Trip: Brisbane (and stuff)
Brisbane: 26th to 5th, just passed the halfway point on my trip out here. Caught up with an old acquaintance, went to Dreamworld, went the Brisbane museum, met a few of Ron's friends, ate some okayish/passable mexican food, saw a bat and some barking geckos. Have a few really awesome photos, such as:
flying into Brisbane.
Ron (
) and I (
) went to Dreamworld and I took photos.
Brisbane is wet, humid... and has water restrictions?! Crazy.
Worst. Drought. Ever. :-P
Found an awesome, awesome bookstore here: Archives. Found a pile of mint condition Deadlands books for $10.50 each; Ron bought 'Godlike' with my encouragement. Big book shop, lots and lots of really cool stuff.
Noticed that there are an inordinate amount of people who take themselves too seriously. I mean, sure we make 'religion' and 'vegetarian' jokes, but what has gotten me was how many of them I seem to know / come across (not religious or vegetarian people, well, not many. I wasn't referring to them anyway. But having said that, I'm SURE I've offended a vegetarian somewhere). I've really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way it seems, and... well.. Wow. I'm really impressed with myself. I mean, either I am really, really good at this, or there a lot of people have never been online before (reference to usenet/forums/irc and 'flaming'/similar). I'm not actually saying anything in this paragraph, just making the general observation that either I'm awesome or people suck. *snicker*
Oh, this block will be continued in another post - one I had written and had meant to post after the recent mini-veg war on an earlier page. It will be full of shite, I assure you.
In related news, kudos to Swancon32 for their panels page.
Old girl stuff is crap. Actually, related to speaking of that, something which had been mentioned in person, but I thought I would bring it up here: It's been two years, two girlfriends, one job and one round-the-world trip later - you can all stop thinking of Wendy and I as "just broken up" :-P [no, no, I exaggerate; it was just really odd coming back and coming across people who were treating me like we had just broken up. It was like telling them that I had indeed graduated high school and gotten my drivers license, and a little further back then last week :-P] I've loved and lost since then. I've wanted and been desired. I've been spurned, cockblocked and kissed. Cié la Vie. Actually, along those earlier lines, just to be clear - Cara and I broke up when I left. I've been single for *thinks* about 8 months now. Now you all know :-)
New girl stuff is... Won't talk more about it here. One of those "play the hand out" sort of things. *chuckle*
Which reminds me, I was cleaning out my laptop to make room for all the photos I've been taking (still have all the photos from my round-the-world trip on it), and I came across something I wrote way back in 2004 that is full of card/poker references and sappy optimistic sentiments :-)
My life as a poker game...
It hasn't been a bad game. Generally my chips have grown as I've played and the dealer has been fair.
Then I got dealt a bad hand, one which would have put me out of the game for a while. Instead of passing and moving on to the next hand, I bluffed. Another bad hand, then another. I got so good at bluffing that I just stopped looking at the cards dealt. It was better than not playing, right? Was I still playing? I'm not sure. Everyone else still was, but I just didn't notice their bets anymore.
Then, SHE called my bluff. I... folded.
It wasn't a game. She took the pot, and left the table. I was left with nothing.
I didn't want to stop playing, but I needed to ante up. All I had left was my heart. I asked around the table, looking to the other players. Everyone has lost a hand at one time or another, and when the hat came back, thanks to the generosity of the other players, I was able to play again.
I'm still down a lot from where I started, but I'm a better player now.
Deal me in.
Yeah, sorry, that was verging on emo and taking the metaphor just a bit too far, but at the time I liked the imagery.
On that note, I'll go on a rant, as I am wont to do. This is infact an educational announcement, please pass it on.
Girls who "want to remain friends" after a breakup is bullshit. This is sad, but true. The entire concept isn't about keeping friends, it's about a deep seated need to be liked by everyone and disliked/hated by no-one. The only reason a guy remains friends with a girl afterwards is blind, idiotic hope. The only reason a girl remains friends with a guy is to show how "mature" she is to those around her. But in both of these cases, it is friend in name only.
