Misty Water Coloured Meme-ery

Time to rip off someone else's meme kids! Won't that be fun?! This time I'm copying the Lemming Whom We Love with his ABC's Of Me post. [He sourced the idea from Sheri.]

My version of The ABCs Of Me:

• A is for Alcohol and Abstinence. (See how much fun this is already?) I gave up drinking around this time last year, partly for medical reasons but mostly because I took a vow against intoxicants in a Buddhist ceremony.
  
• B is for Beliefs. Mine are Buddhist, and I like listening to other people's beliefs... unless they involve space aliens and volcanoes, then not so much.
  
• C is for Childhood. Mine was more happy than not, even though I never really built all that close a relationship with my father (he was quite distant) and in my teenage years I had some brief moments of angst about being gay.
  
• D is for Dick. I'm quite a fan really, and not just of my own.
  
• E is for Expressions. I have a tendency to invent or copy certain expressions, and use them tirelessly until they outstay their welcome. Current favourite "It's bollocks, innit?" [Said with thick English accent].
  
• F is for Friendships. They are important to me, and I like them to last.
  
• G is for The Gay Thing. It's not all that I am, but it's a huge part of my psyche and not really possible for me to hide or down play, even if I wanted to.
  
• H is for Humour. Thankfully I have a sense of one. It's so versatile, it can be defence, weapon, aphrodisiac, turn off... If you are funny we are halfway to being friends already.
  
• I is for Intelligence, and also for Imagination. I'm not the biggest brainiac in the world by any stretch, but I can hold my own when it comes to conceptual and creative thinking. I find intelligence and imagination very sexy.
  
• J is for Jerk. I have been one of these at various times in my life, mostly on account of feeling insecure in relationships when I was younger. I think we've all been down that road at some point.
  
• K is for... is for... um, Klimt? One of my favourite artists. (Ok, you think of something that starts with 'K', smartypants.)
  
• L is for Lethargy. I sometimes suffer from this due to a history of problematic sleep 'issues'.
  
• M is for Michael, a name which crops up in my life all the time. 5 ex-boyfriends and 6 friends called Michael, I mean, surely that's statistically higher than average?
  
• N is for Nelly. When I was younger I used to be quite judgemental of effeminate guys. As I've grown older I've come to the realisation that it actually takes courage to be a sissy, and that it's just another form of self expression. Plus, I don't feel the need to prop up my self esteem or to make myself feel superior by putting others down.
  
• O is for Observation. I love to sit back and observe what's going on, especially to sit in a public place and 'people watch'. On the downside there have been days in my life when I have felt so detached that it's like I'm an observer, rather than a participant. Thankfully that doesn't really happen any more.
  
• P is for Perfectionist. This is a streak I have that especially comes out when I am making something. This should probably be for Patience as well. I have been known to spend huge amounts of time working on some sort of art or craft piece, the more meticulous and painstaking the better, until I think it's 'perfect'.
  
• Q is for Questioning. I would say that this is a fundamental part of my personality.
  
• R is for Relationships. I had a number of them, and I'd say probably 4 significant ones in my life, but it's been somewhere around 2-3 years since my last one. It would be nice if another came along, but I'm not so concerned about needing to be in a relationship anymore. If it happens, it happens, and that would be nice.
  
• S is for Sex. Personally, I enjoy it very much. I'm now on the search for quality, rather than quantity.
  
• T is for Tibet. Somewhere I have always felt a strong interest in, perhaps ever since seeing 'Lost Horizon' as a child. I feel very strongly about the human rights abuses and cultural dismantling of Tibet at the hands of the Chinese invaders.
  
• U is for Understanding. This sounds like I am blowing my own horn here, but I like to think that I am a very understanding person. Even if I disagree with you, I have enough intelligence and empathy to understand your point of view.
  
• V is for Voracious. [see also 'S'] If I'm in the mood, look out.
  
• W is for Wanker. At times I have been so keen to be thought funny/attractive/whatever that I have made myself appear to be a complete one of these.
  
• X is for... is for... Xtreme. I really dislike 'Xtreme' used as an adjective for anything which is so obviously not 'extreme' (regardless of the spelling). Like when 'Xtreme Animals!' turns out to be a documentary about termite mounds.
  
• Y is for You. It's you that makes it all worthwhile. It always has been.
  
• Z is for Lama Zopa Rinpoche, spiritual leader of the Buddhist tradition I follow (The FPMT: The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition).
  

A Post Without Theme, Or Structure

In the spirit of Deconstructivist Blogging, I give you some random snippets:

• It crossed my mind that what my house needs is a spiral staircase. I love spiral staircases, they just seem so exotic. Of course this means I'd also have to add a second floor, to my rental.
  
• I flicked through a Pro Audio catalogue last night and the only items that drew my attention were an $8 cowbell and the Astro Raggi II disco light.
  
• New high thread-count sheets make the world of difference.
  
• We have a new research assistant in the office; he's 21, pretty and built like a rugby player. Just looking at him makes me feel dirty.
  

Next Time I'm Having A Bad Day At Work

I'll remind myself, things could always get worse.


Suited character, World Square, Sydney. 22nd November, 2005.

I could be spending my days standing on a street corner, dressed as a blue chicken.

Disposition: Still Sunny (Mostly)

Work is kicking my ass and being a thorough bitch today, so apologies on the paucity of posting.

We gave our auditors a mountain of work to go through about three months ago, and now that the deadline is this Friday they have obviously just started to look at it. Consequently I'm getting hourly 'query' emails, which are being followed up with hourly 'have you looked at it, we need it ASAP' emails. I'd like to send back hourly 'you know what? fuck you' emails, but as I am currently of a sunnier disposition, and filled with Buddhist compassion, loving kindness etc I have refrained.

So, think of the fine and dandy, bright and sunny, disposition as a little tarnished today. Just a little. Assholes.

10K

Sometime this week, in the next couple of days probably, I'm going to pass the 10,000 hits mark. Holy crap!

If you happen to visit and get the exact 10,000 hits on the counter on my left hand sidebar, why not sent me an email or leave me a comment and let me know who you are, m'kay? Share.

Thanks everyone for dropping by! Sit a spell, have a canape won't you? Something to drink?

Addled

A little while back I posted about Jonathan Adler's new book "My Prescription For Anti-Depressive Living". One of my favourite design sites Apartment Therapy (see sidebar link under 'Design-O-Rama') has posted audio of an interview with Jonathan Adler.

You know what makes the Apartment Therapy article intro more funner? Replace the word button with corn. Hi-larious.

Happy

I don't know if it is coming through in my posting here, but I'm feeling really good at the moment. Healthy. Happy. Content. Optimistic.

Sure, I have the odd bad day here and there, but they're only that, odd. I was thinking about this as I walked into work today. The past month or so I've really noticed a change. I'm never a very down person, but my outlook has become so much sunnier of late. I'm sleeping better. I have more energy. I'm doing more exercise. Libido is through the roof. Enthusiasm is up.

I'm not sure what the cause is. Sure, impending Summer helps. All the vitamins and herbs I'm taking are probably helping too. I wonder some days if maybe I had a bit of a period of depression, which has now lifted. If that's what it was, it was pretty mild. Small 'd' rather than big 'D' maybe. That may not be it, but given my problems with sleep, lack of motivation and lack of energy some months back, it's a possibility.

I had a great weekend. Got myself a haircut, and overcoming my trepidation of looking like 'mutton done up as lamb', decided to get a cut that was a little more stylish and edgy. End result is still short and neat, but flirts with concepts of 'mohawk' and 'mullet' ever so slightly. I went to the bars with some friends, and got a little 'action' (which was thankfully chemical free). Had some chilling out time at home. Bought crisp new high thread count sheets, that are so good they make my toes curl. I went to a wake for a very sweet old dog, that was filled with laughs, the sharing of hot chips and some tidbits of very good news (which I'd love to share, but it's not my good news to tell).

Happy.

[Updated: How could I forget to mention the tv special of Kylie's "Showgirl" concert last night? Filmed live in London, it was a boppy, feel good, homo-erotic walk down memory lane of Kylie through the years. Oh, and bless her but nobody casts hotter male dancers, and makes the most of their 'assets' than our dear sweet Kylie. I know this makes me a cliche, but so be it!]

Frangipani

Frangipani
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I pass this potted Frangipani on the front porch of a terrace house in Chippendale almost every morning on my walk to work. One of my favourite flowers.

Not a bad way to start the day!

Who's The Boss?

Metal Boss
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

This metal boss is one of a series on a really high retaining wall in Newtown. I think that they probably connect to tie rods, designed to help stabilise the wall. I like the fact that thought and design that has been put into something so utilitarian. I also like the way the metal has aged and rusted over the decades.

Word Association: If You Say "Crystal", I Think "Carrington"

Warning: Adult content ahead!

