Turning Over A New Tree

Whilst I was in Australia, the clarity of mind with which it provided me meant that I was finally able to decide on the last paper I am going to sit at university this year -- Anthropology 219, Contemporary Perspectives on Music and Culture. It sounds like it's right up my alley and I'm surprised that I didn't think of it before. Whatever alternative I took to this, it would have been either a sociology or philosophy paper. The former choice turned out to clash with one of my politics classes in which I was already enrolled, whilst Alison intelligently pointed out that it would be better for me to do anthropology than philosophy, as it would provide me with some variation (philosophy is similar to politics in many ways, and is obviously largely opinion-based). The other papers that I am taking this semester are: Politics 232, New Zealand Parties and Elections; Politics 241, Foreign Policy Analysis; and FTVMS 204, Media Analysis. It is official that I am now a politics major, with there being not enough media studies papers that appeal to me to enable me to double-major.

I realised on Wednesday that I am wasting the opportunities I have to live a happy, prosperous and fulfilling life. My pessimism and cynicism are getting the better of me. As such, as of Wednesday night, I resolved to embark on a change in lifestyle that will hopefully result in a change of perspective as well. I'm starting at the bottom, making sure to do things such as drinking plenty of water (eight glasses a day) and eating proper meals to ensure mental clarity -- as without mental clarity, it will be impossible to achieve my final goal. I have been for substantial walks every day since finding my resolve. I've also started looking after my skin properly so that I can feel better about myself, zealously maintaining the tidiness of my room so as to maintain a sense of organisation, and applying that disgusting-tasting coating to my nails and fingertips to deter myself from eating them (although I have found myself able to refrain for three days on my newfound willpower alone).

Of course, a perspective-changing effort is nothing without some positive thought to kick it off -- so I have total confidence in this effort, having even had a great dream about it on Wednesday night, after tossing and turning in bed thinking about my plan all that evening. When I catch myself perceiving something negatively, I try to produce counter-thoughts of the positive variety. Everything I worry about really is very petty now that I think about it. This is the biggest effort I have ever made to change my perspective. I have even gone so far as to be mindful of what music I listen to, choosing to largely avoid more sombre material and listen to some upbeat stuff (Phil Collins-led Genesis, anyone?). I'm looking forward to seeing where my plan takes me. Perhaps I will even become a completely different person -- in that I will be much happier, and nicer to be around as well. Thanks Alison, Nicola, Eric and Cynthia for the contributions each of you made to my life on Wednesday -- your advice has not gone ignored.

On Thursday I went for bush walks on the Goldie Bush and Te Henga tracks between Muriwai and Bethells. I must have hit the area at the wrong time, because there appeared to be some sort of cicada festival going on -- I have never heard these insects sound so loud in New Zealand. It reached the point where it was making my ear drums itch, and individual animals were giving me goosebumps as their rhythm sections blasted at me as I ducked under the branches on which they were situated. Now, I certainly am one who is partial to the beauty of nature and all its various evolutionary features, but that doesn't mean that it can't repeatedly shock me by using the same trick over and over. Cicadas frequently took off from either side of the path, sounding like B-52s, and swooped slowly, intimidatingly, in front of me. Squishy green replicas of their former selves, cicadas that had just shed their skins, perched all over my shirt and cap. I did not want to touch them for fear of hurting them. Kauri trunks were heavily populated with the fat bugs. On one section of the Te Henga track, the path was so steep that I found myself having to run down it -- this, of course, enraged dozens of cicadas who sounded off frighteningly and repeatedly crashed into me, causing my head to become comically retracted down between my shoulders.


Friday saw me take a two-and-a-half hour walk around my neighbourhood and beyond. I had not done this since I stopped walking to a distant school bus stop after I left high school. The fact that none of my friends live in West Auckland and that I took ownership of my car last year have contributed as well. Needless to say, the walk was one of a very nostalgic nature, past many places of undying significance to me -- my former closest friends' houses; my first crush's house; the various places from which I used to catch buses; the sections of road where I once frequently crossed over to the other side for fear of having to actually talk to the people who were on the side I was on previously, out on their morning walk (I was a very shy child). I walked in front of the garden centre where my parents bought most of the plants for our garden when we moved to West Harbour (although it is now a derelict yard), and along the perimeter of the air force base where I used to watch the planes. A school bus I used to catch even passed me by -- and it had the same driver, by the perpetually awesome name of Bob.

As if things were not exciting enough for Pink Floyd fans already, with guitarist David Gilmour's solo album On An Island set for a release on 6 March and to be accompanied by a European tour, a very special event is to be announced as part of bassist Roger Waters's equivalent tour. The specific date and location is not due to be announced until a press conference that will take place in a couple of days, and that will be viewable via webcast at this address, but it has emerged that Roger Waters will be performing The Dark Side of the Moon, live and in its entirety, with Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, somewhere in France this year. This is, of course, an event of huge significance, with Roger himself having not performed the complete masterpiece in many years, let alone in the company of Nick. Although I am disappointed that I won't be able to attend, I can appreciate the affinity that must exist between the members of Pink Floyd to hold them together like this and encourage them to keep bringing enjoyment to so many people. Of course, there's still the possibility that Roger will set out on a world tour next year that will see him visit Australia -- and you can bet that I will be there for that.