Puff

My fingers can sit so peacefully on the keys of the computer, they do not have to move. Sometimes they kinda just go, "We would rather not move, it is nice just resting here." But then I gotta make them. No, not make them as they are more than happy to type, especially if there is purpose behind the writing. But then you look up, they look up, and see that what they typed is actually about them and not about any other particular topic.

I missed London tonight. It has been two years since I was last there and in a kid's head, two years is like the gap of time between your first day of kindergarten and your ability to know your three times tables and read the entire series of Grug books. Do not ask me what Grug is, but in summary he is a mop of hair that talks in a really basic way and he goes on mundane adventures that as children, we read about.Here is a photo:



So yes, London. Long time. Miss. Hopefully 2012 could bring an end to the dry spell. Though sometimes I wonder if it is better to invest money in a place I have never been. Is there only so many times you can walk along the Thames and sing the tune to the alphabet, which I might add, is the same tune as Twinkle Twinkle! Possibly, but nothing can take away at the magic behind sitting in a Roman fort in middle of winter beside Hadrian's Wall and imagine a Roman soldier sitting there, 2000 years ago. How about I travel to North Korea. I hear there is a demilitarized zone and it is like Pleasantville.

I sat at the Tram stop today. I looked across at a sign that was stuck on a brick wall. Puffs of smoke came from behind the wall, a heated conversation.

Little Girl Marketing

Kids really do observe so much more than we assume. And if you remember, we all had ideas both then and now.

This girl vents about the unfair blue and pink coding on kids presents. Love.

Hail

The highlight of my Christmas this year, was stepping out of a 7 Eleven with Cal and walking down towards my house when it suddenly started pouring. We bolted down the street and stood under a tree in some little alcove at the entrance to a house. Cal was really not that impressed with the situation as he had a headache, but I couldnt stop laughing.

I loved going out in the rain as a kid and putting my feet in the concrete gutter, feeling the water rushing over my feet. The water had a temperature that was never threatening and you could feel this slight force, willing to go to a lower place. The water itself seemed in shock of its collective landing in the neighbourhood and now ran together to a better place.

So now I was amongst a storm near home and it wasnt gonna stop anytime soon. The road became a river and then the hail started. Little plops everywhere were heard and white balls bobbed amongst the river though quickly melted to become part of the brown body moving fast down the hill. I looked up under the tree we were standing under and the hail bounced at random through the branches, some gently falling on us. I decided it would be best if I got Cal to my house sooner rather than later so suggested we make a run for it. He nodded reluctantly and we ran, and I just kept laughing even harder. Fully clothed and water half way up my calves with my shoes fully submerged. No care whatsoever and there is so much freedom in that. All these little adventures piled up into one set. Must get across this little ravine, ok done. Now to see if I can get to there... yep, done. Quick check to make sure no cars are coming, it would be easy to spot me jumping around. We were back at my front door pretty quickly and I was kind of disappointed. Getting us both towels, Cal sat down relieved and I just panted, and grinned. We had a white Christmas, just not the usual kind.

New thing for next year, the beginning of a bigger piece of writing. I saw "The Iron Lady" today and it really was beautiful. I am happy with the many jobs I am doing but I also want to make a difference as anyone does. And I feel I am pretty much ready for my contribution to that difference. Smile, it doesnt hurt. Well, it does if you have stiches in your lip. Or if a gecko is stuck on your cheek, its head resting on your upper lip cause he/she is kinda upset with how mundane your nostril hairs are. So maybe smile inside if you can't physically.

It's Tristmas...

Pretty much before the sun was even up, I would always sneak into my sister's room on Christmas morning and whisper "Lou, its Tristmas!" It became a tradition and even when I was living overseas I always timed it right, and call her at the crack of dawn on Christmas in Australia and inform her of the seasonal timetable. Traditions huh.

Merry Christmas all! I got Christmas cookies to make.

And this video pretty much sums up what Christmas is like in Australia, hit it Olivia!

Warm nights

If I had to list some of my favourite things, well I am not having to but I will list them out of want, one of them would have to be stepping outside on a summer evening. I just walked from my home, through the MCG Park and across a footbridge to the river by the City. Cicadas were singing in the night air, the gentle warm breeze, and when I stepped onto the footbridge I felt the warmth from the concrete hit back at me. I sat there with Cal in silence as we looked over the city. That gentle roar of a thousand noises which is so quiet but fills your ears, that sums up the many lights and smells in this Australian city in summer. Not a polluted smell but more a smell of warmth and grass. There were a few bush rats pitching in to make the noise complete in the garden nearby. A night I will remember for its simplicity and it making me experience one of my favourite things.

I had an email today, from a young fella who has emailed me a few times now. He reads my blog and I feel really quite honoured that it has had an impact on him. And that in itself inspires me to just write. Write because it makes me happy but also because it has helped someone else be themselves.

