ally's journal

happy new year:) let's hope 2007 is a year filled with love, peace and peas. and those lovely soya beans i got addicted to in japan. boil, add salt and serve with a large dollop of beer. delicious:) ah, i forgot their name. it'll come back to me i'm sure. it's my resolution to eat more of them this year. well i've been pretty busy lately and enjoying myself a bit (or far, depending on how debauched your lifestyle is) too much. last night i noticed that so many people (including me) at the gig looked pasty, washed out, had bad skin and tired looking eyes. we've all been partying too hard if you ask me. i have been too i suppose, but come monday i'll be right back on track. i hope. i'm really happy with how the gig went last night at a venue i've never played before in town. i've been feeling a bit down about gigs lately; the last couple i didn't think were so great and i was beginning to regress to the old days of playing when i'd retreat into my shell and my confidence would be very low. but last night i felt like my newer self and chris and i played a decent set that was well received. at least three people danced, i heard someone laugh and there was a whistle. i'm happy with that. here's a photo from last night..



there's a few things bubbling and brewing that i'm pretty excited about so maybe they'll come to fruition. it's a time to get organised and i did that on new year's eve. out with the old and in with the new. out went lots of possesions i never use or look at - school diaries, a planet of the apes figure, a box of asprins expiry date 2002, a broken camera, a balinese figurine. i remember seeing a film with robert de niro, maybe it was called 'heat', i'm not sure, but he said he always wanted to be able to leave a place with everything he owned in thirty seconds. or was it thirty minutes? i can't remember but i think that keeping life simple and not having too much stuff is good. i saw a programme on tv about japanese architecture and minimalism in design. it's very true with me that if i'm in a cluttered place i feel very cluttered mentally and i can't think clearly. this japanese house in tokyo really looked great to me coz it was so minimalistic and there was a level on the top floor with just a bath in the middle of the room and a hole cut out of the ceiling where sunlight/rain/snow/sun/bird droppings would flood in. the owner would just lie in the bath with his suntory beer and his book. that really appeals to me, but then i do like homely things too. just not clutter. i get ratty and irritable when i'm surrounded by mess or no space to move.

wow, what a tangent. anyway, i've got an a-z folder and i'm getting organised with my papers etc. new year, new start. my dad is very organised and i'm sure he'll be happy with my approach. "information retrieval" that's the key he always says. and he's always right:)

edamame beans, that's them!