Venerable oddity

Tagged along with my Mum and sister this morning as they walked our dog Starr at Deek's Forest Park. Apparently it used to be wall to wall pine trees before the bushfires, but now there's very little to block the panoramic views.

Here's Starr waiting, amazingly patiently, for us to get going:

and my compulsory shot of Black Mountain Tower:

plus a fallen tree:

Immigration

In the absence of any semblance of a heart, and having played their part in making the world a more dangerous place for everyone, especially those least able to defend themselves, our fine government resorts to ridiculous, over-the-top grandstanding.

I think I'm going to have to stop reading any press releases, before I explode with fury :@ The price of staying "informed" is too damn high. This is why I can't watch the news...

Sleepy horizons

While I waited in the lakeside shade for a work lunch to start (that's right, I'll use up precious holiday time for a free feed!), I enjoyed the third straight perfect Canberra day:

I even had this guy to keep me company...

After lunch I went for a stroll, indulging my love of bridges...

before embarking on the short bus ride home.

All that activity before it even hit 3pm, giving me license to veg in front of Newsradio Season 5 DVDs for a while, before I go for another walk.

Deforestation

Sure this sounds like a good idea, but as usual indicates the "big brother", condescending attitude which our government takes on all matters, including its dealing with the states.

"However, a common element of any incentives is that they will be provided only on the achievement of pre-agreed forest sustainability milestones (e.g. agreed reductions in national deforestation rates). Measurement of achievement of these milestones will be underpinned by the investment in the technology and systems to robustly monitor forest resources."

In other words: Do what we tell you, or you get nothing from us. And you better believe we'll be watching...

The idea is a very late implementation of an approach apparently discussed 2 years ago at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

As Wayne Swan says:

"it’s a strategy for the election. It’s not a strategy to combat climate change. That’s what it is. He only ever gets on board when there’s an election around the corner... He doesn’t believe in the science and he doesn’t understand the required policy responses. He’s just playing politics. It’s John Howard being a clever politician."

Speaking for myself, I want leadership not politics.

Vivacious luminosity

I just noticed a weird disparity. The Flickr photos I tend to favourite are usually filled with bright colour, while my own shots are almost universally bland. I don't know if this is some unconscious yearning to escape the bounds of my drab imagination ... or an incomprehensible coincidence ... or neither...

Reflected success

When I started my walking routine last March, I had no idea I'd actually stick with it. I'd tried, and failed, a number of times before. What was different this time? A number of things - the need to have something to report to Em each Friday, coming good on at least one of the many plans I'd reported to Liv, the fact that my weight was continuing to escalate - but really, let's be honest, it's really all thanks to graphs, and plenty of 'em!

As reported earlier, my graphing ended yesterday. But the walking has not! In fact, I walked twice today, even without the impetus of a climbing line. My thought is that I may even walk more now, because I won't have the numbers to fall back on as I craftily calculate just how slack I can be without going backwards. This is illustrated by the decline and then reinvigoration in the below:

The fact that I would be ending the charting bonanza meant I wanted to end on a high note, which I managed by beating Feb by a single walk. And I just noticed how much better I've been in the second half of the measurement period than I was in the first.

Since I know my loyal audience will miss the graphs even more than I will, I'd like to leave you with the most action you've ever seen (from me), ADAC 4.74:

Thanks for keeping me company on my graph-fuelled ride!

Frazzled identity

Usually I forget to take a photo of my meal before I tuck in. Is that an excuse to not snap away? Apparently not...

Despite having walked over 1000km over the past 13 months, much of it over the same course, I still find a simple pleasure in the lights and sights along the way.

Verdant imaginings

Both Em and Lisa Haneberg reminded me, in thinking about their posts, of one of my (many!) weaknesses, reinforcing the need to try new things and, even if they don't work out, believing that the act of trying is its own success. Just getting out there and trying something, and dealing with the inevitable bumps along the way with good humour. Sounds like it's gotta be worth the effort!

