hello everyone

i hope you're enjoying all this chrissy and new years madness.

xxx

well i've finally managed to book flights, i'm going home for a couple of weeks in jan-feb.

here's my dates, would love to see any and all of you...

sydney 21-23 jan

christchurch 23 jan - 5/6 feb

melbourne 8-12 feb

and a couple of other stops along the way, but i won't bother with those details!
life in tibooburra is fine. hot and muggy, and most of my friends have disappeared for christmas/new year. oh well, still plenty of people to keep me entertained.
x e

a good day in my tiny slice of paradise.
i got up bright and early, feeling refreshed by sleep for the first time in a few days, and pottered around for a bit before throwing together a batch of yummy muesli. a bowl of which i had outside with a cup of strong coffee and a good book.
then on to more wonderfully domestic activities such as dishes and laundry and grass-cutting (with scissors! our lawn is still young...) and weeding and dog feeding.
i'm enjoying a few days to myself, as vic is away on a job. i think this break is just what i've been needing. the frustrations of co-habitation have been getting me down of late.
so a contented sigh, and a smile, for this lovely day.
now off to prepare a potato salad for dinner, i'm going to chuck in a dollop of the beautiful herb paste i made the other day, and it'll be super!

Taking it easy, with a couple of days off ahead of me. Come join me for a glass of something cool. X

A DOROTHY MOMENT

it struck me yesterday that i am a long way from home.
i don't mean physically, rather that i have drifted a long way from
the things which make me who i am. who i want to be.
i'm not sure if that makes much sense. does it?

i am thinking on ways to rectify it.

hello. i'm back!
i didn't realise it'd been so long since i updated this place. i guess
life took over! what with working full time now (well, 30hrs is
considered full time at my job) and keeping pretty busy around the
house and yard, as well as a few relationship hurdles and a nasty bout
of gastro... my mind has been on things other than blogging!
also i have a few rants brewing but i don't know if i want to write
them. is it wise to focus on the things that piss me off about this
place, or should i ignore them and hopefully lessen their annoyance
factor by doing so?(things like parents here feeding their very very young children food and drinks filled with colours and flavours and msg and shit!
argh! i know it happens everywhere.. but it pains me to see it,
especially as these people are my new friends!)
or i could tell you about the gastro ~ but i'm pretty certain that you
don't want to know! suffice to say that i ended up a tad dehydrated,
with a drip in my arm for a few hours. not nice. i'm pretty much
mended, still a bit wiped out by the experience. i was back at work
today though, so that's progress!
and now i'm home alone, what luxury. vic is off yabbying (ie. catching
yabbies... they're kinda like mini crayfish and they live in the fresh
water dams around here)
i think i'll try and find some gardening info online, and then wander
off to read my book for a while. it's a crazy celtic new-agey one,
driving me up the wall, but the historical witch-hunty stuff is quite
interesting and it's making me want to get back into gardening.

ONE YEAR GONE

remembering pete, who died a year ago today.

i miss him, i miss our chats, i miss his wisdom and his humour.

he taught me a lot, he gave me some very good advice, and he meant SO MUCH to me. and he knew how much i loved him and how much he meant to me, so for that i'm thankful.

 

MiSCHiEF

Up to no good at the Family hotel ... a couple of the girls changing pictures around while the owner is out of town. another unplanned night of fun and mischief!

my favourite reaction to the previous picture thus far is this one from my dad...

 

"Well shut my mouth ! That is one hell of a lid. And a well composed shot.Would love a print of it to frame up."

it's another warm day here in tib, currently sitting on 32 degrees. i made the mistake of raking the yard this morning, bring on the beetroot face. the local tv station does midday movies and now i know why, anyone with sense is inside at that time of day!

i got my first pay today. phew. it's good to be earning again, life is pretty inexpensive out here but there are still a few costs. like beer. and really really ridiculously expensive vegetables. and a loaf of boring old supermarket bread costs about $4.50! we're going to try and get an account with a supermarket in broken hill, at least that way i'll be able to buy things like soy milk and sundried tomatoes and other essential items. :-)

oh, melbourne folk, anyone feel like doing me a favour?

 

x

 

Getting into outback life.. Vic persuaded me to try the hat.. What do you think?

SWiNG DAM THOUGHTS

hello blogfolk.
well last night was a bit shitty. so this morning i got up early and walked down to the swing dam (about 15 mins away) with a drawing pad and a pen. i sketched leaves and had a think and a cry and then i wrote this.

i'm sitting on the bank of the Swing Dam, under the shade of a beautiful silvery gumtree. there's a breeze, enough to send ripples across the buddy water.lots of birds here today - sulphur crested cockatoos and those pink and grey gallahs as well as noisy black birds and what look to me like welcome swallows. many a game of chase is unfolding overhead, accompanied by much jeerying and name calling! australian birds are so loud. i can hear a kookaburra too, though i'm yet to spot it. the ants have been on the move the past few days, apparently that could mean rain (i'll believe it when i see it!) or a dust storm brewing. they're big ants here, about 1.5cm, with a tendency to bite.

i'm glad i have this place to escape to for quiet time alone.

:-(

funny how when i left the city so many people made me promise i'd update this site often, the thing is... since then i've had 2 comments. two. that's just lame. if you want to hear how it's going, let me know.

 

(ps. i've just experienced my first facebook un-friending. i feel like i've dropped off the radar entirely!)

gymkhana madness!

i ended up going down to the pub last night, got sick of sitting around feeling icky! so i cast aside all stomach woes and wandered down the road for a drink... the place was pumping! this weekend is the tibooburra gymkana, biggest event of the year. so there's lots of people in town for it, the atmosphere is cool! there's a lot of fun and love in this community, and i'm lucky to have some good people looking out for me. i'm slowly piecing together who's who and who's doing who.... all that fascinating human interaction stuff which makes life so much more entertaining for the quiet observer. ;-)

i'm home alone. with the company of moodster (the dog) and the bug in my stomach. damn it! i'd planned on going to a party up the road, a hens night for one of the girls in town. but here i am, dizzy and lightheaded with a pain in my gut! boring. that said, it's nice to have some time alone, and a good chance to catch up on some internetting.

i've just scored myself a job, at one of the 3 shops in town.. hahha... i was a little worried that there'd be no jobs going but i seem to have been lucky. we'll see how i go... i start on monday.. and i have to cook meat! the ex-vegan in me cringes. it'll be good to have some money coming in, and good also to have some routine in my days, particularly when vic scarpers off to work again for however many long weeks! and when she does i promise i'll get my pastels out and do some sketches. there are so many beautiful sights around here! did i mention that tibooburra means "heap of rocks"? the town is surrounded my these mounds of rocks, really stunning, and five minutes out of town in any direction they just disappear. we went up to Sunset Lookout a few nights ago. sat there as the sun sunk below the horizon, the colours of the land changing from brilliant oranges to dusky pinks and purples. breathtaking. and so much space!
 

hello

just a quick update.. i have no net at home yet..

things good here, mad place to be, what the hell am i thinking?

