My Two Cents: Routine

Today I woke up feeling like I need to spend time re-discovering a little thing I like to call routine.

This is my first week of Semester One 2012, the beginning of the final year of my degree.  Final year.  Did anyone just hear me say final year? I'm not sure if that is possible.

For the past two months I have officially been on holidays.  This means I've been living life without the shackles of study holding me back from staying up late, spending an entire day just baking, or watching two movies in a row.  If this sounds decadent, let me tell you, after two months of decadence I'm just rearing to take back the shackles of study.  I've run out of movies to watch, my baking has damaged the kitchen, and I'm beginning to remember that I'll stay up late studying all year...

Holiday routine:  Sleep until we wake naturally.  Shop spontaneously.  Volunteer for everything.  Begin lengthy craft projects. Spring clean.  Read when not doing any of the above.

Actually, I didn't turn into a completely lazy young adult with nothing to do (two months is a long time to do that).  I was born a list-maker.

Amnesia [I'm back]

Hi.

It's me!

Wow, it's so nice to be blogging again.  Let's jump straight in and talk about amnesia.

Most of what I know about amnesia is gleaned from movies and comic strips (I'm not really excited by medical literature).  As far as I understand, one can get amnesia after receiving a hefty blow to the head, often with a blunt instrument.  After said blow, the one with the sore head can no longer remember things such as their home address, their last meal, or even their own identity (as illustrated by Garfield in 1987).

The last few weeks have been such a blur.  When people ask me what I've been doing lately, I'm pretty sure I must sound like an imbecile:

"Oh, well I've been very busy.  Last Friday...I think it was Friday?, I did some baking.  Nooooo, that was Monday.  Wait! I think Monday was the night I went out to dinner...but hey no, that had to be Tuesday, or maybe that was the week before...um, sorry... what day is it today again?"
*confused look and sheepish smile*

I'd like to propose a different type of amnesia.  One which can be brought on by a sudden change in schedule due to the beginning of summer break and the onset of Christmas.

Other symptoms include an aversion to writing anything that could possibly turn into an essay, a tendency to sleep in, guilt while staying up late, and an addiction to Christmas carols.

So... if you see me any time soon and ask me what I've been doing lately, don't be surprised if I pull out a calendar and first check to see which day we are actually at, and then look back to see what I've actually been doing.  It's all written down, people.

Holidays + Mouse = chronic short-term amnesia.

One thing I do know:
Christmas is in 6 sleeps and I'm actually excited for no particular reason other than I am feeling extra Christmassy this year!
This is ironic because last year I was calling myself the grinch.  Obviously I'm pretty unstable.  But more on that later...

I've missed The Mouse Files like I miss salads after a week of deep fried 'food' (teehee) - can't wait to start blogging again, people - stay tuned!

My Two Cents: 20

It was kind of hard to decide where to file this post.

It could go under 'a story' because it's a chapter in the story of my life.  But that sounds a little too philosophical and scary.  The Mouse Files is probably the opposite of philosophical and scary (it better be, because if it's not, I won't be reading it in twenty years like originally planned).

Maybe it's a confession?  Okay, I confess that it is a confession.

But it's also what I think, my two cents, on the issue of turning twenty.

So here we go.  The big two-oh.  Double decades.  The transition from teens to... what?

I'm going to get the confession out the way first.

This was The Mouse two days ago:
(It's not use whispering this, because I've already been blaring it out to all of my friends)

* whiny voice*
me: "Twenty is such a blah age!  I don't want to turn twenty!"
*sympathetic murmurs from friends*
me again: "Nineteen is the best ever!  I don't know why, but I want to stay nineteen for another year...and then skip to 21!"
*agreeing murmurs from friends, then a discussion of all the cool things we've done since being nineteen*

I have no problem being 20-something, just 20.

There, that is my confession.

Two days later, I am now irreconcilably no longer a teenager.  Perhaps not surprisingly (depending on whether you are pre or post 20 yourself), I actually don't feel blah.

Granted, no one has asked me how old I am yet.
Also, I noticed that a lot of birthday messages this year stressed just how old I am now.  AND how much older I'm about to become (thanks everyone, love you too).

But I have three things going for me:

a) I literally could pass for a fifteen year old.
Baby faces run in the family - you only need to look at my dad, my uncles, my granddad.  The flower of youth blooms within is (or something like that).
It is actually really annoying.  I don't have anything against being fifteen (other than it was my drama queen phase), but I'm always having to show my ID and assure people it's fine that I'm not with my parents.

me: "Yes, I can fill out that form myself, no, I'm not driving illegally."

"And NO I'm not wagging school today!  Believe it or not, I've actually finished with all that!"

Yes, I'm nineteen twenty.  *cough*

b) My post-twenty friends are definitely NOT blah.
They are the coolest people ever!  They work and study, take out foundlings like me for coffee, give really good advice, get married (gulp), go on road trips and actually work for money (as opposed to working for experience which usually doesn't involve money).

c) I'm not the only one turning twenty this year.

This time next year.
me: "Twenty-one is such a scary age!  I don't want to turn twenty-one!"
*sympathetic murmurs from friends*
me again: "Twenty is actually much better than I thought it would be!  I think it would be easier to be twenty for another year and skip twenty-one!"
*agreeing murmurs from friends, then a discussion of all the cool things we've done since being TWENTY*

My two cents: those that think twenty is a blah age... I'll let you know if that's true next year.  ;)

Now, I'm going to go buy twenty candles for my cake.  Let's do this thoroughly.

My Two Cents: Victorian election

Yes, I know these are American coins.
Australia doesn't have 'one cent' coins.
These will do. 

Here starts a new type of files on the Mouse Files: 'My Two Cents' which I think is pretty self-explanatory. It's my two cent worth opinion on something which is worth having an opinion about.

Since I've emerged from my textbooks and papers to find 'how to vote' cards on the table, and newspapers full of generic election promises, here's a little something on the up-coming Victorian State Election.

First I have to say: Goodness, isn't one election a year enough? (Victorians think so.)  Everyone seems a bit tired this time round, creaking out the campaigns, throwing up a few signs, and doing the odd radio interview.

Who will it be?  John Brumby the Bland or Ted Ballieu the Invisible (sorry, couldn't resist).  

Labor or Liberal?  Greens in the Upper House... Democratic Labor Party or Family First, maybe?  The Sex Party or Country - WOAH!  Did I just say the Sex Party?  Um, yes.  Australia's newest 'major minor party'.

Say hello to the newcomers, boys and girls.  They're here to represent the adult entertainment industry, and all the Australians who like that sort of thing.  They got about .09 per cent of the vote in the Federal election a few months ago, and now they're setting up camp in Victoria.

I took a little look at their Victorian policies since they might very well get a member in.  After legalising all drugs for 'personal use', giving the vote to 16 year olds, replacing religious instruction with an ethics course, and advocating unrestricted same-sex adoption they sound a little Green-ish to me.  Oh, but they also want to 'decriminalise the sex industry'.  I suppose that explains the name.

The Australian Christian Lobby had something to say about their policies.  The Sex Party also had something to say about Christians moving around in Canberra, and the number of MPs in the Christian Parliamentary Fellowship.  Apparently it's cause for concern.  I could say something sarcastic here, but I won't.

But if this represents Australia's priorities for government right now, then the world truly has gone mad.