We've just returned from another great night with Christina & Anthony, Jesse & Harrison (the 'potential in-laws' featured in the photo below), and Christina made a delicious Lamb Roast with all the trimmings, followed by a beautiful dessert. We had a really great time, but probably overstayed our welcome; they're difficult people to pull yourself away from. Thanks again guys for having us!
The other big thing I'm thankful for is that this week my Mum was offered a job...only two days after making the tough decision to leave her work in Sydney and move back to Melbourne sans employment. I don't know much about the new role, but Mum seemed impressed by them (and vice versa, clearly), so it's very exciting. It's amazing what can happen when you take a risk, I guess (though I don't have a lot of personal experience on that front). Mum's now looking for boxes, organising a 1 tonne van, and is set to start work early next month. Congratulations again Mum, and Welcome back!!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Monday, February 06, 2006
More from Mr Narnia...
I quoted C. S. Lewis in a recent post, and I suspect I'll make a habit of it. There's no writer with whom I feel a greater affinity, or whom I respect more for his carefully-structured arguments, the clarity of his writing, and his unique ability to approach complex and challenging topics in a succinct, relaxed, and almost-conversational way. Like Democracy:
As much as I love Narnia, I think that Lewis' non-fiction is his most brilliant. But since I can't see them making a movie based on "Compelling Reason", "The Abolition of Man" or "Mere Christianity", I'll just have to make a habit of including a few of my favourite snippets every week or so.
Matt
"I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man. I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason. A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government. The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they're not true. And whenever their weakness is exposed, the people who prefer tyranny make capital out of the exposure. I find that they're not true without looking further than myself. I don't deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation. Nor do most people - all the people who believe advertisements, and think in catchwords and spread rumours. The real reason for democracy is just the reverse. Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters." C.S.Lewis, "Equality", 1943
As much as I love Narnia, I think that Lewis' non-fiction is his most brilliant. But since I can't see them making a movie based on "Compelling Reason", "The Abolition of Man" or "Mere Christianity", I'll just have to make a habit of including a few of my favourite snippets every week or so.
Matt
Jessica's GREAT Grandmother
My Mum visited us for a little while today, before I dropped her off at the airport (she lives in Sydney). It was particularly great that she was able to spend some time with Jessica, as her work schedule has meant that she couldn't come down to meet Jessica until this weekend.
The two of them get along great, of course, which is no surprise to anyone who has met my Mum (she has that effect on people - especially the small ones!), and I think the admiration was pretty mutual. We got some lovely photos today, including these:
Mum/"Granny" also gave us some great and unexpected news: that she'll take her Victorian home off the rental market, resign from her current job in Sydney tomorrow, and move back to Melbourne once she's served out her notice. We're thrilled by the news (for SO many reasons), and we know that it took a lot of courage and faith to make the decision (moving is a daunting prospect, especially without a new job to move into). Good on you, Mum, we're really proud of you! Oh, and Jessica wanted me to tell you that she's really looking forward to some more cuddles very soon (though I expect she'll need to get in line behind all of her cousins).
The two of them get along great, of course, which is no surprise to anyone who has met my Mum (she has that effect on people - especially the small ones!), and I think the admiration was pretty mutual. We got some lovely photos today, including these:
Mum/"Granny" also gave us some great and unexpected news: that she'll take her Victorian home off the rental market, resign from her current job in Sydney tomorrow, and move back to Melbourne once she's served out her notice. We're thrilled by the news (for SO many reasons), and we know that it took a lot of courage and faith to make the decision (moving is a daunting prospect, especially without a new job to move into). Good on you, Mum, we're really proud of you! Oh, and Jessica wanted me to tell you that she's really looking forward to some more cuddles very soon (though I expect she'll need to get in line behind all of her cousins).
Friday, February 03, 2006
Black and White Blues...
Some days you feel it more than others, I guess.
Today was one of those days that I spent too much time reading the newspapers, slowly but steadily allowing myself to be depressed by the declining state of the human species. One graphic story related to the rape and eventual murder last weekend of two young Melbourne women by the convicted rapist who had been allowed to move in next door. Another story centred on a local woman allegedly killing her husband and leaving him in the family garage for 4 days while she hosted a New Years Eve party in the house (incidentally, we knew the victim). Other pages dealt with the high level corruption involving Australian wheat contracts with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Yet more pages revealed that the very company I work for has just been successfully prosecuted, and fined a record amount, for abuse of market power - a conviction that they spent 10 years, and $10,000,000 belligerently fighting. Even our local paper leads with a story of how one of our local councillors has just been charged on summons for falsifying documents and obtaining property by deception - all so that he could have a $3,600 personal expense paid for by the taxpayer. There were dozens of stories like this in just today's paper, but I don't wish to list them all. On one level everybody KNOWS how selfish, greedy, deceitful, malicious, violent, incompetent, weak, dishonest, opportunistic, evasive and cruel "people" can be, but some days you become more achingly aware of that fact than others. And it's often difficult to accept.
