We drove into central Nelson and found an awesome café full of old farming and settler type things e.g syths, old cart wheels etc. Finding the couches were all taken for the moment, we setup shop at a table and waited until a couple that looked like they were about move finally left. I think we hung out at the café for about an hour.

When it was nearing 5:30pm we left the café and headed to ‘The Boatshed’ down at the waterfront. It was a classy joint she picked. It was one of the nicest restaurants I’ve been in for a while. We order a bottle of Pinot Noir and laughed most of the night, and had a couple of good deep-ish conversations as well. Towards the end of the dinner fireworks started out on the harbour. So we had dinner and a show. The fireworks were a little average but it was still great to be in a prime position to see them. Dessert followed the fireworks. We had planned to go back to my cousin’s place for Lemon Meringue pie cooked by my Granny so we didn’t want to spoil that by having lots of desert at the restaurant. We ordered a sticky date pudding for the two of us.

While she went to the bathroom, I took the opportunity to pay for the meal. When she came back, we finished the pudding and headed out for a short walk along the water front. It was fairly cold so we didn’t walk for long.

The night was drawing to a close and it was time to head back to have more pudding and coffee with the cousins and Granny. I must say, this girl was brave for coming along. Who would want to meet a guys cousins and Granny on a second date? That’s a little crazy, but then again it was a crazy adventure the whole way along so I’m not really surprised.

Gran’s Lemon Meringue pie was brilliant as always. We had a few laughs with the family and the night was over. I walked her to the car, gave her a hug goodbye, and let her go on her way. We agreed to stay in touch, and with that my two day whirlwind trip to take a girl I had never meet out on a date was over.

Now the part you probably want to know - what has happened since? The short answer is nothing. I got an email that Tuesday saying ‘lets just be friends’ and that is ok with me. She is a lovely girl and lives far away. She has also just come out of a relationship and isn’t interested in anything more. That's ok with me. These things rarely end up the way we think.

At the end of the day, I was taking an opportunity to have an adventure. I had a great time. She was absolutely lovely. I’m very lucky to have been given the opportunity to take her out.

Thank you to the young miss that let me have a couple of her evenings - you were a lot of fun.

She arrives at my cousin’s house and she is as pretty as in her photos. Tall, blonde, and sporty with a great smile. We go to a restaurant close by. It’s a very nice place. Great wine and huge plates with tiny delicate food. We hung out at the restaurant for a couple of hours talking about all sorts of things. It was a nice evening. When the staff were well and truly closed, and had setup for the morning, we decided it was time to leave. Walking out the door I spotted a great looking water fountain across the road. It was shooting water straight up from the ground and I wanted to play in it. She was good with the idea so we went across and jumped around in the fountain. I was the only one that ended up wet – right down the front of my jeans. It looked like I had pee’d my pants which made us both laugh. She didn’t get wet at all.

After playing in the fountain, and getting wet, we noticed the bar next to us had karaoke going and it was sounding awesome. She looked at me with an inquisitive adventurous look and said

“Wana check it out?”

“Heck yeah!” I laughed while looking down at my wet pants wondering if anyone would notice.

Lucky enough, the bar was dark (aren’t they all?) and no one noticed. As we walked in there was a short, squat, bald guy singing Sweet Home Alabama while bleach-blonde slightly tubby woman danced seductively with on each other, if you can all it that (eeewww). We had clearly joined the ranks of the local bogan bar. We laughed and headed to the bar for a beer.

The night ended at 11pm when she dropped me home. It was great evening and I had a heap of fun. I can’t speak for her, but I know it was a well worth taking the opportunity. The trip to Nelson to go blind date with a random girl had been a success in that I didn’t behave like a total arse, and I don’t think embarrassed her or myself.

So I had a good night and so ended date one of two. There is also a funny story about getting locked out of my cousin’s house but I’ll post about that after I’ve finished this story.

I got a txt from her later that night saying she had work to do during the day on Friday but was keen to hang out again tomorrow night. So we set up for another dinner on Friday.

The next day, Friday, I worked from the dinner table at my cousin’s house. Then checked in with my sister and her fiancé who wanted to check I hadn’t made a total arse of myself. They agreed I had conducted myself ok.

In the early arvo I heard from the lady. She was keen to have dinner and gave me a couple of options of Thai or a really nice place on the waterfront. I liked the sound of the waterfront.  She would be free at 4pm and would pick me up for coffee, then we would head for dinner.

She arrived at 4pm and we set out for the second date…

[To be continued]

Okay, so I’m starting to freak out a little bit now. First I set a limit for the plane tickets -  that I didn’t think I would be able to get - now I have them for less than my budgeted amount, and I’m seriously thinking about going to Nelson to take a random girl out for dinner – what the heck!

I called my sister (who is flatting with the girl), and Kate’s response was “...that would be so awesome and funny, but it will totally intensify your friendship. It might make things awkward.” She had a point. Then I called Kate's fiancé Chris and asked him what he thought. He said, “Get on a plane and go! If nothing else, it will be a great story.” So with that, I decided to call the lady and tell her I’m calling her bluff and that I’m going to turn up and take her out for dinner.

