Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Dammit, where'd my hard-won equilibrium get to?
Hey, ex-boyfriends! Want to really annoy your ex-girlfriends?
How about
a) turning up in their new city with only 8 hours advance notice
b) expecting that they'll drop everything to entertain you, which they do because in theory you both want to be friends, and they want to prove that your initial impression of Adelaide wasn't fair
c) keeping them hanging on waiting for you to phone as if the last 8 months haven't taught them anything
d) inviting yourself over for Sunday morning brunch, even going so far as to request that you be served chai tea
e) politely asking when you should arrive by - your ex-girlfriend will say 11am at the latest - but she doesn't really mean it! No, it's fine to shamble along after 1pm. Just fine.
Yes, it was pretty awkward. I don't know where all the affection and good wishes went, or all the love that we had for three years ... even being able to hold a conversation without judging and irritating each other. Perhaps I was building it up too much, thinking that I'd finally get some closure - but I guess I just ended up thinking, wow - we really have so little in common. How come we didn't argue more? How could this guy's opinion have been so important to me for so long? And how come it took until 10 minutes before he left to actually express any of this irritation, rather than bottling it up?
I guess sometimes you can get on fine over the phone and email, but in person ... all the stress returns. Like I constantly say, and most of the time believe, I want us both to be happy, and clearly we can't make each other happy.
Pffff. Oh, I have new reviews published:
an interview with the creative genius behind Quiet Child
reviews of a cool jazz trio whose music I found challenging to describe - let's face it, I'm no Whitney Balliett; Kiwi dub/roots stars the Black Seeds; and Sugababes' Greatest Hits
and a review of something rich and strange, Highway Rock'N'Roll Disaster.
Plus, I do have good news: Nia, a friend from uni, has taken the big decision to come travelling, and may be doing a working holiday to either Australia or New Zealand! It was just lovely to hear her voice again. Sometimes it's your old mates who know you best and make you laugh the most ...
or perhaps a random hilarious mate from purgatorial times fruit picking in Queensland, who phones up after a year, bringing up times that were pretty funny in retrospect (Maverick had set out into town on payday with the idea of going food shopping and bringing us a loaf of bread. Several hours later, with no sign of him, we set off in the car and were greeting by a drunken lurching yelling Maverick, brandishing shopping bags, who tumbled under the stationary car and couldn't extricate himself. "Rosie! Beautiful Rosie! I have your bread!" he cried, handing out with exaggerated care a squashed and mud-splattered loaf. Several friends gathered round to haul at his limbs and finally removed him. He waved us off, clutching his head - a cheerful soul, and someone I'd definitely look up in Sydney!)
... or sometimes it's tea and sympathy with a housemate who gives the best advice. I started writing this feeling pretty grumpy, but actually I have a lot to be grateful for.
Fingers crossed for the wishing pig!
How about
a) turning up in their new city with only 8 hours advance notice
b) expecting that they'll drop everything to entertain you, which they do because in theory you both want to be friends, and they want to prove that your initial impression of Adelaide wasn't fair
c) keeping them hanging on waiting for you to phone as if the last 8 months haven't taught them anything
d) inviting yourself over for Sunday morning brunch, even going so far as to request that you be served chai tea
e) politely asking when you should arrive by - your ex-girlfriend will say 11am at the latest - but she doesn't really mean it! No, it's fine to shamble along after 1pm. Just fine.
Yes, it was pretty awkward. I don't know where all the affection and good wishes went, or all the love that we had for three years ... even being able to hold a conversation without judging and irritating each other. Perhaps I was building it up too much, thinking that I'd finally get some closure - but I guess I just ended up thinking, wow - we really have so little in common. How come we didn't argue more? How could this guy's opinion have been so important to me for so long? And how come it took until 10 minutes before he left to actually express any of this irritation, rather than bottling it up?
I guess sometimes you can get on fine over the phone and email, but in person ... all the stress returns. Like I constantly say, and most of the time believe, I want us both to be happy, and clearly we can't make each other happy.