Now, please understand I am talking about =friends= here. Not acquaintances, not simply tolerated, but honest to god =friends=. Who, just like in the old days, you invite over for movie nights, go out to stuff with - and not just because you have mutual friends and are tagging along.
There seems to be a few exceptions which prove the rule. The first is if the guy's blind, idiotic hope turns into reality - then he's a "friend". The second is denial of the situation.
I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong; but remember, I said _friend_. Also, being "in the zone" doesn't count. :-P
I'm already planning my next trips; I know, and I haven't even come back from this one!
#1: Cider country: Road trip down south, convoy style if there are enough people. No motorhome this time! Just my freshly LPG converted car :-) I'll be going over the weekend before Swancon (March 30th to April 2nd). If you're interested in visiting cideries and wineries, let me know (either here, email or otherwise) and we can discuss details. I currently have 1 interested and 2+ maybes.
#2: Singapore: A little bit more expensive, but still damn cheap. Still in the planning stages, but looking at late July, going for a week. Currently under $400 for a return ticket, all taxes included, but I will need to work out accomodation. I currently have 2 possibles and 2+ maybes. We'll talk, sort out who's going, where we're going and such closer to the date, but I'll be organizing this way in advance to get cheap tickets.
So: Singapore. 1 week. Under $1000 for flight, accomodation, food, etc.
Australia Day was pretty good, Lee's Dimsum, Lyall's party and such:
I thought Tiny Mix Tape Generator had gone away, but *whew* just changed it's site layout (and thus URLs). Go here: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/index.php?rubrique6 for awesome.
I was recently introduced to Wesnoth, a free turn-based fantasy strategy game. I started playing it just the other night and it is rather addictive. Difficult, and plays like a solid, normal (board) wargame. Hexes, Zones of Control... Also has good campaigns, GREAT multiplayer capability, balanced races (apparently) and did I mention free?
late addition: Nearly forgot - Ron and I mucking about at the Museum:
flying into Brisbane.
Ron (
) and I (
) went to Dreamworld and I took photos.
Brisbane is wet, humid... and has water restrictions?! Crazy.
Worst. Drought. Ever. :-P
Found an awesome, awesome bookstore here: Archives. Found a pile of mint condition Deadlands books for $10.50 each; Ron bought 'Godlike' with my encouragement. Big book shop, lots and lots of really cool stuff.
Noticed that there are an inordinate amount of people who take themselves too seriously. I mean, sure we make 'religion' and 'vegetarian' jokes, but what has gotten me was how many of them I seem to know / come across (not religious or vegetarian people, well, not many. I wasn't referring to them anyway. But having said that, I'm SURE I've offended a vegetarian somewhere). I've really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way it seems, and... well.. Wow. I'm really impressed with myself. I mean, either I am really, really good at this, or there a lot of people have never been online before (reference to usenet/forums/irc and 'flaming'/similar). I'm not actually saying anything in this paragraph, just making the general observation that either I'm awesome or people suck. *snicker*
Oh, this block will be continued in another post - one I had written and had meant to post after the recent mini-veg war on an earlier page. It will be full of shite, I assure you.
In related news, kudos to Swancon32 for their panels page.
Old girl stuff is crap. Actually, related to speaking of that, something which had been mentioned in person, but I thought I would bring it up here: It's been two years, two girlfriends, one job and one round-the-world trip later - you can all stop thinking of Wendy and I as "just broken up" :-P [no, no, I exaggerate; it was just really odd coming back and coming across people who were treating me like we had just broken up. It was like telling them that I had indeed graduated high school and gotten my drivers license, and a little further back then last week :-P] I've loved and lost since then. I've wanted and been desired. I've been spurned, cockblocked and kissed. Cié la Vie. Actually, along those earlier lines, just to be clear - Cara and I broke up when I left. I've been single for *thinks* about 8 months now. Now you all know :-)
New girl stuff is... Won't talk more about it here. One of those "play the hand out" sort of things. *chuckle*
Which reminds me, I was cleaning out my laptop to make room for all the photos I've been taking (still have all the photos from my round-the-world trip on it), and I came across something I wrote way back in 2004 that is full of card/poker references and sappy optimistic sentiments :-)
My life as a poker game...
