Irrational

Every time I get into the lift at work I'm convinced that I will drop my security pass and car keys down the gap at the front of the lift. Even when they are both in my handbag, I still have to feel around so that I am holding on to them in case I drop them.

I always scuttle right to the back of the lift, but even so, I can't let go of them until I am safely at my desk or at my car. It probably doesn't help that it is a two lift trip from the carpark to my desk.

Help me feel like I'm not completely nuts - tell me your irrational fears.

The Catch Up

Sydney was full on. My flight was delayed more than any flight should be delayed. We boarded on time, but then we had mechanical problems. Not really something you want to hear when you have to stay on the plane. On the plus side, I read all but the last chapter of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on the plane in preparation for Deathly Hallows. We had gorgeous, crisp, sunny days though. Just the way I want to spend the time on the harbour. Most exciting from a professional point of view - I won the award for best sales person in an operational role for the 2006 - 7 financial year. I was thrilled to get it - the decision is made by the state and national managers and the other nominees were all people I really rate. That and I've only been there since November. Nice people to give me a shopping voucher. Time for a freezer and a blender I think. Or books. Or shoes.

It's taken the best part of two weeks to catch up with everybody's blogs. I think I've finally caught up on everything I've missed. My highlight - Millie the dog. Thanks Jelly, you put a massive smile on my face.

We went and saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It didn't really do it for me. I think it was probably one of the harder books to put on the screen. How do you put all that whiny teenage boy stuff on screen? Still, I think it left way too much important stuff out. C-

Last night we saw The Simpsons movie. It was fun. I'm not sure it deserved the standing ovation it got at the end though. I was very unhappy to see the preview for the movie "The Dark is Rising". I'm not happy about it at all. I think they've completely messed with the premise. I adore those books. I'm furious that they have messed with them. I'm sure I'll have a full rant about it in the fullness of time.

I've been working with my brother and his fiance to put the music together for their wedding in September. We've nearly got all the music together for dinner, and we are just working the dancing part. Way too much fun. They are doing their bridal waltz to Billy Joel's "just the way you are". I'm not sure who was more disturbed though; my brother's fiance when he asked for some Whitesnake, or my brother when I showed him that I had the song he wanted on my ipod.

My gorgeous boy was worried that I wouldn't approve of the suit that he was planning to wear for the wedding. He doesn't wear a suit for work, and might wear a suit about 3 times a year. It turns out he only has the one suit, and he has owned it for 10 years. He is right, I didn't approve of it. He took it quite well, although he said that he was hoping to hear "honey, your suit is fine". So today he suggested that we go and have a look for suits, although he wanted to go to one specific shop to buy it. OK then. So we wandered around a few shops, and in one got some exceptional service. He was measured up, and pointed in the direction of suits that fitted his criteria. He looks damn sexy in his new black, 3 button, single breasted suit, with his new palest lilac shirt, and new diagonally striped tie. No nagging required :)

I bought only one thing today - a 3 DVD set for $19.99 - The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, Weird Science.

What does this week hold? The Gwen Stefani concert, a screening of Amazing Grace (now I know what happened to Youssou N'Dour), training up my new assistant at work, a family dinner for my lovely stepfathers birthday, finding that last beetle in Virtual Villagers: The Lost Children, setting up the new DVD player for my parents, trying to restrict my Crackbook time.

You can choose your friends ...

We've been at a trivia night for my sisters school tonight. One of the games was Sit down if. You know, sit down if you were born in an even numbered year, sit down if you've seen an episode of Big Brother this year and so on. The boy and I were sitting down, having been taken out by an episode of Big Brother (me, to my chagrin) and carrying a handkerchief, when the host said "sit down if you've had nookie today". My mother and stepfather were the only people in the room who sat down. My sister turned scarlet. I probably didn't help when I sent her a text telling her to be thankful that we had already been taken out. I'm glad I don't have to be in her staffroom on Monday morning.

Over

It is over. I've read my last new Harry Potter book. I know that I will read the books again, and I will read and love many other books but I will never read another new Harry Potter book.

I'm happy that I know how it all ends, but I won't spoil it for anyone. I'm sad that there will be no new journeys into the world of Harry. Harry is one of the best justifications I have for lying on the couch on a Saturday, covered with a blanket, reading, while the cat cuddles up to me.

I will miss the anticipation and wondering. The theories that my friends and I have thrown around over the years. I will miss pre-ordering my copy at my local bookshop. I will miss queuing up at 8 on a Saturday morning to be one of the first to get my copy. I will definitely miss the camaraderie of the queue. The wild theories of the eager and impatient. I will miss coming up with the most outrageous theories to entertain the staff at the bookshop. I think I came close with my suggestion "and Harry woke up in his bed, safe and sound. It had all been a lovely, horrible dream"

I think Stephen King said it so well.

