My goals for the year:
Continue writing the novel. I have not moved at the pace I would like, but I have made great strides.
Develop some new, exciting programs with which to engage the public.
See South Sydney make the top four in the NRL.
Continue to prep for the delivery of an online documentary series.
Submit proposal for the development of a children's picture book, based on the current theatre production of Tiddalik.
Teach Tiriki to understand the alphabet.
Write a second play, based on another Aboriginal creation story.
Pay off the debts.
Start work on a third play, based on reserve life.
Go fishing.
Consume less sugar.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Racism in Australia
Australia is a tolerant nation. We are also the most diverse and multicultural nation on the face of the planet. At least, we are when looking at our predominantly urban society rather than our somewhat homogenous rural townships and settlements. Tolerance is a start, but tolerance does not equate to understanding and compassion for our fellow homo-sapiens. Indeed, the majority of us will tolerate new arrivals to our country, but only conditionally, and we certainly won't consider embracing such arrivals until those conditions are met.
You're welcome to come to Australia, but you had better look white, sound white and/or love mainstream white culture. If not, then you'd best get your alien arse to one of our concentration camps on either the mainland or Christmas Island, until you at least reconsider your fashion sense, taste in religion, skin tan and accent.
Sadly, if you don't fit the requirements of being an Australian, but are already here, having migrated to Australia 60,000 years ago at a time too early for restrictions to have been put in place, then quite clearly you are a problem. Your very existence is an inconvenience to the mainstream who have over the past 200+ years tried to build up a history of great exploration, endeavor and accomplishment. The fact that your ancestors showed explorers the routes to take and where to find nourishment, and that the agricultural industry was built on your people's backs is not a matter to be discussed! It's not about you, it's about everyone else, and the sooner that you realize this or vanish from the face of the Earth, the better.
For you, as an Aboriginal person, you are to be expected to cop any negative comments on the chin, and go about being in the background, adding a slight, inoffensive, easily removed touch of colour to the decor. Step over this mark though and be prepared to be demonized incessantly. You're here to be on postcards, on tourist trails and work on remote cattle stations, nothing more.
To be Aboriginal in Australia, you must accept that it's perfectly OK to have your heritage dissected and labelled. Nigger, boong, abo, darkie, Full blood, half caste, quadroon; all are perfectly acceptable. You're also going to have to live with an occasional comment where if you have enough European heritage in your ancestry that you're fair game to be considered "not reaaaally an Aborigine", and this will especially be so should your skin be fair, hair be red, or your eyes blue - even if your siblings exhibit few if any of these traits, whilst sharing the same pair of parents, or that your children are dark despite both parents being fair!
An as an Aboriginal person you are to be open to pseudo anthropological analysis from academics and layman alike. Get used to living in a fish bowl, because it's not your feelings that matter. They don't and they never did.
Yes, Australians are sensitive at times, but only to the needs of their own slices of life and those who inhabit the sphere they traverse on a daily basis. Self depreciation is an important part of being an Australian, but not as important as being swift in destroying those that differ from the Anglo-Celtic roadmap, or anyone who is an achiever, for that matter.
In Australia you can call a person any name you like. You may even combine issues of abuse and go for a multi tasked assault and rip to shred any retarded nigger dyke you care to! Because in this country it isn't the feelings of those hurt that matters. It's the feelings of those making the abusive comments that matter! What's great about this setup is that it absolves the perpetrator of any and all responsibility for their actions! Fantastic, huh?
A 5 year old Australian child may insult their playmates with all manner of abusive terminology acquired from overhearing one's parents and other adult role models, and because they lack an understanding for their actions, their actions may freely be seen only as rude, and not racist, sexist or condescendingly brutal at all. It's so easy, try it yourself! Find an easy target, insult them in public, and because you don't understand the history of the word you've utilised, and aren't familiar with the baggage associated with such derogatory and oppressive behavior you'll be given complete social immunity and you'll be free to resume where you left off, if only on a slightly lower key. If anything, the media will give you sympathy and consider you to be the victim for being called out for your actions!
But if the Aboriginal people should ever raise an eyebrow to past injustices, never fear, there's an in-built safety mechanism. It's called the reverse racism discussion. You see, with this particular device, White people may go even further to insult and degrade, for the moment that a question of racism is raised, one can simply invoke this option and begin a spiel justifying all comments, based only on perceived benefits that Aboriginal people receive from the government, that are beyond those that white people receive. Should a white person have ever experienced an insult from a black person, or know of someone who did, then all bets are off. It's time to take a free penalty shot. For all Aboriginals are to be labelled pedophiles and lazy, leeching, drunkards. Huzzuh! Hell, you might even like to introduce your friends in the US entertainment industry to portray Aboriginal people as being primitives in the occasional sitcom one-liner! The possibilities are endless!!
And what benefits might you invoke in your defense to accompany your broad generalized insults? Well, certain educational and health care benefits, which some might dare to say were instituted to attempt to address the downsides to being black in a Anglo-Celtic run nation. But let's not speak of such down sides.
Let's never mention THE FACTS.
Monday, 7 June 2010
Blog changes
Why I rarely post on this blog these days..
I'm the sort of person who can't help collecting. I have a mass of hobbies and interests, and I need to be able to categorize and sort those obsessions into ways of processing information that fit with my own particular style. A prime example of this is how I treated my toy box as a small child. I would tip all of my toys onto the floor quite happily, in order to find that one specific action figurine that I wanted to play with, but when it came time to pick everything up, I would then place everything back into the box in an orderly, considered fashion. Everything had to go back in a way that made sense to me, so that next time I would be able to find it, even if the box would still look like a random pile to most others.
I still prefer things to be done my way, but I'm OK with alternatives. Another example being that when I was in my teens I often had a messy bedroom. This was because I wanted my possessions to be laid out and displayed in a way that would allow them to be easily sorted. I would have preferred to have had a room full of shelves and cupboards, but without those options, the floor and other areas were a poor, but logical substitute.
