new home

I've finally launched my own site, and tchick has a new home

Roll on 2007

My god it's been so long since I've posted here that I'd forgotten my password!

I doubt anyone reads this tired old blog these days. I know nick does, as he messages me from time to time to tell me how much it sucks.

A guy at work recently told me about a Firefox plugin called stumbleupon that discovers random sites for you based on a checklist of categories you nominate on setting up. I was amused to see "drugs" as one of the categories, but went right ahead and ticked them all to see what happened.

I wasn't really impressed by the whole "social networking" concept behind stumbleupon and was impatient through the setup thinking this can't possibly be of any interest to me. So the first site it discovered for me was Mouse Party (turn your sound down if you're going to click on this link, cause I'm telling you now, that music is eight kinds of annoying.)

Maybe it's because it's six in the morning and I've been awake since three, but this site is hysterical - it's a flash animated site featuring mice on drugs, clearly aimed at nerdy intelligent high school kids who want to learn what all those crazy drugs they're taking are really doing to the synapses of their brain. The site features a tank of mice havin a party. It reminds me a little of a comedian I saw once doing stereotyped impressions of different drug fucked people at a party - there's drunk mouse, stoned mouse, smacked out mouse, peaking mouse etc.

I've just dragged stoned mouse into the armchair and am listening to a very annoying american woman tell me about the body's own native canabinoid called annandamine. I had no idea ... you learn something every day. It's kind of making me want to smoke a joint though. Is that wrong at 6.30 in the morning?

I'll post a screen shot later when I can work how to use "Paint". Honestly - where's the fucking crop tool? Windoze is doing my head in. What's with all these beeping noises? seriously how do you people cope?

Screw this, I'm going to work.

well it's nice to be back in blogland either way.

True Stories From around the World

I've just bought a delightful compilation of Travel Tales, introduced by by a wonderfully eloquent and self confessed frequently sullen author: Herbert Gold

"Behold, here is a man doing battle with his khaki clad peripatetic sould to overcome impulses toward jealousy as he reads accounts by [list of authors...]"

I know how he feels.

But I have always despised travel writing, being of a practical and impatient nature, I've never understood why anyone would want to read about a stranger's adventures from the safety of their armchair when they could just go out and experience it all for themselves. And yes, I can see the flaw in my logic. Flaws of logic are a specialty of mine, just ask any of my friends.

Take this conversation with my housemate for instance. (paraphrasing)

On arriving in the house, book in hand, wearing a fabulously spring-time floral cleavage revealing shirt:

T: (greets me with scornful derision) girly shirt wearing person

Me: yes, and look, I bought a pretty dress with butterflies on it

T: sneer

Me: and look, a book about travel writing. YOU should be reading this.

[T. is off to tour Europe on Wednesday - house to myself - I may smoke a cigarette inside. I hope he doesn't read this blog]

T: I certainly don't intend to be having any adventures, and if I did, I wouldn't be writing about them

Me: What you're not going to be sending us postcards? You should send lots of postcards, you should START A BLOG

T: No offence, but blogs are for ..... (searching for the right words)

Me: boring, middle of the road, tediously average people with too much time on their hands

T: (face lights up) YES! exactly

Me: thankyou you've just given me an idea

So I burned out onto the balcony to smoke two cigarettes while I wait for my recently returned laptop to boot up. 20 minutes later I'm still staring at the grey apple logo as it churns algorithms. Anonymous Bogon: what HAVE you done to my laptop?










but i digress

I'm fascinated by the fact that since written language was invented people have be compelled to record their inner thoughts, no matter how insightful or bland. In fact I'm convinced that written language was invented because of this.

I don't believe that writing has to be technically brilliant, eloquent, well edited or disciplined to be interesting. When I first discovered the blogosphere I spent weeks returning to a randomly discovered blog reading about a 24 year old dental technician from Idaho who was naively trying to manipulate her boyfriend into marrying her "I mean, honestly, just because i sent him a link to A jewellery shop that sells engagement rings, it's not like i was HINTING at anything, GOD. I just thought they were pretty" I wish I could remember that link now.