;-)

i love hearing from you...

xxx

Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com

freee.king.out.

i leave for the airport shortly. then it's broken hill in just a few hours... fuck!

today has been good, coffees and books and good company in glebe.

i have butterflies.

x

P1090209
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

bye bye melbourne. you've been wonderful, and i promise i'll visit.
melbourne, please take care of my friends for me. feed them poached eggs on toast on sunday mornings, and keep their soy lattes topped up. thank you, i appreciate it.
i will think of you often, and fondly.
x

Grocery Store Wars

frogstar!
Originally uploaded by simian says

victoriAimhleas has been playing again!
how lucky i am to be the inspiration for such a funkyfun stencil. thanks vic!

if you look to the right you'll see the original pic in my flickr sidebar thingy. i love photo booth effects...

five days, and counting.
looking forward to space and quiet.

THINGS I LOVE TONIGHT

edit: stupid thing won't embed, the html is borked and i don't know enough to fix it up. here's a link...
violin and turntable thingy
leon
sarah
veronica
gin
pancakes
chocolate sauce
connection


i booked flights today.

i'm very lucky to have spent a large part of the last week or so with my darlings, sarah and leon. my brunswick family. i will miss them immensely when i go, which looks like it'll be in about a week and a half.
freak.ing.out.
but i'm not going to think about that right now.. i'm going to go and drink coffee with sarah and talk about exciting plans and vans and roadtrips and straw bale houses and free hug day and banana snaps.
***

things i need to organise before i go:

a phone (mine won't work out there)
a camera
my tax return, argh!
where to store my piles of stuff
some drawing supplies
an SOS code..?

x

FACEBOOK MADNESS

1 cities i've visited invitation 9 vampire invitations 2 mood invitations 1 happy hour request 3 pirate invitations 2 what's your stripper requests 2 movie compatibility requests 3 top friends friend requests 1 my garden invitation 1 social chat invitation 1 secret friend invitation 8 likeness quiz requests 8 pirate invitations 1 ninja invitation 1 fighters' club invitation 2 acebucks requests 2 compare invitations 2 get superlatives invitations 1 new wall post request 2 zombie invitations 1 scrabble request 1 scrabulous request 1 ilike friend request 1 puzzlebee friend request 1 texas hold'em invitation 1 freebee invitation 1 im invitation 1 cause invitation 1 my solar system invitation

THE 3 NiCEST THiNGS i SMELLED TODAY

freesias on glenlyon

jasmine on albert

coffee at small block

hello fox, i hope this is to your liking.
i think i got the hang of it.
i definately got the hang of beer at the retreat.
can someone please give me the correct spelling of

definately-definatly-definitely

oh, i think it may be the last one!

i'm smiling over a letter from the vicstar, it makes me miss her less and more all at once. (she's away for a few weeks working in queensland somewhere far from cell phone reception)

i'm at home today, going through paperwork, having a bit of a clean up. how do i manage to accumulate so much stuff in so little time? argh, i drive myself crazy. surely there's no need for all this stuff! i'm not sure where i'm going to store it when i leave melbourne, no sense in dragging a whole lot of stuff with me if i might not be gone for long. the desert heat will chase me away, either back to melbourne or back to new zealand or back to.. i don't know. it scares me.

lisa's poppies are dropping petals beside my turquoise earing

it's very pretty

THiNGS i DiD TODAY:

sat in one of my favourite cafes with one of my favourite girls. (hello miss james, you know i'm only updating because you told me to)

sat on a jetty for a couple of hours, with a good book and the sun on my back.

sat on a colourful bench and listened to some slightly-too-hippy music while kids played a parashute game with much laughter.

sat on a tram beside a stinky man (he hemmed me in, bleurgh!!).

sat in fed square with mich and drank a beer and ate some eggplant japanese style.

sat at mario's with mich and drank a very good coffee.

sat on frey's bed and watched rove.

sat on my bed and wondered what to write.

NEW DiRECTiONS

i spent 3 days last week with my girl and our mutual friends, down clifton springs way. it was so good to have their company, and so good to have that time with vic. we spent hours walking on the beach, fossicking for seaglass and interesting shells, and very much enjoying each others company.
we drove back to melbourne on thursday, and in the morning i went to work and she went to the airport.
when vic landed she sent me this text: "babe, am sad. will have to be a better way than this. xx"
i replied that i agreed, and we'd work something out.

two hours later my boss called me into her office and fired me, for no particular reason other than that she doesn't much like me. well, as you can imagine, that threw me! particularly as i quickly remembered that i was to be out of a home in a couple of weeks, and had made no plans regarding a new abode. i walked out of work, and got on a tram to the beach. it's the best thing i could've done, an hour in the sunshine helped to clear my head and lead me to thinking about my options.

the option i've chosen, the only obvious one, is to go and try my hand at desert life for a while. perhaps it'll just be a few weeks, perhaps it'll be a longer stint. i hope it works out there, i would like that. i am excited to be embarking on this adventure, it's not what i saw myself doing.. but it's perfect. the timing is too much of a coincidence for me to ignore this possibility.

so that's it blogfolks, i'm off to the outback to live in a tiny town on my own, as vic will be away for weeks at a time.

it scares the shit out of me, but at the same time it just feels so very very right.

x

so, eroica, what did you do this week?

well, blogfolk, i lost my job.


*

it's been a long day.
thank god for manny.

DEAR YOU

being sick is so dumb. the no energy and the no brain and the darksome thoughts. so exciting that someone super special (YOU!) brought around tissues and orange juice. i am oh so grateful, and pleased to have had your company for a few minutes. lucky me!
so, thank you, you are the beez kneez!

love from me

SiCK AND TWiSTED

i ache from my hips down to my calves
shivers across my back
a tightening across my forhead
scratchy throat
and a cough that catches me by suprise

i've been so damned careful about looking after myself, surrounded by sick friends. but finally it caught up with me. and i know i said i wouldn't post again till i had something worth saying...
i want v here. i need comfort and lemon honey drinks and a story.

hey peeps

i'm at the airport, very early, killing time until i can jump on a plane and go home.

can't quite believe that in a few hours i'll be back in christchurch, how exciting is that?! i am going to be a very busy girl, so many wonderful people to see and so much coffee to drink. hooray, what a treat.

i am a tad worried as i am unable to turn my computer on.. i hope it's just out of battery. the thing is, the wiring in my house is tres dodgy and i am thinking i might've somehow fucked something up. eek!

