changes.....an ode to all that may never be again

i've been planning to write this blog for sometime. you can feel it in the air, as you walk around all the old haunches, that change is coming, that things will never be this way again. maybe i have avoided it because i dont want to think about the way things may be next year, or what we are about to loose. but then, i think to myself, thats always been the way. friends are always being replaced, residences change, occupations shift, and with each change you accumulate more experiences. but what about the familiarity of the last year, it seems to me, that nothing really changed, we were all around the place, always accecable, always contactable, rarely changing in the extreme nature of those drastic changes just mentioned above.

though, i then say to myself (as bergson writes) 'no experience can be the same', for even if you view an apple you have placed on the table (hmm... apple), leave the room and return, whilst the apple remains untouched, unmoved, unchanged, its not the 'same' for now, you have a history of accumulated experience in regard to this apple. so really, things were never the same, they were ALWAYS changing. but still, the familiarity of lots of things that occured over the last year leave me nostalgic (dont worry, the touch facade will return, this is only a lapse! haha) and perhaps, that nostalgia is related to this accumulation of exeperience. whilst i will continue to accumulate experiences, and whilst all those new experiences and people added to the pile will most likely also be amazing, i somewhat feel this last year has been one of the best yet! thus, an ode to all that may never be again:


G.C. picnics and Stuck in the Mud: a few weeks ago we all sat in the great court, as we have all semester, scoffing liams homemade scones (oh wait, was that just me), playing hack, talking about uni and how hungover we all are/were/plan to be, and nothing seemed amiss. but now that i recall the event, i feel there is a good chance that it was the last? so to begin, an ode to Stuck in the Mud, to G.C. picnics and to bumming around either between or during lectures! goodbye Stuck in the Mud G.C. picnics.



next, but not least.
CLARENCE! this pivotal household will be sorely missed. my clarence highlights, in no particular order:

WEEKENDS AT STRADDY: and the shennanigans entailed (remember makeout weekend kids...i dont even WANT to know what happened on that tennis court!)






























TEA: somehow there is always good tea at clarence!!! hmm....tea

PARTIES: i think i may have experienced nearly every window break in the clarence house, first at the mercy of aruns elbow, second the result of uncle tobys' consumption of wine. good times.

THE FRONT STEPS: more of a recent addition but always chilled, always comfy true clarence styles.


THE KRAMERS: where again am i going to find a household who would do this to themselves!

MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE INHABITANTS: the kids from clarence will always be my favourite, even if you are not residing in its hallowed walls that house contained some very special people who will be sorely missed!!! Goodbye Clarence.





Foreigners: every year we seem to accumulate a healthy bunch of exchange students who shape our experiences considerably. even though each year brings replacements for the previous years losses, none of them can ever be replaced! this year, we recieved the Dong (andrew) and Wanton (Anton), and whilst we still retain the Dong i am saying in advance how sorely missed they will be! Ill wait until andrews gone to devulge all his dirty secrets, instead some Anton-based highlights from the last year:

THE PLAYBOY INCIDENT:
Renee: "hey anton, can i borrow your camera?"
Anton: "yeah sure, its in my room, on my desk"
Renee: "sweet (toddles over, lifts the floormat, squeezes through the corner of jims room)... where? whats this? PLAYBOY! Pluhoy anton, PLUHOY!!!!!"
Anton: "Oh, playboy, its not what you're thinking, i promise!"

ANTONS FIRST DAY: fresh off the plane, innocent little anton strolls up the miskin st stairs to find me, meatbag and steve drunk out of our brains in the loungeroom. i stumble to show him around, and he sits with us for a while to chat and see if he really wants to live with these hooligans. from there, it all goes downhill. suddenly the house is swamped with people; the kenmore boys let themselves in as usual and start practicing kendo in the backyard, some of steves mates wander through etc. etc. and whilst all this occurs Liam is shoving beers into antons hand and proceeding to pay him out for not drinking fast enough. and now look at him.
i dont know why he decided to move in, but boy im glad. but wait, theres more. due to an indiscretion on renees behalf anton moves into the dongs room (the cupboard), then gets kicked out and has to sleep in the destination till grace is out. he writes about it on his blog, READ IT! its gold!

CHAI AND CAKE TIME: a recent woodstock addition, i loved the little ceremony anton and i had drikning chai and eating cake! yay!

THE WANTON VOICE: cant write it, but you all know what im talking about and you all know you do it! how are we going to explain that without anton on hand?

MEETING THE NEIGHBOURS: i come home one sunny afternoon to a postit on the fridge 'Neighbours: June and Claude (thats not the names, i cant remeber the names)' and im like, "hmm..ok?". Anton comes out and proceeds to tell me the story of how he decided to go and introduce himself, on a whim, to our new neighbours. It seems, he discussed their life stories over a glass of brandy and happily returned home to recite the tale!

Theres plenty more but i dont want to fill the whole blog page, the most important point to glean here is that Anton is amazing! He will be missed! Over the time he was here, ive watched our little anton change so much. When he first arrived on our doorstep he was no naive, so innocent, and somehow hes just absorbed every experience offered to him whilst he was here, digested them and somehow assimilated them into what still is, essentially anton! his ability to just do things, without deliberating or talking himself out of it will continue to inspire me. as well as his incredible ability to trust anyone and EVERYONE, always give people a chance, always meet new people and never hestiate to help people out. WHAT A LEGEND!

The Basement and JFS : when again will i live in a basement? come on?! when it rained i had a moat, when people rolled around on wheely chairs or skateboards it sounded like a jet engine taking off, the windows were missing, the floors was bare concrete, there was only one powerpoint and no light! somehow, however, i loved this room and i will never forget it! i think the reason for this, mostly is the good times had in it, particularly the spooning! 2006 was the year of the spoon, no matter what you anti-JFSers want to say, and ill miss my spooning posse!

thats all for now i guess, there are plenty more stories to recite! just look back on all of our houseblogs to see the amazing year we have all had, and although everything is going to change, it always has been, and always will, and everyone around me now will never be lost, only added to the accumulating pile of experiences i am accrueing over my life! you will all form a very colourful, energetic and exciting part of that pile, i am sure!!!