So, last night I went out with a bunch of gay guys for dinner, which included my old friend Brendan, who I just reconnected with recently, and a bunch of guys I hadn't met before. (Brendan started up this thing where a bunch of his friends get together ever Thursday for a couple of drinks and a cheap and cheerfull dinner, and they have made it a sort of informal 'club'.)

On the way home afterwards I was getting seriously cruised on the street by a really nice looking dude. Tall, pectastic. A short period of 'negotiating' ensued that involved establishing that a) his place was out of the question, and b) me deciding that as nice as he looked, my place was out of the question because there was an intangible 'something' about this guy that was slightly off-putting.

Anyhoo, long story short. We decided to pop into an adult bookstore where they have a porno lounge that is clean, and is kindly supplied with cubicles for the having of the sex. (Don't judge me yet, it gets even better!) As I said, this guy had a slightly weird vibe. He started asking me a lot of questions, and seemed sort of amped up. Questions like "Where do you live?", "How old are you?", "Do you only like guys?" etc. While this was happening, and there was some shucking of clothes going on, I had noticed that he was clutching a cigarette lighter.

So, he whips out a tiny baggie of powder, scoops a bit on the end of a car key and pulls out a small glass pipe. He dumps the powder in the pipe, and starts to heat the bowl from underneath. The whole while I'm thinking "You've got to be kidding." It's 11pm on a week night and this guy is about to get high on whatever that shit is.

So I asked him, and as I suspected the answer was "Crystal Meth". I don't even drink, or do any sort of drugs, so I had no problem resisting the urge to participate. Fast forward 5 minutes and he is on some sort of buzz, a sexual high which is apparently one of the affects of Crystal. I'm thinking a)"How did you get yourself into this? and b) How do you get yourself out of it?" Closely followed by the thoughts c)"Well, how, um, metropolitan!, and then d) "I wonder if I have the courage to blog this?"

Fast forward another 5 minutes and I'm staring at him while he's riding his buzz, remarking to myself just how nice his pecs are, and how disappointing the poor flaccid willy he's shaking at me is. So, I patted him on the shoulder, reclaimed my clothes and left. I don't think he was all that surprised.

Um, Just 1 Boo! For Today Then...

Uggghnn, gack! Bleeeech!

I just had my first dose of the herbal mixture my naturopath prescibed to help my ongoing sinus/nose/throat 'issues'.

Judging by taste alone, I'd say two of the prime ingredients are arse & bitumen.

5 Yays! (And No Boos!) For A Sunny Friday Morning

1. Bright red geraniums!
   
2. A handsome man wearing just running shorts, with 2 pierced nipples and an artifical leg, mending his bicycle.
   
3. Fat Dachsunds! (3 sightings.)
   
4. A very brown woman in a very orange sari.
   
5. Endlessly, tunelessly, singing the Moloko song Sing It Back

Hrumph

I'm up to the eyeballs in work today, and I just found out that my boss and another work mate have conspired to delegate to me the writing of a reference for a staff member who has recently just left (the 20 year old, very handsome, half-Italian uni student who worked for us as a casual - I can't tell you how much he's missed). My boss says it because she's too lazy I'm a 'better writer' than she is. Fine.

Of course I've got no idea what to write, other than "Anthony is smoking hot, and should seriously consider modelling, although he is disappointingly straight". Anthony needs to come and get it later this afternoon, so it has to be done now, now.

Did I mention I also have a heap of other work to do? :-(

Dozzie Wog

When I got home last night I read my home email and found out that Lou's (aka World Peace and a Speadboat) sweet old doggie Diosma had died in her sleep, at the ripe old age of 18. Doz was already an elderly matron by the time I made friends with her, already quite deaf and blind, and with breath that can best be described as 'challenging', but any social event at Speedy's house was always further brightened by some pats with Doz (not to mention trying not to let her other dog Hebe get her tongue in your mouth...). She was a sweet old doggie indeed.

Speedy has posted some lovely pics and drawings of Doz over at the group blog For Battle!, which capture her charm well. RIP Dozzie wog!

The Colour Purple

Purple Flowers
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I like purple. Purple is good. Purple flowers are pretty.

The End.

5 Things That Made Me Smile On The Way To Work This Morning

1. Passing my favourite bear.
   
2. Watching a young daddy and his son pat a small, friendly dog outside a cafe. I'm not sure who was more delighted, the boy or the dog. There was much squealing and tail wagging.
   
3. As I was walking through Chippendale I saw two quite handsome, very 'alternative' and slightly punky looking guys walk out of a terrace house. What I didn't expect was the heartfelt hug and long lingering kiss they shared as I walked past them on the footpath. I turned back to look, and the shorter of the two guys was resting his head on the other's shoulder. Ah, parting is indeed such sweet sorrow.
   
4. Flowers everywhere.
   
5. Walking behind a short, stocky guy who had amazing calves. I considered following him for a while, but then thought better of it. That's restraint people, take note, it's an infrequent visitor at Chez OA.

Little Bear Lost

Little Bear Lost
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

OK, because few things can cheer me up like bear pics (read into that what you will), here's a picture of a little guy I pass each time I walk to work. I'm guessing he was found on the street and someone put him on the fence so that his owner would find him, but he looks to have been there for a while.

Maybe he's a little sad, but I like to think that he's enjoying the view.

Strange Day

I woke up this morning with a really stiff and sore neck and upper back, and a pounding headache, which is really just a continuation of a headache I had yesterday. Then I dribbled toothpaste on my freshly ironed shirt. My train was delayed. I popped over and read Mark's rant against Buddhism, which didn't offend me or upset me, but which I did find quite shocking in how his ideas differ from my direct personal experience.

So, my point (I do have one) is that it isn't even 11am yet and I feel like I've had a bad day's worth of experience already. Urgh. Unless things take a turn for the better, I'll probably not post anything for the rest of the day. Maybe a pretty picture to balance out this post?...

Festival Flags #2

Festival Flags #2
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

The weather turned quite hot in the late afternoon, and Bodhi and I retreated to the cooler (but also packed) Newtown Hotel. I ran into a couple of guys I knew. A guy from my course at the Buddhist centre, and an old friend of mine who I've known for something like 25+ years, but who I had sort of drifted away from in the past few years.

We reconnected just like we'd seen each other yesterday, and interestingly he has recently started to read about Buddhism and was interested to the point where he recently had the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum tattooed on his arm. He's been through a rough patch in the past couple of years, which I didn't know about, and we had a good long chat and lots of laughs. I'm meeting him and a bunch of his friends for dinner on Thursday night. Even though I wasn't drinking, and the guys I was with were getting progressively sloshed, it was nice to hang out and great to see my old friend Brendan in particular. I'm looking forward to seeing him again on Thursday night, and to getting out and socialising with a group of gay guys that I haven't met before.

Festival Flags #1

Festival Flags #1
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

Yesterday was the annual Newtown Festival, which this year was badged as 'Lovefest'. Don't ask me, I don't know why.

It was jam packed with people this year, and I'm not sure how much love was in the air, but it was a pretty congenial crowd. By late afternoon the dance beats were pumping, lots of people had lots to drink, there were dogs and children under foot, and the market stalls and information stands were in full swing.

Little Queen St

Little Queen St
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I would move here in a flash, if I could. It's almost like having your name up in lights.

Little Queen St, Newtown. Just another reason I love my neighbourhood.

Rising Tides

So it's late Spring here, but the weather is more like Summer already. Unseasonally warm. It's bringing everyone out in their Summer gear; shorts, tank tops and muscle tee's are everywhere.

So I've been exercising a bit more, sleeping better, having more energy. Also, things are going well, and despite minor wobbles and any impression I might have recently given, I'm in a generally very happy place at the moment.

Some of you may have guessed already where this is heading... yup, let's just say I'm as 'toey' as all get out. Hormones are raging. (To all my friends and acquaintences who now read this blog, I apologise for giving you a mental image that may not want.)

Tonight it looks like a night out with my ex is on the cards. Gay bar. Gay guys. Raging hormones. Do I need to draw anyone a map? Wish me luck.

-----

[Updated: It was a fun night, but suffice to say not what I expected. I was with my ex and two very nice friends of his from work, one straight (but not narrow) guy and a woman who is predominantly gay, but likes to take a walk on the straight side every now and then. Oh, and she towers over me (but who doesn't?) and she's a jelly wrestler. I'm not making this up.

Anyway, by the time we met they had downed a number of alcoholic beverages at a work function, and were on a bit of a mission to down plenty more. By the time we headed to our last destination of the night The Imperial Hotel, one of our number was extremely drunk, so much so that we got thrown out of The Imperial! Oh, the shame. Too drunk at The Imperial, I didn't know there was such a thing?

Long story short, I hung around for a while after they all poured themselves into taxis, still sober of course and not ready for the night to be over at 12.30am, and yes I did partly achieve my objective but with only a demi-satifying quickie. Still, he was a nice guy, it was fun, and there are worse ways to end an evening!]

