What a good idea

Endeavouring to keep a semblance of a life while in Darwin, I look for things to do when I'm not working. There's the Deckchair Cinema, which only runs in the dry - but Pulp Fiction is playing on Sunday Night - I haven't seen that on the big screen since it came out in the mid-nineties. 

Of course, I like to go to aqua aerobics with the oldies on a Sunday morning. That's good fun - and exercise, and I treat myself to breakfast at a favourite cafe afterwards. 

And there's the gentle socialising with colleagues that has to happen, whether it be with a traveler drink in the hotel pool or going out for dinner. 

Yet I've been wondering if there are other activities, where you can meet people who you don't work with in a town you don't life in.

Speaking to a colleague at the depot today, I may have found one of these types of things. 

A Silent Book Club. 

A silent book club?

Eh?

From what my colleague tells me, you pay your $10, then turn up at an upmarket pizza bar, which is conveniently a stone's throw away from our hotel. Then you sit in personable company for an hour and read in peace. The rules are no talking and phones on silent. You go there to read your book for an hour. There is time for talking after. Oh, and part of the $10 ticket price is a glass of wine, beer or soft drink. 

I think this sounds like a great thing to do. My colleague will be going, so we can catch up there, especially as they're now working from home most of the time. And I'll just have to work out what to take with me, whether it be Kate Mildenhall's The Hummingbird Effect, or the Anne LaMott's book on writing, Bird by Bird (which is on the Kindle) or something else. 

Reading and writing is such an insular hobby. 

This feels like a good thing to do. 

Today's song:

Nightswimming

 There is no better way to wash off the day. 

Even better when you only need to go down four floors. 

I've taken to going for a swim 8.30 at night, after I've had time for dinner, and a walk, if it's not too hot. 

The other good thing about swimming in the evening - no kids. Or people. 

And with the nearly full moon poking out from between the buildings, and some live music filtering Aussie classics as I did my lazy breast stroke up and down the empty pool, I think I've found my personal versions of bliss. 

A colleague joined me after I'd nearly finished my required 20 laps. 

We left when we were kicked out by one of the staff, being flanked by security. 

Like we would be trouble...

It's my favourite part of the day. 

Happiness is an empty, child free swimming pool. 

Today's song: 

Front of mind

 I did it. I managed to finish this month's book group book with about three minutes to spare. Part of me wishes I had timed things better so I could have savoured the book. After a good book group, I went for a swim, meeting up with my one up for a daily debrief. The pool is good after 8 pm. No kids.

So, what have I been thinking about today? 

1. Next month I must start the book group book earlier. 

2. Living next door to work is really cool - there is something great about going next door and making yourself lunch. 

3. Darwin sunsets are cool. 

4. George Negus died. I still wanted to call him George Fungus, but I can't for the life of me remember who tagged this. Was it Paul Hogan? I do remember him on Sixty Minutes, when it had some journalistic virtues - I'm Ray Martin. I'm Ian Leslie. And I'm George Negus. It's still in the brain along with the Wide World of Sport theme. And I wonder why I find Channel Nine strangely soothing (even if I only watch them to see what the bogans are thinking.)

5. I need to be in the foyer at 8 am to meet one of the BAs so I can head out to the depot. 

6. I need to get to Coles to get a jar of peppers. Roasted peppers, the one you get from the aisle with the olives and sun-dried tomatoes, are great on top of rice cakes spread with hummus. I bought the rice cakes and hummus yesterday. The peppers didn't make my shopping list. Oops. 

7. Night swimming with goggles that have tinted lenses is fraught with dangers. I bumped into a few walls - it probably doesn't help that the pool is round. 

8. The antibiotics I'm taking for this irritating cellulitis are giving me a bad taste in my mouth. I'm inhaling sugar-free mints to counteract this. 

9. We have to Uber out to the depot tomorrow. I'm wondering how I'm going to find lunch. 

10. Oh and it's housekeeping day here tomorrow. Does this mean I have to make my bed and run the dishwasher and put my vibrator away or out of sight? What is the etiquette here?

That will do. 

Bedtime. 

Today's song:

The Deadline.

 It is 11 pm in Darwin. 12.30 am AEDST. 

I have book group tomorrow night, online at 6.30 pm Darwin time, 8 pm AEDST. 

At present, I have read 60% of the book. 

It's not a very hard read, but it does require some concentration. 

