RSS Loving
I’ve decided to make it official. I need a video iPod.
I know, I’m a techno junkie but I’ve been getting off lately on vodcasts and I need them portable… That’s got to be better, right? Better than being chained to the laptop to get my fixes… Watching Waz and Lenny and the Photoshop guys on the iPod would be like, totally gnarly…
Actually, it isn’t just the videos I’m loving, the list of podcasts in my iTunes subscriptions provide a superior soundtrack to my day’s work than the hubbub generated by the rest of my team in the workstations outside my office door and my Bloglines account monitors my blogroll for recent updates saving me a shedload of time visiting sites that haven’t updated!
Yessir Ladies and Gentlemen, RSS is some goooooood technology and now that I’m down with using it to broaden my horizons I’m also getting a bit used to using it to distribute information at work by podcasting some of the boss’ preaching and by distributing our weekly study notes. I’m fast finding out the possibilities are pretty fabulous…
Anyway, I want to spread the love…
The aforementioned Waz and Lenny from Crash Test Kitchen – These guys are classic… A coupla Aussies living in London who do a regular cooking show… now they aren’t slick… but they are so totally real. This vodcast is a riot.
Photoshop TV. – My biggest problem is finding time to play with all the tips and tricks the guys from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals offer up. This is a great cast if you want to get cluey about Photoshop and want to get amazed and the things you can do with this great software. Suitable for both PC and Mac users it’s invaluable in my line of work.
Of the audio podcasts number 1 is The Daily Mayo from BBC Radio Five. Simon was the breakfast DJ on Radio One, the cool radio station we listened to when I lived in the UK. These days he does an afternoon slot and gets to interview pretty much anyone doing any kind of thing. Best day of the week is Thursday when they do Book Reviews… v cool.
Number two is Hughesy and Kate (with Peter Heliar at the moment) from Nova100 in Melbourne. These guys are a total cack and not so rood as their Sydney counterparts. It can be a bit of a headache to download some days… guess they’re popular all over… And before you say it, Hughesy voice grows on you…
There are others, mostly religious ones of less interest to most of my readers I’ll wager… and as for the regular common or garden variety blog feeds?
You know who you are…
I Must Be So Hot Right Now.
Looks like I’m right back in the flow of being true to this blog’s agenda…
There’s been precious little dating discussion since I gave up the G.O.D.S but after my ‘hot-date’ on Friday (below) and the unexpected gift I received this evening, looks like things are on the up.
[Excuse me one moment while I roll about on the floor laughing my butt off].
It’s like this, I was having a perfectly sensible online chat (ok, mostly sensible – there was some discussion about crushed velvet suits…) when a voice sung out as it approached my door. A bloke’s voice, and not Boaz’s from upstairs. Having been focused on the crushed velvet this ‘ahoy’ gave me quite a start, I might have let slip a bit of a swear word… I’m not sure (shhhh don’t tell).
Anyway.
It was my other upstairs neighbour (who shall be known as VB Man). He just dropped in to give me a beer (I KNOW) and not just a can or a stubbie… a dirty great longneck… (for translation see this page.) I was so shell shocked I couldn’t respond intelligently… (I KNOW). I nodded and smiled, took the proffered VB (I KNOW… not a Corona) thanked him and went back inside a bit befuddled.
I’m still befuddled.
I have a few questions for you Blogosphere… would it have been uncharitable to refuse? Apart from the fact it wasn’t a Corona… He got brave enough to make a move… shutting him down might have been a bit harsh, right?
More importantly, should I have foregone the crushed velvet discussion with ‘The OC’ and invited Panel to split the beer? I feel a bit guilty that I didn’t, though between crushed velvet and bootleg software/beer/broken windows (the other conversation topics I’ve been subject to with Panel and his brother) the crushed velvet was the winner on the day…
I was telling Gem in a later discussion that I’m so not hip to s*xual politics… in my usual circles beer would be the last thing on offer… right after bootleg software (the last gift offered by Panel’s brother) so I was pretty un-prepared… Mate, if Panel knew I was a card-carrying Bible babe much like Mary and Boaz (who never miss an opportunity to talk about it with believer and non-believer alike) he’d have had apoplexy… but after having his assistance fixing my window the other day, and now this unexpected gift… it’s getting interesting ’round here…
So… About Last Night…
I’ve known him for years. He’s the only guy who’s ever, at any time, expressed a desire to marry me.
Back then I told him to grow up, which… may have been a mistake given the dearth of proposals in the intervening time. And, as I know you’ll be gagging for details I’ll state, for the record, that his name is Dug and he’s very cute, he has dark hair with a cowlick that makes the front stick up if it’s not cut right (think THAT scene in Something About Mary) and the brightest of baby blue eyes… he’s got that Celtic thing going on… Phwaaaor…
Sigh… anyway, what was I saying?
Oh yes,girls he’s totally adorable. But, like I said… His maturity levels left something to be desired so a wedding wasn’t on the cards.
But…
on Thursday… the phone rang and the voice on the end of the line said, “I’m sorry, I know it’s short notice, but he just can’t be alone right now, he’s asking for you… will you come?”
It had been months since I’d last seen him and I’m embarrassed to admit that it hadn’t gone well…it ended in tears. So I hesitated…sigh… but who was I to refuse him now in this… his hour of need.
I arrived at his house, nervous energy making me just a little early. The greeting warm, the wine chilled, and the rugby, our shared passion was on the telly… So we sat back and relaxed on the sofa watching our favourite sport as if the last time we met was just a distant memory… chatting about news, current events in our respective worlds and as always we laughed.
Oh how we laughed…
So, he kicked me playfully on the thigh… and grinned… inviting me to take it further… I shook my head… “no, it’s too soon…”
But .. the evening passed… delightfully, and as the hour got late, the game finished and that question just plain hung in the air… more tv? Or…. to…
Bed?
“Oh…darling… to bed” I say… and so we rustle off down the stairs, stepping lightly so as not to cause a stir on the way. And he grabs me, throwing us both down onto the mattress…
I pin him by the shoulders, he’s laughing aloud… his eyes light up…
“A kiss?” I say?
He turns is head as if to decline… but his eyes twinkle with “YES!”
And so… I lean in gently… and kiss his forehead and say…
“Goodnight Darling, sleep well…
…Mummy and Daddy will be home when you wake up in the morning.”
He grabs me round the neck and squeezes like he’ll never let go and replies,
“Goodnight Dee, you’re the best babysitter ever!”
So there you have it… I may be still Singular but I am loved.
And
It
Feels
Great.