Congregation

Congregation
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I took this picture one recent sunny morning in my neighbourhood, and it kind of amused me at the time. That these birds would all just be sitting there in a group like that.

Then a couple of days later I walked by this way again, and they were there again. In fact I think their numbers had increased.

I'm sorta too afraid to go this way again, just in case they go all 'Tippi Hedren' on my ass.

Together Alone

When I posted yesterday about buying new shoes I mentioned that we were going to "Sounds Of The Cinema" by the Australian Chamber Orchestra last night. It was a black tie fundraiser for the ACO, primarily for their work in conducting workshops in high schools in less advantaged areas. My bosses picked up the tab for the event at just under $200 a head, including buying us a $50 raffle ticket each (Wingedman: the prizes were all Tiffany), which was very generous. Oh, and we didn't win any of the prizes, but that's OK.

So it was a lovely night. There were silent and public auctions, it was all very glamourous, it was a warm night and the venue was right on the water with a close view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, we all looked fine and there were handsome tuxedo-ed men everywhere...

But. You could sense there was a 'but' coming couldn't you?

I felt something that I hadn't felt for a while and which Michael alluded to recently, the feeling of being alone in a crowd. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed myself. I did enjoy myself. But it was all blah-blah and wife, blah-blah and boyfriend, blah-blah and husband. My 'date' for the evening was one the uni students who does a bit of occasional work for us, she's very sweet and half my age, and although there were jokes about us being 'dates', people insisting we have our pictures taken together etc, everyone knows I'm a big 'mo and so it was all good fun.

Except, I would have liked to have had a date of my own. I would liked to have had a handsome dude in a tux sat next to me. I would have liked to have been introducing my guy to all my workmates and partners, in the same way I was being introduced to them.

I haven't dated anyone for a while. Partly through choice. Partly through having had my social network swing more towards the straight side of the fence in the past couple of years. Partly through having lost a couple of my old bar hopping mates, and therefore not really going out and having the opportunity to meet new guys. Partly through apathy. Partly through dented confidence.

If I was dating someone I would have brought them along, but I have to acknowledge that it would have been complicated. People at work know that I'm gay, but a few of them are very conservative and I'm not sure that actually seeing me with a male date would have really washed with them. None of their partners would probably know, and for me having never met them, I would be uncertain how they would act. They wouldn't really 'know me', and know that the 'gay thing' is just a part of who I am. A big part, sure. There wouldn't have been any trouble, any sort of a scene, but I would have been on alert for signs of discomfort in them, in me, in my date.

If you are straight and you are reading this you might think I'm just over-analysing, some of you gay guys and girls might think I am too. Maybe. If you have ever been the only single in a crowd of couples, or been the only childless person amongst a bunch of friends with kids, then maybe you can relate a little. It can be tough to be the only homo in a crowd though, no matter how nice everyone is. It can be tough enough being the only single in a crowd of couples, let alone being the only gay person. I'm generally a pretty happy guy, and don't really suffer from loneliness as such, but last night I came pretty close to feeling lonely.

I'm pretty proactive about changing things in my life that don't work, and I'm quite emotionally self sufficient. So, maybe a new resolution for the upcoming Summer is called for. Dating.

Eeek! :-)

Anti-Depressive Living

Mikey The Lovely Ex just sent me an email with a link to this book. (I'm not sure at this point if it was a Christmas hint, a question if I'd like it for Christmas, or just an FYI.)

When we lived together Mikey bought a couple of pieces of Adler, from memory I'm sure one of them was this piece, and I'm pretty sure he also has this bowl. I'm quite a fan of Jonathan Adler, I think his signature style is fun and I love the Mid-Century retro styling of much of his work. I also think it's great that he and his partner Michael Doonan have been together for quite a while, and that they are both so very public about their relationship. Although I guess as an interior designer/potter and window dresser/Barneys design director/interior designer, well it's sort of a given, right?

Three Dragonflies

Three Dragonflies
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

Neon sign outside the Yoshi Jones boutique on King St, Newtown. I really like the Japanese Ka-Mon style of this sign.

Does This Make Me A Noodle Blogger?*

Yesterday I went out and bought 2 new pairs of shoes.

Now, this probably sounds like really scraping the bottom of a very large barrel as topics for a blog entry go, but bear with me. I can't remember if I covered all these points before, maybe I touched on them in my 100 Things list, but you must understand:

• I am a very short man with very wide, flat, hard to fit feet. (see 'Hobbit') Unlike other bloggers, who apparently have pretty feet.
  
• I dislike shopping for shoes, mostly because of the point above.
  
• I buy way too few pairs of shoes (see above).
  
• Consequently, when I find a pair that fits and/or are prepared to consider risking their structural integrity to stretch sufficiently, I will wear them almost every day until they fall apart.

So, prompted by the fact that I'm off to the see "Sounds Of The Cinema" by the Australian Chamber Orchestra tonight with my workmates, and my last pair of black 'dress' shoes just got retired (ie 'fell apart'), I decided to go shopping. One pair of nice chisel toed black shoes and an impulse buy of a funky pair of tan & brown trainers.

It's like I was on a mission. I did a quick recon of the shelves, selected, barked out my size, tried, purchased and was out of there in record time. Ok, 'barked' is an exaggeration, read 'asked politely' instead, but it was like "[deep breath] Ok, I'm doing this. Let's roll!"

* Noodle Bloggers is a term I read somewhere once, to describe the sort of blogs where people list the minute details of their day. Such as, "Today I had noodles for lunch".

Sad News

A few days ago I posted about the handsome new guy who showed up in our office for an interview, and was subsequently hired. Well, negotiations with his agency and issues to do with his lack of residency status broke down, and so he's gone. Gone!

Bye handsome Mark, we hardly knew you but you sure made a big impression!

We told him that if/when he manages to get his residency situation sorted, we will re-employ him. So that my friends gives me a small glimmer of hope that he'll be back. I've been joking around about how cute he is etc, but really I just feel bad for him that it was such a mess. He fit straight in here and looked like he was going to work out well and this job looked like it might help him stay in the country. Plus my employers offer very good pay and conditions (not least of which is the occasional free chocolate bar), so it was a good situation for him after only arriving in the country 5 months ago.

Oh well, hopefully we'll see him again.

Amazing New Blog

I'm blown away my a new blog I discovered after following a link from Jevyeddy's blog. It's called Coming Out At 48 and (as the name implies) chronicles the experience of a guy called Chris and his journey of coming out of the closet at the age of 48, of leaving his wife and grown children, and of taking the huge step that changed everything in his life.

Chris's writing is highly articulate and moving. Even if the experience of coming out of the closet is something you will never have to do because you are straight, have already done, or have yet to do if you are gay, I recommend you check it out and see if you find his blog interesting, because the quality of his writing just blows me away. He's only been blogging since August and I have yet to read all his entries, but I found myself getting quite emotional and caught up in his story from just reading through his initial August entries.

Documenting Change

On my walks to and from work each day I like to vary my route, mix it up a bit to keep me from getting bored with the walk. On my walk to work yesterday I passed through a small sidestreet and passed by the building where a week ago I took a photo of this piece of grafitti. Except, now the building is three quarters demolished. The bottom of the wall with the bit of grafitti I liked is still there, but no doubt will be gone by tonight, or in the next day or so.

I've really started to love taking photos. When my ex gave me a digital camera as a Christmas present a couple of years ago, I took party photos and pictures of people and events, but it's only in the past year (or year and a half maybe) that I started to photograph things that caught my eye. Taking photos for the sake of capturing something interesting, beautiful, colourful, funny or transient.

It struck me that I'm documenting my life and times too. This blog, and these photos will record a time and place in my life. I like to take photos of my neighbourhood, the streets I walk through each day, and I love looking at the way other people cover the same territory. We are all freezing this place at this point in time, and by blogging about and photo sharing through the interweb we are creating a collective document about this time and place. Already I can look back through this blog, and my photos of a year or more ago and see the changes in me, in my surroundings and in the world.

A Picture For The Family Album

If you are offended by talk of people doing 'the having of the sex' then look away now... ::drums fingers:: go on!

I had the most bizarre and unexpected experience this weekend. I was reading the interweb when I accidentally chanced upon one of those websites that documents romantic dalliances of the naked kind between consenting (18+ only of course) gentlemen.

Sure it took me 16 click-throughs to get there, but they were all accidental.

Anyhoo, there was a section specialising in 'amateurs', which I guess means people who still have their training wheels on. So I'm accidentally clicking through, and there in full glory is a picture of one of my ex boyfriends from a bunch of years ago. Someone I dated for two years. On the interweb! Being all dirty, dirty and naughty and stuff! Before you say "it might not have been him", trust me it definately was. His face was very clear, very wet but very clear, and there is no doubt it was him.

Shocking! I wonder if I still have his number?...

If It's Monday, It's Recappin' Time

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. It's Monday morning down here in Oz, which for some of you guys makes us so tomorrow, you know?

