Gravenhurst

Tim Horton's
"Every cup has a story"
Indeed, it is true as it seems every cup does have a story. The story behind this cup involves five ordinary Australians, living in Ontario, Canada on Exchange - finding the fabled glorious knee-deep snow. It was our mission, as such, to travel as far as needed to find a lot of snow.

The talk began on Monday, that week, two Aussies had brought about an idea to see real snow. By real, they meant snow other than the type they seem to get in the most southern point of Canada, in Windsor, Ontario. In Windsor, the snow is a bit different to what Canada is famous for (despite some of that fame being a misrepresentation of the country), in that it may snow heavily overnight, but by midday the next day it is nothing but slush and annoying puddles of water. The temperature in Windsor is so erratic, no snow has the opportunity to stay around for long. Given this, the two aforementioned Aussies decided it was high time to see the snow, at least knee-deep, more than what we naturally get on the Mountains in the Great Dividing Range of Australia.

The murmurs, talks and general rumble of the endeavour spread quickly through the horde of Exchange students here at the University of Windsor. It soon became apparent who were serious about discovering this snow. Not surprisingly, all the Australians on exchange were serious, and very willing to travel as far as necessary to see the snow. Conclusive enough, there were five Australians and five seats in the car...The trip was set. Friday night, after a certain interesting event that took place with some of these Australians (which many of you will learn of upon my return), we were to pick up the car from Windsor International Airport, and begin the journey to Muskoka, in northern Ontario.

All was fine, and unlike many roadtrips before it, there were no issues in hiring the car, no question, and no underage fee. It appears the Australian accent does buy you a few great deals, here and there. However, by the time we were all packed and ready to go, it was already late on Friday night, so we proposed to postpone the departure until bright and early (in fact not so bright, as it would still be dark) Saturday morning. All agreed that this was probably the safest option, given we intended to drive in the snow.

Saturday morning arrived, at 5:00am I find myself struggling to find the will to leave my warm and cosy bed, to shower. Once I convinced myself, I was ready and roaring to go. The road trip began at 6.30am on Saturday. After a long drive of about 7 hours, we found ourselves in Bracebridge, a town of Muskoka. We travelled along Santas' Village Road, next to a lake - through snow, and amazing scenery. The town was picturesque, the exact image that comes to mind when one usually thinks of Canada. We knew we had found what we were looking for, finding what was most likely a car park (we were not totally sure about this, there was much too much snow to really know for sure), we built a snow man, made snow angels, and had a snowball fight.

After frollicking and general frivolty in the car park of what could have been Santa's Village, we decided we would head off for lunch and to secure some accommodation for the evening. Given a slight mishap in our sense of direction, we ended up heading South (back the way we came), and instead of turning back we set our sights on staying, and eating in Gravenhurst, the first town of Muskoka. Finding a quaint pub in the centre of town in Gravenhurst, we ate a very hearty, and fulfilling meal with great, friendly service from a waitress with a truly Canadian accent. Inquiring about accommodation revealed to us that a cheap Hotel was nearby, and after trekking there through the snow we asked about availability. With luck there was one room left with just enough space for all five of us... at a rate of about one person (further proof that the Australian accent gets you a good deal).

After securing accommodation, and taking a siesta, we had a light dinner in the Restaurant attached to the Hotel, and made for some more snow fun. Sliding, skidding, jumping, throwing, angels, snow cones...all too much fun for Australians who have either seen little, or no snow! It was an amazing experience. From a distance, we could see rising out of rather deep snow a sign "Tim Horton's - Always Fresh". We would make that trek next, not really knowing where any of the roads were as they were covered in snow... we hiked our way there through the knee-deep sand of ice.

That was how the cups came into our hands, the cups of a Tim Horton's double-double. With the friendly assistance of the people of Gravenhurst, Muskoka, we had our picture taken as a group. Evidence of the story behind the cup... We came, saw and conquered the knee-deep fables of snow. And that is all that we did, the following morning at 9am...we were back on the road. It appeared to snow everywhere through Ontario that night, so we were very cautious on the road, so timing was not as good. However, we were fortunate enough not to be one of the seven accidents we saw that day.

That is the story of five Australians, finding snow. The story of our Cup.

Censorship

It's time to bring out those debating shoes again, or more, the reasonable critic shoes. However, unreasonable, I may end up being.

Firstly, I would just like to say I am angry. I voted Kevin Rudd, and I am not ashamed to admit that, for the other option - was not at all desirable. But now, I'll end up with egg on my face. I have directly supported a political leader, in their endeavour to thrust religious, and self-righteous views onto us all.

I am fundamentally opposed to censorship of any kind, I don't believe it the right of the government to exercise our right to choose, on our behalf. Nor should anyone, remove our right to choose. While the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution does not stipulate such a right, explicitly or implicitly (by lack of a High Court ruling on the matter), these are rights generally thought to be, by most Australians, as basic and rightfully ours - regardless of institution or establishment. I am, admittedly, one of those who assume this as a right of my own, despite its lack of protection.

It seems incredibly backward, and incredibly insane, to block internet sites in any number, based on them being 'unwanted'. Given that no definition of the term 'unwanted' has been revealed by the government, I can't quite argue the logistics of it. However, I can say I am not comfortable with any person having the right to deem something as unwanted.

This is to prevent child pornography, and violent webpages being accessed, or at least that is what we are told. While I don't disagree with the concept of this, as these websites are abhorrent in many ways, and for many, many reasons... where will it stop? The only protection the High Court can give us is that our 'Freedom to Political Speech' is protected. Not our Freedom to Speech, just political speech.

I can't support anyone, government or individual in favour of this. It is honestly, an unnecessary, thoughtless, drain on federal funds. We are entering into a time of economic uncertainty, and the government is spending money on implementing software which doesn't guard against all avenues of child pornography, in fact it doesn't even guard against the number one avenue (in which 99.9% of child pornography is found).

Another down side is that it is likely to slow our internet speeds by up to 80%. Australia may be very advanced in some areas, for example, mobile phone technology. Being in Canada, I have learned that we're a little more ahead than Canada. But when it comes to the internet, we are very, very far behind. We already have slow, and extremely expensive internet. We are the only developed nation to have internet caps, and here we are slowing the internet down, on a mindless exercise. Particularly, given that Kevin07 was meant to implement policies in favour of improving national broadband.

