Charlie's Worldwriting
Posted on February 13, 2011
The observant among you might recall that I have a romantic notion of being a writer.
I have lots of good ideas for book, some fully imagined and started but on hold, some as shells of a vague plot outline, and some as nothing more than words in my head. Trouble is, I keep getting more ideas than I can actually write and sometimes, the new ideas burn brighter than anything I have in progress.
Well not this time, I’m carrying on with what I’ve started no matter what. New ideas are written down, filed and forgotten for now so I can concentrate.
I’m setting word goals, have chapter outlines and a very definite perspective from which to do this. Also, unusually, I have no clear idea of how I’m going write the detail. I know what the plot is, well, kinda, I know some of the events that are going to happen at the start and at the end, now I have to join them together. Which is interesting. I love to have all angles of a problem bounded before I can fill in the details. It’s what I do for my job and it’s very much how my brain likes to work. So having to fill it in as I go means I have to pay very careful attention to making sure I don’t waffle (unlike this post then!) and always set something up so I can carry on with the next chapter.
I’ve already been back to the first few chapters a dozen times and chopped, hacked and butchered them to make them flow with what I is unfolding on paper and I kinda like it this way – its a bit more organic, less pre-imagined and more natural as a result. It’s going to take a herculean effort to whip it into shape once it’s all written, but I can actually see this one being finished one day.
And now, back to Chapter 3, I need to fill in the view of the world according to the mind of one of my characters and it’s proving to be a bitch.
For company though, I have The Jezabels – a Sydney based band with the most incredible sound and soaring vocals from a very interesting singer. I can’t guarantee you’ll like them, but it’s definitely worth a listen if just to hear something new and different.
Well, that really was most bizarre
Posted on February 11, 2011
Went in for my last day at work, mostly just to hand back my laptop and phone and stuff and it was very strange. I had nothing to do, being my last day, so I just read the news and whathaveyou, chatted to a few people, went out for coffee, surfed so more. And that took me to 10am.
I called my boss – that was fine, he’s a nice guy and I really like working with him. I called a few other folks, most of them were out.
I got more of a farewell from the receptionist (who is lovely and like a lot of girls in that kind of role, really undervalued) than from my actual colleagues.
So in the end, it was just a couple of the guys for a pint at lunch and that was it.
As I said, bizarre.
Anyway, Monday, new job, I already feel welcome. Can’t wait.
Tonight – awesome sunset. But I didn’t have faith that it was going to real shine and stayed at home. Bugger. It would have been awesome down at Point Peron, on the beach with the rockpools. Ah well – live and learn.
I did take a pic from the front garden tho
And now, I’m about to go get a bottle of wine to celebrate the end of one job and the start of the next.
Onwards and upwards, to insanity and beyooooonnnnnd.
Okaaaay, boo yar!
Posted on February 8, 2011
You know I said the diet wasn’t going as well as planned due to the lack of walking
Well, strike that.
Scales this morning show a nice loss of 4kg (8 and a bit lbs) since I started.
Ho yes. More healthy eating, only the minor-est of cheating (cos life’s too damn short to have zero food pleasures) and I’ll be back in my 80’s drainpipes before you know it.
Ok, that last bit is a lie. I might get my suit done up a little easier though 🙂
this and that
Posted on February 2, 2011
This is post about lots of different things, all unrelated.
Firstly, I just heard that my daughter got invited to audition for the junior year at the Royal Ballet School in London. She attends one of the Royal Ballet School’s regional centres on a scholarship and they’ve asked her and one other student to go to London to audition for a place in the school proper. I am so proud I could burst.
We have clever kids between us – one ballet star, one drummer in the making, a real brainiac who’s is practically top in Australia for junior school spelling and Henry, who at 3 is really too young to prove anything yet apart from his prowess at peeing standing up. I’m not knocking that though, its a useful skill.
Secondly (and I told you this was unrelated) – there’s a house for sale down the end of the cul-de-sac opposite and the real estate agent keeps on putting the home open signs on our front lawn to point in the right direction. As the council owns the first 6 feet or so of land on that strip, I gather we’re not allowed to object to that kind of thing.
Well, actually, I do frickin’ object – they put 5 signs out on Saturday for 5 hours for one estate agent, and 3 for another, just 4 signs on Sunday and 4 out there today, along the length of my whole garden. I had to mow the lawn anyway today, so I just pulled up the signs and piled them up on the side whist I mowed. When I was done, I just left them in a pile on the lawn. It really annoys me – they never ask if its ok and having 8 damn signs on my lawn is just taking the piss.
Lastly – I’m not losing as much weight as I want. My back really wasn’t happy with the morning walks, which was a real shame. I think it was the sand, and I can’t be arsed to spend money on trainers to walk on the pavement. I’m still dieting so hopefully that’ll continue to have the desired effect, it just may take a bit longer.
So thats that.
News
Posted on February 2, 2011
So, its been the few days I said I needed to wait – well, the thing I needed to wait for never came to pass, so I can spill.
I have a new job.
