superteachy

It is true.

2011-11-14T20:45:00.000+11:00

I have become shit at blogging. Life takes up so much damn time.

The New Blog

2011-01-13T08:08:00.001+11:00

So this year looks set to be a big one. I'm teaching VCE Drama for only the second time (with a HUGE class), and I'm co-ordinating Year 8s. All this is likely to threaten my relaxation time, so I decided to 'schedule' a minimum by making it my NY Resolution to read the 2010 and 2011 Man Booker Prize Shortlists. If all goes really well, I'll also read the Cheltenham Booker Prize Shortlists, which are awarded retrospectively to books written 50 years ago. I figured, to keep me honest, that I'd blog about the books here, like a mini book club (albeit lonelier).

Biting the Big Apple

2009-07-03T15:33:00.002+10:00

There are people waiting for the computer (even at 1.30am- the city that never sleeps), so I'm just going to do a quick run down of my last few days. More embellished blogs later- maybe.

Monday- flying. More flying. More flying. Business class upgrade- woot. Arrival. Walking in Times Square- woah. Hot Dog. Sleeeeeep.

Tuesday- Visited Rockefeller Plaza. Camera batteries died, so I returned to hotel. Yeah, good first day planning :P So I ran errands- picking up broadway tickets, getting subway tickets etc. Collected camera. Got chilli for lunch from a vendor. Took it to Central Park to eat it. Watched squirrels. Hula hooped with a busker (or tried) and am subsequently in a bunch of tourists' photos. Saw the area where John Lennon was shot. Returned to hotel to find my cousin was delayed and not arriving til the next day. Saw 'In The Heights' on Broadway, which was in-fricking-credible (all hip hop and Latin music and dancing. Wow). Trekked out to Chinatown for dinner. It was all asleep. City that never sleeps, my ass. The only food I found was shit. Boo.

Wednesday- Rhiannon arrives in the morning. She is sleepy so I head out alone. Empire State Building- pretty wow. Greenwich Village for Jude Law spotting and New York Pizza- yum. WTC site- not much there. Financial districts- extremely cool buildings, churches, place where Washington was inaugurated. WTC museum. Night bus tour of New York and parts of Brooklyn- Shiny. M&Ms world- chocolatey.

Thursday- New York Public Library- big, marbley, smells like books, not many aliens. Beers in Bryant Park listening to piano. Walk down 42nd Street to the pier. Rain. Lots of rain. Boat cruise to see the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan-from-water - very cool. Learned that the financial district of Manhattan is actually Gotham City!!! Many photos. Hid from rain in crap diner. Wandered Hell's Kitchen a little. More rain. End up in Hell's Kitchen for dinner and drinks at an awesome Turkish restaurant and a cool cocktail bar respectively.

Friday and Saturday (Independence Day) to go and then it's off to Toronto. Hopefuly I'll have a chance to better check out Central Park, Greenwich Village and China Town, explore Harlem, SoHo and Chelsea, and see a museum or two. There's just not enough time!!! IT'S SO BIG!

New York, New York

2009-06-30T14:34:00.002+10:00

I'm here! After 28 hours of travel since leaving home, I have been in New York for 3 hours. In this time I have: eaten a hot dog; seen navy dudes; been utterley overwhelmed by the sheer LIGHT of Times Square; walked 42nd Street; 5th Avenue; crossed Madison Avenue; seen the Chrysler Building; and learned that the police station in Times Square has a flashing pink and blue neon sign;

Lapsed

2009-06-27T17:32:00.002+10:00

Oh dear, oh dear. It would appear that ocne again I have lapsed in my blogging. I guess I should face the truth- my facebook statuses (stati?) have overtaken blogging in my life. It's a good thing I don't Tweet, or I'd never write on this damn blog.

Anyway, the pattern seems to be that I blog when a) I'm on school holidays or b) I am travelling. And hurrah, very soon I'll be doing both simultaneously. I'm one day into school holidays (woot!) and one day away from overseas travel.

Yes, on a crazy and unaffordable whim I am heading to America. Who would have thought I would EVER go to America, but now that it's imminent I am enormously excited! After an argument/bet with Nick about how cheap flights were (he won), I booked myself flights to visit New York and Toronto (where my cousin is on exchange and my travel friend Dave is soon to be married).

And so, I find myself about 36 hours away from a 23 hour travel stint. And I just cant wait :) Thanks to all of my wonderful friends and family, by the way, who have ensured I have broadway shows and attraction passes prepared, and lots of exciting experiences to look forward to it. I'M GOING TO NEW YORK!!

NerdFighters Google Verb Meme

2009-01-31T22:03:00.003+11:00

Naomi needs vagabondspirit.typepad.com
Naomi looks like something you’d see on Batman’s utility belt: its sides are curved inwards.

Naomi says She Loves Posh.
Naomi wants A Brazilian Baby.
Naomi does Frugal.
Naomi hates Humans.
Naomi asks lover for pounds; EXCLUSIVE: MODEL DEMANDS PAY-OFF.
Naomi likes to screw.
Naomi eats Puffs.
Naomi wears Nicole's hand-me-downs.

Naomi was arrested for injecting Snake with FOXDIE, and placed in an undetermined maximum security facility.
Naomi loves taking odd pictures of herself pictures from birthdays.

Get yours by going here: http://www.roborg.co.uk/google-verb-meme/

(The weird thing is, I HATE snakes, I think Batman is way cooler than superman, and I take lots of photos. Is this coincidence???)

2008 in quiz

2009-01-06T23:18:00.003+11:00

Quiz Stolen from Sarah's blog :)

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Ummmm... was Head of a Faculty. Taught VCE. Got paid for summer holidays (well, part thereof, it turns out). Bollywood dancing. Pilates.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any in 2008, as I feared it would lead to disappointment. Pushed to Resolve for 2009, I am aiming to do One Unscheduled Social Activity per week.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My cousins Amber and Nadine. My lovely friends Felicity and Dale (gosh, was that only in the last year?!). Several girls I went to school with.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, but my friend Sarah lost her mum :(

5. What countries did you visit?
Erm, none. Although at times, Preston seems quite other-worldly...

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More live music. And - stealing it from Sarah- More travel.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
No day really etched. All a pretty good blur.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Surviving school- between Samaritan and Head of Drama at Donny, it was a pretty challenging year!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Sorting and cleaning. Ha.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Apart from fainting after giving blood and ending up in Emergency, it was just standard flu and such.

11. What was the best thing you bought in 2008?
My replacement i-pod, probably. Cos the old one was left on a plane. Oops.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Nick's awesome film work :) My sister, for quitting her crappy abusive real estate job

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My sister's old boss??? And the Catholic Education Office.

14. Did you go to any weddings?
Yes, quite a few! Alle and Mick, Kat and Michael, Annie and Andrew.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Holidays! New jobs. Seeing Nick's film (and hearing my voice) in a real life cinema.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Anything by MGMT.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
---happier or sadder? Hard to say. Last year had lots of awesome travel, but this year was consistently mostly-happy
---thinner or heavier? heavier :P
---richer or poorer? About the same.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Danced. Even though I've danced so much more than before. Seen live music and theatre.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stressed.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Xmas Eve Day with Nick and his sister making pieragi. Xms Eve Night at Dad's bbq-ing. Xmas Day with one family, Boxing Day with another set of family. Good times.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Same same (mwah)

22. Were you rejected by anyone?
No. Everyone loves me!!! :P

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Life on Mars. Not that I've seen all of it.

24. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year?
Apart from the Catholic Education Office? No.

25. What was the best book you read?
The Wife of Martin Guerre was good, as was The Doll's House, but they were both for school. Wicked. It was awesome.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Regina Spektor. Vampire Weekend. Little Red.

27. What did you want and get?
A local chocolate store. Lots of awesome wine :)

28. What did you want and did not get?
A moose. Pay for the whole summer holidays. A chocolate factory. Life is so unfair.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
Oh, so hard. Perhaps No Country for Old Men. Or Sweeney Todd. Definitely Juno.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 26, and had a dinner with friends (disappointing food and service but great company) and super delicious cocktails with lots of great folk dropping by.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A chocolate factory.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Be-sloganed in tshirts. Many pinafored.

33. What kept you sane?
Music. Friday night drinks. Nick.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Johnny. Of course.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The Bill Hensen crap was pretty... crap. Was that last year?

36. Who did you miss?
No-one, caught up with lots and lots of people in 2008 :)

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Any of my fab work buds- Kat, Nik and Mia at Samaritan, and Mel, Dani and Paul at Donny.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Be yourself. It's much less work, and often reaps the best rewards.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

This is how it works
You're young until you're not
You love until you don't
You try until you can't
You laugh until you cry
You cry until you laugh
And everyone must breathe
Until their dying breath

Un/reality

2008-12-30T08:37:00.004+11:00

I recently re-watched 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', having received it for Christmas and I realised that all of Kaufman's films are essentially about the same thing: reality, and our perceptions. This doesn't make me love his films any less, but the Great Epiphany just hit me while watching. Think about it: 'Eternal Sunshine' considers reality through the reliability (or lack thereof) of our memories; 'Adaptation' ponders who controls reality, by playing with the idea of the film writer creating the world around him; and 'Being John Malkovich' explores the reality of our own identities. At the same time, Kaufman leaves us wondering how in control we are of those realities, of our own destinies. This is especially clear in 'Eternal Sunshine', where the characters find themselves unconsciously reliving the same lives they sought to leave behind.

The themes of destiny and identity were followed up in another film I saw yesterday, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'. Nick, Paul and I went to the Nova to see 'Frost/Nixon' on the cheap, but sadly it was sold out. We took the gamble on 'VCB' (Woody Allen can be such a risk!) and happily it paid off. This film was shot SO beautifully (I found myself wandering off the story at times, so taken was I by a camera angle or sound choice), and made me remember just how much I loved Barcelona. It follows two young women on holiday, exploring different ideas of love and 'what they want'. I loved the way the script juxtaposed the ideas of creative spontaneity and sensible stability and found both lacking and tinged with regret and uncertainty. A really clever and worthwhile film, and strangely uplifting, despite the bittersweet feeling with which the characters leave.

We did also see 'Frost/Nixon', by the way. Yup, over four hours of film in one day- we are HARDCORE. Completely different to 'VCB', but 'Frost/ Nixon' was also an excellent film and again had me considering different realities. For me, born in the early 80s, this film focuses on an essentially historical event. There's no personal connection, but I wonder how the film would have effected me had I been old enough to have lived through these events? I think the enormity of such a moment escapes a younger audience, and causes us a completely different experience of the film. I also wondered about the unreal image we have of public figures, and how the disconnection from them as a human being makes it so much easier to vilify them, and hunger for the 'kill', so to speak. 'Frost/Nixon' (and presumably the interviews themselves) were incredibly humanising of Nixon, and left me feeling undeniably sympathetic. I'd love to know whether older Americans found themselves moved (by the film or the interview), having felt a much closer to the subject matter. I imagine the whole affair would exist in a completely different reality for them.

Creeping on up

2008-12-21T18:32:00.002+11:00

Oh look, reports are finished ( in fact, term is finished) and I haven't yet blogged. Oops. I think facebook actually makes me very lazy about blogging, as I figure with a status update I have kept people in the loop that is my life.

And so, here we are; almost Christmas, which means almost the end of the year. My final weeks of school were so hectic (reports, followed by senior transition, followed by junior transition, followed by packing and relocating my desk, followed by celebrating the end of term) that I've barely had time to keep up with things winding down. And now Christmas peers over my shoulder. Where'd you come from?

The best part about the end of this year is that, for the first time ever, I am being paid for Summer Holidays. Honestly, it makes them SO much more exciting. Having the time to sit and read, or watch movies, or drink coffee, or even CLEAN is given that little bit of extra lustre through being a financed activity. In fact, these are my first Work Free Summer Holidays in TEN YEARS.

Here are my planned holiday activities. (I wish I could put tick boxes next to each item and mark them off as I do them)

- Read the following books for school purposes: "Dinner at the homesick restaurant"; "The Bridge to Wiseman's Cove"; "Shogun"; various stuff on Japanese religions/ shinto/ buddhism/ confucianism.

- Read some other books for pleasure.

- Watch the following films for school purposes: "Witness"; "Look Both Ways"; "Spirited Away/ extra features"; "Tuck Everlasting".

- Watch lots of old films I have been meaning to see for years.

- Use up some of my free movie vouchers :)

- Watch all the rest of Buffy and Angel DVDs I've borrowed from Rami

- Dance lots

- Take up kickboxing (again) or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Or pilates (again)

- Catch up with lots of people :)

- Give blood

- Cook lots of yummy food and give dinner parties

Yeah, sounds doable. Wow. I love holidays.

Neglect

2008-11-28T17:40:00.002+11:00

Oh, poor abandoned blog. This is a public promise that I will return to you once reports are finished (When? When?!). I think the insistence by my school that everyone create a blog has left me bitter and jaded... but I find comfort in CHOOSING to write in you, blog. And I also find procrastination from my report writing :) What? No, I wasn't. Must get back to it. I'll do a real post soon. Promise.

Teapots and Puppets

2008-08-24T09:47:00.003+10:00

Recently, I caught up with a friend who works in The Arts. As a result, she very rarely views The Arts, so busy is she working within them. She mentioned a concept she and some other Arts friends used to participate in, Cultural Sunday. Basically, every Sunday they would take themselves to some sort of cultural event, be it a gallery, an arena spectacular, a play. Sometimes the events would be fabulous, sometimes they'd be a baffling loss of several hours. The last few days seem like a microcosm of Cultural Sunday.

Yesterday was fabulous. 4 - 8pm was blissfully spent at the Taste of Melbourne Festival. For the record, Melbourne tastes delicious, and is great value for money, especially if you're willing to experiment, share and walk a fair distance. I'll write more in another blog post.

Earlier, though, I spotted a picture in the newspaper and booked last minute tickets to the Teapot Ensemble of Australia, performing at La Mama Theatre. What a fabulous spur of the moment decision! For starters, it took me back to La Mama, which I love and which I have neglected for some time. The positive atmosphere of this tiny space is immense, and in the current struggle to buy La Mama and keep it as a theatre space, I encourage EVERYONE to go see a show there. Every ticket include a tax deductible donation to the Save La Mama fund, and shows are intimate, often experimental, and almost always enjoyable.

But back to the teapots. Oh the teapots. The Teapot Ensemble of Australia (or TEA) is a group of four talented musicians and singers who primarily perform through the medium of teapots. Yes, that's right. Their collection of 'instruments' is huge and hilarious, from the standard medium white pot, to bright little dinky pots, to a red and white spotted pot which moos. Singing through these vessels, the group combine beautiful music with an absolutely hilarious aesthetic. The performance I saw was specifically for kids, and so elements of the show were hammed up to the max (cue whoopie cushions and silly dancing), but it truly was suitable for all ages. Reminiscent of the Adam Simmons Toy Band, but with a strong focus on the glory of tea. I was literally crying from laughter by the end of the show, yet completely moved by the beauty of the music. You simply haven't lived until you've heard Beethoven played through a teapot.

Unfortunately, my Friday night theatre going experience was somewhat more ambiguous. 'The Plains' is a VCA Masters of Theatre performance, and ambitiously combines acting, puppetry, and animation. It's about... um.... well you know what? I'm just not sure. 'The Plains' was inspired by a gallery exhibition, which was in turn inspired by a novel (all of the same name), and tackles notions of ideas bigger than the ability to realise them. I think. Now, I have to admit that I was still recovering from a cold, and that the show was on later than we'd first thought but... well... I almost fell asleep. I don't think that's a good sign. That said, parts of the show were amazing. The puppeteers were simply incredible, both in their manipulative abilities and their vocal control. The set and lighting were really interesting explorations of the space available. But in the end, that's a few hours I'll never get back. At least there were puppets...

Anyway, find below proof that I partake in Cultural Sunday style events from time to time, and even write about them (at the request of my friend Lisa, now located in Paris).

A review of a Sudanese fusion performance for Refugee Week:
http://www.vibewire.net/Members/nmaes/melbourne-under-construction/

A review of the 48 Hour Play Generator, as part of the Emerging Writers' Festival:
http://www.vibewire.net/Members/nmaes/melbourne-48-hour-play-generator/

Gluttony and Glee

2008-08-16T21:20:00.004+10:00

I like food. I mean, I REALLY like food. I don't believe in food simply being something you process through your body for means of sustenance. I LOVE eating, and trying new flavours. I'm happy to pay a bit more for a better food experience. Food. is. awesome.

Which is why I'm excited that Food Festival season is gearing up. This year I've felt cashed up enough to visit a few and I'm very pleased about it. Last weekend saw me at Chocolate Rush Festival at the Abbotsford Convent, more specifically at a chocolate and wine matching session- mmmm, two of my favourite indulgences. The wines (mostly fortified, from a Rutherglen winery called Campbells) were lovely; I could probably have stood to match them with a slightly better chocolate, but at a push Heritage will do me.

Sadly, the chocolate market was disappointing, and far overshadowed by the non-chocolate providores. The thing with a chocolate festival is that it draws Chocolate Aficionados and Old Gold Devotees alike. Of course the manufacturers are aware of this, and thus the cheaper end of the chocolate spectrum is well represented. A few of my favourite hand made producers were represented (Lizzy's(Carnegie) and Xocolatl (Canterbury and Kew East)), but I'm just as likely to visit their stores to sample their full range, and so was disappointed with the lack of exciting new chocolate discoveries.

Luckily, the non-chocolate market stalls made up for the chocolate deficiencies. Two thumbs up to Meredith Dairy, who produce irresistible goats' cheese- I shouldn't have touched it (evil lactose), but once I'd tasted, I kept coming back. Also thoroughly impressed by the olive oil, cider and chutney producers. I ended up leaving with a bag of goodies: marinated and blue goat cheese; extra virgin and basil infused olive oils; ingredients for mulled cider; and a deliciously savoury spiced tangelo confiture.

The Convent is a really nice space, and it's exciting to see some of the developments down there as more businesses set up shop. Food wise there are some delicious options. For starters, the first and third Saturdays of the month the area is host to farmers' markets. The Convent Bakery is also a great place to drop into- the egg and spinach pizza I tried there was lovely, nice and light, but really flavoursome. And I'm excited to realise that there is a Lentil As Anything at the Convent. Lentil is a brilliant, brilliant concept. Staffed by volunteers, the rotating menu is vegetarian and oh-so-tasty. At Convent, it runs the gamut of basic breakfast options like eggs and muesli, to the Sri Lankan Farmer's Breakfast (Roti parcels filled with egg and spiced rice). Later in the day, try a mixed curry platter or a lentil burger. Most excitingly, Lentil doesn't have prices; you pay what you feel, so if you're feeling weighed down by cash today, shell out. Otherwise, pay what you can.

I love love love pigging out on vegetarian food. Recently I enjoyed a great group vegaquarian dinner (farewelling a friend relocating overseas), but my usual vego gluttony venue is the brilliant Moroccan Soup Bar. How exciting to realise that Nick's sister's birthday is around the corner, which means a trip to Moroccan... which means the delicious (and extremely well priced) banquet... which means the most delicious chickpea bake in the world! One day, I truly do intend to try the soup at the Moroccan Soup Bar... but the banquet is just so hard to resist!

On the same weekend, I'll also be taking myself to the Taste of Melbourne Festival at the Royal Exhibition Centre in Carlton. This event showcases chefs from high end (and high priced) Melbourne restaurants; the chefs prepare a selection of 'taste' plates, allowing the opportunity for festival goers to try a range of different restaurant experiences. Good advertising line for the restaurants too, I imagine! This festival also features chef q&a sessions, a provisions market and information sessions.

Mmmmm, all this talk of food is making me hungry... better grab a snack!

Drama Queen

2008-08-01T17:52:00.002+10:00

So, I've been somewhat lax about blog writing this year. In first semester that was because I was working in a doomed boys' school which is closing down at the end of the year, resulting in increasing student misbehaviour and decreasing staff morale. Takes up a fair whack of your day.

This semester I am facing a whole new set of challenges, having started at a new school with a whole new set of (somewhat unexpected) responsibilities. I now teach in a co-ed, middle class 'burbs school, where, unbeknownst to me, I had been awarded the position of Head of Drama. How does one receive a job without being aware, you may ask. WELL...

I applied for an ongoing Drama/ English teaching position. I interviewed for the same position, and at no point was co-ordination mentioned. They then checked my references, raved about me to my principal and... nothing. Just as I got REALLY annoyed at not hearing anything, they called me; the terms of the job had changed (due to falling student numbers. Why does this happen everywhere I go???). Not to include co-ordination, mind you. It was simply a fixed contract, with a view to permanency. I took the job.

You'll note there's still no co-ordination involved. A few days before the position commenced, I went to school for orientation and received my timetable, which included a few free periods. What are these for, I asked? Why, to co-ordinate the department! Yes, of course they were...

Sadly, the teacher I replaced had been quite unwell in Semester one, leaving behind a few neglected and disheveled English classes (including a VCE class), a failed musical, and a complete absence of a Year Ten Drama curriculum. I had been of the impression that my job involved picking up and rearranging these pieces. Now people were mentioning tasks such as resurrecting a VCE Drama course and forward planning for the following year's performing arts festival.

A few days ago, the Assistant Principal mentioned a VCE expo (which I'd heard nothing of), for which a VCE Drama stall needed to be constructed, requiring information, pamphlets, photos, possible performances. In passing, the AP noted that, as we hadn't a Head of Drama, I might need to assist the Head of Arts in this. What? No Head of Drama? What was I, then? CHOPPED LIVER? I'd only just gotten my head around the surprise position and already it was being taken away! (And did this mean that I was able to shirk any extra responsibility? *pleasepleaseplease*)

Cue emergency meeting with Head of Arts, who outlined my responsibilities as *possible* Head of Drama, as well as expectations for the VCE Expo. He also checked with the AP, and confirmed that, as I had a time allowance, I MUST be Head of Drama! And so, my title has been re-bestowed upon me. What a week...

In viewing news, I have recently: seen and absolutely loved the musical, 'Wicked'; seen and been disappointed by the dance-ical, 'Edward Scissorhands'; seen and thoroughly enjoyed (although not as much as the previous Batman film) the Heath-ical, 'The Dark Knight'; been reminded of the rock opera shambles of last year, through the much better organised Complete Works Theater Company's version of 'Macbeth'; and am expecting to very much enjoy tomorrow's performance of Bell Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.

In eating news, I am soon attending a chocolate festival (including a very exciting wine and chocolate matching session); am planning to attend the Taste of Melbourne food festival; am considering buying far more wine than I require (but it includes freebies!); have discovered the best churros in Melbourne so far (Juanita's, Brunswick St Fitzroy); and am excited to be gathering with a whole hope of long lost friends in a group dinner at the Quiet Man pub tomorrow.

And that's all, folks!

Funding shortfall

2008-06-02T22:49:00.005+10:00

You may know that I am a mentor. Through a welfare organisation called Good Shepherd, I, and other like minded volunteers in the MOOOV program provide a stable adult presence for around 50 disadvantaged young people. Or at least, we did. Today we have had it confirmed that our program is out of funding, both from philanthropic partners and the government. The program has no choice; it is selecting which mentoring matches are to be terminated immediately, and then phasing out all other matches.

This is such a huge disappointment. The program funds the volunteers to meet up with their young person and just 'hang out' for a minimum of an hour a week. Quite often mentors spend a lot more time than this (especially if you count travel time and costs, which are the mentors own costs). But in the end, the benefits are so great that no-one begrudges the time they have put into this fantastic program; seeing these kids, who've seen too much of life's negativities, blossom into confident and happier young people is such an incredible reward.

Our kids in the program come from a range of difficult situations; poverty, foster care, refugees, school refusers, substance abuse, personal abuse. These young people have seen more of the dark side of life than many lucky adults will experience in their whole lifetime. These kids have learned not to trust adults, to only rely on themselves, to disconnect from a society that has harmed them. Through valuable programs like MOOOV, we help them to plug back into the mainstream, and look forward to their own futures. And now, due to a lack of funds, these kids are likely to find themselves back on society's trash heap.

Sadly, mentoring is not a focus for our current government. They're focused on band aid solutions, like Juvenile Justice, but haven't the inclination to look at the source of the wound. So much can be done by helping kids gain the confidence to pull themselves up out of grim situations before they become dire situations that lead to darker cycles.

If you know anyone in government, in companies interested in financially supporting a charity, or in media, please help to promote our excellent cause. Expressions of funding interest, and all communications should be directed to Sue Parkes, Communications Manager at Good Shepherd, on 03 9418 3000.

I don't like Mondays

2008-04-28T17:55:00.003+10:00

I just KNEW today would be messy. Despite the extra day of weekend, I didn't get enough work done (again), therefore needing to stay up fairly late to do some more marking and feel more fulfilled. Extra early morning, to get in to school and make up for what I didn't prepare over the weekend... hectic, but doable. Pity I knocked over and broke my bedside lamp in the extra-early darkness- I wonder if superglue can fix that, or if the heat of the light would just melt it all over again? Hmm.

I had felt sluggish all weekend, not helped by the fact that I can't wear most of my shoes, because I got stiletto stabbed in the foot at the formal, and my shoes all seem to rub that spot. So no shoes = no exercise + no orthotics = fat and sore Naomi. Still on ill fitting shoes today. Not good, but workable.

As I zoomed out the door, realising I'd actually intended to leave about 20 minutes earlier (should have just slept longer, I guess), I was confronted with my open car bonnet. That's right, the car inexplicably overheated last night. Gurgled some water into the radiator and headed out... slowly... and noisily... and, as the trip progressed, steamily... Overheating again. I prayed to the saint of roads and radiators and steam and traffic lights and explosions and personal protection to please get me to school in one piece. Mission successful.

Feeling anxious at the thought of an exploding car, no way of getting to school without my car, and also the impending cost of repairs, I wasted my extra preparation time on the phone to various parties hoping to magically fix my car. Rocked into my first class and realised I was completely nauseous (anxiety or fumes? Who knows?). But hooray, they were pretty good, and I survived my following classes too without too much hassle.

The drive home was a terrifying prospect. I filled the car with as much water as she could drink, drove about five metres, realised the oil light had flashed on and pulled over to check it out. Bone dry, and strangely (considering the service and radiator core replacement she had four weeks ago) the oil cap was not on properly. I suspect maybe the oil fill I was charged for might not have been carried out? Again, who knows. Filled with all the oil I had, called the garage to change 'check in' from tomorrow morning to this afternoon and putted my pathetic, smokey way to the garage.

Conclusion? A blown head gasket. So now I'm looking at about $600 (not anywhere near as it could be, admittedly), 3 days carless (thank god for Sam driving by my area and being happy to give me a lift), and a bit more stress in my days. Yay.

And THAT is why I don't like Mondays. Thank goodness I've got a nice glass of wine to relieve the pressure :)

(Innocent bystander sangiovese merlot. Very nice)

Using my time wisely

2008-03-30T23:17:00.002+11:00

I'm halfway through my holidays. So far I have marked this many essays/ workbooks: None. I have planned this many units for next term: None.

