Project 289 - Day 99 : Snippets of MX all In a Row (or the day my brain rotted on the way home from work and I didn't care!)

I like my brain. A lot.

It keeps me breathing. Remembers to beat the heart. Throws blood around my body with the giddy abandon of a celebrity on an ecstasy and Vodka bender.... and stops my skull from caving in, which, let's face it, is a real bonus, should I ever become a famous model... or in the unlikely event that doesn't happen, I just want to look human.....

Yes my brain is a very good thing indeed....

So why do I persist in torturing it by reading MX (the free newspaper given away at nights on train platforms to weary commuters too tired to care anymore), a newspaper that makes 'Entertainment Tonight' (a vapid US entertainment news program where a 2 minute treatise on anything is labelled 'in depth'; how ADHD of them!) look like a learned tome from a Nobel Laureate? Why you ask? Wait a second I am asking aren't I? Ah, so many voices, so hard to tell them apart in my head.....

Well, partly because I am too tired to care any more and I am happy to read about an 84 year old man in Ohio driving his ride on lawn mower into a lake, or the fact that a guy one woman saw fleetingly on the 5.22 a.m. to Central is 'cute, and you are so worth getting up for'? Yes brain cells die but I don't care.... 

.....and it's partly today because they featured an article on mooses! Yes, mooses...... and who doesn't like a newspaper that features mooses? No one, that's who! Especially Canadians trapped in Aussie bodies like me.... 

Oh, and who doesn't wan to read Twitter updates, helpfully collated by MX, by Ashton Kutcher, and Alyssa Milano? Honestly if I read MX too much, I fear I shall dumb down to the point where Mary Hart starts to sound like a university professor and I do NOT want that....

P.S. Occasionally, and don't tell a soul I said this, there is an article that is somewhat interesting. Like the time I found out that Facebook were giving their users (that would include me) the chance to get their username, something Facebook had done a less than stellar job of telling me. Or the time, which occurred just today when they revealed what the characters in the new Tim Burton version of 'Alice in Wonderland' would look like. They look amazing and I can't wait to see the movie. But keep that quiet. I don't want it to look like I actually like my brain disappearing before me....

When Good Cumulus Go Bad

When you walk out the door in the morning and see this in the sky (see above)...... just go back inside, have another cup of coffee, and stay home. It's NOT going to be a good day.

Project 289 - Day 98 : Chicken Soup.... or Is That Chicken Stir Fry?

My beautiful guy came down with a dose of the flu overnight and was feeling less than sparky (Use the dog name barometer of wellness, that isn't good, trust me! It's even worse than he was feeling not-so-Fido)

So after feeding my friend's cat (who is missing his owner and the many affectionate stomach rubs he gets from him), I headed to my guy's place in Dulwich Hill, and threw together - it's a stir fry so that isn't far off the mark! I even twirled the wok stirring thingy around in the food once or twice, and lo and behold, I did not throw any of the stir fry on the floor! What a miracle!) - a Blackbean sauce lamb stir fry. (I wanted to get chicken since, it seems, that chicken is the meat of choice when you're sick; I hear chickens are going to hire a PR firm to disabuse people of this notion, and suggest cows as a replacement. They won't be happy but when are they are ever home anyway huh?).

We sat back, ate and watched the ABC - '7.30 Report', 'Foreign Correspondent', 'Grand Designs' and 'Tracy Ullman's State of the Union' (which was satire at it's best) - and behold it was very good..... well, apart, from the fact that I couldn't kiss him just in case he had swine flu (he had just come from Melbourne! I could feel tabloid-induced fear welling up.... at least till it was replaced by common sense). The cuddling was lovely, as was the eventual snuggling but it will be nice when he is well again (in and of itself, of course!) and we can snog again...

Till then we have stir fry....oh and Mint Crisp Tim Tams.....mmmm chocolate.....

Project 289 - Day 97 : Call Me!..... You Can Call Me Any-Any Time.....Call Me!

I love catching up with special friends.

