2012: Organised a work related conference in Austin, Texas in March which resulted in a falling out with a friend of many years. Struggled with work most of the year but came out okay in the end. Dabbled in old school hifi to return to more modern compact JBL speakers. Current succulent and cacti collection stands at 100 pots.
2011: Moved into a bigger apartment in anticipation of large family size (same street, same suburb). Traveled to San Francisco for work with Kitty & Junior Pixels. Little bear was born late in the year, and shortly after his birth, whilst still on leave, I dislocated my patella (knee cap) resulting in knee surgery and the sudden realization I would die. Became a teetotaler.
2010: Took junior pixels for a holiday in Malaysia when he was six months old. Changed jobs after 3 years in previous position. Bought first Apple Mac in 6 years.
2009: Visited Austin, Texas for a conference (first visit to the USA) in January. In April, we spent 3 weeks in the USA visiting NYC, Vegas, SF and LA. My grandma died in September and soon after junior pixels entered the world and completely changed our life.
2008: Traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and KL with Kitty.
2007: Adjusted to living in Brisbane.Started my collection of succulents and cacti. Accepted my first permanent job in Brisbane.
2006: Moved to Brisbane from Canberra as sick of the cold and prefer to be closer to home. Started working as a contractor. Married Kitty after nearly 10 years of dating.
2005: Sold the Apple Mac due to reliability issues.
2004: Holidayed in Bangkok and Kho Samet.
2003: Moved to Canberra from the Gold Coast to start graduate jobs. Bought an Apple Mac before they were cool.
2002: Finished IT degree with excellent grades.
2001: Drank way too much alcohol, but got increasingly good grades. Got my first tattoo (an @ on my right hand wrist).
2000: Started IT degree at Griffith University on the Gold Coast much to the delight of my parents. Met a good group of study friends.
1999: Much to the dismay of parents, took a year off study to work in Cafes on the Gold Coast then spent three months in the UK and Thailand backpacking with Kitty.
1998: Finished high school on the Gold Coast
1997: Shot up in height, and started dating Kitty and eventually fell in love with her.
1994-1996: Struggled at a new private high school as the poor, fat kid with acne.
1992-1993: Family moved from Taree, NSW to the Gold Coast in Queensland due to traumatic shit, lack of options for us in Taree, and my Dad being offered a voluntary redundancy by the NSW Government. Skipped a grade when starting at a new public school, which I quite enjoyed.
1983-1992: Grew up in Taree, NSW with my family. Met my first ‘best friend’ when I was two (who I still speak to today). Went to a public primary school. Had some traumatic shit happen which took years to forget.
1982: Moved from Grafton to Taree, NSW for my Dad’s work.
1981: Born in Grafton, NSW, the city of Jacarandas. Lived in a housing commission house with my parents and three older brothers.
Tag Archives: San Francisco
Papier mâché wall trophies
On a recent trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco, I saw these ‘wall trophies’ on sale at Kitty’s favourite store: Anthropologie. They’re quite large, so we could only bring one back to Australia, and we chose the gazelle. Each trophy is hand made in Haiti from recycled materials including old literature written in French. The gazelle looks great on our living room wall.





usa redux
Whilst cleaning up some old papers this evening, in preparation for junior pixels, I found a bag of memorabilia from the USA that Kitty had set aside for me. Rather than keep the various brochures, I thought I would take some photos and keep them on here to refer back to.
golden gate bridge
I caught a 49 Muni bus out to the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across it. It’s really cool, up there with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The bridge is the most popular place to commit suicide in the USA, and it is apparent by the signage. The proposed suicide nets haven’t been installed yet though, due to cost and public response.
the rock
We caught the ferry across to Alcatraz Island yesterday. It was really good, especially because it was such a nice day and the island offers great views of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. We did an audio tour of the actual jail house which was very interesting as it told the stories of those who tried to, and did, escape.
Kitty was also impressed but she didn’t think the prison was as eery as others she’s toured where executions have taken place, Alcatraz wasn’t a place of execution.
The architecture and gardens were a highlight. What I found interesting was the island is true to its name and originally just a rock, no soil. Soil was bought across to create gardens when the prison was built.
san francisco seal lions
The sun came out in San Francisco on Thursday so we went to see the Californain Sea Lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco Bay. Pier 39 was a big tourist trap, but the Sea Lions made the walk through it worthwhile, especially because they were so playful in the sun.
san francisco so far
We’ve had a great couple of days so far in San Francisco. The weather is crap, but we have managed to enjoy ourselves anyhow.
- The ‘Crookedest’ Street in the world (Lombard St)
- In and Out Burgers (Awesome!)
- Crazy graf truck (heaps of these everywhere)
- Street mural in Chinatown
- Conservatory of flowers in Golden Gate Park
- Conservatory of flowers
- Floor inside of Conservatory of flowers
- Japanese Tea Gardens
- Japanese Tea Gardens
- Cherry blossom
- Flower blossom tea @ House of Nanking
- City Lights Bookstore
- Street Mural
- Grant Street, Chinatown
- Transamerica Pyramid from Chinatown
- Cable cars traveling up steep hills
- Newspaper stands
- Rooftop frogs
- White cross sign
- Nice facade
We’re definitely trying to go to Alcatraz tomorrow and hopefully we’ll walk the Golden Gate Bridge sometime soon.
Photos, as usual, by Kitty.
take a jumbo, across the water, like to see america
So we are in the USA. The flight was long and the V Australia service was pretty crap, I guess you get what you pay for.
We’ve been in San Francisco for a couple of days now. It’s nice, but not what I expected. It’s quite dirty and there is a huge homeless population that you really notice.
We’ve had trouble finding somewhere nice yet affordable to eat. American food is weird to us. We found a nice Shanghai place called the ‘House of Nanking’ near Chinatown which was enjoyable.
The bill came to USD$52 including tax (9.5%) and tip (15%). Nowhere near as cheap as Australia!
We’re planning on doing some more full on sightseeing over the next few days including Alcatraz. Should be fun.


























































