Good Times. Familiar Faces.

I've been a bit crook this week, after picking up a bug from my flatmate and I've spent the past 4 days or so feeling out of sorts, a bit achey, a bit of a sore throat, a bit hot and cold and with a headache for the past few days. So when I was considering whether of not to go out tonight I was originally thinking I'd pass, but as the day wore on the weather cleared and I felt a little bit brighter as well. I'm so glad I changed my mind because I had a fantastic night of catching up with old friends.

Back in 2005 I signed up for Flickr, at a time when Flickr was still relatively small but growing rapidly. Through Flickr I discovered a group of Sydney photobloggers who were arranging meet-ups and photographic outings. Anyhoo, long story short I joined them for an outing and met a fantastic group of people who not only shared a common interest, but that were also a diverse and fun crowd of people to be with. Over a year or so friendships solidified, relationships formed (including one between Morgan and I for a while), breakups, babies and mini dramas ensued.

So I was chuffed to get an invite via The Facebook to a nostalgic "mid week meet-up" (as they were known) for the core group of us that became quite close back in 2006. The venue for the meet up was the historic Harbour View Hotel, nestled gently under the soaring on ramp of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.



The Harbour View has always had a soft spot in my heart, since I saw the Aussie musical "Starstruck" as a teenager back in the early 80s. The Harbour View was used as the primary setting for the film. All the exterior scenes were the actual hotel, while the interiors were actually sets. The front bar in this clip above looks a little bit bigger in scale the real one, but the basic shape is the same. The decor is nothing like the one in the film, all gentrified and genteeled, and probably never was as iconically Aussie as this cinematic fantasy.

Unlike the old days I didn't even take my camera out of its bag, but everything else felt just like old times. Beers were downed, food scarfed, opinions shared and lots and lots of laughs had. Such a good night, and I left really hoping we could do it all again soon.

On the train home, feeling the warm glow of old friendships and 4 beers, I spotted a very Marilyn-esque blonde bombshell in a little black dress get onto my train. It was my friend Corinne who was heading home after the opening night of the show she was Costume Supervisor for. Corrine and I met years ago back when I was making a lot of costumes and she was doing the same, but for fun rather than profit back then. We chatted all the train ride home and it was a further reminder that we all have people in our lives that we may not see all that often, but the enjoyment of them and the impact they have on our lives doesn't really fade.

Old friendships that are renewed effortlessly feel really special, like a treasure you even forgot you were looking for until you found it.

Esther Williams, Eat Your Heart Out

Yesterday morning I was kind of futzing around the house, pottering, messing around on the computer and generally being a slacker, when my friend Judy rang and suggested we put the day to good use and go for a drive. So, after collecting me about eleven, we headed up to the Blue Mountains to the lovely little town of Leura, about an hour and a bit drive from Sydney. Yesterday was hot, so the secondary plan was to escape the heat (although, in hindsight I don't think it was any cooler).

I really enjoy Leura, it's kind of touristy but also a bit chi chi and quaint. The main street through town has a fabulous collection of shops, with a heavy emphasis on upscale wine and food, homewares, and the sort of fabulously engaging (but thoroughly non-essential) shops that always win me over. Moontree candle shop and gallery, Elizabeth Rosa fine stationery and Ikou natural products being three that had me before I'd even stepped over their airconditioned thresholds.

After a lovely lunch at the bakehouse cafe, I window shopped like I could do it competitively for Australia, while Judy plonked down some true cash money and was given goods in return! (I love how that works.) It was a little depressing being in Retail Heaven whilst being skint, but helping someone else spend their money is definitely the next best thing.

Safely back in Sydney, I grabbed my swimming gear and headed over to my friend Mike's house for our new weekly swimming regimen. Mike has a very nice, and generally underused, swimming pool in his apartment complex, and a couple of weeks ago started inviting a small group of us over to swim laps. I'm technically a pretty good swimmer if not a strong one, so the pool is a good size for me (about 20m long we estimated). The plan is to get together once a week for lap swimming, with a goal to increase our personal baselines by at least 2 laps each session.

Synchronised naiads! Hot jazz trumpet! Colour coded handmaidens! This bitch knows how to make an entrance...

