iTunes meme:

Total length of songs: 14.1 days

Sort by song title
First song: ABC – Jackson 5
Last song: 1901 – Phoenix

Sort by time
Shortest song (OMG CHAR HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE THIS): Intro (to Hotel Paper) – Michelle Branch
Longest song: Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini – Rafael Orozco, Zoltan Kocsis

Sort by album
First song: Welcome to England – Tori Amos (oops)
Last song: Non Dairy Creamer – Third Eye Blind (<3)
(If untitled albums are not counted, then last song is Reprise – Patty Griffin (also <3))

Top 10 most played songs
1. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time – Mariah Carey (yay)
2. We Belong Together – Mariah Carey (also yay)
3. I Do Not Hook Up – Kelly Clarkson (I listened to it on repeat so much when it first came out)
4. Bye Bye – Mariah Carey (yes yes, I listen to a lot of Meem)
5. Viva La Vida – Coldplay (suck it, haters (and by haters I mean Char))
6. I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time (remix) – Mariah Carey (BECAUSE THIS SONG IS AWESOME AND DESERVES TWO PLACES)
7. Touch My Body – Mariah Carey (I would say this is the last one but this would be a lie)
8. Breathe – Michelle Branch (yay)
9. I'm That Chick – Mariah Carey (there we go, all done now)
10. Come So Far (Got So Far to Go) – Hairspray (key change!)

First 10 songs that come up on shuffle (I'm cheating and using iTunes DJ, or whatever it used to be called)
1. Tango: Maureen – Rent soundtrack
2. When We Are Together – Texas (I'm afraid I don't know what song this is)
3. Where Did I Go Right? – Hilary Duff (gulp)
4. Marry Me – No Doubt (I don't listen to Return of Saturn enough)
5. Fever [live in Manchester] – Kylie Minogue
6. The Reason – Celine Dion (gulp x 2)
7. Nowadays/Not Honey Rag – Chicago soundtrack (yay)
8. Stay Home – Self (I love this song from Shrek)
9. Nobody's off the Hook – Rufus Wainwright (Not my favourite Rufus, but at least he gets to be represented)
10. Hanginaround – Counting Crows

Search and see how many times it comes up...
Sex: 50
Love: 401
You: 750
Death: 53
Hate: 22
Wish: 15
(I. See def. C. Bingcang 5-1)

Laaaaaaaa.

How does one know how high the bar is in terms of people you're allowed to go for? Where are the boundaries between settling for a loser, comfortable acceptance, and pining after the impossible? One of my friends (who isn't a complete fug case or anything) said to me that the guys I tend to be interested in are guys he would think of as out of his league. Ugh. WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO BE SO HARD.

I am in a funk. BLAAAAAAH. Have been for about a week, I think. Not really sure why. Maybe it is work. Not that it has been terrible. I just feel a bit useless at the moment because not as many manuscripts have come in. And I feel like I have been weird with people again. Like today I had a semi-awkward conversation with my boss. C'est la vie, I guess.

In other news. Um. I don't know.

Wasting some tiiime. I am in a weird good mood so let's see... work was decent today; I wrote a few reports on books and felt like I had a conclusive opinion on them all, which was nice.

It is my brother-in-law's birthday and I should call to see how he is because my sister and niece are in Singapore... but I don't feel like an awkward conversation. :-S Maybe after this meme.

Instructions:
1. Put your music on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
City Folk Morning

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Vision of Love (MTV Unplugged) — why yes, some would say I am a vision. *hairflip* I am going to write something up there while I listen to this song.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Genie in a Bottle — oh dear. Someone into abstinence. Until I rub him the right way.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Ordinary Miracles — I'm afraid not. Ain't no Jesus.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
To Sir, with Love — well, it depends on how you define 'sir', eh?

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Drifting — thanks, guys. How kind.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
One Big Love — yay I will also listen to this song all the way through. But yes. IAN WANTS A BOYFRIEND. MAKE IT HAPPEN. By the way, this is a happy song, is it not? OR AM I MISINTERPRETING THE DEEP AND SAD BITS.

WHAT IS 2+2?
What IS 2+2? As One Big Love fades out, the tension mounts! 'Faithfully Remain'. Well, 'remain' is sort of maths-related, is it not. So far, so good.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
If I Never See Your Face Again — well, that's a bit sad, best friend, apparently we've gone much further than we thought we'd get tonight...

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Wordplay — well, I am attracted to words, yes. And actually, the guy I kind of like is playing around with words, i.e. 'maybe we can go out tomorrow' = OR NOT. HMF.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Breakeven — oh this song is kind of bland, is it not? And ridiculously popular. BUT TRUE. WHEN A HEART BREAKS IT DON'T BREAK EVEN.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Bach Partita #1 in B Minor – Corrente. Ummmm...

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Satellite (burning up, burning up, satellite)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
The Confrontation — Vikki's answer was better.

