Monday, December 10, 2007
We're not unreasonable
Van's out of town this week and I (foolishly) failed to make the appropriate social preparations. The last time I was out of town for a week she filled her entire calendar with parties, dinners and movies with friends.
Me? I stayed home the whole weekend recuperating from fever and flu and watching Shrek the Third.
The silver lining on all of this was threefold:
- I made further headway on Nassim Nicholas Taleb's The Black Swan, the most arrogant, irritating and mind blowing book I've read in recent memory. On which, more later.
- I discovered the brilliant, and certainly somewhat insane, Jonathan Coulton, who is the songwriter I wish I became and the musician I certainly would never have become. I obtained some of his tracks (the first time I recall willingly shelling out $5 for downloaded music) for a Christmas CD to give to friends.
- I managed to get my USB Guitar cable to work, being inspired by said somewhat insane musician to write a song about... well, something.
I’d like to help you Tom, in any way I can
I sure appreciate the way you’re working with me
I’m not a monster Tom, well, technically I am
I guess I am...
Labels: books, jonathan coulton, music, nassim taleb, random stuff
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Gaming at its finest
In a first ever occurrence for Jeopardy! (a show far older than even me), three contestants walked off with $16,000 each in a three-way tie.
From the sounds of it, the frontrunner in the game could have done what legions of others have done and bid $1 above his nearest competitor. That way, being relatively certain of his Final Jeopardy! answer, he would come out on top. Instead he gamed the system and rather than one person winning $16,001, three people got a total of $48,000.
A rematch has been scheduled but obviously they can't pull the same trick twice or else the show organizers will have a long hard look at their tactics.
From the sounds of it, the frontrunner in the game could have done what legions of others have done and bid $1 above his nearest competitor. That way, being relatively certain of his Final Jeopardy! answer, he would come out on top. Instead he gamed the system and rather than one person winning $16,001, three people got a total of $48,000.
A rematch has been scheduled but obviously they can't pull the same trick twice or else the show organizers will have a long hard look at their tactics.
Labels: news, random stuff
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Kansulay revisited
I am re-reading James Hamilton-Paterson's excellent dissection of Philippine culture and the Marcoses, America's Boy (Unusually for Amazon.com, the reviews on this book are equally thoughtful and well-written). I'm sure I've written this before, but his pen is sympathetic and his descriptions of rural life in the Philippines ring true. Being a city boy myself, I only really absorbed a lot of probinsya influences when I started dating Van. Manila really is an imperium in imperio, a kingdom unto itself. Hamilton-Paterson spent years in the isolation of an anonymous Luzon village he calls Kansulay. His descriptions of the primitive standards of living entangled with the unbelievably complex social waters are completely believable and compelling. Van and I fell in love with this book the first time we read it; now it's like a comforting reminder of home.
* * *
Unfortunately, with all the traveling round we plan to do this year, it's looking less and less likely that I'll come home before Christmas. It's strange knowing this is the longest I've ever been away. I always say this, but I feel as though the connections to who I am are growing stronger and weaker at the same time. Like the henna tattoo I got from Dubai, sometimes it feels like I've washed away a part of me, a skin of superficial attachment to an idea of home that, maybe, I left a very long time ago. Not the happiest thought, is it?
Labels: books, philippines, random stuff
Friday, March 02, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Dead on a thursdzzzzzz....
My body feels as though it's swimming in liquid sugar. Everything takes forever, even typing these words onto the keyboard. My brain is probably decomposing from the lack of carbohydrate energy. Yep, it's official: I'm in "diet crash".
After I measured myself and my stomach turned out a shocking 4 inches wider than my waist size, Van challenged me to give up rice and simple carbs for Lent. How hard could that be, I thought. Turns out, very.
I haven't backslided so far; I've replaced my rice intake with veg, lowered my overall calories, and have run or hit the pool every day this week since Monday. My beer belly isn't responding yet, but assuming I can keep this up until Dubai next week, then maybe there will be some positive results. Right now, I just have to power through this and keep up my exercise and zzZZZzzzzzzz.......
After I measured myself and my stomach turned out a shocking 4 inches wider than my waist size, Van challenged me to give up rice and simple carbs for Lent. How hard could that be, I thought. Turns out, very.
