So whats new...

Well there's at least one or two things, so lets start with the one that I can remember easiest (I planned on writing this 2 days ago but kept forgetting or being too busy.)

Cars VS Motorbikes:
So I'm 18 now, and I still don't have any form of license for motorized transportation. This limits me to an extent on what social gatherings I can partake in, although most of the ones I would be going to via car/bike would involve at least a little bit of alcohol, stopping me from driving afterward anyway. So I feel I should really get a move on and just get one.

But that begs the question, do I want a Car or a Motorbike license?
Right now, I want a motorbike license. To me, Motorbikes are simply so much better than cars for many reasons.
1. Far lower fuel costs
2. Bikes are generally cheaper as well
3. They aren't giant 10 ton death machines (don't know about the 10 ton bit, but anyway.)
4. Bikes are far more aesthetically pleasing to me.
There are of course a few plus-sides to having a Car instead:
1. Cars are good for moving people/gear/shopping around. A lot of people seem very reluctant to get on the back of a motorbike as opposed to getting in the passenger seat of a car.
2. Cars are safer. (From what I hear from my friend who has driven a moped and a car, he's nearly been run off the road many times from crazy car drivers paying no attention to him while hes on the moped.)
3. You don't need to wear a suit and helmet to drive a car. (I don't see the problem with this though...)

The way I see it, cars are big, bulky, and generally a sink-hole as far as your income goes. Admittedly, I've only done 3 lessons of car driving, but I did get the car into 3rd gear and drive it around my neighborhood a bit (at night-time) but I just feel that I'm never ever going to get the hang of it. I'd much rather move onto the motorbike now which I'm far more enthused about learning but my parents are absolutely adamant that either I learn to drive a car first, or I buy a motorbike myself. Maybe I should save for a bike, but in the meantime I've decided to try and do a car lesson every day or two from now on til I can get the hang of it, if I'm still no good in about a month, I'm putting my case for a motorbike forwards again, as not having transportation is really starting to get silly.

The next topic is: My work situation.
So I've been working at McDonald's up until now, doing all the service stuff except taking Drive-thru orders as it absolutely scares the shit out of me (I honestly had another go yesterday and just could not cope), and it has been alright but I'd like to move up to something that pays better with more convenient hours if possible.

Well, looks like maybe I've found my golden opportunity. When I had drinks in the city with a good mate of mine at the bar I mentioned 1 or 2 posts ago, the subject of my work came up with the bartenders. When I told them where I work, they told me that they were looking for someone to fill the "bar-back" role, which basically involves a lot of the grunt work, cleaning stuff, re-stocking supplies etc. I figured Its actually a great opportunity being so close to my college in the city, and the hours they'd potentially want me to work would all be afternoon-evening shifts (and once my course is done my weekday mornings free up too,) and working in a bar is actually something that I remember thinking to myself that I'd love to try it someday. So even if I'm not actually serving drinks or the rest of it, I still have the chance to work my way up to that point by simply doing low-rung jobs first.

It's not a certainty I'll get hired of course, it still has to go through the bar owner (who is a pretty cool guy), however I may have scored points by today checking up with him on the status of the job, seeing if the position was still open. He asked me to put my number down on a slip of paper again (I'd already handed my resume in on Monday,) so I think that may be a positive sign that perhaps he is pleased at my keen attitude. We'll have to wait and see, updates will be posted.

The third topic of tonight (I should wrap this up soon, I need to get some sleep): Girls.

Or more specifically, one girl. She's one of my co-workers at McDonald's, and she has definitely caught my eye. In a nutshell, that's because:
1. She has very similar musical tastes (barely anyone I know likes Drum'n'Bass/Electro)
2. She appears to like video games, although I could be off on that one.
3. She seems to be a nice person.
4. She's cute :3 .
So I'd definitely like to get to know her better. It's not everyday I meet girls like her. The only downside (so far) is that she's only 17 and won't be 18 for another year, so that rules out 18+ music gigs, bars, clubs, and other such events that I could ask her to accompany me to. Shouldn't be a big deal though.

However I feel insecure about this for 2 reasons:
1. I'm rather girl shy :S . I've never been on a date before, much less had a relationship with someone. I feel that this is partly due to my fear of rejection, possibly spawning from all the embarrassment I received at the hands of girls during my early years of high-school. It's probably also my own fault for simply being so hesitant all the time about asking girls out or simply trying to talk to them. I'd like to move past all that as soon as possible so I can stop feeling the way I do when my mind passes over these pathetic thoughts.
2. I don't have a car or motorbike, another point on why I should be working towards car or bike license is so that I can actually take girls places and whatnot. I feel as though even if I were to date her, she'd decide to stop the moment she finds out I don't have any form of license. I don't know if this is the case or not but it really feels that way when I think about it right now.

I've talked to a couple of people about it though. The bartender today reckons I should just go for it and see what happens (which is probably the best attitude to have in this situation). I was also told by other people that "Not having a license shouldn't stop you asking her out." And finally, I was told that I should "just ask her man." My final source of advice suggested I ask her if she'd like to see a movie with me, which seems like a decent idea.

I think I just have to stop thinking about it so much and just do it when I get the chance (also a suggestion from my advisers.) If she turns me down it should be no big deal really, but at the same time I sort of do feel that its a big deal as it's hard for me to meet girls that I find interesting right off the bat, and who have similar interests to myself.

Oh well, all I can do is try, or I'll be asking myself forever "what if?"

I think that is all for now, I'll be posting updates as I go along with each of these topics, as well as more that I remember to blog about as I go.

Geek turned alcoholic?