So what does this have to do with my blog? Well, put simply, I've occasionally started blogs in the past, only to give up after 2 or 3 posts. I've found however that in running 4 or more blogs, as I am currently, I am much more inclined to keep up with my posting. This is because it allows me to sort my thoughts into categories of major interest, and not throw them all together in the one location, where to my way of thinking - it's a random mess. It's simply not focused enough for how I like things to be done.
To get around the problem of sorting, I've been thinking about the potential for this blog to become more of an organized reflection of myself, perhaps in a way that many blogs are already organized, via everything being tagged and thus categorized automatically. The idea, which I'm certain has been done before, and probably quite often (despite my lack of knowledge for examples) is to order my blog as I would a model of how I'd imagine (wrongly) that my brain is organized. That instead of tags being the product of my writing, more often than not I will find my writing being influenced by a set of tags, to map my brain and my thoughts on an array of subjects as wide and varied as humanity itself.
Whilst I have no grand vision for this blog being anything more than the typical online journal or blog, I do expect that my writing from this point on, on this blog at least, will leave me very exposed and open to debate, if not insult. Which is a problem, given that generally I am a rather measured and guarded person in how I portray myself, and in what I allow to be public domain.
I don't mean this to sound as though I am going to be making any peculiar revelations in this blog, but in the process of offering opinion, and more opinion, I am bound to alienate all readers at one point or another in the future. Which is simply the nature of interpreting opinion. The more you speak, the tighter the odds become for disagreement in opinion.
OK, so having said this.. do I rename the blog?
I'm the sort of person who can't help collecting. I have a mass of hobbies and interests, and I need to be able to categorize and sort those obsessions into ways of processing information that fit with my own particular style. A prime example of this is how I treated my toy box as a small child. I would tip all of my toys onto the floor quite happily, in order to find that one specific action figurine that I wanted to play with, but when it came time to pick everything up, I would then place everything back into the box in an orderly, considered fashion. Everything had to go back in a way that made sense to me, so that next time I would be able to find it, even if the box would still look like a random pile to most others.
I still prefer things to be done my way, but I'm OK with alternatives. Another example being that when I was in my teens I often had a messy bedroom. This was because I wanted my possessions to be laid out and displayed in a way that would allow them to be easily sorted. I would have preferred to have had a room full of shelves and cupboards, but without those options, the floor and other areas were a poor, but logical substitute.
So what does this have to do with my blog? Well, put simply, I've occasionally started blogs in the past, only to give up after 2 or 3 posts. I've found however that in running 4 or more blogs, as I am currently, I am much more inclined to keep up with my posting. This is because it allows me to sort my thoughts into categories of major interest, and not throw them all together in the one location, where to my way of thinking - it's a random mess. It's simply not focused enough for how I like things to be done.
To get around the problem of sorting, I've been thinking about the potential for this blog to become more of an organized reflection of myself, perhaps in a way that many blogs are already organized, via everything being tagged and thus categorized automatically. The idea, which I'm certain has been done before, and probably quite often (despite my lack of knowledge for examples) is to order my blog as I would a model of how I'd imagine (wrongly) that my brain is organized. That instead of tags being the product of my writing, more often than not I will find my writing being influenced by a set of tags, to map my brain and my thoughts on an array of subjects as wide and varied as humanity itself.
Whilst I have no grand vision for this blog being anything more than the typical online journal or blog, I do expect that my writing from this point on, on this blog at least, will leave me very exposed and open to debate, if not insult. Which is a problem, given that generally I am a rather measured and guarded person in how I portray myself, and in what I allow to be public domain.
I don't mean this to sound as though I am going to be making any peculiar revelations in this blog, but in the process of offering opinion, and more opinion, I am bound to alienate all readers at one point or another in the future. Which is simply the nature of interpreting opinion. The more you speak, the tighter the odds become for disagreement in opinion.
OK, so having said this.. do I rename the blog?
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
PfffFFfFFffttttttttttt
Achtung ladies!!
Why is it that when a woman farts on a train, and I'm surrounded only by women, those who choose to look for a culprit will indelibly choose to focus upon the only male within cheese-cutting distance?
Listen very carefully, for I shall say this only once:
Chicks fart. They are just a lot sneakier about it.
Why is it that when a woman farts on a train, and I'm surrounded only by women, those who choose to look for a culprit will indelibly choose to focus upon the only male within cheese-cutting distance?
Listen very carefully, for I shall say this only once:
Chicks fart. They are just a lot sneakier about it.
Monday, 15 March 2010
Sydney v Melbourne
I've been living in Melbourne now for close to 2 years. I've enjoyed the transition and all the changes I've made to my life a great deal. It's been a pretty wild ride.
in the processes of change, I've gained an insight into the differences between people an environs in New South Wales and Victoria and to what makes them so different. Sydney is a fast paced city with perhaps a million too many people. It's public transport system is a joke, with buses being a last resort and trains being an irregular inconvenience. Despite Melbourne having a better public transport infrastructure, Sydney actually has better trains. They hold more people due to on average having more carriages and two decks as opposed to Melbourne's one. Packed trains in Sydney aren't uncommon, but in Melbourne it's often very hard to even find space in which to stand at peak hour.
Sydney is Australia's sports capital, regardless of what Melbournians are told to think, thanks primarily to the diversity of sporting interests and saturation of team sports franchises. A swag of rugby league clubs in the NRL, pro soccer clubs, rugby union and AFL. Melbourne is perhaps better classed as Australia's 'events capital'.
Sydney loses out in the pollution stakes. Melbourne is a greener city, with more environmentally minded people actively taking an interest in their city and its future. Its air is clean but its water quality is on par with Sydney's, where on a typical day the humidity in tandem with the pollution can leave a person not yet accustomed to its weather systems with a feeling of greasy, grimy, discomfort.
Media-wise, both cities have it quite poor. Melbournians are the most insecure of all Australians. References to Sydney and a need to prove any form of superiority abound, and to an outsider not allied to either city it's very tiring and at times very irritating. Sydney-siders on the other hand couldn't care less, happy in their lot regardless of how other cities perceive them.