And obviously, if the government are to be truly successful in restricting access to these websites, it should never publish them publicly. So that they can avoid being accessed even with the software, in case someone is smart enough to get through it (which most of us people who've ever used the internet for more than five minutes are). There's a giant issue with that, if we never know what we are not allowed to see, we are living in ignorance. I am not comfortable being ignorant. If I'm not allowed to access something, I want to know what it is I'm restricted from seeing, and for what reasons I cannot see it. On top of that, if there is no disclosure, how are we ever going to know if something that is very much 'wanted' has been deemed 'unwanted' by the powers that be?

Maybe I missed the memo, but when did Australia say it was OK, for the government to treat our country, and its people, like it belonged to them and it was for them to decide how to parent. When did it become OK, to realise the incredibly '1984' mentality in our Government?

It would be nice, but quite clearly not going to happen, for the Governor-General to step in, and not give assent to such legislation. Or simply depose of Kevin Rudd. Some people, in fact a lot, and many of which I know, would say this is going too far. But this idea, is going too far. Leave the censoring of unwanted material to ourselves, and the parents of young children. We are capable, have faith in your 'subjects'.

Mostly, ladies and gentlemen who read this from home, please don't sit back and let our government decide what we see. We already have enough censorship already, while you're at it, try and get rid of that too!

Attack

So I am aware that I have not been maintaining my blog, even remotely, since I came to Canada. Possibly because I am sending mass emails, and I feel that simply copying these mass emails … is a bit of a cop out. I have wanted to write many things in my blog since I got here, but in amongst the crazy things I have been doing, and the stress and intense work load of an express semester (as a result of a faculty strike), I really haven't had much time.

What calls for a blog now, you ask. Well, I need to get something off my chest, and it isn’t exactly something that calls for a mass email or, more pointedly, is appropriate for a mass email. Sure, I could turn to one of my friends on exchange, but really…It’s not what I want to do.

So I’ll give you the low down. My residence is a really nice place, and the staff running it are really respectful and caring. My housemates generally, are a great bunch of people, and although many of us have a lot of differences in personality and opinions, we get along pretty well and I wouldn’t change my living arrangements because of them. Until now, that is.

In the past two weeks there has been…some questionable objects discovered in our house. And rather than beat around the bush, I’ll tell you and many of you (whoever bothers to read this, that is) would not be surprised. It was two used condoms. Sure enough, it is not all that surprising giving it is a student residence after all, and perhaps that is what prevents me from being totally grossed out. That, or something is wrong in my head, but I don’t think it’s that.

They were discovered in different places and at different times, and naturally, most of the house are offended and disgusted. And while I don’t really have the disgusted notion under my belt, I am offended that someone would disrespect our house like that, particularly if it is a resident. Upon finding the first one, our head of house asked us all, honestly, if we did it or knew anything about it. I answered honestly, in the same fashion in which I was asked, and bluntly said no.

Despite the fact I might not be totally revolted, I would never do it – because to me those things are extremely private. It’s not something I would want anyone else to see, that only comparison I can make to this is a girl leaving a used tampon out for the world to see. It’s not something any average girl would do, and in the same way, leaving a used condom out for the world to see is not something I’d do. I figure my house mates know me well enough to know that I am a clean guy, sure my room might be untidy, but while I have been here I have shown nothing but good hygiene. In fact, I am the cleanest person in the kitchen, my dishes are never left around and I always clean up immediately after myself (and unfortunately before I cook, or make any food).

Unfortunately however, my hygiene or more so, my personal integrity has come under question following the discovery of the second one. Admittedly, I got the impression my Head of House kind of thought it was me initially, I honestly thought I’d quashed that idea. But it was extremely disheartening to learn that, however diplomatic my housemate (and not the head of house mind you, he seems to be avoiding me at the moment) was in telling me, that my name seems to be coming up a bit as a suspect. No, beyond that, they are convinced it is me. Apparently I am the most sexually active housemate, or the most likely person to do it. From that I can gather two things… actually it kind of bounces back to the one.

Plain and simple, it’s because I’m gay, and I haven’t exactly hid that fact from my housemates. And while my housemate, as diplomatic as he was, assures me that this is not the case, I cannot think of any other reason for it. The assumption that I must be the most sexually active housemate must come from somewhere, and I have certainly not given any of them reason to believe I am having a lot of sex, or even sex in this house. While it’s only conjecture, I’m assuming it comes from the age-old stereotype that gays are promiscuous. Secondly, being the most likely person to do it, is an attack on me. Despite the fact that I don’t believe I’ve given any reason to warrant the accusation that I am disturbed enough to run around placing used condoms of mine anywhere, they seem to think so. That interlocks with what I was saying in the first place.

I keep repeating that my housemate was very diplomatic, that’s because I was impressed at the level of diplomacy I saw. It was, under any normal circumstances, something I would compliment him on. But not this time. Obviously, I responded just as tactfully as he did me. Naturally that means I hid my anger, and yes, hurt, at the accusation.

The point is, my housemates without me, at some point have come together and concluded that it must have been me (or, without seeming too convinced by this point, someone outside of the house). That is hurtful on so many levels. How can you live with people, who hold you with such little regard? Should I assume that for every disgusting thing that we are yet to see (or hopefully not see), that I am the likely suspect?

Apparently the college are going to be undertaking an investigation, I welcome that; I have absolutely nothing to hide. And I do hope that it is someone in this house, just so that they can be revealed to be the person they are convinced I am. In the meantime, I have a mid-term to study for, which I have been successfully distracted from as a result of a few tinges of anger and hurt.

Gah! I promise, I did like my housemates until now.

