I quote...

"There's no way I'm ever letting that thing mount me in my life."

I just think it looks stylish...

Mum

(You may commence mother jokes at will.)

For those who came in late:

Just before Christmas 2005, my mother had a stroke. There's no such a thing as a good stroke^[1], but this was a really bad one - an intracranial bleed of grade 5 on scale of 1 to 5. Apparently most folks who bust out a grade 5 bleed die. Of those who survive, most never wake up. In those who do, there can be any amount of brain damage.

My mum did surive, she did wake up, and despite a bastard-load of complications, she recognises everyone, she's coherent, she's capable of real conversations and of doing a lot of things for herself. She hasn't recovered to the state she was at before the stroke, and that may or may not ever happen, but she is in an amazing way considering what she has been through. I could hope for nothing more in myself than the strength that she has shown, again and again, since December. Mum, I don't know if you'll read this, but if you do, please know that I couldn't be more proud.

I've written this because - as you probably know, if you're reading it - I'm lazy with email, and a lot of people ask me how my mum's doing. Many of those same people - you know who you are - have prayed for her, or sent their thoughts and good wishes. For all of that, I thank you.

[1] Well, there is, but we're not talking about alone time in the shower right now.

Origin

OK, so last night was Game III of the State of Origin, to which Cam had lined up tickets. It was an awesome game, made more so by the vocal NSW contingent in front of us being silenced with four minutes remaining. Sweet, sweet victory.

In other news, on the cab-ride home, I saw our great and benevolent leader, The Honourable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia. He was being driven in a Holden Statesman, C of A plates, plate number: C1.

Of course, me being me, my first thought was "It'd be cool if he had three more cars like that, for different cities, or whatever, 'cos then the fourth one would be called C4."

Spam

Checking my old hotmail account today, I see that Miranda_69 has sent me something about:

I'mLookingForSomeStrangeCock

I wonder who told her.

Geography

I just learned that there's a place called "Gunn Point".

I'm moving house today.

"Don't talk to me about your problems, boy. I've lived my life at Gunn Point for the last fifteen years."

etc.

Marketroid

From Ninemsn:

"An unidentified green object streaked across the Queensland sky last night, before landing on a property between Toowoomba and Warwick near the Great Dividing Range."

"The object, which looked like a comet, was spotted by hundreds of people and airport control towers across south-east Queensland at around 6:30pm last night."

Coincidence that this happens barely a month before Superman Returns is due to come out here?

Rim

Had some Thai chow at Cam's place the other day. This bein' the 21st century and all, we ordered it online.
Shortly thereafter, Cam got a confirmation/thank you email that went a little sumpin'^[1] like this:

*Hello Cam*
We thank you for confidence that you testified to us. We remain fully at your disposal and we hope to re-examine you in the near future.
The Manager Pacific Rim Thai Restaurant

I hope for them to re-examine him in the near future too.

[1] Or "sonsin'-sonsin'" if you prefer.

Disbelief

Watching movies, they say, involves a suspension of disbelief. I know this, and no film title acknowledges it more than the Mission: Impossible series. Accordingly, when watching Mission: Impossible III, I was willing to let Tom Cruise base-jump off a building through a sheet of plate glass and be OK, to one-shot numerous bad dudes under incredible circumstances, to find an abandoned and practically unscatched black Mercedes in which to make a getaway from an aerial assault on a bridge, &c., &c.

I was not, however, prepared to suspend disbelief enough to allow for Tom Cruise doing mathematics with a white pen on a window^[1] to figure out the trajectory for his next zany stunt.

[1] cf. Russell Crowe's John Nash - a mathematical genius in A Beautiful Mind.

Fly

Got a new pair of jeans on the weekend, after my old ones developed a small hole (of their own accord) and then a much bigger one (of my making). I just want to point out what a convenience it is to be able to put your junk away post-urination without having to undo your entire button-fly.

Ric's

About a thousand years ago, I was in the crapper at Ric's, in the Valley, and saw this graffiti. I had my camera on me at the time, so I snapped one off. Then I took this photo. Make of it what you will:

Bold

I've been using Thunderbird at work for the last few weeks. It's not bad, but I don't think it can live up to the claim made in this screen-shot:

(apologies for the crappy quality - I was in a hurry)

Race

A pretty long time ago, I swore off announcing people's birthdays on here. If I remember rightly, the last birthday I announced was my cousin Kaeleigh's first.

Just now, I got the news that Kaeleigh's gone and got herself a sister.

Congratulations to Danielle Feline^[1] and Shane Maxwell^[1] (nice middle names, guys!).

As I say, I've sworn off birthday announcements. But I feel justified in this one, for at least three reasons:

(i) it's my blog, and I can do what I damn well please;
(ii) it's not a birthday, in that bullshit once-a-year sense, but a Birth Day, in that arguably less-bullshit once-a-lifetime sense. A wholly different creature; and
(iii) I can steal an oft-used line from a mate^[2]:

Now you can race 'em!



[1] I would have put surnames, but being the caring, involved kind of guy I am, I dunno if she took his when they wed, or if they have one of those modern marriages where the husband and wife don't love each other (points to the first person - not Marcia or Cam - to pick that reference)

[2] Thanks, Zac