radio

I don’t know how to start this the right way, but typing this sentence is better than staring at a white WordPress screen.

There’s a reason why I put this weblog section here on my site. Since the very birth of owning a domain name or website storage of sorts, I’ve always had the knack to write something. Doesn’t mean it’s 100% creative or intelligent, but just to write. Or blog.

Man, I hate that word. Blog. It sounds like something you make after you have had been on a bender the night before.

But after reading and watching an inspiring piece from Monty Python’s Michael Palin about writing a daily diary of sorts, I thought I should actually try and write – or type – something on my site. After all, I’m paying decent money for this domain and server storage. I could physically write a diary entry in a paper book or pad, but I feel that I can be more distracted. But I may buy a notepad another day and scribble stuff down. Plus I have messy handwriting. Until I get this notepad, I’ll attempt to be a scrivener.

Part of my daily struggle… is ‘struggle’ the right word to use? I think what I’m about to write, the word is a bit drastic to use as a description, but it’ll do for the time being… my struggle on a daily basis is that my brain is running 25 / 8. As a child, I loved drawing. I drew cartoons, comics, mazes, sketches. I thought I’d be the king-shit and one day have my own comic series. But as I got older (mainly my teens) I basically gave up. Lazy. I don’t have any of my old drawings, but it wouldn’t surprise me if my parents have any stored away. In 2009, I found this crappy image I drew as a kid that I found on a notepad at my Nanna’s place. I think I was 11 years old when I drew this. It’s just a scribble, but it’s minor vision on what goes in my head. “John” and “Maria” were no-one in particular – it was just random drawings on what was on my mind.

 

Fast forward to present day – I head to work not long after dawn has risen, stuck in the middle of ‘Tradie Peak Hour’ on the motorway, there is a long, hilly stretch of road that faces east towards the ocean. It’s a beautiful view first thing in the morning, as you can see the sunrise break through the clouds, or the weather that’s approaching in a couple of hours. It’s extremely stimulating. Some days I wish I could just pull up the car in the heart of the traffic, grab my camera and tripod out, and take a photo right there. But it’ll cause accidents and is a tad dangerous. One day I’ll get a dash-cam and take a photo of the view, but it doesn’t capture the same essence that I can see with my own naked eyes.

You see, visualising in my head that I want to just take a photo by standing in the middle of the road, it’s a minor thought, but I have plotted out exactly what I want to do in my head. Shutting down the road, barriers up. Standing on the crest, tripod set up, angry drivers unable to get through, take the shot on an entry-level DSLR I bought in 2013. (It still does the job). Nothing fancy. Just a photo for myself just to admire the view and a reality check that I’ve come a long way since my childhood in Sydney, never thinking back then I’d be where I am today – working in radio as an Imaging Producer, on the Gold Coast.

At the time of this post, I’ve been in the industry for over 13 years, and I have been loving every minute of it. The job makes me think on my toes, constantly trying to create different angles of promotion, all trying to sell the same thing, and aiming my creativity directly at your cerebral cortex. The one minor detail you hear and quite possibly palm-off as nothing but a flashback which makes you smile, has probably taken me years to achieve. It could’ve been a song I heard from that movie you watched as a child, so I take a snippet of it and use it in a promotional spot. You hear it, it reminds you of your childhood, but that’s it. The moment is gone. But that one moment took me ages to think of and craft it into something natural. I get a thrill out of it. As long as that couple of seconds puts a smile on your face. I’m happy.

Anyway, that’s what’s on my mind at the moment. All I did was open this weblog and write. Even the title image I whipped up on the spot (notice the spelling error? That’s what my brain was thinking at the time – just let it go). Plus you get to see how untidy my handwriting is.

Down the track, I’ll hopefully be posting more, including digging up some behind-the-scenes photos that are on Facebook or Instagram with some minor stories behind the photos. I do believe I have accumulated enough stories to log them into a diary. Like, right now, at work, TV personality Andrew Winter is co-hosting the breakfast show. I have recorded him 3 times within three months, but I have not taken a photo or make a note on any social media. All I’ve done is relied on my memory to tell people. But memories only last as long as your brain capacity before it turns to mush. That’s why there’s Diaries to write in and help store and share memories.

This is my diary entry.