Not exactly an intensive training regime, but every little bit helps, and it's nice to do it in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. I love the water and have since I was a little nipper, and it's so nice to slip into the pool after a hot day. My natural inclination has always been to slide straight under the water, ever since I was a kid I just about spent more time swimming along the bottom of the pool than anything. However it's nice to break out the old freestyle, side stroke and backstroke. Certainly more taxing physically!

Of course it's then off to the pub for a meal and some beers, but then every elite swimming squad needs a team building exercise now and then.

Birthday Weekend: In Review

Who knew that 45 was the fun one? Seriously. I had an absolute blast this birthday!

Friday night I met Mikey (TLE) & Evan, David, Brad and Christopher for cocktails and dinner at the Japanese fusion restaurant Uchi Lounge. Two of my favourite things are lychees and alcohol, so I had to start the night with a nomsworthy Lychee-tini. Lychee sake, gin, a splash of lychee syrup and one of the luscious pearlescent fruits to garnish. Yum.

We settled on a banquet, and the food (and wine!) just seemed to keep coming in an endless stream of delights. The eggplant with a sweet/savoury miso and parmesan dressing sounds like it shouldn't be, but it was heaven! Miso! And Parmesan! Crazy talk.

Numerous courses and four bottles of wine later, we poured/rolled ourselves out the door into the night. Being that well fed, with little distended round bellies all, the only logical thing seemed to be to make our way to the Flinders Hotel for the Harbour City Bears night. Some of my no stamina soft cock friends fellow diners decided to call it a night, but the rest of use headed off to the Teddy Bears Drink-nic.

You're in for a big surprise, at least that's the hope we always hold for it.

It was one of those busy but sociable nights that stick in your memory. New people met, old friends bumped into, good times had. Completely sleep deprived but happy, I had breakfast the next morning with David and a new friend Deen. Coffee, a plate of hang-over cure greasiness, sunglasses, sunshine and good company. Perhaps a little too much coffee, as any possibility of an afternoon nanna nap fled in the face of an over-caffeinated buzz. It was ok though as I had a quiet night in on Saturday, and a fairly lazy Sunday also. Nice.

So, one of the good ones, and big thanks to the boys for such a great night.

45 Revolutions Per Minute

I'm posting this early, well late on Thursday night actually, but early in terms of the fact that it isn't my actual birthday until tomorrow so one could say that this is early. Premature. Preemptive. I'm heading out pretty much straight after work tomorrow night for lashings of sake and a little bit of Japanese food, so I'm striking while the iron is hot and blogging while I have the chance.

So anyhoo, happy birthday to me! Yay! 45 today (tomorrow)! Because sometimes, if you are walking around with your eyes open, the Universe rewards you I happened across this sign the other day and thought it apropos for this occasion.


Oh, lordy. I am certainly both of these things.

Birthday eve finds me a little introspective this year. It's been a trying year on one hand, but actually kind of fab in other regards. Ups and downs of unemployment and financial stress, new friendships and relationship, feeling fat and frumpy, and then feeling empowered and attractive. Please remain seated until the ride has come to a complete standstill, and keep all extremities inside the car. Yikes, it has indeed been a rollercoaster ride... and I'm barely tall enough to even ride one.

Birthday eve finds things on the upswing though. I'm getting 5 days of work a week at present, and even though the wages aren't much chop I am really enjoying the 2 of those days spent at the yarn store. I've been socialising like a dervish lately, and have made some new friendships that I've grown to treasure. It looks like two of my close friends will be returning from parts foreign (Melbourne and Brisbane), which I am so happy about. I've even come to a form of body acceptance that is relatively new for me, and I have my 'bear' community friends to thank for that.

That one's kind of a biggie. It doesn't mean that I don't plan on losing the kilos I gained in the past couple of years, for health reasons for starters, but it does mean that I can feel fairly comfortable with the shape I am in now.

However, I do really wish I had computer access during the workdays these days, because one thing that has suffered this year is this poor blog and my reading of other friends' blogs. Most nights when I get home, particularly days when I'm at the yarn store, I'm just too darn tired and uninspired to write or do much surfing. (Naturally, porn is the exception.)