I was chased by a possum a while ago, I approached him/her/it and usually they are quite timid. Nope, this possum edged towards me, like I was the timid animal and then launched itself towards me. In the moment (I was also with someone else who will remain nameless to include them in the embarrassment) your mind only computes, "some unknown creature is running towards me with death in its eyes, RUN". So we ran, bolted back up the street, and this wasnt just some suburban street, it was a street right next to a major train station. This is where the situation was wrong in the first place, we should have assumed it was a possum on crack. That and the froth coming out of its mouth. We are still debating whether there was froth but it justifies our running the other way. The possum continued to run after us but then got distracted by a bin. A young fella was walking the way we just had and dodged eye contact with us, two grown adult men freaked out by a casual possum. We were walking the wrong way anyways. Have you ever walked along a street and then realised you were walking the wrong way? So you look at your phone, pretend to call someone and change direction chatting to a pretend person, this way making it look like you have just been told by the person on the phone to turn around. When really who is actually taking that much care or notice on which way some random stranger is walking and that it is not out of a science fiction novel if the person changes direction? Glad I got that out.. moving on.

My Cousin shared this on his wall the other day. I liked it, and even though it is a woman singing with a tiny voice and big emotions (a friend says that my music taste covers this category) it is quite a real song with that dreamy quality that everyone should have.

11 Posts..

At the beginning of this year I saw that I had made 54 posts last year. That is just over one a week. I wanted to write more than that this year though I am at the crappy number of 44 posts. SO, I am gonna write words for the the next 11 days and I will beat my 2010 posts by the outstanding number of ONE.

So at the beginning of today I the prospects of one kinda average job. By the end of the day I have full time work for all of January at another job that I had no idea about this morning and also found another awesome opportunity. I was a bit of a Debbie Downer when I woke up but yeah Cal pretty much told me to snap out of it as you never know what is coming your way. Yep, he was right.

So, HOME ALONE is on the agenda tonight I believe. It is essential Christmas season viewing and then HOME ALONE 2. Just like I bake Christmas cake every year, I try and keep up with another few traditions.

I bought a Christmas Tree today, and a real one. It is planted in a white paint tin and about a foot high. I think due to to the fact the last time I had a real one it was a cut one, I was highly traumatised at feeling like the tree had a wasted life, its only destiny was a week period sitting inside dying. Is that even a bit too extreme a belief for Vegetarians?

PS how good is my star I made for the top of the tree? Cal looked at it once and struggled not to laugh, but then he just laughed. Way offensive.



And picture this.. awkward 12 year old students holding christmas bells on stage, with Amy Grant blaring across the school gym, drowing out the out of tune students for the Christmas concert. It is early December and the gym stinks of sweat and the air is thick in Australian summer. And this song wont finish fast enough... AND you have my grade 6 Christmas concert thanks to Amy Grant.

Stayin

I am hanging cards from my venetian blinds. You ever realised that if you put your head against the outside of the window you can read some of people's cards. Yeah neither!!

It has been funny, since finishing up with my job at Tutankhamaun, everyone is asking me if I am moving back to Sydney. No... No I am not.

Said goodbye to my friends at Tut in the last few days and it has been quite sad. It has not really sunk in that I will not go back there and expect the unexpected. From dumb questions about whether the artifacts are from Egypt, to crazy guests and random failures of equipment. Farewell Uncle Tut.

So saying goodbye means saying hello to the life of doing not much at all. Really hope this is not for a while because it lets me think WAY too much. From realising I daydreamed for 20 minutes about whether a forklift could lift a house, to choosing books to read that I then proceed not to read. But if you stack the books next to your bed, it looks like you are reading all of them at once, mixing up some deep abstract book with a light fiction book. So that if someone finds the pile, they will go, oh he is just so well read. But really.. I am now kinda concerned who this person is that I would not already know. Some creepy stranger who can see through the crack in the blind and wondering how intelligent I am? OR maybe some hip bug that is crawling up my wall and is totally inspired by my reading material. But at the end of the day, I have not read them. The hip bug will just THINK I am cool. But who cares what a bug things anyways... yeah?

I am in a cafe and there are three young kids, assuming they are brothers as there is one woman with them and she looks just a tad drained. They are wrapping themselves around the stainless steel legs of the table they are sitting at, and bashing each other. If I did that, I would be asked to leave. Mainly cause my imaginary friends were bashing me up too much and I would be playing dead on the cafe floor in front of some poor lady who has not finished her flat white. Er... I say that in a light way, not a psychotic way. So yeah... LOOK! Christmas lights!

Less than a week to Christmas. I like the lead up way more than the day itself. The day itself is always a bit too much of a "Hey I am here! Make the most of me as I am not here for another year!

Cal has now arrived in Melbourne for good. His arriving has reminded me about my own arrival here in Melbourne almost a year ago now. Any change such as moving cities really is quite a whirlwind in your head. You can start thinking about whether this was the right decision or not, when really only time will answer these questions. I have no regrets and love the decision and over the past few days have been reminded of this. Oh and I also had a lychee margarita and that was bloody nice.

Santa and Anubis want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! I may have them as key rings.. and Santa only seems relevant at this time of year. Funny that..



OH and I made a sandcastle.