Category Archives: Blatherings

2009 in 40 questions

December 15, 2009 12:48 | Leave a Comment |

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Went to New Zealand and flew Air New Zealand. Their food was terrible!! Entered my first recreational bike ride which I’m doing on Saturday. Broke the 60kms marker on a bike.

2. Did you keep your new year resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I fail to see the point of new year resolutions so therefore don’t make them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my sister. She had a son, Liam, who weighed in at 10.3lbs (!!!)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?
America and New Zealand.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Less debt! More money to squander on all those things that I want. I can’t complain though. I have a lot less debt then most people.

7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 30 – day I flew out to America. September 5 – day I flew out to New Zealand with my friends for a group holiday. And I’m thinking December 12 will stick out as well.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Riding to Black Rock for the first time. It always seemed so far away (54kms to be exact) and I thought I’d never be able to do it. I think when I cross the finish line of Scotty’s Ride on Saturday that’ll be a big achievement. Sometimes I think my biggest achievement is the fact that I’m still here. (Not exactly in the most chipper of places right now.)

9. What was your biggest failure?
Putting on five kilos over winter. It seems to happen every year. I work insanely hard to lose the weight only to lapse and put it all back on. It’s slowly coming back off now.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I fell off my bike in July and messed myself up pretty good. Took nearly five months for my right hip to heal. Probably didn’t help that I fell over onto it whilst attempting to learn to ski.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Without a doubt, my bike. Words can’t express how much I love her and cycling in general.

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My brother and his girlfriend for coming to get me when I fell of my bike. My brother checked out my bike to make sure she was okay and then they put up with me watching all three seasons of Avatar: the Last Airbender because I couldn’t get off the couch without my hip swelling for about three days.

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The moronic cyclists who run red lights, act like idiots on the road and make everyone hate us. And the car drivers who are openly hostile to cyclists.

14. Where did most of your money go?
On my bike and the required accouterments. Also on my trips to America and New Zealand.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
It took a while but I did get super excited about going to America again. The road trip from LA to San Fran was one of the highlights of my year. And it was so wonderful to see everyone and get hugs from them. Plus I got to visit San Fran and discover a city I utterly adore.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Umm… I have no idea. Nothing is springing to mind.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Right now, sadder
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter I think. But it could be about the same
iii. richer or poorer? Way poorer. 2009 has been an expensive year.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Ate better so that I didn’t get so fat! And more cycling. I’m sure I could’ve squeezed more in.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Being so hard on myself. I’m my own worst critic and I always think the worst of myself. Hence my riding partner saying he was going to whack me one because he paid me a compliment and I immediately came out with some self-depreciating comment.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
With the family as I do every year. Hhmm… time to think about what horror movie I want to watch on xmas eve.

22. Did you fall in love in 2009?
No.

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favourite TV programme?
Avatar: the Last Airbender, Entourage, Supernatural, FlashForward, Californication, Castle, Top Gear and Dexter. I also really like Lie to Me even though Tim Roth usually freaks me out. I like Glee too but I can see the novelty wearing off really quickly.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.

26. What was the best book you read?
Umm… I really, really enjoyed The True Story of Butterfish by Nick Earls.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I seem to be more about what I know these days then finding anything new.

28. What did you want and get?
A new bike 🙂

30. What was your favourite film of this year?
Star Trek. I think I was exactly the audience they were trying to reach. I’m not a Star Trek fan at all but I really enjoyed the movie. Also Up! and District 9. I really looking forward to seeing Avatar at imax.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was at work. My workmates took me out to lunch. We had cupcakes from Little Cupcakes 🙂

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Feeling like I have a better idea of where I’m going and what I’m doing. I feel really directionless at the moment so it’s hard.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Same as last year. Got blue sneakers though.

34. What kept you sane?
It’s debatable that anything has but I must say all the cycling makes me a happier person, most of the time.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Ummm… no one is springing to mind.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
I’m getting politically lazy because nothing reached out and really grabbed my attention this year.

37. Who did you miss?
I haven’t really missed anyone. It was weird when my brother moved into his house with his girlfriend. I came home to a house that echoed.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Is it terrible that I can’t think of anyone?

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009
That I need to have more faith in myself and my abilities. I can do the things I want to if I put my mind to it.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Last year it was so easy to come up with something. This year I’m totally stumped.

