January 13 2008. Sunday. New Years Resolutions.
So to start the year - a few minor renovations of the blog - some new fonts in the titles and labels. Just prettying it up !
The DVD recorder is away at the repair shop and I swear its already been the longest week of my life ! I actually keep reaching for the remote !
I spent the last few days of the the Christmas New Year break doing a fair bit of decluttering. I think I did quite well for me. I even stopped myself from saying "oh I could put that on ebay" and instead just forced myself to actually throw it in the bin.
Below is my task and goal for the next few months. Its the wardrobe in the spare room.
The garish khaki boxes were purchased back in early 2003 when I first realised my Westminster house would need a serious decluttering in order to move into an inner city apartment. For months they lay in rows as I went through the entire house sorting things into categories. Stuff like "Fancy Dress", "Genealogy", "Theatre Programs", "80s posters", "Gift Wrapping, Cards etc", "Correspondence", "Mirror Balls" (yes I have enough mirror balls to fit a large box!) all got their own box. The theory being that from then on whenever I needed a specific item it would be far easier to find that it had been previously.
So far the system has worked but the effort of pulling out 3 or 4 boxes to get to the bottom
one is starting to play havoc with the thin cardboard boxes and the weight of some of them
are also causing damage.
So I decided my next expense would be plastic stackable drawers.
The Algo ones on the right are from Howards Storage World and come in 3, 4 or 5 drawer configartions. The 5 drawer ones are W37xD50xH120 so I figure 4 of them would fit nicely in that wardrobe. Then a further couple of the 3 drawer W37xD50xH78 ones would fit in my bedroom wardrob and slot in nicely underneath my hanging clothes.
The drawers are not cheap but I have checked KMart, Bunnings, Officeworks and numerous other places and they are all much the same price but not the sizes I need. So if the expense means I am better organised then I guess its a worthwhile expenditure.
And the new theory will have to be - if it doesnt fit the drawer - throw it out !!!!!!
So in the next few months I will have a bunch of camoflaged coloured boxes going cheap if anyone is interested !!!!!
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January 28 2008. Monday. Australia Day Public Holiday. MULTI-TASKING - The Pros and Cons.
So I thought I was being so clever and productive.
I decided that todays stage of the decluttering/sorting process would involve the bottom filing cabinet drawer. This has always been the "problem drawer". It has no specific purpose so basically everything gets thrown in there.
Meanwhile - being the multi-tasker that I am, I was also burning stuff from my dvd recorder hard drive to disc in the background, along with getting loads of washing done.
At some point I thought to myself "hmmm I am hungry I think I will make corn fritters". At the very same moment I thought "hmmm I think I will take a photo of the pile of stuff I have sorted so far from the filing cabinet drawer". That then led me to the thought that I should take a leaf from Sue Ann's guide to decluttering - which involves stopping the decluttering in order to blog about it! So I flicked on the computer and threw in the camera card to get the piccies of the clutter pile. Then I changed the 80s cds in the stereo. At that point the computer crashed so I was rebooting it when I heard the washing machine stop so I went and emptied the towels into the dryer.
It was about now that my stomach growled and I remembered I was hungry. Then I suddenly remembered that before I had started all that other stuff I had actually made corn fritters and put them in the frypan! So there they were - charcoal !
The filing cabinet contents. Charcoaled Lunch !
So I will consent that too much multi-tasking is not always a good thing!
Anyway, back to the filing cabinet contents. I have always - for as long as I can remember - torn articles out of newspapers for no real reason ! Over the years many articles have proven handy during arguements. I can generally produce (after much searching) an article that will confirm the date of a specific event ! Unfortunately I have also discovered that more often than not I am too lazy to cut the articles out - so entire newspapers were stuffed in there!
So in the piles above everything has been sorted nicely. The biggest pile just to the right of the chair legs - you will be happy to know - is the "THROW OUT" pile !
Other piles include:
News: Perth. I love collecting articles about Perth, random weather events, visions for the future, pics of old original buildings etc.
News: Random. I collect articles on disasters - floods, fires, cyclones, bombings etc. So these are all in this one. I have stuff going back as far as Cyclone Tracy and Skylab.
News: Me or people I know. Self explained - articles on pretty much anyone I have ever met!
Career: "How To" guides on writing job applications etc.
Career: Copies of old resumes and qualification documents, references etc.
Career: Copies of work contracts and reports.
Career: Copies of old job applications.
So these are all now in cardboard files ready to be put back in the cabinet in a proper order. As you can see from the photo I am only 2/3s through the cabinet. Somewhere back there I know there should be copies of all my old hand made party invites from all the theme parties I use to throw - so I will probably scan them and store them in my online photo albums. And I have also been excited to find one of my old christmas newsletters from the early 90s - back when I use to do them on a typewriter and put an entire years events into a poem. So hopefully I will find more of them so I can scan them !!
I can also see a file marked "recipes" eeeek. For someone who invents everything she cooks is there any real reason to even sort thru that pile ? Shouldnt I just throw it ? Nope - cant do it ! Cant throw anything out without having a good look through it ! So theres still a few more hours of work as far as I can see - but there is a light at the end of that particular tunnel.
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January 28 2008: later the same day.
Well todays filing cabinet drawer is completed.
I did find copies of my old Christmas Newsletter Poems so I have scanned them and added them to the links on the right. As you can see I have added the ones from 1993 to 1997.
As you can see there is a gap from 1998 to 2002. I know I had a computer by 1998 and would have been doing my newsletters on it but not really sure where these were saved or whether they were lost in computer crashes. There is also a chance they are on some old floppy discs so I will have a look through them when I get hold of an external floppy disc drive.
If you are one of those people like me who has kept everything you have ever been sent in the post - I would love it if you could have a look and see if you have any from me in those years.
Meanwhile it was fun to re-read the old poems. My skills in that area have obviously faded !
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1 February 2008, Friday.
I am sitting here listening the The Police wafting through my windows. So loud that I can hear the lyrics to each song and can hear the crowd cheering. Right now I can hear King Of Pain. Tomorrow night I will be sitting there in the front row. I cant wait! I have dreamt of seeing The Police live in concert ever since a certain grandmother prevented me from going the last time they toured Aus (you know - like before they broke up in the mid 80s!).
