Random tangent (blog)
Ameel Khan's personal blog. This is a blog about life, technology, the internet, science, skepticism, feminism, books, film, music, and whatever other random stuff I come across or happen to be interested in today.
Do vaccines even work if you don’t take a selfie afterwards? :)
Selfie of a man sitting in a car outside a Chemist Warehouse branch. The man has his t-shirt sleeve rolled up to show a piece of cotton wool stuck to his upper arm using a strip of medical paper tape.
Nadia and I took three weeks off to go visit friends and family in Pakistan. Naturally I took several photos as we travelled from one place to the next :)
We had an almost-10pm flight out of Melbourne, so we had dinner at Melbourne Airport right after we checked-in.
Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts, backpacks, and face masks, standing in an airport terminal.
Neither of us minds having seats near the bathroom and neither of us minds sitting right at the back of the plane, so we picked seats in the second-last row of this Boeing 777 since that row has just two seats on the window side :)
Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in an aircraft. The two are giving a thumbs-up to the camera.
Abu Dhabi Airport’s brand new Terminal A is quite roomy (having been built for future growth) and is a surprisingly comfortable place to hang out for a ten-hour layover.
Selfie of a man wearing a bright orange jacket standing in the middle of a long terminal corridor, between gates C28 and C29.
Yay Karachi!
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, standing next to their luggage at the international arrivals gate of an airport.
It took us almost forty hours to get back from Islamabad to Melbourne (via Karachi and Abu Dhabi). This was the start of our first leg.
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.
This was the start of our second leg, waiting in the international departure lounge.
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated in a departure lounge at an airport.
This is towards the end of our twelve hour layover in Abu Dhabi.
Photo of a woman, wearing a black hoodie and face mask, leaning on a restaurant table in an airport. Behind her is a floor-to-ceiling window that looks out onto and airport terminal apron.
We’re making sure to stretch our legs and stand as much as we can before our non-stop, thirteen hour flight to Melbourne.
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black tops and face masks, standing in a departure lounge at an airport.
All aboard and ready to boogie (aka sleep) on this lovely Boeing 787 (yay!).
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black t-shirts and face masks, seated inside an aircraft cabin during boarding.
We hadn’t been back to Pakistan since late 2019, so this trip was very much overdue and it was a great way to start the year.
On 1 February 2004, Nadia and I got married at the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Twenty years later we went back there to take a couple of selfies :)
Selfie of a man and a woman in their forties standing in a nook in a hotel lobby.
Selfie of a man and a woman in their forties standing outside a large hotel.
Later that day we celebrated with food and, importantly, with cake.
Photo of a man and woman in their forties standing in a dining room along one corner of a large, rectangular dining table. In front of them is a caramel cake with “Happy Anniversary Nadia & Ameel” written on it. The woman is holding up the large knife with which she is going to cut the cake.
That cake, while delicious, wasn’t quite as fancy as the one we cut at our actual reception.
Photo of a man and a woman in South Asian wedding attire surrounded by their families on their wedding day. The couple are in the process of cutting a large, fancy cake that’s been placed on a table in front of them.
Nor did we make a meme out of the cake-cutting, like we did for our tenth anniversary :)
Photo of a man and a woman in South Asian wedding attire surrounded by their families on their wedding day. The couple are in the process of cutting a large, fancy cake that’s been placed on a table in front of them. The couple and several of their family members are laughing at a joke that’s just been told by someone off-camera. Written in Comic Sans font across the photo in a seemingly haphazard fashion are several phrases in broken English that represent a kind of inner monologue. This type of internet meme, known as Doge, was popular in 2013 and 2014. These phrases are “so marriage”, “much decade”, “giggle”. “wow”, “many love”, “very bliss”, “caaaaake”, “10/10 would marry”, and (bizarrely) “once even flow alive why go black jeremy oceans porch garden deep release” (which is the song list from Pearl Jam’s debut album, ‘Ten’, in case you’re wondering).
We celebrated a friend’s birthday with a picnic at Kingsford Smith Ulm Reserve in Glenroy.
I haven’t looked up the history of this place, but given it is located just north of Essendon Fields Airport in Melbourne, I’m guessing they named it after pioneering Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.
Here are some of the photos I took while I was there.
Photo of the top of an airport control tower peeking out from behind a low hill, in the background of the photo. In the foreground is the rise of a grassy hill, which is part of a reserve, with a road running through it.
