Hello Sunday Morning | Fraser

story_of_my_life_#3: moderation & thank God i like tofu
17/06/11 • 2 Comments

After a conversation with Ben Hamley (HSM Staffer) last week one word he mentioned stayed with me: MODERATION. What does it mean? What did it mean to me before my HSM? What will it mean after? While trivial to some, this is really the whole backbone to the HSM experience and what I think all have to take from it. Defined by Urban Dictionary, Moderation is ‘the ability to exercise self-control while enforcing one\’s will power to resist certain things or situations a person puts themselves in too often’. This is directly applicable to my relationship with alcohol, as it probably is for most. Growing up and experimenting with alcohol (tastes, personal limits, etc) often the idea of moderation is overlooked. Thoughts of it first arise when you are put in a setting where you decide that whilst you want to go out, have a good time and get ‘messy’, [...]

Goal #1 Update (weight loss). Usually the New Year’s resolution made and broken annually by millions around the world. My single venture into this unchartered land has been progressing. Loss to date is at 7.5 kilos, with a noticeable improvement in diet, water consumption and exercise. Goal #2 Update (non-affected social life). My biggest personal focus was to not let this social experiment put my social life on hold. Instead I have maintained a steady replica of life and not limited my adventures to those of sober or alcohol-free environments. Since April 2nd I have: Bungy jumped in Cairns Logged almost another 50 hours in my driving log book Climbed the Story Bridge (Brisbane) with the HSM team The rest of the list is a little scarier to the sober one within each of us: Attended Game 1 of the State of Origin series Attended: two student Music Festivals, [...]

story_of_my_life_#1: setting goals (and breaking them)
06/06/11 • 0 Comments

In truth I have written most of what appears here some time ago and decided to save it away in a folder entitled ‘New Folder’ on my desktop, consciously deciding not to unveil it to the world. However, with friends like mine, you realise that preaching to abstain from alcohol for a period of time is not justified without a glorified blog. So here goes. Before we start this thing let me lay it on the table. Name: Fraser Orford. Age: 20. Occupation: Student (4th year regional and town planning). Drink of choice: Scotch and dry, red wine (then), lemon, lime and bitters (now). Likes: Reading, movies, musical theatre and plays, going out, meeting new people, catching up with family (small doses) and friends. Dislikes: People who eat with their mouths open, inconsiderate smokers, and blogging (so self indulgent). Almost a year ago I sat in a crowd of [...]