I was hoping to get a lot more of it read on the plane on the way up, but the 6'5" FIFO, with extra broad shoulders, and who smelled like stale KFC, who kept elbowing me in the ribs on the way did not help matters. He couldn't help being stuck in the middle seat on the full flight, but still, it's not conducive for reading a book. The new noise cancelling earphones went in. Nup. Didn't help.Too uncomfortable to read. 

The other thing was tonight I was looking forward to coming home (the apartment) and reading. Mid-afternoon I got a message from a friend. Did I want to do dinner? They were up here for a conference and were at a loose end before their plane departed in the early hours. We've been trying to catch up for months. As Darwin is dead on a Monday night, I suggested joining my workmates for dinner at the Cavanagh Hotel - it wouldn't be the first time I've brought a rando along for dinner (I'm well known for collecting random people along the way). They agreed, and after walking them back to their hotel, I got back to my room for 9 pm. 

This doesn't help with the reading. 

The book is The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride. It deserves a closer reading that I'm giving it. 

Another thing driving me to finish this is in the 15 plus years I've been the proxy manager of this book group, I've only not finished two books. The first was Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I never started that - I was overseas at the time of the meeting. 

The other was Brendan Cowell's Plum, which I put down to unreadable drivel. 

I'm really good at doing my book group reading - which is maybe penance for all the reading I didn't do during my undergrad degree in the eighties. 

Anyway, if I finish this, read until half twelve, then wake up early, and read for half an hour before work, then come home at lunchtime for 45 minutes, make my lunch and read, then maybe, just maybe, I'll get this read.

It's going to be a stretch. 

Serves myself right for not starting it sooner.

Today's song:

Sunday Questions

 

I'm packing for yet another business trip - and these questions are a great way to power through them. One question, one task. At least the flight isn't until the evening so I have plenty of time.

Questions, as always come from Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. What do you hope your last words will be?

"Wow! So that's what's coming! Nothing to be scared about at all. " 

2. What do you spend the most time thinking about?

What's next. Joys of having a neurodiverse mind, I never stop thinking about what is coming up, what needs to be done, what the schedule might look like. It never stops. 

3. What is something you can never seem to finish?

A novel. I have two that have around 60-80,000 words written - I need to get back to them.

And knitting projects. I do finish them, but they take a while. 

4. What mistake do you keep making again and again?

What, other than falling for emotionally unavailable men? Or stuffing up my lunges at the gym (but I'm getting better than that?) and occasionally not listening to my instincts - which I don't do often? I like to think that I learn from my mistakes. 

5. What’s the best thing you got from your parents?

From my mum - skinny ankles, and ability to rhyme and my work ethic.

From my father, the ability to talk to anybody, anywhere, any time. 

6. What’s the best and worst thing about getting older?

Best thing about getting older - not sweating it on the small stuff. Saying no comes a lot easier. 

Worst thing about getting older - the aches and pains and the groaning noise you make when you stand up. 

7. What do you wish your brain was better at doing?

Focussing. My brain works in a way which I'm thinking about five things at the same time. Joys of neurodiversity. But it would be lovely to be able to concentrate on one thing at a time. 

As an example, currently, while writing this I'm also thinking about: 

• How am I going to get the book group book read by Tuesday night?
• When do I really have to leave for the airport?
• Is my washing dry yet? 
• What meetings to I have to plan for the week? 
• What book should I take with me for after the book group book?
• Is the cat happy? (He is)
• To I have my protein shaker in my bag?
• Have I got everything? 

It goes on and on

8. If your childhood had a smell, what would it be?

A cedar pine hedge. And a whiff of sunscreen on a sunny beach. Beachy smells. 

9. What have you created that you are most proud of?

Strangely, it's this blog. It's proof that I write daily. 

10. What were some of the turning points in your life?

Sorry, that's a too deep a question before a four-hour flight to a faraway city for a work trip. 

11. What song or artist do you like but rarely admit to liking?

Phil Collins. Oh, and Metallica. 

12. What small impact from a stranger made a big impact on you?

This is a bit strange, but having French people tell me that I speak very good French for an Australian did bucket loads for my confidence. 

13. As you get older, what are you becoming more and more afraid of?

Getting sick and not being able to support myself. I hate relying on others. 

14. What are some of the events in your life that made you who you are?

Moving to England when I was 23, and staying for eight years. I found myself in England. 

