This is my first Australia Day as an Australian citizen and the Childzilla's first one ever. It's also the quietest Australia Day I have ever had in terms of activities and socialising. Given this is normally Warpcon weekend in Cork, I've been doing something awesome this time of year for the last 16 years or so and it feels a bit strange to be so low key.
I am a bit sad that we are missing the spectacular fireworks that Sydney put on due to some also-quite-spectacular teething from Childzilla. But we did manage to catch up with friends for a bbq at the park and got in some serious time cuddling the dog and, for people with a teeny baby, we're not doing too badly on staying social. I'm feeling pretty chilled about this year.
Carn straya and here's to a good 2014 wherever you are.
I am a bit sad that we are missing the spectacular fireworks that Sydney put on due to some also-quite-spectacular teething from Childzilla. But we did manage to catch up with friends for a bbq at the park and got in some serious time cuddling the dog and, for people with a teeny baby, we're not doing too badly on staying social. I'm feeling pretty chilled about this year.
Carn straya and here's to a good 2014 wherever you are.
- Current Mood:Thoughtful
So, Golden Boy and I decided to get married. And because we are really, really awkward, we decided we would not do so in Ireland or Australia but in one of Fiji's Yasawa islands, because who doesn't love a long flight followed by a 5 hour boat ride to get to a wedding?
( Cut for picsCollapse )
In short, weddings rock. :D
( Cut for picsCollapse )
In short, weddings rock. :D
- Current Mood:
accomplished
Lá 'le Pádraig sona daoibh go léir!*
For those of you celebrating St Patrick's Day, have a good one. May you have a wonderful day filled with your favourite people and a few glasses of whatever you like the most.
(And please remember, Patrick can be shortened to Pat or Paddy, but never ever patty. Patrick is the anglicisation of the Irish name Pádraig, always shortened to Paddy by the Irish. If you say patty, we think of hamburgers. Also, you know, St Patrick was probably Welsh which means he probably spelled it Paidraighllwrghgll).
From me, my favourite toast... (no idea if it's authentic and, yes, I am an atheist, but this one still tickles my fancy)
May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
* I really hope I have spelled that right. My Irish is shot from 15 years of not using it, sadly.
For those of you celebrating St Patrick's Day, have a good one. May you have a wonderful day filled with your favourite people and a few glasses of whatever you like the most.
(And please remember, Patrick can be shortened to Pat or Paddy, but never ever patty. Patrick is the anglicisation of the Irish name Pádraig, always shortened to Paddy by the Irish. If you say patty, we think of hamburgers. Also, you know, St Patrick was probably Welsh which means he probably spelled it Paidraighllwrghgll).
From me, my favourite toast... (no idea if it's authentic and, yes, I am an atheist, but this one still tickles my fancy)
May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.
* I really hope I have spelled that right. My Irish is shot from 15 years of not using it, sadly.
- Current Mood:
cheerful
I'm pretty sure most of my friends wouldn't do this but just in case you haven't given it thought...
When someone tells you they have hearing difficulties, saying "What?" straight afterwards is incredibly rude and hurtful - like pretending to be blind at someone with vision impairment, or exaggeratedly limping at a leg amputee.
It's incredibly common, for some reason. It was barely funny the first time I saw it and now - perhaps 200 repetitions later - at the stage where I;
Being a bit deaf is already a bit shite, but I deal and try constantly to minimise the effect my bad hearing as on other people. I'm an extravert and I like people but I still find conversation bloody exhausting sometimes, as I constantly strain to listen, I'd imagine some people without my burning drive to socialise might just give up. Every time some sod does the "what?" thing, I am tempted to.
I know it's a surprise when someone tells you sometimes - you hadn't realised, they cope so well, etc etc - but the "what" reaction really hurts. If it was in your repertoire, please think before you do it again.
Well, that or prepare to be punched in the face.
When someone tells you they have hearing difficulties, saying "What?" straight afterwards is incredibly rude and hurtful - like pretending to be blind at someone with vision impairment, or exaggeratedly limping at a leg amputee.