I don’t normally get nervous but I was calling a random woman who I hardly know at ALL, and I had no idea how she would take this phone call. She answered the phone and I explained that I was calling her bluff and was coming to Nelson to take her out for dinner. I told her that my Granny and cousins are all there in Nelson and I'd like to see them as well - so I had three great reasons to visit Nelson.

She laughed at the idea, told me I was crazy, laughed some more, and agreed to go out for dinner on Friday night- if I went. She couldn't do anything that night (remember this is Thursday) because she had a ‘daddy-date’. (Side note to all men: never get inbetween a girl and her Dad. It’s a bad idea for SO many reasons).

We finished our conversation and I headed back to the office. To be honest, I was expecting her to get off the phone, talk to a mate, and freak out. My thoughts went: “...any moment now I’ll get a txt saying that she's actually a bit freaked out and maybe I shouldn't come because she doesn’t know me well enough…” I would have understood if she had done that – let's be honest here, it was a crazy idea to fly to another city and take a girl who I’ve never met before out for dinner. But to my surprise, that didn’t happen. In fact, when I got back to the office I got a txt that said she would be finished with her daddy-date by 8, and if I was in Nelson we could do desert and wine afterwards. Ohhh how happy I was! I laughed at the whole situation and jumped online to book tickets.

The next few hours went like a blur. Booked tickets: 4pm. Went home to pack my bag: 5pm. Got on the plane: 6pm. Landed/picked up: 7:30pm. Coffee with cousins: 8pm. Lady picked me up: 8:30pm.

Ideally I would have preferred to pick her up, but I didn’t have a car, and I also didn’t know the city or her location. So I was happy for her to pick me up this time.

[To be continued...]

This is a story about an opportunity that I took "once upon a time" in my life. I’m recording it for no other reason than that it’s a good story, a moment I will remember, and a story to share with others in years to come. This is my recollection of events, and I’m happy to be corrected if I remember wrong. That said, let the story begin…

I was talking to my sister on the phone one beautiful Tuesday evening, and as we chatted about what was going on this week she said, “I have two gorgeous new flat mates – you should marry one of them!” Laughing, I said “Sure, why not?” At the same time I heard a woman’s voice in the background say, “Kate, who are you talking to?” “My brother,” said Kate. Then the woman yelled out “Dibs!” Kate laughed and told me, “You’ve just been bagged. Here, talk to this girl!” So the phone was passed to the lady who ‘baggsed’ me and we chatted for a few minutes about what each other does etc. We had a good laugh, teased each other a little, and at the end of the phone call the woman said, “I feel like I know you well enough to add you on Facebook” - and so she did. When I got the chance to look through her photos, I quickly realized she was very cute – beautiful in fact.

The next day (Wednesday) I got a Facebook message from this woman that said: “Where are you taking me for dinner tomorrow night?". I laughed to myself and made a quick call to a friend in Nelson – where this woman was at the time – and found a highly recommended Indian restaurant. I suggested I take her there, which she thought that was a great idea...“I like it, pick me up at 7:30pm!” she wrote back.

I laughed; I’m sure she did as well. Ahhh the fun of flirting on Facebook - but nothing was ever to come of it. The next day (Thursday) I was having a coffee with my good friend, and I told him the story of the beautiful Christian girl who had asked me to take her out to dinner. My friend looked at me with an open mouth and said, “Dude, why are you not down there taking her our for dinner?!” “No way man! I only just got introduced to this girl. I can’t turn up and take her out. That would be creepy!” I said. "Dude, you’ve got a gorgeous Christian girl asking you to take her out for dinner – get on a plane today and call her bluff. If you can get cheap tickets, you should totally go. Just set a limit on how much you're willing to pay for plane tickets, and if you can get them for less than that amount, you have to go,” my friend argued.

So I set a ticket limit of $400. Now remember that I was trying to buy tickets on the day of the flight, to a small New Zealand town – these are NEVER cheap even when you book weeks beforehand, let alone on the day and less then 5 hours till the flight leaves. But I got on my phone and checked flights and prices – lo and behold, I could get tickets for less than my $400 budget. My friend just laughed and said, “Looks like you're going to Nelson tonight, mate!”

[To be continued...] 

“Because, that’s the thing about love, really. No one will love you how you want to be loved, they’ll love you in the only ways they know how. Life throws everyone down drastically different paths so how can we expect everyone to love in the same way? The person you’ll spend your lifetime with will love you in their way and you’ll love in yours, and maybe you’ll meet in the middle and it’ll last. None of us know what we’re doing, you see, we’re just fumbling for matches in the dark. If you’re lucky, you might eventually just strike the right one.”

“Because, that’s the thing about love, really. No one will love you how you want to be loved, they’ll love you in the only ways they know how. Life throws everyone down drastically different paths so how can we expect everyone to love in the same way? The person you’ll spend your lifetime with will love you in their way and you’ll love in yours, and maybe you’ll meet in the middle and it’ll last. None of us know what we’re doing, you see, we’re just fumbling for matches in the dark. If you’re lucky, you might eventually just strike the right one.”

This just makes me laugh every time I look at it. The sentiment in this is just so true. Being successful at something is supprisingly hard - not because it's hard to be good at anything but hard because suddenly you have to do more of it, or more often. I run a business that does it's job very well and as a result I work almost around the clock. Yes, I'm in control and could change that but lets be clear that I'm not complaining here - far from it, I love my life and working hard.

