and a good time. and that's how i want to live my life for the next six weeks, gasp. yes, it is only six more weeks that i pack up my life and move. i'm scared, but at the same time, super excited. i dread leaving my friends at the airport - that moment, one you see so commonly in movies and books, will be emotion-filled electricity - and i will probably spend my entire flight snot-covered, mascara-smudged and an absolute mess. it's a big step for a small, young, naive girl who has so much more to learn about life. hopefully the one that will return will be poorer in dollars but richer in knowledge.

X

byron calls my name

it has been a long, long working week.

saw 'the hangover' last night which was good good good.

completely in love with the wedding scene between doug and kylie/julie/whatever her name is. beautiful cream/pink drapes hanging from a thick, bold white frame - chipperfield-like for sure.

for a bit of light entertainment to cure boredom:

http://lulzmyspace.blogspot.com/

perhaps rude, but there's a reason why you should put your myspace on private.

byron this weekend. and splendour next.

X

the olden days

recently, things have been like the olden days - the summer just past. working full time, watching the oc obsessively and sleeping at obscure hours. uni is finally over, and although i have had a bit of free time, i wouldn't be able to tell you where it has gone. i suppose i've been sick, which is how my body is telling me to stop and slow down (hence the oc - i'm halfway through season one and it is great)

the big trip is soon - leaving in just over two months! how exciting. i've started making lists / plans and it's all coming together. i'm thinking i'll pop into nottingham for my orientation and immediately make my way to munich, germany for oktoberfest with sam and daen (with luck). no idea about accommodation / costs but future-candice can work that one out.

we won our touch grand final last weekend! and this weekend we've got a bar tab at the orient (vomit) but it's still a bar tab so that's great. pyjama party last weekend was lots of fun - the best bit being, coming home loose at a reasonable hour having been drinking for the last 7 and crawling straight into bed.

splen soooooooon. i'm so fucking excited i could eat my ticket (but won't, of course).

X

worry wart

i'm a bit of a worry wart. i don't know why. my lonely mind gets into a crazy, unorganised and stressed place and i can't get out. about stupid things as well - global warming, being in the next air france flight to go under, car accidents. not the big stuff really. and sometimes, i just want to roll down a massive hill...scream, hit and run. i want to hurt you as much as you hurt me before. and every day i worry that you will repeat what you did before. i want to believe you, i really do, but i can't. you haven't proven to me that you're worth of my trust, or love. this kind of shit makes me lose faith in myself and what i want to do with my life. it's like nothing else really matters. and honestly, i don't need you - one day, you will be a blimp on my radar. a memory that i will treasure and hold close to my heart forever. i can't wait for that day.

X

as of late

as of late, i have been neck deep into design. folio handed in yesterday! went to uni to print everything on monday afternoon, and wow - the sheer amount of work everyone has put in this semester is incredible - so went home at 11.30pm and decided that i would do an axonometric. 5 surprisingly-not-so-painful hours later, i had a semi-passable axo. i had been quite apathetic about this folio. just not really feeling the stress or need to do quite so well - and i think this is positively affecting my health. sleeping well, eating (kind of) well, taking time out and relaxing.

this time around, things are different, believe it or not. it's fun. it's simple. and i feel much closer than before. i don't know if i am being sucked in to the same stupid trap, but i feel as though that life is good and i wouldn't change a thing at the moment. and i got a bit sad about leaving this morning - leaving what i've got here and being afraid of not finding it ever again (which in itself, is unlikely) ♥

my delicious emilio pucci gumboots came from melbourne last night! they fit perfectly, like a glove, and i just know that i will be wearing them twentyfourseven in the uk when the ground is too wet. their crazy zaha hadid-like designs will bring a splash of colour and life into what is usually a depressing, plain and function-orientated type of shoe.

rockpaperscissors

"i understand how scissors can beat paper, and i get how a rock can beat scissors, but there's no fucking way paper can beat rock. is paper supposed to magically wrap around rock and keep it immobile? why the hell can't paper do this to scissors? screw scissors, why can't paper do this to people? why aren't sheets of college ruled notebook paper constantly suffocating students as they take notes in class? i'll tell you why, because paper can't beat anybody. a rock would tear that shit up in 2 seconds. when i play rock paper scissors, i always choose rock. then when somebody claims to have beaten me with their paper i can punch them in the face with my already clenched fist and say, oh shit, i'm sorry, i thought paper would protect you, you asshole."