Pffff. Oh, I have new reviews published:
an interview with the creative genius behind Quiet Child
reviews of a cool jazz trio whose music I found challenging to describe - let's face it, I'm no Whitney Balliett; Kiwi dub/roots stars the Black Seeds; and Sugababes' Greatest Hits
and a review of something rich and strange, Highway Rock'N'Roll Disaster.
Plus, I do have good news: Nia, a friend from uni, has taken the big decision to come travelling, and may be doing a working holiday to either Australia or New Zealand! It was just lovely to hear her voice again. Sometimes it's your old mates who know you best and make you laugh the most ...
or perhaps a random hilarious mate from purgatorial times fruit picking in Queensland, who phones up after a year, bringing up times that were pretty funny in retrospect (Maverick had set out into town on payday with the idea of going food shopping and bringing us a loaf of bread. Several hours later, with no sign of him, we set off in the car and were greeting by a drunken lurching yelling Maverick, brandishing shopping bags, who tumbled under the stationary car and couldn't extricate himself. "Rosie! Beautiful Rosie! I have your bread!" he cried, handing out with exaggerated care a squashed and mud-splattered loaf. Several friends gathered round to haul at his limbs and finally removed him. He waved us off, clutching his head - a cheerful soul, and someone I'd definitely look up in Sydney!)
... or sometimes it's tea and sympathy with a housemate who gives the best advice. I started writing this feeling pretty grumpy, but actually I have a lot to be grateful for.
Fingers crossed for the wishing pig!
Labels: Adelaide, Black Seeds, cool jazz, friends, Highway Rock'n'Roll Disaster, Quiet Child, relationships, Sugababes, travel
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
A totem pole of wishing pigs!
I am inspired! The Adelaide Fringe Festival has called for artists and community groups to pitch for a chicken-wire pig (the Festival's mascot is a flying pig) to decorate or fill up. Their stomachs are the size of exercise balls. These are big tubby cheerful porkers. The lucky 6 - 8 people who win a pig will have 2 weeks to decorate it, then they'll be slotted into a giant totem pole to watch over the festival throughout March.
What an awesome idea! They have to reflect your wishes for the future. So, another member of the creativity course and I have pitched for a pig. The photo shows her colouring our design in, transforming an intimidating official form into a joyful, colourful piece of paper you really want to pick up! She travels with a little art kit, a set of watercolour pencils, sketchbook and brushes - and a tiny jam jar. I put a couple of drops of water in the jar, and she was able to blend the coloured pencils like paints.
It's a lovely cafe, the Duthy St Deli - if anyone wants to go there, it's Stop 6 on Duthy St. I'd not been there before, so had all the other bus passengers looking out for it. I had an affogato - piping hot espresso that you pour over vanilla ice cream, making something much tastier than the average Farmer's Union Iced Coffee, a heavily sweetened drink in a carton that South Australians are brought up on.
Anyway, I've handed our bid in to the Festival Office - if we succeed in getting a pig, I'll explain our fantastic design and how we're going to make it happen!
This lunchtime I went to see Pan's Labyrinth with an unfortunate friend. We both like arthouse and imaginative movies, but somehow seem to pick particularly gruesome ones. Last time it was The Prestige, excellently done and very thought-provoking, but incredibly dark and creepily disturbing.
Today's film was indeed about a girl who escapes into a fairy-tale world during the Spanish Civil War, as I'd gathered from reviews. However, this is the original kind of fairy tale - not the sanitised Mother Goose kind but frightening and full of Gothic horrors. And the violence and torture were not nice... I had to cover my eyes for some of the close-ups. It's interesting, arthouse films have a certain level of creative freedom: if it were an action film you wouldn't expect so much graphic stuff. It was very well acted, with great set designs and characters, but pretty intense and threatening throughout.
Next time we're going for Marie Antoinette or Volver.
