And now for something completely different
May/091
I feel like I should write something that is in a different vein of thought, devoid of deep thoughts and introspection and all those other things I usually inflict on the reader. Assuming anyone still reads this.
Cricket, maybe. I like cricket. I’ve been watching a fair bit of the IPL, lately. It’s not really cricket, but it’s entertaining enough when the games are close. It’s also been awesome to see the likes of Warne, Hayden and Gilchrist once more, even for a fleeting moment. I’m running out of cricketers that I feel like I’ve grown up with. It’s a little sad, but everything moves on. The only disappointment is that Glenn McGrath hasn’t been playing for Delhi. Honestly, what the hell is with that?
I actually think Hayden, Gilchrist and Warne would still be in our best team. It’s fun to imagine them getting called up, actually. It’ll never happen, even for something so silly as the Twenty20 World Cup.
Lists are fun, right?
If I was a selector, I’d pick…
- Gilchrist (+)
- Hayden
- Ponting
- Symonds
- Hodge
- Hussey
- Johnson
- Lee
- Warne
- Tait
- Bracken
I want to believe that Glenn McGrath is still up to it, but without any IPL form to go on he’ll have to warm the bench. Hodge and Hussey (D) are doing ok in the IPL, and have solid bowling options. Tait is too interesting to exclude, although Cricket Australia’s accountants clearly disagree.
Unlucky to miss out? Warner, but he’ll be in the actual team and not my pretend team, so that’s ok for him. Cameron White is far too surly to get in. Hussey (M) has just been a little too inconsistent. Apparently I left out Michael Clarke… in an actual team, you’d probably lose a bowler and bring him in.
That was actually fun to write.
I was thinking it would be fun to open the floor, so to speak, and accept some topic ideas. I’ve had this thought before, in a different context. The enthusiam for that never really took off, which always disappointed me. In another, geekier life, I had to write a regular report – it’s a long story. I tried to get theme submissions from people to make the reports more interesting. That failed – I ended up using my own idea more often than not, but I really liked the creative twist it gave to the process.
It might be a completely pointless exercise given how few people actually read this thing, but… leave a comment about something. A topic, an idea, a style… I don’t know. I can’t really decide if this is brilliant or stupid.
If you’ve read this far, I will buy you a beer.
Squashing the Silence
Jul/080
My blog, such as it is, has been languishing in a sort of trance-like state. The irony is of course that over the past two weeks my life has been more interesting than at any point in recent memory, but all I have to show for it is a password protected blog post.
That’s not likely to change, by the way. It will have to suffice to say that I took a chance a few days ago, and it didn’t turn out precisely as I’d hoped. However, there was still a lot to be pleased about. I’ve learned some things, and some things have been reinforced in my mind. The most prominent thought in the latter category is very simple: friends are awesome. As to the former… I’m slightly braver than I realised.
Similarly to the last post, I’ve found the writing process to be quite difficult. The reason on this occasion is quite different – a sort of pseudo-performance anxiety, I guess I’d call it. James said some very nice things about the way my last post was written – basically, that I have “a way with words”. I was really, truly thrilled to hear that and I almost feel like I have to live up to a standard that I’ve set. That’s not really a bad thing. I don’t live up to every stereotype of the IT student, but I’m certainly no social butterfly, and I’m not always comfortable speaking to people. There’s no small level of reassurance in knowing that even if I can’t always communicate aloud, I have the words to write it out.
I’ve referenced that post several times now, although I guess there’s really no escaping it. It was the preamble to a unique experience. Indeed, it was perhaps the catalyst for that experience. The blog served as a means for me to focus and refine my thoughts; it was the point at which I think I decided to take that chance.
I think I’ll just leave it there. The Wimbledon final is on, and there’s some work I need to do before I go to bed. I’ll try to blog in a few days instead of in a week’s time, but no promises.