So, thanks for sticking around and reading. Thanks for those who've been here for years now, and those who are new. I understand I was thoroughly remiss in not posting my address for parcels to be sent, so please don't feel guilty about the no gift issue. Let's just avoid the embarrassment and discomfort that showering me with gifts would cause, and move on. Taking a moment to pause and reflect on the knowledge that I have a long memory for some things.

Yellow, Red, Black Or White...

...add a little bit of moonlight!

1976. We were 12 and already knew we weren't particularly interested in those pretty girls, girls, girls. Some realisations come early and easily. Probably years earlier when I showed Jamie mine, and he showed me his. (With a bit of coaxing.) What we did have an interest in though was the mid 70s obsession with retro. Biba clothes. Manhattan Transfer. Art Deco. And the oom-pah ragtime sound of Sailor's "Girls, Girls, Girls".

I mentioned this song to a friend over dinner last night. Someone who I have a newfound respect for when it comes to all things obscure and vintage. (Someone who 'gets' Sparks, just for starters.) His response? "I've got their albums. On vinyl, of course."

Le sigh. I love my friends.

FTW!

Until I get the home laptop fixed I'll probably only be updating about once a week. Not enough frankly, but I'm also working 2 jobs and 6 days a week at the moment, so time is an issue.

It sucks to start a blog post with an apology for absence, but hopefully the lack of a home computer issue will be fixed shortly and I can go back to having regular nightly internet access.

So, that aside, I've had a pretty cool week. How about you? Last night I had a friend's 40th birthday party, where the biggest gift of all was the news that she and her family are coming back to Sydney to live. Yay! I worked 2 days at the yarn store, which was tiring but enjoyable. I had a lovely dinner with a friend, and am about to go off and have brunch with another. Mid week I got a bit down, but that was just the tiredness of working 6 days a week and a couple of late nights back to back.

All up a week full of win, as the young people would say.

I have a two day weekend of sorts this weekend, which I'm happy about. Monday is a bank holiday and I'm temping in the banking industry 4 days a week at present, so no other option than to take a day off on Monday. Frankly, missing a day's pay is a bit sucky but I'll be glad to have the day off. I might even take myself off to the movies to see the new Harry Potter film, as an empty cinema in the middle of the day is a whole other kind of win. No yucky popcorn smells (see #36), just for starters...

Checking In, And Not Checking Out

Hey there! Computer still dead, but despite a possible, almost, no kidding it was that close brush with potential death (or at least wounding) myself, I'm still here. It has been a curious week.

Adding to my list of new experiences I was working on a file archiving project in a bank branch last Tuesday when it was held up by a guy with a sawn-off shotgun. For reals! I was working in a little office off the main banking area, so when I heard a scream, a loud crash and then all sorts of commotion, it took a little while for me to figure out what was going on. My first thought was that a car had mounted the footpath and struck the glass sliding doors at the front of the bank, but when I stuck my head out of the office and saw people cowering behind desks I decided to jump back into the office kind of sharpish. Beckoning a young couple who were standing confusedly just outside the office to come on in and join me out of the line of sight. There was commotion, confusion, a few more screams and it wasn't until the police showed up very soon after that I found out the bang was a sawn-off shotgun being fired.

Long story short, for want of anything else better to do I went back into the office and finished my work. Can you say strong work ethic? The rest of the day was a strange combination of finishing up my work, waiting around, being questioned by police, dodging the media outside the (now closed) bank and listening to the senior bank staff tell tales of other robberies. There is a particular sort of jollity, camaraderie and bravado that seems to come after a shared scary experience like this. I left after giving the particularly cute bear cub of a police officer my phone number (strictly for professional reasons, you understand) and just as the counsellor arrived to speak to all of the bank's staff.

The rest of the week was rather less dramatic and a lot more pleasant; dinner with a friend, more archiving work at some other thankfully unrobbed bank branches, some quiet nights in trying to figure out if/how/when I could claim Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (kidding!) and then a lovely weekend spent in the mountains with some knitting buddies visiting from New Zealand. The weekend was fun, gorgeous scenery, great companionship, heaps of knitting by the fire and even a sock finally cast-off! If my computer was working I'd post some pics, but until then imagine mountains, limestone caves, a bunch of us bundled against the cold and the smile of satisfaction that somes with a finished sock.