What an awesome idea! They have to reflect your wishes for the future. So, another member of the creativity course and I have pitched for a pig. The photo shows her colouring our design in, transforming an intimidating official form into a joyful, colourful piece of paper you really want to pick up! She travels with a little art kit, a set of watercolour pencils, sketchbook and brushes - and a tiny jam jar. I put a couple of drops of water in the jar, and she was able to blend the coloured pencils like paints.
It's a lovely cafe, the Duthy St Deli - if anyone wants to go there, it's Stop 6 on Duthy St. I'd not been there before, so had all the other bus passengers looking out for it. I had an affogato - piping hot espresso that you pour over vanilla ice cream, making something much tastier than the average Farmer's Union Iced Coffee, a heavily sweetened drink in a carton that South Australians are brought up on.
Anyway, I've handed our bid in to the Festival Office - if we succeed in getting a pig, I'll explain our fantastic design and how we're going to make it happen!
This lunchtime I went to see Pan's Labyrinth with an unfortunate friend. We both like arthouse and imaginative movies, but somehow seem to pick particularly gruesome ones. Last time it was The Prestige, excellently done and very thought-provoking, but incredibly dark and creepily disturbing.
Today's film was indeed about a girl who escapes into a fairy-tale world during the Spanish Civil War, as I'd gathered from reviews. However, this is the original kind of fairy tale - not the sanitised Mother Goose kind but frightening and full of Gothic horrors. And the violence and torture were not nice... I had to cover my eyes for some of the close-ups. It's interesting, arthouse films have a certain level of creative freedom: if it were an action film you wouldn't expect so much graphic stuff. It was very well acted, with great set designs and characters, but pretty intense and threatening throughout.
Next time we're going for Marie Antoinette or Volver.
Labels: Adelaide, art, Australia and Aussie customs, creativity, grand plans, Pan's Labyrinth
Monday, January 29, 2007
What I did on Australia Day
Australia Day is not really wildly celebrated in Australia. When I worked in London, I was aware that one day every year the Tube would be filled with cheerful green-and-yellow painted hoons (a word I've only learned since coming here) conducting the drunken singing of Waltzing Matilda by waving inflatable kangaroos. I thought that, apart from the shop in Covent Garden selling Vegemite and Tim Tams, that was it for Aussie ex-pats.
But there is a new tradition here in Australia! Triple J, the independent radio station, plays the Top 100 songs of the last year, as voted for by listeners. Of course there's a lot of debate about which ones will absolutely, definitely be in the Top 10, and which bands have to make it into the list somehow, and which ones you voted for... people even bet on it, and offices will run sweepstakes. It's not quite The Race That Stops The Nation (the Melbourne Cup, which does get people to pause for 5 minutes of their day.) This is more a long backdrop to the entire day - the 100 tracks take around 8 hours to play, as there's constant waffling from the presenters, relatively pointless interviews with the bands ("How does it feel to be Number 34 on the Triple J Top 100?" "We're Number 34! That's so awesome! Whooooo! Shout outs to my Mum and the Adelaide Hills massive!"), and phonecalls from people having parties and barbecues where they listen to the radio for 8 hours "It's madness here in Woolloomoolloo! We're eating snags! We want Scissor Sisters!"
I was invited to a slightly more sedate Australia Day barbeque, and it was actually really mellow and relaxing. We snacked on an irresistible dip made from a hollowed out cob of bread, filled with cream cheese, herbs and French onion soup mix among other mystic ingredients. People arrived. Beer was drunk. The images are of classic Australian icons: the flag on a Hills Hoist (we'd call it a rotary clothesline, but here it's a national icon as it was invented in South Australia); and an amazing Fisher Price toy barbeque set up next to the full sized one. They say kids learn by copying their parents' behaviour - well, here you can train your "bub" in the fine art of sausage sizzling just like his dad!