i'm in love

i'm in love - david chipperfield

for some reason, photographs aren't uploading but :

http://www.davidchipperfield.co.uk/

lost at sea

'lost at sea' - the cairos debut ep. went to their ep launch a few weekends ago at the zoo - packed with friends, parents, admirers. such an electric vibe about their music and their performance. apart from their ep launch, i have been laying relatively low - heads in books/surrounded by trace paper/in front of the macbook (usually facebook or ebay). the weather has been incredibly cold - we should have listened to al gore - 'brisbore is now going under'. it's uncomfortable, off-putting and downright depressing, which i guess, also sums up the uk haha. been making exciting plans for new york - christmas and new years - times square, columbia university, the met, sex and the city tour: the list goes on. found this fabulous cheap ($50 australian/night) hotel right near the empire state building which is exciting! i'm going to be there when the ball drops - i will make it happen, even if it means eating mi goreng for a month (almost incentive to make it happen, yum).

ps: sidenote rant - when you pass the age of 13, quit your myspace and start to grow up, shouldn't taking-photos-of-yourself-in-underwear-and-putting-them-on-facebook/internet/blog be a thing of the past? i have a girl on my facebook, two years older than me, who keeps doing it. and although it is a bit entertaining on my behalf (i am sure i am not the only one) the question everyone is asking is - why?! 

frankly - why would you exhibit the fact that your boyfriend is fantastic and the best thing ever one week...and the next week exhibit the demise of your relationship? (um, downright embarrassing, don't you think?) there are some things that are private for a reason. who knows what the government is tapping into. for all i know, kevin rudd could be snooping through my drunken photos. that's a bit disturbing.

happy sunday for tomorrow! X

lb

"the lookbook is a real-life fashion magazine, but unlike

a fashion magazine, there are no stockists, no overpriced

skirts, and the only thing it encourages you to sharpen is

your imagination. it's a site where real-life people post

their 'looks' and the result is a wildly diverse and endlessly

eclectic combination of styles from all over the world. the

photos are works of art in their own right - this is no shoot-

from-the-hip myspace-athon of photography. dreamily

blurred, sharply contrasted, always hinting at something

elusive about the wearer. it's no surprise, then, that almost

everyone on the site is some combination of an art student/

model/photographer/designer/fashion student/under-22.

whatever you think of the fashion zeitgeist, this is a reminder

that the kids are alright and that if there is an international

style, it thankfully exists outside of the stifling confines of

the big-name fashion industry."

- heartbeast/wolfgang

going under

i'm going under! with the sheer volume of uni work as well as organisation of my trip o/s, i am finding it hard to breathe. the creative juices just aren't flowing and all i am drawing are sub-standard buildings which don't address function, aesthetics or respond to the environment well.

but at the same time, i have had this thought that i'm going to try and make a conscious effort to balance my life a bit more - see more people, do more things. 

this time...will (fingers crossed) be different. i've got one foot out the door, and i'm not afraid to say goodbye. X

i'm outta here!

i'm outta here. nottingham, here i come.

090506

i kind-of, just a little bit...maybe miss you.

but wish i didn't.

a little bit of me wishes you would disappear and never come back.

it's probably better for me.

X

parallax

key notes from a friend of mine, who was fortunate enough to attend the parallax conference down in melbourne:

