Possibly One Of The Most Disheartening Sentences In The English Language

"I'll pick you up at 5.30... am."

So, it looks like tomorrow is going to be an early start then. (He says, using the fine art of understatement.) On account of the fact that there is a function on at the venue tonight, we can only get in to set-up the bookshop tomorrow morning before the conference opens.

Yay.

We Only Do Tuna 'N' Sweetcorn

I was just having a chat with one of my workmates, a woman of Irish/English heritage who I always address as "Our Cath". We were talking about our favourite English comedy shows and the conversation reminded me of two of my old favourites that I haven't seen for a long time, and really should seek out on DVD.

My family background is resolutely English 'working class', and working class from the north of England. Maybe it's no coincidence that both of these shows take that socio-economic setting and use it as the source of much rich material for satire.



Dinnerladies, an inspired two season series by one of my favourite UK comedians Victoria Wood. Populated with loony but lovable characters, with Wood's character Brenda as the the core, this comic soap-opera of the daily goings on in a factory canteen always cracked me up. Throw in cameos by the always fantastic Julie Walters as Brenda's delusional bag-lady mother, and it was a recipe for comedy gold.

Here's a clip of the scene We only do Tuna 'n' Sweetcorn.



My other great love, The Royale Family. Possibly the most minimalist comedy ever created, as 95% of the show took place on the 'living room suite' of the Royale family. It's a hard show to describe, but much of the comedy came from the careful observations of family dynamics and the unique comic timings and cadences of speech of people from the Manchester area. Amongst the family tensions were some very close relationships, and the air of good natured ribbing and banter was quite similar to my own family. The series was cleverly written by two of the cast members, primarily by Caroline Ahern who played the daughter Denise.

Bursting At The Seams

I made an informal pact with myself that I wouldn't keep blogging about being busy and tired this week, and that's not what this post is about. (So Mike, you can stop with the eye rolling.) Well, maybe it's a bit about that, peripherally. You see, I'm excited. Excitement, I'm bursting with it.

Now that the bulk of the scut work of getting ready for the conference is over, I can feel excited about it rather than paranoid that everything won't get done. I don't know if any of you have ever done any volunteer work, I've done other bits and pieces with other organisations, but I'm always so pleasantly surprised at how willing and motivated the volunteers at my Buddhist centre are. Truly a nice bunch of very kind people.

I can't talk about being excited without mentioning Morgan of course. You'll allow me these moments of exuberance, won't you? I promise to keep the gushing to a reasonable level. We've only just started dating and getting to know each other, and so it's real early days and we're not rushing it, but I like him a lot and I haven't felt this excited about meeting someone new for a long time. Happy, excited, a little bit nervous, marvelling at feeling a real connection with someone, all the wonderful feelings of meeting someone that you like a lot. Maybe "thrilled" is the word I'm looking for?

Yesterday I blogged about the glass being half-full but I suspect it's considerably more full than that.

[Updated: I should say, lest you think this is all very highbrow, that there's a goodly portion of lust involved. I mean, check him out. So cute! Oh, and he'll be blushing like nothing on this Earth right now. Heh, heh.]

Today Is Glass Half Full Day

Bodhi accused me of having had a Prozac Smoothie for lunch.



I don't know why.

Quick Turnaround

Your day starts badly. Late bus, and then three come together all at once. The half empty ones sail by, leaving you to get on the one that's almost full. Standing for what feels like ages, while the bus driver vaccilates between gunning the accelerator and riding the brake. Two women try to get off but the ignorant city suit guy standing in the aisle on his mobile phone is slow to react, meaning that they miss their stop. Then he has the gall to complain loudly to the person on the other end of the phone "Sorry, someone was just trying to push past.", and you can't help but get annoyed on their behalf. He sits, then you take the empty seat next to him. He digs into his bag, opens a folder that ends up sitting on your lap almost as much as his. Then someone behind you reaches for the bell, misses and smacks you upside the head. A perfunctory apology is all you get, while his female friend sniggers....

And so on.

Then you sit down at your desk and you get an unexpected and pleasant email, with a lovely compliment in it and... like a bubble bursting ::pouf:: the bad mood is gone!

So, here's a suggestion. Take a minute and send someone a heartfelt compliment either in an email, SMS or tell them in person. Make someone's day. It feels really good.

When Good Craft Goes Bad

As tigtog kindly reminded me, the creative urge can sometimes go awry.

Case in point:



Hello, Bjork? The Internet called, they found your handbag.

Something Is Missing

One of the things I really want to do at the moment, but this time-crunch I'm going through presently is stopping me from doing, is to make something. I have an incredible urge to paint something, stitch something, try my hand at some new creative outlet. Maybe it's the fact that the days are getting shorter here, Winter is always a time when I feel more like staying in, flicking on the tv and settling in with some sort of 'project' to work on. So I'm cruising craft porn and wishing.

I don't believe in The Devil, but apparently he likes idle hands.