It's perhaps a result of such parochial feelings that the Melbourne media is absolutely saturated with Victorian rules football coverage. It's their game, and the media does everything it can to sideline any perceived threats, particularly from the likes of rugby league - not what one might expect from a city proclaiming itself the national sporting capital.
Women in Melbourne are generally thinner, paler, and smoke more than those in Sydney. I'm not really sure why, but Victorians seem to be absolutely petrified of the sun. Kids are taught that exposure to the sun is a terrible thing, are covered up at all times, and for this reason kids in Melbourne on average have weaker bones than those in Sydney, even if the children in Sydney take the reverse too far and have more skin cancers.
Men on the other hand tend to be taller and much weedier. Perhaps this is due to body-shape aspirations of Melbourne men being that of Vic rules footballers, and basketballers whereas men in Sydney seem to carry frames that are less metrosexual and/or child-like. There are exceptions to both rules of course.
Melbourne is insular. It's all about Melbourne. Sydney is outward looking, save for the fact that it is so aggressively tribal along social lines. Sydneysiders will happily travel across the globe and promote their city as an international hub, but you're much less likely to find someone from the Eastern fringe venturing into deepest, darkest Western Sydney, which may be the most foreign land of all. Western Sydney residents on the other hand are far more inclined to venture to the East of the city, but they will certainly point out how poorly they think of their Eastern neighbours once having gone there.
Culturally, Melbourne is a lot richer than Sydney. It's music, visual arts and live events are a rich tapestry. In Sydney they are more of an afterthought. Perhaps Sydney makes up for this in its own odd way, by being so utterly dominant when it comes to the Australian finance and business sector.
Misconceptions about Sydney from Melbournians aren't as common as those they hold about New South Wales as a whole. Melbournians have a weird, incredibly skewed view of NSW based on their limited experiences of travel to Sydney, and to Queensland via the Newell Highway. Every year Victorians head to Queensland in droves, looking for sunshine and great holidays, and in the process if driving they travel via the Newell Highway through the back of NSW. They see small dying towns, parched, endless flat paddocks, straight roads dominated by trucks and are then given to the idea that all of New South Wales is just as boring. They drive past everything that New South Wales has in common with Queensland without ever knowing it. Most people in NSW would prefer to keep it that way too.
Misconceptions about Melbourne from Sydneysiders are focused primarily on the occasional latest boasts coming out of Victoria and on the weather. It's a generally held belief by New South Welshmen that Victoria and Melbourne has the worst weather imaginable. Cold days, endless grey skies and incessant rain are the keys to this theory, and each of them are generally wide of the mark. Winter in Melbourne is very cold, and at times can approach those seen in the Blue Mountains of NSW, but Summer is perhaps a more pleasant experience in Victoria than it is in Sydney. Indeed, blue skies are not rare, even if muggy, sweaty days are. As for rain, the reality is that Sydney actually receives more rainfall that Melbourne, only that in Victoria it falls for longer, in a light, somewhat innocent drizzle. In Sydney the rain is more often driving, falls in bucket loads and is a worth planning weekends around, whereas in Melbourne you just go ahead anyway, because you'll barely notice it.
Perhaps the only real ugly side to Melbourne so far is its racism. A black man like my father can walk the streets of Sydney without even the slightest raised eyebrow. In Melbourne, perhaps due to the rarity of Victorian Aboriginal people, my dad becomes somewhat of a sideshow, and people in Melbourne have shown absolutely no shame with how they will stare, rudely at a person in the street, for being different. Going to the mall in Melbourne for an Aboriginal man with dark skin is a confronting matter, and it's really no wonder that people of Indian heritage are being murdered in the numbers here that they are.
I'm enjoying my time in Melbourne, and despite it being once a home to both my parents and grandfather, I really can't see myself forming any real attachment to the place, any more than I might to Sydney where both my parents were born. I'll be here a fair few more years, but in time I'll look forward to getting back - out of the rat race.
in the processes of change, I've gained an insight into the differences between people an environs in New South Wales and Victoria and to what makes them so different. Sydney is a fast paced city with perhaps a million too many people. It's public transport system is a joke, with buses being a last resort and trains being an irregular inconvenience. Despite Melbourne having a better public transport infrastructure, Sydney actually has better trains. They hold more people due to on average having more carriages and two decks as opposed to Melbourne's one. Packed trains in Sydney aren't uncommon, but in Melbourne it's often very hard to even find space in which to stand at peak hour.
Sydney is Australia's sports capital, regardless of what Melbournians are told to think, thanks primarily to the diversity of sporting interests and saturation of team sports franchises. A swag of rugby league clubs in the NRL, pro soccer clubs, rugby union and AFL. Melbourne is perhaps better classed as Australia's 'events capital'.
Sydney loses out in the pollution stakes. Melbourne is a greener city, with more environmentally minded people actively taking an interest in their city and its future. Its air is clean but its water quality is on par with Sydney's, where on a typical day the humidity in tandem with the pollution can leave a person not yet accustomed to its weather systems with a feeling of greasy, grimy, discomfort.
Media-wise, both cities have it quite poor. Melbournians are the most insecure of all Australians. References to Sydney and a need to prove any form of superiority abound, and to an outsider not allied to either city it's very tiring and at times very irritating. Sydney-siders on the other hand couldn't care less, happy in their lot regardless of how other cities perceive them.
It's perhaps a result of such parochial feelings that the Melbourne media is absolutely saturated with Victorian rules football coverage. It's their game, and the media does everything it can to sideline any perceived threats, particularly from the likes of rugby league - not what one might expect from a city proclaiming itself the national sporting capital.
Women in Melbourne are generally thinner, paler, and smoke more than those in Sydney. I'm not really sure why, but Victorians seem to be absolutely petrified of the sun. Kids are taught that exposure to the sun is a terrible thing, are covered up at all times, and for this reason kids in Melbourne on average have weaker bones than those in Sydney, even if the children in Sydney take the reverse too far and have more skin cancers.