Eevn if they are far away and it means spending time on the phone, which, sadly after many years in call centres and Cubicles of Death and Greyness, feels like a tool of Satan. (Not the iPhone I hasten to add which is virtuous in all it's ways and will lead us all to technological salvation. Amen.) So last night I called my dear friend Jason (still in my phone as Jason Vegas, which is how I entered his name in my phone when we first met at Mardi Gras in 2008 - he is so named because he is from Brisbane, or as it's affectionately known, BrizVegas) and we had our usual loooooong chat about everything serious, silly and all points inbetween, laughing and being deadly calm and introspective in almost equal meausre. (OK there was a LOT of silly laughing last night but it was a school night and we were both really tired, something that leads to much maniacal laughing with little or no rational basis!).

That was, until my phone decided to go all HAL in '2001 A Space Odyssey' on me, and disconnected the call, and refused to re-connect when Jason rang back. I finally managed to bludgeon it into submission, and we finished off our conversation, but I am fairly certain that when the machines arise to destroy all mankind, my phone will make sure I have a Terminator with my name on it coming to get me!

Time to make friends with Christian Bale I think!!!

Barbie at 50 - OH MY!

Yes folks Barbie has used her stove and fridge one too many times it seems!

Project 289 - Day 96 : The Delightful Solitude of Nothing

I did nothing much of anything today.

With my beautiful man in Melbourne seeing his family, I spent the day lazing around, reading, napping and making two forays to feed the cat since that is the one thing I can't neglect. What a blissfully chilled day.

So no photo today....

Not a one. Kinda captures the day just perfectly you know?

Project 289 - Day 95 (Saturday 20 June 2009) :6 Friends, 3 Meals (and 3 Skinny Chai Lattes), 2 Long Walks and 1 Rainy Day

What a busy, but fun, day!!

It started off at 11 a.m. with lunch at the Funky Bar/Deli on King Street, with my great friend, Justin. We discussed family, careers, life and watched the world go by on what was a very, very wet day. He's always wonderful to spend time with, and today was no exception.

Then I attempted to sprint to The Shire to see my very good friends, John and Susie in Gymea for lunch. But what was supposed to be a quick trip became an epic drive around lane sized puddles, broken-down cars, and traffic so slow that I saw snails racing past me. When I finally made it there, I had a lovely time, finally exchanged Christmas presents (yes it has taken that long to arrange a get together!!) and we caught up on all the news, including the fact that their daughter starts high school next year! When on earth does the time fly? (And if we can find the place, I plan to grab as much of it as I can!)

I finished my meal marathon off that evening, after a short nap, with my bestest buddies, Warren, Ian and Peter, firstly at The Bank hotel and then at Thai-riffic, who's food was sadly anything but. We won't be going back there in a hurry, but the main thing was we got to spend time with each other, and finished off the night well by eating dessert at Buzzzbar where this photo was snapped by a helpful fellow male patron (with a very sexy French accent I might add!)

Oh and all day long it rained....and rained.... and rained, only stopping at night because Peter & I chose to carry our umbrellas all the way up into Newtown and all the way back. Now that's one way to stop insanely inclement weather. Carry an umbrella!!

Project 289 - Day 94 (Friday 19 June 2009) : My Man Done Gone to Mexico

Friday nights are usually a chance for me to spend some wonderful quality time with my gorgeous guy, unencumbered by the demands of 'school nights' when shirts demand to be ironed (yes I own talking shirts - lucky me!), lunches made, and beds got to early so I can exercise in the morning at the delightfully crisp hour of 5 a.m.

But tonight my lovely guy headed to Melbourne for the weekend to see his family and especially to see his Dad who had just successfully undergone an op., and was recovering very nicely in hospital. So we could spend some time together, I raced home from work in record time (setting a land speed record between St Peters station and my apartment), threw myself in the car (shouldn't do that since the odds of me putting my body through an open door with that haphazard a technique, and my lack of sports hand-eye coordination isn't good!) and picked him up from Sydenham station for the trip to the airport....