I dont think anyone who sets out to do something like run a business realises just how much of a pain in the butt it can be when you are doing well. I certainly didn't, and neither did the business friends of mine. I keep telling people that the great thing about having your own business is being able to work whenever I want. If I only want to work 2 hours today - so be it. The reality is that I have all the time in the world, to work every waking hour I have hahaha. If you've been in business you will know what I mean.

The observation made in this image just makes me laugh because I think most business people have thought this as some point. I dont always feel like I'm succsessful and over loaded with people wanting Leftfield Interactive to do work for them. But on the good days, when I finish work at 4am (like today) I do wonder about the benefit of being good at what I do.

This image comes from http://gapingvoid.com/ (14 June). It's from the very funny Hugh MacLeod.

The knight walked aimless and uncomfortable. Unsure of where he was going, and unsure of what to think. The path that both his mind and body took was perhaps not the best. But then what is the right path? Is there ever a right path, or is it about the decisions we make along that path that make it right? Robert Frost took the path less travelled and to him, that has made all the difference but I wonder if it wasn't really about the path, but the choice he made. Surely a path, in and of its self holds no morality but the intent with which it is engaged makes all the difference.

Unfortunately for the young wounded knight, the intention with which he now travelled this road was not one of redemption but more of escape. Actually it was more than that fore the Knight had already escaped the danger that initially wounded him. Now he was running future from the source in an effort to escape the pain. The young prince hadn’t realised yet that the pain was within him and emanating from the wound he refused to addressed and wouldn't allow others to help with. Pressing on into the heart of the forest, the knight hoped the pain would leave him - but it didn't.

The world sighed and wondered why humans did this to themselves. Why did they eternally try and run from themselves? For creatures that usually possessed the ability to logically consider and react, Humans also seemed to be the only creations that also tried to leave themselves behind. Other creations didn't exhibit the same tendency to run from themselves - sure they would run from danger or threat. They would leave an area if beaten in a fight but this was always because of an external factor. Humans were the only ones that found themselves to be a threat to their own existence and wanted to run from themselves. How odd these human beings are, the world thought. And the world was right.

As the knight moved through the forest, so too did his mind. It wondered through the past adventure from his training through to the recent ‘attack’ of the Raevac in the forest – or was it an attack he wondered… at any rate the young prince wasn’t going to stick around and find out.

The mind is a wondering creature, much like it’s human container in which it resides. A mind will wonder seemingly aimlessly unless it’s kept in check. Like a dog walking out the gate and down the road – a mind may not seem like it has a destination in mind but it knows that it’s on the move and heading in a consistent direction yet it knows not where it will stop.

So wondered the knights mind into a dark forest of it’s own. It wondered past fights and remember battles it had failed in and it wondered if the battle had been lost because of it. The mind meandered through the low-lands of rejection by the princess in the tower and it dwelt in the shade of the “what if” tree where it considered all the things it should have said that might just have made the princess see the knight differently. As the young knights mind strolled unchecked it took the young knight to a place where he felt very third rate, not just second rate but below that. Where others were first-rate and succeeded in life, second-rate knights won some and lost some but overall came out on top. But the Prince felt third-rate – That place where… well it’s a hard place to describe and the knight couldn’t put into words what that place felt like. It was similar to when you were at school and being picked for a game. Your friends would all line up and the two captains would take turns choosing the best players and slowly everyone would be picked before you. Usually you would finally be picked reluctantly and added to a team. But this time the prince felt like he hadn’t even been picked – one team had decided they would rather play with one less player than to have him on their team. The knight figured it was better to leave the game and stand on the sidelines, but as his mind wondered more be begun to think it would be better if he didn’t stay to watch the game because it hurt too much.

When there is such a burning desire to play the game and be good at it, but you simply aren’t that good – what do you do? You can practice and practice until you are good enough but while you practice, so are the others and you all increase in skill and find that you are still last to be picked or worse, not picked at all.

The young knights mind and feet continued to wonder unchecked while the knight focused on the pain in his chest. He didn’t know how long it would take for the wound to heal but he was determined to diminish the pain so he kept walking ignoring the growing pangs of hunger and the internal warning signs that danger was immanent.

"What are you doing?” cried the Knight

"Let go, let go, let go,” he yelled

Human can't help but react to paint - it's only natural to want to stop pain. Sometimes the pain we feel is more acute when we are actually being healed than the dull throb of an infection that grows slowly. A cancer, for example, may not feel painful at all but the surgery to remove it does and so patients are made unconscious while the healing takes place.

The knight’s reaction to the pain he felt overcame his mind and suppressed his ability to consider what the Arenac was doing. I can't say I blame the young knight - who wouldn't associate pain with someone who has their hands around the very spot that hurts so much. I can understand the knights desire to be freed from the Raevac. If only the knight knew the good that would come from letting someone else help... but he didn't and so the Raevac stopped.

In the dark edges of the forest a wild set of eyes flashed briefly. They didn't go unnoticed to the Raevac. Who knows who or what the eyes belonged too. Whatever they were, it made the Raevacs heart quicken - which is a rare occurrence. The eyes meant trouble that even a Raevac didn't want to deal with. Realizing the young prince was distressed and probably wouldn't sarcoma to reason, she lifted the princes head and smacked it short and sharply down on the ground beneath him. The knight passed out and stopped his noise.

