Sunday Stealing: Swap Bot

 It's been a lovely day here. We've got a long weekend ahead. It's the holiday for the King's Birthday - for the last seventy years it's been known as the Queen's Birthday Public Holiday, never mind that the last queen had a birthday in April (And King Chuck's birthday is in November) The monarch with the birthday closest to the second weekend in June was Queen Victoria. Go figure. Ridiculously, even England doesn't get a public holiday for the Monarch's birthday. (They did get rid of Boris Johnson from parliament the same day that Trump was indicted on felony charges - universal symmetry some would call it.)

However, we, in Australia, have a day off for our contentious Head of State's birthday. Oh well. 

Questions, as always, have been set by Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

*Have you tried anything new this year?

I've started seeing a new psychologist. New enough for you?

*What would you do if you don’t have wifi for a week?

I like to think I'd be okay. There is some okay terrestrial telly over here, and I love exercising, reading and going out. I'd be okay. But it would be hard. 

*Do you like summer, why or why not?

I'm not fond of summer as I don't like the heat - and it gets hot here. I think I'm going to hate the summer in Darwin even more - 35 degrees celcius and 90% humidity - no thank you. The long days can be nice. 

*What’s one restaurant that you like in your city? what food do they sell?

Melbourne is full of amazing restaurants. The two that I've wanted to go to near the city are Cutler and Co and Maha. Cutler and Co is French/Australian, and Maha is Middle Eastern. I also want to go back to Noir in Richmond - that's a glorious French restaurant. 

*Do you prefer digital book or real paper book?

I'm split down the middle on this one. I do love my kindle, but I also like the feel of paper. And I listen to audiobooks. As long as literature is being read, I don't really care, as long as I'm not reading on a phone or computer screen. 

*What’s one thing that you are interested to buy, but it’s a bit expensive, so you haven’t bought yet?

Apple earpods. I've got plenty of ear buds that work well - both wired and wireless - I can't justify the cost of them. 

*What tea brands do you like?

I drink black tea and chai most of the time. I love T2 teas - they are incredible. Expensive, but incredible. Their Sticky Honey Chai is a favourite, but I have run out here at home. 

*What’s one food that you can binge eating a lot?

Ice cream. I wish I didn't love to binge on it. 

*Write one random thing that happened to you this month.

Something cute that happened today. I went to a sound meditation, as I often do. A friend runs these sessions, and they are fabulous. I went with a friend - and thanks to traffic, we got there a bit late. We ran in, I threw my yoga mat on the ground, settled my friend (as the session had just started) lay down, put my head on a yoga block, shoved a rug over my head and enjoyed the session - which was incredible - made more incredible because I was sitting at the feet of the string section. 

An hour later, the session finished. I sat on my yoga mat to get my bearings. My friend came over to me and gave me a kiss on the forehead.

It made my day. 

Little things. 

*How many long-term penpals do you have right now? (people who pen pal with you for more than 3 years)

None, if you don't count Reindert, who lives in Colorado - but he's not a true pen friend as he's more a friend who lives in another country. We're hoping to catch up in Paris in October. 

*If you own a small food trailer, what food do you want to sell?

Something easy. Like ice cream. I could never run a food trailer. Not my thing. 

*What’s one handmade gift that you received and really liked ?

There are two things that come to mind. Reindert sent me this decorative cat from Oaxaca in Mexico. It's gorgeous. The type of handicraft is called alebrijes.

Jonella gave me a small, hand painted oil diffuser which sits in my car. I love that too. 

*What’s your ideal Saturday like?

Something like today. Get up, go to meditation, have breakfast at my favourite cafe in Caulfield, then a movie, or something fun like a gallery viewing. Dinner somewhere nice. That sounds like a good day. 

*What things do you like to buy on Etsy?

What is Etsy? I think that says that I don't buy stuff on Etsy. 

*What kind asian food do you like?

I'm a big fan of Vietnamese food - which is good as there are about 25 Vietnamese restaurants within spitting distance of the front door. I love Chinese, Sichuan, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean...

Yeah, I like Asian food. But I especially love the freshness and vibrancy of Vietnamese cooking. 

Today's song: 

Theatre Review: Jacky

The Play: Jacky

The Company: Melbourne Theatre Company

The Theatre: The Fairfax Studio, The Arts Centre

Stars: 4.5

Until 24 June, 

The Melbourne Theatre Company was supposed to show the production of Jacky in 2020, but the lockdowns prevented this from happening. It was supposed to show again in 2021 - and once again, lockdowns prevented this from happening. 

