Hit the road

Read two books this month. That's a record. Don't read books much anymore, it's a sad fact. Lucky for me I have people who lend me good ones so I when I do read, they come recommended. Two slightly dark, and very different novels, 'What I have Loved' and 'The Road'. Testament to me having a week off in Queensland, and then a house with no Charlie... A space for reading.

Last Friday, after drinks and crackers at Prudence, heading home slowly on the steel horse when I smashed into Swanston Street. I thought, I should be humiliated, but all my energy was going into shock. Confidence in tatters, the final leg was very slow and there may have been some sobbing. Hot shower and sympathy down the phone lulled me to sleep.

Pretty Frock

This is the dress I bought to wear to my Ma's 50th birthday party - theme: frock and suit. After much searching (and soul-searching) around for a 'frock', I found this lil number. It won because it's black. And grey. And I'll wear it again (already have). And they gave me a free singlet too.
Don't ask my why I was on ebay this morning but I was, and I found the exact same dress - same size, same everything - and bids are at $15.50. This is a fraction of the price I paid. What's my point? Get in there and buy it and you'll look fabulous.

Some Good Ideas - Plopp!

In Hong Kong I was impressed that I could check-in for my flight at the Central train station, and my bags went all the way through. What a good idea.

Here in Lund, in Southern Sweden, it appears that you can deposit your used recyclables at a hole-in-the-wall within a supermarket; you get a refund; or your press a button to give the refund to a charity. What a good idea. Nearly as good as a federal law prohibiting charging for university tuition. Brilliant.


Not sure about calling a chocolate 'plopp', however.

Primarily Comfort

My room reminds me of Jack's in Westersingel, I like the bold colours. Oh, and the blossoming magnolia in the courtyard. Why am I here?

All Nations are Hallucinations

The Danish are a friendly bunch. On my tiny plane from Munich I made friends with an economics academic sitting next to me. After some chit chat he started bleeding very heavily from the nose. He apologised for not being able to show me around Copenhagen, but that was fine by me. Instead I had a little deja vu as I wandered aimlessly as an unfamilar city woke up. A few drunk yoof and vomit around the place, lots of shuttered doors and after a while I realised I'm strolled off the map. I used to have a great sense of direction...

Shadow and other mysteries

Still at the very beginning of this adventure called 'work trip'. Sitting in Hong Kong airport with bright red fingernails, a sore face and two young Belgian businessmen next to me. Copenhagen in the morning. A 12-hour flight must be the limit of what I can bear. And they tried to seat me next to a bassinet. Spelling? I said I'd sit there if there was no baby in the bassinet. No such luck. I'll be in a middle seat. The kindness of strangers has not deserted me. And some not so strange.

Mushroom Rocks

Look for me here

I'm going camping. Not too far, somewhere pretty. Love the love. Happy Easter.

Nekkid

Every day I ride to work, carry my bike up the stairs, and enter my office at 8am.
I get a glass of cold water, switch on the fan and take a first look at my emails and try to cool down.
Then I pull the blind down and stand as far into the corner as I can to change clothes. I change everything; fresh bra, undies, shirt, everything. I always wonder if someone has seen me as I'm looking down to pull my pants on or fasten my bra.
Just now, I went to close the window as it's starting to heat up and I saw a guy in his bright orange jocks climbing into his suit pants in the office downstairs. He must ride to work too. He must think no-one can see him.

Second of Three

Charlie says I cried more in We Own The Night than in Intimate Enemies. Hmm. Could it be the Hollywood-Hot factor? Intimate Enemies screens as part of the French Film Festival and is yet another film about the French war in Algeria. Probably the most harrowing, too. The story, of course, is tragic, but the way the drama is crafted and visually expressed was spot-on. It does star Albert Dupontel, whom I love. You may remember him from such French films as Irreversible... And I watched him play a sexy lovable cad in Odette Toulemonde, which screens not only on Vietnam Airlines but also at the Film Fest which is on all this week.

Next is a preview screening of Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead this weekend. That's three movies in a week. Yes, we have no TV, yes we have no DVD player.

Snug

It was nice and cozy, and more than a little daggy, down at the All Nations on Friday night. Whilst I wasn't colluding with my competitors, I was drinking great pints of beer and eating bangers n mash. Lucky me, I was with my two favourite boys: Mister Charlie and Master Jack. My lover and my brother. Jack's done the wise thing and moved into the hood so he is a stone's throw from the All Nations, a milk bar and the commission flats. Oh, and just over the hill from us. How sweet it is.

Saturday night I sat in the cinema watching previews for some 'scary movies' when the bloke two seats away suddenly and sharply called out in pain and convulsed in his chair. Needless to say I was clamping down on Charlie's arm quite hard. I think the moviegoer had a new pacemaker fitted recently and it was playing up. He settled back down and then screamed out in pain one more; his wife and friends were attending to him and the surrounding patrons were all peering over nervously. After that show was over, the movie started - no opening credits, just a sexy opening scene with Joaquin Pheonix and Eva Mendes....

Squalls over the You Yangs

Strange week. Strange mood all week. Then last night I stepped a hole.

Monday I ran a focus group with 7 students of the program I coordinate here. I was very nervous but it went well. Tuesday was orientation carnival on the dusty lawn. Wednesday I had a headache. Then yummy Thai food for dinner.

