... deafening

i've been interested to see and hear the reportage and discussion surrounding the recent racial unrest in sydney, and what's being said, and who's saying it.

i've never really been one for the beach, slightly remarkable given my childhood in the illawarra, an area noted for its near-heliotheistic worship of beach life. just saying the word beach makes me feel like i've got sand in my underpants. (excuse me...) so in a sense, i really have very little invested in a discussion of the tribal conflicts of sydney beaches. on the other hand, i have a keen investment in orderly society, and as a Christian i have an intensely keen interest in a society of justice and compassion. tolerance is all very nice, but there are some things that should not be tolerated.

i've got to gather my thoughts about this. i'll be pondering over the weekend, putting my thoughts in order. chances are i won't have that much to say, given how little i think of what i think in the grand scheme of things. Still, i have begun writing in this forum and it's something i'm thinking about and want to say something about.

stay tuned...

... premature

i think that in light of the weather in the sydney basin yesterday, perhaps my rant about the weather on monday was a tad premature. however "unprintable" my feelings on monday, my feelings yesterday would probably have been labelled "obscene and unfit for publication". i hate this hot, humid weather.

on the other hand, i love sauteed mushrooms on toast and my new favourite cafe, vanilla bean & lime (61 howard rd, padstow, +61 2 9774 3875). lou does them in garlic butter, and i could barely see the plate underneath them this morning, as with saucer-eyes i beheld the procession of delicious delectables that made up my breakfast: mushies on toast, olive and cheese melt (yummy!), and my perennial mocha coffee. with abba music in the background, i don't think i could have enjoyed breakfast any more than i did.

it was exactly the springboard i needed to make a better job of my day. i even slept well last night! (who'd have thought?)

... unprintable weather

when i first read isaac asimov's foundation series, one of the things i found terribly quaint and humourous were the instances of the word "unprintable". i occasionally asked myself, what was so bad that it was unprintable? given that i was about 9 or 10 years old when i first read foundation, i suppose i hadn't really thought too creatively about it. now i'm a bit older and far more cynical than i was then (starry-eyed i was at that tender age... well, before i turned 9 at any rate), and thinking creatively i can guess what "unprintable" might have meant. rather a lot like i feel about this weather we have in sydney at the moment.

i drank 4 gatorade bottles' worth of water yesterday - roughly 2.5 litres - just at work, notwithstanding the other liquid i consumed before and after work. if anyone has a work position available on a ship bound for antarctica, i'm happy to peel potatoes, sort screws, whatever it takes to get to somewhere colder...

... ch-ch-ch-changes

i've added a couple of links to the right-hand side here ---------->
for some things i've seen that have really made an impact on me. the creating passionate users site i linked to from cafedave, and it looks like it's going to be well-worth trawling through in times when i feel like having a quiet, brain-fertilising read. the piled higher and deeper page is another comic strip that i fell in love with while i was away on holidays.

(erk, as our latest phd condidate, it may prove useful reading for you!)

... glorious

read about this blog when i was on the train tonight coming home. definitely worth a look.

grab your fork

a blog you can sink your teeth into.

... already?! (2)

well, i'm back from the states and already it's been over a week since i blogged! i can't believe how quickly the time flies. just a few notes... hopefully i'll have a bit more tomorrow.

1. the trip from jamaica center to jfk in the "airtrain" was pretty good... reminded me a lot of the monorail around sydney, although it also put me in mind of the l-train in miami in "driver". i was sad leaving, but glad to have had the opportunity to be able to leave... i at least was there for a while.

2. united are way cool... i like them a lot. everyone was very helpful and friendly, even when they were really tired (and i liked that they could admit to being that tired!). if i travel to america again, i'll definitely be flying united.

3. when i check in at jfk united bumped me to an earlier flight to lax, and i ended up sitting two seats to the left of where i was when i flew lax-jfk! then boarding the plane at lax for sydney, i was sitting one seat to the right of where i'd been coming over!

4. i've got hooked on hot apple cider, and (to my shame) i have been into starbucks (twice) to imbibe. once i've found a sufficiently sweet apple juice on its own that i can nuke in the microwave, i won't have to visit... there... again.

5. work has been very busy, and already i want another holiday. roll on Christmas hols! (only 22 sleeps until the last work day of the year!)

as an aside i now see what erk was talking about viz. the time- and date-stamping for posts. i guess i'm just going to leave it in the lap of the gods. for the record, my time is 13h46 (EDST) 1/12/2005.

toodles!