When I say jump...

I guess I have to keep up the pretense of actually wanting to make a daily entry. Well, since this is a weekday, there really isn't much that comes to mind at this time that would make for an interesting read.

Actually, I was listening to the radio this morning - I guess it can't be helped when it's playing first thing in the morning and there are no customers... Anyway, I heard them mention height comparisons and how some well known people (celebrities, mostly) were either shorter or taller than they appeared. So I looked it up. It's interesting to note which people are (or were) close to my height - especially historical figures. For example, Benjamin Franklin was a mere 2cm taller than me. It's a pity that Albert Einstein wasn't listed...

Then there are some actors - such as Eddie Murphy. He's also 2cm taller than me. There were quite a few people that I wanted to compare myself with (whoopee, height!) but they just weren't listed. I have a feeling that a lot of websites cater for the "older" generation. Y'know, people who are 40+. But we - we are the up-and-coming adult generation and things are different now. All those people who were middle-aged last century are now old fogeys and my generation has a much more recent past.

It's amazing how much influence the past has had on people, too. When I was a teenager, I often heard kids saying stuff that their parents must have picked up from their parents - and it was passed down, unfiltered. These kids had no idea how anachronistic some of what they spouted was. I expect to see changes - in patterns of speech, especially, as that is perhaps the fastest evolving entity in western culture. Why, for instance, are screen sizes still quoted in inches? The only people that use such measurements are the Americans. Most tv's (most electronic devices) are made in China... I'm sure they've adopted the metric system. They that rule the world are perhaps the last of this backward generation who hold onto the remnant of their familiarity with whitened knuckles. But I hope that by the time I'm in my 30's and 40's, we won't see the need to hang onto anything from last century. Get with the times!

Inches are obsolete. But not just that, there are some clichés and idioms that have just managed to stick around - and when children use them, it just goes to show how influential the older generation still is - and how naive and easily influenced so much of our society is. It's like they have been conditioned by their parents to say things that have no relevance whatsoever. I mean, I'm not innocent of this myself, completely, but then, I grew up in the 1980's (and 90's...), and I guess some things from my childhood and teenage years will just never be got rid of. But there are some expressions that should just die, already!

It's funny when you talk to Asian people who have received their view of western culture through filters - actually, I'm sure that's the only view that a lot of them have. It's not like they experience western life themselves, unless they come to an English-speaking country. Hopefully it's not New Zealand - I heard that some of our expressions are old-hat; after all, it's not surprising, considering how far behind we are technologically. It's so frustrating to know this and yet to know that there is absolutely nothing you can do about it because your government was too stubborn to unbundle the fricking telecommunication loops! 2mb/s = teh slowxor.

Which is part of the reason that I need to get out of this joke of a country once more. I could go to Japan and buy a three-year-old cellphone and it would still be better than the 3G phones we have available now. Hrm, maybe I hyperbolised a little... but I saw stuff when I was in Korea three years ago that still isn't readily available here.

Now that I've got my CV all sorted, I can keep praying that the right job will spring up - and that I will secure enough funds to both get a decent laptop and to get over to Japan - my two main goals right now ^L^

Every day that goes by is one less day that I have to sell stuff. My life of retail is almost over - and there will be no going back for this Kiwi boy!

-Timotheos

ps. Jean-Claude van Damme is only 2cm taller than me too ^o^