tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81190902024-03-13T23:31:08.783+11:00pumpkindiaryA baby blog that showcases the life of Bram and his parents Bill and Eve. Bram was born on the 4th of May 2005, but the pumpkin diary was started on the day that we found out Eve was pregnant. It chronicled the emotional journey of pregnancy and now it's covering the first months of this beautiful new baby's life, from the perspective of an utterly smitten first time dad.bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.comBlogger339125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-85784718273212057552022-05-10T14:19:00.001+10:002022-05-10T14:19:06.529+10:00ReCyclingToday, for the second time in as many weeks, I rode my bike to work. This, it should be noted, is not anything of which to be particularly proud.Firstly, my house is a 10km straight shot, on an overall downhill trajectory, from the office, along well maintained and highly trafficked separated bike lanes, and I am provided with excellent "end of trip" facilities, including a hot shower, when bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-72707126439456045772022-05-09T10:25:00.003+10:002022-05-09T10:25:37.624+10:00A Mother of a DayThe karting appeared to be so much fun, that immediately upon finishing, we booked to go again the next day. The evening at the pub went off without a hitch, although with the addition of several glasses of excellent cab sauv and one of a mediocre pinot noir. The next day's adventure commenced with tidying and exiting the accommodation, a lovely place by the beach, to which I bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-75645926766658213732022-05-07T15:57:00.004+10:002022-05-07T15:57:47.940+10:00Kartography We're at Philip Island this weekend; a place I've been many times, but never feel a particular association with. It seems like there are many other people, my partner included, who have a kind of innate understanding of this place; a deep, visceral connection to it, which brings with it a comfort and belonging.That being said, she went the wrong way out of the supermarket car park to go bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-39689712035426912352022-05-06T09:41:00.001+10:002022-05-06T09:41:02.962+10:00Challenging TimesThe challenge, naturally, sets out to be, well, challenging. Every day in May, (although slightly truncated by dint of the club meeting on the 4th), we are required (ok "required" might be stretching it, it's a challenge not a directive), to put words to paper. I'm often struck, in my professional life, by people coming to me and telling me, on being assigned a writing task, that they're "bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-64778430168792199532022-05-05T10:56:00.002+10:002022-05-05T10:56:57.527+10:00Aged PumpkinI was reminded, just yesterday, by The Pumpkin, on the occasion of his 17th birthday, that this thing exists at all. I was struck, last evening, by a challenge from a social group I attend, to write a journal every day of May in 2022. These two occurrences, by dint of association, led to this morning's "I wonder what will happen if", during an idle phase, between coffees and during the bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-13709004874609136342010-08-20T23:31:00.003+10:002010-08-20T23:44:56.689+10:00At First SightYour mother, it should be said, was remarkably composed during this procedure, the first chance we had to get a good look at you. We'd both been a little apprehensive about this ultrasound, me because your impending arrival still seems a little... esoteric. Your brother, it shall be noted, looked at you for a total of about 20 seconds before asking if he could have his Nintendo back, so I guess bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-82256317439845428572010-07-07T09:14:00.004+10:002010-07-07T10:17:30.328+10:00my plus oneI was reading a book last night. The title's not important; one of the things you'll find out about me is that my side of the bed is generally about 3 books deep with disposable airport fiction. The book, though, was talking about the way that differences between things are sometimes more important than the things themselves.It said things like "the difference between one and two is one, but it'sbill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-72678763921590516152010-06-15T11:05:00.003+10:002010-07-07T10:11:01.028+10:00Pumpkindiary 2: The pumpkeningThere was always a burning question in the back of my mind, starting this. What I would say about it, when the time came, when the question got asked, if we had more than one.If I'd be in a position of having to defend the conversation.Now that the original pumpkin is five, and seems to have assumed the moniker of "monkey" more than any other, then perhaps I can make a determination. An executivebill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-70269503390117388562009-08-23T20:06:00.002+10:002009-08-23T20:29:32.541+10:00Rolling StonesThis, my wonderful, amazing, constantly surprising son, is a picture of us. Of you, and me, doing one of the things that I always hoped we could do together, and something that I didn't think we'd be able to do until much, much later in your life.There's a great deal of argument, among the intellectuals and academics, about the way that children form their personality, about how they become who bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-4812490432827575022008-11-03T11:23:00.007+11:002008-11-03T14:27:41.630+11:00Dancing about ArchitectureThere is an accepted school of thought, punkin, that "writing about music is like dancing about architecture". I think, without googling it, that Elvis Costello said it. That his point, on saying it, was that the act itself is an art form, that any attempt to translate or somehow quantify it in another 'language' would necessarily lose something of the original, and that to attempt such would be bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-58186839954420101512008-10-20T21:02:00.001+11:002008-10-20T21:02:16.787+11:00Alright AlreadyFwd:Originally uploaded by billyjoebobShe's right, you know, it's about bloody time I posted again. It's been so long I can't hardly remember what the last thing I told you was, or where we were going, so I should perhaps start at the start. Well, not the start, because that would negate the entire concept of the rest of the blog, but perhaps close enough to the start that we can gain some bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-22235770392973499982008-01-30T09:31:00.000+11:002008-01-30T10:31:40.870+11:00She'll be apples It's often said, punkin, that the apple falls not far from the tree. This is, in my opinion, a bit of a ridiculous thing to say. I mean, how far could the apple get? It's not like they have legs, or the keys to my car.The truth of the