15. What could you do with $2 million to impact the most amount of people?

I would probably give it to a worth charity - I'm thinking Free Hollows or the Catherine Hamlin Fistula organisations

Today's song:

Theatre Review: Six

The Production: Six (the Musical)

The Theatre: The Comedy Theatre, Exhibition Street

Until 20 October. 

Stars: 4

I'm not into musicals, but some are better than others. Give me a musical with an edge, like Chicago or Rocky Horror and I'm happy. I'm also good with the less well-known musicals, like Fun Home, or The Heartbreak Choir, and I'm happy. Anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber, or the remaking of a Disney Classic and I'll run for the hills. 

 When I first was told about Six, I said you wouldn't get me there if you paid me, but a friend got me at a weak moment a few months ago. I said yes, the rather expensive ticket was purchased, and we went today. 

And I was pleasantly surprised. I don't need to go see it again, but I found Six to be an enjoyable experience. Even better, it's over quickly (75 minutes), so I cannot complain at all.  But if you think about it, each wife gets her own song, and there's a couple of ensemble songs - you can't drag it out for two long.  

The show is about female empowerment and agency. Something Henry VIII's wives did not have. So, the cast have taken on Catherine of Aragon (Divorced), Anne Boleyn (Beheaded), Jane Seymour (Died), Anne of Cleves (Divorced), Katherine Howard (Beheaded) and Katherine Parr (Survived) and made them their own, giving a new focus to their stories. 

Not only do I have a dislike for musicals. I have an absolute love of anything Tudor. Henry VIII, his wives and the general goings on at the court of the time is fascinating. It was good to see that within the cracks and the songs, most of the history was well respected. The show got marks for this. 

The singing, the music and the band were excellent as well. There were no standout performances - the whole cast was good. 

And this is an all-female production. The band were very talented women. We were sitting next to the sound booth - it was tended to by a woman, not your normal sound engineer with a ponytail, a hoodie and neck tattoos. (And probably named Dave.)

The full auditorium lapped up the show. 

For this musical-sceptic audience member, I was pleasantly surprised. What impressed me most was that Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss have interpreted this well-known piece of history and made it fun. 

But I don't need to see it again. 

Today's song:

Theatre Review: Cost of Living

 The Play: Cost of Living by Martyna Majok

The Company: Melbourne Theatre Company

The Theatre: The Southbank Theatre

Until: 19 October

Stars: 4 (with reservations)

Walking out of tonight's performance of Cost of Living, Jay made the comment, "Well, the MTC has ticked all of their diversity boxes for the year." 

And it did. 

In mostly a good way. There was the indigenous actor (Aaron Pedersen), an Asian actor (Mabel Li), a queer actor (Rachel Edmonds) and two actors in wheelchairs (Oli Pizzey Stratford and Edmonds). But in a play about carers and those receiving care, you would expect this diversity. 

I went into this play without reading reviews or bugging friends about relating their experience with the play. Jonella and Norty went early in the season but remained tight-lipped. 

I'm glad I went in blind. 

According to the MTC website the synopsis of the play is this:

"When Ani (Rachel Edmonds) is reunited with her estranged husband Eddie (Aaron Pederson) after a devastating accident, their relationship shifts from divorcing to caregiving. John (Oli Pizzey Stratford) is an affluent PhD candidate with cerebral palsy and has no qualms about making his support worker – fellow graduate student and bartender-by-night Jess (Mabel Li) – uncomfortable about her reasons for choosing the job."

The two hours of this play (with no interval) I found patchy to begin with, to the point that I microslept through the first 20 minutes, missing critical bits which would have the play easier to follow.

But then it took off, and took off in a major way, leading to a crescendo which you don't see coming. 

What I did like about the middle, and end sections of the play was the unexpected nature of it all. The bathroom scenes in the middle of the play had the audience spellbound. In particular, Li and Pizzey Stratford's performances are incredibly brave, and visceral. 

But - I wasn't too keen on a couple of aspects. Firstly, this was performed using New York accents. Pedersen's, in particular, was distracting. And I do get why they didn't move the location of the play from New York to somewhere in Australia, as with a play about disability, and the disparities in care and what money can provide, if this was set here this would end up being a two-hour diatribe about the NDIS. 

With the exception of the first third of the play, Anthea Williams' direction is sound. The relationships develop naturally, then come to their difficult conclusions. 

In all, I did enjoy this play. I can see the criticisms that some may have about this being disability porn or it's glorification of the down-trodden carer. 

It's a lot more than this. 

Today's song: