Karaoke Lovin'

Having done a reinstall of my Mac, I was going through some old photos that I've imported. I miss my karaoke buddies! Special shout out to Simon "Skeet Skeet" Watt, whom I couldn't find a photo of.

Good Friends

It's always fun to see old friends, especially coming to visit us in New York. This week we had Reenie, Andrea, Cheyne and Mel all loitering around the Big Apple for a few days. We have the pleasure of Reenie and Andrea staying with us for the next few days. The pad is slightly squeezy, there have been some "are you finished with the toilet?" calls, but on the whole it's been fine. Definitely glad that we have a one-bedder, I just feel bad that they don't have much privacy!

People always ask us about the friends that we have made here in NY. I would say that it's a hard thing to do, because:
a) There are many good friends we already have trouble keeping in touch with.
b) Bec and I, being a couple, can hang out together and do things, and not feel as much the need to meet up with others.

Perhaps in time, one will find better friends in new cities. I do remember one my friends who moved overseas a few years ago telling me that there is always a greater comfort level with some people back home than anyone you meet in your new city. Maybe you just don't share that "growing up" stage, and the memories are not as emotionally strong.

Meanwhile, I take this opportunity to hang with some old friends and share some new memories!

Accents, Nicknames and Sayings

An Aussie work friend of mine was describing to a US colleague that there is a pattern in how Aussies make nicknames out of their friends. There are four categories:

1. The "a" ie Garry --> Gazza; Karen --> Kazza
   
2. The "ie / y" ie Stuart --> Stuey; Paul --> Paulie
3. The "o" ie Robert --> Robbo; Damien --> Daimo
4. The "completely random " ie Jo --> SaucyNugget
   

The funny thing was that this was quite a shock for our US friend, it must not be a prevalent here, the "completely random" category maybe, but the "a" version definitely not, most likely because their accents would not emphasise it.

On the other hand, I was a bit shocked hearing an Asian person I had just met cursing and talking as if he came straight out of a black movie! "Yo nigger....sup dog...that shit is wack!" (ok, that last one was my improv :)) I admit I say stuff like that once in a while for fun, but when it's part of someone's everyday speech, it seemed a bit out of hand.

Of course, that Asian-African thing is probably as weird to me as the Asian-Australian accent is to my new friends. As long as we both enjoy listening being entertained, it's all good.

Time To Refocus

There's always something happening in our lives here. Previously it was moving to our new place, then it was buying furniture for our new place, then it was travelling for work, this week it was buying coats in preparation for winter (40% off, by the way!).

What I have found is that I've been very bad at keeping that promise I made to myself a while ago. There seems to be no time for it, or rather I'm still not very motivated to do anything about it. I don't know how to make it more of my life, or maybe the issue is that I'm still not sure what problem I really want to tackle.

All I know is that the problem should be addressed at increasing the ability of people to be given an opportunity to succeed, whether that be education, or cultural change, or financial means. Perhaps I'm thinking too globally, where there are plenty of opportunities here in New York. Just have to find the right trigger for myself to kick into gear.