The ::Kachunk:: ::Kachunk:: Of The Pricing Gun

This week is kind of a blur of busy work and then evenings spent at the Buddhist centre getting ready for the conference next weekend. Fortunately I'm sleeping pretty well, but I've been waking up progressively earlier and earlier. This morning it was just after 5am. Urgh. The upside though is that I have to be at the conference venue on Saturday at 6am, so if I'm going to be getting up early all this week then Saturday shouldn't feel like too much of a hardship, right? Right?

Oh look at that, the glass is half full!

Last night the lovely Morgan volunteered to give me a hand, which was very sweet of him. We were a book counting and pricing machine people. You could hardly hear yourself think for the ::kachunk:: of the pricing gun. (Ok, slight exaggeration, but we did get a lot done.) Having pleasant company made the job that much easier, and certainly more fun. Afterwards Morgan and I went for a quick Indian meal, had a pleasant stroll through Newtown, and then I headed home for an early night. Good times.

Fun Is Where You Find It

I'm deep in the dark part of the woods with work at the moment. Surrounded by towering stacks of work to be done, now! My biggest task at the moment is doing lots of payments to clients. Something that has to be done exactly right, but is kind of boring and repetitive at the same time boring and repetitive at the same time boring and repetitive at the same time...

Sorry about that.

So, quite a few of our clients are from overseas backgrounds, and in the course of doing this boring and repetitive task boring and repetitive task... sorry... some names have stood out because of their amusement value. Remember, I'm borderline hysterical with tiredness and work that's boring and repetitive boring... shit.

I give you:

• My Ho
  
• Kit Chan (say it fast)
  
• Daisy Chen (again, say it fast)
  
• Farah Farah (where's Charlie Charlie or Sabrina Sabrina?)
  
• Chuong Hung Dong

Although, none of these quite match up to my friend Spyder, who once served a lady at her work who's surname was Tittiporn.

This One's For Bodhi

Stencil
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I must say that the charms of The Re-badged 90210 O.C. are lost on me. However, the sight of any of the male leads perks Bodhi up like nothing else, so Bodes this ones for you.

I kind of like the way the red dribble from the graffiti above looks like blood. The O.C. gets edgy. I took this pic in Newtown last Thursday night, when I was on the Sydney Photobloggers midweek meet-up.

Baby Shower

The full set of photos from Louise's baby shower is here, but here are a couple of snaps from the afternoon.


Fairy Bread
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

Fairy Bread! A good old fashioned Aussie institution, which covers the three basic food groups of 1. Soft white bread, 2. Butter/margarine and 3. Sprinkles! It's the taste of childhood and tooth decay. Nummy.


Baby Gamer Jump Suit
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

Possibly the single most excellent baby shower gift ever, from the lovely Coz. (Click the pic for a bigger image.) Extra Nerd Points(TM) if you spotted the reference to a Dungeons & Dragons character profile!


Gummibaerchen
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

"Hansel needs some sugar, Daddy. Sugar Daddy bring it home.
It's a car wash ladies & gentlemen!"

Anyone?

[Update: Coz bought the baby gamer jumpsuit from a website called Jinx, for those who are interested.]

The Big Bumper Fun Size Economy Pack Weekend Recap

There's a lot to cover from this weekend. No little slim-line recaplet this week, no sirreee! Get comfortable. So, we begin:

• By the end of the work day on Friday I was feeling very tired and worn out. My work is very busy at the moment and I've been burning the candle at both ends a bit, both socialising and getting things ready for the conference next weekend. I had a short nap when I got home and then joined my friend Miss Eudoxia, and her friend Jodie Sorrell, for a 9pm showing of the movie Kinky Boots. I quite enjoyed the film, and afterwards the three of us went for coffee and had a great chat and some laughs. Even though I was dead on my feet it made for a fun night.
  
• Saturday morning I swung by Fat Fighters for processing, down another 1.2Kg this week. Alriiiiiight!
  
• Afterwards I went into the Buddhist centre to meet up with a volunteer who offered to help me prepare for the conference, and we spent the rest of the morning pricing incense and lots and lots of books. I had misread the invite for a Baby Shower I was invited to, thinking it was Saturday afternoon when it was actually on Sunday, so I spent a while racing around getting gifts together before I realised. This gave me a few hours free in the afternoon, so I headed back to the Buddhist centre for a while then home for a nap prior to going out Saturday night.
  
• In a busy but fun weekend, Saturday night was the highlight. Drinks at The Newtown Hotel, dinner at the always delicious (but unfortunately quite noisy) Thai Pothong, and then a couple of drag shows at The Imperial, all this in the company of a wonderful man. A man who's possibly reading this and blushing right now! I think he's pretty amazing.
  
• Sunday was another morning and early afternoon spent at the centre pricing books for the conference, then off to a baby shower for my friend Louise (aka "world peace & a speedboat", aka "The Mothership"). It was a lovely afternoon, with lots of catching up with friends, eating delicious high-fat high-sugar goodies and playing with sundry dogs & kiddies. Photos from the afternoon are in this Flickr set.
  
• After a busy week of being out every night, Sunday night was spent finally reading my 212 emails from my home email account and posting new pics to Flickr, then turning in for an early night.

All up, a lovely weekend.

