Nostalgic and Philosophical Ramblings

Just realised that 'Debate Pt II' down below was my 200th post and written almost 4 and a half years after my first one back in Department of Foreign Affairs. That's a long time by any standards though. I was tempted a few times to just give up on this, I think my record was almost 6 months with no updates at one stage. Glad I kept it though, reading back through it is always great fun, if bittersweet at times. I am no longer the fresh-faced 21 year old that started it, have travelled, lived and worked an awful lot since then. I was in a pissy mood about one thing or another a few days ago but then I just thought to myself, 'Fuck it Paul, you moved to the other side of the world, you relied solely on yourself for 9 months, you have criss-crossed the continent of South American twice, don't let something as trivial as this irritate you'. It actually worked and it got me thinking about the travelling again. Now I know most of you must be sick of me bringing it up but that Year away was possibly the most defining thing I have ever done in my life and I don't see anything coming close to it in the near future. I am just listening to a playlist made up of all the songs, mostly kiwi, that i associate with the trip away. None that famous, and some are actually quite crap but all remind me of certain times, people or places that I met or experienced.

A year is an awful long time to make memories and I have thousands that I find myself just sitting back and dwelling on, especially at times like this when i have an essay to write. Just wimple things like walking into the kitchen of the hostel after the gym with my rolls, protein shake and scrambled eggs. I can vividly remember the smell of the kitchen, the taste of the food, the fatigue from the gym, the comfort of knowing I had nothing really to do for the day. It might seem strange, considering how banal the memory is but that's actually one I come back to an awful lot, I was incredibly happy and content at that time, everything was going well and I did not have a care in the world. Looking back through it I also re-read a lot from the time I went to Maine on my own that summer. Even though there was several pretty extra-ordinary, exciting things that happened during that Summer there are others that stick out the most, drifting around on a lie-lo with lacy in the middle of an abandoned quarry lake, eating Ben & Jerries with Suzanne out in the barn watching Kung-fu movies.

So I suppose its just going to keep happening more and more as we get older (and we are getting older, something last weekend showed me) ie, the constant accumulation of memories; good times, bad times, opportunities missed, opportunities seized, friends made, lost, rediscovered. So for that reason I am going to be keeping this blog, and I think that others should restart theirs. What seems trivial today is could be a treasured memory tomorrow.