Posted in: Blatherings | Tagged: ,

Check me out

November 26, 2009 11:42 | Leave a Comment |

I’ve signed up for Scotty’s Ride, the 54km route 🙂

I’m doing it on my own but that’s okay. I’m sure I’ll find someone to talk to along the way and I’m sure my family will be hanging about at the finish line when I finish (I know you’re reading Dad, so that’s a big hint). When I was in Year 12, I used to ride most of the route every single day after school so I have the advantage of actually knowing where I’m going. It should be quite pleasant riding past all the orchards as the trees will be full of budding fruit so if my memory serves me well, it’ll smell really nice.

Maybe next year I’ll tackle the 120km ride. Maybe. I suppose it all depends on how long this current obsession lasts.

I had a misadventure with a kitchen knife last night. I was quickly cutting up some lettuce for dinner when I subconsciously decided I didn’t need the tip of my finger and tried to chop it off. All I could think of saying to my housemate was I’m going to need a band-aid as the blood started to flow which, thinking about it now, was probably a little inadequate considering how much it bleed. To be gross, I even managed to cut through my nail. I’m apparently a big believer in if you’re going to do something, do it right even if it really hurts. And made it really hard to put my new bike tyres on. (See what I did there? Huh, huh?)

As my housemate put it, Lisa has new shoes. According to my brother’s much more experienced eye, I didn’t really need new tyres but we swapped them over anyway and now I have spares. He gave me an excellent lesson in how to do it even though he had to do most of it because of my stupid finger. It was a case of I did the easy bits, like get the old tyre off and he did the hard bits of getting the new one on. He even showed me how to use a lever to get the tyre back on, which is something I couldn’t figure out on my own. He made it look so easy but I suppose that’s what happens when you’ve changed as many tyres as he has (he’d already changed four tyres that day and they were much tighter than mine). I need to practice it. It’s going to be the only way I can build up enough hand strength and develop a technique that works for me. When my finger heals, I’m going to start practising on my old bike. That way when I get frustrated, I can put the wheel down and walk away without having to worry about having a bike I can’t ride.

So now Lisa is sporting a pair of Continental Ultra Gatorskin tyres. By all accounts, I should have these tyres for quite a long time and they’re a reasonable training and great commuting tyre. I already like them better than the other Continentals I had. They felt more grippy then the old ones and handled this morning’s wet weather quite well. They seemed to kick up less water onto my back which is nice and I didn’t have saturated feet even though I ended up riding in the rain. The old tyres kicked up an amazing amount of water and the front tyre always dumped it onto my right foot. The Gatorskins are meant to be very puncture resistant which is something I need. I’m curious to see what they’re like on a dry road but I might have to wait to find that out!

Posted in: Bike, Blatherings | Tagged: , , , ,

A list

November 24, 2009 23:48 | Leave a Comment |

1. Achievement for today: successfully riding about two-thirds of Kew Boulevard. It’s not that it’s that hilly, it’s more that it’s constantly undulating (so for me it feels really hilly). And it proved that I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to climbing. I always go out too hard. As my brother said don’t attack the hill or the hill will attack you. Next time I shall ride the whole damn thing!

2. I signed up for Amy’s Ride today. Doing the 60km ride. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be hillier than I think.

3. And I’m going to sign up for another ride soon. This one is Scotty’s Ride and it goes past my parents’ house! I have three weeks to learn as much as I can about riding in large groups. Eeep!

4. I took Lisa in a for a service on Monday and they cleaned her chain. Hoorah! Something I’ve wanted to do but haven’t been able to because I don’t actually know how to get the chain off and I don’t have any degreaser anyway. I also have new brake pads.

5. Right now I am rereading Ultimate Spider-man. I’m on a huge super-hero kick at the moment. No idea why.

6. Umm… yeah.

7. I’ve trashed my macbook’s battery. Turns out I shouldn’t have been using the charger from a white macbook as it’s 65W and mine is 85W. D’oh! So, I suppose I’ll have to put off my cycling purchases to acquire a new battery. Better to spend $200 on a new battery then $2500 on a new computer.

8. There’s a package waiting for me at the post office. Hoorah! New tyres and new bike knicks.

9. Gee, anyone would think I’m more than a little obsessed with cycling at the moment.

10. I’m now doing three rides a week. Tuesdays is Kew Boulevard, Thursdays is the GP circuit and Sundays is Black Rock. Covering all the basics – hills, riding techniques and bunch riding.

11. Tired now. Sleep. zzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz

Posted in: Bike, Blatherings | Tagged: , , , ,

Hoorah!

