Judging a book by its cover...

U know how they say "dont judge a book by its cover"? Well i dont know about u, but i still do sometimes. Especially when it comes to choosing books or wine. What catches my eye about a wine is what the label on the bottle looks like. Sounds bad right? I of all people should know this, but i still fall into this trap.

Well tonight, i brought a bottle of merlot that someone had given me for my b'day last yr to a barbie tonight. I thought it wouldnt be the best wine i'd ever brought, since it looked like a really average bottle. But once i poured it into the glass, took a whiff and taste, it was awesome.

Because of this tonight, i have fallen in love with organic wine. Havent heard of it? Well neither have I, until tonight. I'm a big fan of organic wine now, especially this one, i'll be looking out for it on the shelves.........

Tsunami Terror

It struck me this morning as i picked up the front page of the newspaper the enormity of the situation. I mean, for it to make front page news, it would have to be quite important, right? I remember last nite my dad telling me there was a big earthquake near indonesia, extending to india and thailand. At the time, i was too engrossed in my xbox game, Splinter Cell; Pandora Tommorrow. (Mind u, it is an awesome game requiring much concentration!) I sort of nodded and showed some kind of acknowledgement to him, but inwardly i was cursing the fact he was interrupting my gaming! Doesnt he realise i could die, and i would have to start the level again!?

We hear of disasters on the news all the time. The media covers everything so well nowadays, i dont even take notice of them. But this morning as i read the full story, i realised i know some ppl that are in Phuket and Penang as i type this. Then i read on, realising that Phuket is one of the worst places hit, and the a number killed in Penang. My heart sank a little. My thoughts of the 3 ppl i know there come flooding in, and i pray that they would be safe.

When the bali bombings occured, it was a shocking incident, yet i could not not fully empathise. Now, i can associate the panic and concern that family would have over the ppl in the affected areas. Guys, if u r out there and read this, pls let me know ur ok! :)

Scrooge

I think i'm pretty close to being a xmas scrooge. Dont get me wrong, i dont go saying "bah humbug" to everything and everyone, but i'm really not at all excited about xmas at all. If anything, its an opportunity for me to kick my legs up and chill.

A few of the girls at work are all excited about the day and everything, but i'm not too fussed about it. I dont know if it comes across as me being moody or a scrooge, but xmas just aint a big thing to me!

I mean it is important in the fact that it celebrate's Jesus' birth, but I consider easter a much more important date/time. I think easter is the most important event on the christian calendar, not xmas. People may disagree with me here..... :p

I think back to when i was younger, whether xmas was a big thing then..... I dont believe it was. So maybe that's where my view comes from...... At the end of the day, it seems like most are getting overly excited for what is essentially a long wkend. But i definitely enjoy the excuse to get together with friends and family, laze about with a beer in one hand, food in the other, and watch the boxing day test.

Merry xmas.

Have u ever noticed how...

- In the bank, there are like 8 teller counters...... Have u ever seen more than half the counters manned at one time!? I was at the bank today, and had to wait 30 mins to be served. All the while there were 8 counters, and only THREE people attending. What the heck do we pay all these bloody bank fees for? Where do the million dollar profits that we hear about go to!? Why close at 4pm when it takes u so bloody long to see your customers?

- We live in dangerous times....... the bank i went to had security sliding doors to get INTO the teller counters. So basically the line was facing a door, until the teller inside pushed a button to let u into the area where they were! Talk about HIGH security!

- Courtesy does not exist...... On my drive to work and home, I let about 5 people in front of me How many thank yous did i get? Nil, nada, zilch, zero, none, bugger all.

- kids are maturing sooner....... more so for females, but schoolgirls nowadays look so mature, i have difficulty differentiating them from 15 yr olds or 25 yr olds! Such was the case today in the shopping centre... so many young chicks out today, wonder why..... Oh yeah, its school hols... Woops, that means they must still be at school!....

