Saturday, February 28, 2004
Net tech puberty blues
The recent popularity of blogs I am somewhat attached to has made mine own feel alone, unpopular, useless. Commit No Nuisance wishes to live by its name, travel along the paths of its binary existence with as little resistance as possible. This blog admits to being slightly naive; of course no self-respecting web journal can ever hope to resist the real world it hopes to visit sporadically. All this has become apparent, as my own laptop struggles with a terminal illness that sees him lying low, on antibiotics and medicinal marijuana. All this motion and action has escorted CNN through its puberty, the first spots have appeared and been malaciously squeezed. 'I want my childhood back!' he vainly cries. Too late.
Thursday, February 26, 2004
Stilted goodbyes
Two weeks later I'm back, delayed by a infected laptop and a turn of events in my personal stratosphere. I'm moving in with J, out of Walsh two months premature. I never did think this might happen, but now it has always had a cloud of inevitability to it. If you want the lowdown on the erupting bunfight, go to J's blog and read the comments.
I went to see Graham Kent yesterday, the boss of the Duke of Ed Award and a link between myself and the sherpa, Dhana who I will be tracking down and catching up with in Nepal. He was impressed that I had returned, that his organisation's mix of adventure and helpfulness had encouraged me to go further. We chatted for almost two hours; about OzQuest and the dropoff since Sept. 11, about Nepal and the Maoists and the villagers, about my plans and the dangers of the world. He is of the number I like having around, the 'the-world-is-never-calm-and-that-is-why-we-travel' type of person that sees the potential benefits rather than the (im)possible risk.
Going to dinner tonight, in a warm-up for the wedding on Saturday. An initiation into the darkened, murky jungles of Redenbachville at an inner-city French restaurant. Il fait être sur le meilleur comportement.
Going now, to sit in a café and wonder where my life is headed.
Au revoir.
I went to see Graham Kent yesterday, the boss of the Duke of Ed Award and a link between myself and the sherpa, Dhana who I will be tracking down and catching up with in Nepal. He was impressed that I had returned, that his organisation's mix of adventure and helpfulness had encouraged me to go further. We chatted for almost two hours; about OzQuest and the dropoff since Sept. 11, about Nepal and the Maoists and the villagers, about my plans and the dangers of the world. He is of the number I like having around, the 'the-world-is-never-calm-and-that-is-why-we-travel' type of person that sees the potential benefits rather than the (im)possible risk.
Going to dinner tonight, in a warm-up for the wedding on Saturday. An initiation into the darkened, murky jungles of Redenbachville at an inner-city French restaurant. Il fait être sur le meilleur comportement.
Going now, to sit in a café and wonder where my life is headed.
Au revoir.
Thursday, February 12, 2004
A Terrible Beauty
Nothing much happens, and everything happens at once. I feel now that I should jot observations to sate the appetite of a young lady I am close to that waits on every word I type here. I want also, for my own reasons, to write here more often, let the uncaring world know exactly where I stand. Only problem (or most immediate problem) is that I don't really know where I am standing, and when I do, I am lost to my direction, velocity, etc. Something like the Uncertainty Principle, that says that position and direction can only be known in relation to each other; that once one is discovered, proven, known, the other is lost is a sea of unknowability. We are atoms that frantically circle each other, playing along to an individualistic dance. It's no rocket science anymore, but was once laughed at or ignored. I'm trying to read a very large book at the moment, called 'A Terrible Beauty: The People and Ideas that Shaped the Modern Mind' by Peter Watson. It's interesting, easy to read and big enough to impress most people. It won't fit in my backpack, so I must hurry if I want to take it with me.
Nothing much happens, and everything happens at once. I feel now that I should jot observations to sate the appetite of a young lady I am close to that waits on every word I type here. I want also, for my own reasons, to write here more often, let the uncaring world know exactly where I stand. Only problem (or most immediate problem) is that I don't really know where I am standing, and when I do, I am lost to my direction, velocity, etc. Something like the Uncertainty Principle, that says that position and direction can only be known in relation to each other; that once one is discovered, proven, known, the other is lost is a sea of unknowability. We are atoms that frantically circle each other, playing along to an individualistic dance. It's no rocket science anymore, but was once laughed at or ignored. I'm trying to read a very large book at the moment, called 'A Terrible Beauty: The People and Ideas that Shaped the Modern Mind' by Peter Watson. It's interesting, easy to read and big enough to impress most people. It won't fit in my backpack, so I must hurry if I want to take it with me.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
Progression
Yo wassup mofos?
I'm having a tip top day. Refereed four games of basketball, grammar school kids and grammar school pay. No wonder their fees are so high.
I checked my emails last night as J slept, and discovered that two respectable media organisations will give me the time of day this week. I've also booked an interview with the esteemed Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer on the upcoming release of his film The Old Man Who Read Love Stories. It has been agreed that this story will be published in Metro magazine, but a fee has not yet been decided on. It would be an ideal situation if I could receive something for this piece, making the freshly printed business cards that say 'freelance journalist' a little more truthful. Otherwise I may have to cross out the 'lance' and leave 'Free journalist'. My housemate suggested that I mention the MEAA minimum rate of fifty cents a word, see where that gets me.
Isn't it funny how the good things seem to happen all at once and out of nowhere? Even the sun is shining, something we haven't seen in this Melbourne summer for a couple of weeks now.
Yo wassup mofos?
I'm having a tip top day. Refereed four games of basketball, grammar school kids and grammar school pay. No wonder their fees are so high.
I checked my emails last night as J slept, and discovered that two respectable media organisations will give me the time of day this week. I've also booked an interview with the esteemed Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer on the upcoming release of his film The Old Man Who Read Love Stories. It has been agreed that this story will be published in Metro magazine, but a fee has not yet been decided on. It would be an ideal situation if I could receive something for this piece, making the freshly printed business cards that say 'freelance journalist' a little more truthful. Otherwise I may have to cross out the 'lance' and leave 'Free journalist'. My housemate suggested that I mention the MEAA minimum rate of fifty cents a word, see where that gets me.
Isn't it funny how the good things seem to happen all at once and out of nowhere? Even the sun is shining, something we haven't seen in this Melbourne summer for a couple of weeks now.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Happy Birthday Mum
Another long wait between drinks, becoming a signature move of mine. As would be expected, much has occured in the interim. Last week I got business cards printed...totally sweet. Feels almost professional. Made over a hundred dollars selling old clothes and CDs at St Andrew's Market on Saturday, oh, saw Aphex Twin on psychedelics on Tuesday, that was nice. Jimmy was a glowing, green ape of a man, all flowing locks and energy. I've been updating my pro site, Post No Bills today, my day off. Playing basketball tonight. Anyway, I've got to run. Happy birthday Mum!
Another long wait between drinks, becoming a signature move of mine. As would be expected, much has occured in the interim. Last week I got business cards printed...totally sweet. Feels almost professional. Made over a hundred dollars selling old clothes and CDs at St Andrew's Market on Saturday, oh, saw Aphex Twin on psychedelics on Tuesday, that was nice. Jimmy was a glowing, green ape of a man, all flowing locks and energy. I've been updating my pro site, Post No Bills today, my day off. Playing basketball tonight. Anyway, I've got to run. Happy birthday Mum!
