JUMP BACK In TIME : Letting Them Know Who's BOSCH (Sunday, 26 April 2009)

On the afternoon of Saturday April 25, 2009 the bf and I went to Good Guys Alexandria to buy the bf a brand spanking new top loader washing machine.

Apart from the thrill provided by that act alone, he bought a top loader because (a) it uses far less water than front loaders, (b) fits snugly in his unit's laundry where a front loader wouldn't (unless you planned to bathe in it too since you'd never reach the shower again!), and (c) it's very tres chic and European (like camembert and the Amalfi Coast but much gentler on your clothes). It also didn't hurt that the salesman was buff, and impossibly good looking!

Thinking the delivery would take place weeks hence, when they had a machine from their suppliers on the steppes of Mongolia, and had it transported by Bactrian camel and dolphin to Australia, we were pleasantly surprised when the machine was not only in stock but could be delivered the next day. It arrived exactly as promised, and so Sunday night after much fiddling to get the levels right (my gorgeous man can actually do home handyman stuff which is pretty sexy), we got ready to do the first load of washing, and being the compulsive photo taker that I am, I recorded it for posterity:

Step 1

Give it power and let it live!

Step 2

Measure the water just so - it's a German machine after all, and you must be precise!

Step 3

Tear the pesky tab of the washing powder... if it will let you!

Step 4

Pour in the water for the first run through which is water & detergent only, no clothes... I said, no clothes.... now put your clothes back on and stop being naked in the laundry

Step 5

Watch it start running... and running...and running for 112 minutes or so

Step 6

"Look Ma, It Really Works!"

Step 7

The TV still isn't connected so I resort to watching the machine... frankly the plot is threadbare, characters a bit soapy, and I doubt it will last more than one cycle...

Step 8

We tear off the pretty tags from the machine

Step 9

Behold, the first run through has ended....and the machine is ready to wash actual clothes all shiny clean and minty fresh!

.... and then we connected the TV and watched that instead!

Project 289 - Day 52 : Kick In The Butt or a Kick Off? Your Choice

Off to The Ivy tonight, a swanky drinking establishment in Sydney, for a company awards night.

Ordinarily these are not the most exciting of affairs, with all the thrill of paint drying on a long, slow weekend, but this one was actually fun. Held at The Ivy in a ballroom that looked like something out of a technicolour wonderland, the bf and I arrived all tarted up in our suits, sipped champagne and ate delicious food served with military precision by an army of wait staff. The speeches and awards were just the right length, interspersed with lots of mingling, conversation and food, and the night was finished off with an excellent cover band who had a singer who could actually sing, and crack musicians. 

The loveliest part of all was having my gorgeous bf by my side, and introducing him to all my work friends, who know about him, and know how happy he has made me, but hadn't met the man I am enormously proud to call my partner. Of course everyone loved him, and he charmed them all, but then of course that was a given. He also looked exceptionally handsome in his suit, and having him there at a work function, was the best thing after so many of them spent alone.

I also had my bestie from work, Sammi, at my table, and she, as always was an absolute delight - all effervescent, warm fun and one of the sweetest people you could hope to meet. She looked, as always, stunning and it was so much fun to have here there to laugh with, and share the night with.

For all the fun of the night, we left early at 11 pm (after eating dessert and petits fours natch! LOL) to meet up with close friends of his who were in town from the UK for one night only. They were lovely people, and an enjoyable couple of hours of conversation, was followed by a frantic dash to the car park to beat the 1 a.m. closing time! Yes, just the sort of thing you want at 1 in the morning!! But, and I apologise if the corniness of this sentiment induces vomiting, but I don't mind anything if my gorgeous man is by my side. Yes, I was profoundly out of breath. Yes I was very tired at 1 a.m.... and yes we had an early start the next day. But he was there through all of it, and that makes any night (or day), especially one as lovely as this had been, worth being around for.

Project 289 - Day 51 : iPod Therefore I Am

I read an article a week or so back about how noisy the 21st Century is, but being a city dweller of long standing, and obviously inured to the cacophony around me, I dismiss as the ranting of a whiner.

