The good, the bad & the ugly

When I get older, losing my hair
Many years from now.
Will you still need me,
will you still feed me
When I'm ninety-four?

Aunt Josephine's debut in Charlie & The Chocolate Factory has occurred. Laugh merrily then move along please.

A wet fish in my back pocket

For most of my career I’ve been lucky enough to work with extremely motivated and committed individuals who are truly impassioned by what they do. It’s made maintaining enthusiasm and momentum easy and has suited my ‘roll-up-your-sleeves-and deliver‘ approach very well.

It’s also something I’ve very much taken for granted up until now. I’ve been naïve.

I’ve been asked a lot recently by different people my reasons for becoming involved in various things. More importantly, I’ve been asking myself the same questions so to be sure of my true motivations and commitment. And I’m learning the hard way to be certain of what drives others before throwing my hat in the ring and agreeing to things.

I’m losing count of how many meetings, workshops and communications I’ve had over the last couple of weeks where people have openly said something along the lines of “I’m a talker not a doer, don’t expect anything from me - but please will those willing to take on mountains of responsibility raise their hands”.

Who the hell hires these people? But at least you know where you stand. Worse are the ones that promise the world and deliver sweet FA. Who expect things to just happen around them without actively participating themselves. Who happily take credit for any progress which they had nothing to do with at all, yet loudly dish out criticism wherever they see fit.

Actions speak louder than words. Always.

I’m a typical Capricorn goat in many ways, in that I will steadfastly work towards a goal no matter how rocky and slow going the trail might be. But no one can achieve everything in isolation. We all have our obvious limitations and need inspiration, support and the insight of others’ experience at times.

I’m frustrated and finding it really difficult to resist whipping out the wet fish I keep in my back pocket especially for face slapping purposes. So get with the programme or just f*** off and get out of the way.

K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Was having a laugh with a Melbourne single girlie pal on MSN tonight. We were talking about first kisses with someone new. Strategy was being discussed. Where it ended up was that, if feeling inclined, the girl usually ends up setting it up in such a way that the boy thinks it was his idea anyway. That in itself made me chuckle, but after recounting from personal (but unfortunately not recent) experience, I realised this is pretty accurate. The old 'lean in & swoon' maneouvre. And if he doesn't take the bait, just pretend you've lost your balance while busy being blonde. The only problem it seems is getting to the "feeling inclined" stage in the first place. It's a numbers game and I'm going national.

Giving the eye

Whenever I meet someone new I like to give them the eye. Not to be confused with the glad eye ofcourse; which is something entirely different :-> Some people use the handshake to provide insight into someone’s character or mood, but myself, I like to put more stock in the eye as the windows to our soul.

I think people are hugely interesting and it always intrigues me to observe people’s body language, especially what happens when you look them straight in the eye - how people respond to you, where they look, what emotion can I see - and in turn, how what I see makes me feel.

This past week I’ve met up with more strangers in a short period of time than I have done in brave while. I’ve come across the whole gambit. Some have looked back with an intensity that almost thrills me. Some would not look me in the eye at all, instead choosing to look down at the table while speaking to me throughout the whole duration of an hour long meeting. Some had open faces and smiling eyes, while others crossed their arms tightly across their chests, as if to form a physical barricade between us. A gentleman yesterday stared at me until I thought I may suddenly self-combust (and not in a good way).

Do you give people the eye and what do you see?