As people arrived, we began eating, and eating, and eating. I'd like to give a big shout out to Pete's family and the fantastic fruit, vegetables and eggs they grow and share with us: the tomato salad I made was much admired. One dessert was absolutely delicious but sent me into paroxysms of guilt. To make Sinful Ice Cream Cake, crush a packet of choc chip cookies and mix with melted butter to form a cheesecake base. Then take a pint of choc chip ice cream and stir into it ... half a jar of crunchy peanut butter. spread on top of the base and freeze. To serve, make a chocolate fudge sauce by melting dark chocolate with cream. This is amazing, but will glue you to the floor for the rest of the day. The other pic is of a much lighter dessert, and the perfect way to get people eating healthy fruit: skewers of strawberries and melon-balled canteloupes, watermelon and rock melon. They're just so pretty!
The rest of the day was spent reclining on the lawn, listening to music and debating our favourite bands. For facts to back up the argument, people went on the internet to check whether the Triple J website was updating in real time. And it was ... on Eastern time. Sydney is half an hour ahead of South Australia, so the top 5 were already up there, seared into Pete's retinas as he gave a howl. "I didn't want to know that! And you don't either!" he threatened, before dropping increasingly obvious hints about who we'd be hearing next.
The Australian flag was even more controversial at the Big Day Out music festival, where organisers tried to ban it on the grounds that it would incite racial tension. That has happened in the past, but a huge public outcry saw thousands of music lovers proudly flourishing their Southern Cross capes, hats, t-shirts and even tattoos to the TV cameras as they walked in. The flag is in question for various reasons - there are various sides to the debate here.
But there is a new tradition here in Australia! Triple J, the independent radio station, plays the Top 100 songs of the last year, as voted for by listeners. Of course there's a lot of debate about which ones will absolutely, definitely be in the Top 10, and which bands have to make it into the list somehow, and which ones you voted for... people even bet on it, and offices will run sweepstakes. It's not quite The Race That Stops The Nation (the Melbourne Cup, which does get people to pause for 5 minutes of their day.) This is more a long backdrop to the entire day - the 100 tracks take around 8 hours to play, as there's constant waffling from the presenters, relatively pointless interviews with the bands ("How does it feel to be Number 34 on the Triple J Top 100?" "We're Number 34! That's so awesome! Whooooo! Shout outs to my Mum and the Adelaide Hills massive!"), and phonecalls from people having parties and barbecues where they listen to the radio for 8 hours "It's madness here in Woolloomoolloo! We're eating snags! We want Scissor Sisters!"
I was invited to a slightly more sedate Australia Day barbeque, and it was actually really mellow and relaxing. We snacked on an irresistible dip made from a hollowed out cob of bread, filled with cream cheese, herbs and French onion soup mix among other mystic ingredients. People arrived. Beer was drunk. The images are of classic Australian icons: the flag on a Hills Hoist (we'd call it a rotary clothesline, but here it's a national icon as it was invented in South Australia); and an amazing Fisher Price toy barbeque set up next to the full sized one. They say kids learn by copying their parents' behaviour - well, here you can train your "bub" in the fine art of sausage sizzling just like his dad!
As people arrived, we began eating, and eating, and eating. I'd like to give a big shout out to Pete's family and the fantastic fruit, vegetables and eggs they grow and share with us: the tomato salad I made was much admired. One dessert was absolutely delicious but sent me into paroxysms of guilt. To make Sinful Ice Cream Cake, crush a packet of choc chip cookies and mix with melted butter to form a cheesecake base. Then take a pint of choc chip ice cream and stir into it ... half a jar of crunchy peanut butter. spread on top of the base and freeze. To serve, make a chocolate fudge sauce by melting dark chocolate with cream. This is amazing, but will glue you to the floor for the rest of the day. The other pic is of a much lighter dessert, and the perfect way to get people eating healthy fruit: skewers of strawberries and melon-balled canteloupes, watermelon and rock melon. They're just so pretty!
