Saturday, September 27

Being on the losing team


So today saw my football team lose the grand final. It is only the second game of the season that we have lost. Of course at the end of the day that means nothing.

Right now it does not matter that for the entire year Geelong has outclassed and outplayed every other single team in the competition. For on the day that counted the most they crumbled like Nanna's cookies.

I was hoping to find a picture of a team sitting down crying their eyes out and while there are many of them of Geelong on the day I am not interested in the associated copywrite issues. So as always I turned to my faithful Free Images site and found this beauty aptly named defeat. Thank you to J Boontje for sharing it

Saturday, September 13

Word Limit


I have just come up with the most brilliant idea ever!!!

I am putting a self imposed word limit of 500 words on all of my posts. The Internet reader has a short attention span and studies have shown that much past 500 the attention has is lost.

The other big plus is that in theory this should mean more posts! For those times when I really feel the need for a long ramble I can split it in half and get twice as much.

The article which prompted this brilliant idea is called The Problem and can viewed right below this post.
The second part will follow shortly but I don't think it will be called The Solution as many may well expect. Stay tuned for further details or better yet subscribe to an RSS Feed and never miss an issue!

Today's photo is one of my first taken with my flash new toy. If you look hard enough you can see a bird. Hopefully it won't be long till I have the whole zoom thing worked out!

The Problem

I think that I am unhappy with the fact I am not writing enough.

This of course is easily blamed on a lack of time. Naturally this is not really the case. Given the amount of time that I spend playing PackRat, I appear to have all the time in the world.

Of course it is easy to find time to play a game. Especially when other time consuming activities may include, cleaning, cooking, washing dishes and just generally living a functional life. A game is fun and enjoyable. Unless your name is Mary Poppins nobody likes domestic duties. Even though I love her dearly I am by no means her clone.

However if I really want to write that much why does the game continue to win me over?

After all, the game requires little to no thought and there is definitely no risk of physical exhaustion. (Mind you after more than 4 hours or so it is recommended that players stretch their legs for 5-10 minutes to regain circulation in the lower limbs and back.)

I have always rather prided myself on my mental capacity and generally I have been keen to use it on a regular basis. However this mind numbing addiction sees to be over taking my life. Sure it is relaxing and modern theology is always encouraging society to take time out and relax.

However I get the feeling that to really earn the right to relax some level of activity is needed, which is where I am falling short. By activity I don't really mean exercise. I mean actually getting up and doing something other than sitting in front of the computer.

I am almost ashamed to admit my addiction. Remembering that it is after all just an online game. There are no winners or loses. There is a leader board amongst friends however I have only looked at it once. When all is said and done, it does not really take a great deal of thought to play the game. I mean you just sit there clicking away. Silently hoping that the next screen will yield the card which us currently your heart's desire. Of course some brain capacity is needed to remember which three cards will make something better. Which can then be traded for perhaps some better. For the most part however my seven year old could play without there being a slither of difference.

Yet I am unable to go more than a few hours without having a 'quick click' through just to see what I might be able to nab.

Now that I have clearly established that a lack of time is not really the issue let's see if I can locate any other underlying causes....

Unfortunately this post has reached it's word limit so I will have to keep you all in suspense while I start a new one

Sunday, September 7

Experiences

Pressing buttons, gaining experience
Image credit
Writing is often based on experience.

At least that is a connection I have always made. When I was younger I remember thinking no need for me to write yet I still have more 'experience' to gain.

I am still of the belief that I have more experiences to go through to enhance my writing ability, however even at the tender age of 30 the reality is I have had plenty of experiences that are worth writing about

So what makes an experience worth writing about I hear you ask. Hard to say really as I ask myself the same thing on a regular basis. Though a great writer can make any even the smallest thing sound exciting. The trick is in finding a way to engage people I guess...

There is no denying that we have 'experiences' everyday. As a life long learner new experiences are a regular occurrence. Really what if all boils down to though is perspective.

My perspective is that every time I met a new person it is the start of a new experience. In fact almost every conversation is the start of a new experience if you let it be. Sometimes it will just be an extension of a similar experience but all in all it is a new one.

So my new experience today involves shopping. Sure, I have been shopping before but today was slightly different. Today I was shopping with lots of money. Today I wasn't shopping for something that was needed. Today I was shopping to fulfill wants!

Hubby wanted a new TV. He is a big fan of keeping up with the Jones's, and they have a big flash TV. So naturally he wanted a bigger flasher TV. I have dreams of becoming an acclaimed photographer so I wanted a new SLR camera. (Why limit myself to writing I say!)

So thanks to the kind reimbursement from the tax man, our family is now the proud owners of a Panasonic 42 inch plasma TV and Sony Digital Twin Lens SLR.

How did this become and experience worth writing about?

Simple really. Everything about the purchase was positive. The sales assistant was friendly and helpful. My husband and I both come from sales backgrounds so we are very dubious purchasers. We always think we are getting ripped off (that is after all what salesmen do) Today however it didn't matter. Greg, our assistant made us feel totally comfortable with it. He was giving us exactly what we wanted.

However it was when we got our new toys home that the fun really began. We discovered that the TV was definitely too big for our existing entertainment unit (we had thought as much though). Not only that but in his rush to set things up hubby neglected to read the instructions which left us thinking we had not got a digital TV which was one of the main reasons we decided to upgrade. (Turns out we just needed to press the right button)

Meanwhile in camera land I have to wait nearly 3 hours before I could take a photo. Why they don't sell these things with a full battery I will never know. I also realised that my existing memory card would not fit and I needed a new carry bag. Thankfully the shop is just down the road!

Even going back was a pleasurable experience but not one I need to go on about much more for fear that your experience here may became tarnished as I head towards boring!

Was your last shopping experience worth writing home about?