Not so today. I stand humbled and corrected. For today, I not only had to put up with a car alarm wailing like an endlessly bad piece of electronica (and trust me after 6 hours, we could actually singalong to the 'notes' of the alarm!), and an owner in a nearby building clearly deaf to the sound of his own car alarm (wow, great investment mate!! Someone could be stealing it, and you would blissfully on, unaware of the loss of your car), but they decided to test the fire alarm.... again.

Yes apparently running it for the fire drill the other day wasn't enough. It seems that someone decided that two days later, something about the alarm may have stopped working - trust me, it hadn't! (at least I could to say 'Emergency' with the deep baritone voice that accompanies the alarm) - and so they needed to test it again. To top it all off, a colleague down the open plan cubicle forest decided that bursting bubble wrap was a fun way to spend a few minutes.

Thankfully through all this, and endless bus and train journeys, my iPod was there, filling my ears with the sounds of Kaz James (great music - listen to him sometime!), and other artists, and blocking out the ugly sounds of modernity. It did mean putting the Blackberry right in front of me so I could see it ringing, and looking around a lot in case someone was trying to talk to me (yes I did my best gopher impressions, for which I won Best Gopher Impersonator at the Cubicle Theatre Sports Championships in Boise, Idaho, in 2006.... alas there's no such thing but how cool would it be if there were?!), but that was a small price to pay for sweet notes instead of raucous, unending ear-splitting noise.

Project 289 - Day 50 : Cute As a Button, Ian Comes to Town

Today's photos show two distinctly different facets to the day.

Photo one is a stunningly artistic shot of my suit jacket, which went last worn 18 months ago for the interview for my current job, lost the middle button (in the middle of the interview, which threw me a little at the time). Fast forward to now, and I needed my suit to be ready to go for a special awards night my division is staging at The Ivy tomorrow night. So typical of my unbridled optimism, I thought I could just dash to the local shopping centre, Macquarie Centre, get it stitched back on and hey presto, stylishly ready for the awards night (I even have an acceptance speech planned even though I am not nominated for anything - I think I will just stand up mid-awards and deliver it anyway; that should garner my some career-ending attention!).

Alas I didn't count on the Escher-like maze that is Mac Cent., and it took me 25 minutes to locate the alterations store. Was I happy after all this walking around. Oddly enough, no. I did get some time to shop at my beloved JB Hi-Fi where I bought 3 new CDs including jenny Wilson's funky left-of-centre newie, and that ameliorated the frustrations of traversing the maze to find the place of my suit's salvation, but frankly I was happy to get back to work, suit newly fab looking, all ready for it to go to the dry cleaners to be made all spick and span for the big night (where I likely will not be called upon to walk down the red carpet, which seems such a waste of a dressed up night!).

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With the practicalities of the day out of the way, I spent the evening catching up with my very good friend, Ian at a restaurant we both love, Citrus, which serves the biggest Scotch fillets steaks I have ever seen in my life. Seriously the one I had tonight could crush a man. Well OK, a very small man about 10 cm high with osteoporosis, and no upper body strength whatsoever, but he would be dead nonetheless! I removed this fearsome threat to life and limb by eating it and it's accompanying garlic mash and vegetables - tres delicieux, monsieur.... see Mrs Fields, I did pay attention in senior French! I really did! - while Ian and I talked about life, love, the universe, and The Liver Birds, one of those Britcoms I grew up with in the 1970s (along with The Good Life, and To The Manor Born) and still cherish. 

It was one of those relaxing, chewing the fat with a brilliantly good friend nights that eases the tensions of the day, and reminds you that while there are lots of things that demand our attention, that there are very few things truly worthy of our time. A night like tonight is definitely one of them, and I am all the richer for them.

Project 289 - Day 49 (Tuesday 5 May, 2009) : All Fired Up! Sort of....

It's true that it's very easy to slip into ruts and lose the passion that used to power you through life.

But frankly, getting all fired up again did not involved a fire drill at work! Yes, it broke up the day nicely, but beyond that, it didn't achieve much else but illustrate that even when insanely loud alarms are going off mere metres from my desk, and deafening all around me, that I am still quite able to ignore it and get on with work. To be fair so did everyone else, until the fire wardens, in their bright red hard hats told us to use the rust-tinged stairs to evacuate the 'burning' building.

The hilarious part is that they herd you past the 'burning' building in question, which means there is exceptionally good chance that in a real fire you would covered in burning debris and glass shards from the exploding windows. Mmmm, something for the pyrotechnically-addicted masochist in me to look forward to!!