It's incredibly common, for some reason. It was barely funny the first time I saw it and now - perhaps 200 repetitions later - at the stage where I;
- have to go through intermediaries to make a simple phone call
- have to lip-read partially for most conversations
- can't watch TV/movies in cinemas etc as there are no subtitles
- can't hear speeches at friends' weddings
- can't hear public service announcements in train stations/ airport etc
- have to rely on the patience of friends/partners to fill in gaps in my hearing and save me embarrassing myself by mishearing
- often embarrassing myself by mishearing and answering questions that were not asked
- have to "bull-doze" in conversation to disguise the fact that I can't really hear by constantly being loud and changing topic
- have people assume I am stupid/rude because of the two above
- and can't take jobs/writing assignments with ANY phone work at all (and that, peeps, is why I never got into event management, which I loved)
- have realised that - should I decide to have kids - I will not be able to hear them cry or understand their conversation (too high-pitched)
- have to spend $8k this year to update my hearing aids to my shite hearing - and get no assistance with this because, as one of the lucky ones, I can hold down a job so should be able to pay
Being a bit deaf is already a bit shite, but I deal and try constantly to minimise the effect my bad hearing as on other people. I'm an extravert and I like people but I still find conversation bloody exhausting sometimes, as I constantly strain to listen, I'd imagine some people without my burning drive to socialise might just give up. Every time some sod does the "what?" thing, I am tempted to.
I know it's a surprise when someone tells you sometimes - you hadn't realised, they cope so well, etc etc - but the "what" reaction really hurts. If it was in your repertoire, please think before you do it again.
Well, that or prepare to be punched in the face.
- Current Mood:
annoyed
So, today's adventure involved P (aka Golden Boy) and I pulling some poor (probably) drunk and very distressed girl out of Darling Harbour's waters about 30m away from 2 buses full of people who sat and watched.
We were at Star City Wharf sitting on a tour bus, one of two packed with people, and saw a girl walk across the road and jump neatly into the water. We couldn't see into the water but we could see all the surrounding wharves. Some nearby people (friends?) came over and pointed and laughed, and a jogger stopped, said something and ran on. No one threw in the nearby life buoy. We figured she was okay and doing something stupid and would be out soon. Her friends(?) stayed there, pointing and giggling, but it became apparent they were really, really out of it - falling down drunk, probably.
A couple of minutes later she hadn't emerged and we decided to take a look and just at this point the buses decided they were revving up to go. P went over and looked down into the water and found her severely distressed and crying and clinging to a grip at the edge. The gap between the water level and the wharves was about 3-4 feet - too far for someone to get out on their own steam, and there were no steps.
P had to guide her to swim around to a lower spot where we - and a nearby security guard who had come out of Star City to look at what was happening - managed to haul her the few feet from the water and on to dry land. She was cold to touch, and throwing up a little water (the water there is pretty filthy from boats) and when we got her out she just collasped and wheezed on the wharf, too incoherent to answer questions. Another guard came over to help and we left her there with them, after calling the police (our tour bus driver was getting pretty angst-y at this point - I'm not sure he spotted her jumping in and as far as he was concerned we were holding up things).
Afterwards a few people on the bus asked us what had happened and it now sounds like she may have been trying to get away from the two people following her. She had no hand bag, no jewelery; it was 8am and she was still in nice night out clothes.
I'm aware that tweeting it after may have made it sound more heroic than it was - all we did was help lift a girl from the water and make sure that she was in safe hands after. The police haven't called back so as far as we know, she is fine. I am also aware that I should have probably specified that everything was okay after as you lot are all nice people who worry about stuff like this, going on the responses I got.
Which is a bit different to the responses that she got today. Whether she jumped in for fun, for a bet, as something worse, whatever; it may have started harmless but within a few minutes she was clearly in trouble and two buses nearly drove off and left her. The Bystander effect - or Genovese syndrome - suggests that as the numbers of bystanders increase in an emergency, the less likely it is that someone will offer help. "This happens because as the number of bystanders increases, any given bystander is less likely to notice the incident, less likely to interpret the incident as a problem,and less likely to assume responsibility for taking action."
I am convinced the bystander effect should be taught in schools (along with Milgram's electric shock experiment, but that's a story for another day). I figure most of you know this already but please remember, if a situation is going bad and there are lot of people looking at it, that doesn't mean anyone is actually doing anything to make it better. Be that squeaky, meddling, nosey wheel. Sometimes you'll feel like a complete tool but when it's needed, it's really needed.