September 16, 2009 11:45 | Leave a Comment |

My car is all fixed!

fixed car

They even washed it for me so it’s all shiny.

I’m very pleased to know it’s fixed. My insurance company was so easy to work with. I did all the things they asked and they got it fixed super quick. No hassle at all. However, I don’t think it hurt at all that my dad knows the owner of the repair shop it got taken to.

I’m home, obviously…

We had to get up obscenely early to get the airport – as in 3am early. Bleugh. Definitely not a fan of early flights. Still the airport was busier than I thought it would be and it took us nearly half an hour to check in. Kim and I cut it extremely fine. We got to the front of the line at 5.30 which should’ve been the 90 minute cut-off. However, it apparently worked in our favour as we ended up sitting in premium economy. There really is more legroom!

As usual, Melbourne Airport turned on all its charms and made us wait about half an hour for our bags. For whatever reason, three luggage containers got left on the plane so we waited. And waited. And waited. Then we got the slowest taxi driver in Melbourne who just wouldn’t do the speed limit. He consistently sat 10ks under the limit and I wanted to strangle him.

Still, nice to be home. Being in my own bed was wonderful as was the first decent shower in a week. It was very weird to come home to a 30°C day when just a few days ago we’d been all rugged up for the snow.

So… things I learnt on this trip.

  1. I can’t ski. But I haven’t spent enough time doing it to totally dismiss it as an activity.
  2. New Zealand wines are great but their beer is apparently meh.
  3. Sliding down small snow covered slopes is awesome.
  4. The water in Methven makes me feel decidedly ill – too much chlorine.
  5. Single beds suck.
  6. A decent shower is a blessing.
  7. New Zealand really is a remarkably beautiful place.
  8. Jet-boating is awesome fun.
  9. As is a scenic helicopter flight.
  10. I can still scream.
  11. There really are a lot of sheep in New Zealand.
  12. Seeing rugby pitches everywhere fills me with joy.
  13. The guy who works at the ski shop was really cute.
  14. I missed my bike.
  15. Sharing a hotel suite with three people who cough all the time is extremely irritating.
  16. I like snow.
  17. Automatic Ford Mondeos are shit to drive.
Posted in: Blatherings, Travel | Tagged: , , ,

Is it that time already?

September 4, 2009 23:47 | Leave a Comment |

I have to be up in a few hours. Strange to think I’m heading to New Zealand tomorrow. The time has passed so quickly and I can’t quite it’s already time.

It’s going to be strange – this whole traveling with other people. Gee, that makes it sound like I travel all the time but it’s only been two trips overseas. It will be different though. I haven’t put anywhere near the energy into this as I have for my other trips. I haven’t really done anything at all. It feels more like I’m just going along for the ride.

It has been nice to hand over all the organising and to not have to think that much. All I really wanted was a nice place to stay on the first night when we’re still in Christchurch and I got that. Still, I feel detached from it. There’s not the sense of excitement and anticipation that I have when I’ve done all the planning myself. It just doesn’t feel real and it’s happening tomorrow.

Still, New Zealand!! I’m going to see yet another part of the world and do things I’ve never done before like skiing.

Things seem to be progressing with the car. It’s at the repairers now and hopefully a quote has been prepared and sent off along with photos of the damage. It’s not something I want to have to try to follow up on when I’m in another country. Optimistically, it could be fixed by the end of the next week. Whether or not that’s realistic is another story. Dad thinks maybe the week after. That’s still really quick considering I thought it’d take at least a month to jump through all the hoops. I’m expecting my premium to go up after this. Hopefully I’ll get to keep my rating one.

Posted in: Blatherings, Travel | Tagged: , , ,

I done broke it

August 30, 2009 18:39 | Leave a Comment |

I never realised how attached I am to my car until I smacked it into someone else’s.

car-damage

I mean, it’s just a car right? It’s little, girly, get me from A to B sort of car. But I am utterly crushed. I’ve had it for six years now and it’s been an awesome little car. It’s easy to drive, easy to park and not too expensive to run. It’s also the only asset I actually own.

Sigh.

I was leaving my parents’ place after spending the weekend there and I rear-ended someone. I don’t even have the small salve of having it be someone else’s fault. It was totally my fault. I was at the lights waiting for the lights to change and I looked away for a second but I must’ve eased my foot of the clutch and the next thing I know – WHAM!! Lots of crunching noises and my car is definitely worse for wear. The car I hit came out of it with a few scratches while mine looks devastated.

