Wasting time...

(an unpublished draft from a while ago...)

Now, I know I know- I keep promising regular blog updates and never deliver.

Well, it all depends on your definition of "regular". Since I post a short promise of a new post every few months, does that not make it a regular post?! (Think about it. No think about it again...)

Anyway, recently I've discovered while doing the excellent & amazing task of writing cover letters for job applications, that my writing and grammatical skillz have gone to faecal material. That day, there was a pre-contemplative moment, where I thought "I should start blogging again!" If only for good grammar. Because, you know, my posts are oh-so-grammatically-correct-n-all-and-never-linked-by-hyphens-for-no-good-reason.

That was 2 weeks ago.

Since that thought, I've realised that I waste a LOT of time. I have great ideas (my mum said so!) but I tend to waste my time on random crap and hence never get most of them done. In order to hold myself accountable, heres a list of mine. Next time you see me doing one of these things, do tell me off!

1. Facebook stalking.

I know you're not meant to admit to this, but seriously, isn't this what possessed Mark Zuckerberg to make Facebook? If it wasn't, then he has somehow hired a group of men/women who obviously were into voyeurism. What begins as "ohh, look at those nice photos that John has put up!" occasionally turns into "heeeeey... that girls got a nice... erm..personality." Some of my friends actively support such behaviours as healthy (I'm looking at you my predatorial fish friend) but I just see it as a waste of time. I should stop it. But it's not like I'm doing exactly this on another tab in my browser...

2. Google Reader

As you know, I'm a nerd. And like most nerds, I tend to read your awesomely cool news about that phone with a tripzillion core processor coupled with NFC and the smell of mangoes. Now, there's nothing wrong with this per-se. There IS something wrong with Google Reader. If you use this magnificent app, you'll never leave it. Try and add technology blogs to it- it recommends 15! On top of that, places like engadget etc that I read, which used to be a nice site, now become goals that must be completed: those unread posts keep piling up! I feel like a gambling addict unable to stop reading!

3. Talking

Most people wouldn't classify this as wasting time. Remember the statistics thou? Only 7% of communication..blah ...blah..blah?

A) it's a waste of time B) it's me, which equals C) I talk *faecal material* and it wastes everyones time! To top it off, I do it a lot.

Having housemates to talk to is also bad- I can always knock on a door and begin chatting away.

4. Lying in bed.

I'd like to separate this from sleeping. Sleeping, at least to me, is NOT a waste of time. I don't do enough of it and hence, I drink an excessive amount of coffee. But that's a side note.

Lying in bed (without appropriate company) is fast becoming a major time consumer. I'm not asleep. I've normally just woken up in fact. But, for whatever reason, I feel as though a magic external force will move me out of my apathy and generate the momentum required for the rest of the day. I'm quite patient while waiting for this magic force.

I'm sure I can add a whole lot more to this, so I shall keep it as a draft as I think up more

(yeah, it stayed in draft form for months!)

Just saw The Adjustment Bureau

And no, it's not a perfect movie.

However, it IS good. It is (again) based on a Philip K Dick story. (Is it me or have the sci-fi world just become so boring that they keep having to come back to this guy? I mean seriously, if he was alive, he'd be stinking rich considering the number of his stories being adapted to movies!)

The basic premise? There is a bureau tasked with the..erm task, of keeping you on the path of fate. And Matt Damon decides to deviate. He is Jason Bourne after all.

Anyway- without too much of the story being given out, the ending is cheesy, but not unexpected. And the cheese is minimum. As one reviewer of the iPad once said, "it makes a few compromises, but it makes the RIGHT compromises," so go check it out!

3.5/5 in my books!

Blogging ideas.

I'm a bit lazy. I'm sure you've gathered this from the numerous updates you see on here. The problem is this: I really do mean to write things. But I don't! The reasons are as follows:
  • Do you really like it? Just like the song asks, I often wonder who reads this and while I'm aware my life is highly awesome, I wonder if it translates into a compelling read? (Hint: leave comments! Lot's of them. Even about misplaced apostrophes!)
  • My Life is awesome. Well it is. Really. I kind of get side tracked by random stuff all the time and I may have ADHD. Not a good combination. Especially for blogging. Good for writing short sentences. Like this.
  • Capitalism is my mistress. I blog for 2 reasons. Well, initially it was for 1: to whine. Then it became a reflective exercise. And now, it's a memento. But more than that, anyone who knows me knows that I'm all about self-improvement. And my measure of delivering value is monetizesation. I had ads, you hate ads, but my writing is not good enough to charge for, so tough! And really, clicking an ad once in a while is definitely better than having to pay for shit. No matter how good it is! But capitalism as a motivator is shit, unless its generating regular income
  • Divide and conquer. My life interests are diverse. And I keep starting blogs for each of them. Seriously. If you log into blogger, you'll find no less than 11 blogs started! I intend to keep them separate and tie them together only loosely and I'm working on that as we speak. But every time I start a project, it drains from this one.
  • Define. This blog was started without a theme/purpose. Everything else in my life has now come together nicely. So i just don't know what to write here. (Hint: Tell me what you think! And that means comments!)
Anyway- that's a lot of reasons if you read between the lines for why blogging is a good/bad idea (depending on HOW you read between the lines). In the end, I like blogging as a concept. I like the idea of a dynamic/linkable memento of life in general. So I'll keep blogging. But I need motivation and ideas. So if you're reading this, I HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE FOR ME! (Ha! Sucks to be you!), so prod me occasionally and I shall comply.

Every wonder?

... about how people stumble unto things?

Like, for example, how the other day, I was volunteering at a nursing home and it just so happened to be the day they had their lawn bowl championships. Being as enthralled as I was with talking to an elderly lady who had just demonstrated her excellence in the use of tautology while telling one single story, I decided to give it a go. Now I'm a state champion.

Ok- most of that was a lie. But that is how I first started (and then soon finished) playing lawn bowls.

One thing I have often wondered is: what do people search to stumble onto this blog? I mean, apart from a few friends who have this on their feeds, no one else really reads it. Or so I thought. Currently, I still get a crap-load of visits, even though this blog has been stagnant for some time!

So I did some detective work. That bit of invisible code that sucks out a lot of data everytime you visit (including the city you are visiting from - freaked out yet?) includes search terms used to get to the page...

And this is what that list looks like:

  1. Feeling Asexual- I'm surprised! I didn't know that many people thought googling "feeling asexual" would result in erm...feeling sexual!

  2. Can stillnox reset your body clock - Ummm...I do one post about a legal drug and my blog gets swamped. Wait til you see the rest. And the short answer to the actual question is: maybe. Depends if you react normally, or the way I do.

  3. Stillnox for flying - well, that's how this all begins right? People, beware! It isn't always good!

  4. The Stillnox experience - Who knew it was an "experience?" I just thought it was a sleeping drug! Now that's clever marketting: try the new and improved Stillnox experience today!

  5. Shalom guesthouse Nepal - About the only sane search term. I'm glad this place got some publicity. I did like it muchly...

  6. Drugged Anal Stilnox- jeebus! Does the stillnox search ever stop? And now anal? Porn? My site has porn and I don't know about it? If you find it, let me know, okay? I wanna watch too...

  7. Double Anal- I don't think this term, back to back, actually occurs anywhere on the site. But hey, Google still sends people my way when they search for it!