....where we looked like complete yokels as I snapped him at the departure gate! Ah the demands of blogging!!

Project 289 - Day 93 (Thursday 18 June 2009) : Somewhere Under the Rainbow

Today, while tapping away on the keyboards of my PC in the Cubicle of Death and Greyness, I glanced out the window and saw the most wondrous rainbow.

The photo doesn't do it justice, and no those weird lights are not UFOs but the charmingly intimate fluoro lighting strips that cover the roof my building, but it was beautiful and really lifted a very busy non-beautiful day.

What Pets Do When Their Owners Are At Work

Project 289 - Day 92 : It's Raining....... Cats

The day started with torrential rain and a nearly soaked walk to the train station.

.... and it ended with me feeding Fahmi's cat, Simone, who expressed his need for food in the only way he knows how - lots of urgent meowing, preferably right next to me.

Thankfully it didn't rain in Fahmi's lounge room so at least the day ended on a dry note.

Project 289 - Day 91 : All A-Twitter About Everything

I am really enjoying Twitter.

Granted I feel like I jumping onboard yet another fad (I am the King of New Things its true!), and I have yet to fully understand replying etc, but it's fun, neat and a great way to get snapshots of someone's world in just 140 characters.

Follow me if you want! I will do my best to be witty, clever and charming, and if that fails (lord knows I will give it my best shot!), then I will just be the best me I can be on the day, and hopefully that will touch your life in some way anyway.

Project 289 - Day 90 : Sometimes My Brain Goes Into Neutral Without Any Bidding From Me

Behold my eaten lunch, and at that point, yet to be eaten dinner.

The fact that these two food items became my lunch and dinner was the result of one of my managers forgetting to tell me she is on a strictly-no-carbs-don't-even-make-me-look-at-them-or-I-may-turn-violent diet, meaning that the absolutely delicious carb-centric chicken souvlaki and haloumi cheese wrap in the alfoil was now cuisina non grata to anyone but me. 

It's not a bad turn of events I thought to myself since, while I didn't plan on buying lunch (having lugged a can of soup the size of Texas into work), I liked the wrap, and was likely to eat without harm befalling my coworkers. So back to Rocket, the salad place I went, and ordered a sizzling Mediterranean beef salad, by which point the girl at the order point must have assumed I was some form of obsessive compulsive binge-eating disorder in full swing. Even so she took my order, and I relaxed thinking that my hungry manager would get her lunch at last.

But wait! I forgot to order "no dressing" on the salad - yes salad dressing too is the nectar of Satan - so I had to stump up for a 2nd salad, with no dressing this time. So there I was, without any fore planning whatsoever, the proud owner of a salad and a wrap, and instant lunch and dinner! Congratulations me!

Tomorrow I shall endeavour to engage my brain before leaving the house, and see if I can avoid spending $20 I don't really need to. Rocket may be disappointed but my wallet won't be!

Project 289 - Day 89 : Happy Days With The Man I Love and Adore

Today was a gloriously unbusy day that I largely spent with my beautiful man just being together.

No freakishly busy agenda. No rush to get errands done. No back to back social engagements to keep. Just him, and me, and until 12 noon, a snug warm bed on a cold, rainy day. When we finally managed to escape the delightful embrace of the doona, he cooked me bacon, scrambled eggs and toast while I got the papers, and we had a lazy 'breakfast' (technically it was the first meal of the day!).

After doing a few things around his apartment, we headed out finally into a very cold day and caught up with our friend, Fahmi, who was leaving for Singapore the next day. Wine and fish & chips at The Union and then back home, sadly without my guy who left for his place, but feeling loved and cared for, and in love, and glorying in the joy of just being with him.

Bliss.

Project 289 - Day 88 : Saturday In The Park With John and Essie, Ben & Sophie, Fahmi, and Steve

OK so it wasn't exactly "Sunday in the Park With George" (thank you Mr Sondheim) but the day was a beautiful one - bright, sunny and crisply cold - and my beautiful guy and I joined Fahmi, and our friends John and Essie with their gorgeous kids, Ben & Sophie at Sydney Park just across the road from my place.