saying, however, apparently, lies in the idea that ones children tend to be quite like oneself. Quite how this happens is a bizarre process, and one that I'm not bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-55284469877648481032008-01-28T09:06:00.000+11:002008-01-30T09:38:59.585+11:00One poke over the lion.Not that I'm saying, punkin, that you should be a lion tamer. Or a zookeeper. You don't have to live up to any paternal expectations where your choice of career is concerned. I know that my mum (your grammy) always said that she just wanted me to be happy. Naturlich, that is almost exactly as infuriating as it sounds, particularly where one is asking for advice, but it turned out, as with many bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-81610386368616151102007-07-03T15:07:00.001+10:002007-07-03T15:07:30.739+10:00Missing Link P1040451 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob So, punkin, as you've probably figured out by now, I'm not at home. I'm in the wonderful, cosmopolitan city to your north, known by most as Sydney. I'm here for work, so I can at least feel like I'm doing something positive, but I miss you and your mum so very much that at times it seems to be not at all worth it.When you rang me last night (to bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-84384022891796739502007-06-11T11:01:00.001+10:002007-06-11T11:01:29.747+10:00Rocket? Yeah! P1040414 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob So yeah, punkin, it's been over a month since your dad last wrote to you. What can I say, it's not like I haven't had the time... There's been a bit of a problem with my work over the last couple of months - the man who I worked for decided he wanted to let someone else have a turn at doing the stuff I did for him, and so your dad had a lengthy bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-9822549530645399912007-05-04T16:41:00.001+10:002007-05-04T19:29:03.222+10:00May the Fourth be with You P1040422 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. I can tell you, punkin, exactly where I was two years ago. (point of fact, I can just click over there and read about it), but that's not the point. The point, punkin, is where YOU were two years ago.. More precisely, two years ago, you weren't.I think I'm getting away from myself here and what I'm trying to say, because what I'm trying to say is bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-89790899252538652852007-03-26T14:47:00.001+10:002007-03-26T15:18:18.910+10:00Haircut!Haircut!Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. It is with sadness, punkin, that I report that your father has bowed to pressure and permitted your flowing locks to be shorn.It should, however, be duly noted that selfsame father was adamant (ant musiiiic oh oh oh oh) that your mullet should remain, and remain it did.You were surprisingly tractable during the haircutting process, although eagle eyed bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-51114804415123114282007-03-10T18:52:00.001+11:002007-03-10T20:35:22.323+11:00cows go moocows go mooOriginally uploaded by billyjoebob. It's something of a shock, bramble, to find a farm in the centre of town. In Collingwood, to be precise.But once we found it, we knew what we had to do. You have been telling us for weeks now, that cows go moo and that sheep go baa. You did not, however, I think, have any concept of what these animals looked like in the flesh. One day, we'll explain bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-64801340088826016652007-03-05T19:31:00.000+11:002007-03-05T19:39:41.258+11:00a fan letterMr Carey,I am not, in the immortal words of one Elwood Blues, the kind of guy who writes letters. I’m not the kind of guy, especially, who writes fan letters. I am inevitably content, when reading the written word, to find for myself the slight inconsistencies, the tiny flaws, and content myself in the idea that this, then, is something I could have done myself. This book I read, in the moments bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-56255619228542249392007-03-03T10:37:00.001+11:002007-03-05T10:06:53.152+11:00Is the plural of museum musea?P1030922Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. There are many, as you discovered the other day punkin, interesting things at the museum.Naturally, being as you are, the Bram that you be, chief amongst those things were anything with wheels. This red truck was the first thing you saw when we came up to the ticket counter, and your mother was forced to accompany you in your headlong rush towards it. bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-9691067366809533182007-02-15T17:32:00.001+11:002007-02-15T17:32:10.001+11:00Valentine my Valentine P1030807 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. You know, punkin, it was Valentine's Day yesterday. Valentine's day is all about, if we are to beleive the advertising, buying people that you love cards and flowers and chocolates and buying expensive dinners and keeping, punkin, the economy moving.Surprisingly, your dad doesn't buy into all that.Your mum and dad spent the evening of bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-52508715133268619062007-02-09T09:09:00.001+11:002007-02-04T11:42:34.337+11:00Bram Likes Lasagna Lasagne 04 Originally uploaded by Grumpy in Maine. post goes here when i get a second.bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-52186234716131718392007-02-02T13:15:00.001+11:002007-02-02T13:36:24.493+11:00on yer bikeP1030520Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. I don't think, punkin, that I was ever prepared for seeing this. I don't think that, in the years (yes, years) that it has been since we first began planning your arrival, I don't think that I ever fully grasped the concept that I would be able to, as a Dad, get the chance to watch you go for your first bike ride.The night before Christmas, when, as we bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-1170109296233116262007-01-30T09:20:00.000+11:002007-01-30T09:21:36.243+11:00Getting off on the right foot P1030632 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. It seems, punkin, that we have inadvertantly caused some consternation. That people, unbeknownst to us, have been so frustrated by us taking the summer off that they have taken drastic steps. We do not in any way condone this kind of behaviour. The practice of "de lurking" is one that is fraught with danger, and in our opinion should be avoidedbill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8119090.post-1165801347683347542006-12-11T12:42:00.000+11:002006-12-11T12:42:27.693+11:00A sense of direction P1030254 Originally uploaded by billyjoebob. The darkest night always ends with a bright and shining morning.bill yjoebobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16115086201397030737noreply@blogger.com4