weblog > archives > January 2005
January 29, 2005 1:00 AM
All quiet at timgoldsmith.com?
I do apologise. I moved into college on Sunday afternoon & I have no real internet access there, so things are probably going to have to slow down to about 2 entries a week. Bummer! I am looking into wire-free internet at the moment though, so hopefully I will get myself online properly soon.
Exciting times at the moment! I just survived Greek week. It is amazing how much you can learn when you really have to. I started the week thinking that if I could get the alphabet in both cases, then I would be happy. By the end of the week, we had covered Nouns of the first & second declention, done a bunch of verb conjugations & all kinds of other crazy stuff.. Man it is messed with my mind though! If any of you see me, you can ask me to explain my phonetic song of “loo-oh, loo-ehs, loo-eh, loo-omen, loo-ete, loo-osen, loo-soo, loo-sehs, loo-say, loo-somen, loo-set, loo-sosen”
The guys in my dorm are pretty awesome. We bonded pretty much straight away, over a game of "Risk" and have been up to all kinds of hijinx since. Lots of games, lots of encouragement to study & (thankfully, for my future fitness levels) lots of tip footy to be had!
On Tuesday night I got to go and see "Third Day" play live at Hillsong. It was a pretty good concert (though very loud! Even the young people said that) and I also got to see "Rookie"and "Audio Adrenelin". It was also a nice time to hang out with N8 and Amy and Kirsty, who then came & took pictures of Sydney Harbour with me afterwards.
Today (Saturday) is another busy day. I have had an early morning, heading out to "Office works" to pick up some bits & pieces, then to Chatswood to get some memory cards for Greek Vocab & a proper keyboard for my laptop. Now I am hanging out at my brother's place before I head to y Godson's first birthday party! good times!
Here are a couple of pictures that capture a little of what the week has been about.
SMBC. My home for the next three years.
There will be many late nights under this light globe, studying away!
The object of my attention. for the last week. Greek vocab.
"Third Day" rocking it out on Tuesday night!
All work & all play would make this a dull blog! Tip footy is a nice break from study. It is also nice to see smiles on the faces of the players!
One of the few occasions where a Photoshop filter looked much cooler than the original. The top of lamp in my room.
Keep on reading people, more blogs to come!
Exciting things
January 21, 2005 2:55 PM
I have written about how cool my brother Phil is before, but I have to do it at least this one more time!
When I used to live with my parents, the room I slept in had a Norman Rockwell painting in it, and every morning when I opened my eyes, I could look above me & be gazing at "Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas".
Of course you can't live at home forever & parents who are willing to let you keep your bed usually draw the line at you taking the art of the walls.
Cut to 5 or so years later. I am still in Scotland, and my brother is together with the rest of the fam trying to think of a birthday/Christmas present, when Phil remembers my love of the print. A couple of months later, Tim arrives home, just in time to get the newly framed print that Phil (with the generous support of the rest of the family) tracked down all the way in the states & then had sent over to Australia for me.
The long and the short of it being, when I move into college at SMBC, I get to take a bit of home with me.
Phil & my print!
I also have a new love, in the form of a Silver Chrysler PT Cruiser. It is a pretty awesome car, very "Tim" in its very different style. I could write more about it, but my excitement of it is curbed by the enthusiasm I have for a gift like Phil's which is both awesome and mind-numbingly thoughtful. Love your work Boffo!
The PT (whose beauty pales in comparison with the little beauty you can see Phil holding on the left)
Casual & comfortable
January 21, 2005 7:19 AM
I have always maintained that the real love that I am looking for is less about intense passion & more about an enduring ease & comfort which is felt when you are around your beloved. Less of a craving for a person & more of a feeling that they are part of you, that it is just natural that your hands should gravitate toward each other. This is why I love to see my close friends, as they find people they love, express themselves in their casual comfort.
I really like these pics of N8 & his girlfriend Amy, because N8 is not always a 'contact' person, so when he looks so comfortable as Amy whispers something to him in a loud pub, that makes me feel happy for him.
Chatting between songs.
Casual comfort
Beers with Stu
January 19, 2005 1:45 PM
I am pretty sure that if I went through my archives, I could find a similar post about having beers with Stu "Capt'n Stubbing" Beattie. A true champ among men. Again, we found ourselves at the "Vicar of Wakefield" tonight, catching up on 6 months of movements & just enjoying good Christian fellowship. Any night with the Capt'n is guarenteed to be a highlight of the week.