Closed

This blog is currently closed. It will reopen in 607 pages.

On the road again

Time for another trip to Sydney. I feel like I've just come back and it is time to go again.

Several years ago, I toyed with moving to Sydney. I'd recently ended a 3 year relationship, my best friend was living in Sydney, I'd had some pretty full on medical problems, I'd been in a bit of a financial mess, I was tired of living at home with my family for medical and financial reasons, and I was frustrated and bored at work. Sydney looked like an exciting, easy way to change my life. I would be living in a bigger city where no one knew me and I could reinvent myself. I would be free of the history people in Melbourne have for me. I could be the exotic one, flying in for obligations, but with an easy out. Oh no, I can't stay, I have a plane to catch. See me run.

The more I think about it, I'm glad I didn't run. And running it would have been. I've rebuilt, restored, enhanced my relationships. I've strengthened my support system. I have history with the people in my life.

This isn't the post I meant to write tonight, but it is the post that has been written. So, I'm off to Sydney for a few days. I'll be back at work on Friday lunchtime, and I'll be home Friday night.

Soundtrack to the music of my life

My writing has been a bit scrambled this week. I haven't been happy with anything I've written so nothing has been posted. I've had this meme kicking around for ages, so I'm hoping it will free up my writing a bit.

If you want to do it, copy the categories below, open your iTunes and hit shuffle. Refresh for each category and hit next song.

Opening Credits: Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer - Bob Downe
Wow - iTunes is picking up on my mood today - I've half written three things about summer and the way time changes.

Waking Up: I am a Man of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys
Yep, that sums me up until I can hit the shower and caffeine.

First Day At School: Alone with you tonight - The Sunnyboys
I love this song. This was the live version from the 25th anniversary concert for Mushroom Records. Even more resonant because I was there. I used to get Sunnyboys from the school canteen, but that is probably the only connection between school and this song.

Falling In Love: Simply Irresistible - Robert Palmer
I don't really associate this song with love. Lust maybe, but all of a sudden I'm feeling an overwhelming desire to pop into some Lycra, a short black skirt and bright red cfm lipstick.

Fight Song: Sleeping Satellite - Tasmin Archer
"I blame you for the moonlit sky, and the dream that died" I've had those completely irrational fights.

Breaking Up: Heavy Heart - You am I
Somehow, I think iTunes said it all for me.

School Formal (Prom): Beyond the Sea - Robbie Williams
I love both Robbie and Bobby's versions of this song. But right now, all I can think of is Homer Simpson wanting to live under the sea with the friendly crustaceans. Now, my brain has just headed off on a sea monkey tangent. I've got no idea how music ended up with sea monkeys. In lounge suits. And cocktail frocks.

Life: Changes - David Bowie
"Time to face the strange" Quite appropriate really. Life is full of change, and there is so much that is strange. Strange and wonderful. I've used lines from this as titles before on this blog, and they are often responsible for random visits from Google.

Mental Breakdown: I honestly love you - Peter Allen
Um, OK. I'm not sure how this one happened, but OK. If it was going to be a Peter Allen song, I think Tenterfield Saddler would fit better. iTunes, you forgot to keep reading my mind.

Driving: Headroom - Josh Abrahams and Amiel Daemion
Where was this one for the mental breakdown? iTunes, A for effort, but you must try harder. Having said that, I do find driving is a good way to get some headroom.

Flashback: The Last Night - Bon Jovi
This is still a very new addition to the music library, part of an album that is still growing on me. Still a good title for a flashback. The last night of what? A relationship? A holiday? A friendship? A house?

Getting back together: I only have eyes for You - Ella Fitzgerald
Ooooooh, Ella.

Wedding: Fame - Irene Cara
This should really be a big musical number, but I'm feeling dudded because it has already been used for musical numbers. Oh, sod it. Bring on the leg warmers and headbands.

Birth of Child: Born Free - Matt Monro
I don't know if this movie would have the birth of a lion cub, but that is the birth I would normally associate with this song.

Final Battle: I want it that way - Backstreet Boys
Or the highway? Isn't that what so many battles come down to? I don't think the Backstreet Boys are usually involved though.

Death Scene: Another one bites the dust - Queen
I just fell off the couch laughing. The cat thinks I'm mad. Yeah, cos he's qualified.

Funeral Song: Goodbye - The Spice Girls
This is a film clip I would have loved to be in as a kid. No, it isn't. I'm getting mixed up with the animation of Viva Forever. Look for the rainbow in every star. Goodbye my friend. I always thought that I would have 50 Years by the Uncanny X-Men. They would be very cool cars for the cortege though.

