I’ve Been Searching My Soul Tonight, I Know There’s So Much More To Life

Devil doesn’t have a soul. He sold on a monthly payment plan. He still searched inside himself though. Found may squishy organs and a black crayon from kindergarten but that’s besides the point. The point is that Devil had a “Eureka” moment in the last few days.

And what an INSANE few day’s it has been. Readers…this is going to be a huge blog so you basically have 1 of 3 options:

1. Just leave. Skip reading the entire thing and leave a comment saying that it’s the bestest blog you’ve ever read
   
2. bookmark my blog and read a bits of it at a time [Warning: Excess consumption may have a laxative effect] or
   
3. neither 1 nor 2 and just pretend you never even saw this page.

I will need to recap over 3 MASSIVE days…which was all started by a single random photograph with my favourite-est camera in THAT notorious club at which I seem to attend with a unnatural regularity. It can be said that everything happens for a reason and maybe there were reasons why I did what I did that night but honestly…it’s like me taking that photo was me throwing a rock into a pond and everything that’s eventuated from it are the ripples. It’s like the coincidences in the brilliant book: The Celestine Prophecy.

I’m sure Einstein would have been happy with than analogy. Anyway, to the recap…I’m documenting what happened for my own future reference rather than for any readership but I’m more than happy to share the whole sequence of events with anyone that cares to read about it all.

----- 25th January 2006 - Australia Day Eve -----

So my plans for Australia Day Eve had been established some time prior to the day itself and involved myself and a girl that I have known for some time from the university attending a local pub to watch a local live band perform their first gig as part of a national tour. She had previously seen this band perform when she had visited her boyfriend at the mining site and through associations had come to know the band members.

The band wasn’t too bad overall. I was quite surprised actually as the music they were playing wasn’t really my kind of music. We had a few drinks, played a few games of pool and had a pretty good time (considering that it was a rock band).

We met a few random people that through the nature of alcohol, ended up playing a few games of pool with. The pub itself was a bit ‘gritty’ and considering the clientele, the pub (including the gritty décor) were probably well suited for each other. Personally, I felt like I was better than everyone there but that's probably because I was.

Anyways, we stayed at the pub until the band had finished the set which was at about 0000 and with the Australia Day holiday the next day she decided to come along with me to meet up with Will & Grace (of The Will & Grace Group).

We arrived at one of the regular clubs that Will & Grace usually frequent however at this time Grace was in one of her ‘moods’ and had called it an early night before I got there. Will however and his new friend (B) and (B)’s friend (J) were still around the town.

(J) was very much sober this time and also decided to call it an early night when I arrived. I don’t know why people feel obligated to have and early night when the next day is a public holiday. I mean honestly, the whole purpose of the public holiday is so that you can recover but that’s besides the point. Whilst waiting in line to get into the club I again met: Angel.

Now, readers…the circumstances surrounding the way in which I met Angel is basically through a random sequence of events that originated in blog: “Devil…Where’s Your Car?”. Since then, we’ve been in communication regarding a variety of different subjects and had been meaning to meet up with each other away from the nightclub atmosphere.

Unfortunately, the girl from the university that I was with wanted to call it an early night and as the responsible driver for the night, had to take her back home. After dropping her off home I also went home to get some sleep. By this time it was about 0200.

----- 26th January 2006 - Australia Day -----

I woke up at about 1130 and checked my phone. During the night I had received a SMS from Angel asking that we catch up away from the nightclub circuit. Against my own personal characteristics I decided to take a chance and meet her that day for juice and ice cream (for breakfast). An unusual combination for breakfast but it pretty much set the precedence for the day…unusual combinations creating unusual results.

Whilst I was out with Angel, she received a message from one of her friends inviting her to a BBQ. She invited me to go to the BBQ with her and again…against my own personal characteristics, decided to take a chance and go with her.

We then went out to find a supermarket that was open (all stores were closed because of the Australia Day public holiday). After finding a nearby store and buying a few BBQ essentials we then headed out to Angel’s friend’s house. [F1 = Me -> Angel -> Angel’s friend]

Now here’s where things start getting a bit complicated. The people I met throughout the night were friends of friends, or friends of friends of friends or friends of friends of friends...you get the point though, it was complicated.

Eventually we were referring to each other by degrees of association/separation, so for simplicity, each reference to a person will be accompanied with a little association diagram. You might need to use a bit of substitution algebra but I can understand it and that’s really all that matters, isn’t it.

Whilst at F1’s house I met F2 [F2 = F1 -> F1’s friend] and spent some time getting to know and understand them over some coffee. I don’t drink coffee but that’s not the point. After a very short time it became apparent to me that these people were some of the most interesting (and above all, intelligent) people I had met for a very long time.