Arrival

Hello all!
I have arrived in Windsor, my home for the next few months or so. It’s important that I stress to you that because it might be named Windsor, it does not quite carry the majestic undertone. Windsor is, at least it was by first impressions, a tiny sun-scorched town in south west Ontario, right on the border of Detroit. Thus, much of it appeared to be very ghetto! However, like my first impressions in Toronto, further discovery had me realize just what kind of city it is.
Windsor is indeed a small town, of sorts, but actually a lot larger than what we would call a small town. In fact, in terms of population it has twice the number of Frankston. Despite this however, it is still considered a small-town by Canadian standards. Basically Windsor is a University town, business thrives on patronage during semester, and all advertising it appears, is geared towards students. In fact, many places had welcome back students signs plastered around the front. This gives you an indication of the somewhat ‘dry’ summer they had.
In terms of weather... Windsor is infamous for actually being one of the hottest parts of Canada, yet also one of the coldest. Not only does it get to 30 degrees Celsius, it actually heads toward Melbourne summer weather of 40 degrees Celsius and more. In winter it snows, but often it actually gets too cold to snow.
So a few things... the drive to Windsor is as interesting as watching the clock tick by. Its all farmland between here and Toronto. Canadians are extremely polite, over here Australians are renowned for our laid back culture, and being easily approachable etc. May I just say, we are nothing on them. Even ‘gang’ types are friendly and would gladly help you if you were lost. Sometimes, you can walk through Windsor and think that at any time you could get shot. Seriously, the West is like ghetto town, however – its so ridiculously safe!
So I feel I need to elaborate on the safety of Windsor. Basically, Windsor is a border town – my room is literally about 100 metres from the US border...to Detroit. We all know the kind of rap Detroit has. Windsor basically doesn’t want to be associated with that kind of rap, and who can blame them? For that reason, police presence is amazing! On Saturday night we went ‘downtown’, and without a word of a lie, there was a police car with at least two police officers on each block of the strip. Also handy to note, there were also paramedics nearby. The mere presence and numbers act as a deterrent, and there is rarely any trouble except for the occasional overly intoxicated person who spends the night sobering up in a nice, cosy jail cell.
Life on res here at Windsor has been pretty crazy so far... I’m home from my third night of drinking, with plans to continue drinking the following night. So far, we’ve been ‘downtown’ which is the night club district, we went to a graffiti party held by the student alliance, and to a toga ‘kegger’ party tonight. Tomorrow night is ‘multi-level’ foam night. This is where the three levels of the student centre are filled with foam... pretty interesting!
Everyone I have made friends with here have been really amazing, Canadians are so polite, its astonishing. The other exchange students are really friendly, and we’re all helping each other out. In terms of accommodation, our rooms are excellent, but given that we are exchange students its not the most convenient housing. We have to supply a lot of our own cooking utensils, and the like...and such things are relatively annoying, particularly when you don’t have all that much room to take them home.
I mentioned my three nights of drinking, I would just like to point out that I am not drinking that much. For example, tonight I spent $8 on alcohol...admittedly alcohol is extremely cheap, and I was a tad tipsy... by no means was I going to be spending a night in a cosy jail cell!
Anyway, a few more things and I'll leave it. This is getting extremely long! Yesterday we had a Welcome Convocation, and if my camera was working properly I would show you all the craziness that it was. Unfortunately the building we were in wasn't exactly designed for photography. Basically the concept is similar to graduation, a little bit formal, but actually - really not. All first years gather in this hall, and they are arranged in the faculty that they are in. Exchange students are their own little group, so that was cool. The idea of this is to officially welcome and admit the students into the university, and its also a bit of a noise-off. It is a battle between which group can make the most noise, and which groups can insult the other in chants etc. It's just amazing, I wish I could remember some of the chants... they were hilarious. The only thing one I can remember is the chant from the engineering side of the room "We are, we are, we are the engineers...we can, we can, we can demolish 40 beers". The drama group made a chant that had everyone in fits of laughter, it was something about preferring to be dead than an engineer. The commerce group, which filled my heart with pride to hear their chant, which had something to do with the fact they'd all be working for them one day. It was pretty insane, and extremely fun!
Today my classes start and my first class is at 4pm, I finish at 10pm. I have never had such an odd timetable... but I will live I'm sure!

Anyway, this is enough!!!
Missing you all! (I swear!)

Hotel

So!
I'm at a Hotel in Tullamarine, anticipating my flight at a ridiculously early hour...6am! I'm feeling a bit scared, a little bit excited...paranoid I've forgotten something. I'm also pretty tired, 6 hours til my flight leaves - not too sure if I should bother sleeping.

It doesn't feel real yet, I think...hrm!

Ok!
Speak to you all soon when I land!

Aftermath

As most of you are aware, last night was dedicated to celebrating my departure to Canada for 6ish months, and to the 22nd birthday of one of my best friends Aaron. Naturally, such a momentous occassion cannot go un-posted/blogged/bulletinised. So, I have a few things to say about the night, a few thankyou messages and of course, photos to upload and share.

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone that came! Even if you were for the Aaron side of the party! It was an amazing night, and it was really great to catch up with so many people I haven't seen in some time, and just as good seeing all of those who I see more frequently. Many of you had to juggle plans, come after work, and even sacrifice other relatively important events to be there. I am truely thankful, and I really hope it was worth it for you. I would like to reiterate the fact that I had an amazing night, and apologise for my intoxication and any inappropriate behaviour that resulted!

I would also like to thank everyone that brought me gifts. For those of you that didn't, I will comment on the fact that I did not expect gifts, nor did I even realise farewells were a gift-giving affair. But that does not mean I did not appreciate the thoughtfulness, and the gifts themselves, that I received. The gifts I did receive will come in handy for in-flight entertainment, and for knowing where the hell I am going when I am in Canada!

Another thankyou to everyone who signed my card! It really is hilarious to read over, and just see how drunk some people were. Endless entertainment. There were a number of heartfelt messages that got me a little emotional, like I may have gotten at a few points in the night. Also to those who signed Aaron's as if it were mine, and vice versa, you need to learn to handle your alcohol better!!

The biggest thankyou of all however, goes to Aaron. It was Aaron's idea to have a joint party, for a number of reasons, and it was a great idea from the get-go. I had no reservations sharing a party with Aaron, simply because we share a lot of the same friends, and Aaron is a true friend and didn't hog the limelight!! Aaron was the mastermind, and executor of all the party plans. He did all the organising and my only input was financial, and buying ice. I feel I am in huge debt to him, not even I expected such an amazing set up. Thankyou also goes to his mother, who allowed all of us into her house, to farewell me and celebrate Aaron's birthday. Phil's mother also gets a mention for providing the mini quiches that I loved!

A few things I need to mention. There were a few serious conversations I had last night. Most of you who I shared these with would probably think I don't remember them. But for those of you who got these exclusive talks, I do remember, and I meant every word of what I said.

Thank you everyone for coming, giving me your well wishes, and the rest! I won't forget the night, despite my intoxication, and I won't forget any of you. I will be doing my best to keep in touch with everyone while I am overseas. I would also like to remind everyone that Aaron's actual birthday is this Monday, 18th of August... so, flood his inbox, phone and any other medium you can think of to wish him a happy birthday.
That is all.