End Credits: Raindrops keep falling on my head - BJ Thomas
Sad, and yet still perky. Where there is life, there must surely still be hope. Watch out for the sequel; "thisisme - the phantom clones"

It has been nearly a month since we got home from our weekend away, and I've finally got around to uploading some of the photos I took while we were away.

The view from our bedroom window.

Give me a home among the gumtrees

Sample beers from the brewery where we went for dinner.
Nice hosts to drive us there and pick us up.

Morning coffee on the verandah.

Every rose has its thorns.

Those dark satanic mills.
The electricity generation plants dominated the landscape.
I couldn't stop myself watching them.
They horrified me, and yet I have reaped the benefits.

Random questions and obsessions

Is it a bad thing to keep clicking on banner ads for the Harry Potter movie so that I can delight in the joy that is Alan Rickman?

When doesn't the mouse on my work computer move things around the screen? When I've got my hand on the stapler and I'm moving that instead.

Why am I so obsessed with the song from this silly ad? Warning - it will get in your head and stay there. And just when you think you have got rid of it, back it comes.

It is probably not the best idea to ask your father if he is talking to the right wife when he is trying to reminisce with my mother and she hasn't got a clue what he is talking about.

I'm a bit too obsessed with the game Virtual Villagers. I thought I'd got past it, and then I found Virtual Villagers the Lost Children. Oops, back at it again.

Confession time - I'm thrilled to bits that the Spice Girls are touring. I'm less thrilled that they aren't coming to Melbourne. I'm a bit disturbed writing that as I'm listening to the Cruel Sea right now.

And a very special big hello to everyone visiting me from the Czech Republic

Interview meme

I've been mulling over this meme for the last month. The questions are from the lovely velvet.

1. What inspired you to start blogging? Do you share your blog with friends and family? Why or why not?
I did a lot of writing when I was younger and I just wasn't doing it anymore. I found I was reading a lot of blogs and thought it would be a good way to get back into writing. I'm also finding that it is a good way to help me process ideas and things that happen in my day. Quite a bit of the stuff I write never gets published, it seems to be enough that I write it. Some of my friends and family know that I blog, but none of them know what it is called. Having said that, I'm sure that if they fell across it by accident, they would be able to identify it as mine. I don't share it with them because I want everyone who reads it to read because they want to, not because they feel obliged to out of friendship or familial obligation.

2. You're granted the superpower of your choice. What do you choose and why?
The ability to shape the world to suit myself. Egocentric, moi? Seriously, there are just so many little things in everyday life that drive me nuts, and I see them driving other people nuts too. I'd be using the superpower to get rid of the little daily niggles that can build up, and just make things that little bit more smooth. Almost like being a super iron really.

3. If you could have one thing or time from your childhood again, what or when would it be and why?
The summer of 1982 - 3. I had just turned 9, and it was the last summer before my grandmother died, my parents separated, and my aunt and uncle separated. We spent the summer at my grandparents home, an old dairy a block from the beach. My grandmother spent most of her time in bed, and we were allowed to go and spend time with her in half hour blocks. I still treasure the book she gave me "Snow White and Rose Red" and we read through it together. I found it in a box of treasure recently and read through it and had a little cry. Otherwise my brother and I and our 2 cousins spent a lot of time on the beach and playing in the back yard. An old dairy has a lot of back yard, garages and sheds for 4 kids under 12 to play in. I've hardly seen my cousins since then.

4. If you had to give up your present career field, what would your fantasy career be and why?
Easy - I would love to be a personal gift shopper. I enjoy shopping for other people and finding the perfect gift. They don't have to be expensive gifts, just gifts that are appreciated for the thought that has gone into it.

5. You can invite five living people to meet for dinner. Who would you choose?
I've been struggling with this one, and I think I might need to have this dinner in shifts. I am fascinated by Deborah Mailman, Paul Keating, Bill Clinton (yes, I know the link is probably redundant, but you never know...), JK Rowling and Jeff Kennett. I suspect this could quickly become a battle of egos though, and I would want to change it to people who just make me happy. So, the winners are my good friends the Fitters, Nay, my boy and my brother. I'd have to sneak my sister in too because she cracks me up. A group of people that can talk about anything, and the conversation can go from sublime to the extraordinarily ridiculous in under 5 seconds..

If you wish to do this meme, ...
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Aging

Standing in the queue at my local healthy burger place, I heard teenage girl say to her friend "this is the song, that if you play it backwards, it plays satanic messages" Her friend asked what the song was, and who it was by "oh, I don't know, I don't think anyone really knows the song or the group is"

I'm feeling a little old and bewildered today. The song was Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. I thought everyone just acquired it by osmosis.