![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
darren_strangerFor a change, a 'meme' that does appeal:
Ten Years Ago, I:
1. Was in planning mode for our wedding, reeling at the expense and secretly miserable at being forced to face the fact that i had almost no friends to invite.
2. Didn't go out much - most of the bands i used to follow had broken up (replaced by grunge and indie stuff that i was well and truly over) and any goth or alternative clubs we went to always seemed to be awash with awful techno or britpop.
3. Used to drop in to the Punters Club on Friday after work to have a few beers and watch the Simpsons. Sometimes that was the highlight of my week.
4. Decided i was stagnating and determined to do better things with my non-work time, including joining a local Amnesty group and (briefly) an Oxfam campaigning group.
5. Took up taekwondo again, 12 years after putting it on hold for a year to do HSC and never getting back to it (waiting to finish year 12, waiting to finish uni, waiting to find a job, waiting until i got fit again..) and remembered how much i enjoyed it.
Five Years Ago, I:
1. Had given up on the Amnesty youth group i had been organising for a couple of years, suffering burnout, stress and realising i really didn't know what i was doing.
2. Was out enjoying clubbing again, at last hearing music that i liked being played again in goth clubs. Subculture was my favourite - lots of different music styles (most of which i liked) all mixed up together so you never had to hear a solid hour of something you hated.
3. Was discovering new kinds of music that i liked, including gothic/doom/black metal and electronic music that actually had a strong gothic flavour to it (instead of just daleks rapping over techno).
4. Was relishing the novelty of actually having friends again, some of whom were even people i hadn't met via the internet.
5. Was in planning mode for our trip to the UK (a wonderful trip, but one that resulted in strained relations with one of our oldest friends, which have never been the same).
1. Had given up on the Amnesty youth group i had been organising for a couple of years, suffering burnout, stress and realising i really didn't know what i was doing.
2. Was out enjoying clubbing again, at last hearing music that i liked being played again in goth clubs. Subculture was my favourite - lots of different music styles (most of which i liked) all mixed up together so you never had to hear a solid hour of something you hated.
3. Was discovering new kinds of music that i liked, including gothic/doom/black metal and electronic music that actually had a strong gothic flavour to it (instead of just daleks rapping over techno).
4. Was relishing the novelty of actually having friends again, some of whom were even people i hadn't met via the internet.
5. Was in planning mode for our trip to the UK (a wonderful trip, but one that resulted in strained relations with one of our oldest friends, which have never been the same).
Three Years Ago, I:
1. Had ended my second honeymoon period with goth clubs, and was sick to death of taking pot luck on whether i'd like the music or not if i went out. DJs seemed to be polarising again into 'goth' or 'industrial' DJs, and it seemed to be the latter too often for me.
2. Started going to a club called Heresy, which had separate floors for electro/industrial and goth/alternative music, which was something i'd advocated for a long time. i decided that i was no longer interested in any clubs that involved 'industrial' music in any form and the last of my tolerance went out the door.
3. Started doing a little photocopy zine called 'This Elegant Chaos', trying to capture the spirit of various punk and indie zines i'd read and apply it to a goth context, playing up things like poetry, local/live bands and DIY, as a reaction to the upmarket, nightclubbing and shopping oriented themes that seemed to dominate the goth scene.
4. Declined on a suggestion from jarod to work on a new goth music magazine in the style of Dark Angel, thinking i'd rather concentrate on my little project (and that i was too busy and too much of a control freak to collaborate on something bigger).
5. Was full of optimism and hope for the future, with the anti-globalisation movement on the rise, the MAI treaty sunk by grass-roots activism and a new lease of political awareness throughout the world. Little did i know the shit that was about to hit the fan when the first anniversary of the S11 protests rolled around.
1. Had ended my second honeymoon period with goth clubs, and was sick to death of taking pot luck on whether i'd like the music or not if i went out. DJs seemed to be polarising again into 'goth' or 'industrial' DJs, and it seemed to be the latter too often for me.
2. Started going to a club called Heresy, which had separate floors for electro/industrial and goth/alternative music, which was something i'd advocated for a long time. i decided that i was no longer interested in any clubs that involved 'industrial' music in any form and the last of my tolerance went out the door.
3. Started doing a little photocopy zine called 'This Elegant Chaos', trying to capture the spirit of various punk and indie zines i'd read and apply it to a goth context, playing up things like poetry, local/live bands and DIY, as a reaction to the upmarket, nightclubbing and shopping oriented themes that seemed to dominate the goth scene.
4. Declined on a suggestion from jarod to work on a new goth music magazine in the style of Dark Angel, thinking i'd rather concentrate on my little project (and that i was too busy and too much of a control freak to collaborate on something bigger).
5. Was full of optimism and hope for the future, with the anti-globalisation movement on the rise, the MAI treaty sunk by grass-roots activism and a new lease of political awareness throughout the world. Little did i know the shit that was about to hit the fan when the first anniversary of the S11 protests rolled around.
Two Years Ago, I:
1. Was DJing every other week at Heresy, something i'd always wanted to do, but it was always hit and miss as i didn't know what songs people knew and wanted to dance to, other than the really obvious stuff that i was trying to avoid.
2. Looked up articles on the internet about the 'deathrock' revival in the US and Europe, and found myself reading my own thoughts on goth echoed almost word for word from the other side of the planet. Also learned there was a name for the goth/punk/psychobilly hybrid scene i'd been daydreaming about.
3. Struggled to raise the enthusiasm to finish a third issue of the zine, feeling the weight of more serious issues and an unusual pessimism creeping in to counteract what was otherwise a pretty good time in my personal life.
