Journal entry spotted off the port bow!
I was beginning to feel that it was about time that I wrote something in this journal o' mine, as it's been long enough since I last wrote anything that I've reached critical mass of somewhat interesting events again.
But, without further ado, here are a few things that auri_tifa asked me.
1. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Move somewhere else? That's considerably different from simply visiting elsewhere for a while. If I were to move elsewhere, it'd need to be somewhere where I could continue my studies. I've been whimsically considering going to Germany to study for a semester or so, so at the moment if I could move elsewhere, I think that'd be my choice. If anything, it'd give me a chance to polish up on my German skills, and to see some friends again :)
2. Favorite holiday?
I'm assuming by this, you mean holiday as opposed to vacation or block of holidays. (Sorry if I'm interpreting it wrongly :p). I would have to say that my favourite holiday would have the be the Labour Day holiday we have in early May here in Queensland. To me, the thought of having a day off to celebrate something called Labour Day is truly amusing ;)
3. Name something you can do that no one else can.
If my brother's to be believed, my special ability is to simply not stress. I would amend that to be "not show any outwards signs of stress", at least as far as he's concerned. I doubt he's the most psychologically-minded person out there, but surely a statement like that from a family member's got to count for something. I'm still not sure if it's in any way an advantageous trait.
4. Ever won anything?
Aye, once, and what a win it was. A fair few years back (three or four, perhaps? Maybe more...), I entered a competition in a local games magazine, and shock of shocks, I actually won o_O. In the end, I netted myself a force feedback steering wheel, with pedals. Perhaps not the most consistantly useful of accessories, but I've found it a perfect companion for the occasional racing games that I do play (read: Powerslide). I've had my big win now, I guess.
5. What is one skill you'd like to learn during your lifetime?
Well, assuming that I continue developing the skills that I currently have some aptitude in, one thing that I'd like to understand on at least a basic level is psychology/sociology. I truly think it could be an interesting field to have some sort of understanding in, but it would be at most a side-interest of mine. Perhaps, someday, if the opportunity presents itself...
Want to be interviewed?
1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3. You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
So, as to how I've been faring recently:
I've just started uni again after a month of Winter holidays. Due to the wonders of letting maths professors schedule lecture times, I get to spend my Monday mornings (8am lecture) ruminating over the intricacies of multivariate calculus. As I confirmed (undignifiedly) early this morning, this is going to be rather unpleasant until a little later on in the year, when the days begin to get longer again.
So. Enough bitching out of me. I've had an enjoyable holidays, doing the things that I didn't have time to do during the semester. Possibly the most enjoyable of these was spending some time with a friend of mine who is doing an apprenticeship as a chef in the city. Unsurprisingly, his hours are long, and during the semester, there's very little overlap between my free time and his (sparse) free time. Of course, having no set schedule during the holidays, I was able to mould myself around the time that he had off :D
I also spent a fair few nights staying up later than I 'should have' (but looking back on them now from the other side of the holidays, I'm glad that I took the opportunities that presented themselves), generally spending my time unproductively (unless, of course, you see time spent winding down as time spent well-used -- an attitude that sometimes seems a bit underrepresented). A few lans with friends featured, which were (as always) a good bit of fun. The aforementioned friend turned up after he was done with work (generally around midnight or so), and even if he didn't spend long talking before he nodded off to sleep, it was good to at least see him for a while.
I still don't have a job. It's not an overly immediate worry, but it's starting to creep up on me again. In some ways, I see the temporary work that I did at the end of last semester as a bit of a curse, as it simply served to delay the need of getting a more permanent job elsewhere.
You know, when I think of the sort of job (part-time/casual job, not "career" level) I would be good at doing, I picture myself doing some sort of work involving computers that required some level of initiative, but whenever the possibility (no matter how remote) of such a job presents itself, I suddenly feel unsure of my abilities. Feeling incapable really isn't a pleasant sensation, but I just can't justify anyone giving me anything more than chickenmeal for something that I did anywhere less than efficiently. And, following along the same line of reasoning, what if I were asked to do something that I simply couldn't do?
It's thoughts such as these that restrain me from persuing the sort of work that I could, in my mind's eye, see myself doing. At the same time, I have difficulty dedicating myself to finding a job doing something else (say, becoming a checkout chick -- well, chump, for sake of gender issues -- at the local supermarket) because ideally I would be getting money doing something else.
The only real way to get myself off this merry-go-round of self-doubt is to step off it, in one direction or the other, and the motivation to do this is most likely going to come when my bank account really begins to dry up. Thinking this to myself now, it doesn't worry me overmuch, even though it's a less than ideal solution to the situation. Perhaps this is what my brother's talking about, when he says that I don't stress out. I'm just so...indifferent, at times.
Phwoar, that should make a fair entry by this point in time. As a bonus for those that made it this far (or skipped to the last paragraph; either way works well enough), take a listen to this .mod file (if you haven't already). It's an impressive one from an Amiga Psygnosis game, if I haven't got my details all mixed-up. Worth a listen at least, I'd say.
