1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Traveled to Darwin and lived there for three months. Traveled to Norway (yay for the Arctic Circle), Belgium, Germany and Spain. Had the chicken pox (and as a result had my first doctor's appointment in French). Called a dance show. Baked pound cake, lebkuchen and vast quantities of shortbread. Went dog sledding, tobogganing and horse sleigh riding under the Northern Lights. What a year of firsts!
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I think I achieved same same, but different however the three ball juggling still needs practice.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not that I'm aware of or recall.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully no.
5. What countries did you visit?
France, England, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Norway, Singapore, Qatar.
6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Direction.
7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
2nd Feb - Gene & I celebrated our 5th anniversary in St Flour and Nick gave us the most beautiful gift of a script.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Starting to make life decisions and learning (still learning) to life with the repercussions.
9. What was your biggest failure?
not working hard enough on my relationship
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Chicken pox, minor joint damage to my left shoulder and a rather nasty case of tonsillitis. All in all a good year...
11. What was the best thing you bought in 2007?
my laptop!
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My parents for both taking the news that Mum has pancreatic cancer in their stride. For their strength and determination and solidarity through the treatment so far and for the serenity that they seem to have found in this difficult time. I applaud them and hope that one day I will find a similar serenity in the face of challenge.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Probably my own but that's more depressed than appalled.
14. Did you do to any weddings?
nope.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Cookies! Armed with 500 Cookies and the internet the baked goods world is my oyster. On a more serious note, hearing that Mum's cancer seems to be gone.
16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Intermission by The Scissor Sisters
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
---happier or sadder? sadder
---thinner or heavier? *sigh* thinner
---richer or poorer? poorer financially, richer in life experience
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
reading, knitting/crochet, baking
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
being unproductive
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Eve was spent singing carols in the dark to entertain Mum (we had a black out) and handing out cookies to people in the court we live in. Day was spent partially at Grubby's and at home cooking roast for my folks.
21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
no
22. Were you rejected by anyone?
no
23. What was your favorite TV program?
Had a big Gilmore Girls thing going mid year but seem to have taken a real shine to Grand Designs. Oh and the Green Wing ("She's your schmoo too!", classic...)
24. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
nope
25. What was the best book you read?
Close call between His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie (comics count as books in my library) and The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett.
26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Oedo Sukeroku Taiko
27. What did you want and got?
many things with many outcomes
28. What did you want and did not get?
the location of a missing box of my favourite books from when my folks moved about 5 years ago!
29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Honestly didn't see much film this year so I don't feel I can answer this one!
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? Mourned the loss of Percy the pinata, spent the day with Gene & my folks before dinner at my favourite Japanese restaurant to celebrate both my birthday and my family's 21 years of being in Australia before catching up with my ever wonderful friends at the Bystander Bar for Comedy at Trades. I'm still 24.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
it would take more than one thing (yes I want to eat the damn cake too)
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
fashion concept you say...? umm same as last year although possible more summer oriented given the three months in Darwin. Still largely black though.
33. What kept you sane?
My ever patient friends and family.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I'm still happy to watch Johnny Depp, Clive Owen and Cillian Murphy at this point but to be honest I haven't really followed the celebrities much this year either.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
probably the abortion debate although I acknowledge that climate change is a rather important issue too.
36. Who did you miss?
no one in particular, I've managed to keep in touch with quite a few people even if it hasn't been face to face.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
I can't pick! The team I worked with up in Darwin and most of the people I worked with the the last half of the year are all pretty amazing.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006.
See below.
39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
... getting your dreams it's strange, but it seems a little - well - complicated. There's a kind of a sort of cost. There's a couple of things get lost. There are bridges you cross you didn't know you crossed until you've crossed. And if that joy, that thrill, doesn't thrill you like you think it will. Still... Who wouldn't be happier? So I couldn't be happier, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true. Well, isn't it?
Monday, December 31, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Baking for days
It's 02:07 and I've baked 7 mini flour-less chocolate cakes and have another four in the oven. So much for last night's marathon sleep (21:30 until 12:30) resetting my sleep cycle. There's also a large bowl of dough chilling so that I can get up early (ha) and bake some lebkuchen while I prepare some jam drops and shortbread. I'm on a bit of a baking kick...
I state that for the benefit of the majority of you who will not witness the results of tonight's grocery shopping. Purchases include:
- 5kg bakers flour
- 1kg pastry flour
- 2kg caster sugar
- 1kg brown sugar
- ground cloves
- butter milk
- 1.25kg unsalted butter
- 440g almond meal
- several mini cake tins
- 36 eggs
- 1 pot of strawberry conserve
- 1 pomegranate
As you can tell, my baking is probably not the healthiest I've done, although the flourless chocolate cake involves surprisingly little sugar. The pomegranate has very little to do with the baking and more to do with my newly discovered love of the flavour pomegranates.
The oven is beeping at me. I should probably make it stop.
I state that for the benefit of the majority of you who will not witness the results of tonight's grocery shopping. Purchases include:
- 5kg bakers flour
- 1kg pastry flour
- 2kg caster sugar
- 1kg brown sugar
- ground cloves
- butter milk
- 1.25kg unsalted butter
- 440g almond meal
- several mini cake tins
- 36 eggs
- 1 pot of strawberry conserve
- 1 pomegranate
As you can tell, my baking is probably not the healthiest I've done, although the flourless chocolate cake involves surprisingly little sugar. The pomegranate has very little to do with the baking and more to do with my newly discovered love of the flavour pomegranates.
The oven is beeping at me. I should probably make it stop.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Today's post is brought to you by the numbers 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2
0.75 is the number of hours sleep I've had in the last 32 hours. I sense my nocturnal habits may be at an end.
1 is the number of days I've worked this week. It's good to be working again, even if it's just an orientation.
1.5 is the number of cards I ended up writing yesterday before being distracted by the arrival of the Schoeller & Stahl Zermatt yarn that Dad bought Mum & I for Christmas. I am now knitting a sweater despite the summery weather in the vague hope I'll finish it in time for Autumn/Winter 2008.
2 is the number of chapters I've read of The Ghost's Child. Since my last post I've discovered that The Pleasure of my Company doesn't actually have chapters. As a result I'm having a lot of trouble not finishing it in one deliciously indulgent reading. I'm trying to pace myself.
1 is the number of days I've worked this week. It's good to be working again, even if it's just an orientation.
1.5 is the number of cards I ended up writing yesterday before being distracted by the arrival of the Schoeller & Stahl Zermatt yarn that Dad bought Mum & I for Christmas. I am now knitting a sweater despite the summery weather in the vague hope I'll finish it in time for Autumn/Winter 2008.
2 is the number of chapters I've read of The Ghost's Child. Since my last post I've discovered that The Pleasure of my Company doesn't actually have chapters. As a result I'm having a lot of trouble not finishing it in one deliciously indulgent reading. I'm trying to pace myself.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Midnight Cakes
Not only am I nocturnal, I'm beginning to make a habit of baking cakes at midnight. This is of course totally in line with Dad's nocturnal habits but I'm sure it's not good for us!
Tonight's cake was a simple pound cake made with a recipe that I've altered a bit and am still tweaking. Perhaps a little less egg but otherwise a delicious cake that will be perfect with my morning (ha!) coffee.
Speaking of coffee I don't think I've mentioned how in love I am with our new espresso machine, which in all honesty isn't that new any more as we've had it for almost a month... Purchased the day after the dishwasher caught fire which I also seem to have failed to mention. I guess that's what happens when I write while I should be asleep.
I have had a fairly productive day today despite only making it out of bed at 13:00. I've achieved 80% of what I wanted to do.
Tomorrow I'm aiming to:
- do at least one load of washing
- clean the bathroom
- head to the post office and post my international mail
- head to the supermarket to pick up some supplies for further baking adventures
- have a cup of coffee with a slice of tonight's cake
- read another chapter of The Pleasure of my Company and one of The Ghost's Child (apparently children's fiction and literature have captured my attention from the stack of sci-fi/fantasy that's sitting by my bed
- write a few more cards
- finish the entrelac scarf that I've been making out of Noro's Silk Garden yarn.
We'll see how I go... first I need to get out of bed before noon! Excellent practice for Tuesday when I have to be at work at 09:00. Wish me luck!
Tonight's cake was a simple pound cake made with a recipe that I've altered a bit and am still tweaking. Perhaps a little less egg but otherwise a delicious cake that will be perfect with my morning (ha!) coffee.
Speaking of coffee I don't think I've mentioned how in love I am with our new espresso machine, which in all honesty isn't that new any more as we've had it for almost a month... Purchased the day after the dishwasher caught fire which I also seem to have failed to mention. I guess that's what happens when I write while I should be asleep.
I have had a fairly productive day today despite only making it out of bed at 13:00. I've achieved 80% of what I wanted to do.
Tomorrow I'm aiming to:
- do at least one load of washing
- clean the bathroom
- head to the post office and post my international mail
- head to the supermarket to pick up some supplies for further baking adventures
- have a cup of coffee with a slice of tonight's cake
- read another chapter of The Pleasure of my Company and one of The Ghost's Child (apparently children's fiction and literature have captured my attention from the stack of sci-fi/fantasy that's sitting by my bed
- write a few more cards
- finish the entrelac scarf that I've been making out of Noro's Silk Garden yarn.
We'll see how I go... first I need to get out of bed before noon! Excellent practice for Tuesday when I have to be at work at 09:00. Wish me luck!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Infrequent Insomnia Blog
Lately it seems that I only write my infrequent blog posts in the wee hours of the morning. Mind you it seems to be getting later each time so who knows, maybe I'll find myself, over time, posting during sensible hours again.
Last time I was up at all hours typing away I talked about awakeness. Well in the day that followed, I remember little of the LX plots - I think one was canceled. Don G was great despite having to leave the theatre just after the start of Act 1 because I was feeling faint. That night I made it home after stopping by the side of the freeway for a nap. The next day I decided to see a doctor. Tonsillitis. Never in my life have I had tonsillitis that made me feel quite so dead. Armed with antibiotics I headed home to sleep off the time that it would take the antibiotics to kick in. Two days apparently. Two days later I was in the doctor's office again. Apparently it had gotten worse and my throat was quite swollen and it was now affecting both sides of the throat which was making breathing, eating and drinking awfully more taxing than usual. Stronger antibiotics were ordered as well as something to help make them easier to stomach. The tech run felt like it went forever. Seems the medication that made the antibiotics easier to stomach were also making me feel cloudy as all hell but I was under the impression that was the tonsillitis. Oops. No more driving if I have that medication again.
Before I knew it the show was running and even sooner it was over. I finally took some time off like I'd been speaking about doing for quite some time. Three days into my break I was bored and looking for work again.
Mind you I've had a rather enjoyable time since then. I've since, many thanks to Tam, seen Alcina and Tales of Hoffman just to complete the season of operas. I've also seen more contemporary dance which was a little lost on me but the set and lighting was very sexy. Aside from that my hours have been spent sorting out paperwork and trying to work out a plan for the foreseeable future. I've also re-discovered reading as a pastime. Robert Charles Wilson's Spin was a fabulously engaging read, now I'm slowly whittling away at the books sitting next to my bed. Steve Martin's Shop Girl is currently battling several sci-fi fantasty novels for my attention. However I did find myself rather taken with the film so it's hard to say which will triumph. I suspect neither and I'll just flit between them.
Given that the sun is likely to appear in the sky shortly I should stop writing and attempt some sleep before it wakes me up. Oh well. I figure that this time on Tuesday I'll be on my way to work so it's probably not a bad thing to be a little nocturnal. Seems to be my natural state anyhow.
End ramble.
Last time I was up at all hours typing away I talked about awakeness. Well in the day that followed, I remember little of the LX plots - I think one was canceled. Don G was great despite having to leave the theatre just after the start of Act 1 because I was feeling faint. That night I made it home after stopping by the side of the freeway for a nap. The next day I decided to see a doctor. Tonsillitis. Never in my life have I had tonsillitis that made me feel quite so dead. Armed with antibiotics I headed home to sleep off the time that it would take the antibiotics to kick in. Two days apparently. Two days later I was in the doctor's office again. Apparently it had gotten worse and my throat was quite swollen and it was now affecting both sides of the throat which was making breathing, eating and drinking awfully more taxing than usual. Stronger antibiotics were ordered as well as something to help make them easier to stomach. The tech run felt like it went forever. Seems the medication that made the antibiotics easier to stomach were also making me feel cloudy as all hell but I was under the impression that was the tonsillitis. Oops. No more driving if I have that medication again.
Before I knew it the show was running and even sooner it was over. I finally took some time off like I'd been speaking about doing for quite some time. Three days into my break I was bored and looking for work again.