Monday morning means weekend recap time, although in the grand scheme of things this was a pretty quiet weekend:

• I decided that I was on such a roll with my walking 2 hours a day to and from work stizz, that I did plenty of walking this weekend to keep the momentum going. I always have my camera with me, so walking means picture taking. I uploaded a few to my Flickr page already, with more to come.
  
• I went to see an advance screening of Rize, a documentary film about 'clown dancing' and 'krumping'. What an amazing film! I was really dragged into the experience of these of kids, an experience which is soooo many worlds away from my own. The dancing itself was amazing, but I was more caught up in the charisma of the kids involved and their determination to find an outlet that's more positive than the traditional gang culture, but one that still satisfied their need for community.
  
• Housework, housework, housework. Boring, boring, boring.
  
• I went into the Buddhist centre and did a few hours of data entry, unpacked a shipment of new books that arrived for the bookshop (just like Christmas!) and wrote a few new orders for the bookshop (just like shopping!).

So, not a huge amount of social contact this weekend, but it was very relaxing and recharged the batteries a bit.

More Bougainvillea Goodness

Bougainvillea
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

When I was out walking yesterday I saw this bright fuscia Bougainvillea growing on the front fence of this terrace house, and was struck by the contrast of it with the creamy yellow colour of the house.

Bougainvillea On Stucco

Bougainvillea On Stucco
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

A bit more Flickr-y goodness to brighten your day.

I love the hot, bright colours of bougainvillea. This pic comes from the front of a house a few streets over from mine. Bougainvillea seems to love the climate around Sydney, and they brighten up the streets of my neighbourhood fantastically, with their variety of colours.

Comedy Gold

One hand, poor doggie, but on the other hand high-larious!

Keep Me In Your Prayers

:::shhh:::

Ok ::shhh:: I have to whisper this ok, so nobody hears. A real cutie pie just showed up in our office for an appointment with my boss; natty suit, expensive (read 'homo') haircut, well scrubbed complexion that speaks of quality skincare... really quite handsome.

OK :::shhhh::: here's the thing, if you have any religion at all, or if you don't just like cross your fingers or make a wish on Paris Hilton's firstborn, or whatever, but I want you to pray that he's here for a job interview. This office needs another 'mo, especially a cute one.

:::shhh::: Ok, thanks. Bye.

[UPDATED: Oh, my people! THE POWER OF PRAYER! His name is Mark, he's English, definately a 'mo, he starts on Monday. Thank you Jeebus, Xenu, Britney, Kylie...]

Colour Me 'Emotionally Neutral'!

Today has been a bit bleh so far, busy with re-doing a bunch of work that was done over a year ago (not by me) and then lost, feeling a bit tired, a bit dull etc. I remembered that Yaniboy posted a couple of days ago about biorhythms, so I thought that for a bit of fun maybe I'd go and have a look at my biorhythm.

Result: 'Physical' at the lowest point, at the bottom of the cycle. 'Intellectual' on the downward trend and almost at the lowest point. 'Emotional' smack bang on the 'zero line' or neutral. Now, I should add that like these folks I'm not a believer. Open minded, but not convinced that there is any science behind it.

Still, whether it's the power of suggestion or pure coincidence, the scores do kind of fit. Anyone care to try for yourself?

Perks That Perk

My boss just went out to run a few errands and came back with chocolate bars for the entire office. My poison? A giant King Size one of these. More addictive than crack, I swear. Um hello, diet?

Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

It looks like I might have a replacement flatmate by the start of the year. My old flatmate moved out a few months back, about the time that a raise in my salary meant that keeping the house to myself in the short-term was feasible. Expensive, but feasible.

My last flatmate I found through a share registry type place, and although he was OK, he misrepresented himself a bit. My future flatmate is not only a friend, but someone who actually is easy going and who I trust. He also reads this blog, we actually met and became friends through this blog. It'll reduce my rent and bills to a level that will allow me to save enough money to go and do a month of study at a monastery in Nepal late next year, and also helps him out as he needs to leave where he is currently as the owners are selling.

Sounds like a win/win situation.

[Updated: I decided to excise the comments I made about my ex flatmate in this post, we no longer speak and it isn't really fair for me to vent about him and not allow him the courtesy of defending himself.]

Elizabeth's Bookshop Sign

Elizabeth's Bookshop Sign
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

Words of wisdom outside Elizabeth's Bookshop in Newtown.

(Note the dog pee. Everyone's a critic...)

; )

Next year, if this 'Halloween thing' really takes off here in Oz, I am totally carving this.

[Link via kottke.]

Better Living Through Technology

I got out of work a couple of hours early yesterday, after the 'horse race that stops the nation' had run it's course. So, I had some time to kill and decided on a little retail therapy.

Spare time + empty stores = someone stop me before I spend my entire paycheque!

A couple of hours later, and a couple of hundred dollars later, I headed home with (as Michael says) something that "frantically pulses in my mouth for two minutes" plus a little something to trim 'the goat' with. (An extra sweetener, after taking the 'allways negotiable pricing' sales pitch to heart, I asked about a better deal for cash at Bing Lee and they lopped a substantial $27 off the $149 asking price for the Braun Sonic Complete 'oral hygiene system'. Cool.)

Hygiene and grooming, or as I like to think of it, an investment in me.

Sydney Weblogger Meet-Up

Last night I went to my first Sydney blogger meet-up. Since I found out about the monthly get togethers a few months back I hadn't been able to make any of them because of conflicting plans. I'm not sure exactly when these meet-ups started, but from my understanding they have been going for quite a while. The venue was recently changed from an 'Irish' pub called Kelly's to the Coopers Arms Hotel on King St, Newtown, to take advantage of the Tuesday night trivia night at the Coopers Arms.

We did well in the trivia, coming second from a field of about 10 teams and winning a $30 bar tab. We only lost by a couple of points (sorry about the 'carnation' answer guys). Not surprisingly a team of bloggers does very well on pop culture and any obscure nerdy questions. So we didn't actually win but we can hold our heads high in the knowledge the team who did win only won because they had been given a bonus 5 points by the trivia master, because he liked their name the best.


The crowd starts to build. Sydney blogger meet-up. 1st November, 2005.

I had a really great night. Caught up with some friends who I've known for a long time, before any of us even had blogs, and met a bunch of really nice new people.


The entire gang. Sydney blogger meet-up. 1st November, 2005.

In attendance were:
Back row (from left to right) Morgan, Mark, Glen, Vi & Spleenie (with hat), me (with what looks like an oddly pink face), Rob (handsome face hidden somewhat) and Harry. Front row, James, Coz and Amanda.

Interesting factoids; I've known James for years through mutual friends and I've known Coz, her sister Amanda, her husband Rob, and Harry for years as well. I only found out that Amanda had a blog, and that Coz, Rob & Harry have a group blog, earlier this year. Small world, huh.

[Updated: If you are interested in coming along to future Sydney blogger meet-ups, then check out Glen, Mark & Amanda's Sydney Blog Meetup for postings about future events. It looks like future meet-ups will be on the first Tuesday of each month, but check in advance for details.]

[YET FURTHER UPDATED: Ooooh, check out Mark's post about the meet-up. Dude totally harshes me about my 'carnation' mistake! Hmmm, 'darn queers', huh? Alrighty then. Winged monkeys to the ready! Fly, my pretties!]

Freak Like Me

Freak Like Me
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

A little inspired Newtown grafitti for you. I count myself in this number by the way, fresh air and open spaces are wonderful but give me the crush of humanity to get me veins thrumming.

Boos And Yays

Australia grinds to a halt for a horse race later today folks, and so in preparation I ground to a halt work-wise at about 9.00 am. To do anything less would be un-Australian. Mental processes are likewise sluggish, so I'll take the path of least resistance and give you a Yays! and Boos! list for today:

• Passing a beautiful young man in a gorgeous navy suit on the street this morning (yay!) and spotting that he had tan shoes on (boo!).
  
• Walking to work (yay!) and half way it started raining (boo!).
  
• Running into a friend during said walk to work and discovering that while on holidays in Thailand her boyfriend (who is my old flatmate) proposed and they are now engaged (yay!).
  
• Finally understanding that I am like the last single person in my social network (boo!) - ok that's an exaggeration but sometimes it feels like it.
  
• Good coffee (YAY! - never a boo! let's face it).
  
• Tonight is a Sydney blogger meet-up, which I can actually go to for a change (yay!). Coopers Arms Hotel at 221 King St, Newtown from about 6-6.30 onwards.

I think the Yays! have it.

From The 'World's Worst Kept Secrets' File.

Star Trek's George "Mr Sulu" Takei comes out.

World says, "Well, duh."

[Link via kottke.]

All Hallows

Last night was my first ever Halloween party and it was a blast! Web-Goddess and The Snook very kindly invited me to a Halloween bash at their house, along with a bunch of their friends that included other Sydney bloggers. Kris and Rodd went with a very cool Iron Chef theme for their costumes, Kris as the Hiroyuki 'The Delacroix of French Cuisine' Sakai and Rodd as Chairman Kaga (complete with yelow capsicum, for the biting of). Kris turned out to be just as nice and funny as I expected from reading her blog.