However...
I have seen this many movies at the cinema: Three
I have watched this many movies on DVD: Four
I have seen this many comedy shows: Four
I have been out to this many meals in restaurants: Three
I have been out for coffee/ cake this many times: Four
I have seen my mentee for this many hours: Eleven
I have had this many meals at someone else's house: Two
I have borrowed this many books from my local library: Three
I have been on this many picnics: One
I have eaten this many hotcross buns: Eight
I have eaten this much chocolate: Incalculable

Cinema

Oh my god, Paul Thomas Anderson is annoying. He makes me swear. A lot. Absolutely loved 'There will be blood' until the final scene. Then I swore non stop for approximately three days. In better cinematic news, saw 'Grindhouse' at the Astor as Tarantino intended; the whole double feature complete with shlocky previews and fake ads. I have not laughed so much in years. See it while The Astor is still showing it. With a group of friends. Who like horror. And 70s kitsch. Awesome.

DVDs

I have now seen the following: Waitress (Awesome, hilarious, quirky. Go you Felicity chick, and you Captain from Serenity); Bra Boys (like my VCAL boys, plus surf); Brokeback Mountain (wow, THAT was way more full on than I was expecting); Capote (how annoying that ALL of my local libraries are out of the novel 'In Cold Blood'. I really want to read it now); the first two episodes of Spaced (someone I know used the word 'Hilarious'. I'm waiting for that to kick in, cos right now, I'm not seeing it).

Comedy

Gotta love a night when you pay for one comedy show (Daniel Kitson, The Ballad of Roger and Grace. Very cute and amusing) and get a three for one ticket to another show (Geraldine Hickey, oh my god she is funny. Wrong, and bogan, but so so funny), a completely free show (Jimmy James Eaton in Eaton Alive, utterley hilarious. He really shouldn't have to bribe an audience in just because he's getting reviewed. Folks should be fighting for those tickets), and then get dropped another free ticket on your way out (The Great Myspace Emigration of 07. One word- meh. Glad I didn't pay for that!!!). Am also hoping to catch Andrew McClelland teaching people to be gentleman, Bec Hill discussing superhero-ly stuff, and Fiona O'Loughlin just being damned funny. But we'll see. Cash is somewhat restricted.

Foodie delights

Discovered (after it had had three writeups in The Age) an awesome coffee shop, Liar Liar in Hawthorn, which uses an unusual coffee making process to uncap distinct scents and flavours within the coffee. Served in a snifter, and delivering a lighter coloured brew with a long caffeine hit, the changing flavours emerge as the coffee cools. Also very excited to try a new churros bar on Brunswick St, Juanita's. Churros very good, although the chocolate is a bit sweet. South American style, rather than Spanish. Excellent chorizo empanada. Check it out.

Eating in

Yay Helen for hosting our communal candlit dinner for Earth Hour. Gorgeous vego food, good wine, great company followed by a pleasant stroll through the darkened city. The stroll back featured my VCAL boys. How amusing.

Books

Am currently reading: Anna Karenina by Tolstoy- I WILL finish this eventually; The Whisper of the Blade, I forget the author, about various revolutions throughout history; River of Gods by Ian McDonald- awesome sci fi writer, read all of his books, now. Am currently resisting: The curious incident of the dog in the night time; a couple of young adult fiction books I borrowed from the library. Have just finished: Wicked.

Easter

My favourite celebration of the year. Why do fruit buns taste so much better with a cross on them? Yum. And thank you to those who have accepted that I really WOULD rather have one expensive chocolate item rather than lots of cheap chocolate. Yum again.

Plans in black and white (to encourage me to achieve them)

- Give blood. Booked in tomorrow. This should happen.
- Don't complain when the service my car is booked in for turns up lots of faults; they are probably all genuine, and I should just hand over my Visa now. Smilingly.
- Make sure I actually get to the Indonesian grocers to try my hand at making rendang from scratch. I am quietly confident.
- Cross my fingers that either my brother picks up his kitten tomorrow, or that the kitten is willing to sleep in a cupboard throughout upcoming house inspection.
- Oh yeah. Marking, planning. Whatever.

Bubble bursts

2008-03-11T22:28:00.003+11:00

I had a crack-it-moment today. It came on the back of an emotional afternoon, in which My Awesome Mentor told her VCAL boys she's leaving at the end of term, so I was already a tad brittle. Then there was a staff meeting at which it kind of hammered home to me that, even if I stuck out this incredibly hard year, with the boys being super-ratty, it is EXTREMELY likely I won't have a job. And then I cried at work. Ugh.

Here's the thing. Because the school was 'under threat', I could onl;y be offered a short term contract. They needed me, they wanted me to commit for the whole year, but they couldn't offer me ongoing status due to lack of enrolments (Apparently they could offer other people ongoing contracts, but that's another story). And now, despite knowingly and willingly re-entering the school during a really tough transition phase, I'm being told that the school can offer me the following in support: zilch. Because I am not an ongoing staff member.

I've known all along there were no guarantees. But to hear that at best the new school will be able to accomodate all the ongoing teachers (and it's highly unlikely we'll achieve such a 'best' outcome), and to realise that all the rhetoric about supporting each other is essentially a blast of hot, meaningless air... well that's pretty sucky, really.

So tonight I applied for a job, and expressed interest in some others. And I may or may not leave my school, even though I have made great friends there, and I really do like my feral boys and it would KILL me to leave them in the lurch. And if nothing comes through and I'm still at this school at the end of the year and fighting tooth and nail for a job somewhere, well, it's not like it's the first time I've joined the rat race. I just didn't really want to :(

Hot or Not

2008-02-21T13:32:00.003+11:00

So I had a bit of a shock moment yesterday. Out of nowhere, I have become a Hot Teacher. I’m used to being a Nice Teacher, or being told I am a Cool Teacher, but Hot??? This is NOT a good thing.

I don’t know, maybe it was the outfit: Nothing short, Nothing cleavage-y; shirt dress, belt, boots, scarf in hair. Other teachers thought I looked nice; I had a whole heap of compliments on my outfit. All good. But then I got comments from my students.

The first was a throwaway line about my boots being made for walking. Yeah, that’s still ok. Then I got told I looked very nice, especially my hair. All of that was a bit weird, but still fine. But it was the LOOKS.

At previous schools, I have had boys with crushes on me. I even had a kid ask repeatedly if I’d marry him (I had to decline). But I have never felt like I was being Checked Out. Yesterday went up several levels from what I'm used to. Yesterday involved leering. Ugh.

There are days when teaching at a boys’ school feels like working in a zoo. On days like yesterday, it feels like a construction site, stopping just short of wolf whistles.

It may be completely unrelated that another student decided to try out a pick up line on me at recess. Apparently heaven is missing an angel. Sigh.

Patron Saint of the Lost

2008-02-14T14:45:00.000+11:00

My (extremely expensive prescription) sunglasses have been missing for days. So long that I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn them, only the moment I looked in my glasses case and discovered their absence. This was Friday night, and after a thorough home search I convinced myself they were on my desk at school.

Only they weren't. Nor, once I emailed the staff, had they been seen by anyone at school(although I received about twenty emails reminding me that the principal had found a pair after a meeting. They were not mine, nor anywhere in their league/ price range).
I started to panic. I searched the house again. I searched my car. I rang family I'd visited asking if they'd seen them. And then I despaired.

I remembered how I'd lost my next most expensive item, my i-pod, on the flight back from Sydney. I wondered if, now that I had a full time job, but a tight budget, the universe was taunting me, testing whether I'd break my budget to replace them.

At last came the sad moment that I decided to remove the empty, useless sunglass case from my handbag. In a desperately hopeful gesture, I left the case open, in case my glasses found their way home...

They did. In less than a minute, I spotted them on a shelf, hidden under a toy horse (don't ask). A colleague suggested leaving the glasses-case open was a silent prayer to St Anthony, the patron saint of the lost. I don't know about that; I'm just wondering if I should leave my i-pod box open somewhere and wait for its return...

What? Where? Wait!

2008-02-09T13:01:00.000+11:00

How does time go so fast? I seem to be doing so much, and yet so little. I both aim for more time to relax, and yet to be doing more new things. I think somehwre wsomething's gotta give, but I sure haven't worked out what it is yet.

Last post I started (although completed today it is dated the date intentioned for publishing!), I was working at Department of Human Services over the xmas break when beyondblue closed down.

I have started my new job teaching, back at Samaritan. Sadly it looks to be the final year of Samaritan, as we've been deemed too small to be viable and are being acquired as a campus of a laregr school. Totally dulls the sheen of a new year. We're coping and trying to keep focussed on the job at hand, but it's made difficult by the threat of teachers and staff moving to other schools, the general uncertainty of what will actually happen, and the constant undercurrent of unhappiness and tension.

This year I am Primary Breadwinner; Nick is studying full time for the next two years at VCA then RMIT which is awesome, but adds a whole new element to the relationship with this shared finance thing. But it's all good, I think, and completely awesome that Nick's at uni! Yay him.

Also Yay Nick for winning us a trip to Sydney last year. We finally enjoyed our prize, three nights at the very lush Taj Blue in Wooloomooloo. Upsides: all the frees; room, flights, limo ride, breakfast, cocktails at the bar; the service; the size of the room (enormous, apartment sized!); the chance to wander around Sydney with no agenda; the opportunity to hang our with Phillip; seeing 'Juno'; the yummy cocktails, which were awesome; a large bath in the room; joining a wine club at the airport. Downsides: the constant rain, which restricted our activites and soaked Nick's shoes through, so he had to buy new ones; not seeing Bon Jovi, even though he was eating at our hotel; me leaving my ipod on the plane. Stupid! But overall a great fun trip and a fantastic chance to relax before jumping into the school year.

Anyway, that reminds me of preparation I have to do. The most INSANE timetable (six days out of ten I have no breaks at all during the day) means I need to be super prepared ove rhte weekends. But hopefully once I get into the swing of it I'll also get back into the habit of blogging. Or not, if the 80 meals blog is any indication... we'll see.

Year in review

2008-01-15T14:07:00.001+11:00

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? Travelled overseas (I'm not counting moving temporarily to Indonesia as travel!).

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I resolved not to make any resolutiones, I think... this year I am resolving to eat more vego food, and to increase the number of active classes I do, like dancing.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My 'aunt' Becky

4. Did anyone close to you die? My grandfather's brother died, but I didn't know him very well.

5. What countries did you visit? New Zealand, England, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany and Czech Republic :)

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? A secure job.

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? April 5- the date I stepped off the plane in England.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Travelling, rather than planning to travel, and learning to relax and enjoy it, even when travelling on my own (something which previously freaked me out).

9. What was your biggest failure? I don't believe in failure, provided you treat mistakes and sadnesses as an experience to learn from.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major. Except I developed lactose intolerance (I think it's been brooding for some time).

11. What was the best thing you bought in 2007? My plane ticket to Europe.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? The majority of the Australian people, for voting out a government in power for too long.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Japanese whalers

14. Did you do to any weddings? No.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Gaudi, and architecture in general- a passion I didn't know I had!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? I don't know names, but the French songs on Lisa's laptop, which she would play at a low volume while going to sleep.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:---happier or sadder? Happier
---thinner or heavier? Heavier, despite losing weight overseas
---richer or poorer? Poorer, but with absolutely no regrets about having spent

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Drinking in the atmosphere in places close to home.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Stressing about things I can't change, and taking on other people's problems and anxieties as my own.

20. How did you spend Christmas? Eve at my dad's with his family, over an enormous roast dinner. Day at my aunt's with family, then at home with Nick and his sister. Boxing day with more family at another aunt's place. Oh so much eating :)

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? With Europe...

22. Were you rejected by anyone? No

23. What was your favorite TV program? I can't believe it, but I became addicted to two reality shows (dance, and model). Also loved Heroes.

24. Do you dislike anyone now that you didn't dislike this time last year? I don't think so

25. What was the best book you read? Brasil by Ian McDonald

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?Triple J in general. I know, I'm a little behind.

27. What did you want and got? Travel and time to myself

28. What did you want and did not get? More time! More opportunity to travel with loved ones.

29. What was your favorite film of this year? I honestly can't remember. I've seen some great films this year already though- Juno, Sweeney Todd, No country for old men.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 25 and was jetlagged from arriving the day before from Europe. Went to Lambs Go Bar with friends and failed to meet anywhere near my target of drinking a beer from every country I visited in Europe. Yeah, somewhat over-ambitious.

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I don't know, it was a pretty good year. Nick having been able to meet me in Europe, perhaps.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Accessorised through European markets.

33. What kept you sane? Loved ones, freedom.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?Johnny. It's always been Johnny.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?Abortion, and whaling.

36. Who did you miss?Friends I've become more distant from in different ways

37. Who was the best new person you met? My Canadian, Dave, with whom I travelled through various European landscapes.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. That I am capable of creating my own happiness and success.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: "He walks away, the sun goes down, he takes the day but I'm grown. And it's ok, in this blue shade my tears dry on their own"... Basically not expecing other people be responsible for my emotional state, but taking responsibility myself.

In and out of focus

2007-11-15T13:43:00.000+11:00

It occurs that I have not updated the blog in almost a month. How shameful. Clearly I must have been extremely busy doing exciting and important things, right? Hey, actually, I have!

Things I have done this month that I have not done before:
- Started Spanish conversation classes. I am almost at the end of this course, and absolutely loving it. I'm hoping to continue Spanish next year.
- Become a volunteer mentor. I meet my new young friend next Tuesday, and am really excited about it!
- Accepted a job for 2008 at Samaritan College. Not sure yet what I'll be teaching, but I'm excited about this too.
- Attended the Walk Against Warming. Very exciting to be part of such a huge crowd, and such a positive march.
- Went to see my friend's band, Johnny Rock and the Limits. And they were fab :)
- Saw The Killers in concert; a concert full of lights, and loud, and dancing, and sparkles, and happy. And a giant corn and a giant pig, but that's a whole other story.
- Celebrated Nick's birthday with a cocktail party.
- Discovered Scrabulous on facebook. So much of my free time at work (which is not very much, admittedly) now is spent teasing my brain into producing sneaky letter combinations.

Things I have done this month that I have done before:
- Worked at beyondblue. I'm back here in an ongoing role, doing generally random fabulous stuff. Some would call this office admin.
- Eaten at lots of restaurants. 80 meals keeps me fed.
- Looked into re-starting bellydance and kickboxing classes. But not at the same time.
- Had a Melbourne Cup Day lunch. Thanks for dressing up, guys!

See? Busy. There's a reason for my absence.

Get a move on

2007-10-16T17:02:00.000+10:00

It's often difficult to leave a job. No matter how shitty/ draining/ underpaid/ boring your job was, or how exciting your future prospects are, you;re bound to feel some sting of nostalgia at moving on. At the very least, we tend to feel a camaraderie with our work colleagues; a friendship born of a shared misery.

What's weird about teaching is that that feeling of kinship relates not just to your work fellows, but to your students. The responsibility you have for them; the extensive effort you devote over a period of time; the potential you're privy to; the moment you realise you've cracked the shell of one of the toughest nuts in the classroom. Teaching means you are REALLY invested in your work, in a way it is hard to be with accounts, or insurance, or stocks.

I'm leaving my school at the end of the week, and I'm finding this quite hard to cope with. I teach VCAL, which means I teach kids who are on the outer within the school community. Non VCAL teachers reject them because they can be damned hard work; fellow students dismiss them as 'dumb'. As a result, the VCAL boys are a tight knit group, and as a teacher it is incredibly rewarding to crack them, and feel you've made it 'in' with them.

In my school, I am very much on the VCAL team. I am defensive of VCAL to other students, I am protective of my boys to other teachers, I am proud as punch when they achieve success, and I am damn pissed off that VCAL is not represented at a Student Leadership level. This only makes it harder to be leaving. It seems a lot harder than when I left Kew, which is odd, as I taught there for a year, and here for not even a term.

The boys have been saying they want me to stay, and that they'll go on strike to demand my reinstatement. They also asked what I wanted as a present (which may well never ACTUALLY eventuate, but nice thought) and want to have a farewell lunch for me (which the cynic in me scoffs at as time out of class!). There's a very good chance that the boys will have forgotten me in a few weeks, after their regular teacher comes back. But right now, it's pretty saddening to be moving on.

P.S. I had an utterly shitful day at school today. All of my classes were absolute brats, and my yard duty was rotten. And I am STILL sentimental about leaving. Imagine the gush if I'd actually had a GOOD day!

My various guises

2007-10-03T15:35:00.000+10:00

There's a version of this on facebook, called "Hello, my name is..." but I think this is more fun. Considering I am trying to come up with my 'Bond name' for Nick's birthday, I consider this to be a perfectly cromulent procrastinatory exercise!

1. My rock star name (first pet and current car)
Tasha Pulsar

2. My gangsta name (ice cream flavour plus cookie, or biscuit)
Macadamia Mania Monte Carlo (I am CLEARLY a Mafia Gangsta)

3. My fly girl name (first letter of first name, first three letters of last name)
N Mae

4. My detective name (favourite colour, favourite animal)
Pink Tiger (sounds like a stripped name to me...)

5. My soap opera name (middle name, city of birth)
Rana Murwillumbah (Bollywood soap starlet)

6. My Star Wars name (first three letters of your last name, first two of your first name)
Mae-Na

7. My superhero name (second favourite colour, favourite drink, add “the”)
The Black Tea (I think this is more villainous. It's probably the 'Black' part... but I see a very 'proper' middle aged villain who poisons people mid cucumber sandwich at high tea...)

8. My Nascar name (first two names of my two grandfathers)
Robert James (or James Robert, I guess. Or Bob Jim, as both used abbreviations more than their full names. Or Jim Bob! Hee hee, having fun with this one...)

9. My stripper name (favourite perfume, favourite sweet)
Stella Valrhona- oh YEAH. Hott.

10. My witness protection name (mother’s and father’s middle names)
Shirley Donaldson

11. My weather anchor name (fifth grade teacher’s name, a major city beginning with the same letter)
Hutchins Hobart

12. My spy name (favourite season/flower)
Autumn Lily (aw, pretty)

13. Cartoon name (favourite fruit plus garment you’re wearing, with an “ie” or “y” added)
Nectarine Cardie (Cardy-ie or Cardigan-y just sounds SILLY!)

14 Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast plus favourite tree)
Muffin Flame Tree

15. Your rockstar tour name (favourite hobby plus weather element, with “the”)The Dancing Thunder (sounds like another hippie name)

Well that was fun :) I expect a whole stack of these in my comments field, so I know the best way to address you at Nick's party. I'll either be my rock star name, stripper name, or spy name. Oh hang on. Bond name may = spy name. I guess you can call me Autumn Lily.

Apathetically hip

2007-10-03T10:49:00.000+10:00

I marvel at the way people in dreary jobs funk themselves up; as though having a wacky hairstyle (an odd angle here, a splash of outrageous colour there), or super groovy accessories (BRIGHT glasses frames, jewellery made exclusively of buttons and the skulls of small animals) or a slightly offbeat dress sense will make up for the drudgery of their workaday life. This phenomenon seems to be especially present in government jobs. If you don't have to suit it up, it seems, the dress code is instead to go a bit visually kooky.

Now I probably sound like a mega bitch right now. With an asymmetrical haircut, I also sound a bit like a hypocrite. And many of my friends reading this may well be looking at their outfits and thinking, shocked, 'Does she mean me?' No. I don't. I swear! I LOVE your outfits, and you. I'm not actually sniping at the way these people look; often I am in fact coveting various items.

I am temping at the moment (oh bane of my life), and have once again found myself recept-ing for a Minister's office. Now it seems that some of the most achingly quirky people I have seen work in senior government; they are also bitingly rude and dismissive. I guess my problem is seeing these outfits that scream 'Personality' on people who won't even look me in the eye as I do something for them, let alone smile or throw me a stray word. I can't help but suspect they may wear exciting clothes to make up for their lack of character, or to desperately inject some colour into their lacklustre worlds.

Of course, I may be completely wrong. If one of them would speak to me, they could well prove how fascinating they are in their own right. But until then, I shall sit alone at my boring reception desk, imagining how I too can make my work life a little more exciting. Maybe pink streaks in my hair?

Presenting ME! In all my lameness

2007-10-02T10:05:00.000+10:00

This is Lisa's fault.

List five things that other people may consider to be 'totally lame,' but you are, despite the possible stigma, totally proud of. Own it. Tag five others.

1. I find brushing my teeth therapeutic.
Yeah, this is weird, I know. I can't exactly explain it. Maybe the vigorous motion helps to expel my frustration. Maybe it's the shiny clean feeling of my molars afterwards. Maybe it's the promise of a clean start to the day (or the pretense of restarting a day, if I am brushing my teeth mid-day). I hate to leave the house without brushing, and I am such a vigorous brusher that my dentist has banned me from having an electric toothbrush or even a hard bristled brush, for fear of the damage I may do.

2. I have an ongoing obsession with Safeway roast chickens.
Any time I go past the roast chickens at the deli, or the newfangled hot chicken counters, I feel a compulsion to buy a chicken. It's my main impulse buy (well, except for chocolate). I think it's because the other tempters don't have a scent... And it's got to be Safeway chickens. Coles chickens are too dry. Leo's do very yummy organic chickens, but that's only for days I feel rich.

3. I lo-o-o-o-ve tea.
At the height of my tea collection, I had over 70 different types of tea. This is more than some tea stores exhibit! I'm quite finicky about tea and its preparation; for example, you must use water off the boil to prepare green tea (Boiling water burns the delicate green leaves). I have different tea pots for different purposes, and different cups for different types of beverage. I have to avoid the tea aisle in the supermarket, I cross the road away from specialty tea stores to avoid spending all my money on an absolute glut of tea. I have no shame in driving all the way to the Dandenongs just to visit my favourite tea store, Tea Leaves.

4. I am a word nerd.
I am an English teacher, a spelling pedant, a grammar Nazi. I read blogs by book people. I watch Book Club tv shows. I am fascinated by word origins, and loved studying Old English, as it taught me the roots of our language. I am intrigued by linguistics and base languages; while I'd love to learn Portuguese and Spanish, and improve my Indonesian, my real desire is to learn Latin. And yet, for all my word-nerdiness, I am shocking at Scrabble...

5. I secretly want to be on Idol.
I know that Idol is not cool. I know that the contracts you have to sign suppress any musical independence. I know that being on Idol doesn't guarantee you a career (I'm not even sure I want a music career). But damn it, it looks like fun, and I am sure I could do it. Then again, that's probably what all the tragics humiliated on those embarrassing grabs thought before they went on and screeched, I mean sang their little hearts out. But I doubt I'll ever get around to auditioning- Years of music lessons simply don't equip you with the skills to stand in line all day, trying to stand out from the crowd of other desperate hopefuls.

I don't actually know many people who blog, so I'll be tagging people through email. Hayley, Jackie, Dom, Paul, Nick.

Festival of Fringe

2007-09-27T14:55:00.000+10:00

Of late, I have been sporting a fringe. Straight down, straight across, and hanging anywhere from just above my eyebrows to poking me in the eye, depending on whether I'd trimmed it lately.

"I'd trimmed it." These are the fateful words which trigger our sad tale. Being a penny-pincher right now, I refuse to go to a hairdresser just to pay them to make three broad snips along my eyebrows. I have been trimming my own fringe, and most of the time, doing an ok job. But once, just once, my hairdressing skills clearly absented me. It was a dark day on which I decided to employ creativity into my shearing routine.

I'd been feeling bored with my hair. I'd been feeling confident about my snipping skills. I'd been watching far too many back episodes of 'Love My Way'. And so, when I picked up the scissors, I was certain I had the skills to emulate Claudia Karvan's fringe.

I did not.

Do you know how difficult it is to swallow your pride, call around hairdressers, explain your 'fringe emergency', and hope they can fix it for a reasonable budget price? It's not easy, I can assure you. I was so glad I went to Nick's hairdresser. There a lovely European lady reassured me that everyone cuts their own hair at some point in their lives (sure, but they're normally about five years old), and that I actually hadn't done too bad a job of it. She talked me through all my (two) options, advised what she thought was the best, and patiently snipped away, explaining all the time what she was doing and why.

When she stepped back (after a free blow dry!), I was amazed. My mission had been achieved. I had a choppy asymmetrical fringe, and wispy layers around my face. Sadly, I hadn't become a gorgeous, respected actress (a la Claudia) or a kooky, damaged yet talented artist ( a la Frankie, Claudia's LMW character), but I did have some very funky hair which I REALLY liked.

And all it cost me was $33, a night of panic, and a chunk of self-respect.

Insufferable intolerance

2007-09-12T11:40:00.000+10:00

As a child, I remember hearing of the most horrible allergy I could imagine; a friend of mine could not eat chocolate! At eleven, I was aghast. Not eat chocolate? Why bother living? At twenty-five, my feelings on the matter have, if anything, probably intensified.

When I returned to France having spent six weeks travelling other parts of Europe, I experienced stomach pains I hadn't suffered since I was last in Paris. Trying to pinpoint what could be wrong (I mean, I know I'd always insisted I wasn't interested in Paris, but surely I couldn't be allergic to it???), I realised that something had been added to my diet when I joined my friend Lisa in her second home; cheese feasts.

Living in France, Lisa had discovered the joy that is French cheese, and had developed somewhat of an addiction. In fact, she suffered severe cheese withdrawals as we travelled further away from French fromage. Upon return to Paris, we enjoyed a picnic on the Champs du Mars, sampling saucisson, wine and a variety of delicious cheeses. Since her return to Melbourne, Lisa and I generally meet over a newly discovered cheese, in the hope it may live up to the lofty heights of its French cousin. I'm coming to suspect that the feeling in my stomach is not disappointment, but perhaps something far more sinister.

Lactose intolerance is a fairly common development as humans age. It occurs when the body stops producing lactase, the enzyme which breaks down lactose (milk sugars). In fact, most mammals stop producing lactase once they are weaned, making humans quite unique in the prolonged dairy consumption. However, societies with a low dairy consumption, such as Asian or Aboriginal communities, have a greater tendency towards lactose intolerance. In Caucasians or those of European descent, lactose intolerance occurs in about 5% of people.

Now I have a confession to make. I am a dairy tart. I get around in the dairy section of the supermarket; my beloved chocolate, yoghurt, cheese, icecream, milk, sour cream, and what's a cake without a dollop of cream? I love dairy. So this niggling thought has been ignored for a long time. But the stomach pain after each dairy binge is a little too coincidental.

The easiest way to test for lactose intolerance is to cut out all dairy products from the diet for a few weeks, and then slowly reintroduce items to establish which cause the biggest problems. With best intentions, I poured soy milk onto my Vita Brits and began my first lactose free day.

I'd fallen off the wagon by recess. I reasoned with myself that I didn't get stomach pain after yoghurt, so maybe the bacteria in it was countering the lactose? At lunchtime, I just HAD to eat the rest of that Mars Bar. And when we went out for pizza, well it would have been unfair of me to deny Nick a pizza with cheese. And that one with mascarpone, fetta and mozzarella did look good...

