Out damn spot

"I see you have a necklace", she said.
"I do", I replied.
"Why do you wear it on the inside?", she asked.

I thought about it for a second, juggling an answer that a 10 year old might understand.

Time passed....

I thought about my worry around vanity, or an even deeper reason for wearing my necklace under my shirt. Weeks later I find I have no real answer, well at least one I'm ready to admit.

So today the jade necklace remains hidden from view, but I have to admit, it's beginning to bother me :)

Pretty good year

Tori is amazing. The chair's pretty cool as well :)

....they say you are something in those formative years
....hold on to nothing, as fast as you can
Still... pretty good year

Andante

I took Monday off. I worked some long hours and my boss said to take a day away. This happens a lot, but I seldom get time to take time off: yesterday I made time.
I slept in late, and in the afternoon I walked in the sun to a slower tempo than normal.
Today I feel better for the experience, yet a little out of step with the week. I am not inclined to play catchup - it would defeat the purpose.
As an interesting aside I was offered a job today. In the loosest terms I have an opportunity to return south later in the year. I'm unsure if the offered career path is for me, but I'm heading home to Dunedin in April to at least discuss a possible framework.
There is much in Auckland to like; this will not be an easy tune to change.

More Mayer

I have too much stuff. I know that I'm compensating, but sometimes you just cant get what you want. Last weekend I stepped away from the path of rampant consumerism, toward something I truly desired. Although the outcome was expected, I'll never regret it: not for one second.
Life is a journey of twists and turns. The only thing I know is that if there is to be a next time for us, it will be her turn to find me. After all she's "it".

I'm dizzy from the shopping mall
I searched for the joy but i bought it all
It doesn't help the hunger pain
And a thirst I'd have to drown first to ever satiate

Gardenia

Haunting, yet resonant somehow.

Well, I put so much thought into getting ready
Now I know that was the best part
It's so easy to get caught up in what I'm regretting
Forget what I got from a wounded heart

Kudos Miss Moore

Random events

Last year I saw this t-shirt I liked. I found the store that sold the shirts - It was a mission and a half, but I seldom give up when I find something i want. I really need to work on that.

I ordered. I waited. It never came.
I wrote. And wrote again.
They replied. And much later apologized.

The shirts arrived today, and on the card inside was printed the message;

Love this life...
is about celebrating the moment
and that we're not guaranteed
or owed another day
and how cool it is that what we hide
can actually be the fuel towards our glory
and that it's not so bad
to be proven wrong

And after the shittiest of Sundays - this was something I really needed to hear.

More, as it comes to hand; perhaps.

Soup Nazi

You know who you are
No blog for you!
You banned :)

You come back - ONE YEAR!

Tech Support!

David: Do you remember what you told me once? That every passing minute is a another chance to turn it all around.
Sofía: I'll find you again.
David: I'll see you in another life... when we are both cats.

The memory of TT lives on

This clip was an easter egg on the "What we did last Summer" music DVD.
Robbie was pretty much kicked out of Take That, and probably with good reason. Always one to hold a grudge, I believe the song "No Regrets" was written about the incident.

All that aside I love the fact that fellow Take That member Mark Owen ended up on stage for this number. Maybe I'm just a romantic sap, but I like seeing bridges being rebuilt. That and the fact this version is streets ahead of the original number.

Lipstick Sunset

I've always loved this song. Actually - the whole "Bring the Family" Album is worth a listen, if you are open to a little blues with your country.

So we are clear - before you press the play button - it is a COUNTRY song.
(or possibly Western - I always get them mixed up - godammit) :)

Another Cheese Sandwich Post

Although I missed out on NFG's corporate lingerie show earlier in the week, one finds oneself curiously unperturbed. [Upon reflection this is now obviously a point of concern for me :)]

This week Tuesday and Wednesday were spent traveling about the North Island, fixing problems our contractors could not. It's a nice feeling to be useful in a more immediate way; so much of what I do these days is "remote control". Don't get me wrong - I wouldn't like to be "on the tools" full time, but those two days out of the office were a breath of fresh air.

The last two days I've been on the receiving end of some training in personal excellence. I've been pushing for this training for two years now - and now I'm in the midst of it, it's inspiring. There have been a few home truths delivered during the process, but I have really embraced the whole event. It turns out I have a bit to learn about being a leader, but I knew this going in.
The biggest issue for me is the link between productivity and people focus. I'm very much a people person, and I tend to shy away from confrontation. The challenge for me will be to get to the point, and not worry too much about hurting peoples feelings - a difficult balance for me.

It's been pretty full on training, and when asked to summarize the last two days in two words I cracked up the class by immediately saying "Absolutely Wasted".

I may sleep all weekend. :)

Not so Shiny in the Verse

They'll come at you sideways.
It's how they think.
It's how they move.
Sidle up and smile.
Hit you where you're weak.
Sort of man they're like to send believes hard.
Kills and never asks why.

