Those were the days

While out doing a few chores around noon yesterday, I walked smack dab into the local school's lunch break.

How did I know? Because I was overwhelmed by kids filing across the street, into the coffee shop and the food store, purchasing an array of junk food, fried foods, pop, rich creamy shakes and candy. Not an apple or a salad sandwich in sight.

Reminded me of my school days, when we used to order from the tuckshop (school canteen) on Mondays. My mum would insist I ordered a salad sandwich and a piece of fruit, but once out of view, I changed the order to two finger buns and a chocolate. Ah, teenage menus!

Now, I don't really care that kids are out spending their or their parents money willy nilly - not my concern, and I might have done the same thing if we were allowed in my school days. But what's with the out-of-school-at-lunchtime thing, and the out-anytime-there's-a-break thing? Doesn't anybody want to sit and talk and play basketball or cards or tweet together while on breaks? Get a head start on homework? Read a book and relax? Enjoy the schoolyard?

Okay, so I probably don't really care about that either. But it does seem a shame that so many kids would rather head off campus instead of staying around school and experiencing all they can while they can in the schoolyard. The lessons I learned in the schoolyard fully equipped me for the outside world, and some days I would give anything to be back there, learning those lessons over again.

Maybe I'm just old, or ignorant about the bullying and comparing and oneupmanship that goes on at school these days. But I have to admit, there are times when I wish I could relax with friends in the schoolyard and enjoy the simpler things in life. The bigger world is not always a great place to be. So, I don't understand the hurry to get out into it.

3D or not 3D

Time flies when you're watching television.

I remember my mum telling me that when TV arrived in Oz, she and Dad used to stand in front of storefront windows watching the black and white images on screen.

In the intervening sixty years, we've seen black and white give way to colour, VHS win out over BETA, 4 channels explode into hundreds, and bigger and bigger screens taking up more and more space in our living rooms - if not challenging us to build entire rooms to accommodate these big beasts.

Then suddenly, it was hi-def and blu-ray, with surround sound and the most exquisite visuals I've ever seen. And before I knew it, we were bearing witness to the 3D phenomenon that has already moved from our doorsteps into our lives.

To be honest, I didn't see that coming. Either I wasn't watching or I simply didn't think 3D could or would ever move from IMAX and its movie theatre cousins to our homes. I'm not sure I even have the space for a 3D TV, let alone want one.

Nothing personal, but it seems that like so many other technological advancements, it's all coming a bit too fast nowadays - I've barely had enough time to tap into the world of blu-ray ... although I will be the first to admit I'm a bit slow when it comes to most forms of technology.

So, for now I will probably stick with my little blu-ray TV and its untapped potential, saving 3D for an excuse to go out to the movies when I want to see the world loom larger that life before me.

And I suggest we forget about the next 60 years. The real question is what can we expect in the next 6 months!

Got any thoughts on the 3D phenomenon? Are you signing up, or will you join me on the sidelines ... for now?

Goodbye to then

Over the weekend, I considered the fate of several scrapbooks of pictures taken from the local paper, the Winnipeg Free Press. These pictures were carefully chosen and cut out over a period of two years, starting immediately after I moved to this spot in the heartland of the Canadian continent more than 15 years ago.

I began that endeavour as a way of recording time and events as I passed them by. A pictorial story to share with my nieces and nephews if and when they ever came to visit me here. A commitment that ran dry after two years because life simply moved too quickly for me to keep up the task.

As if to still time completely, each picture was placed in proximity to another that reinforced the particular story. Each scrapbook was stamped with a cartoon of the day or the event or the sentiment. It was a process that began with 'ooh, look at the telling pictures' and evolved into a memorial of transition from then to now.

Unfortunately, it takes effort to revisit the then on a regular basis, and I was pursuing the now so much that completed scrapbooks were relegated to storage space, and forgotten. Others in progress slowed when the glue ran out, the 'telling pictures' didn't, or another deadline loomed. Eventually, even those books in plain sight became invisible and unattended, wilting in their undusted corner.

In many ways, it was a tough decision to let those scrapbooks go, but when it was done, I felt neither joy nor sadness. There is a time and a place for everything, and although I did look back through each of those pages before I let them go, the memory of that endeavour was enough to satisfy my reminiscing.

Ultimately, they will do what all good stories do - become part of another. Recycled, then blended, then reborn in a new shape with a new purpose. A journey I interrupted when they came together and stayed a while in a story all of my making.

No harm in asking

I've put things out to the universe before, and occasionally something has come back. It may be what I asked for, or a variation on that particular theme, or something completely different, or, more often than not, absolutely nothing at all.

No harm in asking, I say. And so here I am, asking.

I need $4 million to buy and operate a property in Australia. Why so little, you ask? Well, let me break it down for you.

$3 mill for the property ...
- beautiful, expansive, top quality land
- fantastic views and great big trees
- close to town, far from the city
- 100% fair dinkum rural
- stocked with sheep and cattle
- several acres for crops
- complete with dams, fences and sheds
- large homestead, albeit in need of fixing up
- big veggie patch

$500,000 for renovations and repairs ...
- fix up the homestead
- repair and replace fences
- update sheds and equipment

$500,000 for other stuff ...
- feed for stock and grain for crops
- additional stock to enhance herd quality
- horses and dogs to help make it a real working farm
- farmhands, workers and owners/operators
- incidental expenses and safety net in case of natural disasters

Costs are approximate, but you get the gist of it.

