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I just got older...

posted Monday, 30 May 2005
So here we are - nearing the close of another birthday. I'm sitting here alone in the dimmed light of the flat (one of the bulbs just blew), listening to R.E.M's "Leaving New York" and feeling somewhat contemplative...

I woke up this morning after a decent sleep, only to miss the train by 30 seconds and be left standing, alone in the cold wind and rain for 40odd minutes...

I sent my friend Rebecca an email seeing if she was up for coffee this evening, only she's made other plans after I'd said I was planning to catch up and have dinner with my brother and his wife...

...then I get an email from Ed to say Happy Birthday, and that he was in the studio recording a new song tonight, so couldn't do dinner, and anyway - he's skint...

Had dinner and a beer with one of the guys at work which was all good, then got to the station having again just missed the train, so again I'm left alone in the cold, thankfully there no rain indoors...

So I get home to an empty flat around 9:30pm, its cold...

After watching E.R. I jump online and end up talking to an old friend and she asks "So how does it feel to be 31? Do you feel like you've accomplished everything in life you wanted to?" - oh boy....

My first thoughts were those of a cynical nature "Hell no! I'm broke, single, living alone, in debt. Thou I do have a great CD, DVD, and book collection - but at the end of the day - thats just filler isn't it?"

The response to this? "Well - you have a computer, a job, you write weird blog posts that people like reading. So you've got a few things together..."

Ya know what? She's right too - I'm looking at things way too cynically. So I started thinking, have I accomplished everything in life I wanted? Well, that particular question I'm not sure I can answer, mostly on the "that I've wanted to" portion. I've wanted to get out of debt, but thats not happened. I've wanted to buy a house for ages, but thats not gonna happen any time soon. I've wanted to settle down with a lush loving women - but finding that cute christian sci-fi reading heavy metal listening commedian girl is harder than it seems....

So what have I accomplished? Well, I've had 2-3 magazine articles published in glossy magazines, along with numerous reviews of cds. I've had photographs published in news papers. I ran a cybercafe for two years at Parachute Music Fest ( with the help of others mind, but she was the birthchild of mine and Davids ). I've had photos on the inside cover of a local bands CD. I've been thanked in the credits for some canadian industrial band. I've written free software that made the world a better place ( well, at least it got alot of IntelliJ IDEA EAP users to quieten down ) and got me a free LCD monitor in the process. More importantly thou, I've been there for friends when they've needed someone to talk to, or someone to bitch at, or someone to just get them the hell out of whatever funk there in. Thats something right?

Oh - and I'm out of milk...

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1. a reader left...
Tuesday, 31 May 2005 10:02 pm

Wow, I'm a whole year and 4 months almost to the day older than you!

I've been in the space you're in for some time now. I was Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of... luckily I managed to get myself out of it, and I've now moved on to "Sometimes it a Bitch" (Stevie Nicks) which is a far better mental state... sometimes its bad, but sometimes it's good too. :)

Being the age I am, and having just ended a 6 1/2 year relationship, I'm doing the whole.. where am I going with this? thing. And, I don't know. But then, do I really have to know? What's wrong with taking life as it comes? Makes it more exciting if you ask me ;) You know I lost my faith in God, instead I live by Mary Schmich's advice.. part of which is:

"Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year- olds I know still don't.... Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody's else's."

Ergh, I'm sorry, my comments tend to wander into massive essays...I'm still learning blog etiquette... my bad..

..but, you could have called me, I would have done coffee. :D

Felyne [felyne@eminem.com]


2. a reader left...
Tuesday, 31 May 2005 10:10 pm

Oh and I forgot, I also wanted to say:
"I've been there for friends when they've needed someone to talk to, or someone to bitch at, or someone to just get them the hell out of whatever funk there in. "

My blog wouldn't be around today if you didn't inspire me to: a) 'get a real blog' to begin with and b) been there when I've had those dark desperate blog hours (and of course the "check out my cool new logo and tell me what you think" ones too)

Being this sort of friend, one people can truely lean on, most of the time goes without shown thanks, but inside, it's meant the absolute world to the leaners, and helped them more than you could have any other way. :D

Felyne [felyne@eminem.com]


3. Mark Derricutt left...
Tuesday, 31 May 2005 10:44 pm

Hey girl :) Hah! You're older than me :) hur hur hur. That made my day definitely :)

As for space... I'm somewhere between "Sea of Tranquility" ( Galactic Cowboys ) and "Send me a Sign" ( Gamma Ray ) at the moment:

Send me a sign -
For too long you kept me waiting
Send me a sign - From the eternal skies
Send me a sign
Send me a sign
He disappeard
In the early haze of morning
And with him left his prophecies

Full lyrics here.


4. Ottavio Coinneach left...
Wednesday, 31 August 2005 12:48 pm

-- happy birthday! :)