Everything I say is STILL being <> bananas.

EPISODE 200: THE VERY END OF CJ CURRY

So, folks, this is it. I'm about to finish my undergraduate degree, barring any ridiculously unforeseen Honours acceptances. As such, this is the last episode of the CJ Curry Experience. Ever. That's it. Finis. Finito. Over. Done. Insert other adjectives here.

I've already done a look back at my college life, ten introductions, a million references to aeroplanes, and just as many retcons. For now, I'm just going to say what I'm thinking as I finish this blog for good.

I started this blog as a channel for my ridiculosity, the stupid stuff that ran through my head but I never actually said out loud. Something to do in first year of uni that wasn't homework, hanging out with my friends at college, or waiting for an instant message for four hours. Something free that conserved my money, and was also an outlet for all my crazy.

Thankfully, this blog has served that last purpose quite admirably. I say "thankfully" because it most likely kept a semblance of sanity around me. Possibly. I can't say how much I needed this blog at times, particularly in 2012 (which was decidedly NOT the Year Of The CJ, like I thought it would be). But as of next month, I will have erased all traces that I was ever here in Bundoora, and I'll have moved on. Time for me to begin something different, kickstart a new chapter of my existence.

Seems that this blog has seen almost everything under the sun, short of my subconscious. Most seasons have included a news post, an Engrish post, a couple of other serious posts, and many references to aeroplanes, bicycles and cheese. The evolution of this blog is a good example of how I've evolved as a person (I stop short of saying "matured" because I'm still not quite sure if that has happened). More importantly, it's the longest project I've kept up, and the longest almost-purely-textual account of my life ever.

Two things are worth mentioning here. One is Charles Schulz' statement, through Charlie Brown's mouth: "Security is sleeping in the backseat of the car when you’re a little kid, and you’ve been somewhere with your mom and dad… and it's night time. You’re riding in the car and you can sleep in the back seat and you don’t have to worry about anything. Your mom and dad are in the front seat and they’re doing all the worrying. They take of care of everything... But it doesn’t last. It doesn’t last. Suddenly, it’s over – and you don’t get to sleep in the back seat of the car anymore."

Another is this picture feels-trip here.

I want to share some numbers with you. Numbers tell a thousand words.

• 704 - the number of geocaches I have found in a few short months.
• 11,283 - the number of songs in my music library.
• 55 ± 5 - the number of owls I have amassed.
• 365 - the number of days I kept up my 365 project.
• 50 ± 5 - the number of T-shirts I own.
• 600 ± 15 - the number of days of class I have had since the beginning.
• 11 - the number of Nightwalks mixed, ready and waiting.
• 35 - the number of exams I have had at uni.
• 1372 - the number of days I was a college student.
• 200 - the number of times we have visited Curryland.

Finally, I wish to share a few thoughts and memories from my fairytale:

• My first room at college, and being told "welcome home".
• My first O Week, and easily my best.
• Watching the Ashes until stupid o'clock and only missing out on a handful of deliveries.
• Slightly drunk escapades throughout my first year.
• The award that decided my entire future at college.
• Nazi Zombies and Mario Kart in my second room.
• Mixing music together and forming a tight community with 12C.
• The award that kickstarted my self-esteem, ego, and arrogance (albeit controlled, limited, and with a huge clock hung on it).
• That one Thursday that things fell apart, and were glued back together almost instantly.
• A day in high summer when I answered over 70 lockout calls.
• Summer at college, with friends and Wii gaming in the flat and working at Menzies.
• My first custom-built PC, and Borderlands and lots of it.
• Many many times with my Study Support crews - all three of them.
• Masterchef. So much amazingness.
• Constant cricket.
• The wisdom teeth snafu.
• Isidore.
• Heaps of time spent on the hill, especially in summer.
• The disappointment that probably eventually meant more to me than a hundred acceptances.
• A second summer in the flat, and Big Day Out in the meantime.
• Summer nights spent being generally awesome.
• Late nights in the company of people who inadvertently taught me so much about myself and my green hair.
• That winter spent with so much of my own mind.
• Extra Life and all its glory.
• Finally leaving behind an empty room.
• Settling in Bundoora.
• Spending one final summer holiday geocaching and volunteering and going out all night. Getting that lifestyle of "That's another night gone, gonna head on home, and we'll do it all again tomorrow" in the meantime.
• Blue hair and an unexpected consequence thereof.
• Final year project and finally securing myself where I wanted to be, only to have it crash in on me in just thirteen days.
• A mystery very happily solved, and another Extra Life survived intact.
• And now... moving out again. Gypsy blood is in me, I swear.

I wish to thank everyone involved in this five-year project. I may return to blogging in some form or another... but CJ Curry is retiring. I wish him well, on his island paradise of Curryland - no doubt he's sitting on a deckchair by the beach drinking freshly squeezed orange juice out of a tall glass with ice and one of those cute little tropical umbrellas at sunset on a 28° day. Lucky fucker.

---

uh oh it's time to go, count down the hours slow

how many times did i say 'this will never end'

i walked the road with you, still feels like it's brand new

and every moment that we shared, laugh or cry, i was there

my friends, i have to say our paths will surely drift away

but i live for the here and now, and i know i need to thank you

for every joke you've told, a warm smile when the weather's cold

and any time i needed anything, you were always here

and now i stand here watching the clothes grow small on you

i stand in line and wait for the world to follow true

they say all things come to pass, and old friendships turn to dust

and while we've had some fun...

i say the best is yet to come.

--From a seemingly forgotten tune called Don't Make This The End, by a seemingly forgotten band called Return From Switzerland

---

Goodbye.