Friday, July 30, 2004

Crappy, In More Ways Than One

Uurgh.  We just went to a farewell lunch for one of our workmates at a restaurant called Peter Pan [note: boring link] in Crows Nest, where amongst the joys of cold food, varying meal sizes and one dish which had a piece of plastic in it... I've been running to the bathroom for the past 2 hours. Thanks Peter Pan!

Here's a heads up, avoid the Chicken Cacciatore.

Thursday, July 15, 2004

Hello! Testing. Is This Thing On?

So posting has been a bit sporadic here of late. I've been struggling with a crackerjack case of sinus infection, weariness and more than a tad of malaise. I know, even I haven't wanted to hear me talk about it...

So, here is the Cliff Notes version (minus all the hand wringing) of the past week:

  • Saturday was a blur of the domestic - early morning supermarket shopping and an intense 'workout standard' cleaning frenzy. People, I even got in and cleaned out the washing machine lint filters. Virtue was mine.
  • Saturday night I went to a lovely dinner at my friends John & Judy's house, where I met the most amazing friend of theirs called Bronwyn and her husband Peter. Bronwyn was smart, funny and warm, and I enjoyed her conversation immensely.
  • Sunday I was back at John and Judy's house to help Judy to sew. She's making a 16th Century Italian ladies outfit and we were making the ruff to go on her chemise. (It makes a lot more sense if you understand that we share the same bizarre hobby.)
  • Tuesday night I had the first full class of my new Buddhist course. Is it wrong to notice that there were three dead set hotties in the class, one of which had a thick Cockney accent? Be still my beating heart. On a serious note the class was excellent, jam packed with people, and I got a lot out of it. I have homework... I forgot what that was like.
  • I have narrowed down the plans for my 40th birthday party and made a venue booking. Next stop, invitations! There's no stopping the Birthday Juggernaut now.
  • I started the process of looking for a new job today. I spoke to my two potential referees here at work and sounded them out about whether they would be happy to be a referee on job applications. Now I have committed myself and hopefully won't succumb to inertia again.

    All other time not specifically mentioned was probably spent watching tv. It's winter, and I'm hibernating.
  • Faaaaaabulous!

    As someone who has a tendancy to over use the other 'F' word, I appreciate the fact that I'm not the only one.

    Friday, July 09, 2004

    Little Kindnesses

    Over the past couple of days some strangers have shown small acts of kindness towards me that have really made my day.

    So, to the two ladies who joined forces to help me get all my letters and parcels into the letterbox last night, thanks ladies! You made me do a complete 180 degree turn on my day. Up to that point it had been stressfull, frustrating and annoying and I wasn't looking forward to the walk to the train station in the cold and drizzly weather.

    I still got wet, and felt cold, but I sure did feel warmer inside!

    Killer Roos!

    I personally don't need any additional reasons not to live in Canberra, but I'll add killer roos to the list.

    I got kicked by a great big male red kangaroo once. Man it scared the crap out of me.

    Thursday, July 08, 2004

    Mind Your Own Beeswax, George

    It's nice to know that our friends across the Tasman don't mind weighing in against the big bully. Maybe they figure they're next in the firing line.

    Wednesday, July 07, 2004

    Dharma, Dharma, Dharma, Dharma, Dharma Chameleon...

    For quite a while now I have been feeling a strong desire to re-connect with my Buddhist practice and to take my study of the teachings of the Buddha (the Dharma as it is called) to another level. A year or two ago I was attending Vajrayana Institute, a local Mahayana Tibetan Buddhist gompa, and making some halting attempts at getting a regular meditation practice happening. I'm not sure why drifted away from it, too much attachment to all the daily distractions of this life I guess.

    I discovered a couple of weeks ago as I was checking their newsletter that the first unit of a 14 unit, 2 year Discovering Buddhism course was starting in July. Oh happy day! So last night was the first night of the course, an introductory evening and it was lovely.

    I arrived to find the library and the entry to the upstairs gompa packed with people! As it turned out most of them were here for the introductory night, but some were more experienced students and practioners who were making their way through to the back garden, to light some lamps around the stupa in celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday. Looking out through the library windows I could see hundreds of little oil lamps illuminating the stupa and people walking slowly around the stupa lighting lamps and queitly chanting. It was a moment of beauty to be treasured.

    It was so wonderful, and a little daunting as it had been a while, to walk into the gompa. The mood in the gompa was very hushed and a bit uncertain. I guess for 90% of the people there this was the first time that they had set foot inside a Buddhist centre, and especially the first time they had sat in a ritual space with all the statues, pictures and curious paraphenalia that Tibetan Buddhism involves.

    The information session was... well, informative. Many people hung around afterwards to pay for the course, chat and drink tea. One of the ladies who enrolled for the course was until recently a presenter on a long running children's television show here in Australia. I couldn't help but smile watching her chat with another woman, who kept insisting that her "face looked familiar, I'm sure I know you from somewhere...".

    So all in all a good evening. I left feeling glad that I had made the decision to sign up for the course, and for the decision to focus back on studying the Dharma.

    Happy birthday Your Holiness!