•Wednesday, July 14, 2010
I'm just over half way through my third week of holidays... with another week and a half to go. I can't believe how quickly time has passed and am definitely glad that I got four weeks as I would otherwise be starting back tomorrow!
This last week or so has been particularly busy but very enriching at the same time. I downloaded DosBox and have loaded SimCity 2000 and One Must Fall... two of my old favourites. Then while I was YouTubing various old games that I adore, I discovered this AWESOME program called Exult which would effectively allow me to run Ultima VII for the first time in YEARS! I have always had a soft spot for Ultima VII and was nothing short of ecstatic at being able to run it on a modern computer! Of all the games I used to play, this one absorbed HOURS of my time. Admittedly it didn't run very well in some aspects and used to crash. It was a complex RPG and I only vaguely understood what was going on.... I never really knew enough to actually complete the games but spent countless hours running around killing animals and people, getting stronger and more powerful (to the point I could crack open a locked chest and destroy doors with my sword) as well as disturbing the locals. This would involve getting up to mischief like moving their food off the plate in the bar or around their home and prior to being able to kill anyone with a single blow, hitting them with my sword just to make them flee. Perhaps someone should have been more concerned about my mental health at that point! LOL!
Now I have a far better understanding in regards to what I am to achieve but I am also privy to some wonderful cheats which make the game substantially easier. I still enjoy heckling the locals and have only slaughtered one sheep, simply to make sure I could actually kill things. (I was initially perplexed why at the start of the game I couldn't just thwack open a door or chest in way that I used to!).
Apart from my revived interest in archaic games (they don't make them like they used to anymore), I also found myself in Borders where I picked up a small bundle of books. There is nothing quite like a good book to suck out the time and I am presently buried in one called War by Sebastian Junger. There is something that I have always found to be deeply fascinating about war and all that it represents. So now three quarters of the way through this book, I will have another three to keep my occupied... unless I find a copy of Oddworld: Abe's Odyssee and then... who knows!
I have also spent a great deal of time catching up with friends and family... think it is about time I sprung the parentals soon too. Today I caught up with R and we went scouting for angel sculptures in the Toowong Cemetery. Now this is something that had a great deal of novelty value for me as I have up until this point, never been inside a cemetery. Toowong is big. There is a great expanse of plots. Some are large and elaborate with monuments, monoliths and fences, while others are just a mere A3 sized plaque on the ground. Row upon, row. Many damaged by the elements or vandals. Some where the ground has sunk away between the coffins or collapsed out from underneath the top layer of cement. One was only a few months old and still a pile of rubble, waiting to settle. There were photos, flowers, harps and angels. There was even a version of "the thinker"... While sad, it was also beautiful in its own way and so incredibly peaceful.
Standing in the room with a dead person is an odd thing. There is a silence there that is heavier than any other silence and perhaps as R suggested, a sense of finality. Looking at a body, there is the expectation that at any moment it might just move, spring to life, start to breath, do something. But it never does. The cemetery is like an extension of that... a mass of unmoving rest. It is very attractive somehow and I think I shall go back there and adopt someone's family member as my own to sit and contemplate the universe in the beautiful silence.
Anyhow, after a few hours scouting around to find angels, we headed over to Toowong Village for lunch, coffee and a good chat. It is this contact that I have missed so much over the last six months. Sometimes life seems to get in the way of life and I am afraid I haven't done much living this year. But I guess the realisation is the first step towards change. Now that I have one foot out there, the intention is to keep walking!
I've also had the opportunity to catch up with my sister and her two children recently. Baby R is now eight weeks old and has already grown a great deal. He opens his eyes and looks around, gazing and following objects, occasionally giving off the most beautiful smile. He absolutely adores K, his six (soon to be seven) year old sister. No matter how upset he seems to be, her touch and voice seems to be all that is needed to calm him while his gaze locks on to her. K is just over half way through year one now and has grown unspeakably since starting prep and particularly school. Having R around now, I have so many memories of when K was a baby herself and all the things we used to do. K is at a great age that I can relate to very well. I always promised myself that I wouldn't forget what it is like to be a kid and I think I've done pretty well in retaining that information. I really enjoy playing with her and she is just the most amazing intelligent little person I know. Part of me gets a little frustrated because I have this enormous adult body that can't do kid things anymore... and it is a bit lazy and tires easily. Although, that is probably for the best because I suspect H would not be altogether very impressed with me if I taught K how to swing around in circles of the hills hoist or hang upside down!
I feel like I've missed a lot and these holidays have really highlighted to me that if I am not careful they'll have all grown up and I won't even see it. I really need to make more of a concerted effort to make myself available and spend time over there. I want to be a better Aunty x2. :-)
On another note, one of my old high school mates has returned to Brisbane... eight years later. Somehow, I can't believe that much time has passed and honestly don't feel altogether hugely different as a person. Many of the things which drew J, A and I together are still ever present in our exchanges. I also hope to catch up with these girls a little more regularly as well. It is funny how even though time passes and can be months, sometimes many, many months between each get together, we are still as comfortable as ever and conversation flows ever so easily. I guess that is the marker of friendship right....
So, all going to plan, I'm going back over to H's on Friday and I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to spend time with all members a little more personally (although young R might well sleep through that encounter!). I have one more week and a bit to play with and I intend to split that between social time and self time.