(ahem, excuse my poor use of the english language, i blame the headache i've had for the last WEEK).

not much i can do about it now, except hope like crazy that it sorts itself out.

i really have nothing much to say!

but still, 15 mins left at the "new kiosk" so i might as well ramble a bit longer.

no, actually i won't. i am sick of reading back over posts on here which read like a learner driver backing into a parked car. lame lame lame.

bye, and i'll write again if i ever have something worth saying.

 

Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

frequently this week i've caughtmyself day dreaming about those days in broken hill. i see more of the bad stuff about melbourne now, funny that. i notice the lack of open space, something which there certainly is plenty of in the desert! and of course i am over romanticising it, living there would be a totally different deal, but for now i am happy letting my thoughts wander to huge skies and red dirt.

TUESDAY GAMES

the pressure to blog is overwhelming.
gee, thanks vetti.
;-)


today has been lovely.
frances, a friend from nz, is staying.
we coffeed at la paloma, i dragged her to the post office so i could sent sweet things to the vicstar, and then we made our way into town. after a mission to give money to my sister (will i always act as family banker, i wonder?) we headed down to acmi to check out the pixar exhibition. which was great, except for the bit when the lights failed. oopsie. after much dashing and clompy-shoes the lights came back and we could finish our viewing experience!
then down to st. kilda for coffee and chocolatey goodness with one miss james, and finally back home for a dvd after a veg out curry.
now it is way past my bedtime and this is a shit blog post, so argh... i give up and press send.
might have a brain tomorrow, if so i shall edit.

hello lovelies
i have been in the outback for the last 3 days, visiting the vicstar.
i had the best time.
i haven't felt so relaxed in ages. that laid back country town feel, warm sunshine, friendly people, the company of two fine dogs, and hours and hours spent with someone i care for deeply. yesterday i smiled my way around town in tshirt and no shoes, happily soaking up the sunrays and enjoying the sensation of muscles relaxing after being tensed through all this cold weather. mmmmm.
on tuesday evening we watched a magical sunset from a sculpture park, truly breathtaking. sitting on the rocks beer in hand, watching the colours of the desert change as the sun moved towards the horizon. from hot orange and dark green to a more subtle palette of muted greens and purples under a soft blue sky, i am still blown away by it.
i fell in love with the landscape and the lifestyle.

best typo of the day: Crowded Hose

i'M SURE i'VE POSTED THiS BEFORE...

..but i see no reason not to post the best ever Simpson's ditty twice.
it's been a long day, but now i am home drinking a pilsner (snowy mountains, a microbrewery in NSW) and listening to an eclectic mix of stuff on my iTunes.
here's to the neighbour's unsecured wireless connection, my new mac, limewire, and good music to make a girl smile.
now sing along kids...

a post for vetti

make MARS last longer
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

hello vetti, and other personages who may perchance be reading.
i saw this at grub street bookshop in fitzroy and couldn't resist snapping a pic. that is some lame marketing if ever i saw! the small print reads "every mars bar is so richly satisfying in flavour and goodness that - now they are rationed - you'll want to make the most of every one. so cut that chewy, chunky bar into slices and s-t-r-e-t-c-h your enjoyment of it, piece by toothsome piece"
x

veronica to me: "you're the older sister i never had"


cheeeezus!

delete delete delete

you don't need to know that. if you already read it, well.. yes. you know.

it's a beautifully sunny blue morning here in brunswick, perfect for wandering over to lygon street for coffee with the infamous 'jo'. she suggested Sugar Dough, which is great as i have been meaning to check it out for a while now.

crap, i think i have an age spot on my hand! that is worrying. more so than the grey hair (damn my super-fast-growing locks, already the greys are sneaking back). hmm actually maybe it's just a freckle. i am very into freckles at the moment. one in particular, on the back of a certain neck.

i am excited to be having coffee with michelle twice this week. today at Five, one of our faves in the city, and thursday at Retro on brunswick st. scene of our 5+ hour coffee-and-cake-fuelled-sitting-down-marathon. i hope our waitress is working.

i bought flour and sugar yesterday, inspired by vetti's gorgeous baking display at work. stockpiling for when i have a functional kitchen, soon may that day come! i will miss frey and dele, but i will *not* miss much about this shitty house!

there's a plumber on the roof at the moment, hopefully fixing the leak above my bedside table. fingers crossed, because the last guy to attempt it wasn't up to the challenge. does it seem odd to you that a plumber would fix a roof? it does to me.
ok, the prognosis is that the whole roof is rooted and my ceiling will eventually cave in. brilliant! thank the gods i'm only here till september.

right, time to eat toast and entertain frey.
xx

SWEET THiNGS

P1080628
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain

pictured: manna cakes, we sell them at work. the icing sugary ones are raspberry brownies, and the flaky ones are hazelnut praline. so so yum.
i am having the best time with vic, she is gorgeous and it feels like we've known each other for years.. hah.
another interweb success story, three years of chatting really does make for a solid friendship. it'll be sad to see her go on friday, broken hill is a long way away for a visit. not something i can do on a weekend.

there's blue sky outside! i can see strips of it through the blinds. i am in bed. i am blogging in bed! life is good. actually i need to get a table, i can see myself becoming a cripple at this rate.. hunched over my 'puter on the floor.
it'd be such a good day for taking a turn through the botanic gardens, coffeeing at degraves espresso, taking in an exhibition or two. i'm working though, so none of that for me! i shall scrub and vacuum and tidy and serve customers and have a laugh with my workmates, sunday is our get-things-done day. always a fun shift, especially as i get to work a whole shift with the ever adorable miss james. what a cutie.
vic arrives tomorrow night. vic, my outback interwebs friend who i have known for years but have never met. aside from all the bullshit circumstances for her being up this way at all, i am very much looking forward to spending a few days hanging out with her. which reminds me i need to go and buy another duvet today.
now it's time to get up and make the most of the sunshine before i go to work, have a fabulous day blogfriends.
love, e
xxx

NEWS

readers, i have something to tell you.

i have taken a mistress.

beautiful,
she makes me smile.
soft, so smooth to touch
responsive
petite
warm,
i think she likes me.

yes, blogfolk, i bought me a macbook.

HOMECOMiNG

i just booked a flight home, for four days. so if you're around chch from the 6th to 10th august, i want to see you!

buy me coffee and i'll tell you about my adventures (because for some reason i am unable to spit them out into this compose box).

i am a little worried that going home will just make me more homesick, but i'm still very very excited about the prospect!

i just texted tracey to tell her, she is going to come and pick me up and i am going to give her the biggest hug ever. ohhh, yummm, all those delicious chch darlings to hug and snug and grin at.

i feel so much better for booking those flights!

xxx

CUTE MELBOURNE MOMENT

i was sitting on the tram home last night, feeling good about a fun evening out.

i half noticed a girl get on, mainly because she was talking on her phone.

lost in my thoughts, i wasn't paying much attention to my surrounds. people got off, people got on (seems to be the way with trams) and at some point i looked up and she was facing me, a few rows back. very very cute. we smiled and looked away. i sneaked another look, just as she did, which sent us both giggling and blushing. so funny. she hid in her hood, and i just sat there looking out the window and grinning.

of course the thing to do would've been to have approached her... but did i? of course not.

silly me.

 

BOOKTASTiC!

i have the time to read these days, what a luxury! there are definate benefits to having few friends in melbourne, and no computer at home. i love to read, i really really do. it's so nice to have all these opportunities to do it.. trams, trains, lunch breaks, bedtime.. you can be sure to find me with a book in hand.
i've decided to read as many australian books as i can, in an attempt to get the feeling of this country. a few weeks back i went into a fairly decent second hand book shop in st. kilda, and was a little disappointed when the woman working there couldn't recommend me any female australian writers aside from sylvia plath.
but, all is not lost! i am lucky to have acquired kj as my self-appointed personal librarian. and even luckier that it appears she has brilliant taste!
the first book she leant me was The Monkey's Mask by dorothy porter. a crime thriller written in verse, it left me with a burst of enthusiasm and excitement for words that i haven't felt so strongly in quite some time.
the next book i read was Eucalyptus, by murray bail. i bought it on the recommendation of the aforementioned woman at the st. kilda bookshop. it is "highly acclaimed" and all the rest... but did zilch for me. a story about a guy who obsesses over eucalypts and makes a rather wacky decision to marry his daughter off to whoever can name every species on his nsw property.
thankfully kj saved the day with kate grenville's The Secret River, which is a beautifully written account of william thornhill's life as a convict sent to australia. i haven't really been drawn to historical fiction in a big way, but this book was so good. it offered a real sense of what it must've been like for those first settlers, thefeelings of isolation and fear and hope and opportunity. and the revolting way the 'savages' were treated, in reaction to the "depredations and outrages" they were perceived to be guilty of. sick sick stuff, i was brought to tears a few times. unfuckingbelievable.
on a lighter note, i saw a women's bookclub advertised the other day, i'm going to get in touch with the organisers, and i really hope that the meetings are at a time i can do. will be cool to meet people who are as nerdular as myself.
(no really, it's not just a way to meet girls...)

PiMPiNG

estonia
Originally uploaded by desideradada

it's got to be done.. go look at her photostream now. how beautiful are her drawings? i am loving loving loving the dictionary series. such yummy colours!
i was going to go on a good old ramble, but the fluorescent lighting seems to have sucked my brain out of my skull, leaving a dull ache and a blank smile. i do so have to save my dollars and buy a computer...
oh, and i admitted to having a blog to a workmate the other day, so yeah... hahah, will i have to censor even more of what i say now?
you can check her out here by the way... http://vettiliveinnorthcote.wordpress.com/
the sort of blog that makes me cringe in embarrassment at the mess which is frogstar world e. eep!

hello blog
i'm having a great day. work was a lot of fun, i am becoming friends with my workmates. good times! so good to be back in an environment where i'm laughing and relaxing and getting stuff done while having a blast.
i'm glad i made this move to melbourne. last night i was so homesick, knowing that many of my friends were partying together. i'd have loved so much to have been there with them. but it's ok, because i'll go back to visit. i hope to make it back at least once before the end of the year, maybe in september. making friends here makes it easier. it actually scares me a bit, imagining going home to chch and then having to tear myself away again, would it make me miserable on my return to melbourne?
oh well, i have at least a couple of months to get my head around that one.
i've been spending time with one of my housemates. somehow we always come around to the subject of embarrassing things we've done in the past. or relationship fuck ups! many many many. all good though in retrospect, i can't say there's much i regret.
oh, apart from the brisbane holiday... haha.
ok time now to go and eat vege soup with my sister and watch The Holiday... oh lord, what a shit film that is. i had the misfortune of watching it on the plane over here.. and now she's got it out. oh well, i shall smile and enjoy at least chilling out for a couple of hours. she's a good sister and it's nice hanging out with her.
goodnight, blogpeeps.
love to you.
xxx

i am fucked off with how fucked up relationships get. in so very many ways.

i am fucked off about stupid dynamics

grrr.

*

now for some nice stuff. today i discovered an organic cafe near-ish to my place. the coffee was average to good, and gets extra marks for being organic and fairly traded. not nearly enough of the cafe's in this city use ethical coffee. it's been raining for most of today, fat drops which send melbournians scurrying for cover. i love that everyone here is so positive about rain these days, a big mindset change due to the drastic lack of water. it's a scary thought.

i am sick of this noisy net cafe, silly boys on rolly chairs playing loud games. oh for my very own notebook in the comfort of my snuggly bedroom...

i'm going to eat pizza with michelle now.

x

it's funny how something that really doesn't affect you can throw you none the less.
today at work someone got fired. though i knew it was coming it still shook me, more than i expected. i ended up feeling a bit shaky and unfocussed for the rest of my shift, silly eh.
i was feeling homesick too, so probably that didn't help with brushing it off. aah well, i'm just glad it wasn't me either doing the firing, or being fired.
tomorrow will bring smiles.
x

SPACEMADNESS

Awesome Busker II
Originally uploaded by Dr Snafu.

this guy is freakin' awesome!
creepy creepy hilariously awesome.
i laughed so hard when i heard him that i staggered about 3 blocks too far up the road before i realised that i'd way overshot my mark.
thank you, dr. snafu, for the pic... my photos are way worse and stuck on my memory card till i visit my sister and use her computer next week.
:-)

LAST NiGHT

tonight i rekindled a friendship with a man i haven't seen in six and a half years. my dear sweet 'uncle' tim, with whom i shared many a mad night out when i lived here in sydney back in 2000.
i cringe to think of that drunken teenager i was back then ~ i was lucky to have tim keeping an eye on me. he looked out for me and made sure i didn't get into too much trouble, and we had a whole lot of fun together!
so here i am, seven years since my first foray to aus, a very different girl indeed. such a long way away from that drunken teenager with her tongue down a different boy's throat each weekend. how embarrassing to remember that and to know that last time i saw tim that's what i was! luckily for me he must've seen more than that, seen enough to stay in touch when i moved back to nz at the end of that year. we haven't had a lot of contact, but enough. an occasional email along the lines of hello i still think of you , love you, etc. and finally finally we found the opportunity to meet up again!
i'd wondered briefly if it'd be awkward, if too much had changed, but no, he's still the same dear tim. it was such a wonderful experience, sitting there with him catching up on each others lives, and realisng that all the time in between meet-ups doesn't matter ~ we're the sort of friends that can just pick up where we left off!
what i had planned on being "a drink" became a long evening out, walking and talking and listening to a brilliant gypsy band at The Basement. i bought their cd as much to remember tonight as for their beautiful sounds.
i know now that tim and i will stay close, and i'll see him whenever i come to sydney. i'm so thankful for his friendship.

