I am sitting at my desk with half a chicken sandwich. It is taking up less and less room in my cubicle as I process its transfer from outside my body to the inside.
My colleague, Brendan, has just likened his working here to a tree with roots that won't let go of the earth that sustains them. His intention is to put down a tap root so deep and so strong, that he will be here as long as the oak trees outside. I resist reminding him he is both new and young. Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing and oughtn't be distilled for anything - time will work its wonders soon enough.
This lunch hour is devoted to writing. First to you; then to my Grandfather. I am also poised to answer my phone should it ring, as my cousin mentioned she might call. She is another with abounding enthusiasm and creativity - a joy to spend any time with and Lord only knows, I don't spend enough time with her.
It's a fine, clear, cold day in Melbourne today. Most people are coat and scarved, with the exception of a few young girls this morning who shivered, dragging their sleeves over their hands trying to be warm, in wholey inappropriate clothes for this weather.
I'll away to write my scrawl across some paper to send to my Grandfather and leave you with something nice to read:
As I stood on the roof of my house, taking in this unexpected view, it struck me how glorious it was that this was exactly how this land must have looked to centuries of people, quietly going about their daily business – eating, sleeping, having sex, endeavouring to be amused – and it occurred to me, with the forcefulness of a thought experienced in 360 degrees, that that's really what history mostly is: masses of people doing ordinary things. Even Einstein will have spent large parts of his life thinking about his holidays or new hammock or how dainty was the ankle on the young lady alighting from the tram across the street. These are the sorts of things that fill our lives and thoughts, and yet we treat them as incidental and hardly worthy of serious consideration.
A great time was had last night. Our small party of two was bolstered by the delightful company of Marty and Jane - yay for Facebook telling friends what friends are doing.
Good music - great music in the instance of Jackson Firebird - check out their video below. Willo is so much fun to go out with - and dance with/against/next to.
Finished the day as I'd started it - with John Lydon singing me out the door.
It's Saturday and my hands smell of bleach. Shower-cleaning isn't as arduous as it used to be before I discovered thick bleach, but it is a bit stinky - and often hard on the clothes I choose to wear through the process. I never think to get into old clothes, and end up with clean white spots where the splatters of bleach have hit my jeans and tshirt.
I find a good way to clean is to do it in the advertising breaks in a movie on television. Today, it was a movie called Hawaii, staring Julie Andrews and Max von Sydon. It's amazing (to me, at least) how much I can get done in the 5 minutes of advertising they slice a movie up with. Before I know it, the movie is over and I'm sitting in a bleach/pino-clean smelling house!
Album Launch
Tonight is the Snowdroppers album launch at the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne. Willo and I have been looking forward to it all week. It promises to be foot stompingly good and drenched in beer. We first saw these guys at a berlesque show at the Hi Fi bar in 2007. We had a rollocking good time that night - due in a large part to the music, though the skantily-clad women didn't hurt either.
Vlogging
For the last 3 months or so, I've been video corresponding with my sister in New Zealand. It's so lovely to find her video on our youtube.com channel on a Tuesday and settle down to listen as she talks to me. I record my returning video on Fridays (though lately it's been Saturdays) and so it goes. I can't recommend this highly enough to anyone who wants an easy way to stay in touch with family. More than the news she tells me, I see her lovely face and expressions I know so well - she shows me what she's bought on trademe.co.nz and sometimes I hear or see her family in the background.
We don't have any rules except the video needs to be no longer than about 4 minutes. We don't have any punishments or penalties for missing our deadlines (Tuesday for her, Friday for me) because we are both busy people and sometimes, it's just not possible.
What I love best about it is because we're sisters, there's nothing glamourous about it. We don't make any effort or care what we look like or sound like etc - we just talk to each other and it's so great.
Fudge Recipe for Sarah
The talented Ms Sarah H asked for my fudge recipe - and because I know it's my execusion that is causing failure of my fudge outcomes lately, I will share it - I proved years ago and over and over that the recipe is sound. So for Sarah and anyone else who would like to make fudge, the recipe is as follows:
2 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa
1/2 cup of milk
25 grams of butter
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence
Put sugar and cocoa into a saucepan. Mix to combine. Add milk and butter. Heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved and butter melted. Bring to the boil. Do not stir. Let mixture boil until the soft ball stage. Remove from heat. Add vanilla essence and leave to stand for five minutes. Beat with a wooden spoon until thick. Pour into a buttered tin. Mark into squares. Cut when cold.
NOTE: 'soft ball stage' in sugar making is a temperature - if you have a candy thermometre, the temperature you're looking for (apparently) is 235 degrees Celcius.
WARNING: sugar boils at a very high temperature - IT WILL BURN YOU IF YOU LICK THE SPOON! or stick your finger in the pot etc. So be careful out there, people.
Digital Photography
Years ago I bought a Nikon dSLR. I loved and continue to love my camera. I paid a lot of money for it and in return, I managed to get some really nice photographs. I know a little bit about photography - bits here and there - but have decided to attend classes to learn more.
Chaz and I will be going to this digital photography class every Wednesday evening for 6 weeks. That alone will be a lot of fun - he's such an ethusiastic, positive, creative guy just being around him is energising. We'll be doing our homework between classes and he promised that we can have a drink after each class.
It will be fun, and I'll get to learn after all this time how to *really* use my camera in off-road style!
