Perhaps tomorrow I will write and record two episodes and try to cover my slack tracks. Not likely, Jimmy.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I had what might be a good idea. I think that the definition of idea is pretty settled. The definition of good might just be flexible enough for this sentence to be broadly true. I was thinking of using PowerPoint, some Creative-Commons licensed photos from flickr, and some of my earlier efforts together to make some basic picture books.

I know PowerPoint is not a print-publishing tool; these would be more proof of concept slideshows than actual books. Eventually, I’d like to write something new. For the time being, I thought I might cut my teeth on Only You Can Stay the Same and some of the old Dear Bert stories.

I am not sure if I have the writing ability or the time to do this idea justice. I guess the only left is to give it a quick go and see how far I get.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

In the words of Fat Charlie the Archangel “I have no opinion about this, and I have no opinion about that.” Now I don’t wish to speak unkindly about poor Fat Charlie, but I think the next line is telling. “Sad as a lonely little winkled balloon”.

I think that perhaps Charlie need to be a bit more decisive. It’s a lovely thought to be free of opinions and ambitions but it tends to leave you drifting a bit in the breeze. I suspect this is doubly true when one is an archangel.

I believe, pretty firmly as the years go by, that it’s important to be purposeful. Planning and consideration are both good things, but it is all too easy to slip into procrastination and avoidance. Although I roundly mocked those infamous consultant there is some truth to the maxim “if you want some lollies, just go to the shop”. Likewise, I had to be swiping wisdom from mass produced running shoes but it really if often better to “just do it.” And since I am just repeating other people’s words, let me finish with some accidental wisdom from Chalky. Back in the days when I made films, horrible films I should add, I worked with Chalky. One day, tongue mostly in cheek, he said “if you want to direct, direct”. It’s facile and obvious but it’s also true.

Finally, I’ll swing back to Fat Charlie who, later in the song says, “she says the joke is on me. I say the joke is on her.” I suspect that if we find ourselves without opinions and purpose and direction then the joke is on us.

Well that’s just my two cents and that’s the minute. I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

It’s school holidays and so far things have gone pretty well. One of the things that Finn has been really looking forward to is having his cousin Danny over to stay the night. For years now, having the two of them together has meant a great deal of silliness and a great deal of noise.

If I were being a smidge more selfish, I’d avoid the whole ordeal and just not invite Danny over for these events. Not that Danny is a problem, it’s just the combination of the two boys. I don’t because it means so much to Finn. Every since the plans were made he’s been buzzing around like a little lunatic.

I know the next twenty-one hours are going to be exhausting; there is no other possible outcome. Surely, however, part of the value of holidays is doing things that exhaust you. I’d certainly never even consider this explosion of boyness during term. All of which is to say that I do know better but decided to organise this madness.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

A few weeks back, I was listening to a podcast, and I think it might have been RN Shuffle. Whatever the show, there was some science-minded soul explaining that loud music sets of happy chemicals in the human brain in the similar fashion to chocolate and sex.

Generally speaking, I like music played at more modest tones, but when I am feeling anxious I get all open minded towards things that might help. Just recently, I was feeling this way so I popped on the quality headphones and set my iPod to shuffle. The tracks that came up were The Ballad of John and Yoko, Fall at Your Feet and God’s Hotel. I can’t claim that these three songs made a crazy, fat, bald man into a sane, fat, bald man but I think it helped.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

When I was in the bike shop yesterday, I very nearly didn’t discover that I had been using the wrong size inner-tubes. The helpful mechanic changed my tube and all seemed fine. I had been chasing kids around the shops so I didn’t have a chance to give him the tube that I’d brought with me. When he gave back the wheel, he just gave it back and looked like a wasn’t in a hurry to change me. This was clearly very nice of him, but I figured that I needed to do the right thing.

I asked if I could just give him the tube I’d brought with me. Since this was bought from their shop and seemed their default tube, I figured this might be reasonable. As we swapped my tube, I noticed one box was bigger than the other. That was when the penny dropped.

After I’d asked how they were different, he explained that I had tubes that were too skinny for my tyres. They had been trying to fill up too large a space and were not up for it.

The moral of this story is not really about inner-tubes and tyres. Part of this story is about dumb luck. I only stumbled over my mistake by chance. The other part of about the happy intersection of a little honestly, goodwill and good luck.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

Yesterday morning, I noticed that the front tyre of the Zen bike was entirely flat. I noticed this as I was checking and back tyre and managed to make the whole bike fall on top of me. That tends you focus your attention a little.

I pumped it up again on the off chance that pixies let the air out. When it was flat again a couple of hours later, I joined the dots and admitted that this was not the work of pixies.