SYDNEY LiFE

the bitch i came to visit won't dain to grace me with his presence.
i gave him a pretty pink flower and then made him coffee and yet still i am having to make my own fun. so grumbling about him on here it is! heh. that said, we did have a very nice day yesterday wandering around many a book/cd/dvd shop. i bought the one book i didn't have in a series that i've loved since i was 10. i also got a book on the organic scene in australia, i think it'll be a useful one.
oh, and i bought grace by jeff buckley (have you heard his cousin greg? very cool) which i already have but only in dodgy pirated form. so now i have the real deal and when i buy a cd player i can listen to it and get 'deliciously sad'.

hello blog
i bring you this post from sunny sydney.
fishboy's spare room to be exact. and actually i don't know if it's sunny because i haven't been outside yet.
i'm making the most of being not-quite-full-time at work yet.
i plan on checking out the gallery and drinking coffee (pff, of course!) and tomorrow night i'm going to have a drink with a friend from days gone by. and rebecca from my old piko life is here too, so we'll play.
good times to be had!
work is going well. i'm settling in and finding that it's hard work holding back my natural cheekiness. and on many occasions i fail~ but that seems to be ok, they take it well and give as good as i do.
x

GEELONG, BABY!

so yesterday i ate porridge (which one should NEVER pay $8.50 for, no matter how good it may be) at Caffe a Torte (or something) with mich whose company of course was brilliant, as ever.
then i scuttled down to southern cross station and found me a train to geelong. it took about an hour to get there, which was fine as i had a good book (the poisonwood bible, not to be mistaken for the moosewood cookbook!) and an incredible beautiful girl on the seat across from me. i sent my buddy jai a text when i was nearly there and she said she'd come get me. cool bananas!
in the time i had before she was due i wandered around johnson park and geelong gallery, both of which are lovely. there was an exhibition on by a guy from queensland, don't ask me his name, but the show was called some thing like in the gardens of good and evil. brilliant colours. his series series of waterlily paintings were like revved up monet, bright almost fluorescent yellows and hot pinks and turquoise. yum!
so jai arrived and texted to see where i was and after a brief game of hide and seek we laid eyes on each other.. for the first time in the real world! it really is quite a bizarre experience to meet someone for reals who you've been communicating with via various techmalogical mediums for years.
she is bloody awesome, really she is. what a darling.
she took me back to her place in clifton springs and i got to meet her lovely girlfriend alex and their kids (one boy each, a 13 year old for jai and a wee cutie 5 year old with a french accent for alex). it was so nice to spend time with them all, and i felt really at ease just hanging out and enjoying their company.
that's the cool thing about making friends online, when you finally do meet if often just feels totally normal.
i'll visit again soon. for sure.

hello blog

i've been a bit lax this week haven't i.

probably due to the fact that i just did 40 hours at a new job, and that has been occupying all my mind space!

it's good though. good to have some routine, good to have some new faces, good to have some faces becoming familiar.

i have today and tomorrow off. this morning i am going to meet michelle for breakfast and then i'm going to find a train to geelong and go visit a net-friend who i haven't met before but have been chatting to for a couple of years. so yay to that!

my tummy is rumbly.

x

THE BiG CATCH-UP

i've had a pretty interesting couple of days. yesterday i didn't end up going on much of an adventure, as by the time i left it was about 3 and i had to be back in brunswick at 7. so i jumped on the first tram that came past, and it was going to st. kilda. it's a pretty beach suburb which i am quite familiar with (i spent a lot of time there back in '00). but instead of going all the way to the beach i got off the tram early and wandered along fitzroy street which is lined with expensive bars and interesting shops. i checked out a nice bookshop, all sorts of books that i could happily spend all my pay on! and then i was cold so i decided that food was in order and i went and got scrummy curry at Veg Out.. all their curries are either vegan or very close. yummm!

there's a arty market along the esplanade every sunday in st. kilda so i wandered along there and looked at stuff that i had no desire to buy. gumnut magnet anyone? synthetic crochetted doily perhaps? no?

anyway then i got back on a tram heading to the city, and got off again about two stops later in a bid to avoid yet another dirty abusive public transport hobo. there are so many of them!

[insert: hooray, text from ariel! she's out of the operating theatre, what a relief]

where was i? oh, yes, the creepy train guy. so i gave him the slip and watched the sunset through the palm trees instead, before making my way homewards. (just out of interest, there was a different creepy guy on that tram)

then i went out to the first session of a women's art/creativity/expression group that i found out about quite some time ago. there were five of us there, and five different nationalities... kiwi (me), canadian, british, japanese, and lebanese. a good group! they're all really fun and lovely all round, and we all share interests that go beyond the arty stuff. so that's cool, hopefully we'll keep meeting and get to know each other better! it's about time i made some friends.

after our session we went and had dinner at this place called Lentil as Anything, which is pretty alternative... a vegan banquet, and you pay whatever you feel is appropriate. amazing food! i've been wanting to check it out for ages, so it was cool to have the opportunity to go especially with such a fun bunch of people!

today i had my job trial, it went well and i have some more training tomorrow afternoon, and then three shifts later in the week. so yay, employment! money! it's a different sort of a place to piko, i'll have to get used to working *for* someone for a start! but in a way that's nice, being directed and not having much responsibility! a welcome change anyway... i have enough to get my head around at the moment without a really brain-workout job too.

aaah, i am rambling! i need to wrap this up and go home. i think i'll have a mega easy dinner of vege sausages (i discovered these great carrot and cashew nut ones) and salsa. maybe even wrapped up in a pita bread thingy.

i must be hungry, my mouth is watering.

i'm going to go on an adventure today.

i don't know where to.

i don't know what i'll do when i get there.

though there's a good chance i'll drink coffee.

there's always a good chance of that.

my worst habit, or the habit that keeps me sane?

i'm not sure yet.

