it's pretty rare to hear the melodious chimes of the ice-cream truck these days, (it's quite amazing how time changes things) but hearing it today before heading to work brought back memories of old and thoughts of the present.
as a little kid every ding or dong i would hear randomly, would ignite all senses to concentrate on analysing whether it was an ice-cream truck; you probably did it too alright! slowly as the ding became louder through each cycle, all hope, both fingers and toes crossed while closing eyes to concentrate, i'ld wish that the same ding would follow the distintive tune of what i had only dreamt of. saliva starts building as it would be only time where tongue meets the sweet tastes of sugary iced cream and wafer cones between teeth chewing. too close to be certain, the tone gets softer and although i'm pretty certain that my senses were correct, when realising the truck had turned in a street before yours, heartache is all that is felt (and sore fingers and toes).
sometimes i would go through all that and instead, the tones were now so distintive that the ice-cream truck can be visible. i would stand a few metres from my bedroom curtains and look at it as it drove by, now too far to be chased down, maybe only if i ran. as it would pass by, i would remember of the last time i had asked the kind man for a double scoop of chocolate, dipped in a hardend chocolate coating and paying 2.70 for it. everytime i did i made myself believe it were only a few weeks back ago and that it would be too early to ask mum again (i always made my little sister, whom would be beside me, to ask mum if she could have ice-cream which automatically got me one as well, i hated getting no's from mum and knowing mum hated saying it.)
i remember it was probably one of our hardest couple of months. mum was making barely any money on her own and had to keep up with bills and monies to feed us while we were at school. we would have 'find all the money' days where my sister and i would split up and find as much change as we could from the house. the piggy bank would be first raided, then all the pockets from school pants, under couch cushions, in the car and the little nooks and kranies here and there. the change would be used to buy a one litre bottle of milk, half a loaf of bread and some ham most of the time.
one day, the same tune played, and now a little older we'ld begin to start understanding a little bit more about how hard mum works. excited inside, i'ld never show it, although it would be hard to stop my little sister blurting out, 'oi ly, is that the ice-cream truck?'. having mum definately hearing what she said as well as the sweet soft melodies, we would find her calling to us as she opened the garage door and headed towards the road. too excited already, we would race to the front (where i would leave my little sister in my dust) and see mum standing there waving down the truck. i always felt embarrased doing that, with all the neighbours looking but it was kind of a good thing as it attracted people to come (maybe that's why it sometimes missed our street?) a chocolate cone covered in chocolate and a vanila cone covered in hundreds and thousands announced in broken english would be followed by an exchange of a handful of 5 and 10 cents. my neighbour would always get a thickshake and we always left before hearing what the lady across the road orderd.
it's kinda funny how ice-cream trucks come at the most strangest times. those hot summers days where sweat feels like cling wrap and ice turns into little nipples within a matter of minutes, i'ld long await for the similar tunes to be rung which would raid the air. but no, no ice-cream truck can be seen or even heard.
today was a moderate, a little humid but bearable day, nothing really special about it. at about 4 o'clock i'ld think most kids would be playing at home in their school uniforms but none of my street. nostalgia ran through me as i heard the chimes. 13 years later i still feel excited that the same truck (although the panels are now glass windows and the paint retouched) playing the same melody and having the little picture of the ice-cream cone dipped in chocolate which can be seen beside the side window drive by. still, i stand a few metres from the window as i watched the truck go.
'it's a little stink to think of how you were back in the day compared to how you are now', i told mum just after the truck drove by. while she slowly swung on her hammock she asked me why. i explained that when i was little, i would watch the truck when it came in range and wished so hard that i had an ice-cream but didn't want to ask you. just as a reaction, mum asked me if i wanted money for some ice-cream. i replied with a 'no mum' and a slight chuckle and continued, 'and now that i'm old, with a job, and although not the richest person, can afford a few ice-cream cones if i wanted to, but i don't want to anymore. with mum reminiscing now too, i told her, maybe im getting too old, and she replied your getting too old?, and followed it with an attempted smile.
i thought to myself, i don't feel the passion i remember having while i was young. i could eat a thousand ice-creams and would still not feel as happy as i did when i got one from mum who gathered all our loose change, while we were doing it hard, to shout us one when she knew we really really wanted one.
i don't want to grow older. not that im scared of missing out the joys of being young, although i do miss it, but because that every year i grow older, so does my mum and a year less i have to pay back all that she has given to us. next time i hear that truck drive by, i'm going to shout mum one, i hope she likes it.
there are a few things on my mind at the moment.
1. the paint job i did on my beast yesterday turned out alright other than the little blotches of primer which can be seen on the surface, time for a cut and polish and hopefully it should look pretty ok.
2. my room although as tidy as it looks, there seems to be little things that are irritating me like the two empty protein shakers in front of me which should be sitting on the kitchen bench, my passport beside my arm should be in it's third draw within the cupboard so i know where i can find it next time i need it, and the camera, and sisters hardrive, and to do list not where they should be.
3. stuff regarding my uni studies like how i'm going to afford textbooks (i actually think it's best to use some this year), and stationary, and then there's the stuff you do before actually studying like the health and safety quizzes i'm supposed to be doing, my placement emergency details and confidentiality forms and then theres the fact that uni starts exactly a week minus 1 day from now.