Highlight of the day, apart from a delicious lunch at my favourite cafe, South End, afterwards, was riding down the slippery slide with Ben. I haven't been on this particular piece of playground equipment in years - many, many years! - and it was a hoot. Even more of a kick was hearing Ben's giggles as we whooshed down the slide - this boy has a love of speed that's for sure!

My gorgeous guy also took to the slides (above) and did a fabulous job of braking at the end, especially when the risk of whooshing right off the end of the slide was quite real!

It was a perfect day with very good friends and a wonderful start to a chilled weekend with no schedule but doing what we wanted when we wanted. Given the impromptu nature of the visit to the park, it was perfectly in keeping with a blissfully ambling weekend.

Project 289 - Day 87 : Having Heather For Lunch...I Mean Lunch With Heather

It was a perfect Winter's day - cold but sunshiney bright - and so I had lunch with my good friend, Heather who works two floors above me.

She and I have known each other since the Dark Days of the International Air Courier With a Purple and Orange Logo (IACPOL) and I followed her to the much happier environs of Australia's # 2 telecommunications company, after she mentioned over and over how much better life was away from IACPOL. She is a sweet, wonderful person, and our conversations are warm, funny and usually revolve to some extent around Canada - she's half-Canadian, and I am a Canadian born in an Australian's body!

I like Fridays at the best of times but even more so when I get to spend at least part of them with special friends like Heather. TGIF, sushi and Heather - a near perfect combo and a fabulous way to finish off the week.

Joy of Life and The pea of Happiness

Project 289 - Day 86 : Happy Birthday Amanda... and Ann!

What a birthday-filled day!

First up was my wonderful friend Amanda from work who celebrated her 40th - at work!! Is she mad? To make up for the fact that she was marking such a big day in her Cubicle of Death and Greyness, my friend Tricia and I bought her a Sacher Torte and I got everyone to sign a card. She loved it, and had as close to wonderful day at work as you can get. (Which despite all it's delight was still standing on a wind swept hill waving at the distant allure of Wonderful).

We finished off the day with a very yummy dinner of lamb and various metze dishes at a fabulous Greek restaurant in the City called Medusas, with very close friends of my gorgeous guy. It was all in honour of Ann's birthday (see above pictured with my guy), who is an absolute darling, very vivacious and lots of fun, and we celebrated the day along with her partner Geoff, close friends Gary & Janette, David & Scott and a few others. They are a witty, clever, very social bunch, and despite it being the first time I'd really met any of them, bar David & Scott, I fitted right in, and had the best time.

Project 289 - Day 85 (Wednesday 10 June 2009) : Let Them NOT Eat Cake! Or Carbs! Or....

I like to eat many yummy things..... chocolate..... cakes...... muscular men in speedos... ahem, I mean, chips, but as of yesterday I am eschewing all the fatty high-caloric foods in favour of good things like pears, soups etc in the hope of avoiding Winter Tubby Boy Syndrome.

So here are some of the cakes, held aloft by my lovely co-worker, Sammi, that I didn't eat, and yes I am almost drowning in the virtuous feelings flowing from being so good.....

Of course if I could just have a crumb....one measly crumb.....sigh....

Project 289 - Day 84 : "It's An iPhone Jim But Not As We Know It"

Last week I got the iPhone.....

... Today I announce my absolute and utter and complete devotion to it. OK that's a bit OTT even for me! But it is the most fabulous mobile device ever (bar my iPod which can do no wrong...unless of course if freezes in which case it is the satanic setpchild of Microsoft, a terrible insult indeed!) and I am having so much fun with my text 'conversations', adding photos to the person's profile so it pops up when they ring, setting the alarm.... oh the list goes on!

I know you can do all these things to some extent on other devices but this is the first device that actually makes sense to me, and makes technology workable and useful to me. I always love the idea of new tehcnology but struggle to fully utilise it. The joy of this device is that it makes the technology something that I can use in my life, and not a headache that only a fistful of Advil and a good throw of the device from a wharf into a stormy sea will assuage.

