Daily Prompt – Next In Line

A second #RoyalBaby will soon be joining the Windsors in England. Given the choice, would you rather be heir to the throne, or the (probably) off-the-hook sibling?

I can’t say I really care too much about the whole Royal Baby excitement. Yeah, Kate’s pregnant and well, good for her, but I just don’t get people’s obsession over it. But the. Again, they’re also obsessed with Kim Kardashian and she’s famous for nothing.

If I we’re given a choice I don’t actually know what I would choose.

I’d like to be heir to the throne, because it would be a great opportunity to implement change into a country and not be swayed by secret dealings and handshakes and back-room agreements that Are solely for specific political gains. I’d use my powers to do positive things for the country, like pass laws for marriage equality, and invest money into renewable energy sources, and healthcare – the things that are important to people (and myself).

However, that’s not to say being the sibling wouldn’t have it’s perks either. I could be the ‘Harry’ and have a great time travelling to world and just doing my own thing. I could get involved in charities and do all types of community service… or I could stay within the confines of the Castle, and eat and sleep and play video games. Or I could go work or study overseas… knowing that money really isn’t an issue, I could go and do, literally anything that I truly wanted to do.

And that wouldn’t be such a bad thing either. It would take all the pressure off having to run a country, I guess.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/next-in-line/

4 Aug – Chunks of Memory

Which memory devices work best for you when trying to memorize chunks of information?

Well it’s been a long time since I’ve needed to remember chunks of info, and it doesn’t help having a memory like a sieve.

Daily Prompt – Worldly Encounters

The friendly, English-speaking extraterrestrial you run into outside your house is asking you to recommend the one book, movie, or song that explains what humans are all about. What do you pick?

Hang on, are these those annoying extraterrestrials that are still on tv doing the Budget Direct commercials?

For those of you who aren’t from Australia, please don’t judge us for commercials like this. Somebody, somewhere was paid a fortune for coming up with this unbelievably ridiculous marketing campaign. Nobody really gets it, nor do people actually enjoy them.

So, I just imagine that I would be talking to these two fools… having to then explain humans to them. In saying that, you’d kind of think that being extraterrestrials who had already infiltrated the human race, one would assume that they would have already done their own research; their own study into the human race, their behaviours and interactions… maybe they would want an explanation as to why we behave they way we do… trying to explain why we instigate wars, why we preach hate, why we use God and religion as a excuse to justify it all, why we have so much corruption, and segregation between classes and societies.

However, I think that in order to get to all of that, you would need to go all the way back to where it all began. I’d recommend something like ‘On The Origin of Species’ which was written by Charles Darwin back in 1859 in which he famously published his theory of evolution and his theory of natural selection. Although in saying that, one would have to assume that these ‘beings’; these ‘advanced life forms’ should already know all of this, however, there would also be the possibility that although they may be a species hundred, thousands or even millions of years older than the human race, they may not actually know anything about us, who we are, how we came to be.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/worldly-encounters/

Mar 28 – My First Diary

How old were you when you started your first diary?

I’m not entirely sure how old I was, but I know that I was in high school – perhaps year 8 or 9… so maybe 14 or so. I remember that it was a week-per-opening diary, which was used as a homework diary initially – but then it also became more of a memento diary. I’d use it to store notes my friends had written during class; I’d paste in ticket stubs from the movies or theatre; and because I was also completely obsessed with the spice girls, it was completely full of Spice Girls stickers, cards and pictures from magazines etc. I’d mark in the school holidays, and when I had big tests coming up, and I’d use the hourly breakdown to plan study time and breaks… although I didn’t really stick to them, because I was too busy doing other stuff.

It was several years ago when I did a big clean out that I actually came across one of these diaries… and I recall becoming completely sidetracked by it. Instead of just throwing it out and continuing on with my epic spring cleaning, I found myself spending a couple of hours flicking through each page of this diary – re-reading all my entries and the notes, and reminiscing on days gone by.

Daily Prompt: If You Leave

Life is a series of beginnings and endings. We leave one job to start another; we quit cities, countries, or continents for a fresh start; we leave lovers and begin new relationships. What was the last thing you contemplated leaving? What were the pros and cons? Have you made up your mind? What will you choose?

Sometimes I wish I could just quit life, have an endless supply of money, and run away to some kind of deserted island, with a wifi signal so I can just sleep, swim, sunbake and write… even just for a couple of months or so.

…however, that’s merely a pipe dream (unless somebody wants to give me half a million dollars to make it a reality… meh, no harm in asking!).

The last thing that I contemplated leaving was my job. I’ve been there for a while now, and I’m stuck in a role that really doesn’t have room to grow. I do happen to enjoy what I do, but I’m sometimes unsure if it’s because I actually do a good job, or if it’s merely because most of the people around me are so completely hopeless, they just make me look so good by comparison.