I had a really great time, ate some very cool 'creeptastic' food Kris had gone to all the trouble of making, discovered the US *cough*delicacy*cough* Marshmellow Peeps (err, a bit yuck), and enjoyed the music and conversation. Some of the other Interweb cool kids that were there included Gadgetgirl & Yank In Oz and Helen of Spycore (complete with Blythe dolls).

Good times. Thanks for invite Kris & Rodd!

Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones...

As I mentioned yesterday, I scored an invite to EstogenFest 2005 Adrienne's baby shower and everyone was asked to make and bring a quilt square in 'warm blues' as a surprise for the mum to be. I hadn't ever done any quilting before (but of course, so wanted to), and it was fun. Getting all those parallelogram points to line up exactly tapped into that deep, dark, Martha-esque part of my psyche that has VIRGO stamped all over it.


My finished patch. 29th October, 2005.

I originally just bought the two mottled blues, and it looked kind of 'meh'. Then I found the fabric with the tiny orange bones on it (Halloweenish no?) and fell in love.


The collection starts to grow. October 29th, 2005.

It was a really fun project, and as you'd expect the end results varied wildly - in a good way. I think the final quilt will be wonderful, all that fun, care and time spent by friends to make something. (Miss 'World Peace & A Speedboat' and her mum made the really cute dog and elephant patches. Which I coveted secretly.)

It was a fun afternoon, presents for the baby were exchanged, opinions on how the quilt should be arranged were offered, there were cucumber sandwiches and Pimm's Cup. Good times.

Just When You Thought I Couldn't Get Any Gayer...

...I just got back from the fabric store, where I bought quilting fabric, because I'm the only guy going to a Baby Shower tomorrow afternoon and we are all asked to take along a quilt square to be assembled into a quilt for the mother-to-be.

I mean, really.

My Town Newtown

I frequently mention my 'hood of Newtown in my posts, and the pictures I post on this blog are often of things I've seen around the streets of this little enclave. Newtown is a cool blend of the down at heel and the high heeled. The second biggest gay community in Sydney, a big universtity crowd, old folks who have lived here forever and now lots of 'two income & one child' young families. Once off the main streets, Newtown is mostly a warren of narrow streets and back lanes with either two storey terrace houses or narrow fronted single storey 'workers' cottages' (like mine).

I just joined the Newtown photo pool on Flickr, so if you're interested in a more detailed and varied look at this little place I call 'home' why not check it out.

Does This Constitute A Blog Entry?

So far I have held off posting anything today, because, well, frankly there isn't much to post about. (Does posting about not having anything to post about create some sort of existentialist conundrum? Or just make me a 16 year old LiveJournal user?)

So, here is a brief recap of today with my subjective Interest Factor scores:

• Woke at 3am and couldn't get back to sleep. (C-)
  
• Read the internets and cruised for online porn until 6.30am (A+, remember this is my point of view)
  
• Walked to work, weather already hot at 7.30am (B)
  
• Spent a greater % of time over at Pipedreams making thinly veiled/not veiled at all penis and bum comment referrences, than actually working (A)
  
• Still haven't reconciled loan account, should have finished days ago (D-)
  
• Boring lunch, 2 minor (and not blog worthy) budget DVD purchases (C+)
  
• Most fave bloggers from the Northern Hemisphere now fast asleep, curse fate as blog commenting grinds to a halt (D)
  
• Desultory work attempts (F)
  
• Compose lame blog entry instead, consider hating myself then decide can't be bothered (C)

Metal Sculpture

Metal Sculpture
Originally uploaded by Other Andrew.

I took this picture of an anodised metal sculpture at World Square on my way into work yesterday. The metal is a purplish colour that changes through magenta and bronze depending on the light.

[This is also an experiment in picture posting from my Flickr page, as I was curious to see how it would turn out. Verdict: I'm not wild about the size of the picture or the black border, both things I can probably change - although, so help me, if I touch it I will break it. Clicking the pic takes you to the picture's Flickr page and a larger version, which is somewhat cool.]

5 Reasons To Be Cheerful

1. Another rockin' walk into work this morning. Sure it's hot and I was schwitzing like a pig when I got into work, but quality deodorant saves the day.
   
2. A lunchtime purchase of the DVD of Broadway: The American Musical. Show tunes!
   
3. New office, new flatscreen monitor, new printer & new scanner. My veins are thrumming with the technology that surrounds me.
   
4. Delicious strawberries.
   
5. Noticing that one of the über-macho workmen installing the glass doors on the front of our building was slyly checking out exactly the same business suited hotties I was. Gotcha!

If I Had To Describe My Outlook On Life...

Detail of mural outside the Humanist Society headquarters. Sydney, 25th October, 2005.

...well, this is would be a pretty good place to start.

Unexpected Results

At lunchtime today I was tooling around on my new playground Flickr. My Friend Flickr. I thought it might be fun to do some people searches and see if anybody I know (or whose blogs I read) had a Flickr page. I already knew that a couple of my favourite guys from the interweb were Flickr users, and I've already wasted valuable work time spent some 'free time' looking at their photos.

So, it has probably become apparent that I have a certain, shall we call it an 'unresolved internet crush' (for want of a better term). I don't know if you've ever tried it, but it's really hard to stalk long distance. So I tried a little people search on both his real name and his blogging name, with unexpected (and frankly quite scary) results.

Whoa. Michael, is there something you're not telling me?

Pep In My Step

Waking up a half hour earlier than usual + a comparatively good night of (drug free) sleep + bright and sunny morning, tending to hot = decision to walk to work.

I did the approximately one hour walk from my front door to work this morning and despite getting here with a bad dose of 'pink face', and some impressive sweat stains, it was very enjoyable. I sometimes walk home from work, but this morning I decided to reverse that and start the day with some exercise instead. I took a few snaps on the way, and tried a few new side streets to get away from trudging along main roads for a while. Nice.

Today is going to be quite warm so I slapped on some sunscreen before heading out. Note to self, like any Max Factor saleslady would encourage, go for full coverage. I now have a very fetching pink spot on my forehead where I missed with the suncreen. I burn like unwatched toast. Seriously, I just have to look out the window and I burn.

But I digress. Walking to work. Maybe I'll make this morning walking thing a regular routine like the other cool kids do. Is anyone else in the habit of morning walking?

Lost In Music

Last night was a big night for music down here in Oz. We had the Australian music awards The ARIAS. We had the Motown week on Australian Idol. Over on SBS we had the 50 Years of Eurovision special.

I only watched the second half of Idol, as I forgot that this week it was on earlier than usual. It was surprisingly good. This season has been a bit 'meh' for me, none of the contestants were really drawing my interest in that much. Those that were consistently giving good performances were (for the most part) doing material that wasn't that appealing to me, or had a style that I didn't dig, or were really not showing much growth. That seems to have changed though, because of the performances I saw, and from the recaps of the others, it looked like everyone upped it a few notches last night, and Daniel in particular seems to have come ahead in leaps and bounds.

The Arias were kind of excruciating, but I'd say that about most music award shows. Too much hooting and air punching for me. I was channel surfing between it, the Eurovision special and the very entertaining Casanova* mini-series on the ABC. (Stupid broken video recorder.) The Arias opened with a live performance of "Voodoo Child" by dance outfit Rogue Traders, a risky move given the disasterous live renditions by dance acts in previous years (*cough*Madison Avenue*cough*). All the awards that were based on single or album Cd sales showed just how dominant the Australian Idol marketing juggernaut is.

I only caught bits of the Eurovision special, what with the channel surfing and my poor SBS reception and all, but the bits I did see were either completely fabulous ('80s flashbacks and mangled English lyrics) or turned my brain to mush so that it started leaking out of my ears. I'm a fan of the Eurovision song contest, but this special was like someone upped the dial labelled 'cheese' and set the dial marked 'excitement' to off.

On balance, not a bad Sunday evening in though.

[*Having only seen David Tennant in photos before I was really surprised at how appealing, and well sexy, he was in this mini series. I'm a sucker for cheekiness I guess. I hope this bodes well for his role as the new Dr Who.]

A Bracing Start To The Week

This morning I woke up about 10 minutes before my alarm was due to go off, which is a pretty standard practice for me, but then I noticed a little while later that my alarm didn't ring. A glance at the clock showed - no power. I got up and tried the lights, because on a few occasions the surge protector on my home has tripped the fuse, but no go. A quick trip outside to the fusebox showed that all looked fine.

One of my favourite pastimes is doubting myself, so my next thought was whether I'd forgotton to pay the electricity bill. Nope, I would have received a reminder at least.