I know, its very cool. I’ve been working for the same company for 2 1/2 years – they were the first place to give me a job when I moved to Australia from England – but what the company does and what I’m good at and what I want from my career differ and have been continuing to diverge over the course of last year. So it was time to move.
I’m very picky about who I work for and I had several opportunities to choose from – I ended up picking a job with one of the big mining companies here in Perth, where I’ll be responsible for the technical part of a massive business process improvement project. Exciting.
I start in less than 2 weeks – from comfort and working from home (like I am now and have been for most of the last 12 months) to working in the city every day on a massive project full of unknowns. I can’t wait 🙂
It means I’ll be reading lots on the train too, so I’ll need some recommendations for books once my current 2 or 3 novels on the go are exhausted. Feel free to chip in at anytime on that one.
So, I’m just winding down my old job at the moment, waiting for the final pay packet before I embark on the big new adventure – wish me luck 🙂
stormy weather
Posted on January 30, 2011
We’ve been on cyclone watch for the last few days as tropical cyclone Bianca has been making its way down the Indian Ocean from the tropics and is forecast to swing inland right over Perth today.
Well I think its petered out and although the wind is increasing and the sky is looking very dark all of a sudden, apparently its not scheduled to be the roof lifting monster that was once feared. In fact, you can hardly see it on the weather radar.
Good! Being next to the ocean like we are here, we often get storms in the winter and just occasionally in the summer too and we’re well used to be battered by some pretty strong winds, but I don’t want to go through that kind of thing if I don’t have to!
Anyway, yesterday, out of the blue, we had thunderstorms arrive and they left a trail of destruction across the state – north and east of us got pummelled by this thing – causing damage everywhere.
It kind of missed us, we got some rain, lots of rumbling thunder, amazing skies and that was pretty much it.
Well, being the photo happy snapper I am, I had to get a shot 🙂 Cool, huh?
Later in the day I thought we were going to get the most amazing sunset – the clouds were just too thick though, but the skies were still very interesting, even if they didn’t glow and shine like I expected.
One minute it’s too hot, the next, nature decides you need a storm, the next its 38C again and then that very afternoon, a cyclone rolls over. Australia, never a dull moment.
work rest and play
Posted on January 29, 2011
It’s been a busy week after the pee-test drama.
I’ve had lots of work to to for a really hard proposal, some interviews and generally me feeling like I need a weekend really badly. Didn’t really get an Australia Day at all cos I was too busy with trying to create project plans and statements of work out of thin air.
Anyway, blah blah.
It’s been interesting though – I got offered the job for the place I had to pee test for and also at the DIY chain store too. And it looks like another company that I interviewed with also wants to offer me a job too.
Its nice to be in demand – I’ve had a few interview fails in the last couple of months – not because I’m crap or anything, it’s just I wasn’t right for a particular role. These other jobs though are right up my street and all for different reasons.
I have some actual concrete news, but I just need to wait for a few days before sharing.
So, thats the life changing work stuff over with.
Now, onto the fun stuff
I went to hang out with the kite surfers again which was cool – they were all a bit drunk as it was Australia Day. Spent a bit of time chatting to Cesar Portas again – he’s a cool guy – I really want to get the chance to take a lot more shots of him. One of his friends was out though and having a lot of time
Most folks were packing up and I didn’t get stunning shots like last time. I’ll be back though.
Its been really hot and humid the last few days as we have a cyclone making its way down from the tropics – its been hard to even move about without melting, but last night after a day of feeling like I was in a sauna, I decided to take some beach shots again as I havent done that in ages.
The sky looked like it might be amazing, but was a complete dud in the end, so I got some cool abstract shots instead.
So there ya go, work and play all in one post 🙂
epic pee fail.
Posted on January 24, 2011
So, I had the mother of all opportunities land on my lap last week and I thought it was too good to pass up without a good look.
You’re wondering what the hell this has to do with pee?
I’ll get to that. It’s not weird or creepy. Oh, well, a little, but not because of anything I did, I hasten to add.
I got wind of an awesome job opportunity, one that is just an order of magnitude more cool then where I work at the moment. I should add, if you’re reading this, dear employer, that I’m not actually unhappy working for you at all, it’s just this other thing is cool. Super cool.
Anyway, I haven’t actually got the job yet, so I’ll probably be back here in a few days blubbing and complaining.
You’re still wondering how the hell pee comes into this.
The first interview went very well, so well that that asked me back for the second and what should be final meeting. I really want this job and I can do it too. It’s going to be mind bendingly hard, but thats the point, my brain needs this.
As part of the pre-employment checks, I have to do a medical. It’s company policy that everyone has a drug and alcohol test.
Hence the pee.
So I had to go this clinic (yeah, sounds well dodgy, and once the itch has gone, I’ll feel much better…) to give a witnessed sample.
WITNESSED.
I’m notoriously pee shy – yeah, I’m sure the world needs to know all this about me, but fuck it, I’ve come this far and gone through this trauma, so I’m doing to damn well spill, so to speak – I can never pee in front of anyone else, ever, it’s just one of those things. And worse still, I really didn’t need to pee when I got there. Could be the pressure, could be the thought that someone would be watching me. Could be a total lack of pee.
