Bloody hell - if I'd known the car was gunna cost that much to get fixed, then I woulda got it fixed weeks ago... And to think I was gunna get my rage on when the mechanic guy told me they only replaced one core plug, not all three. Turns out the other two didn't need it. Saved me a bundle in labour...

So the other day I played with HTML::Tree, a perl library that does decent job of parsing HTML and building a DOM tree. It differs from XML::Parser because it's actually tolerant of bad HTML, where XML::Parser will barf on any errors. So a little code here, a search function there, and I've got a decent parsing library set up that I can use for all sorts of things. Hmm, I 'spose I should actually convert the DOM it generates into XML, to consolidate...

So that was fun.

No really, that's scary. Scary that it was fun. Hold me.

Lower.

This rant has deliberate grammar and spelling errors because Michele is reading "Eats, shoots and leaves". This is different because usually all the grammar and spelling errors are entirely acidental. Go Team Me!

In other news, I miss the Powerbook. I have Mac Envy. It's kinda like Penis Envy, but I suffer from it. Mac Envy, not Penis Envy. I'm quite happy with my todger. The scourge of Windows plagues me once again. I don't know what scourge really means, but it sounds good. Ah, dictionary.com to the rescue. mmm. That sounds about what I thought it meant, so I Am A Winnar! I'm even contemplating installing Teh Loonix on the desktop again, but that's probably just Crazy Talk again. There are certain apps that I need to use for work (and at home) that plain and simple _aren't_ available except under linux. VMWare licenses cost too much, and Bochs buggers up too. Hell, I even tried installing PearPC, but something buggerred up and stuffed if I'm gunna wait the 3 hours it takes to install OS X each time to fiddle around with it. It's too slow anyway.

Woe.

Today is the second day of the seminar that I'm missing out on. Damn you car and credit card bill! 'Spose I've only got myself to blame - and indeed I turned down an offer for a loan for the fees to get there - so it really is my fault I'm not there. Still sucks though. They'll all progress in Iaido and Jodo much faster than I will now. OMG I'll be lining up at the other end of the dojo because they'll all grade! Actually, it's probably a good thing, because I'll get to re-learn and hone the first few kata and build a solid foundation to progress from ^_^

Thought for the day: If you like random violence, turn on the TV and flick through the channels.

Michele and I started Wing Chun yesterday. After an hour and a half session, I can't really comment, but it does sound interesting. The instructor is really good at explaining things, but I feel that he was trying too hard to justify the various differences in techniques between Wing Chun and other martial arts. Punches, for example. I just think the point was a little laboured, especially when I can understand and agree with the reasoning. It was still a good training session, and the isometric exercises that form the first ... form ... are really good. I'm gunna have to try and work them into a daily routine. Hell, I really need a daily routine.

It occurs to me occasionally - when I rise from the slumber that is my daily life - that Perth is boring. Really boring. Or maybe I'm just out of the loop. There's some secret club that all the cool kids are in - where they hand out the flyers to all the cool stuff that happens, and everyone has a good and interesting time. I mean, life must go on, right? People need to do things, right? But unless you like the pubbing and clubbing, or you like the telly, there doesn't seem much to actually *do*. You hear of other places where there's stuff to do, but you don't hear or see any of that here. You need to be in the loop. In the club. Down with it.

I reckon it's partly due to the lifestyle 'choices' that you 'make'. Here I am, working a 9-to-5. I get home in the arvo, relax in front of some email (HAH), get some food, and contemplate what's going on. My job doesn't really encourage the sort of social interaction that might lead to anything interesting, and after hours there doesn't seem to be anything going on around the place. You look around the place, and people just seem to be inside. I don't know what they do any more than I know what I do. So what kind of things do people do when they get out? Play some organised sport - sure. Wander around the river or the beach, sure. Go out for a meal - sure. See a movie - sure. What else? I don't know. Myself, I train 3 nights a week - and I like it. But the other 4... Maybe I just want some more options - that interest me (ie: no movies, pubs, clubs, etc - even aimless wandering gets boring after a while). More importantly, something that I can share with Michele.

I think I like the idea of new cultural experiences, where I can learn and understand new things about other people and myself. But I don't like the rehashing of typical Australian culture, which I find bland and uninteresting. It seems that there's only the later available. Maybe that's why Perth is so boring - the fun and interesting things that people get up to are the things that I don't like :P

That got way too serious for a moment there. Allow me to retort with ... uh ... a distraction! Look! Look over there! No, there. Shiny stuff!

I'm hungry. I should eat.