Mind you I've had a rather enjoyable time since then. I've since, many thanks to Tam, seen Alcina and Tales of Hoffman just to complete the season of operas. I've also seen more contemporary dance which was a little lost on me but the set and lighting was very sexy. Aside from that my hours have been spent sorting out paperwork and trying to work out a plan for the foreseeable future. I've also re-discovered reading as a pastime. Robert Charles Wilson's Spin was a fabulously engaging read, now I'm slowly whittling away at the books sitting next to my bed. Steve Martin's Shop Girl is currently battling several sci-fi fantasty novels for my attention. However I did find myself rather taken with the film so it's hard to say which will triumph. I suspect neither and I'll just flit between them.
Given that the sun is likely to appear in the sky shortly I should stop writing and attempt some sleep before it wakes me up. Oh well. I figure that this time on Tuesday I'll be on my way to work so it's probably not a bad thing to be a little nocturnal. Seems to be my natural state anyhow.
End ramble.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Failure to Write
In the wee small hours of the morning, when the whole wide world is fast asleep I'm lying awake wondering why it is I've got Carly Simon stuck in my head when I've been listening to Edith Piaf's rendition of L'accordéoniste on loop all day.
I'm frustratingly nocturnal at the moment. Frustrating because I have two LX plots to attend tomorrow and I'd like to be awake for them please. As well as tickets to see Don Giovanni. Again with the awakeness.
Since I wasn't sleeping anyway, I figured I might as well update my sorely neglected blog.
Let's see, last time I wrote I'd just planted a mini-herb garden for a show. Well, the season went really well. So well in fact that Kat & I don't own any plants (dead or alive) from the show. Since then I've moved onto another show and am in the process of looking for more work over the silly season. Mind you I think I could do with a couple of days off to sort out my body clock and get a little R&R but we'll see. Plenty of time for that when the theatres are dark again.
Other items of note in no particular order are:
- my shoulder (which I fell on about two weeks ago after a particularly sleepless night... futons should never be underestimated for danger, can anyone say trip hazard?) is feeling much better but is at the annoying stage where it feel good but as soon as I do anything more than hold a cup of coffee in my left arm it begins to complain. Not that I've been doing anything but resting it of course... ahem
- Mum's started her next course of chemo after a week's break last week. For some reason I kept thinking it was her last course last time... hopefully this is the one. She's getting great results from the treatment but I think she's looking forward to stopping the chemo.
- I've made it further on my NaNoWriMo novel this year than ever before, but I'm still many thousands of words behind where I should be. Perhaps I should attack that instead of this blog... I should probably also note that I'm only ahead of my previous attempts by about 1,000 words... oh well, only 48,000 more to go...
Anyhow, that's all that springs to mind at the moment. I think I'm approaching the "low" in my sleep/wake cycle, so I'm going to make another attempt to fall asleep. Wish me luck!
I'm frustratingly nocturnal at the moment. Frustrating because I have two LX plots to attend tomorrow and I'd like to be awake for them please. As well as tickets to see Don Giovanni. Again with the awakeness.
Since I wasn't sleeping anyway, I figured I might as well update my sorely neglected blog.
Let's see, last time I wrote I'd just planted a mini-herb garden for a show. Well, the season went really well. So well in fact that Kat & I don't own any plants (dead or alive) from the show. Since then I've moved onto another show and am in the process of looking for more work over the silly season. Mind you I think I could do with a couple of days off to sort out my body clock and get a little R&R but we'll see. Plenty of time for that when the theatres are dark again.
Other items of note in no particular order are:
- my shoulder (which I fell on about two weeks ago after a particularly sleepless night... futons should never be underestimated for danger, can anyone say trip hazard?) is feeling much better but is at the annoying stage where it feel good but as soon as I do anything more than hold a cup of coffee in my left arm it begins to complain. Not that I've been doing anything but resting it of course... ahem
- Mum's started her next course of chemo after a week's break last week. For some reason I kept thinking it was her last course last time... hopefully this is the one. She's getting great results from the treatment but I think she's looking forward to stopping the chemo.
- I've made it further on my NaNoWriMo novel this year than ever before, but I'm still many thousands of words behind where I should be. Perhaps I should attack that instead of this blog... I should probably also note that I'm only ahead of my previous attempts by about 1,000 words... oh well, only 48,000 more to go...
Anyhow, that's all that springs to mind at the moment. I think I'm approaching the "low" in my sleep/wake cycle, so I'm going to make another attempt to fall asleep. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Greens
The show I'm working on at the moment calls for a herb garden. Given our rather tight budget, Kat (the set/costume designer) and I decided to donate a small herb garden. The best part was planting all of our random plants into our make-shift container.
Here we have the main container (the no-weeding required garden) which has basil, tomatoes, cos lettuce, parsley and some random flowers.
This is the second container (weed-me!) which contains baby corn, more tomatoes, more parsley and more lettuce as well as some weeds from outside the cafeteria.
We love our garden and hope that it's still alive in three weeks time when the season closes...
Here we have the main container (the no-weeding required garden) which has basil, tomatoes, cos lettuce, parsley and some random flowers.
This is the second container (weed-me!) which contains baby corn, more tomatoes, more parsley and more lettuce as well as some weeds from outside the cafeteria.
We love our garden and hope that it's still alive in three weeks time when the season closes...
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Post-Festival Update
Tonight I had dinner with my family for the first time in a month. It's strange to think that we're all living under the same roof and our only interactions have been in passing as I waltz out the door (or stumble depending on what time I made it home from work the previous night).
The (Age 2007) Melbourne Fringe Festival was great fun as I expected. I had some fabulous shows which some of my fabulous friends came to see. It was great to see them at the festival as it was the first time I'd seen some of them in months. Plus it meant that there were people out and seeing theatre. The Festival Club was our place to unwind and you could generally find us tucked around the lighting & sound desks or jumping up to follow spot random patrons and staff as the night traveled on and we burnt up the dance floor.
As is always the case, I blinked and the festival was over and I was moving onto my next gig. It's funny being back at uni but not as a student. I'm still amused by the idea but am taking great pleasure at watching the cast working. We open in two weeks time and I think the show is going to be great. Besides, with the Spiegeltent in walking distance, I'm sure that opening night drinks will last into the wee hours.
Mum's doing well and if I'm not mistaken has one more chemo treatment for this course and then gets at least one week off (which she's looking forward to). The doctors seem pleased with her progress which is great!
I kept meaning to write during the Fringe but I could barely string a sentence together let alone a thought. You should have seen me ordering coffee...
Well, I should stop procrastinating and get back to sorting boxes of stuff. I'm gradually packing and weeding through things that I clearly don't need anymore as they've been sitting in boxes for over a year now. It's a painful boring process but I'm sure it'll feel great once I'm done.
I'm feeling a tad guilty about how little packing I've achieved as I spent most of the day browsing YouTube on the AppleTV and teaching myself Fur Elise on the piano. Yep it's been a productive day.
The (Age 2007) Melbourne Fringe Festival was great fun as I expected. I had some fabulous shows which some of my fabulous friends came to see. It was great to see them at the festival as it was the first time I'd seen some of them in months. Plus it meant that there were people out and seeing theatre. The Festival Club was our place to unwind and you could generally find us tucked around the lighting & sound desks or jumping up to follow spot random patrons and staff as the night traveled on and we burnt up the dance floor.
As is always the case, I blinked and the festival was over and I was moving onto my next gig. It's funny being back at uni but not as a student. I'm still amused by the idea but am taking great pleasure at watching the cast working. We open in two weeks time and I think the show is going to be great. Besides, with the Spiegeltent in walking distance, I'm sure that opening night drinks will last into the wee hours.
Mum's doing well and if I'm not mistaken has one more chemo treatment for this course and then gets at least one week off (which she's looking forward to). The doctors seem pleased with her progress which is great!
I kept meaning to write during the Fringe but I could barely string a sentence together let alone a thought. You should have seen me ordering coffee...
Well, I should stop procrastinating and get back to sorting boxes of stuff. I'm gradually packing and weeding through things that I clearly don't need anymore as they've been sitting in boxes for over a year now. It's a painful boring process but I'm sure it'll feel great once I'm done.
I'm feeling a tad guilty about how little packing I've achieved as I spent most of the day browsing YouTube on the AppleTV and teaching myself Fur Elise on the piano. Yep it's been a productive day.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Fringe Family
Three tech rehearsals down, one to go and then we’re on! So far it’s looking like I’ll have an interesting mix of shows with music being a strong theme.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I’ve been in the Meeting Room at the North Melbourne Town Hall. There are so many familiar faces around the venue. People who I still remember coming over to our house in the wee hours of the morning having paid an exorbitant amount of cash for drinks from a 24 hour bottle shop after the bar closed early one night. As always there are new faces but Melbourne Fringe will always feel a little like a family reunion in that way.
Speaking of family, my Mum’s cousin is down from Singapore for a holiday. We went shopping last night at good ol’ Knox City and Dad’s taking her to have a look around the Vic Markets today. She’s been here for almost a week but I’ve barely seen her as by the time I’m home from work she’s in bed and I leave moments after dragging my sorry self out of bed in the morning. I must admit that I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday morning before spending the afternoon reading the script before Monday’s rehearsal.
It’s good to be busy again! Now if I could start sleeping well again then life would be nigh on perfect.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since I’ve been in the Meeting Room at the North Melbourne Town Hall. There are so many familiar faces around the venue. People who I still remember coming over to our house in the wee hours of the morning having paid an exorbitant amount of cash for drinks from a 24 hour bottle shop after the bar closed early one night. As always there are new faces but Melbourne Fringe will always feel a little like a family reunion in that way.
Speaking of family, my Mum’s cousin is down from Singapore for a holiday. We went shopping last night at good ol’ Knox City and Dad’s taking her to have a look around the Vic Markets today. She’s been here for almost a week but I’ve barely seen her as by the time I’m home from work she’s in bed and I leave moments after dragging my sorry self out of bed in the morning. I must admit that I’m looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday morning before spending the afternoon reading the script before Monday’s rehearsal.
It’s good to be busy again! Now if I could start sleeping well again then life would be nigh on perfect.
Friday, September 14, 2007
A Silver Lining
I couldn't sleep last night. Couldn't and didn't. Seem to have lost the "off switch" for my mind. Still every cloud has a silver lining they say and mine looked a little like this...
Pardon the quality of the picture. My actual camera ran out of battery and it was taken through the bedroom window on my phone. It was a wonderful way to start the day and I wanted to share it. I have a strange suspicion I'll be seeing something similar in a few hours time.
Pardon the quality of the picture. My actual camera ran out of battery and it was taken through the bedroom window on my phone. It was a wonderful way to start the day and I wanted to share it. I have a strange suspicion I'll be seeing something similar in a few hours time.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Back in Melbourne
I've been back in Melbourne for a week and a half now. More than enough time to settle into my nocturnal habits once more. Luckily I'll be working nights for the Melbourne Fringe.
While I was in Darwin there were a few changes around my folks place. For one the old CRT tv transformed into a 42" plasma tv. What caught my attention though, once I managed to drag myself away from the new blue-ray DVDs was this...
It would seem that the dogs are enjoying the same fresh water that we are. It's only fair I suppose...
Nothing else to report really. My days have been spent looking for post-Fringe work, reinstating the blue streak in my hair and feeding my Facebook addiction.
It's been great spending time with my family though. Since Mum's cancer diagnosis Dad's been working from home a lot more so we've been lucky enough to have most meals as a family.
Mum's doing well at the moment. We received the latest results from her scans/tests and have been told that the cancer is now largely hard tissue and it's looking like she will only have to go through one more 6 week cycle of chemo before they can remove it. Right now she's having a short break from treatment as her white blood cell count is too low. Overall we're pretty happy with the latest news and I'll be sure to keep any interested parties posted. Many thanks for the well wishes.
Plans over the next week involve reading trashy magazines with Mum, heading to the city to see the Guggenheim exhibition as well as the Pixar showcase and of course the mundane catching up on paperwork and job hunting. I must admit I miss Darwin life, the warm walk-conducive weather and beach just moments away but it's good to be back in Melbourne. The skies may be grey but it's still t-shirt weather for most of the day and the owls nesting outside our house are much less shrill than the birds that shared my garden in Darwin.
While I was in Darwin there were a few changes around my folks place. For one the old CRT tv transformed into a 42" plasma tv. What caught my attention though, once I managed to drag myself away from the new blue-ray DVDs was this...
It would seem that the dogs are enjoying the same fresh water that we are. It's only fair I suppose...
Nothing else to report really. My days have been spent looking for post-Fringe work, reinstating the blue streak in my hair and feeding my Facebook addiction.
