(*) No

Well, I just got the call from the admin positon... I was unsucessful. Surprise-surprise. Dissapointed? Yes, naturally. Expected? No, not really... oh well.

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At the moment I'm listening to some classic 60's British psychadelia! "Pipers at the Gates of Dawn" CD album by Pink Floyd [1967]. Beautiful pop whimsy.

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"Reel time"

1. What is your favorite movie line? "Excuse me... which way is the stage?" - from "Gimme Shelter", Rolling Stone Altamont concert in 1969, someone lost in the crowd.
2. Who is your favorite movie protagonist of all time? Forest Gump
3. Who is your favorite movie antagonist of all time? The boys' father in "Dead Poets Society"
4. What is your favorite movie montage? The running-lumping-standing still sequence during 'Cant Buy Me Love' in The Beatles film "A Hard Days Night"
5. What is your favorite movie title? "Bad Taste" - fits the content perfectly!

Grabbed From Bernard Pivot's List Part One
1. What is your favorite word? - "Thoon" - it's my goldfishies' name - and a Homeric character to boot!
2. What is your least favorite word? - cxnt
3. What is your favorite curse word? - Fark
4. What would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? - "come in and make yourself at home"
5. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Pilot

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What is the last book you read? "The Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Who is your favorite character in the book? - the main protagonist, Pi, a very warm genuine human character
Did you enjoy the book? Sure did! Love the colourful desriptive details and the wonderful story.
Would you recommend the book to others? Absolutely, a good read, and challenging to your inner-self in many ways - all thru a good yarn.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Robert L. Fulghum. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Ballantine Books, 2003 (1986, 1988) ISBN: 034546639-X, pp.1-3.

(Taken from the excerpt at Amazon.com; book details are here.)

Credo

Each spring, for many years, I have set myself the task of writing a personal statement of belief: a Credo. When I was younger, the statement ran for many pages, trying to cover every base, with no loose ends. It sounded like a Supreme Court brief, as if words could resolve all conflicts about the meaning of existence.

The Credo has grown shorter in recent years - sometimes cynical, sometimes comical, and sometimes bland - but I keep working at it. Recently I set out to get the statement of personal belief down to one page in simple terms, fully understanding the naïve idealism that implied.

The inspiration for brevity came to me at a gasoline station. I managed to fill my old car's tank with super deluxe high-octane go-juice. My old hoopy couldn't handle it and got the willies - kept sputtering out at intersections and belching going downhill. I understood. My mind and my spirit get like that from time to time. Too much high-content information, and I get the existential willies. I keep sputtering out at intersections where life choices must be made and I either know too much or not enough. The examined life is no picnic.

I realized then that I already know most of what's necessary to live a meaningful life - that it isn't all that complicated. I know it. And have known it for a long, long time. Living it - well that's another matter, yes? Here's my Credo:

All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday School. These are the things I learned:

Share everything.

Play fair.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.

Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.

And it is still true, no matter how old you are - when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

Copyright: Robert L. Fulghum


(Article source)

Picture of the Week & Thursday Thirteen

I knew there was something I forgot to mention... as an Xmas gift, my brother sent me some gift vouchers for one of our larger bookstores... plus the bookstore itself sent me a $15 as well! Woot! So - I went out and finally got for myself the last two Garry Larson "The Far Side" Anthologies (4 & 5)... now, after seeing the very first Far Side cartoon back in c. 1986 - I have them ALL! brwahahahaaa!

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I love this pic (I can't remember if I've already posted this or not!) - the expressions on their faces is absolutely priceless!!!

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Thirteen Things about Mallard

1. He's finding life pretty boring and awkward at the moment.
2. His health is stable but not altogether well.
3. He loves laying on his back gazing at the starts thru his telescope on clear moonless nights.
4. Sailing is his one 'big thing' at the moment.
5. Is getting rather tired and bored with an online community I have been part of over the past 4+ months... too many childish people are there now.
6. He adores watching the sky change colour just before sunrise or just after sunset.
7. He adores laying on his back and watching the clouds morpfh.
8. He enjoys living where he does right now, but is disappointed that he won't have a place of his own in the near future.
9. He is looking forward to starting TAFE College - small group learning excites him greatly!
10. Is only eating one meal a day presently.
11. Watched the DVD "Patch Adams" yesterday and wept thru it.
12. Still loves listening to The Beatles.
13. Wonders if he'll ever be in love ever again?

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Sunday, February 05, 2006
True or False (and feel free to elaborate)

1. I consider myself to be very organized. True [ish]
2. I tend to get more done when I'm pressed for time. True
3. Multi-tasking is something I do often. False
4. I might be a perfectionist. True
5. I enjoy Mondays as much as I enjoy Fridays. false
6. If I didn't make a list (or hang a post-it note) I'd forget what it is I need to do. True
7. I have no problem asking for help when I don't understand something. True

(*) Fox in Socks

Ix was sooooooo adorable tonight... he stopped and made time to sit down and read the classic Dr Seuss "Fox in Socks" to me over the phone (he's 6)... heart-melting moment! He really didn't want to go... he even said "I love you dad!" - getting all soppy here! Oh thank ford for that!

My mum bought the boys the complete Dr Seuss collection a few years ago, so it's just unreal to see them reading them like this! My favourite when I was a 5-yo was "I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew"... my boys still have my original copy, along with it's replacement!

Oh come on - admit it! You had a favourite Dr Seuss book as a kid, eh? What was it...?

