Phobias

I thought for a while about phobias before sitting down. Growing up in Australia teaches you very quickly to make peace with the bugs and snakes. Poor Rob, as much as I would love for him to visit, wouldn’t last a day before retreating to the top of a table only to find that the spiders are just as much at home on the ceiling as they are on the floor. Something did stand out in the memory banks as a crazy fear I had as a child, the fear of heights.

Between the ages of 6 and 10 I had a crushing fear of heights. While all the other kids would climb on the playground, I would keep my feet firmly in the sand. I don’t want to revisit that playground because I’m sure that I’m taller than it now but for that little 6 year old Jason, climbing onto that wood and rope covered adventure frame represented death! The fear that if I fell my head would be smashed into a million tiny pieces.

Thankfully, I no longer have that fear. I went on to study aviation at a school that required four hours on a bus. Taking my first flight in a plane I felt no fear, only boredom. Did you know there is nothing to do up there? I stuck out the aviation course for four of the required five years but I just couldn’t come to terms with the sheer boredom of flying.

As an adult and very new to the dating scene again I only have one fear. You get to know someone, maybe only briefly, romance takes over, the pants come off and she isn’t a she but rather a pre-op transsexual. She was so convincing! I’m not judging anyone’s lifestyle, I just like girls! Girls with girl parts! The last thing I want to see down there is my reflection. That’s not to say I would stop things progressing after that revelation, that story is for another time. I think The Kinks tell this story amazingly in musical form.

*First published on Geek Life*

I'm a graph!

Did I go too far?

Thanks Seb, I think.

Peek Social Media - An Idea

How many social media sites can survive in a flooded market? There is no easy answer for this. Markets evolve and change, people age and grow. Remember when you listened to the radio station aimed at the kids while cursing out the station aimed at the over 30s. How long was it before you realised you had long since tuned to the long hated station because it was playing all the songs you loved from your teen station? Will social media exhibit the same trends?

I want to look into these trends in a future Geek Life, for now I'm just amazed at how many social media sites I fill my day with. No matter how many sites I use, I am only touching the surface of all the endless sharing possibilities! I like to think Im a hardcore social media junky, but I'm really just a casual observer.

A short list of my casual observing, some you can find links for at the side of the screen.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Dailybooth
• Flickr
• Formspring
• Foursquare
• Tumblr
• Blogger
• Tweetphoto
• Twitpic
• Youtube
• Yahoo Groups
• Group Spaces
• Smashwords
• Photobucket
• Shazam
• Skype
• gmail

Put your iPod on shuffle: What are the first 10 songs that play?

I'm not doing the 30 day challenge anymore but I love this question, being a music lover, so I thought I would give it a go.

• Elliot Smith: Twilight.
• Sublime: Smoke Two Joints.
• Janis Joplin: Goin' To Brownsville.
• Willie Dixon: 29 Ways.
• Tiesto: Dance4life.
• R.E.M.: The Great Beyond.
• Carol King: I Feel the Earth Move.
• Muddy Waters: I Can't be Satisfied.
• Genesis: Your Own Special Way.
• Ella Fitzgerald: You're the Top.

I don't want to stop at 10, its too much fun! 10 more?

• Beck: Beautiful Way.
• Ben Folds: Cologne.
• The Cardigans: In the Round.
• Clem Snide: Messiah Complex Blues.
• Rage Against the Machine: In My Eye.
• Mr Oizo: The Salad.
• Silverchair: Abuse Me.
• David Bowie: Sound and Vision.
• Jeff Buckley: Last Goodbye.
• The Flaming Lips: Slow Motion.

No repeated artists? Probably because my iPhone is so full of music it runs slow!

The Outdoor Office

I remember first hearing about bloggers writing while spending the day at cafés. How awesome I thought it would be to be able to hang out all day in the sun and write. Perth being slow to the Internet revolution, and myself bogged down with the chores of kids and work, I never made it to a café with my computer, until now. Armed with a few hours and my trusty MacBook, I picked my favourite café, Mooba in Subiaco, and headed out into the late morning sun.

Mooba is a small place tucked behind the bustle of Subiaco. It’s out of the way enough that if the owners hadn’t done such a great job marketing it with social media I would never have heard of it. Check in with Foursquare here ten times and Mooba will shout you a coffee. A regular tweetup (Twitter meet up) helps create interest and keep an online buzz peaking with all the cool kids of the net regularly attending.

I ordered breakfast and found a place outside. My pure white MacBook looks the part in Subiaco. Only moments after setting up my wifi, coffee arrives, chased by my breakfast so fast the cook must have been eavesdropping on my order from the kitchen. It’s so beautiful, the judges on Masterchef wouldn’t be able to fault it. I wish I had thought to take a picture for this article but I couldn’t wait to poke the fork in.

Writing outside is great. A quick change to the brightness setting and you are off. Connecting to Mooba’s wifi is super simple. Two clicks and you are away, super quick and effortless. Writing, tweeting and perving on all the fine people enjoying the outdoors, who could ask for more? While I write, hot coffee is coming whenever I call for it like I’m some sort of hedonist king. Before I leave I will make sure to try their large selection of desserts. I think I heard something about a double choc muffin something-or-other on twitter this morning.

I can’t fault this method of writing. Sun, coffee and gorgeous people. I’m quickly becoming a convert and pretty sure this will become part of my Saturday morning routine. If I don’t get to write some Saturdays, it will be because I get to talk to the beautiful people, all drawn to the awesome that is café living.

How does this apply to the geeks? If you are a geek and you aren’t getting your daily dose of vitamin D, get outside! The computer will be there when you get back. Hell, take the computer with you like I do. It will do heaps for your soul. Research has shown that as little as an hour outside can improve your attention and memory by up to 20%! It reduces cases of depression and increases your life expectancy. So really, you can’t afford to not pack up the laptop and head outside!

*This article first published on Geek Life*