Ruminations
Thoughts, experiences, ideas and reflections
A blog documenting the trials and tribulations of starting and running a tech startup, of living in these exciting but challenging times, and of learning and becoming – bit by bit – the best one can be.
Negotiating contracts – part 1
It was quite a scary process for me to finalise the contract with the development house I engaged to develop my site. They are based outside Australia (where I am based), and so all negotiations and discussions were conducted via email and telephone. You don't realise how difficult it is to develop rapport with someone unless you can see them and engage with them in a physical environment. My business partner at the time found a useful technique to deal with this constraint was
Sleep deprivation
The thing I find the hardest to cope with while trying to start a business and work full-time, is the sleep deprivation. This is made significantly worse is you try to be healthy and exercise, because the only time I can do so is before I go to work. This means waking up at 6am, after working til my eyes collapses from exhaustion the night before. Why this lunacy! I hear you ask... Because I am stuck in the Catch-22 situation that if I
Here we go…
Damn, I hate to admit it, but Google are good. After struggling for more hours than I will admit, trying to get the Terapad blogging service to look vaguely customised, I heaved a sigh of resignation, and transferred over to Google's Blogger service. It may not be as professional, but goodness, it is easy. So finally I get to begin my new blog - Birth of a Start-up. Of course, no one will probably ever read this entry, as by the time people become
Walking on hallowed ground
One of the surprises of returning to Sydney - one of the joys that I forgot existed - is the glory that is a jacaranda tree in November. Relax, I'm not about to launch into my usual saga of effusiveness about beauty... I'll keep it short and punchy. All Australians know the surprising soul-soothe that is a bold big jacaranda tree, so startlingly purple that is literally takes your breath away. And non-Australians reading this, well, you just need to ensure you visit during
Spring is here!
Well, its official. Spring has finally arrived, and what a difference it makes to just about everything! There is a bounce to everyone's step. Everyone looks just that little bit more beautiful. There are scents in the air that do strange things to you. The atmosphere is comfortingly warm, but still excitingly brisk. I had forgotten how much I passionately adore the month of September. I remember in my childhood, all my innocent fantasies about dashing otherworldy adventures were inspired in September, all my
Snap Shot City
Last weekend I entered a photo treasure hunt very last minute. It was a global competition called Snap Shot City, where entrants from all over the world downloaded at the same time a list of 24 random expressions, that had to be photographed in 6 hours. The aim of the game was to find something clever, ironic, and quintessentially representative of your city in your composition. The challenge was you had to upload 8 very 2 hours. Which is quite a challenge. Now as
My beautiful mother
I have easily the most incredible mother. Its a big call, as there are no doubt plenty of incredible mothers out there. But I keep being blown away by how generous, loving and accepting she is. And after 5 years of living on the other side of the world to her, it's such a gift to now have her in my life again. In fact, the major reason I came home was because it was important to me to spend time with family, and
My half year back home
As discussed a few entries previously, I have a thing about anniversaries. Last week it was a year since I left London. Yesterday was 6 months since I arrived back in Sydney. Two rather significant events in the space of a week... my over-developed sense of nostalgia is in overdrive. When I first arrived in London, I really didn't like it. I missed home, family, my boyfriend at the time, warmth, seafood, smiles... I just wasn't sure I made the right decision in going
One year anniversary
Yesterday was my one year anniversary that I left London. It really stunned me into humble silence when it occurred to me yesterday. It was also the 37th birthday of Christian Slater. You would have had to know me as a very odd 14 year old girl to understand the significance of this... but I'll just say that I tend to form symbolic attachments to things, and at 14 when I was lonely and poetic and full of dreams, I created a quasi-imaginary friend
Living alone
Here are my thoughts on living alone, now that I have been doing so for about 3 months: 1. I love walking around naked. It doesn't matter that almost every wall of my flat is made of glass or mirror. Let the large Navy vessels full of seamen see me if they wish. I love walking around naked. 2. I am not a great singer. But goodness it's fun trying. I actually make myself giggle with how bad I am. And that is just
My pot of gold at the end of the rainbow
The degree of luck and joy I feel I have found in my new little flat in Potts Point was reflected beautifully one morning by a rainbow ending just outside my window. A pot of gold indeed it did lead to, but rather than coins, my pot is full of hope and glee. I feel inordinately lucky to have found my little home: I had always dreamed of living in a place with a view, that would inspire and excite and calm me. But
Settling in Sydney
It's now been over 3 months since I have settled back in Sydney. Its been unsurprisingly a very eventful time. I wonder if my life will ever be ordinary (I sincerely hope not). I will spare you the details of what has been a horribly difficult time for me, enough to say that moving countries is not an easy thing to do, and some things that you wish were different have stayed stagnant, and other things that you thought were constants in your life
My new baby
The sign of incredible sadness. That I can get so excited by the purchase of an IBM laptop. Yep, call in the undertakers and clowns, I have officially achieved geek status. Although perhaps not. Interestingly the first thing I did upon its inceptual launch was elect to have a large purple flower on my desktop, and change the colour of the windows title bar to be a pretty teal colour. So there might be hope for me yet! Geekiness aside, the reason for my