Uncommon

I'm sure this has been said before, and almost certainly by someone more eloquent than I, but it's amazing just how uncommon common sense is. Having done a lot of teaching this session, it amazes me just how stupid otherwise intelligent people can be when it comes to practical matters. Don't get me started on common courtesy either...

Conservative nutjobs

The ever-enlightening Huffington Post brought my attention to the creation of a fund to help Sarah Palin pay her legal fees in the Troppergate probe. Named "Sarah Palin's War Chest", it was set up by the nutjobs at FreeAmericanCitizens.org, at the instigation of Bill O'Reilly. Ha! Anyway, this quote from the HuPo article piqued my interest:

I think she has been abused," he said. "I think she has been abused by the news media. And here is the thing, a lot of people may not like the idea of a woman being a leader. But who is the best protector of the children? A woman on the playground will protect a child in harm and then they say they can't be leaders? But they are the best protectors.... People don't look at that, people don't see it, but mothers are nurturers.

[Clayton Paslay, of FreeAmericanCitizens.org, on Palin]

So I checked out their website. Under the heading "Our Reasons" can be found the delightfully disparate policies of opposing compulsory wearing of seatbelts (no shit), legalising the hiring of illegal immigrants and the promotion of abstinence in sex education. I'm not really going to try and add anything other than pointing and laughing. I'm especially amused that a group supporting Palin is all for illegal workers, and also find it pretty amusing that despite Bristol Palin's baby, these people still support abstinence. Stupid people - they're everywhere.

I have a lot of crap

Every time I move I become aware of just how much crap I have. Three helmets (bicycle, climbing and now motorbike), nine pairs of climbing shoes, four climbing ropes (two singles and a pair of doubles), some 700 odd CD's, seven camera lenses, five backpacks of various sizes - the list goes on. So I'm rationalising the amount of shit that I have. There's a big bag of clothes going to St. Vinnies and at least three pairs of climbing shoes are being donated to UNSW Outdoors Club. In the unlikely event that someone reading this wants a kit lens from a Canon 350D or Canon 3000 film camera, let me know. I'm keeping all my CD's though.

I am a rolling stone.

Having lived in about 6 different places in the last 18 months, I thought I'd found a place where I could settle for a while. Wrong. Our douche bag real estate agent has decided that we are a bunch of sketch bags and so sent us an eviction notice. Rami talked to him, and sorted it out, but we've decided to pull the pin anyway, so it's back to Fairlight for me. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as my scholarship runs out at the end of April, but I really like living in Surry Hills. Anyway, here are the pros and cons of moving out:

Pro's
-no rent
-I don't have to pay for food
-I get to ride my motorbike to uni
-living close to the boys from school

Con's
-not being in Surry Hills
-moving back in with Mum and Dad (sorry Mum and Dad, but once you move out it's hard to go back - I'm sure you understand)
-being miles away from radness
-not being able to walk everywhere

Ugh. Anyway, no doubt it will be ok, I'm pretty fucking over moving though.

Woah.

I felt it was necessary to share this slice of radness: The Enduring Legacy of Point Break. Awesome.

Runnin'

This dispatch is nothing to do with the awesome Pharcyde track - although I am super disappointed to have missed Pharcyde last week. All four of them, plus Supernatural! Unfortunately they were playing at Good Vibes Festival, and I'd rather slam my dick in a car door than hang out with a Sydney festival crowd these days. Yes, I'm old and jaded and cynical. Fuck you.

Anyway, I digress. I've been seriously lacking psych for climbing for a couple of months, and the lack of physical activity has led to a noticeable increase in body fat. I'm not fat, don't get me wrong, but I've NEVER experienced this before. So, I've started running again. I've always wanted to do a marathon, but I know I can do this, so my goal is more than just to finish. I'd like to do a sub 2 hour half marathon in May, then a sub 4 hour marathon in September, both in Sydney. I'm currently doing about 25km per week, which will need to be up around 50-60km per week in the lead up to the half, and more than 90km per week for the marathon. I'll provide updates over the coming months. Now, I'm off for a run.

Throwing my hat in the ring

A friend brought my attention to the Richard Casement internship offered annually by The Economist. Their aim is to find scientists who can write rather than writers who can science, so I figure I may as well throw my hat into the ring. Whether or not I will have finished my thesis or will have the money to support myself for 3 months in London is something I'm choosing not to think about at the moment...