Perks of Being a Tyneesha: 22 & Clueless as Ever!

Hi! It feels like it’s been forever since I last wrote a little life update, but alas, here I am, scrolling through my camera roll, trying to recall what I’ve been up to. Here goes.

Coming back to Harry Styles…

Last time I wrote one of these posts (almost 3 months ago), I mentioned that I’d been looking forward to seeing Harry Styles. I am riveted to say that we did, in fact, see Harry Styles perform on one fine evening, and it was, of course, marvelous and feathery. Although I wrote a whole rant about the crowd behaviour, it is the biggest concert I’ve attended and the energy was so colourful and joyous that I can’t help but look back on it with love and excitement now. I also got to go with some of my absolute best friends. They live far away so any time with them is deeply cherished.

“It’s not Covid, but it’s not great!”

Shortly after the Harry Styles adventure, I fell rather ill. We had been squished into train carriages built for a third of the passenger space and jumping around in a sea full of unmasked Harries in the rain that night, so of course I’d expected another fateful round with Miss Rona. I was coughing and spluttering, sniffing and sneezing, snotty and sleepy. But when I received my PCR results, I lay in utter shock and disbelief. Somehow, I did not get covid again. I just had the most rancid and mysterious strain of the flu, and according to TikTok, so did a lot of other Love On Tour Sydney attendees.

Teenage Dads

At some stage last year, a good friend asked if I’d like to come to a Teenage Dads show with her. I can’t say I’d ever heard more than one song of theirs, but I figured there was time to fix that! I’m up for almost any gig I could think of because, aside from money, what is there to lose? You’ll probably have a great time, and hear some enjoyable music, and meet fun people. Worst-case scenario, you get a new story to tell about an incomprehensively shit gig. But this wasn’t one of those.

Teenage Dads was great – the energy of the crowd was high at Metro Theatre, that night way back in March. It restored my faith in concert etiquette, to be frank. I did somehow realise that I knew more of the opener’s songs than the main band’s, and some really wacky things went on involving a flamingo hat – but it was fantastic, I’m really glad I got to accompany my friend on her first big kid gigging experience.

Home for Easter

I made the courageous journey home to Dubbo for Easter this year, and as usual I made a 5 hour trip edge on closer to 10. A wave of uncontrollable whimsy came over me whilst driving through the mountains and, as a result, I spent almost two hours wandering around Katoomba. I was hunting for an ugly woolen grandpa jumper, and unfortunately I did not find one that I deemed adequate. But I found my new favourite pair of jeans, and a very cute dog, as seen below.

Whilst at home in Dubbo, I got the chance to see family and friends, including my newly engaged sister and her son, my quickly growing nephew. It was a pleasant break from how hectic work and uni has been.

My not-so-new job!

In my last update, I mentioned that I’d just been offered a media job at Women Illawarra, and I was very excited about it. I am so pleased to say that I am still very excited about it.

I go in one day a week and hang out with the office dog while I fiddle about with Canva, and it’s the best part of my week. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to get involved there; I find it extremely rewarding and enjoyable which I’m aware is a fantastic thing to say about a work environment when you’re a 22-year-old undergraduate just trying to make rent every week.

Last week I got to photograph their highly anticipated Fundraiser event, and will probably spend the next few days sifting through and editing the enormous mound of images I snapped.

And it was a cat!

I also mentioned last time that I’d recently moved into a new house. I really enjoy it there, so much so that it makes up about 90% of my Instagram dumps now. It gets the most beautiful light at certain times of the day, and I genuinely get excited to come home after my day, to the stillness of it. My housemates are lovely and the vibes are good.

We faced one disruption to the peace, though.

A few weeks ago, I started hearing a scratching sound coming from the ceiling in my room. It stressed me out a bit because we’d recently come across a mouse, so I had vermin on my mind. Thankfully, I eventually discovered that I do not have rats on my roof, but a sleek little black cat that hangs around in our backyard. Perfect for mice management. All is well.

I said I didn’t want to shoot weddings but…

When I was first learning the ropes, so to say, with photography, I started out taking photos of Kitchens. A joinery place in Dubbo was setting up a website, and I used to write copy and take promotional photos for them.

The first time we went around taking photos of the different Kitchens they’d built, it was the owner of KRC, myself, and his childhood friend Anna Tenne who is a fairly famous professional wedding photographer. At some stage in the following years, she quit wedding photography. I remember her telling me it was all too much pressure.

You can’t re-do the shot if you miss something at a wedding. People are really particular about their big day, and it can be very stressful as a photographer in that environment. I used to say I didn’t want to shoot weddings, for that reason. But a photographer buddy of mine, Sammie, kindly asked me to be her second shooter for a wedding she’s booked next month, and of course, I happily jumped on board. So when the day comes, that will be fun!

Is this the 22 feeling Taylor Swift was talking about?

Last week I had the pleasure and honour of marking myself one year older! You might recall that last year’s birthday celebrations were rather hectic and resulted in a bad second run-in with coronavirus. This year was more relaxed, but just as enjoyable.

I went to work on my birthday, but at my fun job, and the ladies were really sweet. They brought me a cake and made me a milo and sang me happy birthday. At the end of my day, I went home, had a cute little dinner with my housemates and some close friends, did some crafts and sat down for my 13th yearly screening of 1995 box office hit ‘Clueless’. It was as entertaining as every other viewing, except about 20% more funny because I was wine drunk.

On Thursday night, my housemates and I had Thai food for dinner; something I’ve been meaning to try for a while, but needed a good recommendation from trusted Thai-eaters. I am happy to report that I do, in fact, like Thai food.

To top it off, last weekend, I dragged my dear friends out to my favourite bar – a night full of fireball- apple juice, high-intensity rounds of connect 4 and hours of non-stop dad rock. I had a really great time getting older, and I’m so thankful that I got to do it alongside such lovely people.

My annual winter sook

With all this good news and borderline bragging, I feel it’s time to make room for complaint. So here it is. IT’S TOO DARN COLD. I’m not okay with it. Every single thing is less enjoyable when it’s cold outside, except staying in bed, which gets boring and inconvenient quickly. Remember to check on your winter-intolerant friends. We’re going through things.

Some recommendations!

As a reward for making it to the end, I want to send you off with some recommendations. Here are some of my current favourite things that you should listen to/watch/read/do, et cetera.

Listen:

Billie Marten. I mentioned her music in my last blog post, but she’s recently put out an album and I am a tad obsessed with it. Highly recommend.

Watch:

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. I haven’t actually started watching it yet, but t got released on Netflix the other day and I am very excited about it. I absolutely adored Bridgerton, and I love a well-done prequel. Also, watch out for The Hunger Games prequel.

Read:

My housemate lent me her copy of Seeing Other People by Diana Reid a while ago. I’m only halfway through, but it’s honestly the easiest and most enjoyable reads I’ve had in the last few years. I’m not much of a casual reader, but when I feel like it, I’m almost always one to reach for The Bell Jar or some Virginia Woolf text that I’ve been over 5 times before. I forgot that reading doesn’t have to be so existential. Highly, highly recommend.

Eat:

Zucchini. My TikTok page is full of Zucchini-themed recipes and they all look delectable. I have made nothing particularly inventive as of late, but coming into the harsh winter months, it’s the least I deserve to get me through this long, cold winter.