Filed under: Comment
I’m writing this at 8am on Thursday, 21st February, 2013.
I know this isn’t the day it’s appearing on this blog, but let’s ignore that for now.
Last night, I couldn’t sleep.
Not because I’d consumed copious amounts of coffee the day before, but because I felt wired with energy.
OK, so maybe it was to do with the copious amounts of coffee.
But there were other reasons too .
On one side, I have a meeting in about 5 hours time that’s going to be ‘feisty as all fuck’ … something I’m actually very excited about, because it’s all for the right reasons and something that will [hopefully] lead to awesomeness being snatched from the jaws of conservative, fear-ridden, culturally-condecending defest.
On the other side, I have my trip with my Mum to North Poleland starting in 3 days and I just want everything to be awesome for her.
I know she’ll be happy with just the fact we’re all together, but she deserves the best of everything and I just want to make it happen.
So when I left for the office this morning, I felt very on edge … a combination of wired energy and sleep depravation … and then I stepped out to this:
I know what you’re thinking … WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?
Well, what it is, is a sign that after a long, cold, dark, bleak winter in Shanghai … spring is bounding towards me.
Blue sky.
Bitter wind replaced with a calm tranquility.
The suns golden glow gently warming up the grey pavements.
Suddenly Shanghai has become a better place to live.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Shanghai – and China – but I must admit, the winters here are pretty horrible. I know … I know … there are places with far worse winter months, but having spent 16 years living in sunny climates [places where winter meant 25 degrees instead of 35] living in a land where you might never feel the sun, let alone see it, is bloody hard to cope with.
First World problems eh!
OK, I know that makes me sound a petty, pampered Prince … but the fact is, I never realised how much the weather affected my mood but now I live in a place that genuinely has seasons again, I know it does – just ask my colleagues – ha.
But seriously, as soon as I stepped out from my front door and saw nature had put on a show for me … all the angst, nervousness, raw energy that was inside, slipped away to be replaced with a sense of positivity and happiness.
Yes, happiness … and I thought that was only possible for me if I had a gadget in my hand, some Queen music in my ears or some Birkenstocks on my feet!
[OK, so I had an iPhone in my hand because that’s what I took the photo with, but stop being picky … you know what I mean]
Of course, by the time this post is posted [ie: today] I’ll know whether this sense of optimism and happiness translated to me being successful in my feisty as fuck argument and North Pole holiday, but regardless of how they turn out [please, let them both be great!!!], the majesty of nature – that thing that is all around us if we just open our eyes and look up to the sky rather than down to our phones – made it a day worth writing about and that’s saying something for someone who recently got described by a client as “a tech groupie, prostitute”.
And yes, I do realise this is the most indulgent, hypocritical, z-grade Oprah post I’ve possibly ever written …
Sorry.
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UPDATE: If you’re thinking this post wasn’t worth reading, I’ve now discovered it wasn’t even worth writing because I’d basically already said all this back in 2011.
Now I know how you must feel reading this rubbish.
24 Comments
After reading that rubbish, I hope your meeting went to shit.
Comment by Billy Whizz March 20, 2013 @ 6:28 am+ support
Comment by DH March 20, 2013 @ 6:33 amSorry gents, it went well. Very well.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 7:55 amof course it did, youre luckier than an angelina adoption.
Comment by andy@cynic March 20, 2013 @ 8:04 amI laughed out loud at that. Insult or not. Seems things are getting back to ‘normal’ at your end of the World. That makes me happy. Hope little B is getting stronger and stronger each day matey.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 8:32 amYou found out you had already written something like this before and you still put it out. What kind of sick bastard are you?
Comment by Billy Whizz March 20, 2013 @ 6:29 amWhat are you talking about, all his posts are the same.
Comment by DH March 20, 2013 @ 6:33 amThere’s 2 types. Planning shit. Not planning shit.
Comment by Billy Whizz March 20, 2013 @ 6:42 amThis is quite a change of gear from your previous posts isn’t it Rob.
Summer definitely changes your mood. There has been a lot of research done about it. Maybe people who grew up in less sunny climates feel the lure of the sun more than those who have grown up with it. I agree with the sentiment of your post though, when you open your eyes you see how amazing your world is.
PS. Unlike the boys above, I hope the meeting went well.
Comment by Pete March 20, 2013 @ 6:52 amWhen you give a bank handed, half-hearted compliment – I know this post is bad. And it is, even by my own standards. But surely no one thought I could maintain the semi-good standard of the last 7 days … surely I’ve proved that over and over and over again?
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 7:56 amI’ve just checked the weather in Shanghai today.
14 degrees and cloudy. Bang goes all Rob’s feel good feelings. Serves him right for this post.
Comment by DH March 20, 2013 @ 6:57 amYes, it’s crap. I even had to put my North Pole coat on.
#karma
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 7:57 amand to think i thought your planning wank posts were lame. fuck me.
Comment by andy@cynic March 20, 2013 @ 7:13 amI’m full of surprises aren’t I. Ahem.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 7:59 amThe way to reframe all the negative comments Rob is to keep saying to yourself they come from setting the bar so high with your previous posts.
Comment by Bazza March 20, 2013 @ 7:22 amSpoken like a true expert in turning disaster into delusion. Ha.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 7:58 amTen out of ten on the pointless posting scale!
Nice sentiment though, so I like it.
Comment by Rob Mortimer March 20, 2013 @ 9:58 amYou’re being very generous Mr M … even I know it’s highly dodgy and given I’d already basically written this post before, you’d hope I’d of learnt from my mistakes.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 11:56 amspring is here, andy is back! the angelina comment is gold!
Comment by swatidagur (@swatidagur) March 20, 2013 @ 12:58 pmSpring isn’t here today.
Comment by Rob March 20, 2013 @ 2:27 pmAndy is apparently only temporarily back.
But that Angelina comment was absolutely gold.
i bet that meeting must be horrible
Comment by Cathy Wang March 20, 2013 @ 1:24 pmSpring has arrived in Munich. Kind of. Well, there’s no snow, which is a bonus.
Comment by marcusjohnhenrybrown March 20, 2013 @ 2:58 pmTo add to the global weather report, it’s 12 degrees and raining in Cupertino.
Comment by Bazza March 20, 2013 @ 11:08 pmHi there, Bazza.
Comment by marcusjohnhenrybrown March 21, 2013 @ 3:18 am