46 | Travelling

I’ve somehow found myself on Airbnb. Of course there are some really dodgy looking places on there, but my experiences with it so far have been really good. When we were in Amsterdam last year, my cousins and aunty and uncle found an apartment right in the middle of the city. It was an amazing place. Of course, as with anything, there was a downside: An almost vertical set of stairs to climb in order to get there. No matter.

Even though I’ve only been looking for places around Australia, it’s really shown me how many different types of landscapes there are. Beach, forest, desert (or a mix of all) can be found, and it’s so beautiful it makes we want to visit everywhere. Maybe I’ll take my brother and sister for a trip somewhere whilst our parents are off having fun in America later in the year…

Speaking of travelling, and to change the subject completely, I have a job interview tomorrow! I’m actually quite excited and can’t wait to get in there and show them what I can do! Wish me luck!

45 | Where Are You Motivation?

Some days I feel like just staying in bed and playing games/cuddling my cat or dog/reading/watching a tv show or movie/sleeping. On the occasional day this does actually happen, although not without the guilt I feel when I’m laying wide awake at 2am.

Having nothing to do most days other than job-hunting (I know, I know. I’ll stop talking about it when I actually have one!), and just generally bumming around on the internet, so it can be really difficult to actually find something productive to do with my days.

Going for walks only lasts so long. There’s only a certain amount of times I can eat in a day. The house can only get so clean. What to do? Most of the time I feel like making something. Actually creating something physical that I can hold in my hands. But then comes the question: What to make? I have a LOTR cross stitch sitting in my drawer begging to be finished. I should do that. But then again, I have that zine I was making with my sister to finish, I could write some more for that. I also have an online course I’m doing, so I could probably do some more work there.

The thing with motivation is that if that motivation is not going anywhere productive or useful, it can be really difficult to muster any up. I have things that I can be doing – things that don’t really benefit anyone, including myself, but things to do nonetheless. I’m wanting to start on the costume cape I’m making for my brother tomorrow (!!!!!!!!!!), and I have a job interview on Tuesday (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), but after that – what to do?

44 | What Is An Adult?

According to the law, you’re an adult once you turn 18.

When I turned 18 I had just finished high school and was soon to be heading to university. I was still shy and found it difficult introducing myself to new people. I couldn’t drive, nor had I ever voted.

Now 4 years later all of that has changed, but I still don’t feel like an adult. I know that this is partly due to the fact that I am yet to find my first ‘grown-up’ job and I’m still living at home. However, most of my friends are in the same situation I’m in (the whole job and living at home thing), but I see them as fully functioning adults.

Looking around, other 22 year olds have no problem being ‘adults’, but I find myself wondering what I’m doing wrong. I was just bumming around on the internet today (as one does), and found a photo album of a 22 year old who built his own house. What. I’m barely capable of building insert-easy-to-build-thing here. Which brings me on to another thing. I know so many people from school who are already married, have children (that’s children, plural), a house. Again, what. Looking after myself is a struggle enough, I can’t imagine how they’re already looking after babies.

You that saying that everyone has to grow old, but that doesn’t mean you have to grow up? I feel as though everyone is acting like they’re ‘grown up’ a lot better than me. When will I start feeling like an adult?

43 | Being A Cat

I’m laying in bed watching a couple of videos before I actually go to sleep and my nose starts bleeding. Excellent. Just what I want at 11.30 at night. And then I look over at my cat, who is sleeping so peacefully beside me, and think about how easy life would be if I were a cat.

That’s not to say my life is particularly difficult at the moment, but after a long day of running around at work, and still with lots of things to do at the end of the day, it would be nice to just be able to sit down and sleep for hours on end.

42 | All Things Graphic

I didn’t really have much of an interest in graphic novels or comics until quite recently. When I started watching The Walking Dead about 3 years ago, I bought The Walking Dead Compendiums 1 and 2 so I could get more. Those things are pretty brick-like but they didn’t last me very long.

