Note: I have since re-written this post because, after re-reading it, I realised I probably should have waited until after my headache and groggy state of mind had lifted before even beginning to write.

I had a really great time last night, for the most part*. For the last few weeks I hadn’t really been all that excited about seeing NIN, mainly because I hadn’t listened to him much in years, but when they started and were playing songs I actually new (because I’m not so familiar with the new stuff), I felt pretty damn ecstatic! Trent Reznor was quite a prominent figure in my 15-year-old self’s mind, so it ended up being a little surreal for me, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m really glad I went because he probably wont be back here again, at least not as NIN anyway.

My friend that I went with has seen them a couple of times before and said they didn’t seem as good as she’d seen previously, and that’s what I overhead others say, too, but I have nothing to compare it with and wouldn’t want to anyway. They played ‘Hurt’, which was awesome, and also my very old beloved ‘Starfuckers’, among others! I still know the words. No ‘Closer’ though, which was a little bit of a let down because it’s a great song and, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to see Trent sing “I wanna fuck you like an animal” in person?

Speaking of which, I totally would have let him. When I could see him, for I often had a number of different fanboys in my way, he went from insanely intense to…well, even hotter, if I’m being honest here… Can I just say that he has got great arms. Seriously. He also talked quite a bit in comparison to other shows I’ve been to, and the sound was decent so I could understand him well. He seemed really nice and looked like he had a good time. The guys he had playing with him were very good, too. Because the live line-up changes fairly often I think the mood can be affected by that — sometimes the chemistry between everyone might be off, but last night I thought it all meshed very well.

The only thing that left some of us a bit miffed was that the set list was shorter than we expected and there was no encore, much to everyone’s disappointment. I didn’t really mind all that much because I’ve been to shows with no encore and frankly I don’t really the point in them anyway. As Trent said, it was the first night they had played with the new set-up they had, so they themselves didn’t have a solid idea of what they were doing, however I didn’t think that showed much at all.

The opening band was The Naked and Famous. I didn’t think I knew who they were until they played a song I recognised, then I was like “Oohhh, that’s who you are.” They were decent and the singer is a girl, so yay for that.

Overall, I had an amazing time and I totally have a crush on Trent again. Cannot be helped. I am left with a sense of being very lucky to have experienced that night. It’s the sort of thing I hope to tell my currently non-existent kids one day and they’ll be all “Oh my God, Mum, you saw Nine Inch Nails live??!! You are sooo cool!” or something like that. I think that about my own mother who saw Led Zeppelin at 15. What I would give, what I would give…

*The only crappy parts for me were the fanboys who have no consideration for other people (I value my toes and their ability to, you know, function), and standing behind a girl with dreads who flicked her hair in my face, and eye!, on numerous occasions while dancing.

I finally got round to deleting my book review site because I never update it. I also need to decide what to do with my fanlisting collective Bubblegum Fangirl. There are so many fanlists I’ve joined that I no longer want to be a part of, mainly because I want to downsize, but deleting them is still a pain even though I use the Enthusiast script. There is no mass deletion (at least not in my version) and it always takes me back to page one after I delete something! Oh well, I suppose I can slowly chip away at it.

I’m also planning on giving up some of my fanlistings for adoption, just a few music ones that no one seems to ever join (I guess I have obscure taste in music…).

I hope everyone who celebrates Valentine’s Day had a lovely time. I myself went for a spot of shopping and salivated over several pieces of clothing that I can’t afford. However, I did put something else on lay-by, which I forget I can do with items that I don’t have the cash upfront for. Um, duh?

I spent last evening painting a shelving unit for my room. My plan is to also paint faces of different Flapper style girls on the back wall of each shelf/cubby, and some stuff on the sides of the unit. My room is not very big so I am stuck with way too many pieces of furniture in here at the moment, and the shelves will eliminate about two of them.

After painting and a shower I decided to put my hair into pin curls overnight (before watching Ever After, I might add). Bad idea. I looked like an ’80s permed nightmare, or something. Absolutely no photographic evidence, thank God. I must say, though, this experience hasn’t turned me off pin curls altogether; I just need to gain a better grasp of setting patterns and such.

1. What activity can you not believe you survived in your childhood?
I wasn’t an overly adventurous child, so I never got into much strife!

2. What activity can you not believe kids get away with today?
It’s interesting to me how, as you get older, you look upon the teens and are baffled by how much stupider they seem “these days”, but in truth, young people have always done things that older people have considered foolish, dangerous, cheeky, etc., it’s just that we can now look at it all with wisdom we didn’t have then. We know that cause and effect is pretty much a law of nature and everything we do has a consequence, good or bad, which is something that kids’ and teenagers’ brains are not very good at doing yet.

That being said, it saddens me to see how complacent and even disinterested some parents seem towards their childrens’ (under 14s) use of the Internet and cell phones. The same goes for teens, too, but to a lesser degree as they are older and can take a little more responsibility. The other thing is not an activity, but the general lack of manners and respect for fellow human beings is disgusting. One of the greatest things parents can teach their kids is to carry themselves in this world well, with self-respect and dignity. I see those things missing in many teenagers. In respecting yourself and being self-aware, you learn to respect and be aware of others.

3. If you could be anyone else in the world live or dead, who would you choose to be?
There are many great people who’ve done many great things for this world, even if they were only small things. But, I will pick Tallulah Bankhead, because she had the courage to do stuff I wouldn’t. I would like to feel “free” by being her for a time. There would come a point were it wouldn’t be fun. So after that I will move onto Rita Hayworth, Katherine Hepburn or Jane Russell who were all outstanding women in their own ways.

4. A lot of people think they’ve been in love at 15 or 16 years old, do you think you now look back and think you were a stupid kid or do you believe that you were old enough to know what love is?
I look back at my own experiences and realise that I have not felt the kind of love I know exists in this universe and that I will eventually feel. However, I did love at those ages. Perhaps you can’t know what “real” love is like at 15 or 16, because we need wisdom and experience to learn what it is. Yes, there are exceptions to every rule (not that what I said was a rule by any means); I just don’t think it’s the norm to fall in real love at a young age, so don’t expect to, just enjoy what you have for what it is.

5. Do you think it is possible to remain in love with someone you once loved, but haven’t seen in a year?
I think it would depend on the level of communication you’ve had during the time apart. A person can change significantly in a year and as result, if you have not been aware of those changes through communication, you may love the person they used to be, and not who they are now. If that’s the case, you may fall in love with them again, or you may not. I don’t think anyone should rely on the love still being there after that length of time, especially if there has been little to no contact during the absence.

Today I was very brave, because after going back and forth on deciding exactly what to do with my hair for last few weeks, I finally just said “Okay, bugger it, just chop it all off.” So I got my sister to do it. And I love it! I am now the proud owner of a Bob. Not the first time I’ve had short hair — I used to have very short, boyish hair — but the first time in many years that it’s been this short. You can actually see some terrible webcam photos in my Flickr stream in the footer, but I hadn’t styled my hair or anything as it had only just been cut.

So, aside from drastic hair-related changes, I went out to see a movie. He’s Just Not That Into You, the film adaptation of the book of the same name. I’ve not read the book, but I remember the authors being on Oprah once, and it sounded really interesting. I am firm believer in women needing to get real about men and stop pandering to them when they’re clearly…just not that into you. The film was a humorous look at situations so many of us find ourselves in. Do you wait for him to call? Do you call him? What if he doesn’t call? Can you find him on Facebook? And so on and so forth. I thought it was great, and judging by the rest of the people there, they enjoyed it too.

Added bonus is that Justin Long is adorable. Not so much a bonus, but an Envy Creator, is that the film proves to me yet again that Scarlett Johansson is stunning and has the best body in Hollywood, damnit! That girl has got some boobs… And hips and bum and waist. Can I please be her?

Today I finished reading The Scandal of the Season by Sophie Gee. A light read, juicy in parts, that I wished was a little juicier still. You can’t just leave an intimate scene and then go on to say “Afterwards blah, blah, blah.” What happened?

The next book on my list is Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. I spotted it at the library because the cover has a vintage sepia photograph of a naked woman looking into a mirror. Her lips are painted red. I had heard of the book before, but didn’t realise it was considered so inappropriate when it was published that it was subsequently banned for thirty years. This sort of thing appeals greatly to me, so of course, I thought, I must read it! Adventure, sex and dirty tales of Paris during the Great Depression. Perfect!

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

1. Grab your current read.
2. Let the book fall open to a random page.
3. Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
4. You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
5. Please avoid spoilers!

They would have been easy with each other, he thought, but he knew that their ease existed because they felt no urgent desire. Although their relations were forbidden, and therefore deliciously enjoyable, he never felt a sick rush of temptation or an exhilarating release of abandon when he was with her.
The Scandel of the Season by Sophie Gee

Jeez, talk about having to fluff about to get the comments styled nicely… The only downside of WordPress’ 2.7 release is that styling isn’t has straightforward as it once was (until, of course, you find this useful post and the world becomes a good, comfortable, happy place again). However, I am pleased to say that after much fluffing I have them pretty much done. Not exactly how I want them, but I can’t figure out how to that right now and I’m totally over it at this point.

So, yes, it should work and you can all converse with each other in my comments. Which you should start doing immediately to make me feel more important and loved.

Please?

P.S., I totally love Emma and Jeremy Northam is so delicious in everything. Can I have him for my 21^st birthday?

Today was a trial day at what may become my new Sunday job. It’s at a little second-hand clothing store that also does flowers on the side. I tried my hand at making up some bunches of flowers, which went ok, lol. Could have been worse, but considering it was my first time working with flowers I felt good about it.

Tomorrow is a public holiday and thus a long weekend, so from tonight until Saturday I know we have people staying. Should be fun! Though at this point I’m totally interested in reading, movie watching and maybe napping.

Valentine’s Day is only useful if you have someone to share it with, and even then it’s still only useful if both of you actually care about it. For a long time I haven’t seen the point in the day and, seeing as how I’m single this year, the point is even more lost on me.

So, I shall try and win some romantic books instead! I love a good romance (of the non-trashy, non-Mills & Boon sort) so wish me luck!

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