December 2007

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Distinctly personal reflections on 2007

31 December 2007 in Personal, Photography by Stilgherrian | 6 comments

Photograph of sunset over Enmore, 31 December 2007

As the sun sets on 2007 — literally, as I took the photo just before I sat down to write — it’s time to reflect on an astounding year. The Snarky Platypus will join ’Pong and me later, and (perhaps) help us put together some predictions for 2008.

This was a watershed year for me, for my household and business, and for Australia. Many of the changes happened late in the year, so we haven’t noticed the effects yet. But as 2008 unfolds I think we’ll look back and see that, yes, 2007 marked a change of direction.

Personally, my understanding of how I fit into my world (and yours) became much clearer.

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Do you have One True Identity? Or are you a federation of different identities for different occasions? Stephen Wilson argues that we may be in the midst of a true paradigm shift away from one true identity to a new worldview based on a plurality of identities.

31 December 2007 by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

Unreliable Bangkok 9: Train

31 December 2007 in Human Nature, Photography, Thailand by Stilgherrian | No comments

Photograph of girls playing on the railway in Bangkok, with the slum in the background

’Pong’s movie Bangkok Express slices through the city at the height of the motorway. Yes, you can see urban decay, but it’s abstract, in the distance. The train slices the city differently: just above human eye level.

The photos I took from the train in Bangkok reminded me that a sign at Ashfield Station in Sydney has got it all wrong. That sign tells us that railway stations are for catching trains — and if I’m not catching a train right at that moment then I’m not welcome. I might be a terrorist. Move on, nothing to see here.

Bullshit.

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Getting Things Done and OmniFocus

31 December 2007 in Getting Things Done by Stilgherrian | 2 comments

OmniFocus program icon

For some time now I’ve tried to adhere to the Getting Things Done methodology for, well, getting things done. My “trusted system” has fallen into disrepair, however, and my in-tray is far from its ideal empty state, with everything properly recorded.

I’m determined to do better in 2008, however. So as I do my end-of-year clean-up, I’m recording everything in the new (beta) OmniFocus software — something designed specifically for this task. I’ll also be looking at tips from the 43folders blog.

’Pong reflects on 2007 (and himself)

31 December 2007 in Personal, Photography by Stilgherrian | No comments

A self-portrait by Pong

’Pong has combined his penchant for photographs of reflections with a self-portrait to head his latest post, Moments in 2007.

For him, 2007 was a year where he overcame some of the pressures of depression to achieve highlights such as a prize-winning image.

As I’ve said before in a post about privacy, depression hits 800,000 Australians every year and yet we try to pretend this epidemic and its effects don’t exist. Just pop another SSRI.

Small-minded politicians introduce legislation like WorkChoices in the name of “productivity”. Yet by disrupting routine family time and increasing individual stress they produce a shell-shocked workforce that’s less productive.

’Pong has the good fortune to have a day-job employer who has a more sophisticated worldview. When WorkChoices was introduced he told me “Why would I want to treat my staff so badly? I want to keep the good people!”

If a workplace produced physical illness as debilitating as depression, the proprietors would be paying compensation for decades — if they weren’t jailed for criminal negligence. But somehow it’s OK to destroy people’s minds. This has to end.

Depression is a normal human reaction to abnormal conditions. We’ve produced an abnormal society where in any given year nearly 1 in 20 of us suffers from its effects just in this way, let alone what others. Yes, this has to end.

Fortunately organisations like Beyond Blue help. And I’ll post my own, generally more positive thoughts later today.

The StupidFilter Project is building a filter that will remove stupidity from online content in the same way that spam filters deal with email. Apparently it’s going to use the excellently-named CRM114 Discriminator. Hat tip to Bad Language.

30 December 2007 by Stilgherrian | No comments

Everyday poetry

30 December 2007 in Arts, Personal by Stilgherrian | 2 comments

My Facebook status says: Stilgherrian is considering. All things considered. Suggest three.

My friend Matt says: Three huh? Pop Rocks; Hopscotch and a Stopwatch.

He’s pretty clever, I think. Now, whatever happened to Pop Rocks?

Someone (it was probably Meg) said that it’s a good idea to invite people to comment occasionally, especially people who haven’t commented before. So, if that’s you, I encourage you to take a look around, perhaps the popular posts or perhaps those which I like, and add your bit.

30 December 2007 by Stilgherrian | No comments

A better Top 10 for 2007

30 December 2007 in Blogging by Stilgherrian | 1 comment

Being very disappointed with my most popular posts during 2007, here’s a list of 10 posts which I think are a better, more intelligent read. Enjoy.

Actually make that 15. In no particular order…

  1. The Inaugural Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Award goes to…
  2. It’s the little details which matter…
  3. Oops, there goes privacy! So now what?
  4. Scaring the shit out of clients
  5. Releasing the Black Hawk crash video was A Good Thing
  6. Thoughts on “Earth Hour”
  7. Stay alert, ye nameless, toiling animals
  8. Why The Greens won’t win Marrickville (about the last state election, but still relevant)
  9. How can Microsoft stop us hating them?
  10. Burnt out sofa, burnt out life
  11. “Let’s just write that down…”
  12. Human Rights: a reminder
  13. A Meditation at 11,700 metres, 719km/h
  14. Saturday Night at The Duke
  15. and everything I wrote for Crikey (is that cheating?)

Most of that’s reasonably serious — suitable for a reflective Sunday morning, though. So you might want to check out the entire Humour category too.

They’re also the longer pieces, but I reckon there’s a whole swathe of little comments which are wonderful contributions to the sum total of English literature. Don’t you agree?

Review: Exit Right

29 December 2007 in Politics by Stilgherrian | No comments

Cover of Quarterly Essay: Exit Right

Quarterly Essay has provided me with plenty of in-depth analysis over the last couple of years, and Judith Brett’s “Exit Right: the unravelling of John Howard” is no exception.

Brett presents Howard’s downfall through the prism of the “Strong Leader”, one of three leadership types put forward by political psychologist Graham Little. (The others are the Group Leader and the Inspiring Leader.) Howard failed, Brett says, because his leadership style was ill-suited to the political environment of 2007.

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