Catching Up

Sorry for the lack of blog posts since late last week, a combination of a very busy weekend and some technical blogging difficulties has meant that when I was at home (which wasn't much) I had trouble getting online. Annoyment! If getting online was frustrating, it was certainly offset by the rest of the weekend.

But first, the new temp job I started on Friday is ok. It's archiving files for a major bank, which entails opening the file, looking for some pertinent pieces of information, sticking the file with a barcode sticker and recording the info on a tally sheet. Rinse. Repeat (times several thousand). Not riveting work, but searching through the files for the info stops it from being an entirely dumb repetitive exercise. Small entertainments can be found in things like spotting a financial advisor named Crooks. (Very small entertainments, however.) I've always been one to find entertainment in the oddest places.

Saturday was Worldwide Knit in Public Day! My third one, which means that given that I had just started knitting when I went to the first one I have been knitting for a little over 2 years now.



The numbers were up this year, around 80 people! Fellow diners at the cafe we took over must have wondered what the hell was going on. The cafe is located in a prime tourist area, so I can just imagine some overseas visitors thinking man, these crazy Aussies must LOVE knitting!



And we also love beverages.

Saturday night I caught up with a friend for a few drinks and dinner, and tried the restaurant attached to one of the local pubs. I hadn't eaten there before, and although my meal was a little overcooked it was a real refreshing change to have an old style pub meal. Steve was meeting up with friends who were in town from interstate, and by the time midnight rolled around quite frankly I wasn't up for kicking on further. (Age shall most definitely weary them.) So we parted ways and Steve no doubt partied on to the small hours.

Sunday was kind of miserable; grey, cold and rainy. Undaunted though a small but enthusiastic group of us met at the Courthouse Hotel for knitting at the pub (as usual). Knitting and alcohol consumption may not seem a likely (or advisable) mix, but it seems like they were the 2 constants for my weekend. Afterwards I met up with my friend Christopher and we headed off to... an underwear party at my local leather bar.

Cue more alcohol consumption.

So, a big weekend. Tonight I'm understandably a tad weary and jaded, snuggled on the couch under a throw rug in my cold, cold house. It's freezing! Curse you winter. Tonight will be an early night with a book to read, probably with a hot water bottle, before another day of file flipping tomorrow.

The Law Of Chocolate Attraction

You know, maybe there is something in this The Secret bullcrap. I mean last night I posted a satirical comment on The Facebook about not having any chocolate in the house, then I obviously created the environment blah de blah to attract chocolate to myself, opened myself up to the possibility of chocolate, created the space in my life for chocolate to happen, because today I received a gorgeous box of fine Belgian chocolates from The Universe! Actually, from The Universe via its agents, my lovely kind friends Meg and Snerg!

Tonight I'm posting a satirical comment and opening myself up to the possibility of a million dollars. Wish me luck.

Positivity

How do you write about friendship, love, kindness and good coming from bad without resorting to cliches? Trying to box up small gestures and big kindnesses in words. In truth this has been an awful week, but it has also been kind of great too. I've been on the receiving end of so much positive energy and (that word again) kindness this week, the polar opposite of the complete disregard that was aimed my way on Monday.

I've had space and time to think, and although I'm concerned for the immediate future I also feel burbles of nervous excitement. It's been a wake-up call and a kick in the pants, and a reminder that jobs that somehow manage to be both stressful and dull can sap you of something precious. Your energy, and through that your self.

Weekend Recap!

It used to be part of my Monday ritual to do a weekend recap. When did that fall by the wayside?! I've kept most of my other Monday rituals; hangovers, an industrial strength coffee pick-up, crying bitter tears all the way into the office... So I say, revisit the recap!

What's more relaxing after a frenetic stressfull week at work than a weekend that cracks along at a breakneck pace? When all you can do is hang on and hope for the best. T&H was here all weekend, and we kicked off Saturday morning with breakfast together at my favourite cafe Barmuda. Then God help him T&H got to see the anxiety-fest that is me shopping for a gift at the last minute. Given the time, inspiration and money I love gift buying, but deciding to buy a wedding present on the morning of the wedding is a recipe for exasperated sighs and string lips.

