moved

this blog has moved. same username, different domain. find me if you want.

airport

i like airports. there's a fair bit of waiting, but armed with a laptop and headphones i'm a happy chappy. with a myriad of destinations announced at close frequency, it feels like people are going places. and, well, they probably are. i like being in a constant flux, if that makes sense.

i like watching the little buggys zoom around the tarmac, loosely adhering to their own road rules and markings. my friend, once a baggage handler, was utterly busted by his boss for doing a burnout in a baggage buggy (possibly with luggage in tow); not at all due to the ridiculous turnaround time expected for baggage (un)loading - the figure of 7 minutes per flight comes to mind.

there's a guy sitting near me at the boarding gate who reminds me very much of a phd friend. he's ambiguously asian, and oozes collected cool. it nearly makes me miss my friends.

i must be bored: i'm talking crap.

time warp

i'm house-sitting for a friend, and it feels as though i've adopted someone else's life for a week. the 9-5 routine is an easy one to fall into, but i suspect it has the potential to suck time into voids, never to be seen again.

should i continue down this path, i have a feeling that i might wake up 30 years later, doing the same things as i am now, making the small incremental differences and wondering how i managed to achieve fuck all. that doesn't at all appeal, and it seems... mind-stiflingly boring?

there is hope

i've just met with a really interesting guy here, sort of like an older version of me! it turns out you can go on phd nerd exchange, and organisations do support such placements despite the complete disinterest shown to me by my parent institution. he's been trying to encourage students, undergrad and postgrad, to travel and take academic and volunteer opportunities, but no fish are biting! i cannot believe nor understand this; if i was a student here i would have jumped before the starter pistol fired.

exchange is far too late for me now, but what i can do is just get up and go, take my cv, and hit the ground running with it. there's work abounds and without attachment to a parent organisation, which means more flexibility and less bureaucracy. and he knows people. i need no second invitation.

oh why didn't i meet this guy a few years ago?!

unimpresssed espresso

it's 10 to 9, and i am drinking the supposedly best espresso in this town; but i'm not convinced. it's tasty and gives me the hit that i need, but it's nothing special. although famed for being a cafe-culture town, i'm much more enamoured with the ridiculously nice hot chocolates. sitting in the middle of one of the many inner-city alleys with cafes bursting on the street, i watch people rush to get to wherever it is they need to be. they're mainly suits, with some student-types thrown in for some variety. trains evidently arrive every five minutes or so as the flux of people oscillates this frequently...

on the whole, people are well-dressed here. not necessarily dressed-up, but they evidently put some thought into attire and presentation. this has become a bit of a sore point for me recently as i have realised what bad fashion i have. but at the same time, i don't care enough to do anything about it.

i've made a list of the places i need to drink/eat at this week. inner-city convenience and relatively effective and cheap public transport is too tempting to not indulge in. so i only managed to con travel concession for three days, before the pigeons told me off but thankfully without financial repercussions.

i wonder how many hot chocolates i can consume in a week without making myself ill...

url bandit

someone is toying with me. i made a typo trying to get to this blog, and look what happened: http://dereverb.blogpsot.com/

yech.

home bitter home

such a rude welcome home: hopping onto the airport train into town (note: i didn't call it downtown!), with a 15kg backpack on my back, a daypack on my front, and carrying a laptop, no one remotely budged to offer me a seat on the rush hour train. this happened on the train to the north shore too, not just on the airport line. i was slouching near a lady using a walking cane, who was also forced to stand by the neatly pressed suits with eyes down, clearly avoiding eye contact. at what point did simple courtesy or even basic manners escape the common commuter? the lady from aqis who confiscated my beef and turkey jerky was more friendly and humane than the knobs on the train.

it always strikes me when i come back from overseas, especially when returning from highly cultured and vibrant places in europe and asia, how stagnant it can be here. how and when did the daily grind get to people's spirits too? i'm not talking about the religious spirit (because there isn't one dammit) but just one's energy for life, to want to be alive and enjoy being on this planet. is this what life is really about, scowling on the morning train commute avoiding eye contact, or is this just what happens when life gets too comfortable with a nice medicare system and government pension awaiting you?

screw this. i'm heading south to the international arts festival for some vibes. i hear there's a production of shakespeare's romeo+juliet set in pizzerias, performed in lithuanian. food and the bard? yes please.