We are supposed to all gather on a grassy area that lies right next to a major road - which means that you might survive the fire but stumble after all that smoke inhalation, and fall into the path of an oncoming car! - and yes we duly did, but all that happened then was we stood around for a while before taking 20 minutes or so to squeeze back in via the one small entrance on that side of campus. No debriefing so I have to assume, and trust me I have, that walking past 'burning' buildings, stopping for coffee on the way to the evacuation area, and milling around perilously closely to a major transport artery are all completely acceptable practices!

We're all doomed aren't we?! LOL

Winnie the Pooh in a Brave New Swine Flu World (LANGUAGE WARNING!)

Project 289 - Day 48 : What Else But.... May the 4th Be With You!

Yes it's a cheesy line, but also kind of clever, and reflects the fact that my preferred way of paying homage to the cliched, long standing or traditional, is by embracing anything that takes a mischievous, and affectionate sideways glance at it. This hilariously bad pun does just that and so to pay tribute to the first movie I recall seeing at the cinema, and the fact that today is Star Wars day for me, I took a series of photos at work of a C3PIO figurine standing on the everyday tools of my job. It's a fun mix of work meets play :

(1) Standing near the date on the "Sydney Morning Herald's" masthead, a paper I read every day (a habit picked up from my Dad who still loves to read the daily newspapers)

(2) This time he's standing on a line in the middle of an email, smack bang in the heart of my inbox, where I live all day, every work day

(3) Atop the keyboard, which taps out all the email replies, all the Outlook meetings, and all the text into all those reports

(4) On the printer that pumps out all manner of forest-destroying paperwork all day long and sounds like a wheezing old man struggling up a hill

(5) On the tip of one of my black leather shoes,one of a pair that carries me along footpaths, onto railway platforms, around and around the company campus where I work, and which are ready to be replaced

Project 289 - Day 47 (Sunday 3 May 2009) : Happy Birthday Justin!!! Happy Birthday To You!!

Happy Birthday Justin!

Well actually his birthday was on the following Tuesday, but given my employer's strange reluctance to allow me the morning, and indeed, the day off, for a leisurely brunch-like graze at my favourite local cafe - South End, on King Street - we had to settle for a brunch on the Sunday before. But what a fine brunch it was! The service was as ever impeccable and friendly, our fellow brunchers - there is no such word, I know, and yes it does make them sound like a piece of outdoor furniture - were a gay couple with lots of personality (and great camera skills - they are responsible for the fabulous lighting in the photos above and below), and the food(yummy pea and haloumi pancakes!), and company were wonderful.

Justin is a wonderful friend I made a few years back when I accidentally started up a gay movie group who would go to a Hollywood blockbuster, or Arthouse movie, every Tuesday night, and socialise over dinner afterwards. The group, a victim of changing group dynamics, and time, is no more, but my friendship with Justin, who is one of the calmest, sweetest, most intelligent friends a guy could have, has endured, and I couldn't let his birthday pass without doing something even moderately fun and enjoyable.

The other major event today centred on a growing friendship, courtesy of my bf (in the photo below), with my bf's best friend, Brett. He too, is a thoroughly lovely guy who is yet more evidence that my bf is only friends with really wonderful people. One of my 'fears' with meeting his friends, especially his bestie, was that they may not like me, or I may not like them, but in fact, I have enjoyed meeting them, and getting t know them, and that would apply to Brett most of all.

Which is why in a manically busy weekend, we took some time out to have a coffee on Oxford Street with Brett (pictured with the bf below) and the attend the LeatherPride Week Fair Day, which contrary to expectations was not held in a field somewhere, but in the Midnight Shift, a gay nightclub right in the heart of the gay Strip. It was an odd event, with an anti-climactic vibe permeating proceedings, and everyone clinging to the walls, drinks in heart, leather on body and sticking with the people with whom they'd arrived. Not that much different to most social events to some extent, but not what I expected of a bunch of fun-loving, leather-wearing bears, and so after one drink, we left the Shift, said our goodbyes, and headed home, re-thinking the idea that the leather scene was something we wanted to embrace anytime soon. The one thing that saved the afternoon was spending time with good friends, people who will save just about any event no matter how dire, and I am very glad I can add Brett to that illustrious group.

