it’s all old news — & your life is so boring anyway, so why bother?

old news #1: business trippy — took a day trip to the university of melbourne last tuesday… melbourne was kinda nice, lotsa bike lanes everywhere… could i live there? dunno. maybe.

old news #2: flattened by flat-packers — so, of course, after more than a week of taking measurements & drawing floorplans & working out exactly what i want & which bits i need, i go to [insert name of swedish furniture store] on saturday morning & they only have half of what i need in stock… so i now have shelving, but no side bits to hold the shelving up… on the plus side, i’ve made a start on reorganising &/or jettisoning my valued &/or incredibly valuable possessions, so that’s a good thing…

old news #3: sundays are for sleeping — another sunday afternoon spent asleep… at least i woke up in time to do some cooking before leaping back into bed this week… not sure why the sudden bouts of weekend narcolepsy… anything to avoid cleaning up i guess…

capricorn on the cob:

Assumptions you’ve had since childhood could be seriously challenged. Instead of clinging to the old version of the truth, consider the information being presented to you. Is it possible a person you always thought was a hero is really a villain? Maybe someone you demonised really had pure motives after all. Whatever the nature of this deception, it is important to come to terms with it for your own emotional health.

assumptions, seriously challenged — hmmm… information is being presented to me? must’ve missed that part of the day…

boring — been doing some filemaker pro development… which is kinda interesting, but also simultaneously boring… & i’m tired all the time, which is also boring… even cycling’s boring… planning is boring, too… snapping out of it? boring. recalibrating my attitude? whatever. boring. changing my life? yeah, sure, been there, done that, bought the boring t-shirt… it’s all boring… shrugs shoulders, looks bored… weblog? boring. pep-talk? boring. scorn? boring.

= IF (postLunch, “marginally less snark”, “snark on”)

marginally less snark — ok. i still hate everything, but i’m in a slightly better mood… i wish i could just cheer the fuck up…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
30/09/2003 @ 11:50 | comments disabled

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
26/09/2003 @ 15:08 | comments disabled

chuck e’s in love — well, that’s just great… monday afternoon, halfway home, centennial park, sudden attack of the dizzies… better stop before i fall off… better sit down for a minute… better put my head between my knees… better have a bit of a barf… bonza… collects self, stops barfing, waits for dizziness to abate… rides rest of the way home very slowly… grrr…

chuck e drives to work — took the car on tuesday…

chuck e has a day off! very slow moving wednesday…

chuck e has breakfast with louise on thursday — my friend louise (who holds the dubious distinction of being the first friend i made upon moving to sydney some years back) got married last saturday… louise recently started a new job at the university of new south wales, which makes it relatively easy for us to hook up for breakfast, since unsw is roughly on my way to work… having lived with her new spouse for about six or so years, she reports that married life is thus far not much different…

chuck e fills in el davebot’s survey thingy — is it just me, or is this questionnaire (which you’re supposed to email to all & sundry) a thinly veiled attempt at gathering sufficient personal information to commit identity theft?