And, on a side note, P's weight lifting skillz are seriously good. :D
We were at Star City Wharf sitting on a tour bus, one of two packed with people, and saw a girl walk across the road and jump neatly into the water. We couldn't see into the water but we could see all the surrounding wharves. Some nearby people (friends?) came over and pointed and laughed, and a jogger stopped, said something and ran on. No one threw in the nearby life buoy. We figured she was okay and doing something stupid and would be out soon. Her friends(?) stayed there, pointing and giggling, but it became apparent they were really, really out of it - falling down drunk, probably.
A couple of minutes later she hadn't emerged and we decided to take a look and just at this point the buses decided they were revving up to go. P went over and looked down into the water and found her severely distressed and crying and clinging to a grip at the edge. The gap between the water level and the wharves was about 3-4 feet - too far for someone to get out on their own steam, and there were no steps.
P had to guide her to swim around to a lower spot where we - and a nearby security guard who had come out of Star City to look at what was happening - managed to haul her the few feet from the water and on to dry land. She was cold to touch, and throwing up a little water (the water there is pretty filthy from boats) and when we got her out she just collasped and wheezed on the wharf, too incoherent to answer questions. Another guard came over to help and we left her there with them, after calling the police (our tour bus driver was getting pretty angst-y at this point - I'm not sure he spotted her jumping in and as far as he was concerned we were holding up things).
Afterwards a few people on the bus asked us what had happened and it now sounds like she may have been trying to get away from the two people following her. She had no hand bag, no jewelery; it was 8am and she was still in nice night out clothes.
I'm aware that tweeting it after may have made it sound more heroic than it was - all we did was help lift a girl from the water and make sure that she was in safe hands after. The police haven't called back so as far as we know, she is fine. I am also aware that I should have probably specified that everything was okay after as you lot are all nice people who worry about stuff like this, going on the responses I got.
Which is a bit different to the responses that she got today. Whether she jumped in for fun, for a bet, as something worse, whatever; it may have started harmless but within a few minutes she was clearly in trouble and two buses nearly drove off and left her. The Bystander effect - or Genovese syndrome - suggests that as the numbers of bystanders increase in an emergency, the less likely it is that someone will offer help. "This happens because as the number of bystanders increases, any given bystander is less likely to notice the incident, less likely to interpret the incident as a problem,and less likely to assume responsibility for taking action."
I am convinced the bystander effect should be taught in schools (along with Milgram's electric shock experiment, but that's a story for another day). I figure most of you know this already but please remember, if a situation is going bad and there are lot of people looking at it, that doesn't mean anyone is actually doing anything to make it better. Be that squeaky, meddling, nosey wheel. Sometimes you'll feel like a complete tool but when it's needed, it's really needed.
And, on a side note, P's weight lifting skillz are seriously good. :D
- Current Mood:
anxious
I'm blogging at 34,000 feet. Internet access on planes may just be my new favourite thing EVER. I'm currently flying over Kansas with Virgin America and I have both a decent signal and a plug under my seat to charge my laptop. I love living in the future.
The Great WhistleStop Tours of the USA and Canada (now with Special Guests Lucy HK and
coffee_lifeform) has sadly come to close, after debachuery and far too much margarita drinking in New York City, Niagara, Toronto and Montreal. Here are some (probably slightly demented) tips for people thinking of making a trip from Niagara to Montreal.
The Great WhistleStop Tours of the USA and Canada (now with Special Guests Lucy HK and
coffee_lifeform) has sadly come to close, after debachuery and far too much margarita drinking in New York City, Niagara, Toronto and Montreal. Here are some (probably slightly demented) tips for people thinking of making a trip from Niagara to Montreal. - Niagara on the Canadian side has a lovely older section near the train station. Stay there and not on Clifton Hill which refers to itself as the Street of Fun but is more accurately like Vegas for kids.
- Maid of the Mists is worth doing (as it's really cheap) when you get on the boat gather in your sleeves or spray will go up them and you will spend the rest of the day damp.
- The whole blue poncho Maid of The Mist boat thing is far more fun if you see it as some sort of Smurf civil war and exodus.
