Another Pair Of Eyes

Defeat

It’s a tough thing to admit defeat. To accept that there are things you cannot or will not manage, things which are too hard for you to do, things upon which you pinned hope and happiness crashing down before you in a cloud of dust and shattered scaffolding. It can be especially hard to admit this insufficiency to others, who you invariably feel you are letting down more than you are letting down yourself.

As such, I have a great deal of respect for people who try things, and even if they subsequently fail at them are not afraid to admit it, explain it, and move on. It is people like this who remind me that we always have to try, regardless of the fear of failure or of personal rebuke by others, because to not try at all will always be a let down.

Today I was humbled by the willingness of others to admit defeat, even on a public forum. Colour me impressed (more so than I was before!).

Lemons

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

It’s a great idea, in theory. Lemons go from being sour to being tasty and sweet lemonade. Everyone is happy. The problem is, when you look on the back of a bottle of lemonade, what does it say on the list of ingredients?

That’s right. Sugar. Second-most prolific ingredient in the drink.* When life gives you sugar, you make lemonade? Hmm. Sketchy.

Moral of the story is, when life gives you an exclusive on lemons, you’re screwed.

*Also, orange juice? what the hell?

A Thousand Miles

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this on this blog beforee- can’t really rememeber who knows and weho doesn’t anymore – but in September some friends of mine and I will be cycling from John O’Groats (or Thurso, by the looks of it, which is about the same northerness of John O’Groats, and has a train station). It’s a long way, and we’re expecting it to take about two and a half weeks (we won’t be pushing the boundaries of human endurance by a long way!)

Today I booked the train tickets and reserved the cycle spaces on said trains up to Thurso. It’s only slightly terrifying, but the commitment and hence motivation kick is good. It’s almost a thousand miles all told and boy is it going to be wild.

Must dash. Got to research panniers/racks/trailers, start writing a kit list, start budgeting for stuff on the kit list I don’t have, changee the wheel on my bike so I can get it serviced, find my bike tool, look for road tyres, inner tubes, worry about getting fit…

It’s funny how I always end up being the organiser. I pretty much single-handedly managed the loss of a housemate and her replacement, organising house keys, rent, joint bank accounts, etc etc. I can never work out whether I actually enjoy doing all this because I know that if I do it it’ll get done, and there’s a certain satisfaction in seeing things come together, or if I just get landed with it and deal because I have to. I’m much more organised with specific things than with my general life as well, for one reason or another. I guess anything is preferable to boredom!

Anyway, busy busy busy. Best be off!

Early

The early bird catches the worm, or so they say. I didn’t catch any worms this morning and my distinction as an avian is in question, but the early part certainly stands firm!

Unnescessary literal interpretations aside, today was a very early start indeed. I walked home from a house party having had very little sleep, leaving at about 3:45 and getting in at around 6:20. It was a fairly slow six miles, but it was just lovely – I started out in the dark and as I walked on long quiet roads, normally in the middle, and as I walked the sun rose (stunning, even when mostly hidden by trees – the colours!) and by the time I got home, let out the chickens, sat in the crisp morning sunshine I felt refreshed far beyond the hours sleep I’d had.

It was still dark when I left…

…although this road was long enough such that it was dark at the start and the sun was rising by the time I reached the end.

This was actually a streetlight-lit thing, but it looks a bitl ike the sun because I was using my little compact and it doesn’t get it all right.

Sunrise

Home and it was perfectly peaceful.

All in all, I’d actually consider getting up that early more often. It’s so serene and quiet that it makes the wake-up call worth it. I might actually get around to doing some cycling at this rate.

But then, I’m a morning person, and an evening person. Afternoons are less good, to be honest. It’s funny how people have their own little timezones in which they are happiest. Not met many afternoon people, to be honest.

Juno

This blog may contain spoilers. If you haven’t seen the film Juno and plan to, you might want to avoid reading this ’til later.

I feel that Juno was recommended to me, but trying to think back I can’t actually remember if this is true. I can remember people talking about it, but not really what they said, save that it wasn’t overwhelmingly negative. I remember reading about it in the news, surprise hit, but not why, but somehow it got into my mind that it was a magnetically good film. I also thought it was a comedy.

Well, it isn’t either. It goes on, it is boring in parts, there are a few interesting bits and some seemingly irrelevant bits. My family and I spent time wondering whether Vanessa, the propective surrogate mother, was somehow going to turn out insane or obsessed, and it turns out that the perfect happy couple weren’t after all. All through it are the runners, in autumn, winter, spring, summer (it just occurred to me that they used autumn, not fall). I fully expected, in some bursting comprehension of motherly love, that Juno would keep the baby and face the hard world while Mark and Vanessa would miraculously get successful fertility treatment and all would be well and good. I expected the two opposite lab partners to be the ‘other couple’ who so merrily realise they are made for each other at the end of the film, and the whole thing to revolve around Juno and Bleeker’s rollercoaster relationship.

But I was missing the point. This isn’t a romantic comedy, or a hard-hitting life-is-appalling film, or indeed a film like 99% of all other films. It’s just life, plain, simple, the boring bits and the exciting bits and the things that don’t always work out, and the things that do aren’t perfect. It’s a much more real film than many others, for all that it’s obviously not a reflection of reality.

Would I recommend it? It’s a very simple film, elegant with it in a way. Quirky, definitely. I’m not sure it’s worth dedicating the time to, but it’s warming and unusual and real (something I can’t emphasise enough!). I’m not sure I’d watch it again (although even not I feel like I should, just to see…what?), but I’m glad I did, kind of. Seems the only defined feature of this film is its ambiguity, but that is enough.

6/10, although that’s based on its value as entertainment – it’s critical value to film is higher.

Provokes thought. I’m certainly pensive now. What are other people’s thoughts on it?

Elise

Whoever Elise was (there is probably a record which I’ve simply not looked up) I hope she was pleased with the piece that Beethoven wrote for her. It’s a horrifically stereotypical piano piece in my mind, but I still rather like it on musical merit (perhaps with the exception of the section which starts at 1:03 and doesn’t seem to fit at all). It’s also really quite well known, and hence Elise has lived on through the ages. Much to still be thankful about.

Still, seeing as it is such a stereotypical piece, and it is so helpfully written in C major and hence has no accidentals to remember, I’ve decided to dedicate some time to learning it. Ostensibly it will help me practise reading music etc, but as anything I decode from msuic once basically gets committed to memory I actually am going to memorise the whole thing. Useful party trick, I suppose! When I have actually learnt it, I might do a Hannah and record it for you to judge, but I might not. It might take a long time. It might not.

Wish me luck, not just with this but with the whole piano-learning experience!

Softer World

Very true, although I feel ashamed to admit it.

Not always, but sometimes.