Three weeks in and a semblance of normalcy has descended… I know my way around town, I have my bus and rail passes in tow, and the confidence garnered from familiarity with the tasks in hand is steadily growing… The minus is its all open plan - and shirt/ ties except for Fridays, that goes totally against my grain.. I am surviving…. For that I am thankful..The way on from here is up! We’ve passed the tipping point.
HT to The Dockers Website via The Doing Hard Things Blog..
Today I leave the NorthEast, hopefully for the last time in a bit. I have called this place home; lived here, eaten here, made new friends here, grabbed a degree here, cried here, and now its off to new challenges for me. In total I’ve spent just under eighteen months here, eighteen months of near perfect freedom, aside of the back breaking swotting for exams. The people have been great too; I only had two questionable incidents - one where a clearly drunk bloke kicked an empty coke can in my direction and shouted a poor imitation of a racial slur, and the other when some kids made all sorts of noises and pointed as I walked past them in Brandling Park. ...
I found these whilst cleaning up my e-mail archives over the weekend.. Enjoy. New Year Resolutions you can keep! Are you sick of making the same resolutions year after year that you never keep? Why not promise to do something you can actually accomplish? Here are some resolutions that you can use as a starting point: 1. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds. 2. Stop exercising. Waste of time. 3. Read less. Makes you think. 4. Watch more TV. I’ve been missing some good stuff. 5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow. 6. Not date any of the Baywatch cast. 7. Spend more time at work, surfing with the T1. 8. Take a vacation to someplace important: like, to see the largest ball of twine. 9. Not jump off a cliff just because everyone else did. 10. Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more. 11. Not have eight children at once. 12. Get in a whole NEW rut! 13. Start being superstitious. 14. Personal goal: bring back disco. 15. Not wrestle with Jesse Ventura. 16. Buy an ‘83 Eldorado and invest in a really loud stereo system. 17. Get the windows tinted. Buy some fur for the dash. 18. Speak in a monotone voice and only use monosyllabicwords. 19 . Only wear jeans that are 2 sizes too small and use a chain or rope for a belt. 20. Spend my summer vacation in Cyberspace. 21. Not eat cloned meat. 22. Create loose ends. 23. Get more toys. 24. Get further in debt. 25. Not believe politicians. 26. Break at least one traffic law. 27. Not drive a motorized vehicle across thin ice. 28. Avoid transmission of inter-species diseases. 29 . Avoid airplanes that spontaneously drop 1000 feet. 30. Not swim with pirhanas or sharks. 31. Associate with even worse business clients. 32. Spread out priorities beyond my ability to keep track of them. 33. Wait around for opportunity. 34. Focus on the faults of others. 35. Mope about my faults. 36 . Never make New Year’s resolutions again.
The stark reality of being totally single, in another man’s land a few days before Christmas never hits you more strongly than on a Saturday night. No work, boring TV, home alone, the inescapable cold of the winter all remind you of your lonely, boring life. There is only so much a good book, mindlessly surfing the internet, food, wine or any of the other finer treats of life can do to assuage the feeling of loneliness. ...
I think I have never danced in my entire life - not in church, not on my solitary foray into a night club, not at all the birthday parties I attended as a kid, not ever. I don’t remember if it was a concious decision, or if it was/still is a result of a deep seated phobia even I am unaware of, or if I have always lacked that seemingly natural ability to coordinate the limbs in resonance with external tunes, or if I just plain can’t be bothered. ...
I finally went shopping, with a few friends from around the neighbourhood. Meat, tomatoes, onions, and a stop over at the African shop for some real rice meant my long running addiction to KFC is definitely in for a serious beating! Slowly getting used to this town, I cringe at the upheaval another relocation might cause if I get the job I am currently interviewing for..
Perhaps, this is definitive proof that Social Networks like Facebook and Twitter can be good for you after all. First one bloke has his alibi corroborated by a Facebook timestamp (possibly saving him from up to 25 years in jail), then an attempted suicide was averted and Freddy Adu is finding life on the bench less stressful thanks to support from his peers via Twitter. What say you? What is the most unconventional use you have put Social Networks to?
Chris Abani, speaking at TED in 2008 makes a statement I largely agree with; The world is not saved in grand messianic gestures, but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of every day acts of compassion.. In the last month I, Saw a bottle of palm wine explode: The chic was taking some palm wine to her father for a traditional wedding. She failed to consult knowledgeable others and left the bottle of palm wine corked. 67.5mm Hg of pressure (that is the saturated vapour pressure of ethanol at 20 deg C) ripped the bottle to pieces, and showered us in palm wine! Met @medianemesis -- dude is really cool, smart.. and everything I imagined he was and more. Y’all need to follow him on Twitter and read his old blogs - fabulous! Attended Chill and Relax. Been a long while I chilled and listened to sublimely intelligent minds speak the language of poetry. I should attend when next I am in the vicinity. Thanks to Cerberus for sending a timely reminder. Went on a ‘date’ with my friend EC: It was her birthday, I was in town doing nothing so she dragged me along to go grab a bite and just catch up on old times. This was just old friends hanging out after a year of us both zipping around the world without actually seeing each other. Got recruited as a husband finder, so send in the resumes for your brothers, nephews, uncles and (gulp) good ex- boy friends for consideration. The chic in question is uber smart, pwreeety, focused, - world class in short….. and she needs to sort this out in 2010 unfailingly… Discovered I miss my campus bistro: My morning breakfast bun - the white bread + bacon + sausages + a hot cup of coffee has grown on me in the last 13 months.. Saw a rainbow - and it actually lifted my spirits. Was up since 2.30am, it was wet and windy, and then suddenly as my train came out of the tunnel just north of Edinburgh the sun broke out and the rainbow appeared - Priceless! Thought I liked her enough to jettison the 5-year plan, then thought it was a passing fancy and then ultimately decided to fast track certain portions of the plan as opposed to whole sale changes.. Oh, and this is not one of the usual suspects…… Was reminded of the one we lost to the genes. She would have been 29 today! Saw a different spin on love: They have been married for 55 years, she is now confined to a wheel chair, but each day, he takes her for a ‘walk’, he pushes the wheel chair and they chat as they ‘walk’. That in my mind seemed like true for better for worse. Watched Imagine That, yes it’s kinda mushy, its cheesy, it runs against belief, but I liked it. Sue me! I need me my twin daughters already
Walked down Northumberland road today - had to go see the Opticians at Vision Express. Kenny’s official girlfriend’s bum broke my last pair of glasses - whether by an act of omission or one of commission I know not any more. The entire street was lined with Christmas decorations, and manequinns waltzing to the sounds of well known carols blaring from the speakers on all the shops - Fenwick, M&S and the lot. It is a sharp reminder that its another Christmas away from family. ...