Today I started again. Fruit for breakfast. I discovered that one of my tea blends was perfectly complemented by soy milk. Then a bagel topped with... um... does goat's cheese contain lactose? After a tantrum at the realisation that I couldn't even have jam and butter (have to buy some Nuttelex), I decided to throw today's race, and ate the chevre goat cheese (yum). Tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll cut out dairy. But I can't help wondering if such painful self-denial will really be worth it...

Soft and clean and excitingly new

2007-08-25T11:07:00.000+10:00

Recently, I had a conversation with my osteopath about fabric softener. OK, let's get a few things clear: yes, I have my own osteopath. His name is Aaron, and he is fabulous; he fixes my back, my neck, my knees, my wrists, my feet, my hips (apparently I'm his only patient who needs a full body adjustment EVERY SESSION). And no, I am not 70. But when I AM 70, my back will be feeling pretty good, thanks.

I don't exactly know how the fabric softener thing came up, but for some weird reason, washing detergent does seem to be something people randomly discuss. I know that one of my friends uses special detergent for her black clothes, and I know that another is allergic to most brands, except the one he now uses. Some of this I know from random conversation, some because which brand detergent you use is frequently a question on those 'get to know you' quiz emails. (By the way, I use an environmentally friendly liquid detergent, and the cheapest brand fabric softener available that is apple scented).

So yeah, we had a chat about fabric softener, and how good it makes towels feel. But more importantly, we got very excited by fabric softener because it was an adult discovery for both of us. Our parents hadn't used fabric softener when we were kids, and there was this pure thrill when we made the choice to create our own washing ritual.

There are a number of things I have discovered as an adult. Tea. Wine (and I'm getting snobbier about this by the day). That deli meat can be so much better than what they sell at Coles. Anchovies (but only the expensive ones). Pickles. INTERESTING Vegetarian food. Tofu. Chilli. Real pizza. Good Asian food (especially moving past White Person dishes, like Lemon Chicken). Even as a kid I was fussy about chocolate, but now I have very expensive taste (quality over quantity). Mustard. Hydroponic tomatoes. Expensive ice-cream (and NEVER Neapolitan).

It's funny that most things on this list are food; I am a LITTLE food focused. As I've gotten older, I've realized that we really didn't have much money when I was young. It's funny, you don't notice when you're little. But I know my parents worked really hard to look after us, and keep us happy, safe and fed. But it meant there wasn't any money for luxuries. Now I'm lucky enough to make my own choices, and spend a little more on some things, and developing my tastes in new directions not available to me as a child.

Cheese is a perfect example of this. When I was young, we bought processed, pre-sliced cheddar. I always thought the individually wrapped cheddar slices were the absolute height of luxury. Occasionally I would try a bit of brie or Camembert at an adult party, and I thought Coon was pretty good too. Now I only buy individually wrapped slices if I am looking for a childhood flashback (it normally needs to be served on saladas, with honey or vegemite). My regular cheese is a colby or a vintage cheddar (and NEVER Coon), and I regularly have a 'fancy' cheese in my fridge, but it's rarely brie. I've come to love blue cheeses (thanks to Sai for coaxing me towards Roquefort, and Lisa for living in Paris and giving me the chance to try the AMAZING range of French cheese), and I know that a soft cheese is better when it's runny. I love goat cheese, sheep cheese, even buffalo cheese. And all this from a kid who used to dream of having a Cheese Stick in her lunch box...

Crazy little thing called life

2007-08-21T21:22:00.000+10:00

Ok, since my last 'woe is me' post, things have been quite crazy. I sent out a lot of job applications, including around ten for emergency or short term teaching. From that, I was offered three short teaching jobs, and four emergency teaching jobs. I went to Queensland for my cousin's eighteenth, and this is when things start to go loopy.

FIRST, I was offered a longish short term contract (around ten weeks). I accepted, and quit my Old Job. Simple? Nuh-uh.

THEN My Old Boss rang me to offer me a stable wage, if I returned to Old Job. I wavered. I considered. I called New Job advising I was unsure. I decided to stick with New Job.

NEXT my Old Boss called again, offering me more money to return to Old Job. I refused.

FINALLY on my first day of New Job, Old Boss calls to tell me that the staff member who had to pick up the (minimal, considering I had no work) slack from me leaving had quit, and Old Boss was desperate. So now I work New Job nine days a fortnight, Old Job one day a fortnight, and will probably return to Old Job for a term or so once New Job is finished. PHEW.

Meanwhile, my brief sojourn in Queensland was lovely. I think I should get me a winter home; it is SO nice to be able to sit on the beach, in 27 degree heat, in the middle of winter. Lovely, even though it is eerily wrong. Spent a few days exploring Brisbane, and a few days sitting on the beaches of Sunshine Coast and hanging out with my newly legal cousin.

I've forgotten the excitement of being 18. I'd also forgotten the energy you have when you're 18. My cousin turned 18 on the Tuesday, and went out Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. I was invited Friday and Saturday, but backed out Friday due to a massive headache. Saturday I drank and danced at the official birthday party (held at a bowls club, SUCH CHEAP DRINKS!), but felt far too old and fearful of hangovers to go out clubbing afterwards.

The surprise point for me was my cousin's freshness on Saturday morning. Having been out the previous two nights, she called me at around nine am and was appalled to learn that we had gone to the beach without her. "Why didn't you invite me?" she demanded. "I thought you'd be sleeping, or hung over!" Ah, yes. Partying in the time of BHO- Before Hang Overs. I remember those days... Now I'm too tired to even get drunk! *sigh*

Job Instability is Contagious

2007-08-02T11:04:00.000+10:00

I have been stressing out about my job situation for weeks. Before I went to Europe (oh, care-free days of holidaying), I had been under the impression that I had a stable job back home. Upon my return, I discovered the company had been sold, and that the two other staff in Melbourne (including a new recruit) were now on a salary, rather than casual wages like myself. I, however, was to remain casual, which didn't worry me too much at first, as I'd been casual before and making ample amounts in that fashion.

Things started to seem shakier when I was told our company cars were being sold (I LOVE my car) and our props downsized (and no longer anywhere NEAR as cool as they used to be). Soon I realised there wasn't as much work as before, and I started to stress about my finances (a common preoccupation for me, I must admit. I like security).

I was a bit resentful of the New Girl, who had a salary right from the start of her job, but it training her I got to know her, and she's great. We chatted heaps about the changes in the company, and our uncertainty about the security of our jobs, and our other career options. I told her I was considering going back to classroom teaching next year, and when I started looking for work last week, she was really supportive and positive.

I've now gotten one post as an emergency teacher, and applied for a stack more. This is work that could complement my current casual schedule. But I've also applied for full time teaching work for later in the year and next year, and an awesome education position at the RSPCA, which I would snap up if offered. So I'm definitely looking outside of The Company, because they simply can't offer me security.

My Boss has been promising for weeks to call and discuss 'my future with The Company'. That call FINALLY came today, and she announced that, while she couldn't offer me permanency right now (!), she wanted me to stay. In fact, as an indication of how much she loves me, she offered the information that she had to get rid of a full timer. New Girl is the Sacrificial Lamb. The new ownership wants one full timer and one casual in Melbs, and I have been 'selected' as I am soooo reliable (yeah, and dumb enough to stay on a casual wage, which New Girl would be unable to do...).

So here's my quandary. I told The Boss that I have applied for supplementary casual work, and was also looking into full time teaching next year. I didn't tell her I was considering full time work this year. If I had, would she have kept New Girl on staff? Am I costing someone a job? And should I tell New Girl (soon to be Old Girl) that the axe is dropping? I know she'll be called tonight, but I feel so bad *knowing* and not being able to affect the result...

Such a chore

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000+10:00

Everyone has at least one form of housework they really despise. Not the general feeling of annoyance related to cleaning tasks; I mean really, actively loathing a particular chore. For me, this is the cleaning the floors. I will scrub the shower, wash the clothes and quite cheerfully plunge my hand into soapy dishwater (sans washing up gloves. Gloves are for nancies). But sweeping? Mopping? Do I HAVE TO????

Even vacuuming. Most people, forced into household tasks, will jump onto the vacuuming. Not me. The only reason I vacuum at all is because we have a particularly cool vacuum cleaner with lots of flashy lights and super strong suck function.

In every house I have lived, it has been someone else's job to clean the floor. I will take on all sorts of disgusting jobs, such as cleaning the toilet and the grouting in the shower, as long as it is not my job to mop. In our present house, it's normally Nick's job, as he's more sensitive to the dust than I (oh, dusting, that's another job I hate. WHY do people give nick-nacks? They serve no purpose EXCEPT TO COLLECT DUST! I hate ornaments almost as much as I hate mopping).

Having grudgingly noticed the increasing disgrace into which my house has sunk since Nick went away last week, I set aside today for cleaning. Not that I got anything done before 3pm. Far more important to finish my book, watch a few episodes of 'Love my Way' while eating toast and drinking tea. At this point I dressed myself in clothes far too tragic to be seen by the general public. After bashing out a few emails, I got myself organised and somewhat motivated, and am proud to announce that (punctuated by stints reading the paper, contacting schools, eating popcorn (gosh those microwave bags of popcorn are rip offs. What kind of idiot would pay $1.50 for 10cents worth of popcorn kernels? Oh yeah, me...) and looking for new jobs) I have swept, mopped and/ or vacuumed every room in the house. Except my bedroom, that's got too many clothes arranged artfully upon the floor...

Heaven on Burke Rd

2007-07-19T20:25:00.000+10:00

Last night I died and went to Naomi-heaven. Nick and I attended a Winter Indulgence Evening at Koko Black, in Camberwell, which was AWESOME.

Koko Black founder Shane Hills originally began life as a rock-candy devotee. Having joined the throngs engrossed by the sweet making demonstrations at rock candy store Suga, Shane opened his own branch of Suga at Chadstone. After a few years of success, he turned his thoughts to other areas of confectionery, and specifically a sweet traditionally more popular than rock candy; chocolate. He spent a long time pondering his ultimate chocolate experience, and through training, tasting and searching the world for master chocolatiers, Shane set out to create that ultimate experience.

Koko Black stores aim for a level of quality in their products (resulting in some of the most exquisite hot chocolate available in Melbourne). This standard is raised in the decor and general ambience of the stores, which create a sense of an old style salon. Sinking into a chocolate coloured leather chair, gazing out onto picturesque Royal Arcade, or simply admiring art nouveau inspired wallpaper evokes a sense of luxury and indulgence, raising the experience of a drink at Koko Black well above a latte at your local.

The Winter Evening of Chocolate maintained a friendly, casual atmosphere, with questions and jokes encouraged, so long as they did not undermine the real focus of the night; chocolate. Attendees were generally chocolate aficionados, who appreciated the experience of being guided through a tasting session of high quality chocolate blends, and viewing and assisting in the process of hand making chocolates.

Koko Black's 44% blend is a true chocolate lover's perfect milk chocolate. With a higher percentage of cocoa mass than many commercial milk chocolate blends, the 44% affords a fuller bodied taste and an extra smoothness, capped with a bittersweet tinge of an aftertaste.

The 60% sports more of a 'snap' than the milk blend, and is less likely to melt in the mouth. With a proportion of more cocoa mass than cocoa butter, this blend is close to the blend of many standard dark chocolates available on the shelf, but the high quality of the ingredients is emphasised in the smoothness of the chocolate as it dissolves.

The 74% blend revels in it's bittersweet shock as it enters the mouth, melting to produce a full bodied roasted bean aftertaste which lingers well after the chocolate has dissolved. For me, this is fairly perfect in what I look for in a dark chocolate; the heavy cocoa mass is noticeably present in the bitterness of the initial taste, but the rich aroma retained in the mouth balances any desire for a sweeter flavour.

The evening continued with demonstrations of bailey's truffles, piped by the attendees, highly alcoholic, addictive and delicious. After decorating individualised blocks of 44% to take home with us, it was time to indulge in a Koko Black high tea; hot chocolate served with an ice-cream or mousse martini. Koko Black make all their own ice creams, mousses and sauces. The chocolate mousse martini was topped with crunchy hazelnuts roasted by the KB kitchens, while the delicious vanilla bean ice cream was heightened by the rich hand made caramel sauce.

Prior to this evening, I'd enjoyed KB's hot chocolate (made from melted chocolate, not powder) and their excellent coffee, but this was my first chance to try one of their chocolate spice blends. The cinnamon blend balanced perfectly the bitter and sweet elements of both cinnamon and chocolate, resulting in a sweet flavour which was not overpowering. The standout drink for me was the chili chocolate, b far the best I have tried anywhere. The chili is visible on top of the foam as well as in the reddish tinge to the depths of the drink, but most noticeable as a kick to the back of the throat. The sweetness of the initial chocolate mouthful is boosted by the jolt of the chili, and ensures the chocolate does not overpower in sweetness.

The evening was a huge success (and by success I mean I ate stacks of yummy chocolates, AND got to take some home!). If this is what is meant by 'death by chocolate' I'm in.

P.S. I wrote this last week, I just hadn't found a way to finish it! Slack, much. I need some chocolate to console myself...

Home among the gum trees

2007-07-06T11:23:00.000+10:00

Three and a half days after I arrived back in Melbourne, I embarked upon a three hour drive. In a manual van (making the jet-lagged trip that much more complicated). A van which does not belong to me (making the prospect of a jet-lag induced accident that much scarier). Work had advised that the only shift available pre-school holidays was a three day stint in Echuca. My credit card urged me to take the job. My credit card is wise, and so I heeded its advice.

The trip up was tough. Echuca isn't anywhere near as far as I thought it was, but it could have been on another planet. One urgent coffee stop, three frantic map checks and a U-turn later, I arrived at my B&B in the middle of the country. To quote my sister, "I hate the country". Having spent a few years growing up surrounded by dairy farms, paddocks (with high snake potential), hay sheds (with higher snake potential), chook sheds (with definite snakes. I really don't like snakes) and far more than openness and *quiet* than I am comfortable with, we hold somewhat of an aversion to the country. Sure, it's nice to visit, and I like the way drivers always wave, even if they don't know you, but fairly quickly I get sick of it, and miss the burbs.

Having spent eleven weeks out of Australia, though, and of course comparing it with the various European landscapes through which I was trekking, I found visiting the country really quite soothing. I mean, it didn't hurt that I was FORCED to recuperate from jet lag in a town with little else to do but eat and chill out, and get paid for it. But it was more than that. In Europe, I kept trying to put a finger on why our country-side is different to the European countryside. I came to the conclusion that ours was just bigger. European country areas are fairly strictly delineated, field after carefully bordered field. A Belgian farmer might have a coronary at the sight of an Australian paddock stretching off into the distance.

But that still wasn't it. It wasn't until sunset that it struck me; one thing I had really missed, and a defining aspect of our countryside, are the gum trees. I love the smell, the mottled bark, the feuding birds in the high branches. But my favourite thing about the gum tree is its silhouette. Stark against a lurid Australian country sunset, or ghostly in the early morning fog (and my goodness it was cold and foggy in the country. Brrr), this is an essential image of home for me. Even though I don't identify with the countryside, I feel grounded by gum trees. This might be why I feel so overwhelmed by Melbourne patriotism (is it patriotism if you're thinking of a city rather than a country?) when I near the Yarra; there are gumtrees lining the Yarra all the way from the city to the valley. For me, it's a sign of home. And it's nice to be back.

Czech, Kafka, Kundera

2007-07-01T09:45:00.000+10:00

Czech writers share certain similarities in their work. Take the two most famous Czech writers, Franz Kafka (Metamorphosis) and Milan Kundera (The Incredible Lightness of Being). Kafka's work is dark, philosophical and, well, kinda weird but beautiful; in 'Metamorphosis' he writes about a man transformed into a cockroach in his sleep. Kundera's intensely beautiful work is philosophical, often gloomy and self reflective and, well, weird; in 'Identity' he ponders whether someone loses their identity if you fail to recognise them; in 'The Incredible Lightness of Being' he tackles the topic of Being through an exploration of (mostly adulterous) relationships.

Having visited the Czech Republic, I know understand why these writers share such commonalities. Czech is a dark, gloomy, weird and intensely beautiful place, which inspires philosophical introspection.

Dark and Gloomy: Czech architecture is the stuff of vampire movies. It's a combination of Art Nouveau, pointed spires, castles and water stained, dark stone. Unlike neighbouring countries, Czech doesn't seem to have suffered too badly from WWII bombings, thus Praha evokes an older era; one in which people believe in horrors and superstitions. The castle looming on the other side of the river looks as though it could house all sorts of nasty creatures, while the church dominating Wenceslas square has the aura of a stern, Gothic watchtower. Doors and windows sport carved details, such as screaming faces within fanged mouths, or rats climbing frames. The blackened statues of the Charles Bridge bear testimony to the climate of Praha- rainy. A sudden and unbelievably intense downpour seems standard for Czech.

Weird: Kutna Hora, an hour out of Praha, is visited for its one tourist attraction. No, I don't mean the exhibition at the cigarette manufacturer. Kutna Hora is home to an ossuary; a bone church. Following massive deaths from the plague, the area had far more bodies than they could bury. So they didn't. Instead the bones were cleaned and used to create decoration inside the church. Yes, decoration. Some of the bones (mostly skulls and femurs) were piled into four enormous pyramids, with candles burning within. Others were used for to more delicate decoration: a coat of arms sporting a bird (made of human bones) pecking the eye out of a skull; crosses reminiscent of pirate flags; the signature of the 'artist'; and a giant candelabra, which dominates the interior of the building and uses every bone in the human body. Gross. But really, really cool.

Introspective: Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Bohemia. Whatever you choose to call the area, it is one which has been fought over and dominated by many powers throughout history. Czech Bohemia was part of the Austrian Empire for ages, despite attempts to gain Independence. Once the Empire fell, Czechoslovakia put up little resistance to the invading German army, having learned from failed war efforts in the past. This passivity led to their submission to the Soviet Union, and resulted in Czechoslovakia being hidden behind the Communist Iron Curtain for quite some time. Now liberated, Czech Republic still bears the philosophical and self-reflective air inspired by the dark years of oppression, and the weight of a cloud-heavy sky bearing upon grim Gothic buildings. When looking around can be dangerous or terrifying, people are often led to look within themselves, and their fellow man.

Beautiful: Everywhere you look in Praha, an amazing sight greets your eyes. It might be the sparkle and gleam of a Swarovski store, the modern counterpart of traditional Bohemian crystal-smiths. It might be the sun setting over the river, and setting the spires of the churches, castles, bridge gates alight. It might be the intricate detail in a building only just noticed, although you've passed it frequently. Despite attempts to tread them down, the Czech's have stubbornly clung to their language, their traditions, their identity, and have created beauty reflective of their world. Their world may have metamorphosed for a time into something dark and unpleasant, but it's clear that here is a nation unwilling to give up on the incredible lightness of being.

East and west

2007-06-14T22:55:00.000+10:00

Having seen the effect of post WWII capitalist Bavaria, Berlin seemed to shine with the promise of contrast. I expected to see remnants of Walled West Berlin, surrounded by a uniform post-communist East city. However, travellers I'd met had advised me that there was almost no difference now between East and West, and that apart from the line of bricks marking the road, one couldn't recognise the divide.

Even my Berlin tour guide re-iterated this. Originally Welsh, she'd lived in West Berlin for two years. She told horror stories of friends' apartments in the East with shared toilets on the landing and shower in the kitchen, but this was really the only difference she knew of. Except for Ampelman, the communist traffic light symbol, different from the standard traffic warning image. And the fact that "There's nothing in West Berlin, really. East Berlin got all the cool stuff". But apart from THAT, East and West are exactly the same, she feels.

I stayed with friends in East Berlin, in a two room apartment. With a shower in the kitchen, and a shared toilet on the landing, quite normal in Europe, really. One of the couple works casually, while the other works 25 hours a week. Some of their neighbours are surprised that they have work at all, as 1 in 4 Berliners of working age are unemployed. Both of my friends earn far less than their counterparts working on the West side of town do. They advise that the best situation one can achieve in Berlin is to work in the West and live in the East, as food and rents are more expensive in the West. An East Berlin loaf of bread costing 1euro may cost 3euro in the West. Clearly the differences between the 'Two cities' are in existence if you look for them.

The fall of the wall clearly spelled a lot of changes for the socialist East Berlin. Conditions in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had been difficult, with under supply of goods, lack of freedom of speech, and long, demanding working hours. An exhibition at the German History Museum on life in the GDR demonstrated the constant double speak (replicated in many East German jokes about the GDR), inequality and frustrations people lived with every day. So surely now that they'd joined their rich neighbours of the West in the land of Capitalism, all would be happy, right? The exhibition ended with a series of photographs and interviews with East Berliners directly after the fall, and in present day. Most of them found themselves worse off, rather than better. Their qualifications were not valid in the new world, their jobs unstable or non-existent, and their homes no longer a certainty. Most seemed diplomatic ("I was lucky to be allowed to work at all"), but some comments really resonate; "They could have left the wall standing and allowed greater travel allowances". For many, the move into the promised land has not been as expected.

Most of my time was spent in East Berlin, which comes across as an area fast becoming gentrified; but the spirit of many communities is still very friendly, a bit bohemian, creative. Market sellers happily barter the cost of their goods, and waiters will deliver complementary fruit as a dessert. Squats and communal kitchens, located in buildings emptied when their inhabitants departed for West Berlin, are identified by the colourful and socialist graffiti adorning the outer walls.

The inner city mixes remnants of the old city, replicas of old buildings and stunning modern architecture. And while Nazism is certainly not dead in Berlin, the city is determined to remember the tragedy of the Holocaust, in the hope it will not be replicated. Several controversial memorial dot the city: one features a mother cradling a dying boy, while beneath are buried a German soldier and a Holocaust victim, illustrating that War and Racism hurts everyone. Far more blatant is the Memorial for Murdered Jews, some 2700 concrete blocks erected to mark the deaths of millions of European Jews cover a large city block. While the interpretation of the striking memorial lies solely with the viewer, its main purpose is simply to be noticeable; the starkness, and the blocks which rise until they tower above you make the memorial difficult to ignore. Surely it stands as a reminder, and warning, that those things we turn a blind eye toward can come to overwhelm, and through apathy of bystanders become too powerful to counteract. Plans to erect a similar memorial for the other victims of the Holocaust (Roma, Sinta, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc) are underway.

Some people say there are still two cities, maybe even two countries. Others say this is ridiculous. Yet people still live who remember the division; who are still discriminated against in wages and jobs; who still find the shift to capitalism difficult and disillusioning. Thus surely these two cities MUST still exist. And as the whole reason for the division of Berlin was the notion that "whoever rules Berlin rules Germany", then it stands to reason that Germany is yet to become truly whole again.

The hills are alive

2007-06-09T17:35:00.000+10:00

I've never really been much of a mountain person; I like the beach. Mountains have snakes and steep inclines and other such unpleasantness. But I have discovered that I REALLY like the Bavarian and Austrian Alps. Part of this might be linked my childhood love of 'The Sound of Music', which I indulged yesterday.

My sometimes travel buddy Dave (who I met in Berlin, and saw for drinks in Barcelona) managed to get to Salzburg the day before I was due to leave for Berlin, so I planned my daytrip to Salzburg to coincide, so that we could do the Sound of Music tour together. This is a cheesy bus trip, in which you visit a number of sites where filming took place, and where the real Von Trapp family live. There was also enforced group singing and tacky photo taking, and extremely funny jokes from our dead pan, liederhosen-clad tour guide, Gunter. It was SO MUCH FUN! Although I did scrape my legs climbing trees to pose for photos- those trees have grown a lot taller in the last forty years.

Salzburg itself was kind of whacky. Overlooked by the biggest fortress in Europe, it harbors weird gnome statues in its main gardens, and last night was hosting the Night of Milk, a festival displaying modern performance art. Entrance was free if you wore all white, so there were ghost people all over town, which was disconcerting until you learned the reason.

This whole area has kooky things going on. I think it's all the beer. Here are a few beer fuelled stories from Munich's past.

The opera house in Munich was made with a concave roof, with the intention to collect water to be used in case of fire. Unfortunately, the opera house caught fire in January, when the water was all frozen, so the people thought of the liquid they had in greatest abundance; beer. They dashed to the Hofbrauhaus, the nearest beer hall, and advised the drunken Bavarians within that they would form a chain of buckets from the Hofbrauhaus to the opera house. Strangely, the buckets, full at the brewery, were always half empty by the time they reached the opera house. One for the opera house, one for me. The opera house burned down.

Germany has a long history of maypoles, but there's also a history of maypole theft. Other towns would steal a rival town's pole and hold it for ransom- for beer, of course. In the 90s, the maypole at Munich airport was stolen in the middle of the night, a huge ten metre tale pole. Concerned about the implications of this theft for the quality of airport security, the airport decided to keep the issue on the quiet, and called the police to report the theft *hush hush*. The police, however, were laughing their heads off; it had actually been the Munch police force who had stolen the pole. As tradition demanded, they held the pole to ransom, and the airport security had to pay the Munich police force in beer.

Speaking of the police, crime is very low in Munich, so the police get bored and thus enforce a lot of odd rules. There are specific places dogs must be parked outside stores. There is a 50euro fine for spitting (but it's only 40 euroes if spitting out gum). It's an offence to vomit in the Hofbrauhaus. And there are a plethora of offences related to bikes, including a 10euro fine for not having a bell (yet you don't have to wear a helmet).

I can see why Munich wants to remember their traditional past, rather than their WWII history. Munich is a really friendly, interesting place, and I am excited to see how it compares with Berlin, my next stop.

Munich's hidden past

2007-06-07T03:36:00.000+10:00

When you think of Munich, you probably think of beer, and Oktoberfest. Or maybe, if you're a little more historically or geographically minded, you might think of Bavaria, and Munich being the seat of Bavarian rule. You probably don't immediately think of Hitler, or of the birth of the Nazi party. And that's exactly how Munich likes it.

Some cities chose to rebuild their cities in new styles after WWII bombing. Not Munich; it rebuilt everything exactly the same, to the point that it didn't even put up any new war memorials. That might remind people that Munich was somehow involved in the war; Munich prefers to evoke a happy, beer inspired time past.

Munich is definitely first and foremost about beer. There are numerous beer tours, ridiculous numbers of beer shops and the famous Hofbrauhaus (court brewery). Once upon a time, the Hofbrauhaus was a men only establishment, with a bottom level smelling of urine, as getting up to use the facilites might mean losing your seat or, even worse, your beer. These days the Hof is a noisy establishment, packed to the rafters with tourists and locals alike enjoying the oompah-pah music, the pretzels and of course, the beer in LITRE mahs jugs. Yup, you have to drink it by the litre. Sobriety is not an option.

In fact, it was on the top floor of the Hofbrauhaus that Hitler first began trying to sway Munich citizens to join the Munich political party of which he had become leader, the Nationals (or Nazis). It was in Munich that Hitler first attempted to overthrow a government, resulting in the deaths of 16 and the imprisonment of Hitler for eleven months; on FIVE charges, each of which carried a death sentence, he got a measly 5 months. Imagine how history could have been different if the judge had not been a Nazi sympathiser. It was in Munich that he perfected his 'charismatic' puplic speaking, filling the first five rows of any public presentation with planted Nazis, to create a mob mentality conducive to his cause.