But, without further ado, here are a few things that auri_tifa asked me.
1. If you could move anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Move somewhere else? That's considerably different from simply visiting elsewhere for a while. If I were to move elsewhere, it'd need to be somewhere where I could continue my studies. I've been whimsically considering going to Germany to study for a semester or so, so at the moment if I could move elsewhere, I think that'd be my choice. If anything, it'd give me a chance to polish up on my German skills, and to see some friends again :)
2. Favorite holiday?
I'm assuming by this, you mean holiday as opposed to vacation or block of holidays. (Sorry if I'm interpreting it wrongly :p). I would have to say that my favourite holiday would have the be the Labour Day holiday we have in early May here in Queensland. To me, the thought of having a day off to celebrate something called Labour Day is truly amusing ;)
3. Name something you can do that no one else can.
If my brother's to be believed, my special ability is to simply not stress. I would amend that to be "not show any outwards signs of stress", at least as far as he's concerned. I doubt he's the most psychologically-minded person out there, but surely a statement like that from a family member's got to count for something. I'm still not sure if it's in any way an advantageous trait.
4. Ever won anything?
Aye, once, and what a win it was. A fair few years back (three or four, perhaps? Maybe more...), I entered a competition in a local games magazine, and shock of shocks, I actually won o_O. In the end, I netted myself a force feedback steering wheel, with pedals. Perhaps not the most consistantly useful of accessories, but I've found it a perfect companion for the occasional racing games that I do play (read: Powerslide). I've had my big win now, I guess.
5. What is one skill you'd like to learn during your lifetime?
Well, assuming that I continue developing the skills that I currently have some aptitude in, one thing that I'd like to understand on at least a basic level is psychology/sociology. I truly think it could be an interesting field to have some sort of understanding in, but it would be at most a side-interest of mine. Perhaps, someday, if the opportunity presents itself...
Want to be interviewed?
1. Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3. You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4. You'll include this explanation.
5. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
So, as to how I've been faring recently:
I've just started uni again after a month of Winter holidays. Due to the wonders of letting maths professors schedule lecture times, I get to spend my Monday mornings (8am lecture) ruminating over the intricacies of multivariate calculus. As I confirmed (undignifiedly) early this morning, this is going to be rather unpleasant until a little later on in the year, when the days begin to get longer again.
So. Enough bitching out of me. I've had an enjoyable holidays, doing the things that I didn't have time to do during the semester. Possibly the most enjoyable of these was spending some time with a friend of mine who is doing an apprenticeship as a chef in the city. Unsurprisingly, his hours are long, and during the semester, there's very little overlap between my free time and his (sparse) free time. Of course, having no set schedule during the holidays, I was able to mould myself around the time that he had off :D
I also spent a fair few nights staying up later than I 'should have' (but looking back on them now from the other side of the holidays, I'm glad that I took the opportunities that presented themselves), generally spending my time unproductively (unless, of course, you see time spent winding down as time spent well-used -- an attitude that sometimes seems a bit underrepresented). A few lans with friends featured, which were (as always) a good bit of fun. The aforementioned friend turned up after he was done with work (generally around midnight or so), and even if he didn't spend long talking before he nodded off to sleep, it was good to at least see him for a while.
I still don't have a job. It's not an overly immediate worry, but it's starting to creep up on me again. In some ways, I see the temporary work that I did at the end of last semester as a bit of a curse, as it simply served to delay the need of getting a more permanent job elsewhere.
You know, when I think of the sort of job (part-time/casual job, not "career" level) I would be good at doing, I picture myself doing some sort of work involving computers that required some level of initiative, but whenever the possibility (no matter how remote) of such a job presents itself, I suddenly feel unsure of my abilities. Feeling incapable really isn't a pleasant sensation, but I just can't justify anyone giving me anything more than chickenmeal for something that I did anywhere less than efficiently. And, following along the same line of reasoning, what if I were asked to do something that I simply couldn't do?
It's thoughts such as these that restrain me from persuing the sort of work that I could, in my mind's eye, see myself doing. At the same time, I have difficulty dedicating myself to finding a job doing something else (say, becoming a checkout chick -- well, chump, for sake of gender issues -- at the local supermarket) because ideally I would be getting money doing something else.
The only real way to get myself off this merry-go-round of self-doubt is to step off it, in one direction or the other, and the motivation to do this is most likely going to come when my bank account really begins to dry up. Thinking this to myself now, it doesn't worry me overmuch, even though it's a less than ideal solution to the situation. Perhaps this is what my brother's talking about, when he says that I don't stress out. I'm just so...indifferent, at times.
Phwoar, that should make a fair entry by this point in time. As a bonus for those that made it this far (or skipped to the last paragraph; either way works well enough), take a listen to this .mod file (if you haven't already). It's an impressive one from an Amiga Psygnosis game, if I haven't got my details all mixed-up. Worth a listen at least, I'd say.