And if our God is with us, then what could stand against,

And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us,

And if our God is with us, then what could stand against,

Then what could stand against.

- lyrics from ”Our God” -

This pretty much explains my life right now.

Much like the weather today, it was November in Australia hot and muggy. I was staying with a housemate (pictured above) and her parents in a small town outside of Brisbane.  With little to no money in my pocket, she suggested having a small breakfast and going to see a bit of Brisbane and potentially stop by an inexpensive place to eat.  I’m not a picky eater.  Not in the least bit. And being low in funds, I was up for a good meal with a small price. 

Set cafeteria style, the assembly line was filled with the sweet and spicey smells of all the different assortments of food from India.  Being curious as to why they named it Govinda’s (really its Govinda’s Vegetarian Restuarant) I set out on a small quest for the answer.  My research yielded; Govinda was another name for the god Krishna in his former life/form.  The rest of the research moves way beyond my understanding, therefore it is safer that I don’t try to explain it to you. You’d understand if you knew how bad I am with explaining things I don’t fully comprehend.  Back to the food.  You got a tray, silver plate and let the servers on the opposite side of the line know what you wanted.  Since I’m not picky, and at that time, I was super hungry I went for almost everything; rice, garbonzo beans, chic peas, curry, cucumber salad and more things I wasn’t sure what it really was.  The drink was some sort of fruit drink (I’m not sure if it was cordial or not) and the desert, which I tried to replicate when I returned home (to NC) was like a custard with CHOCOLATE CHIPS!!. It was warm and it definately was the ‘icing on the cake’.  I miss Govinda. and my lovely housemate who took me there.

If you happen to live in Australia, or are heading to Brisbane, check out Govinda’s. It’s on Elizabeth Street. It shares the same building with a dance/yoga studio, so don’t let the stairs intimidate you!!!

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Of course, you could get seconds if you wanted. I didn’t need any.

Ok Ok, you got me, the title did give it away….

SHE LET ME TAKE PHOTOS ON HER HOLGA CAMERA!!! I believe she has the basic holga? not the Diana or Fish eye or something rather.  She had came to visit because it was a friends birthday, so all of us were celebrating.  She taught me about the film, how to open it, start the roll insert the roll into the camera and everything.  It was pretty cool, not going to lie.  I miss my first camera, It was a basic Kodak film camera with the film that had the ‘two ears’. I dont know how else to explain it. I miss film also because, you get a surprise when you get the photos developed. I feel today, we in general are so preoccupied with making sure we liked the picture, and looking at the picture and taking more JUST to be sure there’s a shot.  Vanity.

Needless to say, she finally went to get the photos develeoped and found out alot of them did not come out the way she had hoped.  They came out dark.  Her Holga does not have a flash and all the pictures were taken indoors, at about 7 p.m. in January. Which means it was pretty dark. Additionally there was low lighting in the room we were in.  Hopefully I’ll get my hands on digitized versions of the better pictures and do an update post.

Reguardless, I still wouldnt mind taking photos with a Holga again. Especially since its spring time.

Don’t believe me? read for yourself!  Odwalla\’s 100% Plant Bottle

With all that said, I encourage all to pick up an amazing bottle of the Pomegranate&Lime blend. It tastes just like summer!!

By the way, the have a really cute website (make sure your volume is on).

squirrels, ” you dont have to be afraid to fall in love”, meetings, icecream, more purple nail polish, early mornings, pillow nostalgia, millions of pages of reading, sunshine, more meetings, less sleep, flowers, Bradford Pear Trees, early morning serenades from the song birds in the tree outside of my window, extra time spent in coffee houses, crisp salads, moments that I want to give up but refuse to give in,glitter, getting closer to summer with every night I put my head on my pillow, patience, organizing, plotting, planning, wishing, thinking, growing, pictures, pictures, pictures, colors, sweet smells, loud sounds, desire, optimisim, Coco Rosie’s ‘Werewolf’, sneezing, knowing that an energy drink really is not the best option, new places, re-evaluating, dreaming.

Please feel free to stay longer than 1 day.  I really have missed your company.  Warm Sunshine, my toes have missed you too, it feels good to put on a pair of sandals and soak up your rays. Gentle Breeze, you remind me a a sweet dream, gentle and complimentary to the sunny day.

Please come back soon. I miss you.

Love,

Keisha

But

It in fact, has turned out to be a productive day.  After a brief study group for an upcoming midterm, I found my way back to my room, cat napping, then making my way to one of the few local (and independent) coffee houses. 

There is something about the light jazz music,  incoherent chatter people, mingled with the hum of the refrigerator, clanking sounds of the kitchen and brew masters brewing away that makes it easy to be productive.  Not to mention, the tasty hot drink I ordered.  hazelnut + chocolate + 2 shots of espresso(?)= Baci.

I obviously have to take the whole ‘moving away from caffeine’ idea in careful increments.  This seems to work absolutely fine for me.

It’s going ok. I think I’m still in the realm of  ‘healthy’ food more than ‘organic’ food. (but trying does count).  Additionally, I’ve decided to also rid myself of caffeine. I’ve found, that when I do, I still concentrate just as much if not more because I know that I didn’t have coffee that morning or some other form of caffeine.  On the other hand, I tend to get sleepier sooner and have to take naps.

I did indulge this sunday in a cup (1 mug) of coffee because the caffeine withdrawal headaches were non stop. So, I’m reverting to less caffeine intake so that I won’t have to put up with the headaches. 

wish me well.

I have been doing a good load of school work and other miscellaneous things before my very last college spring break. It’s a bittersweet symphony.  I won’t graduate until this winter, but still, spring break was kind of a big deal my first year at school. Two close friends and myself decided to go traditional and spend a day or two at the beach.  My second year, I think I worked over my break, or maybe I stayed home.  I can’t really remember.  Last break was my first alternative spring break and this one coming up will be my last.

Aside of that, I havent posted any pictures in my blog because my external harddrive is in the computer hospital.  It jumped off my desk onto the concrete infused tile floor of my dorm. I had a minor panic episode for all of about 2 minutes before I entered complete dispair. So now, I’m awaiting the doctor’s notes. again, that word patience.

This week has been going by pretty painless in comparison to my fear of a painful week. I can’t wait for thursday because I have no class on friday which means, an extra day in the weekend. yay me.