I like that, and so the iPhone has pride of my place in today's blog

Project 289 - Day 83 : Move! Move. Moooooooove......

Do I look happy here? I don't think so!

That is largely due to the fact that I am trying to get a very large, very heavy wooden IKEA wardrobe (being loaned to my guy) up the very narrow stairs in my gorgeous guy's 1950s style apartment block, and it won't fit. No matter how we tried to tilt it, it refused to clear the walls or railings, and in the end, after 2 1/2 long drawn out hours, ended up going to a friend's garage instead, from whence it will hopefully find a new home in a one story home on flat ground, if the eventual minder of the wardrobe knows what's good for them and their back!

It was an exhausting day all around, even when the second wardrobe and couch both fitted up the stairs with ease despite both being awkward and heavy to lift up and over delightfully tight narrow stairs. I am fairly certain I haven't been that exhausted in ages, and all I could think about it when the dust finally settled and we'd returned the very butch - there's my gorgeous guy doing his best to look butch! - ute to Europcar was sleeping!

Project 289 - Day 82 (Sunday 7 June 2009) : A Rose (Bay) By Any Other Name Would Be a French Patisserie

What is better than a lazy Sunday spent in lovely surroundings with your gorgeous guy and a very close friend?

Not much, although a holiday on the Amalfi Coast and all the caramel slices (with no caloric consequences naturally!) may just edge past in the race for my affections. But in the absence of cliff top Italian towns and diabetes-at-ten-paces sugary treats, I had a delightful brunch today with my guy and my friend Justin at Sugarloaf, a funky cafe at Rose Bay, just across from the golf course, and just down from the harbour. The food was delicious, the conversation witty and sparkling (would it be any other way darling? Of course not!), and there was some visual distractions such as the guy below in his bike gear who is apparently not quite off his trike yet! It's these sorts of days that make all those hours spent in the Cubicle of Death and Greyness feel worth it. Well almost!

We then headed to Bondi Junction for a little bit of shopping and then a spontaneous catch up with my friend Warren and his lovely friend Sue at Erskineville pub. We were off on our way abck to my place when Warren texted to say he'd found a ton of mooses at the Mansours seconds store in Alexandria. Initially I thought he was bonkers because mooses are not generally a mass sale item in Australia. Canada yes, but Australia, no. But lo, there they were, and at bargain prices so I added to my moose collection, nicely finishing off what had been a near on perfect day.

Save for a lack of sweet yummy treats in exotic European locales....

Project 289 - Day 81 (Saturday 6 June 2009) : Waiter, There's a Moose In My Soup!

I have a reasonably offbeat sense of humour and love of pop culture oddities.

Add that to a love of mooses, and collecting anything moose-like, and you have someone with peculiar one-of-a-kind tastes, especially in Australia where moose are not exactly thick on the ground. So what's a moose-appreciative (I was going to say moose-loving boy but even in an inclusive city like Sydney, that sounds a tad too close to the wildlife!) boy to do?

Well apart from Ebay there's not much I can do, or visit Canada a lot, or befriend Canadians. Now before you think to yourself, "That is kind of sleazy that you are befriending Canadians in the hope of one day gaining moose memorabilia; begone, and do not darken our village again!" (yes I thought that was a bit medieval a response but you can't underestimate the ire of those who hate moose-loving people users), let me clarify. I am not that kind of boy.

What I am is a guy who finds Canadians to be the most delightful, warm, inclusive, funny, down-to-earth people you'd ever want to meet, and I have had the extreme good fortune to stumble onto the fabulously zany, and simultaneously thoughtful and insightful, photo art of a Canadian guy living in Australia for a while called Daniel Cohen who has a web site - www.asyouseeitart.com - and till June 13, a stall at Glebe Markets. Check out the website and you'll see what I mean about the photos being amazingly creative while saying something really meaningful. Very clever stuff.