Project 289 - Day 46 (Saturday 2 May, 2009) : These Gay Boys Went To Market

I have already made my profound love of malls clear (and my commitment to spending Australia out of the GFC - that's OK Kev., thank me later!), but the places I prefer to shop for one-of-a-kind fun stuff are the Markets, and in particular, Glebe Markets.

Which is where I met up with a very good friend of mine from my days at FedEx - Michelle (pictured above with me, after our delicious brunch/lunch at Badde Manners cafe) - who is funky, engaging, endless;y creative, and a delight to be with every time. She was the person who, when I came out, breathed a sigh of relief, and told me she'd been planning to give me a key one Christmas so I could open the door to the closet! She has no fear, is utterly unflappable, and absolutely the sort of honest caring friend you want in your corner for life.... oh yeah, and a great person to wander around the Markets with, as committed as I am to making sure Australia is in recession for as little time as possible.

The stalls are squashed higgledly-piggledly style into school grounds, and I visited all my favourites including the sweet and sour licorice guy (7 strips for $16 - yum!), the wacky photo guy (who puts hysterical nonsensical tag lines onto photos and then makes them into fridge magnets, postcards etc - he is one of the nicest people to talk to as well), and the funky T-shirt people. Given the sheer breadth of goods on offer, none of which you would find in a mall (I do have a love/hate relationship with the modern bastion of commerce don't I?! LOL), I did quite well only buying the licorice, a giraffe tissue-holder for my sister, and 2 fridge magnets.

Far more fun was spending time with Michelle, catching up on news, giving her a chance to meet the bf (above), and laughing like we always do. To top it all off, the weather was perfect Autumn fare, and with Michelle having to rush to a jewelery class, the bf and I were joined by our good friend Fahmi for an extended brunch (he took over Michelle's seat). All in all, a delightfully chilled, fun Autumn morning Sydney-style.

Project 289 - Day 45 (Friday 1 May, 2009) : Stir Crazy on TGIF baby!

I am a huge fan of Fridays nights.

I mean, what sane rational cubicle-imprisoned worker with some essence of an outside life still wafting about their being, doesn't crave, welcome warmly and rush into the deliciously intoxicating embrace of TGIF night? It's the one day of the week that even the most religious send praise to whichever deity/ies they nominally believe in, realising that there is a power greater than Outlook and Blackberry at work in the world! It's a night full of hope, promise, and more than one glass of wine or beer.

It's also the one and only night of the week when you can truly relax, and not have to worry about heading anywhere in particular, because no one expects you to. If you decide to stay at home, eat pizza and watch a romantic comedy on TV on a Saturday night, you are seen as only marginally more sociable than the Unabomber. Do the exact same thing on a Friday night, and everyone nods their heads in communal understanding.

So realising we had the freedom to do whatever the hell we wanted, and not much caring if anyone objected anyway, the yummiest guy in the world and I headed off to one of our favourite eating haunts in Newtown/Erskineville, Stir Crazy Thai (it's major competition, an Indian restaurant called "Posh Spice" (see a very early project 289 blog), and an African eatery called "Kilimanjaro"). Armed with a bottle of wine, and after a very romantic cuddle-filled walk through the back streets of Erskineville, where the photos above and below this paragraph were taken, we deliberately picked some dishes we hadn't tried, seated at an outside table near a very warm oil lamp. The conversation flowed freely, passerbys strolled past with their dogs, or takeaway or both, and for one very quiet, chilled evening, we enjoyed each other's company, secure in the knowledge that Outlook, and it's evil minions, couldn't touch us.

 

Bliss.

Popping Weasels @ The Zeitgeist Cafe - REVIEW 2

MUSIC


"It's Blitz!" The Yeah Yeah Yeahs!


What a fabulously funky but deliciously snarly album. The Y x 3 have been accused of selling out with this CD because it isn't rock enough, whatever that means, but frankly it marries the punk rock sensibilities of Y x 3 with an irresistably funky groove, and the searing bluesy vocals of Karen Orzolek, dripping with barely suppressed emotion remain as potent and catchy as ever. I dare you not to be drawn into the sexy setting of this wonderful collection of songs.






