1:19 p.m., 11.02.06
The Downlooker

I've got a mate who looks down on everything and everybody. He lived in the UK for six or seven years and now that he's back (and he stresses that it's as temporary as he can make it) nothing in Melbourne is good enough for him.

London has better drugs. His old mates are boooooring, but he goes and hangs out with them out of obligation. Everyone at work is an idiot. Your hobby is for losers. The only people he admires are those that subjugate him.

It got me to thinking: as soon as you place yourself above something, you immediately rob yourself of any joy that might be inherent in it.

Write off a person, and you're missing out a chance to learn. Write off an experience, and you never get to live it. I guess the flipside is that if you look at everything this way, it's a very safe way to be. You won't have the piss taken out of you, and you won't suffer the downfalls that come with the ups.

A lot of my biker mates think I'm an idiot for going out and hanging around with "da westan suburbs stuntaz croo" and doing big wheelies all night long. They think doing wheelies is for stupid kids.

They're right, in that I don't belong there with those guys, I'll never be able to do the crazy feet-over-the-handlebars stuff they do, and there's a good chance I'll hurt myself or wreck my bike one of these days.

But it's an absolute hoot. It's seriously quite embarrassing how much fun it is, and I ride away, front wheel waggling around high in the air, with a huge grin on my face that lasts for hours.

And I reckon it's worth thinking twice before I look down on other things too. It's tough to catch yourself out, but I reckon it might be a better way to be.

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