1. At the core of Architecture is understanding and rethinking our world (Aaron Betsky)
2. Be an emergentist, not an architect (Pia Ednie-Brown & Veronika Valk)
3. Psychoanalysis: What we most desire is what we least want to be our reality (Slavoj Zizek)
4. Blogs are an immediate self-published energy that can challenge authority by giving value through exposure to the expreience and opinion of any person whom experiences architecture (Geoff Manaugh)
5. Architecture is not building (Howard Tanner)
6. The more you try to connect - the more you separate (Aaron Betsky)
7. Have some of the most famous buildings of all time been famous because the architecture is easily portrayed in a flat picture image? Does the photegeniacy of spaces dictate their circulation, publicity and fame prospects? What other avenues are there to explore and spread architecture?
8. The Boarder will become how architecture reflects politics. Previously this has been done through the section. (Alejandro Zaera-Polo)
9. Do not be afraid to take your proposals to the world... eg. Veronika Valk approaching her city council with proposals to revitalise her city in Estonia.
10. Who takes ownership over the building... the architect or the carpenter? (Bijoy Jain)

dear friend

dear friend,

let me just say that i am disappointed in you, because, i know in my heart you could have done it - and done it well. 

love, candice. X

goodbye, childhood

1991

the last few days: nottingham city (courtesy of archidose.blogspot.com); ithaca creek state school in a ridiculous hard hat and work boots; stirrup leggings in the spare bedroom.

1991 = my birth year, the name of a fantastic crystal castles song, and also, a palindrome. the last few days have been crazy. i'm still sick, highly strung and craving a warm shower and bed. however, the proud owner of a new macbook. absolutely fantastic. beautiful design...so slimline and classy. i cannot believe i ever doubted it. however, the operating system shits me a bit, but i am willing to pay the price of convenience for a bit of vanity.

paid a visit to ithaca creek state school today, the first building i ever helped design! busting to see the interiors - my handywork. crazy green and blue dotted carpet with blue, green, charcoal, white and cream joinery. so excited. i'll keep the photos for years to come - perhaps, mike munro will bring them up on 'this is your life'.

last night, i was going to venture to see hungry kids of hungary but never made it. ended up sitting in the valley for an hour or so drinking hot chocolate. the weather at the moment is way too cold to do anything but stay in bed. this labour day long weekend will be the laziest, most boring, but also the best. X

lemons

when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

things are slowly but surely getting worse at a fast rate - but i am certain i will pull myself out of this situation. i'm determined to:

a) not to be ridiculously poor in the uk in september...going to work more, spend less, be more frugal and less impulsive about purchases

b) get to the uk in one piece...that means getting into nottingham, passing uni this semester and surviving this ridiculously cold "autumn" weather that has decided to hit brisbane

c) (in conjuction with the above) enjoy the next six months before i leave

i have discovered i am very stubborn about certain things - once i make up my mind, i don't ever change it. and if i want something, i won't stop until i get it. i choose to spin this...positively haha. and i am making a promise to myself that i will do the above.

i would upload this photo i found on archiblog.blogspot.com today of nottingham's city - complete with trams, old victorian brick buildings and new modern architecture but of course i am on an old old old computer which moves at the pace of a snail on weed so i won't even attempt it. however, if i manage to purchase a macbook tomorrow and don't get mugged on the way home, i will upload it. yayyyyy. 

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sunday sesh and monday moods

following our WIN against a friend's team in touch last night, a sunday sesh was in order...involving drinks (starting very late), so late that i accidentally missed a friend's birthday at the RE, reminiscing on an old relationship with the ex, possibly spiked midori+lemonade which resulted in various body movements which may have looked as though i was throwing myself against a metal pole...all in all, a good night but definitely felt the affects of fun this morning.

i mentioned once before that there are just some people you meet in life who will always have a small place in your heart, no matter how long it is since you have seen them. and it is completely up to you, as to whether you would prefer to keep the relationship between the two of you idealised or not...a perfect friendship frozen in time or one which has the potential of being completely ruined. which is right? and where is the point where you know that you should take that chance, otherwise you will regret it forever?

unfortunately, some bad news today regarding travels...a friend (my travel companion in february 2010) was rejected from his host university due to 'lack of studio space'. i am sure they can pull up one chair and share the love around...surely they have seen clueless?