The only problem though, is that if I left my current job, I have absolutely no idea what I would want to pursue next. I have no qualifications or formal study to fall back on – I didn’t go to uni, I didn’t even finish my TAFE courses because I let it all fall by the wayside to pursue a career in dancing… which, in turn, fell on it’s arse and left me with a spinal injury.

I’ve actually take a few steps to investigate studying towards the end of this year, and my understanding is that my employers have given it a green light, as they would be paying for the course. I just don’t actually know how I’d manage to balance intense study, plus working full time, plus my my second job, plus maintain a relationship, AND find time to write my blog posts… hehehe, because let’s face it, that’s what’s really important!!

At least by studying, it’ll allow me to gain the first step towards gaining some kind of certification, which could then lead to a diploma, and in turn, would allow my career opportunities to broaden, and I would then be able to take on a similar role within other organisations… however, that would all hinge on whether I actually manage to pass the course. I don’t exactly have the best ability to focus and concentrate, and I’m quite easily distracted.

Then, there’s always the question of whether the course would be so intense I’d need to take regular time off work – that would require reducing my hours, perhaps even by a day or two, which would considerably reduce my salary… and then that raises the question of whether I’m prepared to make that sacrifice, and whether Hulk is prepared to support that decision.

All of that is something that I would have to consider if and when the time comes to make those kind of decisions.

In an ideal world, I’d love to quit my current job and go work for another company, except Hulk and I would pretty much sack most of the employees there, and hire competent, and logical people to run the place with us, and hopefully, completely transform it. Oh, and relocate its office to Melbourne.

Again, it’s only a pipe dream, but there’s nothing wrong with dreaming, right?

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/03/12/daily-prompt-if-you-leave/

Daily Prompt: Money for Nothing

If you’re like most of us, you need to earn money by working for a living. Describe your ultimate job. If you’re in your dream job, tell us all about it — what is it that you love? What fulfills you? If you’re not in your dream job, describe for us what your ultimate job would be.

Well, this dream job has changed so many times over the years.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Pilot. Then for the next 20 or so years I just wanted to be a dancer. As I got older I thought about working in I.T. but that was soon short lived. I thought about becoming a massage therapist. At the moment I have full-time job, but it doesn’t fulfil me. I am however in the process of looking at potential study of a course which I can do through work, which will give me an internationally recognised certification. That could then take me further study, and potentially a much more interesting kind of role.

Truth be told, I never went to university (college). When I finished high-school I went to TAFE to study I.T. but it became a really boring course as there was no actual challenge to any of the tasks we had to complete. But the worst part was that we weren’t allowed to get ahead of the rest of the class. Granted, I could have quite easily finished the entire course content in about two weeks, but the coordinators said no, as it would be unfair to the others in the class. Instead, I decided to take on a Cert III course as well in I.T. and that was slightly more interesting in concept. However, I became involved in a musical theatre production and missed, all-up, about three months of classes. At the end of the year, I still managed to hand in all my assignments etc all at once, and they refused to accept it for marking – so although I did complete all assessable tasks, and handed them in. They refused to accept and acknowledge it. Bastards. I normally would have fought it to be upheld, but I didn’t because I didn’t know any better so essentially I flunked out of the course. Which is even worse.

But that was so many years ago, and it’s now 2014, and well, let’s face it, I’m 31 and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I lack focus and direction. Part of me dreams about becoming a writer, and then being a special guest on shows like Kathy or Chelsea Lately. Or perhaps writing a novel or two. Or becoming a massage therapist. Part of me still wants to go back and study I.T. – but I think that’s only because I see it as unfinished business.

Ideally, I just want to be paid money for doing not very much.

But then I think, maybe it’s the location? Maybe I need to go live somewhere else? Maybe I need to be amongst the hustle and bustle of a place like L.A. or New York perhaps? But in order to do that, one requires a substantial amount of cash to get themselves set up over there, and you can only get cash from a job… and I have a job, it’s just not my ideal job, but hey, it’s paying my bills. So I guess that just gives me more time to dream…

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/02/15/prompt-money-for-nothing/

Daily Prompt: It’s Friday, I’m in Love

Remember your first crush? Think about that very first object of your affection. Oh, the sweaty palms. The swoony feeling in your stomach. Tell us the story of your first crush. What was it about this person that made your heart pound? Was the love requited? Change the names to protect the guilty or innocent if you must! No judgement here. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Oh, god which one do I write about? First girl crush, or first boy crush??

Daily Prompt: All It’s Cracked Up to Be

Tell us about a time when everything actually turned out exactly as you’d hoped.

Most of the time I live in my head. By saying that, I mean that I will always envisage something happening a certain way; a specific chain of events, but the reality is never anything like the way I see it or anticipate it actually happening.