You could just write me a cheque - or a check, if you're reading this in the US - or you could be the owner and let my partner and me be the operators. Whichever way you go, it will be more interest-ing than a bank and more fun than a tax write off. All of which adds up to an outstanding opportunity that will definitely make some kind of return for everyone involved.

So, Universe, if you're listening and you've got a spare couple of mill lying around with nothing to spend it on, please help me out here - after you've helped out everyone else who needs it more than me, of course. I promise to welcome it as if it was my own, and work hard to help it grow into the successful venture I know it can be!

Yeah, this probably sounds frivolous and self serving, but trust me when I say that you would be doing more than just changing someone's life. Anyway, whatever you can do will be great. Thanks a bunch, mate!

The results are in

In response to my impassioned inquiry as to whether I should go blonde, I received a stunning total of 7 responses from people who took the time to share their thoughts. With the final tally 4 : 3, it was hardly a resounding decision maker.

The four against were quite insistent that dark was my colour, now and forever, with Jan referring to me as "classy". On the other side, there was equal enthusiasm for the 'do it' point of view, with some people even sending photographic endorsements - thanks, Geoff.

Now, I could interpret all this in one of three ways:

1. Nobody cares, other than those 7 people, of course.
2. Nobody would notice, other than those 7 people, of course.
3. Nobody reads my blog, other than ... well, you get the gist of it.

For now, I will stay true to the wishes of the voters - the hair will stay dark, but the blonde option will stay on the table. What I am taking from this process, however, is that I need to find more people to read my blog. I might not always have something clever or fortuitous or interesting or unique to share, but for sure, it will make you think.

I really like writing every day. It's good for the mind, the soul and the heart. I write what I live and I say what I feel. And what I love most about blogging is the creative writing process that infuses the day from that point on. I simply have to find more people to take the ride with me.

To that end, I am having this blog redesigned, renamed and refocused. Still offering spontaneous reflections and contributions, but with a few additions inspired by the things I am truly passionate about. Something for others with those interests to sink their proverbial teeth into.

Stay tuned, my friends, all 7 of you - the best is yet to come!

Should I go blond?

It's something I've been considering and I thought I'd put it out there for the universe to consider on my behalf.

Having hidden the greys for more years than I care to count, it occurred to me that all the money spent hiding them could be better spent elsewhere. Not to mention less time in the chair every month.

Of course, one gets used to the dark brown of their youth, and a blond do might not work for more than a fanciful fad. Still, after watching an episode of Grey's Anatomy where Lexie suddenly went from one extreme to the other, what amazed me was that by the end of that episode, it all looked so 'business as usual'.

Which brings me back to my original question ... After a half century of dark, should I go blond?

You tell me!

Since when ...

... have old farts been boring? Apparently since they started using Twitter [Dec 27, 2009, SMH]. And it is with respect to them and it that I beg to differ by saying, it all depends on how you use it.

Our family boasts longevity and there are a few nonagenarians and a smattering of centenarians in our tree. Bodes well for me - a bit of a late bloomer who thinks my time is now rather than in my 20s, as I originally thought. As for my rellies, old ... yes. Farts ... not for me to say. Boring ... absolutely not! There's plenty of life in them their bones and their humour and energy suggests that they are definitely living their lives to the hilt.

Case in point ... A few weeks before my grandfather died at 100, we came together as a family - including many of us travelling in from overseas - to celebrate the big event. The letter from the Queen was read, as was the one from the Prime Minister, and lots of accolades and wishes were shared all round. When my grandfather was getting ready to go home, I asked him if he was tired. "No," he replied, with a strong, certain voice, indicative of a man half his age. "But I have to go home so I can watch the wrestling." With eyebrows raised, I turned to my cousin, who added: "A new passion he picked up a year or so ago."

Ah, I thought. Why not?! He had risen through the ranks while the World stood witness to silent movies, motor vehicles, the loss of the Titanic, the Spanish Flu, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the Space Race, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the Rwandan Genocide, and he simply wanted to see out his final years in a style of his own making. He had certainly earned it.

My great-aunt stands tall at 98 and is anything but boring. In fact, her life is as full as it can be, and she never complains or withdraws from an opportunity to have fun. Every trip to Australia includes at least one visit to see her, and she happily and graciously welcomes me, as if I flew all that way just to see her.

Neither my grandfather nor my great-aunt were into computers, and certainly not Twitter, but I know for sure that if they had, it would not have been to be hip or groovy, to tell the world everything they were doing every minute - something that was never interesting even before Twitter - and certainly not because they had short attention spans. They would have found some creative use of that communication tool and made it worth following in anyone's book. That was their way - something that is sadly lacking these days.

When I first got into Twitter, I didn't know what to say, and didn't think I had anything interesting to share. Until I hit on the idea of twitter verse and began to use that vehicle to document, in 140 characters or less each day, my progress as I pursued a career in speaking.

I'm pretty sure no one reads my tweets, but that's not my intent. Instead, I use it to challenge myself on a daily basis to prepare an impromptu update on where things are at and what lies ahead. The stuff I write is cryptic and quirky, and only those who know what's going on actually know what is going on. Hopefully, by the time I get my career well and truly off the ground, I'll have an interesting tale for those who ask: "How did you get to this point?" At the very least, I'll have certainly enjoyed the ride.

I'm just saying that too often these days, people are all too ready to close the proverbial book on anything that no longer - if ever - connects with them. Dead Twitter may be, but that shouldn't stop you if you are creative enough to put it to your own good use. If that makes you a 'boring old fart', so be it. And if you are the only one left standing when all is said and done, congratulations. You will be one of the few who truly appreciate the art of 'succinct' - another thing that is sadly lacking these days.