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Virginialin
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Name: Virginia (Ginny)
Country: Australia
Birthday: 2/7/1986
Gender: Female
Interests: MUSIC!! n singing, anime/manga, Sports (Soccer, Gymnastics, Athletics, Cross Country, Skiing), watching old classic films, karaoking and last but not least, having a good ol' yack.
Expertise: I know nothing, nothing I tell you!
Occupation: Public Servant
Industry: Paper Pushing
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
10/1/2004
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| This year kicked off with me popping the champagne on the balcony and watching the fireworks, albeit partially concealed by a distant skyscraper.
Watching fireworks always makes me think about how much work goes into making those tiny flames explode into the night sky without killing anyone, and how much they captivate billions of people around the world, inebriated or otherwise. Moreover, I also wonder when I will hold that kind of sway over people. Power is oh so sweet but of course I’d use it for good, not for evil ...
… although I think some people would dispute that claim.
There are so many different types of power and in this day and age, but I think it’s a given in the current consumerist climate that ‘soft power’ is the go ahead at least between individuals/organisations (it’s probably still quite a different matter between countries, but let’s not go there). Some people make an entire career out of tooting the horn for soft power, just as the merits of soft power is one of the major ‘lessons’ of the new Sex and the City-esque series Cashmere Mafia, starring Lucy Liu (the storyline is a bit shite, but in all honesty I’m just watching it for the clothes). A phone call to the right person in a high place can be put everything right.
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's opposition leader, once wrote that "It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
But I think that what is far worse than fear is suspicion. I suppose for many, there is little different between the two. However, while fear makes us unable to take on new challenges in our lives and prone to cutting down things without hearing an explanation, suspicion actually makes us do stupid things to lose what is already our nearest and dearest.
Just like in Ang Lee's Lust.Caution, the amassing of great amounts of power can only make individuals more paranoid and wary of those closest to them. But in Yi’s case - as you film buffs will soon see - it was justified and didn’t even prevent him from having some kickass bedroom action.
Skepticism, distrust, misgiving, reservation, uncertainty, hesitation, doubt. These feelings all make us into unforgiving and negative beings that are far less deserving of the fairer things in life than those who embrace others with an open heart. But unfortunately, it’s a hell of a lot easier to be cynical of other people’s motives than to be the shining beacon of optimism... but who ever said that life was going to be easy? | | |
| More than a third of the year had whooshed past before I realised how neglected my blog had become. And omg, it’s 2008 tomorrow.
I can’t even begin to relay the things that had come to pass in my life these past four months. There were a lot of long nights and stressful days. Of course they paid off as always, often in unexpected ways.
2007 was a year defined by accommodation instability, the game of employment roulette (aka Graduate rotations) and of course, music. For me it is never realistic to wish for peace and quiet, but I think I wouldn’t have had this year any other way, despite some of the more unpleasant things that went on. In hindsight, I don’t think that 100% of the choices that I made this year were the best ones possible, but we live and learn. Who needs regrets when there’s a new year on the horizon?
I have always believed that the things that we choose to devote our time to and the words to choose to say define who we are and how we will be remembered. This year was no different. I still chose to:
- watch too much anime to stay grounded in the real world,
- download way too many songs to learn properly,
- spend too much time on CMG,
- write too many lines of weird lyrics at stupid hours of the day,
- stay up too late thanks to all of the above,
- work too little to really be as productive as I should be as a young professional,
- not practice enough singing,
- eat too much chilli,
- waste too much money on trivialities, and
- spread my physical & emotional energy just a little too thinly.
So what does that say about me? That I should be feeling super overworked and under-loved? At my lowest moments, that wouldn’t be too far from the truth.
But right at this very moment I am happy, I really am. I am so grateful for everything that I had the privilege to be part of, and for all the wonder people, new and old, who were the lights in my life this year. I learnt so much from you all and I know that there are many of you who will be there for the years to come, if not in person, at least in spirit. It is always humbling to think that I am only 1 measly person in the 6 billion+ people on this earth and yet, I have so many inspiring people in my life. As such, I hope I gave you just as much love and wisdom as you gave me.