TV


"Desperate Housewives" - 100th episode, Monday 11 May


Drama, drama, drama..... and lots of it. Nothing much different to any other episode but who'd have it any other way right?

Project 289 - Day 44 : A Mall Without BORDERS

I am traumatised. Yes, traumatised.

OK I am also ridiculously melodramatic but that's fun.... and about the only fun I had tonight. OK there I go into hyperbolic melodrama land again! The sad fact of the matter is that tonight I learned that one of my favourite shops in Pitt St Mall, where I often buy "Entertainment Weekly" and numerous books on the way home from work (OK technically I get off the bus a Wynyard and can catch the train from the station there so really 'on the way home' is a very elastic concept), BORDERS, is closing down on May 15 as part of the seemingly endless redevelopment of Pitt St Mall. More and more, what was my favourite place to shop, with some fun one of a kind shops, is being shut down, hollowed out and by all accounts replaced by another generic mall.

Now don't get me wrong. I love malls, and left to my own devices will happily spend Australia out of its current economic malaise. Singlehandedly. However, I also value individuality, especially stores that promised something a little different. Admittedly, BORDERS isn't that, and is in fact part of a massively large US mega bookstore chain. Still, it was for so long part and parcel of my shopping experience going into the City, and along with the loss of so many other fun interesting shops, I will miss it.

Well until I go to the BORDERS at Macquarie Centre, near where I work. Then maybe not so much.....

Project 289 - Day 43 (Wednesday 29 April 2009) : Things That Go Fizz in a Glass

I am normally a robustly healthy guy.

But this year, my dear body, supposedly in the peak of healthy from healthy diet and exercise (which according to an email I have seen a few times simply extends the time I have to....um... eat well and exercise!) has managed an entire week off from work with bronchitis (January) and 3 days off to get my jaw/teeth seen to, and who can't be grateful for all that time spent in waiting rooms with magazines published just after the fall of the Berlin Wall? While I also have had the chance to watch lots of "Ellen DeGeneres" and "The View" - two shows I will say without any embarrassment that I love - I am beginning to question whether my body has decided, independently of my conscious mind, that it's going to act like a body in it's 40s that is filled with fatty foods on a daily basis (it isn't), never gets exercise (all those 4.45 a.m. starts aren't for photographing the night sky!), and is lurching, in a none too grateful fashion, towards invalidhood. (I very much doubt that's a word but in the spirit of linguistic innovation, or vandalism, I am leaving it there!).

So to combat this rebelliousness on my body's part, I took up the offer from work last night to get a flu jab to protect me from all the upcoming nasty viral nasties.... and have spent the last week feeling less than optimal. I appreciate that they are injecting me with the flu itself so my body can prepare it's defenses against any viruses that say "Ah ha. A well tended healthy body - let's trash it!" (yes viruses do act like bored rock and rollers, drinking too much after a concert in their hotel room, and smashing it to bits; no word on whether they are having sex like rock and rollers, but given how quickly a flu can claim you, it's a safe bet they are! Sadly they are likely having more fun that me at times!), but I'm not impressed that while not fully sick (yeah man!), I am sort of off colour and frankly I would rather be properly sick and get it over and done with...... and watch more day time TV which has to be better for you than work right?! 

(Today's photo shows one of the glasses of Aspro Clear I drank todday in a bid to ward off strange weird feverish feelings that left me feeling like a space cadet in orbit at times!)

Project 289 - Day 42 : Just Mad About Mary and Max

Ah good old Tuesday. If it wasn't for the fact that cinema tickets are dirt cheap, it would have to be the most useless day of the week, save for the fact that by the end of it you are one step closer to Friday!

I started off today with a return to walking after a long break due to extreme laziness, and too much socialising (hey at least I am honest!), hitting the footpath at 5 a.m. in a bracing 9 degrees. Refreshed and energised and as always questioning my sanity at getting up so early - I interrogate and interrogate my sanity but it never answers; it just looks around and mumbles incoherently... should that tell me something?! - I headed off to work, threw myself into the endless emails and Outlook tasks that greet me, and finally somewhere around 9.30 got breakfast. Now usually all I do is pour the cereal, grab some water in my cool sleek metallic drinking container and walk back to the desk, and possibly have a quick look at my private emails before hitting the official inbox again. 