Back to the decluttering project. The ALGO storage drawers arrived this week - and thank gawd for the cute delivery boy who carried them all up the stairs for me.
I realised that the frames were adjustable so with a bit of construction I turned my order of 4 x 5 drawers and 2 x 3 drawers - into 2 x 2 drawers for the bedroom wardrobe and 3 x 6 drawers and 1 x 4 drawer in the spare room.
I spent today moving all the stuff from the camoflagued busted boxes (see blog further below) to plastic drawers. I was happily surpised to discover that the new sewing machine fit in a drawer so thats another box that is now gone from the living room floor ! No more hefting out box after box to get to the bottom box ! YEAY
Sighhhh I can hear Every Breath You Take.
2 February 2008, Saturday.
WOW WOW WOW.
24 years I have waited.
24 years since my grandmother refused to let me go to the Police concert in Sydney. Then they broke up and I thought I would never have the chance again.
But here they are - ending their world tour here in Perth.
Tonight was the absolute bee's knees !
Tonight I was there in the front row - smack bang in front of the stage.
They were bloody brilliant. They were loud (my ears are still ringing an hour later) but they were clear and fantastic sound. They sung everything we wanted to hear. No one would have been disappointed.
We all stood and danced for the entire show - my ankles may never forgive me. Enjoy my slideshow of support act Fergie and the fantabulous Police. The rest of the photos and videos are being uploaded to my Phanfare albums right this second.
What I loved most was that this was the first time I have ever been able to just stroll on down to a concert venue and stroll on home again ! The stadium was just a 7 minute stroll (tho I have to say in 37 degrees it felt a lot longer!) to a couple of streets east of my home. And when I got home and walked straight into my delicious air conditioning - the rest of the crowd were still walking to where they parked their cars miles and miles away!
The other thing I loved - no one tried to take my camera away from me ! One security guard did walk up and say "You can only take them if you dont use the zoom" so I nodded obediently and said "oh of course I wont use the zoom" ! wink wink nudge nudge sayyyyyy no more ! Never mind that the guy behind me recorded the entire concert on his mobile phone !
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9 February 2008, Saturday.
It was a quiet week. The drought and heatwave were broken for just a moment on Thursday when we got the first rain in 55 days and just to really shock us we got 42mm - 3 months summer rainfall in the one day. And it was a pleasant day of just 20 degrees. I arrived at work soaked to the bone - as did many others ! Took all day to dry out! The next day it was straight back to clear blue skies and humid heat.
Today Heath Ledger's family are farewelling him. I know I havent written about his death yet. I was kinda doing so in protest to the sheer and utter crap that was being printed by the "oh so wise and knowledgable" media. Supposition sickens me to the core.
The other thing that sickened me was that his family had to hear about his death via the same dawn newsflash on the radio that I and the rest of Perth woke up to. It would have only taken a quick call to his family by a radio exec to have established they were unaware and broken the news gently.
The media truly shits me when things like this happen.
At the end of the day Heath died from a simple issue that affects so many of us. The over prescribing of medications by medical practitioners. There is too much "take this for this problem and this to counteract the side effects from that one, and this for that other issue".
By the end of it you find yourself swallowing a cocktail of drugs each day and because none of us are trained medico's we cant possibly know what effects those drugs will have with each other.
This time last year I spent 7 months walking in a fog everyday. The dental issues, combined with my usual chronic insomnia and migraines, and my RSI pain - saw me taking copious amounts of super strong antibiotics each day - along with anti inflammatories and prescription only pain medication with heavy codeine dosages. Some days I got to my office and had no recollection of walking there, or having a shower, or dressing, or putting deoderant on. Sometimes I stopped halfway to work and thought and thought before I could remember getting ready in the morning.
I know that many times during the night I would get up and take more sleeping pills and more codeine. I would rack my brain to remember whether it was 2 or 4 hours since my last dose - and take more anyway.
So I totally understand how Heath took too many in the wrong combination. If he was being treated for pnumonia, anxiety, insomnia and pain - its no wonder. I totally understand what kind of fog he would have been in. I know that fog so well.
So my sympathies to Heaths family and friends and to those in my own circle of friends who knew him so well. My thoughts are with you today as you farewell him. I hope the media pack leave you alone now to continue your lives.
On a happier note - I am off to Sydney tomorrow for a week of theatre. Rocky Horror and Billy Elliot beckon me. I am looking forward to seeing both shows. I am also looking forward to the cooler weather over there !
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11 February 2008, Monday in sunny cool Sydney.
So I flew over here yesterday morning. Once again I regretted selecting Qantas - thankfully I am returning home on Virgin.
For those who have only ever flown Qantas - let me advise you the following:
-- Virgin has more personal space.
-- Virgin has seat back entertainment on ALL flights (not just some like Qantas).
-- Virgin always gives me an exit row if I ask nicely.
-- Virgin has more meals (and much nice tasting), and snacks for those longer flights, and they do two meal services between Perth and Sydney.
-- The Virgin counter in Perth is clearly and logically labelled with great signage. They also have queue assistants to aid lost souls and those having trouble with the online check-in machines. They dont glare at you when you mistakingly get in the wrong queue (but thats unlikely to happen because their queues are labelled better !).
Anyway - we took off on time and landed on time. It was mostly clear flying over but quite bumpy over NSW with so much cloud cover.
I got the shuttle bus to the Ibis in Darling Harbour. They swore blind they had improved since my last stay in May 2005. They swore blind they had had major renovations. They lied. They had cheap tacky reno's. They still barely scrape into a 2 star territory. They have the hide to charge more than the neighbouring 5 star Star City where you at least get a bottomless breakfast in the tarrif. I am paying for a view of Darling Harbour and thats about it. The curtains are a lightweight mesh through which I can see the city lights - so gawd knows what people can see in. And the rising sun at 5.30 came straight thru and woke me up. I will be suggesting to management that holiday makers enjoy sleeping in.
So Mim met me for a nice dinner and dessert and a wander around the harbour in search of the Lindt Cafe - that had the hide to close before we got there ! After Mim drove off for home I wandered along the Pyrmont bridge to take some photos of the massive Sea Princess liner that is docked at the wharf. Looks pretty all lit up at night.
So I had a lazy day today. Breakfast at the Pancakes place, a manicure and pedicure and leg massage (accompanied by a back massage courtesy of the incredible chair !). I searched for a new "more perfect" handbag and fortunately didnt find any takers. I treated myself to a lemon tart - yummmmmmm.
Back to the hotel to check emails to find I have made it through to the final stage of the job application I started back in October. I am now in the "cluster pool" which means I have got a job the minute a position becomes available. So just waiting to hear how many positions are available and whether I get a job straight away. I should be happy but the process has dragged out for such a ridiculous amount of time that I am just bored with it all now.
Anyway - enough blogging. This hotel charges 50cents a minute !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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February 23 2008. Saturday
Well my week in Sydney went far too fast!
I enjoyed dinners and lunches with Keith, Shane, Rachael, Dee, Mim and Alison. To those I wasnt able to squeeze appointments in with - see you on my next trip !
I enjoyed Rocky Horror twice. Fab 3rd row then 2nd row seats. This is what I wrote on myspace:
Well just back at the hotel after the first night of the newest incarnation of Rocky Horror !
And what an incarnation !
First up - a great set. Probably the best Rocky set design I have seen in my 25 years of seeing Rocky live.
Cast - Tamsin Carroll is perfect as Magenta, the girl that plays Columbia is brilliant - great voice and really took on the role with vengence. Brad - just too young!! Looks too much like Bart from All Saints and that bugged me ! Riff Raff - much much much better casting than the late 90s production - (Richard Piper was a good actor but never meant for that kind of role) - Paul Capsis seemed to relish the task.
Rocky - well its the first time they have actually cast someone who can act and sing! Usually its just a resident gladiator in the role. This guy was buffed and gorgeous and cheeky. And the adagio routine he does with Janet is memorable.
The Narrator - the wonderful John Waters. Enjoying himself and playing it up to the max. My main reason for flying to Sydney - and theres nothing I can say here about the finale that wouldnt make me blush ! Hummana hummana.
And now to Frank. Usually the Frank casting is what draws me to a production. This is the first time ever that the Frank role went to an actor unknown to me. iOta (i think) is an unusual lad. I checked out his websites beforehand and still wasnt sure exactly what kind of Rocky I would be in for. The guy nailed it ! His voice was as close to Tim Curry's as anyones could be, but he made the personality of the role his own. He was wickedly wonderful !
Thank you to a brilliant cast and production. It was a brilliant night.
Alison played tour guide and took me to The Gap where we watched a huge cruise ship make her way thru the heads and into the harbour, then I got the see the Bridge and harbour from the Kirribilli side - I have never been to that side before !
We went to see Billy Elliot. Fans of the film would not be disappointed. Brilliantly cast, fantastic sets. Some songs were so moving that I was close to tears. I wasnt overly fussed with the ending to be honest - but a chat with cast member Gen Lemon afterwards made me understand why it had been done that way.
So I returned to work to find my boss had given me some acting in the role I applied for. So I will be acting in the role until the real position becomes available - hopefully in the next few weeks. The small pay increase has been wiped out by the recent interest rates on my mortgage :(
Some piccies from my trip are here - the rest are in the phanfare photo albums so click on the link on the left !!
February 24 2008, Sunday
Some changes to BajaClub.....
Due to popular demand (well at least several requests!!), I have moved the blog archives over to the left side - apparently they couldnt be seen on the other side by people with different screen resolutions.
After finally purchasing an external floppy disc drive - I have been able to locate the remaining old Xmas newsletters from 1998 to 2002. I am so glad to have found them stored on a disc as I was sure I had totally lost them. So I have created a page each for them and they are now linked below on the left.
I shall be farewelling the Nude Black and White Male pages ! They were the first pages that I built for this website back in 1998 ! But I need the valuable webspace and shall be moving them over to my phanfare photo albums if you are still in need of a perv... um admiration ! Likewise with the firemens calender photos and the Skyhooks concert photos. These will all move from BajaClub links to the phanfare albums this week.
Out of all the floppy discs I have been transferring to a dvd - I have encountered a few where only part of a photo or document becomes visible and a message requests me to format the disc (which would of course delete everything). If anyone has any tips on how I can restore the contents of these discs long enough to copy them - please email me.
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March 1 2008, Saturday - Long Weekend.
Tagged
I've been tagged by a writer friend so I guess I've got to do the following meme:
The 'rules' are as follows :-
1/ you link back to the person who tagged you.
2/ post these rules on your blog.
3/ share six unimportant things about yourself.
4/ tag six random people at the end of your entry.
5/ let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.
So - here we go!
1/ Diane is the person who tagged me.
2/ Rules are posted above.
3/ Six unimportant things about me;
------: I bought a car (1967 Morris 1100) when I was 17 but I have never had a drivers licence.
------: Purple rules my life.
------: I am quite possibly the most indecisive Libran I know.
------: I dont think I want to live in Perth anymore.
------: I adore cruise ships.
------: Decluttering consumes me.
4/ Six people (cheating and using some myspace ones cos hardly any of my friends blog properly: Pam, Manda, Gina,
5/ Done !
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So. I had a really crappy week. Somewhere in amongst it all I got the promotion I applied for back in October, but it was so hard to be happy about it when I felt so very very down doobie do down down.
The crux of it is that the project I am doing at work (which has funding to last the next 4 years) is so uninspiring, so monotonous, so mind numbingly boring, so unstimulating, so unfullfilling - so everything.
The other project that I did for the previous 4 years was exciting, complex, stimulating, rewarding, satisfying. Every single day stressed me and tasked my brain. I went home feeling like I had achieved something. I went home proud that a girl who left school at 15 was remotely even capable of doing such a complex job. I recieved two awards for my achievements.
This current project could honestly be done by lowly paid monkeys. There is no thinking involved. Its practically tantamount to data entry and data cleansing. I get home and find my brain hasnt worked all day. So it wakes up at night and starts rambling to itself and I cant make it shut the hell up. It really is driving me insane.
I have always suffered chronic insomnia - since I was a little kid. But I am getting older and its getting harder and harder to cope with a mere hour per night of slumber that my body permits me. And having the brain so wide awake is making the usual insomnia even worse.
So there came a day this week where I found myself gazing outs my fourth floor window and wondering what it would feel like to throw a chair through the glass and leap out. I was tired - beyond any normal realm of tired. I was grumpier than normal. I was more senstive than normal. The littlest of comments caught me over reacting.
I went to lunch with a co-worker who I knew suffered depression. I asked her about the symptoms. I explained how I felt like I had a split personality depression. It started at 9am and finished at 6pm. I told her I felt it was directly linked to my feelings about the project. I said I couldnt see how a promotion would help as I would still be doing the same crap job in the same crap project - but I would also be teaching other people the same crap work. Really there was no difference to what I was already doing - for a few dollars more per week. I said I was tempted to turn the promotion down if it was offered to me as I didnt think I could cope with the additional stress of coaching new starters.
We walked back in the office to find everyone totally manic. People were screaming "Check your phone, the promotions are coming through now". Everyone was in my face. Everyone demanded to know if I had recieved the "magic" call.
What upset me the most was the person I had just bared my soul to minutes earlier - instead of understanding my stress and discomfort and perhaps even suggesting people leave me alone for a few minutes - simply joined in with the teasing and hasselling. That really became a finger slowly removing itself from a hole in the dam wall.
I picked up my phone and listed to me messages. I had indeed got the promotion.
As I sat there trying to absorb the news and deal with the inner turmoil that was already swirling inside me, more people came up behind me and yelled at me to tell them whether I had the promotion or not. It all just got too much. I heard a voice behind me saying "congratulations" and a hand touched my shoulder. That was it. The dam burst its banks. I screamed "JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE WILL YOU" and burst into tears. Minutes later I realised the person I had just verbally cut the throat of - was my friend and mentor. As she walked off in shock - I quickly sent her an email explaining my reaction wasnt to her and it would have happened no matter who walked up. Fortunately she is a mature and intelligent person and allows a person to explain and apologise because she actually does give a damn. Unlike so many in that office.
Anyway - I then summonsed my team leader to a room and for two hours I cried (much to her horror - cos she really isnt good with all that emotional kinda stuff !) and let it all out. I told her everything I hated about the project and how it was affecting me emotionally and physically, and how I didnt think a promotion would make me feel any better. She did her job as best she could - she removed herself from the emotion of it all. She told me the ways she finds to excite herself when ever we change projects. How she finds new goals to achieve etc. Ever the professional.
But - the thing is - what I found so satisfying about the old project was that I didnt ever think I could do such complex work and it excited and thrilled me to find not only could I do it, but that I was really good at it. I had found a skill, a talent, hidden in my uneducated brain.
The current project is exactly what an uneducated person who left school at 15, should be doing! Monotonous mind numbing data entry. There is no goal for me to achieve. There is nothing to excite me, to stimulate me, to challenge me.
I am stuffed.
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March 2 2008, Sunday.
I think I found my own therapy !
I just sat here and painted anything that wasnt nailed down - purple ! My RSI affected arm is now killing me ! I rewarded myself with a huge bowl of yummy spagetti bolognaise.
Now I am spring cleaning Baja Club (particularly the bajaboys pages) while the paint drys.
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March 9 2008, Sunday
Well it was a short week at work. Monday was a holiday and I only went to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Mum came down on Wednesday arvo and that evening we strolled down to Members Equity Stadium where we enjoyed first the sounds of Ian Moss from Cold Chisel, followed by the evergreen rockin Rod Stewart.
It was a great concert. We were about 24 rows from the stage and just a couple of rows behind the $400 seats! He sung all our favourites (tho Mum missed out on her all time fave The Killing of George). He also surprised us with a couple of special treats - including my all time fave Bonnie Tyler song - the song his mum always thought he should have sung - Its a Heartache, and Cat Stevens Father and Son which was accompanied by footage of him with his dad and him with his boys.
Photos and videos are up and ready in the Phanfare albums.
On Thursday mum and I went and explored the big new Spotlight store in Innaloo, where I got some nice big european cushion inserts on sale. I still have plenty of the macrofibre material we made the curtains with so the cushions can have matching covers made. Then we went to the ENORMOUS brand new Ikea on the other side of Innaloo shops. Huge is an understatement! I now know where Indiana Jones lost Ark is being stored. We had lunch in the massive restuarant then had a darn good browse and priced the new sized Billy bookshelves and the glass doors that can have photos put inside them. Something to save up for. Unfortunately the doors wont fit my old Billys so I will put them up for sale.
On Friday we went and did a big grocery shop and then got a bus to the convention centre for the Womens Showcase Expo. We wandered the many stalls, watched Tottie Goldsmith hosting some interviews, had a makeover done and some mother and daughter photos done, and finally got tempted by the TENS machine salesperson. Mum has had her TENS for 20 years so it was due for an upgrade, and I ave always wanted one so I dont have to wait for mums visits ! Tried out the demo one on my RSI affected areas and wow it felt good.
Mum went home on Saturday and I continued with decluttering projects both in the home and online for the rest of the weekend.
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March 14 2008, Friday.
A not so awaited milestone this week. After 6 years of concentrating on preventing my RSI moving into my left side - on Monday it made the journey. My left thumb feels arthritic and bruised - painful to touch. And the next two fingers were pins and needles all Monday night and I didnt go to work on Tues cos there was so much pain. GRRRRR not happy.
To cheer myself up I ventured out last night with Sharls where we saw our favourite 80s boys in Absolutely 80s.
Absolutely 80s features Brian Mannix from Uncanny X-Men and Scott Carne from Kids in the Kitchen. For each gig they have extra people in the line up and for WA they had Sean Kelly from The Models.
