I went to link to this today, because I thought it was hilarious and insightful and speaks to something within me as a frequent traveller: “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sleeping Positions on a Plane” from The Washington Post - and since I found it especially perfect a post, I thought I’d put it here on my blog. And then I got to thinking: I have a whole lot of links here… how many still live to this day? ...

The year is now 2020. 14 years ago, I started my site as I was planning a move from Melbourne to Sydney. Previously, I’d been publishing on a friend’s server, buried in a subfolder, but that’s when the site came into its own. So now, with this post, I’ll have published items in 3 different decades - ain’t that a thing about getting old. Right from the start, this site has been about my own political observations - one of the very first things written here was about the Cronulla Race Riot in December 2005, a decidedly unwelcome event for someone just about to move to the city. ...

Three and a half years ago, in a fit of madness, I decided I had enough of having free time, and signed up to go back to university for an MBA. Boy, did I underestimate how much time that would take up. Even more so than that, I didn’t think of how much might change between starting & finishing that degree. And change it did. Just over three years ago, I met someone - talking to her on a whim, taking the chance, and found myself entranced. I’ve mentioned obliquely here about her, but truly, she became a part of my world in a way that I’d never thought I would encounter. The other half of my soul I didn’t even realise was missing. She is passionate, caring, filled with humour and hope and a drive that pushes me to be better and do more than ever. She is an embodiment of what I hope people would be more like; I’m besotted by my love for her. ...

I caught myself today acting a bit strange. [Ed: you finally noticed?] Ok ok I mean stranger than usual. [Ed: how could you tell?] Conversations with imaginary editors [Ed: oi] aside, I found myself sitting in my car, having returned from a busy day at work, playing a game I found yesterday called Really Bad Chess. It’s an interesting little game where, in order to level the playing field for people who kinda know enough to play chess but are - frankly - really bad at it, the playing pieces are mixed up. You still play by the same rules, but instead of having an AI that plays dumb - because a grandmaster-beating AI is easily available in your pocket these days - you get different proportions of pieces to make the game interesting. ...

If you’ve not experienced sonder 1 before, or not done so in a while, here’s a neat public meditation exercise that you can do that’ll open up new worlds: Pick any person sitting, or standing, across from you. Someone you can stare at without seeming creepy. Focus on that person and get a good feel for their energy and who they are. Shift to a soft focus on that person and picture them in their happiest moments — Hugging a friend, picking up their kids from school, reuniting with someone they love, celebrating after some good news. ...