Blunt and narrow instrument

...is what we referred to some regulations as recently in a document for work. I think it sounds great. Sounds like the name of an industrial German goth electronica band. Ooooh instrument. Blunt and narrow. Sorry - do I sound delirious? I am very tired. Am suffering from a mild bout of 'trying to do everything at the expense of getting enough sleep'itis. Had a weekend away with late nights of intense lovely catching up chats and red wine drinking with old friends and went straight from there to work Monday morning, with overnight bag and giant zucchini from friends' garden in tow, did work, then off to after work volunteer commitment, to home for late evening complaining cat cat feeding and housemate catch up chats to stencil making and printing tshirts into the wee hours for our work soccer team, to an early start to prep for a meeting, to soccer at lunch and then trying to power through a ragggedy to do list in the afternoon, especially in that last hour where time goes funny and somehow all the hours have drained away and all the things have slid down into a moody little damp pile, waiting to be attended to.

Random highlights and lowlights and random in between lights of my week so far, in no particular order include:
- Monday am: the work experience student says 'oh you guys are so cynical' and hearing myself say in a serious and explainy voice 'we are like ambulance officers - you know how they do really good work saving people but have a black sense of humour to keep them sane?' and as I spoke wondering if that was at all a relevant analogy, whether I wasn't overstating both the nature of our work and the extremity of our (collective, in that meeting) SOH. Thinking 'wow, we've just disillusioned someone, and it's not even lunch time'.
- Monday am: being presented with my passport, now with new visa, and some relevant currency, ready for trip on Friday
- Monday lunchtime: discovering that 'teriyake marinade with garlic' makes for a passable salad dressing on green salad if used sparingly and faced with no other zinginess in lunchy shelf at work
- Monday pm: being called bella by an earnest seeming Italian man with sparkly eyes at said volunteer committment. As in 'Where do you live bella?' which made me stare for just half a beat before I answered. Heavy lilting accent made it all sound lovely and not sleazy, truly.
- Tuesday very am: tshirts worked!
- Tuesday am: housemate vomiting in toilet with strange unidentified tummy bug.
- Tuesday am: reading new book about 'expressive therapies' over breakfast, more than just art and music therapy, a whole world of fascinating stuff (although I can't help think of cat shit when I read 'sandbox therapy', which is a little offputting) which I am keen to learn more about in case I choose to blow off my Masters (erherm, more than I already have that is) and do an art therapy course instead. Or not. Or something.
- Tuesday pm: the cute friendly words of encouragement that people say to each other in our soccer team from the sidelines. The clap for a good try.
- Tuesday pm: the random bump-in to friends newly relocated to the area. The street chat on a rainy light with yellow lights flashing over wet road. The making of breakfast dates.
- Tuesday pm: being offered baked vegies for dinner
- Tuesday very pm: cat flaked on lap

[Funny isn't it - the importance of intervals and focus in story telling? Imagine how our days would sound if people reported back whatever they were doing only at random and externally dictated times ('errr, today? cleaning my ears, staring into space, trying to remember the words to that Rolling Stones song which I never reallly liked, and right now? Trying to balance this bowl on the sink)? And what if our stories were uniformally about what we gave the most time to? The 5 thoughts that got most air time on loop that day? Everything we did, in alphabetical order? Just the things we did which someone famous did in a film made sometime in the last 30 years? Everything we did that day so other people would like us more / because we were scared / because we were too tired to do something different? Everything that made someone else smile?

Imagine saying 'what things would you like me to tell you?' before answering 'how was your day?' and people being able to say honestly what they wanted to hear...'just the impressive stuff that makes me feel like you make my life more cool' 'whatever I can retell as good stories to my friends later', 'just something quick, I have to pee and I'm just being polite'.. etc]

(not a song title at all)