Change

Firstly, for those even remotely interested - I will be removing my Kinsmen of Aquium blog (my story blog) until I get momentum to keep going. Even though only the prologue is posted, and have written almost an entire bibles worth of story, I'm not liking where its going...so some changes will be made. Thus, the blog will shortly be removed.
Secondly, I'm leaving for Canada shortly - I have compiled a mailing list of people I'll be emailing with updates. Rest assured that if you haven't made it to the list (due to my oversight and severe lack of organisation) that updates will be available via blog. On that topic, I can't decide if I want to create a new blog just for Canada, or just use this blog.
Feedback on this thought anyone?

Anyway, that is all for now.

Anxious

The 25th of August is getting ever-closer, and the date is daunting me. I am so worried about not being ready to leave the country for five months. I have barely been away from home for a weekend alone, I think schoolies week was possibly my longest period away from home without my parents. Naturally, I am beginning to stress. So now, I'm going to write a list of things I need to do, to organise, to get before I head overseas. Please, allow me to bore you with my list.

• Buy new memory card(s) for digital camera and video camera
• Buy new video camera case
• Get new mobile phone! (this is something relatively new on my to do list, because my phone decided to go all crap on me today)
• US Consulate interview! (gah, the effort)
• Go to Deakin Education Abroad fair
• Add my mother as a signatory to my bank account
• Learn how to use Skype!
• Create email group for people I want to keep updated
• Buy travel socks!! (my mother is forcing me to)
• Buy new digital camera case as well...
• Convert some money!

Anyway, I can't think of anything else at this point...there is probably 20million things to add to that, but for now that will do...

Only 25 days!!!

Revelations

OK, so completely neglecting my initial plan of a "friends" series of posts, I have begun my new story blog!
http://aquium.blogspot.com
For those of you who take the time to read it, please remember I am not a professional writer :P, just dabbling in the area. My inspiration for writing lies in the fact, that no story exists in this way. It is a story I want to read, it merges a lot of concepts and ideas from other movies and films I have picked up over the years. In that sense, its somewhat borrowed, but it is not so much that it is illegal. Certainly, it is not so 'borrowed' that the story could be read from a better writer. That is why, I wrote it...so I could read, something I want to read, but does not exist yet!

In other news, a very bitchy blog will arrive shortly. I am having conversations with the head of a particularly new political party that is gaining some ground in Australia, particularly with University students. It is bitchy because, what I believe are their core values, are heavily contradicted in their activity. And despite many of my friends being directly involved, I detest some of the things they do, and how blatantly ignorant they are of Australian law, and the implications of the Australian Consitution (the embedded Commonwealth one, not the state try-hard versions) both in terms of structure, and 'freedoms'. So, that is coming...but before I randomly blog with a point of view that could easily be disregarded for its lack of credibility, I am attempting a well-researched blog.

That is all for now!

Sadness

Going against what was going to be a series of posts relating to friends, how I met them and what they mean to me, I have decided to post about something particularly current. Right now I am caring for my grandmother, while my Aunty and cousins go away for a few days to Queensland. I am only one day into my 6 day stint with her, and already I am going crazy.

For the most part, I grew up with grandmother as a very active, very intuitive and inspirational person. She was a headstrong woman, with a 'proper' answer to everything. She laid the foundation for much of my personal discovery. So, it is with great sadness I have had to witness the demise and diminuition of her mind, and her physical decline to the state known as 'frail'. She is 87 years of age, so it is not all that surprising, but it is a little saddening that she no longer knows who I am. I have already had that experience with a grandmother before, at least this time, my grandmother is threatening to throw a brick at me.

While I am up here, I have to know her routine, prepare her meals and get her places she needs to be. Unfortunately, my Aunty has neglected to let me know when things are happening. However, I do not have to worry about not being awake in time, a little furry annoyance by the name of 'Boots' takes care of that, waking me up at 5.30am!

This is an entirely weird experience, I used to spend a lot of time with my grandma, until things started going awry, and in the past few years I have mainly seen her hospital or at Christmas. She is too easily overwhelmed, so naturally we have had to cut back on how often we see her, less we disorient her further. That is disheartening in itself. Spending this, short week, with her will prove to be emotionally draining. This woman was my idol, for who she was and what she accomplished is amazing, her private wealth is a testament to that. If only she could remember the work she did for the government, for the company she is still technically a director of...

Anyway, that is someone else now, it is not the Tess I am with this week. The Tess I am with is constantly asking me where they are, and informing me she does not know where he is. I am assuming she is referring to my grandpa Des, who never had the opportunity to know. Although last night, she did ask if I was alone or will Des be coming. That was hard...

Jacquie

“Okay everyone! What we’re going to do now…because you’re all first years, and probably don’t know each other – sit next to someone you don’t know!”
Upon hearing our instructions, both Natalie and I looked at each other anxiously, and around the bus to scout out people we would judge to be someone we could like. I spotted this one guy, in his tan pinstriped trousers and light pink dress shirt. Convinced I would be barking up the wrong tree, I shot my eyes towards the girl sitting next to him. Our eyes locked, this was it, this was the random I would be sitting next to for the bus trip to a place or places we did not know. She was tall, had long brown hair, sporting a dress featuring satin and many colours.
“So now the fun begins! To introduce yourself to your partner, exchange names and favourite sexual positions.”
“Wow…this is going to be awkward.” I gathered up the courage to speak to the girl.
“Aha…yeah. I’m Jacquie!” She responded, with a immense infectious smile.
“I’m Luke. So I guess you’re a first year… what course are you doing?” I ask.
“Science, what about you?”
“Commerce.” I nervously eavesdrop into others conversations around us, to see if they’re actually discussing sexual positions… to my shock, everyone was getting into the intimate details of their sexual fantasies, this was certainly…an interesting experience.
“Okay…so I guess we should discuss our favourite sexual positions?” I ask, the anxiety in my voice would have been ingenuous.
“So what is yours?” She shoots back.
Plucking the courage to respond honestly, I use my hands and inappropriate thrusts to depict my preferred position.
This resulted in a look of shock, and a fit of hysterics.