Anyway a few weeks back when I stopped by to buy yet more of his great photos, and have a chat (with a frequency that either made me seem like a really cool groupie or stalker!), the issue of mooses raised its antler-clad head, and he said he had this very cool moose item to give me. Forgetting all about that very generous offer, I turned up today to see him and lo and behold, there was a wonderfully moose-like beer stubby holder which Daniel handed straight over to my surprise (remember my brain, the size of a thimble owed by a blond person, at times, had forgotten it was coming!) and delight. 

It made my day, as did getting more of his art. Go and check it out. You may not get a moose beer stubbuy holder - that's mine; hands off! - but you will get some real pleasure from having your funny tinkled, your brain engaged and your heart touched. It's well worth your time.

Project 289 - Day 80 : A Day Off That Seemed To Be Frantically On

Ah OK you say to yourself Andrew has finally lost it - he's taking pictures of small plants in plastic bags.....

But there is a reason for it. What was meant to be a relaxed day off work became a cleaning bee. No one was more surprised than me but somewhere between rousing myself from sleep, and stumbling out into the blinding glare of daylight, I decided to tidy up my room, clean the kitchen from floor to ceiling (which involved  a heady whiff of cleaning chemicals and who doesn't like that?! LOL), and finally, and this is where the plant below comes in, sweep up and mop the filthy balcony.

I knew it was dirty but to find a plant, or rather plants, growing next to the door that leads from my bedroom onto the balcony, underscored that possibly I have been a rad remiss with my cleaning. How's that for an understatement? I practically had a mini-herb garden screaming up towards the sunlight! Alas, the plants met their fate at the hand of my brush and pan, and went to that great nursery in the sky, where hopefully they will find a measure of peace they didn't obtain at the hands of my surprising cleaning mania.

Project 289 - Day 79 : Happy Birthday Fahmi!

Today was the first day of my Very Long Weekend and I spent it in one of the best possible ways - with my lovely friend Fahmi on his birthday.

First stop was the Greater Union CineMetroGigaPlex (whatever it's called, it's big and shows a shite load of movies!) in George Street in the City - I took a shot of Fahmi at the entrance of this celluloid palace of dreams - for our movie marathon : "Terminator Salvation" (not as substantial as T1 and T2 but an enjoyable enough futuristic flick), and "State of Play" (a stylish thriller that harks back to those classic 70s political thrillers such as "Three Days of the Condor" etc, and relies on 'onion layers' of reveal than car chases and explosions). Yes, that is a lot of celluloid fun to ingest in one day but somehow we did it while also ingesting more chocolate than is good for us! (Although it is generally recognised that any calories consumed during birthday celebrations do not turn to fat and are absorbed by the general bonhomie of the occasion. That's why I tell my body that every meal is someone's birthday somewhere and the meal is therefore calorie negative!).

Somewhere in the middle of those two sessions we crammed in a yummy lunch at Sushi Train, which let me down badly when it never arrived (clearly the service is run by CityRail) and got a delicious Taro Milk Tea at Easyway. There was lots of eating (German pastries for breakfast and chocettes in the movie of course!), lots of laughing and a chance to give a very special friend what I hope was a very special day.

Our eyes burned out with all the big screen action, we headed home to get ready for the big birthday dinner at Tandoori Palace that night. Semi-big really, since there were just five of us, but I am an extrovert and prone to hyperbole (all the time!! LOL) so let's just pretend it was freaking huge!! Naturally inbetween all the photos, cards, and coversation, we ate far too much food but again, there was no issue with calories because of all the happiness and birthday-type joyfulness, and I woke up the next morning thinner than the night before. No really, it's true and....Fahmi is just 21.... I swear :)

Project 289 - Day 78 : iPhone Therefore I Am

If Apple is a cult - and let's face it, it must be since I keep referring to their glass-fronted retail HQ on George Street as The Temple - then consider me completely in it's all-chanting, orange-robe wearing, surrender all my money (that part is definitely happening!) grip.

