Friday, July 30, 2010

...Saturday Brain Dump?

So I've had a bit of a busy week.

Tried my hand at relief teaching for the first time on Tuesday, and oh boy, was that an experience in itself. I really feel for substitute teachers. Imagine being woken by a 6am phonecall, jumping in the shower and throwing on some clothes, trying to find your way to a school you've never taught in before, with no idea what year group you're going to teach, let alone what subjects you're expected to be teaching that day. You walk in empty handed and the plans of the day are thrust upon you with ten minutes left before the school day begins. That's a little taste of substitute life.

Substitute teaching isn't so bad if you're placed with a reasonably well behaved class, but get stuck with a volatile class and it wreaks havoc on your confidence. Students who don't respect you or follow your instructions can leave your lesson in tatters. I'd like to think I'm a reasonably friendly and fair teacher, but often students don't recognise these qualities until you've forged a working relationship with them, and that is near impossible to establish in the space of one day. I don't mind doing relief work for now, but I would much rather teach one class in one school, even if that meant taking a full time position.

Other than that, exciting news! We will be taking care of a baby kangaroo for the next month while its owner is on holiday. You can probably bet on little Rhubarb making a cameo in my comics sometime in the future. Marsupials are ripe for comedy, right?

Friday, July 23, 2010

In which Matt is introduced to the cast of characters!

AWW YEAHHH MUTHAFUCKAS TIME FOR A BRAIN DUMP

This week has actually been pretty excellent music-wise! I found out the Bees are releasing a new album soon, I'm seeing BRMC in less than two weeks and the Gorillaz are coming to Perth in early December! I only really got into the Gorillaz after Plastic Beach was released this year. Before that, I knew most of the songs from Demon Days, but that album was released while I was still in high school and I didn't have the money to buy any albums, let alone singles. Instead I'd get my DARE fix listening to the radio, like most teenagers.

But ANYWAY, shortly before Plastic Beach was released I became increasingly excited, because the sheer concept of a fictional band playing in a real world, with a fictional storyline influenced by this real world is a total mind-fuck. Bet most of you didn't know the Gorillaz even had a storyline huh? Well, they didn't with the first album, but with Demon Days each music video was like a film-based puzzle piece, contributing to the overall plot. They even published a book of sorts about it called Rise Of The Ogre. Check it out some time.

I ramble. I know. That's the inner fangirl in me desperate to escape through blog-entry form.

Well what else is going on with me? During my fortnightly job-seeking activities to please Centerlink I found THE PERFECT JOB. It's a part time position, in an independent school, no more than half an hour's drive away, with a late third term/early fourth term start, everything I want. I'm now working on a resume to submit by early next week. If I got this job, it would solve so many problems for me right now - particularly in terms of finances (and moreso if I intend to purchase premium tickets for this Gorillaz concert).

As much as I enjoy waking up at midday and eating cereal for lunch, being unemployed is getting kinda boring. I'm sure I'll renounce this statement once I am formally employed again, but it would be nice to start saving for my world trip so I have enough saved not to have to skimp it. And by the way, starting next week I might reduce the amount of comics per week to 2-3, simply because I feel I have a reasonably sound collection so far. Some nights I find myself spending upwards of 2 hours on a single comic, and that ain't right.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Friday, July 16, 2010

If my cat was any more of a bitch, she'd be a dog.

It's time for a Friday Brain Dump!

The topic this week: LDRs (aka Long Distance Relationships)

Having been in one for almost four years now, I can tell you DON'T EVER GET INVOLVED IN ONE. EVER. FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR SANITY PLEASE GOD JUST DON'T EVER DO IT EVER.
Most people (ie. friends/family) who know about my situation don't ask me too much about it. This is probably because if people who don't know about it ask me what it's like, I can't give them a simple answer. But that's okay, because I don't expect them to understand unless they've been in a long distance relationship before.

Even with the rising popularity of internet dating and matchmaking services, most people are still surprised and to some extent, bemused by the idea that my boyfriend lives and works in another continent in another hemisphere. I also know that when someone wishes me luck in that respect, in the back of their head they are thinking: "Well, that relationship is doomed." You'd think if I was able to handle one year - two years - three years in a LDR, the four horsemen of the apocalyptic break-up would have arrived by now. It's strange to think that had we been living together these past four years, nobody would question it.

The internet is still a mystifying concept to many people. It's okay to make friends on the internet, but somehow it's not okay to talk about them like they are "real" people. I believe the validity of these relationships - be they romantic or platonic - will not come about until society assimilates the internet as an "everyday service", like a telephone or a TV. Until then, people in long distance relationships like me will have to grin and bear the amused questions of intrigued strangers. Mind you, I didn't meet my boyfriend via a dating site. The relationships forged in those contexts will struggle the hardest for social acceptance.

I remember about a year ago, I was on a train with my boyfriend and a group of teenage girls asked how long we had been together. When I replied with three years, they were genuinely taken aback. One of the girls commented that she had never lasted more than a month in a relationship. It is this "disposable" approach to relationships that I believe is the biggest contributor to present attitudes towards LDRs. People sincerely believe they can't maintain a relationship longer than the alcohol-fueled social gathering during which it was conceived.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Friday, July 9, 2010

It's a gay joke.

No brain dump today, going away for the weekend.

You're lucky you even got a comic.

Because I care* about my fans.

(*but obviously not enough to spend half an hour typing up a proper blog entry)

Friday, July 2, 2010

Friday Brain Dump

I try not to be too critical of bowel-movement restricting trends in clothing. When I was around 11-12 years old, I went through a phase where all I wore was a purple swimsuit instead of regular underwear. 

*cough*

So instead of a politically motivated rant this week, I thought I would compile a list of things I would like to do within the next ten years. I probably should have done this sometime a little more appropriate (ie. New Year's) but goddammit it's my comic blog and I can do what I like with it!

1. Embark on an extensive world trip, incorporating (at the very least) the whole of Europe, Canada and the USA, northern Africa, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan and either India, Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand.


2. Pay off my student debt (preferably after I have finished paying off my world trip).


3. Move out of home and rent/share a house (surely this can't be too hard to accomplish in ten years?!).


4. Buy a new car with AC and a dashboard I can actually see over.


5. Become fluent in German (and Swiss German if possible).


6. Obtain a CELTA certificate and teach English/volunteer overseas for six months, somewhere isolated like Nepal or Eastern Europe where they need the most help.


7. Get a second degree in Arts History.


8. Start collecting antique furniture from the Art Deco/Nouveau period.


9. Live overseas for six months to a year (may be combined with #6).


10. Participate in a feminist rally and scream the fuck out of some gender inequality.


11. Take up voice lessons again.


12. Learn to cook and stock a cupboard full of every spice known to man.


13. Finally purchase a pair of Marc Jacobs mouse shoes in white/black patent leather.


14. Throw a huge party with some kind of theme (eg. pool party, fancy dress party, cocktail party).


15. Maintain a wildly successful, hilarious comic blog and become internet famous (hehe).


16. Read a stack of books.


17. Make a bunch of new friends on the internet and in real life.


18. Spend some time teaching in rural Australia.


19. Start an extracurricular Arts program for primary school students.


20. Laugh at the people who ask me why I'm not getting married and settling down.