Dizzy new heights

I just spoke to one of my old friends on the phone. I haven't talked to her in such a long time, it was really nice to catch up. Apparently some guy asked her to set him up with one of her friends, and she thought of me. Awww, I'm her number one pathetic single friend! How sweet!

The conversation went something like this:

Friend – I guess I could set you up with skvid… You’d probably have to quit smoking though, I don’t think she’s really into that...

Some guy – Well if she can’t love me for who I am...

Wow. It got to the point of him accusing me of trying to change him before we’d even met! I think that's got to be some kind of record. Especially seeing as that's the first time I've ever been accused of trying to change someone.

In the minutes since I got off of the phone, I've given it a great deal of thought. I have made peace with him, and with myself. I did my best, and I tried to make it work. The relationship had just run its course. If the half a second mention of me in a casual conversation wasn't enough for him, then I'm not going to burden myself with thinking about what might have been! I wont cry myself to sleep at night any longer! Or indeed ever, because it hasn't been night time yet...

Random junk mosaic #803

• Peptidoglycan is one of my favourite words.
• My mobile phone is an angsty little bastard. It could out cranky a Siberian Cave Dragon with PMS. Honestly, how can I be expected to cope with the whims of cantankerous gadgetry on top of everything else?
• I keep getting behind with assignments. Then I panic and do a whole bunch of work at once, which is cool because I really feel like I’ve achieved something. But then I relax because I’m ahead, and get behind again… Oh no! I’m the hare from that story about the hare and the tortoise!
• I think I should get into the whole ebay thing. I have some stuff here that I don’t need, but people would probably only buy it over the internet. I’ve avoided going to ebay thus far. If I go there I will start buying stupid things. I know this to be a fact.
• Prickle is another of my favourite words. He’s also a cool dinosaur from Gumby. I love his weird nerd voice. I wish I could do an impression of it.

Contributions of random junk are always welcome.

This is the song that doesn't end...

Cyclone Larry

Larry the category five cyclone ("that's the same as Katrina" as people are so fond of saying) has ripped his way through northern Queensland. He trashed the place he did. A state of emergency has been declared in Innisfail, but thankfully there were only minor injuries.

I've been watching the news coverage on TV quite a bit, and what struck me is how some houses are completely flattened while the ones around them hardly look damaged at all. It's also a bit strange how the news coverage goes off on tangents. They start off saying how the banana crop was destroyed and instead of focusing on the job losses, they focus on how the price of bananas has gone up Australia-wide...

Actually I'm quite the tangent-fan.

I ate the last banana in the house this afternoon. It looks like I'm going to go without them for a while. I actually considered holding some kind of banana farewell ceremony because that banana was so perfect. It was a great memory to go out on.

'I was only nineteen'

I taped Rage last night because I haven’t watched music videos for ages and it was starting to get to me. I saw the clip for The Herd’s cover of Red Gum’s classic song about Vietnam veterans, I Was Only Nineteen. That song is so powerful. I don’t know any Vietnam vets personally, but it still really gets to me.

They went through things that I don't even want to think about, and then copped a lot of shit from thoughtless people when they got back.

Raising awareness and bridging the gap between the veterans and their kids... it's a fine thing The Herd are doing.

Go Ostrayah!

Exciting news from the big brown land!

• The Commonwealth games have started in Melbourne. Australia tends to win at least half the medals every time it's on. It's really just a half baked version of the summer Olympics.
• The "where the bloody hell are you" ads have caused a bit of controversy in Britain. Negotiations are underway to stop them from being banned. When things get banned they get a lot more attention than they would otherwise. It seems that their plans are working...
• Skvid hasn't been feeling very bloggy lately.
• My dog just tried to jump into the bookcase behind the books. I think there may be a lizard in there.

Everything Some of this crap has got to go!

I think I'll use this little burst of "Woo Hoo I Escaped!" energy to make a few changes about the place. I am going to be doing some super hard core clearing out of stuff! I'm going to take everything that I haven't looked at/worn/used/thought about for the last year or more, and be really harsh about what I keep.

Of course I'll probably get sidetracked when I start on the first box... intentions count for something, right?

No! Stop that! I'm going to do it! I will start with clothes because they are probably the easiest thing to part with.

Hooray! I have a plan!

The Great Escape

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I feel like I just got out of school early. If I had a bike I’d get it out and ride it down the middle of the street waving to my neighbours and laughing as they say “what are you doing out so early?” (or something equally suburban and idyllic…)

I left where I was staying a little earlier than anticipated. I had to get out, I was going insane. Amazingly my escape plan actually worked!

The time I spent there wasn’t completely wasted though. I did get a few free lessons in how not to raise/discipline children.

For example, on one occasion my three year old cousin threw a rock at my five year old cousin’s head.

The five year old retaliated by yelling “You're not my son anymore!!!”

A whole world of scary insight right there...

Thankfully I have now done my visiting duty for at least another year.

Please don't make me go back!!!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

I have to leave the safety of Skvid City for a little while…

I’m staying with relatives in a far off place, and their children are occasionally a bit, erm, “intense”. So I’m slightly nervous at the moment, but hopefully I will return unscathed.

Wish me luck!


----- Warning: Space filler below! -----


Here is a picture of a snowboarder, even though the Olympics are all done now.



This is why I try not to make claims about timeliness or relevance…

(Oh yeah, and the aerial skier with the excellent teeth won a bronze medal. Australia’s grand total – 1 gold, 1 bronze. Yeeha Grandma!)