I'll read anything and everything. I just can't get enough of reading. I read That's Life, I read the Age Australian, I read the back of ceral packets. I'm tortured by the fact that I'm not studying any more and dying for someone to challenge me with a decent text. I'm lucky enough to have a few friends who have written delightful books, one who is completing a pHd in philosophy, one who does book reviews for the Age, one who contributes to Desktop magazine, and one who frequently bcc's me into his wonderfully written sometimes scathing and always entertaining email correspondences.

I am ashamed at my attempts to write in the face of such brilliantly talented people. I caught up with a dear old friend who lectures in Philosophy recently and lamented that we don't see each other nearly enough.

He: "I see you frequently at this (well known drinking hole) but I'm always intimidated by the size of your friendship group."

Me: "yes, and I by the intellect of yours."

Having said that I'd like to take this chance to leave you with (a very limited and not exhaustive) list of links to some of my favourite, frequently read blogs, would like to ask you for links to more and will also quote some shakespeare just to be a bit of a wanker.

Scrap that, am running late for something, links already on sidebar - will edit this post later.

William Shakespeare: Sonnet 65

Since brasse, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundlesse sea,
But sad mortallity ore-swaies their power,
How with this rage shall beautie hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger then a flower?

O how shall summers hunny breath hold out
Against the wrackfull siedge of battring dayes,
When rocks impregnable are not so stoute,
Nor gates of steele so strong but time decayes?
O fearefull meditation; where, alack,

Shall times best Iewell from times chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foote back,
Or who his spoile ore beautie can forbid?

O none, vnlesse this miracle haue might,
That in black inck my loue may still shine bright.

Innocence of Advertising in the Sixties

Well isn't fanny lucky?





















you had me at hello.

Well it's been a while ...

I'm trying to invent a word that describes the phenomenon in the blogosphere where people neglect their blogs for months on end, return briefly to say "I haven't posted for ages, but I promise I'll post regularly from now on" and then promptly disappear into the ether.

A quick and random survey of the blogosphere:

A 25 year old Dirty Greek boy in the States lamented in August that he was too busy studying to post to his blog, but he was back on September 11 to contemplate the gravity of the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

(I laughed last night when a friend mentioned her favourite newspaper headline about that incident was "HOLY FUCKING SHIT")

Some guy claiming to be the king of the blogosphere hasn't posted for a while because he's been walking the earth like caine from Kung Fu making right what once went wrong.

This proud geek is apparently a serial blog neglector. But that's because he's busy being a geek, playing poker, playing computer games, and watching baseball.

Harry Ragan from Michigan didn't post for a while because he was busy getting married to the love of his life and apparently buying a couple of new cars.

So what's my excuse?

Well...

Let's just say I've been learning a lot.

I've learned a lot about friendship, a lot about myself and a lot about about people, and let me tell you:

people never . cease . to amaze me.

Take this for instance. This shit gives me nightmares, I don't know why:



hat tip to nick

New Toy - I'm so excited I can hardly speak

OK
So it's been a while. At one stage I was actually collecting links to other people's blogs who'd written things like, Sorry I haven't posted for a few months, but I'm back now, and I'll post lots of exciting things.... and then nothing. It's obviously a common phenomenon. I wonder if anyone's come up for a word to describe it yet? I might put my mind to that and come up with one as soon as I get over the excitement of THIS:





























arriving on my desk this morning.

Big thanks go out to the AUC and apologies to all the staff I work with for running around the office waving it people's faces saying "are you jealous? huh? huh?"

So the aim of the game is to get Windoze running on this thing at work, and report back to the AUC on how successful or otherwise it has been in various workplace situations. I'm planning to blog about it as well, and I'm considering this lovely forum as a place to do it, so watch this space for updates.

I couldn't resist throwing this one in: Could I fit any more computers on my desk?

Breakdancing midget

Ok this is just freaking weird. Someone found us by google searching for "breakdancing midget". When the fuck were we discussing breakdancing midgets on this blog? I remember a hell of a lot of talk about Tommy Lee, but nothing about midgets. Or "pulitzer vulture kevin carter sudan snopes" for that matter. It's a strange old world out there I tells ya.