A blog about nothing...

Snow white...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:13:28 +1100

…or how to feel painfully Anglo and out of place in the heart of Sydney.

If you live in Sydney and you want to feel like a tourist without travelling, try walking down Sussex Street, visit every convenience store you can find and try to ask if they have any whole Szechuan peppercorns.

Unable to read labels on food: ✔ Get in everyone else’s way: ✔ Butcher a shopkeeper’s native language: ✔ Be handed something totally different, with a nod and a big smile: ✔ Blush, stammer, apologise and beat a hasty retreat: ✔

Rinse and repeat.

Good morning, Sydney. The view from my back door at 6:45. One...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:35:22 +1100

Good morning, Sydney.

The view from my back door at 6:45.

One of the benefits of getting up an hour before the sun does is, every now and then, you get the opportunity to stop and watch the day just happen right in front of you.

This reminds me of how much I love this city. While walking...

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 13:08:47 +1100

This reminds me of how much I love this city.

While walking from James Squire brew house to the Sydney Theatre in 90% humidity and the threat of more rain, I was struck by how gorgeous this place is, even while wet and gloomy.

Despite our difficult 2009, despite our fears that the propert market is rising up out of our reach, despite the fact I had to return to Governmnent work after declaring “Never again!”, I have not regretted our move one single day.

I wonder if Billy knows?

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:15:57 +1100

E: Daddy, what's this song called?
Me: "1979", by The Smashing Pumpkins.
E: Who's playing drums?
Me: A man called Jimmy.
E: Who's playing guitars?
Me: Well, a man called James is playing guitar, and a lady called D'arcy is plaing the bass guitar.
E: Who's singing?
Me: A man called Billy?
E: What's he singing?
Me: Well, words I guess.
E: Why is _he_ singing?
Me: Because they're his words. He wrote them.
E: Why did he write them?
Me: It's how he chooses to express himself. The songs are about what he's thinking about. Okay?
E: Okay.
E:
E: I think he's thinking about formula one cars.

People who scratch and run in carparks are scum of the earth.

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:32:31 +1100

People who scratch and run in carparks are scum of the earth.

"You can make up all kinds of friendly tricks. Just don’t get caught in the endless cycle of..."

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:44:40 +1100

“You can make up all kinds of friendly tricks. Just don’t get caught in the endless cycle of guilt, avoidance, and pressure. When it is your time to write, write.”

- Natalie Goldberg, “Writing Down The Bones”

"Willem is a very fortunate man"

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 16:51:33 +1100

“Willem is a very fortunate man”

- Director Lars von Trier on Willem DeFoe’s apparent substantial ahem, talent, as it were.

I just used Google Earth for the iPhone to show Elijah where...

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:00:35 +1100

I just used Google Earth for the iPhone to show Elijah where Santa Claus lives.

Yeah, the future is pretty cool.

Last night’s beef rogan josh, cooked from scratch, using...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:30:58 +1100

Last night’s beef rogan josh, cooked from scratch, using the Jamie Oliver iPhone app. This thing makes it ridiculously easy to cook meals, has instructional videos for things like proper cutting technique and step by step photos. Well worth the $10 I paid for it.

Oh, and oh so yummy.

A few weeks ago, the lorikeets came back for a visit and brought...

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:35:14 +1100

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

A few weeks ago, the lorikeets came back for a visit and brought all their friends. There were at least 7 in that tree at one stage.

Sadly, I haven’t seen nor heard a single lorikeets since.

Belly

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:49:00 +1100

Elijah: Daddy, you have a belly.
Me: Yes matey, I have a belly.
Elijah: It's like the Fat Controller [knowing nod]
Me: I am well aware of my need for a new exercise regime, thank you. It's time you had a bath, smart guy.
Elijah: Can I pat it? Like a drum?
Me: [long pause] Okay. Just one go. Then it's bath time.

Elijah and I spotted this yesterday on the walk home from the...

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:18:41 +1100

Elijah and I spotted this yesterday on the walk home from the train station.

If you can’t see clearly, it is a flower planted inside a cardboard coffee cup and has been propped up against a fence at the intersection of a highway and a busy feeder road.

When I walked past it this morning, it had already been knocked over and trampled on.

A small piece of guerilla gardening for sure, but it definitely brightened up my our evening.

Thank you, Phantom Planter.

Incidentally, an update...

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:44:44 +1000

Helen is really busy, as usual. The hard slog with auditions is paying off in interesting and exciting ways.

Elijah goes to the local child care three times a week and is loving it. We are not loving the different behavioural habits he is learning quite so much.

I have work :-) I have been working full time on a temporary basis for about a month now. I hope to have more exciting news soon but am awaiting official confirmation first before blabbing to the world.

All in all, life is the best it has been for the family as a unit since we got here. It looks like life is starting to settle into place now.

This is just a test

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:36:38 +1000

If you’re reading this, I’m confuse. Even I don’t read this.

Also, testing the Tumblr iPhone app. I may actually write more often if this makes it easier to update on the go.

I found this little guy lying on the front lawn this morning...

