Why do they call them Hash Browns, and not Spud Nuggets?
(Random thoughts at a buffet, after Owen consumed his 12th or 13th hash brown – and before he asked if he could smuggle a few out in his pockets)
What’s in a name?
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Category Archives: Pondering
Toilet etiquette
With that title, I realise this could be a long list. For now it’s just a single observation.
- I wonder if while I’m weeing at a urinal and someone in the stall behind me sneezes, whether I should say “Bless you” or not.
Quite the secret
In my household of five people (3 adults), it’s become clear I’m the only person who knows the recipe for making ice. There are perpetual empty ice trays in the freezer til I notice the need for ice.
Maybe my family are close to the age where I can confidently pass on that secret family recipe.
Quite telling
I generally don’t think of myself as unintelligent. But today, during a meet & greet with a new colleague, I made a note of his legal studies major, where I incorrectly spelled “intellectual” (property).
Getting old
This getting old stuff is really to starting to hit home. In the mirror I just noticed, I am getting wrinkles in my balding hairline.
Two singular activities I once never even anticipated for myself. Let alone them both taking hold simultaneously.
Review: Dexter Down Under
Dexter Down Under written by Jeff Lindsay
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
I shouldn’t finish a book feeling confident I could create something better in an afternoon with my eyes closed.
Syllable Soliloquies
I have enjoyEd documenting the occasional moment or observation in the form of Haiku.
Haikus are poems that follow a strict, concise three-line format. They appear simple on the surface, but there is always a challenge to capture the essence of something in 17 syllables. No more, no less.
I’ve brought here the ones I published on Twitter over the years, and hope to return to the practice.
On my 47th birthday:
The day of my birth
As old as I’ve ever been
A number only.
(07/05/2024)
Haikus make you count
(25/08/2011)
Each and every syllable
One, two, three, four, five
Taking her for wees
She takes minutes or seconds
Depending on rain.
(02/12/2019)
A tiny kitten
She prances so joyfully
Sadly on a road.
(27/09/2013)
Watching a cat pee,
(23/08/2018)
I realise I meditate
So very poorly.
Cold and wet with fog
Two pidgeons enjoy cover
A black cat observes.
(08/02/2018)
Eucalyptus tree
(12/10/2018, may have inspired my return to Australia)
A rare treat here in Dubai
Squeezed leaves smell like home.
Computer keyboard
An ant is walking
Next stop "Esc" key.
(05/11/2015)
A man got married
Got divorced, met a new girl
More trouble ahead
(03/02/2012, I picked it - a former colleague’s unfortunate fate)
Destroyed someone’s home.
(31/01/2020)
Disabled a hunter’s trap.
Goodbye spiderweb.
A troop of kangaroos
They reveal themselves to me
Hopping in tall wheat.
(29/11/2019, I was the only commuter watching this spectacle on a busy regional train into Melbourne)
Sleeping on a train,
(17/01/2023, content that I gave my seat to another passenger – who was clearly very tired)
Argument lost by old man.
I’m happy to stand.
Farcical Recognition
Our community Facebook group recently had one member post images of alleged shoplifters, and even asked for their names, or perhaps it was just for the purpose of shaming the pair into oblivion. Unsurprisingly a huge community uproar ensued, with only a couple of people questioning if it’s an appropriate use of the channel.
What I did find surprising among the pile on, was one person commented with a link to the Pimeyes web service – mentioning they may get lucky and find the culprits from the images.
I couldn’t help myself, and wanted to check this site out. I happened to have an extremely obscure photo of myself pulling a strained facial expression – when my kids and I were goofing around to see who could look in the most painful state. So I uploaded the absurd picture and wondered how many similarly absurd people their algorithm would uncover.
My mind was blown!
It found just one character in their index of 900 million people, and it was me! A single image, I know that was taken in early 2012 which may have temporarily been a social media profile picture which was long since changed and deleted.
The Pimeyes service makes it money from the next actions available. You can either uncover the source of that file and associated info to help in your person hunt, for $27. OR, if the incriminating photo is you, for $70 they can purge the image and all information to keep your discovery safe from prying Facebook sleuths.
What a business model!
I regularly use facial recognition in managing my online photo albums, and find it quite amazing how it can match my kids’ baby photos to their current photos.
It was jarring though to fail to deceive a third party service with such a bad source file.
In a world where privacy feels increasingly elusive, the realization that a single photograph from my past transcended time and resurface with such ease is jarring. As I ponder the implications, a sense of vulnerability takes hold. I’m reminded that the digital realm can be an unforgiving archive. Despite my efforts to outsmart the technology, it possesses an eerie ability to cut through my disguise and reveal the truth, leaving me unsettled and questioning the extent of anyone’s control over their own image and identity.
Those two girls appearing to steal perfume and makeup at Westfield’s don’t stand a chance if they don’t change their ways.
Review: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism written by Robin DiAngelo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I found this an intriguing read. The (white) author is definitely skilled and comprehensive in their desire to take down the current establishment that disadvantages racial minorities. As a person of colour myself, I found it awkward to consider descending to her same depths of challenge required throughout every day life to break the system. I would never support racism, the book almost suggests that by not being actively anti- at all times I’m unconsciously being pro- white supremacy. Certainly good food for thought throughout. And the book is a handy antidote to the – hard to explain – subtlety that troubles me from time to time.
A long day
Marvelling at the Sun’s beauty again, I realise, my commute extended from dawn til dusk.
With a 7am departure, a peaking sliver of pink peach rose to my right. Along the journey, a tall sky inhaled it up to a full circle of orange.
My 8pm return, the same peach – once more on my right – descending and nestling into slumber.
13 hours have passed, and I’m satisfied. I have done all I could for this day.