The Rodeo

I’ve enabled email subscription to comments, so you can get an email whenever someone comments after you. I used to have this before, but it got lost in an upgrade I think.

Anyway, you can also subscribe to comments without actually posting anything.

A quick question - should I default this to on or off?

RodeoClown: conversational.

A recent blog meme has hit nearly every site I read regularly. I guessed it wouldn’t be long before I was tagged. So the deal is, I write five things that you didn’t know about me. And then once you’ve read them, you do the same*. Gives us all a little insight into each others’ psyches.

So… starting from the top:

5 - I talk to myself. Constantly. I have a permanent conversation running in my head, and it occasionally spills over into the Real World - usually while I’m walking - resulting in frequent strange looks and amused smiles.

These conversations often involve obscure (im)possibilities: should someone from medieval times be mysteriously transported to the twenty-first century via a freak temporal vortex, or if a genetically engineered velociraptor with the brain of a sadistic criminal is hunting you down; call me, I know what to do**.

4 - I like walking with my eyes closed. Around home, and when I’m out, I’ll often walk using only my memory and sense of touch to navigate. If you see me walking with one hand running along a banister or wall, there’s a good chance I’m feeling my way around. Either that, or it’s just because…

3 - I have to sense the world. I love the smell of my wife and my kids and the scent of books, new and old. I can’t resist playing with every toy my kids get, feeling the textures and hearing the sounds. I savour the taste of my meals, and I run my hands over the table, just because. When I remember things, I remember what they felt like, what they smelt like and what they taste and sound like before I remember how they look.

2 - I love words. I love reading them and thinking about them and manipulating them. I love inventing them and figuring how to put them together. English is like a jigsaw, and I relish slotting each word into place and conjuring an image or a feeling in the one consuming them.

I read every thing I see, books, signs, the back of the laundry powder. Losing the ability to read would be like losing a limb. Or worse.

1 - I crave attention. I guess that’s no surprise to those who’ve met me. I have to fight not to hurl myself into the middle of the conversation, or to say something funny. I love making people laugh.

To make the one I love most smile, that is my greatest goal.

RodeoClown: revealed.

* Only, about yourself, not about me**.

** Oh, and I have to nominate five others to participate. Jen, Ruth, Sim, Anna and Michael. Consider yourselves tagged.

*** On the other hand, I can never figure out what to say when I forget to take the bins out****.

**** Thankfully, if I forget, my neighbour usually does it for me - thanks Kendall!

I hope so…

RodeoClown: fingers crossed

My most humble apologies to the dozen-odd people who have been bugging me to write something - hopefully this post and the next will explain the ‘why’ and the ‘what now’ as to the content drought this little blog has been experiencing.

Why?
I don’t want to just be a link regurgitator - pointing out the novel and the amusing, there’s plenty of others who (among other things) are fantastic at pointing out the new and noteworthy, and they do a far better job than I.

I want to write things that provoke thought, or are of interest to me* and those who read my posts. Lately I haven’t had much in the way of interesting content to write about - I’ve had plenty of ideas, but haven’t output anything.

Work has been busy lately - the company I work for was acquired by one of the largest software companies in the world, and there have been… several… changes to requirements - most of which directly involve my team and I. Because of this I’ve been spending most of my brain power on work, and what’s left at the end of the week just wants to veg.

I’ve also started work on a side project that I’ll probably reveal at some point, but for now it will remain cloaked in secrecy (woooo… mysterious)! It’s taking up a chunk of my time as well.

I’ve also been playing frisbee with Matty, who is getting pretty decent at it.

So that’s why I haven’t been posting much.

RodeoClown: Drained

*I realise that those things that interest me may not necessarily promote thought, hence the distinction here.

I’ve outlined why I haven’t been posting much, and hopefully they are acceptable reasons. If not, boohoo for you.

I started blogging with the goal of being disciplined and writing something every day for 30 days. I accomplished that task, and kept going for another 21 months. During that time I’ve moved house, changed church service, had another kid, had a sister get married, and the other finish school, move to the US, move back, and start working with a good friend of mine in the city. My mum changed jobs too, dad started guiding tours at Jenolan Caves. And I’ve slowed my posting rate considerably - from once a day to once a week. Or month.

So it kept me disciplined for a while, but life got busy and I got lazy.

What Now?

I’ve got a steadily growing list of things that I want to write about, but I’ve been having trouble getting started on any of them, much less finishing the posts I’ve begun. So here’s the new deal:

Regular rhythms rock - so I’ll aim to get something written once a week - Tuesday sounds like a good day (not least because it gives me seven days to come up with something for the next post). If I don’t have a new post up come next Wednesday morning, feel free to hassle me about it*.

I’ll also try line up several posts, so I can have them appear in a timely manner. And I’ll work at keeping them interesting and not echo stuff that’s already in the ’sphere.

Again, this is for me, everyone else just gets to listen to my thoughts**.

RodeoClown: weekly.

*Or don’t, your call.

**Not literally (unless you’re an internet telepath - in which case, read this: “                              “)!

I’m 25 today! Hooray!

“Happy Birthday”s:

Ken - 12:00 (and 38 seconds) - Skype
Dave - 12:02 - Email
Jen - 5:58 - Kiss on the cheek
Rohan - 6:07 - Handshake
Matty - 6:10 - Phone call
Amanda - 6:23 - SMS
Callum - 8:26 - Email
Jesse - 8:36 - Phone call
Annelise - 9:21 - Email
Dusan - 9:57 - Next desk over
Karl - 10:24 - Phone call
Sim - 10:57 - MSN Messenger
Dad - 13:13 - MSN Messenger
Craig - 13:29 - Blog
Hogansens - 13:46 - SMS
Brenden - 15:46 - At his desk
Jacky - 15:56 - Yahoo messenger
Nana - 18:45 - Card
Mum - 19:05 - Phone call (from me)
Felix - 20:23 - Email
Dave P - 20:54 - Facebook

RodeoClown: having an OK day!

I was recently offered a small amount of money to place an ad on two of my posts.

Of course I took it

The ads are labelled as such, and are on a couple of older posts.

Not really too important, but it’s always nice when someone emails you and offers you money.

RodeoClown: richer (but not by much)

Updated my blog.
See if you can spot the change.
Kudos to the first spotter.

RodeoClown: ever-changing.

Sam and Soph have followed my lead, and are running through the 40 day Adultitis escape plan.

Sam has been whining on Facebook that no-one has linked to their latest video (he’s acting like a child already!) showing the artist within being outed. In order to appease him, please, follow this link. Recording the outcomes of their daily escapism is a great idea.

They also write lots of other great stuff, and for that reason you should read their archives and subscribe to their RSS feed.

That link again: this link.

RodeoClown: fellow artist.

After waiting a week and a half, my connection speed was finally upgraded.

I just downloaded the latest ep of The Poddy in under 20 seconds.
Haven’t heard it yet, but those guys are well worth listening too.

RodeoClown: tubular.

I haven’t forgotten you.
I’ll be back soon enough.

For now, enjoy this lol(big)cat.

-RodeoClown: lol-ing.

As of right now, I am the first result in a search for Ian Tyrrell, huzzah!

Finally I have overtaken Prof. Ian Tyrrell at UNSW, who may or may not be the author of a series of historical books, and who seems to dominate the rest of the result page.

Of course, google is pretty fickle, so I may only rule the results of my ego-search for a few moments, but I will remember this moment for the rest of my life at least a day or so.

RodeoClown: enjoying it while it lasts [for some value of ‘it’].

I’ve been mucking around behind the magic blog curtain this morning, so if anything breaks, please let me know.

RodeoClown: wonderfully wizard-like.