After all the shopping and apologising for being a strung out asshat it was time to get changed for the wedding and sample almost every form of Sydney public transport (ok, 2 trains and a taxi... so we did skip buses and ferries) getting to the venue. And what a lovely venue! Adding to the strung out asshatness of the day were nerves you see, because I was shooting the pics for my friends Shawn & Megz' wedding! So I ran around with the camera all afternoon, whilst socialising, and here's a tiny teasel:


Could they be more adorable? And don't they look fab in their Victorian outfits? (Once they're back from their honeymoon, and with their permission, I'll post some more pics because they looked thoroughly smashing.) Then we retired to the nightclub style cellar of Curzon Hall for the most fun wedding reception I have ever been to! I ate, I drank, I smooched T&H and hung out with my lovely friends. Shawn and Megz, if there are no useful pics from the end of the reception... blame the Champagne not the photographer. (I kid! I'm still working my way through the hundreds of pics I took. Fingers crossed!)

T&H and I stayed back to help tidy up like model citizens, and see if any of the gifts were worth stealing, before realising we had a) left ourselves a bit too late to get numerous forms of public transport home and b) failed to score a space in a car going back to the city. There could have been a more fun way of ending the evening than walking weary and a bit drunk (in the rain) to find a cab, but it was a small price to pay for a wonderful evening. (And hopefully the cost of the cab ride will help the driver put his kids through private school. All of them.)

Sunday! My friend Judy recently upgraded her sofa, and as her second son has just returned to the roost with furniture of his own, kindly donated her still-in-great-condition old sofa. So, long story short. I had some rearranging of the living room to do in order to make space in my tiny house for a second (soon to be only) sofa. Cue opportunity for more anxious asshat behaviour! Sigh. The sofa arrived with two big strong boys in tow (one of whom was startlingly handsome), was quickly and deftly deposited, whilst I parted with a reasonable amount of cold hard cash.

Once that was dealt with, T&H and I headed off to my regular Sunday afternoon knitting at the Courthouse Hotel. We had a lovely afternoon of knitting before heading home to meet up with our friend Christopher who, as soon as we knew Peter would be in Sydney last weekend, we had arranged to go to the leather bar Manacle with. (PS. sorry Speedy, we organised it even before we got your party invite.) One extremely enjoyable evening later... and suddenly I find myself back at a Monday morning hangover.

So now T&H is back home on the other side of the country, I'm sitting here looking at my new(ish) sofa and seriously contemplating an early night. Next weekend I'm thinking... not so many plans.

"What I Did On My Blog Holiday" by The Other Andrew, Age 44 & 1/2

Hey ho everybody. Well that wasn't long! Is it a bit naff to dramatically announce a break (back of hand to brow) and then come back after only a week? I suspect it is a bit, but if this wasn't attention seeking then it wouldn't be blogging, right?

In reality I feel a little better, especially in the past day or so. Even as recently as Thursday I still felt congested, but yesterday and today I feel much better. Still hacking enough to get a free seat (and an exclusion zone) on the bus... but if that's what it takes to get a seat, so be it. Chalk that up to a bonus. 5 weeks in and I am ready for this to be done with, so cross everything that it's really going this time!

I got a little cabin crazy. Aside from going to work, and going to dinner a few nights ago, I've hardly left the house. My couch has a deeper ass shaped dent in it now than it ever had, and given that I'm a comfort eater (sigh) it's a marginally bigger dent too!

Anyhoo, that past week in a nutshell. A week in which I...

Survived:

• A power blackout. Thankfully it was the night after Earth Hour, so you know, thanks to lacksadaisical housekeeping the candles weren't even put away yet! Score.
  
• A burnt thumb (damn your eyes homemade pizza!).
  
• That cranky, irritable time of the month we in the accounting trade refer to as 'month end'.

Enjoyed:

• Recovery.
  
• This song full of dancing Harajuku-jin. The higher the hair, the closer to Elvis!
  
• Actually, maybe it's a hair thing, because I'm digging this song by La Roux... and one thing she has got is a fab head of hair.
  
• A foray into steampunk fiction (although I do agree with this reviewer that the characterisations are somewhat thin).
  