In other news, I have a new interest in taking black and white photos. It is something that I haven't really done much of previously. You will all have to live with my initial fumbling attempts to capture something interesting.
Oh, and thanks to a majority vote, I will continue giving explanations with my pics. They are long ones today!.
I decided to take a picture of the leaves on a tree that I was walking under. It never seems to work well in colout. This old Japanese guy appears from nowhere (I was next to his block of flats) and asks me what I was doing. I thought he was going to tell me off for something, but we ended up chatting for 10 minutes as he told me all about the camera he likes to use & how I should join the APS (Australian Photographic Society). I wish I had have taken a picture of him now.
Killing time in Hornsby, I was taking pictures of this fountain (none of which turned out) when I spied this kid trying to till a bottle by holding it over one of the spray-jets. He actually drank what he caught. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it is supposed to be recycled water...
I was taking pictures of Stu, then he took some of me. I think I like his pictures better, though it is definately not because of the subject matter...
Exciting news
January 17, 2005 12:57 PM
There is a whole lot that I could write about the last three days that I have been home. I could happily write about how much I have become aware of the smells of Australia, like Eucalyptus when you pass some trees, or the smell of ozone floating up from a hot road when the rain starts to fall, but such thoughts, like the smells themselves, just evaporate tonight.
There is lots of stuff to write about stuff happening at church, my new role as the youth minister, and all of the parish movements over the last 6 months, but for a rare change, my thoughts about Church can wait till tomorrow.
Even telling stories about the new car that I bought on Saturday & will be picking up tomorrow can wait till later.
The pages I could dedicate to excitement I have at looking back at 6 months of photos, or the volumes I could write about how my heart aches when I see my niece Charlotte smile at me? It all pales into insignificance. Stories to be filed away for another day, or possibly forgotten all together!
What could make this happen to Tim today?
Cate, one of my oldest & bestest friends, and her awesome husband Dan told me that they/she are pregnant!
Congrats Cate & Dan! Awesome news!
Cate & I on the day of her wedding!
Charlotte & I yesterday morning.
Back so soon
January 14, 2005 7:06 PM
I wont bore you with the little details of my last day in Bangkok. The basics of it were only having 3 hours of sleep the night before, dodgy breakfast because it was really bust at 9:30am, having a new suit delivered at 11, and running into my old mate Doogie at the airport.
My 9 hour flight "flew" by itself. Definately aided by "I Heart Huckabees" and "Napoleon Dynamite" (you're right Mic, I don't really dig it). I had my first bad meal with QANTAS for breakfast though. Everything had either Pineapple of milk in it, so I had to survive on Orange juice.
I didn't have to worry too much about not eating on the plane, because, after struggling through the usual convoluted Australian entr process, my parents picked me up & the first stop was a cafe for breakfast! We went to "Xenos" in Crows Nest. We all used to live near there only 5 short years ago, so Mum & Dad could share in the wierdness of being gone, but now being back.
Half an hour later I had already found the car I'm hoping to buy (We'll find out today), and I had fallen in love in a major way! I had already met her when she was a baby, but to have my 6 month old Niece Charlotte in my arms again was unbelievable! I don't think I can put into words the joy I feel in my heart when I see my nieces and nephews.
Well now it is 6:22am on the Saturday morning. I woke at 5:20 & got the feeling that that was the only sleep I was going to get. I'm loving being back to summer. After Edinburgh's windy days & frosty nights, it is good times to have dinner out in the cabana (sp?) and then go for a swim with my little bro Phil. I was worried about feeling sad to have my big adventure over. I certainly do miss quite a few people in Scotland, and if I weren't living in OZ, then Scotland would be my No.1 choice, but I have to say, rather than feeling sad, I am excited at the opportunities that lie before me for the next year and beyond!
No end to the blog for me. Time overseas is always exciting, but when you have an awesome family, gorgeous nieces and nephew & the worlds best friends, who could blame a man for being more excited about coming home?
Fun & Frustration
January 12, 2005 1:09 PM
Well Bangkok really is just like the title of this post. There is lots of fun stuff to do & see & some nice little bargains to find, but at the same time, everyone and I mean EVERYONE wants to rip you off. I am pretty sure I have been taken for a ride on several different (and sometimes elaborate) occasions, but to a certain extent, there is nothing you can do....
