The Importance of Being Idle

I am as shocked as you are. Really. I can't believe that I've updated this three times in one year. Is it that I have more to say? Is it that I've got more time? I don't really know, but I'm making myself some sausage rolls currently (vegetarian, yeah...) and I thought, "Hey, it's almost the end of the year! Why don't I update the folks on the things that I've done!?" And this, intrepid reader, is where we find ourselves currently.

Where are my manners? How are you? I hope you, specifically you, the person reading this now, are the best that you are able to be. And, if not, then I hope there's goodness waiting for you somewhere. We shouldn't have wished to live in more interesting times. It really is tiring, y'know.

I've been, and this is an absolutely out-of-left-field thing for me to say, but… happy? All of the hidden mechanisms, my plans and schemes, and the daily transpirings just seem to be cooperating. Which, in turn, makes me feel suspicious, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Or any horse in the mouth. Ian Fleming, Bond writer and gonorrhea sufferer, said that horses are dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle. I'm not going to disagree with that in any way.

Work is good. Work is money, which is convenient because I quite enjoy having that. It's not a particularly mentally stressful time, not physically demanding. It's often kinda fun, and I like seeing the locals. I think I've touched on it before, but the amount of cheese that I am able to buy based on my location to a supermarket is astronomical. Sometimes I wish I could stop, but if there's one thing that I like more than cheese, it's denying someone else the ability to have cheese. Or any consumable, really. Wow. That mental food insecurity is a real thing, eh? Goodness. It didn't sound that unusual until I wrote it out, then.

I am continuing to work out, which is fun too. I stopped for a smidge when I headed to Melbourne (patience, I'll get to that shortly), but I'm back at it. As you may or may not know, I've never had the greatest relationship with the body, but it is slowly starting to get into a shape/form that I don't completely hate? And that has to mean something, right? It's getting smaller in the places that I'm hoping it to and bigger in the other parts. Mind out of the gutter! I had a little victory some months back when I tried on jeans and they fit. Immediately. Not sucking the gut in, no "I'll buy them for later," no loosening of any bits. Just... contentedness. Despite there being many pictures around of me in jeans, I haven't really worn them all that much since 2010. I am the antithesis to Sydney Sweeney. In more ways than one, really. There's a quote from Scrubs which comes about quite often. Dr. Cox talking to Turk, and this goes down:

Dr. Cox: The key to my exercise program is this one simple truth — I hate my body.
Turk: What?
Dr. Cox: Do you understand? The second you look in the mirror and you're happy with what you see, baby, you just lost the battle.

I don't hate my body, but I certainly, y'know, probably would ghost it if I had the chance. All in good time, Cameron. All in good time. We live and we learn.

We've got work, working out, and the last stop is uni work. Good news is that I am now 83% of the way through my degree. Astonishing, really. I can't actually fathom how I've made it this far. To a point where I was trying to input more units for next semester, and it said, "Nah dude. Too many!" Which came as a bit of a shock. A weird happy-but-also-scared smile slid onto my face in an "Oh. Already?" kind of way.

I'll be taking a philosophy unit for a summer course, and that'll take me down to two units needed next semester. One is my final linguistics unit and the other, and I probably could've done this in my very first semester, will be a human biology unit. That's to prove to folks later on, when I apply to a Speech Pathology program, that I kinda sort of know what I'm on about.

Long story short: I passed all my units this semester and, as such, I have a French minor. Who would've thought that, eh? Me, a little French boy, baguette in hand, wine flowing freely, dreaming of Provence in the summer. Smoking Gauloises, je regardais les champs de lavande qui semblaient s'étendre à l'infini. La chaleur de l'après-midi enveloppait doucement la peau, et l'air avait ce parfum de terre chaude et de soleil. Tout autour, c'était la tranquillité de la campagne, comme un tableau vivant... Oh, sorry!

Anyway, I am happy. For the first time in quite some time, I can think quite well and say that I'm doing well in all aspects. I take the good with the bad, but it is mostly good.

I did say that I was going to mention why I was in Melbourne: Oasis! I finally saw Oasis. I can't quite believe it. It is, by far, the largest cultural event that I have ever been a part of. In my mental post-concert review, I thought that I probably saw them 10 years too late. Most of their music was from their first three albums, which was a kick in the butt, as I am an ardent Don't Believe the Truth fan. I was very happy to have been there. I was also quite happy to be in Melbourne if I'm being perfectly honest. It was a good week and a half there. I ate well, enjoyed my time traveling about, and even got to meet up with a wonderful person in Frankston. She knows who she is. There's no euphemism here, we met up and carried on with our friendship as if we'd only been apart for a couple of days.

Where's my next big travel going to take me? I don't know. The big, big one is back to Canada in some way, shape, or form. But I wouldn't mind having a little squizz at Japan. I know, I know. It's getting to become quite a place where Australians go, but I did briefly look at the prices, and they weren't too atrocious. Plus, I've got some pointers for Hideaki Anno. I'm not putting the cart before the horse, but it's something that I'll put in the "Potentially" folder. If not that, then maybe a post-exam, pre-graduation trip to Bali. Again, I'm walking the stereotype, but that's okay.

I sincerely did mean what I said at the beginning. I don't know who necessarily reads this, but if you do and you're not having the greatest of times, get in touch with me. Reach out. I said I was attempting to practice gratitude last time, and I'm very willing and happy to listen. At this point in time, I think it's fair for me to pay back what I've been given in spades.

Looking forward to those sausage rolls. Who knew puff pastry was so easy to manipulate?! I'm going to make myself a little dill pickle hot sauce which, really, isn't that clever. I've got 10 hot sauces to consume and I'm only one person. Ugh, the perils of the hot sauce enjoyer. It's really quite a challenge. I don't want to put hot sauce on my cereal.

This'll be the last update for the year, I think. I did mean what I said: if you are not having a good time, please reach out. If you are having a good time: please reach out. Just get in contact with me if you're feeling it. 

Lots of love to you and the important people in your life.

As this is an Oasis adjacent post, I thought I'd go with a song off of Don't Believe the Truth. I am prone to hyperbole, but I must have listened to this song hundreds, if not thousands, of times. There's something nostalgic about it but in an anemoic way. I'll let you discover that meaning. Until then, enjoy this delightful little tune and think of me.