WIP

As per usual, I'm struck down by decision paralysis... I'm updating the blog, but I can't decide on a template, a colour scheme or anything. For the moment, this will do as a placeholder. I want to create a look and feel that I'm happy with - the obsessive compulsive in me screams minimal, monochromatic colours, straight lines, while the creative streak wants pictures, colours, something personal and interesting.

For anyone reading this, any preferences on the template style?

Images

Just because I haven't tried uploading any images to my blog yet, let's see what happens...


Orchids @ Conservatory of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Hmm, not bad. Expect to see some visuals from now on...

Back to the grindstone

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

My recovery time (read: couch time) from the surgery is at an end, and today was the first day back at work. It was a pretty slow, dull day, especially considering all the stresses and hectic workload prior to my surgery. I think it'll be like this until well into the New Year. Slow times ahead... I think I'll shift the brain down a gear or two. 9am - 5pm days for me!

One good thing about being back at work is that I am healthy enough again to start getting out and about. As much as tv, the interweb, and the Xbox kept me company, sometimes fresh air and people is the way to go. My extra time with the tv has given me a new injection of enthusiasm for food and cooking, mainly courtesy of 8 days worth of Ready Steady Cook episodes. I made a delicious spaghetti with chicken, wilted spinach and a creamy peppercorn sauce last night. And the good food shall continue... dinner this Friday at... a nice restaurant (sorry, still a secret - will be revealed soon), dinner in a fortnight at The Press Club.

I also discovered a bit of a greenthumb... I spent my afternoon yesterday carting potting mix, wandering through a nursery and re-potting palm trees. The balcony garden is looking like even more of a jungle, it's great.

In other news, my obsessive compulsive streak is becoming irritated by some of the colour/formatting/images on this blog template - will have to turn on the geek soon and see what changes I can perform. Of course, Murphy's Law dictates at least part of this blog will end up completely mangled/deleted/emailed to someone in Nigeria/translated into Spanish or just plain lost in the internet ether. Internether. My word for the day.

And in my random though for the day... in this world of media cross-promotion and seasonal fashions, how long will it be before Christmas and Christmas decorations bleed into the Spring Racing Carnival, leading to the roses at Flemington being replaced by mini Christmas trees and the latest in ladies' headwear being a red sock-like hat with a white pom-pom?

Samson, 2006 AD

The goatee is gone.

I shaved it off during preparations for my surgery. Now, I'm not entirely certain if it shall return. I'm still an unshaven lout, though.

For those of you who have never seen me without, don't worry, I'm still as handsome as ever. Only time will tell if my superhuman strength is now gone though.

And then the stripper said...

Went to a buck's party last Thursday night. Ended up at a strip joint, as you do.

I kept my own counsel for the evening, quietly drinking with a fellow non-participant. Surprisingly (or maybe not, I don't know), no girls came up to me for the vast majority of the night. (Maybe they sensed they'd get nowhere, I dunno?).

Anyway, about 20 minutes before we left, one girl comes over and asks me if I'd like a dance. I politely decline with several comebacks, including "no thanks", "not interested" and "only got cab money".

And then the stripper said...
"Story of my night. Tighter than a virgin's a$$hole".

Trash-talked. By a stripper.

Hospitals have the best drugs...

I made it out of surgery. In fact, I feel pretty awesome as I write this. I would not believe that I'd had invasive surgery today, especially considering how freaked I was about getting a general anaesthetic, and how concerned I was about the potential pain post-operation. Neither concern eventuated.

It might be due to the expertise of the surgeon. Or perhaps it is the healing powers of my body.

Or maybe, just maybe, it is, in some small part, due to the addition of medicinal cocaine as part of my drug cocktail during my surgery...

Yep, cocaine helps my world go round.



PS. Don't use drugs, kids.

The other side

I might be a little quiet on the posting front over the next few days or weeks. Not that I've been heavy on the blogging recently anyway.

I go in for surgery on Tuesday, and although it is only a day procedure, I have a 2 week recovery period. I might be fine pretty quickly, and in that case I'll have plenty of non-work hours to update here. Or, I might be doped up on prescriptions meds, while my head reminds me where it all hurts; in tha case, I'll probably not be a regular visitor here.

I'm not sure if I've ever been under a general anaesthetic before... maybe, when I was little. I was a bit of a magnet for illness and injury back then as well. Kinda like this year. I really hope I don't discover some sort of unknown reaction to anaesthetic. and I hope the surgeon knows what he is doing. I don't really get all that nervous about many things... but I value the integrity of my skull, and the contents inside, so I hope there aren't any operating room mistakes. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts...

Until next time.

People in glass houses...

...Should renovate.

You could install one way glass/mirrors throughout the entire house. Every single wall. You can see out, but no one can see in. If you are in the bedroom, you can see out to the lounge or dining room. In the bathroom, you could see most of the rest of the house. The "deeper" you move into the house the more rooms you can see out into. You get a feeling of space and openness, even in a small house. If the reflections become too much, some walls could be slightly frosted. You could even manage an internal garden for meditation or hydroponic vegetables, and if you manage the floorplan well, you could see the garden from every room in the house.

Just make sure you have good airconditioning, it might get a little warm inside.

Observations on my weekend

I had a good weekend. Didn't do much, but I'm feeling quite relaxed as Sunday night winds up and I have to start thinking about Monday. And work.

Some observations I've made over the past few days:
- I seem to publish most of my blog posts on weekends, especially Sundays. Perhaps I like to extend the weekend by reminiscing about the previous week.
- I like my food. Japanese on Thursday night, Vietnamese on Friday night, Thai on Saturday afternoon, Greek on Sunday night.
- I dislike football crowds. Admittedly, Richmond on grand final day is always going to be a nightmare but... I spotted the first drunk-guy-pissing-up-against-a-tree BEFORE the game even started. However, it did take until after the game to hear my first broken bottle. (As an aside, I saw more bottles in the street than people when I went to buy the Sunday paper this morning).
- Lunch at Cookie is a great way to spend a quiet, sunny Saturday afternoon.
- Picnic at the Botanical Gardens is a great way to spend a windy, sunny Sunday afternoon.
- Most importantly, killing all the zombies hordes in "Dead Rising" (see my post below) was incredibly satisfying.

I got nothing else.