It’s totally my fault though. I should’ve either not glanced away or left my foot on the clutch. I think my brain went: “Hey, the light is gree…. Ooohh… what’s that over there?” but the message had already been sent to my feet to ease off the clutch and push the accelerator. Mostly, I just feel so freaken stupid it’s not funny. What a dumb-arse thing to do. At least the impact wasn’t hard enough to deploy my airbag as a broken nose and two black eyes wouldn’t have improved things. So yes, now I have the fun job of making a claim with my insurance company. That’ll be interesting.

I’ve never hit any one before, I’ve been in several accidents (nothing major) but this is the first time I’ve caused one. What shocks me the most is how quickly it happened. I really only glanced away for a second but that suggests I’d stopped too close to the car in front. See, totally my fault. However, I must admit I’m more than a little cranky with the first car who simply didn’t move when the lights changed – so I’m blaming them just a little bit.

It’s drivable but I opted to leave it at my parents’ place as a two hour drive didn’t exactly thrill me. I managed to crumple the bonnet and demolish the front grill whilst pushing it back into the radiator. The radiator isn’t leaking but it definitely looks bent. You can’t see it in the photo but the strut on the left that comes out of the Hyundai logo has been snapped clean through. Yeah, nothing half-arsed about my efforts!!

Posted in: Blatherings | Tagged: ,

Is it just me?

August 21, 2009 16:53 | Leave a Comment |

Or does anyone else find public transport in Melbourne a really hostile these days?

I caught the train to work yesterday morning as the weather was doing its unpredictable thing. Bad, bad choice. I was in a filthy mood for the whole day.

It didn’t start well. The train was late, which meant it was packed but there was a 15 minute gap to the next one so I had to get on. Joy! At the next station there was a woman on a mission to get on the train at the very door I was squashed against, even though it was patently obvious no one else could really fit. But she barged on in anyway and nearly knocked me over with her enormous handbag. But I really shouldn’t have been worried about falling over because we were jammed in so tight, I wouldn’t have fallen very far.

When I finally got to work, I was so angry I was ready to pop. I got asked if I would’ve preferred to have ridden in the rain and I emphatically answered yes! (I think I nearly shouted it.)

The train ride in certainly didn’t help my mood but I was stunned by the rudeness of the woman who nearly knocked me over. She really didn’t care about anyone else on the train. She was getting on and that was that. Sometimes I wonder if people have gotten ruder these days or if I’m less tolerant of crap like that. An apologetic smile would’ve made all the difference but she acted like it was her right to be rude and pushy because she obviously had somewhere important to be.

I don’t know… There was such an unhappy feeling on the train. It felt oppressive and gloomy. I’ve never really paid attention to that sort of thing on a train before but it felt like every single passenger wanted to be somewhere else. It tainted my mood for the rest of the day. Lots of little things went wrong and I wasn’t at all happy.

So, no more trains for me. I’m too worried I’ll snap and get into a stoush with someone which will lead to me getting my arse kicked. The weather is worse today but I just don’t care. I’d rather crawl along on my bike, being hammered by the wind and overtaken by pedestrians than have to put up with all that hostility.

Posted in: Blatherings | Tagged: ,

Housing situation – sorted!

May 26, 2009 10:43 | Leave a Comment |

The owner agreed to having two cats in the house so my friends can move in. It took a little persuading but we got there in the end. The rent is going up by a huge $10 a week but I think we can manage that.

I’m enormously relieved about this. I was trying very hard not to think about it and what I would do if she said no. Which was kinda stupid really. I could’ve ended up without a place to live. Actually, that’s not true. I did have another plan. Always with the plans these days – that’s so not me.

The love affair with my new bike continues. She’s filthy at the moment because it rained last night on the way home and the roads were still wet this morning. I thought about cleaning her last night but it seemed pointless considering it’s meant to rain again today. The shoes are continuing to be a challenge. I’ve discovered they’re incredibly slippery when the pedal is wet.

But I’m trying hard, clipping out early to make sure I can get my foot down safely. It’s the clipping back in that’s causing me some consternation at the moment. I swear to god I’m going to end up kicking some random cyclist because there have been more than a few times were my foot has gone flying when I’ve tried to click back in. I’m learning that’s better to get the bike moving by pedalling with the tip of my foot then blocking people because I’m messing about trying to clip back in. I really don’t want to cause an accident because of my inability to manage my shoes.