After that, I was looking through Amazon, as one does, and found Craig Thompson. I have two of his books – Habibi and Blankets. Habibi still stays with me. Thompson’s style is so beautiful and captivating that I often found myself reading right through the night. Not only that, but the way in which he presents his stories really make you feel as though you are the character, and the out of body moments that his characters have really let you into their minds so that you, as the reader, can truly understand what they’re feeling and going through.

Next we have Shaun Tan. His style is so weird, and I love it. I somehow only have two of his books, The Arrival and The Lost Thing. The Arrival has no words, nor does it need any. I don’t really have much more to say about it other than if you are unfamiliar with Tan’s work, definitely start here because it will take your breath away. I briefly studied The Lost Thing in uni, and then got the opportunity to create a short television promotion about an exhibition for it at an internship I had last year. This one isn’t very long, but is very relatable, as everyone has experienced the feeling of not fitting in at some point in their lives.

I mentioned previously that I’d started reading the Saga series by Brian Vaughan and Fiona Staples. I love me a good fantasy story, and this definitely provides. I love how it’s not told from the perspective of the main characters, rather their child telling the story from the future as it provides a sense of suspense throughout. My only problem with this is that now I’ve caught up, I’m just waiting for the next issues to come out. Hurrrrryyyy!

There are other random ones in this list, but I can’t seem to find them on my bookshelf… Only now to do is expand the collection! And also wait for that one I ordered a couple weeks ago to arrive…

41 | Getting Things Done!

Last night I made myself a rather large list of things to do today. And today I completed every single one of those things. Getting things done is such an amazing feeling. The feeling of accomplishment, of bettering yourself, of contributing to the world around you.

Although my list was rather mundane (paint the bedroom doors, send emails, apply to jobs etc), there’s nothing better than crossing something off that list. Which got me thinking. Many people have bucket lists, but I’ve never put much thought into it. I’m more of a roll-with-the-punches type of person. Many people my age are already married and have children and houses, and as a 22 year old that is simply terrifying. I mean, I barely know what I’m doing next week let alone for the rest of my life.

One thing I know I would love to do is travel. When I lived in England, my family and I would always go across to France and that was a great time, but it was only until we moved to the other side of the world that we all realised how many amazing experiences we could have had if we’d ventured just slightly further into the rest of Europe. Not only Europe, but everywhere really. Everywhere!

40 | A Bump In The Road

I’m taking a short break from applying to jobs to just write a little summ’n summ’n. My last post was more than a little while ago (yikes), and since then I haven’t had any ideas. I had that excellent week back in January where I actually was posting something everyday, and I was really proud of myself! But after that I just found it more and more difficult to create content.

Putting out something every single day (as was my original intent) is incredibly difficult. I honestly don’t know how people do it! I need to put together a schedule and actually sit down and think about what I want to put out. I wanted to develop my writing skills through this, but not actually putting anything out isn’t exactly doing me much good.

Anywho, I am back now and I’m actually going to do something!

39 | Delivery!

There is nothing better than coming home to find a package or two waiting for you. No, actually the best thing is forgetting about ordering the thing, and then it arriving. But there was no way I was forgetting these babies!

As you know, I recently late-night-purchased a Lomo camera. I was very very very excited, but in my excitement forgot to buy film. Good going past me. I also received some books: A Brief History of Time, Saga, and The Secret Service Kingsman. Oh yeah. I’ve already finished Saga and I need to read the next editions. I need to. But it’s hard to find places in Melbourne near me that sell comic books. Oh well, another trip to the city for me!

I also bought an embroidery kit on Etsy yesterday. I’ve started my LOTR cross-stitch again. This is something you don’t know about me. I started this cross stitch last year, but then I just kind of stopped doing it? I’m not sure what happened there. I think I realised doing a half-metre by half-metre thing was probably a bit much for a first serious project. No matter. I will finish it before I die, I promise you that!

I don’t know what’s happening, but I do know that maybe I should calm down the internet shopping for a while…