In five years time, I'd like to be/ a sailor sailing on the sea,/ but if the ship sinks then I'm done. Yes, I'd like to be a somebody, somebody up in the world,/ but if the ship sinks then I'm done/ A nobody drifting in a somebody's world./

I wrote that poem in Primary School, on the train this morning it just popped in my head. Why? I wonder. Anyway, i've been feeling good these past couple of days. Perhaps, it's because I'm not watching the news or reading newspapers.

The weather in Melbourne over the last few days hasn't been great. Spring started off with a few sunny days and warm weather, but now there's the occasional shower and it is a little cold. The weather forecast for the weekend doesn't look to promising either, a few showers on Saturday and late rain on Sunday. I want to get out into the garden and do something. We went to the market last weekend and bought some plants, so I am keen to get them in the garden. Zhe wants to chop down a couple of trees in the back yard, i've been a bit reluctant but now I think, yeah maybe lets put something else in. Anyway, the weather is going to turn around soon. So I am going to get out there, as part of the new me and all and work in the garden.

As you might have read earlier, Australia has a new government that I don't particularly like so rather than moan, get angry etc. I decided to do something more energizing and part of that something is this blog. Regardless of who is, or isn't reading - though of course I want you to read it. But I have been reading about goal setting, so I have other goals - not necessarily in order A) To develop my cooking skills, so my wife and daughter look forward to my cooking. B) To improve my gardening, so that my garden looks more impressive than it does now and C) To improve my Mandarin language skills.

It's Thursday and that means time to think about what I am going to cook this Saturday afternoon. The weather might not be too good, so I think I'll cook a stew. I've been using recipes from the Pioneer Woman Cooks these last couple of weeks and I can't see any reason to change, so I am going to cook her Sunday Night Stew I hope this is all right to cook on a Saturday and it tastes the same!

There are a few things that I still need to do with this blog, work out what other blogs I'm going to follow and write them up. Hopefully, things will get better so stick around.

Maya Angelou

I remember the first time I came to know about Mary Angelou. I had taken a day off work and was lying around the house. I turned on tv and ended up watching Oprah, and Angelou was a guest and talking about not owning other people's opinions about you. Next day I went to the library and found her books. So here's a link that I like. When she talks about women, I think of humanity. I hope that you don't mind.

A new government... a new beginning.

I use some of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation as a subheading for this blog. Have you noticed? The complete quotation goes like this. "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and some absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you should begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." Well we have a new government! Should I put a capital G or keep it small? I'll keep it small because it suits the party and it's how I am going to look at this. A kind of don't sweat the small things approach. Conservative governments tend to maximise my potential for overthinking and ruminating on things, so this time around I am going to bring a halt to this behaviour. I only spent a little bit of time watching television coverage of the election. I spent the weekend gardening and watching Harry Potter movies. There is a few themes that come out of Harry Potter: friendship, growing up, overcoming, self-growth, courage etc. I am going to use a Harry Potter analogy as I face the emotions that are going to come with this change in government. I'll picture Tony Abbott as Voldermort and know that although he rose up and became powerful, he did fall. Time passed for him and time will pass for Tony Abbott and this government. Also, another thing I was thinking on was Simon Sharma's History of Britain episode about the black death, how there was a century of pain with plague and war. But we got through it, we survived. That was a lot worse than the election of a small minded government, and we survived! A few years ago, somebody told me a story about a famous Chinese female doctor. A gynaecologist, as I remember. She was famous for forgetting things, particularly people's names. Apparently she would be introduced to people and very quickly forget the name and then have to go to another person and ask do you know that person's name? All people, that is, except for her patients. She could remember everything there was to know about them. So, I am going to take this on board and only worry about the things that are important to me. The government can go about doing what it wants. Within reason, if it doesn't have an impact on me, then I am not going to worry about, nor dwell on it. Is this whole post an over statment? Probably. it will be worth a laugh later on.

Election Blues

The election is on this weekend. It's got all the makings of an early night I think, with the Labor Party set to go and the Liberal/National Coalition back in power. We should feel ourselves lucky to be able to participate in elections. How many people in the world have no say in who governs them? I have to keep telling myself this as I look forward to what a new government will bring. At least the endless ads will be over soon. I think I read somewhere in a Barbara Fredrickson book that if you want to be happy, one of the simplest things you can do is stop watching the news or reading newspapers. I don't want to be cocooned from what's going on, but I think I might follow this advise for awhile at least.

White shiny stones

My blog used to be called nothing of particular importance. However, I have been thinking about the need to change it.

A while ago now I watched a movie by the Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov. In English, the movie title translated as Anna:From 6 till 18. The movie is a record of Anna's feelings and beliefs over the time period. In the movie they talked about a Russian Poet and how all children of the time knew his poems. There was a particular poem than went "In my pocket, I have a screw. What have you?"

I was thinking about this poem watching my own daughter collect small stones and put them in her pocket.

Wo betide you if you tried to throw those away afterwards.

So I thought, my blog was important if only for me. I was thinking of those dry stone walls. The strongest element of those, isn't the large rocks, but the small ones that surround and hold the big ones in place. Isn't it the same in life?

All the small things add up to something.

Cooking

A few years ago, I bought a DVD of Julie and Julia. The movie with Meryl Streep as Julia Childs. On first watching it I didn't like it, however, I recently watched it again and appreciated it more. So I thought to myself, why can't I create a blog like Julie did in real life and the movie and improve my cooking. Further, Zhe is a good cook. When she is in the mood her food is really good. So that added extra impetus for me to improve my cooking too. Even though I am an average cook I like to cook and every Saturday afternoon it is my turn. I especially like real earthy food, if you know what I mean. I don't really care for refined cooking or all the niceties. So, I'm going to start to read cooking blogs. I'll find recipes that I want to cook and learn to cook them. So this week I thought I would tackle Chicken meatloaf. I'll cook this on Saturday and let you know how it turns out.

New Year in August.

Every new year I make pretty much the same resolutions - to learn Mandarin, to fix the vegie garden and to lose weight. This time I am getting in early.

I am going to get back into blogging. There is a Pete Townshend song about never spending your guitar or your pen, so here goes. I am picking the pen up again.

A new start.

I am a fifty seven year old with a Chinese wife, Zhe and a going on five daughter, Rebecca. That's my family.

I'm a Librarian, I sometimes wish I was something else, especially when things need fixing around the house. I envy those people who can pull out a hammer and build a chest of drawers, say, then turn around and fix the tap, before moving on to fix the car. I wish I could do something like that. But move on.

I like going shopping to a point, I like giving my wages to my wife and feeling that primal feeling about supporting the family.

I go to bed early.

My favourite TV shows - Dr Who, I'll blush and say I also watch Law and Order SVU and Blue Bloods.

Favourite music, Rolling Stones, Neil Young, but also pretty much anything.

I like cooking on Saturday afternoons when Zhe takes Rebecca to Chinese School.

I like gardening, but only in the warmer months and definitely not in the wet.

What else can I say?

I hope this blog is meaningful to people and to me.

I am going to improve- my writing will get better.

This is my journey beginning again. Let's go. To be continued...

Tomorrow, the recipe I am going to cook on Saturday.