Men on the other hand tend to be taller and much weedier. Perhaps this is due to body-shape aspirations of Melbourne men being that of Vic rules footballers, and basketballers whereas men in Sydney seem to carry frames that are less metrosexual and/or child-like. There are exceptions to both rules of course.
Melbourne is insular. It's all about Melbourne. Sydney is outward looking, save for the fact that it is so aggressively tribal along social lines. Sydneysiders will happily travel across the globe and promote their city as an international hub, but you're much less likely to find someone from the Eastern fringe venturing into deepest, darkest Western Sydney, which may be the most foreign land of all. Western Sydney residents on the other hand are far more inclined to venture to the East of the city, but they will certainly point out how poorly they think of their Eastern neighbours once having gone there.
Culturally, Melbourne is a lot richer than Sydney. It's music, visual arts and live events are a rich tapestry. In Sydney they are more of an afterthought. Perhaps Sydney makes up for this in its own odd way, by being so utterly dominant when it comes to the Australian finance and business sector.
Misconceptions about Sydney from Melbournians aren't as common as those they hold about New South Wales as a whole. Melbournians have a weird, incredibly skewed view of NSW based on their limited experiences of travel to Sydney, and to Queensland via the Newell Highway. Every year Victorians head to Queensland in droves, looking for sunshine and great holidays, and in the process if driving they travel via the Newell Highway through the back of NSW. They see small dying towns, parched, endless flat paddocks, straight roads dominated by trucks and are then given to the idea that all of New South Wales is just as boring. They drive past everything that New South Wales has in common with Queensland without ever knowing it. Most people in NSW would prefer to keep it that way too.
Misconceptions about Melbourne from Sydneysiders are focused primarily on the occasional latest boasts coming out of Victoria and on the weather. It's a generally held belief by New South Welshmen that Victoria and Melbourne has the worst weather imaginable. Cold days, endless grey skies and incessant rain are the keys to this theory, and each of them are generally wide of the mark. Winter in Melbourne is very cold, and at times can approach those seen in the Blue Mountains of NSW, but Summer is perhaps a more pleasant experience in Victoria than it is in Sydney. Indeed, blue skies are not rare, even if muggy, sweaty days are. As for rain, the reality is that Sydney actually receives more rainfall that Melbourne, only that in Victoria it falls for longer, in a light, somewhat innocent drizzle. In Sydney the rain is more often driving, falls in bucket loads and is a worth planning weekends around, whereas in Melbourne you just go ahead anyway, because you'll barely notice it.
Perhaps the only real ugly side to Melbourne so far is its racism. A black man like my father can walk the streets of Sydney without even the slightest raised eyebrow. In Melbourne, perhaps due to the rarity of Victorian Aboriginal people, my dad becomes somewhat of a sideshow, and people in Melbourne have shown absolutely no shame with how they will stare, rudely at a person in the street, for being different. Going to the mall in Melbourne for an Aboriginal man with dark skin is a confronting matter, and it's really no wonder that people of Indian heritage are being murdered in the numbers here that they are.
I'm enjoying my time in Melbourne, and despite it being once a home to both my parents and grandfather, I really can't see myself forming any real attachment to the place, any more than I might to Sydney where both my parents were born. I'll be here a fair few more years, but in time I'll look forward to getting back - out of the rat race.
Tuesday, 26 January 2010
I'm a Dad!
Well, I'm a Dad.. again! I was already a stepfather to a charming young man by the name of Ethan, but now my first born has arrived to join our happy band.
Tiriki was born 21 January, 2010. He arrived at 12:10pm, weighing in at 8lb 10oz, stretching to 51cm in length.
So far my lad has settled in well, and his brother has adjusted to his new sibling very well. I'm so very glad for that. Some work went into it, but it does seem that there is a natural bond, and that will only grow, at least until perhaps they have to share some toys, haha.
My wife is doing well, and is mobile again, and it was nice having my folks in town for the birth. They were here a full month, after having arrived early, due to some false signs. They have now returned home however, as of yesterday morning.
Funnily enough, my Dad didn't get home in the amount of time he had planned, having instead pulled over for two hours, to give a radio interview about his boxing career. How the program got his number we don't know, but it sounds like he had a lot of fun doing it.
Tiriki was born 21 January, 2010. He arrived at 12:10pm, weighing in at 8lb 10oz, stretching to 51cm in length.
So far my lad has settled in well, and his brother has adjusted to his new sibling very well. I'm so very glad for that. Some work went into it, but it does seem that there is a natural bond, and that will only grow, at least until perhaps they have to share some toys, haha.
My wife is doing well, and is mobile again, and it was nice having my folks in town for the birth. They were here a full month, after having arrived early, due to some false signs. They have now returned home however, as of yesterday morning.
Funnily enough, my Dad didn't get home in the amount of time he had planned, having instead pulled over for two hours, to give a radio interview about his boxing career. How the program got his number we don't know, but it sounds like he had a lot of fun doing it.
Sunday, 10 January 2010
D-Day
10th of Jan, 2010, 7:04pm. My child is due to arrive in less than 5 hours. Despite telling it to get out, that its rent is due, so far there is little movement at the station and it refuses to join us out here in a world that isn't so cramped. This matter makes a mockery of the fact that both my wife and I thought that our little one would be joining us about a week earlier. So much for that!
My folks are getting very bored I am sure. They came down to Melbourne from the Blue Mountains, with the suggestion that my wife was very close to giving birth. We thought wrong. So, we're in the middle of a heat wave and my folks are bored, in a strange city, locked in-doors with their son and his family, and unsure as to how to entertain themselves. Avatar was yesterday's suggestion. They caught the train to the suburb with the nearest cinema complex, and upon their return told us instead of how they had found the nearest poker machine palace.
For the record, they spent little, and came away empty handed. Hopefully, their luck will improve and they will get to see their grand child arrive, prior to leaving on the 15th for the renewal of their car registration!
My folks are getting very bored I am sure. They came down to Melbourne from the Blue Mountains, with the suggestion that my wife was very close to giving birth. We thought wrong. So, we're in the middle of a heat wave and my folks are bored, in a strange city, locked in-doors with their son and his family, and unsure as to how to entertain themselves. Avatar was yesterday's suggestion. They caught the train to the suburb with the nearest cinema complex, and upon their return told us instead of how they had found the nearest poker machine palace.