Way to write Mr Weedon

Sideways

Sometimes you can feel the temperature drop
'though you'd swear it was as sunny out as the day before
Being human is a difficult thing
When you're trying to be practical

Character Assassination

I'd like to think I'm a good judge of character but every now and again I find myself taking an instant dislike to a person for no apparent reason.

I wonder what is was about the person that set me off, given this has only happened a handful of times during my life. Months later, when the same person walks into the room I still feel the same way, and it bothers me. Obviously I'm grown up enough to deal with this person in a pleasant and professional way, but afterward I feel like I've compromised myself.

It's much easier to dislike people to a lesser degree. Today I held a door open for someone, and they didn't say thankyou. I believe there is a special hell reserved for those who don't say please and thank you; the lessons their parents taught them years ago, lost to the comfortable anonymity of the big city.

You may think it doesn't matter Mr "no thank you", but I noticed - and believe me, karma's a bitch

My life as a Cigar

Posts here may look bizarre of late. I have to admit I've been pulling some long hours over the last week. Working through the night and sleeping until lunchtime dictates most days start by waking with a headache that just wont quit - but I assure you things are mostly fine once I drag myself out of bed. The worst part will be getting back into a normal sleep pattern once my current project ends.

All this information may explain (in part) the last post. I would be the first to admit that putting Aerosmith up against Kelly Clarkson in the same post may, on first glance, seem to indicate a less than stable mindset. Rest assured, the less than subtle juxtaposition has a method to its madness.

What actually happened, was that I decided to take a "walk" though Youtube, choosing videos as they came to mind. Using the whole six degrees of separation, I took the first and sixth video and posted them together. I think it says as much about my musical diversity, as it does my state of mind.

Sometimes a Cigar is just a Cigar I guess.

Yeah - I don't believe that either. :)

Miss Independant and BiPolar

I don't care what the cool kids say - I like this song.



So in touch with my inner nerd today, yet so self destructive. Not a bad combo for a Tuesday evening, even if I say so myself.

Yeah, I know nobody knows
where it comes and where it goes
I know it's everybody's sin
You got to lose to know how to win

Once

Find this movie - If you love music, it may change your life. *



* results not typical.

Can't plan this.

When Marty and Leeane had their housewarming Tim brought a little gift along on the night. The gift was a count down timer connected to a very, very loud siren.
The plan was to activate the timer just before we left - the timer would start its countdown and activate the siren after two hours. The siren, placed in a cardboard box, was left in a spare room, easily spotted when the time came to stop the noise.
It was harmless fun - what could go wrong?

I actually forgot about the whole thing when I woke the next day, but Tim rang me giggling hysterically. This is what actually happened...

We left at 2:20am, so the siren went off at about 4:30am. The problem was that Marty was so hammered he didn't wake up first; his wife Leeane did. Thinking someone had activated the house security system she keyed in the 4 digit pin code, but by doing this, she actually activated the house security system. Sixty second later the house system triggered and it's siren went off as well. So now two sirens were blaring, and our 30 second prank had just woken all the neighbours.
Convinced that she had put in the wrong pin code for the alarm, Leeane started entering numbers from their previous house's alarm system. After 6 incorrect pin numbers the alarm locked on refusing to accept any more attempts.
At this stage Leeane ran down to the master bedroom and managed to shake an inebriated Marty to life. Of course we didn't realise Marty slept in the nude, but those who slept over that night got an eye-full as he bounded naked down the hall toward the security panel. Realising he was too drunk to follow the complex reprogramming sequence to reset the locked alarm, Marty ripped the security panel off the wall pulling out every cable he could find.
The internal house siren silenced (but not our one), Marty rushed toward the balcony to silence the outside siren. At the last minute Leeane yelled at him to put on her dressing gown, and all the neighbours watched in amusement as Marty stood on his balcony in his wifes favourite pink satin dressing gown, hitting the hell out of the external alarm box with a hammer. Eventually the siren could take no more and plummeted to the ground, one story below, screaming no longer.
It was then, and only then, that Marty heard the siren in the spare room. He opened the cardboard box, pulled off the battery wire, and finally there was silence.

Marty, God bless him, saw the funny side of it all afterward. He even admitted the whole incident broke the ice with all the surrounding neighbours. I'd love to take credit for it all, but I was only guilty by association. Tim retired from housewarming pranks that night; undefeated, at the top of his game - the best way to go.

Actually, come to think of it...I wonder if Tim still still has the answerphone messages made between 4:30 and 4:45am that night. I'm sure any statutes of limitations are long past. If they're about I'll link to them. Please forgive me, but the memory of those messages still make me smile.

Conformity

Years ago a friend introduced me to Pete Murray. I hated the song "So beautiful"; whiny crap, personifying so much of a type of music I used to listen to, but had beaten out of me early in my work years. Work was about conformity you see, not much room for different feelings, attitudes, choices.

It's sad these feelings remain. I'd like to think my musical appreciation had evolved since then. Perhaps, as some sort sort of penance I should offer this Pete Murray song.

Don't be scared of what you cannot see
Your only fear is possibility
Never wonder what the hell went wrong
Your second chance may never come along

No shit sherlock!