Before removing the knight’s chest plate, the Raevac lit several other touches and placed them around the wounded prince to keep the eyes at bay - at least for a little while longer.

In the dark of the forest the Raevac worked fast and with excellence. She removed the knight’s chest plate and dealt with the wound to his heart. From experience, the Raevac knew the issues involved with the damage of this kind of wound. She pushed the arrow through the other side of the knight’s chest, which pulled a bandage into the wound. In time the foreign debris was removed and the wound was closed, not healed - but closed.

With her work complete for the moment, the Raevac sat back and waited for the knight to come too. She waited near by to assist if needed but she didn't expect to be thanked. She knew too well that the young prince would remember her as the one that was 'attacking' and then knocked him out. She waited to help but knew she would not be welcomed.

The Raevac sat back against a tree. Her eyes stung and she closed them for a short moment to give them a break. When she awoke the knight was gone, or very nearly gone. She could see a light moving off into the heart of the forest. She couldn't actually see the prince but judging by the slow moving light, and the missing light torch from the edge or her circle, she guessed it was he.

With no thanks, the knight had come-to and made his way off into the forest he didn't know.

'Humans' can be so unappreciative' thought the Raevac.

A the Raevac watch the light fade, she held on to the knowledge that she saved the princes life and one day he would appreciate it. She knew she had preformed a life saving task, and just in time it seemed. The wound would heal nicely and the knight couldn't have asked for better surgeon for a battle wound. But what does the world care about how well we do? What does it mean to the earth if we succeed or fall short? Does it ever stop the sun from rising and falling? Does the Moon call a halt to time when it sees a lone prince down?

With several thousand years of recorded history to stand on, I believe the answer is no. The breaking of a soul doesn’t factor in the daily considerations of the world at large. But it does to the creatures around it; and so too for the Raevac right where she was. The young prince moved off with the light. The same light the Raevac had lit to help save the knights life now becomes the same light that leaves the Raevac behind.

The eyes had left the Raevac behind; they too moved off behind the light...

Dreams have a powerful way of highlighting the wants and desires of the heart. They facilitated the imaginings of a wild heart that has until now been bound in reality. In a dream you can live through the most fantastic and horrifying scenarios. The prince was dreaming of a life better lived. In his dream he had managed to rid himself of the two things that had caused him the most pain for the longest time- his heart, and himself.

In the moments that passed for the knight, he lay there and dreamed with a broken heart of a life he wish he had.

Why are hearts so uncontrollable? from where do they get their ability to deny and ignore all the realities around them? They cling to hope which should have logically long left these shores. A heart is the most wild thing the world has ever encountered. There is no stopping a heart when it sets its way; Neither bricks nor brilliance can dissuade it. There is nothing that can confine a heart that has known freedom before and yearns to have it back.

Their is nothing as beautiful as a heart set free to be all it was destined to be, and nothing more disappointing than a heart which has never been allowed to really live. A heart is a lot like a captive bear, elephant, or other animal chained from birth. The animal which is bound from birth learns early that it simply can not be free from its bonds. Later in life it won't bother to test the thin chain. So to a heart bound and suppressed from birth never really lives the way it somehow knows it could.

The knights heart had lived free once before and now felt and constraints of reality it simply would not accept. Sinking into the moss would never be enough for this young heart and somewhere deep inside the knight, it began to stir. Even as it realised it would have to leave the dreamworld for the constraints and pain of reality which would immediately enveloped it. The Knights heart cried out to the young prince. It cried for freedom, I cried out for revenge, it cried out for a life that was not finished.

And so, like all things, dreams never last forever. The young prince was called back from his dreamland by his own heart. As strange as that may seem, the knight had relented and very nearly given up but his heart, the very thing that was most damaged, would not let him give up on the account of it. his heart refused to be the reason the young prince never carried on. His heart pulled him from the place it so desperately wanted to be.

Hearts have a bizarre ability to see things for the value they really have. The knights heart was not content to live someone else's dream. It wanted life, and all it had to offer. the young princes heart had set its way to live it's own adventure and nothing would stop his heart from achieving all it hand inside it.

The Knight stirred in his moss mattress. The moss reached up around the young prince as if to call him back to the dream. But it was to late for the moss. Pain gripped the knights chest again and he called out as the shaft of the arrow gripped on the inside of the Armour and let go. the knight was alive again and the Raevac moved in...

The Raevac watched the young prince sit in the dampend moss undergrowth of the forest. Not the cleanest place to sit but for right now it was perfect. The knight leaned back into the soft earth and removed his helment, turned it around a looked at it. The lower part of the right neck guard was dented, the plum was full of foliage, the pin that held his visor onto the right side was lose and not holding the visor in place well.  The first  thought that ran through the knights head was how much of a disgrace his armour was, then the second thought followed quickly "I don't care, no one cares what my armour looks like. I'm in the middle of a forest where I'm meant to be 'being a knight' and I've stuffed it all up. What the heck does it matter now what my armour looks like? It can't protect me against the very thing that will cause me the most damge - myself"

Sitting the in warm black under growth the prince began to recount his experience. The training he had received, the battels along the way, the dragon, the castle, the princess, and now the forest. For the first time in a long time he felt safe here. His whole life he'd been told the the dangers a forest could hold; How he should watch out for traps, wild animals, bandits etc. The Forest was meant to be a dnagerous place yet he felt safe here compared to the 'safer' world he had just left.