For the record, they spent little, and came away empty handed. Hopefully, their luck will improve and they will get to see their grand child arrive, prior to leaving on the 15th for the renewal of their car registration!
Sunday, 3 January 2010
Happy New Year
A new year and changes are afoot. Baby Patten is due any time now. Which is good, because it was only last week that we got the name sorted out (that being related to asking permission to use the name, a tribal one).
My folks are here, staying with us for the birth of the baby. It's good to have them here, I do miss their company, living as I do a full day's travel by car from them.
My folks are here, staying with us for the birth of the baby. It's good to have them here, I do miss their company, living as I do a full day's travel by car from them.
Monday, 7 December 2009
Ch ch ch changes
What's new..
- My amazingly amazing wife is 5 weeks away from giving birth - or somewhere in the vicinity. I can't wait!
- I'm enjoying work.
- I've never been so healthy. I eat healthy food (mostly organic) and I'm sleeping normal hours.
- My genealogy research has yielded many new and exciting results.
- We've finally paid off our credit cards!
- I posted this previously, to the wrong blog!
- My amazingly amazing wife is 5 weeks away from giving birth - or somewhere in the vicinity. I can't wait!
- I'm enjoying work.
- I've never been so healthy. I eat healthy food (mostly organic) and I'm sleeping normal hours.
- My genealogy research has yielded many new and exciting results.
- We've finally paid off our credit cards!
- I posted this previously, to the wrong blog!
Sunday, 23 August 2009
CostCo: The Trail of Blood
Lucy and I ventured to CostCo on Saturday. Big mistake. The store had only been open for a week and was the first for the franchise in Australia, so I expected things too be a little hectic. Well, hectic would have been a help. Instead I found matters to be out of control. After 30 minutes outside, lined up just to purchase a membership, being whipped by icy winds in the shade of the monolothic red CostCo cube, we finally made it inside. Venturing into that place without one of their giant shopping trolleys is the act of a mad man. By the time that I had filled my arms with bulk organic dark chocolate, a giant jar of sun dried tomatoes, two massive bags of Tasmanian mussels and some freshly baked bread, I knew I'd be in trouble.
Well didn't the shit hit me like I'm a fan of the stuff! I casually started towards the checkout, realising then that at the end of line I couldn't quite see the bloody start! So, arms full, I stood and waited, and waited, and felt myself becoming something not all that different to the arms on an analog clock. Yeah, you know they move, but they don't quite seem to be doing much when you're paying attention. This was just like that. At no point did I ever really feel like the line was moving, but after two friggin' hours I finally made it to the check out complete with the chuppa chup offered by the staff to placate my rage.
Two hours in a line and my mussels were losing fluid rapidly. I also felt a bit uneasy, not only about the wait and the weight of my goods, but for the fact that a steady trail of blood was in front of me and sticky beneath my shoes, having been dripped by the number of poor saps who had thought buying any sort of red meat was going to work out well.
Parking wasn't any better. The store's parking lot of course was full, so we had to park next door. That was $5 on top of the $60 membership we paid to join the obedient throngs in praise of the almighty red cube.
So will I go back? Yeah, but not in the next month, and never again on a weekend. I'll also be sure to be ready to buy a shitload of goods in bulk, making sure to bypass all of the weirdo items that seemed to be at every turn of an aisle. Who would have seriously thought that a store would need half an aisle full of nappies for grown women. Either there are a seriously high number of chicks into the whole adult baby thang in Australia, or senior citizens are in worse shape than I had generally imagined.
CostCo has a lot of potential. $5 for a massive bag of mussels leads me to this heavily researched conclusion. But DAMN - does it ever need to manage the crowds better!!
OK, it's after 4am, I've had my food, I no longer feel like I need to go for a jog after waking up at 1am, full of beans. Time to sleep.
Monday, 10 August 2009
Thursday, 18 June 2009
AUGHGHHH - CHOOOPTHHHFF
Swine flu? Regular flu? I don't know, it's one or the other. We've all got it. I suppose we'll know when we head off to the clinic later today or tomorrow.
Oh yeah, the scan - we're 10 weeks in. I saw the baby's heart beat and the head. :)
Oh yeah, the scan - we're 10 weeks in. I saw the baby's heart beat and the head. :)
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Big update
I've been hiding out, and recovering, as opposed to "getting over" the loss of our baby. Maybe it was nature's way of saying that it wasn't the kid's time, and that perhaps something was wrong with the pregnancy. Who the fuck knows. It still hurts.
My life has changed a lot this year. I'm happy, and I'm a lot busier than I once was. I no longer have a lot of spare time on my hands, or even a reasonable amount. That bothers me, but it's something that will in time be ironed out.
A typical day these days sees me wake at 5:30am, head out the door at 6:55am, and take two trains, arriving at one of my two work locations almost on the dot of 8:30am. I work, and I enjoy it, and I'm for the most part in an environment in which I'm allowed and encouraged to develop myself further. It's nice, and certainly a lot more social than in my previous station.
I get home at around 6:30pm, and after a quick chore or two, cook dinner, and by the time I've eaten, or occasionally having bathed my lad, it's 9pm and my bedtime.
Yeah.. I go to bed at 9pm. A biiiig change. No more 3am's, and no more late mornings. I can't stay in bed past 7am on a weekend now, even if given the opportunity. I'm wide awake, and restless.
Weekends are a bit of a struggle. There's just not enough time to do as much as I'd like. I want more time.
My ongoing RMIT studies - are a necessary pain. I don't particularly feel that I.T people are all that logical, or reasonable. Hence programming languages and instructions are as cold and irrational as an ice cube inserted into one's pee hole. Sure, the instructions might make sense to someone with a less than bureaucratic grasp of conversation and communication on a human level, but it's not for the likes of I.
