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Serj Tankian and an inspiration
Oct. 29th, 2012 05:18 pmOn the 7th October, it was the first anniversary of my mom’s death. I’d decided a while ago that I didn’t want to spend the day in tearful reflection. So, I somewhat spontaneously and uncharacteristically booked tickets to see Serj Tankian. I have a couple of System of a Down albums, but am woefully unknowledgeable about his solo stuff. Still, the one or two songs I did know, I liked. So that was what we planned to do.
Standing in the ornate but bijou O2 Academy with the crowds beginning to press us back into the wall of the bar – me with the muscles on my entire right-hand side torn (sporting injury*); Neil with a throbbing knee (sporting injury... don’t try sport, it’s not healthy**) – we were beginning to think we’d not been terribly sensible. Overpriced cider already in my hand, I couldn’t take any painkillers – or afford more cider. All the other concert goers ‘our age’ had bought seats. What were we doing? At one point, I thought Neil was being overly cuddly and leaning on me a bit heavily… only later I learned he’d actually briefly passed out from pain.
Serj was - and I don’t overstate - amazing, and the support bands Viza and Hollywood Awesome Project were all really good too. I felt like I’d had a wonderful evening of rock discovery and despite the pain, was glad I’d made the decision to try; celebrate; get out there. Just for that one day.
But, then there’s every other day to be enjoyed and lived… but with that sharpened sense of the finite nature of things.
New Year’s Resolutions aren’t any good. I think perhaps you should not be making declarations of denial on feast days. But on those days when you notice the slice getting smaller, the candle burning lower – and diminishing in number and luminosity on your cake (there’s the irony) – then denial has no place. You should take. You should take and share and enjoy. Don’t leave a crumb unused. It's kind to no one.
I'm too young to be this morbid.
Anyway, I asked myself, have I been making the most of the opportunities that have been coming my way? I've been very busy, but no... I've lacked a little something in the last year or so, perhaps. However, I've been revitalised and inspired.
I began with a plan: I'm getting married next year, which is going to be a huge project by itself, but beyond that time I wanted the wedding to also mark a change, for me to move from one sphere into another. More realistically, it's going to take longer than 10 months to achieve this, but I'm starting to see some things coming together. I can see a way out of debt. I can see me actually being able to afford to get married. I can see me being able to afford to stay hale and hearty. I can see me inspiring and encouraging my partner... I can't see it being easy for both of us. But we have to try.
One of my recent sources of inspiration is http://www.sft101blogspot.com who just paid off her mortgage years early and now owns her dream cottage outright. I don't think I can do quite what she does, but she gives great tips... plus she has reminded me I like reading Joanne Harris books, so I've got a library copy of The Lollipop Shoes for the journey home.
Lots of good stuff happening. I should update more often, but gotta dash.
Standing in the ornate but bijou O2 Academy with the crowds beginning to press us back into the wall of the bar – me with the muscles on my entire right-hand side torn (sporting injury*); Neil with a throbbing knee (sporting injury... don’t try sport, it’s not healthy**) – we were beginning to think we’d not been terribly sensible. Overpriced cider already in my hand, I couldn’t take any painkillers – or afford more cider. All the other concert goers ‘our age’ had bought seats. What were we doing? At one point, I thought Neil was being overly cuddly and leaning on me a bit heavily… only later I learned he’d actually briefly passed out from pain.
Serj was - and I don’t overstate - amazing, and the support bands Viza and Hollywood Awesome Project were all really good too. I felt like I’d had a wonderful evening of rock discovery and despite the pain, was glad I’d made the decision to try; celebrate; get out there. Just for that one day.
But, then there’s every other day to be enjoyed and lived… but with that sharpened sense of the finite nature of things.
New Year’s Resolutions aren’t any good. I think perhaps you should not be making declarations of denial on feast days. But on those days when you notice the slice getting smaller, the candle burning lower – and diminishing in number and luminosity on your cake (there’s the irony) – then denial has no place. You should take. You should take and share and enjoy. Don’t leave a crumb unused. It's kind to no one.
I'm too young to be this morbid.
Anyway, I asked myself, have I been making the most of the opportunities that have been coming my way? I've been very busy, but no... I've lacked a little something in the last year or so, perhaps. However, I've been revitalised and inspired.
I began with a plan: I'm getting married next year, which is going to be a huge project by itself, but beyond that time I wanted the wedding to also mark a change, for me to move from one sphere into another. More realistically, it's going to take longer than 10 months to achieve this, but I'm starting to see some things coming together. I can see a way out of debt. I can see me actually being able to afford to get married. I can see me being able to afford to stay hale and hearty. I can see me inspiring and encouraging my partner... I can't see it being easy for both of us. But we have to try.
One of my recent sources of inspiration is http://www.sft101blogspot.com who just paid off her mortgage years early and now owns her dream cottage outright. I don't think I can do quite what she does, but she gives great tips... plus she has reminded me I like reading Joanne Harris books, so I've got a library copy of The Lollipop Shoes for the journey home.
Lots of good stuff happening. I should update more often, but gotta dash.
