S#63/1: Guitar Trek
Steph Metal’s suggestion number 63 (from http://steffmetal.com/101-ways-to-cheer-yourself-up/) is to experience new things – something new every day for a week!
I began today, seeing “Guitar Trek” at the ANU at 2:50pm, as part of the ABC “Sunday Live” program.
As you can guess from their own photo, they were creative with their guitars – by turns rhythmic, soothing, passionate, eerie and even funny. They used a variety of guitars including a steel string and a twelve-string, and at one point they got all percussive, too.
Play along at home: Search radio stations in your area for what’s happening – it’s astonishing how much free entertainment is out there. If you’re from Canberra, come to ANU School of Music Sundays at 2:50 – next week is the Royal Military College Band, and again I’ll be there.
Coming soon (if all goes well):
Monday: Secret # 2 (substituting next Sunday’s “new thing” for that day in order to have a full seven days).
Tuesday: Self defence class at Belconnen Community Centre at 8pm.
Wednesday: Carillon performance from 12:30-1:20 (the Carillon is a giant building that is also a musical instrument. Unbelievably, I’ve never heard it played).
Thursday: “My convict ancestor” talk at the Botanic Gardens theatrette (donation entry), 12:30pm.
Friday: Display of art at the North Lyneham Gallery Cafe.
Saturday: Either “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” at ANU Film Club or a Jane Austen ball.
Sunday: Royal Military College Band live at ANU thanks to Sunday Live.
Death
Two more fish have died, and the rest are sick. I’m too upset to write more.
I’ve bought medicine, plus yet another thing to treat the water. But I bet they all die in the next twenty-four hours.
#127: Unusual exercise
I have a friend who is six years younger than me. When she turned sixteen (four years ago) I went to her party, and played DDR (“Dance Dance Revolution”) for the first time. This is what the game looks like (the screen shows moving arrow combinations, and you step on the corresponding foot arrows in time, or try to):
I am now twenty-eight years old – a great-great grandmother in arcade game years. But I still sometimes dig up the courage to go and play DDR.
It’s exercise, sure. But because you’re concentrating on trying to put your feet on the right arrow at the right time, you are distracted from the usual boredom, sweat and pain. It’s strangely compelling.
Play along at home: Sneak into an arcade and play DDR for yourself ($1 gets you 3-5 songs if you don’t die horribly). Or just go for a walk somewhere you haven’t walked before.
Tomorrow: “Guitar Trek” at the ANU school of music (free, and at 2:50pm, fyi) – another great performance organised by ABC classic FM (at least I assume it’s great – it hasn’t happened yet). And don’t worry – secret #2 is coming soon. It’s. . . complex.
S#13: Take a bath (and twitter)
Today, for the first time in about five years, I took a bath. I did it RIGHT. There were bubbles, there was a great book, there was a towel behind my back, and I had a bottle of cool drink at my side. I thought it’d feel weird to be in a bath, but it felt grand.
No photos, though 😉
“BRIDEZILLA” so far:
1.
It’s pay day, so I buy pillows. Luckily my wedding dress makes a good maternity dress. I hope this plan works. Tomorrow, here I come.
2.
I dress as a VERY expectant bride and go to the bakery store. As I order a huge pile of hot cross buns, I put one hand to my giant stomach.
*
“Oh you poor dear!” says the matronly type I’ve been observing for days. “Don’t bother paying for those buns.”
*
She winks, “And may I STRONGLY recommend entering our restaurant-dinner-for-two competition?”
I obey her while silently applauding my act.
3.
Today I’m a goth bride with heavy eye-makeup and blood-red feathers on my neckline. I mingle in the bar before Amanda Palmer’s concert.
*
Amanda comes out, hugs me, then takes in my full outfit. “Congrats,” she says – “And you’re NOT paying – or your fiancé, wherever he is.”
*
Being a goth bride rocks. It’s even better than yesterday’s pregnancy. I’ve never enjoyed a concert so much – or been given so much beer.
4.
I promised my daughter a huge pile of Easter eggs – but I also promised she could continue at her school. So I dress her as my flower girl.
*
Easter eggs: Check. Nausea: check. Chocolate smears on May’s face: check. Getting chocolate for a flower girl at Easter is almost too easy.
*
A shrill voice cuts through my pleasure – my ex-bridesmaid, Cherie. “Anna! Did Rob come back and marry you after all?”
“Uh. . . sure. Yep.”
5.
I’m embarrassed after lying to Cherie, so today I go for the dumped bride look. My mascara runs beautifully, and I get more hot cross buns.
*
As I’m lugging a garbage bag of buns to my car, one of the bakery girls comes and helps me. She says, “Wait a second, do I recognise you?”
*
I shake my head, but she says, “Yes! I saw you dumped on YouTube. . . but that was a month ago. What the. . .?”
I flee.
6.
Today I dress as a mum. An emotionally and financially stable mum. I try to arrange my stockings so the holes are hidden inside my shoes.