So I've found this great bar in the city recently, placed in a very convenient location for me to get to since it's between the train station home and the college building I go to each day. It has a nice chill atmosphere, a (seemingly) good selection of different alcohols, and a nice upstairs area. The bar staff are really cool too, always nice and friendly to their customers.

I've been there 3 times now since last Wednesday, once every 2 days since I discovered it, and I have at least become acquainted with 6 of the bar staff there, including the owner of the bar who I had a brief chat to today as he asked me how my Martini was. They're all pretty cool people and I certainly feel comfortable going in there and having a drink and hope to continue doing so into the future...

...although my dad raised a concerned eyebrow at me today regarding just that. "You've been drinking a lot lately," were his words after I told him I had a Martini today. Sure I've been there 3 times in 6 days but I've had 1 drink each time and that's it. He tells me that I shouldn't drink from Monday to Thursday, only doing it on the weekend, but I don't see what the problem is. It's as though he doesn't trust me to be responsible with my alcohol but I believe I'm totally responsible, as each time I've had a drink there I've had at least 2 glasses of water to go with it to avert any drunken effects (I'm a lightweight drinker so I believe its necessary).

I am keeping an eye on my drinking habits though as I don't want to become a person that cannot live without a drink. I'm planning on going this Friday with a mate from college so that's the 4th day after my previous visit (today).

I should be fine, and probably more drink savvy after a while :D

NYE Resolutions - Update1

The main resolution I've been working on is my resolution to eat healthier. Why today, I took an apple with me to college, ate special K in the morning (which is supposed to be good for you), and resisted the urge to buy a supa-shake, instead having a "5+2" which is one of those supposedly super healthy fruit+vegetable drinks, which to my surprise tasted quite good. cap that with chicken and pasta for dinner and that's not bad for one day. I've been doing the apple thing every college day I've gone so far and I'll continue to do it as it'll probably make me feel good eating it.

I also tried to go down to my local fitness center and check out the Karate club that operates there but to my dismay they weren't there for the usual sessions, so they're probably out on holiday break until February when school goes back in session for the junior karate classes to operate. And I'd been putting that off for so long, only to end up getting no-where, oh well. I did learn that they do mens soccer and basketball team games every Wednesday night so I might check that out.

My sleeping pattern is probably the thing I'm having the most trouble getting organised at the moment. As I type this it is 1:30 am where I am and I need to be up at 8:30 for college, and that can't be healthy to do many times in a row. I dunno if I just need to pull myself together and realise when to turn the computer off or what, because who knows how bad not getting enough sleep could be for me overall over a period of time.

As far as breaking into the 3D industry goes, I've basically finished my first bit of volunteer work and hopefully that sees some coverage, I need to push ahead with my current assessment though and get the stuff that needs to be done, done, so that my group can move forward in the production line from the setup phase to the actual animation phase, else we're gonna fall REALLY behind.

I've been thinking about the whole instrument thing too, and for some reason brass instruments seem to keep coming to mind. I do like jazz music which is the thing I associate trumpets and saxophones with the most, so maybe it wouldn't be necessarily bad if I learnt a saxophone perhaps, but I'd need to seek tutoring or some self-tutor books on the instrument (as well as obtaining the money for such an instrument). I don't think I'll ever get around to fixing my guitar, I just don't feel too interested anymore, partly because it seems like everyone's getting their guitar groove on these days. It's the generic band instrument, I'd like to do something less generic.

That's all the important stuff regarding my resolutions for now, proper blog post inc

2010, year of the shapeshifter?

Twenty-Ten, Two thousand and ten, whichever you prefer, its a new year, a new decade even (with the big question supposedly on everyone's mind being "what do we name the new decade?" How about we don't name it because it's not important?). Anyway as is normal with new years, I've got a bunch of new years resolutions that I'd like to seriously complete by the end of the year (most of them at least).

These are:
- Get into the habit of regular excersize
- Develop healthy eating habits
- Get laid
- Break into the 3D industry, either holding down a stable job or doing lots of little freelance jobs
- Get back into playing an instrument (a new or old one)
- Move out of home
- Maintain a "normal" sleep pattern
- Obtain my car and/or motorbike license(s)

The way I've seen it in the past, most people make new years resolutions, try to stick to them for a few days, then forget about them and go back to old habits. However I am serious about all of those. Getting regular excersize, eating healthy, and sleeping properly will make me a healthier person, and I would love to feel healthier. Breaking into the 3D industry has basically been my goal since early high school so I've been working towards this for a little while, with the biggest part of that being my current 3D course I'm in which will be ending soon. Once I have a steady income I can look at moving out of home and getting myself a car or motorbike of my own, which may motivate me more to get my license. Playing an instrument is just something I want to do and getting laid... well that speaks for itself really.

The net result of all of this should ultimately be a positive. The most likely positive that I can see from all this will be that I am ultimately taking control of my life. I'll be buying my own things, making an active contribution to society, taking care of my own living environment, and I'll have the power to call the shots when it comes to my affairs. Right now I have a level of dependency upon my parents when it comes to my living situation and my friends for transport to and from events I can't get to with public transport. It makes being social that much harder than it already is for someone who is prone to being shy when out and about.

So perhaps the net gain of my net gain will be that I end up being in a position to be more social, inevitably becoming more sociable? I would like it if that happened. I would essentially be saying goodbye to my old self, embracing a new age in my life. Out with the introversion, in with the extroversion? I do fear that I might lose a bit of myself if I end up going out partying a lot or find myself too enveloped in my work life. Part of me is comfortable with just staying somewhat shy and It wouldn't bother me to stay like that forever, but maybe its time for some change.

We'll see how I go, I'm going to use this blog to help me keep track of my resolutions so I can seriously keep track of them.