One of the small comforts I find, when I get to this point, is the knowledge that this isn't an entirely new phenomenon. While I sometimes tend toward thinking that evil, cowardice and corruption have never been more widespread (and I could be right about that), it's helpful to remember that previous generations have endured many of the same evils (though in different forms), and have somehow forged through them. C.S. Lewis has a great pespective on this issue, which he discussed in a 1948 paper entitled "On Living in The Atomic Age". While he was talking specifically about the Atomic Bomb, I think the message is still very relevant when talking about our increasingly-isolated, increasingly-fragmented, increasingly-corrupted & increasingly-cruel "society":
Today was one of those days that I spent too much time reading the newspapers, slowly but steadily allowing myself to be depressed by the declining state of the human species. One graphic story related to the rape and eventual murder last weekend of two young Melbourne women by the convicted rapist who had been allowed to move in next door. Another story centred on a local woman allegedly killing her husband and leaving him in the family garage for 4 days while she hosted a New Years Eve party in the house (incidentally, we knew the victim). Other pages dealt with the high level corruption involving Australian wheat contracts with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Yet more pages revealed that the very company I work for has just been successfully prosecuted, and fined a record amount, for abuse of market power - a conviction that they spent 10 years, and $10,000,000 belligerently fighting. Even our local paper leads with a story of how one of our local councillors has just been charged on summons for falsifying documents and obtaining property by deception - all so that he could have a $3,600 personal expense paid for by the taxpayer. There were dozens of stories like this in just today's paper, but I don't wish to list them all. On one level everybody KNOWS how selfish, greedy, deceitful, malicious, violent, incompetent, weak, dishonest, opportunistic, evasive and cruel "people" can be, but some days you become more achingly aware of that fact than others. And it's often difficult to accept.
One of the small comforts I find, when I get to this point, is the knowledge that this isn't an entirely new phenomenon. While I sometimes tend toward thinking that evil, cowardice and corruption have never been more widespread (and I could be right about that), it's helpful to remember that previous generations have endured many of the same evils (though in different forms), and have somehow forged through them. C.S. Lewis has a great pespective on this issue, which he discussed in a 1948 paper entitled "On Living in The Atomic Age". While he was talking specifically about the Atomic Bomb, I think the message is still very relevant when talking about our increasingly-isolated, increasingly-fragmented, increasingly-corrupted & increasingly-cruel "society":
"In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. 'How are we to live in an atomic age?' I am tempted to reply: 'Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.' In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation."
And he goes on...
"Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty."
And I particularly like the next bit...
"...the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things - praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts - not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs."
So I'll go back to not reading the paper quite so much, and instead get stuck into doing those other things. Darts or a pint, anyone?
Matt
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Best start saving for that Wedding...
An auspicious occasion today: Jessica is now officially 1 month old!
What better reason to post a current photo of Her Loveliness, although I'll say from the outset that it doesn't do her justice (none of the photos do!). But with that caveat in place, below is a photo taken this evening, February 2nd.
And as for those Wedding plans, well they're not that far fetched: we have already received one written proposal from a 7 month old "would-be-suitor", asking (extremely-politely) if he might have permission to ask Jessica out for an ice cream in 2026. He's a lovely little boy, and his parents Christina & Anthony are great friends, so unless Jessica is only interested in younger boys when she grows up, he could be in with a real chance. Here's a photo of the potential in-laws, on a recent trip into Melbourne over Christmas:
What better reason to post a current photo of Her Loveliness, although I'll say from the outset that it doesn't do her justice (none of the photos do!). But with that caveat in place, below is a photo taken this evening, February 2nd.
And as for those Wedding plans, well they're not that far fetched: we have already received one written proposal from a 7 month old "would-be-suitor", asking (extremely-politely) if he might have permission to ask Jessica out for an ice cream in 2026. He's a lovely little boy, and his parents Christina & Anthony are great friends, so unless Jessica is only interested in younger boys when she grows up, he could be in with a real chance. Here's a photo of the potential in-laws, on a recent trip into Melbourne over Christmas:
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
The Inclination SuperHighway (I want one of those!)