Today I purchased my long awaited iPhone. I already have the iPod (have had since 2004, one of the few times I joined the league of early adopters) and the iMac, the engine of this very blog no less, and it seemed only fair that the iPhone join it.....

....and it is lovely. Easy to use, pretty (made even prettier by the funky black and red cover and mirrored screen protector I have attached) and sleek and elegant.... and, yes I am in love! LOL Alas while my Samsung served me well - as a tribute to it, this blog features a photo of not the ubiquitous iPhone but the superseded but faithful Samsung mobile - it simply couldn't compete with the iPhone, which is just so damned...sexy... and easy to use.... and gorgeous....

Yes it is entirely likely I knew some sort of psychological help. Let me know just find where that can be found by checking one of the many apps in my darling new iPhone.... hmm, on second thoughts, I don't want to get better.... Let the i-times roll in baby!

Project 289 - Day 77 : Skipping Frenetically All The Way To LollyLand

Tuesdays are long and winding roads to the finishing line, punctuated by rushing to complete reports, endless emails and a very long senior management meeting that stretches on into the mind-numbing distance. I am lucky to remember by name by the end of it. Which reminds me - what is it exactly?

Brain dead, and almost losing the will to live (yes the meetings can be that boring!), my good friends Amanda & Sammi suggested a walk to the convenience store on campus for some lollies, and in a highly suggestive state - the metaphorical watching of paint dry will do that to a boy - I agreed, and the photo above shows the result. Any guilt I had was soon washed away by lots of sugary calories all cascading through my body till I was so bouncy that humming birds looked bored and disinterested next to me.

Naturally I went home and swam a few dozen laps to make up for my dietary 'sin'...... OR.... I ate yummy pizza and drank some wine with my gorgeous boyfriend, then promptly went to bed so all those calories could rush to my fat cells and get to work! See I am even productive when I am asleep!

Swine Flu Discrimination - Oh My!

It's a Full Time Job I Tell Ya!

Project 289 - Day 76 : O Great Cathode Ray in a Box, Guide Me and Lead Me

It is not true that I worship my TV.

Yes I do have a small altar in the corner of my bedroom  where I offer up combustible video tapes (hmm, I guess they all are really aren't they?) and invoke silent prayers to J J Abrams, Marc Cherry and Shonda Rhymes that the creative gods bless their TV endeavours. True I have a life-sized statue of David Tennant from "Dr Who" occupying the corner of my bedroom nearest the bed, aligned to fung shui TV lore.... and granted I have been known to end phone conversations, rush dinner or lose all concentration when my favourite programs start. But worship it?No, of course not - that would be weird.....

But venerate it? Totally, completely bland-in-the -suburbs normal, thank you, and so my weekly act of faith that the week's viewing will be spell-blindingly great, is the purchase of "The Guide", the supplement that graces every Monday's issue of 'The Sydney Morning Herald', which is read cover to cover on the train and bus to work - OK it really doesn't take that long! - ready for me to settle into my chair and watch the 'pretty lights, pretty lights'....

Project 289 - Day 75 : (Yum Cha) Fun With Jeff and Jane

Sundays and Yum Cha goes together like Doris Day and Rock Hudson in a 60s era romantic comedy.

The fabulously gay pop culture reference aside, they also go together like my wonderful friends Jeff and Jane (above). They are witty, intelligent, warm friendly people, and the perfect friends to spend a couple of hours chowing down on Yum Cha with, especially if that is somewhere as nice as Kam Fook's in Bond Junction. 

So after 6 months of false starts, re-schedules, and diary snafus, we finally occupied the exact same piece of space and time (with no aid from Star Trek or any sci-fi entities whatsoever!) and caught up on the things we had managed to do in the last 6 months or so. The food was delicious as always, the conversation flowed freely, and they met and loved my lovely guy (as if there was any doubt they would!). It was a perfect Sunday, and the absolute best lead-in to the flute recital that my lovely guy and I attended later that afternoon at the Conservatorium of Music.

Yes, Kul-Cha and Yum Cha all in one day...... cha cha cha!