It was poorly advertised so the "crowd" was more like a private BBQ gig. I estimate there were 40 people there. Perfect really - no fighting for space on the dance floor ! Everyone appeared to be dedicated fans of one or more of the guys. One girl had gone all out and dressed up in her Madonna best lacey 80s gear - fabulousy crimped hair and all. She looked wicked !!! I wore one of my cafepress xmaniac t shirts.
Thursday night pub gigs in Perth are a bit embarrassing in numbers ! But despite that the guys put on the same kinda show as if it was a full house. Brian had the flu - so we got a few lovely snot descriptions. Scotty was on a roll. He came off the stage to dance on the dance floor with us 12 brave souls out there !!
Each took turns to sing their own hits and then they joined each other to rock up the night with a series of good old favourite random songs of the 80s.
The band themselves were great. Really good tight sound. MUCH better than the Idols of the 80s band who seemed to concentrate on high volume and crap mixing so all you really heard was buzzing.
Photos are now uploaded to my Phanfare albums.
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12 April 2008, Saturday.
Had a quiet few weeks and nothing really to add to the blog.
Easter was a nice few days at home, continuing the ongoing decluttering project and a couple of sewing projects.
Some small changes at work the next week - we got pulled off the project that has been boring me to tears. Only for a couple of months but for now I am back to doing the work I enjoy.
I am missing Lost and Hereo's and am sick of TV networks and the games they play with viewers.
The last day of March was brilliantly wet. I had the day off as Mum was visiting. It poured all day and was deliciously cold. A total of 43mm fell. We spent the day on the couch watching dvds. I Robot and Intolerable Cruelty entertained us.
The next day I went to a chiropractor for the first time in my life. Had some spectacular xrays done. For those that dont know this about me - I love xrays! Anyway - my crooked spine fascinated me so I uploaded them to my photo albums !
I dont know that the chiropractor will help my RSI - it may help the shoulder side of things tho. Remedial deep tissue massage seems to be the only thing that remotely helps the RSI as a whole. Doctor advised me this week he believes it is now a "permenant injury". The idea of tolerating this pain for life is terrible.
The past two weekends I have been entertained by fireworks for no reason. One of the reasons I love living where I live - so many fireworks to see through the year. Anyway I created a new online album just to show some of the photos off so visit phanfare.com and log in to check them out. I have also been reliving my past and going through old "real" albums and scanning in some memories. Because Feb marked 20 years since I left Australia and moved across the world to be a nanny in the US I thought I would relive 1987's photos first. So do go check them out. I was soooooo young. And its hard to believe the little toddler I nannied would be 22 this year! You should have recieved an email by now titled "Karina wants to connect with you as a friend" - thats the invitation to register to view my online albums. If you havent recieved it or it went by the spamway, let me know and I will reinvite you.
Hmmmmm what else is happening out there. Well 60 Minutes really incensed me last weekend by doing a story on a woman my age who is in a relationship with her father - the kind of relationshipship that produces babies. Its so bloody grotesquely (sp?) wrong that I cannot fathom how the reporter thought it was legitimate journalism. What part of it constituted "informing the public" ??? Is this honestly something we need to be informed about ? What thought was given to the actual indentifying of this stupid womans children from another marriage - or the new child from this disgusting illegal consumation. The older two kids actually believe its perfectly normal for their grandfather and mother to be together. These kids will be crucified in their schools. And when granddad tires of mummy - will it be a natural consequence to move onto the granddaughters ? or the newest one that is both a daughter AND a granddaughter ???
I refuse to watch 60 Minutes again until they relearn the practice of actual quality journalism.
I am currently a fan of Underbelly. Its one heck of a piece of great Aussie TV production. I was an avid reader of the Melbourne gangland wars as they were happening during the 90's and 2000's. The West Australian always felt the need to draw a family tree in each article to show how each slayed gang member was related or connected to Perths own and rather prominant mafia and bikie warlords. Anyway - the show itself is brutal, crass and dark - just like the people that were involved with the incidents.
It has picked many actors who were mostly known for C grade roles in soapies, before sliding into obscurity, and allowed them to act like their life depended on it. As a result - there are some seriously brilliant portrayals. Ex Home and Away actors Gyton Grantley and Les Hill have really shown true talent and little Damien Walshe Howling from Blue Heelers has blown everyone away (literally !!) with his portrayal of ther somewhat adorable cold blooded hit man for hire. Mr Reliable - Vince Collosimo rocked in the first 2 eps. Marcus Graham - another exceedingly underrated Mr Reliable - has produced some of the most incredible on screen chemistry with Kestie Morassi a couple of eps ago. I needed a bex and a good lie down afterwards !
If you were watching some of these murders on the Soprano's you would say to yourself "nahhh its so over the top and exagerated", but when you remember exactly how you felt when you heard about two men being shot in a van with their kids sitting in the back, and you remember the next day when you heard about how they were yet another rung on the ladder of the gangland wars that claimed more than 20 people in 9 years. Watching it occur in front of you on Tv - knowing its no exageration - its so confronting.
Its a shame there will only be 13 eps in total. Seeing as how the events took place over a decade - we could have had a 2 year series easily !
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11 May 2008, Saturday (ok its 1.30am so technically its Sunday)
I cant believe its been a month since I last updated my blog. Thats so bad !
Yes there is something big going on in my life - something that I wont detail here but those of you that I felt should know have recieved emails about it and I apologise for rambling about it. Suffice to say its worrying me on a daily (hourly) basis and I have had to make some pretty drastic decisions in recent days.
Anyway - enough about that.
Work - well the fun project cant last forever - I expect we will be back to the boring one before the month is out. Meanwhile I was basically forced to take on a higher position for the rest of the month. Ok yes the extra money will be handy - but I just dont need the additional stress.
As usual I found a nice way to distract myself from everyday woes. I spent April 24 - 30th in freezing Melbourne and managed to catch up with many friends old and new. It was great to see them and as always I am amazed at how fast their kiddies grow up. One minute you see them in nappies - next you are having grown up conversations with them. They are like mini adults !
How else did I occupy myself. Hmmmm well there is that good old stand by for when you are feeling down - the wonderful sparkly ping pong ball filled musical Priscilla.