Munich is a city that is steeped in proud history, but finds it hard to resign itself to its recent past. Except for tour companies, there isn't even mention of nearby Dachau, the concentration camp bearing the famous gate slogan, 'Arbeit Mach Frei' (Work will make you free). However, information for Neuschwanstein Castle, on which Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle is modelled, is all over. You can actually buy liederhosen in modern department stores. It's a lovely, friendly, interesting place... you just have to dig a little deep to scratch the most recent surface of Munich's history.

A nation divided

2007-06-03T17:45:00.000+10:00

While post WWII Germany displayed a very tangible country division, Austria has also long been a nation divided. At some point in time, Austria's Hapsburg family have been rulers of mosy parts of Western Europe, so it always comes as shock when they lose ground; either through wars (Prussian), invasions (Napoleon), uprisings (Hungary's insistence on equality, creating the Austro-Hunagrian Empire, rather than the Austrian Empire) or diplomatic decision (Austria's most dramatic division following WWI, in which the empire was carved into independant countries and Austria became the tiny country we know today).

Austria was declared by Stalin the first 'victim' of Germany's atrocities, and thus for many years felt itself clear of any blame for war crimes, but in the 80s questions began to surface about how deeply involved Austria was in anti-semitic behaviour. Their actions in the past cast further doubt onto Austria's claims of innocence. Austria has had a Jewish population for a thousand years, and never really had an enforced ghetto as some European cities did (such as Venice, the original ghetto). But in the 14th century the Emporer herded most of the Jewish community into boats on the Danube, without oars, and let them float downstream.They landed in Hungary, beginning the large Hungarian Jewish population. The remaining Jews in Vienna, for fear of forced conversion, committed a mass suicide in the synagogue, which was burned down. When Jews were allowed to live in Vienna again (along with Protestants, and non Roman Catholic- Christians), they had to live by strict rules, including not presenting any aspect of their religion to the street.

When Hitler invaded Vienna, a referendum heralded a 98.5% vote in favour of him. However, if you see pictures of the referendum, it's quite clear that there was little choice but to vote yes. A picture of Hitler looks down on voters, and burly guards stand on either side, watching your vote. The yes box is huge, while the no box is tiny, and the 'how to vote' example is clearly marked yes. Apparently anyone who voted no was marched off in chains. However, recent investigation has found that probably 50% of the Austrian public genuinely supported being annexed to Germany; Austria having been such a dominant empire for so long, they simply didn't believe in it's ability to thrive as a tiny state.

Interestingly, one of the post WWII conditions was that Austria could not enter into any organisation of which Germany was a part. This means that, although Austria has been a demontsrably neutral country for fifty years, and is a successful member of the European community, they could not join the European Union until the Soviet Union collapsed, as this heralded the dissolution of the conditions.

Vienna is often described as a classical or old fashioned city; the Hapsburgs' support of the arts meant that creative types, especially musicians, flocked to Vienna (you may have heard of a few... Mozart, Strauss, Brahms). Yet despite the touts strolling the streets in get up of Mozart's times, Vienna is often devastatingly modern. 30% of Vienna was hit by bombing in WWII and had to be rebuilt. Otto Wagner and Hunderwasser erected buildings of controversially striking style, and Gustav Klimt redefined modern art standards, shocking people with his idealied female nudes.

I've seen modern art museums, and Mozart concerts in the Golden Hall (where the Vienna New Year's concert is performed each year). I've drunk far more coffee than is good for me, and I've listened to the most amazing choir perform in a church. And I'm loving it all :)

Finding my roots

2007-06-02T03:20:00.000+10:00

I was a late bloomer in the whole 'dreaming of overseas' stakes. I never really knew where I wanted to go, except for Vienna. I've always been drawn to Vienna: partially due to an interest in classical music; partially because I thought I was Austrian. Not in a 'maybe I'm secretly a Hapsburg princess' kind of way, but that my father's background might have been Austrian.

My ancestry is complicated. I have multiple families, as my biological dad didn't hang around for long. I know the background of my mum's family, and my other dad's family, but the non-existent dad has been harder to trace, especially as my mum never spoke about him. I knew of a grandmother in Berlin, and a vague memory of being told my dad was Austrian. Then I got my full birth certificate, which stated he was born in Cheb, Czechoslavakia (now Czech Republic). Research (ok, Google) advised that Cheb was a very German town, despite being within Czech borders, so I decided I must have misremembered the whole Austrian lineage thing and let it go. Until today.

Today I took a walking tour, and as I was the only person on the tour, I got chatting with the guide. Turns out that Czech was all part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire pre WW1, and that the area of Cheb was Austrian. So the town was a German speaking town, not a German town. However, when Czechoslovakia was granted independence, the German speaking people were ostracised by the Czechs.presented the chance of becoming part of Germany during WWII, they supported the Germans, thus the impression that Cheb is a German town.

So anyway, I'm probably Austrian, not German (as well as Spanish, French, English, Irish and Scottish). Which makes me like Vienna even more.Not that I need much encouragement, it's such a nice place. With such good food. And such good coffee (oh, Vienna coffee. Coffee should ALWAYS come with cream on top).

Anyway, that's all for now. I'm going to see the Spanish Riding School tomorrow, and to log off this blog post before my computer times out.

Water, weather and wandering

2007-05-31T05:00:00.000+10:00

Apparently, I should have also included in my 'tally' email the number of Italians who have hit on me. On my final day in Firenze, it was two (one random guy in the area where I was sheltering from torrential rain, one the chef at the place I had lunch). On my first day in Venezia, according to Lisa it was three; I say one and a half. The guy on the train was just making conversation, and the guy who asked us for coffee was hitting on us both. The waiter who brought me a free coffee with a heart drawn in the foam, I accept was attempting a pick up.

Anyway, when I'm not being hit on in Venezia, I am wandering aimlessly. The Venetian labyrinth can be challenging, as streets suddenly hit a canal, or make unexpected turns, meaning neither your direction or arrival time are guaranteed. I have decided to view this as representative of the slow pace of Venetian life, which highlights people watching as a major pastime. For example, in Teatro La Fenice (recently rebuilt in replica after a tragic fire in 1996), the most expensive boxes primarily face the audience, rather than the stage, as the REAL reason one goes to the opera in Venice is to see and be seen. Other Venetian arts, such as amazing glass blowing (mostly done on Murano Island, following fires caused by the practice) and theatrical arts (Carnavale, puppeteering, playing music on wine glasses) all capitalise on the flexibility of Venetian time. You can relax and wander in Venice. If you do anything else, you are CLEARLY a tourist.

The again, most of us ARE tourists in Venice. Only 68,000 actually live in Venice nowadays, compared to 250,000 of 100 years ago, and 70% of the economy depends on tourist trade. Tourist outnumber pigeons, impressive if you've ever seen the vast swarms of birds in Piazza San Marco. And yet, Venice has the worst tourist office I've come across... go figure.

Any 'direction' I've had in Venice has been towards food, churches and glass stores. If one, theoretically, liked Venetian glass, I, I mean THEY could spend a lot of time and money wandering the numerous stores that dot every street. Churches are almost as prolific, many houses artworks by Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens and Veronese.

But the cream on the Catholic cake is clearly the Basilica San Marco. Demonstrating Venezia's early links with the East, it is designed in the style of Greek Catholic churches; in fact a facsimile of the now demolished Church of the Twelve Apostles in Istanbul. St Mark's houses the body of St Mark, stolen by two wily Venetian merchants who smuggled it through Muslim areas under layers of pork! The facade of the church is amazing enough; between the facade and the floor, 60 different types of coloured marble have been used, and four (replica, the originals are inside, protected from weather) horses crowning the church date back over 200 years. But the truly stupendous aspect of the Basilica is inside; every wall and ceiling inch is covered in glass and gold leaf mosaic. This building is enormous, so the scale of this project is stunning. Aside from this, though, my personal favourite is the floor. You may know that, wooden support by wooden support, Venice is sinking. This is evident in the floor of the Basilica, which undulates, resembling a petrification of the lagoon outside. Only sometimes the lagoon isn't just outside; it likes to come inside too. Strong winds frequently cause acqua alta, high water, when the canals overreach their boundaries and join the pedestrians on the streets.

That's another nice thing about Venice; streets are only for pedestrians. There are NO CARS, which is so peaceful. Venice is traversed by foot, or by boat. Add peacefulness to the lapping of the water, always nearby, and you'll relax a little just at the thought. If you're not relaxed enough, try a Venetian beverage. Prosecco is a sparkling white Venetian wine; bellini combines prosecco and peach syrup; sprizze is prosecco, bitters and soda; and sgroppino is prosecco, vodka and lemon sorbet. Delicious!

While several things have happened which could have made Venice pretty stressful, such as mistakes with our hotel booking meaning we only had one bed, and thus having to change hotels; or the torrential rain on our first night herding us back to the safety of our hotel (which sported rude, racist staff and broken facilities), this hasn't resonated through my Venetian experience. It's clear why Venice is such a tourist hub, and has been for hundreds of years; the unique beauty of this place, cushioned in a culture perhaps more tourist orientated, but still fairly well preserved, makes it an absolute must.

Prior to choosing Venice as a destination, I had read an amazing book set in Venice, 'The City of Falling Angels'. Walking around, many things felt familiar. I'm fairly certain I also encountered some of the (local) characters featured i the book, which was exciting. Venice has this fairy tale vibe about it; it really feels like extraordinary tings can happen here. In fact, crossing a bridge I bumped into someone I had met in Milan. I've waded through main public squares, I've had random meetings, I've heard glasses sing symphonies, seen wooden puppets come to life, and I've had two of the most brilliant travel days doing nothing but wandering. Who says life can't be a fairy tale?

Neglected masterpieces

2007-05-28T05:49:00.000+10:00

Tomorrow we leave for Venice, and I must make a confession; I didn't go to see David. I know, I know, I should have... but instead I:

-Went to the Uffizzi (having waited 1.5 hours to get in). It was ok. I'd kind of expected more, really liked some of the rooms (such as the Niobi room, which has pictures and sculptures relating to the Greek (?) myth in which Niobi declares her children more beautiful than some of the gods, who retaliate by raining arrows on her family from winged chariots.

-Went to Pentecostal Mass at the Duomo. One of the girls in my dorm was going (she goes to Mass every dazy, though), and was encouraging me to come along. I had no other plans, was intrigued by what it would be like, and loved the idea of hearing services in Italian. Very beautiful, even though I didn't always know what was going on- combination of not speaking the language and having rarely been to church. Another bonus was that I got to see the dome and stained windows, which you can't really see from the tourist entrance. Wish I'd been to the earlier Mass, though, which was in Latin and featured Gregorian chanting and a cardinal. Oh well. Still a nice experience.

- Went to Pallazzo Pitti, a former Medici mansion now used as a gallery. I liked this because many of the pictures were originally displayed in certain gallery rooms by the Medici's themselves. You also get to check out the state apartments. It would have been better had an audioguide been available. However I LOVED the costume gallery. Often a costume gallery refers to dress customs of an area, or an era. Here it actually referred to theatre costumes, and was supplemented by set plans and models for a range of plays, some of which were AMAZING. I theatre-geeked out for a while, it was perhaps my favourite thing I've seen in Florence!

And so, it's on to Venice. I have eaten gelati 6 times in 4 days, pizza twice, and pasta 5 times. I have lost count of the coffees. Florence was good.

The gelati that saved Italy

2007-05-26T04:26:00.000+10:00

Oh what a week we have had! As the predicted travel time from Barcelona to Firenze was 24 hours, we decided to do this in a few long-ish legs, with fly by stops in Avignon and Milan. Why? Why????

I was super-keen for Avignon. This is because it a) is a walled medieval city, but more importantly b) was the papal seat for a while, as the papacy was being argued over by several countries (and indeed, at times there were two vying popes, each being backed by their own country). So this struck me as very cool. My excitement struck Lisa as very old-person, and it struck variuos Avignon dwellers as bizarre.

Walled Avignon seems very pretty- windy streets, cobblestones, the usual hallmarks of medieval towns. But we also saw much more of Avignon on our scenic route to our hotel- several buses, highways, the river very briefly, and BOTH the train stations. We arrived at one, and directions to our hotel indicated it was close to the other. Only it wasn't. Bad directions. Confusion finding the bus we needed. Two hours to find our hotel. Need for immediate beer. Thus, no visit to the Palais de Pape :( However, I got to look at the outside very quickly before we caught our next train, and it was super-cool. Really big, with cross shaped arrow slots which match those in the town walls, remnants of coloured paint on the main wall, crazy bosses above the doors, and TWO space invaders on the back wall. I am so going back.

Milan had less going for it. When we first catching the metro towards our hostel and the train filled with excited Milanese singing football songs, we thought it was kind of cute and funny. When we couldn't get to sleep because Milan won the Champions League Final, and the Milanese wanted to shout and toot their horns and, I don't know, BANG KETTLES til all hours of the morning, it was less charming. Very little sleep, teamed with surly service and crappy facilities leads me to warn you all against the HI hostel in Milan. Actually, don't go to Milan at all. It's dirty, noisy, sweaty, and people expose themselves as they run past you on the street. Ugh.

After a pleasant, air conditioned trip to Firenze, the twenty minute crowded, sweaty bus ride, with very little knowledge of where we were to actually alight, came as a bit of a shock. The trudge up the 400m long driveway, on a very hot and humid day with our bags was also pretty unpleasant, although the greenery surrounding us, surprising in the midst of a city, did temper this a little. But then we arrived at our hostel and were a little impressed. It's an old Villa, an quite a bit of land now used for vines and camping. The building boasts frescoes, statues and a stunning view of 'rural' Firenze. It's a bit noisy, because it hosts so many guests, but the general area is a haven of quiet and green in an otherwise busy, tourist-packed city with little garden area.

Tomorrow (or maybe the next day) I plan to visit the Uffizi Gallery. Today was my churchy day- I visited the Duomo (amazing from the outside, and pretty impressive from the inside. Luckily it was free, but it was a 40 minute wait), the associated baptistry (amazing gold mosaic-work on the roof. This site has been used as a baptistry since the 4th century, and was where Dante was baptised. It's said to have been the site of a Roman temple to Mars before it was converted to Christian use) and the Basilica San Lorenzo (quite a bit of Donatello work, and a very cool medieval reading room/ library). It also turned out to be my David- replica- visiting day; I saw one in Piazzale Della Signorina, and another at Piazzale Michaelangelo, a square quite a hike up the hill, but affording amazing views of Firenze.

But the defining moment at which my faith in Italy was restored occurred on our first day, after Lisa was briefly lost (turned out that when she said 'Meet me at the roundabout', it was not the roundabout near the hostel... but it wasn't far away at all. Phew!). Her exploration of our immediate surroundings had led her to a glorious gelato store, whose flavours included Chocolate and Earl Grey Tea, Pear William, and the best Lemon gelati I have ever had. Simply amazing. And whose brilliant idea was it to combine chocolate and tea into a gelato flavour? It should have been mine... And if I ate this on a pancake, it would combine almost all of my favourite foods :) Viva Italia!

Catalan pride and moderniste design

2007-05-20T02:57:00.000+10:00

How do people possibly just visit Barcelona for a day or two? We're spending five nights, and it's just not enough. Everything I see makes me want to see more, and spend more time (and money...) here. The atmosphere is lovely, very relaxed (although this might be due to the huge numbers of tourists, who, being on holiday, are generally relaxed!) and the city is so very walkable.

The thing that most people probably know about in Barcelona is Gaudi- and so they should, he is amazing. The next thing they might think of is Dali or Picasso, who both spent time painting here. It seems odd at first that an area would produce three such surrealist creators in different periods of time, but this is linked to the Catalan pride. Catalunya has long seen itself as a distinct area (since the twelfth century), and has been fiercely proud of its language, culture and sense of self. Despite numerous attempts to repress or dispel Catalunya as an autonomous area, the pride of this area means that it refuses to lie down.

Signs in Catalunya are all in Catalan (generally with a Spanish version, and often an English translation too), even though public use of Catalan has been outlawed or seriously frowned upon at three separate points in the last century. Catalonians see their language as integral to their
regional identity.

This pride in Catalonian identity also goes some way to explaining the public celebration of artists and architects such as Gaudi, as they were practicing at time when the Catlonian nationalist movements were particularly strong. It also means that public works, which in many cities may have fallen into disrepair, or have been altered, are preserved in glorious condition and proudly displayed.

Gaudi falls into a group of architects practicing 'moderniste' design, known elsewhere as Art Nouveau. Gaudi embraces many of the ideals of Art Nouveau: that all items should be of use to humanity (meaning that design principles are enhanced to make items and places more people friendly); that functional items should still be beautiful; and beautification which has is primarily inspired by the natural world. Gaudi's work includes a lot of colour, and often ¡curved, organic lines which make some of his works appear very odd form the outside, but inside create a sinuous, comforting space.

I have fallen utterly in love with Gaudi's work. It is almost fairy-tale: the Casa Battlo reminds me of a witch's house with it's unusual colours, crooked roof and balustrades reminiscent of bones. But having visited the inside of La Pedrera and seen the result of his design, I can see how his ideas make so much sense, and create a beautiful living space. Gaudi focuses strongly on light and a feeling of space, created through large doorways between rooms fitted with sliding doors which are designed to remain open most of the time, light wells strategically positioned in apartment blocks, and curving walls which trick the eye and encourage non-traditional arrangement of room fittings.

Other than this, I've checked out other moderniste buildings (also beautiful, although not as strikingly original as Gaudi's work), wandered the Gothic Quarter and the ports, learned about Catlunyan history, visited fabulous markets and watched a very passionate protest. I still want to visit Picasso and Dali artworks, a museum of sacred art, more of Gaudi's works (Sagrada Familia, Palau Gruell, Parc Gruell), visit Montjuic Parc and Parc Cituidade and a whole lot more. I can guarantee I won't get to it all. Which means I can guarantee I'll be back in Barcelona at some time.

I think what I like about Barcelona is similar to what I like about Lisbon- it seems to embrace difference rather than stamp it out. Spanish conquest generally seems to be about exploiting a country and enforcing a Spanish culture onto it- almost a 'We Woz Ere' sign. Barcelona has certainly profited from the American colonies, and had it's share of conquest attempts of neighbouring regions. But due to its economic and industrial success, it has also seen many emigrants arrive. These emigrants often find themselves swept up in Catalunyan culture, and campaigning for a Catalunyan autonomy as strongly as Catlunyan natives.

I'm finding myself swept up in Catalunyan culture already- last night I dreamed about Gaudi. In fact, I dreamed I was performing music on a cardboard tube as a didgeridoo. It was a basis for a thesis I wanted to write comparing my work to Gaudi's, and arguing that beauty and creativity from unusual sources should be celebrated. After all, a teacher of Gaudi's commented at the time of his graduation that he didn't know whether Gaudi was a genius or a madman. While time may have proven his work extraordinary, somehow I don't think the cardboard didgeridoo will take off...

Easy pickings

2007-05-18T23:07:00.000+10:00

Man, my wallet is SO easy! I don't need to be pick-pocketed to lose all my money...

I remember Nick asking me earlier in my trip if I'd bought very much, to which I responded that I was here for the experience, not the shopping. Yeah, right. So far I have bought:

2 skirts (one in Bordeaux, one in Barcelona)
1 pair of pants
2 scarf/ shawls
1 bracelet
1 pair of earrings
1 bottle of ginja, a liquer made in Lisbon
5 books (I think- one on art 'isms', one on Art Nouveau, one on Lisbon pavement art, 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', a modern Czech/ French novel... I think that's all, but I can't be certain).

And that's not including gifts I have bought, although I'm only doing a few of those- too much to carry. Although I'm hardly limiting myself anyway...

I'm not even being careful with how much I spend any more. Just bought a fantastic skirt, which I loved so much I just went 'Yes! I'll take it!' Then afterwards I thought about the price and went 'Oops.' But it's reversable, and orange, and fabulous. That's ok, isn't it??!! Sigh. I think I might need a second job...

Spain- saints, sangria and sleepless nights

2007-05-18T20:03:00.000+10:00

It has been said that all roads in Spain lead to Madrid, which I'd believe; Madrid feels quite similar to many other large cities, gritty, busy, and filled with crazy crazy drivers on lots of large roads. It seems very modern architecturally, compared with a lot of places I've been which have retained their tradition and charm. Madrid feels to be mostly a functional city, not beautiful, but there are a lot of fascinating and pretty places to be discovered. Read Lisa's blog for more about that though, as she did far more organised sightseeing than I, and I'm certain she'll write about what she has learned of Madrid's history, art and architecture.

For me, the most exciting prospect of Madrid was May 15, San Isidro's Day. Saint Isidore is the patron saint of Madrid, and I was thrilled at the prospect of witnessing a Saint's festival! Perhaps years of studying religious celebrations had built it all up a little in my mind, but it was quite a fun day. For festival days, Spanish often don traditional dress, which is so cute to see. This was particularly prevalent in children and older couples, but plenty of younger adults were getting into the spirit too. San Isidro's Day seemed to have two separate camps- the religious celebrations centered around the San Isidro Cathedral, and the fiesta, essentially a very large street party, centered around San Isidro's church and meadow. I spent a fair bit of time at the fiesta, soaking up the atmosphere, taking photos of the fantastic dresses and eating rosquillas, traditional donut/ biscuit like pastries.

I also managed a day trip out to Toledo, in Castille- La Mancha (the regional setting of Don Quixote) despite the universe's best effort's to prevent me. I bought a ticket, but missed the train- in Spanish train stations EVERYTHING goes through x-ray machines, and you must board the train a certain time before it leaves (as opposed to say, Portugal, where the train stops briefly and you just jump on). So I could see my train, but not get on it. Then I needed to change my ticket to the next train two hours later, but the line was long and slow, so I decided to come back closer to the time. Only I lost my ticket! Grappled with whether or not I should buy ANOTHER ticket to Toledo, and eventually did, which I am glad of.

Toledo is a medieval walled city in beautiful, classic Spanish landscape (but not windmills in sight), and was the capital of the Visigoth region. Since then it has retained its Visigoth architecture, as well as gained Roman elements, and boasts ancient examples of the three main religions living harmoniously in the one city, with beautiful old synagogues, mosques and cathedrals and monasteries. I loved the cathedral, which was pure Spanish Gothic (unusual, as often Gothic cathedrals have elements of Rennaisance, which has less of a 'wedding cake' effect... but anyway, that detail's just for nerds like me). Fantastic cloisters with orange groves and birds were a highlight, as often cloisters are disused are bare nowadays. The cathedral in Madrid was also amazing, combining Gothic architecture with 20th century decoration and stained glass.

Once back in Madrid, I spent yet more time at the station, waiting over an hour to reserve a seat on the train to Madrid. Ugh. Lisa declares Spanish beuracracy to be slower than French, and the Madrilenians ruder than Parisians. At least beautiful details in Madrid make the waiting more tolerable- Atocha train station is probably the most beautiful transit area I have ever seen. It is in a semi hothouse, and uses the space to house a huge garden of tropical plants, right in the middle of the station! Best of all were the turtles, at least 50 of them, which poke their heads up between water plants and sun themselves on rocks.

Spain stays up late, not lunching until 2pm, and thus not dining until after 9pm. Maybe this is one of the reasons sleep seemed hard to come by. We caught the night train, on which we shared a coach with a buy who was tripping out on something... fun stuff. Then some Sydney number rang my phone at 3am Madrid time the next night (and the following, but I had the phone on silent). Then the next night a drunken chick who'd locked herself out of her room was bashing on doors demanding to be let it- it seeme4d she'd not only forgotten her key, but which room she was in too.

But wait, it wasn't all terrible. I haven't mentioned the best part about Madrid- Spanish chocolate is great! I had chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) and churros three times in two days. How can I stay angry at a city with amazing chocolate? They must be doing something right! Now we're in Barcelona, which has a much cruisier atmosphere, beautifully planned cityscapes, and much smilier waiters. Many people have told me that, despite being robbed here (on multiple occasions for some), Barcelona is their favourite city in the world. I hold high hopes :)

Oporto- not a Bondi burger in sight

2007-05-12T02:27:00.000+10:00

"Welcome to Oporto!" This was called out to us on the street as we carried our backpacks to our hostel (well, actually, first we carried them AWAY from the hostel... but we got there in the end). You really notice how friendly people are in Portugal. Lisa especially notices it... today someone lifted her backpack (still on her back) while she climbed the stairs at the metro station! She's also had people lead her towards ticket machines that work better, and we've had stacks of directions offered up... all in Portuguese! One of my favourite stories happened to a Canadian girl at our hostel; she went to the market, and a vege stall holder started patting the girl's stomach and announcing in Portuguese that she was too skinny, and needed to stay in Portugal and eat more, then mimed the big stomach she ought to have!

Maybe it's just my fondness for Lisbon, but despite the lovely people, I didn't like Oporto (Porto) quite as much. It has a very different feel to Lisbon; wider streets and more modernised shopping districts, yet many houses look quite run down and tiling needs replacing. It's also a lot smaller, and built entirely around the trade of port wine, which actually also explains things like the wide boulevards; when the owners of wineries decided to build second homes in Porto, the city had to expand and the new districts suited the tastes of the richer residents. It may also reflect the long association with the English- Oporto was the official wine supplier for England back in the 1400s. It is still a very pretty city though, hugging one bank of the river Douro and connected to its twin city, Nova Vila de Geia (home to Oporto's port wine 'caves'), on the facing bank by many impressive (and very tall) bridges.

I did, of course, indulge in said port wine. A little too much. Many of the wine caves have free tastings, and cheap tours or tasting upgrades, so it's not too difficult to find you've had nine glasses of port in an afternoon (they were only little glasses, but port is STRONG! Phew). My favourite place was Croft, although I think this was because I bought some chocolate to be matched with my port... really good chocolate. Calem Port was also quite nice. I liked the port, but it's very sweet. My preference is for the other local drink, vinho verde (green wine), which is a young red wine, drunk before the skins have been pressed through the wine. This means the wine hasn't yet taken on the red colour of the skins, and is quite light and bubbly, resembling a white wine rather than a red. You can also get vinho verde tinto, green-red wine, which has had a single pressing of the skins and so has a pale red colour. I'm yet to try that.

Lisa's getting used to my sight-seeing tastes- when we first got the map of Oporto, she pointed out the twenty odd churches in the city. I didn't seek many out specifically, but stumbled across a lot by accident while wandering (and getting lost in) residential districts. In Portugal, and I especially noticed it in Oporto, houses are built up around the churches, so you can easily find a church in a row of houses. Many houses also sport their own shrines to saints, or pictures of them on the outer walls. The other thing that stood out for me in Oporto were the amazing azeluja tiles, tiles hand painted blue on a white back-ground. They have these in Lisbon, but not to the extent of Oporto (Lisbon's main extravagance is the beautiful decorative paved streets; I just HAD to buy a book on them). In Oporto azeluja tiles decorate houses, churches, important buildings, shops, stations; everything. They are also more likely to depict scenes, whereas in Lisbon they may just offer decorative patterns. There are tiled images of the Passion of the Christ; the Crusades; Royal scenes; sea faring scenes; it's just beautiful.

