The first and a story of the last.

Hello and welcome to on being unexceptional...

The purpose of 'on being unexceptional' is not to make particularly well informed judgements and recommendations about current issues in society. Rather, it provides me with an outlet to:
a) Splurge my insane nerdy rants,
b) Procrastinate from things i should be doing, like being an adult etc.
c) Take the piss,
d) Report on the many weird and wonderful events that take place in my life on a daily basis.

Although I can't promise hard hitting political commentary or socio-cultural exposes, on being unexceptional will give great insight to the mind of a slightly chemically unbalanced individual with a unique outlook on life. There is every chance that this will be hilarious...but maybe not.


My advice - Remember your seatbelts!


I feel that blogging is quite a lonely little pastime. We are very much faceless and indiscernible entities in the big virtual pool known as the inter-web. To rectify this situation I have decided to spin a little tale that will reveal a bit more about myself.

I’m a student in Archaeology at the University of Queensland.
I’m Nineteen.
I’m weird, stubborn, argumentative, shy, optimistic (usually), honest and competitive…otherwise known as a pain in the ass.
Therein lies my problem.
After several years of obscure situations, I’ve come to accept the fact that all sorts of weird and wonderful situations happen to me on a daily basis.

Today I wish to share with you my latest…and sadly last adventure in a humble antique store.

One fine afternoon, a few of my University amigos and I decided to go on a little antique store scavenger hunt. We were visiting such store when I came across a lovely dinner set. It was beautiful! Well designed, elegant, only missing a few bits and pieces.

Let us call the antique dealer Fred.

Fred: It’s a lovely collection, isn’t it?
Me: Beautiful!
Fred: Yeah, it’s Chinese porcelain too, very lovely.
Me: Really? It is pretty, but unfortunately, I’m only a poor uni student, I can’t afford that price and still eat this week hahahaha….(Haggling)
Fred: Aw, that’s too bad. (Walks away)

First I couldn’t believe my haggling attempt had failed, where was his heart?!
And secondly, I had a really hard time believing that the set was porcelain. The pieces were quite heavy, I don’t know, it just didn’t feel like Porcelain.

I asked a friend for her car keys, which, ever so conveniently has one of those LED laser lights on them, you know the ones – they can interfere with the navigation systems in aeroplanes.

Anyway, my point is, porcelain is a translucent ceramic.

What does that mean? It means light will pass through it, so if I shine a laser through one side of the piece, I should be able to see it from the other side.
I did so, using the Laser.

No light!

The beautifully crafted ceramics were NOT PORCELAIN!

Me: Um, excuse me…(to Fred)
Fred: Change your mind about the set?
Me: It’s not porcelain
Fred: Yes it is.
Me: No, it isn’t.
Fred: YES! It is. I know porcelain when I see it!
Me: If that were true, then you wouldn’t call that set porcelain!
Friends: (Maybe we should stop here, I think we should go, damn it Jordan why can’t you just let it go?)
Fred: And what the hell would you know?!
Me: Well obviously a hell of a lot more than you! Porcelain is translucent, that set is not! Therefore, NOT PORCELAIN!
Fred: I have been in this business for years!…
Me: Clearly not long enough for you to learn to distinguish between types of ceramics then!
Fred: If you don’t like the price you can go elsewhere! That is an authentic…
Me: Yeah! An authentic fake!

By that point, my friends were dragging me out by my arms and Fred was shaking his fist as we drove off.

A life time ban was my punishment.