SGR has moved...

To say that I haven't written anything here for five months and three days would be exaggerating. A little. But truth be told, I've been a little slack with the upkeep of this little corner of the WWW. SO I thought to myself, Tom, I said, Tom, why don't we get back into blogging. Make a fresh start. Do it a couple of times a week like a good blogger should. Keep it up to date. Run a spell-check once in a while. And that is what I did. I have recommitted to the blog. A blog for the people. By me.

I also decided on a bit of a change of format. I thought I could make it a bit more journally, a bit more personal - where people could read about the real Tom. And to that end, I decided to have a name change. The spirit of SGR lives on, but under a different moniker. Today Tom Wrote is that rose by another name, so to speak, still smelling just as sweet. Sandgate Road will stay. (Perhaps I could bundle the entries into a paperback?) But the future of my bloggery can be found at TodayTomWrote.blogspot.com.

So hurry over, I've got the kettle on and a warm spot saved for you next to the fireplace. Bring with you all your fond memories of Dr Aunty Joan, geekery and hot beverages. Say your goodbyes to the old girl and I'll see you there!

Dummy's Guide to Podcasting

So I assume you have some understanding of what blogging is. It's all around us. You're reading it now. Right now. This is a blog. Every once is a while, when the planets are aligned and the sun is exactly the right hue of beigey white, I sit down and share some little corner of my brain with you. I do this by logging into my Blogger account, clicking on "New Post", typing out my entry and hitting "Publish". Well, what with computers getting smaller and faster and generally more able to do magical mysterious things and all, it was only a matter of time until some bright spark said to himself, "Instead of typing out my blog" he (for it was almost certainly a male) said, "why don't I hook up my microphone to my fancy-schmancy computer and record my blog". And thusly podcasting was born. Hoards of people began to sit down at there computers and record their own little radio programs and publish them on the internet. Eventually, hoard of people began to download these little radio programmes to their ipods and MP3 players and listen to them. Finally, the world of radio was no longer restricted to the properly trained and talented.

Well, I saw this lumbering bandwagon stagger past and I said to myself, Tom, I said Tom, we have to get aboard this thing. Well, like an idiot, I jammed my microphone into my ibook, recorded five minutes of absolute dribble and shared it with the world. Some of the more devoted readers may remember my short-lived "Close Encounters" shows. They were shameful and embarrassing and now no longer exist. I decided to take a more intellegent approach. I sat back and spent a couple of months listening to other podcasts. I took notes and I searched for some niche I could deposit my genius into. Out of this period of soul-searching, Ten with Tom (TenWithTom.com) was born. TWT is a ten minute podcast. Many shows are thirty to sixty minutes long and subscribing to them can be a real commitment, but Ten with Tom is only ten minutes. Who doesn't have ten minutes? Nobody, that's who.

If you would like to listen to podcasts, there are a few different ways, but I'll describe the way I do it.

What you need first of all is iTunes. It needs to be iTunes 4.9 or later. You can download this program from Apple.com. Here's how to subscribe to Ten with Tom:

1. Open iTunes


2. Click on the Advanced menu


3. Scroll down to Subscribe to Podcast.


4. In the box that appears type (or cut-and-paste): http://feeds.feedburner.com/tenwithtom


5. Click OK

Now, you are subscribed to Ten with Tom. You can listen to Ten with Tom by clicking on Podcasts, over in the left-hand menu and double clicking on the Ten with Tom episode that takes your fancy.

Stay tuned to Sandgate Road, late this week, when you've had time to listen to my entire back catalogue, I'll run through a few of the Podcasts I listen to.

Thanks for reading, don't worry, TWT and SGR will co-exist. There will always be a SGR.

Oh yes, only 11 days until I'm married! I'm so excited!

Tom.

The Other Side....

Done! Finished! Unemployed!

Well, assuming I get that "P" in all the right places, then I am only a matter of weeks away from being an official, qualified speech pathologist. So what am I doing in the meantime? Well, it's 9.30am and I'm on the couch in my jamies. I'll keep you posted.

So, I now have no excue not to post. Don't worry, I'll be postin'. I'm thinking - a series on my job hunting? What do you think? I have an interview on Tuesday.

Wedding in 17 days! Very exciting, more mile-wide grins and made up songs. Anna, her folks, my folks and I went out to dinner for a 'tasting' at the venue of our reception. I was i little curious about what a 'tasting' would actually involve - we had Mcdonalds on standby just incase we were still a little peckish afterwards. But Gad! If that was a tasting, I can't wiat for the meal! We had the choice of three white wines and three red wines, three entrees, three mains and two desserts. Two hours later, the six of us waddled out to our cars and headed home. We didn't call in to Mcdonalds.

On the verge...

They say the hours right before daylight are the darkest. I feel for sure that 'they' must have talking about Honours theses. I tell you, I have it in my power to have this thing done by Friday, but for the life of me, I couldn't care less. The motivation has plummeted off the chart and all I want to do is sit in the sun and ponder my coming nuptuals. (37 days to go, by the way.)

I guess I just have to put my head down and get it finished. Easy. Right? Right? Ahhh! I DON'T WANT TO!

Anyway, I have to go to my happy place now. Enjoy your day. I'll see you on the other side.

Tom.

On the air - I'm aware!

I'm a poet and I wasn't even aware of that fact. Or something like that. One liners have never been my forte.
Big news this week, Tom of the Close joins the ranks of Podcasting big-wigs. Yes, that was me on The Redboy Podcast, being interviewed. Let me tell you, since that time I've been mobbed on the street, I've had relatives ring me up, I've received a couple of book deals, absolute havoc. But seriously folks, click your way on over to The Redboy Podcast (between you and me they need all the help they can get). I'm just kidding, those guys crack me up.
Speaking of which, only time for a short entry this week. I'll just leave a few dot points. Use you imagination and fill in my usual ravens.

• Rice cookers are good - I thought a saucepan would do the job but rice cookers are much better


• Can't get Dr Pepper in Australia - I found a petition and signed it - Google it


• Talk like a pirate day was last week


• Almost finished uni - tearing my hair out with last assignments


• Please leave a comment, I feel like I'm talking to myself here!

Take care of yourselves, I don't know what I'd do without you.

Love Tom.