• A fantastic night out with James, Tom, Colin and Judy at a special "Colonial Gastronomy: Spice" dinner at Elizabeth Bay House. 19th c dishes in one of Sydney's best preserved colonial homes, with a fantastic demonstration and talk about the colonial spice trade, good company and lashings of wine. Because in this life my motto* is "pics, or it didn't happen" of course there are photos (and as always, click them to enbiggen):

Did not enjoy:

• Not blogging! Oh sure it was nice to not feel the pressure to come up with blog posts, but the flip side is that I'd find myself thinking I'm SO blogging this!... oh, crap.

(* Or one of them. Along with "never eat anything bigger than your head", "it's not cruel if it's funny", etc.)

Dinner With The Diva

After reading each other's blogs for a little while, and originally meeting online through Thom's blog Fabulon, last night I caught up with US blogger "La Diva Laura" (of La Diva Cucina) right here in Newtown. OMG, so much fun! Laura livid in Sydney for quite a few years, so this trip has been a homecoming of sorts. I knew from reading her blog that Laura would be warm and funny, as were her friends, and we clicked straight away.

Laura.


Laura & Fiona. Fiona had the best glitter eyeliner on. Covet!


Libations! A very nommy "Asian Tiger Caprioska" - lime, passionfruit, lychee, sugar syrup, vodka, heaven.


Laura & Amanda. Good times!


"Just James" starring James O'Brien.


On the way out of the hotel we passed this cute boy busking. So nice to see the young people taking care in their appearance.

Food Coma Of Epic Proportions

I just had the most amazing Mexican meal of my increasingly longish life. Now Mexican is not a dominant cuisine in Oz, not as ubiquitous as Thai for example, but I've sought out Mexican restaurants wherever I can find them over the years. I'm a fan. Well, be gone shredded 'tasty' cheese (that isn't) and goops of sour cream because The Flying Fajita Sistas have got your number.

The service was friendly and non obtrusive, the Bohemia beer was tasty nom noms, the food fantastic, and the restaurant was one of the few on Glebe Point Rd that was actually full of diners, and atmosphere. So. Much. Food. I wish I could have managed a third course, but it was not to be. Even though there was something on the dessert menu that combined orange, coffee and caramel in what only can be described as (probable) brulee heaven.

Home now, and frankly I can barely type from the food coma.

Living History

Sunday, part 1.

A perfect lead into an afternoon spent at the Mardi Gras Fair Day (see below), was a Sunday morning stroll with the good ladies of the cloth. James spotted that the annual GLBT Mardi Gras walking history tour with the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence was going to be a tour of Newtown this year. So this morning I met up with James and Graeme to learn more about the history of my much beloved homo 'hood.

So much fun! Not only were the Sisters sweet, lovely and entertaining, but the whole exercise was very educational.

'Cardinal' Robert French from the Pride History Group and the Sisters lead us through Newtown, eventually ending up just a few blocks from the GLBT Mardi Gras Fair Day (see the entry below). Newtown has such a history as being a gay friendly neighbourhood, and quite a chequered past. More than I realised, really. Am I adding my own little stamp on the homo history of Newtown for the future? Maybe!

Sister Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation II (left) and Sister Salome Of The Ninth Mystic Rhinestone (right) had lots of first hand history to share!

The only drawback was the weather, with some incredibly heavy rain squalls that fortunately were gone 10 minutes after they started. Until another one came along that is! (It sort of became the pattern for the day really.) Still, we opened our umbrellas, huddled together, listened a bit harder over the downpour, and let the fun continue.

Such a great start to a wonderful day!

GLBT Mardi Gras Fair Day, 15 Feb 2009!

Sunday, part 2.

OMG, what a fabulous day! Yes the weather was a bit crap, cool but sunny one minute, bucketing down with rain the next, then sunny and humid. Hello, pick just one and go with it Global Warming, at least I could plan my wardrobe.

Speaking of which, kilt pics! (As promised.) I LOVED wearing it, and got lot of attention, including some favourable comments from strangers. In my opinion though there was one guy that looked better in a kilt on the day, and that was Mr Leather Sydney 2008 in a leather micro kilt. Woof.