As the knight sat pondering the world, that very same world kept moving oblivious to the knight. And why should the world care if the knight was tired, sleeping, relenting, releasing, removing himself from it. In the soft shadow of the forest, the world couldn't see the knight as he lay. the world didn't notice the wound deep in his chest. I'm sure it's not that the world doesn't care, it's just that there is so much else going on that the world couldn't do anything even if it did know. Mother earth would craefully accept the young prince back should he chose to return but otherwise it had the rest of life to get on with.  So the  knight  sat there and bleed back to where he had first come.

On the outside of his armour there was a small pucker and hole where the arrow had struck. The physical damage on the outside was little. Nothing a hammer and small patch couldn't fix. the armour itself would be back to knew and stronger in that place that ever before. But it wasnt the armour that was the problem now, it was the wound beneath the armour. The knight has since broken off the penetrating arrow, or at least it appeard that way from the outside. The truth was known only to the knight who still felt the pain everytime he breathed. The remaining shaft of the arrow lay deep in his heart but causing pain and holding damaged flesh in place. as he deathed the sahft would scrap against the inside of his armour. The young prince wasn't sure whether to pull the remaining arrow out and free himself from the infliction, or if pulling the shaft out would pull with it damaged fleesh and tear away at vital little healthy heart that was left. He began to care less and less as the soft moss molded to his body. Lying back, he positioned his chest plate as far away from the wound as possible so it would not rub. He closed his eyes and left for another world.

The Raevac just watched as the knight drifted away; possibly the only one who knew what was happening, possibly the only one who could help, and the only one that knew that the night needed to choose before the Raevac chould help. The Raevac poised ready to help, waiting for a sign of need, waiting to see if the young prince would make one last effort to repeal the pain and make his choice.

As the knight travelled on his way, dust, most, leaves, and other debris from the wilting forest began to cover him, just a light dust at first but it gathered more and more. The knight could feel it starting to cling to his damp skin. It didn't feel good.

Our prince wasn't doing very well. He'd been part of a fairly rough adventure so far, not that this was a bad thing. Adventures aren't meant to be easy or safe really. I don't think many people would go on them if they were. A good adventure has a huge dose of the unknown in it, and hopefully that means challenges and risks. But when people think about going on an adventure I wonder how often they consider that the risks might actually be hard to deal with? That threats are often not happy things, they are nasty and painful. And that human beings, no matter what we say, don't really like to much uncertainly in our lives.

It didn't seem like such a fun adventure to the young prince now. In fact he was wondering what the heck he was actually doing at this point. The adventure was meant to be to find the girl, rescue her, and live happily ever after. Why hadn't it worked out that way? Where the heck had this adventure gone wrong? Maybe, he thought, he should have just picked the first tower he came across, busted down the door, knocked the princess out cold, carried her back home, and lived happily ever after. It certainly would have saved all the pain and confusion he was experiencing now. He breathed a deep breath and felt a surge of pain shoot from his wounded chest down his right leg.

The forest, while dark and dead, seemed familiar and peaceful. The young prince felt at home in the withering, resigned forest that wanted to grow but couldn't. He sat down and thought about how comfortable he was there. Maybe this is where he should stay. He didn't want to go home again now that he had stuffed up the great adventure. Maybe he could make a home for himself in the forest.

And so the knight began to relax and rest for the first time since before he had entered the dark valley. Perhaps it was the physical exhaustion, maybe it was the dark light that made his body think it was time to sleep, or maybe the forest impressed upon him its resignation. What ever it was, the Raevac was not pleased. "This isn't good. This isn't a good place to get comfortable right now. This lad needs to keep moving" thought the Raevac.

I was having a laugh with some friends about the three-second-rule - you know the one about how long food can be on the ground before you can eat it? yeah that three-second-rule.

We got talking about all the things that maybe you shouldn't bother ever picking up again like icecream, chewing gum, iceblocks, and anything liquid that's spilt on the carpet.

I think more boys observe the three-second-rule than girls do although I do know some awesome ladies that will eat food off the floor anytime (I'm thinking of you Ange Walker).

Eating food off the floor has it's pros and cons. On the one hand, you are more likely to pick up some gross bug and get sick but at the same time you could boost your immunity to those same bugs and not get sick when others do. Maybe eating food off the floor actually helps make you stronger in some cases? that which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...

Sometimes when I've dropped food on the ground I dont bother picking it up again - it's too far gone especially if it's liquid... even I think that's yuk. The older (and wiser?) I get, the less I eat of the ground. I've got more picky about the three-second-rule and how I apply it.

I'm glad God doesn't follow the three-second-rule. When I've fallen down, I've been on the ground a lot longer than three seconds. I'm glad God didn't give up on me.

The Moleskine, though, made its way into my pocket or backpack all the time, because of one simple use I found for it: a list manager. Not a list of things to do, or people to call – different lists. The Moleskine is my perfect list-manager, and that’s all I use it for.

That said, I’ve also discovered how useful it is to keep a small number of lists both updated and handy at all times, for a whole variety of uses. Here are nine lists that can be enormously helpful to all of us, if kept both current and accessible. Keep them wherever you like (for me, a Moleskine), but make sure you keep them.

“Things I Want”

Every year, people I know ask me what I want for my birthday, or for Christmas, or just because they love giving me gifts (that last would would be nice, huh?). Usually, I have no idea what to tell them. That’s why I’ve started keeping a list of things I want – every time I hear about or come across something I’d like to have, no matter how big or small, it goes on my list.

If I get it, or don’t want it anymore, it goes away. It’s simple, but having this list gives me a running tally of stuff I actually want, so I’m not just telling my family and friends “anything’s great, seriously…” and then pretending to like what I get.

“Gift Ideas”

This one’s on the opposite side of gift-giving. If I think of something that would be a great gift for a person I might some day buy a gift, I write down something like “Mom – Rollerblades.” That way, when my Mom’s birthday comes up and I realize I haven’t been paying attention for a whole year, I’ve got some backup ideas. This one, more than all the other lists here, has come in handy over and over in my life.

“Got a Minute?”

We all have things that we’d like to do, but that aren’t required of us and that have no consequences whether we do them or not. I keep those things in my “Got a Minute?” list. If I have some free time with absolutely nothing to do, I’ll take a stab at something on my list. If they don’t get done, it’s not a big deal – it’s full of things I’d like to do when there’s nothing better or more important to do.

“Watch, Read, Listen”

Another critical one for me, as a music and movie junkie. If a movie gets suggested to me, or I’m told I absolutely have to hear a particular band, they go on the list. If I have some time, I’ll go through the bands and see if there’s anything good. If I’m in need of another book, I try to pull one from my list rather than just reading whatever’s nearby. These lists are populated by friends, blogs, and any other source you can think of, and they’ve provided me with a ton of great movies, music, and books.

BHAGs

BHAGs, or Big Hairy Audacious Goals, are an important thing for anyone to keep updated. These are goals that are way beyond what you think is possible, and are things you’re constantly keeping in mind with every decision or choice you make. For most, these goals are career-based, but they don’t have to be. What do you want to do, or be, or accomplish? Keeping this list handy will help keep you centered and focused in all things you do.

Bucket List

We’ve all heard of bucket lists before – lists of things to do before you die. These might overlap with the BHAGs list, but not necessarily. For instance, “spend a night in jail” is proudly on my bucket list, but I wouldn’t exactly call that a goal. Keep a list of things you want to do – need to do before you die, both to help you get them done and to help you figure out what’s important. If “go to New Zealand” is on your bucket list, it’s worth saving for rather than taking a less-awesome trip somewhere else.

“Don’t Forget”

This is a list for random, momentary stuff that you need to remember – but not remember forever. Things like “new guy at work is Jim” or “mail taxes” go on this list – review it periodically (I check mine every morning) and get rid of whatever is done or that you actually know. Hopefully, after a week, you’ll remember Jim’s name, and not need it on the list anymore.

Great Ideas

Have a great idea for a business? Thought of a brilliant invention? Write it down. Maybe you won’t do anything with it, maybe you will – either way, having a list of your best ideas is a great way to both stimulate more great ideas, and to give you something to impress the boss with the next time he needs someone with great ideas.

Grocery List

Obvious though it may sound, too many people still don’t keep a grocery list. Or, like me, they keep one and then leave it at home. The usefulness of an always-available and always-updated grocery list is twofold: one, it gives you a place to put “Orange Juice” when you run out of Orange Juice, thus keeping you from either not having it, or buying altogether too much because you couldn’t remember how much you have at home.

Two, it prevents you from buying things on impulse, or because you’re hungry – grocery shopping while hungry is dangerous. Keep a list, buy only the things on the list, and odds are you’ll eat both healthier and cheaper.

I’m a listing fanatic, keeping lists that far outnumber just the ones above. But those nine are the ones that have proven critical to saving me money, keeping me fresh with good ideas, and always knowing what to do or spend my money on in relation to what I want to be and do.

This is reposted from lifehack.org

http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/hawkes-bay/475815

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I thought this may be of interest to a few of us. We don't often get catastrophic earthquakes in New Zealand, but it always helps to know what to do. And perhaps you can pass this information onto loved ones living or travelling overseas.

I've been wondering for a few years now if we every really get on top of life. The more I live, the more I find out there is so much going on out there in the big wide world that I will never keep up with it all. Even in the industry I work in things are changing every hour it seems. But it's not just in my vocation that I find I don't seem to be able to get on top.

I'm not talking about feeling out of control or that the world is closing in on me. I feel more like I'm surfing a wave but I don't control the wave. I love being on the wave and taking every moment to love it, but I'm aware that I don't have control of the wave - I'm just going with it.

Another way of looking at it could be that life is like a hot air balloon and I'm in the basket below. The Balloon is pulling me up and I'm just go with it. I'm happy about that because I'm in the balloons basket that I obviously go into, and I have some control over the flames that heat the air to make it rise, but really the balloon is going up and taking me with it. I'm not pushing the balloon up.

So I wonder if I will ever really get on top of life. Watching a few of my friends in different stages of their lives is interesting because it highlights to me that they aren't on top of it either. I was watching a married couple with a toddler and how they were always trying to keep up with him. Did they have everything they needed for the day out, is the yard gate shut, where is he now, does he need to be feed, has he had a sleep, heck where is he NOW? They are awesome parents but who can really be on top of a toddler? Seriously, who is ever really on top of life when they have kids who are growing, changing, and challenging you ever step of the way?

Then I got thinking about the toddler - maybe he is on top of life? What I remember of being a kid is great but I never felt like I was the one in control. I was always told what to ware, what to eat, when to sleep. I remember thinking 'when I'm grown up, I'll do what I want and sleep when I want and eat all the McDs I want'. I don't think the toddler was on top of life either.

My beautiful sister is getting married to an awesome man at the end of the year. They left themselves a whole year to plan the wedding and we all feel like we are racing just to keep up with the time schedule of the wedding at the end of the year. Their wedding will be great and they aren't in any rush, but once they set the date and the clock started counting we all felt like it was taking off and we had to keep up. Do we ever really get on top of life?

Maybe we shouldn't bother trying to get on top of life. Maybe trying to control life is an impossible idea in the first place given that the world is changing all the time and we can't possibly keep up with all the changes. Maybe the best plan is to stay standing up on our surfboards and having a good time while life rockets us towards the beach.

(I found these online somewhere - not my original work)

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. Don’t worry about what people think, they don’t do it very often.

3. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than standing in a garage makes you a car.

4. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.

5. If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you’ve never tried before.

6. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.

7. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious.

8. A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.

9. For every action, there is an equal and opposite government program.

10. If you look like your passport picture, you probably need the trip.

11. Bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks.

12. A conscience is what hurts when all of your other parts feel so good.

13. Eat well, stay fit, die anyway.

1 4. Men are from earth. Women are from earth. Deal with it.

15. No man has ever been shot while doing the dishes.

16. A balanced diet is a muffin in each hand.

17. Middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.

18. Opportunities always look bigger going than coming.

19. Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.

20. There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.

21. Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

22. By the time you can make ends meet, they move the ends.

23. Thou shalt not weigh more than thy refrigerator.

24. Someone who thinks logically provides nice contrast to the real world.

25. It ain��t the jeans that make your butt look fat.

26. If you had to identify in one word the reason why the human race has not achieved it’s full potential, that word would be ‘meetings’.

27. There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’

28. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

29. You should not confuse your career with your life.

30. Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.

31. Never lick a steak knife.

32. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

33. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

34. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she’s pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

35. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that deep down inside we ALL believe we are good drivers.

36. Your friends love you anyway.

I'm a  Bass player and it's really helpful to know how other instruments do their job, especially the drums. Josh, who runs JK Drumming, has been teaching for a long time and has pulled together some stunning lessons. I'm only a begginer but I've managed to get my head around the basics of several different beats just by watching the lessons.

There are lessons for begginer to advanced, and in a varitey of styles like Jazz, Funk, Rock etc.

I'm definatly not a drummer, so you will have to check the site out for your self. Go take a look. I hope it helps

http://www.jkdrumming.com/

There was once a knight, well he was a knight but he was young, first years out of knight school. Ha-ha get it night school Knight School... So anyway, our knight was a great fella. Even though he was young and had only been in a few battles, he had gained the wisdom and strength to survive.

In the days our knight lived in, many terrible things had been done to lots of people, especially beautiful young damsels. Some of these young damsels had been taken away and locked in towers. Often, these towers were very old and dangerous places. Some even had dragons that lived around them who were told to guard these damsels, so that no one can ever get near them. The rumour amongst the knights was that these beautiful women were the best that ever existed. I don't mean just physical beauty; these were women with whom no women from any other country could compare (at least thats what the knights believed). These women were smart, elegant, captivating, intelligent, dedicated girls who had been taught by the best. Perhaps that's why they had been locked up; maybe they were seen as threats.

The knights were often exhorted to take on the most dangerous and challenging adventure that there was the rescuing of one of these beauties from their towers. Now this was no mean feat! First he must find a tower with a beauty just waiting to be rescued. Once the tower was found, the knight would often have to travel great distances to get near the tower (always in some really deep valley, or on a titanic mountain). Our young knight thought about the wisdom and beauty of these damsels and realised that there was a lot to be gained from such an adventure; but being so young, he had no idea how to find one or where to look. There were many older, wise knights that had already been on such an adventure and they had many wise things to say. They offered to guide and help the young knight prepare for such a journey. But all of them said that in the end the young knight must embark on this adventure alone, and walk the path knowing that he was loved and cared for at home but that that was all he could take for support.

So after many years of waiting and preparing for the adventure to rescue a trapped princess, the young knight set out. The trip would take several months at the shortest and many two years or more at the other end. He knew there would be many battles to fight along the way, many lonely cold nights. Several times he would see other knights that had died along the way, there was nothing that scared him more than seeing a knight that lay in the middle of a sunny field but had been killed. Sometimes there was not even the sign of a battle or fight at all. It just seemed that these knights had died of nothing more than an abandoned heart. These others knights had simply found the first part of the adventure to hard. The young knight wondered why that was as this was meant to be the easiest part of the adventure.