*
“We’ve been making allowances because of your. . . incident. . . a month ago. But we must have next term’s fee by the end of this month.”
*
After the meeting, I go give May a hug. Her teacher stops me and asks for my number.
“Oh no! What did May –”
“Nothing. I want to call YOU.”
7.
I eat hot cross buns, and ask my boss for a raise. Neither goes down well.
*
When May gets home, I interrogate her about her dark-haired, dark-eyed teacher.
She says, “He’s nice. I got to be the queen in story time.”
8.
I get the card for the free dinner for two at a real restaurant. Yay! Less than an hour later my landlord “drops by”. Uh-oh.
*
May’s teacher calls, and arranges to pick me up on Saturday. My heart’s fluttering so hard, I can’t eat my dinner (of hot cross buns).
9.
May dresses in her best dress for our dinner of Real Food. I wear a skirt. They greet us with champagne. “Where’s the other newlywed?”
*
“Uh. . . he had to work,” I say. They hustle us to our highly beflowered table and tell us to order anything we want. We do.
*
May gets them to make her a hamburger. I have a huge pile of meat and a giant salad. Neither of us eats our bread rolls.
Substitute Addictions
I have a problem with chocolate. I know that. I always will have a problem with chocolate. I know that too. All I can do is keep it under control.
Probably the main reason for my chocolate problem is that I need some way of expressing how angry I am most of the time. People who know me will know that I don’t swear (except ironically) or lift my voice or slap them for no reason. That’s all thanks to chocolate. For me, stuffing my face with chocolate is the healthiest thing to do. But rumour has it there are better options.
Yesterday was a reasonably difficult day. I had to fast until about midday, I had to go to an unfamiliar place for expensive medical tests (and expose my giant belly to the nice lady, not that she commented), I felt responsible for the death of another living being, various people owed me hundreds of dollars, and when I weighed myself (hoping to get something encouraging) the results were ominously underwhelming.
So I bought more fish. And a heater. The fish shop confirmed my notion that buying more neon tetras was the right thing to do (and in fact if I’d done it sooner instead of being cautious, Frodo1 might still be alive), and the heater also helped to assuage my conscience. I now have five neon tetras, and have also been able to observe that I was wrong – Sam’s colouring was just fine all along.
The tetras in their bag were very interesting to Sam (the original tetra) and Gandalf (the fighting fish).
The danios reacted by running laps around the tank, and by returning to their old habit of attacking their reflections. But they haven’t bitten the tetras, so it’s all good (they have chased them a bit, but that’s okay). Fish aren’t known for behaving in a cute manner, but it WAS cute to see all the tetras interacting through the clear plastic. Once I let them into the main tank, it was as if I’d scattered a handful of glitter into the water.
I also felt much better for playing “Dance Dance Revolution” yesterday as my Daily Awesomeness (“Unusual exercise”, which I plan to post this weekend). I thought I might be sore today, so I also rode my exercise bike for five minutes yesterday evening. The bike faces the fish tank, which makes it slightly less boring, and I’ve found that five minutes of riding makes me feel good without making me stink.
So my three potential new addictions are:
1. Buying new things for the fish (tetras like plants, and almost all fish like filters).
2. Buying. . . anything. Because only powerful people spend money, so it feels good every time.
3. Exercise. (Hilarious, I know.)
I also read a piece of advice on Donald Miller’s blog that was very interesting. The advice was given to men who want to attract women (yes I read the whole article, why do you ask?), and it was that you should build your self-esteem by being good at something.
I really like the idea of having some concrete way to feel better about myself, even though I recognise that actual skill takes a LONG time. I’m good at writing, I speak Indonesian with 90% fluency, I’m good at solving unusual problems, I’m good at Daily Awesomeness (I’ve always been the person who hears someone say, “Gee I’d like to. . . ” and then does whatever it is on their behalf), I’m good at tutoring, and I’m good at running a household. My focus is on writing, Daily Awesomeness, and running a household. That’s probably enough to do, but if I change my mind I think I’ll start getting good at playing acoustic guitar.
PS Today is fabulous – I have no work except writing, I’m basically at home (except for fun grocery shopping related to the cheese party I’m hosting tomorrow night) and I weighed myself and found I weighed 82.6 – that’s almost a kilo less than on Tuesday, and it proves that I AM now able to lose weight at my normal rate (2 kilos the first week, and 1 kilo after that, except sometimes when my cycle messes things up). Two of the three people who owed me money have now paid, and I should find out today (a) how much repairing our car needs, and (b) the results of yesterday’s tests.
Frodo is dead
Sad but true. I think his death was mainly caused by bullying from Sam and the rest, but it’s likely (since he died at night) that he was cold, too – so although the others all seem fine, I’ll get a heater soon (not today or tomorrow, because we’re getting our car serviced tomorrow and it’s likely to reveal that urgent and expensive work is needed).
Today is my third day of balanced eating, and I hate it. Life is simply frightening, without chocolate to lean on.
