Mark O’Meara: the blog

One of the nice things about having the pergola out the back of our wee suburban house is having a place to just leave the barbeque. And the nicest thing about that is that it is much easier to actually use the barbeque regularly.

Once the hot weather arrives, such as now, it is bloody great to be able to cook without making the house any hotter. So last night I cooked up some burgers from the wholesale meat places, some eggs, and slapped them into a tasty burger.

It really hit the spot.

As a bonus the puppies love cleaning the hot-plate once it has cooled down and that makes it much easier to me to actually clean when I get around to that.

Lesson for the day - some things are better outside.

I wanted to like this film. I like the cast and I think that Tony Martin is one of the funniest people in Australian comedy.

But it is a pretty average film and certainly no Crackjack.

Two eggs.

Lesson for the day - films is clearly much harder to do well than it looks.

“I say you look like a movie star
you say it isn’t so
but I’ve looked wide and I’ve looked far
and I know I know”
- some obscure folk singer.

Well I have just finished editing together some footage we have of Finn’s first six weeks. It is called (now hold onto something) Finn’s First Six Weeks or How I Became A Funster.

I actually this is the second edit, something went serious screwy the first time around. But I am pretty damn happy with it. No doubt Nicky and I will find is Just So Cute in years to come and Finn will hate the sight of it.

It has bit of him being fed, having a bath, having is clothes changes, the sorts of things babies do that really only matter when the baby is yours.

Lesson for the day - some movies can be a little moving.

This page takes ages to load but if you like pusscats you are going to just love these photos.

Lesson for the day -pusscats have inbuilt cuteness.

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It’s gonna be a bright (bright)
Bright (bright) sunshinin’ day”
- johnny cash

Well it is another scorcher today but so far the house is lovely and cool. It sounds obvious but leaving the windows open all night and then closing them around 6am really does the trick.

Finn and I went for a walk before it got too hot and I felt all nostalgic about the paddocks that are now streets very much like our own. When we moved in you could walk to the edge of the estate in about five minutes. Now when I get to what was the last street I know I am almost home.

It is times like these that I wish I had taken a single photo of the wasteland that used to be between us and the next estate.

Lesson for the day - it’s funny what you see in the bright sunlight.

Well the Cry Room (not to be confused with Cry Baby sessions) went well and we all watched School Of Rock.

It was exactly what you would expect which is to say that is was entertaining enough without being in any fashion surprising. Not bad for a slow day.

Lesson for the day - school can rock but mostly it doesn’t.

Well the signup for Raw Comedy is finally there so it looks like I will be there again in March. I have no idea what material I will use. I am not sure that I have anything funny to say now or then.

Lesson for the day - signing up is half the battle.

There are many virtues. Hard work, honesty, bravery, and being a snappy dressers are just some.

But the one I am thinking about today is one that I especially appreciate in Nicky and it is the great virtue of kindness. This is something that she practices day in day out. It is as small and as big as keeping an event temperament, having a kind word, being considerate and being supportive.

It is not, I suppose, a spectacular virtue - you don’t see films about people showing it. But I think it is one of the most important and telling of the virtues.

Other people have it also, I like to think all of my friends do in decent quantities, but Nicky is certainly both an example to, and a blessing for, me.

Lesson for the day - it helps to appreciate what people have.

“do you go to the movies?
find a friend in the film?
hold hands with the hero?
fall in love with the heroine?”
- hothouse flowers

We are off to see School Of Rock with Finn’s cousins today. They have a think at some cinema’s called the Cry Box which is a little like a corporate box but for people with babies. I must admit it didn’t even occur to me that such things might even exist.

I knew about Cry Baby Sessions but the thought of being in a movie with a bunch of crying babies really didn’t appeal. Also I don’t know that Finn’s little ears need the sorts of volume you get in a full-on movie experience.

Lesson for the day - I don’t know every damn thing.

“when you get down as far as this
it’s not as simple as a kiss
to make the pain stop”
-deborah conway.

Happily for me it normally is as simple as a kiss, a kind word, or a few hours sleep to make the pain stop. I have been lucky in that I don’t think I have ever suffered real depression. Certainly I have some pretty black moods but they are always due to factors that, even if I can’t fix, I can come to accept.

Lesson for the day - moods are easier to control when you don’t have to.