 

THiNGS TO DO WHEN i GET A JOB

P1080118
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

1. buy a laptop! high priority.. i hate feeling unconnected.
2. visit fishboy and others in sydney
3. buy a new memory card for my camera (it finally gave up all together)
4.open a savings account? we'll see...

BRUNSWiCK LiFE THUS FAR

i'm moved. i'm mostly settled.

i've been cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, trying to get rid of the ghastly dog-smell. *shudder*

i think it's a little less potent now.

i'm not even going to grumble about it, it is so not worth spending any more energy on that problem tonight! i'm looking forward to sinking into bed and reading for a while, by the light of my new red lamp. everything is new... new pillows quilt sheets mat lamp everything. i can't imagine how anyone could live in that squallor! there was no way in HELL i was going to use that bedding. yeeaarruugh. oh, no, i'm not talking about that. oops!

so in the morning i plan on heading down to Ceres to check out the farmers' market. i haven't been there yet, and it's one of the places i was most excited about going to. i'm hoping it's a good walkable distance, i don't think it'll be more than half an hour. or bikable. i have to go and get my new old bike from the 'scray and take it over to ceres actually, they have a bike repair shed where they help you fix your bike at minimal cost. yay to that i say!

i had a thought earlier. my friend C was up in brisbane for a wedding and i was trying to persuade her to fly home via melbourne. i haven't heard from her, so i guess that's not happening. what a fuck-off, i haven't seen her in so long and it's crazy to miss each other when we really are so close!

i'm feeling the lack of physical contact, big time. i haven't had a decent hug in weeks. let alone anything else.. heh. i think i may have to find myself a plaything.

any suggestions as to how one goes about that in an unfamiliar city?

:-)

x

 

P1080105
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

i'm procrastinating. i don't want to lug my bag over to the other side of town. and then come back and do it again.
though the sooner i get it done the sooner i can go have coffee with the nikstar who is in town for a few days... hooray!
really looking forward to seeing her, it's been less than 3 weeks but it feels like so much longer. yay for a familiar face!
the picture is taken from the walkway along the yarra, which runs through the heart of the city. beautiful colours, yes?
x

the interview went ok.

i'll probably go and do training in the next week, and then there are some shifts coming up which the manager would like me to do. so yeah, i think i may have a job.. details to be confirmed.

honestly... i don't care. i would dearly love to be unemployed for another month or two, there is so much to do in this city, so much to discover.

i did some sketching today. i don't much like what i did, but it's something at least. i was told off for sitting on the floor in the gallery... apparently there are chairs i can borrow for the purpose of arting.

i was going to go home a while ago but the train platform was way too crowded so i decided to come down here into the dark underbelly of the city and find a stuffy hot net cafe to sit in instead. so actually i was lured by a wanton flirt requesting my company on yahoo messenger. but hey, at least it gets me blogging, eh?

is there anything in particular you want to hear about, esteemed blogpeeps? i don't know what to write about so i just tend to ramble.

LUSHiNG iT UP

P1080091
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

yes, really, melbourne is all about the coffee.
this one wasn't so great, but it sure looks good doesn't it?
mich and i went out to st. kilda yesterday. when i lived here before that's where i used to spend most of my time when i wasn't working. good cafes interesting shops.. and the beach. yesss, so good to see the sea again. i forget how much i took it for granted in chch, even though i didn't live near the beach i somehow managed to be there at least a couple of times a week.
it's a pity accomodation prices are so high in st. kilda and surrounding 'burbs.
i have an interview at an organic shop tomorrow afternoon, please cross your fingers for me. ideally i'd like to start with just part time work, so i can go frollick in sydney for a few days, and check out places like warberton and healesville and geelong and the likes. all of which are pretty close to melbourne, yay!
there's a wildlife sanctuary in healesville, i'd like to go and see that. make friends with some snakes or something.
only 2 more sleeps till i move into my brunswick house! huzzah!

i lost all the photos on my memory card.
i know there is no point being upset or angry about it, but i am.
there were some really great ones on there and i hadn't put them up on
flickr yet. :-(
i just hope my memory card isn't going to make a habit of this
dreadfull behaviour, that'd just be too much of a fuck off.
*sigh*

i <heart> vegemite and tahini on toast.

yesterday mich and i went to the NGV (national gallery of victoria)
and saw the most wonderful exhibition of pre-columbian mexican
sculptures. they are just incredible. these brilliant characterful
ceramic creations, in lovely warm colours. i am going to go back and
sketch them some time soon, if evidence doesn't appear please do feel
free to give me a nudge in that direction.
i am having some issues getting my photos onto flickr at the moment,
so i'm not updating nearly as often as i'd like to. also as of
thursday i will be computerless, until i earn enough to buy myself a
laptop. top of the priority list, that is. i'll also have no landline
at my new place (apparently it's a bit of a melbourne thing... not so
good for us homesick foreigners!) so communication will be at an all
time low. eek!
thanks to those of you who've been texting me since i left my number
here, very cool to have that contact!
i'm going to go make dinner now, rice and beans and spice and veges
and stuff. yum.
love to you all
xxx e

ps. big shout out to vanessa and fidel who got married (as far as i
know...) a couple of days ago! and a big hug to F, the newest member
of my ever-increasing fanbase..
;-)

hello blog

i write this to you from a loud and stuffy internet cafe, surrounded by boys playing some online strategy kill people lame-arse game. god, i am so not up with the cool kids!

i have things to blog about but, to use a grandma phrase, i can't FUCKING hear myself THINK!

so blogging for proper will have to wait for another day.

i've been doing more wandering and nibbling and sipping with michelle, we're very good at that. found two fabulous cafe's today, one of which is approximately a minute's walk away from the house i move into next week. hooray! it's called La Paloma and is very quaint and front-room-ish and there's a record player on the counter, spitting out scratchy flamenco and jazz. i loooove it.

i can't write any more.

i can't write anymore.

blah.

x

 

GREENER GRASS..?