1. what time is it?
   what a great song! hands up everyone else who thought maurice day was a genius!
2. name:
   bot. dogbot.
3. name as it appears on birth certificate?
   magic-die-spammers-die-dogbot.
4. nicknames:
   at different times, speedbump, toad, magicdog, dogbot, lardass, el wheezo…
5. number of candles on your last birthday cake:
   no cake for me neither… but theoretically 35…
6. birthday:
   10 january (currentYear – answer5)
7. pets:
   non-controlling interest in three carp… & the neighbours’s cats… & the little dog downstairs… & pixel, the other cat downstairs…
8. hair color:
   kinda dark brownish, except for the grey bits…
9. piercings:
   two in left ear…
10. any tattoo’s?
    some planned, none committed to skin. & like el davebot says, what the hell is that apostrophe doing there?
11. how much do you love your job?
    let’s not go there right now…
12. hometown:
    i ain’t no dali coming from pittsburgh…
13. birth place:
    there’s only one good use for a small town…
14. favorite food:
    steamed vegetables with brown rice & tahini/rice vinegar dressing… or possibly coffee…
15. been to Africa?
    no, but strangely i miss the rain down in…
16. been toilet papering?
    nope.
17. love someone so much it made you cry?
    yep.
18. been in a car accident?
    yeah, & ditched a couple of motorbikes for good measure…
19. croutons or bacon bits?
    hmmm… lumps of stale bread or tiny pig pieces? could i have a coffee instead?
20. favourite day of the week?
    all of them. i love them all.
21. favourite word or phrase?
    uh… interstice’s kinda good…
22. favorite restaurant?
    the (now defunct) fireplace in kings cross… it ruled.
23. favorite flower?
    hibiscus.
24. favorite sport to watch?
    basketball, then soccer…
25. favorite drink?
    coffee, closely followed by sparkling mineral water…
26. favorite ice cream?
    coconut. there is no other flavour.
27. disney or warner bros?
    warner bros. no contest.
28. favorite fast food restaurant?
    the house of the venerable & inscrutable colonel…
29. what colour is your bedroom carpet?
    timber coloured.
30. how many times did you fail your driver’s test?
    no times.
31. store to max out your credit card?
    either wooleys wheels, cheeky monkey or any well stocked applecentre…
32. most annoying thing people ask me?
    what do you wanna do with your life?
33. bedtime?
    is it? great!
34. who will respond to this survey the quickest?
    speedy gonzales?
35. person least likely to respond to this?
    n/a…
36. favorite TV show?
    the kenny everett video show.
37. last person you went out to dinner with?
    keri.
38. Chevy or Ford?
    daihatsu.
39. time you finished this email?
    yes, yes it is.

chuck e’s apparently the second doctor — continuing in the grand tradition of ripping off stuff from lexifab…

You are the Second Doctor: Affable, impish, and fond of simple pleasures as well as simple pranks. Your mischievous exterior camouflages a powerful mind and a great deal of courage. Although you care nothing for appearances, you place a high value on the bonds of true and lasting friendship.

Which Incarnation of the Doctor Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

aaar, me hearties — it be international talk like a pirate day, avast…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
19/09/2003 @ 08:23 | comments disabled

zombies r me — hands up everyone who went to bed around five o’clock yesterday afternoon & slept through until six this morning… i mean, sure, i’m still mildly sick, but i can usually get by on less than thirteen hours sleep.. sheesh…

well, that’s that tyre screwed — i was just so very happy to have a 25mm screw insert itself into my tyre on the way home on friday night… sydney roads… on the other hand, i did have a tyre change scheduled for the weekend… instead of the Exactly Skinny Enough To Fall Into A Sydney Drain Grating WTBs, i now have a pair of much chunkier IRC mythos XC slicks on the slickasaurus, & can ride over drain gratings with a dangerously over-inflated sense of self-confidence…

added bonus — the skinny tyres rolled like you wouldn’t believe, but always looked kinda gimpy… now i’ve got giant fat tyres on the bike, & it still rolls pretty good but absolutely looks so much more serious… fragile eco-systems here i come!

my head hurts — also, life is not necessarily going where i’d planned… also, i still haven’t seen da pirate moofie… & i’m still mildly sick… & it’s too cold… mostly peachy apart from all that…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
15/09/2003 @ 16:41 | comments disabled

road trip! greetings from sunny wollongong! it’s a nice campus, good people… having meetings to discuss systems & processes… sounds exciting, non?

little car — had a check up yesterday & gotta clean bill of health… it doesn’t like hills… i hope it will climb up the hill outta wollongong this afternoon… i might be stuck here (like the sandman)… still, i can think of worse places to get stuck…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
11/09/2003 @ 14:55 | comments disabled

aw crap — been verging on either totally flu-licious or completely virus-iferious the last few days… been chowing down on a heap of garlic & vitamin c & generally feeling full-o’-wooze… on the mend now, i think…

things being sick made me miss — dinner on friday night with joanne & loma, squash on sunday morning with andrew…

things being sick didn’t make me miss, part 1 — lou reed at the state theatre on thursday night… when i saw him in 2001, it was just totally fantastic… i thought thursday night’s show was a little bit hit or miss… they did a totally evil version of “street hassle” that was worth the price of admission alone, but i coulda lived without some disappointing versions of “dirty boulevarde” & “all tomorrow’s parties”… but, you know, lou reed is just totally mesmerising on stage, no matter what he’s doing, or how he’s doing it, & i got a snazzy t-shirt so really there’s nothing much to complain about…

things being sick didn’t make me miss, part 2 — cat power at the basement on sunday night… her voice is phenomenal, but watching the show was a bit like indulging a spoilt child… the whole thing was completely anti-performance, mumbling to herself, cracking jokes at her own expense, getting the stage lights turned down because they were shining in her face… & lots of false starts, songs petering out part way through as she decided she couldn’t or wouldn’t play them… fascinating, frustrating but weirdly captivating…

vale warren zevon, age 56…

i saw a werewolf with a chinese menu in his hand
walking through the streets of soho in the rain
he was looking for a place called lee ho fook’s
gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein
ah-oooo, werewolves of london
ah-ooooooo…

p.s.

i saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at trader vic’s
his hair was perfect…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
09/09/2003 @ 07:56 | comments disabled

resumption of regular service — & we’re back… had a fantastic break, lots of cycling, lots of relaxing, lots of warm weather, absolutely brilliant… thanks to mum for putting me up, & to everyone else for putting up with me, & special thanks to jedi master obi waa kenobi for the loan of his spare ATX900 & for coaching/coaxing me back onto the one true path of off-road jedi fu…

the secret sound — whooosh! g-doink! G-DOINK! G-DOINK-DOINK! G-DOINK! g-doink-a! G-DOINK! g-DOINK! doink! G-DOINK-A-DOINK! g-doink! woah! G-DOINK! g-doink! wahooo! DOINK! whooosh! yikes! G-DOINK-A-DOINK! arrrgh! G-DOINK! g-doink-a-g-doink! woooo! G-DOINK! [repeat for a couple of kilometres]

so that’s why they call it the bump track — the triple r was phenomenal! the bump track was brilliant! &, after a couple of weeks of mtb refresher with his royal daveness & obi waa, i rode pretty much the whole thing (except for the impossible creek crossing that no one rides, & a short section about four-fifths of the way down, when i had to stop & walk for a bit because my arms had pumped up & i couldn’t steer or brake…) & yeah, contrary to expectations, i even passed some people…

all triple r objectives achieved!

1. don’t die;
2. don’t crash; &
3. try not to come last.

places, people — not sure what my placing was, but i wasn’t last… obi waa came in 11th overall in about 1:20-something, his royal daveness finished in 1:54, & i finished in 2:03, which i was pretty happy with… the whole fortnight pretty much totally underscored the difference between training, which is what waa does, & commuting, which is what i do… no prizes for guessing which one makes you fitter… looks like it’s time to get my finger out… & i totally hafta get onto the dirt more… his royal daveness absolutely stomped me on the technical sections…

rrr in brief — as i remember it, the course started in the sports oval at mt molloy then did some rolling dirt roads, then into some single track, then another short dirt road section, then the bump track, which drops off the side of the tablelands & goes downhill for what feels like forever, then back on some dirt roads, a brief stint on bitumen, a quick zap across the edge of a cane field, into a culvert under the highway, through some back streets in port douglas, then a seemingly endless blast along the beach to the finish line… obi waa disappeared into hyperspace as soon as the starter yelled go, while his royal daveness dropped me in the single track section & by all reports totally blasted his way down the bump track…

other highlights — birthdays for mikalya & mum were great, & alix’s wedding was fun, & dawn can now count to ape… as in one-two-three-ape-ick… it’s a whole new branch of mathematics… i think ape is the first primate number… oooh! almost forgot the other cycling highlight… while i still haven’t cycled up castle hill, i have now cycled up mount stuart… my oh my if that wasn’t a whole world of pain…

meanwhile, back in sydney — i can’t admit to being one hundred percent overjoyed to be back at work, but it’s okay, & i feel totally rejuvenated for having had the break… & wow, how much does commuting in sydney suck compared to riding around the wide open spaces of townsville? the other minor piece of suck is i’m totally coming down with some kinda virus… on the other hand, it’s great to be back in coogee, & keri & i are off to see lou reed tonight… & we’re investigating a trip to new zealand in december…

something about americans? hmmm… here’s a snap someone in the office took while i was presenting something at a recent planning day… dress code was obviously casual… i can’t remember exactly what i was saying, but perhaps i could look at eliminating some of my hand gestures…

appearing soon — miscellaneous snaps from up north…

metacruft: magicdog vs sydney
04/09/2003 @ 13:33 | comments disabled