Monthly Archives: June 2011
Kids and Public Speaking – So Smart They Had Me Laughing In The Aisle
I don’t know about you but I find little kids (by this I mean, pre-teens) fascinating. They are adorable – most of the time. I don’t have kids of my own but I have a nephew, 8 3/4 – when they’re that young, every month is important when stating their age – and he is a constant source of amusement and entertainment for the family. It’s a good thing that he loves being the centre of attention because as the only grandchild in the family, he has taken centre stage since the day he was born.
I believe adults, particularly those without children, often under-estimate the intelligence of children. My nephew made it into the finals of his school’s public speaking competition for the second year in a row and I went along to show my support. The kids were required to write their own speech that was to last three minutes and were given the following topics to choose from:
- goals are good
- manners matter
- if I could rule the world
- laughter
There were two groups of competitors: Stage 2 for 3rd and 4th graders and Stage 3 for 5th and 6th graders. My nephew was runner-up in the Stage 2 group.
I Am Who I Am
A few weeks ago I went for a job interview that was one of the strangest ones I had ever experienced. As a contractor and consultant, I am used to going on job interviews all the time so I thought I was prepared for just about anything people could throw at me. As I am always going for short-term contracts, interview questions are generally along the lines of “give me an example of where you have done such-and-such” – they don’t really care about your long-term career goals if their intention is for you to complete your project within the term of the contract (typically 6-12 months) then leave, so I never get the “where do you see yourself in five years” type questions.
So what made this particular interview rather unusual was a comment the interviewer made toward the end of our hour-long conversation: “You look too relaxed. I’m not sure you can handle the hot-headed execs who have their jobs on the line if this project does not meet its deadlines!” Wow! If I had known that appearing relaxed was going to disqualify me for a job I would have called the Qantas reservations line prior to the interview so that I could be put on hold for an hour listening to their rendition of “I Still Call Australia Home” on repeat!
No H8 – How To Be A Good Fan
If you have read my recent post The Secret Life of A Wannabe Writer, you’ll know I don’t like criticisms in general, especially the negative ones. For those of you who have been following me here or on Twitter for a while, you will know that I am generally not shy about sharing my opinions – the phrase “no filter” is often associated with my name. For the most part, I believe my tweets and opinions are a source of amusement to my friends. In Twitterverse I am well-known for saying some seemingly random things, a perfect example of this is my discussion on Thursday night about the use of BlackBerrys on White Collar. By chance my OCD-induced picspamming of the use of BlackBerrys on the show caught the eye of the show’s creator Jeff Eastin (ever the night owl and insomniac) and led to a hilarious half hour of insanity that included me declaring chopsticks are a greater invention than sliced bread! 
For the record, before you haul me off to the insane asylum, Jeff said our tweets made him laugh 
Example of my random craziness on Twitter
My Fifteen Seconds of Fame
Before you run away screaming, don’t worry, I have not signed up for any reality TV shows, nor do I have any interest in watching it in general (see “Why I Don’t Watch Game Shows and Reality TV“). However, there are times when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time, and suddenly you find yourself inadvertently become a blur in the background of a hit TV show. And when that happens, well, who am I to complain?
L: My friends and I in Ho Chi Minh City when Amazing Race Australia was being filmed (Nov 2010); R: My cousin and I in Brighton when Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares was filmed (July 2007)
As far as I am aware, I have appeared on television three times. On two of those occasions I was on holidays just minding my own business when it happened (see above pictures) and the third was at an Andre Rieu concert in Sydney in 2009 – apparently I could be clearly seen on the concert DVD because I have had several friends txt me to say they saw me in the audience although I have not seen it for myself.
The Secret Life of a Wannabe Writer
Last night, I participated in a market research focus group for a job search engine by an advertising agency. The facilitator began the introductions around the room by asking us this all-important question: “What is your dream job?” Of the eight people around me, it would appear I was the only one who had little interest in sports other than watching AFL and tennis. Everyone seemed to have harboured some secret ambition to be a professional athlete of one kind or another – a ski instructor, professional cricketer, professional tennis player, triathlete.
My dream job? Television writer. Preferably for a Drama series. I can be funny but not funny enough to churn out sitcoms like Bill Prady and Chuck Lorre (“The Big Bang Theory“, “Two and a Half Men“, “Dharma and Greg“) do. Maybe the new category of “Dramedies” like Monk and my absolute fave, White Collar. I can do a blend of serious, contemplative, dramatic scenes with smart-alec remarks to keep the tone light and witty at the same time…or at least I would like to think so. But that’s just my own opinion and I have been known to tweet out “I AM AWESOME” to my friends on Twitter
