the week that was

Feels like it’s been a really long time since I posted anything here. I could give plenty of excuses but what it really comes down to is tiredness.

I am so tired. Mostly from work, I guess, but also because I haven’t been sleeping that well. Have woken up in the middle of the night a few times in this last week or so. For some reason, it’s always around 3-3:30am, too. Whatever.

Probably doesn’t help that I’ve been doing the late shift Wed-Fri this week. Doing the late shift just really stuffs up meal times, which probably also affects sleep.

Thank goodness it’s the week-end, though! This week has just dragged on so much. When it was Wednesday, it felt like it should have been Friday. Usually my sense of time isn’t that far off.

Also, can’t believe that it’s almost Spring! Only one more day of “Winter” left. I put that in inverted commas because it’s not really Winter weather any more. Temperatures have been getting into the high 20s (Celsius, that is). Not looking forward to Summer if this is how Spring is starting off…

Anyway, doesn’t matter right now. Time to sleep!

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9 to 5 hero

On my way in to work this morning, I randomly thought of this article-type thing that I’d read a while back, which advised something along the lines of looking at the stories you like and finding the common theme in them in order to determine something about your own values or goals or something… Yeah, I don’t really remember what it said, but surely you get my drift…

So I thought about the stories I grew up with – the books, TV shows, movies, etc. Well, mostly I thought of shows like ‘Pokemon’ and ‘Dragonball Z’.

Actually, I should back-track a little bit here. Prior to thinking about this, I was thinking about what I like about work, and I figured out that, for me, it’s not about having power or authority. For me (at least to some extent), it’s about having mastery over what I do. Put simply, it’s about being the best.

So that made me think of ‘Pokemon’ because we all know the ultimate goal of that show’s protagonist was to become the best Pokemon trainer ever. And then I thought of DBZ because I watched that in the same years that I watched ‘Pokemon’. But I think the thing with DBZ is that it’s not just about simply being the best ever – it’s about being the best you can be and about being better than your opponent, and not necessarily in terms of brute strength.

Thinking of the books I grew up reading – particularly books like those in the ‘Redwall’ series – I realise that last point was also pretty recurrent in my books. There’s an overarching emphasis on doing the right thing – for yourself, for others and for the greater good. Perhaps this is what I value about my work.

Well, to be fair, I’m sure that not all of the books I read and shows I watched had these sorts of themes running through them. I’m pretty sure that most of the time I only cared that they were entertaining and interesting. If I learnt something or developed some quality in me on the way, then that was a bonus.

superstars and cannonballs

I feel like it’s been a long time since I wrote a truly random post. I mean, I know a lot of my posts are kind of random but, if you look back at some of my older posts (if you can be bothered), you’ll find ones in which I just jump from one thought to the next with no/minimal attempt at a segue. Not that this is necessarily good or bad.

Looking back at older posts, and seeing who commented and liked them always makes me wonder who still reads my blog…

The other day, I was at a friend’s house, and a friend of this friend was choosing and playing some songs on a laptop. There were plenty of hits from the ’90s and other songs that conjure up fond memories, but I had not expected her to choose ‘The Animal Song’ by Savage Garden, which is actually my most favourite song ever. I didn’t think that anyone still remembered that song.

Would you like to make a run for it
Would you like to take my hand…

I was also pleasantly surprised when I selected it at karaoke last night, and almost everyone sang along (well, I think they did – I was too busy singing to really notice). Sure, there was a little bit of confusion at the start when people were trying to think of what the song sounded like, but once the music and lyrics kicked in, I was definitely not the only one belting it out.

I would like to note at this point, for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with karaoke, that there are two types of karaoke: one where you stand on a stage in a pub or restaurant or something, and another where you’re with a group of friends in a dedicated karaoke room. I only ever participate in the latter, as I do not have the confidence or talent to partake in the former.

I actually read somewhere recently that karaoke has been “scientifically” proven to be good for mitigating stress because of its effects on heart rate and breathing, particularly when groups sing together, so it was great to go out with this group of friends from work last night and do just that.

I want to run through the jungle
The wind in my hair
And the sand at my feet…

Hmm… this post doesn’t seem nearly as random as I had intended it to be… Oh well, no matter. It’s lunchtime now and the smell of garlic bread is wafting over from the kitchen.

three worlds

I started reading ‘Life of Pi’ (Yann Martel) today. This means that, probably for the first time ever, I am reading three books at the same time. This is what happens when there are too many books to read (or too many books that I want to read) and not enough time to read them all!

Well, I mainly started reading ‘Life of Pi’ today, despite being not quite finished with ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’ and being only just a bit into ‘Great Expectations’ (which a friend informed me is amongst the “top 10 books that people pretend to have read”) – I started reading it today because a friend lent it to me, and I happened to be 15 minutes early for work this morning, so I decided to get stuck into it.

I’m kind of wondering if I can manage to finish it over the week-end… but then I think I should probabl finish ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’ first if I’m at home…

At any rate, I certainly consider myself fortunate that my thoughts aren’t pre-occupied with many more dilemmas worse than this. (Always looking for the bright side!)