The Depression vacation - Seratonin has never looked so good...

Why am I depressed? I don't know. And I swear to god, if you ask me if it's my "time of the month", I may just have to retire my moral standing on violence. I'll blame it on the depression.

I do know, however, that sometimes it's hard to know how to react when someone you know has  depression. Scenes like that can be illustrated by picturing the expression of the face of a man-beast presented with a crying woman/child. At least, that's always how I imagine it.

It wasn't clear, at first that there was a problem. I can't remember how it started; but I do remember the first time I realised something was wrong. I woke up one day and realised that, through a process of various excuses and good use of procrastination techniques, I had managed to miss an entire week of lectures and tuts. I can't even remember what I did that week. 

Depression is a strange beast. The symptoms are so contrary that it can be excused as something else entirely - if you eat too much, or too little; if you sleep more than usual but wake up feeling tired, or suffer from insomnia; feeling fidgety/can't sit still, or else you move at a slower pace than usual. 

In my case, it's all the first ones, besides the last - fidgety, I am not. Once you know what the problem is, it is easier to deal with. I was ecstatic at the thought that the wet wool blanket constantly dragging me down wasn't just laziness. That the antisocial preference for the sticking my nose in a book, never to emerge; rather than the family friends over for dinner, wasn't the beginnings of agoraphobia. That I didn't have to worry as much about the conflicting feelings of the enjoyment of doing work for subjects such as Mandarin versus the tendency to mope around hating all the deadlines piling up around me like a cracked dam wall.

There was a huge sense of relief that took all the pressure off - it wasn't just me! This is all Seratonin's fault! Huzzah for antidepressants that made me feel like my organs were rattle-shaped and  in the hands of a very enthusiastic baby; but more importantly - that made me feel excited about things towards which I had previously only felt apathy.

There are two things I learnt very quickly, however:

1. Medication can only do so much
2. Food can only do so much 

I haven't really paid much attention to no. 2 though - I'm pretty sure I should now be a major stockholder in Nandos, Lays, Coca-Cola and any company that is selling chocolate products.

My social life is still a mess. I'm sorting out my university work, although it feels a lot like chasing dropped R200 note flailing around in the wind evading capture. My res room is STILL a mess, complete with unpacked boxes, an unmade bed, unknown amounts of takeaway-container debris, shoes and clothes. I still feel like a failure 5 days out of 7 - and the other two days are kinda hazy so I'm not too sure about those. I still feel the need to sleep until 10 (13:00 is my record). I still eat enough to feed a large, over-populated country. I still fall into slumps where I feel hopeless and resigned. I still cling to ridiculously stupid things that only serve to clutter up my life and my room. I still berate my traitorous body and mind for being so weak - for not fighting harder. I still don't know how to fix all the damage I've done to my life and those in it.

Every now and then, I wake up and the sky is overcast; everyone I meet coming down the stairs is hungover; Jacob Zuma did something dumb and the dininghall has run out of Bovril. Sometimes these are the days when I'll wake up feeling like I just had a vitamin B injected into my butt. These are the days where I do all my assignments in a couple of hours. The days when I wake up at 8am feeling refreshed. The days I love everything about myself. The days when I can sit on my window sill and stare at the view for hours in awe of the sky. Whatever the cause, these are the days that save me.

Because I sound like I swallowed five self-help books, I'm going to end off with a link to someone who expressed her depression in a far more satisfying way:
Hyperbole and a Half - Adventures in depression

A quick note (30/09/2012):
I'm far from being an expert - medical or otherwise - on depression; but I do know what it feels like, obviously. If you or a friend are going through this too, feel free to comment below, I'm really interested to know how others handle it...

I try really hard to be cool. Emphasis on the 'try'

Okay, so along with the hipster influence virus (yes, I do realise that spells HIV - how naughty of me) going around these days, I'm feeling way too much pressure. Peer pressure - the social STD. All the faux *cough lenseless* ray bans, the expensive, strategically torn jeans and the too large tank tops showing off that little hint of bra. Okay, I'm sounding spiteful, that's just my jealousy talking - all I wanna do is be one of the cool kids.

I'm not fashionable though - at best I'm a copy-cat. I like to think it's because I'm too much of an Everyman. Quick aside: If you don't know to what I'm referring when I say 'Everyman', go get some culture you heathen beast. <---see peer pressure, I just gotcha!

Getting back on track though. I feel like I have to try hard to be cool. And random. It honestly doesn't come naturally - I bet you didn't know that one. Being completely random in an ironic yet funny way is really hard, and I do try, but it's just sooooo much work damnit. The self-deprecating though, now that's a big ball of fun.