My wife and I need to get out and about. We need to meet some people. Melbourne is a great city, but outside of work, it's very hard to meet people and make friends, unless you spend time either in a social group, club, or are a bar fly. Since I don't go to pubs here, and haven't one anywhere near me, that last option isn't too likely, and I have yet to figure out if I'm a club joining guy, especially after all of the annoyance the Wilderness Society and their constant bombardments caused.
Anyway..
Positives.
1. Last fortnight I went to a book launch for Dr. Jennifer Jones' "Black Authors, White Editors." I was surprised though. The author, whom I had previously spoken with, ended up calling upon me to do the launching! There's a story behind that, but one probably too tedious to anyone not interested in genealogy and my historical ties and obsessions.
2. My bread is improving. It looks great, tastes great, is multi grain, brown, isn't made via the use of a bread maker - and the damn crumbling/fragility problem is getting a lot better (am open to suggestions however).
3. A scan today. Fingers crossed.
4. I think in a brainstorm today that I may have nailed the narrative flow of my book. An issue which had kept me from tackling even a since sentence for a considerable amount of time.
5. I'm well on the track of two fraudulent characters, whom I aim to publicly humiliate for the use of my grandfather's name (more on this when prodded perhaps).
6. I didn't get swine flu from the kid who had it at my work. Yay!
My life has changed a lot this year. I'm happy, and I'm a lot busier than I once was. I no longer have a lot of spare time on my hands, or even a reasonable amount. That bothers me, but it's something that will in time be ironed out.
A typical day these days sees me wake at 5:30am, head out the door at 6:55am, and take two trains, arriving at one of my two work locations almost on the dot of 8:30am. I work, and I enjoy it, and I'm for the most part in an environment in which I'm allowed and encouraged to develop myself further. It's nice, and certainly a lot more social than in my previous station.
I get home at around 6:30pm, and after a quick chore or two, cook dinner, and by the time I've eaten, or occasionally having bathed my lad, it's 9pm and my bedtime.
Yeah.. I go to bed at 9pm. A biiiig change. No more 3am's, and no more late mornings. I can't stay in bed past 7am on a weekend now, even if given the opportunity. I'm wide awake, and restless.
Weekends are a bit of a struggle. There's just not enough time to do as much as I'd like. I want more time.
My ongoing RMIT studies - are a necessary pain. I don't particularly feel that I.T people are all that logical, or reasonable. Hence programming languages and instructions are as cold and irrational as an ice cube inserted into one's pee hole. Sure, the instructions might make sense to someone with a less than bureaucratic grasp of conversation and communication on a human level, but it's not for the likes of I.
My wife and I need to get out and about. We need to meet some people. Melbourne is a great city, but outside of work, it's very hard to meet people and make friends, unless you spend time either in a social group, club, or are a bar fly. Since I don't go to pubs here, and haven't one anywhere near me, that last option isn't too likely, and I have yet to figure out if I'm a club joining guy, especially after all of the annoyance the Wilderness Society and their constant bombardments caused.
Anyway..
Positives.
1. Last fortnight I went to a book launch for Dr. Jennifer Jones' "Black Authors, White Editors." I was surprised though. The author, whom I had previously spoken with, ended up calling upon me to do the launching! There's a story behind that, but one probably too tedious to anyone not interested in genealogy and my historical ties and obsessions.
2. My bread is improving. It looks great, tastes great, is multi grain, brown, isn't made via the use of a bread maker - and the damn crumbling/fragility problem is getting a lot better (am open to suggestions however).
3. A scan today. Fingers crossed.
4. I think in a brainstorm today that I may have nailed the narrative flow of my book. An issue which had kept me from tackling even a since sentence for a considerable amount of time.
5. I'm well on the track of two fraudulent characters, whom I aim to publicly humiliate for the use of my grandfather's name (more on this when prodded perhaps).
6. I didn't get swine flu from the kid who had it at my work. Yay!
Sunday, 8 March 2009
Times, they are a changin'
A terribly hard week, followed by the best. I'm now a married man, have a wonderful wife, and things are only getting better. It still doesn't take away the pain of loss though.
However, we can only move forward, keep active and occupied.
However, we can only move forward, keep active and occupied.
Saturday, 21 February 2009
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Up for air
Finally a chance to slow down and take a breather!
The last few months have been the most hectic and life changing I've ever experienced. It's been highly enjoyable, but it is nice to have some time now to potter around the house, to work on some hobbies, do some character illustrations for a friend's book, and simply relax without having to be off to the next scheduled activity station in the playground of life.
I'm home alone. Mr. 2.5yrs old is off with his dad, Lucy is an hour away studying and I hve nothing to do except make some pumpkin bread for next week's lunches at work, do a touch of TAFE work, and stuff about, carefree and casual. Hurruh!
Before I do relax completely though, I would like to share an observation:
Melbourne trains are shit.
People in Sydney, Newcastle, Illawarra and the Mountains might complain about Cityrail, but believe me, they have got nothing on Connex for sheer incompetence. The wee before last there were as many as 100 cencellations on the Melbourne network - each day. Much of the blame was put on driver unions and the heat buckling rails, but that's a very poor cop-out. Had Connex and the VIC government bothered to give drivers comfortable conditions in the 40C+ temperatures, and allowed for gaps between rails to ensure they wouldn't buckle (seriously, they are so dumb as to weld rails together down here), there wouldn't be nearly a tenth as many issues to deal with.
I left home before 7:30am yesterday, and for a 50min trip, I didn't make it to work until 9:45am, and that was without the high temperatures and driver issues from the previous week.
Every morning and every evening I have to stand at the edge of the platform, playing door roulette, hoping I am able to guess where the train carriage will stop, so that I can get in first and HOPEFULLY get a seat. If Melbourne had doulbe decked trains there wouldn't be an issue like that anymore. Further, if Connex had trains with flip seats like Cityrail I wouldn't have to face strangers on most occasions, nor would people grumble as they attempt to share the little available leg space.
I like Melbourne a lot more than Sydney, but the latter has nothing on Melbourne's growing issues with public transport, electricity and water - all of which are issues that were supposedly in reverse not so long ago. It's a great place, but it's going to turn to shit soon if matters aren't handled appropriately right now.