It hasn't been a bad game. Generally my chips have grown as I've played and the dealer has been fair.
Then I got dealt a bad hand, one which would have put me out of the game for a while. Instead of passing and moving on to the next hand, I bluffed. Another bad hand, then another. I got so good at bluffing that I just stopped looking at the cards dealt. It was better than not playing, right? Was I still playing? I'm not sure. Everyone else still was, but I just didn't notice their bets anymore.
Then, SHE called my bluff. I... folded.
It wasn't a game. She took the pot, and left the table. I was left with nothing.
I didn't want to stop playing, but I needed to ante up. All I had left was my heart. I asked around the table, looking to the other players. Everyone has lost a hand at one time or another, and when the hat came back, thanks to the generosity of the other players, I was able to play again.
I'm still down a lot from where I started, but I'm a better player now.
Deal me in.
Yeah, sorry, that was verging on emo and taking the metaphor just a bit too far, but at the time I liked the imagery.
On that note, I'll go on a rant, as I am wont to do. This is infact an educational announcement, please pass it on.
Girls who "want to remain friends" after a breakup is bullshit. This is sad, but true. The entire concept isn't about keeping friends, it's about a deep seated need to be liked by everyone and disliked/hated by no-one. The only reason a guy remains friends with a girl afterwards is blind, idiotic hope. The only reason a girl remains friends with a guy is to show how "mature" she is to those around her. But in both of these cases, it is friend in name only.
Now, please understand I am talking about =friends= here. Not acquaintances, not simply tolerated, but honest to god =friends=. Who, just like in the old days, you invite over for movie nights, go out to stuff with - and not just because you have mutual friends and are tagging along.
There seems to be a few exceptions which prove the rule. The first is if the guy's blind, idiotic hope turns into reality - then he's a "friend". The second is denial of the situation.
I'm hoping someone will prove me wrong; but remember, I said _friend_. Also, being "in the zone" doesn't count. :-P
I'm already planning my next trips; I know, and I haven't even come back from this one!
#1: Cider country: Road trip down south, convoy style if there are enough people. No motorhome this time! Just my freshly LPG converted car :-) I'll be going over the weekend before Swancon (March 30th to April 2nd). If you're interested in visiting cideries and wineries, let me know (either here, email or otherwise) and we can discuss details. I currently have 1 interested and 2+ maybes.
#2: Singapore: A little bit more expensive, but still damn cheap. Still in the planning stages, but looking at late July, going for a week. Currently under $400 for a return ticket, all taxes included, but I will need to work out accomodation. I currently have 2 possibles and 2+ maybes. We'll talk, sort out who's going, where we're going and such closer to the date, but I'll be organizing this way in advance to get cheap tickets.
So: Singapore. 1 week. Under $1000 for flight, accomodation, food, etc.
Australia Day was pretty good, Lee's Dimsum, Lyall's party and such:
I thought Tiny Mix Tape Generator had gone away, but *whew* just changed it's site layout (and thus URLs). Go here: http://www.tinymixtapes.com/index.php?rubrique6 for awesome.
I was recently introduced to Wesnoth, a free turn-based fantasy strategy game. I started playing it just the other night and it is rather addictive. Difficult, and plays like a solid, normal (board) wargame. Hexes, Zones of Control... Also has good campaigns, GREAT multiplayer capability, balanced races (apparently) and did I mention free?
late addition: Nearly forgot - Ron and I mucking about at the Museum: