something to pray

Beloved Father, you are aware of all things; nothing in the conscience of man can escape your notice and you know what is coming before it happens... Grant O Lord, that I may know what I ought to know, and love what I ought to love; that I may praise what most pleases you, value what is precious in your eyes, and reject what you find vile.

The words of Thomas á Kempis.

it's the little things...

My local cafe is pretty swell. Thelast two times I've been there, they've been playing some of my favourite albums, in full. None of this shuffle business.

Last week it was Fleet Foxes, and today it was Wilco.

I don't know if I will find another cafe to take its place, and yet I've not been to that many. They also do really good food, and it's reasonbly priced. Oh and it has a great little garden out the back and feels like home. Oh and someone bought me a birthday cake from there, and it was amazing.

If you come visit i'll take you there.... so... come visit!

Brown Owls



I've been wanting to do something in my local area that is creative, social and fits in with my schedule, and I think I've found it.

I'd heard of Brown Owls through some blogs I read. It's a network ('collective' I think they call it) of crafty people that meet in neighbourhoods around Australia (and now the world) to enjoy each others like-minded company and drink tea while sharing their affinity for all things creative.

Pip Lincolne of Meet Me At Mike's blog fame started the first one in Melbourne. I discovered today there is a new one starting in my suburb, and it's on a night I can make it!

So now I plan to drag a friend along to the next meeting in two weeks' time. Any inner northies out there want to join me?

It's funny, a Melbournian reflected on her blog the other day that going to Sydney was like being in a movie, because you felt like you knew all the places before you arrived, and so it was almost surreal seeing them in person.

I feel like I'm experiencing this in reverse at the moment. For me, Melbourne has been a figment of my imagination for a long time, essentially mediated by blogland. So actually living here is pretty fun. For instance, I did about a quadruple-take the other day going past Meet Me At Mike's shopfront in Fitzroy. And now, there's a Brown Owls chapter in my neighbourhood. It's like the internet is invading my life. Ok that sounded really nerdy...  kind of maybe because it is...

jamming with elvis

At some point in his life, perhaps the bit where he was a hepcat bachelor living it up on the lower north shore, my dad was President of an Elvis fan club.

I inherited his love for music, but not really his love of Elvis. Until now. I've just been listening to the Million Dollar Quartet Recordings.

The story goes that one day in 1956, Elvis swung by Sun Records studios, where he found Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis. They had a jam session, which was precluded from making it onto the airwaves because they were each tied to various contracts.

But the recordings were finally unearthed in Elvis' Graceland home after his death in the 70s, and can I say, they are amazing.

I've just listened to a few of the gospel numbers on YouTube. I Shall Not Be Moved is so great:

recent happenings

I've always had the interesting predicament of my birthday falling early in the year, at a time when things have just changed, and you're making new friends and potentially wondering who your friends actually are.

It meant that in kindergarten, my whole class was invited to my birthday party. Better invite everyone than no one, was my Mum's idea, I think.

I came to Melbourne determined to continue being a sociable person, to organise things and make fun happen.

So I pretty much planned the best birthday ever, which included op-shopping, market browsing and a vegetarian feast.

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy 

Outside the Moroccan Soup Bar

My lovely housemates brought great mirth to the occassion by sticking balloons around my door and baking a cake, as well as participating in said plan.

Recently I used a computer wallpaper which I think was actually supposed to be for thanksgiving, but I liked anyway, which quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson: "I awoke this morning with a devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."

Every time I read it, it makes me think of the beautiful people I have left behind in Sydney, and the new friends I am making.

One of my friends who I also work with made me this amazing book scuplture out of an antique Oxford School Dictionary. From the cover she made a journal. But what's more.... the journal is covered in a map of my suburb from an 80s Melways, with the location of my house highlighted. Cool, no??

Perhaps soon I shall tell you more about how I am spending my days, and there is another video to post up...

Another corker

Quite a few people have exclaimed how excited they were when they discovered Sydney trains had two levels. "Double decker" they call it.

And don't even get them started on the way we have seats that can face forwards or backwards. oh boy!

tee hee

Things people have said to me since I moved to Melbourne

remember these two?



Person to me while I'm washing up: "Apparently Melbourne is going to eclipse the population of Sydney very soon."

Over dinner from a person I met that night: "I heard you can't drink the water from the taps in Sydney is that right? When I visited, I drank it though. It seemed ok."

Over lunch with two girls I met a few weeks ago: "I've been wanting to say since the moment I met you, you look like the girl in Titanic.... Kate.... Winslet?"

Each of these things were said to me with the utmost sincerity.

the ocean

The father
turns the pram
towards the ocean
and walks away

his son
begins to sob

at 9 months old
he knowns
to be
suspicious
of the horizon

he knows
sometimes an ocean
becomes
an ocean
in the mind
or, the mind,
an ocean.

Plant time

I bought a couple of succulents on Swanston Street the other day. They were pretty cheap, and very cheerful.

Carrying them home on the tram was a challenge, but inspired a conversation near me about plants which was amusing.

When I asked if they could live inside, the guy who sold them to me said "Yes, they are good near the computer and like the radiation. Healthy for you."

hmmm not so sure about that... but I'm running with it.

Valentine's Day

So I made the foolish mistake of having a day off on Valentine's Day, and deciding to go to St Kilda.

There were smug couples everywhere. BUT I survived.

And in the evening, my new housemate Sarah (Canadian girl) and her friend and I continued my Sydney tradition of seeing the most unromantic movie possible.

We sat through Black Swan. Just. It was pretty awful. I couldn't get over how malevolent the characters were and how graphic some stuff was. Just a bit too icky for me I think.

Anyway, the highlight of hte night was when Sarah and I were grabbing a coffee pre-movie in the Lygon Street mall, and a troupe of adorable Italian ladies started serenading the crowds.

I managed to get a bit on video.

I plan to post up some other videos in coming days of things I've seen in Melbourne. It's a crazy place.

some observations about melbourne

I know culturally it's not that far from Sydney, and experientially I feel less foreign now than I did when I moved to Orange, but there are still differences between Melbourne and Sydney.

I thought I'd list them while I'm still in the noticing phase.

+ It is SO VERY FLAT. Where are the hills? I go for my jalk (jog/walk) in the morning and there's nothing to fight against. There are only very slight inclines. It's weird, but perfect for cycling.

+There are SO MANY bikes.

+People are more chilled out.

+People wear less. As in, they wear short shorts and singlety things alot. Or maybe this was because it was so hot, and Melbourne people don't get to "do summer" much?

+The city doesn't feel like it's just for business suits and ties. It's for everyone.

+Transport is heaps more regular. Trams win over buses for sure.

+Streets are wide and treelined.

+Two lanes on the same side of the road are split by avenues of trees, creating a kind of dramatic curtain between you and the cars beside.

+There's no pretty water. I do miss Blackwattle Bay.

+Savers. OH MY. The best invention ever. It's like an op-shop on steroids, and everyone goes there for everything. Today I bought a sleeping bag and a saucepan for around $10.

+The route to the airport is way simpler than Sydney.

+I live here. That is weird.