Speaking of tiles, I realised today, as we returned to Lisbon for an overnight stay, just how amazing the metro stations are here. Many of them are tiled beautifully, presenting a modern version of the traditional Portuguese ceramic craft. If I return to Lisbon again, I plan to take a day on the metro just photographing the station walls. Hey, I've already spent a week photographing the sidewalks!

Have come to the conclusion that Nando's-style chicken is a sham. We can't find it anywhere, and apparently the Portuguese use far less peri-peri in their cooking than the Spanish. If I were to open a Nando's in Portugal, I think I'd make a fortune. However, for some reason, I have NEVER had a better Magnum ice cream than that which I ate in Oporto. Ecuadorian dark chocolate, way thicker than on Magnums at home, and the icecream was creamier, like they used to be... Yeah, not exactly regional fare, but SO GOOD. I did also try Oportan specialities like francesinha, a carnivore's delight (sandwich consisting of melted cheese on the outside, then bread, then ham, then two different sorts of sausage, then a thin beef steak, then more ham, then more cheese, then the bottom slice of bread, all drowned in a tomato and beer sauce. I took photos!). I preferred the Queijadinha I had today, which was a cheese and egg yolk pastry which tasted of lemon. Yum.

And yes, my tour of Europe is almost entirely about food. And drink. And churches. What's wrong with that?

The Golden Age of Discovery

2007-05-07T19:15:00.000+10:00

Great news: I have found Jesus. He´s overlooking the Rio Tejo, next to the bridge that resembles the Golden Gate.

A few days ago, I knew very little about Portugal. I knew that Lisa had studied a little of the language, which is a Romance language; I knew that the Spanish and Portuguese had divided te world between them and discovered many places; and I knew Nando´s. Now I know that the spoken Portuguese is tough for many Romance language speakers, and has been described as sounding like 'a drunken Frenchman trying to speak Spanish´; that, while discovering and trading with Africa, India and South America, Portugal took on elements of their cultures, rather than purely stamping Portuguese culture onto the new colonies; and I know that the Nando's symbol is based on a common Portuguese image recalling a tale about a roast chicken which crowed three times to signify a pilgrim's innocence. And I know that there is a big statue of Jesus, a la the Big Jesus in Rio De Janeiro.

Portugal is gorgeous. Due to a dictatorship during the 20th century, it was quite chut off from the outside world, and as such is still quite underdeveloped, but trying very hard to catch up. So it still retains the laidback attitude of an older community, and much of the technology is unreliable. In fact, innefficiency is said to be a defining factor of Portuguese life, the relaxed attitude often extending into tardiness. People here are very friendly and helpful, even if you speak only very hesitant, broken Portuguese. Í've decided to learn Portuguese when I go home.

On our first evening in Lisbon, we wandered around being amazed by the cheap prices of beer. The next day we discovered we'd been in the tourist strip, and that elsewhere it was cheaper! We quickly learned that the best places for price and taste are the little hole in the wall restaurants with no English translation, and preferably a handwritten list of 'Plats de dios', today's specials. The people here generally speak no English, but show enormous concern for you as a customer. And the food! And the prices! Sigh.

We've visited quite a few castles. Lisbon itself grew down the hill from the castle, originally Moorish, and extended along the Rio Tejo (Tajus River). The castle is really nice, it's now just walls and ramparts, no explanatory signs, no lavish interior decor. Just ancient walls and an amazing view.

Yesterday we contrasted this with our visit to Sintra, a small town on the outer suburbs of Lisbon. Nestled by hills/ mountains, Sintra is overlooked by Castelos Mouros and Palacio de Pena, which was the sometime residence of Portugal's 19th century kings, and is pure flight of fantasy. The foundations of the building were a monastery, which the King extended through his own specific design, which embraces Arabic towers, Anglo castellation and Portuguese tiling, creating a true fairy tale castle. It's amazing, and quite surprising. It's the sort of thing which would not be out of place in a theme park, yet somehow fits Portugal. Eccentric expressions of passion are de rigeur here.

Such as Giant Jesus (Cristo Rei). My biggest day so far has probably been my trip to Belém (Portuguese for Bethlehem). I knew from my guide book that it was a half hour trip from Altacara to Belém, and guessed maybe half an hour more from our hostel to Altacara. Ha! It took between one and a half and two hours to get to Belém, during which I took many photos of the Jesus. I'd headed to Belém to a) visit the Museum of Design; b) try pasteis de belém, special custard tarts; and c) check out the touristy things drawn on my map completely sans explanatory notes. Well, the Museum had closed down and was being relocated, due to open in 2009, and I couldn't locate the store Lonely PLanet recommended for the tearts. However, when I wandered into a random store, it turned out to be the right one, they just didn't display their name on the window! And I spent a gorgeous sunny afternoon exploring a crazy, lavish monastery, an enormous statue devoted to the Age of Discovery and the Tower of Belém, a defence balwark with amazingly beautiful architecture. This included a bust of a rhinoceros; apparently a rehinoceros was to be delivered to Lisbon, and the King immediately gave it to Pope Leo as a gift, even before the rhino had arrived. Big mistake; the boat sank, but the Portuguese found the rhino and stuffed it with straw, and then commemorated it in the Tower. See? Random expressions of passsion.

The final random moment of the day occurred as I amde my way back to the hostel. Lisa had texted me about a peaceful protest she'd witnessed. Walking back through town, I followed the sound of drums, thinking it might be this protest, to witness a bizarre parade of homemade costumes, asks and great music- drums, bells attached to costumes, bagpipes. When I returned to the hostel I asked the receptionist what the parade was, and she advised me it was to do with the legalisation of marijuana. Hmmm, weird costumes, it COULD be that. Later I learned that it was an Iberian mask parade, and that the marijuana parade had been the protest Lisa had witnessed. Portugal. So random. So extravagant. I just love it.

Loving Lisbon

2007-05-04T07:06:00.000+10:00

Very quick post- free Internet but it´s time restricted, of course. I´m in Lisbon, Portugal and so far I LOVE it. So glad Lisa wanted to come to Portugal, I am now very seriously considering taking Portuguese classes when I get home.

Lisbon is great- very cheap, beautiful and so relaxed. So many of the houses are covered in these beautiful tiles- itº´s a bit like wall paper for the outside, and some are painted in amazing detail. There is also heaps of really detailed paving too, I keep taking photos of the ground!

Anyway, I am sure I´ll throw up another blog or two over the next few days- must take advantage of free net! Just wanted you to know that I love Lisbon. Yes, your lives are so enhanced now...!

A question of balance

2007-05-02T18:27:00.000+10:00

What I am finding most difficult about Europe, and I forget if I have blogged about it yet (I have written in my journal about it, so it's hard to recall...) is the homelessness/ beggars. They are everywhere, and my heart breaks every time I pass one. Some are very aggressive (don't like them), but most are so, so grateful for every piece of shrapnel you can spare, and I feel awful to be so lavishly wasting money on travel. I keep telling myself that it's not my job to fix this, and that I can't help all of them; but then again, it never seems to be anyone's job, so how will it ever be fixed? And so, whether it makes me a sucker or not, I continue to give my small change to Bosnian women in headscarves, and men with the most forlorn and ashamed faces as they beg for change for food. It is so sad.

Yesterday was a holiday in France; but the European Parliament in Strasbourg (where I am right now) had an 'open door' day, so I went down to check it out. Was oping it might make me feel like everything would work out in the world, democratic union and all that. The impressions I got where thus: the European Parliament is meant to be a big round table of nations, signified by the big round building; I think it might actually be a bastion of red tape and never ending beuracracy, signified by the endless 'circuit' one had to follow, impossible to break or escape from, and feeling more and more like a hopeless Ikea route with every step; and it is highly politicised, which I learned from the metres of propoganda tables handing out freebies for their party. So I took free stationary, bought an Alsace sausage at the random canival without, and felt a little dejected.

Happily I ran into a Mexican guy who works at the hostel while waiting for the boat back to town; he convinced me and a New Zealand girl I'd run into to come to the hostel bar after dinner. We danced to Reggatonn (sp?), a Puerto Rican band, with a group of Ecuadorian school girls ( who knew how to shake their hips WAY too well for 15 year olds!) and it was heaps of fun.

Strasbourg is very pretty, but quiet. Especially on a public holiday. It is very German too, in its architecture and traditional dress and definitely the food. I got served an enormous plate of pork (not the holiday destination for the more Jewish of us!) and so much saurkraut. They need to learn about BALANCE; A mountain of saurkraut with a crown of pork is NOT balanced. If I never see cabbage again, it will be too soon. Not a good way to feel with Germany still to come...

I could have not liked Strasbourg: my train was delayed; the station was a chaos of renovation; I couldn't find trams, buses, my hostel in general; I got rained on, and then discovered my room had been rained in and the flor was a big puddle. But you just have to laugh. I got a new room, all to myself, I know now that the hostel is not far from town, and I made friends with the staff through my disasters. It's all part of travelling.

I LOVED Lyon though. Except for the few niggly things, like climbing a very lage hill with large bag, it was fantastic. A bold statement, but I think I liked it more than Paris. Not too big, great food and nightlife areas, beautiful old areas of town (around which I did a walking tour), and really interesting newer areas. I loved exploring the new(ish) area called Etas Unis, site of the Tony Garnier Urban Museum. Tony Garnier was a socialist architect in early 1900's who was an early proponent of town planning; he had ideas of planning an industrial city, with seperate working and living areas, and a big focus on acessibility for all to culture, recreation and education. He designed a number of projects in Lyon, but the museum focussed mosly on his work in Etas Unis, where he was asked to design worker's housing; essentially community housing. He had notions of green space, pools, statues, lots of light, great schools; all this for people overlooked by society.

The project started well, but budget constraints saw many ideas bein thrown out, such as restricting building height (for maximum light), new schools, libraries, pools. But his ideals are still held dear by the inhabitants, who requested that the museum be made; a series of 25 murals on the blind walls of apartment buildings celebrating Garnier's work and ideas, plus the notion of ideal cities. It was brilliant (as were the hundred or so other urals t be found around Lyon). There was also an apartment set up to show how life would have been when these apartments were first built, furnished by heirloom donations of the local community. One woman had given a tea set which had been her wedding gift, someone else an antique copy of Les Miserables. It really demonsrated how, although not all of Garnier's plans were adopted, his ideal of community pride and connection was created and fostered; a sense of belonging and balance was achieved here, after all.

Lyon, sans tigre et ours

2007-04-28T02:30:00.000+10:00

Hmmm, so Bordeaux was ok... frustratingly, the main thing I wanted to do in Bordeaux was go to the Musee d'Aquitaine, which traces 2500 years of history in the Aquitaine area. Of course, it was closed; until May 10. Ugh.

Instead I:

- Took a walking tour around the older areas, and learned a lot about the history and the architecture.
- Took a wine tour to a winery. It was ok. Didn't like the wine much, but LOVED my French guide's disparaging comments on France's current anti-alcoholism education. She considers this to be CRAZY, as it is anti wine! Her secret for health and happiness was drinking wine regularly; that is, every day.
- Visited an awesome monolithic (underground, carved into the cliff face) church in the very cool medieval village of St Emillion.
- Bought a skirt. It is very hard to find a coloured skirt in France. I had to settle for brown...
- Ate some very good food, especially confit de canard at Bistro Eduard.
- Took an eight hour train ride to Lyon.

Upon arriving at Lyon, I:

- Got annoyed at the metro ticket machines for only taking coin and microchipped bank cards.
- Waited ages in line to book my train ticket to Strasbourg (mostly so I could get change for the metro machine).
- Was given ticket advice by a beggar after I gave him some change.
- Wandered around at the bottom of a large hill, trying to find the way to my hostel.
- Learned the best way up the big hill, as my hostel was mid way up it.
- Wondered if it was unreasonable to want an escalator to be built into the hill.
- Discovered that the reception to the hostel was closed (dinner break).
- Went back down the hill to eat kebabs with chips in it.
- Marevlled at the truly amazing view from the hotel- it actually makes the climb worth it (just).
- Found that my room was full of English speakers, including a girl from Ferntree Gully, with whom I spent this morning wandering the city.
- Visited the Printing Museum, which was ok; started out with English translation, but they petered out by the second room, so it was just a case of looking, without extra understanding.
- Visited the Lumiere Museum, which was fantastic; it didn't hurt that it was housed in an exquisite Art Nouveau building.
- Ate bread and cheese while checking out the view.
- Wandered at random, taking photos of pretty things and street art, and enjoying the lat sunshine.
- Concluded that I really, really like Lyon. One of my favourite places so far.

Typically French

2007-04-24T04:04:00.000+10:00

Warning: French keyboards are set out differently; I am struggling with my typing so pleqse excuse typos.

As anticipated, Saturday involved a visit to the Museum of the Middle Ages (j'adore! So much geeky Naomi stuff!), followed by a trip to a chateau for a picnic. We WERE aiming for Chateau Chantilly, but it was very complicated, so we gave up... Ended up at Chateau Vincennes, not so far away, and probably not so beautiful, but enor,ous. I found it interesting as it gave me an idea of how castles would actually have housed villages. This is how villages originally were in England, and why you occassionally co,e across castles in the middle of towns... sorry, nerding out, I think.

Somehow, the suggestions arose that it was good petanque weather, and so a game was arranged for Sunday... I was now heading to Bordeaux in the afternoon! Apparently petanque is VERY French. I had no idea what it was, but hey, when in Rome... er, Paris... Lise and I went home to make beef bourgignon for pre-petanque feasting, and then had our very yummy crepe dinner. Mmmm

Well, petanque, the game; sort of like lawn bowls, you are aiming to get your ball closest to the cournichon (?). And the verdict; SO MUCH FUN! We played with Jacques' friend Antoine, and Lisa and I sort of got the hang of it... or we fluked our way through.Either possible. Anyway, Jacques and Lisa took the first tournament, and midway through the revenge round we realised I had to run for my train! So Lisa advises that Jacques is very keen for a rematch on my return to Paris! Lisa and I are considering getting a petanque set...

Now I'm in Bordeaux. Spent last night talking to an Aussie girl who insists I am the first person she's met in France who speaks English. Spent today sitting in the public gardens chilling out, mostly; my week in the provences will be much slower paced than Paris, as less sights and demands on my time. Tomorrow I am doing a walking tour and visiting the museum of Aquitaine; the next day a tour to a winery and a medieval village- I just can't seem to get enough of them!

Keep emailing and commenting- it's so good to hear from you all!

A taste of French indulgence

2007-04-20T22:48:00.000+10:00

For chocolate lovers, visiting Paris without a stop at Angelina (226 Rue de Rivoli) may well be a crime. You may have to wait for a table to become available in this busy tea salon, with little French old ladies and groups of tourists enjoying occupying the stately tables which fill every available space. The price list may not suit the budget traveller, but Angelina is the ultimate for a lavish desert. All the deserts looked divine, and I chose a particularly good Tarte Citron (some Melbourne readers may be aware of my Lemon Tart Quest. This is the furthest afield I have ventured, and well worth it!). But the creme de la creme here is the hot chocolate. Chocolat l'Affricain is like molten chocolate- delicious! Served in a jug, with a side dish of chantilly cream, the diner serves the chocolate to their liking. Thanks to Sarah (in Paris) for the tip! And if you feel the need to walk off the calories, you can stroll through the nearby Rivoli Gardens, or, as I did, visit the bookstore next door, which proudly boasts a tradition of stocking English books. I chose a few French books (translated in Anglaise, of course), to keep me entertained on my upcoming trip around France.

Of course, the French have made lavishness an art form. Yesterday I visited Versailles. Now anyone who has studied French History would know this, but I was a little surprised; Chateau Versailles is ENORMOUS! Almost every room is gloriously decorated, sporting painted ceilings and priceless paintings and furniture. As an aside, has anyone else noticed the way, as soon as something has a touch of gold or gilt, tourists feel the need to snap a picture? Amuses me a lot. Anyway, the chateau was impressive. I was particularly interested in Domaine de Marie-Antoinette, a section of the estate given to her by Louis XVI, which she fashioned into a pastoral hideaway from the ritual of court life. She apparently loved to spend time close to nature, such as on the small farm run for her amusement. But my favourite part of Versailles was the gardens. It was a beautiful day, and it was so nice to be able to sit on sections of the grass (a true luxury in Paris). Must admit I fell asleep for a while! Also saw an abundance of wildlife: catfish scrambling for crumbs; a woodpecker; and a French frog!

The visit to Angelina today was actually a side-trip on my excursion to the true symbol of French grandeur; Royal Palais de Musee Louvre. This place is stupidly big, so much so that it really frustrated me. According to Lonely Planet it would take nine months just to glance at all the exhibits. But once I found a sense of direction, I was able to enjoy the spectacular artworks within. I particularly enjoyed the sculpture galleries, and was glad that I finally braved the Da Vinci Code trailblazers and ventured into the Italian painting galleries. I am not joking about the Da Vinci Code, by the way- the Louvre actually offers a Da Vinci Code Audio-tour. I declined. A word of advice- your ticket is an all day pass, so take advantage of this, and take breaks outside the Musee for lunch or coffee. Don't eat inside the centre- it is overpriced and average fare. The all day pass is an especially good option if you visit on one of the days the centre is open late.

One thing that constantly amazes me about Paris is the quality of the buskers. They just don't do anything by halves here. Many buskers are professional musicians eking a living off generous tourists. The first time a I heard a piano accordion strike up while I was on the Metro was a true Amelie moment; it felt like a traditional French soundtrack had been added to my ordinary day. I've also thoroughly enjoyed: the string orchestral arrangement playing at one Metro; the Latin bad playing at another; the jazz trio improvising atop a wall near the steps of the Pompidou centre (below); and the electric harp player at Sacre Cour.

And so my time in Paris is drawing to a close. Tomorrow's plans involve visiting the Museum of Middle Ages (which I am really looking forward to, nerd, nerd), ad a picnic at a chateau, followed by a crepe dinner. Then I strike out on my own while Lisa finishes up at work. I'm visiting Bordeaux, then Lyon and Strasbourg. Paris has been surprisingly good; my cynicism has been erased. I think my low expectations meant I could only be pleasantly surprised, and I have been. Paris is really a beautiful city, and it's so exciting when a waiter smiles at you, or when your hesitant attempts at French are understood. As Lisa insists, the difficulties of Paris make those ordinary moments extraordinary. Paris has that effect, somehow.

Supporting the arts

2007-04-18T18:57:00.000+10:00

So yesterday I started the day at Musee d'Orsay, in a ridiculously long line (ask to see the photo when I come back, it looks like a crowd scene). However, I didn't see the Impressionists when they were at NGV because of the line, so there was no way I was leaving. 40 minutes later I got inside, and was happy to find out that my VIT card got me in for free :) Wow, I think that's the first time my VIT card did anything good for me.

I was not disappointed once inside either. Impressionism (which aims to capture a sense of light, and the impression of image) and neo-impressionism (which furthers the idea of creating a sense, rather than an image, by painting in a series of dots, which tricks the eye) are some of my favourite art forms. I wandered happily through a huge collection of Monet (it's so interesting to see more than just Waterlilies, he has a huge range of works), was amazed at Degas' skill with pastel (how do you imply the delicacy of tulle with a crayon???), and was disappointed by the relatively small collection of Renoir (my favourite artist). New favourites included Levy-Dhurmer and Redon, whose semi fantastical works bordered on surreal, and Henri Edmund Cross, who moves from neo-impressionism towards modern art, I think, with his use of blocky brush strokes rather than delicate dots. I also discovered that a lot of furniture design and artwork I like has a title to describe it; I have finally discovered what 'art nouveau' encompasses, and that I like it. It's all that swirly stuff from early 1900's, and it's purty. So I bought a book.

Afterwards met Lisa for a picnic in the park (Luxembourg Gardens), involving wine, baguette saucisson and three types of cheese, all divine. Very nice and cruisy. And cheesy. Then we met up with Lisa's friend Sarah, who was doing a radio interview with her about street art. For this we took a tour around (I think) 5th Arrondisement, and saw all sorts of stuff Lisa has blogged about- Nemo, Jef Aerosol, Mesnager, Miss Tic, the giraffes I like but can never remember who does them. Afterwards we went to an exhibition for Jef Aerosol's book, which was cool, and we met Mesnager and Jef. It was really exciting to see all this art, which has become part of Lisa's experience of Paris. It made my visit here seem more persona than the usual tourist trail.

Today I hit that tourist trail again though, heading for Sacre Cour. In a boulangerie on the way there, a guy said good bye to me in Italian. I guess my accent was terrible, and he was trying to place my nationality. Lisa thinks he thought I was the female version of Pepe le Pew. Sacre Cour was nice, particularly for it's amazing view of the city. It's on top of Montmartre, a raised part of the city, and the view just from the steps out front is lovely. If you shell out to climb the 276 stairs to the top (as I did), it's spectacular. Even more beautiful was the choir singing as I descended the staircase, and the amazing sound streaming out of the upper dome windows toward the sky.

Sarah had mentioned a fantastic hot chocolate pace around Concorde, so I wandered trying to find that (and failing), so instead strolled Champs Elysee, and a few shopping areas around there. Then jumped a train to the Musee Rodin. I had been considering going to see Rodin stuff, as his name nagged in the back of my head as one I knew for some reason. Then I saw a piece at Musee d'Orsay titled The Gates of Hell (e porte l'enfern, I think), which was spectacular, and sealed my decision. I'm sure some of you still can't place his work, though. Perhaps you are sitting with your head in your hands as you ponder? If so, you may resemble his best known work, The Thinker (La Pensive). It's the first work you see as you stroll around the beautiful gardens surrounding the museum. I loved this museum, it's a lot smaller than some of the other museums in Paris, and mostly made up of sculptures. I also got in for free, which made me like it more :)

Then I did as all good tourists do when in Paris: finally, I visited the Eiffel Tower. I didn't go up (long lines, hefty-ish price tag, meant to meet Lisa, plus what would I look at up there? Normally from a Parisian vantage point I try to spot the Eiffel Tower...), but was surprised to discover that the tower is a lot more beautiful, complex and impressive when you're close up. It's easy to become blase, as it's such a cliched image now, but this is a beautiful structure, and caused a huge uproar when first erected. Even the French didn't like it, now it is the most recognised (and prided) symbol of their country.

I'm now back at Lisa's, chilling out. She's gone to a Pinter play translated into French, and I have decided to be lazy and not go. Instead I am blogging, resting, cooking dinner and planning my tomorrow. I might go out for a drink or desert later, too; there are so many bars and restaurants around here. I was amazed, when I went for a walk after dark on Monday night, to find the place still buzzing. Lise says it often is still buzzing at 2am. Ah, gay Paris!

Spirits of chairs and churches

2007-04-16T18:49:00.000+10:00

A friend of mine has some clear plastic chairs, which she loves. They are Phillipe Starck Louis Ghost Chairs, and I had never seen them before until I visited this friend's new unit. Then I read an article about them in my weekend paper. And now I have seen them on display in an art museum.

Even though I find modern art very challenging, and I often don't like it, I keep taking myself to modern art galleries. While in London, Lisa and I visited Tate Modern, and today I checked out the Pompidou Centre in Paris. While I connected with fewer artworks at Pompidou, I think the selection of works was better. It featured a variety of media, ranging from sculpture, to video, to homeware design (hence the Phillipe Starck stuff).

I find that I am less forgiving with modern art. It evokes very strong reactions in me, I either love something, hate it or am completely uninterested. More classical art tends to promote a more reflective viewing style for me, so I am more inclined to develop a considered opinion of the piece. But at the modern galleries I have visited I have liked:
- some Cy Twombly work, particularly the Seasons, on display at Tate
- the New York photography on display at Pompidou. I have forgotten the artists
- Mattisse
- Pollock. Not very original choice, I know!
- Paul Nash
- Kandinsky (part of the Bauhaus movement)
- Dali. Again, not very original choice. Meh.
- Phillipe Starck. His designs are SO artistic, sometimes to the point that they are completely impractical. It's cool, haute merchandise domestique!

Weirdest thing I've seen in these moder galleries: a room entirely devoted to inflatable things. Some of this was inflatable art, but some was actually just inflatable furniture, a la 1960s, or plans for it, or photos of it. C'est bizarre.

I also chose to visit a site from another historical extreme today- Notre Dame. Lisa just smiles and nods when I get excited about churches... I am a little obsessive. I seem to remember similar reactions from Jackie by the end of our New Zealand trip... and the churches in Europe are of course far more numerous and spectacular! So church visits are something for me to indulge in when Lisa and I are solo exploring. I am not at all religious, but am fascinated by expression of faith, a subject I think was awakened when I wrote my thesis. So I just love exploring churches, religious artwork and literature, etc.

Anyway, Notre Dame is gorgeous, and particularly intriguing for its literary connections, as well as the general religious beauty. In fact, it is the literature (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, by Victor Hugo) which is responsible for the restoration of the Cathedral; prior to the success of Hugo's novel, the site had fallen into disrepair. In fact, the cathedral was ransacked the very day Hunchback was released.

I decided to commit to the wait and the fee involved with visiting the towers, and was glad I did. The steps are a challenge (472, I think), but the view was fantastic; both of Paris, and of the gargoyles and other monsters, each individualised, and the flying buttresses (it's a churchy thing, common on Gothic style churches).

Apart from that, Paris has seen me attempting French, people watching and just wandering alleys. Oh, and eating as much stereotypical food as possible. Lisa brought me croissant and pan au chocolat for breakfast (I can not BELIEVE how good French croissants really are! Wow!); we had wine with dinner (Sancerre, I think. It's a white wine, hints of apple, very crisp and refreshing); crepe fromage for lunch; and tomorrow we will picnic for lunch, with plans of baguette, cheese and saucisson. Mmmmm..... :)

The city of...

2007-04-16T09:11:00.000+10:00

So, the big test. I am in Paris, city of all sorts of nouns. I'm staying on the floor of Lisa's apartment, which I comprehended was small... but in it's entirety it is actually smaller than my bedroom! So very little space to move with a house guest... So I feel entirely indebted to Lisa- you are fabulous, Lise!!!!

So far, I like Paris. This experience is based on arriving in Paris at 5pm Sunday, a walk around Lisa's area (which includes viewing Pont Neuf and Pont Des Arts, bits of Notre Dame, and Fontaine St Michel. Oh and no criticism of any French I use is allowed. Only encouragement, I am a fragile French attempter. Any nastiness may send me back into my shell entirely) and then dinner. So not much, today I will strike out on my own while Lisa does things one must do having been out of town for a week. I am going to see Notre Dame, I think. And... stuff. Lisa keeps asking what I want to do or see, but apart from a few things (churches, Louvre, Musee D'Orsay), I really don't know. Stuff.