We were there for the four final shows before the whole production packs the big silver bus and grows water wings over to New Zealand.
For me the biggest change since the December shows was the brilliant Bill Hunter playing the role he created on film - Bob. To see a man of his talent and calibre, whose films I have enjoyed since childhood, live on stage, is always a privilidge and one of the many reasons I enjoy the theatre so much. To see him recreating his film role was lovely. There were some particularly lovely scenes where his eyes and facial expression had me totally believing that he as Bob was falling for Bernadette/Ralph.
Another new bonus was the inclusion of the delectable Mark Hodge (he of Dancing With The Stars fame) in the ensemble after a long period of ill health.
So - the friday night show - lovely. I think I started the standing ovation on my side of the room about 60 seconds than anyone else so I did stand there looking a wee bit obvious till everyone else finally stood ! Fortunately there was a woman down on the 3rd row that started her own personal standing ovation about 5 minutes before me !!!
The Saturday matinee - nice highlight for me was the gorgeous Mark taking me up on stage for a dance during Country Boy. Nothing like 3 minutes tuition to let yourself say "So I Think I Can Dance" lol NOT! I am the original white chick with no rythym and not even the hunkiest man on that stage was going to improve my skills ! Not in front of 2300 people anyway!
The Saturday night show saw us at front row centre (so I wore my favourite appropriate T shirt - see photo albums from December!). Some of the cast were unwell so we got an announcement just before curtain that Bill Hunter was off and Damien Bellingham would play his role of Bill. I had previously seen Damien playing Miss Understanding a couple of times last year after Trevor broke an ankle. Two extremely different roles to be understudy for ! One is a Tina Turner take off - and one a rugged country man! Damien did well ! At intermission we were advised Lena was sick and her understudy (whose name I missed - sorry) would take on the ping ponging role of Cynthia. And she did really well too. So it was an interesting show - seeing two people in roles you were not use to seeing them play.
Then it was Sunday - and time to farewell the show that has entertained me 14 times over the past 12 months. Again we were on the front row - about 3 seats off centre. The whole cast were back (and hopefully healthy!). The laughs seem to be bigger and longer for each and every line. I got the impression that as well as the expected family, friends and staff, the majority of the audience were repeat offenders. You would never have imagined the cast had been doing the show every day for 18 months. Each of them performed their roles as if it was the first time and each characterisation was as fresh as my first viewing 12 months earlier. For that they should be commended because I honestly have no idea how actors do this.
Intermission finished and the opening sounds of Country Boy started. I knew from the final Sydney show that the audience members who would get pulled up to dance would be family, friends and producers etc. Hmmmm someone else had other ideas. There I was engrossed in watching Prisoner gal Colette Mann belting out her number when the devine Mark appears in front of me yet again requesting a dance for the second day in a row. Hmmmm how could I say no to that request!
So he leads me up on stage, chatting away like an old friend, introducing me to people. Me wondering why the guy from the audience behind me looks so bloody familiar. So I butcher yet another barn dance with a man that is so talented a dancer that he was in Moulin Rouge and Happy Feet (yes one of those dancing penguins has his moves). Really after these two mini dance lessons you think I would have improved - sadly not! Mark chatted about how sad the cast were back stage - lots of tears as four were leaving for good.
Then the dance was over. So I walk to the front of the stage to take a bow (now that I can apparently do! tho its scarey as hell because you really can see faces on many rows back !) and the familiar man from the audience has his arm tightly round my waist and telling me how terrified he is. I lead him off the stage and we all return to our seats for the second half of the show.
Some of the songs got me a little teary in the second half. I think the knowledge that I might never see them performed again was getting to me.
Then before I knew it - it was time for a very very long standing ovation. No worries of a premature start this night - everyone stood much earlier than normal and remained standing and applauding for AGES. Streamers were thrown - so were random ping pong balls. Gold sparkles fell from the ceiling all over us. I caught the eyes of some of my favourite cast members and gave them a big clap and mouthed a thank you to them. Thank you for entertaining me. Its been a privilidge to enjoy such a wonderful show and cast.
As we walked through the foyer I ran into the familiar man again. He gave me a big hug and kiss and said thank you for looking after him on stage ! Too late did I realise it was only bloody Stephan Elliott - he who wrote and directed the film and then wrote the book for the musical. Too late for me to thank him for creating such a genuine masterpiece that touched so many lives and perceptions and allowed so many of my friends to venture out of the closet.
So - unbelievabley the week wasnt just about Priscilla ! There was more to be seen in the fine city of multiple theatres. On the Monday we went to see The 39 Steps - a farce based on the Hitchcock film of same name, starring Marcus Graham, Tony Taylor, Grant Piro & Helen Christianson. It was hilarious. While Marcus played the debonair hero Richard, the other three played no less than 130 characters !!! This is something I would definitely see again because the audience laughter drowned out a lot of funny lines. If it comes to Perth I will definitely go again.
Then Tuesday night was Guys and Dolls at the Princess Theatre. A very big name cast. Marina Prior, Garry MacDonald, Lisa McCune, Ian Stenlake, Magda Szubanski and Shane Jacobsen (better know to most as Kenny the dunny guy). While I loved the sets and production I did feel that there wasnt a lot of chemistry between the cast. Stenlake is the perennial Mr Bland of Australian Stage. I didnt like him in Cabaret where he wasnt even able to master chemistry with his real life wife. So I certainly didnt expect or see any chemistry with his Sea Patrol co star Lisa. Marina and Garry - while massive talents in their own rights - seemed a bit too old for the roles. Especially given that Marina is playing a stripper that goes down to a teeny pair of knickers.
For me the surprise of the night was "Kenny". I had no idea he was a song and dance man, and a talented one at that. And there were some real standouts in the ensemble, especially the jealous girl in the tango scenes. I think for me - after a few years of such massive new productions like We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia, Priscilla, Billy Elliot etc - the old shows like Guys and Dolls with their ever repeating never ending over and over style love song etc - just seem a bit slow and old hat now. Dont get me wrong - I really enjoyed it all. But I didnt "feel" anything. I didnt come out with a new message in my heart.