I haven't backslided so far; I've replaced my rice intake with veg, lowered my overall calories, and have run or hit the pool every day this week since Monday. My beer belly isn't responding yet, but assuming I can keep this up until Dubai next week, then maybe there will be some positive results. Right now, I just have to power through this and keep up my exercise and zzZZZzzzzzzz.......
Labels: random stuff
Thursday, February 22, 2007
MQExceptionBufferOverload
Am now battling through a maze of XA and document production logs, MQAccessViolations and just general technical confusation. I am sorely tempted to escape to my flat for lunch. Being 5 minutes walk away from work lets me duck back into the flat for a lunch break, watch some trashy TV and still be back in under an hour. Alas, the demands of user testing come first.
Hence I've got about ten screens open and can't really blogg except in short, 30 second bursts. Maybe later on the train I can kick back with a G&T and watch the hills roll by. But not now.
Hence I've got about ten screens open and can't really blogg except in short, 30 second bursts. Maybe later on the train I can kick back with a G&T and watch the hills roll by. But not now.
Labels: random stuff
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
The Ghosts / Traveller
I will be going with some workmates to see The Ghosts tonight in Liverpool. One of our crew "knows the band", as it were, and we'll be catching the uber slow train into the city to see them play. Being well into old age myself, I can't help but be nostalgic for the good old days of grunge when rock was rock and there was none of this achingly hip "guitar pop" bullshit. Still, it'll be a night out and, who knows, they might even be good.
While work on the whole has been same-y up in Chester, there are times when being up here has its advantages. I've already taken enough first class train commutes to qualify for Virgin's Traveller program. The only REAL advantage to this is the free weekend train travel (hence our excessively long journey up to Edinburgh a couple weeks ago).
Not all first classes are made equal, of course; top of the heap are the Pendolino leaning coaches (known to some as the Vomit Express) with their "gourmet" meals, drink all you can and free newspapers. Then there's the Voyager coaches with the prepackaged meal boxes (a la BA Europe) and ungodly schedules. If you're really unlucky, the train won'e have a first class at all; you'll be stuck riding in cattle class with the peons. In times such as these one must make do.
* * *
While work on the whole has been same-y up in Chester, there are times when being up here has its advantages. I've already taken enough first class train commutes to qualify for Virgin's Traveller program. The only REAL advantage to this is the free weekend train travel (hence our excessively long journey up to Edinburgh a couple weeks ago).
Not all first classes are made equal, of course; top of the heap are the Pendolino leaning coaches (known to some as the Vomit Express) with their "gourmet" meals, drink all you can and free newspapers. Then there's the Voyager coaches with the prepackaged meal boxes (a la BA Europe) and ungodly schedules. If you're really unlucky, the train won'e have a first class at all; you'll be stuck riding in cattle class with the peons. In times such as these one must make do.
Labels: music, random stuff, travel
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Kung Hei Batchoy
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INQUIRER.NET: Animal rights activists from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, including one wearing a pig costume, hand out manuals on how to turn vegetarian in Manila's Chinatown Thursday ahead of the Chinese New Year. AFP/JAY DIRECTO
Chinese New Year here in London is usually accompanied by fireworks, lots of food, and one or two nights out with "the old crowd". Hannah emailed me recently to let me know of a party at Opium on Saturday. It would be good to see them again, some of whom I haven't seen since my engagement.
When I first started working in London Alex was practically the only guy I knew who would hang out. We hooked up with one of his uni friends, Song, who introduced me to Hannah, who took me to dimsum where I met Andrew, etc. etc. Social life in London: a giant Rube Goldberg machine with no end in sight. Perhaps, like most things, an end in itself.
Labels: london, random stuff
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
A paradigm shift in computing is coming...
... to solve your Sudoku. A Canadian company called D-Wave is trialling a 16-bit quantum computer. The idea is to then build larger and larger scale models and gradually increase processing power with each generation.
In other news, I am still in Chester working 4 days out of 5 from the client's site. It's lovely today, the sun being out and warming the tarmac on the parking lot. An hour ago I nipped back to my flat for a quick lunch of soy-chilli porkloin and stir fried vegetables. Mmm. Back at work now, resurrecting the dead.
"The quantum computer was given three problems to solve: searching for molecular structures that match a target molecule, creating a complicated seating plan, and filling in Sudoku puzzles."Of course the people who are getting the hardest hard-ons from this development are government spooks and defense tech types, who want the added processing power from quantum computing to be able to break military-strength cryptography. Sadly for them (but not for puzzle fans) is that the type of quantum computing used in D-Wave's model is unsuitable for this sort of work.