Tonight, when I am looking out onto the city lights from my new home of a bit less than 2 weeks, I will look forward to a new year that promises to be just as beautiful, fruitful and challenging as the one just passed. I will ask for nothing more, nothing less, only that I will have the strength to keep going on the way that I always do. And that would be enough.
So … I guess here’s to a happy new year for me and for you *raises imaginary glass at work since breaking out the drinks at work before midday is definitely a faux pas!*… and I hope you will all find during the course of the new year another special phrase in this beautiful song called life.
Peace out
~Virginia. | | |
| "Humour is the weapon of unarmed people: it helps people to smile at the situation that pains them." - Simon Wiesenthal The madness of the CMG 2007 Production 'Tails' ended last night at around 22:00EST. A week of crazy rehearsals and bad take-away food has left me feeling very... what's the word... subdued? I got home at about 8am which made for pretty much two all-nighters thanks the fact that I went to a friend's place to watch a VERY random Korean Movie the night before (Daespo Naughty Girls anyone?).
Throughout the production, fights were definitely NOT uncommonand some of the more explosive ones were quite taxing emotionally andphysically. But I'm still here. In the time since my last post, I have been on a day-trip to Mt Buller, gotten a gig at Manifest for my band, watched some live music, got a new Premier to work for, bought some interesting clothes/accessories, and had an extremely ASIAN haircut and... rediscovered some buried away feelings. Why is life NEVER simple?
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| It feels like yonks since I last posted and life has really become work vs. CMG. In many ways, life is always much simpler when you are busy. Work work work, sleep a little, back to work. No time to think crazy thoughts, no time to dream. The couple of weeks since the last post has seen me do a couple of all nighters writing songs and lyrics with my lovely yet frustrating team, running singing workshops to varying degrees of success and madly trying to get the orchestra into gear. Haven't even had time to think about the various band things that I haven't finished. As much as I bitch and moan about the terrors of trying to get everything CMG done on time, I do love it and that is what drives me. I wish the same 'love' drove me to the same lengths at work. I do enjoy where I work, but I know sometimes I waver between genuine enthusiam and genuine fatgue... or perhaps that's just a direct/indirect result of CMG? Anyway, I went to see the new Harry Potter movie last night. As usual, I was a little disappointed. They never quite capture the same magic that the books possess. Oh well, at least the final book comes out next week. I haven't read a whole book all in one go for a while (probably since the last Harry Potter) so it will be a very interesting Saturday! | | |
| Cacophony mean a discordant or dissonant sound. That word describes more than one aspect of my life at present.
I got back from Campaspedowns Country Resort, near Kyneton, at about 2:30am this morning after a very long evening in a long overdue 3 hour marathon meeting and a case of "not enough petrol in the car so had to drive back to the campsite to change cars after already being on the road for about 10kms".
After a weekend in below zero temperatures at the CMG camp, I am completely braindead and can acutely feel the onset of another nasty cold for 2007. This little retreat was far more taxing than my stay in Fairhaven last weekend with some mates from CYSM. Our society seems to be under the impression that drinking soothes the soul, but after making a decent dent with the boys in an entire slab of asahi, it just seems to just making me sleepy. It's odd how being dow at the beach was a lot warmer than being up in the centre of Victoria.
In the middle of the campsite was what used to be a small lake. About half of it had dried up and you could see the beginnings of the central island's clay base. The freezing temperatures (-0.5 degrees last night) brought no rain, only a bone-chilling reminder of what could be felt inside the mind. When I walked onto the cracked lake bed, it was a little surreal. It was as if the water welled up around me and disappeared all in a split second. Maybe I was getting delirious from the cold or from something far more human.
Being at the camp was very nostalgic and brought back a lot of the memories from last year's production, namely the stress. This time last year, I lived in a constant daze, drifting back and forth between watching the world cup and working on the production. Very soon I'll be drifting between work and the production. Nothing changes yet everything has changed.
Discord reigns the world. There are those who thrive in conflict... but at their core, do they ever long for peace? Those who are forever the shit-stirrers, do they ever long for silence? Every look, every touch, every sound. They all cut throng of red tape that
is my life. Is the light returning? Perhaps it is just like a meteorite, exploding in one great big ball of fire before being snuffed out by the embrace of the earth. There is something to be learnt in every day, during every embrace, from every person and on every journey. Which way will I go?
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