WHAT WILL/DiD YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
White Houses — yes. In celebration of the breaking of my hymen.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
End It on This — LOL THEY REALLY SHOULD.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I Am an Illusion. And therefore don't have hobbies and interests.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
What a Feeling — LAME ANSWER, ITUNES.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Heaven Knows — LOL. At least I think they have a key change. :D

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Mon prince est un chemin — from the French version of Les Miz. Uh, yes. If my prince were a path made of concrete and not a human being, that might suck.

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Reflection — omg I am never sleeping next to a mirror again.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
All I Need Is You — uh, okay.

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Queen of Hollywood (live in Geneva) — no, this song is sad. GET IT RIGHT. HER FRIENDS THEY TALK ON CORNERS, THEY COULD NEVER COMPREHEND.

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Dans la vie - okay these French Les Miz songs are screwing up this meme. That musical makes me cry, though; it is true. Maybe not this song.

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
L'ange blessé — I do not really know what this song, by Zazie, is about. COME ON MEME.

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
You Can Do Better than Me — FINALLY SOMETHING APPROPRIATE.

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Hard on You — I guess not. But I guess it depends on how you define 'hard'.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Boys (the Co-Ed remix) — I'm sure I could extract some meaning out of this but I'm too lazy now.

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today — OKAY I AM.

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Mysterious Ways — well, I guess we ended on a strong note.

Okay, I know Natalie Gauci (who has gone nowhere after winning season 5) got slammed for doing the Disney version of this song when she sang it on Australian Idol, but omg THIS VERSION IS SO FUN. I wasn't super-convinced by the Glee preview but after all the buzz (including Chris's glowing review), I am downloading the pilot.

FAB KEY CHANGE.

Anyway. So! Here is what has been happening in my life lately.

Today was my last day at my data entry job. One of my colleagues was going to organise an afternoon tea at his house (he lives down the road) to bid me farewell but it didn't pan out because apparently no one could make it. Which is just as well, because it would have been awkward, and I would also have had to waste three hours to make it (most people finish at 4, but I finish at 1 on Fridays to preserve my sanity).

So, instead, we had a lovely cake at morning break, with just the usual chit-chat, and I got to go get a fab haircut in the afternoon (see here) as well as buy tickets to Avenue Q, which I am seeing Wednesday week. So all in all, a fab day so far.

My new job is as a part-time publishing assistant at Scribe Publications, a small, independent, very reputable publisher here in Melbourne. I'm pretty psyched, because it's a tough industry to get into and to get something (even though I will be poor: I think I earn $18K p.a. for three days a week, which is $10K less than I'm making now) on more or less my first attempt is really amazing.

I'd actually applied for an editorial internship, and I got to the final three interviewees but they gave that to someone else and offered me this position instead. Which I'm fine with, really! My role will include reading and assessing fiction manuscripts, administrative stuff (including banking, apparently) and some proofreading. And Scribe is 25 minutes' walk from my new place, so that's handy.

Which is a nice segue into talking about my new house. I moved out in February with Elin, a girl I know from my writing and editing course, and Simon, who also did my course and knows Elin from Canberra. It's been mostly good - we get along fine, though at times the dishes situation irks me a little. (It's not really worth going into. The area is lovely, with lots of nice restaurants and bars, and it's also closer to the city. Unfortunately, it means I won't be able to provide accommodation for visitors as easily, because there aren't really spare rooms here.

In terms of boys, there isn't really anything interesting to write here, except that I hate Sydney and New Zealand. :-P Anyway, I'm too busy most of the time to really think about it, which is a good thing.

But yes. A lot is changing, and while I don't think I'm changing as much as I'd like to (in terms of my personality), I guess I'm mostly happier. Which is fab.

The end.

So I went to an orientationy thing today and found out that no, I don't have class this week, just orientation stuff. Which means I have to reorganise my work schedule this week (well, technically I don't have to, but I might as well make the most of orientation) AGAIN. I did meet a few other people today, which was nice, I guess. Mostly females. But everyone is all 'oh I have five different ideas' or 'I have a novel half-finished' and I have nothing. But oh well. I'm still sorta excited about stuff. But mainly apprehensive.

And this post was really just an excuse to say my Rufus review was up. The whinging is always pleasant, though.

Thank you all for your advice. No-one really thought I should do my course part-time - I suspect the only person who would have thusly advised me was the course coordinator and she didn't reply my e-mail or phone call. Maybe she's out of town. Oh well.

So this is my tentative schedule:

Tues 5-9 pm Corporate writing - a friend who's done it said it's really interesting and useful, so that was a relief. I was worried it would be a bit dull but at least there has been one positive review.

Wed 5-6 pm Industry lecture - or something to that extent.

Thurs 9 am-1 pm Computer skills - this is a little annoying because it means I can't work on Thursdays, but the suitable classes were full. So this is it. I know it sounds basic, but I think there's HTML and stuff I haven't done before, and I guess at least I would finally learn some of that.

Thurs 5-9 pm Journalism - I was trying to decide between this and novel, but the thought of actually having to work on a novel was overly daunting. So journalism it is.

Fri 1-5 pm Editing - this is what I'm most excited about. If I end up hating it, I will be back at square one in career decision-making.

I've told work that I will work 8-4 Monday to Wednesday and 8-12 Friday for the month of February. So I may be dead by the end of it.