Anyways. Today I discovered that my council doesn't do hard rubbish collection anymore, not in the community sense. So if you have some old stuff, you call them up and they'll make a time to collect it. Last March was the last time that they did the old school way - where there a community jamboree that lasts a week with people scavenging stuff from their neighbours. Charlie and I need a new futon so we has to get rid of the old one. There's other stuff, lurking down the side of the house and in the wardrobe, that should go too. Like my aunt's bike which is kinda weird to throw out.

Pole-Land and Totems

There's an ongoing connection to Lithuania that I'm so grateful for. Gosh I hope to go back someday soon. Anyways, last night we meandered to an exhibition of photos by Arunas Klupsas, which was gorgeous, inspirational and a good excuse to see some lovely peeps, say 'labas', and discuss abstraction.

Early Days, Sorry Daze

Charlie got a Style Guide which has the land rights flag with the top colour as a very dark purple. Is that right? Everyone's gone ga-ga with this sorry business - broadcast at Fed Square and here at my work. Not sure how I feel about this sorry business. Though I remembered this morning one Christmas Day, years ago, down by the river in Eltham, hearing a story from Milly, who was taken from her family, about the revolting food they were given at the orphanage or whatever they called those places where all the kids were institutionalised.

Thinking about the flag.

"I wanted to make it unsettling. In normal circumstances you'd have the darker colour at the bottom and the lighter colour on top and that would be visibly appropriate for anybody looking at it. It wouldn't unsettle you. To give a shock to the viewer to have it on top had a dual purpose, was to unsettle... The other factor why I had it on top was the Aboriginal people walk on top of the land. It's an obvious fact as well. So it had - that was the reason why the black was on top was visibly unsettling and because of how I was trained at art school, not to make things too obvious but to have a bit of a shock but also to say that the people walk on the land."

So said Harold Joseph Thomas, who designed the flag in 1971.

Straw Widow

The lovely receptionist at my work told me this morning that she's a 'straw widow' - her partner is away for two days. So far my life as a straw widow has been good - not much time at home, most time spent out and about with girls. Yesterday a big drive up to Tarra Warra to check out a mogul's art collection. Oh, and scones on the way, at Monsalvat.



Donated blood this morning and was asked to consider donating plasma instead. Although it looks a bit creepy, I think I'll try it. No one ever said donating was fun anyway.

Did I Mention?

I saw Billy Bragg last night. On stage, not quite rocking out, but definitely doing his thing.

The busy girl buys beauty
The pretty girl buys style
And the simple girl buys
What she's told to buy
And sees her world
Through the brightly lit eyes

Lacquerware

Just had my first delegation visit in my new job - a group of eight administrators from a big private university in Japan. They gave me a nice pen. I was very nervous talking about my work. This job sometimes feels like such a leap - up.

Today's Charlie's last day before his professional life begins. This has been long awaited and neither of us are sure what to expect. Funny, cos we have dealt well with a lot of big changes over the past 19 months. Hopes and selfish fears.

Big blue skies here and great plans for the weekend. A drive to the country on Sunday with a good friend, plans for a gallery visit and scones. Catch ups tomorrow with a great friend who I've somehow managed to only see twice in the past year.

Happy Anniversary

Today marks one year since I returned to Melbourne from Korea and settled in the Manor with Charlie. On this day last year I was met at the airport by my Mum and Charlie and we went for breakfast at Ici. Jack strolled down Napier Street from his work to join us. The rest of the day is a blur.

Australia Day was huge. Out to Eltham for a pool party and drunken time in the scorching sun, then a taxi ride back to the Manor, losing my red bikini somehow on the way. Then headed to a wedding party in Brunswick. I remember how cute Charlie looked.

It's been a massive year, a whole chapter of life at Swinburne open and close, plenty of activity in friends' lives, a few trips and adventures. Things have changed a great deal and I think I have changed. I'm healthier than I've ever been and this means a lot. Money worries that used to consume me have disappeared.

Another year of growth and change is ahead, I'm sure. More discoveries about myself and many more occasions of true happiness and peace lie ahead. Yum.

A brief questionnaire

MENTAL HEALTH
Is stress a major problem for you?		Yes		No
Do you feel depressed?		Yes		No
Do you panic when stressed?		Yes		No
Do you have problems with eating or your appetite?		Yes		No
Do you cry frequently?		Yes		No
Have you ever attempted suicide?		Yes		No
Have you ever seriously thought about hurting yourself?		Yes		No
Do you have trouble sleeping?		Yes		No
Have you ever been to a counselor?		Yes		No

Glocalisation

I like this idea of glocalisation. I think it explains where we're at with our reactions to globalisation very well. I think it's important people to not overlook the local effects of globalisation. Globalisation is not something happening out there, away from us. It's here, in our words, our heads, our choices. And it's not just something we buy with money.

Pomo

"If the work of the city is the remaking or translating of man into a more suitable form than his nomadic ancestors achieved, then might not our current translation of our entire lives into the spiritual form of information seem to make of the entire globe a single consciousness?"

So says Marshall McLuhan, a master of postmodernism. I'm reading up on e-learning, trying to get a handle on it - it's part of my work here, you see.