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I haven't blogged in yonks I don't think, so here is another stream of thoughts that I've had over the last few weeks.

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Yesterday was Monday. I thought it was Friday.
Today is Tuesday. I thought it was Saturday.
Tomorrow will be Wednesday. And I'll most likely think it's Sunday.

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I went to Macquarie University today for the Macquarie School's Cup. It's a debating tournament with 3 knockout rounds and then a final between the 2 highest scoring teams. We were told the topics for each round, but not whether we were affirmative or negative. I personally was also told that we weren't allowed to pre-write speeches for both affirmative and negative for all 3 rounds and just read them out. I was told that you couldn't take any pre-written material into the prep room or into the debate itself. So although I researched and took my notes today, I didn't write out my speeches pre-hand because I thought I wouldn't be able to remember them and re-write them in the prep room anyway. This turned out to be false information. I could have written my speeches for each side for each debate at home and not have to stress today gahh.

These were the debates and the teams we versed:

Round 1 - Negative: That the federal government should take over health policy from the states (Tangara)
Round 2 - Affirmative: That Australia should only provide foreign aid to countries that implement environmentally sustainable policies (Tangara, but a different team)
Round 3 - Affirmative: That juries should have a say in the sentencing of criminal cases (De La Salle)

In round 1, Tangara had a stronger case, but their model contradicted with their case, it would have been a more appropriate model for us to use. We lost.
In round 2, I thought we had a stronger case because Tangara put words in our mouths when they were rebutting and went completely off topic. As a result, I hate Tangara. Everyone does. But they spoke better, and the adjudicator was a nong. We lost.
In round 3, we didn't have the best of cases, but we had a better case, and a more confident one than De La Salle. We don't know if we lost or won, because, being the final round, there was meant to be a sense of suspense as to whether your team has made the final. I assume we won though, 'cause the opposition had the unfair advantage of a UNI law student as 3rd speaker.

Today my routine was so far from ordinary it felt strange. I was at a UNI which seemed almost deserted, void of all life (although, maybe that's because everyone hasn't gone back to UNI yet). I caught the train from Epping on a line I've never been on before for more than 2 stops. I saw different people. It made me sorta miss the familiar, but crave the new, the different, the unknown. I can't wait 'til UNI, but whatever UNI I go to, I'll make sure it isn't void of all life. It was a tad depressing going out into the grounds and seeing too much concrete buildings and not enough people.