Oh yeah, and there was this other rather attractive boy there. OMG IT'S MATTHEW MITCHAM. SQUEEEEE!

He and his partner Lachlan were just hanging out, watching the drag shows, while gay men all around (and I speak from first hand knowledge) were plotzing so hard. I could. Have. Died. I was too shy to talk to him but I did snap some pics, and I took a pic of Graeme with him for Graeme. (Who was braver than I). And you know what, he and Lachlan couldn't have been nicer and more gracious. Crush! These guys are a class act.

Gratuitous underwear competition photo, no explanation required.

The fair was as fun as always. The unpredictable weather was a nuisance, but didn't dampen (ha!) the spirit of the day. I wandered with Graeme and James, chatted with other friends I ran into and hung out at the Leather Pride stall and chatted with Fin and Bec (right) for some of the afternoon. Speaking of hot bitches (sorry ladies!) there were adorable puppers everywhere (left). I could die from the cuteness. Couldn't you?

The Budweiser Bunny! Sometimes the funny things you see, really. You could not make this stuff up.

How about that pink fur, and the licorice button nose! OMG, diabetic coma!

So it was a really fabulous afternoon, one of the most enjoyable Fair Days I've been to. A few beers, and lots of fun just hanging out with James and Graeme, and meeting up with people was had. It was so refreshing to be reminded of the diversity of the community again, and that is one of the great things about Fair Day. In my own small way I did my bit for the team by answering every darn community questionnaire that came my way.

AND DID I TELL YOU I SAW MATTHEW MITCHAM?!

Teatime With Sarah

Today was a funny old day. I had planned to catch up with an old workmate this afternoon, so when Mikey rang at 1pm to see if I was free for a picnic in Centennial Park I tried to figure out if I could shoehorn it into the schedule... and it just didn't fit. So having turned it down I hung out at home for a while and then started getting ready for my afternoon coffee catch up with my old workmate. Except, she cancelled at short notice. It would have been quite late by the time I changed gears and got to the park, so instead of too many things to do I ended up with too few.

So, it may be the case that when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. It's definitely the case though that when the going gets dull, the dull err... bored go shopping. I decided to do some bookshop window shopping at least. Newtown already has some great bookshops but there's always room for one more, and one more has just been added. (Actually, a few years ago my favourite secondhand bookstore closed, and recently another of the new books bookstores closed for renovations, so essentially the balance has been maintained.)

The perfect miniature lemon meringue tart.

So I was wandering around the secondhand level of the new Berkelouw bookstore in Newtown, wedged in an aisle between Christianity to sinister and Sex/Gender to dexter (common, right?), when I heard my name called. My good friend Sarah had a similar idea as it turns out, and so we both found ourselves in the same place at the same time.

Industrial style in the secondhand books level.

Berkelouws have a fantastic formula for their large bookstores, one level of new books, one of secondhand and antiquarian books, and a cafe. This new store has been created inside an old two story warehouse space in a side street in Newtown, and I'm in love with the conversion. High ceilings, original windows, sandblasted brick, raw timber shelving, old patinated wood, tin and industrial style lighting.

I want these lights. WANT.

Oh, and the most fabulous antique searchlight type industrial lights that I coveted so bad I could taste it. There was a pair, and for a few seconds I made fantasy calculations as to whether Sarah and I could make the dash downstairs and out the front door carrying one each.

The clerestory and exposed tin ceiling.

So instead of a dull afternoon, I had a lovely coffee date after all! A perfect little meringue and organic mint tea for me, and a latte and little passionfruit cheesecake tart for Sarah. The cafe was light and airy, and although fairly full was quieter and less bustly than many Newtown cafes. Judging by the laptops out on a few tables I would assume there's free wifi too. It was a lovely afternoon talking about creativity and the future, and the perfect antidote to a dull afternoon.

The Week That Was

Initial thoughts about this week? Hot. Busy. Fun. Sydney has been treated to a blast of heat and high humidity this week, and it's evening and the news just informed me that the humidity is still 69%. Sheen. Of. Sweat. I haz it. All week I've been holed up in our airconditioned offices, not loving stepping outdoors into what is essentially the giant bitumen carpark of my workplace. (I make an exception for the morning coffee van.)

