Gonna Party Like It's My Birthday! OK it is....

Most people fear birthdays, running from them like they're knife-wielding attackers on a bloodthirsty rampage killing off all vestiges of their youth.... but most people aren't extrovertive Sagitarians that are young at heart and realise, without resorting to clumsy cliches, that age is just a paper thin number, and only defines you if you let it. That's not to say I spend my days in my personal sand pit playing with Tonka trunks in a bid to recapture my fleeting childhood (think of how much the Tonka trunks would be on Ebay to start with!!); what it does mean is that I refuse to let myself fossilize in place, preferring to charge ever forward, listen to new music, keep reading, listening, partying, exploring, having fun, and making sure life never enters some bizarre twisted Groundhog Day phase......

As I dash off to work (an act that in itself veers dangerously close to Groundhog Day land), I am thankful that I have a wonderful family, brilliant caring friends, a great place to live with a wonderful house mate, a fun job with an understanding boss and great colleagues.... and a partridge in a pear tree.... sadly no... all that to say that while life may definitely feel like a psychotic roller coaster screaming around one too many hairpin bends, and me without my vomit bag, that I am glad to be here, 43 years old, and still raring to kick the tires of life and see where it will take me.... OMG I just used a manly sporting metaphor.... in my birthday blog.... I am old.....LOL.... kidding...here's to the next 43!! OK how about the next one for now, and we'll see how we go with that.....

Mauled at the mall

I have had a lovely weekend......

Yes a thrilling statement isn't it? It speaks of daring adventure, risk, and a total disregard for my own personal safety.... actually, no.... no it doesn't.... BUT, and it's a capitalized 'BUT' because who doesn't like a melodramatic linguistic segue between sentences.... well calm people in zen-like states, and people on Prozac, but the rest of us love it.... anyway I digress, ramble, and b.s. on steroids.... I did indeed have a lovely weekend... some reading and chilling, dinner with my friend Peter on Friday night at a great Turkish restaurant, a date with a lovely man I am seeing on Saturday night...and then.... and then.... and I can barely type the words so traumatized am I... I went SHOPPING (Cue the overly ominous music that indicates imminent doom, apocalypse, and a bad hair day of epic proportions)..... 

Actually the shopping itself was fine and dandy.... some groceries, toiletries, Christmas ornaments, L'Occitane stuff (yes I pay close attention to my personal care regimen), and lunch with my very good friend, Fahmi..... then on the way out, feeling fit, healthy and good about myself (I had swam 1.2 km that morning so was still coasting on the whispers of endorphins past) when an Israeli brother and sister tried to interest me in their cosmetics range.... they did this by smearing mud supposedly from the floor of the Dead Sea (yes, and my cow Eunice wrote an award winning screenplay in between chewing her cud) on my hand, buttery stuff on my eyes and talking earnestly about how much.... and yes I think there were tears in his eyes.... how very deeply he wanted to see me rid of the blackheads, wrinkles and unsightly blemishes that scarred my.....and wait for this 48 year old face!!!! Fahmi just about doubled over with laughter as my face dropped, and all hopes of a sale faded like John McCain's good humour around Sarah "Caribou Barbie" Palin.... I don't respond well to high pressure sales techniques at the best of times but any glimmer of me caving to their high pressure mud-caked sales technique vanished so quickly that several people got whiplash watching it depart..... 

Needless to say the good people at Nivea will continue to get my business, and their product will keep being applied to my 42 year old face, which I am often told, and hear this Israeli siblings  peddling cosmetics of dubious origin, looks a decade younger..... and my suggestion to the would-be cosmetics czar at the mall? Always go younger..... always..... now where did I leave my avocado citrus apple guava pith face mask?

Them thar snippets of life

Yes I am invoking pirate-speak for my title today, and while I don't personally know any pirates, nor am I one, it seems quite fitting to use their lingo for the title..... OK it's not fitting at all....lol... I just like the way it sounds....

Melbourne Cup

After months of planning, budgetary issues, and last minute glitches, a group of co-workers and I threw a humdinger of a Melbourne Cup function at work.... we had a BBQ, sweeps (I got the winner, "Viewed" and the third place getter, "C'est la Guerre"... one of the few times I have not been left minding those horses destined for the glue factory!), prizes, funky fascinators, and everyone socializing up a storm...... it's always great when these things work, and everyone jumps in feet first... and gets totally smashed..... I mean participates....LOL (Nov 4)

President Barack... oh yeah!!!

I am rarely thrilled by political anything anymore, even though I am a political junkie (Yeah just one more hit of broken promises, man..c'mon, I am good for it..... you know I am man) but as I spent yesterday absolutely fascinated as I watched the unfolding march of Barack Obama towards the Presidency of the USA, and an historic first... and yes, I was profoundly moved by his speech and the groundswell of hope and joy that greeted his arrival on the stage at Grant Park, Chicago... I know reality can be cruel especially when you have a GFC (Global Financial Crisis), two pointless wars, and a divided national psyche on your hands, but you can only hope that Barack's only legacy won't be that he is the first African-American President of the USA.... that is an amazing, exciting thing in itself, but if it is joined by healing and real change in American society, then that will be something to truly get jazzed about! Go Barack!!! (Nov 5)

Pumping!

I am into the swimming in a big way hitting 1 km most days (except when people join my lane and force me to pick up the pace to the point where I just stop!) and back into the walking, and loving how fit and energized I feel.. not to mention fitting into a small... yes, small! .... shirt at Daly Male, my favourite clothing store in the world, last Saturday.... yes, I celebrate the small things! (Nov 6)

Dates, fruits, and a nice blended smoothie of love

I am back into dating after a hiatus and so far so interesting.... while I won't comment on what's happening with who (I am not a gossip guru! Hmm, maybe I should be....), it never ceases to fascinate me that the road to love is rarely smooth.... sometimes I think 'Damn it! It should be!"

But then life rarely responds well to petulant demands!! Suffice to say, I am meeting some beautiful men and we'll see if Mr Right is somewhere in the mix.... here's hoping.....