But today, trying to multitask, and carry some cleaned up catering trays back to my desk at the same time as taking back my vittels, I put the cereal, water and packet onto the trays and.... ended up looking like room service. As if I don't look like a servant enough as it is in my current role as an Executive Assistant. How much more 'Downstairs' do I want to look ?! LOL Apparently I long for utter servitude, and so I took the photo below, to show just how the years of service in the Cubicle of Death and Greyness have affected me..... plus it does look like I was really planning on breakfast in bed which frankly would have been nice!!

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That night, after a fun-filled day of 3 hour management meetings and endless tasks (Yippee!!), I met my gorgeous guy at Dendy Cinemas for another foray into the cinematic wonders of indie movies. Tonight's pick was "Mary and Max", an Aussie claymation movie about an 8 year old girl in 1970s Melbourne, and the 43 year old Asperbergers Syndrome New Yorker she becomes penpals with through a completely random event. It was a delight, managing to be both hilariously funny, touching, and heart-rendingly poignant all in 90 minutes, and I think it safe to say I have never been so emotionally impacted by claymation characters before. A truly beautiful film, both visually and thematically, and one that will make you realise how valued and important our true friendships should be. An absolute gem, followed naturally enough by some Indian food at Tamana's, just down the road in King Street.

Project 289 - Day 41 : Its Chilly Brr..... Rejoice For Frosty the Snowman is Here!

Winter has arrived!! 

OK technically it is still Autumn, or Fall, for those closest to the Swine Flu pandemic, but the temps are dropping by the day and today was the first day I felt like could walk to the train, and not sweat to death (which let's face it is a big no-no when commuting; apart from anything else, if your fellow commuters get uncomfortable looking at you, imagine if they had to look at your corpse! They'd likely explode from discomfort). At this point, I haven't brought out the Funkiest Gayest Black Jacket Ever Made, but it can't be long. For now, though, I am content to bask in the falling temps, enjoy the chill in the air, and give thanks to any and all deities that the days of perspiring like a mad man are in abeyance for at least 4-5 months. It also saves me emigrating to Norway, which while a lot colder for longer (and full of reindeer, which is a great feature of any country), is not in Australia, a country I am fond of, and would rather miss. Far better to stay put, see my friends and family,  enjoy the chilly weather while it's here, and not have to learn Norwegian, which while a lovely language, frankly could be a little time consuming and may involve excessive one on one reindeer time, for which my beach-rich childhood has ill-prepared me.

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Another lovely part of today was my afternoon catch up with the other Executive Assistant I work with. The ever lovely Sandra & I meet once a week in the Bistro on campus, to talk about work, and our lives, and to escape our respective Cubicles of Death and Greyness (at least for an hour) while sipping machiatos (her) and skinny chai lattes (me). Admittedly it is still perilously close to where we work, but at least we get a chance to unloose the shackles of Outlook, run from reports, and whatever other somewhat poetic work allusions I can make, and that is a VGT (Very Good Thing). Now if we could involve Star Trek matter transportation and beam ourselves for an hour to the Bahamas, that would be even better. Actually if we did invent something that revolutionary then I am fairly certain (and don't quote me on this!) that we wouldn't be working! But while we do work, and I'd say the odds of that continuing are better than creating science reality (especially I failed all major science courses at high school), we will meet at 2 pm Mondays for coffee, conversation, and the sweet illusion of freedom.

Project 289 - Day 40 (Sunday 26 April, 2009): Why Won't the Vlarken Slide Easily into the Mooken?! Why?!

That is an eternal question posed above, and one that sadly I believe has no satisfactory answer.

But enough of the existential swearing-laden responses to putting together Scandinavian furniture, which I am fairly certain is all designed by the same sadists who creates most software programmes, and electronics manuals. I picture a giant factory somewhere, crammed with row upon row of pathological misfits, all scheming to create the most frustrating, annoying and ultimately, rage-inducing consumer items. Their only satisfaction in their tortured love-deprived existence is knowing that somewhere, someone like me is cursing and swearing and wondering what on earth the designer of the happy little instruction for assemblage booklet was thinking.... not happy Disney fairy dust-sprinkled thoughts I am fairly certain!