Anyway a week of east coast entertainment aided me in forgetting the realisms of the west coast so for that I was greatful. I was also greatful for the shoulders provided to me for emoting on by my oldest and newest friends. And I was greatful for the hunky dancing man who had no idea how much he contributed to taking a load of my mind.
I flew home on the Wednesday night and woke on Thursday morning with a vile head cold ! Back to earth with a thump. Spent the next four days in bed with soup and medications. Went to work on Monday even tho I really needed 2 more days in bed. But you know it looks bad when you call in sick right after a holiday. Nope - you have to crawl on in and show them the red crusty nose and let them hear your hacking cough and dripping nose for themselves ! And just for fun - you pass it on to all of them !
Anyway its been a long post but thats been my month. I will leave you with a media photo taken on the final night of Priscilla. The front row is in the dark but I found me !
My hand holding up a streamer !
17 May 2008. Saturday - chilly but sunny.
I was chatting to a new person in my team this week. She was asking all the usual getting to know you questions and somewhere in amongst my answers she ascertained I had been over east "several times" in recent months.
When I actually got to thinking about it I realised that in the 12 months from April 2007 to April 2008 I:
Flew to:
-- Sydney - four times for 7 days each time.
-- Melbourne - twice for 7 days each time.
-- Bangkok - twice for 3 weeks each time.
I also had 2 and a half months off work on sick leave ! In between that and all those trips I apparently went to work - tho my bosses are prepared to dispute this.
And on those trips I:
-- Saw Priscilla the Musical a total of 14 times.
-- Saw Phantom of the Opera once.
-- Saw Spamalot twice.
-- Saw Billy Elliot once.
-- Saw Rocky Horror twice.
-- Saw Guys and Dolls once.
-- Saw The 39 Steps once.
-- Spent $45k on an oral reconstruction !
So I guess its no wonder what my credit card is now screaming SSSSSSTTTTTTOOOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP !!!!
Me thinks its time for some quiet cheap time at home !
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2 June 2008. Monday - Public Holiday.
Hard to believe but a year ago tomorrow I was in a Bangkok hospital having major life changing surgery.
One year on.....
My weekly pharmacuetical expenditure is much lower. I was spending about $50 a week on pain medication & penecillan back then.
I am not walking around in a drugged up haze.
My migraines have been greatly reduced. I still get the ones caused by RSI pain and stress, but the ones that were clearly caused by rotting poisons flowing through my body have disappeared.
I am not attempting to sleep with huge icepacks strapped to my face.
I brush my teeth without fear of breaking them.
I sleep without fear of waking with a mouthfull of crumbling enamel.
I eat without fear.
I bite into icecream.
I bite into chocolate straight from the fridge !
I bite into crunchy crumbed schnitzel coating around veal.
I bite.
I put all the weight back on that I lost while on the 12 month mush and soup diet!
I still have a lisp caused by the tongue hitting the back of the new teeth, but I accept that its likely here to stay so I work around it.
I accept that speaking loudly in crowded noisy situations is difficult because I find it hard to annunciate.
These are two very tiny negatives that are far outweighed by all the positives.
Other subject. I desperately wanted to pop into town this weekend and see the new Indiana Jones film but the torrential rain and hail kinda kept me at home. I want to see it before I read spoilers in reviews or online. I want to go back to the days when the first three came out and I was able to see them totally unaffected by other peoples opinions. Sometimes the internet can be a pain.
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28 June 2008. Saturday.
omigod its so bloody freezing ! Winter in Perth has definitely arrived.
Yesterdays storms resulted in my area losing power several times yesterday before it finally went out for most of the evening. It was so cold that the logical think to do was go to bed. But I wasnt tired at all so I occupied myself by clearing out old text messages on my mobile, and reading an entire novel by torchlight. Thank gawd for wind up torches that need no batteries !
Today its been a mix of stormy and sunny, with several power losses. At least I have gas hot water and gas cooking - even if I cant see what I am doing!
And the darkness is a whole nother story. Even without blackouts my apartment is rather dark. The two main lights in the living area have died. Putting globes in and flicking the switch is currently resulting in shattered glass all over the carpet - and yes that is not remotely fun ! I need a cheap electrician.
So what else is new ? Well I still havent made it into town to see the new Indiana Jones film - so I am STILL avoiding all spoilers and storyline websites ! Quite fancy seeing the Mamma Mia movie - I mean it cant be bad with Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth !
Busy budgeting my year in advance. Paying off debts and paying all my bills in advance to make them less painfull. Planning more Priscilla holidays - yes thats right the show is returning to Sydney for a farewell season !!!! Conveniently times for my 40th birthday LOL !!
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18 August 2008. Monday.
Well apparently July came and went without anything interesting taking place!
Mostly its just been work and home. Nothing really exciting to blog about.
Usual crap at work with issues with egotistical meglomaniacs to want everything their own way and expect every single person to bend to their ways. Woe betide the few people that choose not to bend with them. And why is one of theose people always me ?
TV is on strike. As we discover every 4 years - it seems every station assumes we have all suddenly become sporting fanatics and are desperate to watch nothing but crap sports that never get televised at any other time of year (volleyball, badminton, softball ??? give me a break). So the other stations curl up in a ball of ratings fear and decide to not even compete - so they drag out shows that were cancelled 5 years ago for really good reason and expect us to sit through them again.
So instead I pulled out the final season (5) of Quantum Leap and have been making my way thru the season that confused us Leaper fans the most. It came close to jumping the shark that season but ended up with us just asking more and more questions. I have relived the entire show over the past 16 months. Its been nice to see the episodes that made me cry 18 years ago - still strike a chord now. And watching it all in a row allows me to see the many in jokes and hidden messages that carried through the show.
I have also been getting into Dexter. Friends with Foxtel had been telling me for months that it was the kind of show I would like but being foxtel-less I had to go without the experience. But then Ch10 started screening season 1 a few weeks back. I do enjoy the premise - forensic cop by day, seriel killer of bad people by night. And I like the dry sarcastic narrative. But there is just something unappealing about the guy playing Dexter. I dont find him attractive and so I find it difficult to like his character - even tho I really want to.