The rest of the day was spent reclining on the lawn, listening to music and debating our favourite bands. For facts to back up the argument, people went on the internet to check whether the Triple J website was updating in real time. And it was ... on Eastern time. Sydney is half an hour ahead of South Australia, so the top 5 were already up there, seared into Pete's retinas as he gave a howl. "I didn't want to know that! And you don't either!" he threatened, before dropping increasingly obvious hints about who we'd be hearing next.
The Australian flag was even more controversial at the Big Day Out music festival, where organisers tried to ban it on the grounds that it would incite racial tension. That has happened in the past, but a huge public outcry saw thousands of music lovers proudly flourishing their Southern Cross capes, hats, t-shirts and even tattoos to the TV cameras as they walked in. The flag is in question for various reasons - there are various sides to the debate here.
Labels: Adelaide, Australia and Aussie customs, food, friends, radio
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
On following a dream
A car park down an Adelaide side street. One Fringe Festival, an artist with a vision spent three weeks cementing toy cars onto this wall, in their thousands. I admire that singlemindedness of intent.
The Walking in this World course is proving interesting - writing three pages every morning means that I'm actually remembering my dreams, and pretty strange they are too. I've always thought that hearing other people's dreams is not particularly interesting, so I won't share the surreal sequences. In analysing them, though, I notice a lot of anxiety, insecurity, not really having any answers, and worrying about being misinterpreted.
I can see where this is coming from. I'm making a conscious effort with writing, and I really would love it if people who ask what I do (a horrible question, as if what you receive money for is What You Are and defines how much respect you should be given, and how much interest you're worthy of) gave me some encouragement, or said that my words touched them. Instead, all anyone seems to ask me about is money. Have I got a proper job yet? In all my time of drifting about the world, seeing sights and storing up memories and ideas; and working clock-watching jobs which I'd do to the best of my ability but come home feeling as if some part of my mind and soul had not received any exercise or challenges ... I've never felt anything like the gratification I get from picking up the latest issue of DB and re-reading my words from a published magazine, or getting an email from The Program to say that they liked my quirky article on going undercover at The Beards' gig. I finally feel that I'm progressing towards somewhere that I want to be, and I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from that - but when people reduce it to a purely financial level, I feel that my joy in creating and sharing just gets chipped away.
Before I started travelling, I used to have a lot of flying dreams, which I took comfort from. Once I left the UK, these dreams, which normally had me escaping from various places in St Albans, simply stopped - I'd addressed that problem. I'm not sure how I'll address this one. I have, however, taken inspiration from Elena, who started the Walking in This World group. After standing in the $2 shop for several minutes staring at the art materials, I took the initial step of buying a set of coloured chalk. For only $2, I have a small colourful box of potential in my bag. Do I dare actually go out and reclaim some pavement space? I have all kinds of positive messages floating in my mind, and I can imagine what colours I'd write them in. It's dark outside now, so I could do a mini guerilla art project as I walk back home through the park ...
If I actually do this, I'll post a picture.
Random facts that I think are interesting:
1. Trivia is the Roman goddess of hounds, sorcery and crossroads
2. In the English language, "ough" can be pronounced in 8 different ways, all contained in this sentence: A tough, dough-faced ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough, coughing and hiccoughing thoughtfully. Reading that reminds me of an acquaintance from uni, "Cactus James," who was from Scarborough. Among his many quirks he was notable for actually laying down money to purchase a single entitled "The Whistle Song," featuring the instruction "Blow your whistle, baby!" and frenetic whistling. After his housemates protested at his repeatedly playing this at top volume, his concession to their long-suffering eardrums was buying an entire album by enthusiastic German remixer DJ Otzi. I considered myself fortunate not to live there.
My latest published articles:
Dallas Crane interview
One I thought went really well: an interview with The Battery Kids
Review of the slightly daunting Menopause: The Musical
Attending a Moonlight Cinema screening - read it and weep, you chilly people in the northern hemisphere!
Interview with the Dairy Brothers that got overtaken by Lord of the Rings ... their feud with The Beards clearly continues!