It's been great spending time with my family though. Since Mum's cancer diagnosis Dad's been working from home a lot more so we've been lucky enough to have most meals as a family.
Mum's doing well at the moment. We received the latest results from her scans/tests and have been told that the cancer is now largely hard tissue and it's looking like she will only have to go through one more 6 week cycle of chemo before they can remove it. Right now she's having a short break from treatment as her white blood cell count is too low. Overall we're pretty happy with the latest news and I'll be sure to keep any interested parties posted. Many thanks for the well wishes.
Plans over the next week involve reading trashy magazines with Mum, heading to the city to see the Guggenheim exhibition as well as the Pixar showcase and of course the mundane catching up on paperwork and job hunting. I must admit I miss Darwin life, the warm walk-conducive weather and beach just moments away but it's good to be back in Melbourne. The skies may be grey but it's still t-shirt weather for most of the day and the owls nesting outside our house are much less shrill than the birds that shared my garden in Darwin.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Departing Darwin
It's 01:22 and my flight was due to depart in 18 minutes. However the plane servicing this flight has been delayed and as a result I now have an hour to pass before I start the long journey home.
Even though I'm at the airport I can barely believe I'm leaving Darwin. I had a fairly typical Friday today. Rushing about for work culminating in drinks at the Ski Club watching the sunset.
I've really enjoyed my time up here. I can see how Darwin slowly seduces you into staying. It's laid back nature, which is wondering and trying all at once, suits the climate. I've found it to be a friendly city which I'm looking forward to visiting again in the near future. Having spent 12 weeks here I've gotten to know the city and its suburbs and have started to get to know it's locals. I must admit I'm a little sad to be leaving!
There are many things that I've learned/observed/been amused by/generally noted during my stay. Here are a few of them, in no particular order;
- Left Turn Permitted On Red Light After Stopping - it makes sense but doesn't stop me getting nervous when a police car comes up next to you while you're doing it!
- no one drives at the speed limit, you're either well above or well below
- the sunsets are amazing most days of the week
- on a really clear night you can see the "dust" of the Milky Way
- rattling the pipe gently can help to clear the blockage in the block of temporary toilets
- birds sing at all hours of the day
- there are some amazing beaches in Darwin
- it's the only place that I've ever paid $6.60 for yesterday's newspaper
- no curfew time for planes means many crazy flight times
- insect repellent and sunscreen should form part of your daily ritual. Everything seems to bite and sting up here and people get sunburn just thinking about it
- there's always something happening in Darwin
I suppose that's what I love about Darwin. There's always something happening and yet it's still a great place just to chill out and do nothing.
Well my ability to construct meaningful sentences has diminished so I'll quit while I'm not too far behind.
Next stop, Sydney
(unless this delayed plane makes me miss my connection... which I've been told is a possibility)
Even though I'm at the airport I can barely believe I'm leaving Darwin. I had a fairly typical Friday today. Rushing about for work culminating in drinks at the Ski Club watching the sunset.
I've really enjoyed my time up here. I can see how Darwin slowly seduces you into staying. It's laid back nature, which is wondering and trying all at once, suits the climate. I've found it to be a friendly city which I'm looking forward to visiting again in the near future. Having spent 12 weeks here I've gotten to know the city and its suburbs and have started to get to know it's locals. I must admit I'm a little sad to be leaving!
There are many things that I've learned/observed/been amused by/generally noted during my stay. Here are a few of them, in no particular order;
- Left Turn Permitted On Red Light After Stopping - it makes sense but doesn't stop me getting nervous when a police car comes up next to you while you're doing it!
- no one drives at the speed limit, you're either well above or well below
- the sunsets are amazing most days of the week
- on a really clear night you can see the "dust" of the Milky Way
- rattling the pipe gently can help to clear the blockage in the block of temporary toilets
- birds sing at all hours of the day
- there are some amazing beaches in Darwin
- it's the only place that I've ever paid $6.60 for yesterday's newspaper
- no curfew time for planes means many crazy flight times
- insect repellent and sunscreen should form part of your daily ritual. Everything seems to bite and sting up here and people get sunburn just thinking about it
- there's always something happening in Darwin
I suppose that's what I love about Darwin. There's always something happening and yet it's still a great place just to chill out and do nothing.
Well my ability to construct meaningful sentences has diminished so I'll quit while I'm not too far behind.
Next stop, Sydney
(unless this delayed plane makes me miss my connection... which I've been told is a possibility)
Sunday, August 26, 2007
A Toast
Five, possibly six years ago, in a small theatre in Melbourne I met Nick. As we trimmed trees during the church service next door, hauled dentist chairs and squeezed puppets that barely fit through the doors into the theatre, we didn't really talk much. That was must of the season until we had our final two shows, a matinee and an evening show. We had a couple of hours to kill so we headed to the pub and played a whole lot of pool and from that moment a friendship started to grow.
Over the years Nick's been an amazing friend. He seems to have a sixth sense about when I'm feeling under the weather no matter where I am. A text message will appear or my phone will ring just at the right moment. Just as I'm thinking I need to talk to someone. Most importantly he's honest with me. He's not afraid to tell me I'm being an idiot or that I'm doing okay.
Well, it's Nick's birthday today and I wish I could be there to give him a hug and a beer but there's a festival to close tonight so the beer will have to wait. Well, his beer anyway!
So happy birthday darlin'. To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.
Over the years Nick's been an amazing friend. He seems to have a sixth sense about when I'm feeling under the weather no matter where I am. A text message will appear or my phone will ring just at the right moment. Just as I'm thinking I need to talk to someone. Most importantly he's honest with me. He's not afraid to tell me I'm being an idiot or that I'm doing okay.
Well, it's Nick's birthday today and I wish I could be there to give him a hug and a beer but there's a festival to close tonight so the beer will have to wait. Well, his beer anyway!
So happy birthday darlin'. To absent friends, lost loves, old gods, and the season of mists; and may each and every one of us always give the devil his due.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Four Things
A: FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1. Retail sales in a teddy bear making shop, counting eyes was always fun...
2. Teller at ANZ
3. Tutor - English, Maths, Biology, General Science
4. much theatre
B: FOUR DVD’S I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Triplets of Belleville
2. Spirited Away
3. Groundhog Day
4. Amélie
C: FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Singapore
2. Melbourne
3. Ballarat (well I had a house there that I was occasionally at...)
4. Doha
D: FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
1. Coupling
2. The Muppet Show
3. Green Wing
4. Deadwood
E: FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON HOLIDAY
1. New Zealand - Queenstown being a favourite
2. Aireys Inlet
3. Singapore
4. Europe
F: WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY (or regularly)
1. Neil Gaiman's Journal
2. Knitty
3. Wired News
4. The Age
G: FOUR OF MY FAVOURITE FOODS:
1. Roast anything
2. beef tataki
3. kueh lapis (indonesian layer cake)
4. mmmm cookie!
H: FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Melbourne - so I could give my family a huge hug and let them know how much I love them
2. Aireys Inlet - with a small group of friends, some wine, cheese, biscuits and a good roast
3. London - for more theatre and museums
4. Tromsø - there's nothing quite like the arctic
I: FOUR FRIENDS I THINK WILL RESPOND:
1. Anyone who's bored and in an office
2. Anyone who's bored and not in an office
3. Anyone who's after something to do an is at a computer
4. I think that covers it
J: FOUR OF MY BEST MOMENTS
1. Sharing meals with my close friends
2. Finally making it to Europe after years of dreaming
3. Watching my first opening ceremony from the control room
4. Swing dancing with Gene in the carport when it was almost 40 degrees in Doha
K: FOUR OF MY WORST MOMENTS
1. Finding out my Mum has cancer
2. Putting down my 16 year old dog who had a stomach tumour on the same day that my grandpa died
3. Most mornings (unless I'm still up from the night before!)
4. Seeing my friends or family troubled
L: FOUR TEAMS/GROUPS I HAVE BELONGED TO
1. Tintern Taggers (school kayaking team)
2. Monash Players
3. Dorien le Gallienne orchestra
4. Swing Patrol (infrequently)
1. Retail sales in a teddy bear making shop, counting eyes was always fun...
2. Teller at ANZ
3. Tutor - English, Maths, Biology, General Science
4. much theatre
B: FOUR DVD’S I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Triplets of Belleville
2. Spirited Away
3. Groundhog Day
4. Amélie
C: FOUR PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. Singapore
2. Melbourne
3. Ballarat (well I had a house there that I was occasionally at...)
4. Doha
D: FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH
1. Coupling
2. The Muppet Show
3. Green Wing
4. Deadwood
E: FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON HOLIDAY
1. New Zealand - Queenstown being a favourite
2. Aireys Inlet
3. Singapore
4. Europe
F: WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY (or regularly)
1. Neil Gaiman's Journal
2. Knitty
3. Wired News
4. The Age
G: FOUR OF MY FAVOURITE FOODS:
1. Roast anything
2. beef tataki
3. kueh lapis (indonesian layer cake)
4. mmmm cookie!
H: FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Melbourne - so I could give my family a huge hug and let them know how much I love them
2. Aireys Inlet - with a small group of friends, some wine, cheese, biscuits and a good roast
3. London - for more theatre and museums
4. Tromsø - there's nothing quite like the arctic
I: FOUR FRIENDS I THINK WILL RESPOND:
1. Anyone who's bored and in an office
2. Anyone who's bored and not in an office
3. Anyone who's after something to do an is at a computer
4. I think that covers it
J: FOUR OF MY BEST MOMENTS
1. Sharing meals with my close friends
2. Finally making it to Europe after years of dreaming
3. Watching my first opening ceremony from the control room
4. Swing dancing with Gene in the carport when it was almost 40 degrees in Doha
K: FOUR OF MY WORST MOMENTS
1. Finding out my Mum has cancer
2. Putting down my 16 year old dog who had a stomach tumour on the same day that my grandpa died
3. Most mornings (unless I'm still up from the night before!)
4. Seeing my friends or family troubled
L: FOUR TEAMS/GROUPS I HAVE BELONGED TO
1. Tintern Taggers (school kayaking team)
2. Monash Players
3. Dorien le Gallienne orchestra
4. Swing Patrol (infrequently)
Home Soon
I'm struggling to comprehend the notion that this time next week I'll be in Sydney! We've got three nights left at the Star Shell before it all gets packed away for another year.
The last week or what I think is the last week (days and nights are melding into one) has been quieter on the going out front. However it's SoCo's second last night tonight so I think there will have to be a bit more effort on our parts to get out and enjoy the containers one last time for this festival season.
My laptop is fixed! It's probably the biggest news for me today... it's been out of action for the last couple of weeks as I've been busy running about doing Festival stuff I didn't manage to get it serviced until yesterday and they managed to fix it today! Very excited. So much so I'm going to drop by home and pick up my camera to take all the site photos that I've been meaning to take but didn't because I figured I couldn't get them off my laptop anyhow.
I've had a change of plans for my return to Melbourne. I've decided to cut my Sydney visit shorter so that I can be home to hassle my Mum earlier. So for anyone who cares to catch up with me in the coming weeks...
I'll be in Sydney between 1st and 3rd September and I'll be back in Melbourne on the morning of the 4th September. There are many drinks to be had!
The Star Shell is calling... I'll try and write again soon (no excuse now that the laptop's working!)
The last week or what I think is the last week (days and nights are melding into one) has been quieter on the going out front. However it's SoCo's second last night tonight so I think there will have to be a bit more effort on our parts to get out and enjoy the containers one last time for this festival season.
My laptop is fixed! It's probably the biggest news for me today... it's been out of action for the last couple of weeks as I've been busy running about doing Festival stuff I didn't manage to get it serviced until yesterday and they managed to fix it today! Very excited. So much so I'm going to drop by home and pick up my camera to take all the site photos that I've been meaning to take but didn't because I figured I couldn't get them off my laptop anyhow.
I've had a change of plans for my return to Melbourne. I've decided to cut my Sydney visit shorter so that I can be home to hassle my Mum earlier. So for anyone who cares to catch up with me in the coming weeks...
I'll be in Sydney between 1st and 3rd September and I'll be back in Melbourne on the morning of the 4th September. There are many drinks to be had!
The Star Shell is calling... I'll try and write again soon (no excuse now that the laptop's working!)
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Festival Life
Well the Darwin Festival has well and truly opened... so much so that we're into our final week of shows! It's been an amazing time up here and really great to see so many people coming to see the shows.
Photos of the venue would have been posted (along with more regular posts) had my laptop's hard-drive decided to die on me. So as a result there are no pictures and yet another fortnightly update.
The Santos Concert on the Esplanade was our big opening night. We had over 6,000 people attending which is not bad given the population is estimated at 71,900 people (in 2006). Excellent music although I did miss the final act to go and paint a set.
