Archive for the 'Personal' Category

I love poems like this-they remind me of literary nonsense of Spike Milligan and Edward Lear.

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    the song of mehitabel
    By Don Marquis, in “archy and mehitabel,” 1927

this is the song of mehitabel
of mehitabel the alley cat
as i wrote you before boss
mehitabel is a believer
in the pythagorean
theory of the transmigration
of the soul and she claims
that formerly her spirit
was incarnated in the body
of cleopatra
that was a long time ago
and one must not be
surprised if mehitabel
has forgotten some of her
more regal mannersi have had my ups and downs
but wotthehell wotthehell
yesterday sceptres and crowns
fried oysters and velvet gowns
and today i herd with bums
but wotthehell wotthehell
i wake the world from sleep
as i caper and sing and leap
when i sing my wild free tune
wotthehell wotthehell
under the blear eyed moon
i am pelted with cast off shoon
but wotthehell wotthehelldo you think that i would change
my present freedom to range
for a castle or moated grange
wotthehell wotthehell
cage me and i d go frantic
my life is so romantic
capricious and corybantic
and i m toujours gai toujours gai

i know that i am bound
for a journey down the sound
in the midst of a refuse mound
but wotthehell wotthehell
oh i should worry and fret
death and i will coquette
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai

i once was an innocent kit
wotthehell wotthehell
with a ribbon my neck to fit
and bells tied onto it
o wotthehell wotthehell
but a maltese cat came by
with a come hither look in his eye
and a song that soared to the sky
and wotthehell wotthehell
and i followed adown the street
the pad of his rhythmical feet
o permit me again to repeat
wotthehell wotthehell

my youth i shall never forget
but there s nothing i really regret
wotthehell wotthehell
there s a dance in the old dame yet
toujours gai toujours gai
the things that i had not ought to
i do because i ve gotto
wotthehell wotthehell
and i end with my favorite motto
toujours gai toujours gai

boss sometimes i think
that our friend mehitabel
is a trifle too gay

Thanks to Ian for sending me link to the site. I got hooked on to archy and mehitabel straightaway. Their engaging collection of light poetry and maxims can be found here.

Ever since I moved to Sydney my fight against dust seems never ending. The air here is dirty and I have found myself dusting my flat every other day. In spite of this I seem to find dust everywhere. Should I ignore it? Is life too short to fight dust?

Here’s an interesting poem by Rose Milligan. Perhaps Rose is correct and I need to stop obsessing over dust.

Dust If You Must

Dust if you must but wouldn’t it be better
To paint a picture or write a letter,
Bake a cake or plant a seed
Ponder the difference between want and need.

Dust if you must but there’s not much time
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb
Music to hear and books to read
Friends to cherish and life to lead.

Dust if you must but the world’s out here
With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair,
A flutter of snow, a shower of rain
This day will come around again.

Dust if you must but bear in mind
Old age will come and it’s not kind
And when you go and go you must
You, yourself, will make more dust.

We have another rescue cat in the office. Like Chike, Minda likes to hang around in front of the monitor ‘supervising’ my work. Yesterday, I guess he sensed my mood and fell asleep on the printer. I could not complete my paperwork at all :-).

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cat as your boss?

I am writing this from the bohemian Kawa Café on Crown Street while waiting for my breakfast to turn up. It has been long since I had time off work. My schedule has been extremely busy last few weeks and therefore the lack of blog posts. Apologise for the total silence and not posting blogs for the last month. I found it very hard to find time to just be by myself with my thoughts. I shall attempt to catch up over the next couple of weeks.

My friend Ian gave me the idea for the above cartoon. I liked it because I am trying hard (or hardly) to kick my habit of procrastinating. When I do that I’ll probably a write a self help book on overcoming procrastination-it won’t be soon though.

Ian and I are working on a new book. We are still struggling with its structure at the moment. Not because we both are self confessed procrastinators but be both have full time jobs and we do not have time.

Hey! Isn’t that the No.1 excuse procrastinators usually give?

Just wanted thank everyone who responded to our recent email campaign and purchased our book. Amazon ranking was at 4001 today and looks like book is doing extremely well in its initial stage.

The book is currently ranked:

#1 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Speciality Travel > Living & Working Abroad
#3 in Books > Travel & Holiday > Countries & Regions > Asia > India

We just need to keep the momentum going. All proceeds of royalties from this book will be donated to Cancervive, India. We are sure that you will find the book useful to help you and your family settle quickly in India - and to ensure that it is the experience of a lifetime.

Kris and Ian

writ·er’s block (rī’tərz)
n. A usually temporary psychological inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing.

Got one at the moment.

From http://icanhascheezburger.com/

On my way back from the ophthalmologist today I decided to stop by at some bookshops in Paddington. I walked in with one book in mind but ended up buying several. Despite my severe eye infection I spent all afternoon browsing new books. I came back home with a huge purchase and was thrilled by the whole book shopping experience.

Here are my purchases:

1. Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton

2. Whatever You Think, think the opposite by Paul Arden

3. Born to Believe by Andrew Newberg and Mark Waldman

4. The Gift of Therapy by Irvin Yalom

5. New Thinking for the New Millennium by Edward de Bono

6. A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

Can’t wait for the infection to subside so that I can get round to read them. What are you reading at the moment?