This may well be the next step beyond my action count. While ADAC's helped me become more active, it hasn't emphasised the value of something different over routine. In the search for passion and some kind of calling, repetition doesn't help me. Time to set myself new targets, which build on the (relative) stability of health and mood I've worked towards as an initial goal?

No wozzas

Today in pictures...

Visited the National Gallery gardens with Liv

and walked around part of the lake

then met up with B for dinner at Wagamama

for my regular Amai udon

before a soy ice blended mocha

at Starbucks

Sounds like a pretty awesome day to me :)

Melancholy triffids

Maybe...

Your Brain is Blue

Of all the brain types, yours is the most mellow. You tend to be in a meditative state most of the time. You don't try to think away your troubles. Your thoughts are realistic, fresh, and honest. You truly see things as how they are. You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about your friends, your surroundings, and your life.

What Color Is Your Brain?

but then sometimes the quiz lies!!!

Your Hair Should Be Pink

Hyper, insane, and a boatload of fun. You're a traveling party that everyone loves to follow.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

Contentious platitudes

Like many new time-wasters, stolen from B :)

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Gee whiz

I had planned to be taking lots of happy snaps around the shores of Lake Burley Griffin with Liv today, but the consistently inconsistent Canberra weather put a dampener on those plans. No excuse not to take a few shots from my front porch though!

Brisk capitulation

It's not so much that nothing's been going on which has kept me from posting much this month, it's more that I'm tired of reading the same ol' crud from me. So what follows will not be complaints about health, stories about walking or regaling you with action counts. And, in fact, the last two of those are soon to be entirely phased out, as my accounting has served its purpose, and I plan to stop measuring at the end of this month. Counting isn't action ;)

#1: I can't believe it's taken me so long to work out that shopping at my local, Kippax Fair, is about a million times more pleasant than navigating the drone-clogged Mall. On Monday after work, I managed to do my grocery shopping, visit the newsagent, chemist and post office, all within a few steps of each other, and happily walk home without violence ever having crossed my mind. I did much the same on Wednesday morning, and even took photos in the park out the back while I waited for my magic pills to be ready. I'm leaving the Mall to the suckers from now on, it's Kippax all the way!

#2: I'm concentrating on taking photos as much as possible, and even when I'm not taking photos I'm looking for photo ops. I'll hopefully venture further afield once my holidays start in 2 weeks, in search of inspiring subject matter all over Canberra.

They call him Flipper

I really thought I could cope without TV for a week or so, but being sick has meant that my resolve crumbled, and I've settled for the tiny little screen you see above, dwarfed by the dead black box behind it. As a Neo-Luddite I make a passable televisuoholic...

Fatalistic gorging

TV addicts look away, the next paragraph may cause nausea and dizziness...

After 2.5 good years, my TV finally gave up last night. It's likely nothing more serious than a new lamp being needed, but unfortunately I have to wait till at least next Thursday to find out. That's right, 9 days without TV!

Luckily for me, that gives the perfect excuse to continue with a resurgence of reading, as well as taking photos, walking and even the occasional blog post :) (Plus my family has the same TV, so I get to watch my usual Thursday shows this week anyway).

Combinatorial plaything

And that's how I got an ADAC of 4.57 for the month of February :)

Of course, the statistical underpinnings of the whole system are completely shot, since I started measuring meaningful work things as well (in keeping with my "work is just another part of life" mindset), which previously wasn't being counted.

Verifiably trenchant

I haven't posted much lately because I've been dreadfully uninspired about anything other than my work (which is continuingly excellent). Now that pretty much rests with me, and my slide back into inactivity, but how to reinvigorate myself for another charge at action?

The answer: A call from Em, exactly when I most needed it :) While I had been reading some interesting stuff (on Test Driven Development), the opportunity to vent made it plain I was returning to old, bad thought habits. As an activity restart, more walking photos and a much improved mood are the result.



That picture perpetuates the style of one my oh-so-obvious Antioch talk endings, segueing into a photo instead of a song. I've now found more energy and am ready to power on ;) Thanks Em!