* * *
In other news, I am still in Chester working 4 days out of 5 from the client's site. It's lovely today, the sun being out and warming the tarmac on the parking lot. An hour ago I nipped back to my flat for a quick lunch of soy-chilli porkloin and stir fried vegetables. Mmm. Back at work now, resurrecting the dead.
Labels: news, random stuff, tech
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Welcome, City Boy
August 25th was my last day with my old company. I spent a week basically waking up late and making halfhearted attempts at DIY in the flat. Last week I started with my shiny, brand new company! Hurray! five weeks of training.
if you squint, you can see me waving.
The great thing about the New Job apart from its air of novelty is the fact that it's 20 minutes' walk away. So basically a jump across the Millennium Bridge, up behind St Pauls and Gresham Street, across Moorgate and into tiny Austin Friars in the shadow of the Natwest Building, sits this little hive of consultants whose job is to make asset finance software that Just Works.
And yes, in the software industry it is a major achievement to Just Work. Don't ask why.
There's lots more on the back burner this week - Marie's in town and Anj will be shortly - but more later.
if you squint, you can see me waving.The great thing about the New Job apart from its air of novelty is the fact that it's 20 minutes' walk away. So basically a jump across the Millennium Bridge, up behind St Pauls and Gresham Street, across Moorgate and into tiny Austin Friars in the shadow of the Natwest Building, sits this little hive of consultants whose job is to make asset finance software that Just Works.
And yes, in the software industry it is a major achievement to Just Work. Don't ask why.
There's lots more on the back burner this week - Marie's in town and Anj will be shortly - but more later.
Labels: random stuff, update
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Fireworks
Every so often, I am reminded of why we love the South Bank area and chose to live here. Tonight after a billiards session with Sunshine, we managed to catch a private fireworks display just off the OXO Tower. This was one of those every so oftens.
Sadly my battery froze up before I caught the grand finale. I have to say, whoever stumps up for a private fireworks display must like having money to, literally, burn.
Sadly my battery froze up before I caught the grand finale. I have to say, whoever stumps up for a private fireworks display must like having money to, literally, burn.
Labels: london, random stuff
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Spoooooon!!!
[tags: random stuff]
We've all done it, at one time or another. Whether as a chat up line or friendly drunken banter, you've fantasised about what super powers you'd like to have (and no, the ability to wear your undies on the outside does not count!)
Well, the geek invasion of Hollywood has finally gone full circle, because here comes Who Wants To Be A Superhero?, hosted by the tireless self-promoter and all around embarrassing old guy, Stan Lee. (Last seen harrassing Comic Book Guy after refusing to leave his store in the Simpsons.)
Apart from the contestants sounding like rejects from Mystery Men, the usual reality-game-show rules apply, one "hero" is voted off every episode, various tasks are given, blah blah blah. I would dearly LOVE for this series to come over to the UK, as it would be the only reality show I'd care to watch. Especially as the winner would then get their own comic book series.
Personally - I'm banking on Lemuria. Anyone with a (secret identity / real-life) name like Tonatzin Mondragon deserves a damn comic book. Maybe then they could do something useful, like stop the fucking Holocaust in Lebanon.
We've all done it, at one time or another. Whether as a chat up line or friendly drunken banter, you've fantasised about what super powers you'd like to have (and no, the ability to wear your undies on the outside does not count!)
Well, the geek invasion of Hollywood has finally gone full circle, because here comes Who Wants To Be A Superhero?, hosted by the tireless self-promoter and all around embarrassing old guy, Stan Lee. (Last seen harrassing Comic Book Guy after refusing to leave his store in the Simpsons.)
Apart from the contestants sounding like rejects from Mystery Men, the usual reality-game-show rules apply, one "hero" is voted off every episode, various tasks are given, blah blah blah. I would dearly LOVE for this series to come over to the UK, as it would be the only reality show I'd care to watch. Especially as the winner would then get their own comic book series.
Personally - I'm banking on Lemuria. Anyone with a (secret identity / real-life) name like Tonatzin Mondragon deserves a damn comic book. Maybe then they could do something useful, like stop the fucking Holocaust in Lebanon.