Belgium has definitely got a good rap from me. Bruges was beautiful, whether it's fake or not it is just gorgeous. We have surmised that perhaps Lonely Planet warns people off it because it is very tourist driven, there are tourists all over the place. But hey, I'm a tourist, so I can't complain. Went to a chocolate museum while Lisa took a canal tour- with the amount of inevitable 'being lost' one does in Bruges (wind-y medieval streets are not conducive to well directed strolling), we didn't manage to each do both of these activities, but we each liked our choice.

Yesterday we split up and strolled around Belgium. I ended up taking photos of street art for Lisa!!! And trying to order things in French, which mostly went well. Then I drank beer. Both Lisa and I found that, even if you consider drinking something else, the fact that you're in Belgium and the great beer is so cheap compels you to just drink beer. Here are the beers I drank in Belgium:

Kreik (Cherry)
Duvel
Palm
Westmalle Tripel
Forbidden Fruit
Jupiler
Triple Karmeliet
Bruges Blonde
Grimbergen Dubel

Not bad for three days of beer drinking! (And of course sometimes I had more than one beer... Jupiler was incredibly cheap, at one hostel it was only 1 euro!)

Beer and chocolate

2007-04-14T04:24:00.000+10:00

Well, this is Belgium. Chocolate on Grand Place, beer in various locations including Place Saint Katherine and the hostel. Brussells is quite nice, despite proclaiming itself an 'ugly city' in the map I picked up. I think it's pretty!

Got into Belgium around lunchtime yesterday, found a hostel and wandered the streets, sampling belgian food and drinks along the way (fries, chocs, beers). Grand Place is AMAZING, everywhere you turn there is another beautiful building. Today we went to three museums: the Comic Art Museum, the Belvue Museum (history of Belgium) and the Brewers Museum (sparse on displays, but the cheesiest movie which was also very informative and thrist inspiring... so we went for beer afterwards).

Tomorrow we head to Bruges for a day trip- a medieval town (or town recreated in the medieval style, according to lonely PLanet). Supposed to be very beautiful and romantic, so I'm looking forward to it. PLus we're going to a chocolate museum there :) With tastings.

Most annoying thing about Belgium has also been quite amusing- each hostel we've been to could only put us up for one night at a time. So we changed hostels tonight, and tomorrow will return to our original hostel for another night! Then Sunday it's off to Paris, and Lisa's tiny apartment :)

5 minute blog post

2007-04-11T17:11:00.000+10:00

I literally have only 5 minutes left on my net time, so here is a speedy recap of the last few days:

Everything shuts in Norwich over Easter. Everything. It is a major city, the second largest provincial city in England, and everything closes. Ironically, we went down the road to a tiny hamlet called Wroxham- everything was open. But it was cold, so we went home.

There was a big traffic jam on the way to Cambridge :( and BJ had to get back to Norwich to collect Paul after his football match, so I only saw my dream town for an hour. But I loved it. I am inspired to get my butt into gear re scholarships to go to England, because I WILL live and study in Cambridge. All the colleges are built right into the town, or, more accurately, the town has been built up around the colleges, so that you can find, say, Jesus college right next to a shopping strip. It is gorgeous. And they have several speciality chocolate shops, too (thanks for the chockies BJ!). What can I say? They clearly made this town just for me.

ARGH! 2 MINUTES!

Bath was also gorgeous. Really quaint, very 18th century, except for some that was older of course. Such as the Roman baths, built 65 AD. Very overwhelming. Can't write more, must publish this. BYE!

Hobbiton hillside

2007-04-09T00:01:00.000+10:00

I'm in Norwich, staying with my cousin BJ (technically my step-cousin, I guess. Uncle's daughter from his first marriage, when he still lived in Scotland). It's nice to have a real bed, and actually pretty good to have a day where I'm not rushing about- we decided that, as it's Easter Sunday, nothing would really be open, so we're just relaxing. Plus Paul, BJ's husband is a footballer, and he's got a game tomorrow.

The train trip out was funny; once we'd passed the industrial city edges, it felt a lot like we were in Hobbiton. Very LOTR landscapes. It's pretty, extremely quaint. A lot of England seems so surreal, because it's so associated with books I've read; LOTR, Bronte, Dickens. It seems so odd to be in such a landscape, almost like a story itself.

Saw a bit of Norwich yesterday, went to the Cathedral- beautiful, begun in 1096, not fully completed until 15thC, when the present spire was completed (the original fell off in 13thC!), and strolled around the streets, all windy and cobbled. Norwich has been a major centre since well before the Norman invasion, and has long been one of the largest provincial centres in England. It has SO many churches, which I love- by medieval times there were around 50 churches for a community of maybe 6000!

There is a castle, built by the Normans, which has been used as a gaol and is now open to the public as a museum, but I prob won't have a chance to see it before I go tomorrow. :( Oh well, plenty more castles around, I am sure.

BJ is currently tormenting Tyra- her enormous rottweiler, named after Tyra Banks, who wears a pink diamante studded collar and is utterly spoiled, and hugely friendly. Tomorrow we'll drop Paul at his game, then drive to Cambridge (swoon), from where I'll catch the train back to London. Then it's out to Greenwich, where Lisa and I are staying. Probably Bath on Tuesday (unless Cambridge gets me all in the mood for universities, in which case I'll visit Oxford), another day of London sights Wednesday (hopefully seeing inside Westminster), and Belgium Thursday (beer and chocolate! Beer and chocolate!).

Oh, following up from comments on my last entry:

- Les Mis was great. I'd never seen it before, and I actually didn't know how it ended! Loved it. How do they possibly perform it without a rotating stage? Despite fairly small theatre, set was fantastic (especially liked the use of the bridge for Javert's death), lighting very effective (particularly liked the backlighting used to display the 'anonymous' poor, so they were faceless for a large part of the song), and overall a strong cast. Epenine was particularly notable.

- Rami, I think perhaps you should have glazed over during this part of the entry :) Sutton Hoo is a major burial site from Anglo Saxon times. It's a ship burial, so the king/ lord was buried within his ship, and the inhabitants had goods and treasures buried with them, like we would associate with, say, Egyptian burials. It's a really significant archaeological find, and TOTALLY fascinating to English history geeks like myself.

- Haven't gotten a new phone number yet, although I should. Am spending stacks in text messages, but want to wait until Europe as apparently a lot of English SIM cards will still charge me international rates in Europe? I'm going to investigate when I get to Paris, I think, but from what BJ says, UK mobile carriers are quite pricey. So no, Jorel, that wasn't me texting you weird numbers. Although I did text to let you know I was ok, but that was from my normal number, possibly with international codes tacked on?

Hope you're all well, thanks for leaving comments- glad to hear how you are.

Ten thousand steps

2007-04-07T00:56:00.000+10:00

The Grand Old Duke of York, He took ten thousand steps. Ok, that's not quite how it goes, but trust me, if he were getting about London there's a darn good chance he took ten thousand steps. Could even have been ten thousand stairs (the Brits are very traditional about some things, such as stairs, and promoting tea quality over that of coffee). Especially if he were trying to see it all in three days like some Naomi's we know.

But I am having a great time. Highlights: Seeing an 11th century copy of 'Beowulf' (yeah, yeah, geek I know); having a squirrel run up my leg; being able to confidently navigate the rail system, despite line closures over the long weekend.

Yesterday I:
-Visited the British Museum. Sadly most of the medieval stuff was not on display as there are new medieval rooms opening next year :( Still got to see all the Sutton Hoo and pre Anglo-Saxon Celtic stuff (let your eyes glaze over if you don't know what I am talking about here). My favourite exhibit was the Assyrian section, which was awesome. Marvelled at how awful British coffee is.
- Hung out in Russell Square, feeding squirrels
- Visited the National Library (oh geek out), which has a bunch of old books to make me swoon: Shakespeare folios; handwritten Alice in Wonderland; stacks of illuminated gospels, including the Lindisfarne; Chaucer; and my faves- Beowulf and the Magna Carta. Swoon.
- Hung out at Leicester Square, and found pretty cheap food in Chinatown
- Went to bed by 8pm, exhausted from 24 hours travelling and a day of sightseeing

Today I:
- Got an Oyster card for the trains- so I look like a local, and am saving money, and can get on any form of pt without fear of having the wrong ticket. Yay! I can't wait until Melbourne introduces the myki system, which will be similar.
- Trekked the National Gallery and checked out Trafalgar Square. My favourite stuff was, unsurprisingly, the 12th century section. Most of it is religious, and it is just so so cool. Was going to check out the Renoir exhibition (he being my favourite artist), but it cost £12 and I am trying not to blow all my cash at once. I can see Renoir in France.
- Wandered the wrong way (aiming for Leicester Square) to discover St James Park is very close to the Gallery. Had lunch looking at ducks and hoping no-one would come and charge me for sitting on a park bench (they didn't). Marvelled at how decent even the cheapest tea is- especially impressive considering how disgusting the coffee is. As Lisa said, that's why the Brits are tea drinkers.
- Made my way through the Horse Guard to Parliament House and (sigh) Westminster Abbey. Sadly Westminster was closed to tourists today, but I wandered what was accessible of the cloisters. Might revisit it next week.
- Strolled to Piccadilly Circus (feeling more and more like I am on a Monopoly board), caught tube to Leicei#ster Square to check out discount theatre tickets. I am seeing Les Miserables tonight. Really wanted to see Wicked, but the discount price was £40. I'm paying over £10 less for Les Mis, and I've never seen it, so it will be exciting. 12 rows from stage.
- Found a discount net cafe to blog and plan my train journey to Norwich tomorrow.

Later I will:
- Possibly wander through Hyde Park and over to the palace. It's probably something you have to do, right?
- Go to the theatre! Hopefully having picked up more cheap Asian for dinner.
- Try and find my way home again.
- Pack to leave my hostel tomorrow.

Next week, when in London again, I plan to check out:
- St Paul's
- London Tower
- London Dungeon
- Greenwich markets (we're staying in Greenwich next week)
- Westminster again, maybe

OK, off to a National Rail station to work out if I need to book a seat on my train tomorrow. Then I shall visit the queen.

London town

2007-04-05T21:58:00.000+10:00

Hey folks, so I made it to London. Seem to have lost ability to type though, maybe that was the pint I had earlier. After taking ages through passport stuff (and yet no-one even scanned my bag at customs???) and having my sleeping bag disappear (have to buy a new one, Thai will reimburse me), then missing my train, then finding that Shepherd's Bush has TWO stations, and is across the road fromt he one I DIDN'T get off at, I felt I deserved that beer.

Anyway, flight was long but ok. Great first leg- had interactive movie choice, so I could watch the trash of my choice and pause it etc. Nice. Second leg only had big shared tv's though, so I'm glad I slept.

London is pretty cool so far, although I am yet to head out and check it out properly (going to hit the Thames area after this blog, maybe wander Brit museum). I can see myself lving in England :) It seems I have stumbled onto an Aussie hostel, quite by chance. But hey, lotsa discounts, I'm not complaining. Ok, off for food and 'sploring.

Alll of Neptune's oceans- rain, rivers and washing water

2007-04-02T10:26:00.000+10:00

Oh lord. It's two days out from my departure, and it is gloomy, and my clothes are only just washing now. Will these clothes never be clean? Or more to the point, dry.

Typical. The one nice sunny day we had this week was yesterday. All days prior were rainy, so I didn't wash. And while it was great to see sun yesterday, as it was Picnic Day, it was also the day I had absolutely NO time to wash.

Picnic itself was ACE. Had so many people show up, so many RANDOM people show up. Such as my cousin and his mates on their bikes. I was on the phone to a lost friend (who happened to be at Studley Park Boathouse, down the river, rather than Fairfield Boathouse, where we all were), and noticed a bunch of kids on bikes just sitting in front of our group and looking. It finally registered that I knew one of the kids- not my cousin, mind you, I recognised his mate. Bad cousin, Naomi! Made up for it by feeding the ravenous hoardes and giving them money to go and buy chips. My nana, aunt and uncle also arrived for a while, leaving instructions for contacting my cousin in England, and a responsibility to drive my nana to the airport.

Also had such randoms as Jackie and Lonza from Geelong show up (thanks for making the big drive, guys!), as well as Kat (who I haven't seen since I left for Indonesia and who, it transpires, is living in a tent out the back of a squat. Even thought she has two corporate jobs...) and Dave (who I haven't seen in maybe a year, year and a half, as he teaches in Westernport). Also cool to see so many of the regular gang, especially those of the gang who only irregularly make it to group thangs- Gene, Sares, Dom. It was so much fun. Much eating, much merriment, much crocheting (on the parts of Deb and Sares).

But perhaps the most fun was discovering that I have not taunted away all my boating karma, through many a weekend at the boathouse laughing at people rowing badly- while Marty had been threatening to force me into a boat, and he and Gene both tried to manhandle me at various times during the afternoon (I had to human chain myself to a fence...), in the end I found out the price of rowboat hire. And we did not fall in. Hoorah! This was mostly due to Gene's rowing prowess, Marty a keen second for these honours (I was ok... ). Best part was when, Paul and Rami having bombarded us with rocks from the shore, we made landfall and Marty jumped ashore to attack them. Also amusing were the various encounters with overhanging and submerged branches.

Later that night went blues dancing with Nick, Sai, Imo and surprise inclusions Fy and Ben. While the class wasn't as good as last month (at which my teachers, Noni and Josh, officiated), it was ok, and we all hung around danced socially afterwards- even Ben. The class was taught by Kieran, who is from Geelong, and knows Gene. I have met him before, maybe at a New Year's thing at Gene's aunts? Or Gene's 21st? Or maybe just at swing? I'm not sure, but I re-introduced myself anyway. And the BIG surprise from the night is that Fy and Ben are planning to come monthly to Blues Night. Yay!

Referring back to the blog title, "all of Neptune's oceans" have washed the Scottish Rock Opera from St Martin's... and my life. Now I just need them to wash the songs from my mind. The show improved every night until it was really quite powerful, and we finished with good crowds, three great reviews and an enormous sigh of relief. Bump out only kept me at theatre until 1am, and I am meeting Clarry today to get my cheque.

Now I just have to wash, dry, pack, see family, check my flights, update my tickets, confirm check in time, book flights for the gold coast for later in the year, and other random things I am yet to list- before Wednesday. Sweet (as sweet as "all the perfumes of Arabia"... GO AWAY Scottish play!!!).

Things I am doing right now

2007-03-30T08:31:00.000+10:00

* I am drinking dandelion root tea.
* I am checking my emails, even though I know I've already read them all.
* I am wondering whether I really needed to spend so much money on clothes yesterday.
* I am wondering whether I should catch the train to my hostel in London, and risk getting lost, or take the airport shuttle to my hostel door and pay more than my a night's accomodation for the experience.
* I am stalling until my meeting this morning, which has been pushed back by an hour.
* I am hoping it doesn't rain on Sunday as I'm having a picnic, and I really want it to go ahead
* I am considering sitting on the couch and continuing to read 'Vile Bodeis' by Evelyn Waugh, which is fantastic. I'ld like to finish it before I leave, and I think I will.
* I am trying to upload photos to a website and possibly win some free accomodation in Europe.
* I am checking out my nation on www.nationstates.net.
* I am feeling a little annoyed that there's a new Britrail train pass which focuses on the South East area of England, encompassing all the places I am visiting, which would have saved me about a hundred bucks.
* I have cold feet.
* I am considering having a shower.
* I am considering having breakfast.
* I am trying to decide on which days I should wear my new clothes, or if I should just pack them away for my trip.
* I am hoping that it is actually cold enough in Europe to justify my lovely new coat. Which is very lovely. And wool/ cashmere. And wasn't that expensive.
* I am wondering if I really need to buy thermals, as people keep recommending, or if I can just do lots of layering until spring properly kicks into Europe and the weather warms up.
* I am wondering why the amount spent on my credit card, and the amount left to spend on my credit card do not add up to my credit card total. Maybe some pending purchases to be added on to the spent total???? Confusing.
* I am trying to decide if it is really worth doing bump out for Macbeth, even if I will get paid... and if I change my mind, can I actually get out of it.
* I am noticing the gorgeous sunshine without, and wondering if it is actually colder than in looks out there (I'll bet it is).
* I am wrapping up this blog entry.

What are you doing?

Itinerary-ish

2007-03-29T09:34:00.000+10:00

Well, it is one week until I fly out. Wooh!

Here is my current itinerary for England (wooh!)-

Day 1: Thursday: Arrive at 6.20am. Find supposedly free shuttle bus to hostel. Hostel is in the delightfully named Shepherd’s Bush, apparently really close to the West End. This was one reason I chose it. The other is that it was cheap (and by cheap I mean about AU$20 the first night, AU$30 the second for a mixed dorm room. Sigh)! Wander city until I fall over from exhaustion.

Day 2: Good Friday: Wander city, hoping to find that it does not shut down over Easter.

Day 3: Saturday: Catch train to Norwich to stay with my cousin-ish, BJ and her famous football player husband. Various Norwich-y things. Free bed :)

Day 4: Easter Sunday: Various Norwich-y things. Avoid terror of nothing being open over Easter by talking to BJ. Free bed :)

Day 5: Easter Monday: Return to London via Cambridge (*swoon*). Hope it is not all closed up because of Easter weekend. Curse stupid travel plans that encompass Easter. Try to find Lisa. Expensive bed :( ... unless one of Lisa’s friends has floor space for me :)

Day 6: Tuesday: Day trip to Bath to look at Roman ruins, etc. I had originally wanted to do day trips to Cambridge, Bath and Oxford and booked a four day train pass accordingly, then realised cursed Easter interrupted any four day block. So I am choosing Bath because it is a more expensive trip than Oxford, and will feel less wasteful of my $s.

Day 7: Wednesday: Wander London with Lisa.

Day 8: Thursday: Early morning train to Brussels.

Nothing further planned. :)

A Patch of Green

2007-03-23T23:04:00.000+11:00

What you first notice, as you drive into the hills, is the greenery. It makes it difficult to believe that Victoria, as an entirety, was today declared a drought state. It's intriguing to see that areas still much in their natural state can survive conditions which, really, are part and parcel of the Australian environment.

The second thing you notice is the drop in temperature. The reduction in concrete, the increase in shade and the enticing breezes combine to cause the temperature to feel notably lower than horrid 35 degree Melbourne.

Today I worked in The Patch, a cute little area just out of Belgrave. Sometimes I think I could live in the bush. Then I remember I hate snakes, and windy roads make me sick. And I'm scared of bushfire, trees falling down, random bitey insects. Then I decide I'll stick with the burbs.

The GOOD thing about working in the hills today, though, was the opportunity to restock the tea cupboard, through a visit to my favourite tea store, in Sassafras. Mmmm. $30 spent in about five minutes. I love tea. (If you're interested, I restocked with Monk's Pear (similar to an earl grey style), vanilla black tea, imperial spice (spiced black), Wahgi Valley (black tea from PNG) and tried for the first time dandelion root, and fruit fantasy (a delicious smelling black based fruit tea))

Spent the rest of the day hanging with my nana, including taking her to The Scottish Rock Opera (which was pretty good tonight- the actors seem to get better each night, which is great). My nana nodded off. How anyone falls asleep three rows from the front at a ROCK OPERA (ie lots of loud singing/ screaming and a live band) is beyond me. Also sold tickets to a girl I lived with, who ducked out on the household still owing people money. Awkward.

My nana is staying in my uncle's company apartment in Port Melbourne, and waxing lyrical about how she loves Port Melbourne. I hate it. Yuppy snobsville overpriced wank of an area (yeah, tell us what you really think...). Doesn't even have a decent beach. Ugh. I hate places that charge twenty bucks for a small pizza. Get real.

Tomorrow I was thinking of auditioning for 1 vs 100, but turns out that you had to register for a time (which I totally didn't get from the website), plus Nick's going Wed night, so I am not going to do it any more. Can't do the other auditions due to Macbeth :(

Meh. I am going to Europe, anyway, so prob wouldn't be able to do the show, even if I dd get on. 12 days til bon voyage!

Sleepless soliloquy, 2am.

2007-03-20T02:25:00.000+11:00

It is 2am, and I am wide awake. It is 2am in SHOW WEEK, a week in which I am working ridiculous hours: 5 days at Kidz Bodz, 6 nights on Macbeth; and I am awake.

I have a flu, the same flu that has kept Nick virtually bedridden for two weeks now. Even with nothing but rest, Nick has stayed sick. I have two weeks of show, and most days working, so no bed rest for me L And in two weeks I go to Europe. I hope I am not still sick when I leave!

I am running on the vague hopes that: perhaps my immune system is stronger than Nick’s? He seems susceptible to all sorts of illness; perhaps my far improved diet of late will help boost said immune system; perhaps the flu shot from July/ August last year is still effective and will help lessen the symptoms; perhaps the constant cold and flu drugs I am taking will also help lessen the symptoms. Although I couldn’t get my preferred brand which seem to be the ones that work best for me, but are so difficult to chase down (Nick says going cold and flu tablet shopping with me is like an Easter egg hunt…). I’d rather not be taking c&f tabs at all, but I have little choice- a necessity to keep functioning at this point! Urgurgle…

Anyway, I’ve taken a second night-time flu tablet (which has at least put a brief stop to my runny nose), and am armed with a lighter blanket (hoping to even out the fever- doona too hot, no blanket too cold) and fennel tea to hopefully make me drowsy.

Grey day, hooray

2007-03-16T12:00:00.000+11:00

Friday post

Melbourne is grey today, and it is beautiful. Grey heralds rainclouds on the horizon, bursting overhead and drenching the parched, brown landscape. We need this rain, and the subsequent drop in temperature (and humidity) is beautiful too.

Generally, sunshine makes me happy. But this morning, when I came out of my house to damp ground underfoot and the massing clouds promising more rain, I was emotionally overcome. I know, how sad that rain almost made me cry. But they were happy almost tears. I guess I occasionally get pretty stressed about environmental stuff, but especially the water situation. We're almost onto Stage 4 restrictions. When I came to Melbourne seven years ago, I was shocked to see people watering lawns, as Geelong had been on Stage 1 for a few years. Now Geelong is on Stage 5 and Melbourne is fast catching up. Perhaps if we'd started earlier?

Anyway, the point is, Friday was grey. For my job, this meant that I had to remind preppies to wipe their feet, so the mat wasn't covered in mud; that students wanted to come in to my room at recess; and that our walk around the oval had to be modified to a walk around the covered walkways.

Saturday Postscript Post

Today was grey-ish, but I didn't see much of it. I ended up being called in last minute to rig lights (11-6, and only left that early by forcibly extricating myself). Got to wear a harness and walk on the bridges though, so that was cool. Also had to deal with dual annoying soundtracks- the Grand Prix (although I enjoyed when you could hear the bands- turned out Little Birdie played. Less appreciative of the sounds of jets overhead) and the teenage play being rehearsed in the next room. For their icebreaker (whcih went ALL day), the kids had to mime stupidly to a random daggy song, which meant much ad music and much girlie screaming. Ugh.

Dinner was fantastic- best baymarie ever. Totally recommend Sigiri Sri Lankan, as I am sure will soon be echoed in the 80 Meals Review. Had a great time, the first chance I've had to chat to Rami's friend Ruvinda. Also came back to our place to drink Kilkenny Beer for St Pat's Day. Not as good from a can, but we're all old, and we walked back out of the pub, having decided it was too noisy. *sigh*

Sunday Postscript Post

Ugh. Have decided that the 'nitrogenated widget' that activate the 'head' in the Kilkenny cans also dehydrate you. I had three drinks, and three drinks only last night: a very sweet Dolcetto, which tastes rather like alcoholic grape juice (and quite nice); a Crowny; and a Kilkenny. My mouth has that distasteful fuzzy feeling which follows a night's hard drinking. I feel ripped off.

Have just gotten a text from the lighting guy saying we need another hour of rigging/ patching, plus three-four hours plotting. With two walkers. Previously we'd only mentioned one. SO now I have to suck up to my friends to find some help. Ugh.

If only Caroline and Rami weren't moving today. I want to help, but having worked all week, rigged Saturday, plotting tonight, and then work all next week plus show every night, I just don't know if I can face giving up my half-day weekend to moving. Maybe I can lift pillows or play some uplifting 'moving music', a la Rami's previous moving assistance efforts. But I kinda would prefer to do my washing and buy food, so we don't starve and smell all week. But because I am not helping to move (or if I do, it will be one or two hours help, maximum), I can't ask them to help me tonight. Ah well.

Scottish musical opens on Wednesday. Anyone wanna come? $18 tix Wed and Thurs night, if you book via me (tix normally $30 full, $24 concession). The set looks pretty cool, and costumes are by the same design team, so I expect they should be funky too. I haven't been to many rehearsals, so I don't really know how the cast are shaping up... but right now I don't care. I just want the run to start, so it will finish, so that I can have three days of semi-normality, before I fly to Europe. Man, I am cutting things fine! Phew.

Start the clocks

2007-03-12T10:05:00.000+11:00

I am in countdown to various things.

9 days until The Scottish Play Contemporary Rock Opera (stupid curse) goes on stage.
19 days until it's all over!
18 days until school holidays.
23 days until I go overseas.

9 days
In 9 days I will not have to do any more publicity, hopefully. In 9 days the pressure on me to identify media targets and send press releases and trawl theatre websites and fiddle with programs will be over. It will be replaced with having to man box office and schmooze and seat people, but this seems minimal. Besides, then I get to see the finished product of the show which, for all the whinging I do about the work and how disconnected I am from the performers, looks very exciting.

19 days
And in 19 days, even that stress will be gone. I will have been paid my scungy flat rate and, in an ideal world, we'll have made a profit and I'll get a cut of that. In an ideal world...

18 days
No more teaching. Nothing but sleep and organisation stretching between me and...

23 days
OH MY GOD I AM GOING TO EUROPE IN 3 WEEKS! This is exciting and terrifying. My last overseas trip was OK, but hey, New Zealand is practically an Aus suburb. And it was only two weeks. Indonesia was supposed to be long term, but ended up being around nine weeks worth. So this ten week trip will be my longest time overseas. And I'll be spending much of that time with Lisa, which is a big thing. We've lived together before, and even though we disagree, I think we get on quite well most of the time, and we generally are able to put differences behind us again and move on. So realistically I expect we'll not get on the whole time, but I am sure it will be fine. I love my friends, but I'm not sure I could travel with all of them. I think Lise is one of those I can.

Don't know if I've posted this, but have discovered I will be in London over the Easter weekend. I wasn't meant to be leaving before Easter. I'd set my departure date in my head as April 10, but then in trying to get flights to continental Europe, the travel agent and I had moved the date back and back and back. Then when we tried England, I really could have used my original date, but I'd ok'd the new date, forgetting why I'd set the 10th as my departure date anyway. So now I am going to be in England over a public holiday (a holiday which also is significant to my family, for personal reasons, rather than religious- it was always a very big deal for my mum. Yeah, we worship chocolate.). Two public holidays, in fact. I have a four day consecutive train pass, but no four consecutive days which don't include a public holiday. Crap.