It’s been a long time since I’ve actually had a highly intelligent conversation with people and not had to dumb down what I’ve been trying to say or had to explain the vocabulary that I’ve been using but anyways…

After spending some time at F1’s house we then progressed to another friends house F3 [F1 -> F1’s friend]. F3’s mum is one of THE coolest and funniest mothers I have ever met. She even has a highly modified broom as her selected mode of transportation. Seriously.

F3’s mum has a broom that’s got a bike seat, bike handles, indicator lights and a reversing buzzer. It was the funniest thing I have seen for a long time. And F3’s mum’s reason for having the broom? “Because it’s faster than the vacuum cleaner.” Classic. Absolutely classic.

From there we all then went to F4’s house [F4 = F1 -> F1’s friend] for the traditional Australia Day BBQ. And here’s the Australian irony at work and the punch line for the night…there was no BBQ to cook our food!

We had to cook our food on the stove. How hilariously tragic. From there, we then went to F4 and F5 [F4 = Angel -> Angel’s friend] place to finish off the night. By that time it was already well into the next day but that’s not the point. I ended up getting home at about 2AM and what a random night/day/night it was.

I didn’t drink a drop of alcohol but ended up having one of THE greatest night I’ve ever had. I managed to have some intelligent conversations with other intelligent young people.

I was probably the oldest one there but it’s not like I looked out of place. Its been said that the smallest events can have the biggest impact in our lives and I think that’s kind of what happened. A single SMS turned into something far greater than I could have imagined it could have.

By the end of the night it felt like I had known everyone for more than a few hours. And I get the feeling that it won’t be the last time I’ll be seeing any of them either. The whole night I was there with my camera to capture every moment.

You remember moments, not days.

Damn. I have so many moments on my camera.

It’s funny because during the course of the night I was told by one of the intelligent party members (F1) that I inspired him to take more notice of the smaller details in life. He said this to me after I was taking a photo of a potato chip that had a perfect circle burned through it.

I normally notice small details in things…like a picture that isn’t hung up quite straight or patterns that don’t quite match or even regular every day things that when looked at differently look like something very unique…I never realised that I took these qualities for granted and it wasn’t until it was pointed out to me that this is exactly one of those things that sets me apart from anyone else.

It was one of the most invigorating and comfortable nights out I’ve ever had. I didn’t have to play a specific role, I was free to be myself and say what I thought and the company I was with were intelligent enough to understand my point of view even if they didn’t agree with it but were still smart enough to understand that different people are entitled to have a different perspective on the way things work.

It was one of the most interesting nights I have ever had and I actually felt like I had inadvertently accomplished something. What I may have accomplished I’m not exactly sure of but I still felt good about it.

I of course had my camera with me every step of the way. I love my camera and the 1G SD memory card.

----- 27th January 2006 -----

I got up relatively early at about 1030 and got dressed (and redressed) then started driving into the city to make a few essential purchases. Whilst driving into the city I got a call on my mobile from the laptop service centre that the new keyboard had arrived and that they could do the replacement. Typical. Just as I’m half way to my destination I get the call, so I had to turn back to get my lovely laptop and take her back to get a new keyboard.

And no, I don’t treat her roughly. I take very good care of her. Sometimes, after a while, a guy like myself and his laptop become desensitised to each others needs and no longer have the same level of understanding like they used to which is why I needed to replace some of her parts.

I love my laptop.

So…as I pack my bags in making preparations for the next few days, I write this blog whilst ensuring that the attire I have packed will be suitable and that I have enough hair gel and glow sticks to last the next couple of days. In the mean time readers…try not to miss me too much.

I think the entirety of my past few days can be summarised by a single quote. I’m not sure who said it so I can’t give them credit for it (so I’ll take credit for then) but it basically goes something along the lines of:

“It Only Takes One Snowflake To Start An Avalanche.”

I say: Let it snow, let it snow, LET IT SNOW.

[For those of you unaware, it’s the middle of summer here, so the chances of it snowing is basically a snowflake’s chance in Hell.]

*note: this blog has been retrospectively posted.

Devil's Winamp: Vonda Shepard - Searchin' My Soul
Devil's Mood : Excited / Inspired

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Character Profile

The Angel:

• Was found in the most unusual and unlikely of places (as most interesting things are).
• Is essentially the polar opposite to myself. She inherently sees the positive side of any given situation.
• Shares similar interests in photography, film direction and other forms of visual art.
• Has an extremely strong sense of faith that I find both impressive and intriguing.
• Is open-minded like the people she has chosen to associate herself with.