"...So he says to me, you gotta do something smart, baby, something big! He says you want to be a supervillain, right, and I go yeah baby, yeah yeah! What do I gotta do? He says you got bombs, blow up the Comet Club, it's packed with superheroes…you'll go down in supervillain history and I go Yeah baby 'cause I'm the Evil Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight!!! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!"..ahem.
Labels: random stuff
Monday, July 31, 2006
All yesterday's parties
[random stuff, london]
Got back from Budapest last Friday night, picked up Van and went to a housewarming party with some Filipino friends of friends. Most of those in attendance were also professionals or soon-to-be-professional grad students in London. None of us could get the professional-level Magic Mike above a score of 85. (Damn you and your low 60s, Magic Mike!)
A few of our guests still indulged in the "what school are you from" level of party conversation that I detest. Obviously, if you're not UP / Ateneo / La Salle, the golden Trifecta of higher education in the Philippines, the discussion moves quickly on. I foxed them with my outlandishly coño alma mater, CRC, a school so chic it's known publicly by an entirely different name.
That night our mains power was fried by an exposed wire that was burning through the insulation underneath our bathroom floor. Luckily Van heard the sparks and we managed to shut it down. We still have lights but no power save for the kitchen and have had to resort to an extension cord to keep the TV up and running. Screw life support, I want my Scrubs episodes!
The next day Van and I moved the bedroom furniture around and chucked out the slowly rising tide of cardboard boxes from all our wedding presents and various purchases of the last 6 months. What this means is that our bed now sits about 2 feet closer to the window, and we can see the night sky above the office buildings.
Saturday night we celebrated Yusi's birthday at Sin. Frequent snatches of déjà vu that night as we saw people from the old 2004 party crowd (Alan, Kevin, etc) mingling with Andrew's girlfriend's friends. Has it been two years already? Even the music seemed old, though we'd never heard it before.
Sunday we spent in the sun and shadows of Suburbia. The cafe, not actually outside town. It was nice. I also bought a new shirt & tie at Hawes and Curtis for £49... that, too, was nice, though only because Van got to fuss over my dress sense with the shirt seller man. Perhaps this is how the years pass; in a blur of coffee and sunlight and receipts for things you never intended to buy. We went home and I cooked a nicely turned roast pork and the evening sky grew metallic blue from our window and we turned in before the first stars came out.
That was our weekend.
Got back from Budapest last Friday night, picked up Van and went to a housewarming party with some Filipino friends of friends. Most of those in attendance were also professionals or soon-to-be-professional grad students in London. None of us could get the professional-level Magic Mike above a score of 85. (Damn you and your low 60s, Magic Mike!)
A few of our guests still indulged in the "what school are you from" level of party conversation that I detest. Obviously, if you're not UP / Ateneo / La Salle, the golden Trifecta of higher education in the Philippines, the discussion moves quickly on. I foxed them with my outlandishly coño alma mater, CRC, a school so chic it's known publicly by an entirely different name.
That night our mains power was fried by an exposed wire that was burning through the insulation underneath our bathroom floor. Luckily Van heard the sparks and we managed to shut it down. We still have lights but no power save for the kitchen and have had to resort to an extension cord to keep the TV up and running. Screw life support, I want my Scrubs episodes!
The next day Van and I moved the bedroom furniture around and chucked out the slowly rising tide of cardboard boxes from all our wedding presents and various purchases of the last 6 months. What this means is that our bed now sits about 2 feet closer to the window, and we can see the night sky above the office buildings.
* * *
Saturday night we celebrated Yusi's birthday at Sin. Frequent snatches of déjà vu that night as we saw people from the old 2004 party crowd (Alan, Kevin, etc) mingling with Andrew's girlfriend's friends. Has it been two years already? Even the music seemed old, though we'd never heard it before.
Sunday we spent in the sun and shadows of Suburbia. The cafe, not actually outside town. It was nice. I also bought a new shirt & tie at Hawes and Curtis for £49... that, too, was nice, though only because Van got to fuss over my dress sense with the shirt seller man. Perhaps this is how the years pass; in a blur of coffee and sunlight and receipts for things you never intended to buy. We went home and I cooked a nicely turned roast pork and the evening sky grew metallic blue from our window and we turned in before the first stars came out.
That was our weekend.