- some people dont know much about their own job...... i went into a shop, wanting to apply for something. The moment i ask questions outside the square, the guy has got no clue, and starts fishing for answers out of his arse. That annoys me, coz if u dont know, just say so and get me someone who does!

sport & psychology

U know how sometimes u have that unscratchable itch in u, where u just cant wait to get out and get to that itch? Something that has been building up within u, with no sense of resolve? Well one of those itches for me has been the desire to play sport again.

Ever since my injury, i have been incapable to play any sort of sport. In fact, i could barely twist around to reach over to get anything! But after a month of physio, i've been put back on track, and have reached the point where i may resume an active lifestyle once more.

So today i managed to have my 1st swing of the golf club in a LONG time. I must admit that i was quite apprehensive in going to the driving range, as i did not want a recurrence of my injury. So the 1st few swings were definitely very ginger, so tentative that i missed the ball completely! (Much to the amusement of my golfing wannabe companion ;) Then again, i dont know if she was laughing at my golf skill or just me...)

It definitely took awhile to get going, and i started middle-ing the ball more, although in my mind i was constantly thinking i was feeling pain or tightness from my back. This was definitely a case of "mind over matter". The back is fine. Surgery has fixed it. Now i need to get my mind over it. And stop being so scared. Who says sport psych doesnt exist?

Beach or shopping?

Seeing that i didnt start work till 3 in the afternoon, i had a variety of options as to how to spend my half day off today. One was to go to the beach. The other, xmas shopping and errands. I chose the latter. Now i regret that decision.

The shops were packed. And not just packed, but filled with smelly teenagers (sorry to all those nice-smelling teenagers) Finding presents was like trekking thru densr jungle, using my arms as machetes, chopping and fending stray arm-like branches blocking the way. The bright signs vying for your attention simply brings on more confusion, especially an unseasoned shopping campaigner like me. And it was HOT, so going from store to store was taxing..... Xmas carols were ingrained into my brain that i found myself subconsciously humming it by the end of the day. I was drawn to the "sale" signs like a bear to honey, picking and poking at it until my cravings were satisfied.

When i finally got home, i thought,"I could do with a swim about now". Then i realised it was time to go to work, and i had missed my chance. I love going to the beach when its stinkin hot, i love the ability to sweat the instant u step out of the water, just so u can hop back in. And i missed all that so as to mix it with the best of the material world.... sigh.

Reflections

I'm in a kind of a reflective mood today.... I guess it was a lazy sort of a day, where it was a cruisy morning at work, had coffee with a friend in the arvo, got a haircut, went to the physio, then dinner with some friends.... Life just passes by..... has my whole yr walked by me like that? It's kinda hard to explain, but my day sorta just happened. The sun rises, then it sets, and here i am, its dark, & i'm blogging. Just seems like we get so blase about all we do.... I guess as the end of 2004 approaches, we all look back in retrospect to what we have achieved or gained out of the yr, and i guess upon reflection, here are a few moments of 2004 that made it the yr it was for me....

- I cut my hair (for those that remember, it was quite long)
- I hurt my back at basketball
- The pain of my back for 3 mths
- The incapacitated "me" for the majority of this yr!
- My baptism
- Back Surgery
- Progress of my professional career
- starting & continuing lap swimming
- 1 week wonderful whirlwind holiday of Singapore, thanks to gracious hostess... :)
- consolidation of real friendships

I'm sure there'll be more when i have more time to think of it!

Most hated people....

As i was driving to work today, something on the radio got me thinking as to what is the most detested occupation in today's society is. Depending on what kind of person u r, occupations such as policeman come to mind, perhaps even the dentist?? Ppl always rave on about how they HATE the dentist and cant understand how anyone could do it or how they cause constant pain.... How about real moronic bouncers who dont let u in for no good reason? Lollipop men/women that take their sweet ass time in getting off the road! One occupation that is really annoying, but i'll admit is bloody hard work is telemarketers. Even phone sales ppl..... they must get so much abuse from the ppl they call, i dont know how they do it.

But i reckon i've found the one occupation that would be THE MOST HATED. Even more than the dreaded dentist. An occupation that could earn u scorns and hisses from the general public should u reveal yourself. One that u would not be mentioning to impress the ladies. One that could result in violence should it be revealed to its innocent victim.......the multinova cameraman.