Anyway, the worst possible scenario – I have a nurse supervising me.
Clampdown.
She’s initially not that friendly either – maybe if you worked all day long supervising men peeing into pots, you’d be a little jaded and sour – who knows.
Ok, I’m exaggerating, she wasn’t Nurse Ratched, but she may as well have been.
I can’t pee. Nothing.
So I go back and sit down and have a glass or 10 of water and wait. And wait. And wait some more. It’s closing time, I’m beckoned over for another go.
Nothing. I can feel like I could maybe go a little, but it’s not coming out. Not ever, not even if Nurse Ratched had the lobotomy order right there in her hands. She asks me if it’s her that’s making me uncomfortable – er, yeah, of course it is. I let her down gently though. I’m not sure she can take it.
So they offer me a gown and tell me I can pee unsupervised but I have to be only in my undercrackers and they have to check I’m not carrying anything. Well, nothing that isn’t already attached, anyways.
So back in I go and..
nothing.
dammmmmmmit! I close my eyes, jiggle, stare at the small fleck of peeling paint on the wall, all the time not thinking about anything.
And finally, I peed
Wooo! It only took 90 minutes and abject humiliation and even after emptying the water cooler down my neck, I could only manage the bare minimum.
Anyways, they have to make a note of the fact that it was unsupervised and that could flag a warning to my potential new employers, but I’m hopeful that it wont as a) I won’t be operating heavy machinery and b) I’m so obviously not a drunk or a stoner that I hope this isn’t lost on them. I don’t want to do that again.
Blood test next time please – thats easy, I don’t have shy veins, just the main one, which apparently, likes it’s privacy.
Best Hotels
Posted on January 18, 2011
I was reading Baby Girl’s blog – www.purecomplex.com and she was talking about a new fabulous hotel in the grounds of the Palace de Versailles in Paris will be created from a disused mansion – the Hôtel du Grand Contrôle.
It looks amazing – and will probably cost an arm and a leg too I suspect.
Then I got to thinking, what hotels have I stayed in over the years – here’s some of my favourites.
1. Savoy – London. Yes, it was everything they say and then some. The room itself was not huge or excessively opulent (but it was pretty bloody good), but then it was only a standard room, but the facilities, bars and restaurant were amazing. Roof level swimming pool anyone?
2. CompleatAngler, Marlow – UK. My best friend got married there and it was something else. We bumped into Piers Morgan at the reception and also had a chat with Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton (who were very lovely). It did cost something disgusting like 360 pounds a night, but it was awesome and situated on the Thames, it was a lovely place to stay
3. L’Imperial Palace, Annecy, France. I stayed there for two nights on business and it was an amazing place with views across the lake to old Annecy town. If I remember rightly, the room was lovely and the restaurant was pretty special too.
4. Sofitel, La Defense, Paris. It’s not the most obvious choice, but it was a reaaaally good hotel, and the bed was the softest I’ve ever slept on.
5. Erm. I honstly don’t know where to go from here – the rest fall into the decidedly average category. I guess 2 weeks on an old school cruise ship (P&O Victoria) could be counted – that was a very cool experience – but the room was hardly palatial. The food was amazing though.
So there you go. These are the best places I’ve ever stayed.
O noes!
Posted on January 13, 2011
I had a meeting yesterday so I needed to be all smart, suit and tie and all that. It’s been a while, normally I’m working from home, so shorts and a t-shirt are fine, especially when it’s hot like it is at the moment.
Anyway, on with a shirt, humm, thats a bit snug.
Suit trousers.
Oh.
There’s a problem. an inch, maybe two separates the button from the hole.
This isn't my waist, but it will be in a year if I dont watch it
Crap.
Seems Christmas was a bit more over indulgent that I realised.
I’m not having that – I’m not getting properly fat, that is just not not going to happen, so it’s diet and exercise time. I always used to be fit, but I’ve lost the enthusiasm for it here in Australia – its too hot for a good chunk of the year for one thing. I think, however, that thats really just an excuse. I think that being, lets say, above ideal weight, has made me more susceptible to the heat.
So, its suck it up time.
No more lard, watch what I eat, beer and wine are out for the time being, at least until I get back to where I was a few months ago. And exercise is back in.
The plan is an hour long walk along the beach every day until my sore Achilles tendon in my left ankle eases off a bit (pretty sure thats due to inactivity rather than anything else) – then I might attempt a run, we’ll see. Running and I don’t go well together, I have a really sore spot in my lower back, but again, that might just be lack of fitness, so up the fitness and we’ll see happens. After the running comes breakfast and morning coffee. Recovery and wake up in one move.
Then work, no snacking. Lunch will be light sandwich, salads, fish perhaps.
Then, every afternoon after work, its an hour on the bike. I love cycling but there’s not the network of bridle paths and little back roads that I love for mountain biking in the UK, so I’ve kinda just stopped, which is stupid. Back on the bike. And a very light, mostly salad based dinner after that.
Every day, 7 days a week for as long as it takes, no cheating. I’ll keep you posted
This all sounds very hard, but my walk this morning was no great hardship.
Charlie's World 