Time after time after time I’d plan for something to go one way, and then when it would not turn out at all how I had anticipated, I would find myself feeling so upset. The more it happened, the more I stopped trying to make plans and predictions.

On the flip side, there are those rare occasions where I can plan for something to happen, and it actually ends up turning out even better than I had planned which is awesome.

…note, emphasis on the rare part.

Given previous experience, it’s actually hard for me to write about a situation that actually went to plan… experiencing so much disappointment during my life, I can’t recall many moments where things actually went my way for a change.

Perhaps this is part of the reason why I’ve become so jaded?

I think that one of the key moments in my life where, for once, things actually went my way was when I decided to move to Melbourne.

I had a waste year after finishing year 12. I was enrolled in an I.T. course, which I just couldn’t really be bothered with. It was nothing like what I had been told it would be, and it was more like Computers 101 for Monkeys… and even then, I think the monkeys would have made better progress compared to the other people in the course. I completed about 3 months worth of work in the first week, but I couldn’t advance myself like that because it was ‘unfair’ to the rest of the class.

So I spent that year bored out of my mind, and in the end, it just fell by the wayside because I decided to spend more of my time focusing on my dancing.

Towards the end of the that year, I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t stay in this hick town any longer. There was nothing here for me. I couldn’t see myself achieving anything if I stayed. I just couldn’t do it. I decided that if I wanted to do anything with my life, I needed to leave. I needed to move to a capital city and do something.

All I wanted to do was dance, and the only way I’d be able to pursue that sort of career was to move interstate and attend a full-time dance school… the only way you can attend a school like that is to audition, so I bit the bullet and forced myself to travel interstate to audition for a few different schools. This is something that I’ve already blogged about…

I ended up auditioning for 4 different dance schools and looked at 3 different universities, and one by one I kept getting rejected, and in true fashion, every rejection just cut away another small piece of my soul and it just made me feel more and more useless.

One day I got a letter from a school in Melbourne offering me a spot, and I actually thought it was a joke… I even called the school to double check with them if they were serious or not.

I was so shocked, I didn’t really know how to react. I was excited and terrified all at once. I broke the news to my mum and she was so happy for me. She knew how I’d been feeling and had always supported my dancing pursuits.

The last couple of months went by in a bit of a blur. I remember the day I left, I caught the train to Melbourne, and I’d spent the morning with my best friend. Actually, I’d pretty much spent every day with my best friend. We were inseparable. She was the one person (apart from mum) that I was going to miss the most.

The day I was leaving, she came over to my place for breakfast, then we went back to her place and she gave me a small present. I opened it and just cried. She just got me. She was my soul mate, and I was hers. We packed up my bags into her car and she drove me down to the train station… and then sure enough, some of my friends turned up at the station to say goodbye. They brought me a giant card and gift, and told me to open it on the train.

We said our good-byes and they were all crying.

…I cried all the way to Melbourne… which is a 6.5hr journey.

My cousin met me at the station and took me back to her place – I was going to be staying with them for a couple of months. It just didn’t seem real. It felt as though it was some kind of dream.

The very first day of school was so intimidating and terrifying and I quickly realised that I was so far down the ladder in terms of experience and technique, however, I quickly ascertained that I was able to hold my own amongst all these bitches.

I knew that this new venture was going to be tough. I knew it was going to be exhausting. I knew that at some point I was going to hate it… and I was right, but regardless of the fact, I still loved it. This was what I was meant to be doing the previous year, but I was simply too uncertain and shy. Within the first two months I was put into the more advanced course, and I was the one who was regularly becoming a class captain, or a rehearsal leader, or supervising the juniors… and I loved it!!

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/daily-prompt-perfect/

Daily Prompt: Moment of Clarity

Tell us about a time you’d been trying to solve a knotty problem — maybe it was an interpersonal problem, a life problem, a big ol’ problem — and you had a moment of clarity when the solution appeared to you, as though you were struck by lightning.

I remember when I was a teenager, I went through a puzzle phase. One in particular was a simple Rubiks Cube

And I remember for so many weeks I’d been at it for so long twisting and turning and getting so close to solving it, only to end up throwing it across the room in sheer frustration or smashing it on the floor in a rage.

It had been driving me crazy. I was obsessed with it. I had even started dreaming about it.

Anyway, this one day I was sitting at my desk studying or doing homework and I decided to take a break and there it was staring at me; taunting me. I sat there staring at it for what felt like ages, maybe ten or so minutes, and just out of curiosity I walked over to it, picked it up and studied each and every side, over and over.