4. my car and the result of a court apperance. driving around low isn't always fun, especially when police have to do their job.
5. that dead gold fish in the fish tank i've got to get rid of tomorrow morning.
6. mum and little sister.
7. my debts.
8. co diep, khai, di van, tien the gay fag, martin.
9. the fishing trip with phuccie to the mean lake we discovered.
10. ricky coming home.
11. my equity scholarship.
12. how mad bondy is that i've been cancelling our chill nights.
13. how stink i feel for cancelling most of the things i said i'm to attend.
14. how grateful i am that even through hard times i've still got people who are there and really care for me.
15. how old i'm getting.
16. the quote co diep told me 'ai cung co no, no tieng khong la no tinh, ai ma noi khong no lam phat.
'everybodys in debt, whether it be money or love, those who say they aren't are arrogant.'
17. how even at this age, how excited i get when i receive a catch up phone call. maybe it was me more excited to catch up than janice intended.
17. work.
18. food.
i was planning to pop by to give a post a few hours ago and have only noticed that this window were open just now; just about to go to sleep too.
hmmm, while i was in the shower i felt like being an uncomfortable, complaining ly tonight. i mean, why is it so bloody hot these days. i really don't mind the hotness but just the humidity brisbane usually is when clouds are low. i mean, damn, if your gotta rain, just rain. the humidity just makes everything wet, especially ly because he has some type of chronic sweating disorder. knowing this beforehand, the fact that the second i hop out of the shower and wished that i were back in it, i made sure the aircon was on full blast and that the towel and me undies were in close reach so that i could wipe dry, put me undies on and run hard to my to be freezing cold room.
now that i'm in here, i can't help but complain why it's gotten so cold. the half full jug and cup in which i drink my protein, filled with tea which is cooled between icecube may have had something to do with it, i love eatting ice.
i feel so unproductive these days. feeling so tired after work and not being able to get to sleep till the early hours of the morning has left me either too tired to wake up after the 'enough' 7 hours of sleep i usually get or too tired to wake up after sleeping too much. i patched up that leaking tap i talked about a few days back and have tiled (tile stickers) up the section of the kitchen wall which was ripped down (looks alot better than before i'ld have to say). mum reckons we do the whole kitchen. my air intake off of my accord busted a plastic holding so i replaced it with a silicon hose and some hose clamps i bought from autobahn and bunnings respectively. just sorted out my uni timetable this morning and it's pretty cool that i'll be attending with someone i know. yay, i have friends. i tried to organise all the tools that have been burried within the sheds, not too much done to be classified as successfull.
i had a break day today. the workout yesterday on chest didn't seem as though it did much but today it feels as though a cow slept on my chest the whole night. i felt that i needed a break and didn't feel 'too' much of a lazy arse. i'm to do legs and a bit of arms today, WHICH WILL BE A BITCH. i've done a bit of reading on bb.com and have learnt a few new things which i will try in my session today arvo. i was close to starting a bodyspace account, but it'll have to wait, for another night where i'm a little more motivated.
i've decided to paint the accord. i was thinking about fixing up all the paint thats flaking due to the damaging sun that is of brisbane but doing it the same colour although makes it look pretty clean, i've decided i'm going to be different and go flat black, maybe. i'll do the bonnet in the morning hopefully; i've been saying that for a good few weeks now, maybe i've just gotta get it started to get it done.
i'll wake up early hopefully tomorrow morning, go and get some paint, some sand paper and see how it goes. i'll smash gym usual time and then get ready for the 6er.
life seems so routine.
Live High by Jason Mraz
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/j/jason_mraz/live_high_crd.htmChords
A C#m7 Cm7 Bm7 Dm7 Dsus2
-0--4----3---2---5----5---
-2--5----4---3---6----5---
-2--4----3---2---5----7---
-2--6----5---4---7----7---
-0--4----3---2---5----5---
----4----3---2---5----5---
Intro
A C#m7 Cm7 Bm7 Dm7
Verse
A
I try to picture a girl
C#m7
Through a looking glass
Dsus2
See her as a carbon atom
Dm7
See her eyes and stare back at them
A
See that girl
C#m7
As her own new world
Dsus2 Dm7
Though a home is on the surface, she is still a universe
A C#m7
Glory God, oh God is peeking through the blinds
Dsus2
Are we all here standing naked
Dm7 A
Taking guesses at the actual date and time
C#m7
Oh my, justifying reasons why
Dsus2 Dm7
Is an absolutely insane resolution to live by
Chorus
A
Live high
C#m7 Cm7
Live mighty
Bm7
Live righteously
Dm7
Takin it easy
A C#m7 Cm7
Live high, live mighty
Bm7 Dm7
Live righteously
Verse 2: same as verse 1
Chorus
Bridge
Dsus2 Dm7
Just take it easy
C#m7 Bm7
And celebrate the malleable reality
Dm7
Nothing is ever as it seems
This life is but a dream
my mr rugby dont let mr pegs bring you down, or hang you up?
my to do lists of the holidays. as you can see, most of the tasks have been ticked off, some twice but if they are complete why leave them 'unticked'?