In other news, I love Rufus Wainwright. I want to do a decent review, not just all inane gushing and stuff, so hopefully I'll get that done sometime on Pop Life. But yes, I did hang around outside the stage door after the concert to meet him. And I did. And I didn't really know what to say! I'd rehearsed the charmingly scatter-brained 'I don't have a pen but I'd love if you could sign my album cover' thing but I really should have thought beyond that. There were people (including someone I realised upon reflection worked at Charmaine's with me) who had backstage passes and then went off to drinks with the man himself afterwards. Most jealous. But still, he put his arm around me and I have a photo, which you have all no doubt seen. I think I didn't really know what to do with my arm and it may have hovered around (and possibly brushed against) his ass, which was a little embarrassing, but oh well.

In other other news, the breakdown of my body has now moved from dental to optical. I need (new) glasses, ugh. At work, the screen is getting really blurry and I had to change the resolution yesterday to the same one that the middle-aged ladies use. Most disappointing.

In other other other news, please watch The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It is a lovely movie. I sorta teared up at three points yesterday but never really cried, and walked out feeling like I should have because there was so much pent-up emotion in me afterwards.

And now Cashmere Mafia has finished downloading, which is perfect timing.

Advice appreciated.

Background: The course I'm doing is normally a two-year program. The first year gets you a certificate and the second year a diploma. At the moment, I'm enrolled as a part-time student (partly because I thought I would have a job, and partly because the part-time application gave me more time to put stuff together). Last week, I was told that the first-year editing subject wasn't available to part-time students, so I was resigned to doing it next year, and basically doing the certificate over two years, like a normal part-time student. This means I basically have two four-hour classes a week over the next two years, so I thought I would renew my efforts at finding full-time work, starting next semester.

However, today I got an e-mail which said that the editing subject is now open to part-time students, and technically I could do a full-time load this year and try and finish the certificate in one year. (I really should ask and double-check, and get some advice, but I don't particularly want to do this over the phone, ugh. But maybe I will.) But now that I've had a semi-plan set up, I don't know that I do want to. In all the study I've done so far, I've tried to do everything as quickly as possible and all the acceleration hasn't really gotten me anywhere. So maybe this time I should just leave things as they are and do it over two years. Or is that just silly?

As an aside, I was reading this interview with Jenna Fischer talking about acting vs directing/writing, and I kinda identify with what she said about not being wired to create something from nothing. People keep asking me why I want to do editing instead of actual writing and I just think it's a better role for me in the process. I'm not totally ruling out the writing, but I feel so crippled when I have to turn in a piece and always feel relieved when I don't have to think about it any more. Anyway.

I've been to the Australian Open three times in the past week, and it's been lots of fun. I don't have any photos to show for it, but I did get a number of autographs, which was cool. Not Justine's, but that's ok, I guess. I'm glad I get to watch her quarterfinal against Sharapova tomorrow, because it's been scheduled for the evening, but honestly I don't have thaaaat much confidence in her chances. Maria's been in dominating form, and Zhoo's been patchy... but she does take it up a notch at the latter stages of a slam, so fingers crossed.

Went to the dentist on Wednesday to fix up a filling and look at the X-ray of my teeth. Bad news: I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out. Now, I just got private health insurance, but I'm only allowed to claim major dental after a waiting period of twelve months. I'm up to four. So do I take the risk and wait another eight months, or get it done now? Sigh. More bad news: I may have to get braces. I have a baby tooth that doesn't have deep roots, so it may fall out in the near future. Its replacement is hiding somewhere, and my dentist suggested that I get it uncovered while I get the wisdom teeth done, and then get braces to get it in the right position. Alternatives - leave it, and if it falls out, get a cap or something in there. But the dentist recommended the braces. So gah. Money, money, money.

My mother. I have no fucking idea how to write about her. The latest chapter is today, she wrote me this e-mail asking me for help in composing a reply to a church member. Basically, he was criticising various things about my dad's church in Singapore. Sorry, but a) what the fuck do I know and b) what the fuck do I care? And last week she wanted help in correcting my dad's sermon. Umm, no. She just aaaahhhhh writes me all these e-mails all the time that I never reply, because all she wants to talk about is how wonderful God is and how she always feels SO SMALL (and not in the delightful Caz way) or like how she needs God to change her so much and stuff, and I really don't care for it. Honestly, I just wish she would stop trying to passive-aggressively get me back into church and God and stuff - she's just pushing me further and further away from it all as well as further from herself. I know I sound so harsh, and I do kinda feel bad, and okay fine maybe she needs an outlet and stuff, but I hate that the outlet is me. I know she has a bad relationship with my brother and my other sister, and she doesn't want to bother my older sister because now she's married and has a kid and stuff but omg HOW DO I TELL HER TO STOP? Maybe I can't, maybe I just have to let her do it, but it just makes me so mad. Anyway, I don't think that really gets what I want to say across but whatevs. Gah.

Well, I've started a music blog which I may or may not keep up (my Adventures Of Ian blog never took off, unfortunately. But at least I got one more article in this time).