The last few months have been the most hectic and life changing I've ever experienced. It's been highly enjoyable, but it is nice to have some time now to potter around the house, to work on some hobbies, do some character illustrations for a friend's book, and simply relax without having to be off to the next scheduled activity station in the playground of life.
I'm home alone. Mr. 2.5yrs old is off with his dad, Lucy is an hour away studying and I hve nothing to do except make some pumpkin bread for next week's lunches at work, do a touch of TAFE work, and stuff about, carefree and casual. Hurruh!
Before I do relax completely though, I would like to share an observation:
Melbourne trains are shit.
People in Sydney, Newcastle, Illawarra and the Mountains might complain about Cityrail, but believe me, they have got nothing on Connex for sheer incompetence. The wee before last there were as many as 100 cencellations on the Melbourne network - each day. Much of the blame was put on driver unions and the heat buckling rails, but that's a very poor cop-out. Had Connex and the VIC government bothered to give drivers comfortable conditions in the 40C+ temperatures, and allowed for gaps between rails to ensure they wouldn't buckle (seriously, they are so dumb as to weld rails together down here), there wouldn't be nearly a tenth as many issues to deal with.
I left home before 7:30am yesterday, and for a 50min trip, I didn't make it to work until 9:45am, and that was without the high temperatures and driver issues from the previous week.
Every morning and every evening I have to stand at the edge of the platform, playing door roulette, hoping I am able to guess where the train carriage will stop, so that I can get in first and HOPEFULLY get a seat. If Melbourne had doulbe decked trains there wouldn't be an issue like that anymore. Further, if Connex had trains with flip seats like Cityrail I wouldn't have to face strangers on most occasions, nor would people grumble as they attempt to share the little available leg space.
I like Melbourne a lot more than Sydney, but the latter has nothing on Melbourne's growing issues with public transport, electricity and water - all of which are issues that were supposedly in reverse not so long ago. It's a great place, but it's going to turn to shit soon if matters aren't handled appropriately right now.
Sunday, 25 January 2009
The Score
Back on January 2nd 2008 I posted my list of New Year Resolutions and Hopes. So it's time to take a look back, reflect and see how things panned out for me in 2008.
1. Find THE woman. Not A woman.
CHECK! Not only did I find her - we're getting married in less than a month's time and we've also learnt we have a baby on the way! Quite frankly, after that nothing much else matters. But onto the rest regardless...
2. Souths win number 21.
NOPE! This was a long-shot. One I hope for every year, and will be hoping for yet again in 2009. Go Souths!!
3. Either make living in this town more rewarding, or finally surrender and move to the inner city of Sydney.
SORTA! Well, I did leave for greener pastures, but I didn't surrender either. Melbourne is a happy medium. It provides me with a quality of life similar to that in the Blue Mountains, whilst avoiding the rushed feel and negativity I've always associated with Sydney.
4. Finish my genealogical novel.
NOPE! I didn't finish, but I didn't stand still either. I have delved deeper into the source material than I had previously thought possible and it has lead me to new twists and turns in my writing. Now all I need is more free time.
5. Be a little easier on my brother.
YEP. Now all that's left is for him to be a bit tougher on himself!
6. Learn to play flight of the bumblebee on trumpet, and sound good at it.
NOPE. And living in the city where I can't escape to the bush to practice, I think I'll keep that one on the backburner. Perhaps learning piano (electric and with headphones) might be the better option.
1. Find THE woman. Not A woman.
CHECK! Not only did I find her - we're getting married in less than a month's time and we've also learnt we have a baby on the way! Quite frankly, after that nothing much else matters. But onto the rest regardless...
2. Souths win number 21.
NOPE! This was a long-shot. One I hope for every year, and will be hoping for yet again in 2009. Go Souths!!
3. Either make living in this town more rewarding, or finally surrender and move to the inner city of Sydney.
SORTA! Well, I did leave for greener pastures, but I didn't surrender either. Melbourne is a happy medium. It provides me with a quality of life similar to that in the Blue Mountains, whilst avoiding the rushed feel and negativity I've always associated with Sydney.
4. Finish my genealogical novel.
NOPE! I didn't finish, but I didn't stand still either. I have delved deeper into the source material than I had previously thought possible and it has lead me to new twists and turns in my writing. Now all I need is more free time.
5. Be a little easier on my brother.
YEP. Now all that's left is for him to be a bit tougher on himself!
6. Learn to play flight of the bumblebee on trumpet, and sound good at it.
NOPE. And living in the city where I can't escape to the bush to practice, I think I'll keep that one on the backburner. Perhaps learning piano (electric and with headphones) might be the better option.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
So...
Life in Melbourne is pretty cool. Apart from the absence of immediate family and close friends, this city has a lot going for it. The suburb in which I'm based is relaxed and very quiet. I'm also a short distance from farms and the bush, as well as the hustle and bustle of the city and the life on Brunswick Street. In all, the transition has been quite a pleasant surprise.
Another plesant aspect I've been exploring of late is my rekindled interest in gardening. It's an area that I am quite proficient, yet have devoted very little time to. This is changing with our small, but enjoyable garden.
Before I arrived here, we had no vegetables growing in the small dirt border that makes up the garden in our unit's courtyard. However, Lucy had been burying a large amount of kitchen scraps, and had managed to turn the once water repellant dust into quite a reasonable strata of topsoil. A good start. I've planted broad beans, peppermint, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, rocket, marjoram, oregano and a few others, and so far everything is moving along at a strong pace. In addition, the food scraps are pulling their own weight, with pumpkins in the tens of dozens sprouting everywhere, along with potatoes, regular sized tomatoes and whatever else I've yet to identify at the seedling stages. With all these positives I've decided to set a goal:
I would like to be able to produce one fifth of the food consumed in tihis house, in our courtyard. It's a big target, especially given the lack of space we have, but foam crates and plenty of potting mix and blood and bone should help bring that back to a workable line.
Here's hoping!