I am one of those guys who likes to quietly browse, so to make me really happy in a shop, all I need is for someone to let me know that they are there for my questions & then just leave me to my shopping. It doesn't work that way in Bangkok. Every street has people grabbing at you. If you make eye contact with someone, they are likely to be a Tuk Tuk driver who will follow you for 3 blocks,tell you that you are going in the wrong direction & then try & cut you off with their vehicle (it actually happened to me).
I think I am feeling a little like I did in Hong Kong a couple of years ago. It has been a long 6 months & I am looking forward to going home, so I am just not that interested. Couple this with not having someone here with me to share the experience & I am pretty much over Bangkok!
Of course, at the same time, it is all worth it! After many years of waiting & looking, I finally found and bought a "Calvin & Hobbes" T-shirt.
Simple things....
Time has come to an end
January 10, 2005 10:52 AM
6 Months later, many friends gained, one girlfriend lost, 10 countries visited (and one more to go), and not enough greek-language study done!
It has been a pretty awesome six months. I have really enjoyed myself here in Edinburgh & everywhere I have been in Scotland & Europe. I fly out to London & then on to Bangkok this evening. I met an Aussie guy in a pub the other night & he offered to take me with him to Phuket for a week to help rebuild a mates house, but I just don't think I will have the time, even if QANTAS would change over my ticket, so it looks like I will be home by Friday morning.
So much I could say & so many pictures to post that I don't think I will even start. It's been a pleasure.
I hope to have internet access in Thailand, otherwise, I will catch you people this Friday!
Black, White & Crazy Colours
January 8, 2005 11:46 AM
OK, my question for the day is whether or not people actually care if I write a small explanation underneath my photos. I read a lot of photo blogs & I appear to be one of the few who actuallly explians what he is posting. Mystery, or History? You decide!
Chillin' in a Ping-Pong club. Berlin
Carlton Hill, Edinburgh.
The North Bridge, Edinburgh.
Welcome to Edinburgh (and a train station in Prague)
January 7, 2005 12:25 PM
Caroline & I @ Arthurs Seat
The remains of a church overlooking Edinburgh
Our train arrives in Prague. A free print for the first person who can find out the name of the station...
January 6, 2005 2:24 PM
Formatting
January 5, 2005 2:09 PM
Firstly, I am sick of my five photo format. I figure that most of the people who are really interested are going to get to see my slide show of my trip, so I think I am going to go the ‘random photo’ option & just put stuff up higgledy-piggledy. If nothing else, it will mean that I get to publish some Christmas/New Years stuff without having to get through Berlin, Budapest, Krakow, and Prague first.
Secondly, this gives me the time to tell of two crazy little occurrences in the last couple of days. Two days ago, I was looking through one of the touristy shops on the Royal Mile, looking for some souvenirs that I could bring home, when, like the “Sword of Damocles” a heavy iron sword dropped from on high, past my face & hitting my arm!
Thank God that it didn’t hit higher on my arm and break it, or even land on my head, where, at 5 or more kilos, I am sure it would have at least knocked me out. As it happened, all I got was a little scratch on my hand. The positive side of things is that I had the confirmation that my reflexes aren’t too bad after all, as I actually manage to flip my hand around & catch the sword before it hit the ground.
I think the owners of the shop were happy that I laughed it off before leaving, rather than making an issue of the potentially deadly decoration…
Last night I went out to see “House of Flying Daggers”, which to be honest, I don’t really recommend. Afterwards I headed out to a pub with Caroline & Chris (a Swede & a Liverpuddlian, then met up with Wes (a South African) before heading to another Pub. When the pub we were at closed at 3, I felt like doing something else, and somehow, half an hour later, Wes, Caroline & I were climbing up the Salisbury Crags in the pitch dark & screaming wind.
Edinburgh is lovely in the day & absolutely beautiful at night!
OK, well I didn’t get to bed till about 5 something, so I am a little tired now. I think it is time to retire back to bed.
Oh, and if anyone gets a chance, or if it is even still out in Australia, go and see “I Heart Huckabees”, which hast to be the best movie I have seen in a year!
On to the photos.
Caroline & my gingerbread house.
The Castle at Christmas time.
New Years Eve fireworks.
Geneva
January 3, 2005 10:35 AM
There appears to be something wrong with my comments. I will have to look into that. In the mean time, here is a little bit of Geneva...
Calvin beer! Oh yeah!!!!
