last days of spring

sunday was a lazy day. there was starbucks and writing and watching the rain. there was a wasted two hours watching "the invention of lying" - a disappointing film. and then there was the walk home through carlton gardens which is always beautiful.


i bought my first pg wodehouse book today and look forward to reading his others.

welcome to the world

i received a text from inga as i walked out of the revue. "what a surprise. it's a little lady. we have called her hillevi. she's not bad looking either. obviously takes after me. x" what wonderful news.


the theatre was full to the brim, the lights dimmed and with no announcement the curtains were raised. the dance extravaganza had begun. it was a fun evening of watching the history of jazz dancing. shaz, as always, was my favourite. brilliant show by all.

winnings...

off to the aviary to have a celebratory drink with dave for getting filmVic funds to take one of his features to the next draft. fantastic news that.


i had won tickets to one man's star wars trilogy at the forum, so took nat along. very simple and to the point, no introduction but one man in overalls reciting the rolling titles that we all know and love. hilarious and gob-smacking.

WOOHOO!!

dave just texted he got filmVIC funding to take his feature draft to the next stage. how exciting. very happy for him. me next.

i concur!

"A chief event of life is the day in which we have encountered a mind that startled us," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson.

the sunday before this day

there was starbucks that morning. this announced i'm home, if nothing else. ;)

i was invited over to trish and stuart's in the afternoon for a bbq with a few friends. i think there were around 20 of us crowded into a tiny space in the backyard. a whole lot of fun and i was introduced to pimms. which is my new favourite drink ever and will have to start requesting it when out. yum.

then back into the city in the evening for chris's birthday dinner at the chocolate buddha. a lot more laughing and eating. food, will it ever end?

back to it!

after catching up with some sleep i managed to drag myself out of bed around noon. unpacked, laundered and grocery shopped. yep, i got myself organised. i've got a life to get back too. it's true. whenever i go on holidays from melbourne as much as i enjoy myself i look forward to coming home again. i think this is a good sign, don't you? maybe found somewhere to put down roots. nan would be proud. "at last" she'd say. of course it would be followed with, "there's nothing wrong with boulder". ha!


the evening had me tramming (sigh!) into the city to meet jamie, jill and mark for japanese before heading to the fairfax studio and MEOW MEOW. marija and i caught her act almost two years ago on the esplanade in perth so i was keen to see her again. definitely didn't disappoint. a performance and cabaret artist, she sings in russian, english, french, spanish, german and there's insane crowd surfing, rose throwing and deliberate wardrobe malfunctioning so people can undress her then dress her again. it's all about the love of a good audience and we all definitely loved her.

jamie and i stayed around to walk through the free ACDC exhibition in the arts centre. have i told you how much i love melbourne recently?

p.s. left my ring in the airport bathrooms. lost and found aren't open til monday. it's probably lost forever. i'll let it go after calling qantas.... :(

leaving on a jet plane

friday.... is here. i made it. it's been relaxing and fun catching up with everyone but i reckon i'll be glad to get home. ;)

down to fremantle for the much needed reflexology session. i nearly went into conniptions when i couldn't find them in their normal locale. everything's moved around in the last 6 months, but i managed to track them down. yah! "the usual, thanks".



down to visit mom at work to say fare thee well before dropping the hire car off and hitting the streets. wandered through the city, which is kinda the same even though the shops seem to be changing. it still feels empty and quiet there.





a couple of hours spent in a king street cafe before meeting melis and finding our way (via BUS - oh my goodness) to leederville and the garden. joined by mike, al, marija, inga, tim and brad. lot of talking, laughing and eating. there was even a harpist accompanying the dj which was just a little bit strange. and also belated birthday presents from marija and melissa. mad women, both of them. but yah to presents anytime.




marija dropped me off at the airport around 10.30. redeye and homeward bound. yah!

the accidental sleep in

my room was so quiet and so dark that i didn't realise the passing of time in my dream state. so waking at 9.30 was a bit of a surprise. i thank telstra for that well-timed sales pitch text. eek!!

i caught up with inga for a couple of hours. supposedly she's giving birth on saturday but everyone thinks it's highly unlikely. inga is taking bets she's at least 10 days overdue. what fun!

then a trip down to bicton to catch up with sean, claudia and douglas. sean is my little brother. seen in the photo below, he's 11ish. a fabulous few hours spent with them and he's growing up way too fast. stop it!


then a night of treats, as al created a splendiferous mexican meal for the three of us, we watched UP! and then melis opened a tin of peaches and icecream. oh yeah. good times.

the wonderful world of wednesday

i LOVE sam rockwell. a bit too quirky to be traditionally cute, but cute nonetheless and a fabulous actor. true, i also like tim roth and gary oldman - but there you go. :) enjoyed moon. and have spoken to a few people about it, and not many a sure why we like it. just do. directed by a younger bowie.


spent a few hours in greens and managed to avoid the heat as well as catch up on emails, as well as a bit of writing. you can't tell by the photo but it has couches, just like other cafes in civilised cities do. wonders.


the lime brulee there was just what i needed.

the evening had me staying with my beloved melis and al (formerly and on the odd occasion, known as the wee brown man). then a few of the galpals met at the ellington in mt lawley. a newish jazz club where the headliner was nina ferro, originally from melbourne but now living in the uk. when i saw galpals, we were invaded by one michael gray when he found out that inga wasn't able to make the roundtable. a fun evening.

gail & leisa do cottesloe

the forever country pub, the obh for lunch before walking along the beach for icecream. mmm...

stompin' at subi

dropped in for a lindy class tonight with swing it. fantastic fun. caught up with a couple of familiar faces, who in turn will be hitting the dance floor in melbourne in a few weeks time for MLX. yah! i have some techniques to work on as well. it's interesting how different each city dances.

saturday with the girls

the birthday schnitzel on the cappuccino strip in fremantle. hanging out with ainsley, mum and larissa.

go west!

at last she packs!! just before the shuttle picks her up. quick flight and sleep to adelaide. hanging out at the airport for a couple of hours before more flying and more sleeping to perth.

damn the heat and flies as she steps out of the terminal.

she is picked up by her bogan sister, ainsley - who turned 30 this day (ains is proud of her bogan-ness. yes, i know it's scary, how are we related?) a white ford boom box and they have a red commodore in the backyard - i may disown her yet.

a drive down south to kwinana, henceforth known as bogan-ville (not to be mistaken for the island off the coast of papua new guinea), to see mum. then to her couch for a nap. ahhh....

perth=time to catch up on sleep. ;)

ready or not??

an insane day at work. one campus for one meeting, another campus for more meetings. haven't packed. hair appointment. still haven't packed. pizza in thornbury. and then lloyd cole at the thornbury theatre. a strange venue for this gig - more suitable for a dinner dance. i've not really listened to cole's music before. recognised a couple of songs. he was great. exactly what i needed. sitting on the floor on the balcony listening to a man play an acoustic guitar. good times. and still no packing.

shocking, i know

the melbourne cup winner. i even watched it this year, on the tube at trish and stuart's place. a bbq and a good laugh. maybe one year in the future i might even get to flemington. hold your breath. ;)

oct 31

almost forgot it was halloween. but minutes before i walked out the door i was trick or treated by 4 mini witches and i had a mad panic of what crap i had in the way of treats to give them. thankfully i managed to scrounge up enough to appease the tricksters.

then off to meet alex and chris for dinner and a movie.


or as it's better known, im staub der sterne. an east german sci fi made in 1976 - spouted as their version of barbarella. oh my. it was indeed outlandish and lurid with a hint of nudity but just a bit eh. not entirely bad, just odd.


and i missed my tram by 2 minutes and couldn't be bothered waiting, so walked home at midnight.