Another one bites the dust.

Another year goes spiraling the drain. More people I've met and then lost touch with. More people I knew have gotten married, moved houses/cities/countries, passed away. Saddam Hussain has finally been executed for things he did a quarter of a century ago. And I am one year older. Feels like a good half dozen :-<. I'm beginning to get a hang of this though. More on that another time.

Was pleasantly surprised this morning to see curry for breakfast :). It was terrible by proper curry standards :P. But still the best thing around! Not that the rest of the food was bad though, it's just that... Well, let's put it this way, no wonder Indian food is popular. It's just better :D. While the Sun rose for the last time this year, it dawned on me that somehow I've ended up spending most of this year in Australia and even managed to get rather attached to it by the end of it. I've been on three continents this year as against two last year and one the year before that :P. (At this rate it'll take me just another 4 years to get done with at least one of my 'things to do before I die'!) Even got the see the Norwegian fjords again, this time not completely shrouded in snow :). It's been a good year. A busy year. I still don't know where my life's headed, but at least I'm not too worried about most of it :).

In the course of a discussion today, I realised that given a time machine, and given the choice, I'd much rather land up in the past rather than the future! Why, I am yet to figure out completely, but I'd rather not be burdened with the knowledge of where I'll end up (much less where humanity will!!). That's like reading the last page of the book before the rest of it, spoils all the fun. Digging up the past, now that's a much better adventure :). I guess I'm one of those people who get caught up things 'n stuff. Interestingly enough, did this vague thing called the train and railroad quiz today on some random site linked on a random blog. Turns out, I'm the London Underground :)). Something to do with the past. Then of course it totally takes off at a tangent, and goes on about difficult experiences and people spending less time with you and what not! I mean c'mon, how many people have had bombs going off in their guts?!! Yet roughly one in 64 people taking the quiz get told this :P.

The only time I have ever been kinda close to a bomb actually going off anywhere also happened to be this year though. And that was very very far from funny.

Ah well, one could end up with a very long post going on in this vein I suppose. So to cut to the chase and the last day of the year, I spent a better part of it religiously downloading the hourly infra-red satellite images that the Australian Governtment's Bureau of Meteorology provide. In this case paying special attention to the remarkable buildup of a possible cyclone to the North West, that will see us bring in this new year by high-tailing it out of the prospect area :).Hope the new year brings many joys to you. Enough at least to outnumber, outshine and outweigh any sorrows. And that you get to look back upon it with more of contentment than regret :). Happy New Year!

Feeling: content enough :)
Listening to: Jon Brion - Strings that tie to you (OST - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

A little something. . .

After aborted attempts over the last few days, I finally managed a peek at a sunrise today!! (Sunrises seen from the back-deck no longer count :|.) It's all the WA Government's fault! They went and got this stupid daylight saving thing done, moving an hour ahead!! So sunrise these days is around 7 instead of around 6, i.e. outside my breakfast hour. It took me a while to finally narrow it down to just before quarter to 7 :P.

Life's getting all exciting on board :D. We have just about gotten into the rather long and active cyclone season around these parts. And today we had our first proper tropical storm warning in the season!! Looks like there's this huge low building up a little south of Bali, Indonesia, and is supposed to gather up a bit of the vaporised ocean around itself and come spinning down towards Exmouth, WA. To the not so geographycally inclined, (and if you don't know where the vessel is, which would probably be everyone :P), this scheme of things puts us smack in the path of a growing cyclone :D. So today I saw a 'Cyclone Meeting' for the first time onboard! Not that that was much by itself, but there's stuff like 'evasive action' and 'tracking the cyclone' on everyone's lips now :D.

I am obviously completely trusting these people to make sure that we are absolutely nowhere near the centre of the cyclone! Or even around the outskirts of it for that matter!! I've heard too many horror stories about last year when the other swing got too close to one /:).

X-( And now Blogger won't let me upload a pic!!!

Currently: frustrated!!!!! X-(((
Listening to: Pearl Jam - I am mine
--
Looks like that's been fixed :).

Vortex

What I am about to describe is not a vortex :). See, when a boat with a pointed bow and keel (that is a front end that actually cuts through the water instead of skimming over it) is travelling at speed, there are these sheets of water furling out on either side, curving up out of the sea and sailing by someone sitting by the boat's side, curling back into the sea. To such a person the water would seem impeccably smooth, blue-white, and speckled with fine sparkling gold dust. It is very very tempting to stretch out your fingers and dabble in it. So I did.

There is a rather fragile boundary between the clear blue and the foaming white. As the fingers touch the blue, the flow erupts! White spray spurting through in between. The blinding sun overhead dissolves in the tiny droplets. It makes me forget for a while, but not for long enough. The sinking feeling. Inexorably drawn down to my knees. The moment when I lost... There were other things, a combination of factors. But small boat trips will never be the same again :-<.

Currently: thoughtful
Listening to: Third Eye Blind - Semi-charmed life

A little green top spinning on my palm. . .

This Christmas wasn't so bad after all :). Thanks mainly to the best spread I've ever seen on the boat :D. The galley folk had totally outdone themselves. In fact, my cam lay forgotten as I figured I'd much rather be eating the food than waste time taking pictures of it :P.

Small joys and a big smile, that's the way to live life! Finally managed to get back to reading Eldest, first time since coming onboard and I was so glad to let myself get completely immersed in the magic and fantasy. There's too little by way of magic in our reality :(. And the only thing that is, more often than not ends up in disaster....

Oh and I just found the entire four seasons of Coupling onboard!!! This is going to be so much fun :D.

Currently: not feeling drop dead tired anymore, finally!
Listening to: Graham Massey - Moonlight sonata

It's Christmas Eve, for Christ's sake!!!

Oh God!!! How is it that every time I end up so completely stunned by exactly how much work there is when we end up out on the back deck?!! It's depressing!! It's like realising that your answer to the question "what have you learnt from past experiences" is basically absolutely nothing!!! :( Thankfully it usually gets over just about when I'm stretched to the limit. Or maybe it's the expectation of it all getting over that stretches me to the limit :). But really, just when we are done with an excrutiating week on the back deck, the worst system f***-up I have ever seen has to happen. On my shift :-<. So while people all over the place enjoy their Christmas Eve in whatever way they will, I'll be fast asleep, lucky if I can actually wake up at 11:30... or maybe I can get away with 50.... :P.

So Merry Christmas to everyone who's celebrating, or not :).

Feeling: dead :-<
Listening to: Annie Lennox - Don't let it bring you down