A strange night out at the Rambutan Circus Collective
Labels: Adelaide, art, Beards, circus, Dairy Brothers, Dallas Crane, friends, grand plans, Menopause, Moonlight Cinema, The Battery Kids, Walking in this World
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Kicking it up a notch!
No, it's not the door to my new residence ... but when I noticed this is the Adelaide CBD, my mind immediately sparkled with possibilities. It's so stagey, with the gold detailing on the blue - I feel as if on the other side of a door like this, one could perfectly reasonably expect to walk into Gringotts Bank, from the Harry Potter books, a place of magic and alarming perspectives, staffed by goblins.
Incidentally, if anyone reading this works behind this door, this is just my fertile imagination, all right? I'm not calling you personally a goblin.
This week will be one of my busiest so far. On Saturday I moved into a new house share. Sunday was spent unpacking and checking out my new suburb, Unley - there's a lovely library, 2 gyms in case I do suddenly go on a fitness kick, and most importantly, lots of large trees lining the streets. This means that even when the temperature is 41 degrees, I can still walk out to the shops by hiding in patches of shade. Pity the poor tennis players at the Melbourne Cup, who have to have ice baths and rehydration therapy after matches in the heat!
On Monday I organised the rest of the week, wrote up CD reviews and picked up my mail, including a lovely letter from Grandpa with memories of his early career farming. I walked around smiling all day, and read highlights out to Pete - who wished that he'd been able to collect similar memories from his grandparents.
Yesterday I went to review Menopause: The Musical with lucky housemate Pete as my plus 1. A great show for women, but a few times the sheer brashness and up-front nature of their discussion had my toes curling a little: goodness, those endless hot flushes! And just to think, all this is ahead of me! Pete was initially dubious but came out of the theatre with, I think, a new understanding of his female relations.
This morning I interviewed local band The Battery Kids, softly spoken lads who nevertheless had some entertaining stories which I think made a good piece. This afternoon Rachel's accompanying me to For Your Consideration; tomorrow I'm interviewing Aussie band Dallas Crane over the phone, then reviewing Highway Rock'N'Roll Disaster; then on Friday seeing the Dairy Brothers' new single launch with Jasmine. The sooner I get a laptop to type this up on, the better!
I've also started a creativity programme, Walking in this World, supported by an online group. I'm hoping it proves helpful: I have to scribble 3 "morning pages" at the start of each day, to get rid of nagging worries and stimulate my creativity. They're personal, but I'm prepared to exclusively reveal that each snapshot of my mental state first thing in the morning has featured some comment about me still feeling tired and grumpy without that vital first cup of coffee...
Labels: Adelaide, grand plans, magic, theatre, Walking in this World
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Positive changes!
Good things are happening!
My wonderful American friends Julia and Steve have welcomed an adorable baby daughter who rejoices in the name of Aerin Syrah. Congratulations to the happy family! I finally spoke to Jules for over an hour today and they're both head over heels in love with the little one.
I have moved to a fixed address, for the first time in 6 months! I'm sharing an apartment in peaceful Unley, just south of the city centre, with a lovely guy from book group. The sun is shining, I'm checking out my new local library as I write this, and then I'm going shopping to make a celebratory dinner tonight followed by watching Much Ado About Nothing - a new modern British version apparently set in a TV station.
Australian television is fairly dire - the shows I enjoy watching (Grey's Anatomy, Numb3rs, House, NCIS, The OC, Black Books) are all either American or British. On the plus side, this means I have more time for the important things in life, like reading books.
The photo is of another exotic tree, this time one at the bottom of my new street. I don't know the name of it, but the red cups are slowly being shed to the ground, and walking underneath them along the pavement you hear a soft dry rattling like a rain stick. It's not the leaves rustling, but the dried seed pods being stirred by the breeze.