After several months the knight, who was gaining more understanding and wisdom by the week, came into view of valley that held a very precious princess. She was more precious than any other that had been known before her, and than anyone could foresee coming after. Because of her captivating life, she had been locked in the deepest, darkest valley that anyone had ever seen. In fact, the valley was so steep, rough, and deep that no light ever shone down onto the tower, which stood hundreds of meters below. The young knight looked over the edge and could see no way down. There were sheer cliffs on both sides, and the gorge stretched for miles. This problem was huge, but still, it was only one of many that the young knight had overcome through the past months. Sometimes the problems needed a very gentle approach and some time. Then again there were situations that need a deep commitment to jump in with both feet. This was certainly a problem, but the knight found the means needed to scale the walls.

The next part was the dragon. Our young knight had found his way down the walls and discovered the remains of many a knight. Some of the armour had claw marks from the dragons. They looked like they had been torn open like a can opener wound. But the thing that caught the attention of the young knight was that some of these knights had arrows through their armour. This was most curious as there was no one around here and the only people that ever came here were knights travelling alone. Who could have shot these arrows at the knights? Our young hero decided that these arrows must have been wounds that had been sustained the in fierce battles when trying to get to this place. Still, the young knight thought that he should remember this, as he was always taught to be attentive to his surroundings and the stories that dead men do tell.

The dragon proved vicious and nasty - he had particularly bad breath that smelt of rotting flesh. As the young knight fought the dragon and finally beat it back to the point where he could finally kill the beast he remembered a wise saying that he had once been told by his mentors - "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." He looked into the face of the dragon as it lay battered and helpless. The dragon spoke and made a pact to spare his life, and the knight granted the request. They agreed to allow mutual passage away from this horrible valley where the dragon had been guarding the princess for so long. As a token of his appreciation for sparing his life, the dragon spoke of several different paths that could be taken to the tower; he also guided the young knight past several pitfalls that had been well hidden in order to trap anyone that got past the dragon.

Our hero survived and made it up to the tower. Upon reaching the top he could see the door that leads to the princess room. The lock on the door was very strong, yet with the long years it had rusted to the point where it would simply fall open with the swing of his sword. The young knight took a moment to thank the Lord for all He had brought him through, to thank God for the blessings that had been bestowed upon him, and also to ask for the wisdom to treat this beauty with all the respect and grace that such a princes of the most high deserved.

As the knight prayed he could hear the princess inside praying. She too was speaking to God, asking for the prince of her dreams to come and rescue her. She asked for a man of daring, integrity, honesty, loyalty and many other things. As the young knight heard her pray, he thought back over the adventure he had come on and remembered all the things he had experienced and learned in the process. And while our young prince would never have thought it, he had gathered all the things this princess was asking for. But such things are never seen on the surface, they only ever really get seen on the journey back home when they are together. Such things as honesty and integrity cannot be explained or interviewed for; they are learned, and then seen in the hard times that ensue after. And so both the prince and the princess had grown into things that they were not before they began their adventures.

With a swing of his sword, the prince laid open the door. The princes looked around, saw the prince and then quickly sat down on her stool. She looked at him and asked if he would sit and speak with her a while. The young knight was both relieved and bemused. He thought to himself "Surely this fair maiden knows how hard the journey has been to get her; why is she not overjoyed that she has been rescued?" - but the knight was too tired to argue at that moment. He sat down as the princess began to unravel a long scroll. The princess began to speak and asked the prince many things about himself. As the prince spoke, he could not help but feel that he was being measured against a list. The beauty asked about the experiences he had encountered. These were not always easy for the knight to talk about. Some had been traumatic and broken his heart, others he had never talked about with anyone and had no words to describe what he had experienced. For some reason, this was not acceptable to the young princess, and the knight began to become very worried that something had gone horribly wrong in this room. As he gained his breath from the adventure he had just been on for months, he tried to explain that life was a journey and there were many things that had to be experienced to be fully understood. But the princess did not listen; she continued to look at her list.

Finally the Christian princess looked up and said to the young knight, "You can not take me from this tower. You don't meet the requirements on my list." The young knight stood up and stumbled backwards, completely dumbfounded. He had experienced many surprises in his life, many unexpected battles and twists in the path he had walked, but this was not something he had ever experienced before. As he stammered, trying to ask questions, to try to explain, the princess picked up her bow and drew an arrow. Aiming at the young knight, she said, "Leave me alone and never come back to this tower! I am waiting for my knight to come rescue me. Don't even try anything with me; do you think I don't know how to shoot an arrow? Take a look outside at the many I have wounded, and some even killed!"

As the sun began to set on the story of the young knight, the world kept moving. Perhaps it didn't notice the passing of such a young and vibrant light, or maybe the world had seen it all before. Perhaps the world had stopped caring, because it too had realised that to care is to hurt and with a world so full of people and lives being extinguished before their time, the world would only be a sad place all the time. So maybe the world knew something that we don't. At any rate, we will never know because we can't ask the world what wisdom it had, more is the pity. And so the world went on and time passed. The story of knights kept being told; some of them lived and others died, because not all knights can be winners and get the girl. If they were all winners there would be no adventure, because every adventure must have risk. Why, if it weren't for the risk, there would be no thrill and no story to tell! - And so is the way of life. And along with many a brave and valiant man, our young night was mourned and missed, and then forgotten. But he wasn't dead, at least not yet

http://xkcd.com/627/