4. Realised, in the wake of Sept 11, the Tampa and the beginnings of the War on Terror, that i no longer believed the human race was basically okay and getting better. This saddened me more than i could find words for.
5. Joined the Greens in disgust at Labor echoing Howard's divisive, mean-spirited, cynical rhetoric. Had some sense of optimism and purpose restored.
1. Was DJing every other week at Heresy, something i'd always wanted to do, but it was always hit and miss as i didn't know what songs people knew and wanted to dance to, other than the really obvious stuff that i was trying to avoid.
2. Looked up articles on the internet about the 'deathrock' revival in the US and Europe, and found myself reading my own thoughts on goth echoed almost word for word from the other side of the planet. Also learned there was a name for the goth/punk/psychobilly hybrid scene i'd been daydreaming about.
3. Struggled to raise the enthusiasm to finish a third issue of the zine, feeling the weight of more serious issues and an unusual pessimism creeping in to counteract what was otherwise a pretty good time in my personal life.
4. Realised, in the wake of Sept 11, the Tampa and the beginnings of the War on Terror, that i no longer believed the human race was basically okay and getting better. This saddened me more than i could find words for.
5. Joined the Greens in disgust at Labor echoing Howard's divisive, mean-spirited, cynical rhetoric. Had some sense of optimism and purpose restored.
One Year Ago, I:
1. Was fucking miserable. Since Heresy had folded, i hardly went out at all (especially to clubs, not having DJing as an excuse), i wasn't enjoying taekwondo (all i ever did was teach, while my own skills and fitness went down the toilet), was not coping at work and felt more and more disillusioned with the world and the human race.
2. Still had no idea what i wanted to do when i grow up.
3. Got an e-mail from someone i hadn't heard from in a while, found out what had been happening in her life, and ended up talking over a lot of my own issues and confirming something i'd suspected but not been sure about.
1. Was fucking miserable. Since Heresy had folded, i hardly went out at all (especially to clubs, not having DJing as an excuse), i wasn't enjoying taekwondo (all i ever did was teach, while my own skills and fitness went down the toilet), was not coping at work and felt more and more disillusioned with the world and the human race.
2. Still had no idea what i wanted to do when i grow up.
3. Got an e-mail from someone i hadn't heard from in a while, found out what had been happening in her life, and ended up talking over a lot of my own issues and confirming something i'd suspected but not been sure about.
4. Did an e-mail interview with the Chaos Engine and Sheep on Drugs for Beat. The SoD reply came back too late, but the Chaos Engine interview went to print and i got to pretend i was a real music journo. Beat never printed my review of the gig, though Goth Nation did (and caused a minor shitstorm by editing out Tankt).
5. Had no idea what sort of shit was about to hit the fan for certain chapters of my family.
5. Had no idea what sort of shit was about to hit the fan for certain chapters of my family.
Yesterday, I:
1. Thought about the fact that we've used up two thirds of our savings in less than half a year, and what this means for me leaving this job and taking up study next year.
2. Thought about how i always do the sensible thing and never take chances.
3. Considered 1 and 2 and decided "fuck it".
4. Felt a weight lift off my shoulders, and didn't hate every minute i spent here.
5. Spent 3 hours teaching taekwondo after work, which enjoyed immensely (as i have since i got back into training for myself as well).
1. Thought about the fact that we've used up two thirds of our savings in less than half a year, and what this means for me leaving this job and taking up study next year.
2. Thought about how i always do the sensible thing and never take chances.
3. Considered 1 and 2 and decided "fuck it".
4. Felt a weight lift off my shoulders, and didn't hate every minute i spent here.
5. Spent 3 hours teaching taekwondo after work, which enjoyed immensely (as i have since i got back into training for myself as well).
Today, I:
1. Had my alarm set a couple of minutes earlier so i had time to feed our orphan cats and give the tamer one a good scratch to keep him tame.
2. Started reading a China Mieville book (the second author i've sought out as a result of the poll i did last year).
3. Read LJ and saw a '10 years ago' thing on morgan303 and patchworkkid's journals.
4. Knew i couldn't resist.
5. Tried not to spend half the frigging day on it, since i still need this job for the time being.
1. Had my alarm set a couple of minutes earlier so i had time to feed our orphan cats and give the tamer one a good scratch to keep him tame.
2. Started reading a China Mieville book (the second author i've sought out as a result of the poll i did last year).
3. Read LJ and saw a '10 years ago' thing on morgan303 and patchworkkid's journals.
4. Knew i couldn't resist.
5. Tried not to spend half the frigging day on it, since i still need this job for the time being.
Tomorrow, I will:
1. Check Beat to see what bands are on this weekend.
2. Read inspiring things on my friends' LiveJournals.
3. Write some Amnesty letters (*kicks own arse*).
4. Do my job and not get stressed
5. Be one day closer to doing something better.
1. Check Beat to see what bands are on this weekend.
2. Read inspiring things on my friends' LiveJournals.
3. Write some Amnesty letters (*kicks own arse*).
4. Do my job and not get stressed
5. Be one day closer to doing something better.
Note - there were other questions to this, which i didn't answer as i had no time (and no answers for a few):
5 Games/sports I Like:
5 Things I'd Buy With $1000 (or slightly more.) in no particular order:
5 Bad Habits I Have:
5 TV Shows I Like:
5 Places I've Lived :
My Top 5 Biggest Worries at the Moment:
My Top 5 Biggest Joys at the Moment:
