CLASS HISTORIAN

The title of this post is really quite irrelevant to the actual post - it's actually just the title of a song I'm listening to right now by BRONCHO. I haven't posted anything on here for a while as it's been a pretty hectic few months/weeks of uni BUT NOW I'M ON HOLIDAYS AND LIFE IS SUDDENLY BETTER (but it has always been pretty sweet in the first place anyway). This is really a 'dip your toes in the water and warm up to everything again' kind of post because 1) theres nothing in particular that I have to say and 2) its 1:04 am and I don't think it would be safe to attempt to write on some profound topic about life and stuff that my brain isn't very capable of articulating at this time 3) I haven't written anything in about 2 months! 

Well to make this post semi worthy of your precious reading time (to the 1.5 persons that read this including myself), I thought i'd mention that I'm officially halfway through my degree YESSSSSS. Three semesters/ one and a half more years to go. NOW I CAN SAY THAT IM CLOSER TO FINISHING THAN STARTING AND THAT IS A VERY NOT BAD THING. Its great. I've slowly been finding and discovering more of what I love and it's been really fun. The Lord's favour has been pretty crazy and I am so grateful. A few months ago, I started working for this business that a cool couple from my church used to own and it specialises in event styling and visual merchandising. Its a really cool job (even though I only work occasionally as a casual) and more relevant to what i'd actually like to head towards in the future of my career. I love hands-on kind of stuff that gets you thinking creatively, not so much intellectually because that hurts my brain and makes me bored as heck. The job has taken me around Brisbane so far, setting up weddings, receptions, installs and events. It's so coooooollll. I've been loving it. Maccas goes aight as well, but definitely just to make ends meet as a student at the moment. I have a goal to be outta there by the end of the year (the only solid goal i have really set for myself at the moment). The people I work with are all pretty cool though - so many different individuals from all over Brisbane. SO THATS THAT.....its a good life.

Will The Jesus Followers Please Stand Up

I'm not really one to post a super heavy thought, nor am I one to be able to communicate something efficiently over text, but this matter of concern has been something that i've been pretty shaken up about (and much, much more) over the past week. This issue is that Christians (or 'christians') are baaaaasically applauding souls down to Hell. Thats not a good thing. Yes, love is a fundamental part of our journey, but sometimes, the line between love and compromise is thin and sometimes not even considered. 

We are now living in a society where basically everything but following Jesus is normal. Everything is being accepted and sin is no longer a rag, but a designer jacket. Things like homosexuality and abortion are becoming deemed as acceptable, even encouraged and a lot of people are just taking it. Christians are no different. Encouraging someone that being homosexual is 'who they are'? Like I said, sin is a designer jacket. It may be on us but it's never who we are. I'm wearing a t-shirt that has the name of my university but that doesn't make me one of the bricks in the library building, or a pillar that supports the balcony. In Matthew 18:6, it says that 'If anyone causes these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and to be drowned at the bottom of the sea'. YOU'RE LITERALLY KILLING THEM WITH YOUR 'KINDNESS'. I believe this also applies to those who are deceived as well. If you were assigned to direct a blind person where to walk, you would not tell them to keep walking straight if you knew that they were heading toward the edge of a cliff, just because it's easiest to keep clapping them on and say "yep,you're doing well. Just keep walking". No way. How much more valuable is an eternal soul than an earthly, short-lived life? If Christians understood that the purpose of our lives is not to pursue happiness but holiness, yes we would be hated even more but maybe we'd be seeing a few more souls in heaven and not hell??? 

One thing that I feel to make clear though is that correction is not condemnation, nor is it judgement or hate. If anything, it surpasses any form of 'love' and 'acceptance' because if you truly love someone, you would want to steer them from something that will kill them. I have a few homosexual friends that I love so much, but I don't endorse the sin and i'd take any given opportunity to share Jesus with them. I think it's doable. To love with wisdom and without compromise.

This is just something that I hope a genuine, righteous-pursuing Jesus follower would be able to relate to. I really believe we are entering in to a time (if not, already at a time) where God is truly separating the falsies from His people. I don't mean to say that in any way, shape or form of superiority but look, the time of pretending and cruising in the easy lane is over. 

I LIKE: Japanese Wallpaper

I am a fan of local/national/homegrown talent and Triple J is really good with keeping Australia and the world on top of the goods that are being produced in this country. Melbourne-based 'Japanese Wallpaper' is probably one of my current/potentially all-time faves that I've loved since they won the Triple J' Unearthed High contest thingo last year. The mastermind, music virtuoso behind the beats is this 17-year-old dude who seriously tears it up and kinda makes me feel a little bit inadequate with what I've done with my life so far, but also slightly hopeful at the fact that you're never too young to produce incredible sounds. 

SO HIS SOUND - I'd say ambient, dreamy, chilled, nostalgic electronica. Think 80's gradients, winter skies and neon signage. It makes me think of moments that you will remember for a long time. He's got a reoccurring motif of beautiful, crisp, delicate melodies going on throughout most of his pieces which pretty much defines his aesthetic. I really like it. It's sweet, uncomplicated yet so cleverly constructed. It's the kind of style thats so underrated and drowned out by all the generic, mediocre, predictable EDM around. 

My personal favourites of his is 'Between Friends' and 'Forces' and he also does a really sweet remix of 'Piñata' by another homegrown talent known as Montgomery. Do yourself a favour and add him to your winter soundtrack. Or your life soundtrack. You're so welcome.

And I'm Back In The Game (almost)

HEY HELLO HI WASSUP. The blog lives on! I've been pretty slack with posting lately (like really slack - like 2 months of straight up nothing) but all is well in the world because I'm going back to Uni next week and hopefully there will be things to write about from that! Being on uni holidays for 4+ months really gets you used to having no set routine and as bad as it sounds, it gets pretty comfortable. Unfulfilling, but definitely comfortable. I've loved being on holidays but I'm quite ready to get back into the swing of things. Theres only so much drink-making, burger-serving I can take. Working in a high-stress environment with lots of people really challenges you and brings out stuff that you were never aware of - both good and bad. In all honesty, this break has seriously been just what I needed. It has really given me a chance to take a step back, inhale and exhale a few times and check out where I am at the moment. I've learnt a lot about who I am (good and bad, again), what my main purpose is and who Jesus is to me. It's been good. I'm ready to face the world again and take on whatever tries to body slam me. I don't even know if I'm ready but I'm willing to be a little light.

GOODWILL BRIDGE + FOOTLONG SUBS

I love how songs can take you back to specific memories or moments of your life, so much that you feel like you're reliving that time. I'm currently listening to a bunch of songs that I'd have on repeat during my very first sememester of uni, particularly on Thursdays because I used to have a 4-6pm class and I was always hungry afterwards. I'd take a shuttle to the city campus after the class, order my footlong turkey sub on flatbread with baby spinach and walk across the Goodwill bridge to the train station. The weather would always be perfect; never too hot but still bright enough to watch the sun go down and the sky change to all sorts of oranges and purples and pinks. The best part about it is that no one else really feels what I'm feeling because that was my own experience, my own playlist and Thursday arvo. It was a nice little routine, a sweet pause from the craziness that is just the beginning of my life and for a moment I could stop thinking. 

HEY YOU

HEY YOU. YES, YOU. WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THAT SOMEONE REALLY. REALLY, TRULY LOVES YOU SO MUCH. THE REAL YOU. BROKEN, BAREFACED, TIRED, ANGRY, LOST, CONFUSED, BEAUTIFUL YOU. I'M NOT EVEN JOKING. YOU ARE SO RIDICULOUSLY ADORED BY SOMEONE WHO IS SPINNING THIS WORLD AND CREATING STARS AS YOU READ THIS. YOU ARE MADE OUT OF THE RAREST AND MOST DANGEROUS ELEMENTS THIS UNIVERSE HAS TO OFFER AND THAT'S PRETTY RAD. YOU HAVE BEEN SO METICULOUSLY CRAFTED BY HANDS THAT BLED SO YOU COULD LIVE AND EXPERIENCE THIS BEAUTIFUL THING THAT IS LIFE. THOSE HANDS ARE CARRYING YOU THROUGH YOUR DARKEST AND ARE LIFTED HIGH WHEN YOU'RE OVER THE MOON. AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU BUT I LOVE YOU TOO. I THINK YOU'RE PROBABLY A REALLY FANTASTIC HUMAN BEING WITH GOOD TASTE IN MUSIC AND A WONDERFUL FACE. IF I KNEW WHO YOU WERE WE COULD BE FRIENDS. BUT NONETHELESS, DON'T FORGET HOW MUCH YOU ARE LOVED, EVEN WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL IT. BECAUSE YOU ARE. SO MUCH. 