I had to go to the bike shop for a twenty-eight inch tube but they are pretty cheap. After the kids went to bed and the dishes were washed, I went out for a ride. I had brief delusions of a long ride but thought better of it. It’s one thing to start in the dark and come home in the morning light and another entirely to just ride off into the night.

I had covered about seven kilometres when I noticed a lot of noise from the bike. At first, I thought something was rubbing where it shouldn’t. Then I stopped and discovered the amazing and annoying news. My new tube, not five hours old, was quite flat. Too flat, in fact, to ride home. The walk home was more direct. Those three kilometres only too about forty minutes pushing my bike.

Today, I went back to the shop and took advantage of their sale: five tubes for $20. Just as well really. When I put the first tube on, I was obviously asking a little too much of it. Although the tyre says 50 to 75, the tube blew out at 70. Blerg.

Now, I had a second tube on there at 50. That might not be as firm as I would like but it beats the hell out of walking. And, later in the day, I can go for a real ride.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

For some reason, I had some quite old podcasts on my iPod today, including some of my own. When I listened to one in particular, I noticed that I was talking incredibly quickly. I was running words together with such reckless abandon that I was genuinely amazed that anyone could extract meaning from this gabble.

The very next old podcast had me saying how fast I talk. In this second episode, I mention that I am making a real effort to slow down but hope it isn’t too much. Listening now, I realised that, even in the second episode, I am moving at a great clip.

I am not sure, but I suspect that this practice of writing first and then reading it has slowed me down a little. I hope so; I certainly need to slow down quite a lot. As an added bonus, if I can manage to really slow down, then I can get away with writing less material.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to One Minute Mark.

By every metric I can imagine, this has been a really good term for me at work. I’ve had good classes and done some mildly interesting things. I’ve really enjoyed it. Having said all of that, I am glad that the term is over today.

I want to have some time to just go for long bike rides. I would like to sleep in for a day. I would like to just have a day that was nice and quiet. In short, I feel like a need a bit of a break.

Anyhow, that’s less than a minute but you’ll live.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I went to the library tonight to pick-up the first season of the original English version of Life on Mars. Although I appreciated that they’d put a lot of work into the costume and properties, I was slow to warm to the American version. The mixture of basic drama and broad comedy obviously worked for them, but I often found it slightly annoying rather than interesting.

Conventional wisdom seems to be that the original series was written with a little more care, so we decided to give it a go these holidays. While I was there, and this is the nice surprise for me, I saw a copy of the recent Steve Coogan series, Saxondale. I don’t know much about this, but I do know that I find him very fun.

So, all in all, it was a very successful little trip.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

A few weeks back, I had what felt like a bright idea. I thought it would be good to produce an online magazine with an English class. This would give them experience of writing in a variety of styles and publish to a genuine audience. I know that none of these ideas are new in any way, but I was still enthusiastic about trying this.

The technology was easy enough to work out. The process was only a little more work. I had to persuade a few colleagues to give something similar a bash since we all teach the same units and should broadly do the same thing.

Yesterday, my students chose from one of thirty topics. At eleven this morning, we spent fifty minutes in the library doing research and writing drafts. Then we spent another fifty minutes typing up these stories. Finally, I did some quick editing and correction and published them on the site.

That all sounds a bit rushed, but I think the tight times kept the momentum up. Now, I just need to repeat this trick with my other class on Friday.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

As I left school, I realised that I would be home in time to collect Leila from childcare at five o’clock. I know that Nicky didn’t mind doing this, but I like to help with things that make her life go a little bit more smoothly.

As I got closer to home, I realised that I would be home in time to ride my bike around the childcare centre and bring Leila home in the new kid seat. So, I changed my trousers and went around to childcare on the roads. Leila was wonderfully cooperative about getting in the kid seat on the bike and we set off along the trail next to the creek.

It took me a couple of minutes to feel comfortable with her on the back. I am pretty confident on a bicycle, but I’d feel just awful if she took a tumble. Pretty soon, we were riding along and having a lovely time. Leila chatted to me the whole time about dogs, the water, and a bunch of things I didn’t understand.

When we got home, Nicky and Finn were there on the doorstep to watch us peddle up the street. I really enjoyed the ride and, judging by her smiles, I say Leila liked it to. I wish that I’d gotten a kid seat for my bike years ago.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I am feeling a little guilty about buying a small collection of bike accessories this weekend. Those babies quickly add up. Having said that, with this bike riding, I am managing to do more exercise that I have since I was a teenager.

The absolutely star purchase was the upright pump with the gauge. I rode the Zen bike to the video store today, a nine kilometre round trip. Not only was the riding easy, it was quick. For lots of the time, I was going at close to thirty. I know this doesn’t sound fast my standard cruising speed on the Zen bike is closer to twenty. I was just gliding along.