See...Even in this blog post, all I've done is be random about being random to get your attention and make you like me. Dear God please like me. You know all I want is your approval. And a couple hundred Facebook likes. And money. Actually, just money - you can just give me lots of money.

I was going to go about the attention-seeking another way though. I used to daydream about being an actress. I even took Drama to Matric. Then I realised how much effort it takes to be a 'Thespian' rather than merely just an uncultured fool in tights on a stage. I got over the effort. Definitely did not get over being the centre (okay FINE, slightly off-off centre) of attention.

I also got over the admin of sticking - and excelling in - one sport or hobby. In my long illustrious life, I have participated in no less than 50. This includes (but is not restricted to) hockey, diving, gymnastics, ballet, tapdancing, kickboxing, athletics, chess (dear GOD I was bad at that) art (now THAT I kick ass at) and many many more.

These days, I just give in and realise that my talents lie elsewhere. Namely watching my flavour-of-the-week series, eat constantly student-style (i.e. lots of fat, carbs and general crap), pick up some uni work, put it down again, and finally after a long internal debate ending in a resounding "Screw it" - order Nandos.

So basically I've just wasted 10 minutes (depending on your reading speed - you should really work on that) of your life that you will NEVER get back telling you that I'm uncool, unmotivated, uncomplicated, undedicated (I just made that a word, shut up) and lazy. Whatta day for revelations. You must be so proud Mom.

Love and peace my oh-so-(sometimes)-faithful peeps.
Comment on this post or die. I've been watching horrors this month so I have new torture techniques!
Okayluvyabyeeeee!

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Today This Girl dies of procrastination

...symptoms include: repetitive use of the phrase "I'll do it later/just now/tomorrow, etc.; sudden impulses to complete tasks other than the one you're currently worried about that you've been putting off; slight self-hatred and guilt.  

What a clichéd way to start a post after I've been gone for so long. I'm sorry. I should have put more effort in. After all, if I'm going to be skipping work to do a post, it might as well be a good one, right? Can't make any promises though - I've realised how useless I am in terms of consistency.

I’m not quite giving myself enough credit though. We’re about 3 weeks into a new year and term and I already feel like I’m keeping up with the workload. It just depends on your definition of ‘keeping up’. See, there are a couple; one is similar to going for a jog - you're pacing yourself and making good time. Another can be compared to all those American movies depicting a character racing frantically after a train, jumping on just before they would faceplant on the gravel. I don’t think that would work anymore though, I’ve become woefully unfit (a mere 1½ months away from my 21^st birthday). Plus those scenarios are completely ridiculous - why are those trains always so old fashioned anyway? I’m pretty sure that trains don’t have balconies on the back anymore these days… But I digress. 

I’ve been slaving over a desk in my little bat cave these past couple of weeks which mostly narrows down to me trying to stay abreast of the Chinese situation – a marginally successful endeavour.  When it comes to the social scene, however this year is BOSS.

In this case, on the weekends I join up with other people who have been working too hard and everyone just gets smashed. It’s so great. Seeing overworked schmucks getting more drunk than is wise and lunging at each other in misplaced lust (Friars – I’m talking about you, yes) is how I would imagine watching two drunken elephant-giraffe hybrids trying to hook up feels like. But we don’t judge here. Well, not to your face anyway.

To cheer everyone up, I have TWO glorious videos for you all to watch. One is Somebody I used to Know by Gotye:

The next one is the exact same song, but this group is just amaZING! Five people playing on one guitar; need I say more?

Somebody I Used to Know - Walk Off the Earth

By the way, whilst looking for the correct spelling of ‘schmuck’, I came across its definition – ‘the foreskin that is removed from the penis during a circumcision’. I’m not really quite sure how I feel about using that word anymore.

Today This Girl dies of Friday Poisoning and Boiled Goose

This is the D-Day stage my friends. University is never going to be as easy as some people make it out to be. And if it is - that's because they're not going to lectures, so they don't know what the load of work is like and SMACK! the exams hit them six-love. That's not to say they won't hit the rest of us for six, but I like to think we have a good chunk of wood strapped to our faces for when they do. Kinda like those kids in the old-school boarding days who put books or something in the sit of their pants so that the caning wouldn't hurt as much.

Gone are the days when lectures hall were full. Or even half full. And the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed keen beans from the beginning of the term scare you with faces straight from Grudge. To steal a phrase - most lovingly used here - shit went down. Although, to be fair, laziness is not the only reason for poor attendance. When you’re learning more from your weekly tutorials than in your lectures – you know something’s not quite right. I understand that we’re all adults now (ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) and that we’re supposed to be doing a lot of the work ourselves, but if I’m (ok fine, my parents) not paying them to teach me anything – then WHAT ARE THEY GETTING PAID FOR!!! We have a tutorial once a week for each subject, and our tutors are 2^nd, 3rd or 4^th year students, HOW am I learning more than in lectures which occur 4 times more during the week and are ‘taught’ by professionals?

