LDN

So I've been here for almost 2 months now and I have a variety of thoughts and views about what exactly I feel about this wonderful city, but for now a little song that's been running around my head forever sums things up nicely...

"You might laugh you might frown
Walkin' round London town

Sun is in the sky oh why oh why ?
Would I wanna be anywhere else
Sun is in the sky oh why oh why ?
Would I wanna be anywhere else

When you look with your eyes
Everything seems nice
But if you look twice
you can see it's all lies" - Lily Allen

Bands, bands, bands...

I just felt like making a list of bands I'd seen over the years (international because South African bands are so plentiful that it would take years to list em all)

Bon Jovi
Meatloaf
Spice Girls
Alanis Morissette
Hootie and the Blowfish
Wheatus
Cypress Hill
Counting Crows (x2)
Blindside (x2)
Simple Plan
Metallica
Collective Soul
Jimmy Eat World
Violent Femmes
Ben Lee
Missy Higgins
Fall Out Boy
Muse
Chris Cornell
Good Charlotte
Kaiser Chiefs
Razorlight
Alkaline Trio (x2)
Taking Back Sunday
Santogold
We Are Scientists
Thrice
Editors
The Raconteurs
The Killers

Just some random thoughts...

> I might possibly be really shallow, but I might also not be, it's up to you to decide.
> I'm tired of feeling unappreciated, is it really that difficult to say thank you once in a while?
> For some reason we never like the people who like us and vice versa, this is a major dilemma for me. *sigh*
>Update, scrap that last thought, finally someone has come along who has given me hope, it's a wonderful feeling.
> Sometimes people are mean for no good reason, it doesn't help to wonder about it. It also sometimes takes a while to realise that everybody won't like us.
> Sometimes I'm mean, or appear to be, I don't do it purposefully, but I've realised that if I don't look out for myself other people won't either.
> It's not easy letting go of people but it's often for the best.
> It doesn't help to complain about things, we all like to bitch and moan from time to time, but eventually you have to realise that nothing will change if you just sit around and whine.
> Everything is not always better when you get away from your problems, running away doesn't make the problems go away so much as it causes you to stress even more about them because you're not dealing with them.
> I think I might be too nice.
> Music can always improve your mood.
> Ryan Adams understands me even though he's never met me.
> So does John Mayer.
> I like dancing like a fool to fun music.
> I like pop music from time to time, it makes me happy.
> I often miss people, but I don't think they miss me.
> Not receiving replies to sms's and e-mails bugs the crap out of me.
> I love photographs, I'm very amateurish and should put more effort into honing my skills but I love taking pics of anything and everything.
> I'm tired of wasting my time on unimportant things and people.
> My puppy is the cutest puppy in the world and can cheer me up no matter how miserable I feel.
> You can never see too many live bands.
> You can never have too many pairs of Converse.
> You can never have too many CDs or DVDs.
> I am obssessed with the colour red.
> I talk too much.
> I think too much.
> I love random lyric quotes:

All you people are vampires, and all your stories are stale. - Arctic Monkeys
I'm not the way you think I am. - Fall Out Boy
I used to make my parents proud. - Brand New
Back down, cash out, that's the city for you. - The Academy is...
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world. - John Mayer

> I have shallow, unrealistic dreams. I don't care. They're my dreams and I'm tired of sitting around wasting my time. I don't care if I seem to be a childish, irresponsible person with strange dreams and expectations.
> I like me. :)
> The world (Pretoria especially) is too small, everybody eventually will end up knowing each other I reckon.
> People who try to sound profound usually don't have a clue what they're talking about.
> I always miss people I shouldn't miss and who don't give a damn about me.
> I miss the people who miss me too and actually give a damn about me even more!
> Sometimes, unexpectedly, we get random insights from the most unlikely people or places, it helps one to realise that you're not as alone in this world as you think you are.
> Bad grammar and spelling bother me tremendously.
> I have very little patience for people who sing along to songs but don't know the lyrics, if you don't know the words don't sing or hum, please, I beg you!


(This list will continue as my thoughts do, so expect it to be very much longer very soon)

Easter Weekend musings

The last day of a long weekend is always a bit odd because I never know if I should party hard one last time or rather spend the day recovering from the rest of the weekend.