- One day and night in Niagara is easily enough. It bills itself as the honeymoon capital and has the nickname "Viagara Falls" but with hordes of tourists and kids and tourists acting like kids, it's about as romantic as hanging out in a shopping centre creche.
- Canadians can not organise a) entry to visitor attractions - expect to queue.
- Canadians also can not queue, expect to defend from skippers, people who start a whole NEW queue and people who shove to the front and then ask, "oh, is there are line?"
- Canadians (well, the Ontarions and the Quebecois in the cities I went to, to be fair) also do not apologise for banging into you or bashing you with their bag etc. Their customer service is some of the surliest and rudest I have ever experienced. I am not sure how they got the rep for being polite.
- That said, individual Canadians are generally helpful, pleasant and funny, once they start seeing you as a person and not as a a) a *shudder* customer or b) worth 2 points in an obstacle race.
- Toronto's CN Tower is very tall and well worth the trip. But, as Canadians can not organise queues or visitor entry, allow 4 hours for a 30 min visit. They will tell you the line is smaller after 6, this is a filthy lie. Go before 11am if you can.
- In Toronto, eat on Baldwin St if you are in the Entertainment District - the food is cheaper, the places are lovely and the vibe is excellent.
- Likewise, Avenue Duluth in Montreal is brilliant and cheap for eats. I can recommend Arepas at 4050 - a Venezualan place that has made me determined to get to that country in the next two years.
- Have mates in both cities. If you can't manage this, get a good guide book.
- Carry a map at all times.
- Order margaritas frequently.
- And have fun. :D
- Current Mood: good
- The term "special day" does not invoke the "pinch and a punch" rule.
- When people refer to "being treated like a princess", I am not allowed assume they mean Peaches and inquire what exactly I am meant to do with two mustachioed Italian men on my wedding night.
- It is called the Bridal Chorus not the Bridal Dirge.
- Slow acoustic guitar accompanied by a lone singer is not "the sound of death coming for us all".
- No one has a lovely bunch of coconuts.
- Straight vodka should not be used as a a) toast b) aperitif c) mouthwash.
- Rum cocktails are not a complete meal.
- Current Mood:
calm
- I am not allowed to insist the ceremony be started with quotes from Princess Bride, "Mawwaige, the sacwed awwangement, is why we ah gathewed hewe today...Love, Twue Love.."
- Also unsuited to the ceremony's opening is anything from Full Metal Jacket or Terminator 2.
- Also, I am not allowed to make the celebrant dress as Elvis.
- I am also not allowed to dress up as Elvis.
- I promise I will not wear a flame-throwing dress with neck frills.
Nor am I allowed wear the vagina dress (see the pic) and then run around asking everyone what it reminds them of.
- But I will at least wear pants.
- The wedding is not on No Pants Thursday.
- Velociraptors do not make great wedding presents.
- Not even if they wear pants.
- And have little hangbags and matching hats.
- Good music for wedding CD's does not include Die, Die, My Darling (Metallica version) or anything by the Bloodhound Gang.
- "That'll do, Pig" is not a valid alternative to "I do".
- I am not allowed swear by love to Golden Boy by swearing.
- The wedding party are not "my bitches". I will not insist on being carried everywhere by palaquin.
- Or making them dress as organ grinder monkeys.
- Roasting politicians over the fire is not an Irish tradition bringing good luck to the wedding.
- Nor is a punch-up.
- No one has to make me offerings of pony or fear my wrath.
- I am not allowed to threaten guests with being thrown to the non-existent volcano to appease the angry SadhbhGod.
- I am not allowed create a volcano to throw guests into.
- Firepits are also right out.
Explanations of these events:
a) I have suggested to Peter, or friends, or occasionally horrified family members.
b) I witnessed another wedding do it.
c) Was spontaneously informed I was not allowed to do.
d) Was the result of a clarification what I was not allowed to do, exactly.
This is heavily based on the format of the hilarious Skippy’s List: The 213 things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the U.S. Army, which I highly recommend reading.