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:58:27 +1000

I found this little guy lying on the front lawn this morning after I had dropped Bugs off at child care. I had thought he was asleep in sun until Helen said, “Um, I don’t think birds pant like that”.

Since Helen was off to an audition, it fell to me to sort out what I could do to help the poor bird. I rang the Sydney Metropolitan Wildlife Service (which is run by volunteers) who advised me to either get him to a vet or keep him inside and warm in a box until they could send someone around late in the afternoon to pick him up.

Although he settled down a little in the box, he still didn’t look too good so as soon as Helen got back from her audition, we took him to the Great Western Animal Hospital to see if they could do anything for him.

About half an hour later they hospital rang me to let me know that it appeared that he had an advanced infestation of air sac mites, had been ill for some time and had a very low chance of responding to the required extensive treatment and as such, they had put him to sleep.
Poor birdie :-(

Despite the fact that this sort of thing happens in the wild all the time, and this bird had only been around in my life for a single morning, I miss the poor little guy. I had propped his box up on the bean bag and moved my laptop into the rumpus room to keep him company while I waited for Helen to get home. I checked on him regularly and even re-heated the heat pack I’d put in the box to ensure he stayed warm.

It seems silly to be sentimental about one little bird, but there you have it.

For as long as we have been here, our toilets have been...

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:35:00 +1000

For as long as we have been here, our toilets have been temperamental. Sometimes they were so weak that a half-flush couldn’t flush paper away. Other times the water in the bowl would disappear completely overnight. I later discovered that both of these were signs that our sewer pipe was blocked somewhere (the pan siphoning in particular was a very strong indicator that something was wrong).

Just over a week ago, the toilet in the laundry decided it didn’t want to flush, right over Elijah had used it in, shall we say, a significant and substantial fashion. The bowl filled almost to the top.

Fun.

After much effort, we (meaning I) cleared it and it sort of worked after that. Soon after though it would begin bubbling and gurgling every time someone had a shower or let out the bath in the bathroom.

After I spent three flushes to clear the other toilet in the bathroom, I knew something was seriously wrong and I logged the issue with the real estate agents.

The next day they sent out a plumber to have a look.

This is what he found.

More photos and descriptions of the hard work and effort he had to put in to even reach the roots blocking the pipes are here

Well, here we are

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:28:00 +1100

We’ve been in Sydney nearly 3 months now and it has been disgraceful that I have not written sooner. The quick details are that we are renting an excellent house, Helen is doing really well with her acting classes and auditioning like crazy and The Boy has settled in to his new house nicely. I on the other hand am still looking for a job despite two recruitment agencies currently actively looking on my behalf, as well as all the job applications I have been sending in around the place for permanent work. *sigh* Also, I’ve been taking part in a Twitter challenge to take a self-portrait everyday and post it to the Flickr Twitter 365 Project Group. I’ve been trying to attach little stories to each of the photos as a reminder of the events of the day (which is probably why I haven’t written here since then). I haven’t managed to do so for all of them but I do have some favourites:

The full set of photos on my Flickr feed is available here.

It's done.

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:32:42 +1100

The house is sold. Resignations have been accepted. All our gear is now in storage.

We’re in Brisbane for Christmas and then in mid-January we make our merry way to the biggest of Australian Big Smokes and relocate to Sydney.

All I need now is a home and a job. Small details.

The ties that bind

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 13:56:09 +1100

Well, there aren’t as many as there used to be. Since the cooling off period has expired, the house is now officially sold. I handed in my resignation at work on Monday and I finish on 19 December. Helen’s resignation went in the mail yesterday (she’s been on long-term parenting leave). The removalists are coming to pick up all our stuff in the days leading up to Christmas. Dates are being locked in. It’s happening. It’s really happening.

For Christmas and New Year (and probably most of, if not all of January) we will both be homeless and unemployed, although in reality we’ll be resting up in Brisbane with family before throwing ourselves into the next phase of life.

Weeeee!

For maybe the first time in my life, I’m committing myself to the great unknown where nothing is certain. It is scary and exciting at the same time.

May we all live in interesting times :-)

INTJ - The Scientists For as long as I can recall, I have...

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:47:55 +1100

INTJ - The Scientists

For as long as I can recall, I have always cropped up in Myers-Briggs Testing Indicators as an INTJ. I’ve never had any cause to argue with the results. I’ve read all 16 MBTI combinations in order to satisfy myself that they aren’t described in such a way that they would suit any person. INTJ is pretty accurate really.

Along comes the Typealyzer, a fun site that purports to report the MBTI category of a blog author based on an analysis of the text on the site. True to form, an analysis of TechWhimsy (which is where I put most of my thought out writing, lack of recent updates notwithstanding) has an INTJ author. It’s true. I am. Individualistic. Intellectually curious. Theoretical and abstract. Less sociable. Works best on their own.

However (and with me, there’s almost always a ‘however’), I ran this site (as well as it’s Blogger hosted precursor) through the Typealyzer black box and they both came out ESTP - The Doers. Active and playful. Attuned to other people and surroundings. Often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

This must be where I let my brain out to play :)

via lonelysandwich.com