I was lucky enough to operate three performances of Play Play which was a physical theatre show from Singapore. It was quirky, occasionally morbid but balanced with a great sense of humour. I wish that more people could have seen it! It was also great to get to know the company who taught me how to play "paper, scissors, rock" in a group. An excellent way to pass some idle time!
There hasn't been much sleeping since we opened. Partly because we're busy through the day doing the office work. Partly because we're busy at night at shows. Also partly because SoCo Cargo is a two minute walk from my doorstep and as such it seems almost rude not to drop in to say hi to the crew there...
In other news I had a minor accident in a truck and was bitten several times by a spider at the same time. It was a rather boring 5 minutes of my life but all is well!
Today I had a little R&R with the crew from the Star Shell when we spent the morning at Berry Springs have a swim in both the main & lower pools as well as the actual spring. I must say I'm a little sore having spent four solid hours swimming in the water but I'd do it again in a flash.
Tonight I'll be back at the Star Shell to say hello and soak up the atmosphere. Not to mention the great food that's down there... Why cook and create dishes to clean when you can have excellent food on site?
Well, I thought I'd just say a quick hello before I run away to Festival land again.
See you soon!
Photos of the venue would have been posted (along with more regular posts) had my laptop's hard-drive decided to die on me. So as a result there are no pictures and yet another fortnightly update.
The Santos Concert on the Esplanade was our big opening night. We had over 6,000 people attending which is not bad given the population is estimated at 71,900 people (in 2006). Excellent music although I did miss the final act to go and paint a set.
I was lucky enough to operate three performances of Play Play which was a physical theatre show from Singapore. It was quirky, occasionally morbid but balanced with a great sense of humour. I wish that more people could have seen it! It was also great to get to know the company who taught me how to play "paper, scissors, rock" in a group. An excellent way to pass some idle time!
There hasn't been much sleeping since we opened. Partly because we're busy through the day doing the office work. Partly because we're busy at night at shows. Also partly because SoCo Cargo is a two minute walk from my doorstep and as such it seems almost rude not to drop in to say hi to the crew there...
In other news I had a minor accident in a truck and was bitten several times by a spider at the same time. It was a rather boring 5 minutes of my life but all is well!
Today I had a little R&R with the crew from the Star Shell when we spent the morning at Berry Springs have a swim in both the main & lower pools as well as the actual spring. I must say I'm a little sore having spent four solid hours swimming in the water but I'd do it again in a flash.
Tonight I'll be back at the Star Shell to say hello and soak up the atmosphere. Not to mention the great food that's down there... Why cook and create dishes to clean when you can have excellent food on site?
Well, I thought I'd just say a quick hello before I run away to Festival land again.
See you soon!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Two Weeks of Good Intentions
As the lack of blogging in the last few weeks has shown, good intentions sometimes don’t get you very far. This comes from years of finely tuned procrastination skills, recent increased personal letter writing and (I like to think) the Festival opening being next week.
Life has been fairly uneventful in a rather pleasant way. The weather has been consistently warm and sunny. The sunsets are always beautiful and I feel a little spoilt knowing that most of the people I know are going through an actual cold winter.
Since I last wrote I watched 2 seasons of the Gilmore Girls (five and six) until I started dreaming about the show. Season 2 of House was next although my lack of self-discipline saw me watching 4 of 6 discs the night before my senior first aid course. 8 hours of first aid training on 3 hours sleep is less fun than you might think.
I made sure that I had marginally more sleep the next night, after all I only had two more discs to go…
So I now hold a current senior first aid certificate and I rock at bandaging. This is not meant as an encouragement to do something that requires bandaging!
My DVD marathons aside, work has taken up most of my days. The hours have started to get a little erratic with somedays ending at 5:30pm and others at 11:30pm. On the bright side (?) they’re all starting at approx 9am. Right now I’m in tech spec & scheduling land. Especially since I have crew arriving in town this weekend. It’s a little frustrating trying to chase people up in Darwin. It’s almost like they’re on slightly faster timeframe than Doha time, but not by much. Jaia and I also letter dropped over 2% of the population of Darwin. So far we’ve dropped letters to 1300 houses notifying them of our main venue as they live in the area. It’s astounding to think that so many people have our numbers. Luckily they’re not all calling at once. Sadly the big print runs of letters killed our printer… it took over 6 hours to print 1100 pages. I was not a happy camper at the end of that day…
On a brighter note, some of you may have heard of the Triple J Goes AWOL concert that was in Humpty Doo. Well it just so happens that Humpty Doo is about half an hour from Darwin. So we packed a picnic rug and headed out to check out Blue King Brown, Something For Kate and Missy Higgins. It was a great night despite it being the first dry concert that many of us had been to. (The vodka tonics were flowing when we got back into town).
At some point in the next week I’ll be moving from the city, to Nightcliff, which is all of fifteen minutes drive from the city. I had a look at the place today and I feel spoilt to be moving so close to the beach. It’ll be wonderful!
Having had nothing exciting to report in the last couple of weeks, I’ll leave you with some photos from the Darwin Show. While I was updating my first aid skills I was missing out on such highlights as pig racing and pig diving. The unofficial world record for pig diving was broken at the show. Sadly there wasn’t a Guiness Book of Records person to officiate… Miss Piggy (the record breaking pig) will have to wait till the next diving meet. Many thanks to Viv & Rosie for taking the photos.
Life has been fairly uneventful in a rather pleasant way. The weather has been consistently warm and sunny. The sunsets are always beautiful and I feel a little spoilt knowing that most of the people I know are going through an actual cold winter.
Since I last wrote I watched 2 seasons of the Gilmore Girls (five and six) until I started dreaming about the show. Season 2 of House was next although my lack of self-discipline saw me watching 4 of 6 discs the night before my senior first aid course. 8 hours of first aid training on 3 hours sleep is less fun than you might think.
I made sure that I had marginally more sleep the next night, after all I only had two more discs to go…
So I now hold a current senior first aid certificate and I rock at bandaging. This is not meant as an encouragement to do something that requires bandaging!
My DVD marathons aside, work has taken up most of my days. The hours have started to get a little erratic with somedays ending at 5:30pm and others at 11:30pm. On the bright side (?) they’re all starting at approx 9am. Right now I’m in tech spec & scheduling land. Especially since I have crew arriving in town this weekend. It’s a little frustrating trying to chase people up in Darwin. It’s almost like they’re on slightly faster timeframe than Doha time, but not by much. Jaia and I also letter dropped over 2% of the population of Darwin. So far we’ve dropped letters to 1300 houses notifying them of our main venue as they live in the area. It’s astounding to think that so many people have our numbers. Luckily they’re not all calling at once. Sadly the big print runs of letters killed our printer… it took over 6 hours to print 1100 pages. I was not a happy camper at the end of that day…
On a brighter note, some of you may have heard of the Triple J Goes AWOL concert that was in Humpty Doo. Well it just so happens that Humpty Doo is about half an hour from Darwin. So we packed a picnic rug and headed out to check out Blue King Brown, Something For Kate and Missy Higgins. It was a great night despite it being the first dry concert that many of us had been to. (The vodka tonics were flowing when we got back into town).
At some point in the next week I’ll be moving from the city, to Nightcliff, which is all of fifteen minutes drive from the city. I had a look at the place today and I feel spoilt to be moving so close to the beach. It’ll be wonderful!
Having had nothing exciting to report in the last couple of weeks, I’ll leave you with some photos from the Darwin Show. While I was updating my first aid skills I was missing out on such highlights as pig racing and pig diving. The unofficial world record for pig diving was broken at the show. Sadly there wasn’t a Guiness Book of Records person to officiate… Miss Piggy (the record breaking pig) will have to wait till the next diving meet. Many thanks to Viv & Rosie for taking the photos.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
When the moon was smiling
Tonight when I left work I was thinking to myself how dark the car park was and having a "but not for night" sketch running through my mind simultaneously when I looked up and saw the moon smiling at me.
There's much less light pollution up here because it's a smaller city than Melbourne. As a result, the crescent moon was very bright and the shadow of the rest of the moon was visible as well. Very pretty!
There's much less light pollution up here because it's a smaller city than Melbourne. As a result, the crescent moon was very bright and the shadow of the rest of the moon was visible as well. Very pretty!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Launched!
We're officially launched! Darwin Festival 2007, check out our program even if you can't make it up here. It's looking to be a http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifgreat festival.
Our program launch was very well received last night and a good night had by all. It was good to see everything come together.
It's been a busy week and as a result it's passed in the blink of an eye. I'm not really sure where it went but I have a vague suspicion that I'll be cleaning out the cupboards one day and stumble upon a pile of lost time huddled in the corner... I can dream!
Not much else to report other than a second crochet bag is almost complete and my attempt to memorise The Sneetches seems to have stalled but I'm getting back to that now that the launch is over.
Darwin is still a buzz with the filming of Australia. Nicole's made the front page of the paper for the past couple of days. No star sightings for me but I haven't really had the time to head down to the wharf for a sticky beak.
Not long till the Festival opens so erratic blog post season is back!
Thinking of all back at home who are freezing in the Melbourne winter (two days ago there was an article in the paper "South to blame for our recent cold snap" after a few 15˚C nights)
Our program launch was very well received last night and a good night had by all. It was good to see everything come together.
It's been a busy week and as a result it's passed in the blink of an eye. I'm not really sure where it went but I have a vague suspicion that I'll be cleaning out the cupboards one day and stumble upon a pile of lost time huddled in the corner... I can dream!
Not much else to report other than a second crochet bag is almost complete and my attempt to memorise The Sneetches seems to have stalled but I'm getting back to that now that the launch is over.
Darwin is still a buzz with the filming of Australia. Nicole's made the front page of the paper for the past couple of days. No star sightings for me but I haven't really had the time to head down to the wharf for a sticky beak.
Not long till the Festival opens so erratic blog post season is back!
Thinking of all back at home who are freezing in the Melbourne winter (two days ago there was an article in the paper "South to blame for our recent cold snap" after a few 15˚C nights)
Saturday, July 07, 2007
A Walk in the Park
With our program launch on Wednesday it's all systems go at work which is just what I love. Still there's been so much I've been wanting to share so here goes. (I'll try to be relatively brief!)
After a few hours of indecision as to when to leave we left for the park on Friday night at 21:00 and arrived at the Merl Campsite, East Alligator at about midnight. We would have gotten there earlier but I was looking for a different camp site. If you're wondering how we made it there that quickly, the 130km speed limits certainly helped.
A few hours of sleep and the sun was rising so it was time to get up. I was not particularly keen on this concept but there was plenty to see and do.
The smoke from the various controlled fires made for a beautiful sunrise.
The morning was spent at Ubirr which is a gorgeous rock art site that overlooks some flood plains. Stunning sunsets from what I've been told but we were there at the wrong end of the day. Still, spotting the thylacine rock painting and looking out from the top of a really big rock and seeing the terrain change from bush to flood plains to rocks to semi-tropical forest was just amazing.
In the afternoon we headed towards Jim Jim Falls where the roads had just been graded making them much more passable for newbie off roaders like me. The falls were a 900m scramble over rocks that was vaguely marked with orange pointers that were often few and far between. It felt like we'd been scrambling forever until we rounded a particularly large rock and discovered a beautiful sandy beach area. It was worth the hike.
On the ranger's advice we camped at the falls (camping in Kakadu is very civilised. There are hot showers and actual toilets) and woke up early to head to Makuk (Barramundi) Falls where there was said to be good croc-free swimming.
After more scrambling over rocks (an extra 100m) we made it to a gorgeously cool plunge pool with a spectacular waterfall. After a bit of coaxing I made it into the cool (cold) waters and swam to the base of the waterfall to relax in the sun just underneath. Possibly having had a bit too much sun I decided that I really did want my camera to take photos of what it was like under the waterfall. Only problem was the lack of waterproof camera gear. This was the solution.
The rehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifsults?
The rest of the photos can be found here:
Zoto Album
or you can find in my Facebook album.
After a morning of swimming and not dropping our cameras in the water we headed to Gunlom Falls to experience the rock pools at the top of the waterfall. Spectacular views yet again.
I can't even begin to describe how beautiful Kakadu is. Everyone should go and experience it. It was quite a clamber up to the top of Gunlom but well worth it in the end.
So after plenty of sun it was time to head home.
We stopped for diesel at the Mary Road Road house where we watched the Territory Day fireworks (and stomped on the small spot fires that were caused by said fireworks) before heading back to Darwin. It was a good drive home with only one suicidal kangaroo, who we missed, and a rather large bush fire we were advised to ignore. Life's a bit different up here but it's great.
Wish I could send you all a big parcel of sunshine!