Another plesant aspect I've been exploring of late is my rekindled interest in gardening. It's an area that I am quite proficient, yet have devoted very little time to. This is changing with our small, but enjoyable garden.
Before I arrived here, we had no vegetables growing in the small dirt border that makes up the garden in our unit's courtyard. However, Lucy had been burying a large amount of kitchen scraps, and had managed to turn the once water repellant dust into quite a reasonable strata of topsoil. A good start. I've planted broad beans, peppermint, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, rocket, marjoram, oregano and a few others, and so far everything is moving along at a strong pace. In addition, the food scraps are pulling their own weight, with pumpkins in the tens of dozens sprouting everywhere, along with potatoes, regular sized tomatoes and whatever else I've yet to identify at the seedling stages. With all these positives I've decided to set a goal:
I would like to be able to produce one fifth of the food consumed in tihis house, in our courtyard. It's a big target, especially given the lack of space we have, but foam crates and plenty of potting mix and blood and bone should help bring that back to a workable line.
Here's hoping!
Monday, 17 November 2008
Ch ch changes
A lot of time has passed, and many things have changed since my last blog update. Last time I wrote, about a month ago, I was living in the Blue Mountains and considering a move south to live with my girlfriend Lucy and her son. Since then I’ve taken the plunge, moved to Melbourne and we’ve also become engaged, tentatively setting a date for a late February wedding in the Mountains. Huzzah!!
I’m comfortable, happy, my fitness is continuing on its ever upward spiral thanks to my switch to an almost completely vegetarian diet, and I’m also enjoying what this city has to offer. I’m embracing Melbourne. It’s a laid back, culturally diverse, welcoming artistically enriching city and it fits with my own approach to life.
Life is very good.
I do miss my folks, brother and his family, regular karaoke and trivia nights and times with my mates in the ‘gow, but the rewards I’m reaping from my move and the satisfaction of being here with my fiancée are making the losses easier to deal with. This move has been a lot easier than I could have imagined.
I’ve lived all over NSW but never interstate. Being in a very close family has always made such a move one that I’d have been very unlikely to consider. It would take someone very special to convince me that it would be a smart move. Thankfully, it came quite easily, and Lucy didn’t have to work to convince me at all.
I’m comfortable, happy, my fitness is continuing on its ever upward spiral thanks to my switch to an almost completely vegetarian diet, and I’m also enjoying what this city has to offer. I’m embracing Melbourne. It’s a laid back, culturally diverse, welcoming artistically enriching city and it fits with my own approach to life.
Life is very good.
I do miss my folks, brother and his family, regular karaoke and trivia nights and times with my mates in the ‘gow, but the rewards I’m reaping from my move and the satisfaction of being here with my fiancée are making the losses easier to deal with. This move has been a lot easier than I could have imagined.
I’ve lived all over NSW but never interstate. Being in a very close family has always made such a move one that I’d have been very unlikely to consider. It would take someone very special to convince me that it would be a smart move. Thankfully, it came quite easily, and Lucy didn’t have to work to convince me at all.
Tuesday, 7 October 2008
The Big Launch
Just prior to this most recent trip to Melbourne Lucy and I attended the premiere of the upcoming SBS documentary series, First Australians, held at the Opera House in Sydney.
Six years in the making, this multi platform project is the most ambitious to be undertaken on Indigenous Australia. The project encompasses seven episodes of landmark television, a substantial online experience, educational and retail DVD, a hard cover pictorial book and a community outreach program. The series First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. It begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishmen (Governor Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo’s legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. First Australians chronicles the collision of two worlds and the genesis of a new nation. - firstaustralians.com.au
An enjoyable evening, the event kicked off with an opportunity to catch up with some friends and family, along with meeting new people (particularly those whose literary and academic works I am familiar with and admire). Some media personalities amongst the crowd or upon the stage that I was familiar with were Debra Mailman (Radiance), Karla Grant (Living Black - SBS), Peter O'Brien (Water Rats, Flying Doctors etc.. he was dressed like a train robber from the ol' West) and unless Lucy and I were both mistaken and most curiously we also saw Kevin McLoud (Grand Designs - UK), and not to forget that guitarist fellow who played a few years with Mental as Anything and engaged us in conversation for a fair whack of the evening. Nice bloke.. whoever you are!
The presentations made by the directors and producers of First Australians, along with the head of SBS and Jenny Macklin made for a thoroughly enlightening evening, and one that built my anticipation and axcitement for the first episode of First Australians to new highs.
The episode I appear in doesn't screen until I think October 22 or 24, but Episode One starts 12 October, 8.30pm on SBS.
Can't wait.
Six years in the making, this multi platform project is the most ambitious to be undertaken on Indigenous Australia. The project encompasses seven episodes of landmark television, a substantial online experience, educational and retail DVD, a hard cover pictorial book and a community outreach program. The series First Australians chronicles the birth of contemporary Australia as never told before, from the perspective of its first people. It begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the friendship between an Englishmen (Governor Phillip) and a warrior (Bennelong) and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo’s legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. First Australians chronicles the collision of two worlds and the genesis of a new nation. - firstaustralians.com.au
An enjoyable evening, the event kicked off with an opportunity to catch up with some friends and family, along with meeting new people (particularly those whose literary and academic works I am familiar with and admire). Some media personalities amongst the crowd or upon the stage that I was familiar with were Debra Mailman (Radiance), Karla Grant (Living Black - SBS), Peter O'Brien (Water Rats, Flying Doctors etc.. he was dressed like a train robber from the ol' West) and unless Lucy and I were both mistaken and most curiously we also saw Kevin McLoud (Grand Designs - UK), and not to forget that guitarist fellow who played a few years with Mental as Anything and engaged us in conversation for a fair whack of the evening. Nice bloke.. whoever you are!
The presentations made by the directors and producers of First Australians, along with the head of SBS and Jenny Macklin made for a thoroughly enlightening evening, and one that built my anticipation and axcitement for the first episode of First Australians to new highs.
The episode I appear in doesn't screen until I think October 22 or 24, but Episode One starts 12 October, 8.30pm on SBS.
Can't wait.
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