Of course sometimes in the middle of all the foot stomping, hammer slamming, and obscene language, comes a rare moment of humour, such as the snapshot below, which wisely instructs you not to use your bookcase as a training prop for your upcoming rock climbing expedition to the Swiss Alps. Duly noted, IKEA, and thank you for the sage advice.....

It seems though, that I must be a complete masochist because once again I purchased an IKEA item (yesterday's blog entry) - a fabulously bright red bookcase called a LACK, which is being used in my walk in wardrobe for storage, a use IKEA probably didn't think of when the featured the LACK in a funky apartment lounge room - and spent an enjoyable hour assembling. Enjoyable if you find hot skewers thrust sharply into your eyes a pleasure. If so, then assembling this furniture is your ticket to sensual ecstasy. Hop aboard and ride the pain train people! I get no such pleasure from these occasional forays into masochism land, but I did get the satisfaction of getting all the various bits of red wood into a useable shape that vaguely approximates the completed product on the manual.

Honestly given how badly the instructions are rendered in visual form - I think a team of illiterate armidillos on a ranch in South America are forced to create them in an act that the RSPCA should really investigate - it's a wonder I end up with the item looking like furniture. Many times I have thought I should keep the pieces as kindling and at least be warm in the Winter!

Project 289 - day 39 (Saturday 25 April, 2009) : ANZAC DAY...Lest We Forget

I have to admit something from the get-go..... I did not get up for the dawn service.

To be honest, though I value what the nation's diggers have done for me, and all Australians, I have never got up for a dawn service, not even when I lived less than 100m from the war memorial in Miranda (yes, I know, that is verging on the scandalous!). I have often watched the march on the TV and at times become quite teary when you realise what these men and women went through to guarantee freedom for this country, but I have never gotten up to honour them. I must rectify that next year. Possibly...

What I did do was sleep in with the bf, and awoke to a lovely Autumn day that was eerily quiet. No one was really up and about, and those that were, were far away at pubs and clubs, honouring their fallen mates, catching up with old cobbers (the old Aussie word for friend that my beautiful Granpa used all the time) and reliving the glory days of yore. 

I was content to hold my man tight, have a lazy breakfast of crumpets and honey, and watch the march on TV (see the photos below and above), grateful that I live in a country that allows me the freedom to be so indolent without threat or danger to my own well being or those I love. Of course the anti-capitalist cynic might also note that the diggers' sacrifice also made it possible for citizens of a modern wealthy democracy to go shopping and so we did, snapping up a front loader for the bf's new apartment, and then a new LACK bookcase for me at IKEA (see tomorrow's saga for the fun that I had putting that fire engine red baby together!! God bless IKEA's inability to formulate easy to read instructions). 

Our freedom to purchase on credit thus exercised, we finished the day with dinner at a.... wait for it.... Turkish restaurant (see the photos below)! It seemed somewhat poetic, and strangely perverse all at once, and a slightly left of centre choice in keeping with the contradictions inherent in anything I do.... and no, we didn't finish up with dessert at a Japanese sushi restaurant to complete the odd culinary commemoration.

One thing that struck me as a odd, and tickled my funny bone all at once, was that the diggers fought and died to preserve Australia's way of life, which last time I checked included an almost religious devotion to public holidays. But what does our incompetent state government do? They refuse to gazette Monday as a public holiday! The diggers would have been appalled!!

Project 289 - Day 38 (Friday 24 April, 2009) : TGIF and the Best Laid Plans of Outlook and Men

I am a huge fan of Fridays... what sane person isn't?

Well I guess there are possibly some workaholics out there who mourn the end of the working week, and look with fear and trepidation on a weekend full of relaxing at cafes, shopping, movies, catch ups with friends etc. I am not one of those people and will happily hand my Crackberry to the first person who puts in a decent bid for it! Oh hell, who cares about a decent bid?! I'll give it to the first passerby who looks vaguely in need of time management and the ability to read and respond to emails on the go. Street people, grandmothers anyone really....

The plan today was to go to Macquarie Centre, the shopping mall near work, and fritter away 1.5 hours, using up all the lunch times I don't take in a given week, when I sit glued to my desk eating food faster than a hummingbird feasting on a nectar-laden flower (yes it is a charmingly poetic image - I expect to hear from Hallmark any nanosecond). Alas, my partner in crime, Sammi, who work have wandered into Borders and JB Hifi and eaten gourmet bagels with me, was too busy and couldn't come Friday chilling with me (she has the car) so I sat at my desk and recreated an avian-like moment from a David Attenborough nature doco. So much for the bohemian cubicle-scorning TGIF fun I had planned!