After a few hours of indecision as to when to leave we left for the park on Friday night at 21:00 and arrived at the Merl Campsite, East Alligator at about midnight. We would have gotten there earlier but I was looking for a different camp site. If you're wondering how we made it there that quickly, the 130km speed limits certainly helped.
A few hours of sleep and the sun was rising so it was time to get up. I was not particularly keen on this concept but there was plenty to see and do.
The smoke from the various controlled fires made for a beautiful sunrise.
The morning was spent at Ubirr which is a gorgeous rock art site that overlooks some flood plains. Stunning sunsets from what I've been told but we were there at the wrong end of the day. Still, spotting the thylacine rock painting and looking out from the top of a really big rock and seeing the terrain change from bush to flood plains to rocks to semi-tropical forest was just amazing.
In the afternoon we headed towards Jim Jim Falls where the roads had just been graded making them much more passable for newbie off roaders like me. The falls were a 900m scramble over rocks that was vaguely marked with orange pointers that were often few and far between. It felt like we'd been scrambling forever until we rounded a particularly large rock and discovered a beautiful sandy beach area. It was worth the hike.
On the ranger's advice we camped at the falls (camping in Kakadu is very civilised. There are hot showers and actual toilets) and woke up early to head to Makuk (Barramundi) Falls where there was said to be good croc-free swimming.
After more scrambling over rocks (an extra 100m) we made it to a gorgeously cool plunge pool with a spectacular waterfall. After a bit of coaxing I made it into the cool (cold) waters and swam to the base of the waterfall to relax in the sun just underneath. Possibly having had a bit too much sun I decided that I really did want my camera to take photos of what it was like under the waterfall. Only problem was the lack of waterproof camera gear. This was the solution.
The rehttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifsults?
The rest of the photos can be found here:
Zoto Album
or you can find in my Facebook album.
After a morning of swimming and not dropping our cameras in the water we headed to Gunlom Falls to experience the rock pools at the top of the waterfall. Spectacular views yet again.
I can't even begin to describe how beautiful Kakadu is. Everyone should go and experience it. It was quite a clamber up to the top of Gunlom but well worth it in the end.
So after plenty of sun it was time to head home.
We stopped for diesel at the Mary Road Road house where we watched the Territory Day fireworks (and stomped on the small spot fires that were caused by said fireworks) before heading back to Darwin. It was a good drive home with only one suicidal kangaroo, who we missed, and a rather large bush fire we were advised to ignore. Life's a bit different up here but it's great.
Wish I could send you all a big parcel of sunshine!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Bound for the bush
I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, I've just been trying to be sociable for the last few days!
One of the many people I met in Doha, Adam, is over in Oz on holiday and is likely to one of the very few visitors I get due to the incredible airfares that are required to get to Darwin from most Australian capital cities.
So it's been a week of trying different food options ranging from seafood platters at Lewinsky's (named after Ms Monica) and a delicious selection of Thai curries at Hanuman, it's been a truly delicious week.
Having promised myself I wasn't going to repeat Doha where I managed to not make it out to explore the desert (while virtually living in it), this weekend will see my first trip in a long time out to the bush.
Kakadu's only 250km from Darwin and while we won't see all of the park there are definite highlights that I've been given from my work mates. So I'm looking forward to sitting in a croc-free pool at the top of a waterfall to pass at least one of my afternoons.
Might even make it back in time to see all the fireworks on Territory day...
Must run, toast is ready and I have to leave for work otherwise I won't get to leave for the park!
PS. Hot showers are back!
One of the many people I met in Doha, Adam, is over in Oz on holiday and is likely to one of the very few visitors I get due to the incredible airfares that are required to get to Darwin from most Australian capital cities.
So it's been a week of trying different food options ranging from seafood platters at Lewinsky's (named after Ms Monica) and a delicious selection of Thai curries at Hanuman, it's been a truly delicious week.
Having promised myself I wasn't going to repeat Doha where I managed to not make it out to explore the desert (while virtually living in it), this weekend will see my first trip in a long time out to the bush.
Kakadu's only 250km from Darwin and while we won't see all of the park there are definite highlights that I've been given from my work mates. So I'm looking forward to sitting in a croc-free pool at the top of a waterfall to pass at least one of my afternoons.
Might even make it back in time to see all the fireworks on Territory day...
Must run, toast is ready and I have to leave for work otherwise I won't get to leave for the park!
PS. Hot showers are back!
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Environmentally Friendlyish
We've had some delightfully "cool" days up here with the maximum temperature varying between 25˚C and 29˚C which made work feel much more pleasant. No air-conditioning required, just open up the doors! We even made it to a low of 15˚C some nights. Rumour has it the camping store has sold out of thermals.
I've made quite a few trips to the supermarket in the short time I've been here. It seems to be my hang out of choice when away from home (Woolies is no match for Carrefour in terms of random items that you don't need). However the green bags just never seem to be in stock... so while browsing the aisles I found a few balls of mercerised cotton yarn and hey presto, an environmentally friendly bag was born.
So now I'm taking my bag, book, hook and left over yarn, off to find myself a patch of park to make my own for the afternoon while I wait for the sun to do it's work and heat up the solar panels for the hot water system. Tonight is looking good for the first hot shower in three days!
I've made quite a few trips to the supermarket in the short time I've been here. It seems to be my hang out of choice when away from home (Woolies is no match for Carrefour in terms of random items that you don't need). However the green bags just never seem to be in stock... so while browsing the aisles I found a few balls of mercerised cotton yarn and hey presto, an environmentally friendly bag was born.
So now I'm taking my bag, book, hook and left over yarn, off to find myself a patch of park to make my own for the afternoon while I wait for the sun to do it's work and heat up the solar panels for the hot water system. Tonight is looking good for the first hot shower in three days!
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Relaxing Darwin
Darwin is a gorgeous city, if a little warm for my tastes. There are tropical trees in almost every street and the wildlife - early rising - is amazingly vocal. Having been here less than a week it's still a bit rosy for me but I can imagine coming back for a relaxing break.
I took some time to walk around the city today, partially to sate my need to explore and also to fulfill my mission to get a hat before tomorrow's festival. It was a pretty successful day!
My walk took me down Mitchell Street which is one of the main streets in Darwin. It's the backpacker and tourist street complete with the 24 hour Coles which I'm sure I'll be well acquainted with soon. I browsed a couple of shops and tried on a ridiculous number of hats before I found myself in a hat shop just off Mitchell Street. I made the decision not to leave the shop until I had a hat in hand. I'm ashamed to say it took half an hour of hunting through hats and trying them on before I found one that fit, with a wide brim, that didn't look too ridiculous.
Armed with a hat I headed towards Fisherman's Wharf to check out the Darwin Seafood Festival site where I'll be stage managing tomorrow (as you do on your first weekend in Darwin). It's looking good and I watched the sound check for Double Entendre who played an awesome version of Caravan. I think it'll be a hot but really great day tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.
One other piece of exciting news (if you're me) involves the purchase of a second-hand book in what could become my favourite shop in Darwin... the secondhand bookstore that buys books as well as sells them. While browsing the sci-fi/fantasy section I was looking for the familiar covers... Pratchett, Adams... Gaiman... when I realised that I didn't see any familiar Gaiman covers... On closer inspection, I found a copy of Ghastly Beyond Belief, the somewhat out of print book of quote that he wrote with Kim Newman. Best $6 I've spent in awhile. There goes lunch tomorrow...
Before I run off to lounge on my bed and soak up the good-bad sci-fi/fantasy goodness, I want to thank everyone who's sent their well wishes after my last post. I was in a bit of a horrible place but it's getting better now. Mum seems to be in good spirits and there's a team of people looking after her so I know she's in good hands.
I took some time to walk around the city today, partially to sate my need to explore and also to fulfill my mission to get a hat before tomorrow's festival. It was a pretty successful day!
My walk took me down Mitchell Street which is one of the main streets in Darwin. It's the backpacker and tourist street complete with the 24 hour Coles which I'm sure I'll be well acquainted with soon. I browsed a couple of shops and tried on a ridiculous number of hats before I found myself in a hat shop just off Mitchell Street. I made the decision not to leave the shop until I had a hat in hand. I'm ashamed to say it took half an hour of hunting through hats and trying them on before I found one that fit, with a wide brim, that didn't look too ridiculous.
Armed with a hat I headed towards Fisherman's Wharf to check out the Darwin Seafood Festival site where I'll be stage managing tomorrow (as you do on your first weekend in Darwin). It's looking good and I watched the sound check for Double Entendre who played an awesome version of Caravan. I think it'll be a hot but really great day tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it.
One other piece of exciting news (if you're me) involves the purchase of a second-hand book in what could become my favourite shop in Darwin... the secondhand bookstore that buys books as well as sells them. While browsing the sci-fi/fantasy section I was looking for the familiar covers... Pratchett, Adams... Gaiman... when I realised that I didn't see any familiar Gaiman covers... On closer inspection, I found a copy of Ghastly Beyond Belief, the somewhat out of print book of quote that he wrote with Kim Newman. Best $6 I've spent in awhile. There goes lunch tomorrow...
Before I run off to lounge on my bed and soak up the good-bad sci-fi/fantasy goodness, I want to thank everyone who's sent their well wishes after my last post. I was in a bit of a horrible place but it's getting better now. Mum seems to be in good spirits and there's a team of people looking after her so I know she's in good hands.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Nothing Compares
Nothing in my 24 years of life could have prepared me for the news that my Mum's cancer is incurable. Not even my GP telling me that treatment was more likely to prolong her life than cure the cancer. Still to her credit she's still remaining positive and is ready to step up to the challenges that the treatment will set for her. To say that Mum is a strong woman would be an understatement beyond compare.
When I called Dad and he told me the news I was standing in my new bedroom watching a gecko scampering across the wall. I nodded and asked the questions that I wanted to ask and then he had to go. One minute later it hit me. A sudden feeling of being completely lost in the world. Not knowing what to do, who to call or how to breathe. It lasted for a brief moment before I realized that there is nothing I could do except to be there for Mum. The hardest thing for me (being the control freak that I am), is knowing there is nothing that I can do to fix this.
Luckily I remembered how to breathe and with that all-important knowledge remembered who to call. I deliberated calling home again as I didn’t want to disturb her rest. After all the phone was bound to be running hot tonight in the wake of the latest news. I called anyway figuring that I had special dispensation (being her daughter) for interrupting rest. I’m glad that I did because she seems to be having one of her better nights where she’s not feeling exhausted or dizzy. Just hearing her voice and hearing her describe her first thoughts (what am I going to do with all my wool and beads?) after mishearing the oncologist and thinking that she only had 18 months to live (as opposed to finding out the results of the treatment in 18 months which I believe is what he said).
Hearing her voice and hearing her talk was wonderful. For just a moment I was just on the phone having a chat with my Mum like I always do when I’m away. For ten minutes life seemed normal again.
Right now I’m sitting on my bed trying to remember what I was originally going to write. After all I’ve been in Darwin for 33 hours now and it’s a wonderful place.
The house I’m staying in is just amazing. The gardens are large and beautiful with a fabulous array of lizards of varying sizes. There are plenty of windows in each room letting the sunlight and fresh air circulate through the house. I’m staying in a quiet street that’s a mere 1.5 km from the city centre and it takes me just fifteen minutes to walk to work at a comfortable pace.
I had my first day at work today which is always exciting. It started with a staff meeting which is always a great way to start. It means you get to meet everyone and get an idea of what’s going on and where you’re at even if none of it makes much sense yet. It always feels a little slow settling in but I had a good time reading through the documents from last year and getting a feel for the information that I’ll need to gather in the coming weeks.
We ate our lunch in the Botanic Gardens where I managed to find my favourite tree from Singapore. (I’d just like to clarify that I don’t actually know where the tree originates from but Singapore is the first place that I encountered the tree). It’s a big leafy tree that has red seeds about the size of a pea. I used to go to St Andrew’s Cathedral in Singapore and collect the seeds with my Mum and she’d make them into tiny bean bags (about the size of the small high bouncing rubber balls you used to get in news agencies). Then we’d play five-stone (jacks) with them until it was time to come back to Australia where we couldn’t bring them.
So all in all there are plenty of things about my first day and night in Darwin that have been really wonderful and my brief experience of Darwin has been really positive. I think it’s a great place and will rave about it as much as I planned another day.
Tonight, I’m just not in the right frame of mind for it. I’m just going to have a quiet night so that I’m well rested for tomorrow.
I’m also going to continue to curse the fact that I forgot that I didn’t have a modem and as such have no internet access at home so this will have to wait until tomorrow to be posted.
This is a much longer post than I’d planned to write. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. It’s been really good to get these thoughts onto a page (and a half).
Many thanks!