Labels: london, random stuff, travel
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Elephant's Dream
[technology]
Elephant's Dream bills itself as the world's first open source movie. A creation of the Orange Open Movie Projct studio. It certainly has the same singular vision and "independent" style as Mirrormask - being the product of a small group of writer/artists rather than a Disney or Pixar committee.
I especially like how they've released all the material - including the lossless audio and video files - for other creatives to play with. Amazing what people can do even without the profit motive driving them.
Elephant's Dream bills itself as the world's first open source movie. A creation of the Orange Open Movie Projct studio. It certainly has the same singular vision and "independent" style as Mirrormask - being the product of a small group of writer/artists rather than a Disney or Pixar committee.I especially like how they've released all the material - including the lossless audio and video files - for other creatives to play with. Amazing what people can do even without the profit motive driving them.
Labels: random stuff
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Goodbye forever!
[tags: random stuff ¦ april fool!]
I know this will come as a shock to all my loyal readers. I didn't really want to end it this way, but circumstances have forced me to close this blog and start up again somewhere else. Yes, dear friends, I have been "outed".
It seems one of my close friends (who trolls the internet far, far too much) saw my recent post at Suburb Cafe moments after it was published. The table and coffee cups in the picture looked remarkably familiar, she thought to herself thoughtfully. It almost looks like my table... my coffee... my watch?!?
She glanced around her bewilderedederely. Surely not? But it was so. As she was eagerly reading the day's updates from her favoritest blog in the world, at the same time she herself was updating THE VERY SAME BLOG.
Only the wonders of Firefox and its tabbed browsing kept her from ever learning the truth, that as she read the heady mix of news and _random stuff on one tab, her other personality also created it on another. Weird, no? Yes.
So sadly, as I/he/she/it/NOTA descends into madness and anarchy, this blog and its contents will have to be wiped off the face of the Web. I hope to see you again in some other incarnation, maybe this time with a decent blogging platform. Goodbye, Cruel World!
I know this will come as a shock to all my loyal readers. I didn't really want to end it this way, but circumstances have forced me to close this blog and start up again somewhere else. Yes, dear friends, I have been "outed".
It seems one of my close friends (who trolls the internet far, far too much) saw my recent post at Suburb Cafe moments after it was published. The table and coffee cups in the picture looked remarkably familiar, she thought to herself thoughtfully. It almost looks like my table... my coffee... my watch?!?
She glanced around her bewilderedederely. Surely not? But it was so. As she was eagerly reading the day's updates from her favoritest blog in the world, at the same time she herself was updating THE VERY SAME BLOG.
Only the wonders of Firefox and its tabbed browsing kept her from ever learning the truth, that as she read the heady mix of news and _random stuff on one tab, her other personality also created it on another. Weird, no? Yes.
So sadly, as I/he/she/it/NOTA descends into madness and anarchy, this blog and its contents will have to be wiped off the face of the Web. I hope to see you again in some other incarnation, maybe this time with a decent blogging platform. Goodbye, Cruel World!
Labels: random stuff
Suburb cafe
[tag: _random stuff]
This...
Is where I am hanging out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, swapping stories with Nanet. Waiting for Shine and Van to get their hair done. Don't ask.
Tonight's Van's Hen night and the fuzzy ears and bunny tails will be out in force. That leaves me with an empty house and a free hand for the evening. Waaahndeful.
This...
Is where I am hanging out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, swapping stories with Nanet. Waiting for Shine and Van to get their hair done. Don't ask.Tonight's Van's Hen night and the fuzzy ears and bunny tails will be out in force. That leaves me with an empty house and a free hand for the evening. Waaahndeful.
Labels: random stuff
Monday, March 20, 2006
The best band you've never heard.
[tags: _random stuff ¦ _music]
Spent the morning losing myself on the train in memories of the very first band I ever fell in love with.
This is from the Dulcinea album.
Windmills
I spend too much time raiding windmills
We go side by side
Laughing until it's right
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
Take the darkest hour-break it open
Water to repair what we have broken
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for
Pull on the borders to lighten the load
Tell all the passengers we're going home
I spend too much time seeking shelter
World without end couldn't hold her
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for
Anyway the wind blows
Spent the morning losing myself on the train in memories of the very first band I ever fell in love with.
This is from the Dulcinea album.