And, for that it’s worth, my new cycling gloves kept my hands all warm and comfy, too.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I was once an undergraduate. I am profoundly glad that I am not any more. When I was an undergraduate, I indulged. Of course, everyone did. But, I sometimes massively over-indulged in that anti-social habit of being snarky.

I was far too fond of the smart remark. Part of it was humour; however, the underlying message was that I would shortly go on to be terribly clever, whereas those people I was being bitchy about were not only foolish but would stay that way.

It was nice to be right all the time. I enjoyed it.

Luckily, I got over it. I did go on to some some moderately clever things. And so did heaps of people around me. I also discovered that it is much harder to create than criticise. Over the years, I have created all kinds of things and those things have been of pretty mixed quality. This was not because I was stupid or failed to apply myself. Creation is a hit and miss business.

I must confess that I get a bit annoyed by people my age who have a critical word for every effort. I’m still not all roses and sunshine, but I do try to avoid the snark reflex and be suitably respectful of other people’s efforts.

Just for giggles, I have put a short survey on this post. Leave your own response if you wish.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak you soon soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I am fully aware that this a blindingly obvious thing to say. It is getting really cold in the morning, and incredibly hard to get myself out of bed for a bike ride. It normally takes me a full ten minutes to pry myself from bed. When I hit the road at about twenty past six, it is about five or six degrees out there. This doesn’t sound so bad, but it is so cold that the ends of my fingers actually hurt.

I do like to ride. I do think it does me various kinds of good. But, I am starting to wonder if it is sensible to ride at six in the morning in Melbourne all year around. Perhaps my exercise for June and July should be hiding from the morning under the doona.

The other side is that, after I have been riding for about ten minutes, I warm up a little and it’s all quite nice. And, tomorrow I would quite like to do the Werribee River ride. I’ve only done the whole thing once, and I’d like to give it another go.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

I am looking forward to the end of term. At the risk of sounding like yet another complaining school teacher, I am so glad that term is almost over. Not that it’s been a tough term. In lots of ways, this has been a really productive and enjoyable term. It is just that, after writing reports and having to units without any real preparation or planning, I am quite exhausted.

I am looking forward to having some time at home, of course. I am looking forward to some time to experience a revelation or two about my own teaching. I want to have those good ideas that will drive the next ten weeks and keep me trying new things.

But I just can’t do that while I am fighting with reports and when the teachers and students are both exhausted and slightly jaded. It just doesn’t work that way for me.

I am looking forward to the end of term.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

A couple of times a week, I get the collection of simple ingredients out onto the bench. The tub of margarine is already there. The bread gets hauled out of the bred bin. The cheese comes out of its little dairy compartment in the fridge. And, finally, the top comes off the Vegemite.

Then, with a butter knife and a sharp knife, I made Vegemite and cheese sandwiches for Finn and I. I slice them neatly in half, straight down the middle not corner to corner. I put them in their little lunch boxes, his has Shrek on it and mine a bright and controversial shade of pink. Then they all go in the freezer to get taken to school for the next couple of days.

This is a minor job, but I like to do it. I like to do this mundane little job to help Finn be ready for the day. It makes me feel part of the family, even when I am miles and miles away at work for most of the day.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

There are lots of things that I like about teaching. It should come as no surprise that being in a classroom and working with students is right up the top of the list of things I like. But, as you would expect, there is a list of things I am not so crazy about.

Proof-reading reports is near of the top of this list. Traditionally, we sit around the school until about eight at night and work through what seem like endless piles of reports. After a while reading these documents, it is easy to go a little mental.

This year is, thankfully, different. We only have to proof-read the reports for the students in our mentor groups; that’s only twenty people and a little over one hundred reports. And, this year, we got to take them home and check them. Sitting in the quiet of my own home meant that I got through my pile in about an hour and a half.

Under the old system, I was often sitting there for six or seven hours reading three or four hundred reports. I imagine it is easy for you to understand why I like this new system more.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.

Hello, and welcome to the One Minute Mark.

As I write this, I know that I should be winding down for the evening. I am sorely tempted to just let the podcast slide for the day. But then I will feel stupid and slack, which is somehow worse that the truth of being genuinely stupid and slack.

On a more positive note, I had two of my new classes today and I feel like things went pretty well. I always find it unnerving facing up to a new group but everything went as well as it could.

I also went into St. Kilda and collected Nicky’s new bike. It is an old Repco. It has smallish wheels; my guess would be twenty-inch. It has a luggage rack and that huge stands that actually lift the back of the bike up. It has no gears and you peddle backwards to brake. In short, it is just what I thought Nicky would love. She gave it a quick ride once I’d put it back together and she looked more confident and comfortable than I’ve ever seen her on a bike before.

Anyhow, that’s the minute and I’ll speak to you soon.