Apathetic mandible

Rather than slump back into my lazy natural state after 8 days avoiding the threatening (but rarely delivering) storm clouds, I had some catching up to do. 5 walks in 48 hours has me right back on track, with nary a drop of rain (or a ray of sun) to be felt.

While my mood has maundered a bit recently, what I've felt as a low point is really nothing more than the slight absence of the enthusiasm I've become more accustomed to. When I look back on the things I've enjoyed the past week, I can't help but think it's been pretty good:

• dinner with B and Liv (where the bus kept me dry...),


• getting to relive Chicago's six NBA championships on DVD,


• finally finishing this book,


• plus really positive momentum continuing to build at work.

Once again, you can tell I'm padding out a blog post purely as an excuse to brag about my walking... The post should just have read "1 walk every 576 minutes" or "10% of my weekend was walking" ;)

Gracious abandonment

It's more than two years now since I played any serious basketball, and I haven't really pined after it for quite some time. So, as another step in my always-just-one-moment-of-stupidity-away-from-unretiring retirement, I've finally started to clear out my collection of similarly retired basketball boots.

These span the gamut from my Nike days, inspired by Jordan and Barkley:





to my discovery of the wonders of Converse, via the best shoes ever - Cons Tar Max (the only shoes I never had an injury in - wonder indeed! I wish I'd bought 10 pairs of these...):



and beyond, to my last pair of blacks:



They've all been taking up space in almost forgotten shoe boxes for many years, and I've now overcome my reticence at throwing anything out. These photos form sufficient remembrance of my not-at-all-athletic past. It's walking shoes all the way from now on :)

Contentious infamy

Had a lovely picnic lunch with my family down by Lake Ginninderra today. Our spot was shady, with a nice cool breeze off the lake.

Here I am, contented after a filling meal:



And, luckily, we were heading home anyway as the clouds started rolling in, this time delivering on at least a little of the stormy rain which has been promised all week.

Efficacious redundancy

This was the real colour of the sky at my place last night. Everything around was bathed in this bizarre yellow, but that didn't come across too well in other pictures.

Outrageously sagacious

Storm clouds gathering? Not at all :)

I think this sums up pretty well my more recent approach to action, and why I've been able to recover more effectively from the odd bad month. It really is the journey, not the destination, as long as I know the things I'm doing are important (and enjoyable) to me.

Work shouldn't feel like work it it's what I want to do. And walking isn't (all) about the weight I lose, or the fitness I get, but the enjoyment of the walk, the beauty of the sights.

I've felt horrendously tired the past few days, and the second half of my walk last night my body felt like lead (even though usually the walk is a breeze). But despite that, my mood has primarily remained bright, I haven't complained to anyone at work and Extras has returned to TV. Life remains quite good :)

Irrelevance personified

I've caught little snippets of Labour criticism towards our PM about bad mouthing Barack Obama but, seriously, nothing said by anyone in Australia (except maybe The Wiggles) could have the slightest impact on the US election. Maybe Labour's starting to believe Howard's self-deception that our country has an important role in world affairs?

I'm not saying Australia couldn't be a leader, just that the lack of vision in our government means there's not even positive local influence, let alone anything on a global scale.

Xenophobic implant

Some random new pics, to prove I'm carrying through with my threat of more photography:







While I've been kinda sick for the past week, both with nausea and fatigue, I'm still making sure to action on :)

Sepia outlaws

Have you ever wondered what computer monitors looked like in the 19th century? My guess is they were something like this:



Actually, that was just a hella lame excuse to try out one of my camera's features that doesn't start with the prefix "auto". I've been planning to learn enough about my camera to do something a little more creative, and I'm now armed with a few more techniques (courtesy of a re-read of the manual). Now I just need to concentrate on taking more pics :) I've browsed Flickr and favourited some photos to give me a little extra motivation, so no excuses!

Comet McZero

Don't worry, it's not an optical illusion, there's nothing to be seen in my photo of Comet McNaught. If I'd had a tripod, and remembered how to set a longer exposure time with my camera, I may well have come up with something cool like all of these.

