So many harlem shakes, not enough time

The Harlem Shake - MEC Australia

I love my job. Spot me on the bottom left!

Gone viral. Back in 30 seconds.

I love me my viral videos. For anyone who hasn't yet seen the harlem shake, get on it! Here's a collection of my absolute faves. You are welcome!

Love, Noeline
xox

This full stop was brought to you by copy-paste

You know you need a new macbook when you've exhausted the full stop button. It was a good run, though. We've been through a lot.

I drafted my essays for the HSC on this thing. It was so long ago that they don't even call it the HSC anymore. It went with me to Spain and back, and processed every single university assignment I ever did.

Since my last blog I've shopped in Singapore, snorkeled in Koh Phangnan, rode an elephant in Phuket, and consumed a crocodile pie during a road trip to Byron Bay. This was shortly followed by force feeding myself an emu pie. 

It was one of those instances where you do something for the satisfaction of your future self, rather than scolding your past self for not just having done it. Because really, when's the next time you'll get to eat an emu pie? Exactly.

Today was also my first day at my new job. So say hello to the Strategy & Insight Analyst at one of the world's leading media agencies! 

After all the heartache and drama of job hunting, after waves of renewed hope, followed by relapses of self doubt - it all made sense. God was saving me from positions I was settling for, so that I could have my dream role later. The kind of role I was prepared to work at for years before branching off and getting promoted into.  

I feel truly blessed now I can invest most of my energy doing something I'm passionate about; instead of going home tired from work, and waking up exhausted from all nighters just so I could keep up with uni work.

I feel blessed because I turned down a promotion from my old job - the salary of which would have been substantially more than what I make now. I had the luxury of choosing happiness over money, and I feel blessed for having the mind to choose the former.

I hope 2013 is as good to everyone else as it has been for me. Even if it means going through a few rough patches first.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and good night!

Love, Noeline
xox

 

Pain is love when it comes to shoes

If a girl describes a pair of heels as comfortable, still does not mean she could stand and walk and run and dance in them without, at some point, feeling like she's about to die.

It means that they're the least uncomfortable pair of heels. They're comfortable within a frame of discomfort.

And despite being the shoe of choice, stiletto heels were made for a utopian world of even surfaces. As a Sydney girl, I analyse the landscape based on 'holy shit, that street would be a bitch to walk up in heels.' And then there is the fear of getting your heel stuck in between the paving. So you're constantly analysing your environment and feeling nothing as sassy or sexy and empowering as wearing heels is supposed to.

I love a good pair of 'comfortable' heels. But nothing beats walking as fast as you actually want to go.

Just to demonstrate the power of shoes, despite everything I've just said, they are still a major weakness of mine (along with oversized bags and chunky necklaces). Whether they be heels or flats - breaking into shoes is the ultimate love-hate relationship. You wear them in until they're comfortable, wear them out to the point or irreparable repair, find another love and the painful cycle starts all over again.

Love, Noeline

P.S. If the ultimate love-hate relationship in your life is a human being you should probably get that checked out.

How to make people think you studied journalism

How to make people think you studied journalism?
1. Own a blog.
2. Write in it. Moderately. In sentences. With paragraphs. Avoid smiley faces and keep photos to a minimum :)

I wasn't even a degree hopper. One of those people who stopped and started different courses depending on whether or not they felt like pursuing happiness or money - whichever one it happened to be at the time.

It used to infuriate me that the very people closest to me could never remember at least one of the two degrees I studied.

Oh yeah, journalism! Right?

After more than five years of correcting people, I've finally learned to take it as a compliment. So I'm a blogger. They think of me as a writer. I'll take that.

But little do people realise that a writer's insight can actually be used for more things than, well, writing.

Advertising is one of them. I studied a communications degree and majored in advertising because I've always been interested in the ways society and people think, intrigued with how they're continually changing, and excited because it means there's always something new to discover. People underestimate the amount of research that goes into making campaigns as resonant and meaningful as they are (or aren't... in which case they probably didn't do enough research).

At the same time, I've always loved art. And I think you can appreciate advertising in a similar combination of aesthetics, strategy and politics.

For similar reasons I also took up International Studies, because I love learning about different cultures and immersing myself in them. With this degree I was able to learn a new language and spend what will undoubtedly have been the best year of my life on exchange in a foreign country where it was spoken. It was great because I hate being complacent and almost need to live outside of my comfort zone - not just in terms of travel, but professionally.

In a position I thought would be better filled by a business or economics student - I recently got a new job in the finance sector. I know nothing of the stock market or share trading. Yet I was hired for my writing skills in the editing of material sent out to clients.

Same thing happened two years ago. Before working for a telco, I knew nothing about mobile technology. I couldn't tell you the difference between 3G and 4G, the value in a GB, or whether a higher or lower MHz frequency is better for your signal. But all my experience in clothing retail meant I could talk. I could sell, I was personable and knew how to build rapport.

All this reminds me of an opinion piece I came across on AdNews. "By having a hunger for personal development, focusing on how skills learnt in other industries are transferable, and an employer looking to diversify their skill base, anything is possible."

Having a specialisation is great. But dynamism and adaptability are two extremely important, undervalued assets that I think more employers need to embrace - especially in the industries that pride themselves as supposed risk takers.

DDB: Why not? Idea

Hi DDB,

'Why not?' ideas? I have them all the time when people say I over think things.

Like the time I wanted to see what Satanism is really all about: http://love-noeline.blogspot.com.au/2009/08/enigma.html

Or the time I questioned the difference between dating someone exclusively, as opposed to being their actual girlfriend/boyfriend: http://love-noeline.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/dating-on-difficult-mode.html

Or the time I asked people what constitutes a bad kiss and who’s to blame: http://love-noeline.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/ingredients-for-bad-kiss.html

Or the time I researched why people pose for photos the same way every. single. time. Turns out it's a mental illness: http://love-noeline.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/good-side-bad-side.html

I’m passionate about blogging because it gives me a platform for deconstructing the things we take for granted to an appreciative audience.

In the words of Albert Einstein, "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."

I've got plenty more curiosity where this blog came from, and I hear you guys are into consumer insights. So why not hire me and help an aspiring suit put it to good use?

Cheers, Noeline

From one milestone to another

 

This arrived in the mail today. So it's official. I'm part of the Golden Key International Honour Society for being in the top 15% of my university cohort.

As thrilled as I should be, I'm petrified. By mid November I'll have graduated.

But I'm already feeling the pressure of having to make something of myself. After all, what good are a bunch of scholarships and awards if I can't make it in the 'real world'?

For the first time in a long time, I don't know where I'll be this time next year and quite frankly, it's scaring me.

When people asked what I do for work, I grew accustomed to the comfort of being able to tell people I hadn't finished my studies yet. In other words "back off, I'm not a failure (yet)" - while at the same time telling myself I'll worry about finding a job when the time comes for it.

So here I am, no more emotionally prepared than I was at the start of my double degree.

I always knew I was getting myself into a competitive industry - but I didn't expect it to be so heartless either. I guess I'm all the more disheartened due to some drama that happened a few weeks back. I got a job at an agency I highly respected and admired, only to have it taken away from me in the most deceitful, unprofessional way.

To make things worse, I had given up my internship at another, smaller agency for this very position. An agency who were offering me a full-time job after university were I to stay on with them.

I was flung back to square one.

I was distraught. For the first time in my life, I experienced symptoms of heartbreak women usually go through because of men. I cried until it hurt to keep my eyes open, and I'd surrender myself to a deep sleep. I lost my appetite and fell into a sob whenever someone asked me how I was doing.

Those few days I spent hating life, the world went on without me. And that's the thing. The world doesn't slow down to comfort anybody. So with a bruised ego I got up and asked myself, what can I take away from this in order for me to move on?

No contracts were signed so there's no point pushing a case of 'he-said-she-said'. Next time, I will
sign a contract before quitting my current job. It was a hard lesson. But at least I learnt it young. At least I wasn't older, with bills and a mortgage at stake, nor a family to support.

Lesson two: it hurt because it mattered to me. Because I wanted it. People go through mid-life crises asking themselves if they chose the right path for them - is this what I really want? It was a hard lesson, but it was self-affirming in that at least I know this is where I want to be.

Lesson three: shit happens. And there's no point being embarrassed about it. So you lost a job you kind of never had. The people who care about you just want you to be happy.

So here's to hoping everything works out okay as I try making it alive from one milestone to another.

Love, Noeline
X

Dating on difficult mode

Turns out I've been playing the dating game without knowing the basic controls.

I only just discovered that being exclusive with someone is NOT the same thing as being their girlfriend. In fact, they're two completely different levels. I've compiled a step-by-step guide of the relationship memo that seems to have missed me all of the nine years I've been dating.

1. Dating and still being able to see other people
2. Exclusively seeing each other
3. I wouldn't tell people you're my girlfriend, I'd say you're my girl
4. OK, now you're my girlfriend
5. Partners
6. Husband and wife

The last time I used the word 'partner' was in kindergarten, and it referred to the guy you had to hold hands with in line. Pointing this out to a friend, suddenly I was the one over analysing things!

I feel like all these different stages complicate relationships for the sake of complicating relationships.

And apparently, it doesn't necessarily need to be made known when the relationship is transitioning from one level to the other. Apparently, it "happens naturally." ARE YOU BOTH MIND READERS OR SOMETHING? I'm sorry, but could you maybe wave a flag when we're onto the next one? Just so I know?

And also, since you never actually asked me to be your girl, and since you have no intention of asking me to be your girlfriend should that holy grail of a day ever come, are you ever going to ask me to marry you? Or should I just expect to wake up married one day?

If a guy were to come up to me in a club and ask if I had a boyfriend, I'm not going to waste a single breath shouting about how it's complicated, because it would sound a little like this: "YOU SEE, WE'RE TOGETHER BUT NOT TOGETHER. HE WOULDN'T WANT ME GIVING MY NUMBER TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU, OR ANYONE ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. SO BASICALLY, HE WANTS TO OWN ME WITHOUT HAVING TO WORK FOR IT. BECAUSE WE'RE NOT THAT SERIOUS, YET, I THINK. BUT HE LIKES ME, HE REALLY REALLY LIKES ME."

Then imagine if that guy asked you to repeat what you just said. His jam came on halfway through and got distracted. And it's funny because some guys have as much fun defining the different degrees of a relationship as much as the next girl. Like casually naming every single bone in the body and going, "Oh, didn't you know that?"

Fuck. That. Shit. Get over yourselves. Seriously.

Am I with someone or am I not with someone? That's all I want to know. Is that so much to ask? And why did no one tell me about this earlier!

Thoughts?

Love, Noeline
X

Overthink and underachieve

Compare yourself to the right people and you can find ways to make yourself feel like both an underachiever and overachieve.

I find it flattering when people think I've achieved a lot for my age. But their compliment gets swept up in my thoughts of other people. People my age with careers earning close to six digits. People with houses and cars and actual independence. People with jobs chasing after them while I beg to get free work experience.

Then there's other people way older than me, still trying to figure out what makes them happy.

The question we should all be asking ourselves is whether or not we feel like we've done okay given our own personal circumstances. Only then we can finally start to give ourselves credit, or at least confront us into reevaluation.