I never did find out Jacquie’s favourite position. Apparently, she was in too much shock at my honesty. That is the story of how I met Jacquie, on the O Week Mystery Bus Tour – and for those interested, that guy I thought was hot turned out to be her boyfriend. That night, turned into a great bonding experience. By that I mean, a truly inebriated affair held between Jacquie, her boyfriend at the time Andrew, Natalie and myself. In fact, my greatest achievement of that night was being named champion of the bus, which meant I was the drunkest and thus, people had to buy me drinks! In my drunken courage, I even took my top off on the dance floor at Metro. It was a great night had by all, and the beginning of an awesome friendship.

Attending the remaining O-Week festivities together with Jacquie, and all of the later Uni parties for the year, and even random Uni-bar nights – we had many drunken nights together, and even the more rare sober ones. I have even developed rapport with her cat Sassy, who at this point – has not scratched me since jumping on me one night in my sleep. Through Jacquie, I have met a lot of other great people, and done a lot of great things. These include but are not limited to people such as Carly, and great things such as working the corners of Hawthorn raising money for the Royal Children’s Hospital Good Friday Appeal.

During the first year of Uni, I saw a lot of Jacquie – having semi-regular lunches and the like. Unfortunately, due to our timetables, catching up is a little more irregular, however I do appreciate the fact that we are able to pick up from where we left off!

Elated

Thanks to Paul, I have decided that I shall keep my blogs brief. At least, I will make some vain attempt to keep them short. Particularly as this is merely an update, this should be brief. I can assure you, that nothing juicy will come from this blog. However - I have some very juicy, or at least a lot more interesting, blogs intended to start being published on here throughout the week. So check in bitches!

On Friday I paid a visit to my travel agent, to confirm my travel "itinerary" for Canada. Itinerary is in quotes as me and Lee had an argument as to the use of the word, and in his view, my "itinerary" is too incomplete to be called an itinerary. The itinerary is as follows:
MONDAY QANTAS AIRWAYS
25 AUG 08 -DEPART -MELBOURNE/TULLAMARINE A 0630 NON-STOP

25 AUG 08 -ARRIVE -SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 0750 01HRS 20MINS

MONDAY AIR CANADA
25 AUG 08 -DEPART -SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1010 NON-STOP

25 AUG 08 -ARRIVE -VANCOUVER/VANCOUVER AIR 0710 14HRS 00MINS


WEDNESDAY AIR CANADA
27 AUG 08 -DEPART -VANCOUVER/VANCOUVER AIR 0930 NON-STOP

27 AUG 08 -ARRIVE -TORONTO/LESTER B PEARSO 1702 04HRS 32MINS

TRAVEL VIA OWN ARRANGEMENTS

SATURDAY AIR CANADA
03 JAN 09 -DEPART -NEW YORK/JOHN F KENNEDY 0720 NON-STOP

03 JAN 09 -ARRIVE -VANCOUVER/VANCOUVER AIR 1039 06HRS 19MINS


SUNDAY AIR CANADA
11 JAN 09 -DEPART -VANCOUVER/VANCOUVER AIR 2355 NON-STOP

13 JAN 09 -ARRIVE -SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1000 15HRS 05MINS


TUESDAY QANTAS AIRWAYS
13 JAN 09 -DEPART -SYDNEY/SYDNEY KINGSFORD 1230 NON-STOP

13 JAN 09 -ARRIVE -MELBOURNE/TULLAMARINE A 1400 01HRS 30MINS

So, while some of you will skip past that - the short story is, I'm going to Vancouver, staying for a few days before heading to Toronto. Once in Toronto, I will be staying for a few days before making my way to Windsor for Uni. I'll be staying in Windsor, and travelling weekends, etc. to all different parts of Canada. Come end of semester, just after Christmas, we'll be making our way to New York to celebrate New Years. From New York I will be travelling back to Vancouver, staying for a week or so before heading home.

In other news, work has underpaid me yet again. Payroll can look forward to a nasty letter from me, which people from work are signing to go along with the letter. People doubt that the letter will actually achieve anything - however, I am sure the company will realise the need for them to improve to avoid being sued, or having a union on their ass.

I am also slowly approaching my exams, and am yet to put in some decent study. However, I'm not worried...mostly because I'm over caring, Canada is far too exciting. When I begin to stress, that is when the bulk of 'decent' studying will take place, so until then I am fairly relaxed. Other than that, not much is happening in my life. It is Nander's birthday tomorrow and at this point, I have only brought him one present - which is not enough, we have a habit of going all out for each others birthdays, so I need to get on that.

That is it for now!

Responsible

This is one of the few blogs written quite some time before its actually posted. In fact, I wrote this on my break at uni a while ago, after a waste of time lecture, but I'll get back to that.

This morning I had an oral presentation, requiring me to wear a suit. Which is actually somewhat annoying, I've had plenty of stares - and still getting some as I sit here outside Cafe Ava writing in my fancy blue, grossly underused, lecture pad.

So I'm using this blog to bitch, whine, moan and complain - which is an area I'm most accomplished in, and as a gentle reminder to myseld. Which will become bleedingly obvious momentarily. Firstly, Luke! Start studying for exams! You have roughly 3 weeks for you're first exam and given your poor lecture attendance and some poor assignments marks, and despite awesome ones, you need to move your ass and actually do some work this semester.

OK so now that I'm done scolding myself for my general laziness and lack of ethic this semester, we shal move onto more juicy areas of my blog. As I mentioned earlier, I had an oral presentation this morning, and one thing really stuck in my craw.

Social responsibility is not exclusively an environmental concept. This morning I listened to four speeches about Social Responsibility - none of which adequately defined what it is, and all of which went off on uncharacterised tangents about environmental sustainability. This is a common misconception of corporate social responsility. It does include the evironment, but it is not equal to environmental sustainability - they are two distinctly different concepts.

Social responsibility refers to an organisations concern to the TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE. THat is profit, social impact and environmental impact. An organisation can be deemed socially responsible if they are achieving sustainable profit margings, whilst being at least reactive to its negative impacts on society and the environment, and goes further than mere legislative compliance in doing so.

Just because organisations may do something right by the environment, it does not make them socially responsible. The Body Shop is often used as an example of social responsibility. And undoubtedly, some of the work they do for society and the environment is fantastic, particularly for the Australian Indigenous communities.

However, I'd be one of the few people to argue it is not socially responsible. Primarily because of ownership. The Body Shop, more recently, became a subsidiary of L'Oreal, which is partly owned by Nestle - two of the most socially irresponsible organisations in our time. L'Oreal are doing no favours to wildlife, and Nestle are doing no favours to infants in Africa.