P1070788
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

even the laundrette's are beautiful in this land of opportunity...

my living situation is fucking painful right now, and h leaves tomorrow for her next adventure. will i be able to stick it out in this house for another week and a half?
this morning we (h & i) were determined to make the most of a sunny easter sunday so we did a foraging mission and returned with all sorts of goodies for the whanau. and we even managed to cajole some sort of conversation out of our compadres during the partaking of the banquet.. quite a mission that was. ouch.
the sun soaked into my bones and made some of the homesick ache go away for a while, i'm thankful for the reprieve.
x

this chasm opens inside me when i think about not seeing my friends
for a long time.
i wouldn't be content in new zealand though.
i just wish there was some way this was easier.

how does one go about writing a cv?
no, really.. how??
*

GOOD THiNGS THAT HAPPENED TODAY

well the day got off to a weird and less-than-perfect start but it did pick up.
helen and i ate yummy yum-filled bagels in an alleyway filled with fashion victims (argh, the '80s!) and the coffee was smooth and warm. we found a shop that sells moleskine books. we also looked at expensive boots through a window, and contemplated buying scratchie tickets.
h got on a train and i got on a tram and sat with michelle outside the melbourne museum in carlton gardens. if it wasn't a holiday we'd have gone in and looked at stuff. instead we watched a seagull die, but i'm not writing about that because this post is focussing on the good things that happened today.
we walked and walked and saw beautiful buildings and quirky grafitti and a woman with a dog talked to us about the weather. she was young and stylish and had bandy legs, and her dog was big and yellow.
michelle lead me all the way down brunswick st to a cafe called retro (i think?) and the turkish bread was nice and so was the coffee. and on the way home i stopped to buy groceries and the friendly greek man gave me tahini for free because i didn't want a whole big jar of it. that made me smile, and so did the baklava.
sweet texts from f also made me smile (thank you).
and now i'm home alone enjoying some silence and downtime.
thank you for reading.
x

hello
i'm sad because i checked my emails just now and there were none. i guess
that's what happens though, you disappear from home and no one follows you.
and i know it doesn't mean that people aren't thinking of me sometimes and
wondering how i am. i guess most of my chch friends just aren't the keeping
in touch types. which sucks.
oh well.
i'm writing this from a dirty house that smells constantly of either fresh
or stale cigarette smoke. five days in i'm almost accustomed to it. another
week and a half i think. i texted the girls at the brunswick house to say
that i wanted the room, but neither have replied. should i be worried? i'm
not sure. got to keep positive i guess.
yesterday aaron offered me a bike. it's old and red and is called "lady bird
3". cute. and once the brakes and seat and stuff are all sorted it'll be
good to go.
i'm a bit sad today. maybe it's a good friday feeling. well, i could almost
believe that if i had any connection to the christian festivals.
i'm so glad michelle has arrived, it makes a difference to have her here in
this big city.
x

edit: what the fuck is with macs? sheesh.

well i made it to melbourne.

it's big, i'd forgotten just how big.

i'm staying at my sister's place. it's revolting! it's smoky and dingy and smelly and the kitchen makes me queasy. so yeah, glad i'm not here for the long haul.

it'll be much better once i've moved into a nicer place with nice people, in a nice suburb. today all i want is a bit of nice.

i'm still in the mindset of "when i go home".. but hey, i'm not going home. or not for a while i think. i'm being careful about not thinking too much about what i miss. it's not fair on myself, of course i'm feeling a little shaky at this stage. it doesn't mean that it's all bad here, or that i should go home.

shit, i'm rambling. the cramps suck.

mich arrives tomorrow, hooray to that. and tomorrow i get to go and check out my 99% probably new flat. it'll be ok, right?

oh, if anyone wants to text me my number is +61449137680

i'm not sure if everyone got the text. please tell me who you are if you text. i'm trusting you all on that one... no crazy people please!

---

Live Search delivers results the way you like it. Try live.com now!

hello blog

in about 8.5 hours i have to get up and get myself to the airport so i can fly away.

what the fuckkkkk!

i am a nervous wretch right now, i don't know what's going to help me manage this. and i need to see ariel. and i don't want to LEAVE, damn it. i don't WANT to.

my hands are all shaky and i have a lump in my throat and my bags are packed and it's all just too too much.

favour to ask: can you leave a comment or send me an email? i could really do with the contact.\

thank you, blog friends.

x

---

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UPDATiNG

i'm just going to rip off the email i send victoriaimhleas.

"i've been packin' like a mad thing all day... the end is in sight methinks... yay!
yeah, it's hard work alright, especially the memory stuff. who knew that paper could be so exhausting!
i have a lovely friend arriving for dinner and distraction in an hour, looking forward to that. i may even open a bottle of wine! (quite a rare occurence for this frog)
i am excited in a not-sure-it's-really-happening sort of way... i'm sure it'll hit home soon enough though! my little sis arrived in melbourne yesterday, i got a real big wave of excitement/emotionalstuff when she texted me this morning telling me she was on a mission to find coffee. our deal is that i will buy her all the coffee she can drink in our one week overlap before she gets on her flight back to europe.
so yeah, looking forward with a sparkle in my eye... and trying not to feel too sad about what and who i'm leaving here in nz."

oh, and i had a cool thing happen today. someone i quietly admire told me that she wanted to be my friend (shit timing eh). made me smile, i had no idea she had registered me on her social radar at all. so yeah, cool bananas to that.

can i stop now, please?
this packing and organising and tidying is doing my head in.
oh please pleeease let it end!
will it end?
will it EVER end?
*whimper*

i need coffee and the company of people rather than of stuff stuff and stuffff.
help
.

it's not as bad as it could be.
the piles of stuff are diminishing.
and i got to give a whole lot of great stuff to my sister, which she was really pleased about as she's just moved into a place of her own with very little. win win!
it's all the bitsy pieces of paper and notes and scraps of arty stuff which are proving to be quite a challenge. there is no way of categorising them, no way of neatly organising them... so i think i'll just scoop them into a suitcase and let them sort themselves out.

6 days and counting!
143 boxes and counting!
4325 deep breaths and counting!

i went back to work today, it was strange to go there and realise that i really have left, and i really don't miss most of it! the staff, yes. the job? nah.
i'm enjoying being unemployed for a bit, though of course i am way too busy to really enjoy it. busy avoiding packing. ;-)
i'm sort of thinking about maybe just getting temp or casual work when i get to melbourne, which will leave me with a bit of freedom to go up to sydney for a few days to see the fishmeister and a few other friends from days of yore. maybe broken hill too, if i can persuade a certain cowgirl to drive me out into the desert.
plenty of time for settling down, i reckon.