Labels: Adelaide, exotic fauna and flora, friends, libraries, television
Friday, January 12, 2007
Surprises, friendships and origami stars
well, things are moving on apace. I've applied to review Big Day Out Adelaide for www.vibewire.net, a site I've visited occasionally over the last few months. I would be so chuffed to win a ticket - if I got to go there and report on the experience, I'd not only interview the bands and punters, but also try and talk to the roadies, sound mixers, food vendors, security guards etc as I think the backup staff must have a lot of insider gossip! Vibewire is particularly notable for one very helpful columnist, Hailey Baldwin, who gives practical advice on pitching articles and getting published.
I got a message this morning from the former boyfriend, which surprised me a lot. After being left heartbroken, he realises that it hurts! and that perhaps it hurt me!
On the one hand, it's good to get some closure: finally, a genuine apology. I could wish that he'd said this sooner, when I was still crying myself to sleep every night. But perhaps it was something that he had to go through, thanks to the laws of karma. I'm glad that eh's come to some self-knowledge, but I thought I'd feel triumphant, dancing around going "Hah! Not so nice, is it? Yeah! Sob for me!" In fact, I just feel ... empty. Detached from his emotions. A certain amount of pity.
He actually asked me why I was always so nice to him. Well, when I tried to put myself in his shoes after the breakup, it came to me that he probably found it quite hard to look at himself in the mirror, knowing the mistakes he'd made and how badly he'd handled things. Also, to take a broader view, there's been so much negativity and hurt, for so long, that it makes no sense to put more of it out there.
The thing is that I want him to be happy. I'm not the one to make him happy, but I hope he finds someone who is. Does this mean that we can be friends? Do I even want him for a friend, knowing that he's not the fantastic person I thought he was? It's easier to speak on the phone than to see him in person, certainly, which I'm not sure I'll ever want to do again. On the other hand, after 3 years together we probably know each other better than our families and friends. And there aren't many people - I think this is particularly true in men's lives - that you can really open up to about your emotions, and share your upsets with. I'm English, he's Canadian, so we're both away from our immediate support networks, I suppose. So I've come to the conclusion that I will be civil and supportive as much as I can.
God! I guess I am learning all the time. You may bury your head in the sand in a relationship, blindly carrying on and not really developing further, but afterwards when you look back, even if there's nothing else positive ... you gain some self-knowledge.
I also want to pay tribute to all my friends. Tash and Rob who took me in, and also forced me to celebrate my birthday with delicious yum cha and actually laugh again, my wonderful and understanding cousin Anna who was a huge support, and everyone else who called, texted, emailed, or just hugged. That was another good thing: looking around me, I realised just how much love and concern I was surrounded by.
Positive vibes to everybody!
Now I need to get cleaning: when I return the keys to this flat I'm minding, I want to leave it pristine, all the linen washed, wine in the fridge, flowers with a nice scent and my 2 comedy CDs of "I'm Sorry, I Haven't A Clue." I hope Rachel will like them. I've also used up one of her charmingly tiny jars of Moccona coffee, so am embarking on a creative project: to clean it out and fill it with multicoloured origami stars. This is a haven of peace and calm: the picture shows the view from my balcony as the sun goes down.
Incidentally, if anyone's reading this and thinking, Gosh, she sounds like a lovely house sitter ... I am available from May onwards! and yes ... I will travel.
Labels: Adelaide, art, friends, grand plans, relationships, writing
Friday, November 24, 2006
Hopeful in Adelaide
I'm job-hunting again. Have sent my CV out to goodness knows how many people, now waiting to hear back from them....
I'm staying in a lovely, lovely backpacker's hostel called Annie's Place - the nicest of the 4 I've tried in jacaranda-festooned Adelaide so far. Meeting very interesting people (including the Midnight Farter) and making friends. It's good to have a nice group of people welcome you home every evening and ask how the day's gone.
I have plans to expand this blog as well, and introduce some of the people I'm meeting - also to share stories about what I've been up to for the last few months since leaving Melbourne. Watch this space!
Labels: Adelaide, grand plans, hostels