Looking for that perfect gift for the man in your life? (Are you reading this Melissa?...no, not seriously)
A colleague on the Ulead MUG Forum sent through a link for some pretty cool gadgets including an RC Battle Tank that fires real pellets up to 25metres and an uber-futuristic unit that projects a fully-functional, yet virtual, keyboard onto your desk. How fancy schmancy! (incidentally, the same site has lingerie made from those threaded candy bracelets, apparently...but I don't know where they are - I promise).
While I'm in the linking mood, have you checked out video.google? There are a huge number of weird and wonderful videos on there. There's definitely plenty of examples in both categories. The weird: an Eliza Dushku...umm...tribute music video which betrays a slighly unhealthy obsession, an over-the-top speech by a Microsoft senior executive, a treatise on the burgeoning romance between Ron Weasley and Hermoine Grainger etc), and the wonderful (the Asian Backstreet Boys show so much more passion and aplomb than the originals). But the supreme favourite in this household is "the Coolest Christmas lights you will ever see" - I can't remember how many times I've watched them. Check them out here (warning for dial-up friends: it's a 12MB file so it won't stream properly, but you can download it - which I recommend!)
Oh, and one final link (I need the practise), my Sister-In-Law has added a photo of Jessica to her major scrapbooking-themed blog: http://mutteringdeb.blogspot.com/
Matt
A colleague on the Ulead MUG Forum sent through a link for some pretty cool gadgets including an RC Battle Tank that fires real pellets up to 25metres and an uber-futuristic unit that projects a fully-functional, yet virtual, keyboard onto your desk. How fancy schmancy! (incidentally, the same site has lingerie made from those threaded candy bracelets, apparently...but I don't know where they are - I promise).
While I'm in the linking mood, have you checked out video.google? There are a huge number of weird and wonderful videos on there. There's definitely plenty of examples in both categories. The weird: an Eliza Dushku...umm...tribute music video which betrays a slighly unhealthy obsession, an over-the-top speech by a Microsoft senior executive, a treatise on the burgeoning romance between Ron Weasley and Hermoine Grainger etc), and the wonderful (the Asian Backstreet Boys show so much more passion and aplomb than the originals). But the supreme favourite in this household is "the Coolest Christmas lights you will ever see" - I can't remember how many times I've watched them. Check them out here (warning for dial-up friends: it's a 12MB file so it won't stream properly, but you can download it - which I recommend!)
Oh, and one final link (I need the practise), my Sister-In-Law has added a photo of Jessica to her major scrapbooking-themed blog: http://mutteringdeb.blogspot.com/
Matt
Work Schmerk
Well, nothing lasts forever, and I reluctantly returned to work this week. Spending 4 weeks with Mel & Jessica was fantastic, and it's been difficult to drag myself out the door each morning. I did suggest taking Jessica to work with me, at least on alternate days, but the breastfeeding thing won out in the end (Jessica has developed quite a habit for the "magic pillows" as we now call them). So I've had to compromise and take in a lot of photos, which all the ladies at work have appreciated ("she's beautiful - are you sure she's yours?" tee hee heee).
Work is pretty much as I remember it...(have you seen the BBC series of "The Office"?)...which is probably enough said. However, in an effort to do something positive about my otherwise-bland role at work, I have this week come up with an idea to pitch a DVD to my bosses - sort of a corporate training thing. If I can pull it off, and convince them to give it a go for a trial volume, I'd finally be combining one of my passions with my work: a blend that I never thought possible (and since I can't afford to leave a well-paying, albeit boring role, to pursue a satisfying but financially-dubious life in media creation, some sort of blending would be a brilliant way to evolve from one role to the other). I'll put the pitch to them (via DVD I think - that'd be uber-professional!) sometime in the next 3 weeks. Very exciting, very scary: will keep you posted, of course.
Matt
Work is pretty much as I remember it...(have you seen the BBC series of "The Office"?)...which is probably enough said. However, in an effort to do something positive about my otherwise-bland role at work, I have this week come up with an idea to pitch a DVD to my bosses - sort of a corporate training thing. If I can pull it off, and convince them to give it a go for a trial volume, I'd finally be combining one of my passions with my work: a blend that I never thought possible (and since I can't afford to leave a well-paying, albeit boring role, to pursue a satisfying but financially-dubious life in media creation, some sort of blending would be a brilliant way to evolve from one role to the other). I'll put the pitch to them (via DVD I think - that'd be uber-professional!) sometime in the next 3 weeks. Very exciting, very scary: will keep you posted, of course.
Matt
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