blackjml ([info]blackjml) wrote,
2005-08-24 22:04:00

Fat Tuesday

Sydney. My holiday was less restful and less emotional than my trip to Melbourne. Fewer encounters with unattainable beauty and peace, more encounters with the life of energy and achievement that I've forsaken. Well, perhaps it was a little less bittersweet than all that ;) Actually a very enjoyable trip, if not precisely a holiday.

Good things

  • Seeing Nigel and Fiona again.
  • Seeing CHRis again.
  • The Twisted sprint
  • Guesting at Canonical Hacking Day
  • War of the Worlds
  • King of Swords, Michael Moorcock
  • Songs of Innocence and Experience, William Blake
  • New clothes
  • Poi
  • Watching Little Shop of Horrors again.
  • Visiting SpockSoc, the UNSW's scifi/fantasy/cult film society
  • Being told by a German native that my German barely any Australian accent
  • Eating beyond my means
  • Nufox


Bad things

  • Being called/emailed/texted from Hobart with things to do before I got back [*]
  • My bed collapsing beneath me on my second last night
  • Not staying near a train station
  • Spending nearly a whole day in Bondi Junction's Westfield
  • Paying for new clothes
  • Money slipping through my fingers
  • Not enough sleep
  • Becoming aware of how much effort it would require for me to participate
    seriously in a mathematical discussion.
  • Eating beyond my means


Interesting things

  • Sydney, like Melbourne, has its own distinctive cosmobabble. On buses and
    trains, other people's English conversations become indistinguishable from
    foreign languages.
  • I again maintain Trial
  • Meeting well-informed, opinionated hackers who haven't drunk the Twisted
    Kool-Aid
  • Installing Ubuntu on my Powerbook
  • Seeing Leigh's mural for the first time, covered with graffiti
  • Submitting a proposal for a talk at OSDC
  • Drawing general conclusions from my experience GMing Lucis.


At the moment, I'm thinking that if I go to Bible college (by no means certain), then I'll strongly consider going to one in Melbourne, rather than Sydney.

* If you did call me, please don't feel guilty. I went up at a time which I knew was going to be busy.

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  • 5 comments

[info]puzzlement

August 24 2005, 16:19:11 UTC 6 years ago

I feel bad about the eating beyond your means thing. We were eating beyond our means, and ours are meaner than yours!

[info]blackjml

August 24 2005, 19:21:26 UTC 6 years ago

Don't worry about it. :) As noted, it brings as much pleasure as it does inconvenience.

Anonymous

August 24 2005, 23:36:29 UTC 6 years ago

Yes, I remember Westfield Bond Junction! (My sister lives within walking distance.) It must be just about the biggest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere...

So why Melbourne over Sydney? That would be an excellent choice, of course, but I'm just wondering what your reasons would be.

JD

[info]blackjml

August 24 2005, 23:46:13 UTC 6 years ago

Lots of reasons. I prefer the vibe of the city; I have relatives in Melbourne whom I love very much; I've met the principal of Ridley twice and both times he has impressed me (not that I'm totally ruling out the Pressie colleges); It's an easier city to get around in; the greater proximity to Tassie means I'm more likely to see my family

Talking to Nigel and Fiona, who are at SMBC, that last one is pretty important. Even though there are a bunch of people from Tassie at Moore and SMBC, they rarely see them because of the cosmologically huge distances.

Don't get me wrong. I really love Sydney. It's just that, given the little data that I have, my preference swings southwards.

[info]dreid

August 25 2005, 11:54:06 UTC 6 years ago

Wait, we were supposed to get kool-aid?

I didn't get any kool-aid! :(
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