Walk, You Lazy Bastard!

This is 131500.com.au (New South Wale's transit site). I'm trying to get from Ultimo to Surry Hills. Option 1 is to walk.

There are no other options.

Thank you, Cold-Hearted Website! I knew I was getting a bit pudgy around the middle.

Contractions

"It is not" can be contracted into "it's not" or "it isn't". Could we go further and just contract all three together? "itsn't"

There are many other examples as well.

That is all.

Surfing as a Microcosm of My Life

Mrs. Groman, my 9th grade geometry teacher once told me, I was a "Jack of all trades, Master of none." Being 13 years old at the time, I took this to be a complement. Perhaps later on in my life, I would have taken it to be an insult, some comment on my attention span.

My former manager told me recently, that he and I were very similar people. We get very excited to try new things, as does most everyone, but we tire of it as soon as we've figured out how it works, and how to become good at it. We never take the time to actually become good at it.

As I have become older, I have changed. Not my behaviors or my patterns, but I have changed my perceptions and awareness of them. I no longer fault myself for falling into the same perceived character flaws, but I simply understand this is how I operate and this is who I am. Being self critical of my flaws, by this point in my life, is counter productive. Perhaps I will always fall into the same tendencies not because it is a flaw in my design, but because it is my design.

One of these flaws, patterns, or perhaps designs, is my penchant for having only enough tenacity to learn "just enough". I do something just enough to know how to become good at it. I never actually become good at anything. I look around and I see a snowboard, a bass guitar, and a pile of cooking implements among numerous other relics of hobbies past. I have run, hiked, swam, and boxed. I played football, basketball, golf, soccer, netball, and ultimate. These are but a few of my many projects I have become enamored with just long enough to never be good at any of them.

They say it takes inspiration and motivation to start something, but good habits to finish it. That is what I lack. To paraphrase one of my spiritual role models, I want to be awesome, but I don't have patience to achieve it.

The need to get better at something is inherently something we all crave. Maslow makes note of it. As do others, like motivational speaker Tony Robbins (good TED talk). And this guy too (if you haven't seen that video, it's a good one). Somehow, I don't have this desire to finish anything. Somehow, knowing how to become good at something is enough for me instead of actually becoming good at it.

So what does this have to do with surfing? Well, this time, it might be different. Surfing is not something I will become good at quickly. If at all. Today's lesson taught me that very sternly. It's gonna be a long time and a lot of effort to become good. Or even just good at paddling out through the surf. Maybe this time, I'll actually stick it through. It is a way of life down here; this is what Aussies do and it's a great way to enjoy the ocean.

But then again, as I'm older, I know better.

"Partner"

So to Australians, "partner" refers to your significant other. Whether you're married, engaged, dating, etc. Now, for those of you in the States, the term "partner" has come to refer to your significant other of the same sex. Now I'm not talking about being bro-mantically involved, but rather referring to gay and lesbian couples. This makes sense; it's a gender neutral word that isn't loaded with social connotations and accurately reflects a same-sex couple's commitment to each other.

This came as a great shock to me when I was first asked, "did you come to Australia with your partner?" At first, I did a double take thinking the person was assuming I'm gay (I don't love show tunes and fashion that much, do I?), only later realizing all couples are referred to as "partner".

I guess it's less syllables to pronounce as compared to "significant other", and less awkward than asking "wife? fiancee? girl/boy-friend?" but it's still awkward to me.

There's no point to this post. If you've gotten this far, you're either really bored today, or genuinely care about what I have to say. Which you shouldn't. Please, find a hobby.

OK, so I wasn't joking about the sunburn.

- Note the contrast between where my skin was, where my swim trunks were, and where I'm now wearing my maroon shorts (picked for contrast).
- My armpits are burned. How does that happen?


- This is my back. No I am not a cooked lobster.
- Note the finger marks on my left shoulder.

It is somehow even worse in real-life lighting. Sorry about the half-naked photos.

Surfing WIN! Sunburn FAIL!

On this, a weekend of seconds, I went surfing again. This time much more successfully. Apparently, as I've learned recently, Manly is not the place to go surfing. Especially the surf school there, which isn't quite so good.

The Let's Go Surfing! school at Bondi is much better in this regard. Perhaps it was the 7:30AM start time so there were fewer people, the small class size, or the quality of our instructor, but the experience was much more pleasant.

My instructor very bluntly told me that being tall was going to make learning much harder. I reminded him being athletically challenged and allergic to shark bites would probably be higher on my list of worries. Despite this, I made a much better showing this time around. The process taught to us today, of standing up in stages, worked much better than the "just jump up and ride" lesson given during my prior lesson.

Our instructor "took us out the back" (I'm sorry, I have no way of making that sound better), which is to say took us, using the rip current, beyond the breakers so we could catch some unbroken waves on their way in. This was incredibly awesome as I found myself able to stand up and surf (twice at that!) on these faster, smoother waves.

I've already signed up for four more lessons.

During my post-surf siesta, I made the mistake underestimating the Australian sun. I thought by lying on my back most of the time, I wouldn't have to apply sunscreen as often to those hard to reach areas. Now all those hard to reach areas have the color and consistency of Chinese BBQ pork.Even the areas I did make sure to apply sunscreen, twice in two hours is apparently not enough.

Yoga

Good: Went to my second ever yoga class and really centered my mind to the present.

Bad: Went to my second ever yoga class and got my ass kicked.

Ugly: Went to my second ever yoga class and left a sweaty mess. I have never heard a 5-second count drawn out like that.

On the plus side, I'm getting more flexible and seeing what flexibility can do for women in tights...so, win!

Australia, Part II: Adventure Renewed

No, the title does not imply I'm making a sequel to the ill-conceived 2008 Baz Lurhmann film (which was not a documentary about The Lucky Country, narrated by Wolverine and The Tall Chick Who Used to be Married to The Scientologist. In fact, it is the 2nd highest grossing Australian film of all time. Can you guess the first?)

Actually, the title of this post refers to my renewed conviction to this land of convicts. While I truly enjoyed seeing all of you lovely people from my past on my trips home, going back twice in rapid succession, so soon after I've made this move did nothing but reconfirm how much I miss all of you and miss home. It was perhaps a mistake because this never allowed me to give Australia the fair chance it deserved.

This is a reaffirmation of my original intention. Australia is a new adventure for me, and damn it if I'm not going to give it a fair shake and an honest effort. Never say 'no' to any opportunity. Try as many new activities as I can conceive. Appreciate this land for what is has, not what it doesn't.

This doesn't mean I don't love all of you, Dear Friends from a Life Past. No, rather I want you to share this adventure with me, through this blog. If anything, demand I share tales of my latest adventures on this blog. I promise I won't disappoint.

In Which We Can Now Have Video Chat Sex!

So I got's me a new laptop which has a webcam on it. And because Google is awesome, GTalk provides video chat!

Chatting over video is pretty amazing. Now you can see me roll my eyes at you!

So if you see me online, help welcome me to the 20th century with a GTalk video chat!

XOXO !!1!