(*) Weebl Madness

1. When putting groceries away, do you rotate your food so your newest items (cans and such) are in the back, and older food in the front? Fresh food - yes, but stuff in the pantry - that becomes a bit of a magical mystery tour when trying to find stuff!
2. Do you own a digital camera? If so, how long have you had one? If not, do you plan to purchase one soon? Yes, about 6 months - it''s great to take pics of the biys and places I go to - and can delete the bad pics as I go!
3. How do you store your precious photos? Digital - burn 'em ont a CD, and the really good ones i get printed; prints I keep in a number of photo albums, altho I've got copies of the boys' pics covering my wardrobe doors in my room.
4. It's 6:00 a.m. and you've just lost power due to a severe thunderstorm; they say it will probably take at least 12 hours before power will be restored; what do you do? Don't open the fridge or freezer. Luckily I'm on gas here so I could always heat something up on the stove or under the griller. I wouldn't worry if the puter's ben zapped or not - as there'd be no way to find out if it had been or not! lol
5. How many times a year do you (or does someone dear to you) wax your automobile? Wax? wazzat?
6. Gas prices; what can we say except they've reached an all-time high. How are you dealing with this? I don't drive too much anyway and my little car doesn't use much fuel, luckily. It's not affecting me that much.
7. Have you ever purchased a book or cd twice, forgetting that you already had it? oooh, probably... can't think of one off the top of my head tho...

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I finally got myself a copy of this book about George Johnston and Charmian Clift.

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Here's today's 'interesting' pics...

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Check out this cool live cam feed from a South African waterhole in Kruger National Park - very interesting! This is what was there when I was visiting just a minute ago - some impala (?) having a drink! How cool is that?! (Thanx to this blog for the link).

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Oh my gawd! They're at it again! Ack!

(*) Kiama Break

I had a really relaxing, refreshing break away in Kiama over last weekend. It snowed on the way down - not just a loight powder but a good coating thru Trunkey and Crookwell - it looked really pretty. The bush is so quiet when it snows... it's not something I see too often in these parts. Thankfully the roads were quite clear and my trip down to the Southern Highlands was relitavely incident-fee. I enjoyed the gentle country driving. After a short detour (okok... I took a wrong turn slightly! D'oh!) I found "Little Forest", the Bead-&-Breakfast country property at Alpine near Bowral in the Southern Highlands - the gravesite of my fav Aussie writer George Johnston. I couldn't believe I'd actually found it. I knocked meekly on the door, and I introduced myself meekly to the lady who lived there, telling her what I was looking for. She was more than happy to let me have a look and take some photos. It was a very very surreal experience. I've been reading his writing and biographies for years now, but it was very surreal to actually touch a piece of actual reality in connection with this man's real life - I mean, I was like 6 when he died. It's a very pretty quiet spot, and I stayed for about 20 minutes just saying over and over, "This is really weird! This is so weird!" It was a special moment, making a real-life connection with someone I'd only ever experience thru his writing.

From there it was only about a slow hours' drive across to Kiama, down the amazing Illawarra Escarpment (no, an 'escarpment' is not a rare Aussie bush creature either, as in 'Beware of the Escarpment'... mind you, I did see a Lyrebird standing in the middle of the Jamberoo Pass road! Amazing - they usually are rather elusive, but I saw one! nah nah nah! lol) thru Jamberoo. I couldn't help but pull straight up at the address my searching had found for George Johnston's wife's Charmian Clifts' first home, and took some pics. Kiama's a pretty little coastal town, but very touristy in its small way too. I stayed in an en-suite cabin about 100-feet from the ocean's edge - a gergeous spot with breathtaking views... I realised how much I missed the sea, with it's smell and sounds and feel.

I did lots of walking - just taking in the endless ocean views, cooking BBQ beside the beach at dusk, fluked a bit of whale watching too (2 humpback whales migrating north about 1km out to sea from the bench on the headland I was sitting on!), and managed to watch the sunset from a heated spa at one point - laughing at my outrageous decadence! pmsl! Both the main Blowhole (and the lesser-known 'Little Blowhole') were 'working' delightfully the two times I dropped by... what an amazing sound of the 'whoosh-thud' of the compressed air exploding out thru this small hole in the rock platform - very kewl! I took lots of pics of the area - usually in relation to Charmian Clift's childhood and youth spent growing up there, and had some great conversation with some very interesting contacts thru the local library, Visitor's Centre and museum. After the snowfalls on the way down, the weather was amazing for mid-winte - warm, light winds and endless blue skies. The surf was freezing tho - it's easy to spot the European tourists, pretending to enjoy splashing about in the ocean when the water's only like 12c or something - fools! lol I got my toes wet, but apart from the heated spa, no surf for this little black duck.

On the slow relaxed drive home on SundayI dropped past the Carcoar Dam Sailing Club and happened to meet the 'Commodore' - it's a lovely rural relaxed place where formality isn't at all neccesary. There's a working bee there this coming Sunday, so I'm planing to go and meet the others there then - along with some snags and a cold beer to boot, I'm sure. Half-way betwen there and home I re-visited a lovely little cottage 27km's out of town that's for sale... [sigh!] It's be lovely, but in the long run it'd be too far out of town. But the reality is - mum's place hasn't sold yet, so it was nice to dream all the same.

On Tuesday I finally got around to print out some of the digital pics I'd burned to CD recently - some beauties of the boys, my brother - and one of my new boat too [blush!]

I'm still pretty excited about my new little sailboat, you know... I had a special stick-on name for the stern so I can name-and-christen the 'Wyreema' sometime soon, and I went to the local Op Shops and got myself some old wolly jumpers to wear while I'm out on the water (wet-bum sailors don't dress for fashion just practical warmth, alrite?! lol) And I've been hunting for a Life Jacket thru eBay too... I might be able to get one cheap thru the club tho - I'll ask on Sunday.

Hey, by now you've realised that the Photo Galleries have been updated, but did you know you can also report those awful sick websites you accidently stumble across too?

Cyalayta
Mal :o)