I hate modern technology
Catch a cab, organise a lift or, better still, walk! You really need to attend a function, and there's no telling what the repercussions will be if you don't front. It's also imperative you catch up with that backlog of work too (those extra dollars, remember?) and, as a bonus, love may just occur by the light of the computer.
I am starting to be left behind in this digital bloody revolution. Don't even get me started on MySpace. My friend looked sadly at me the other day and said "you should delete your site - it's a bit crap". And although I was smarting, I had to agree. It's just that I can't be bothered beautifying things, don't really know how and have little time to devote to learning. But having said that, I still want a glamorous site. It's just not fair. I feel triumphant when I manage to load a picture on, but then I visit someone else's site and collapse with envy at the virtual paradise they have managed to create.
But it really makes me laugh, how we've created these replica worlds on screen. It's akin to wearing a smugly cook pair of limited edition sneakers versus sensible brown sandals. A flashy site makes it owner seem that much cooler, when in reality it's just all a bunch of pixels (she says bitterly). I don't even know how to get those nifty little menus down the right hand side!! Sigh, sigh, double sigh.
In other news, i was rudely awoken by my dear colleague T at 6.35am, when I was deep into a dream about a coastal serial killer. Having succssfully shaken off the evil man by hiding in a caravan with sandy knees quivering at my lucky escape, my heart nearly stopped when I heard a loud pounding at the door. Luckily it was just T, looking grim and annoyed at my accidental sleep-in. By the time I made it to the exercise bike 10 minutes later, I was still bleary eyed and not quite sure what was going on. I soon remembered as the resistance inched up a notch or two and my poor beleaguered legs were forced into action again and shuddered under the pressure. This time I had the Ipod for company and was able to reflect onthe previous night's achievements. Shorthand? Tick! Read poetry book ahead of interview? Tick! Eat healthy food? Tick! And so it went.
There is enormous mental satisfaction in being able to scratch things off the list. Yes, it is only black marks on paper but it helps a lot. I was also proud for the following reasons today:
- I refused to pander to a colleagues bad mood and responded with chirpiness and pleasantness (although that was probably horribly annoying and spurred on the bad mood)
- I refused to eat the cake proferred for two colleagues' birthdays (start as you mean to go on, I say!)
- I made rock-solid plans to go to the gym again at 6am tomorrow (gulp)
- I did not procrastinate (until I got home and then I wasted an hour reading up on my old school friend who disappeared to the country but now seems to have become an enormously popular musician in Fremantle)
All in all, not bad. As long as I do my shorthand homework tonight and get back to that salty and fantastic poetry book I will sleep happy. It is sort of annoying how my attention capacity has turned into shifting sands as far as books are concerned: at the moment I have started or am in the middle of far too many. They are (why I am doing this list I'm not sure - perhaps to solidify it for striking them off one by one?):
The Art of Travel: Alain de Botton
In the Time of Madness: Richard Lloyd Parry
Writings on an Ethical Life: Peter Singer
Midnight All Day: Hanif Kurieshi
The Art of Happiness: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Eats, Shoots and Leaves: Lynn Truss
The Best Australian Essays 2006 and The Best Australian Stories 2006: Various
Left Right Left: Political Essays: Robert Manne
Shantaram: Gregory David Roberts
Good grief. No wonder I am having trouble concentrating! Now, I have no idea who reads this blog - maybe noone! - but does anyone have any ideas on the order I should tackle these? I used to work really well with reading lists at uni; in life, my lists are one big shambolic mess.