I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

I've just seen a ghost.

His name is Clyde.

bright random useless

Looking west atop Mount Wellington. May 2010.

The combination of cloud, altitude, intense cold and lingering snow made me think that I could see an albino rainbow when we'd ventured up the mighty rock. Am I mad or does thou see it too?

Morning Glories, by Mary Oliver

Blue and dark-blue
rose and deepest rose
white and pink they

are everywhere in the diligent
cornfield rising and swaying
in their reliable

finery in the little
fling of their bodies their
gear and tackle

all caught up in the cornstalks.
The reaper's story is the story
of endless work of

work careful and heavy but the
reaper cannot
separate them out there they

are in the story of his life
bright random useless
year after year

taken with the serious tons
weeds without value
humorous beautiful weeds.

A bad man is the sort who weeps every time he speaks of a good woman.

This one was taken on my birthday a couple of weeks back. There sure was some interesting light going on over the water down south.

For a second there, Ez was convinced that he'd seen a sea dragon!

The prerequisite of originality is the art of forgetting, at the proper moment, what we know.

The corner of Murray and Davey Street. May 2010.

I quite like the colours of an autumn evening, even if I rarely am out and about it in with the camera.

I blame vampires.

And werewolves.

Bloody werewolves.

It is not length of life, but depth of life.

Last Friday, Henry, Jen, Ezra and I all climbed up Mount Wellington to check out the snow. There wasn't a lot, but it was cold enough to have preserved a small amount from the previous day's fall.


What was more interesting was the view from high up in the clouds. From down below, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Except for a small amount lingering at the summit of Mount Wellington.

This was our mission.

An ascent into the clouds!



I've more photos (of course), so stay tuned...

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.

Henry, Ezra and Jen checking out a wallaby. April 2010. It was delicious.

It's Theme Thursday again, and this week another challenging theme: PET. It's particularly taxing as we don’t have any PETs in our house. There is simply no room, in both a physical as well as a metaphysical sense.

You see, we have small children instead.

Childless couples I know often compare PET ownership to child ownership. Most of them - if not quite equating the relationship - sail very close to the wind in that regard. Having owned a few PETs in my time, and now having racked up a few years of being punished blessed by children; I feel more than certain that the fissure between PET and child is immense.

This got me thinking further. What about the advantages and disadvantages of a PET versus a child? Which is better?

Yesterday evening, and well into the night, Jen and I tagged teamed off with our two children: her with a repetitively vomiting Henry and I with an intermittently wailing Ezra (I know who got the better of that deal). During that spiritually enriching but physically tiring experience, a few things came to me that leads me to conclude that having a PET has plenty of upside...

✓ You can throw your PET outside if it plays up; children have all sorts of legislative protections against that, especially in the colder months.

✓ A PET is significantly less likely to talk back when you’re scolding it (unless it is a parrot).

✓ It is more common to give your PET a flippant, rude and/or silly name than a child (although I do note that this appears to be changing).

✓ Socially, it’s more acceptable to house your PET in a detention centre while you enjoy a carefree holiday than it is a child.

✓ There seems to be less fuss made if you decide you’ve had enough of a PET and choose to give it away through a classified advert than there would be with a child.

✓ Ultimately, there are mechanisms in place that – if you’ve had a gutful of your PET, and you’re sick of it wrecking your stuff, chewing your furniture, keeping you up all night, getting poo all over the place and vomiting all over you – allows you to [ahem] quickly, quietly and [ahem] efficiently, remove the problem for good.

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.

Don't let it be said that he is anything other than a little angel.

A little angel with a propensity to screech.

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.

The last of the cruise ships in Hobart, April, 2010.

Here is part two of the meme...

11. What's the best bargain you've ever found at a garage sale or junk shop?
I'm not sure that I ever have. I've enough junk of my own, let alone picking up others'...

12. Where were you on September 11, 2001?
I was in bed with my future wife. We spent a large part of that year in bed, come to think of it. I'm not sure I was all that aware of events until the next day.

13. What's your favourite tree?
I am quite partial to the good old Araucaria heterophylla.

14. What's the most interesting biography you've read?
If This is a Man and also The Truce by Primo Levi is an excellent two part autobiographical tale.

15. What do you order when you eat Chinese food?
It's been a while. I like a nice special fried rice. If I can switch to Korean I love the Kimchi Fried Rice.

16. What's the best costume you've ever worn?
Costume? I seem to draw attention every time that I wear a suit. Does that count?

17. What's your least favourite word?
A long list. At the moment I hate the word 'interface' when peeople mean 'meeting'.

18. If you had to be named after one of the 50 states, which would it be?
I'm confused. We only have six states. I'd call myself "Van Diemen'...

19. Who's your favourite bear?
The confused little one from deepest, darkest Peru with a taste for elevenses.

20. Describe something that's happened to you for which you have no explanation.
Henry, the loudest little boy in the world.

All children have to be deceived if they are to grow up without trauma.

Here is Henry.

He is not very well behaved at the moment.

Ads that I like: #99

Murder?

Incest?

Adultery?

Sodomy?

Blasphemy?

Amateur theatre?

No, the worst sin in Christendom is chucking food out.

Let that be a warning, Henry...

Egotism is the anaesthetic that dulls the pains of stupidity.

Art in action. April 2010.

In a rush, here's part one of a meme...

1. What's your favourite Dr. Seuss book?
I loathe Dr. Seuss. I mean, really, he just makes words up and yet still can't work out regular metre?

2. If you could live in any home on a television series, what would it be?
Robin's Nest, from Magnum P.I.

3. What's the longest you've gone without sleep? Five or six days. I wasn't really keeping track.

4. What's your favourite Barry Manilow song?
What? I think that the only song of his I know was called Mandy, but I can't recall anything about it. Whether that makes it my favourite, I can only guess...

5. Who's your favourite Muppet?
The now apparently dearly departed Guy Smiley.

6. What's the habit you're proudest of breaking?
I stopped chewing my nails. Then I had children.

7. What's your favourite website?
I don't play favourites, although if you click the link you will find an excellent example of web savvy.

8. What's your favourite school supply?
4B pencils.

9. Who's your favourite TV attorney?
Arnie Becker was my favourite, but I still like the sound of "Victor Sifuentes"

10. What was your most recent trip of more than 50 miles?
50 miles equates to 80 kilometres. I had a meeting in Campbell Town yesterday, so that journey all up was about 288 kms, or about 152 miles. You all know how much I love meetings...

If you want to be happy, be.

Have you seen that movie The Terminator?

This is kind of like that, only with a toddler...

Life is a long lesson in humility.

The CSIRO crane under some morning cloud. April, 2010.

Galveston.

Scarborough.

Wichita.

Jackson.

Lodi.

Impanema.

But there are no good songs about Hobart.

Make no mistake about why these babies are here - they are here to replace us.

So THAT'S how those crop circles got there!

It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.

Seagull sitting in gravel at Bellerive. April 2010.

Any pride that I once had at having the two loudest children on the planet has quickly dissolved into sombre resignation.

Which leads me to today's Sunday Top Five, Ezra's Top Five Sayings!

"HELLO!"

"LOOK AT ME!"

"AARRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!"

"AHHH-HAAA!"

"OH NO!!!!"