Regardless, it was actually clearly visible to the naked eye, and genuinely impressive.

I used to be a keen astronomer, with my own telescope and star wheel, and journal for recording seeing conditions, but somewhere between the disappointing smudge that was Halley's Comet back in '86 and this latest event I lost interest in looking at the night sky. Strange, since insomnia lends itself to that kind of activity!

Mothra

Anyone with mottephobia turn back now.



This guy was a surprise visitor in my lounge room last night when I returned from my walk and settled in to watch the cricket. Definitely the biggest moth I've ever seen, and I have no idea how he could possibly have gotten inside.

Anyway, he now has a Vita Brits home on my front porch, and can leave any time he wants.

Huh?

What's that? You haven't seen a new toy on my blog for weeks, months even? How about this one, which you can see in action by going to The Shenanigans Files and hovering over some links.

I'm not sure yet whether I like it or hate it, but it's new!

Great googly moogly

This post from Slow Leadership effectively describes some beliefs I've let stand in my way in the past, preventing me from being as happy as I can be. I set my standards low to avoid disappointment, and let fear of just about everything limit me to doing same-old, same-old.

"The most useless and harmful beliefs aren’t just wrong; they actively prevent you from doing or understanding things that would improve either your own life or the lives of the people around you."

Obviously it's not a simple leap from flawed beliefs to those which lead to positive action (well, not simple for me anyway!), but it's clearly a path worth pursuing.

Over the past few weeks, I've finally started to achieve a work/life balance, which means they're not balanced at all and that work is purely another aspect of my life. I actually want to be there when I'm there, not thinking about what else I'd rather do in my "life". Which is a pretty amazing feeling, and really helps with the "be in the moment" approach to enjoying life I've been moving towards for several months.

The one weird side-effect of that, though, has been I have no idea what day it is at any given time. Which, if all of my workmates had the same approach would be fine, but I still need to show up at times I'm expected. Not really an imposition, but a little quirk in "work" being more a smooth continuity of my week than it seems for many others.

None of this is entirely consistent, and I still have many moments when I slip back to thinking negatively. The difference for me now is I've improved in taking what feels negative and working out some action I can take to improve it. It's all about the small gains for me, taking satisfaction in how I handle any "tiny adversity" I might face.

Peripheral exigency

Thanks to the B's generosity and complementary DVD library, I got to see the following five movies over the weekend:

American Dreamz
Some excellent comic characters, with unsubtle digs at current US policy (always welcome). Paul Weitz hits again, after American Pie and About A Boy also in his canon.

Bring It On - All Or Nothing
or, as I'd prefer to call it, Bring It On-est (the second sequel to Bring It On and Bring It On-er).
Stars the super-powered cheerleader from Heroes as... a cheerleader. I started off watching this a little critically, then thankfully stopped taking it even slightly seriously and enjoyed it thoroughly as a result. Some entertaining crunkin', lots of stereotypes and an unsurprising but cheery happy ending.

Harvard Man
I was expecting a stock-standard girl-whose-Dad-is-in-the-mafia tries to fix college basketball game using her boyfriend-the-point-guard, but instead it's some crazy drug-taking, FBI-college-professor-threesome, Al-Franken-cameoing trip. Weird.

... and the big Corey double ...
Just One Of The Girls
I can't believe I didn't watch this as a teen. I mean, c'mon, Nicole Eggert! Nonetheless, anyone believing Corey Haim as a female cheerleader... I guess it was the era of big shoulders!

Dream A Little Dream
I don't even know where to start with this. Old man dreams himself into Corey Feldman, and Corey doesn't seem that keen to resume his old life... the rest I'll leave to interested viewers to discover :) And, if you like it, there's even a sequel!

Ventricle somnambulism

Climbing up from the comparative mediocrity of my 2 ADAC average of the previous four months, I managed to maintain an average of 4 actions per day throughout January, including a crazy peak of 10. This sets me a high standard to maintain, lets me know that this method of motivation is actually working for me, and has lead me to focus my energy on the right things, things which make me happy.

