Oh boooo. Booo to people with more money than me buying properties that I might have considered buying - before they even go to auction. I haven't even had the chance to bid yet. Booo.

There's some money gone into disability awareness around here at the moment. There are ads on TV and billboards with the slogan "see the person, not the disability". That's laudable, but the billboard I saw yesterday has the disabled person logo (the wheelchair with a person in it) holding a tennis racquet. When front and centre screams "DISABLED!" with a small, skinny piece of sports equipment on the side, what do they honestly think it's saying? "Tennis player", or "disabled man in a wheelchair playing tennis"?

http://www.adpunch.org/entry/scope-see-the-person-not-the-disability/

The TV ad with the guy singing to his music at the train station works though. It matches the message. But the billboards fail in that aim and only emphasise the problem through poor presentation.

At last I have seen Watchmen and can sum it up for those who ain't. In order of priority:

1. It's ponderously slow.
2. The good looking superhero girl has a great arse, but really skinny legs
3. The music over the sex scene does indeed take away any erotic thoughts you might have
4. Blue guy's powers are really inconsistent.

I have determined that while Spicks and Specks is a very popular show, I'm just not old enough to appreciate it. It's filled with questions about bands and artists I've only a vague inkling existed. I'll leave it for those firmly embedded in Generation X and whatever came before that. (Also, I suck at musical knowledge. Pick someone else for your trivia night team - unless there's a movies round.)

Jiu-Jitsu is waging a war on me. I have a sore head, a sore elbow (transferring its way all the way down to my hand), an upset stomach, bruises on my arms and a big cut on my leg. I'm sure this wouldn't happen if I was any good at it. Damn you, life!

Sometimes I think I'm just too social. I meet too many people, make too many friends, go on too many dates - you know how it is. It's for this reason that I bought myself an XBox360 today, so that the hundreds of people knocking at my door day and night can be drowned out by the sounds of me smashing things up in a virtual world.

On a more gastronomic note, I did indeed make cinnamon scrolls. The bread is a success but the sugary bit could use some work.

Interview time!

MrBen: So I woke up at 5:30 this morning because I had a dream where this rather large spider crawling along the floor suddenly leapt at me. What does this mean?
Dream Analyser: It means you're afraid of frickin' great spiders attacking you.
MB: It's not symbolic of anything?
DA: Not in the least. That's a common misconception when it comes to spiders in dreams. They're all "you must confront a fear" or whatevs, but spiders are just freaky. If I were you, man, I'd never go back to sleep.
MB: Thanks, Dream Analyser. I guess as I'm never sleeping again this'll be the last I'll hear from you.


I saw Let The Right One In last night at the Astor with nanobynight and I think the one word summary I can apply to it is... perplexing (or perhaps nonplussing if you want to create ambiguity, as most people disagree on what it means). I... I... I... just can't figger out what it's trying to say. The character motivations were... confusing? And this is just normal characters, not supernatural ones. If anything, those in thrall made more sense... sort of. I think? And the ending... umm... well... Err... I... I... can feel my face forming a baffled expression as I type. I... I... just, umm... yeah.

The gestation period is over! My evil sister's spawn has clawed her way out from the birthing chamber and is now wrecking havoc in our world.

In more interesting news: no pay review this year. Booo. Instead I'm getting $1000 (after tax) deposited into my account with my next pay. Yay, I suppose.

I get the impression I should have just stayed at home today, but I'm always kinda wary of taking Mondays off. Invariably of others I think that not being at work on a Monday suggests a misspent weekend rather than actual sickness. The fact that that's totally the case here has played my guilt like an old fiddle and thus I am here at work being lethargic.

I've don't something to my elbows. I don't know what, but leaning on them hurts and it's affecting my daily routine. What routine you ask? The routine where I lie in bed on my stomach in the morning for an hour after waking up with a bowl of cereal and lappy just beyond that. Can't be done. Frickin' elbows are the death of all that brings joy to me.

I started shopping around for home loans yesterday. Westpac, who I'm currently with, approved me on the spot for all the money I asked for and more. However, BankWest have a loan which is sooo much better, sorta $900 a year better. I wonder if anyone here has any experience with them? (Unlikely, but I just thought I'd suggest this entry is worthy of interaction in what is likely to be a nothing post to anyone but me.)

Last night for Beej's birthday we went off any played laser tag in Box Hill. We were slaughtered by a bunch of 18 year olds. Mind you there were a lot more of them, which does make it easier to slaughter a bunch of newbies. Afterward we had dumplings. Then we played X-Box games until 3am (explaining why I am so itchy-eyed today). I give a fail rating to Assassin's Creed.

The Cultured Man goes to the Clocktower Centre Theatre to see Tango's Violin. He is way heaps cultured you see. Unfortunately a lot of it turns out to be a rather self-centred ode to the woman billed as violinist, musical director, writer and narrator. Also, she dances. She should have stuck to her strength and let talented people direct, narrate, write and dance. The highlight of the evening was Thai food on Puckle Street.