Busy, because as someone who is employed to ensure that people keep paying their bills, in an industry seeing many closures, my employers are justifiably a little... tense. I'm settling into the groove of it all, but getting results and being so closely monitored has had its stressfull moments.

Fun, because I went out twice with my good friend Stephen from Brisbane. Once with a group of his friends who I really enjoy spending time with, and once just the pair of us when he crashed on my sofa bed here one night. Dinner, drinks and a late night trawl through the bookshops of Newtown - just like old times!

So, now it's Friday night. I just put the AC on, and I'm still sweating. I'm having a quiet night in, except the fact that 3 out of 6 free tv channels are showing sport is a downer. Hello internet!

House Guests

Squee! I'm excited. My good friend Stephen is in town from Brisbane and will be crashing at my place mid-week, and then the night after my old housemate and good friend Lynda (who I caught up with recently via The Facebook) and her daughter will be crashing here. A bit of extra cleaning has been done, although I stopped short of Martha Stewart style guest room shenanigans (small French toiletries, a sightseeing itinerary and a thoughtfull collection of night reading literature). I don't think you can call a sofa bed a 'guest room' anyway, just for starters.

Oh, unless Lynda has changed her stripes, I need to stock up on Gin... and tonic.

It has been so many years since Lynda and I have seen each other, yet chatting to her on the phone she sounded just the same. Stephen and I see each other a few times a year, which is never enough. I can't wait to see both of them. It's friendships that are important in this life, right? Connections. People we love, and that love us. It's easy to forget that sometimes, and there is a certain lovely symmetry to spending the week with two good friends. One who is so very good at making sure he stays connected with his friends, and one who was a lost friend for a number of years... but is now found again.

We're Holding Out For A Hero!

Saturday part two.

After lunch at the beach, James and I made the trek to Mary-Helen and Sandra's newly improved and expanded home for a housewarming party. A trek that included getting a bit lost, and quite a bit more sunburned. James has already made mention on his blog of the various tribes that interconnected at the party. The Venn Diagram of knitters/bloggers/friends/work colleagues that made up the guests.

Mary-Helen & Sandra's housewarming.

It was amusing to me to be introduced to people and to hear a few minor variations on the statement "So, you're not one of the knitters ho-ho." posed. Well, yes I am... but not only. (I'm also in the Venn Diagram where knitter, blogger and friend intersect.) Male knitters are still off most people's radar, but I'm really quite fine with that. I like seeing how people react. Of course Mark was there also, who was representing the even rarer breed. Straight Male Knitter.

Lyndell's gorgeous vintage coat. COVET.

The party was lots of fun. I met some new people, spent as much time as possible keeping my ever pinkening skin out of the sun, ate waaaay too much barbecue and dessert, drank wine, chatted to friends and developed a series case of Real Estate Envy at the extensions and renovations Mary-Helen and Sandra have done to their home.

Reecie on vocals.

Afternoon drew on into evening and at about 9pm Kris suggested we head back to their house for to play Guitar Hero on their Wii. Now, I'm not much of a one for computer games. Sometime after Pong and Space Invaders my interest waned, with a brief blip when I discovered the smiting fun of Diablo on Mikey (the lovely ex's) old computer. But, well, Wii is a whole different kettle of crazy bleep bloopy fish. I'm a convert.

Izzy on bass.

So we rocked it out to Guitar Hero. OMG so much fun! I saved everyone the exquisite torture (and not in a good way) of hearing me sing, and stuck to paying bass guitar. Plus, given that the game tracks your ballpark pitch I really don't need that kind of judging. I know I'm flatter than a lizard drinking thank you, Judgy McJudgerton.

Rocking out, srsly.

What I didn't know though was I'm kind of a natural on bass. Well, as a first timer on a small plastic bass with buttons instead of strings that is. By the second of Snook's homebrews things started to run off the rails a little, but I was Suzy Quatro at her peak while it lasted. (My run that is, hers has lasted considerably longer.) Once you get the hang of the button placement and how much delay/anticipation you need to hit the notes, the rest is rhythm. And can I just say, one thing I've got in spades is rhythm. You know it's true!