G'day all. The inimitable Miss Mandee said: "I've been inspired by the double posting of David Hewitt to come out from my hiding place." And while I'm overjoyed to have lured her out, and confused by her ridiculously loose definition of the word 'inspired', I'm also actually a little indignant at her baseless accusation of 'double posting'. I went and checked the pink pages, and there were THREE DAYS between my messages, including a whole weekend. But there's been so little activity on the list lately that the second message did in fact seem to follow quite closely on the heels of the first. You know, Back In The Day (tm), there'd be explanations for 'de-lurking' and exclamations of 'it's been a while' if certain people showed the callous neglect and disregard to leave three whole days between missives. Double posting indeed! She then said some things about long-distance relationships and relocating and so on. And it made me think about several things, the most important of which was how fond I am of both Mandee and her boy, and how I'd wish them the absolute best in everything, except that it'd be both less than they deserve, and completely unnecessary. I'm absolutely certain that they'll be as happy as clams. And now, an apology. Astute readers may have picked up on a certain ranting and defensive tone to my last email to the list (you know, that bit about how great Australia is, despite the bloody government). The reason for this was my own stupidity, I'm afraid. I was somewhat hastily responding to something that was said in response to my previous email. Thing is, I didn't actually register that it was emailed just to me, and not to the list at all, so it might not have made any sense to the rest of you. So, I apologise for both wasting your time, and for inexplicably ranting at you. Sorry. Anyway, I guess this'll make it a TRIPLE posting, and get me in even more trouble. Sorry Honey. Still, while I'm posting again, I might as well continue to ramble for a bit. I'm all about QUANTITY, after all. On a personal note, I'm happier than I've been for a while, and this might sound a bit silly, but it's because I'm simply decided to be. There's still plenty to be unhappy about, but I've decided not to obsess over it, and simply try to enjoy other things, little things, as much as I can. And it's sort of working. So far. It's still the same life, and I'm still in as much strife as I was, but it's a question of what you focus on, isn't it? Take a walk down by the river on your lunchbreak, and you'll see what I mean. Go on. My dear old mother, on the other side of the coin (not literally - she's not the Queen or anything), has been quite down in the dumps lately, what with one thing and another. Strangely, I think that might be part of the reason why I've chirped up a bit. I know that sounds arse-about, but bear with me. I think that sometimes it's the case that when people we care about need to lean on someone else a little bit, and need to think that someone else is doing alright, we try to give them that, even when we're not sure we're quite up to it. And then maybe some of that forced smile and trite optimism sticks. The glib aphorism rings true. And some of that thinly applied bravado lingers, and crystallises into something resembling genuine confidence. Or perhaps it's just that as I'm trying to tell her that things'll be alright, and it's really not that bad, and that she can rise above what's going on around her; I begin to believe some of my own bullshit. I think I'll at least pretend that it's the former. Bugger, this is getting to be a habit. Perhaps I DO need a blog or something, after all. Still, that'll do for now. Go about your business. Bulk love, -Vanilla Flavoured David. PS: Speaking of luring people out of hiding - what has happened to the incomparable Miss Madeleine of Leicester? She was one of the best posters we ever had, don't you think? Say hello, if you're still knocking about the place, m'dear. _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail is now available on Australian mobile phones. Go to http://ninemsn.com.au/mobilecentral/signup.asp +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+