My neighbour (to the side with the new fence) died recently, or so I presume. The only reason I think this is because I saw her son walking up the street this morning. He's lost a significant amount of weight and his skin is hanging from his face. He has some mental retardation and she seems to have been the only person in his life. I've never spoken to him before and I don't really know what I'd say to him now. In some ways I feel that by selling up and leaving I'm abandoning him. I don't know how it could be any other way.

Had a not-so-inspiring chat with my real estate agents yesterday evening in their offices. These guys really need to work on their rapport, particularly when lying to each other in front of me. Jason is a bit more upfront, and can afford to be as he's the grunt. When Nick drops the name of a client that he suggests he's pushing towards my property instead of another, Jase, you really need to enthuse with him on that score, not just look uncomfortable.

So the upshot (that they'll not explicitly state) is that they're a fair bit off their initial ambit claims because there just isn't the interest in the property. Le sigh. My aims for a new place may have to be scaled back somewhat.


Also, while there I saw my property brochure lined up with the others. It was sitting next to another that had the exact same clouds, just reversed. That's quality money obviously hasn't bought.

Spoke with my real estate agent over the phone just now and he described the interest in my place as "okay". This is not a ringing endorsement, yet it's probably more in line with my original expectations of what the place is worth. Always trust your gut, not a real estate agent.

Speaking of guts, I think it's kinda just struck me that it's all happening this week (and I do include Sunday in that. Sunday is the last day of the week, got it?). I'm more prone to oscillating emotions that I suspect won't get less oscillatey as the day approaches. I've been really scatterbrained and then depressed and then I laugh. Oh yes, the emotions are swarming. Doubtless I'll be trying to keep a tight reign on them... and fail in private.

I've taken it upon myself to go through the entirety of the entries I've made in LiveJournal - over eight years worth - and apply tags. This means there's more self-flagellation, more brainworks and so much more hand-to-mouth (in which absolutely nothing of interest happens). After slogging through the multiple entries per day of 2001-2002 I'm at February 2004, reliving some rather difficult memories that I thought would no longer affect me. Perhaps that I never wrote down the significance of 2003 made its events easier to laugh at, but 2004 seems to have a bit more emotional depth on the page. But nevertheless, it's good to see I've actually become more comfortable with myself. (However I am seeing a certain correlation between the number of women in my life and the amount of angst. *strokes chin* And this is what you're hoping to get back into, Ben? You're a crazy, crazy man.)


This long weekend definitely shows why I should line up activities with people beforehand. I've had absolutely nothing to do all day today and most of yesterday. I don't deal well with having nothing to do. With too many options and so much freedom I can't concentrate on any one thing. I need more personal challenges, dammit.

My parental units are off to the UK on Saturday for five weeks. The gestation period of my evil sister's second spawn is coming to an end and they're there for moral support. Sympathy for the devil? I think so. During this period I've been charged with the sacred task of feeding the chooks, finches and fish. I've also been given instructions on what to do if one of the chooks dies too, so that's always helpful.

Saw State of Play last night. I imagine that the original British series didn't seem quite so rushed at the end, but I also imagine it didn't have Rachel McAdams in it. I'd never been a complete convert to the superficial RMcA cause in any of her other films, but we all know the short hair and heavy eye make-up is totally my cup of tea. Gorgeous.

I tried on some $560 jeans today. They were good, but they weren't $560 good.

Some time ago my ISP was taken over by TPG. They put the final nails in the coffin this week and I'm getting messages every day telling me to switch my plan over to one of TPG's ADSL2+ plans. I have another three days to make my choice or my account will close in 21.

However, all the new plans have six month contracts on them and the most I'll be here is three. I will also need to buy new hardware as my existing modem is only good for original ADSL. Really, I was looking forward to saying adios and making a nice clean break when I moved. This is all just crap timing that could cost me a coupla hundred dollars.


Booo to TPG.

Apparently the first house inspection went well. Yet I can't help but be skeptical of the claims made by my agents. Did twenty groups actually go through my house on Saturday morning? Can they actually achieve for me the figure they've been peddling? I have no way of knowing. I'm just along for the ride, albeit a ride that requires me to clean a lot. Remember when I was soooo over painting? I can see this whole hard-core cleaning thing getting old real quick.

I went off house hunting after the markets. By accident I stumbled across an absolutely gorgeous place. I'm not sure I can actually buy it, given it is auctioned before mine, but a man can dream. Oh yes, a man can dream.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching DVDs. It was great... although that's not quite what can be said for the cold I seem to have caught. It's bloody 21C outside!

This morning I went shopping (I can eat again!), went to the gym (probably a mistake), paid $9 for a haircut (no colour though. I'm feeling so ripped off), received a mixed bag of critiques for my short story (interesting though. I may spend all day at work reviewing), got stuck in a lot of traffic (frickin' football fans) and popped in to wish my cousin a happy birthday (she turns 18 tomorrow). It was a full day. I should probably sleep.