When I called Dad and he told me the news I was standing in my new bedroom watching a gecko scampering across the wall. I nodded and asked the questions that I wanted to ask and then he had to go. One minute later it hit me. A sudden feeling of being completely lost in the world. Not knowing what to do, who to call or how to breathe. It lasted for a brief moment before I realized that there is nothing I could do except to be there for Mum. The hardest thing for me (being the control freak that I am), is knowing there is nothing that I can do to fix this.
Luckily I remembered how to breathe and with that all-important knowledge remembered who to call. I deliberated calling home again as I didn’t want to disturb her rest. After all the phone was bound to be running hot tonight in the wake of the latest news. I called anyway figuring that I had special dispensation (being her daughter) for interrupting rest. I’m glad that I did because she seems to be having one of her better nights where she’s not feeling exhausted or dizzy. Just hearing her voice and hearing her describe her first thoughts (what am I going to do with all my wool and beads?) after mishearing the oncologist and thinking that she only had 18 months to live (as opposed to finding out the results of the treatment in 18 months which I believe is what he said).
Hearing her voice and hearing her talk was wonderful. For just a moment I was just on the phone having a chat with my Mum like I always do when I’m away. For ten minutes life seemed normal again.
Right now I’m sitting on my bed trying to remember what I was originally going to write. After all I’ve been in Darwin for 33 hours now and it’s a wonderful place.
The house I’m staying in is just amazing. The gardens are large and beautiful with a fabulous array of lizards of varying sizes. There are plenty of windows in each room letting the sunlight and fresh air circulate through the house. I’m staying in a quiet street that’s a mere 1.5 km from the city centre and it takes me just fifteen minutes to walk to work at a comfortable pace.
I had my first day at work today which is always exciting. It started with a staff meeting which is always a great way to start. It means you get to meet everyone and get an idea of what’s going on and where you’re at even if none of it makes much sense yet. It always feels a little slow settling in but I had a good time reading through the documents from last year and getting a feel for the information that I’ll need to gather in the coming weeks.
We ate our lunch in the Botanic Gardens where I managed to find my favourite tree from Singapore. (I’d just like to clarify that I don’t actually know where the tree originates from but Singapore is the first place that I encountered the tree). It’s a big leafy tree that has red seeds about the size of a pea. I used to go to St Andrew’s Cathedral in Singapore and collect the seeds with my Mum and she’d make them into tiny bean bags (about the size of the small high bouncing rubber balls you used to get in news agencies). Then we’d play five-stone (jacks) with them until it was time to come back to Australia where we couldn’t bring them.
So all in all there are plenty of things about my first day and night in Darwin that have been really wonderful and my brief experience of Darwin has been really positive. I think it’s a great place and will rave about it as much as I planned another day.
Tonight, I’m just not in the right frame of mind for it. I’m just going to have a quiet night so that I’m well rested for tomorrow.
I’m also going to continue to curse the fact that I forgot that I didn’t have a modem and as such have no internet access at home so this will have to wait until tomorrow to be posted.
This is a much longer post than I’d planned to write. If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading. It’s been really good to get these thoughts onto a page (and a half).
Many thanks!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Failing to Pack
While I should be packing for my trip to Darwin, I am instead updating information on the plethora of profiles for online communities that I've joined this week. It would seem that it's the week for it... after all I've joined three groups (Facebook which I much prefer to MySpace, Friendster, and Linked In). With the amount of time I've spent playing about with the profiles I can't help but think that I should have organised drinks with friends instead... Oh well!
Friday was my last day of temping for at least the next four months and I'm grateful for that. The day dragged on as there was very little for me to do. Still it was nice to be asked to stay on by so many people. Even nicer to know that I couldn't because I'll be in Darwin on Monday in a job I'm actually excited about!
So packing you say? Well, tonight wasn't really the night for it as I headed out for drinks to celebrate Dave's birthday. Besides, anyone who's traveled/lived with me knows that I'm a last minute packer. The world would implode if I wasn't up to the wee hours of the morning throwing things into my bags/boxes...
Friday was my last day of temping for at least the next four months and I'm grateful for that. The day dragged on as there was very little for me to do. Still it was nice to be asked to stay on by so many people. Even nicer to know that I couldn't because I'll be in Darwin on Monday in a job I'm actually excited about!
So packing you say? Well, tonight wasn't really the night for it as I headed out for drinks to celebrate Dave's birthday. Besides, anyone who's traveled/lived with me knows that I'm a last minute packer. The world would implode if I wasn't up to the wee hours of the morning throwing things into my bags/boxes...
Monday, June 04, 2007
Merry-Go-Up-And-Down
Tonight I went for a ride on the Big Sky Wheel at Birrarung Marr. I thought that it was just the lights that made the wheel look like it was spinning quickly... I was wrong.
While Nick, Gene & I were walking towards Southbank for dinner after seeing Keating we spotted the ferris wheel which has been there for awhile and wondered why they're called ferris wheels. We guessed that it might have to do with the construction of the early wheels possibly being iron beams (turns out it was steel which makes sense). Wikipedia tells me that it's actually named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., who designed an 80 meter (264 feet) wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893.
Naturally when we couldn't come up with a reason for its name we had to come up with a new one. Henceforth we now refer to them as merry-go-up-and-downs. A bit of a mouthful but we likes it :)
While Nick, Gene & I were walking towards Southbank for dinner after seeing Keating we spotted the ferris wheel which has been there for awhile and wondered why they're called ferris wheels. We guessed that it might have to do with the construction of the early wheels possibly being iron beams (turns out it was steel which makes sense). Wikipedia tells me that it's actually named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., who designed an 80 meter (264 feet) wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893.
Naturally when we couldn't come up with a reason for its name we had to come up with a new one. Henceforth we now refer to them as merry-go-up-and-downs. A bit of a mouthful but we likes it :)
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Fever and Excitement
Yesterday I woke up feeling far more fatigued than I had the previous couple of days. I thought it was just lack of sleep but then I realised that I was feeling more than a little feverish too. I was grateful for the 24 hour contact line that my temp agency has and called in to let them know I'd be late because I needed to go and see a doctor. The call took much longer than it needed to because my teeth were chattering throughout which made me a little hard to understand.
Against Mum's advice I drove myself to the doctor (didn't want to wake Dad up and I'd already woken Gene up at silly o'clock to confirm my fever). After he noted my visibly swollen lymph node but otherwise healthy self he decided it would be best to rule me out for a strep infection and thus I'm on erythromycin. I must admit the anti-biotics are knocking me around about as much as the fever was but hey it's only been two days of the course and my lymph node is looking much better. More to the point it's feeling better because I can't see it sticking out from my neck anymore.
So two days of bed rest has me ready to head back to work. Mainly so I can finish up my temp contract and runaway to my next job which is with the Darwin Festival. Yay! I leave in just over a week and I can't wait!
Against Mum's advice I drove myself to the doctor (didn't want to wake Dad up and I'd already woken Gene up at silly o'clock to confirm my fever). After he noted my visibly swollen lymph node but otherwise healthy self he decided it would be best to rule me out for a strep infection and thus I'm on erythromycin. I must admit the anti-biotics are knocking me around about as much as the fever was but hey it's only been two days of the course and my lymph node is looking much better. More to the point it's feeling better because I can't see it sticking out from my neck anymore.
So two days of bed rest has me ready to head back to work. Mainly so I can finish up my temp contract and runaway to my next job which is with the Darwin Festival. Yay! I leave in just over a week and I can't wait!
Monday, May 28, 2007
Unexpected
First day back behind a desk today and it was a little different to what I expected. My brief involved helping to catch up on a backlog of typing and answering overflow phone calls. Today I ended up being the receptionist which involved a lot more switchboard operation (woo hoo new skill!) and very little typing.
Still it was probably just as well because I was a little sleepy having stayed up far too late last night.
I'm working on Bridge Road conveniently within walking distance of the Ishka warehouse. Mmmmm pretty clothes!
Anyhow I've promised myself an early night's sleep and as it's already 23:51 I'd better get to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.
Still it was probably just as well because I was a little sleepy having stayed up far too late last night.
I'm working on Bridge Road conveniently within walking distance of the Ishka warehouse. Mmmmm pretty clothes!
Anyhow I've promised myself an early night's sleep and as it's already 23:51 I'd better get to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Small Amusements
I've been hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifaving a little trouble getting to sleep lately. So I've taken comfort in the vast resource of entertainment that is the Internet.
From the evil laugh activated hand drier to the Death Star-esque building proposed in the UAE, there are hours of entertainment to be had.
Other current internet haunts include:
LibraryThing - where I'm in the slow process of cataloging my books
TwitterLit - First lines of books
The Anticraft - somewhat alternative craft... probably not something to show your folks!
Wired Magazine
Knitty - if only to be indecisive over my next potential knitting project
Tomorrow I'm thinking of heading to the Leica Gallery in Collingwood to check out the Qatar Migrant Workers photographic exhibition. I think I recognised a couple of the guys we worked with in Doha...
We'll see how that pans out when I eventually crawl out of bed.
From the evil laugh activated hand drier to the Death Star-esque building proposed in the UAE, there are hours of entertainment to be had.
Other current internet haunts include:
LibraryThing - where I'm in the slow process of cataloging my books
TwitterLit - First lines of books
The Anticraft - somewhat alternative craft... probably not something to show your folks!
Wired Magazine
Knitty - if only to be indecisive over my next potential knitting project
Tomorrow I'm thinking of heading to the Leica Gallery in Collingwood to check out the Qatar Migrant Workers photographic exhibition. I think I recognised a couple of the guys we worked with in Doha...
We'll see how that pans out when I eventually crawl out of bed.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Just Breathe
Mum didn't come home tonight. Her blood sugar levels are refusing to get off their roller coaster so her surgeon wanted to keep her in for observation. She's in good spirits though all things considered.
The good news is that they only had to do the biopsy once today to get the tissue they needed. We even have results. They're less good but at least we know, the tissue is cancerous. I think Mum will be seeing the oncologist tomorrow to discuss treatment options. Mum called to let us know just after 9pm. Dad's at the hospital with her now and I'm at home doing a call around, manning the phone, minding the dogs and just breathing.
The good news is that they only had to do the biopsy once today to get the tissue they needed. We even have results. They're less good but at least we know, the tissue is cancerous. I think Mum will be seeing the oncologist tomorrow to discuss treatment options. Mum called to let us know just after 9pm. Dad's at the hospital with her now and I'm at home doing a call around, manning the phone, minding the dogs and just breathing.
It's not Thursday
It's always reassuring when you get a call from the hospital asking to speak to your Mum when she's actually admitted to the hospital... Anyhow, I guess they don't really talk interdepartmentally much! We should be picking her up from the hospital soon though so all's well.
Now all that remains is more me to convince myself that it's Wednesday and not Thursday. My siesta yesterday after the job interview was enough to convince my brain that it was Wednesday last night... Silly rabbit!
Now all that remains is more me to convince myself that it's Wednesday and not Thursday. My siesta yesterday after the job interview was enough to convince my brain that it was Wednesday last night... Silly rabbit!
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Temp Extraordinaire
I never sleep well when I'm worried I won't wake up in time for an appointment the next day. As a result I was up and in the car to the train station four hours after I fell asleep. Not quite the state of zen I was aiming for in today's interview but it went well regardless.
I may well be the only customer service/data entry/secretarial/admin/teller temp with a fork lift license at the agency...
All was well and by the end of the day I've got my first assignment starting next week. (The one starting tomorrow fell through). Bring on the typing and phones! I want to get my typing speed back up to the 80wpm (words per minute) I used to be at. Down at 68wpm at the moment.
It's good to have something to do again. Something to keep me busy till I find more exciting things or August comes around for Fringe... which ever happens first!
Mum's in hospital for one more night as she's having a biopsy tomorrow there. It seemed easier that way. She's definitely home tomorrow after meeting with her dietitian. No results on her blood tests just yet but I think she's just happy to be coming home again.
Eep! Got to run. Almost time to go to work again!
I may well be the only customer service/data entry/secretarial/admin/teller temp with a fork lift license at the agency...
All was well and by the end of the day I've got my first assignment starting next week. (The one starting tomorrow fell through). Bring on the typing and phones! I want to get my typing speed back up to the 80wpm (words per minute) I used to be at. Down at 68wpm at the moment.
It's good to have something to do again. Something to keep me busy till I find more exciting things or August comes around for Fringe... which ever happens first!
Mum's in hospital for one more night as she's having a biopsy tomorrow there. It seemed easier that way. She's definitely home tomorrow after meeting with her dietitian. No results on her blood tests just yet but I think she's just happy to be coming home again.
Eep! Got to run. Almost time to go to work again!