Wiley verdantistic

So, where have I been the past week? As this graph shows, I've been walking:



One walk short of my best, thanks to 10 walks in the past 10 days. I won't be bridging the gap tonight, as I'll be enjoying B's dinnertime company (way higher priority), but it's twice the effort I put in last month, so I'm really pleased.

When I haven't been walking, I've been continuing to enjoy my work, reading, watching lots of Simpsons episodes and Secret Agent Man, and talking/writing/IMing with friends. I couldn't have asked for a better start to 2007!

Now I just have to avoid the consistent drop-off in effort which my delightful walking graph clearly shows. Don't need a stats degree to see a pattern there...

Presumptuous and pernickety

Just getting in the tennis spirit :)

Cranial maelstrom

These random post titles are using up my good SSS words...

I've been feeling amazingly energised the past week or so. Waking up somewhere between 6 and 6.30, after having had a solid 5 or 6 hours sleep, getting into work early on the relevant days and churning through lots of work. Every day seems to be better than the last right now with my team and our projects, and while there are still plenty of frustrations for someone as impatient as me, I actually feel in control of removing obstacles to getting things done, rather than a passive victim of circumstance.

None of which makes very compelling reading I'm sure, and I'll spare you the details of what feels exciting to me in a work context, but it hopefully explains why I dared to leave a 2 day gap between posts :)

I've just been in an almost unflagging good mood for a whole week, and I'd forgotten how amazing a feeling that is. Being able to carry it across into all the conversations I have and the work that I've been doing is something even rarer. I hardly remember even complaining about anything (well, except for the heat...) but that may just be a figment of my overly positive imagination. Me, not complain?!? Inconceivable!

(I'm taking a huge risk being so cheery on this blog, it usually signals a horrible health collapse of some kind. So you all better squeeze some positive vibes out of it for yourself, while they last!).

Tenacious gargantuan

OK, I know there were no charts for December, and there will never be, as they were extremely lame, including my second worst walking month ever. So, instead, I'm going to dazzle you with impressive stats :)

Exciting stat #1: 70 - the (approximate) number of kilometres I've walked per month since starting to count back in March (not including all the shorter walks I've done). This makes for a total of 730km so far!

Exciting stat #2: My ADAC for this month is running at 4.5, more than double what I've managed in previous months!

See how exclamation makes the numbers seem more compelling!!!

The beaten path

I was provided more proof of my brain's tendency to get in my way over the last few days, along with evidence that I can ignore it when I need to.

Saturday evening rolled around, my usual walking time, feeling really sore, decided I wouldn't bother going for a walk. Before I knew it, I was 15 minutes into my walk, and thoroughly enjoying it. Sunday, same story, and once again I was magically walking, all thanks to the positive habit developed over the past year, where it is now genuinely easier to walk than to not walk.

I'm starting to believe this action thing might actually stick!

I done a pikcha!

What does that mean?

Dichotomous frenzy

Any day is already totally awesome when I've hung out with Em, Liv and K before it's even noon. So getting home from Civic and knowing that I have a whole afternoon to enjoy new comics, read one of the pile of unread books sitting in front of my CDs, or just veg in front of a DVD makes for a great start to the weekend.

I don't often do the kuka gratefulness thing, because it'd get a bit dull for everyone when I constantly said how lucky I am to have family and friends who always accept me for who I am, are patient with me when I complain endlessly about anything I can find, and who help me along my path to self-betterment without ever judging my many failures, or telling me what to do. Be assured that, despite my rarely demonstrating my gratitude (yeah sure, that's the word I should have used above), I never take any of you (and you know who you are) for granted.

Anyway, as I said, that would be dull, so you won't hear me thanking all those people who bring joy into my life :) Well, not after this anyway, since you'll all just get a big head!

Disclaimer: May continue to thank people...