Photo of the top of an large water tower above a series of industrial buildings at the top of a low hill. In the foreground of this photo is the rise of a grassy hill, which is part of a reserve.
Photo of a railway viaduct built across a creek’s valley and flood plain. The viaduct comprises steel girders supported by steel-framed towers. Behind the viaduct is the residential suburb of Gowanbrae.
Photo of a railway viaduct built across a creek’s valley and flood plain. The viaduct comprises steel girders supported by steel-framed towers. Behind the viaduct is the residential suburb of Gowanbrae, and you can see several blue paint and red brick houses behind the rail line.
Photo of a brown park bench in the shade of a few large trees in a park.
Photo of a low, wooden, green-and-brown frog sculpture in a play area at park. In the foreground of the photo are two park benches and several vertical logs that little children can climb over and walk on. A nearby tree is providing shade to this area.
Photo of a low, wooden, green-and-brown frog sculpture in a play area at park.
Black-and-white photo of a drinking fountain, with some blurry shrubs visible in the background.
Close-up photo of a tree stump embedded vertically into the ground. There are visible tree rings and several large cracks running through the cross-section of the stump. On the ground around the tree stump are wood chips, placed to soften the fall of children when they’re climbing on or over these stumps.
Close-up photo of a tree stump embedded vertically into the ground. There are visible tree rings and several large cracks running through the cross-section of the stump. On the ground around the tree stump are wood chips, placed to soften the fall of children when they’re climbing on or over these stumps.
Photo of a magpie on the ground next to a picnic table that has a few food bags placed next to it. The bird has a bit of fallen food in its mouth.
Photo of a two magpies on the ground next to a picnic table.
Photo of a two magpies on the ground next to a picnic table. The magpies have their mouths open, mid-song.
I guess it’s particularly appropriate to be publishing a photo of two singing magpies, given the Collingwood Magpies won the 2023 AFL Grand Final today :)
Selfie of a man and a woman at a park/reserve. The man has a mostly-white beard, and is wearing glasses and a straw hat. The woman is wearing a small necklace and sunglasses. Both are smiling at the camera.
It’s my last teen anniversary with Nadia :)
Selfie of a man and woman standing outdoors. There is a large number “19” added to the corner of the photo. The man has a black-and-white beard and is wearing a black printed t-shirt and black baseball cap. The woman has long black hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. The woman is resting her head on the man’s chest.
How time flies when you’re having the best years of your life.
It’s time for of our annual Australian Open selfie :)
Selfie of a man and a woman in a tennis court. They are both wearing wide-brimmed straw hats, face masks, and black t-shirts. They have bright blue lanyards around their necks.
Here are some other nice photos I took at the Australian Open this year.
Though this one is probably my favourite :)
Black and white photo of a child watching a tennis match. The child is leaning back in his chair and has his feet up against the railing in front of him.
I thought this was a nice, shady spot for a 1 Jan 2023 selfie…
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and straw hat walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The dog is sniffing around in the grass of the nature strip.
Evidently she thought this was a nice, grassy spot where she could scratch her back :)
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and straw hat walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The dog next to him is upside down and is rubbing her back on the tall, scratchy grass that's on the nature strip.
Win-win!
I’ve gotten very good at interpreting the Bureau of Meteorology rain radar to find 15–30-minute gaps in the downpour during which I can walk Maggie.
This photo is from our successful zip around the block yesterday.
Selfie of a bearded, bespectacled man in a yellow raincoat who is walking a red/brown dog that’s wearing a black raincoat. The pair are walking along a residential street.
You can’t 100% rely on the rain radar, of course, so Maggie and I are always dressed for the worst.
This Ruff n Rugged oilskin coat from PETstock works remarkably well, and Maggie is comfortable wearing it.
Photo of a red/brown dog in a black, oilskin raincoat sniffing at something on a nature strip along a residential road.
Today, however, we’ve had short showers followed by periods of bright, warm sunshine — the latter of which Maggie is making the most of.
Photo of a red/brown dog sitting in a residential back garden on a sunny day. The dog is sitting comfortably and has its eyes partly closed because of the bright sunlight.
Fortunately, we don’t live near a river so we’ve avoided all the flooding on the Maribyrnong. The flood retarding basins in Melbourne are certainly earning their keep this week!
Shout out to Nadia for getting me this happy mug for my recent birthday and to Sophie Hurst for the lovely design!
