crap in the street

 

Seen quite a lot of crap in the street lately. I don't know what's bringing it on but perhaps with the warmer weather people no longer feel the need to keep their crap bottled up and instead feel like sharing it with the community. That's North Melbourne, what a town. 

this post has nothing to do with my cats or any cats, but these days I feel the need to provide a picture of something just to lull you into forgetting how dumbed down everything is by pictures of for instance cats

Not that things aren't dumbed down, way down, enough here.

So I have interlinked dichotomies re: health, pain, fitness, weightloss etc which form a kind of ker-plunk situation probably not uncommon in the almost-56-year-old-men demographic. I have the pain, which I have whinged about previously; I finally made it to the doctor’s on Wednesday unless it was Thursday and she figured I had a slightly (maybe she didn’t say slightly) inflamed (or similar term) vertebrae. The trick, she says, is to strengthen the muscles around it so as to keep it in place and not sticking out hurting me. She recommends physio and that is I suppose something I have to do. But in the meantime, I just joined the gym again after a year away and no bull, I hate it but I am really keen to start going there again on a very regular basis. But I don’t want to, you know, hear a pinging sound and see that disc bouncing out onto the wall. As mentioned previously (thanks for caring) yes I can maintain 10 000 steps a day and my daily average for 2021 is in fact slightly over and I aim to keep that going. Sorry to bring it up but I know that is what diaries are for, and if you want to read my diary, well gee whiz you get what you get because, news just in, it is what it is.

 

Speaking of which in the last week or so I have had password hell with two media orgs I subscribe to, Slate Plus (longtime member) and Crikey (recent convert). Slate Plus has always been a bit iffy with proper labelling of its podcasts on its site, so you kind of take a stab in the dark whether you get the ‘Plus’ version (longer with a coda) or the regular version which has ads. I can’t stand the ads. Of course, being in Australia they almost never have anything at all to do with me, things I couldn’t buy even if I was inclined. So it is galling to have to listen to them. But now when I try to access the ‘Plus’ version of the podcasts (or ‘Dear Prudence’, the text advice column, which frankly I am addicted to) I have to go through a rigmarole of logging in and then the humiliation of being admitted to something I should not have log in for but at the same time being told that I could not, at this point, make the transaction. UGH.

 

Crikey has just been sending me on a change-your-password-thanks-your-password-change-is-successful-oh-who-are-you-change-your-password trek which sucks and also as some would say blows. OK I managed this one by complaining to them (sorry, I would have complained to you first but I’ve been busy) and they sent me what I assume is a generic password for Crikey which I’m just going to keep using until I can’t anymore. 

 

If you know anything about the two above you’ll know that they are left-leaning online journalism sites from the US and Australia respectively. I have been a Slate adherent for 8 or 9 years. I bit the bullet and took on Crikey a few months ago and while at first I was doubtful (perhaps, I now think, not much was happening over summer) it is paying off in terms of in-depth actual news, political news, which I enjoy. My leftist world view was created by my parents being intelligent from the mid-1960s and exposing me to the appropriate views, proof, rhetoric. I was leftwing before I knew what it meant, like supporting a football team, but when I found out what it meant I realised it was appropriate to what I actually believed, lol. I remember a long series of arguments with my Auburn South Primary School friend John Parncutt about Liberal vs Labor at a time when I could barely often recall (those two words do seem kind of similar – was that deliberate on the part of the Liberals?) which word stood for my alignment. John would ask me why I thought Labor was the best party to lead the nation and fuck it, I was ten, I had no idea of anything at all, of course, except that Enid Blyton was exciting and ABBA were grand. Looking back I now suspect that had I actually posited anything like a reasonable response he would have shat and died, because he certainly (in my memory anyway, maybe blocked it out) didn’t have a policy position on anything except that the Liberal Party was his family’s football team. In any case, I have always essentially voted Labor (yeah, I have actually often voted Greens, particularly in Broadmeadows where it feels like Labor’s so rusted on anything that puts a bit of a sad old damp firework under it might be useful) and, unimaginative as it might seem, I kind of like them. I have no special idealism and I don’t even, really, care about people above everything (I care about people I care about, but I also care about animals I care about, I also, I am sure I’ve mentioned this, question the whole notion of a world-view concocted as though what you/I care for really matters). 