x

i'm counting down the days, blogpeeps.
must be about 8.
(hey, i never said i was counting them well!)
then it's me and melbourne and a whole new exciting adventure.
it feels truly strange to be unemployed. strange and good.
i'd love to be unemployed for a couple of months, but i shall be needing to find work pretty sharpish when i land in melby.
oh, now here's something to make you laugh. true story. the last thing i ever said to a customer in my career at piko was "i don't want to hear it, just get the hell out of here."
and then i locked the door, did a jig, and bid a fond farewell to the place. it's felt more home than home for a long time.
it seemed that i was coping with leaving a lot better than some of my workmates. poor wee minkeys, what'll they do without me to get rid of those late-to-leave fuckers?
yeh.
so.
then i went to WOMAD which was so freakingly fabulous that i'm not even going to attempt to describe it just yet. suffice to say that mariza blew my mind.
and now i'm back, after much driving and only one speeding ticket. back to a whole lot of stuff that needs organising! today i managed to sell my car and sort out a few things, but it's the packing-stuff-into-boxes-and-getting-rid-of-stuff-i-don't-want that is going to kill me if i'm not careful.
wish me luck and fortitude and all things sugary.
x

tomorrow is my last day at work.
Piko has been home for over three years now, it's a big thing for me to be leaving.
i'e made so many brilliant friends at work, and learned so so much about a hundred and one different things.
i hope these skills are going to set me in good stead for finding a kickass job when i get to melbourne.
whenever that is.
this waiting game is one i don't wish to play.
i want to know that tig is going to be happy and healthy, and i want to know that i'm going to be happy too.
womadness will take my mind off things for a few days at least. i'm very much looking forward to soaking up some sounds and sunshine (fingers crossed) and hopefully even getting time to sit down and read!
x

jump to it, she says.
i do.

year of the pig
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

this evening i enjoyed my 3rd chinese new year festival in victoria square. same lanterns every year, same food stalls (same coriander pancakes.. mmm), same bad karaoke, same weird singing and dancing, i love it.

one of my closest and dearest friends had her tonsils out last wednesday.
and yesterday she was told there was cancer in them.
what now?
hoping like hell that it hasn't spread.
scans and results and options.

i can't say i'm feeling good about having a flight booked out of here in 3 weeks.

x

wonderwoman
Originally uploaded by frogstarstrikesagain.

erm...

by the way, blogpeeps, this photo is of me and all my siblings. a moment to be remembered, 6 kids and dad all together for the first time in about 14 years.

"The problem with having a weak bladdar is that everyone takes the piss out of you."

she wasn't trying to be funny.

We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes closed.There are things around us and right at our feet that we have never seen, because we have never really looked. We should not keep forever on the public road going only where others have gone; we should leave the beaten track occasionally and enter the woods. Every time you do that you will be certain to find something you have never seen before. Of course, it will be a little thing; but do not ignore it. Follow it up, explore all around it; one discovery will lead to another and before you know it you will have something worth thinking about to ocupy your mind, for all really big discoveries are the results of thought.

so says Alexander Graham Bell


i've booked my ticket, blogpeeps. i fly to melbourne early on the first day of april. this time in 5 weeks i'll have found my way into the city, and will probably be on my way to my sister's house where hopefully i can stay for a night or two.

later in april i have a room lined up in a suburb which fills me with delight, with two queer girls. it's just for a couple of months, which is perfect, because then i'll be finding a house to share with m.

fantastic.

next step is to get my cv updated, and find a job which challenges and inspires me.

i have such a lot to do before i go! it's all possible though, and no reason to stress. this move is such a good thing. so many exciting places and people and ideas to discover across the ditch (as they say...).

x

We are all too much inclined, I think, to walk through life with our eyes closed.There are things around us and right at our feet that we have never seen, because we have never really looked. We should not keep forever on the public road going only where others have gone; we should leave the beaten track occasionally and enter the woods. Every time you do that you will be certain to find something you have never seen before. Of course, it will be a little thing; but do not ignore it. Follow it up, explore all around it; one discovery will lead to another and before you know it you will have something worth thinking about to ocupy your mind, for all really big discoveries are the results of thought.

so says Alexander Graham Bell

i've booked my ticket, blogpeeps. i fly to melbourne very early on april 1st. yes, april fool's day. as someone said to me, maybe that just means i need to embark on this adventure with a sense of humour.

i have a room lined up for two and a half months, starting about 2 weeks after i arrive. it's in brunswick, a suburb which fills me with delight, and i'll be living with two queer girls around the same age as me. so yeah, things are falling into place very pleasingly.

i can't wait to check out ceres environment park, which just happens to be in brunswick also... not to mention all those gorgeous organic vegetarian cafes and secondhand bookshops. next thing is to find a job quicksmart!

5 weeks and counting.

eep!

x

edit: oh, so this one did post in the end. well read it twice, blogpeeps.

i know how you feel, buddy.

it's a beautiful sunny day, what a treat! there haven't been many of those this summer. i'm going to go out to brighton and wander with N and who knows, maybe play with some paper and knives and rulers and stuff.

melbourne is creeping up on me so fast, suddenly it's a matter of *weeks* away. only 6 or 7 more weeks of work (which in itself is a Big Deal, the place has been my second home for over 3 years now!) and then a roadtrip up to check out womad (awesome! can't wait! so much cool stuff to listen to! lila downs!!! yes!!!) and then i get to meander back down the country at my own pace. i'm going to stop in wellington and say hi to a few peeps, really looking forward to that. and then it's back home to tidy up my affairs (heh) before making like a shepherd.

i'm trying not to stress about the prospect of finding a job and somewhere to live... i'm sure it'll all fall into place.

it is going to be truly fabulous to live in the same city (same house, if i play my cards right) as michkins. last week in auckland was great, she's very good company you know. at some point i may even write about the big day out, and the cirque du soleil.

(i've finally figured out how to blog via email, so yeah, perhaps that means more posts)

right, time to go check out what the day holds.

love to you, dear blogpeeps.

but not to "shane winthrop" because he's acting like a creep.

:-P

x

PHONECALL AT WORK TODAY:

him: hi there, i'm not a customer or anything but i have a general enquiry...

me: ok, what can i help you with?

him: is it raining there?

[pitter patter of feet as i go to check]

me: no.

him: does it look like it might soon?

me: yes, the sky is pretty dark.

him: aah, ok. i was going to ride my bike across your way but i may give it a miss now.

me: ok...

him: thanks!

why won't it let me blog?
sheesh.
i eat my words if you can read them.

ps. i am having *such* a nice birthday.

edit: *eats words* mmm, crunchy

BLOGGiNG FROM MiCHELLE'S COUCH #756

world's craziest videos
switchy twitchy good coffee
a dullness in my ears as a result of 12 hours of live rocking big day outness.
it's my birthday...
join me at Logos for lunch, blogpeeps.

headline of the day: "get rid of toxic slag"

that's it, i'm out of here.

ps. send cake on the 20th, i hit the quarter century.

everything is going well at my beach house, thank you.
elle is happy to take me on walks as often as she can.
sneeze (the cat-beast) has taken a liking to my ankles.
it's still fucking cold though.
happy new year you lot.
xxxx