Lola Diaries For Your entertainment

One of the best, worst things to ever do to yourself is to keep diaries throughout your entire high school life. I have never felt so embarrassed for someone, ever, and that happens to be to myself (not sure if that made sense, carry on). Over my schooling years, I have made lists of what I learnt for each year of high school and I thought you might enjoy a small portion of what I have discovered from the years of puberty yuck, braces and packed lunches. Years 8-11 was all written in year 11, but they're a pretty accurate summary of what went down from '09-'12. I hope you are entertained at the expense of my dignity. Anything in italics is just some cynical, current commendation of what I have to say about my profound knowledge (not really).

THINGS I HAVE LEARNT THROUGHOUT HIGHSCHOOL 

by Lola Irwanto

YEAR 8: Year of the twelvie fag.

• You will eventually discover boyz and see them as something more than stinky, 2 legged sweat bombs) - so like, three legged stink bombs?
• Drama and fights with friends are inevitable and they're bound to occur.
• It doesn't hurt to speak up.
• Some people that you used to know will change a lot.
• There will always be someone prettier/sportier/smarter/funnier than you. Don't worry about it - when being 'sporty' was the primary trait that every hardcore 14 year old boy wanted in a girl

YEAR 9: 13 going on flirty (a.k.a - ankle tapping in the corridors and passing notes)

• There will always be that friend who will try to change who you are. Don't fall for it.
• There will also be the friend who will drag you into their problems. Again, don't fall for it.
• Never ever base a friendship/relationship through texting or Facebook. It will only go down hill. - yeee struthh
• Flirting is yuck.
• Leading people on is not nice. You may think that they will never like you but you'd be surprised - save dem x's for your gal pals 
• Try to act normal around guys who like you if they think you don't know - i didn't really have to do this that often tbh lol
• flirting is not a solution or answer - apparently i wrote this all in caps
• Never pull allnighters 

YEAR 10: ye getting there.

• Majorly involving God in your life really turns your life around.
• You never really mature - aint that the truth
• People will come and go
• If a guy you like offers you a drink (A SOFT DRINK), accept it. Don't just get up and get it yourself. HE WAS JUST TRYING TO BE NICE.
• Jealousy is not pretty. Its actually yuck.
• Make Jesus the centre of everything
• Never get carried away with getting attention from guys because it wrecks everything
• You should really make sure that you're doing something for the right reason before actually doing it.
• Don't let your friends try to set you up with someone you don't know - TY A.G
• Keep your diary in a safe place.

YEAR 11: Learning to be comfortably weird

• Don't get your hopes up too high - thats a bit depressing 
• Don't be afraid to take chances and laugh at your mistakes
• Some people will just sugar coast some things so stay clear.
• If you ever have a problem with someone, talk to them about it! Don't talk about it behind their back.
• Being just friends with guys is the best way to go.
• Who cares what people think about you?
• Take every opportunity you get
• Its not all about you
• Never underestimate the power of a steep hill
• Say what is true. Don't tell people what they want to hear, tell them what they need to hear. However, say it with love
• Learn to accept constructive criticism even though it may hurt.
• Never leave things to the last minute! - YEAH STILL HAVEN'T LEARNT FROM THIS HA HA

YEAR 12: Actually not too terrible

• Its ok to be a little or a lot cray.
• It is possible to eventually stop liking that person you had a crush on since year 7 - omg
• Sometimes people will confuse and irritate you when their actions contradict their words; don't worry because it's their life, not your problem.
• Do what you love best and you will succeed at it
• Learn to disregard the pettiness that is high school
• Polaroid cameras are an expensive investment.
• Most problems can be solved by skating
• You will eventually learn to drive a manual without stalling.
• You will figure out who your true friends are and they will be your friends for life
• Marriage is a beautiful thing
• Have fun in the subjects you hate and regret nothing - b/c y0L0
• Someday soon you will figure out what you love best.

20 THINGS LEARNT FROM FIRST YEAR

So my 2nd semester and first year of uni is coming to a close (one more assignment dammit) and 4 months of holidays awaits! I have learnt a tonne of things from this year, some things that I thought I'd never come to realise but yeah I did. SO here is a list of 20 things that I have discovered about myself/learnt from my first year if uni.