Chinese is the exception though, I can actually have a fully-fledged conversation about the time and the weather. Yay, I can now participate in awkward small talk in Mandarin as well as English!    

Rebecca Black. Gave you cold shivers didn’t it.

Well, where to start – the lyrics were indescribable (in a very, very bad way), the casting for the video was atrocious (my word for the weekend – try use it as often as possible), the choreography and general layout of the video was...well there are lots of synonyms for ‘really, really, REALLY bad’ – let’s just apply that to the whole thing shall we. And as for the singing – use auto-tune much? Here’s a snippet of the lyrics – just don’t looks directly at them – eyeballs have been known to shrivel up and fall out.

Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?

It’s Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin’ down on Friday
Everybody’s lookin’ forward to the weekend

Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Partyin’, partyin’ (Yeah)
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Lookin’ forward to the weekend

Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today

Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after...wards
I don’t want this weekend to end

Yes, someone actually sat down to write these lyrics. Obviously they spent all the money on making the video and there was none left to hire a good lyricist.

Lastly - on a happier note – The Lonely Island have released a new single. Some may not be as excited about this though and say they’re as bad as Rebecca Black (BLASPHEMY!!!), but I LOVE them. There are just some things that are hard to express – things that no-one can put into words (mom, close your eyes). Presenting - I Just Had Sex by The Lonely Island:

These guys are legit. They're too legit. They're too legit to quit. Who else has succesfully gotten Jessica Alba, Blake Lively, Akon and John McEnroe all in the same music video? Not to mention singing with celebs such as Justin Timberlake, Natalie Portman, T-Pain, Adam Levine, Rihanna, Seth Rogan, Will Farrell and many more... Click on the following magical highlighted words to watch more: The Creep with Nicki Minaj and Boombox with Julian Casablancas, frontman of The Strokes. Now that's what I call winning.

Today This Girl Dies of a Stubbed Toe

The heading is pretty much self-explanatory...Well, it actually happened on Sunday, but you get the gist. The scene of the crime was my res room, and I was having a particularly messy weekend. Now I do want to iterate that so far I've been really good - I do my laundry once a week, I've been fairly consistent with dish washing, I vacuum every now and then, make my bed and make sure my work area's really tidy. Then this weekend struck and it was hell-in-a-handbasket personified. I had just done a load of laundry and, instead of folding it and putting it away, I dumped it near enough to my door that I had to step on the pile to get out the door. Either that or do a cool little maneuver to swing my way over. Yes, I know - don't look at me in that tone of voice - just plain idiot-tactics right there. To give myself a little leeway, it was 11pm and I was tired, I'd do it the next morning.

Next morning woke me up with the usual (see Today This Girl dies of boredom - opening sentence) and I tumbled towards the door to the bathroom. Coming back into my room, I opened the door, swung my left foot over the pile of clothes, swiped some away with my right foot when the door wouldn't close, and then promptly forgot that my right foot existed. That had to be it, I can't think of any other reason why I would have left my foot in the path of an oncoming door. The oncoming door corner. Right at the fourth toe of my right foot, it was like slow motion - faint screaming in my head, one of those Hollywood-tastic 'Nooooooooooooo!'s and then a rebound as the door hits the victim. Who knew something so small could contain so much pain.

Broken (at least in spirit, if not the actual bones) toes aside, how was your weekend? Mine was pretty surreal - Claire and I went out on Friday to a digs house-warming party. It was interesting to say the least. People drifted in and out of groups, dubbstepped in the little garage, waved around to some alternative in the massive lounge and drank some punch. Philip - a mutual friend of ours - was also floated to and fro; he actually came with us to the party in the boot of the car that took us there. Not an open boot, an actual closed off one. Ahh the joys of youthful weirdness. We all migrated to our local favourite eventually and from their things just went in a lazy spiral... Claire and I somehow attracted multitudes of people just wanting to talk to us that night. We felt quite popular, although one guy did go through his life story quite thouroughly...

Saturday was kareoke night at our res - full of ♪♫♪I've...had...the time of my liiife♪♫♪, it was AMAZING. Yes, I am one of those who need to be dragged away by the end of the night, NEVER a bad thing. Then we went to our local again, for ONE drink. We ended up staying til 1:30am after trying vainly to wait for some good musci to magically appear - that said, we still managed to work up quite a jam by the end of the night...

To end things off, I'm sending lots of good karma and luck to Japan for all the multitudes of reasons for which they need it - despite being rather self-absorbed, I do try to keep them in my thoughts at least once a day. Anyone notice the periods of time between natural disasters getting exponentially shorter? I'm just saying...