Newz!

So it's still not completely finished, but www.nikkeeb.com is a goer.

I'll be writing there from now on, and much, much more frequently than I did here!

See you there!

Time for Tracks

It's time for tracks, hooray!


The Rifles - The Great Escape
I may be biased since this song shares it's name with a song by the sexiest band in the universe, We Are Scientists - who I once stood next to at a gig. And subsequently met. And subsequently received their signatures on my bag - but it's still pretty great.


Noah and the Whale - Two Atoms in a Molecule
I was willing to overlook that in the video description, the word 'their' is mispelt, because this song is ridiculously sweet. These guys are kind of lyrical geniuses.


Sigur Ros - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
Roughly translated to, 'within me a lunatic sings'. Sigur Ros: Solely responsible for the confused teenage girls standing in music shops saying, "Yeah, they like, sing in some weird language. They don't sing in English. I think it's like, Icelandic or something." True story.


TV on the Radio - Wolf Like Me


A Life, A Song and a Cigarette - My Fresh Kills Melodies
I have no ideas where these guys are from. Or what their deal is. But i just LOVE this song. The super-unplugged version of it proves they're somewhat talented too. Winner!

So, what have you got on repeat right now?

Also, just FYI, my poor little injured Macbook will be back in the game next week, as will this here blog and all related side-projects. Excellent!

Time for Tracks

Finding sweet new jams is one of my favourite things ever. So here are some presents for you! These are my favourites right now. Which songs are you currently in love with?



Mother Mother - Body
(This is such poor quality, and it makes me so sad because it's SUCH an awesome song. So go find yourself the proper version to download or purchase totally legally :] )


One of the most phenomenally talented musicians I've encountered, Ben Folds, performing a Flaming Lips song called 'She Don't Use Jelly'. Look how young he is!


The Asteroid Galaxy Tour - Around the Bend
Perhaps if you just minimise the window and listen to the song by itself, the video won't put you off. The song is actually really great!


The Holloways - Sinners and Winners
GOD, I love this song! It grows on me more and more with every listen. I have developed a fondness for hooping to it =)
It has a super cute video too.


The Awkward Stage - Mini Skirt of Christmas Lights
Again, I do apologise for the video.......don't let it sway your thoughts of the song!


See that's the thing with liking reasonable quirky music - you can never show people a version on YouTube that will do it justice! Speaking of, there is this adorable cover of The Cure's 'Just Like Heaven' by Joy Zipper that I couldn't find for you! Do yourselves a favour and hunt it down. Promise it'll be worth your while =)

An explanation

So, I haven't been writing a great deal at the moment, for several reasons:

1. I am in the process of moving.
Yes, I am moving from my most favourite place in Brisbane (Paddington, if you were curious) back to what may be my least favourite (I kid, Redlands-dwellers, I kid!) - for now

2. I am working on something bigger and better than this littly old blog.
Really big. For me, anyway. I am SUPER excited, and once I have got it under control, I will be writing thrillions and thrillions.

3. I'm about to go to Melbourne!
After a super impromptu decision by my matey Steph to go to Melbourne (my favourite city to date) for her birthday in two weeks, we are manically organising and booking and what have you.

So don't lose faith in me! In the meantime of getting Item '2' up and running, I will be writing whenever I have a spare moment. That is, when I'm not mourning the loss of my dear, dear Paddington. *tear*

Detoxing Your Life, part deux

Image by rockymountainroz


It seems a bit silly that this warrants a mention, but in this crazy, technological era of ours, it does! Keeping internet tabs on people who used to be in your life/you wish were in your life/you hate/hate you is a really bad habit that I know a lot of people fall into.

I know because I used to do it. People I know do it. It was even done to me for a period, by a girl who totally ♥'d the boy I was seeing. It's actually pretty creepy when you're on the receiving end of the tab-keeping.

Spying on the Facebooks and Myspaces of your exes and their new girlfriends or your secret crush's current love interest is by and large a waste of your time. What do you actually come away from it with? Do you gain anything? At best you can smugly carry on the rest of your day with the knowledge that your ex-lover and his girlfriend had hit bumpy road. At worst, you'll see the love letters going to and fro, curse them for finding each other, resign yourself to cat-owning spinsterhood and spend your afternoon with a sunken heart.'

If you have one of these people in your online 'friends' list, definitely make sure they're not in you 'top friends' so you don't have a constant visual reminder of them. If you honest to God cannot control your fingers as they trawl through your contacts to find the person, delete them. Block them if this is still a hazard. Keeping tabs really doesn't serve you in any way. Detox your internet browsing, and you're one step closer to detoxing your life.