Dissonant connection

Recently, I've been focusing very hard on changing a long-term habit of mine from defaulting to "No" rather than "Yes" when invited somewhere, or when I have an idea, or make tentative plans to act on something. I'm extremely good at talking myself out of things. Now on the good side, that makes me almost immune to peer pressure, but peers (particularly mine) are frequently sources of positive pressure too, which I'm also resistant to, which isn't so good after all :) I can easily list (or invent) many, many reasons not to do even clearly beneficial, fun things. Which means that in order to break my habit I have to overpower the part of my thinking that jumps in with a "No", forcing it to become a "Yes" until that becomes my new standard.

I was expecting this to be much harder than it has been (although it hasn't been completely trivial) and I wondered (as I like to do) ... why? Today I found my answer! I think this whole default to "No" when taking actions is an outlier in the rest of my thinking, and that in every other aspect of my life it's the reverse.

For example:
When I listen to a new bit of music, or watch a new movie, or read a book, I always go into the experience expecting I will enjoy it. That's why my reviews are always so "soft". Any of these artforms have to go out of their way to piss me off, before I will even consider not liking them. Exactly the same applies when I deal with people. While I'm not good at initiating any kind of relationship, and am basically an awkward dork around anyone I don't know (and many I do!), I hold a strong belief in the goodness of others, that everyone has good in them. There are, of course, people who challenge that belief by their actions, although no one I know personally (but I'm sure you can guess which political figures fit into this basket!).

So maybe living as the positive person I (on my good days) believe myself to be, is no harder than treating the remaining parts of my life, which I pass judgment on before the fact, overthinking religiously, as if they're no different to putting on a DVD, something I rarely analyse too deeply. Hurrah!

Jiminy jillikers

Here's a snippet of something I said in a conversation on Tuesday - "blahdyblah mild summer blahdyblah sleeping well blahdyblah haven't even needed my fan to keep cool".

If ever there was a way to bring on 38 degree temperatures, that kind of self-deceiving stupidity is it!

[Book] The End of Science

Today I finished reading The End Of Science (Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age) and, even though it was written 10 years ago, it makes points which are still worth pondering.

Basically, the author posits (through numerous interviews with well known scientists) that most of the big science is already sorted out, and all that remains for today's scientists is application and fine-tuning within the frameworks laid out by such grand theories as Darwin's evolution, Einstein's general relativity, quantum mechanics, etc. He also states that a Theory of Everything simply isn't going to be found (not in any objectively measurable form anyway). Here's some more detail, in the author's own words.

That sounds pretty negative and, if it's true and if you're planning on being the next Einstein, it probably is. I must admit that it doesn't bug me too much, as computer science doesn't impact my daily life anywhere near as much as managing people. The complexity of software and hardware (or any of the physics and mathematics underlying them) is rarely the limiting factor in my work. Computers today still follow the same basic principles defined by Alan Turing back in 1936. There are plenty of people with far deeper knowledge and interest in computing theory than me, who continue to seek improvements to make computers more useful, but until that happens it's my job to use existing technology to help with real business problems.

More generally, there are plenty of unsolved societal problems which improvements in applied science can undoubtedly aid with, so there's no need for anyone who loves science, in any of its forms, to slip into a metaphysical funk :)

Gundaroo Jack

"Revelation" #1
The more action I take, the better I feel. I set a new action PB of 6 on Sunday, to be quickly topped by a 7 yesterday (leading to an ADAC so far in January of 4.0). Skype chats, writing letters, lunch with my only Canberra-based ABS friend, plus a return to a stretching regime all add up to a really positive vibe :)

"Revelation" #2
Buying good quality shoes translates to even more enjoyable walking. This evening I christened my new foot-holders and they're awesome! In fact I feel like going for another walk right now, even though I just got home! Go for it Bertie, walk again! ... Nah, I'm going to watch the 20/20 game instead...

Ready to walk

Here's a picture of my fancy-schmancy new walking shoes (I only just noticed the orange flavour... they were obviously calling me!):



and here's the reason I needed new shoes:



That hole goes all the way through to my foot, and is repeated on the other sneaker too. My $15 pair lasted me over 100 walks, let's see what $80 of Nike does for me :)

Labels

If you've ever wanted to see all my graphs collected together, or confirm how soft I am in every movie review, you can now use the handy new label feature.

