Mark O’Meara: the blog

He Went That Way by MarkOMeara

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busy day by antiapathy

I am not so naive that I thought today would be quiet at school. Having said that I was surprised to look up and notice that I have been going straight for eight and a half hours. I know some people do this every day (and bless their industrious little cotton socks) but I normally like to sit, phaff and waffle at both lunch and recess.

However I feel like a did get a few necessary things done and I’d rather be ready for the first day with kids than not.

Lesson for the day - it seems that steady work is not fatal after all.

butterfly cream by Jane Liu

I have never worked anywhere where the staff or structure stayed stable for more than a couple of months at a time. While I don’t regard all of this change as rational I do accept that it is pretty much normal in this day and age.

All the same I am still caught off guard by how quickly things change at schools. This year all the year sevens are at our our junior campus do we are down a quarter of the kids and a quarter of the staff. As it happens most of this quarter were people I was friendly with and it’s strange to have them all suddenly almost gone.

Lesson for the day - I guess I’ll just have to try to be friendly.

Walking the Dogs by Einar Ragnarsson

I am fresh back from my forth morning walk.

Keeping up a good habit for four days is not so hard. Keeping it up for four weeks, months or years might be a tad more difficult. Still, a start is a start.

Lesson for the day - work with what you’ve got.

growing by merwing

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koolaid02 by TheArtGuy

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Small Talk by The Johann Espiritu™

Tomorrow I will be back at work and will have to make conversation with people. I may even be asked what I spent the summer doing.

The real answer is, of course, somewhere between very little and nothing at all.

This is why I will be telling people I spent 23 days as a captive of the Portarlington Liberation Front. As I understand it their demands included a ferry to Melbourne, faster broadband and more beer (and none of that poofy light stuff). They released me when the second test match started.

Lesson for the day - outright lying is not always a bad thing.

Flame Trees by fethehellcat

For some years now I have appreciated the enormous value of sleeping. With the arrival of Finn and Leila this appreciation has only grown. However I do suffer the delusion that sleeping in and starting the day slowly will make me feel more rested.

What actually makes me feel awake is getting out of bed once I’m awake and doing something. So my plan is to get out of bed at six o’clock when the alarm goes off and walk the dog. Every single day. Except when it is pouring rain in which case I’ll do ten minutes on the exercise bike.

I might imagine that getting out of bed early is unpleasant but it really isn’t. The morning may very well be my favourite part of the day; the air is always nice and the park is lovely and quiet. Bizarrely I feel like I have more energy if I get straight up and actually do something.

I have managed this for two days incidentally. I am pretty confident that I will manage it for tomorrow also.

Lesson for the day - the world is too nice to sleep through it.

freight train in Footscray by Queen of the desert

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I saw you this morning
and you see me tonight
I’ll see you darling
I’ll see you by and by

by and by, I will see you
by and by, my old friend
by and by, I will see you
by and by, before the end

I saw you at the station
with a freight train rolling by
towards you destination
I’ll see you by and by

dreamt I saw you standing
you looked me in the eye
said I’ll see you darling
I’ll see you by and by

This bluegrass inspired folk tune is relatively recent as my songs go which is to say that it is only four or five years old. It’s also one of those songs I like so much I have some trouble believing that I wrote it.

,, { Happy Birthday =* } ,, by B a r s h o ™

I like it when it is Nicky’s birthday. It means I get to fuss over her just a little bit more than normal.

So happy birthday to my lovely and clever as clever Nicky.