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Valentine's Day

So it turns out that Valentine’s Day is one of those “holidays” where bloggers are obliged to weigh in. Here is me doing something of the sort. Hey, I’m learning! But anyway, It’s V-Day today! This post isn’t really specific to it — instead, I’m going to share some of my thoughts on love and relationships.

Love

“There is no such thing as love. It’s a fantasy.”

Summer Finn, (500) Days of Summer

Tom: “What happens when you fall in love?”

Summer: “You believe in that?”

Tom: “It’s love, it’s not Santa Claus.”

(500) Days of Summer

I don’t really even know what love is, to be honest. I haven’t experienced it so far, anyway. I’m actually an emotional retard, though. The fact that I couldn’t work out why R was crying while people were saying goodbye at her farewell party (she’s going away for six years) last week, and actually had to ask, illustrates this. I can’t sympathise or empathise, I don’t show many emotions, nor do I express them. “Stoic” is potentially a great word to describe me.

I’m a bit of a love skeptic. If I’ve already met so many amazing people, why is it that I don’t love any of them? I’m assuming you’re supposed to know, rather than having to guess.

Family Relationships

It’s always stressed that family is the most important thing. I’ve never understood why. It seems that family only like each other because they are forced to. Well, I know for a fact that my own family wouldn’t like me were I not related to them (this is assuming they like me in the first place). I’ve never been one for “family activities”, nor for interacting with them (I wouldn’t admit this in Real Life, though. Yay for my Internet anonymity?). Time spent home alone is some of the best time.

Monogamous Relationships

At the age of 19, I’ve never had a girlfriend. I don’t think that’s too bad — there are more guys than just me who haven’t…I think? It’s never been my main concern, as it has been with other people I know. In fact, I’m still apathetic towards dating. I’ve had a few epic crushes over the years, as well as various small ones, but have never bothered to ask anyone out (hey, it’s going to result in a rejection, so it’s a good thing I’m apathetic, I suppose?).

People consistently assume my best friend and I are dating, which I think is the sort of relationship I’d actually be happy being in — the sort where you’re each other’s best friend, not having to see or message each other every day. I don’t get close to people, emotionally. I suspect that someone wanting me to become too “emotionally intimate” would make me want to back the fuck off.

Polyamorous Relationships

I don’t (think I) know anyone in a polyamorous relationship. I’m not sure whether many people support it, either. I use the term “polyamorous” lightly, by the way. What I actually mean is “open relationship” (polyamory implies love!). While I’m not interested in marriage or committing to one person at the moment, I’m still “traditional” enough to believe in committing to one actual partner, but I essentially support lifestyles/relationships where a couple is free to have sexual relationships with other people (as long as all parties agree, of course).

February 14th, 2010 · About me, People and Relationships, Thoughts · 11 Comments »

2010 Is Looking to be a Busy Year

It seems that 2010 will be a busy year for me.

Although the past few months have involved a lot of staring at screens and pointless Internet surfing, I return to university in a month or so, and have taken on a second job, which I start on Tuesday.

A quick list of what 2010 will involve regarding university and work:

Completing the second year of my B.A.
Still with majors in psychology and anthropology. In addition to just “completing” it, I also need to maintain a First-Class Honours average grade in psychology so I can complete an Honours year in 2012, which will allow me to study postgraduate psychology, which, in turn will qualify me to have a career in psychology. I’m still undecided whether I’d prefer to be a practising clinical psychologist or an academic.
Continuing work at my casual job at the DVD rental store (Job One)
It has proven to be fun so far — I enjoy working there. It also comes with the bonus of free rentals. For example, I rented Up recently, which is Pixar’s best film to date (Wall·E is overrated!), and Orgazmo (a colleague recommended it), which had a few cheap laughs, but was generally crap. I also get an $0.75 pay rise in the not-too-distant future, which is a bit exciting. As a casual, though, it’s impossible to predict annual income with any degree of certainty.
Starting my second casual job at a computing department (Job Two)
Some of the tasks I may complete include user authorisation, collecting payments for payable services, replenishing printer consumables, providing support in the use of hardware and software, and aiding in repair and maintenance of equipment. I’m sure I will enjoy this job; it seems that there’s a fair amount of independence, and having many different tasks to do is excellent, too.

I struggled with the concept of “how much is too much, when blogging about your job?” whilst writing this entry. I think the information I wrote is fine, but I probably wouldn’t go into much more detail at all.

January 30th, 2010 · About me, Daily Life, Media, Money and Work, University and Study · 11 Comments »

Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah (2009) movie poster I hate to make this blog all about mass media, but I find it can be so much more than a source of entertainment that is forgotten almost immediately, as it can really make me think about life (I talked about this in my previous entry about Beautiful Kate. I apologise in advance, as this post will cover some similar topics). Before I get to the main point of today’s post, I have a side story.

I used to be averse to go to the cinema alone, and thought I’d feel like a total loser doing so. Since starting university and my Australian Film Project, I’ve discovered a cinema near uni that has $6AUD tickets on Mondays. It’s been mentioned in the comments before, so I may as well tell you that it’s Cinema Nova in Carlton). Anyway, I’m only at uni for an hour from 11-12 on Mondays, so I’ve recently gone to the cinema afterwards. If it was a big Hollywood production, I’d go with a friend, but low-budget Australian films on selected release will usually be seen solo by me.

Onto the main point of this post! Today, I saw Samson and Delilah, directed by Warwick Thornton. It is about young Australian Aborigines who leave their “tribe” (for want of a better word) and basically explore and live closer to main civilisation. It was terrific, and the reason I wanted to blog about it, was because I thought that their culture was so fascinating.

I seem to live in a culture where talking for the sake of talking is highly valued, but small talk is something I loathe. I can understand its purpose with acquaintances and people you don’t know well, but I just don’t always see a reason for it between close friends and family. Anyway, this film had an extremely minimal amount of speech (in fact, the Samson character was quite unable to articulate words), and I found it fascinating watching characters from a culture where speaking is obviously not so highly valued, and where thoughts and emotions (such as love), can be communicated through actions and gestures instead.

One of my majors at university is likely to be anthropology. In my “About” page, I only list psychology, as that’s what I’m planning to pursue after my undergraduate degree as a career; anthropology is more out of interest, or learning for the sake of learning it. My fascination with the film reinforced that anthropology may indeed be something I’ll love, and there’s so much more I’d like to learn about different cultures, such as in Samson and Delilah. For example, I’m interested in knowing whether cultures that don’t rely so heavily on spoken language are actually better at understanding non-spoken language, such as gestures and facial expressions.

August 17th, 2009 · About me, Australia, Daily Life, Media · No Comments »