What I really want, is people to not look at organisations doing the right thing, but actually look at why. In my opinion, the why factor is what honestly determines social responsibility. The Body Shop's work with the Indigenous communities of Australia is more than admirable - but what impact were they having on the community to warrant the reaction? My research suggests nothing. Then you could easily argue that the Body Shop are being proactive. So, what future impact did the Body Shop expect to have on the indigenous? Again, research has yielded me nothing. So why then, are they doing it? It could be legitimate concern or a marketing strategy, either way it doesn't fall in the reals of social responsibility. This is what most people misunderstand about social responsibility. It has to be relevant to the business - not just a nice act.

Westpac is socially responsible in that they sacrificed profit, by signing an international agreement with other banks in the world, to not fund socially or environmentally questionnable ventures. This is because its one of the few banks that realise their funds are directly assisting negative environmental and social endeavours by organisations. It was reactive, not proactive as management theory encourages, but nonetheless it is an act by Westpac, that is socially responsible because the policy has actual relevance to the businesses environmental or social impact.

So I begin again, a few days later - and my position hasn't changed. People need to realise that for as long as the triple bottom line approach is the accepted defining factor behind social responsbility, the answer lies in the organisations actual impact or perceived impact. Terming an organisation socially responsible is inherently more difficult than simply analysing those nice things in which they commit themselves to.

So now we're doing back to the world of Luke. Currently my arm is sore from playing Wii tennis on Saturday night at Cazi's. The pain was only exacerbated by my exam paced handwriting when I wrote this blog.

Canada is not far away, and my questionnable account balance and general feeling of unpreparedness has me feeling a little scared. But I'm also extremely excited. For the update - my current plans of travel so far are;
Depart Melbourne - Arrive Vancouver, BC - staying in Vancouver for a few days before travelling on down...
Depart Vancouver - Arrive Toronto, ON - staying in the city for a few days as well before heading down to Windsor to begin my Semester abroad.
Once I'm in Windsor I'll probaby do some travel from there, but that's sketchy at this point - all I know is, I want to go to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, and I'm spending New Years in New York. And despite the legal drinking age, I intend on having the best New Years experience ever.

It's my 20th birthday on Wednesday. It's actually depressing. Given its proximity to exams, my options for celebrating are somewhat limited...However... I've never been one to study too far away from exams, I'm definitely pro-cramming.

This is sufficiently long enough an update, that is all.

Dysphoric

I am so sad, so so sad...the end of Ashton X has arrived, and might I say ladies and gentlemen, what an incredible journey it was! Luke, the author, has an enviable talent and whatever inspired Asthon X, needs to be placed on a pedastool. Developing Ashton's character in rather intricate fashion, I fell in love with a fictional brother of a superhero...and I hate, hate Luke for taking that away from me!! Now I have to go back to living my life vicariously through television shows, rather than the Ashton X world I jumped into, unknowingly might I add. Luke giveth, and Luke taketh away!

However, despite the fact I really dislike the story ending - Luke has to be acknowledge for his great work and dedication. I know, myself, that I've undertaken the somewhat laborious task of trying to write a story. If the story was intended be any longer than a few thousand words, it never made it. I lose interest too quickly, it's like - because I know where the story is going, I'm bored! It's like when you re-read a book, that really wasn't that great the first time, so you never finish it. That's exactly what its like when I set out to write a story. So, I must give Luke credit for his perseverance. Oh god, how I hate that word... but I think that's for another blog.

So lately, I've been doing assignments and I'm thoroughly over it. I handed in my fifth assignment for the semester today, and given that I've been working on it through my ANZAC weekend and the week before it, I took a well deserved break tonight. That well deserved break consisted of watching the launch of Big Brother Australia 2008 - at which, I scoffed. Then watching Desperate Housewives, where Bree Vandercamp taught me an important lesson. "You can raise a mans hopes without ever satisfying them, I've been doing it all my life". What a glorious inspiration she is! Now, I'm watching Friends, writing this blog, annoying both Danny and Lee on msn with nudges and distracting them from their honest work (which I am pleading so vehemently for them to set aside).

There was a highlight to my weekend, however. Despite all the work I got done, I actually found time to make some goals for myself. While on the ABS website gathering "empirical evidence" for my pathetic HR research essay, I got distracted and ended up in the Careers section of the website. Of those who know me, and of those who read my first blog are all quite aware that I'm not really sure where I want my degree to take me. I've chosen my majors based on what I enjoyed and was good at, although neither were my first preference (I would have preferred Commercial Law, it's a useless major unless I'm doing accounting and finance, which I refuse to do). So, I looked at the Careers section and took a gander at their graduate positions, and I found myself interested - and just as equally shocked that I was mind you, in most of the graduate positions they were offering. It was then, that I decided, that's what I'm aiming for. I'm actually interested in what they have to offer, now its just up to me to get there. It might mean a move to Canberra when I graduate, which is most definitely a down side, but well worth it for the career. Hopefully this will be enough to motivate me to do more work - or at least, do quality work as opposed to the half-assed work I've been turning in.

On another note, having my wisdom teeth removed was possibly not the best move. While I know it is better in the long run for them having been removed, but right now I'm not feeling any benefit. Aside from the infection I got after them being removed, I'm still in pain! My teeth are still adjusting to the new space, which has lead to my gums being inflamed and I'm thoroughly over it because it's actually quite painful. On top of that, one of the holes hasn't even begun closing yet and that too is inflamed. To add insult to injury, the surgeon missed a part of one of wisdom teeth which is now deciding it wants to protude out of my gums - causing yet even more pain. However, multiple visits to my dentists and there is some hope for some temporary relief. I tell you what, if I end up not being able to afford my exchange trip next semester I'm blaming my teeth. I have spent, as well as my parents, thousands of dollars on them recently - all thanks to my wisdom teeth. Wisdom teeth are the devil! ...Was that a disgusting paragraph?

