... top five

after seeing a friend's blog entry i was moved to quote alice:
"i weep for you," the walrus said: "i deeply sympathise..."

and in said vein, a quick top 5 from me:

1. drivers seem to be given a licence to solipsism along with one for their car these days. they seem to think they're the only people of consequence on the move in this city, and as a dedicated pedestrian and public transport user, i'd like a 193 number to which i can txt the licence plate numbers of anyone i feel unfit to be driving a car.

2. we have brilliant public transport in sydney, but all i ever hear are complaints. don't you get to where you're going? that's one better than a lot of users of public transport elsewhere around the world. given the complexity of the network, i'm amazed it doesn't all slip sideways into a parallel universe at some critical juncture (as i'm sure some people think their urgent connection already has!). get a book; get a walkman; learn to snooze standing up; get an earlier bus/train/ferry if you have to.

3. we don't need a desalination plant. we need a more mature approach to the use of water in this city. i read an article in a newspaper a little while back which talked about the author growing up in western nsw and occasionally being allowed to have a "sydney bath", which consisted of water about three inches deep in the tub. wow! three inches! we can use less: we just have to think more. (oh, yes, i see the problem with that...)

4. winter's too warm, the rest of the year is too humid. did sydney move a thousand or so kilometres north without anyone being told?

5. people in sydney seem about as friendly as prisoners in a maximum security gaol. eye contact is taken as aggressive or critical, and heaven help you if you smile at someone: people cross the street, or do that scrunched up eyes plus raised eyebrows plus frown thing (as if they're trying to pass a really difficult... umm... exam). my experience of other cities around the traps (and i know i'm not the most travelled of bods, but i can only speak from my limited experience) is that a smile will often produce a smile back. it's not that hard. people who know me will agree (i think) that i'm not necessarily a natural optimist (my half full glass is usually half empty, and a good deal smaller than i thought it was to begin with), but when i see people smiling, my first impulse is to smile as well. i have to admit, i don't usually wonder why they're smiling (so that t-shirt phrase, smile - it makes people wonder what you've been up to doesn't necessarily point to me), but i'm almost always glad that they're smiling. sydneysiders generally seem to be preoccupied with everything else to the exclusion of serendipity. maybe it's just me.

not very quick, i suppose. (i'm sure i've been sitting here for half an hour... i guess i'm not really that riled about it all...) but there you go.

i really should get a move on on that book meme i got tagged to do...