Just after I leapt about in the shower washing my hair in cold water and trying to do the quickest (yet most effective) wash possible, I heard the handsome bearish guy who lives behind my house and his neighbour discussing the fact that they had no power. OK then. I put a pot of water on the gas stove to heat, so I could have a shave (I normally use an electric) but 5 minutes later the power was back on. After I'd reset the thermostat on my instantaneous hot water heater, I was back in business.

All this prompted me to think, was there ever to come a time when electricity wasn't available, or some other apocolyptic scenario such as a sun spot enduced global power surge thingie fried all electric appliances, my grooming would be shot to hell.

Kiss Me Hardy

October 22nd, 2005.

Last night my friends John & Judy hosted a dinner to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. It was a great evening, everyone had a lovely time and went to the effort to dress up and get into the spirit of the occasion.

(The flash on my camera is a little harsh, so none of pics turned out all that well. However, here is a little sampling to give you an idea of what the night was like even though the quality isn't great.)


The motley crew of the HMS Victory. 22nd October, 2005.

I learnt that 19th C food is for the most part very nice, and 19th C ideas of what passes for 'cocktails' are for the mostl part bad... and lethal. After dinner we played Trafalgar Trivia, which turned out to be very hard, but as extra points were given for creative and outlandish answers (my specialty) I at least won a couple of prizes. I now own one very cool pirate eyepatch.


A bunch of handsome sailors. 22nd October, 2005.


The 'Three Graces' (and One Munchkin). 22nd October, 2005.

That look on my face, yes that one in the pic above, that there is my special 'photo face'. It's the look of a man who hates having his photo taken. However, I know that I would get into all sorts of trouble if I left myself out of all the pictures, so there it is. *sigh*

As I said, it was a fun night, and I spent all afternoon helping Judy cook and prepare and then serve the dinner, so it was nice to see evryone enjoy themselves so much. Good times.

CostumeWatch 2005

Have you ever seen that movie, the one with Bette Midler I think, where the cops go to her apartment and think it has already been trashed by the thieves or murderers (or whatever), but she says "No, it's always like this"?... Well, that's kind of my situation right now. You see, I'm making a costume for the Trafalgar Dinner that I'm going to tomorrow night. A 19th C naval uniform. It's very pretty, but lots of work. 34 motherfunking brass buttons on the coat alone (and consequently the same number of a-hole buttonholes), and because I am a verchachte anal historical accurist I sewed the entire shirt by hand, and even did a minute hand rolled edge on the 'stock' of the shirt (the long bow tie thingie that men's 19th C shirts have - think Mr Darcy style), all like 13-14 feet of it...

Anyhoo, my point is you see (I do have one), I've been in The Zone. Now, when I'm in The Zone, well, bins go unemptied, the floor gets covered in snipped off threads and scraps of fabrics, and ::ouchfuckouch:: the occasional pin and needle make their way into the carpet, pizza boxes pile up (cooking just takes too much valuable time). However, I kind of like The Zone. The Zone allows for all sorts of bad behaviour. The Zone allows for unwashedness sometimes, for not answering the phone, for giving full reign to the obssessiveness that yes that button will have to come off and be done again because it's clearly 2mm out of line with its neighbours...

Is there a 12 step for this?

The Apostrophe Police Files

*sigh* The new sign for what has always been known as, until now, the Bowlers' Club. York St, Sydney. October 20, 2005.

For Bodhi, with love.

There May Yet Be Tears

I might just be pre-menstrual, or maybe it's because today would have been my Dad's birthday if he was still alive, or maybe it's because Monday was the 20th anniversary of my Mum's death, or maybe it's because I still have a rotten sinus infection and now an ear infection... but I find myself walking a bit of an emotional tightrope today. One false step and it's tears. I'm pretty emotionally self-sufficient and stable, so it's unusual for me to feel raw like this, you know without watching Oprah anyway. Anyhoo, it is what it is.

The negative stuff aside, I've done my usual surfing of the internets superwebway this morning (ok, actually a little more than usual - but faced with reconciling a share loan plan, what would you rather?) and it made me reflect on how grateful I am for the connections that this media allows. I mean, on one level it's like having a huge bunch of pen pals. The fact that I might never meet any of the people that I like to read, and share comments with, doesn't make the friendships that I've formed online any less real for me. It's very, very cool.

I think I'm about to hug my monitor now...

Comments

I just had to change the format of my comments page temporarily, because I seem to be having a problem with the comments pop up screen, for some as yet unknown reason. It's not my pc or server issue, because it seems to work fine when I visit other Blogger blogs, but maybe I broke something on my template when I added the Flickr stuff on my sidebar yesterday. Stupid HTML.

Anyhoo, comments appears to be working in the amended format pro tem so go at it kids. Without your comments, how am I supposed to know you care?

Images Of Buddha

I'm obsessively working my way through the 7,592 (at present) images tagged Buddha on Flickr. There's some gorgeous pictures, and I'm especially enjoying the images of monks making a sand mandala, and some pics of the giant Buddha and Monastery on Lantau Island in Hong Kong, which I visited a few years ago.

A Quick Ride On The MemeWagon

I cannot resist a)tagging along with the cool kids and b)being a late adopter, so here is my stab at the 7 Things Meme:

7 things I want to do before I die

1. Discover the secret to immortality and eternal youth
   
2. Climb all the towers of Gaudi's "Sagrada Familia"
   
3. Make out with Jake Gyllenhaal
   
4. Be the new Prada muse
   
5. Make someone really, really happy
   
6. Walk the streets of Venice
   
7. Solve world peace, hunger etc

7 things I can't do:

1. Wear my old 28" waist jeans
   
2. Do a smart and sassy turn, turn, kick, turn
   
3. Roll my tongue
   
4. Convincingly feign interest in team sports (unless they involve semi nakedness)
   
5. Eat popcorn
   
6. Sing in tune
   
7. Remember where I put my [insert object here]

7 things that attract me to the opposite same sex:

1. Pretty eyes, wicked mouth, dirty mind
   
2. Strong hands and great arms
   
3. Strength and vulnerability, Yin and Yang, Rodgers and Hart
   
4. A slammin' bod, slim hips and a great butt (what, you expected depth?)
   
5. Humour and kindness
   
6. An appropriate use of 'product'
   
7. An extensive vocabulary

7 things I say most often:

1. I'm as full as a fat lady's sock
   
2. Sh*t, f*ck - all the old school cuss words
   
3. Don't you think that should have an apostrophe?
   
4. Call the fashion police
   
5. That's ugly as a hat full of arseholes
   
6. He's cute
   
7. Something inappropriate

7 celebrity crushes:

1. Jake Gyllenhaal
   
2. Chris Evans
   
3. Jeremy Sheffield
   
4. Brodie Holland
   
5. Michael (c'mon dude, you're a celebrity!)
   
6. Adam Hills
   
7. Sister Wendy Beckett

Anyone care to play?

Time To Get Fat, Stat!

Last night I was watching The Biggest Loser on tv, when they dropped the bombshell of all bombshells. The show is coming to do a local version in Australia. As if that weren't exciting enough, the two trainers from the original US show will be here to scream, cajole and get all intense on the contestants' asses.

So I need to put on like hundreds of pounds fast. I need to get up close and sweaty with trainer Bob, the sexy Nashville accented, lean and lanky, tattoo'd streak of hotness that he is. I need Bob to take me in hand, show me some discipline and make me work for it. After weeks of wimpering and whining, of hollering and hooting, and enduring the embarassment of shirtless weigh-ins on a scale big enough for an elephant (and yet oddly slow to calculate my weight after swinging up and down until after the commercial break) I will then reward him with an ugly duckling to swan like transformation. Bob will love me.

I'm off to programme my speed dial for Domino's.

On The Nighstand

Just to show that I have loftier interests than internet porn or watching The Biggest Loser, here's a quick rundown of my current reading list:

1. Re-reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire. I love this novel. I have a 'thing' for The Wizard of Oz and I love this imaginative re-telling of the events surrounding The Wizard of Oz, but told from the Wicked Witch of the West's point of view.
   
2. All queued up and ready to go just this past weekend I received a copy of the sequel to Wicked, Son Of A Witch, as a belated birthday present. As soon as I finish Wicked I'll be diving right in.
   
3. I've just started the biography "Tibet: My Story" by the sister of His Holiness the Dalai Lama Jetsun Pema. Amazing stuff.
   
4. I saw the movie 'Serenity' again yesterday, and because I am nothing if not a fanboy, when I was in Galaxy Books and happened to spot the Serenity novelisation and just had to buy it. Looks like it'll be beach reading, but any Firefly stizz can't be half bad.

What's on your nightstand?

The Ubiquitous Monday Recap

I was really struggling with motivation and a rotten sinus infection last week, so at short notice I asked for Friday and today off as a couple of days of holiday leave. My friend Stephen is in town for a few days from Brisbane (where he moved recently) and so taking today off also gives me some time to hang out with him some more.