1. It's ok to change your subway order

2. Make sure you don't forget your student ID card - it's like a magic pass

3. Yes there are a lot of attractive people, no they will not notice you. Move along. 

4. Take advantage of the amenities and resources - that's what you're paying for anyway

5. Assignment crams are achievable, but not highly recommended

6. My time management sucks - do better next year

7. Lectures are boring

8. Coco Chanel was a slurry and Marie Antoinette was annoying

9. People are really funny and random and interesting and lovely

10. Public transport is rough as

11.  If you recognise someone in your class or have something/know someone in common, just ask or talk to them. They could be really lovely and you'll never know unless you meet them

12. I friggin dislike stairs

13. I have gotten really good at pretending to be occupied with my phone when people try to give me flyers as I walk into uni. It feels like they want my autograph when they're really just trying to suck me into a gym membership or free chips at burger urge

14. BURGER URGE SUCKS

15. Packed lunches are the best

16. The library is a sanctuary of serenity and comfy chairs

17. I never even used a single hard copy book as a reference for any of my assignments

18. You can buy extra internet for pretty cheap

19. Fashion is not as materialistic and superficial as it seems 

20. Goodbye forever, richlands guy who got on my train at around 8:03am train on Mondays. I will miss your defined jawline and fashion sense 

This Massive World

I catch a train almost every day of the week to uni and everytime I do, I always see different faces. However, there is this one instance where I have seen the same guy every Monday for a few weeks now. He hops on the train a few stops after me and he has a nice face and also goes to my uni as well. That's all. Yeah it's tragic, I know. 

I have often caught myself taking a step back to ponder on the vastness of life, but I have never actually taken into account of how crazy huge this universe really is. How ridiculous is it to realise that you might never see the most of the faces you have crossed paths with, ever again? The thousands that pass by you everyday is just an infinitesimal fraction of what the rest of the world has to offer, yet that itself is overwhelming to comprehend. As many as there are, each stranger has a soul, a story, a first love, a bad habit and a dream. Every individual you have ever sighted has been hurt, one way or another. If their scars could speak, they would probably tell you stories. Despite the enormity of souls you see everyday, there are still people that you may have noticed, double-looked or even communicated with. Have you ever wondered if people notice you, just as much as you may notice other strangers you come across? You could be someone's 'Tuesday guy' or 'busway girl' or 'uni dude', just as much as that stranger is that 'Monday Richlands guy' to you (or me hahahahahahha...haha..ha). You may see them again, you may not. I think that's one of the tiny perks of life - not knowing who you're going to meet next. It's kind of liberating in a way, as it gives you another reason to let yourself be free without caring what people think about you (unless they end up being your workmate or tutor or something unfortunate - which has not happened to me thank goodness). It's a wild time.

I LIKE: Vancouver Sleep Clinic

I really do believe that some of the world's most ridiculously talented human beings originate from Brisbane, and I don't usually compliment cities that often. Especially Brisbane. In a previous post, I established that I'm not a super-pro-music reviewer-type-person and I will remain true to that claim. However, I know that when I really, really like something, I will try my hardest to put the fanciest words I know together to give it the slightest bit of justice it deserves. 

I've had this pretty song called 'Vapour' on my phone by an artist who goes by the title of Vancouver Sleep Clinic, for quite a while now (I found him on Triple J - where I find all the good stuff) but I only got around to listening to his EP tonight after a Spotify haul, followed by purchasing the album on iTunes (that's when you know that you reeeeally like it). It is honestly one of the most beautiful things I ever did hear. Reminiscent, reflective,  and strikingly atmospheric (my new favourite word which I have used about 50000 times in my sound design assignment) - the kind of vibes that take you to a whole new place. I love how beautifully he ties acoustics together with the dreamiest synth pads, melodies and killer falsetto (look, I'm trying here). The builds are unpredictable but so perfectly arranged that you feel like you're soaring or driving on an open road at sunset. I've gotta be honest and say that I have been going through an evocative-themed, electronic music phase at the moment (eg. Porter Robinson, Japanese Wallpaper, VSC, M83) which may have been slightly influenced by all the sound design, electronic music stuff that I'm learning at uni. I don't think it's a bad thing though. If anything, it has only inspired me more. I totally wish I could produce music that beautiful haha. If you like your life and love this sort of goodness, you really should look up Vancouver Sleep Clinic, like, right now. I've run out words and smart-music-lingo from my extremely limited vocab so do yourself and everyone you love a favour, and look up VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINICCCCC. Oi, i'll even post the SoundCloud link below if you're too lazy to type the words in on Google. But honestly, no one should ever be that lazy.

>> VANCOUVER SLEEP CLINC SOUNDCLOUD <<