Thursday night was very chilled- went to see Jessica one last time and as usual we spent it highly productively - eating and watching TV. I'm going to miss that crazy lady while she's in the Cape for her internship.

Friday started off bright and early, rocked up at Johnny's house and he was very delayed and pretty hungover, but kudos to him for driving us to Cokefest and back again soberly and safely. Thanks to rad navigational skills we didn't even get lost once - hells yeah, I rock :D Cokfest was pretty damn fabulous:

Positives - Jared Leto, CrashCarBurn, seeing all my peeps I hadn't seen in ages and was missing: Larry, Casey, Brett, Jessica, Jaco, Et, Da-niel, Fish and tons of usual peeps also. I love partying to bands with people who love them as much as I do, or appreciate their cheese value so don't diss me for singing and dancing along like a crazy person.

Negatives - mud, lack of beer due to long queues, lack of food, treacherous holes in ground!

All in all the Cokefest was excellent, Muse being a highlight and almost reducing me to tears during Starlight... "hold you in my arms, I just wanted to hold you in my arms..." Thank you to all my friends who have listened to my emo bitching and moaning and put up with my stupidity lately. I dunno what I'd do without you. I love you all way too much!

Saturday I got phoned by my favourite Stefan so we went to play some poker which I won. I then sushi'd with my sister Nelson and her buddies, and caused some chaos with the Lazy Susan.

Sunday turned into chaos with a less chilled picnic than we'd anticipated followed by some boardgames, cardgames, DVDs and plenty of laughter and craziness at Marlys and Karin's place. Thanks to everyone who partied with me and listens to me. Mwah!

Home on a Saturday night...

...with all the doors locked up tight, I won't be thinking about you baby. After a very hectic Friday, I'm home on a Saturday night for the first time in so long I can't even remember.

Yesterday we hit GIN in Greenside which I recommend highly for it's fab food, excellent cocktails and generally chilled atmosphere. After a lively roadtrip, to say the least, Stefan, Johnny, Warren and I arrived at Alicha's place, loaded her into the car and then missioned off to GIN.

And then the fun begun. After many cocktails, and inadvertently hitting happy hour, we went to play some quick games of wii, grabbed some pizzas, then missioned all the way back to Pretoria. Zeplins was the POA, but after arriving there to find a good 30 metalheads in the standard black shirt with Korn / Slipknot / Metallica T-shirts paired with jeans / camo pants, we ran like hell to Runnings, which was much better. Apparently it got raided sometime later that night, but thankfully we were gone by then!

So ja, today I've been arbing around, and then just didn't really feel like going out, so here I am, catching up on blogging I haven't done for probably a good six months. I don't know why I haven't written in so long, perhaps I just didn't feel like I had anything significant to say (not that I feel particularly inspirational right now) but I'm trying to make an effort this year with more creative endeavours (photos and writing specifically) so this is a good place to begin.

Lately I've been a bit bored with my music collection so I'm trying to catch up on more old school people that I should've known and loved long ago, so to end this silly little post here's some lyrics by the Boss:

Well, they blew up the chicken man in philly last night
Now, they blew up his house, too
Down on the boardwalk theyre gettin ready for a fight
Gonna see what them racket boys can do

Now, theres trouble bustin in from outta state
And the d.a. cant get no relief
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade
And the gamblin commissions hangin on by the skin of his teeth

Well now, evrything dies, baby, thats a fact
But maybe evrything that dies someday comes back
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in atlantic city

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away
But I got debts that no honest man can pay
So I drew what I had from the central trust
And I bought us two tickets on that coast city bus

Now, baby, evrything dies, honey, thats a fact...

Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold
But with you forever Ill stay
Were goin out where the sands turnin to gold
Put on your stockins baby, `cause the nights getting cold
And maybe evrything dies, baby, thats a fact
But maybe evrything that dies someday comes back

Now, I been lookin for a job, but its hard to find
Down here its just winners and losers and dont
Get caught on the wrong side of that line
Well, Im tired of comin out on the losin end
So, honey, last night I met this guy and Im gonna
Do a little favor for him

Well, I guess everything dies, baby, thats a fact...