I was kind of flat and uninterested at work for much of last week, and when I asked for two days leave it must have sent them some sort of message because on Friday I answered the door to find a delivery guy standing there with a great big fruit basket. (Nice basket, I thought.) My employers sent it with a card saying 'Look after yourself'. Which was very sweet, but kind of weirded me out a bit because it made me wonder what sort of impression I had made on them last week. Do you know what I mean? I wasn't sick sick, just feeling physically flat and tired in the way that sinus infections can make you feel. It was a lovely gesture but just seemed a bit out of proportion. Anyway, I'm grateful... and does anyone want a mango?

I hung around the house and didn't do much on Friday, then went over to Bodhi's crib in the evening to watch some DVDs. On Saturday I did some volunteer work at my Buddhist centre, caught up with my friend Stephen in the afternoon and then went to see The Producers in the evening. Yesterday I had another fairly chilled out day, went into the Buddhist centre again to unpack more books and then worked a bit on my costume for the Trafalgar Dinner next weekend. In the afternoon I went and helped my friend Judy plan the shopping list and order of prep for all the food for the Trafalgar Dinner (all 19th c recipes), and we worked on some of the decorations. Today I'm off to catch up with Stephen again before he heads back to Brisbane tomorrow.

So it has been a nice few days, a blend of restful and social. Oh, and some nice fruit.

"The Producers", The 'Best' Show On Broadway?

I went to see the Mel Brooks musical The Producers on Saturday night, with a big bunch of people that was organised through a friend of Mikey's (the lovely ex). It's playing at the Lyric Theatre at the Star City casino complex. I had never actually set foot inside the casino before, and yech it's horrible. I don't have a gambling bone in my body (must be the Scots in me) and felt no compulsion to have a try, and I found the atmosphere really strange. Aside from that the decor was hectic and ugly, with a walk through grotto here, a 70's style bar there, giant fishtanks over there, neon everywhere... it was like it had been designed by a committee (of people with ADD).

It was quite a pleasant evening, we started off at the Astral Bar on the 17th floor of the hotel. The views are absolutely spectacular, and I recommend it as absolutely the best place in Sydney to enjoy an $8 mineral water. One of the guys ordered 3 cocktails and got very little change from $100. Having said that, we did have a pleasant drink and I met some very nice new people.

Anyway, the show. It has been running in Sydney since May this year, so has had quite a long and still very successful run. It was almost an entirely full house the night we went. Surprisingly though, I thought the show was a bit crap. Some of the audience were almost rolling in the aisles with laughter, while we all looked at each as if someone had just told a joke we didn't get.

The musical numbers were fine, and a few of them like 'Little Old Ladyland' and 'Springtime For Hitler' are excellent, but most of the linking story pieces were, well, cheesy and flat. I'm a fan of Mel Brooks, so I know and love his usual 'cheese factor,' but I was surprised how lacking in cleverness I found this show. So much of it relied on lame 'tit and bum' jokes that fell flat and seemed a tad desperate for laughs in this context. Maybe it was the direction, because everything was played super broadly, but I think it was also a big mistake to have one of the characters break character and talk to the audience about current events in the middle of the show.

Anyway, it was pleasant enough, but I could think of more fun ways to blow the $100 it cost me for the ticket, and for me it fell well short of the "Best Show On Broadway" advertising tagline. General consensus after the show was that it was quite a disappointment.

The Days And Years Of Being Yourself

I just had a very amusing phone call from my friend Bodhi. Bodhi likes to celebrate milestones, and today is 1,000 days since he came out of the closet. The phone call was to tell me that he had SMS'd our friend Rabbit to remind him of the milestone, and Rabbit had SMS'd back "How long before they put you back in?".

It got me to thinking about how long it is since I came out. I don't have a clear date like Bodhi does. I told my school friends first, when I was 15. About 4 years after that my sisters found out, just before I was going to tell them, because I ran into one of them in a gay bar. (She isn't gay, she was there with friends.) By that time I was shacked up with a boyfriend, who emigrated to Australia so we could be together. I don't think it was a surprise to anyone.

I can hardly remember a time when nobody knew I was gay. I can't even imagine my friends, family and workmates not knowing anymore. So I guess I came out 26 years ago, or somewhere around 9,500 days ago. 9,500 days of being myself.

Spicks & Specks

This will be a bit boring for anyone who doesn't live in Australia, so apologies in advance, but I just have to share my obsession with the Aussie ABC tv show Spicks and Specks.

I will stay home on Wednesday nights so that I don't miss it, and I haven't done that for a tv show in ages. I don't think I have caught an episode yet that has been less than hysterical. The talent co-ordinators on this show do a great job, by blending comedians and musicians they pretty much always ensure that at least 2 out of three people on each panel are funny and the depth of the music knowledge from everyone can be really surprising. What can be a nice surprise is that sometimes the musicians are as funny as the comedians.

I love the anarchic nature of the segments, and the loose and funny feeling of the show. This Wikipedia entry has a pretty good summary of the show and some of my favourite segments. Who knew that it would be so hard to tell the difference between an unflattering picture of a musican, and a flattering picture of a serial killer?

Oh, and the fact that host Adam Hills just oozes congeniality, while being so very funny, is such a plus for me. What with this and his 'regular guy' cuteness, he had me at "Hello, I'm Adam Hills".

Feel My Pain

I'm labouring under a killer headache and really bad sinus pain today, feeling weary and flat and a just a wee bit mean as shit around the edges. I'm at work, but planning my escape (unfortunately no sheets to knot together, and a couple of skanky tea towels from the kitchen just won't reach down 11 floors).

If my mood and headache improve I might post later today, otherwise play nicely and don't break anything.

Tiny Tales

I'm in love with the work of photographer Lori Nix. She creates, and then photographs, painstaking miniature dioramas that are usually drenched with a strange sense of foreboding. Abandoned cars in the desert, lightning stiking a tent full of Christian fundamentalists, a giant wave crashes over two tiny life jackets bobbing in the ocean... They remaind me of the dollhouse dioramas of murder cases that were used as teaching tools for forensic science students.

There is something about the construction of these that appeals to the craft nerd in me. When I was a child my grandfather had a huge model railway that took up an entire shed in the back yard. My grandmother and I were in charge of doing all the scenery, as my grandfather was only really interested in the trains themselves. His model trains were all steam trains, not modern locomotives, so we created tiny villages that were stuck somewhere around the 1950's or 60's. I remember lots of fun Saturday afternoons with my grandmother creating tiny corner shops, tree lined streets and flower filled village railway stations. Good times.

Oh, and not a single abandoned car or looming tidal wave in sight.

5 Interesting Things I Did This Weekend

1. Kissed a man in the supermarket. Twice*.
   
2. Popped Bodhi's reality tv cherry by making him watch last night's Australian Idol 'Big Band' episode
   
3. Got my costume for the Trafalgar Dinner about one third finished
   
4. Discovered I have blog readers in South Africa, France, Germany and Mexico
   
5. Went blonde (ish).

* Same man! What, you think I'm easy?

You Tarzan, Me Dumbstruck

When I posted the other day about Collingwood Australian Rules footballer Brodie on "Dancing With The Stars", Michael quite rightly suggested that photographic proof was required. I'm all about sharing.


Brodie descends on a vine. Who knew tiger print lycra could look so good?


Does this picture really require a caption? I thought not.

Oh, you're welcome.

[Big thanks to the lovely Yaniboy for the heads up to the source of these pics.]

The 41 Year Old Adolescent

I'm just back from a trip out to the outer western suburbs of Sydney, almost to edge of the map (where the dragons are). My boss and I went out to give a presentation to a new client who owns a string of fashion stores around Australia. The presentation itself went well and we drove back in quite a relaxed mood.

On the way back to the city my boss and I were chatting about life in general, and it tipped over into a weirdly parental conversation. Keep in mind that my boss is only about 5 years my senior, but her life involves kids, her own business and probably at least one mortgage. At one point she said "Maybe it's time to grow up", not in a nasty way, but in the context of taking on responsibilities.

It sort of got me to thinking about how other people might view my lifestyle. I'm single, don't own a house or car, have only small debts, no pets or kids... I certainly do feel like I'm a grown up, but I guess in many ways I have engineered my life so I can live in permanent adolescence. That is, if you take these sorts of responsibilities as signs of adulthood.

I'm interested in simplifying my life, not getting too attached to things, and in giving myself some mental 'room to move'. I think it's interesting that once a journalist asked one of the most senior Lamas of my Buddhist order for one piece of advice that would be of use to readers. I think he was expecting something profound and mystical. The Lama's answer was "Simplify your life."

It sounds easy and simple, but when it is so easy to get caught up in doing more, having more, keeping up, filling up time with distractions... it actually takes quite a bit of effort and resolve. At least, that's my take on it.

I think the Lama was skillful in that his statement was the simplest way of saying a whole lot of things. That we should put our concentration into what is really important. To stop getting so caught up in ego, in acquiring things, in fearing that we will lose what we have, or not get what we want (or get what we don't want), or thinking that things are permanent, and that we are permanent.

