Where next?

perfect happiness
Originally uploaded by Debbie G.

Jude is approaching the end of her PhD. and suddenly the calls are coming in thick and fast - asking her to interview all over the States and possibly all over the world. Of course this ought to raise questions like "is there anything for Steve to do in these far flung places?" and "Do you really want to live in Lubbock, TX?" but right now it doesn't. Any move is about a year away and a lot can happen in a year.

I think that I'm at a stage where I can live anywhere and still manage to get work - even if it's freelance. It may mean a cut in salary but hey if that means that I get to walk the dog along the beach and allow the cats outside again then I'm pretty happy. Money is nice but I just need enough for it not to be a problem. I'm not into the whole salary escalation thing - if that's how you define success then you're kinda narrow. I know - I was virtually two dimensional at one point.

Actually that last point isn't true. I've never moved job for more money. In fact I've always taken a pay cut when I've moved. But I've either moved because I knew I'd learn more elsewhere, because I needed a challenge, because I saw potential or - most recently - because I needed to be in a country long enough for my wife to finish up her PhD.

What I find compelling about a change of lifestyle is that we are all now showing signs of stress. Jude with a back more knotted than an amnesiac's handkerchief, Velcro with her bi-monthly stomach upsets, Ink with his highly strung UTIs and of course me with my 'up at 6am to start on the e-mail' sessions.

Whatever we decide to do I think that a more relaxed attitude to life. More time in the sunshine. More time with the sand between our toes. More time doing what we want to do and less doing what we don't.

I have an idea of working for agencies / ideas companies on 4 pitches a year. A month each pitch - a fee plus win bonus on each. Then I'd do four months writing - I want to do an advertising book. And four months in the sun during the summer. It's actually quite a do-able idea.

The dogs above btw are Bearded Collies and they're on a beach in Victoria, BC, Canada. Which would be nice.

So You Think You Can Dance

So You Think You Can Dance
Originally uploaded by beesquare.

So. You. Think. You. Can. Dance.

Live.

I think that this might be the show that changed my life - that turned positive intention around getting fit into real action.

I think that it's time to celebrate just how amazing the body can be - and that means building an amazing body. Starting right now.

Fitter at 30 than 20, fitter at 40 than 30. The hrad work starts here

Past. Present. Future.

Past. Present. Future.
Originally uploaded by snowdog101.

Today was far to nice a day to waste in an office – so I got up at 5.30am. Had all that I needed to be done finished by 10am and headed off into the city in search of sun, shoes and a cool place to have lunch.

Got off at 8th Ave and 14th street and walked North into Chelsea. Rainbow flags hung tattered, seemingly recoiling from the sunlight whilst the shutters on the coolest clothing stores remained resolutely shut.

To fill in the time I decided to experiment a little and set off to see two separate psychics – with the idea of testing one against the other.

The first decided that my Chakras were seriously out of whack. That my previous attempts at therapy had failed due to their being singular in focus and that the stomach problems I was having were caused by a confused sexual chakra. The solution. A $125 research reading and a course of psychic therapy. Oh and sex with men. I guessed that being in Chelsea made this a safe assumption on her part.

The second looked much more the part and had a no-nonsense approach to absolute nonsense that had me nodding along. The issue she said was that there was a woman who had been dead set against my marriage and who was feeding mt rtelationship regular doses of poison even now. Then there was the physical, psychological or sexual abuse that I must have suffered to make me so susceptible to ‘dark energy’. I explained that I’m British and that we run on cynicism but she shrugged that off and thought that $150 worth of past life regression might help shed some light on the issue.

I made my excuses and left.

What did they have in common? Well both probed potential relationship and work issues – which I guess is a safe bet, most people seeing a psychic would be looking for advice in one area or the other. Both flattered me in terms of my ‘Creative Spirit’ – though both chided me for not doing more with my ‘writing ability’

Both asked that I write every day. Both had treatments ready to go for me.

#1 seemed to suggest that I was a potentially suicidal bisexual who was emotionally, spiritually and sexually stunted. #2 that I was prone to depression, cynicism and a darkness that keeps me shackled in its basement dungeon.

Hardly uplifting. But a very entertaining way to spend $20.

Rest of the day was altogether better. Found some shoes. Ate a very healthy lunch. Unlocked my gym membership. Tried on ridiculous clothing. Helped a women who got trapped under a fallen fixture at Barney’s co-op. Walked the dog. Wrote a speech.

Think I might go in to work tomorrow.

As I write this

do exactly ...
Originally uploaded by all is revealed.

I'm filling my i-pod with 19 Russian Romance songs. I wish that I could say that Russian Romance were an underground hipster group about to make it big but alas I can't. The songs I'm collecting are from people like Ilya Lagutenko and Mikhail Aptekman. Why? I have no idea other than a vague feeling of my being more windswept and interesting this morning than I was yesterday morning.

I was at work by 7am yesterday which is hardly bohem' and not really conducive to good health. On the flip side I went out for a decent breakfast, had lunch with some charming people and a take-out dinner with my wife in front of the TV and a binge-watching session of Lost.

Jude has interviews all over the place in the next couple of weeks, so I'm having much fun as I book flights and search for hotels whilst wondering whether any are practical given that I may well need to work to supplement any academic salary she makes.

This is nothing more than fluff now - so I'm going to sign off, head for work and use the photocopier a lot (we need copies of current visas etc. before Jude hands in her passport for renewal)

Cheers all

Weirdness abounds

I decided to take my own food advice this morning and headed out to a diner for a huge breakfast that should tide me through the day and fend off vending machine cravings. Sitting at the next table were two men, dressed in the freshly laundered shirts of mid-level bankers - who were reading passages from the bible to each other. Eah would take turns whilst the other would conduct the choir of voices in his head, punctuating the air with mini hand gestures and rolling their heads on necks bent by rapture.

It was very strange. One man preaching to the other - describing the life of Jesus in terms of business strategy

"The advisors say, go after the pharisees; get the power on board and let them spread the word... but Jesus has a grassroots approach... those guys must have thought - hey, he's crazy... time for us to get ourselves a new client."

Where it went from amusing to sinister however was when they started to talk about recruitment to their breakfast bible bashing.

"The best way to 'disciple a guy'" they said "is to stick to the five questions. But remember the first is always to question his sexual integrity"

Odd but fascinating - it was all I could do to stay in my seat and not join them