Monday, May 21, 2007
A Longer Post for a Shorter Day
First day back in a theatre today and it was a good feeling. Bump ins are good fun, almost as fun as bumping out...
It was a slow starting day beginning with a hot shower that I'm grateful for as Dad didn't have hot water due to a black out. I was less awake than I thought I was as I managed to stick my right index finger partway into the toaster in an attempt to retrieve my toast. Unsurprisingly this resulted in a small burn on the right side of my finger. Sadly despite my first aid training the first thing I did was swear and blow on it before thinking (quite literally) what the hell are you doing you idiot, run it under cold water! Which I did. It didn't help. Stupid burn. The chilled water made it a bit better but eh... give it a few days.
After work I headed to Knox to get a pressie for my cousin Nadia who's birthday is on Sunday and to pick up a couple of headbands for Mum. I also picked out my birthday books using the voucher from my family in Canberra. I ended up with A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka, A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon and another book who's title escapes me but has something to do with time lords from memory (not Dr Who).
Armed with a bagful of books I headed to the hospital to visit Mum. She was in fine spirits and was sure to let everyone know that she was feeling much better and was ready to go home. We're still waiting for the blood test results to come back but the specialist/surgeon seems fairly confident that she can come home tomorrow. In true Mum fashion she's already packed and ready to leave. Ever the organised one in our house!
Tomorrow is a long day of spending QT with Mum and trying to catch up on sleep, bookended by a job interview in the morning and a bump out late that night. It's good to be busy again. If only for a day!
It was a slow starting day beginning with a hot shower that I'm grateful for as Dad didn't have hot water due to a black out. I was less awake than I thought I was as I managed to stick my right index finger partway into the toaster in an attempt to retrieve my toast. Unsurprisingly this resulted in a small burn on the right side of my finger. Sadly despite my first aid training the first thing I did was swear and blow on it before thinking (quite literally) what the hell are you doing you idiot, run it under cold water! Which I did. It didn't help. Stupid burn. The chilled water made it a bit better but eh... give it a few days.
After work I headed to Knox to get a pressie for my cousin Nadia who's birthday is on Sunday and to pick up a couple of headbands for Mum. I also picked out my birthday books using the voucher from my family in Canberra. I ended up with A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka, A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon and another book who's title escapes me but has something to do with time lords from memory (not Dr Who).
Armed with a bagful of books I headed to the hospital to visit Mum. She was in fine spirits and was sure to let everyone know that she was feeling much better and was ready to go home. We're still waiting for the blood test results to come back but the specialist/surgeon seems fairly confident that she can come home tomorrow. In true Mum fashion she's already packed and ready to leave. Ever the organised one in our house!
Tomorrow is a long day of spending QT with Mum and trying to catch up on sleep, bookended by a job interview in the morning and a bump out late that night. It's good to be busy again. If only for a day!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Mum's Sad Pugs
Mum's back in hospital after a feverish night last night. They're running more blood tests to her disdain as she's a little over having needles. Not to mention how unimpressed she looked when they came up to her with a drip.
Anyhow, they're concerned that there could be an infection so she's on antibiotics while the tests are done.
She's still in good spirits though and claims that she could go ballroom dancing right now. We told her that it's a little late in the evening for that. Spoil sports I know...
The pugs however know that something's up and were unimpressed that we left with her and returned home without her.
Sad pandas!
Anyhow, they're concerned that there could be an infection so she's on antibiotics while the tests are done.
She's still in good spirits though and claims that she could go ballroom dancing right now. We told her that it's a little late in the evening for that. Spoil sports I know...
The pugs however know that something's up and were unimpressed that we left with her and returned home without her.
Sad pandas!
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Hitting the Town
Last night Gene & I decided to hit the town (the cinemas at Eastland anyway) and see a movie. It's been awhile. Hot Fuzz was the last thing we saw and that was in Geelong. We're slowly moving closer to the CBD in terms of distance...
There really wasn't much on. We could have gone to see Spiderman 3 but it was a Friday night that screamed annoying teens in the cinema so we chose to see The History Boys.
The basis of our decision were the billboards and the big bright signs we'd seen for it in London's West End earlier in the year.
Tickets in hand we entered the cinema to find ourselves the youngest audience members by a clear 40 years.
Still, it was a great show. There were parts which seemed very theatrical and I'm keen to read the play script now. In fact we're both wishing we'd seen it on stage as I can see how it may have worked a little better. It was different watching a show with an audience that's at least a generation older than you. Hearing the different points of laughter (compound adjectives and all) and the similar points.
Being the party animals that we are, we're heading out again tonight to a swing ball to dance the night away. Should be good!
There really wasn't much on. We could have gone to see Spiderman 3 but it was a Friday night that screamed annoying teens in the cinema so we chose to see The History Boys.
The basis of our decision were the billboards and the big bright signs we'd seen for it in London's West End earlier in the year.
Tickets in hand we entered the cinema to find ourselves the youngest audience members by a clear 40 years.
Still, it was a great show. There were parts which seemed very theatrical and I'm keen to read the play script now. In fact we're both wishing we'd seen it on stage as I can see how it may have worked a little better. It was different watching a show with an audience that's at least a generation older than you. Hearing the different points of laughter (compound adjectives and all) and the similar points.
Being the party animals that we are, we're heading out again tonight to a swing ball to dance the night away. Should be good!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Staples & Yarns
Today started as many do with Mum & I on the couch knitting & crocheting. Admittedly mine started much later than hers did as I was attempting to catch up on the sleep I didn't get over the weekend.
After a quick lunch we headed back to the hospital to catch up with the surgeon for the latest round of results. Oh and to get the staples/stitches removed. Having never seen staples being removed from a wound (or surgical staples in general) it was interesting and odd all at the same time. I think the removal of stitches was more painful to watch and I'm not sure why...
So the important news is that the results are looking pretty good. Fairly normal in fact. There are still a few cells that they're concerned about but it's looking relatively good. They'll do another biopsy and try to get a few more cells but if the results are still inconclusive I think they'll just monitor the tumour. So far there's no treatment required. Mum's pretty happy about that part!
Staples removed we hit the shopping centre to pick up some wool (because clearly we needed more). I'd accidentally bought the one ball of the wrong wool for a blanket that I'm crocheting and as I'm halfway through... I've also started working on the Sudoku throw rug that Mum and I are making for the couch. Photos soon I promise!
After a quick lunch we headed back to the hospital to catch up with the surgeon for the latest round of results. Oh and to get the staples/stitches removed. Having never seen staples being removed from a wound (or surgical staples in general) it was interesting and odd all at the same time. I think the removal of stitches was more painful to watch and I'm not sure why...
So the important news is that the results are looking pretty good. Fairly normal in fact. There are still a few cells that they're concerned about but it's looking relatively good. They'll do another biopsy and try to get a few more cells but if the results are still inconclusive I think they'll just monitor the tumour. So far there's no treatment required. Mum's pretty happy about that part!
Staples removed we hit the shopping centre to pick up some wool (because clearly we needed more). I'd accidentally bought the one ball of the wrong wool for a blanket that I'm crocheting and as I'm halfway through... I've also started working on the Sudoku throw rug that Mum and I are making for the couch. Photos soon I promise!
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The Little Things
Mum's looking better with each passing day and even though she had her biopsy today she was still pretty cheerful.
Dad and I were with her when her lunch arrived.
It was so good to hear her laughing again. Even if she was holding her stomach in slight pain to do so. You see, the spoon in the picture is actually a tea spoon. While she had ordered a small serve she wasn't quite expecting it to be that small.
I think she's looking forward to coming home to a home cooked meal!
Dad and I were with her when her lunch arrived.
It was so good to hear her laughing again. Even if she was holding her stomach in slight pain to do so. You see, the spoon in the picture is actually a tea spoon. While she had ordered a small serve she wasn't quite expecting it to be that small.
I think she's looking forward to coming home to a home cooked meal!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Spunky Medical Staff
I spent most of the day at the hospital with Mum today. The remainder of my day was spent rushing around the house failing to find various items that Mum was after as well as the car keys. Happily the car keys were located (down the side of the couch where most lost things go). The crochet hook is still M.I.A.
She's much happier today and I think a fair bit of that has to do with her having had her first meal in four days. Mum's also been moved to the bed by the window which is a little nicer. We're considering holding the dogs up to the window to say hi to her :)
Many thanks to all who have called, visited etc. It's all greatly appreciated and Mum's in good spirits.
The specialist came to see her today (spunky dresser) and is organising another biopsy tomorrow as the second lot of tests on the tumour have come back as inconclusive. So it's back to CT-scan-land tomorrow.
Must say it was cute medical staff night tonight... rather cute nurse attending to the room opposite Mum's. Anyhoo... must go and do something productive like watch the Gilmore Girls episode that Gene taped for me.
She's much happier today and I think a fair bit of that has to do with her having had her first meal in four days. Mum's also been moved to the bed by the window which is a little nicer. We're considering holding the dogs up to the window to say hi to her :)
Many thanks to all who have called, visited etc. It's all greatly appreciated and Mum's in good spirits.
The specialist came to see her today (spunky dresser) and is organising another biopsy tomorrow as the second lot of tests on the tumour have come back as inconclusive. So it's back to CT-scan-land tomorrow.
Must say it was cute medical staff night tonight... rather cute nurse attending to the room opposite Mum's. Anyhoo... must go and do something productive like watch the Gilmore Girls episode that Gene taped for me.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Happy Beanie Smart Cookie
Yesterday was Gene's birthday. I was not as prepared for celebrations as I'd planned to be as it's been a big week at home. (I keep saying that but the weeks seem growing exponentially).
I started and have already failed my attempt for 1 photo per day. No matter it's the quality over quantity thing I say! I will share two photos though.
The view from my window:
Dad's first finger-knitting experience:
Dad learnt how to finger knit earlier this week and what you're seeing in the picture is a headband he made for Mum.
Further finger-knitting explorations have been put on hold as Mum went into hospital on Friday. Turns out she has a lesion or tumour on the head of her pancreas (might not be diabetic after all). So she went in for surgery on Friday where they removed her gall bladder (neither of my parents have gall bladders now) and bypassed the ducts that had been blocked by the growth. Sadly they couldn't remove it as there were too many surrounding blood vessels. So they took a biopsy and we'll know the results today or tomorrow. It's looking like she'll go for radiotherapy when she's better. Mum's still in hospital, probably till the end of the week but she's recovering well with her sense of humour well in tact.
While I'm sure other things happened this week I can't recall them. Priorities and all!
So it was Gene's birthday yesterday and I was unprepared. The space invader socks have proven far more time-consuming than I had bargained for and I had to start again with finer wool and less time. The short-row knitted beanie that I'd started for him was gigantic. It was looking a bit disastrous. I had to resort to plan B - making it up as I went along. In the end there was a large cookie cake (think two cake sized cookies with chocolate-cream-cheese icing) and a crocheted beanie. Why the cookie-cake? When I was at uni in Ballarat in one of my end of semester assessment interviews the topic of Gene came up and one of my lecturers said that Gene was a smart cookie (I was a good fish apparently). As for the beanie it was crocheted quickly in Gene colours as he said he'd lost his Barcelona beanie.
Happy Beanie Smart Cookie! I hope you still had fun even though you had to work last night!
I started and have already failed my attempt for 1 photo per day. No matter it's the quality over quantity thing I say! I will share two photos though.
The view from my window:
Dad's first finger-knitting experience:
Dad learnt how to finger knit earlier this week and what you're seeing in the picture is a headband he made for Mum.
Further finger-knitting explorations have been put on hold as Mum went into hospital on Friday. Turns out she has a lesion or tumour on the head of her pancreas (might not be diabetic after all). So she went in for surgery on Friday where they removed her gall bladder (neither of my parents have gall bladders now) and bypassed the ducts that had been blocked by the growth. Sadly they couldn't remove it as there were too many surrounding blood vessels. So they took a biopsy and we'll know the results today or tomorrow. It's looking like she'll go for radiotherapy when she's better. Mum's still in hospital, probably till the end of the week but she's recovering well with her sense of humour well in tact.
While I'm sure other things happened this week I can't recall them. Priorities and all!
So it was Gene's birthday yesterday and I was unprepared. The space invader socks have proven far more time-consuming than I had bargained for and I had to start again with finer wool and less time. The short-row knitted beanie that I'd started for him was gigantic. It was looking a bit disastrous. I had to resort to plan B - making it up as I went along. In the end there was a large cookie cake (think two cake sized cookies with chocolate-cream-cheese icing) and a crocheted beanie. Why the cookie-cake? When I was at uni in Ballarat in one of my end of semester assessment interviews the topic of Gene came up and one of my lecturers said that Gene was a smart cookie (I was a good fish apparently). As for the beanie it was crocheted quickly in Gene colours as he said he'd lost his Barcelona beanie.