Evil Has A New Face

Warning: Dear American visitors, on account of the Commonwealth Games coverage Australia is now like two weeks behind you guys in The Amazing Race coverage. So please comment by all means, but watch those spoilers please!


This man's name is Lake. He's a dentist. He's married to Michelle. He's a contestant on The Amazing Race. He likes to holler and has poor impulse control. He makes mistakes and doesn't like to admit blame.

His wife generously describes him as a "Type A" personality.

The "A" stands for Asshole.

Scattered and Distracted

I'm all over the place at the moment.

Work is busy, my social life is busy, I'm frantically getting ready for running the bookshop at the conference in just over a week's time and I'm trying to design and source shopfittings for the bookshop at the new premises the Buddhist centre I attend is moving to. Last night I swung by the mid-week get together of the Sydney Photobloggers group, but then had to hightail it to the centre to start preparing to price all the books and other merchandise for the conference. It was brief but fun, and I got to meet up with some of my favourite Flickr-ites and meet a few of the ones I knew by name and photos only previously.

I don't really mind being this busy at the moment, although if my work was a little bit less busy that would be a huge help! Working on the conference and the new bookshop is exciting, and something I love doing. I do keep having those moments of almost panic though where I feel like I've forgotten to do something like vital, like order any books... I haven't, but it's like just before an exam where you have that moment of brain-freeze and think "Oh my God, I completely forgot to do any study!" even though you have.

Oh, and as a footnote; this just goes to show that my weight loss is still a work in progress. In my defence, might I add (can you tell I used to live with a lawyer?), that my jeans are getting noticeably baggy and I pulled in my belt another notch that very same morning! :)

I Love A Good Chart, Don't You?

I try not to be a hit whore, really I do. I check my stats every so often, primarily to see where in the world people are visiting from (Riyadh, Johannesburg and other exotic places). It's always interesting though to look at the number of visits, and the number of page views, that this blog is getting.

Visits over the past year:


March is looking like a good month, given that there is still a week to go. But heck, what about that November, huh? I'm just a shadow of the person I was in November.

Visits and page views (aptly, in pink) over the past year:


Again, how wonderful things were in November. You all just loved me sick in November, didn't you? I was so entertaining, so wonderful. Oh, and what a crushing disappointment I was to you in December and January. But, we've been through a lot together. You gave me a second chance, one that I possibly don't deserve, but you gave it to me because you're better than that, aren't you? You have it in your heart to forgive, to say "sure, I was disappointed, but let's just move on from that".

For that I love you, I really do.

Some Thursday Snippets

• I'm not ruling out a change from Blogger in the future, because of late the problems they've been experiencing seem to be getting worse. I hadn't been able to log in all morning to write an entry, and then there were the problems Michael was having last week with his disappearing and reappearing blog. The upside? Blogger and blogspot hosting is free.
  
• My sweet friend Andrew F is moving his blog to another host at present, so his site is down for the next day or so. In the meantime, check out the gorgeous re-design he's done of the website for the Buddhist centre we both attend, Vajrayana Institute.
  
• On the topic of things Buddhist, I discovered a gorgeous set of photographs taken at Kopan Monastery by a Flickr-ite called thecnote. Either this November, or next November, I intend to do the month long course of teachings and meditation at Kopan Monastery. Her lovely photographs have spurred me on even harder to start saving my pennies to go.
  

How Much Ego Is "Too Much"?

Utmost
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

A bit of vehicular grandstanding I spotted in Darlinghurst last week.

Note To Self

Next time that someone comes home and wakes you 15 minutes after you have fallen asleep, because they don't realise you are in bed at the comparatively early time of 10.15pm, best not to fix them with a killing stare and call them a noisy bitch. M'kay?

Sorry about that Bodhi!

Adventures In Naturopathy

I've blogged a little bit here and there about my health in the past few months; my discovery of the fact that I had high blood pressure and the cholesterol level of a bacon sandwich, my weight loss adventures and the possibility that I might have had an incident of depression. So, I've been doing what I should since the start of the year. Taking my supplements and herbs. Losing 7Kg (about 15 pounds). Exercising more. Eating better.

It has paid off. I feel great, I look better, my mood is certainly improved, I'm sleeping better, and best of all I saw the naturopath this morning and he said "Your blood pressure is 120 over 80. Excellent!"

Sweet.

Cheat's Post

Pinks
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

You know that I don't like to let a day go by without sharing some sort of morsel with you all, right? My little way of saying, hey guys, check this out.

Well, today I'm a little overwhelmed. Work is completely kicking my butt with its sheer volume. In amongst that I'm spending my lunchtime trying to get loose ends tied up for the bookshop I'll be running at the conference in a couple of weeks time, the one my Buddhist centre is co-hosting. Oh, and I'm out tonight and tomorrow night.

BUSY.

So, here's pic entry which is a bit of a cheat's post really. Something quick. I took this picture of Pinks in a flower bed in Newtown last weekend. Ask me sometime to fill you in how these things were favourites of the 16th century Elizabethans, m'kay? How they crop up in portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, and other people of the era.

...oh crap, so much for a short, quick post. Gotta dash.