Then again, if this is the most terrible thing that happens in the next 23 days, I am going pretty well. Count down/s begin now.

I feel the earth move

2007-03-08T19:47:00.000+11:00

If you read an Australian newspaper, news-site or listen to the radio, you will be aware of the fact that a plane crashed in a fireball in Jogjakarta yesterday, injuring or killing a handful of Australians. Less well known is the fact that a large earthquake (6.3 Richter) killed at least 72 people in Sumatera Barat on March 6.

Sumatera Barat was where I lived in Indo. The quake was centered in Solok, not far from Padang, my Indo home, and a great deal of damage and devastation was caused in Padang. I have only heard from one of my friends in Padang, who said that the quake was terrifying, and he was afraid he would die.

It really bothers me that the Australian media is so loathe to focus on any international matter which does not immediately impact an Australian life. I would love to find out more about the Sumateran quake, but information is sparse. In The Age today, at least four pages focused on the plane crash. One small article in the World News section was the extent of reporting on the earthquake.

I'm finding the recent tragedy in Indonesia difficult to deal with. In some ways, I feel guilty for not having been involved in the quake. By all rights I should have been. I was due to be in Padang until August. Because I was fortunate- and wealthy- enough, I was able to leave. But because I left, someone else (my replacement) found themselves in danger.

It just sort of stirs up feelings that I wimped out by coming home. Like I cheated. 72 people have died in an area I lived, hundreds more injured or bereft of their homes, and I escaped that because I was unhappy that I didn't have a Western toilet. It feels so petty. I feel so petty. I got an email from the Australian embassy in Jakarta, concerned for my welfare. It seemed hollow to reply, advising I was in fact in Australia.

I know this is silly. Had I been there, I could have done nothing to help. I would have achieved nothing except worry to my loved ones had I been in the quake. Maybe if there were some media recognition that human lives have been disrupted, and are as valid as those lost in the Garuda crash, I would feel less guilty.

Meanwhile, if I feel guilt, I hope our Foreign Minister is suffering bucketloads of it. All of the Australians on the Garuda crash were travelling to Jogja to attend a conference chaired by Mr Downer. The lucky bastard arrived the next day. Karma misses its mark again.

The right blend

2007-03-02T23:27:00.000+11:00

Blended families make great TV. I thought The OC took the cake for whacky blended families (mostly thanks to Julie, who was married to Jimmy, Kirsten's ex high school sweetheart, but then married Kirsten's dad, then got engaged to her daughter's best friend's dad, then started getting friendly with Kirsten's adopted son (Ryan)'s dad. Meanwhile Ryan dated Julie's daughter, Marissa for a while, but also dated Kirsten's half sister (whose name escapes me), who was the product of a secret affair her dad had). I'm also a fan of the general weirdness of the relationships in Nip/Tuck (Julia married Sean, but concealed the fact that their son was actually the product of a fling with Sean's best mate and business partner, Christian. Julia later had a relationship with Quinton, Sean and Christian's other business partner, and Sean slept with Christian's fiancee, Kimber). But now I've started watching Aussie drama Love My Way.

So. Main character Frankie (Claudia Karvan) has a kid with Charlie. She lives with Charlie's brother Tom- they're not together, but they have had sex at some indeterminate point in the past. Charlie and his wife Julia have a new baby, and Julia's ex, Howard has moved back to town- and started seeing Frankie. Everyone's parents show up all the time- everyone seems to have a key to Charlie and Julia's house, and just get stuck into the wine and fancy cheese. Seems ok when it's Charlie's parents show up at his house, but it's a bit more weird when Frankie's mum (who can't identify Frankie's dad, btw) is caught eating the fancy cheese at Charlie and Julia's- by Julia's ex, who was staying there briefly. It's all very messy. And everyone swears a lot. It's quite a lot of fun :)

Anyway, I think the reason that we didn't have TV before the 50's (or whenever it was invented) is because there just weren't enough dysfunctional families to make sitcoms about. Think about it. Even the Brady Bunch were blended- and what the hell was with Alice? Something weird going on there, I'm sure (not sure what, though). Meh, who wants to watch a normal family on TV, anyway? We'd all just feel paranoid about how dysfunctional our own families are. I suppose with the high drama of TV families, our own lives look quite pale by comparison. Almost normal. Almost ;)

Desperation sets in, like cellulite on the thighs (but hey, a plastic surgeon can get rid of that...)

2007-02-27T16:49:00.000+11:00

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I have finished Nip/ Tuck. What was that? Call that a season ender? It resolves nothing. NOTHING!

Before this, I was anxious and edgy because of the weird infringing of Nip/ Tuck into my every thought. NOW I am freaking out, because I don't even know when (if?) I can get my hands on another season! Addiction? What addiction?

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT*
The following questions have arisen for me from the final episode:
- So what's with the baby? Is it deformed? Is Julia really doing the right thing moving back in with Sean? OR is she actually sick, and she's moving back with Sean to give Annie and deformo-baby some stability when she kicks the bucket?
- What about the freaky carver family? Do I care that they're in Spain? Do I need to care about them, indicating they'll return, or can I just feel smart that I picked Quentin and Kit, and also that Quentin didn't have a male appendage? Meh.
- And Kimber? What will she do now? Has she really developed personality depth? And what will she do with her life if she leaves Christian? Her only skills lie in porn. *Sigh* So sad, they were so happy together. I think Christian grew a heart.
- Did Matt and Cherry actually kill Ariel's Nazi dad? (Bet they didn't) And what's going to happen there?

Anyway. Now that I have purged my desperation. Other occurences today.

I hauled my tired ass out of bed at 6am, got myself to Langwarrin in time for my 8.15 parent session to find... zero parents. Ok, that's not fair. One showed up at 8.45. Don't they CARE about their children eating nothing but processed and packaged fat molecules? Monsters. Rest of the day went really well, though. Had grade ones and twos, who were very cute (it's so cool how puppets actually WORK for little kids!). Then we had a healthy walk, in which I discovered I didn't have enough arms for all the kids who wanted me to hold their hand (including one who announced I was his 'mummy', but anyway...).

Heard from the Scottish Play's producer (this show will henceforth NEVER be referred to by it's true name, I am convinced of the curse) that the witches will be interviewed and photographed in the Age (I am proud of that, as I wrote the section of the press release about them). And Mx is after photos, which means we might get in there too. Considering we should get into any Leader paper in an area which has a cast member in it (which covers a fair few), we look to be getting a fair bit of press coverage. Yay. Now everyone come see the show. It'll be very cool :)

And Sarah says she'll come swing dancing. Yay.

However, Nick, I think it's time you came home. I have run out of Nip/ Tuck. I am developing a nervous twitch. I feel very edgy... and a little like having a lipo consult... and I'm considering rash decisions, like turning Liberal voter just to be closer to Julian McMahon (six degree of Kevin Bacon- of course you all know that former PM Liberal Billy McMahon is Julian's sire). Addiction? Don't be ridiculous. I can stop ANY TIME!

In a galaxy far, far away

2007-02-26T18:08:00.000+11:00

On Saturday, I had a discussion with my dad about where Langwarrin is. I was right; it's a satellite suburb of Frankston. (He said it was near the end of the freeway. Which is true, it''s near the end of a freeway. We never specified which one...) Which means it is a long, long way away. which mean I am so super happy to be driving out there tomorrow and the next day. Today it took about an hour twenty. Ugh.

It seems like everything I do is in another world right now. I am not sure I am actually living my life, as I seem removed from a lot of it. Like this teaching gig. Loving it, but it's not quite settled into the format I'm supposed to be doing (ie having my own region, somewhat close to where I live). Thus I am driving minimum an hour to most schools, giving me time to vague out, and enhancing the 'galaxy far, far away' element of these places. So what if I stuff up? They're not even real...

Then there's this show, which just seems to be removed from reality altogether. For starters, I think I totally should have been calling it The Scottish Play, because it is definitely cursed. Our Stage Manager just dropped out due to illness. But anyway, on Sunday there was a meeting at which everyone (director, producer, cast) loved me, despite my doing jack all. There was an argument about comp tickets for the cast, which I cut short, stating the production team would discuss this later. This resulting in the cast loving me (for batting their side); the producer loving me (for de-tensifying the meeting); and the director loving me (for keeping the meeting short so she could keep rehearsing). And this on a day when I shirked as many responsibilities as possible. Go figure.

And then my social life is a bit 'another galaxy', too. With Nick away, I spend far more hours on my own, and it seems surreal. And I can't sleep, only adding to the dream-like state of my life. And then I go and share my evenings with Dr Christian Troy and Co, which, through the intertwined realism/ surrealism of the show (Nip/Tuck- I am ALMOST finished the third season) intensifies the weird sensations of my waking, and ensures that what sleep I have is peppered by story elements such as stalkers in strange masks, and the certainty that there will always be a weird twist to every story and a bizarre soundtrack.

A good day

2007-02-20T23:06:00.000+11:00

Today was pretty good. Although I had to get out to Sunshine (ugh), all went very smoothly. Car drove happy-like (I love my new car, especially when I don't have to put it in my driveway), traffic was ok, my directions were all accurate and I was early. While a little trepidacious about teaching in Sunshine (ah stereotypes, you undermine me so), there were elements which made this less terrifying- it was a Catholic school, and an all girls school. Surely makes the chance of being knifed lower. Surely.

Well, it was fine. Some classes were better than others, and I would have gotten in trouble for being too 'teacher' had my trainer been there, but meh. I made it through five back to back session, adapting a grade six session for year eights. I was great. So there.

Traffic on the way back was lousy. Thanks god for Nip/ Tuck DVDs to ground me when I got home (I love this show! It's so unreal yet.... so good. It's all I can come up with. I am overwhelmed). Then, eventually (three episodes later...) it was time for swing. The first class I think I've been to without Nick!

I missed last week's dance class due to Rob's birthday, and the week before had SUCKED at trying to pick up a new dance move. Amusingly, Josh, one of my teachers, was SO relieved to see me today; he thought he'd scared me off the previous class. But no, I was back and brave and guess what? I had a great class. Lots of fun, and I got complimented by my teacher and generally thought I was pretty damn good. I love dancing :)

And so I am happy. Let's hope my plan to do Macbeth stuff tomorrow doesn't ruin all that..... Grr...... It's bad form to quit a play four weeks before opening, right? Damn it. Grrrr.

POSTSCRIPT- BAD DAY :(

Had a text on my phone at 6.30am insisting on a Macbeth meeting. I have managed to limit it to two hours, but it will run over because the producer is inefficient. His job is just to do Macbeth, how can he achieve so little in all this time? I have maybe an hour a day I can spare. If that. And the time I actually WANT to spare? It's in negative counters. Give me my wasted time back.

Despite my bitching, this is a really cool production of Macbeth. It's just that I get to see very little of it. All the stuff I do is way off scene, and that drains me a lot. I need to be constantly aware of the play I am working with in order to remain excited. Right now, I am just over it. And I don't have time to shop for food or clean my house because of this show. My house is a mess and I have no food. Is it any wonder I am grumpy about this show????

Let there be rain

2007-02-18T21:18:00.000+11:00

Today, it rained. Ever so slightly, but enough to bring the temperature down from the constant 38 degrees Celsius we've been sweltering through the last three days. Currently it is around 26 degrees. Feels almost heavenly.

I know that this is not the first hot summer we've had in Victoria. I can remember the principal 'recommending' we not to attend school due to the 40-plus temperature in about 1999. I can remember doing a little rain dance when long awaited rain arrived in the summer of 2001. But isn't it funny how, no matter how many times you've been through this sort of heat before, it's still exciting when it breaks. I found myself grinning like an idiot as big heavy drops of rain began beating against my windscreen. It was quite funny, as I had driven from a completely dry section of road, to a section which was soaked from recent rain, but hadn't yet encountered any rain yet myself. I almost wondered if my mind was playing tricks. Imagine how excited I'll get when/if this drought ever breaks...

I picked up my panel van thing yesterday, and it's GREAT. It doesn't stall, even when it rightly should! Oh, except for when I'm trying to three-point turn in my driveway under secret observation of Rami and Caroline. In my defence: I have only been learning manual for about a week; my driveway has a totally stupid dip which is tough to navigate even in a familiar car, and which was trapping my poor, defenceless van; and finally, it was Rami and Caroline's fault I stalled. Clearly. Watched pot never boils, etc.

My job is going well. I have completed my training a week early (partially due to the fact that they've got nowhere near enough staff to complete the training in three states...), which means I am on my retainer pay, plus bonus if I see more than 375 kids in a week. Yay! In a fortnight-ish I will be PAID. Wow, it seems like such a long time coming.

My other job is so FRUSTRATING! I just don't care about this play enough to stuff around with journalists/ press releases/ general shitkicking. Especially when my press releases are re-written by drongos who have no concept of spelling, syntax, etc. Ugh. What's the point? This damn profit share had BETTER make some profit. It DOES look to be quite a cool show, so it deserves to do well. But WHY do we have such an enormous, unreachable budget? I really fear we won't break even, which thankfully will not cost us, as the production company is footing the risk, but does mean I'll have donated a lot of begrudging volunteer hours.

Tomorrow is a day off from KidzBodz- which means I can mess around with Macbeth stuff. Like I haven't spent enough of the weekend doing that already. Stuff it all. I'm going back to the couch to watch Nip/ Tuck under the fan. This can all wait. I just DON'T CARE! I just wish I could focus on my new, cool, ENJOYABLE job, and leave the Scottish Play to rot... *sigh* I don't really like Bitter Naomi. But I am SO tired of it all.

Let the info-tainment begin!

2007-02-14T16:59:00.000+11:00

Nick asked me if today felt particularly romantic, being, of course, Schmalentine's Day. I replied that I had spent majority of the day at a Christian K-12 college wandering around in overall shorts and footless tights, so it was particularly bizarre, and did that count? He wasn't sure.

Today was my first day actually taking Kidz Bodz classes. Well, class, it ended up being, but anyway. What originally I had thought was a Prep class turned out at the office to be a combined Prep/ Kinder class, but in practice turned out to be Kinder only, as the Preppies had the day off (lucky things). So instead of teaching a group of 5 year olds (challenging, but achievable- they've been partially school trained by now) as had been practiced with my fabulous volunteers on Sunday (Nick (or should I say Rudigar?), Paul (aka Jesus Boy), Deb(bie), Fy (also known as Mrs Grown Up), Caroline (Shiloh Tigerlily Suri, or Tiger for short) and Rami (self-named as Testicle)), I had a group of new kindy kids, aged 3 and 4.

What did this mean for my class? Bad things: More teacher work than I had planned to do (for which I was gently told off in my feedback); less knowledge of the body (when we tried to name 5 body parts, we named 'hand' 3 times); less understanding of being quiet and not calling out; a tendency to advance creeping towards the teacher; a desperate desire to touch EVERYTHING. Good things: they're really, really, cute; they enjoyed it, even if they didn't understand it; they were SO eager to come up and be a helper; I got a hug at the end.

So anyway, based on the fact that my trainer thought I needed more watching time (not true, I just needed SCHOOL kids on whom to ply my fantastically honed trade), I got to, well, watch. So I didn't have to teach my second class at all, which is a pity because they were so receptive, and I would have done a much better job with them... But never mind. I'm taking three classes on Friday I think, and I have tomorrow as a work from home day as Nick needs my car. Yay, two days off (I mean, work from home days) in a week :)

I am pretty good with manual by now though. One lesson with my brother, two with my sister, and then my sister and I swapped cars, so I had no CHOICE but to drive manual. This was great, especially when forced to drive on my own. I just wish I could stop stalling the car in my own driveway- it's about the only place I do stall now. Stupid driveway.

Car disasters galore this week (well, x2), as my front tyre punctured and we had to try and change it and we got very dirty and angry and sweaty. Finally it was done, after calls to my dad, trawling through Yahoo Answers for tips and calling an uncle for back up. We now have sore legs from bouncing on the spanner handle to get the nuts undone. Ow.

Finally, I have a dilemma. Yesterday was my brother's birthday (Happy Birthday Rob). He invited me to his surprise birthday party (clearly no longer a surprise, but still referred to as such) on Sat night. Of course, as always, I also having a standing invite to an 80 meals dinner (Tibet, this week). Now I went to Rob's 17th with his mates. I felt old then. Now he's far more gay and fabulous, and presumably so are many of his friends. I think I'll feel out of place, but think it's very nice that he invited me, and wonder if I should go because I don't want to let him down. On the other hand, the Tibetan place might have yak butter drink (hmmm......). What should I do?

Learner plates

2007-02-07T22:51:00.000+11:00

Well, I've had me quite a busy week. And it's only Wednesday!

My new job is ACE and (not that I'm bragging), but I'm really good at it :) In fact, I was told today that I am the best first time trainee performer they've had. Yay me! There's so much to learn (seven programs, lots of nutrition facts, stacks of admin stuff) and so much to do (assignments, watch and memorise two programs a day), but I am really enjoying it and looking forward to getting started.

So here's what I do, anyway: Schools book in for a ten week "Healthy Eating Challenge", and we send them a ten week plan with food diaries and challenges and activities for the teacher to do with the class. Also, the teacher chooses a program based on the year level of the kids, and I come out to teach an interactive session to each of the classes, armed with a funky costume (overalls, bright tights, pigtails, and a persona of the same age as the kids I am teaching- yeah, it is HOT) and a very big box of tricks. And I mean BIG. This box is almost taller than me, and folds out to display a body, a healthy food pyramid and more. I also take a range of props, ranging from balls, to puppets, to tents playing the parts of body organs.

Now there is NO way all this stuff will fit into my little bug of a car. But that's ok; I get a company car! It's a small panel van, it's bright purple, and it has a logo and cartoon character on the side. That's cool, I can deal with all that. Here's the REAL hitch. It's a manual car. I drive an auto, and haven't driven a manual since I was seventeen (that's almost eight years ago, for those playing at home). I am picking it up on Sunday.

So I have four days to learn to drive a manual. Started today with a visit from my brother in his fairly old and temperamental manual car. I am AWESOME at changing between gears 2, 3 and 4. It's first gear that gets me (and stalls the car). I'm considering skipping first gear altogether... And what's with hill starts? Ick.

Interestingly, when I started my training on Monday, I had a training buddy, John, and a demonstrating trainer, Genetta. On Tuesday, Genetta decided it was too scary performing for us (eight year olds are WAY less scary than adults), and dropped her job as demonstrator. Today, I turned up to deliver my first practice session to John, and he hadn't arrived. In fact, he didn't arrive nor answer his phone all day. Things are getting mighty strange round here.

I need to practice my routine a lot before I actually get thrown to the sharks, I mean school children. So anyone who's interested in learning all about the body and healthy eating through a combination of storytelling, songs, high energy voice and improvisation of what my props would normally be, come around sometime. It would really help me to have an audience- Nick keeps being a smarty pants :P

On a random side point, our water has become rusty in the mornings. This is not good.

Enviroblog

2007-02-02T14:22:00.000+11:00

Working in a Minister's office has shown me that your Government DO care about the environment. There isn't a rubbish bin in my office, only a recycling bin. In the kitchen, we have a 'landfill' bin, a 'compost' bin and a stadard recycling bin. In the photocopy room there are TWO recycling bins, one for normal documents, and one for TOP SECRET (No wonder documents get leaked so easily from the Government when they're stored in such well camouflaged places. haven't they heard of a paper shredder?). And I really want to get me some of those lights which turn on and off automatically when you enter and leave a room.

Appreciative as I currently am about protecting our environment, I have a bit of a problem with Nature right now. Namely that it won't stay in it's rightful place. A place which is NOT hiding amongst the deceptively civilised seeming grass in Treasury Gardens, waiting to make my white top bird-poo coloured. A place which is NOT writhing into peaceful suburbs and lunging at innocent old ladies with nasty, snakey fangs.

I like Nature. It's pretty, healthy, often smells good. But I'm quite happy to come over to visit should I need a big dose of it. My people will call its people. In the meantime:

Nature. Learn your place. And stay there.

Sleep Interrupted

2007-01-31T09:59:00.000+11:00

If you are the person who called me at 1.30 this morning, I would love to meet you. Oh no, I'm sure it won't be dangerous. You only called me in the middle of the night mid week, hung up before it was humanly possible to answer the phone, and then had the cheek to be calling from a private number, so I couldn't even call back and yell incomprehensibly at you. Why would I possibly wish to cause you physical harm?

Stealing people's jobs

2007-01-29T17:35:00.000+11:00

I'm not sure anyone even reads my blog anymore *sigh* based on the number of comments. Sheesh, people I left for two weeks, did you even notice I was gone????

However, even if no-one reads my blog but me, I shall continue to write it. Maybe I'll have to start writing my own comments too... (that'd be so sad. Please let me know you're still out there, so I don't resort to such lonely and self-obsessed behaviour).

Anyway, I feel like a bit of a job thief lately (please picture me masked, in a stripey jumper, with a bag labelled 'Loot'. No real reason. It's just funny, that's all...). I have secured the Kidz Bodz Position (yay!). At the end of last year I was advised to give them a call after Europe, as they didn't feel they could replace me while I was away. Yet I received a call a few days ago saying they'd found me a term 2 replacement, and the job was mine! Yay to that, but I am worried that someone who thought they had my job may have had an offer retracted??? Hope not.

Today I started a one week temp assignment with the Minister for Roads and Ports. I arrived to find another receptionist already here. Turned out I was replacing her, and she didn't even know she was leaving. Very awkward. The day has continued to be quite shambolic, with not much direction, but also not much to do but answer sporadic phone calls, wrangle with IT to get my computer and net access working as they should, and try and determine which people I am supposed to let in to the office and which I'm not (I'm still not sure). This is made tougher by the fact that it's a long day- 8.30-6.00pm. However, it is now 5.45, so at least it will end soon, and I can start afresh tomorrow. Plus, I have a mag for tomorrow, hopefully to make the day go faster :) What a crazy, crazy day.

Sheep and German backpackers

2007-01-26T19:30:00.000+11:00

So I'm back, having spent two weeks being alternately rained on and sunburned on that green island across the ditch. I swear there are more German backpackers in New Zealand than there are New Zealanders. I read a stat at a hostel that only 5% of the New Zealand population are human, so at least the sheep are still outnumbering the German backpackers.

Starting in Christchurch, we drove clockwise around the South Island, visiting the following places, to which I have applied ratings out of 5 stars: Christchurch, 2 stars; Oamaru, 3 stars; Dunedin, 3 stars; Te Anau, 4 stars; Milford Sound, 6 stars; Queenstown, 4 stars; Wanaka, 5 stars; Franz Josef (incorporating Fox and Franz Josef glaciers), 5 stars; Hokitika, 3 stars; Nelson, 2 stars; Blenheim, 4 stars; Kaikoura, 5 stars.

I am not going to go into massive detail: I kept a travel diary, but am not sure you need to hear everything; instead, come talk to me for amusing stories and grouchy rants (it'll be great!). I'll just run you through the stand out goods and bads.

Highlights include:

- Fudge tour in Christchurch. Seriously, this was THE best thing we did in C, and we were there three days all up. Great fudge, lots of tastings, interesting to watch, lots of tastings, freebies and discounts. Also lots of tastings, which I enjoyed.

- Some of the buildings are stunning, especially in Dunedin. The railway station is the most amazing I have seen, and the town hall, courts and cathedral are also quite beautiful. Dunedin is a nice city, although disappointingly quiet nightlife. I love that the central street is called the octagon, based on its shape. The cathedral and Town hall buildings in Christchurch were also extremely cool.

- Milford Sound, and the surrounding mountain areas. Utterley amazing. Milford is actually a fiord (body of water carved out by a glacier), about 22km long (I think), sporting waterfalls more than three times higher than Niagara Falls. Due to excellent timing, we also were delighted by heaps of temporary waterfalls streaming down over mountainsides and striated cliffs. Our boat captain enjoyed getting people wet, and steered us under a few waterfalls, which was drenching, but AWESOME! Later, having driven THROUGH the mountain (Homers Tunnel, really cool), checked out lots of far off snow and chased the keas off our car, we climbed Kew Summit (919m, 3 hours round trip. Boy could I feel the kgs melting off. But we shared a block of chocolate on our return home, so no visible effects to my body...) for fantastic views and to check out bogs and tarns. Cool.

- Dinner at the top of Skyline Hill in Queenstown was pretty cool. Amazing views, amazing smoked salmon (ate SO much salmon in NZ), and a hell of a lot of Hokey Pokey Icecream. Not much more to say, really.

- Beer icecream in Wanaka. Wanaka is really nice and relaxed, very peaceful. A holiday town, rather than a tourist town. Loved the pub which recommended beers to complement your meal, and gamely tried the beer icecream, which had a dark, malty/ chocolatey beer as its base. YUM.

- Glaciers. Cool (Ha ha). Franz Josef Glacier in particular was stunning, especially when you learn that the glacier is currently descending at a rate of a metre a day- pretty fast for a river of ice! Following a guided hiking tour, we sneakily went past the recommended stopping point, and got close enough to check out enormous chunks of ice in the river, the huge tunnel mouth from which the meltings of the glacier gush, and to touch the glacier (cold and dirty). So much fun, would love to climb it if I return to NZ.

- Marlborough, oh Marlborough. An awesome afternoon spent driving from one winery to another, drinking a lot of Sauvignon Blanc (the regional speciality), eating fab food, enjoying the pretty scenery, getting briefly lost and carefully choosing the few bottles our alcohol limits allowed us to bring home. Bliss.

- Dinner at the organic restaurant in Kaikoura. Lambs are so cute... and they taste so good. Amazing food, lovely wine, and oh, the desert- pomegranate creme caramel. A very happy meal :)

Lowlights:

- Christchurch was kind of a downer. I'd expected cooler. Oh well.

- Allegedly the Only Castle in NZ, Larnach Castle outside of Dunedin. I know, I know, I wasn't expecting historic architecural mastery in a young country with no land enemies. But I also wasn't expecting my half hour drive through atmospheric mist to culminate in a $20 fee to see a house less impressive than most of the offerings on Glenferrie Rd, in my home suburb. Call that a castle? Bah. Amusingly, Scottish tourists to the Scottish- inspired castle in the Scottish are of New Zealand were heard complaining about the weather...

- Driving five hours to Nelson, only to find our hostel booking had been mucked up, and they didn't have a room for us. Happily another hostel was booked for us, with grand rooms and a cool view, but it just topped off a really ordinary day. And then I couldn't get cake ANYWHERE in Nelson. Maybe Nelson is less crap on a weekday, but I though it was a real bummer :(

- Having our whale watching tour cancelled after we'd all very nicely crushed into the AV room, watched the video, had the speech, and filed onto the bus. Poor sea conditions prevented us from going on the later tour too. Instead we went to a petting zoo, where we hung out with llamas, had donkeys follow us, and met chinchillas who lived in water jugs. That was cool, but not quite the same.

As you can see, the highlights far outweighed the lowlights. A really fun, relaxing trip, and gave me some ideas of things I would love to revisit or do in more detail should I return to New Zealand (white water rafting, sea kayaking, glacier climbing, maybe swim with dolphins).

So, for the record: yes, New Zealand is still there.

International Galavants Series, 2007: New Zealand

2007-01-10T08:19:00.000+11:00

Yay, I fly out to NZ in about 9 hours (Oh god, so much to do!). Nowhere near as terrified as I was when I went to Indonesia. I think this is because:

a) It's not my first overseas trip; I know what customs is like, I know what airoplanes are like, I know I probably won't die from airplane food (probably), I know I'll survive making it to my hostel even though I arrive at midnight. It's nice to know such things.

b) I am going somewhere they speak English; as long as you count saying 'five, sux, sivin' as English. I've worked out that to do the accent you need to smile and not move your lips too much. At least then I sound like Cal Wilson, a Kiwi comedian. So it's a start. With Indonesia, while I speak basic Indonesian (and far better at the end of my trip than I did at the start), it was only basic. Besides, everyone spoke Minang, the local dialect. And while Singapore's official language is English, at street level, plenty of people don't speak English at all, or only at an absolute bare minimum.

c) I have an end date; two weeks, then I am home. There's not twelve long months stretching out before me. I will probably wish it was longer. *sigh* I already wish it was longer. My credit card already wishes it were shorter.

d) I'm not going alone; God this makes a difference (although, really, I probably could have done NZ quite easily on my own). It just means the flight will be less boring, that I'll have someone to actually show cool things I see, that there'll be someone to mind my bag!!! Yeah, travel buddy good.

e) It's New Zealand. I may as well be going to Adelaide (although the conversion rate to SA is not as good). It'll be reasonably familiar, so no need to freak out. Except orcs.

Might get a chance to post while I'm away, but otherwise ~ See you in two weeks!

I don't do resolutions.

2007-01-05T20:47:00.000+11:00

Consider this my obligatory New Year's resolutions post. However, I don't do resolutions. I think that if you make a resolution, you leave yourself more open to breaking it, hence the thing you resolve to do is less likely to be an attainable goal, even if it should be attainable.

I make plans. This way, I am already part way to achieving my goals. Happily, my plans were also already underway before New Year's had hit, making them more achievable :)

- Plan #1: Travel lots.
After the failure that was Indonesia, I swore I would travel this year, at least enough that I felt I had not wasted my 12 months travel insurance. Plan underway. I am flying to New Zealand this week (!) and Europe in April (!!). This plan is making me very, very poor, and meaning I have to sacrifice things I'd like to do in Melbourne in order to feel somewhat financially secure. But I am certain it is worth it.

- Plan # 2: Improve general health
Plan underway. I have a swim membership, and of course I'm doing swing dancing when classes come back. We've already got a provate lesson booked to brush up on technique, and then we're moving into the next level :) I am also considering taking up belly dancing again, and I am keen to find out if there are kick boxing classe sin my area. Phew, that's three classes a week, plus swimming! Busy Nomi! I also plan to make more snacks from vegetables (it is SO hard to eat the recommended number of veges a day). I'll talk to my vego friends about this. I am extra inspired to achieve this goal, as it links into the job I have semi-lined up post Europe, teaching healthy lifestyle in primary schools.

- Plan #3: Get back into teaching
Plan vaguely planned out... I have the KidzBodz job fairly well lined up. I'm also going to look into teaching in NT again, for 2008. This follows having received two calls from NT schools enquiring about my 2007 availabilities.

- Plan #4: Learn more
Plan vaguely underway... I know what I want to learn! I plan to do a short course in Spanish pre-Europe (depending on finances), and a wine tasting course post- Europe. I'd also like to do a coffee making course, not that I really plan to become a barista, but I just think it'd be cool to know how to make good coffee.

- Plan #5: Write more
Plan vaguely underway... Thanks to extra inspiration in the form of xmas gifts (a book of travel stories and a travel journal), I plan to write about my forays into the big, wide world. Also, if I get an ABN for the KidzBodz job, I figure I can buy my own laptop and claim it on tax, so I'll be able to more effectively participate in NaNoWriMo this year (rather than tag-teaming with Nick on the computer)

- Plan # 6: Be happy
Plan firmly underway. I figure that any of the above plans will contribute to my general happy state. Yay. That, and lots of chocolate. Yay :) :) :)

Sick squeak squawk

2006-12-30T14:07:00.000+11:00

I am sick. Not fair :(

Nick has gone out to buy me more drugs- bless him. The drugs I have must be working, because when I speak, the only ones to hear pain are those listening to me. My throat is nicely anaesthetised, but I sound AWFUL. Really awful. I've taken to using mime based sign language instead. Then I look completely stupid, so I've taken to staying in bed.

This is not fair. I think I caught cold at Christmas (when I insisted on wearing my pretty summer dress saved for the day, even though it was the coldest Melbourne Christmas on record). Now, with a New Year's Party at our house tomorrow night, I cannot speak, and I have very little energy. This sucks.

Speaking of NYE, does anyone know the best way to secure a piece of string to a skull? Eh, never mind... I'll explain later.

I'm a-going on the railroads...

2006-12-28T17:31:00.000+11:00

My train tickets for Europe just arrived. Yay. Have just realised that, between my Europe plane tickets, my and Jackie's New Zealand plane tickets, and my and Lisa's train tickets, there are an awful lots of expensive pieces of paper floating around my house waiting for me to lose them...

Christmas food babies and postponed giraffes

2006-12-27T17:56:00.000+11:00

So that's it. Christmas done. Despite the exhaustion from the insane running around I undertook on Christmas Day (Kew - Ringwood - Moorloobark - Bentleigh via partial diversion to Kew - Berwick - Kew via diversion to Resrvoir), as well as a few Xmasy outings on other days, I had a really good Christmas. It was great to see everyone, some really great presents and lots ( AND LOTS) of delicious food. I swear, after eating Christmas lunch followed in quick succession by Christmas dinner, I looked a little pregnant (with a food baby). Ah well, if you can't pig out at Christmas, when can you?

*sigh* The giraffe job (KidzBodz, teaching health at primary schools) has been postponed. The managers were planning to hire me, then replace me for the term I will be in Europe, but apparantly this was a logistical nightmare. Instead, they have made an employment file for me, and promised that if I contact them when I return from Europe, they will get me work, because they love me. Aw. Hope that happens! I am so keen to do this job - dressing up and singing and dancing for little kids? Sounds AWESOME. *ahem* Sorry, let me just compose myself.

Very happy, because when I booked all my train tickets for Europe last week, I forgot to book my return ticket from Paris - London. The sale on Eurostar was supposed to finish Dec 22, but luckily the website had not been updated (ha ha ha) and on Boxing Day I was able to book my train ticket for the special price :) Yay. So soon my tickets should arrive in the mail. How exciting.

It is only two weeks until I go to New Zealand, and about three months until Europe. Seriously, how jealous are you? This is SO exciting!!!!!!!!!! :) I can't wait. Weeehhhh.-

The desensitisation of the Christmas spirit

2006-12-23T09:55:00.000+11:00

Have you noticed that Christmas sneaks up on you? When you were little, there was a real sense of anticipation surrounding Christmas, and all the decorations and advertisements only heightened this feeling. But as the Christmas Creep (in which advertising for Christmas becomes earlier and earlier) advances (soon we'll have Christmas adverts straight after the post-Easter sales finish), I am finding myself immune. I have special built in Christmas blinkers.

Christmas is different when you get older. It's not all about the presents (but they are still fun. Don't stop giving me presents!); it's about seeing your family (and spending a fortune in petrol doing so as you drive all over the city); it's about sharing time, gifts and food with your loved ones (and working out how to cook a turkey!?!); and it's about relaxing after the Christmas rush. Isn't that mad? We find that we need the holiday to relieve ourselves from the insanity pre-empting the holiday!

I suggest that some of this insanity is due to the anaesthetising effect of the Christmas Creep. For months there have been Christmas decorations, Christmas sales, Christmas carols in the stores. For months I have been ignoring them. It was only when I coincidentally watched a Christmas episode of a DVD that I realised Christmas was only two weeks away and I hadn't even put up any decorations. I felt so Scrooge-like! Nick has been feeling Christmas-blinkered in much the same way, except that in his case he hasn't had time to finish his Christmas shopping ( I split gift shopping with my siblings, so we have to find a time when we can all shop together, which leads to pretty good organisation to make it happen, preferably early).

This is the seventh Christmas since Nick and I got together; it's the first Christmas we will share in the same city as each other. We've been planning to have dinner together Christmas Eve, and then see friends or Nick's sister. That said, we hadn't made any tangible plans until we realised Christmas was fairly well upon us, resulting in a mad rush to get food (an enormous turkey roll, what will we do with an enormous turkey roll, how do I cook that anyway?!?) and invite people to spend some time with us. Don't even mention the food I haven't yet bought to take to various family gatherings on Christmas day. For all the blatant "Buy this" lines, I have bought very little at all. I have not thought about Christmas sufficiently to organise myself, and now Christmas is a hassle!

Perhaps the Christmas Creep still works on kids, although I doubt it is very effective. Sure, the aim is to make children nag for gifts and sweets. But Christmas advertising used to also make you excited that Christmas, and the associated celebrations and school holidays, were near. When this starts three months before-hand, anticipation can't last. You become blase. Christmas Creep is ruining the thrilling atmosphere of Christmas, and both encouraging and pandering to the me generation who want everything now. These kids don't fully comprehend the joy of sneaking up to the Christmas tree to try and work out which presents are for you. They've been demanding presents for weeks, and it's become boring.

Maybe I'm just getting old. Maybe I am really becoming a 'Bah humbug' kind of person. But, then again, there's a present for me under our 'tree'. It's soft, with a strange harder section I can't work out. Maybe the anticipation of Christmas is still there, after all.

Life is a revolving door

2006-12-21T21:06:00.000+11:00

Seriously, what is the deal with revolving doors? I mean those4 elctronic ones which constantly circulate, so you have to get in pace with the door and duck in as it swings by... I am currently temping at a place with a revolving door, but probably 90% of people will walk to the conventional dorrs either side and open them. This got me pondering possible reasons for installing a revolving door:

1/ to discourage terrorist attacks. It's very difficult to burst in brandishing bombs and guns and things when you have to slow down to align your step with the speed of an electronic door. And because they're normally glass, you'll be seen before you can use the element of surprise.

2/ hygiene? Maybe it's better not to touch the doors? I don't know...

3/ you're really busy and don't have time to talk to people, so you have them on high rotation. This way, they're not allowed out of the door, they just call out their greetings as they shuffle past.

4/ to discourage people getting to know each other, by seperating them each into their own door-copartment. This way, when they get to their individual cubicles, they are used to the isolation and don't waste precious work-moments on pointless diversions such as conversation.

5/ as the designer of the door, you are just a nasty eprson who laughs at other people's discomfort; either confusion and panic as they try to enter and exit the door; or nausea as they find it all too much and just keep gong round and round...

6/ it's actually a piece of installation art

7/ the revolving door is a subtle and overlooked artistic metaphor fof life itself, and the neverending inanity we fill our lives with.

Yeah. Deep, huh? I still don't get the point of them.

Concert review(s)

2006-12-19T18:41:00.000+11:00

Kylie was spectacular.

Robbie was f*cking awesome.

Oh, ok, I'll say some more. I loved both these shows. People keep asking me which was better, but I think they were such different shows that it's hard to compare.

Kylie was actually A Spectacular (noun, as opposed to adjective)- amazing costumes and dancers and set. You were watching a full stage show, not just a single performer. And the crows were completely flamboyant too, so many people dressed up purty. Kylie's show was emotional because she'd been sick, yada yada, and it was the last of her Homecoming tour in her home town. Aw. Imo and I managed to sneak ourselves up to the stage area for the second half and it was SO MUCH FUN. And I got on the big screen... because I was standing behind flamboyantly dressed people... Still, it seems to be my week for being on screen. Apparently I was on Channel Nine news last Thursday, counting votes.

Robbie's show had the most amazing energy! He is such a performer, the whole time. It was great to jump and shout, and it was such a huge crowd (66,500), so it was fantastic to be a part of. He was also emotional, as he's been touring for 11months or something, and last night was the last show of his world tour. Awesome. My favourite thing about Robbie's music is that it's credible pop music. Robbie is nothing like the boyband stereotype pop singer (even thought he was one, and crows about his boyband past); he's rude, crude and, in his words, 'not a role model.' He's essentially the Anti-Pop. And if a guy like that can write pop music, surely it's fine to like it. He validates his own music. Cool.

Sadly, there was no cross pollination between Robbie's and Kylie's shows (ie either of them gracing the other's concert with their presence), but both of them sang Kids (their duet), Kylie with her sister Dannii (which my sister hated, and my brother loved), and Robbie with a bevvy of backing singers who were not as cool as Kylie.

And that was that. Now I have to work very hard to pay my sister back all the money she lent me to go to these two awesome concerts. *sigh*

Robeeeeeeeeeee

2006-12-17T18:03:00.000+11:00

(Yes, also without an i. There is no i in 'eeeeeeeee', is there?!)

Oh my goodness. Now I'm going to Robbie Williams tomorrow night. I owe my sister so much money now... oh dear.

Some might think it ridiculous that I don't have a full time job, and yet am going to two concerts in a row, and have two overseas holidays coming up in the next six months. I would be one of these people. I also find it hilarious. And awesome.

Oh well... after years of living a safe and fairly sedate life, I am taking some financial risks. Good god it's scary! I'll just think of Robbie and Kylie and embrace the warm fuzzy feeling pop music provides. Ahhhh.....

Kyleeeeeeeeee

2006-12-17T12:48:00.000+11:00

Weeheeh. I am going to Kylie tonight. I am currently of the opinion that happening upon tickets at the last minute is far more exciting than knowing for months you'll be attending a concert. Shannon had bought tix for a friend to surprise his girlfriend. Surprise was on him- his girlfriend hates Kylie and refused to go. So now I have Kylie tickets on a long term payment plan (thanx Shannon). Weeheeh. I'm particularly excited because I had tickets to her last show before she got sick and cancelled :( But we have awesome tickets, gold 'standing' room (which actually has seating, but we're going to run up and beat all the gay boys to the stage. There will probably be nasty bitch fights. Gay boys fight nasty. Sorry Rob, but you do). Weeheeh.

It'll also be fun to go to work the next morning... oy, starting a three week assignment 9 hours after a pop concert ends. Bad idea.

Madness and mourning

2006-12-13T14:35:00.000+11:00

Sometimes I think I may be nuts... (I want NO comments agreeing with that statement please...) I am working 9-5 today, and then hitting the city to work 6-12 recounting votes (Thanks Bracksy). A fourteen hour working day. Yeah, good one Nai. Oh well, all that's on for tomorrow is blood donationin the afternoon, so at least I can sleep in. And then I have two interviews on Friday, so I won't be working then either. Which means today is my only working day this week. Suddenly signing on for fourteen hours work seems financially responsible, not completely insane.

So I've taken to hanging out at the local cemetery. It's not so morbid as it sounds, really. I actually find cemeteries very peaceful, and I love looking at gravestones and stuff. Ok, maybe I'm a little morbid...

I've become fascinated with a huge temple-tomb in the centre of Boroondara/ Kew Cemetery. It is the most amazing tomb I have ever seen- huge columns bearing a massive stained glass arched roof, over a beautiful marble sculpture of the mourned woman, an angel and 'human sorrow'. Poetry and inscriptions in English, Greek and Latin cover the Greek style tomb, two facing mourner's seats, a sundial and a gate. Yet nowhere is the deceased named: all that is listed are her dates of birth, marriage and burial; eerily all falling on January 26, 1867, 1887 and 1897 respectively. I had thought to investigate this site and write a blog about it, but it turns out that, unsurprisingly, someone has already done so. You really should check out this blog, if only for he great pictures of this beautiful structure.

Turns out that Melbourne doctor John Springthorpe commissioned the temple-like structure to mark the passing of his beloved wife, Annie, during childbirth. He spent a huge sum of money casting her image in marble and creatign the surrounding gardens, and the next twenty years of his life actively grieving her passing. You can read more about his obsessive and, frankly, creepy period of mourning in this article from The Age, or get the short of it from this wikipedia entry on the 'Melbourne Taj Mahal'

POSTSCRIPT: I actually worked 17 hours- til 3am! Ugh.

When I was a giraffe

2006-12-12T18:35:00.000+11:00

So, I had an interview today for a program called KidzBodz. Do you remember Harold the Giraffe who went around primary schools in the Life Ed Van (when I asked my sister this question, she thought I'd asked if she remembered when I was a giraffe. She doesn't remember when that happened...)? KidzBodz is a little similar- minus the giraffe, sadly, but going to different schools teaching Health Ed stuff. Energetic, fun, set your own hours sort of stuff.

Last minute yesterday I decided to make a slide show of me, as all I knew about the interview was that I'd have fifteen minutes in which to 'sell myself'. Turns out that slap-dash slide show was the best thing I could have done- I have a second interview on Friday, and have been told that I set the bar and no-one else they interviewed matched it, let alone raised it. They also advised me that the Eastern region of Melbourne job was pretty much mine if I wanted it. Woohoo much! So, I'm not counting my chickens, something could go insanely wrong... but I think I'll get an ABN, because I'll need one for this job. Argh!

The interview was out near DFO, so of course I had to go shopping, so I also bought a pair of jeans for not too many $. Yay. And I'm working tomorrow. More yay.

A mish-mash of facts

2006-12-10T18:01:00.000+11:00

I feel the need to clarify my working position, as I seem to have confused people. I do not have a job. I was offered a job, accepted it, then thought better of it and quit on the morning of my first day (yeah, they love me there...). I am working temp reception and admin, which means that one of my various temp agencies (I'm with about three hundred now) calls me when they have work. Temp work can vary from a year's work, a month's, a week's or, in most of my recent jobs, a day's. I have worked three days in the last four weeks :(

However, I am enjoying drinking wine on my balcony, a book in hand... I am just cutting into my travel funds to pay for my wine, which is bad.

Considering the threat to my wine supplies, I was hoping to win the enormous kitty in our post-Bond poker game on Friday. Alas, this was not to be. But Nick did win, so he bought me dinner on Saturday. Yay!

Also yay was the fact that we got a few of our friends out to swing dancing at Speigeltent this week. Scatpack, including Nick's and my teachers Noni and Josh, performed, and despite being 37 degrees outside, god only knows how much hotter inside, the afternoon was stacks of fun. Sai has already taken a few swing classes following his previous Sing at Speigel outings with us, and now Paul and Deb are expressing an interest. As a result, we may get a gang together at the CBD location over summer. Yay!

I'm too scared to go outside right now. Last time I was out (a few hours ago) it was supposedly 41 degrees. The smoke haze from the bush fires means there's no direct, piercing sun, but instead the smoke is like a blanket, holding the heat in. It's quite intense, although I imagine it's far worse for the many people affected by the actual fires, not just the smoke.

And to finish on a random note, today I made apple and strawberry pies, and they were yum. That's all!

Selling myself

2006-12-07T17:52:00.000+11:00

In interviews, I mean. Have two interviews lined up for next week, which is GOOD :)

The first one is at Deakin, and while it's a permanent role, I won't be insanely overworked like the last permanent job I accepted then changed my mind over. It's only three days a week, which would be GREAT, and I think the $ will be better than stingy international school (VIT).

The next interview is for a program called KidzBodz, which is a teaching program that goes to primary schools and teaches kids about healthy lifestyles- eating, exercise, no drugs, etc. I'd like this one, as it's casual- based on as many schools as I book - and they already know I am going to be away for Term 2, but still gave me an interview. I hope it goes well, it would be lots of fun (they expect you to have drama/ performance experience), and the experience of both working in primary schools and teaching health would be GREAT for my CV.

In other news, tomorrow I am driving to Thomastown to do a reception shift. This is what happens when you only get two days work over four weeks- you become prepared to drive crazy distances for a decent wage. Oh well, at least it'll pay for my 80 meals dinner this week and my ticket to Casino Royale tomorrow night. And my share of the poker kitty afterwards...

Countable nouns: poker chips; plastic soldiers; election ballots

2006-12-05T09:42:00.001+11:00

I discovered on Saturday that I'm not bad at poker. At the very least, I'm not bad at poker when the person with many, many chips has to go home and starts betting all in, and others try to bluff to get them. :) I'm probably not the poker queen just yet. I'm also not quite the queen of world domination (I also played Risk for the first time on Saturday), but that was a lot of fun, so I plan to try again at that! I enjoy conquering the world... but the game gets really boring if you get wiped out while plays still going on. Oh well.

I'm also not bad at counting votes. Yesterday I did some work for the Victorian Electoral Commission, counting the data to be given to the data-enterers (of which I neveer had the chance to be a part- there was insufficient workload. Bummer, it would have been good money).

I do not understand why it seems so hard to get temp work right now? It's leading up to xmas, and I am registered with just about every agency you can imagine, but they keep telling me they only have permanent work. It's enough to make a girl look back semi-regretfully at the sucky job she quit at the last minute...

In UPPER news, Nick won Temptation. He's still only got a pen as a prize, but he's coming back next year (while I'm in New Zealand) to win the lot. Right honey? And he was so right to turn down the prize they offered- it was this super fancy shiny big barbecue. Not only did the BBQ look fancy than anything we own, we don't have anywhere to put it. It would fill our whole balcony, although there was a suggestion we could turn the sausages through the window...

I'm also fairly excited about my AP role. Lots of stuff for me to do, most of it the boring admin stuff many would turn their noses up at but hey- it's to do with theatre, so it's THAT much cooler :)

Prioritising

2006-12-01T08:23:00.000+11:00

So I made a difficult decision last night: the role at the VIT was looking to be 8.5 to 9 hour working days, with only a half hour lunch break. While I'd be prepared to put in these hours for something I was really passionate about, or for super-duper big bucks, this role represented neither of these.

Considering that the AP role I'm looking at is going to be something I enjoy (theatre), and may require more time than I could have allowed with the long working hours of the VIT role; and considering that I am determined to slot right in to Gen X/Y, and 'work to live' rather than 'live to work', I just rang the dude at VIT and quit. Funnily enough, he didn't sound surprised, just flatly expectant. Nick reckons that's cos he knew he was ripping me off :P

:( Negatives of this decision: I no longer work down the road from Caroline; I won't have guaranteed pay over Christmas, including public holiday pay; I just bought and validated a monthly bloody tram ticket.

:) Positives of this: I just had a bad feeling about this place, and really suspect they were going to work me into the ground; I think I was totally getting ripped off on the salary; I no longer have to feel guilty about quitting a permanent position to go overseas; I won't have to remember not to mention my trip (which is proving most difficult); I will not be working behind a snack machine with tempting chippies, chocolate and Starburst jelly babies; I will earn a better rate working temp than I was going to working full time- realistically sick leave means nothing to me, as I never take time off anyway; I like the flexibility of temp work.

Thanks heavens for small mercies...

Is this a dagger I see before me?

2006-11-28T23:59:00.000+11:00

Memo from the Assistant Producer of Macbeth: The Contemporary Rock Opera.

DUDE! I am the afrorementioned AP! What the? I auditioned for a role, was totally nowhere near as good as chicks who still take singing lessons and have performed in pantos and shit in England, but my bogus Theatre resume (all truth, just written so I look awesome) made the producer think I knew heaps of shit and here I am. Woah. I hope I don't cock-up big time.

Oh yeah. It's unpaid. Of course.

But I also start a new job on Friday, as general shitkicker (sorry, Student Services Officer. Whatever) for Victorian Institute of Technology. I hope this was a good idea. At least I'll get paid for Christmas.

Set in Plastic

2006-11-27T19:00:00.000+11:00

Well, it's set. I am most definitely going to both Europe and New Zealand next year... unless my credit company recalls my trips.

Yup, today I booked my flights to London (April 4-June 20, I'll be back for a jet-lagged celebration of my 25th birthday), and to New Zealand (January). My credit card is weeping, but I am so excited, I just don't care!

I also have an almost certain job for next year, working for the Victorian Institute of Technology. I feel a little bad, cos it's a permanent role... and I'll have to quit to go to Europe... but it's Europe! And it's a job, which I need. Have another temp job lined up for a few weeks in December, so I may not have to claim myself completely destitute just yet. Oh the irony of having no money, and two overseas flights booked and paid for.

I still haven't worked out the best Eurail pass to get yet... it's SO confusing!

Election putty and gingerbread cookies... that's what our state is made of

2006-11-26T15:00:00.000+11:00

Wow. I can't say that last night was a typical Saturday night (well, except for the common factors of dining with Caroline, Rami, Nick and Sai. And bagging out young girls in ridiculously small outfits). Following our trek around Chinatown for Hong Kong cuisine, and a stroll down to Southbank to eat awesome gelati at the Tutto Bene gelato bar, Rami suggested we stroll towards Jeff's Shed.

But no, readers, do not suspect Rami was steering us towards 'Sexpo'. In fact, he was not even hinting at venturing into the 'International Clothing and Textpo'. No. I am almost ashamed to say that I rounded off my big Saturday night with a visit to what we have fondly dubbed 'Elexpo'.

For those of you who missed it, there was a bit of a tiny vote-fest on yesterday in the state of Victoria. Blessed are we that no more will Ted be damaging our retinas with the image of him clad only in budgie smugglers. Blessed am I that I never actually heard him croon Elvis tunes, and merely giggled at pictures of him mid-ridiculous-twist. And blessed were we who ventured into the Shed of Jeff, housing last night the Election 07 Tally Room.

Not only did we receive spiritual blessings in learning of the downfall of the snake-like Ted (I don't like him much...), we were physically rewarded for our devotion to the vote counting: the claymation ads of a purple Victoria being shaped had morphed into Election putty in plastic containers, and edible, purple-iced, gingerbread Victoria cookies. I ate Mildura.

We also got a better stash in the plebs public seating than was received in the guest seating. Oh yes, we were graced with canvas bags proclaiming 150 proud years of Victorian Parliament. These were perfect in which to store our dual purpose Victorian Parliament posters, which served very well as Rami whacking devices (a passing roller blader even chased Rami with one such poster, after Rami pretended to push her down an incline).

And if that weren't all, Rami shared a urinal with Kerry O'Brien, and we all whispered and pointed very surreptitiously as that newsreader from Channel 2 walked past.

So no-one had suggest that I don't know how to have a big Saturday night out! Wooh....

woot woot

2006-11-23T18:20:00.000+11:00

Just wanted to post and say *woot* cos I am so travelling next year and that's very very cool. And to ensure there will be no repeats of the sucky alone-ness of Indonesia, here are a few travel friends I prepared earlier!

*Jackie* New Zealand in January. Two weeks f*cking around on the South Island, basically. Yeah!

*Lisa* Europe in April - June-ish. Two-three months (depending on when the $ runs out) checking out the beer in the following countries: France; Belgium; Denmark; Germany; Austria; Spain; Portugal; and possibly Italy, depending on when the lovely Kathleen arrives there.

I've been to STA travel today checking out flight prices (not TOO ouchy). And then I applied for loads of temp jobs, cos I need money now. *wheeh* I am going to work out which Eurail pass I should buy. Going overseas! Yeah!