Happy Beanie Smart Cookie! I hope you still had fun even though you had to work last night!
Monday, April 30, 2007
A Shadow of A Smile
"One more chapter of Lost Girls" turned into the rest of Book 1. As a result I'm limiting myself to reading Lost Girls only during the day.
Today seems to be dragging its heels a little, although I have been up for five hours so I suppose it feels like awhile. I waved everyone goodbye on their way to work and have two snoring pugs beside me for company.
Random small projects keep popping up in my mind as I try to pinpoint something to occupy my time. The other night I started to transform The Arctic Measles That Never Were into comic format but it was a much greater task that I could accomplish at 0300 with no forward planning. I'm back to sketching panel layouts now and trying to decide how to illustrate the characters/photos.
I also had a play with PhotoBooth again having just worked out what the iGlasses function does with my webcam. Can you tell I had fun?
Today seems to be dragging its heels a little, although I have been up for five hours so I suppose it feels like awhile. I waved everyone goodbye on their way to work and have two snoring pugs beside me for company.
Random small projects keep popping up in my mind as I try to pinpoint something to occupy my time. The other night I started to transform The Arctic Measles That Never Were into comic format but it was a much greater task that I could accomplish at 0300 with no forward planning. I'm back to sketching panel layouts now and trying to decide how to illustrate the characters/photos.
I also had a play with PhotoBooth again having just worked out what the iGlasses function does with my webcam. Can you tell I had fun?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Firsts, 24ths and 21sts
Thursday felt like a Friday. Yesterday felt like a Saturday. Today felt like a daze. It seems that's what happens when I stay out till 0500 and have to be somewhere by 1230 the next day. I think I've caught up with my week now...
On Thursday I went to see the opening night of Opera Australia's Rusalka with Claire, Matt and Nick. It was my first time at the opera and it was lovely. Visually it was quite pretty and the music was beautiful although I did find myself ignoring the surtitling at points and just enjoying the music and cast roaming about the stage. Jezibaba was by far my favourite character. I think I went to school with the woman who played the kitchen boy.
We went for drinks afterwards and I tried to get a taxi to meet up with Gene at Trades Hall as the bar started to close. No joy there. Apparently the taxi rank at Flinders Street was not the place to get a taxi. There were about 8 of them there and none were taking passengers for short trips. They'd been waiting too long without a fare it seems.
After a few hours and several early birthday wishes at the Bystander Bar we headed home.
I surfaced from my sleep about four hours after crawling into bed and promised myself a quieter night... maybe staying out until 0200 as I was a walking zombie much of the day. Mum & Dad had come home with a slice of my favourite cake and four Mythbusters DVDs including the Son of a Gun episode that I hadn't seen the end of. Gene and Nick bought me Lost Girls as the pugs had gotten to Percy (the pig pinata that they had been making for my birthday). The day couldn't have been better really. (Unless I'd gotten some sleep).
We ate till we were stuffed at Matsumoto to celebrate my birthday as well as our 21 years in Australia and then it was back to the Bystander Bar for drinks that night where I caught up with Paul, Deb, Nick C, Nick S and Tamsin. Paul and Deb gave me a beautiful flocked journal and note card set that I can wait to start using. Perfectly timed as I'm almost through my current journal.
As the best laid plans go awry we ended up have so much fun that we stayed until about quarter to five this morning. I had my haircut booked for 1230 today so I was up and on the road by 1145. My hair is now a darker shade of blue-black with violet pieces for those interested and my nails are the fashionable black that harks back to my uni goth-clubbing days. Matches my hair and general wardrobe though!
So after all the excitement I crashed out on the couch at 1700 and woke up only an hour ago. I'm definitely ready for bed. That's not going to stop me from reading one more chapter of Lost Girls first!
On Thursday I went to see the opening night of Opera Australia's Rusalka with Claire, Matt and Nick. It was my first time at the opera and it was lovely. Visually it was quite pretty and the music was beautiful although I did find myself ignoring the surtitling at points and just enjoying the music and cast roaming about the stage. Jezibaba was by far my favourite character. I think I went to school with the woman who played the kitchen boy.
We went for drinks afterwards and I tried to get a taxi to meet up with Gene at Trades Hall as the bar started to close. No joy there. Apparently the taxi rank at Flinders Street was not the place to get a taxi. There were about 8 of them there and none were taking passengers for short trips. They'd been waiting too long without a fare it seems.
After a few hours and several early birthday wishes at the Bystander Bar we headed home.
I surfaced from my sleep about four hours after crawling into bed and promised myself a quieter night... maybe staying out until 0200 as I was a walking zombie much of the day. Mum & Dad had come home with a slice of my favourite cake and four Mythbusters DVDs including the Son of a Gun episode that I hadn't seen the end of. Gene and Nick bought me Lost Girls as the pugs had gotten to Percy (the pig pinata that they had been making for my birthday). The day couldn't have been better really. (Unless I'd gotten some sleep).
We ate till we were stuffed at Matsumoto to celebrate my birthday as well as our 21 years in Australia and then it was back to the Bystander Bar for drinks that night where I caught up with Paul, Deb, Nick C, Nick S and Tamsin. Paul and Deb gave me a beautiful flocked journal and note card set that I can wait to start using. Perfectly timed as I'm almost through my current journal.
As the best laid plans go awry we ended up have so much fun that we stayed until about quarter to five this morning. I had my haircut booked for 1230 today so I was up and on the road by 1145. My hair is now a darker shade of blue-black with violet pieces for those interested and my nails are the fashionable black that harks back to my uni goth-clubbing days. Matches my hair and general wardrobe though!
So after all the excitement I crashed out on the couch at 1700 and woke up only an hour ago. I'm definitely ready for bed. That's not going to stop me from reading one more chapter of Lost Girls first!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Festival FINA Photos
I've been meaning to post some photos for quite some time... a month to be more precise. Time to make a start...
In March I worked on Festival FINA. Our first job was working on the Kusama sculptures which were affectionately known as the mushrooms. One hopeful teen licked the white dots just to be sure...
I mentioned in an earlier blog a few of my highlights of the Festival including Group F and Mechanique Vivante.
What can I say... flame and sirens are always memorable :)
In March I worked on Festival FINA. Our first job was working on the Kusama sculptures which were affectionately known as the mushrooms. One hopeful teen licked the white dots just to be sure...
I mentioned in an earlier blog a few of my highlights of the Festival including Group F and Mechanique Vivante.
What can I say... flame and sirens are always memorable :)
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Restless
It's been almost a week since I posted and it feels longer and shorter than that at the same time.
I keep meaning to post about things that have been happening. New projects (knitting related of course) and general news but I can barely sit still at the moment. Proverbial goldfish-esque attention span.
Definitely time to get some work. Just something temporary and casual to help fund my future travel plans (Europe again in November with any luck). Something to stop me from feeling like I'm going quietly insane.
At the moment I'm knitting Gene a pair of Space Invader Socks which is taking much longer than anticipated. I'm glad that I decided to start early because it took me about five hours to make it through the 10 rows of the cuff (usually only a 30-40 minute task in front of the TV for anyone who hasn't had my sock knitting inflicted on them). It's also allowing me to do two colour stranding in my knitting (new technique I'm learning) which involves me knitting with a strand of yarn in each hand. Continental (a.k.a. left-handed) and English knitting (normal technique). I'm loving it but when my brain is ready to explode I move onto a pair of lacy socks that I'm making for myself.
Still going strong on the cooking front. More so as our family move to a healthier diet. Anything involving mushrooms and baby spinach is a favourite at the moment. Less baking happening on my part but Dad made a delicious banana cake last night. His first if I'm not mistaken. A proud moment as he got to use our cake mixer and blender last night. Pictures to follow.
I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts at the moment that I'm sure it's not good for me. So far the most exciting thing thats not space-invader-sock-related is my drive to label and catalog things. I spent the better part of Tuesday labeling all 253 posts in this blog. I then spent much of the wee hours of Wednesday starting to catalog my book collection at LibraryThing.
Yeah rock on I say!
I keep meaning to post about things that have been happening. New projects (knitting related of course) and general news but I can barely sit still at the moment. Proverbial goldfish-esque attention span.
Definitely time to get some work. Just something temporary and casual to help fund my future travel plans (Europe again in November with any luck). Something to stop me from feeling like I'm going quietly insane.
At the moment I'm knitting Gene a pair of Space Invader Socks which is taking much longer than anticipated. I'm glad that I decided to start early because it took me about five hours to make it through the 10 rows of the cuff (usually only a 30-40 minute task in front of the TV for anyone who hasn't had my sock knitting inflicted on them). It's also allowing me to do two colour stranding in my knitting (new technique I'm learning) which involves me knitting with a strand of yarn in each hand. Continental (a.k.a. left-handed) and English knitting (normal technique). I'm loving it but when my brain is ready to explode I move onto a pair of lacy socks that I'm making for myself.
Still going strong on the cooking front. More so as our family move to a healthier diet. Anything involving mushrooms and baby spinach is a favourite at the moment. Less baking happening on my part but Dad made a delicious banana cake last night. His first if I'm not mistaken. A proud moment as he got to use our cake mixer and blender last night. Pictures to follow.
I'm so wrapped up in my thoughts at the moment that I'm sure it's not good for me. So far the most exciting thing thats not space-invader-sock-related is my drive to label and catalog things. I spent the better part of Tuesday labeling all 253 posts in this blog. I then spent much of the wee hours of Wednesday starting to catalog my book collection at LibraryThing.
Yeah rock on I say!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Mixed Up Day
When I woke up this morning I had no idea that I would finish the day owning three Tupperware mixing bowls. Admittedly it's not a thought that strikes many people first thing in the morning.
I decided that while I'm not working I should use this time to do as many of the things that I talk about doing when I am working. Like getting fit. After working on Festival FINA I'd toned up a bit and am hoping to keep it that way. Figured if I can keep fit I'll stay healthier and do less stupid things (eg. coffee table incident in Doha). So after staring at the grey clouds outside I decided to start the morning with a gentle hour of stretching. This was followed by dancing like maniac to music on my iPod (happy owner of two versions of 99 Luftballons).
Having disturbed the dogs (and any neighbours who happened to be passing) I plonked myself on the couch to catch up on Max's Top 100 Tear Jerkers countdown. This formed the last part of my plan, to sit on the couch and keep knitting and crocheting for the stall.
Just after Michael Bolton's How Am I Supposed to Live Without You my parents arrived home. We had lunch and in less than an hour I was off to my first Tupperware party. I was determined not to spend any money. I don't have a house. Why would I need Tupperware? (Aside from the pretty new hot pepper colour range and durability).
Two hours later I'd placed an order for some tumblers (to keep my tea in), a 2L mixing bowl (excellent size and it has a splash guard) and a small 260mL container. I've never owned a mixing bowl despite my love of baking so I figured this would be an investment what with my love of baking and all... Mum's also ordered my birthday present, the baking mixing bowl set (which has a 3.5L and 600mL pair of bowls with the great splash guard too). They're blue and pretty and importantly dishwasher safe. I love them and can't wait till they arrive in a couple of weeks. There will be much baking!
Oh and the number one song was Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah.
I decided that while I'm not working I should use this time to do as many of the things that I talk about doing when I am working. Like getting fit. After working on Festival FINA I'd toned up a bit and am hoping to keep it that way. Figured if I can keep fit I'll stay healthier and do less stupid things (eg. coffee table incident in Doha). So after staring at the grey clouds outside I decided to start the morning with a gentle hour of stretching. This was followed by dancing like maniac to music on my iPod (happy owner of two versions of 99 Luftballons).
Having disturbed the dogs (and any neighbours who happened to be passing) I plonked myself on the couch to catch up on Max's Top 100 Tear Jerkers countdown. This formed the last part of my plan, to sit on the couch and keep knitting and crocheting for the stall.
Just after Michael Bolton's How Am I Supposed to Live Without You my parents arrived home. We had lunch and in less than an hour I was off to my first Tupperware party. I was determined not to spend any money. I don't have a house. Why would I need Tupperware? (Aside from the pretty new hot pepper colour range and durability).
Two hours later I'd placed an order for some tumblers (to keep my tea in), a 2L mixing bowl (excellent size and it has a splash guard) and a small 260mL container. I've never owned a mixing bowl despite my love of baking so I figured this would be an investment what with my love of baking and all... Mum's also ordered my birthday present, the baking mixing bowl set (which has a 3.5L and 600mL pair of bowls with the great splash guard too). They're blue and pretty and importantly dishwasher safe. I love them and can't wait till they arrive in a couple of weeks. There will be much baking!
Oh and the number one song was Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah.
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