Roxilla

It’s been a funny day today. Weird to think that this time next Monday I will have just finished my very last day of full-time employment… weird but fucking awesome too of course.

Anyway, I’ve been a bit pensive of late, thinking about goals and whatnot. I am not very pro goal, and in fact think that we are far too goal orientated and focus too much on the destination rather than the journey. Therefore, a lot of the plans and aims I have for the year are not really goals per se, more like things I want to do, often for the sake of doing them.

So, before I go off on another tangent, here is a reflection on my aims for the year…

1. Going freelance.
This was actually an old goal from last year, which was then lost for a bit when I had a minor flirtation with the idea of flying off into the sunset as an air hostess, or going back to my sea loving roots. I came to realise that I could fulfill my long-standing dream of travel writing in other ways, not just one way, and still follow my dream of working for myself. So, I found something that will get me in the right direction, and in just a week, I shall be on my own in the big bad world. Rad.

2. Getting my fight on.
Ok, I am seriously far behind on my Muaythai training. After my brief stint doing Shaolin, I returned to the kwoon for a bit, only to lapse again when all the stress of work, freelance work, driving lessons and whatnot got the better of me. I was meant to go back at the start of June, but missed the boat again. I miss training like crazy, not just because of the hot boys in their silk shorts, and I am hoping that my new self-imposed schedule will allow for some dedicated kicking time. I also haven’t run in far too long, with this flu still keeping me whipped, it’s unlikely that I will get out onto the road this week, but I am aiming for next week. Gotta do it before I go mad!

3. Getting some decent headway on the horror.
After a brief productive spell that saw me finish a chapter, I have sort of neglected my book. I did however have a few laptop crashes, and have actually been offline for a large chunk of the month, so I have an excuse ok! Still, writing a book is hard, and it requires minimal stress. It’s seriously hard trying to focus on your character and their untimely demise when you have other shit to think about, and the energy and effort it takes it different to any of the other writing I do. It almost feels like my subconscious is being sucked dry, the story and characters somehow come out of there fully formed, and I just have to concentrate to get them out and onto paper. That sounds wack, I know.

4. Shark diving!!
Aha, at last we are getting to the good stuff! This has been on the cards all year, but keeps getting put off due to pesky things like budgets and whatnot. I am starting to feel a major need to get this ball rolling though, how can I put a price on this sort of thing after all?! I have a few options that I’m pondering, one of which is white shark cage diving. I’m a bit iffy about this, out of all sharks, white sharks are my least favourite, and my biggest dream is to dive with hammerheads. Only thing is, they only do cage dives with hammerheads, and I just don’t think that would be good enough. I desperately want to freedive (meaning scuba, no cage or just snorkel) with hammerheads. The next best thing is freediving with makos or tiger sharks, which would both be faaar better than white shark cage diving, but of course the bestest best thing would have to be the hammerheads. Also, it’s damn expensive, which sucks. A mate of mine has spare gear, and has said he’ll take me diving, so depending on where the best hammerhead spots are, and what he reckons, maybe I can go with him. I don’t care how, I just want to dive with sharks, soon!

5. Home sweet home.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my flat, and I live in the best damn hood in the city. Only thing is, first of all I am starting to rethink my solitary lifestyle, and this will especially become an issue when I am working from home. Also, it’s getting damn expensive, and space-wise I am already finding it a bit small. I don’t have space for an office, which sucks. And the cats need a garden. So, I am frantically visualizing, as one does when one wants something (well, that’s what I do anyway), I want a nice little Victorian semi, with wooden floors, and pretty balcony, with a little courtyard garden, and high ceilings. I have been eyeing the cottages in my hood, will have to work on that visualization a bit I guess. Also, I guess I will have to then first think about potential housemate/s. This is a very, very tough one. I refuse point blank to live with my sister again, and anyway, she’s still doing the small town thing, or just about any of my mates. I think I could possibly consider a guy housemate, especially if he’s good at stuff like changing lightbulbs (I try, I really do, but I just can’t do that shit). He would also have to like, or at least not hate, pink, unless of course he’s gay, which could actually be pretty cool… although that would be just like a girl, so scrap that idea. I would have to be sneaky, and maybe (after checking potential housemate isn’t allergic) only tell them about the cats when they’ve signed on the dotted line. Any guy in his right mind should jump at the chance to live with me though, I make damn good ice-cream and I have a massive TV. Well, I can dream surely?!

You may have noticed that not once have I mentioned any more ink in my ‘to do’ list. That’s because I’m saving myself for the Tattoo Convention in January next year. It’s hard, but I’m learning to solve my problems without turning to the needle.

I can’t stop thinking about sharks now, the whole damn day I’ve been daydreaming about swimming with hammerheads. Sigh…