I kept rolling it around in my hand trying to visualise each and every move in my mind and then suddenly started twisting it… it took a couple of attempts and a lot of back-tracking my moves, but about 20minutes later I stood there completely amazed with myself. I’d done it. I’d solved a Rubik’s Cube. I don’t know how, nor have I ever been able to do it again… I think it was a complete fluke; sheer luck that I managed to get it – and as I was home alone, there was nobody to share my achievement with. I kept it solved and sitting on the windowsill and couldn’t help but smile every time I saw it.

One day after having some friends over, I glanced across the room and saw the Cube.

Somebody had played with it. It was all mixed up again. I was devastated. I couldn’t handle the torment all over again, so I threw it out. And just like that, it was all over.

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/27/prompt-clarity/

Daily Prompt: The Guilt that Haunts Me

Share a time when you were overcome with guilt. What were the circumstances? How did you overcome your guilt?

It was when I was still living at home with mum. I had met this guy who, back then, I thought was so hot. He was also a former dancer, and I’d met him several years prior, but only when we competed against each other.

It was purely by chance that we happened to bump into each other and this time we were both a bit older… he was only 2 years older than me, but back then, although I was 18, the thought of even seeing another guy freaked the shit out of me, let alone seeing a guy that was older than me. It was outrageous.

It was also a complete secret.

Because I was juggling so many different things during this time: studying full time, dancing at two separate studios, plus rehearsals for a musical theatre production; I literally felt as though I was doing 18-20hr days… Then I met B.

He turned up to one of our dance rehearsals as he was friends with one of the other guys in the show, and I remember being half-way through one of my routines in the show and I looked up and he was suddenly sitting right in my direct line of sight, and he was staring right at me. He smiled and I completely forgot what I was doing.

I was a bit infatuated with this guy. I was so in awe of him when we used to compete because he was such an amazing dancer, but he was so god damn full of himself and so arrogant. He knew he was incredible, and everybody was beneath him. If I met him now, I’d be so disgusted, but back then, I hated him, and I was jealous of him.

After that rehearsal, I just left straight away. I couldn’t think properly, I was so exhausted, I just went home and crashed.

The next night, he turned up again, and I coudn’t focus. Why was he even there in the first place? During our rehearsal break, G comes over to me and he’s like ‘Oh my god, so, that guy over there can’t stop talking about you. He wanted to come back tonight just to see you and talk to you. Girl, he’s so into you, and it’s fucking awesome. Go talk to him!’

I was too terrified. I said no and avoided eye contact for the rest of the night.

I had put my hand up to come in on the weekend to help construct and paint sets, and I was working away with a couple of other guys from the crew and B walked past the studio and saw me through the glass and came and said hi. It was one of the most uncomfortable conversations I’d had. I’d never had a boyfriend, let alone kissed anybody, hell, I hadn’t even come out to people – well, except for a couple of my closest friends in the show.

A couple of days later I found myself back at his place after rehearsals making out on his couch. Not long after that I regularly found myself sneaking out of his place in the middle of the night, cycling home through the thick fog, and sneaking into my house.

This went on for a couple of months. Nobody knew. It was such a big secret. I was constantly lying to mum about staying over at friends places during the week – she didn’t know who they were or have their numbers, so I know she couldn’t check up on me and call them. But I was more terrified of either

a) being caught sneaking in;

b) being confronted about it;

c) being ‘outed’ and / or

d) all the above

 However, it got to a point where he was starting to pressure me into actually having sex with him. Just the thought of it terrified me. I knew it was going to hurt, and I’d heard so many horror stories about it – things like tearing and bleeding and incredible pain, and I’m thinking ahhh, no. There will be none of that.

Then it headed south, really quickly. I got too freaked out and just stopped replying to his messages. I stopped visiting him. He started calling and texting me all day long wanting to know what I was doing and when I’d be coming over again. He’d then start waiting for me after rehearsals… at that point I started getting lifts home with friends, just so I wouldn’t have to see him.

He then started following me. Waiting for me outside the library when I was there studying before dance class around the corner and then rehearsals straight afterwards.

Then one particular day he followed me home. And despite trying to keep a distance from him, it didn’t stop him from shouting out to me. Finally, I’d had enough and snapped.

I did a complete 180 and stormed up to him and grabbed him by the collar of his t-shirt and told him to leave me the fuck alone or I’d put him on the ground in a mound of pain. I told him I couldn’t see him anymore and that he was being too intense and obsessive and his stalker behaviour was the icing on the cake and I couldn’t handle that.

He, in turn had a big emotional outburst right there on the footpath.

Sorry B, I’m done.

He told me he loved me. I told him I didn’t want to see him again and that he needed to stop contacting me.

I walked off, locked myself in my room and bawled my eyes out. What the hell was going on… did I just go through my first break-up?? I was an emotional wreck and worst of all, I had absolutely nobody that I could talk to about it.

it was horrible.

 

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/12/24/prompt-guilty/