The 2nd day of summer



Mick and I went to the beach today up near Mona Vale. It was pretty windy but just beautiful to sit there in the sun and watch the surfers. They're like a flock of strange animals, calling to each other, ebbing and flowing and forming small pods (what's the collective noun for surfers?). I found it easy to imagine them as a species of aquatic primate.

My girlfriend Lisa and I broke up a couple of months ago, and I'm only just now feeling like I'm getting back on my feet a little. It'd be fair to say that it's been a fairly miserable time up until now, but I'm naturally a positive person and I'm thinking that these things happen, the best thing to do is to learn from it and just be happy within yourself. It's always hard being single and around Xmas, especially since my family lives so far away. Oh well. If that's the worst thing I have to complain about, I think I'm doing pretty well overall. ;)

Work is going well... I've been teaching myself some basic Ajax stuff using Ajax.net. Very fashionable I know... but it certainly has its value.

Not much else to report I'm afraid...

I think this is my new fav pic.
found here

 

Went over to Simon and Adsy's place last night with Joei, Krystal and Mickey. Luke S showed up a bit later. Folks I haven't seen in a while... 2 years perhaps? Yeh perhaps. We ended up playing Texas Holdem Poker for most of the night. Good fun. I haven't played poker in years, for no good reason.

Gradually getting my mojo back...
It's hard, but it's also a time to get back to basics and see what really is important.
I'm getting my finances in order, that's an important first step for me as I'm often feeling like I've got this debt hanging over my head. I feel like it's always limiting me and I'm sick of feeling like that. I've almost got rid of it now, and although I understand that debt is considered a pretty normal part of modern life, I'm trying to get some assets happening too. Nothing major, but I've recently started an Australian Shares managed fund that I'm regularly contributing to, and working hard to pay off my creditcard. It'll be another 6 months before it's all gone, but that day is going to be a great one. My first step after that will most likely be to get overseas, probably south east asia, perhaps Thailand? Sounds great.

Not much else is really happening. I'm taking a few months out from life to get my head in order so I'll be all juiced up to jump back in. There's nothing really pleasant about it, but it's going to make it all sweeter in just a few short months.

Last night went out for dinner at Grotta Capri with Cobb, Lena, Bryan, Mick and Lena's sister Leny. Beautiful food. Went back to Epping afterwards for a few drinks at the Epping hotel.

It's been raining all day today... a good excuse to sit inside and watch TV shows. Today I've been watching 'Coupling', a quirky british comedy I've only just found. I've also just installed empire earth, grim fandango and hedz. The only reason I note it at all is that I haven't played games in ages. I guess i figure i spend enough time on the computer and want to get out and about a bit more. I guess I wish there were more games out there where the main objective is something other than competitively setting out to crush your opponents. Y'know?

Sure, you know...

Terrorist bombs strike Bali's tourist areas again, so far killing 32 people

Just when people were hoping (perhaps wishfully) that this was all over, and tourism to Bali had started to pick up again. Australian tourism to Bali (not to mention the rest of the world) is worth millions of dollars to their economy. They give lenient sentences to those masterminding these atrocities (often severely punishing those who actually carry it out) and the cycle continues. Innocent people lose their lives and their families. Such a terrible pity for a place that is so strikingly beautiful.

More information from SMH

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