This last week or so has been particularly busy but very enriching at the same time. I downloaded DosBox and have loaded SimCity 2000 and One Must Fall... two of my old favourites. Then while I was YouTubing various old games that I adore, I discovered this AWESOME program called Exult which would effectively allow me to run Ultima VII for the first time in YEARS! I have always had a soft spot for Ultima VII and was nothing short of ecstatic at being able to run it on a modern computer! Of all the games I used to play, this one absorbed HOURS of my time. Admittedly it didn't run very well in some aspects and used to crash. It was a complex RPG and I only vaguely understood what was going on.... I never really knew enough to actually complete the games but spent countless hours running around killing animals and people, getting stronger and more powerful (to the point I could crack open a locked chest and destroy doors with my sword) as well as disturbing the locals. This would involve getting up to mischief like moving their food off the plate in the bar or around their home and prior to being able to kill anyone with a single blow, hitting them with my sword just to make them flee. Perhaps someone should have been more concerned about my mental health at that point! LOL!
Now I have a far better understanding in regards to what I am to achieve but I am also privy to some wonderful cheats which make the game substantially easier. I still enjoy heckling the locals and have only slaughtered one sheep, simply to make sure I could actually kill things. (I was initially perplexed why at the start of the game I couldn't just thwack open a door or chest in way that I used to!).
Apart from my revived interest in archaic games (they don't make them like they used to anymore), I also found myself in Borders where I picked up a small bundle of books. There is nothing quite like a good book to suck out the time and I am presently buried in one called War by Sebastian Junger. There is something that I have always found to be deeply fascinating about war and all that it represents. So now three quarters of the way through this book, I will have another three to keep my occupied... unless I find a copy of Oddworld: Abe's Odyssee and then... who knows!
I have also spent a great deal of time catching up with friends and family... think it is about time I sprung the parentals soon too. Today I caught up with R and we went scouting for angel sculptures in the Toowong Cemetery. Now this is something that had a great deal of novelty value for me as I have up until this point, never been inside a cemetery. Toowong is big. There is a great expanse of plots. Some are large and elaborate with monuments, monoliths and fences, while others are just a mere A3 sized plaque on the ground. Row upon, row. Many damaged by the elements or vandals. Some where the ground has sunk away between the coffins or collapsed out from underneath the top layer of cement. One was only a few months old and still a pile of rubble, waiting to settle. There were photos, flowers, harps and angels. There was even a version of "the thinker"... While sad, it was also beautiful in its own way and so incredibly peaceful.
Standing in the room with a dead person is an odd thing. There is a silence there that is heavier than any other silence and perhaps as R suggested, a sense of finality. Looking at a body, there is the expectation that at any moment it might just move, spring to life, start to breath, do something. But it never does. The cemetery is like an extension of that... a mass of unmoving rest. It is very attractive somehow and I think I shall go back there and adopt someone's family member as my own to sit and contemplate the universe in the beautiful silence.
Anyhow, after a few hours scouting around to find angels, we headed over to Toowong Village for lunch, coffee and a good chat. It is this contact that I have missed so much over the last six months. Sometimes life seems to get in the way of life and I am afraid I haven't done much living this year. But I guess the realisation is the first step towards change. Now that I have one foot out there, the intention is to keep walking!
I've also had the opportunity to catch up with my sister and her two children recently. Baby R is now eight weeks old and has already grown a great deal. He opens his eyes and looks around, gazing and following objects, occasionally giving off the most beautiful smile. He absolutely adores K, his six (soon to be seven) year old sister. No matter how upset he seems to be, her touch and voice seems to be all that is needed to calm him while his gaze locks on to her. K is just over half way through year one now and has grown unspeakably since starting prep and particularly school. Having R around now, I have so many memories of when K was a baby herself and all the things we used to do. K is at a great age that I can relate to very well. I always promised myself that I wouldn't forget what it is like to be a kid and I think I've done pretty well in retaining that information. I really enjoy playing with her and she is just the most amazing intelligent little person I know. Part of me gets a little frustrated because I have this enormous adult body that can't do kid things anymore... and it is a bit lazy and tires easily. Although, that is probably for the best because I suspect H would not be altogether very impressed with me if I taught K how to swing around in circles of the hills hoist or hang upside down!
I feel like I've missed a lot and these holidays have really highlighted to me that if I am not careful they'll have all grown up and I won't even see it. I really need to make more of a concerted effort to make myself available and spend time over there. I want to be a better Aunty x2. :-)
On another note, one of my old high school mates has returned to Brisbane... eight years later. Somehow, I can't believe that much time has passed and honestly don't feel altogether hugely different as a person. Many of the things which drew J, A and I together are still ever present in our exchanges. I also hope to catch up with these girls a little more regularly as well. It is funny how even though time passes and can be months, sometimes many, many months between each get together, we are still as comfortable as ever and conversation flows ever so easily. I guess that is the marker of friendship right....
So, all going to plan, I'm going back over to H's on Friday and I am greatly looking forward to the opportunity to spend time with all members a little more personally (although young R might well sleep through that encounter!). I have one more week and a bit to play with and I intend to split that between social time and self time.
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