Right now, you can check out everything tagged as 'action', 'tv', 'movie' or 'music'.

[DVD] Superman Returns

On the cutting edge of entertainment, as always, I finally got around to watching the continuation of the Superman movie saga...

And it was excellent! Brandon Routh was perfectly cast, and managed the duality of the Clark Kent/Superman roles really well. There were a few moments of inconsistency with Lois Lane, but through the script, rather than Kate Bosworth's performance. James Marsden was strong in his role as the third vertex of a love triangle. And you can't go wrong with Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey, as they balanced the comedic and dramatic needs of their characters perfectly.

I'd read that the movie was low on action, but I thought it had just the right balance between character and full-on spectacle.

A worthy addition to the Superman canon. (Plus, with 3 hours of making-of on the DVD, you're left in no doubt how it all came together).

Obnoxious permanence

As kuka points out, it didn't take me long to fall off the wagon of non-postage. I got too caught up in my "Earl" watching, and then reading The End of Science, as well as going for my first walk of the year (not getting home from that till almost 9, since I had to wait for the heat to ease off).

I don't actually want to be the master of mediocrity, so I'm going to display what little common sense I might have in only posting when it feels pointmore to me. It shouldn't all be about the stats :)

Most of my thoughts the past week have been work driven, and I'm not sure yet how much I want to post about that. Screen caps of budget spreadsheets don't necessarily enhance the excitement factor of my writing... or maybe they do... in which case this is even more dull than I thought...

Happy now B?

Delicious subsidy

Ah, sleep, how sweet it tastes! I finally managed to grab enough zzz's to help me power through a busy work day and a bus ride to my family's place, before finally succumbing to an almost-nap (watching the cricket can do that to a person).

I'm really pumped about some of the stuff happening at work right now, although I have to avoid getting too excited, since that leads to insomnia for me just as surely as stress. It's all about balance and moderation (and Bertie Mabootoo!).

The cynical among you will note this is a post purely to extend my streak to 6 straight days ;) That might even be a personal best already! Quantity over quality! The battle for mediocrity is mine!

Indelible legacy

I've finally given up on meaningful titles (at least for now)...

Had a great time at dinner last night, catching up with Liv, J, Shaq and The Darwin Two (confidentialising names can make for an interesting sounding group :) Enjoyed a tasty Aloo palak at the Taste of India, then a so-so decaf soy capuccino (the second wankiest drink I've ever ordered, not quite matching the blended soy ice mocha) at Cafe Essen.

When I got home at midnight, I was stunned, thinking it was maybe 10.30 and never once having checked the time. Being with friends totally overcame my tiredness and for 5 wonderful hours I was largely ache free and my brain actually functioned a little conversationally.

I've found out I won't be getting a new housemate yet after all, the prospect found a better location yesterday, but I've done the soul searching necessary to realise that I'm kinda ready to share my house again. Or maybe I'm just sick of buying my own DVDs...

This is exactly the kind of blog post derided in conversations at dinner last night :) Am I worried about alienating my devoted readers with bland tellings of the events in my life? I can't afford to worry about that, it's all I've got!

Filler

Really, I'm only writing this to help me stay awake long enough to go out again, on a bus ride to Civic. But I do have some stuff to say:

1. I've been awake since 4am, less than 4 hours after getting to sleep, and still survived my first day back at work for 2007.


2. I may have a housemate again for the first time in over 12 months, without even having to advertise.


3. I'm going to dinner tonight with a group of friends (none of whom I've seen since 2006!) once again requiring no organising effort on my part.


4. I hurt all over because of my fatigue, but my stomach is behaving, and so I'm happy.

How much longer can I maintain my post-a-day habit? Suspense abounds...

Ah summer!

I hope the rain is helping someone, because it's certainly playing havoc with my walking plans! Any climate change doubters still left might possibly be convinced by the fact that Canberra now has afternoon storms more fitting for the tropics... (although thankfully without the heat).