i can haz facebook

Arrested outside our garage door

Less than half an hour ago, a man was arrested in the alley next to our apartment building. Giles got a better picture than mine because his arm is much longer and could see the drama happening right beneath us (just out of site.) I got some video of him demanding to know why he is being arrested.

flickr

I finally got myself a flickr account. Some of my recent photos are up and more are coming.

Freerange Children

When I first read about the woman who let her 9 year old ride the NY subway and then a bus home on his own, it sounded crazy. After reading her response to the massive criticism she got for doing this, I've decided to exhale and stop screaming "who will think of the children?"

My parents didn't use the freerange approach but they did let us go out and learn things if we really wanted to. They encouraged us try things and sometimes they discouraged us. It was the discouraging that limited me in later life. Don't take this as criticism. Parenting is a difficult thing and parents make mostly the right decisions. I haven't done it so I can only speak from the point of view of the child (at least the effects of that).

When adults (parents of teachers) told me something was out of bounds because it is dangerous, it scared me and worried me in later life. I waited until at last in my mid-20's to travel around the globe. It changed my life. I stopped avoiding things because other people told me it was too risky. I decided to take the risk myself and make the decision myself.

Since then, I kinda like living outside my comfort zone. Go on, scare me. Scare them. Let the children live life.

Feeding and Not Feeding

G + I took our time to meander through Surry Hills on the way to the Bourke Street Bakery. On our travels, we passed the Surry Hills Markets which are held on the first Saturday of each month in the park near the Clock. It was a sunny Sydney day.

There was a chubby Labrador with a sign on his collar saying "Please do not feed me". He waited for us to feed him our spoils from a visit to the bakery but we chose to obey his sign. He tried a couple of other passers by but seemed rather unsuccessful. Poor doggy.

"Please do not feed me"

Me on Bourke Street, Surry Hills

What's with all the shoes on power lines

Let There Beer Light

A couple of weeks ago, I told dcam that the Mexican place on Crown and Oxford Street wasn't a real restaurant but was instead a chain from the US. Oops, if it is a chain then the one they have in Sydney has only one link :) Documenting my mistakes again!

Mad Mex is a small takeaway Mexican joint where you can sit and enjoy cheap, tasty Mexican food over a Mexican beer or margarita (not made from mix). G + I have been there twice now and do recommend it for a quick and good meal on that end of Crown. Try my fave - crispy tacos with black beans and shredded beef. Add cheese, guacamole and salsa + spicy tomato sauce.

The Corona chandelier

Say it with flowers

Thursday was not a great day for me. It was stressful, long and challenging. If I was to print my mood on a t-shirt at that moment, it would have said unappreciated. The fantabulous Gui Girl (cape and all) made me this beautiful flower out of sticky notes and stuck it to my monitors :)

What a perfectly lovely and thoughtful thing to do. My day immediately improve. What a star!

Thanks Linz :)

Manamana do do da do do

The posts have been few and far between due to the painful fact that I'm working harder than I have ever worked in my entire life. It's not hard work but it's challenging and although I whinge, the challenge is what I love.

Lately, things have been good. I've made lots of new friends at ThoughtWorks. It probably has to do with the 5 month mark in any job where you know your place and are aware of whether you'll like the job or not. This job is a keeper, at least for the limit of my attention span. People there seem to have accepted me although there are a few who are keeping their distance.

Life is going well. After exploring a few geeky user groups, I have decided to go along to a few more. Some groups are pretty damn nerdy but there are good things enough to counter that.

The old FD gang have faded a little after a peak including cupcakes. I hope we'll get back to our usual cuddly selves. Yay for Fairfax and the effectiveness of Earth Hour! Kudos to them.

The kitties are awesome and healthy. Sleeping lots and enjoying the cold weather although the sunshine is drying up and they will miss that.

Biggest triumph is getting Rob Pike who wrote my favourite book on Unix, to turn up and support Girl Geek Dinners Sydney.

Lots more coming up once I slow down with the work in early June. Lots of friends have visited and are visiting so more fun to come. Stay tuned!