Turn it off, turn it off, turn the radio off..

… Try thinking for yourself for once in your life! Sorry, guys, not implying that anyone is a mindless zombie. I’ve just had that song (by Reel Big Fish) stuck in my head all day. Actually, now that I’m on the topic – do you ever listen to the radio? I rarely, if ever, do. In my car I either have a CD playing, or my ipod plugged in. Radio is not a medium I enjoy at all, really. I hate the inane talking, the constant advertising, the bad music – or music that I only like when I’m drunk in a club. Music engineered for the top 40 isn’t something I’m generally into. I mean, yes, there are songs on it that I do like, or bands that I enjoy. But my favourite bands are not really something you’d find on the radio, with the possible exception of John Butler Trio, who don’t get much top 40 play here really. I like fun bands – The Sneaks, The Mint Chicks, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (playing in Auckland on the 26th! I’m so excited). I like music with a bit of conscience to it, an awareness of current issues – NoFX, John Butler Trio. Some music just massively appeals to me: Arcade Fire, Sophie Koh, Architecture in Helsinki. Actually, speaking of top 40 hits, Mandy Moore does an incredible cover of Umbrella by Rihanna. I was not a fan of the original, and I love this version of it.

So, having a blog is harder than I thought it’d be. Excellent as I am at rambling in real life, I find it tough on the internet! Rest assured, I will try hard. I just can’t promise I’ll get better at it!

I went back to work Monday; it was so nice to be back in my routine, not to mention my air-conditioned office. I have two jobs at the moment, and should be winding up at my morning one in the next few days. I’m so stupidly excited about this, only having one job is going to be such a treat. I’m also looking forward to going back to uni – not for another, oh, seven weeks or so, but I can’t WAIT. I’m so over it just after exams, particularly last semester’s lot. They were hellish. But after about three or four weeks I get bored of not always having something to do, or not learning new things. I think my first semester is going to be really awesome this year: I’m taking a couple of politics papers which look awesome, Major Political Thinkers and International Policy. I’m also hoping to do a directed study comparing and contrasting different works of Voltaire, and in B semester I’m taking a Human Rights Law paper. I’m such a geek, I get so excited about my papers at uni. I just love to learn new things, and at this point in my degree (my fifth, and final, year) I’m more certain of what that is. I’m thinking at the moment that I’d like to head toward criminal prosecution. Despite what most people would think, most law students I know want to work for the big corporate firms, which would only ever defend criminal charges. Environmental law is also big here, but corporate law is the big one. I don’t want to be a lawyer for the money. I want to know that I’m doing some good, helping to bring criminals to justice. I’m probably one of the few law students who, at this stage in their degree, still believe in justice. You very quickly learn justice has very little to do with the law – most people already think this actually – but despite this, I’m passionate about doing something to help. Yes, I could spend my life helping people buy and sell property and get divorced, and make a shitload, but that’s not what I’m about. Fuck it. This is not about the money, the nice house, the BMW. This is not about flashy courtroom appearances (not that you’d get away with that in NZ anyway), or a reputation, or prestige. If I spend my whole life never earning more than $40,000 a year, at least I’ll know I helped. Up myself as this sounds, I know that I’m intelligent. I wasn’t given my brains so I could take advantage of people by charging them $100 just to make a phone call, plus another $50 for the time it took to get my thinking back on track. Yes, this actually happens in major firms. I was given my brains so I could help, and by god, that’s what I’m going to do.