Uni started for me this week and upon my procrastination to catch up on the lectures that I didn't attend, I was searching through my old hard-drive to find pictures I could photoshop experiment with; it starts early this year don't you reckon?
I was bludging a few days ago looking for supplements until I stumbled on some photoshop tutorials (pretty random hey?) and thought it was something neat to try. Instead of hitting the gym tonight and with my enthusiasm for playing a few hours of games saved only for my lonesome self, I decided to reward myself with a night at home doing absolutely anything I wanted. With my gym buddy Martin coming down with a rather severe cold, the past couple of workouts just haven't been the same without him. Nonetheless gym is gym however you look at it; tonight I just couldn't be arsed.
After doing a few lomo modifications and getting pretty bored with it, I decided to browse the millions of old photos I had on my hard-drive. I also remembered last Friday during work, when the lyrics to Otherside by The Red Hot Chili Peppers were stuck in my head and that I promised myself I would find time to just chill out listening to their album. I did so while clicking through my old high school albums, which brought me back to a time I wished so dearly to relive.
Much like the photos of old birthdays and south bank soccer photos, The Red Hot Chili Pepers brought just as many memories back. I remember Track 6 it was, Californication, which pumped from our cabin (number 2) on a late spring afternoon, sun just about to set while our class of Mr Crowleys grade 7s were fielding in a game of cricket against everyone else. In the middle of the student cabins lie a field of grass which was greener than green and so soft between the toes that you would actually notice it. With the background noises consisting of wave breaks and birds feeding on little insects, and the smell of the preparation of our dinner slowly drifting from the kitchen to the field, this, this is what I compare many of my greatest memories to; none have ever made me feel this good, not yet.
As I listened through the album, I reached the final song, 'Road Trippin' where I remember being young and how much I hated this song. For some reason I just couldn't relate to it interpreting it as a song to get away, away from the beautiful memories I had made. But now, upon listening to it, I am 
reminded of my more recent past, the memories of NZed which I was coincidentally already viewing. The memories of getting away, away from home to see the world, make new friends and find a home away from home.
I was brought back to reality by Colas little growl sulk, and although I was a little sad of how time passed by so quickly, Jack Johnsons' Do you remember sort of put me in an appreciative mood although not directly through his lyrics. I do have a slight feeling of content knowing how much joy I get reminiscing about the past. I mean, a few years from now, I'd probably think of how much I would give to come back to today.
I promise myself to dust off my old camera and start recording some memories. I swear whenever it's out, priceless happenings usually occur, it must have magical powers......
As you can see, the new template is one of the couple of things I've done to get the ball going to start this new year. According to the lunar calendar, the new year only just started a week ago and because I haven't done much since the start of our western calendar year, I've decided to make myself feel better by starting the 'lunar year' with something productive.
Along with the long overdue face-lift of nothing special (hopefully it helps make the terrible grammar and spelling mistakes in my blog posts a little more bearable) I've also decided to shave my head as well as the disgusting beard hair, not gifted due to mums unattractive beard genes.
With every new year I guess comes new dreams and new goals. This year I've compiled the typical list of blah blah things to be attempted and finished by some ridiculous time duration. None the less, like I say every year, I'll try and do as much as I can. I'll probably complain about how I didn't at the end of the year but I guess that's a whole 10 or so months away. Geez, time flies these days, only ten more months to go until another Christmas break.
Sunday the 24th of January was a day which showed both one of my lowest and highest points in life. After the many stories of the few friends who wondered up the four and a half or so thousand steps of pain that is Mt Warning, we decided to give it a crack last weekend. As confident as I sounded the few Friday nights before talking to Ross about it, I had no idea how much trouble I was getting myself into.
We packed lunch early morning and what we thought a good supply of water and headed up Mt warning around 1030 or so. The drive down to warning was beautiful to say the least. Rolling green hills broken by great hanging cliffs followed the clear rocky rivers, so clear that schools of fish were visible. Happy spirits were presented mostly by myself and turned to silence only 400 meters up. Every step I took was a different one, changing between angles and heights and depths of the rock following. The path circled the mountain base endlessly and upon reaching the half way mark of 2.2 kilometers, it no longer was only physically demanding but mentally, it drained.
But powering on, step after step, lactic acid building with each stride, it wasn’t long after that thoughts of giving up were starting to creep into my head. I hated every person who came down past us. So much hope lost to effortless lies of those whom I trusted when they said we were nearly there.
15 minutes, 5 minutes; it took us nearly half an hour to finally reach what I thought was the end. Breaks in the canopy of endless rainforest showed exactly how high we really were with ribbons of light clouds swirling beneath us and tops of mountains, dark blue lakes and a continual platelet of green shades which coloured in between. No longer is there shade from above of the fanned out leaves of ferns, but now, as the sun beat down on us, what lied ahead was the biggest challenge.
The last leg of the hike was 200 meters up which inclined more than 45 degrees at points. There was a chain to the right to help assist those heading up but I found crawling up on all fours was much more easier. When I finally reached the top, no energy to even walk, let alone take in the sights, I found a shady area under a bush and lied motionless for a few moments. Even the 4 or so ants which bit me everywhere didn’t move me. I stumbled over to where the gang was calling me to find a platform, with a nice up breeze to cool my tooshie I found a place to get some sleep. We took a few photos to prove we had made it and with a little sip of water and a feed on bacon and egg rolls, we headed back down, taking less than half the time it took to get up.
The day ended with a relaxing afternoon at Wooyung and a feed at Yatala pies on the way home. Such an experience it was and I’m glad to have gone through it because now I will never EVER do it again.
Maybe when I’m a little bit more fit, Maybe.
So I was out of internet for a couple of weeks back because of my quota problems but I didn't forget to blog.
27th January, 2010
The past couple of weeks have taught me a few very valuable lessons.
1. Great friends are ones that cannot be distinguished between family. A friend is someone who knows your name and you know theirs. A great friend is one who’s been there at your lowest, and celebrated with you at your highest.
2. Great friends much like family can get pissed at you and you both have to solve it together and let time heal wounds.
3. Nothing is greater than your dreams. Life happenings can make dreams drift and forgotten but nothing is more satisfying than reviving your motivations and striving for your goals.
4. There are always idiots which make your life harder. Just don’t be tempted to become one.
5. It can take years for someone to love you, but an instant for them to hate you.
6. With positive thoughts, there are positive doings.
7. Life goes on.
