I've had my old Sony Ericsson P900 for over two years, but about a year ago I started to realise what a mistake it was. Actually it might have been a lot earlier than that, but lets be generous and give it at least a year of happy service. Since then, I've been meaning to upgrade to something more suitable.

My main beef with the thing was that the text input was crap. When using the keypad, you had the option of using a munged T9 key system, or you could use the stylus and freehand it using their input notation (which admittedly was better than Palm's at the time, but its implementation was fairly limited). I found the keypad flip to be annoying so I removed it, which made usability better. But even then, to do anything with it, like a simple sms, you needed to drive it with both hands, which is time consuming as well as inconvenient. It also had a problem where the text input system would die after about a week, requiring you to reboot the entire phone to get it to work again. Most annoying, especially when you want to do a quick sms or jot a note down.

The other issues, like the retarded calendar, to-do and contacts system, meant that I wasn't even using the phone for the purposes that I bought it for: a combined PDA and Phone. So that meant I was carrying around a bulky brick that I was only using for functionality that was available in phones a third its size.

So when Marcus upgraded his phone I thought it was high time to look into upgrading mine. I originally intended to get the Nokia 6230i (the same phone Michele has), but after seeing the Nokia 6111 that Marcus bought I decided that I did like that one better after all. After a few disappointments trying to find the phone I wanted on a plan that suited me (I figured out that the Optus ‘yes’ 35 plan with ‘talk & text’ was the best that suited me), Marcus pointed out where I can get the handset and the plan I wanted.

So far so good. I’m still getting used to the T9 text input system, and not having a brick of a phone in my pocket, but they’re coming easily. The inbuilt camera is of surprising quality too (the processing presets are way better than my Sony P72). Perhaps my only complaint is that the alarm isn’t as loud as the P900. But being able to drive the damn thing with only one hand more than makes up for it.

The thumbnail above links to a montage of all the phones I’ve had in the past (possibly not all, and possibly not in the correct order).

My sister picked up these chairs some time years ago, and they've decorated her house admirably since then - until recently.

She's retired the old 1970's furniture she picked up from the East Perth Train Station refurbishment auction, and has opted for some new, more contemporary pieces. Which left her a surplus of bright orange chairs which had to find a new home. I loved those orange chairs when she had them, and now I love them even more because I have them!

The only regret is that I can't fit all four in the little alcove near the front door, but I can live with that.

Lately I've been 'digging' all these old albums and artists from the 90's. I don't know why, but its' like I'm rediscovering them all over again.

New for the second time.

I only recently started listening to song lyrics. The words that I could never hear before seem to be jumping out at me, and even more scarily, making some sense. This is a big thing for me. It's odd, but a lot of what I like it probably considered 'emo', or something similarly dismissive. But is all the music I listen to like that, or does it just seems that way because those are the tunes that I'm listening to now?

But when I say that I 'get' the lyrics, I don't mean that I'm all morose and mopey or anything like that, but that perhaps having come through some shit in life and been able to look back on it objectively, analyse it, I can understand where they're coming from. I think the 'looking back and analysing' part is the key. While music is many things, one of them is that it's a reflection of the musician, or at least a window into part of their mindscape. But to get some sort of meaning from it, you need to see how it relates to yourself. Who can hope to try and understand what another person is telling you if you can't try and understand or accept the things that make up yourself? Your view of other people is always from the perspective of yourself, and in this way music can mean different things to different people. At least, that's how I'm starting to view things.

I think that the iPod has a lot to do with it. The listening to music bit. But at the same time it's a Catch 22: You can be some old hipster listening and discovering the meaning in all the old shit in the world, but as nice as it is, you risk missing out on listening to and discovering the meaning in all the new shit coming out. Sure, I listen to Triple J as well, but it seems that you get a fairly narrow view of the offerings, and an increasingly crap view at that.

I should 'diversify my music portfolio', if you know what I'm saying (and you do know what I'm saying, right?)

I sleep in quite late in the mornings. I dunno why, but I've never been a morning type person. The closest I ever got to that was the for three months I was looking after a friends house, where the bedroom windows faced the sunrise. I woke up with the sun.

Little known fact: the majority of houses are designed such that the bedroom windows face away from the morning sun. I tell a lie: I don't actually know if it's really that way, but after trying to use that in criteria in looking for a place to live, it sure seems to be true.

I wake up to my alarm. Over the years I've struggled with this, but recently it's starting to come together. I still wake up late, but its getting more natural. Part of it is making sure I get the right amount of sleep. Too little and I'm a tired, cranky little bitch. Too much and I'm a tired, cranky little bitch with a headache. But with just the right amount, I'm just a cranky little bitch (okay, who seriously couldn't see that coming?) Part of it is being fit. I ain't fit (no pun intended), but I'm making an effort there, and am trying to get the basics happenning before I move on to the big things. That includes eating right. Gotta get on top of that! Its just the net effect of all the little things that make your body get a decent rest, so its not fighting to get up in the morning.

But even on top of all that, I just gotta coax myself awake. I can't do it any other way, regardless of the other junk. Let some morning radio DJ spin some tunes that get my ears listenning. Talk about some shit so I can get interesting in the day. Wake me gently from my deep, deep slumber. Soften the shock from my backup alarm when it spews the first 20 seconds of 'Time' from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' into my ear.

Mr Radio Alarm Clock, thank you for your fine tunes.