Windmills
I spend too much time raiding windmills
We go side by side
Laughing until it's right
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
Take the darkest hour-break it open
Water to repair what we have broken
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for
Pull on the borders to lighten the load
Tell all the passengers we're going home
I spend too much time seeking shelter
World without end couldn't hold her
There's something that you won't show
Waiting where the light goes
And anyway the wind blows
It's all worth waiting for
Anyway the wind blows
Labels: random stuff
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
One or the other.
Just finished watching The Road to Guantanamo, Michael Winterbottom's docudrama on three British youths who were caught in Afghanistan and spent three years in the American gulag. I emphasize the drama bit: this movie as much a "balanced" documentary as Fahrenheit 911. The basic facts though, are correct - they were imprisoned, subjected to various tortures, and eventually released; ironically enough, their police records in the UK exposed a discrepancy in the US-fabricated "evidence" that claimed they were partying it up with Bin Laden at the time one of the three was working at Curry's. Score one more for military intelligence. The film presses all the right buttons, and should by rights fire up the good old moral outrage. So why do I feel so numb inside?
After four years of this, I'm quite inured to the propaganda, both left and right,and I suspect many people are too. 99% of people, when you speak to them, will have one opinion or the other; but in the end, what we all want to do is get on with life, work, school or whatever; we "sleepwalk into dictatorship" simply because there is no waking up from the everyday struggle of just getting along. Meanwhile people like Shafiq Rasul and his cohorts get caught up at the fringes. People are murdered in war, children die, families are torn apart, innocents are jailed and tortured, millions starve while reality show winners and football players burn money away. At the extremes, the world is a barren, fruitless place. One or the other - feast or famine; heaven or hell. It's always been like that. Meanwhile the rest of us get by.
We retreat into the safety of the bell curve because it is large, and it swallows us up in comforting averages. Average income, average status, average life. Quite possibly, I will live and die unremarked except by my family and friends, as average people do. Quite possibly, I could be OK with that.
_random stuff
[movies]
After four years of this, I'm quite inured to the propaganda, both left and right,and I suspect many people are too. 99% of people, when you speak to them, will have one opinion or the other; but in the end, what we all want to do is get on with life, work, school or whatever; we "sleepwalk into dictatorship" simply because there is no waking up from the everyday struggle of just getting along. Meanwhile people like Shafiq Rasul and his cohorts get caught up at the fringes. People are murdered in war, children die, families are torn apart, innocents are jailed and tortured, millions starve while reality show winners and football players burn money away. At the extremes, the world is a barren, fruitless place. One or the other - feast or famine; heaven or hell. It's always been like that. Meanwhile the rest of us get by.
We retreat into the safety of the bell curve because it is large, and it swallows us up in comforting averages. Average income, average status, average life. Quite possibly, I will live and die unremarked except by my family and friends, as average people do. Quite possibly, I could be OK with that.
_random stuff
[movies]
Labels: random stuff
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Yesterday our graphic design instructor asked us to "make a design statement" about the lack of heating in the school. Funnily enough, a letter from the school admin advised us to "take hot water bottles" into class. Sad but true. Here is my contribution to the discussion which is shaping up at our class forum:
And here is the spoof webpage. (ad heavy - just set your blockers to STUN...)[tags: _design ¦ _random stuff]
Labels: random stuff
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Four reasons to be thankful.
I realize there are a whole lot of deep, meaningful things I could write about today. The snow is falling softly on Basingstoke, etc... instead I'll just capture these little unexpected pleasures which have popped up in the last month.
01. Finding a nice, chilled out cocktail bar that's a 5-minute walk from our flat.
02. When your mobile phone provider switches you to a cheaper plan AND gives you a nice new free phone with a 2-megapixel camera to boot. Oh, and half price line rental for three months.
03. Doing a short course with young, exciting (and excited) people, that has nothing to do with work or your career, and finding inspiration to wake up that creative side of you.
04. Living with someone who loves your cooking.
[tags: _random stuff]
02. When your mobile phone provider switches you to a cheaper plan AND gives you a nice new free phone with a 2-megapixel camera to boot. Oh, and half price line rental for three months.
03. Doing a short course with young, exciting (and excited) people, that has nothing to do with work or your career, and finding inspiration to wake up that creative side of you.
04. Living with someone who loves your cooking.
[tags: _random stuff]Labels: random stuff
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.