The day, which is supposed to be the one day of the week, where I get to wind down just a little, replete in my casual Friday clothing, actually ended up being reasonably frenetic in the end, which violates any number of Australian laws, I'm sure!! Then I rushed home, grabbed the ingredients for the stir fry at Coles Wynyard (where I bought yet another Green Bag to add to the 2-3 trillion swamping my kitchen cupboard), and changed sheets, cooked food, did a load of washing before collapsing in a heap when my bf walked in the door. 

Perhaps it wasn't as dramatic as that but I was highly tempted! Eschewing the melodramatic touch of the vapours I had been planning, I instead spent a delightfully relaxed evening watching "Midsomer Murders" on the ABC (yes I now stay in and watch old fogey dramas on the ABC on a Friday night....psst don't tell anyone!! LOL) cuddled up with the bf. It was only when walking into the bedroom, finally chilled after an unexpectedly chaotic day that I snapped the photo above, which shows all the thrown-onto-the-stereo speaker detritus of my day, speaking volumes of a day that promised calm wind down to the weekend, and delivered instead a day that would've been quite at home on a Monday or Tuesday.

Project 289 - Day 37 : It's What Southerners in the USA Call "Little Friday", and I am Thrilled to be Here!

I am hoping today will be a quiet-ish day at work.

Not that any day in my line of work is truly quiet, and frankly I'd be bored rigid if frenetic wasn't the prevailing vibe. But just occasionally, a day where nothing needs to be corrected desperately quickly in Outlook, or a document rushed somewhere, or lunches bought in a hurry, is bliss, and I am hoping for one of those days. I really am. It's highly unlikely I'll get it, although if the Greeks or Hindus have a god of the office, then I may just pray to them, and see if that elicits anything! What power they must have though if they do answer, to control Outlook? Not even Microsoft has worked that out yet!!

Stay tuned for the update at the end of the day! (Yes I know coping with the suspense will be hard but take a Xanax if you must, read "Who Weekly" and check back later!)

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By the way, I have just sailed over the 100 posts mark in my blog. That's some kind of milestone (kilometer-stone? LOL) isn't it? At the very least, it deserves a party!! Or chocolate. Definitely lots of chocolate! Well at least I have that in abundance.

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24 hours later.....

Well, the day wasn't exactly 8 Strawberry daiquiris, a paperback novel, and a buffet lunch by the pool (with optional canoodling, and possibly more, with the bartender) but it was quieter than usual, and I managed to catch up on a ton of things that I had been wanting to get done for ages. While not exactly the most thrilling of days, there is something psychically satisfying in clearing away pieces of paper that have been mocking you for your inability to give them attention and send them on their way. (Yes apparently I attract sentient malevolent manipulative paperwork, every office worker's greatest fear, mainly because it signals sanity has truly disappeared in the vortex of busy schedules and insane deadlines!) So the inbox was tamed, pretty much everything actioned, and I left on the 5 pm bus to the City for drinks and a spot of stimulus package shopping with my friend, Waz....

We are both shopping addicts (Kevin Rudd should be giving the gays the right to marry purely out of gratitude for cushioning Australia from the Global Financial Crisis! Goodness knows we are more than doing our part!!) and after wandering through Virgin Music and JB HiFi, and picking 1 to 200 DVDs and CDs, I bought the magazines shown in the photo above, which are among my most ridiculous but fun indulgences. Both "Entertainment Weekly" ($12.95 an issue) and "The Advocate" ($14.95 an issue) are flown in from the USA, and really, while priced well in the USA, are over priced here in Australia. But I love reading them, and along with "DNA", and "Empire", form the Holy 4 of my magazine consumption each month. My rationalisation for spending $40 on 3 mags is that I don't do drugs. barely drink, don't smoke, so buying a few over priced mags (along with the occasional Pepsi Max) is not too bad a vice!

Plus I get 'learned' on entertainment news, and gay issues respectively, and you can't put a price on that. Well I am sure VISA and Mastercard can but that's a whole other story....