"So like, right now for example. The Haitians need to come to America. But some people are all, "What about the strain on our resources?" Well it's like when I had this garden party for my father's birthday, right? I put R.S.V.P. 'cause it was a sit-down dinner. But some people came that like did not R.S.V.P. I was like totally buggin'. I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings. But by the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier. And so if the government could just get to the kitchen, rearrange some things, we could certainly party with the Haitians. And in conclusion may I please remind you it does not say R.S.V.P. on the Statue of Liberty. Thank you very much."
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kelly

"Here's how the night will work.. Everybody will arrive at differing times, wearing their appropriate costume. Your stereotype will be assessed, and if deemed to be acceptable, we will chortle and allow you entry. Drinks will flow. Drinks will be spilt. Some clown will break a glass early and someone else will yell out "Taxi". Rob will clean up the said broken glass, whilst showing off his wolf undergarments. Some smart-alec tells us the place is messy. Rob hits them with a wooden spoon. The dancefloor will begin to swell. The music will get louder with each drink consumed. Someone inevitably falls off the balcony to their immediate death. Party rages on. Buster becomes intimidated by the poster of Hoff on the wall, and hence question his own manliness. Al will attempt to bring some food out, such as party pies and sausage rolls, however having never used the oven before, will just fry them instead, to great success. Someone will challenge Rob to a drinking contest. Half a second later, Rob finishes his drink. Twenty-five seconds later, the challenger finished their drink. Someone will try to put a hardcore song, which just won't fly with the hosts. Bon Jovi returns rightly to the stereo. It's way too good that someone spontaneously combusts. The smoke alarm goes off. Everybody panics. Calm is restored. The weaker people with less party fitness begin to fail. They crash on the couch. We sit on their face. Someone realises the kitchen doesn't contain a booth, which disappoints some. Someone spews in the toilet. Al uses the opportunity to record video on his new phone. Toilet paper runs out. Abrasive paper towels are brought in for the emergency. Crisis over. Someone decides to sleep in the stolen Coles trolley. Sun rises. Bodies strewn everywhere. Emma parties on with Al and Moorley, once again outdoing all of her brothers. Al tells hours of stories. Pancakes are made for breakfast. Rob crashes and Burns. Crash and Burn is put on. People leave exclaiming "those Kelly boys throw a cracking party!""
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hunting for witches

i'm sitting, on the roof of my house
with a shotgun, and a six pack of beers
the newscaster says the enemies' among us
as bombs explode on the 30 bus
kill your middle class indecision
now is not the time for liberal thought
/ bloc party

i would rather be hunting for witches right now. fortunately, i have digested quite a few nurofen plus's and feel quite a bit better. armed with a 5 day medical certificate, i think i'm ready to tackle these horrible assignments. i've had a sober weekend and it has indeed been a bit of a comfort to wake up refreshed, not tired/hungover/unsure of the previous nights' events haha.

apparently, the cause of my discomfort has something to do with what is commonly known as a 'tension headache' - am i tense? i didn't believe so. perhaps, it's all this running around, organising this, fixing that, planning the next hour/day/week/fortnight/month/six months?! i'm going to make a conscious attempt to slow down my life - less multi-tasking, more focus and less procrastinating.

i've also decided (i had a bit of a big fat thinking day today, you see) that i am thoroughly sick and tired of going out, fortitude valley, wasting money on drinks and not being able to talk to my friends because of the doof-doof. my garage would be the perfect venue for a house party - i'm working on it. perhaps a english themed going away party in late august?
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donkey

my idea of a perfect saturday night definitely does not include:
a) writing an architectural history essay
b) nursing a 4 day headache + sinus which just won't go away
c) attempting an environmental management assignment

however, does include:
a) eating large bacon bones sized for dinosaurs in pea soup
b) afternoon cat naps to be interrupted by phone calls
c) css's 'donkey' on repeat
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splen splen

splendour 2008

one last thing: 2009 line up out! comparitively ratshit to other years but still worth it.
however tickets are $250, so i am told.

bloc party
flaming lips
jane's addiction
mgmt
hilltop hoods
grinspoon
midnight juggernauts
the specials
augie march
sarah blasko
friendly fires
white lies
little birdy
josh pyke
the gutter twins
birds of tokyo
manchester orchestra
decoder ring
lost valentinos
bob evans
yuksek
kram
yves klein blue
leader cheetah
jack ladder
the middle east
polaroid fame
glass towers
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