Friends Cafe - social space for members under 25

[Kazzl]

Hey! Welcome to Friends Cafe.

This is a chill and chat space for young BB members to talk about anything and everything and make new friends.

When school's getting to you, uni or work has got you down, parents, partners, friends don't understand, and especially if you're feeling alone or lonely - come and relax awhile and talk to others who know just how you feel.

Our minds can cause us trouble, but they can also be amazing things that imagine beauty, love and fun. This cafe has everything you can imagine. To start with it's, well, a cafe. So there's chairs and tables, comfy couches for flopping, a big screen tele, unlimited download on computers for games, Spotify (or an old-school jukebox if you prefer), every movie you can think of on instant demand ... whatever you want, it's here. Post and tell us what'd you'd like.

Plus, there's an infinite menu of whatever food or drinks takes your fancy. And it's all free!

To kick it off, today we have a special range of Monster Milkshakes - those thick gooey shakes topped with cronuts, chocolate bars, cake, cookies ... whatever you want. And if you can get through one of them, you're a legend (and probably feeling a little bit sick LOL!)

Welcome friends.

[Guest_322]

Hi Tara, Zeal, James, Demi, Grace, Ahw and everyone else,

It's always wonderful to read your posts 😊

Just a quick word about Nausea- there's a lot of bleakness and darkness in it. So my personal opinion is that if you're not in the best state of mind, it might be a good idea to save that book for another time.

It's about Antoine Roquentin who lives in France. As the title suggest, he is overcome by feelings of nausea. Over time, he realises those feelings stem from questions about his own existence. And from that point onwards, other questions are raised.

Essentially, it's a work of fiction and it's Jean Paul Satre's most famous work. The books serves as a platform for him to put forward some of his existentialist philosophy.

It's a really thought provoking book. Again (sorry, broken record), my only caveat is that I don't recommend anyone reads it if you're not in a good mental state. Save it for when things are looking brighter for you 😉

On another note, yes, I'm another Harry Potter fan. According to the sorting hat, I'm a cross between Ravenclaw or Gryffindor (depends on which quiz I take ha, ha).

What about you guys? Which house?

Tara, I saw your post- I always enjoy your posts. I'll write a proper response a little later 😊

Dottie x

[Guest_322]

Hi Tara,

Rollerblading sounds like it was a fantastic experience! I bet you and your friends made fantastic 3rd wheels (or 3rd, 4th and 5th) ha, ha.

Halsey is very talented. I really enjoyed the 2 songs that you recommended 😊 And how awesome is her blue hair on the album cover?!

Your comment gave me a chuckle. Well, Halsey can have him back as I'm no longer with him either. But judging by her song, Ghost, I'm not entirely sure she wants him back 😂

It seems like there are lots of booklovers at this cafe. That's brilliant! I gave a brief outline of the Nausea plot in my post immediately before this one (check it out if you like).

Nausea is brilliant but not exactly a very happy book; it's intense and bleak. I'm just a little worried that as you're going through a lot- with school and everything- that you might want to save reading Nausea for when things are looking up more for you 😉

I hear you! Holidays always whiz past. 2 weeks would have flown for you. I also hope your friends can give you some laughs and lift you spirit a little tomorrow.

Wow, that was a pretty long rehearsal. Most of my final exams aren't that long 😂 5 pieces is pretty impressive; I'm sure everyone will enjoy your musicianship. Very excited for you!

All the best with school tomorrow and please keep in touch with us!

Group hug,

Dottie x

[dark_unicorn]

Morning Dottie!

Yes, I love Halsey's hair! She naturally has it very short at the moment, but she often wears different coloured wigs. I think at the moment she's been seen with long dark brown hair - it looks so pretty! Haha yeahhh I don't think she wants that boyfriend back...😂

I LOVE reading! At the start of the holidays I had a stack of 10 books (smallest one was 400 pages), and by the end there was only 1 I hadn't finished! But to take your advice, yes, maybe I'll save Nausea for another time 😊 when I'm in a better state of mind.

I've already been laughing most of the morning, and I'm only in 2nd period so I think it's safe to say my friends definitely cheer me up.

Yeah it was pretty long, and we have another full-day rehearsal on Friday, at the end of which, we'll have 2 hours before we are back for the actual presentation night! 5 pieces sounds like a lot, but I suppose I'm so used to playing them that it doesn't really feel like that much. I'm a little worried about one of them though, because I've just been asked to play percussion for the Brass Fanfare, and I haven't seen the music yet! I think I'll only get one practise with the brass players! 😳 Oh well.

My close friend sent me some poems yesterday that I read before bed to discourage me from self-harming. They're short but powerful and again, I am so grateful for this friend.

To everyone else, I hope you are having an OK start to the week (I know Mondays are terrible), and that you are all feeling well mentally and physically!

Hugs for all,

Tara xx

[Zeal]

Hi Tara, Dottie, Demi, ahw, James and Grace (and anyone else reading),

Woah - lots of activity has happened since my last post here!

Dottie - I do love developmental psych! I also enjoy social psych, but I'm as good at learning content for subjects like biopsychology (we study neuropsychology at our uni). I could not agree more that no one has everything figured out in life. It was cool hearing more about you and your interests as well 🙂 I'm glad work has been going smoothly.

Tara - I hope tomorrow goes well, and that your day can be improved by spending time with friends. Having periods of being up and down mood-wise are frustrating, but it's normal to fluctuate a bit. If you're concerned about your mood, check in with your school counsellor or GP. Tara, this friend sounds amazing. You are a great person, and you deserve to have a close and supportive friendship like this. She clearly cares deeply about you and values having you in her life. Whenever you feel at risk, please call someone. Whether this is a family member or a helpline like Beyondblue (1300 22 4636), make sure you don't suffer in silence.

Demi: I've also read Handle with Care, and found it really emotionally engaging. I recommend House Rules by Jodi Picoult, if you haven't already read it. Yesterday was my boyfriend's birthday, so I took him to lunch, and we spent the afternoon together at his place, before going to an Italian restaurant for dinner with his family. I went home after that, as I am still plagued by this annoying head cold I've had since Wednesday 😞 haha

ahw: it's fortunate that society has both introverts and extroverts. Having too many extroverted or too many introverted people would be an issue! I used to be introverted, but now I wouldn't say I am. I'm not extroverted either. I'm not one or the other - so I suppose I'm an ambivert! I am very open with people about who I am, but in a non-intense way (if that makes any sense). I hope school is going well. Like Dottie said, I am really pleased that you have supportive family and friends 🙂

James - I hope you are enjoying today as a break from work. It's great to have you here in the Café (you're the only male too!) You are great at relating to us and to others in general, which is an awesome skill!

Grace- I hope you enjoy your school holidays, and that things go well when your parents visit. We are always here to talk if you need or want support 🙂

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

Best wishes,

Zeal

[Demi1]

Hi Zeal,

I'm glad you've also read it, it's amazing! I haven't read 'House Rules' yet, it's on my post HSC list of things to get around to. Sounds like you had a lovely celebration planned for him 🙂 I do love Italian, that and Thai are definitely favourites of mine. I'm sorry to hear you are also unwell 😞 Hopefully we're both well soon!

Hello James, Ahw, Dotti, Tara (and anyone else reading) How are you all going? 🙂

[Zeal]

Hey Demi,

Get better soon too! My favourite cuisines are Italian, and (basic) Japanese food like vegetarian sushi. I'm not a vegetarian though.

Besides catching up with an interstate friend for breakfast this morning, I've been sitting around at home today. I hope I'll feel up to doing uni work tomorrow!

I hope study and work is going well for you Demi! Relaxing a bit would be good too 🙂

All the best,

Zeal

[dark_unicorn]

Hello again everyone 🙂

Zeal - My friends definitely improved my mood today. Although (I don't know what it was due to), I found I was incredibly restless today, I just couldn't sit still! It might have been nervous energy or just hyped up from seeing friends, but it sure was weird. I've been like that a few times. And yes, I've said it so many times (I just can't say it enough), but I am sooooooo grateful and lucky to have this friend. I hope your head cold goes quickly! I had one recently and they're definitely not fun.

Demi - Sorry to hear you're sick too, I hope you get better soon! I've been pretty average lately, but nothing too bad. At school today I felt like I never left! We were just straight back into it, so got a bit of German homework tonight...yay... How was your weekend?

Everyone else - Hope the rest of you aren't sick, and that your coming week isn't too stressful.

Hugs for all,

Tara x

[james1]

Hello everyone, I haven't popped online for what feels like ages (though it's probably only been a couple of days, haha).

Reading all the posts made me think of something: the title of the thread, Friends Cafe, is so true. It's really wonderful seeing all of us friends chatting here just about anything and everything 🙂

You guys (girls) are awesome.

Also, a bit late to the party, but I'm a Ravenclaw apparently which is probably about right, haha. Has anyone read the new Harry Potter play?

James

[Zeal]

Hey guys,

I feel frustrated tonight, as I'm trying to rest and get over this cold, but it's testing my patience! So after seeing your post James, I randomly joined Pottermore for the first time. I discovered that I'm a Hufflepuff, have a dolphin patronus, and my wand is spruce wood with a phoenix feather (13 and 3 quarter inches) and quite bendy. I feel like such a child right now 😛

I hope everyone is having a decent night 🙂

Best wishes,

Zeal

[Guest_322]

Hi,

Tara, I'm so glad your friends helped lift your spirit. Nothing like some laughs with friends; food for the soul 😉

Your friend who sent you the poems sounds like she/he really cares about you. What a beautiful person and what a beautiful friendship. I'm so glad you have each other. And any time you resist the urge to self harm is an incredible achievement.

Wow, I honestly wouldn't have known that Halsey wears wigs if you hadn't told me. Granted, I've only seen the one photo (the Badlands album cover) with the blue hair so I just assumed she dyes her hair ha, ha. But you being the true fan would know 😉

Speaking of hair, I went through an extended hair dyeing phase in high school. Red was my favourite colour to experiment with; the only drawback is unless you're a natural redhead (which I am not), it's hard to maintain the colour. I cycled through various shades of red including some bold Rhianna reds ha, ha.

You avid reader, you! Finishing 9 (very chunky) books during the holidays is pretty impressive, Tara. I enjoy reading too although my taste is pretty varied. But my favourite genre (if I had to pick one) would be philosophy books; not so much the ones written in more recent times (some of them make me roll my eyes) but the classics. The Republic (Plato) is an amazing read. Amazingly tedious too but it will make you think (a lot).

Whoa, playing percussion for the Brass Fanfare. That's pretty awesome! It must be nerve racking to have been asked to do it on such short notice. But I trust with your musical ability that you're sure to impress 😊 I hope your Friday rehearsal and presentation go very well. Above all, I hope you have fun because that's the most important part!

And if you ever need to talk- light or heavy stuff, you know where to find us 😉

Zeal, you poor thing. I hope your head cold goes away too. I'm glad you could still make it to The Boyfriend's birthday celebrations but the head cold must have been kind of annoying to nurse.

Thanks for the encouraging message 😊 And glad you enjoy social psych too.

Dottie x