What else. Well to those who know about the private family issue that isnt getting mentioned here - no updates and utterly no progress. And utterly no idea what I can do about it. Or whether its even up to me ?
So instead I distract myself with plans. Plans for a fab 40th week in Sydney. Plans for a possible round the world trip next year - providing the bloody dollar doesnt keep up the downwards slide after peaking at 98cents grrrrrrrr.
And the ongoing decluttering journey through my possessions continues. I am getting better at brutally disposing of treasures.
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6 September 2008. Saturday.
I just dont think I have much to say at the moment.
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13 September 2008, Saturday.
For the first time in many years an advertisement actually spoke to me.
It was actually a newspaper add for the local City to Surf fun run, and I guess it was meant to be saying to all the couch potatoes to get up and join the fun run.
But on that particular day it had a much bigger message for me.
It told me about the barriers I place upon my self and my own dreams. The hurdles that are indeed in my mind. Freaky.
I had been under a lot of stress (and still am) - multiple issues - the bully at work doing his usual efforts to break my spirit, other non related work issues, the family issue which isnt being written about here (email me if you dont already know) but which is causing me to pretty much grieve for someone who isnt actually dead, and the whole "why do I still live in Perth when I dont want to" thing had raised its ugly head again.
This all mounted up and made for a pretty bad 3 or 4 weeks. Mind racing without the ability to stop - almost manic. Its exhausting and agonising - heart constantly racing, breathing difficulties. No sleep at all for days then weeks on end. Crying at the drop of a hat. Good thing I have plenty of tear jerker dvds on the shelf.
I think the building of the new bookcases started some of it off (see my Phanfare albums for the construction pics!). I started looking at the rest of my furniture - particularly my beloved massive cabinets that I designed myself, and my possessions in great numbers.
At the same time I was looking at apartments for sale in Melbourne and Sydney and realising they were all at least half the square metres that my existing apartment is.
I realised the biggest barrier (other than finding a job) to me packing up my life and moving away, is the idea of packing up all this shit and finding a way to fit it into 50 sq mtrs or less. The barrier in that picture above is a piece of giant furniture!
So I made some big decisions over a few weeks - I started putting stickers on everything that I am going to sell. While I was waiting for the Ikea delivery man I got bored and started unpacking two boxes that have basically sat in my living room since I moved here 5 years ago! I found that one contained about 100 photo frames. Seriously! The other contained lots of glass. Wine glasses, drining glasses, decanters (so many!), ornaments etc etc - stuff I had totally forgotten about.
So I sat i removed all the photos from the photo frames and then boxed up the frames again. I selected a set of nice drinking glasses and a couple of funky ornaments to keep and then boxed everything else back up and then on both boxes I wrote the magical words GARAGE SALE.
At the same time I have started working on different ways to store the things I can never get rid off. One of the biggest changes will be moving all my photos from the dozens of cumbersome albums, into nice compact photo boxes. Those boxes will fit nicely in the buffet cabinet I am leaning on in the below photo. The big entertainment cabinets to the right of me that currently hold stereo, cds, photo albums, Tv and vcrs etc etc - will be sold!
The video tapes are slowly being transferred to DVD and will then be sold or thrown out so they wont need storage.
I will paint one of the old Billy bookcases purple to match the buffet and it will hold dvds and cds. The stereo and TV will fit on top of the buffet, as will the DVDr and VCR. The stereo is on its last legs so it may be replaced with something smaller.
Naturally all this put a big strain on my brain. For those of you who know my foibles you know that my brain and my insomnia are entities of their own - I have no relationship with them. So when my brain is in full blown overload it just goes full throttle. All night it would be listing things that could be sold - "third drawer in the cabinet in the spare room - check to see if there is a whatsamacallit to sell" on and on all night. I would turn on the light and write down all the things that were building up into lists in order to remove the thoughts from the brain but that just gave it more room to think. And if it wasnt thinking about garage sales it was thinking about the reports that would have to be written regarding the work issues, or the letter that could be written to fix the family issue.
When my brain is in this manic mode there is utterly nothing I can do to make it stop. I would rise each morning to see a floor covered in paper with notes scrawled all over them.
At the same time I was training a new starter at work and I think he thought I was some kind of ADHD manic wierdo. I would just ramble on so fast about procedures and then stop mid sentence with an alziemhers moment.
So naturally it all came to a head - 2 weeks of sheer mania and not a skeric of sleep. I had a bit of a meltdown. I rang work and said I was having the rest of the week off and spent 3 days curled up in a ball. Then 2 days of really good progress with doing some of the many things on the lists.
I am not rushing myself. I havent set any deadlines. But each day I do something on the list. I have started a row of boxes and things are being added to the boxes to sell. Everytime I pick something up or open a drawer - I think about whether I need it or want it or remember why I own it or who gave it to me. Then a decision is made.
Meanwhile - ever the multi tasker - while I am doing things like this around the house, I am also constantly burning old videos over to DVD so that the videos can go. The dvd recorder is starting to groan under pressure so I may need to buy a 2nd one to take up the strain! And I have the necessary connections to hook up the old 80s beta vcr to start burning those oldie tapes too - I just need to ask some more techo type friends how to actually connect it all up ! When the video tape project is finished that is about 4 very large boxes of tapes that can go, along with 3 vcr players!
And hopefully the more I talk about it here - the less my brain wll need to think about it all night !
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27 September 2008, Saturday.
Rest in peace Paul Newman. Gone at 83. Another gentleman of the big screen goes to the big theatre in the sky. He has left us with so many great works that its hard to select a favourite (other than his pasta sauces that have graced my shelves for so many years). I loved him in Fort Apache The Bronx, The Sting, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Absence of Malice, The Towering Inferno, The verdict. Sigh - so many.
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2 October 2008, Thursday
RIP to the longest serving Phantom of the Opera - Rob Guest - who died today following a stroke yesterday. Sympathies to his family and his cast members in Wicked.
I am now in holiday mode. Updates and photos when I return !!
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