Perhaps it's my Enya-tastic craze I'm having, but I find myself missing a lot of people lately. I can't seem to satisfy my desire to see Cazi and Nander, doesn't help Cazi's working like a black bitch (hah, oh wait, she is!), and Nanders too studious for his own good. I haven't had a good night out with them, and by good I mean ridiculously intoxicated night out, in quite some time. Both mine and Nander's birthdays are approaching, its the incredibly insignificant 20 - so I feel we should revert to tradition, hire a hotel room at Crown or Pacific International, drink copious amounts of jagermeister and vodka, head to Famous or some other club and dance our hearts out. In true tradition, if celebrating my birthday Nander will be hanging his head in the toilet before we had out, vice versa if celebrating his birthday. And to keep with tradition, I'll pike it really early (1 - 2 am) and I'll wake up when him and Cazi are getting back to the hotel. We'll get another few hours sleep before walking around the city aimlessly to ensure the alcohol is out of our systems to guarantee a safe drive home! I feel I'm in need of one of those times.

Speaking of my birthday, I don't know what I plan to do but I have a list of people I would like to see for my birthday. While that list is not conclusive, that is - there are other people I would like to see also, its just these people I have not seen in some time, or I don't feel I'm seeing enough of! I am a social person, I have huge demands on peoples times!
The list is as follows (in no particular order): Cazi, Nander, Emilee, Aaron, Andrew, Paul, Luke, Danny, Leigh, Jess, Jenny, Danni, Caity, Brigid, Teegy and Limor.
Again, this list is not conclusive - I'd like to see A LOT of people on my birthday!! Those people just fall in the category of "I'd better finally see you, or hang you with more, because I don't see you enough!".

I think that shall conclude this post. Yes, it shall.

Achieved

So, last week at Uni, during my Intermediate Microeconomics lecture - I realised...I know shit all! So began the freak out that I was going to fail Uni. However, now that I have officially completed the groundwork for my economics assignment, all that is left to do is to actually write it up - I don't feel like I'm going to fail...so much. Bearing in mind, I do part take in units other than Micro, I've still got quite a bit of work for those before I can rest easy. Despite the fact I feel those other 3 units have no value, whatsoever! Due to the fact that I am well on the way to knocking out the intense amount of assignments in the coming weeks, this blog does not have to be a melodramatic rant about how crap I am at life and how I'll achieve nothing and go nowhere! That was certainly the direction this blog was originally intended to take.

Instead of a rant, I shall detail the events - or highlights of the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, I went to see Holding the Man at the Malthouse in Melbourne. I was accompanied by Colin, Lee, Jono, Ian and Alana (the only one who I hadn't met before). Given that I had read, and adored, and read again - the delight that is Timothy Conigrave, I was fully aware I may be a blubbering mess by the end of it. That certainly proved true, however - there were some doubts along the way. I personally felt that the play failed to develop the relationship between Tim and John significantly, given they only kiss twice in the 3 hours and 25 minutes. While I'm not saying a kiss would suffice to establish the relationship better, it would have helped. There seemed to be a lack of desire from John, and yes he was hesitant - but it seemed one of the more detached relationships, which was certainly not the picture painted by Timothy in his memoirs. However, some of the techniques they used on stage to portray events - were amazing, even to me. Without special effects, it's amazing what they come up with and I was very much impressed. And I was certainly pleased to be able to place faces to the infamous Tim and John. It was overall a good adaptation, just needed work on the actual relationship - oh and the fact the actor playing Tim took almost the whole play to sound any older than the teenage Tim!

Lately, I've been working quite a bit. My last post neglected to mention anything about my employment, so I'll catch you up here. I work for Village Cinemas, in Gold Class. For the most part, I enjoy the job and the people are fantastic. The one thing I don't like about the job is the constant loss of weekends and thus, my ability to go out and socialise. By socialise, I mean binge drink. My job isn't actually bad at all, the pay is good and the working conditions are great compared to other Village sites. By that I mean, our site is bigger, newer and cleaner! I recently offered myself for consideration for a promotion, which I doubt I'll get for a few reasons - which I'll discuss momentarily. The promotion promises more money (which is helpful for someone wishing to go on exchange later this year), and more weekend work - most likely closes on Saturday nights - which promises less of a social life. Why do it to myself? I know. The main reasons I don't believe I'll get it, first and foremost is because I'll be disappearing in about 4 months to Canada, and won't return for another 5 months. That will certainly weigh heavily in their decision making. Aside from that, there are numerous candidates - just as capable, qualified and as willing as I am - if not exceeding my capabilities, that are just as good to fill the role. And, bonus for them is, they probably won't be disappearing on them for 5 months! So, my reasoning for applying was to indicate that I'm interested in going up, and at some point in my career with them - it might be relevant for them consider later on.

So, I'll move on now - to a more interesting topic, that is not work. Last Thursday night I ventured to IQ, for the first time in quite a while - I was not designated driver, and thus was able to binge drink until my heart was content. And content, was my heart - ladies and gentlemen. Thanks to Aaron driving me to IQ, and seeing some great people I haven't seen in some time. I'll take this time to mention those people. I got to see Tom, who is a filthy Kiwi for all purposes of this discussion, but he was great fun despite his clear inferiority to us Australians. IF you do not recognise this as light banter, I might encourage you to discontinue reading my blogs. I also got to see Luke, who is the author of the infamous AshtonX which you can access on my right sidebar (do it!). I also saw Danny, which is always good - despite the kidney punches. I saw Lee, although I think I sensed disappointment in how drunk I was :P. It was a great night - from what I remember. I remember drinking 3 vodka, cranberry and limes, a shot of Kruskovac, and shared two jugs of beer with Tom. Which I remember now, that I owe someone money...who was that? That was due to the ATM not working.

Friday was uneventful, I was looking forward to Saturday night where I was to celebrate the births of Laura and Darren. Saturday night was great - I got to see Cazi and Nander who I hadn't seen in some time, and got to spend some more drunken experiences with. It gave me the opportunity to catch up with Jenny from school, who I haven't spent much time talking to or seeing lately. I also got to see Kristy, which is always quality - she's a good laugh. I spent some time catching up with Cazi's parents and generally just being a whore with the crowd. Some highlights include beating Laura on singstar singing Alicia Keys Fallin' - I know, who woulda thunk it?! I also busted out some tunes with Cazi, and a few other people! It was great fun. And when we finally organised ourselves, we headed out to Frankston - Glacier, in fact - to continue the night of partying. Which was almost thwarted by ANZ's decision to not work! At 9 ATM's, I got the message 'Bank Unavailable'. Thus, the cost of our party continuing was born by others - as both me and Jenny were left fundless. Glacier was disappointing, small crowd and generally small venue with nothing fantastic to offer. It was however, a great night overall!