Selfie of a bald man with a salt-and-pepper beard holding up a large white mug. On the mug is an illustration of a brightly coloured Pakistani rickshaw, drawn on a yellow background. Below the illustration is the text “tu chal, mein aaya…”.
Turns out when you’ve already had three Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations without any reaction you don’t have to wait around inside the pharmacy for fifteen minutes after your fourth one :)
Selfie of a man inside a car. The man has the left sleeve of his black t-shirt rolled up to show a plaster over the place on his upper arm where he was given a vaccination injection.
The down side of voting just as the polls open on election day is that it’s too early for a democracy sausage. Oh well.
Photo of an empty schoolyard with two unattended plastic tables and a closed barbecue placed in front of the school buildings.
The up side is that we were done by 8:30am.
Selfie of a man and woman, bundled up in puffer jackets, standing across the street from a primary school that’s being used as a polling station.
Might not be a lovely, sunny day in Melbourne today, but we still had a lovely walk in the drizzle.
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street on an rainy day. The man is wearing a light grey rain jacket with the hood pulled over his head. The jacket is wet in large patches. The dog is on a grass strip next to the road and is looking at something off-camera.
Up side of wearing a well-fitted, (K)N95/P2 mask: your likelihood of contacting COVID-19 in an indoor setting is greatly reduced.
Down side of wearing a well-fitted, (K)N95/P2 mask:
Close-up selfie of a man’s face. On the man's cheek and nose are reddened indentations made by the straps of a tightly fitted faced mask. The man is sitting inside a car.
My ‘highlights of red’ outfit while walking the dog today: red sneakers, red watch strap, and red leash+collar combo. Not exactly painting the town red; more like fine lining it :)
Photo of the bottom half of a man’s outfit as he stands on the pavement next to some grass. The man is wearing a black T-shirt, olive green shorts, and red sneakers. The man’s watch is on a red strap and he is holding a red dog leash.
A smidge of sunshine…
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The man is wearing a bright blue cap and a light grey rain shell. There’s a bit of pale sunlight on the bottom half of the man’s face.
On an otherwise overcast and drizzly day.
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a residential street. The man is wearing a bright blue cap and a light grey rain shell, with the shell’s hood covering the cap. There are splotches of rain on the rain shell.
I know it’s going to be a Hot Day today, but it’s quite nice out there right now. Even if it is a smidge windy and a tad humid.
Selfie of a man wearing sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat with the sun behind the man’s head.
That said, the temperature did rise by almost three degrees in just the half hour that Maggie and I were out walking. So it’s not going to be pleasant for too much longer!
Selfie of a man walking a red/brown dog on a red leash. The man is wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, a wide brimmed straw hat and is looking up at the camera. The dog is just behind the man, sniffing around in the grass on a nature strip at the side of a road.
Throwback to two weeks ago when we were picnicking at Donnelly Weir in the Yarra Ranges.
Selfie of a man with his back to a constructed weir in the middle of a forest.
You might not hear the tree fall in the woods, but at least you get to see it and then take a photo of it :)
Photo taken along the length of a tree that’s fallen in the woods.
It’s our eighteenth wedding anniversary today. I am a very fortunate man.
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black, both smiling at the camera.
From Nadia:
Happy 18th wedding anniversary to the (wiser) head growing out of my shoulder. @ameel pic.twitter.com/SHWzIM6LoE
— Nadia Niaz (@NadiaNiaz) February 1, 2022
What time is it? It’s time for me and Nadia to take our annual Australian Open tennis tournament selfie!
Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of an outdoor tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; N95 face masks; and blue Australian Open lanyards.
With the 50% capacity limits placed on attendees this year, we even managed to find a totally empty section of Kia Arena in which to take a slightly less pandemically themed selfie :)
Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of a large, open air tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; and blue Australian Open lanyards.
One more in our full “hot day at a sporting event in the post-vaccine era” regalia.
Selfie of a man and a woman in front of Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on a sunny day. The man and woman are both wearing black t-shirts, wide-brim straw hats, sunglasses, and N95 face masks, and have blue Australian Open lanyards around their necks.
Speaking of hot days, Nadia was reunited with her happy place at the Australian Open :)
A woman wearing shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses, large hat, and an N95 face masks walks up to a large fan that is spraying a fine mist of cool water onto people walking by.
Obligatory post-booster selfie.
Selfie of a bald man wearing a blue surgical mask and sitting in a waiting area.
This is personal website of Nadia Niaz and Ameel Zia Khan. Here we document our lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