Living, Breathing Toxins

Image by Earl - What I Saw 2.0

I've decided to make a couple of changes this year, and one of the biggins is to be more honest with myself about relationships. Friendships, romantic relationships, the whole gamut. I always thought I was this ridiculous, sentimental person, but I know now that tonnes of people have this same flaw. We clutch at straws trying to keep a relationship thriving, when it's clear that the person is totally toxic. One of the biggest mistakes I made last year was clinging to a relationship that was going nowhere, and taking me with it. It ended up being really detrimental, in a lot of ways - being around each other so much was so draining, I completely lost my spark. My personality changed, I wasn't excited about life at all, and I lost all drive and motivation.

Toxic people are everywhere - at work, driving your bus, in front of you at the shops - that's just how things are. That's fine, because you don't interact with these people in any real depth. Sometimes, though, these people somehow become a substantial part of your life. Maybe you just missed it at first. Maybe they changed over time - or maybe you changed, and you notice it now. Toxic people are generally negative - everything pisses them off in some way or another, and you can bet your sweet ass they will vocalise it. There is also a lot of bitchiness. Don't be fooled, some of the biggest bitches I've encountered are males. They gossip, and they badmouth people, and judge them unnecessarily - to you about others, or maybe to others about you. You know these people - an encounter with them leaves you feeling drained of energy, or miserable, or irritated.

When you click with a person, being around them energises you, and revitalises you, even if it's purely platonic. And when you're in a romantic relationship that is positive and enriching, you feel the electricity; sparks fly. Your tummy does backflips when you see them, and you flush every time they stroll into your thoughts. Next time you walk away from an encounter with someone, think about how you feel. Do you feel uplifted, happier, like seeing them made your day a bit better? Sweet! Bask in it! Or, do you feel exhausted, and heavy?

Be honest with yourself, and the toxic person in question. You may not want to cut them out of your life completely (unless they are that much of a burden), so maybe you can tell them that you need to spend some time apart. It's up to you as to whether or not you explain yourself (I've come to find that overly negative people don't take criticism, constructive or no, all that well) but maybe they'll take heed of your words. If you think they really have that bad an influence on you, maybe the best thing to do is cut them out completely. If this is the path you choose, I say be completely honest. Tell them what the deal is, and remove them from your phone, your photo album, your facebook friends, and your life - at least for now. Yes, they may get offended and pissy, but then with that attitude, they really had to see this coming. Right?

Planet New Year

There's something about the impending New Year that totally alivens (don't question my English) me - I think about all the possibilities and it fills me to the brim with inspiration. It's like this whole new slate - so enticing and full of promise but so overwhelming and intimidating at the same time. Like I'll get to the other side of 2009 and think, 'so what did I achieve this year? What groundbreaking, enriching experiences did I have?' and the only thing I'll come up with will be something like, 'well I saw this show that said if you always fill your car up to the nearest $0.07, you'll always get 2 cents worth of petrol for free..I must have saved like at LEAST 18 bucks."

That's why I don't get why people make these shitty, token New Year's resolutions that really don't resonate them at all. Like, if you're really that uninterested in improving yourself, why bother making a resolution at all?
Lose weight. That's so original. Even though the person has no intention of eating fresh food or getting off the couch.
Stop smoking. Despite the fact the person isn't worried about cancer or looking like a boot at all. That's totally meaningful.

There is so much you can do with a new year - I try to take it as a chance to reinvent myself a teensy bit at a time. But not by means of telling everyone I'm going to stop eating McCain's Frozen Dinners every night whilst my fingers are crossed behind my back.

I have a pretty revolting affinity for checklists - some would say it's manic, but I think I have it all under control. Anyway, you might have heard of this website called 43 Things. It is basically a way for people to document all the things they want to achieve, make notes along the way, and remove it from their list of 'things' once they make it. There are 43 things, as you probably gathered, which, to me, is just a nice round number - so every year I make a list called "43 Things for 200_". Instead of making one ridiculously unattainable goal at the start of the year, "Maybe I'll just like, buy 5 houses and rent them all out to people", I write down 43 pretty small things that would make me way happier with my life. I write the number in a heart bullet point, and once I've reached a goal, I colour in the heart next to it. I add to it all year, until I've improved my life and myself in 43 ways.

So here are the things I have so far for next year:
1. Go overseas
2. See snow
3. Start playing the flute again
4. Join a choir
5. Go to acrobatics classes
6. Go to dancing every week
7. Go to yoga once a week
8. Buy myself a piano
9. Eat fresh food - no processed shit!
10. Buy a cuckoo clock
11. Write 100 articles on my blog
12. Write 1 complete song
13. Find a sweet fruit & veg shop/deli to ♥ 4eva!
14. Buy Nigella Express, cook awesome meals, and enjoy eatings!
15. Cook with lots of herbs and spices
16. Sell my car

Some of them are kind of silly things that I just really want to try, while others are a bit more momentous. And when you get to the end of the year and you've coloured in the last heart or star or spaceship, you totally get this sense of satisfaction, like you pushed yourself and you rose to the challenge.

So don't make some weiner little resolution just for the hell of it - if you really want to be better, think about what will get you there, and then do it!