And I swear - you may have noticed the trend, I do have money! And I do not usually take advantage of friends paying for me! It's not my fault ATM's decided to be unreliable last week!
I must also make mention of Andrew before I finish this blog, I'm not sure what will satisfy him - but he has made it clear that my last blog didn't have enough of him (or any of him really) so I shall endeavour to make him more noticeable among my blogs. So, I'll inform you that today I didn't keep mine and Andrews long standing phone call appointment which lasts 12noon to about 12.45pm every Monday. It coincides with a break I don't usually share with other people, but today I did - so I neglected the phone call. I actually missed our phone call date - and will endeavour to replace it.

That is all - I don't think I need to write a thesis every post.

Pioneer

So to begin, I guess I must acknowledge that no originality on my part exists for the title of this blog. I have shamelessly stolen the title from a movie. I am no expert in copyright laws, but I doubt I'll be sued for it. But then again, perhaps I will.

I decided some time ago that I would begin a blog on blogspot. The biggest issue then became - what sort of blog would I write? I have friends, acquaintences and connections with an abundance of blogs on blogspot - and thus, have witnessed the many uses of a blog. That and I have a tendency to blogstalk-myspacestalk-facebookstalk, it's why they're there right? So, a friend of mine uses his blog to make instalments into a work in progress, known as ashtonx. I'm quite the fan of the story - and the writings not too shabby either. Another friend uses his to make random posts about random issues, sometimes to showcase his talent as a writer - oftimes to showcase his strong opinions, on the most mundane of issues. And many more examples exist for what a blog can be made into.

So, it is time now to decide what my blog will be. And that blog, ladies and gentleman, is going to be about me - my life. I know, how self-centred. But don't let that take you away from the awesomeness that will be The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Luke. Not only will this blog centre around me, because I'm that conceited, it will provide a social commentary of the not so intellectual kind, and at times I will delve into the random commentaries. I will let this blog become a place where I write anything I like! Yes, that beautiful concept known as freedom rears its ugly head. Notice how I said it was beautiful, then referred to it as having an ugly head? Does that make me profound or incredibly contradictory? You decide! SMS 131313! ...no really, don't. It counts for nothing and you'll be wasting credit.

Anyway, I suppose I should add something of substance to this first post. I find myself in a dilemma with what that substance should be... I mean, should I write about me - what I do, who I am...or should I just shoot straight into condemning the world to hell because they sin against my religion? I think it wise, or perhaps I'm just using sentences that sound smart, to begin by telling you all who I am and give that general about me section in more depth. Oh and I don't really have a problem talking about myself. Have you noticed that everyone says in 'About Me' sections, how much they hate talking about themselves? Then you meet them, and it's about the only thing they can talk about - talk about false advertisement!

I am Luke. If you hadn't already figured that out, I'm not sure you have the calibre required of readership of this blog. And yes, I'm aware that sounds incredibly elitist, but heres the kicker. I'm from Frankston - there's nothing elite about me. Ain't it just a scream? No I'm pretty much being a tool, which I often do - so it guess it fits in with the AboutMe. I am 19 - soon to be 20. And yes that is actually depressing - no longer a teenager, it seems as if I have nothing to look forward other than depressing age landmarks. That's probably just me being melodramatic. That's not really me...so strike that! I study Commerce - and yes I enjoy some parts of it, other parts not so much. Nothing I'm doing is incredibly difficult, sometimes the concepts and workload is intense but for the most part it's a breeze. I am yet, however, to decide if its right for me. By the time I decide, I would have most likely finished the degree and be working in a field when I realise that Journalism is where I want to go. It was one of my more serious ambitions in my younger years, but whatever happened to it I don't know. There's another thing about me, I've aspired to be so much and become so many different things and yet here I am in a Commerce degree, aiming to become an Economist - and that is not one ambition I had, not even in year 12 when I decided on Commerce because 'it made sense'.

I am undertaking said Commerce degree at Deakin University in Burwood. I love the campus and the atmosphere, and the few close friends I have made. When I was in Year 12, I hadn't even decided what course I wanted to get into. I had a general idea of what I was interested in, but no real clear course to head into. So I went to the one Open Day my roster would allow, which was at Deakin. Upon arriving at Deakin I immediately decided that's where I wanted to go. The staff were nice, the campus was pretty - for lack of a better word, and it just seemed me - or at least the atmosphere did. So it was after deciding I wanted to go to Deakin that I decided that Commerce or Commerce/Law would be what I intend to do. Then I began researching Commerce at other universities, for back up - and realised that I would only satisfy Deakin's entry requirements with the right ENTER score, because I lacked the forethought to be doing mathematics at a more difficult level than further! So it seemed at this point, that my path was clear. And with ENTER just shy of that asked for Commerce/Law, Commerce it was! And it took much encouragement from many mentors and friends, to get me through the first year. I'll have it known that first year commerce, is so ridiculously boring - the slitting the wrists concept seems fun!

So that accounts for my academic life. To move onto my social life; I am a homosexual. *GASP*. I know, right? And while that hardly satisfies what my social life entails, it has been one of the more exercised facades of my social life recently. Up until December of last year, despite being over 18 - I blatantly refused to enter the scene. After much protesting, begging and thoroughly being annoyed by one friend, who I won't name AARON, I made the venture. Since then, it has practically occupied my free time. Prior to that, I was very much into the straight nightlife and maintained close ties with quite a few friends from high school. While those ties strayed with my ventures, and with ventures of their own - I have only two close friends from High School who are, the most constant, grounded people in my life. And while they have suffered neglect from me disappearing into the 'gay world', they are still there - because that’s who they are. It doesn't matter what we're doing through, we're always there. It's that little blankey you couldn't part with as a child, I am proud to say I still have that little blankey - like I still have Cazi and Nander.

More on the topic of the gay world, Aaron introduced me to the scene - despite having some experience with it before, it was a totally different experience to what I was expecting. My views were contradicted and many values reconsidered, its taken quite some time to realise that those views and values need not have changed, as it was - the scene hadn't changed, I just saw it in a new light that is now beginning to fade. While I am thankful I have met some of the greatest people and friends you could ever ask for, there's always that side of the scene I struggle to participate in and that is enough to give anyone an inferior complex that you wear with you whenever you go. And...oh...my...god. This is me being melodramatic again.

Anyway, I think that's just about enough for today. This post is massive. Does this thing have spell-check? I hope so... I would be nothing without it!