- Current Mood:
amused
Tomorrow I get to interview one of Australia's best known brewers, Chuck Hahn, the man responsible for all the various Hahn beers and the James Squire range of brews. It is very exciting, even if my brewery tour will be at 10am which means that getting to test the various beers is unlikely. It will be my second beer article of the year, and the clipping with go with the 5 business ones and 2 travel ones I have published since 2011 began.
I have a blog that pays me to write (a small amount of cash, and a LOT of books) at Boomerang Books and several articles due to be paid by a couple of publications with a few more commissioned. I have earned enough this year to justify my cutting back to a 4-day working week in my day job.
My admin role at Sydney Uni continues to be fun - I work in the Learning Sciences, helping out with admin and media stuff, so I am doing a lot of conference organising (like this one) and article writing for them. I have my own office, I can work from home and set my own hours, everyone I work with is pretty nice. The area is interesting too - the intersection between learning and computers; studying iPad and tablets in education, using virtual worlds to teach remotely, studying how architecture influences learning, all very interesting. Sydney Uni campus is 25 mins walk from my house and the campus is a lovely sprawl of green and older buildings. Its nickname amongst the students here is Hogwarts.
And preparations for both the Irish engagement bash (Dec 30th, Spailpin Fanach in Cork) and the actual wedding (July 2012 in Fiji) continue, with lots of cross world preparation and email going on. I've also just send in my permanent Australian residency ap, returned from a holiday in Magnetic Island, and am off to Canberra and Melbourne later this month. Planning a big trip at Christmas, planning on getting a cat, need to find someone to catsit the damned cat. Loads of stuff to do.
Which is good, but all that official writing, work writing, travel and sending constant emails about weddings means that this LJ has been a bit empty. Still here, I swear, along with Golden Boy who is still handsome and awesome as ever. Still reading - LJ is still the highlight of my online interactions, although I do like Facebook and Twitter for shorter stuff. Don't go away, LJ, I'm still here, just kinda busy right now. How have you all been doing?
I have a blog that pays me to write (a small amount of cash, and a LOT of books) at Boomerang Books and several articles due to be paid by a couple of publications with a few more commissioned. I have earned enough this year to justify my cutting back to a 4-day working week in my day job.
My admin role at Sydney Uni continues to be fun - I work in the Learning Sciences, helping out with admin and media stuff, so I am doing a lot of conference organising (like this one) and article writing for them. I have my own office, I can work from home and set my own hours, everyone I work with is pretty nice. The area is interesting too - the intersection between learning and computers; studying iPad and tablets in education, using virtual worlds to teach remotely, studying how architecture influences learning, all very interesting. Sydney Uni campus is 25 mins walk from my house and the campus is a lovely sprawl of green and older buildings. Its nickname amongst the students here is Hogwarts.
And preparations for both the Irish engagement bash (Dec 30th, Spailpin Fanach in Cork) and the actual wedding (July 2012 in Fiji) continue, with lots of cross world preparation and email going on. I've also just send in my permanent Australian residency ap, returned from a holiday in Magnetic Island, and am off to Canberra and Melbourne later this month. Planning a big trip at Christmas, planning on getting a cat, need to find someone to catsit the damned cat. Loads of stuff to do.
Which is good, but all that official writing, work writing, travel and sending constant emails about weddings means that this LJ has been a bit empty. Still here, I swear, along with Golden Boy who is still handsome and awesome as ever. Still reading - LJ is still the highlight of my online interactions, although I do like Facebook and Twitter for shorter stuff. Don't go away, LJ, I'm still here, just kinda busy right now. How have you all been doing?
- Current Mood: chipper
If my "first wuv" turned up on my doorstep today, I'd wonder what the hell they were doing in Australia, how the hell they had found my damned house and, most importantly, did this mean that I was going to have to give up the next two days to show them round or could I just give them a list of fun things to see so I can get my articles done.
It has been crazy busy and a crazy few weeks. The arrival of my first love would be another on the list of the "WTF, FFS, fine, come in, grab a beer from the fridge and I'll see if I can sort something. Jaysus. Never rains but it fecking pours."
It has been crazy busy and a crazy few weeks. The arrival of my first love would be another on the list of the "WTF, FFS, fine, come in, grab a beer from the fridge and I'll see if I can sort something. Jaysus. Never rains but it fecking pours."
- Current Mood:
busy
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