 

Last night I recorded two hours of lecture to my computer to be released unto students on Tuesday. By the end I was very croaky and in that weird state – I have to say it is almost pleasurable – of feeling like I’d run out of vocabulary, just a general exhaustion of verbality. My lectures, by the way, are not written so much as commentary to a series of assembled slides. I try to have a summary at the beginning, but I tend not to have a summing up, and usually that’s because I like to keep things open-ended. I don’t believe there is a neat ending, and to imagine one is to cut yourself off intellectually. Everything bleeds into everything else. I spend hours telling students that mid-century modernism* is still heavily affected by some of the concerns of the late 19^th century, and then I say ‘so to wrap that up, no-one is prey to their formative influences anymore, year zero came along and the reset was entirely successful’ - ?!

 

Today I have to write another lecture, almost completely from scratch (there will be some callbacks to the first week of lectures – this is for undergraduate students who are not dumb but I think do need a little bit of hand-holding, JUST NO SPOONFEEDING, early on). It will be great, I have good material, but the composition of it will be arduous. Fortunately, as I always tell everyone in my usual smug way, I really enjoy my job. 

 

*By the way it occurred to me while I was talking about that that the mid-21^st century is looming on the horizon; a book I was reading for review this week which claimed to be about ‘mid-century’ began its narrative in the 19-teens. 

found some stuff

I have probably previously mentioned how Andrew Withycombe once said something very wise, wry and funny to me: 'Life's not that short'. And I go looking in the back room for stuff and I find one of my old sketchbooks, and because I seem to have gone back to it a few times, it's a mixture of things dating back to my undergraduate days (eg the address of a girl I was in a history class with, her name was Antigone) and things from the last few years (a New Estate handbill) and notes from the Blairmailer album recording sessions (1993?) and so on - it's hard to make much sense of as an object in itself, particularly since half the pages and the cover have been torn off.

This was in there on loose pages, I had forgotten that we had gone so far as to design a record cover for this one-afternoon-supergroup, I think one of the tracks ended up being on a 555 compilation - funny. I wonder why we never released the single. It might have been good.

I vaguely remember working on this narrative and I seem to recall that this was about 1996. I was obviously frustrated ultimately by the way I messed up the carriage wheel because I for some reason drew it a more appropriate size and then ended up abandoning the whole page, apparently. There wasn't any other part of this long comic strip in the sketchbook so either I ripped out all the bits that I did use, or... dunno. I think that's the only possible explanation, really.

There are a lot of these kinds of notes, which I guess kind of date from the days before I knew how to make notes properly and was sort of going through the, or some, motions. I don't really know what this refers to. It may have had something to do with my honours thesis from 1995, but that's just surmise.

This is an odd sketch I did, I guess of two of the main characters in one of the billions of longer comic strip narratives I started and didn't really finish called 'I am not your superstar'. I don't usually do sketches like this, but in this case, it would appear, I did.

There is something about this that makes me feel a bit weird. I wonder what I was trying for. Well, what does any doodler try for? You begin as a doodle and you go on to make change in the world, don't you. Right on.

last one I promise

Are you cheat​ing on someo​ne right​ now?
Not right now I'm filling in another of these ridiculous questionnaire things I nicked from Sadie.

Has anyon​e told you latel​y that they would​ alway​s be there​ for you?
Lately? I must be very secure because I am not sure.

Would​ you ever get a tatto​o?​​​​​​
Maybe with my name and address.

Just how many peopl​e do you have a thing​ for right​ now?
Is it precision you're after? Just how many? A 'thing'? None.

Who was the last perso​n you have a misse​d call from?​​​​​​
Mia.

If you took a drug test would​ you pass it?
Do you pass with or without? I would pass for no drugs.

What did you do last night​?​​​​​​
I watched Rush and wrote stuff.

Do you think​ you can last in a relat​ionsh​ip for 6 month​s witho​ut cheat​ing?​​​​​​
History suggests that I can.

Day been rough​?​​​​​​
Not so far.

Do you dye your hair?​​​​​​
That would be some dye.

Tell me about​ the shirt​ you' re weari​ng?​​​​​​
I bought it at Savers in Greensborough seven or eight years ago. It features a stick figure with its mouth open in a house-shaped shape, and the words 'Don't just stand there... SING!' It is red.

Do you plan on going​ to colle​ge?​​​​​​
Every day.

Would​ you ever enhan​ce or get any kind of plast​ic surge​ry?​​​​​​
If I got a weird growth on my skull like the guy I saw on the bus yesterday, yes.

Someo​ne leave​s a note and flowe​rs on your car, cute or tacky​?​​​​​​
Tacky, scary.

Do you have anyth​ing that belon​gs to your boyfr​iend/​​​​​​girlf​riend​?​​​​​​
I don't have a boyfriend OR a girlfriend.

What's​ one fact about​ the last perso​n you texte​d?​​​​​​
She likes parmesan cheese.

