17 August 2005

top sleepy time albums

In no particular order, here are my favourite albums for getting off to sleep. At the most, the album will only have 1 song that you need to program out because it always wakes you up:

* In the Wee Small Hours - Frank Sinatra
* Skylarking or Apple Venus - XTC
* Bladerunner (soundtrack) - Vangelis
* Music for Airports - Brian Eno
* Moon Safari (minus Sexy Boy) - Air
* Five Leaves Left - Nick Drake
* Painted from Memory - Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach

same old, same old - us vs them

This week I'm tired of this little Us against Them mentality that always pops up within organisations. I've seen this everywhere I work. One part of an organisation (or a department) distrusts another, and clusters of conspiracy-theorising people form, lunching together to speculate about why the other group seems to be the favoured sons or daughters of the workplace.
A bit of competition is healthy, some would argue. I'm not convinced I've ever seen this sort of behaviour lead somewhere positive. And of course good leadership would quash such behaviour, foster understanding between people working for the same place, remind people that they should all have the same goal in mind.
Argh! People are destructive beings, and I'm not even talking physically or at war.

08 August 2005

The diverse happenings of the past week...

From Tupperwear (sic) parties, to strange dreams about pet monkeys, to vocabulary I never knew my father had...

Yes folks, always one for new experiences, I went to a Tupperwear (sic) party. Sort of situation where you're not quite sure if you are really getting a bargain, you kind of feel obliged to buy because you're face to face with the saleswoman (who is full of handy storage ideas including removing EVERYTHING out of the packets you bought them in and placing them in a stackable container with a lid and a little labelling sticker!), unless you are able to export your brain outside of your friend's living room far enough to remember that other brands of plastic ware are 1/3 the price at your supermarket, never wear out either, and that you never had the need for containers that you can freeze, heat in the microwave, then pop in the dishwasher.

Last night I dreamed I had a pet monkey that I had not spent enough time with, so it was naughty and behaved unpredictably. I started spending more time training it to behave, and gradually started to notice its behaviour changing to a more adorable, manageable pet. Last night was very "dreamful", with this just being one of 4 "storylines" that I remember dreaming about, including: a project to booby trap a door, my parents splitting up & my father not taking it well while my mother just got on with life, me going shopping in an arcade then returning after hours when noone else was there. I think the vivid dreams must be something to do with coming off cold and flu tablets???

My father shocked me a bit when telling me about some research he has been conducting into his mother's family history and extended family. He mentioned that my Granny's stepmother (who verged on being an evil stepmother) might have been "you know, a bit of a loose woman" who married my Granny's father under false pretenses!!! Never knew that phrase could come out of his mouth! [Mind you, he was deliberately useing the praseology of the 1920's, and I'm sure he would not apply such prases to women of my generation, but it's not a topic I usually discuss with my dad very often].

Finally, a loved one miscarried this week. Apparently it is quite common in the first trimester of pregnancy and didn't hurt much, but is disappointing for them all the same. Kaz Cooke's fantastic book "Up the Duff" tells me that between 1/8-1/4th of all pregancies might be miscarried...

Now, must go and tend the sick with lemon and honey drinks - I have recovered as of late yesterday, but now have a flu-ey C-chan!!

04 August 2005

tissues, quilts, and honey and lemon tea...

I think this is the 3rd time this year I have fallen sick this year on a weekend (my employers are getting good mileage out of me...). Any normal person would fall sick on Monday or soon after, but my somewhat alarming trend has been to feel the tickles of a sore throat or cold on a Friday night.
As I did on this last Friday. This has been a marathon lurgy - starting with a dry throat, then headaches, then sinus congestion (plus headaches), mutating to a cough with a sore throat again. I spent pretty much all weekend in bed, dozing and reading as my 'flu dictated. 2.5 days off work this week also!
The only good thing about this time off is that I've managed to read 2 books.