Anyway, I'm not advocating throwing everything away but I do think that being too attached mentally to all this stuff just brings stress and anxiety. I think it's interesting to consider the mental freedom that comes from having simplified your life.

The Eternal Question: "What To Wear?"

Put your thinking caps on. I have two costume parties to go to, only a week apart. (Ideally I would be able to wear the same costume to both, but unfortunately that isn't going to be possible.) I know what I'll be wearing to the first party, but I'm a bit short on ideas for the second one.

Sewing is no problem for me. I have done a lot of costuming over the years, including having done some freelance costuming for drag queens no less, and am a trained milliner, so I know my way around the Janome. Time is going to be a huge factor though, because the first party is on the 21st of October and the second party is for Halloween a week later.

The first party I'm going to is a Trafalgar dinner, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. Some friends of mine are mad keen naval history fans and big fans of Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe" series, and so decided to celebrate the event with a dinner. Everyone will be in costume and the food and drink are all going to authentic early 19th C recipes.

I've already started a costume for this, and it's a huge amount of work. I'm making an early 19th C naval Lieutenant's uniform; white shirt with jabot, white waistcoat, navy coloured tailcoat with white piping and cream breeches. Well, I have started it I should say... I have half a shirt so far!

What I'm a bit stumped on is the Halloween costume. I've scored an invite to a certain well known Sydney blogger's Halloween party, my first ever Halloween Party. What does one wear to a party where a) you haven't ever actually 'met' anybody, including the hosts (so it's hard to know what to expect) and b) the 'hip and funny' standard is bound to be high.

Ideas, people!

Blogger Issues

Sorry if you have had problems connecting to this site today, I noticed a little while back that all Blogger hosted blogs seemed to be down for a while. I'm investigating moving this blog to my own domain, but in the meantime thanks for your patience. As much as I heart Blogger (it's pretty cool for a free service, let's face it) it does seem to have had more downtime than usual just of late.

Maybe There's Something To This Tarot Thing?

I am The Lovers The Lovers often refers to a relationship that is based on deep love - the strongest force of all. The relationship may not be sexual, although it often is or could be. More generally, the Lovers can represent the attractive force that draws any two entities together in a relationship - whether people, ideas, events, movements or groups. For a full description of your card and other goodies, please visit LearnTarot.com

Alright! I got your attractive force right here baby! Oh and you better believe it's sexual...

[Updated: Oops, I accidentally trimmed off the link to the What Tarot Are You? site by mistake.]

Telephone Conversation During Last Night's Episode Of "Dancing With The Stars: Series 3"

Collingwood Aussie Rules footballer (and hottie) Brodie Holland & his partner Alana take to the stage to dance the Salsa. Brodie descends on a rope vine, wearing nothing but a pair of skin-tight leopard print lycra pants. His torso is quite spectacular.

my phone rings

Me: "Hello?"
Mikey, the lovely ex: "Are you watching Dancing With The Stars?"
Me: "Holy CRAP!"
Mikey, the lovely ex: [laughs] "Exactly!"

What Is The Sound Of One Blogger Blogging?

I spent some time over this weekend futzing with my blog; deleting dud sidebar links (R.I.P. AussieBlogs), adding some new ones, adding some links to my favourite picture posts etc. Tarting and fluffing, basically.

I also happened across a pretty cool set of blogging tips and links called 31 Days To Better Blogging, on a site called ProBlogger. It was an exercise whereby for the 31 days of August 2005 they posted links to tips about blogging written by a variety of bloggers. ProBlogger is primarily aimed at helping people who are interested in blogging as an income earner, something that I'm not into myself, but the majority of the tips are good general blogging tips useful for amatuers (like me) and professionals alike.

Afterwards I did some blog surfing at Globe of Blogs and enjoyed discovering some blogs from far away places. Quite a few of the blogs seemed to have been started and then abandoned after less than 6 months of blogging, something which seemed surprisingly common.

All this got me to thinking about blogging; why people do it, why I do it, why some people seem to be so good at it (and why others, well, frankly aren't), and why some people take a stab at it and then disappear without warning.

The easy questions to answer are the ones about myself. I started blogging pretty much on a whim, and after spending a while haunting the comments of some favourite reads like Freakgirl and Lots of Co. Years before that I used to read some classic 'journal' websites, most of which are now long gone, and I became fascinated by the glimpse into these people's daily lives. Long story short, I thought Why not? Maybe it's fun?

Well, it is. I can see why some people start and then pack it in though. I nearly did about 5 months or so in, when it seemed like I was talking to myself only for a while there. I added a hit counter and discovered that surprisingly I was getting some hits after all. One or two people left me a comment, and then once this became a little bit more interactive my enthusiasm really took off. I think comments are probably one of the reasons that blogs have taken off so much in the past year. It becomes less of an excercise in onanism and more about communication. It's a double edged sword though. I've written some entries that I think are great and they garner no comments at all, and then some entries I think are pretty ordinary and the comments go up to double digits. You just can't estimate what will appeal to readers, and I'm glad I don't try. I would hate to get that self-conscious.

Once picture posting became easier my enthusiasm for this took off even further. I really enjoy picture posts on other people's blogs, it's fun to see these little slices of their world, and I love putting my own pics up.

I have gotten so much more from this blog than I ever anticipated. I've made some very cool new friends, both cyber and now 'real world' (so to speak). Through the medium of the comments I feel a connection with people from all over the world. You guys make me laugh, sometimes make me sad, and frequently make my day. I have a fun outlet for self expression, and something that sometimes brings a bit of mindfulness to my day, a bit of reflection. This has also made me take a stab at improving my photos, and given me an outlet to share the ones I like.

So thank you all, for stopping by and for dropping me a comment every now and then. Those of you who have your own blogs, what is it that keeps you coming back to the keyboard?

The Fabulous Foster Boys

Last night I watched about a half hour of a pretty lame comedy on tv, and I'm watching it thinking to myself you know, that young guy starring oposite Kirsten Dunst really is quite charming, quite cute actually. Then of course the shamestorm descended because he was like 21, and I'm like 41, and technically I could be old enough to be his father, and that officially makes me a Chicken Hawk in the eyes of all thinking individuals, and it is waaaay heading into creepy territory, and... but I digress.

(Just a thought, maybe I'm developing a thing for guys who's eyes are set a bit close together?)

Anyhoo, said cutie is called Ben Foster, as I discovered after consulting the twin oracles of Google and IMDb. He was the suspiciously gay friend/boyfriend of Claire on Six Feet Under for a while, remember? (Thankfully he's cut his ratty collar length hair that he was sporting on Six Feet Under.) He's about 4 or 5 years older now than he was in the film and my, my hasn't he aged well. Oh, and he has an equally handsome brother.


The Foster boys, Ben (L) & Jon (R).

I should say younger brother. Bring on the shamestorm!

The Kransky Sisters

Amongst the sentences I thought I would never say (or type) is "I'm in love with three sisters." I heart the comedic cabaret act the Kransky Sisters.

I think Helen Razer captured some of their appeal well, when she wrote:

The Kransky Sisters have emerged from an Oedipal nightmare to change the songs of Michael Jackson forever. Looking like pill-addled bank tellers circa 1981 and sounding like a sherry-addled Country Women's Association musical auxiliary, the Kransky Sisters cannot be adequately described in text.

If they were a smell, it would be naphthalene flakes and sausage mince. If they were a flavour, it would be lard, tea-cakes and fear.

Alleged natives of unremarkable Queensland burg, Esk, these girls offer a seamless performance and an entirely new spin on drag. Their views on femininity, pop culture and the nuances of gravy are extraordinary and bust-a-gut, shed-a-tear, sputteringly funny.

The Kranskys' world of doilies, repression and vintage Butterrick patterns gone horribly wrong must be seen to be appreciated. This twisted representation of suburban Australian femininity is up there with Dame Edna - they are that good. Don't even think about missing this show.

I would add that the Kransky's also layer in a whiff of old school Eastern European repression, as if they were first generation immigrant children of slightly mad and fearfull parents from Warsaw, or the Russian Steppes.

On last night's episode of In Siberia Tonight they did a cover version of "Intuition" by Jewel, full of tuba highlights, that gave more than a nod in the direction of a Volga folk song, that had me squealing and rolling on the ground with delight. If they bring their comic cabaret show "We Don't Have Husbands" to Sydney again (because I missed it last time) I'm so there.

It's A Miracle!

I'm taking this as a sign that the Baby Jeebus wants me to shop. Sydney, 2005.

Port Wine Magnolia

When the lovely Martin and Lisa where in town a couple of weekends ago, my friend Bodhi and I showed them around Sydney and ended up at one of my favourite places, the Chinese Gardens of Friendship.


Magnolia blossoms, Chinese Garden of Friendship. Sydney, September, 2005.

These blossoms really caught my eye, and I just had to take a picture of them. No really I had to, Bodhi insisted. I'm glad he did, the colour and the light are lovely.