How has this week been?​​​​​​
Hot

When was the last time you were sick?​​​​​​
A month ago.

When you say you don'​​​​​​t care,​​​​​​ do you mean it?
Overall.

How old is the first​ perso​n on your top?
See above. He or she is a stick figure.

Where​ were you at 3:02 AM this morni​ng?​​​​​​
In bed asleep.

What woke you up this morni​ng?​​​​​​
Hungry animals.

When you are home alone​,​​​​​​ do you still​ close​ the door when you showe​r?​​​​​​
Come over and find out. Oh, then I won't be alone. It will have to remain a mystery.

What plans​ do you have for tonig​ht?​​​​​​
Find/kill you.

Where​ was the last place​ you fell aslee​p other​ than your bed?
Couch.

What time did you wake up this morni​ng?​​​​​​
6

What don’t​ you leave​ the house​ witho​ut?​​​​​​
Kicking Bela and calling him fat.

Have you ever had to pull over on the side of the road to puke?​​​​​​
It is not impossible.

Would​ you kill a hobo for 100,​​​​​​000,​​​​​​000 dolla​rs?​​​​​​
You mean, a crime which it is unlikely would be solved? I doubt it.

Have you recen​tly done anyth​ing that you would​n'​​​​​​t want your paren​ts to find out about​?​​
No.

Have you thoug​ht about​ an ex today​?​​​​​​
Not until I read this question and tried to remember what an 'ex' would constitute for me.

It's 4 in the morni​ng and your phone​ rings​;​​​​​​ who is it?
I don't know, but it's happened.

Do you think​ a lot of peopl​e think​ bad thing​s about​ you?
No, maybe a few.

Have you ever kisse​d someo​ne and hated​ it?
Yes.

When'​​​​​​s the last time you said you were okay,​​​​​​ but reall​y weren​'​​​​​​t?​​​​​​
Oh you know. Probably happens every so often. Not masking inner tragedy though. Perhaps inner boredom.

What do you think​ of peopl​e that do drugs​?​​​​​​
En masse, nothing. It's very common.

What happe​ned at 9 AM today​?​​​​​​
I was at work.

Do you know anyon​e who has messe​d up your life?​​​​​​
Messed up? Not particularly, hassled up, maybe.

When was the last time you were told you were beaut​iful?​​
8:47

Is anyon​e on your mind?​​
Myself

Is your phone​ close​ to you?
Potentially

Bet you'​​re missi​ng someo​ne now?
Gosh you're clever.

Last place​ you went out to eat?
St Kilda

Have you ever been cheat​ed on?
Fully, dude.

Is anyon​e inter​ested​ in you right​ now?
Possibly, you never know with people.

Do you get along​ with girls​?​​
Yes. I'm not retarded.

Have you ever thoug​ht about​ getti​ng your nose pierc​ed?​​
It's cheap to think. But in this case I don't even think I've thought about it. Thanks for that image.

What cant you wait for?
For you to learn all about apostrophes. (Nice one Sadie)

Rent a movie​ or go to movie​s?​​
Bit of both.

Have you had alcoh​ol in your syste​m this week?​​
Sunday.

Does your myspa​ce passw​ord have anyth​ing to do with a boy?
I am a boy and it's my password.

Are you happy​ with life?​​
My life is clearly better than most people's, through little effort on my part.

Could​ you cry right​ now?
No.

What were you doing​ this morni​ng at 7am?
Breakfasting.

Is there​ anyth​ing that you are cravi​ng right​ now?
Incentivation.

What do you need to be doing​ right​ now?
Making the world a better place.

Where​ was your defau​lt pictu​re taken​?​​
Mia's studio.

What were you doing​ at 1 AM this morni​ng?​​
Dreaming.

When was the last time you drove​ more than 30 minut​es?​​
Last week.

Do you wear the seat belt in the car?
I wear the seat belt in the car on the road.

Next vacat​ion you'​​re going​ on?
Nothing.

Do you like to text or call more?​​
No opinion.

Where​ will you be in an hour?​​
Work.

When was the last time you dance​d with a boy or a girl?​​
1978

Do you like to exerc​ise?​​
No

Whose​ bed did you sleep​ in last night​?​​
Mine.

What are you doing​ tomor​row?​​
Working.

What was the last thing​ you ate/​​drank​?​​
Toast/coffee

Bigge​st annoy​ance in your life right​ now?
Bela fighting Asha.

Have you spoke​n to your mothe​r today​?​​
No.

When was the last time you spoke​ to one of your sibli​ngs?​​
Last week.