Today I had an X-ray and ultrasound of my belly to see if they can show up any reason for me to have been sick so long (about three months now). I don’t remember the last time I had an X-ray, and I’ve never had an ultrasound. The X-ray was pretty dull – just another way of getting a photo taken – but the ultrasound was pretty cool. I could see my insides on the screen. I have lots of floaty bits in various shapes. Hopefully the next time I have an ultrasound one of the floaty bits will be a baby shape.
The results will be sent to my doctor this afternoon. If it’s anything interesting, I’ll blog again. I suspect they’ll show nothing, and I’ll have to have more invasive tests. That’s the worst case scenario. (Other than, I suppose, “You shall die within a week, and so will CJ, and everyone else you’ve been in contact with.” That’d be worse – but I suspect I’d feel sicker if that were the case.)
#126: See a live choir
There’s something about singing. It lifts hearts, it alters moods, and it connects worshippers to the god of their choosing.
My father has recently joined the Canberra Choral Society, a large and professional group that has been running for over half a century.
They performed live and free on Easter Sunday, featuring Karen Fitz-Gibbon (a spectacular new soprano, who isn’t quite finished her degree) and Peter Young (organist), conducted by Dr Peter Pocock and Tobias Cole. The performance was funded and produced by ABC Classic FM, who will be producing a variety of performances at 2:50pm Sundays in the School of Music building at the Australian National University. The down side of such a big event is that I can’t publish the photos or videos I took. (Some of the many people involved are fine with it, and others aren’t.)
Peter Young played a portable organ (about as portable as a grand piano), sliding on and off the seat like a twelve-year old to avoid hitting the dozens of foot pedals. (The seat also had a large crank on the side to ensure that whoever played it didn’t sit with their feet touching the ground.) It was marvellously entertaining to watch – rather like seeing someone play three pianos while also playing “Dance Dance Revolution”. The more gothic the tune, the more his feet skittered around the pedals.
Karen Fitz-Gibbon sang as if her voice came not from her small form, but from the whole auditorium at once. It was heavenly. (Then she blushed and giggled like a fifteen-year old at all the applause.)
The conductors must have done warm-up exercises before coming on, or they’d have done themselves an injury – they were that committed to their work. Dr Peter Pocock was red-faced and trembling with passion, channeling the music of the whole choir. Tobias Cole conducted with his whole body – face, arms, and knees.
Another enjoyable element of Tobias Cole’s performance was that he bears a passing resemblance to the actor Aidan Turner, who I know best as the blood-addicted vampire from “Being Human” (MA rated at least). I think my notion that the conductor was actually a terrifying serial killer added to the performance.
The choir was exactly what I expected: unearthly, vibrant, and generally awesome. It’s a good thing they sing mainly in Italian, though, since the translations tend to be less than noble. Here’s a sample:
This little bird who
sings so sweet
and lasciviously flies now from the fir to the beech
Play along at home: Search online for free performances in your area. If you’re in Canberra, come and see “Guitar Trek” this Sunday at the School of Music at 2:50pm. CJ and I will be there.
Tomorrow’s awesomeness: I take a bath.
#36: Sing
The best part of being able to drive is that when you drive, no-one can hear you sing. I took advantage of that fact on my half-hour drive home from work today. Singing does some kind of chemical thing, and almost always makes me feel better – and it’s a much easier high than a running high, which I appreciate. The engine drowns out most of the sound, which is another plus.
Play along at home: If you drive, sing in the car. At the top of your lungs. If you don’t drive, wait until your housemates leave the house, and let loose!
Tomorrow (if all goes well): See a live choir (with video)
Day Two
I have four hours’ work to do today (my usual maximum is three plus writing, or I risk uncontrollable rage, swearing at children, car accidents and the death of innocents), and it’s raining. Perfect. On the up side, none of the pets have died.
Yesterday I ate:
Breakfast: Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes with milk and a square of plain chocolate.
Morning tea: One piece of lemon slice.
Lunch: Helga’s pumpkin five seeds bread with plum jam, cold ham and havarti cheese.
Afternoon tea: A glass of diet coke and two unadorned sour cream and chives corn thins.
Dinner: Lasagna and freshly-made salad.
And I rode the exercise bike for half an hour (in three segments in the morning).
Today I’ll eat:
Breakfast: Vogel’s nut clusters with milk.
Glass of diet coke.
Morning tea: Small quantity of peanuts.
Lunch: Helga’s pumpkin five seeds bread with avocado, plum jam, cold ham and havarti cheese.
Afternoon tea: One piece of lemon slice, and one square of cadbury chocolate.
Dinner: Tuna Mornay.
After dinner: Probably a glass of milk with Frangelico.
And I’ll do fifteen to thirty minutes on the bike, starting now.
Must. . . kill. . .
Hate everyone. Life not worth living. Random crying already started. Dreading tomorrow. Want violence.
No headache, though – I bought some diet coke to ease the lack of caffeine.
Still want to kill folks. Especially if they come within three metres.
Nothing works as a substitute for chocolate. Nothing.
Felicity Banks 