Apart from that, I’m really enjoying the riding. I didn’t expect it but the shoes do make a difference. My feet are in a better position so I’m riding better, although I think I’ve always had a neat riding style. The fatter tyres are great too. The ride isn’t as bumpy. I’m totally loving the STI gearing. I love not having to reach down to change gears and that all it takes a flick of my fingers (a firm flick but it’s still a flick).

I can see myself jumping on the bike to simply go for a ride, something I haven’t done in a long time.

Very glad I did it, even though it’s going to put a strain on my finances for the next year. (Because that’s so different from the last six months!) I have all these things planned, like a trip to Sydney at the end of June and the holiday in New Zealand in September. The money will come from somewhere. I’ll just have to spend less.

Posted in: Bike, Blatherings | Tagged: , , ,

All my pretties (except two)

April 12, 2009 20:33 | Leave a Comment |

(Just a warning: all the links go out to blank browser)

Pages:
Derek Fridolfs/Dustin Nguyen – Superman/Batman, issue 40, page 1.
Riley Rossmo – Proof, issue 12, page 1.
Kelly Tindall – page from the soon-to-be release Squeak.
Derek Fridolfs/Dustin Nguyen – Detective Comics, issue 842, page 20.

Sketches:
Mike Kunkel – Herobear and the kid pencil sketch.
Tim Sale – Commissioner Gordon ink wash.
Kelly Tindall – Archie Snow watercolour.
Dustin Nguyen – Batman pencil head sketch.
Richard Starkings – Hip Flask head sketch.
Kelly Tindall – Doctor Who ink sketch.
David Mack – Echo ink sketch.
Scott Morse – Tiger painting.
Moritat – Batman pen sketch.
Dustin Nguyen – Catwoman pencil head sketch.
Stan Sakai – Usagi Yojimbo pen sketch.
Frank Cho – Liberty Meadows pen sketch.
Stephen Silver – Silent Bob pen sketch.
Bruce Timm – Batgirl pen sketch.
Riley Rossmo – Doctor Who ink/pen sketch.
Tim Sale – Green Arrow ink wash.
Moritat – Rorschach pen sketch.
Scott Morse – Elephant painting.

Jet-lag is still playing merry havoc with me. I get to about 9pm and hit a wall. The last three nights I think I’ve slept for over 10 hours, which is a lot for me. I also get very tired around 3.30 – 4pm. I get the mid afternoon slump like everyone else but this is beyond that. I find it really hard to not go to sleep and I never sleep during the day (mostly because if I do, I can’t sleep at night). I suppose it’s all part of long-haul trips and it’ll go away.

I suppose I should start thinking about going back to work. I have to buy lights for my bike. It’s getting dark earlier and earlier and soon I’ll be riding home at dusk. Seeing where you’re going is just a little important. And the other thing I need to really start thinking about is finding a new place to live. Mmm… reality is so much fun.

Posted in: Blatherings, Comics | Tagged: , ,

A touch of reality

March 20, 2009 23:35 | Leave a Comment |

I hopped into my car and drove up to my parents’ place after work. We’re still on daylight saving time here so it wasn’t dark when I hit the freeway. I haven’t been up this way for awhile and it was shocking to see the destruction caused by the fires from a few weeks ago.

Trees that have been green for my whole life are now black sticks. A pine plantation had been decimated. The trees were still standing and they had foliage on them but it was burnt to a crisp. The leaves looked like they had been petrified by the heat from flames that moved through so quickly it didn’t burn them away.

Normally when we have fires here, the bush comes back to life quickly. But this time there hasn’t been enough rain so everything is still charcoal and black.

The other shocking thing is how abruptly the landscape changes from burnt to green. I drove under an overpass and the landscape was suddenly its familiar green again. There were houses with scorch marks right up to their doors but the houses themselves were untouched. I knew the fires had torn through that area but I didn’t think it’d be so close to the freeway. There were so many places where the fire had actually jumped the freeway and raced across paddocks and up hills. It must have been so frightening to be there on the day the fire swept through.

However, there was one small thing. There’s a small cluster of gum trees that looks like a chicken from a distance. I always look for it when I get around a particular bend. I was happy to see it was still there and hadn’t be razed by the fires.

Anyhoo…

Messing about in the dark at a rest stop on the highway…



Into the dark | Stripes

Posted in: Blatherings, Photos | Tagged: ,