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Waxing Poetic
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2005
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2004
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December

Res Ipsa Loquitur
A Life Misanthrophilic
Curriculum Vitae
Greyhound
Photobooth Resolution
Saga Dialect
Tea Set

Mes Amis
A for Adventure
Adralien
Constantinople
Unisexpocky

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.
- Jerome K. Jerome

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.
- Winston Churchill

May 27, 2005

7:30 AM - Just heard on the radio that despite rising oil costs, drivers should take heart in the knowledge that fruit juice is currently twice the price of gasoline, per litre. I'll make a note not to fill up with Sunny Delight, then.
Idiots.

May 26, 2005

I've agreed to take a few more Production Assistant shifts of the next couple of weeks. Not that PA work is particularly rewarding, emotionally or financially, but it's something. To be perfectly honest, I'm really only taking the shifts because I heard tomorrow and Saturday's shoots are out at the old Britannia Mines. I just want to have me a little look-see; and maybe engage in some spelunking when noone is looking.
The extra week of work will be good to extend my EI a bit, too. I called in the other day and found out I (X) have 9 weeks remaining. I am as yet undecided on whether to replace the (X) with "only" or "still". Either way, I've got to get a line on some gainful employment pretty quick; sent out three more applications today, so that brings my total to... oh, about 150 applications over the last 8 months, ballpark figure.
Had a realization while writing a cover letter today: the inclusion of the phrase "have excellent written and verbal communication skills" pretty much says that I don't have any at all - because if I did, I wouldn't have to iterate it. It's a mite daunting to think that it is niggling points like these that get resumes shitcanned. Still, it's all part of the learning curve, innit? Check it out:

This is from last January:
"I recently came across your advertisement for a position as an Administrative Assistant on CENSORED website. As an individual with a passion for working with people, highly-developed verbal and written communication skills and the ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously, I am certain that my skills and experience will prove to be of great use to your organization."

And this is from today:
"I recently came across the position of Net Researcher / Writer posted on CENSORED career opportunities web page. As an individual with a penchant for the accumulation of information and a marked interest in the written word, I find my curiosity considerably piqued by this opportunity."

I think it's an improvement, anyway. We'll have to wait and see what John Q. Public makes of it.

I've also been killing numerous hours with HTML by re-vamping the Index, Bio and Writing pages. They're still not finished, but I thought I'd let y'all have a peek at what I'm doing. Enjoy!

Yeah. So this is just a lot overdue. What the hell have I been doing, anyway?

May 24, 2005

Yet another birthday weekend of mayhem and madness draws to a close. If there's one thing guaranteed to make me feel older every year, it's got to be having a birthday that falls on a public holiday, providing me with a long weekend to get into all manner of ill-advised shenanigans. I don't think there is any need to get into all the gory details, though I freely confess that kicking off the four-day extravaganza at a whiskey house was probably not the healthiest choice I've made.
Picture this: your friend and humble narrator unable to stand without swaying significantly, at once professing his love for his fellow man and in the same breath insisting upon his ability to walk home. Oh, yes. I'm one of those "I love you, man... no, I'm not getting in the fucking taxi. It's awesome that you're so concerned, but I'll be fine..." type of drunks. Rumour has it, too, that were I any smoother with the ladies when inebriated, I'd be a laxative. Jeremy Giles: all class, all the time.

I suppose the question at hand is now that I've got three decades under my belt, how do I feel? Well, le plus ça change, n'est pas? I gave up on expectations a long time ago; the perception I had at the start of my last decade of where my life 'should' be simply isn't valid anymore. It's kind of funny to think my life didn't turn out as expected because it was my life that got in the way. Had you told me at twenty years of age that I was going to spend three years hanging out in rural Japan, I would've laughed in your face. I was going to be a Genetic Engineer, goddamnit, with an exciting career and loving family to boot by the time thirty rolled around.
Come to think of it, I probably would have found the thought of my speaking Japanese then as laughable as I find the thought of my being a geneticist today. It has always struck me as absurd that people should devote so much time and energy focussing on things that were or that might be; far better to take stock of the moment and appreciate the intrinsic value of now - because that is all one can ever truly know. And try to laugh about it if you can.

The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.
- E. E. Cummings

It ain't a day if I ain't guffawed, if you'll forgive the vulgar vernacular. Perhaps my favourite quote I've come across; and undeniably my watchwords for the better part of the last ten years. Seems strange to me that so many people have forgotten such a simple thing. Then again, a lot of things seem strange to me. For instance, what is up with whistling to call a cab? They're not dogs - and chances are the windows are rolled up, so the driver can't hear you anyway. I laugh every time I see some joker standing on a corner, two fingers in his mouth as the taxi drives right on by; although it is fair to say that I am afflicted with a slight case of schadenfreude.
So this evening, I'm kicking off my fourth decade with laughter in my heart and a glass of Glenlivet in my hand - I don't have a care in the world. I might not have the success I dreamed of in my youth, but I wouldn't trade a day of my life for all the success in the world. That's how it feels to be thirty.