So the Jacky, a play about family, culture, capital and the things we find ourselves doing to get ahead. 

It's been worth the wait. This is fabulous. 

Jacky (Guy Simons) is a street-smart aboriginal man who is juggling cultural performances with his other gig as a sex worker. He's keeping his nose clean, working, and building bridges with a community group run by Lynda (Alison Whyte). The world appears to be in Jacky's hands. The promise of a job from Lynda means he could get himself on the property ladder and get some stability away from sex work. 

But with all good plays, his brother Keith (Ngali Shaw) comes to tip things on his ear. In true younger brother form Keith is a bit of a wastrel. Mission born and bred; he's trying - really trying. Jacky tries to get him decent paying work, but he's not really cut out of it. Keith also gives Jacky a good grilling as to why he hasn't gone home in over a year. 

The third strand to this play is Jacky's interactions within one of his clients, the hapless, thoughtless Glenn (Greg Stone). The less said about this the better..

Declan Furber Gillick's script is fantastic, navigating the realms of what it is to be indigenous in our society. Jacky fits in to a point, but he acknowledges the fact his family are far away and would never be able to relate to his life. Gillick, an Arrernte man, has written this with a mixed audience in mind, traversing such issues and white privilege, the absolute lack of any knowledge in some people and a number of First Nations Issues which, as a non-indigenous person, you gain some more knowledge.

Mark Wilson's direction is spot on too, keeping the action rolling, making us laugh, but also think.

In all, this is a triumph of a play. 

The only thing that got up my nose was the country music which played before the play commenced. In the play this was described as crying music. To me, Country and Western Music is there to make your ears bleed or to make you slit your wrists in double quick time. 

Interesting, sexy, sassy and thought-provoking. What more do you want in a play? This comes highly recommended. 

Today's song: 

Achievement and Pleasure

 Last night's shrink session has been deliberated, cogitated and digested, as in the words of Loyd Grossman and I'm ready to put some words on the page. 

On the good side of things, I didn't come out of the session as an emotional wreck. Sure, I was a little bit stirred up, but nothing like the last session. 

We covered a lot of ground, mostly looking at the anxiety I've been feeling. 

She's given me a couple of tasks. The first one being look at how I view my day-to-day achievements and how I gather pleasure. 

As work is a bit on the dull side at the moment, there is next to no achievement to speak of there. This is a part of the work that I do - swings and roundabouts.

She said I should be deliberately thinking about what gives me a sense of accomplishment and what gives me pleasure. 

And this is hard, as I'm a over-achiever who thinks nothing is ever good enough, and that I'm pretty useless and I don't deserve pleasure. 

Which is crap. 

We're not talking about my dislike of myself for not doing a PhD - and other than I don't have the question to be asked, nor do I want to be poor, or even more of a wanker.

She said focus on the little things. 

So today, my achievements were:

• Eating healthy all day
• Not losing my rag at the cat when he insisted on using my thigh as a scratching post
• Going to the gym, upping most of my weights
• And my bench press challenge - it's just my challenge - I ended up doing one set of ten x 37.5 kg bench presses, and one set of ten x 40 kg bench presses. Remember 40 kgs is like a solid labrador.

And my little pleasures were getting 50 pages of my book read and doing a few rows of knitting. I love knitting. It makes me feel good. 

I now have to keep this up. 

We had a chat about anger. 

I'm reasonably mild mannered. Like everybody, I get pissed off, grumpy and irritable - but angry - really angry - that only happens every couple of years, and that is a sight to behold. 

I explained that when I do get angry, it's normally done with pretty quickly and I'll either walk, scream or throw inanimate objects about.  Or go for a drive and play The Pogues really loudly. That's all fine. 

But the real headspace kicker was when we talked about my alleged novel, which I've not touched in months. I went over the premise of the book. I had a chat about how I related to the characters. 

Ouch.

I've always known that I was a bit like Faith, my protagonist - a bit lippy, a bit street smart, rather sarcastic. But the rest of the gang - Mo and Larry and Laz. 

That exercise did my head in a bit...

But it's put my head back in my novel. 

I think this exercise needs a bit more time to process. 

In all, not a bad session.

I'll go back again in three weeks. 

Today's song: 

Dentist vs Shrink

 This evening I had a dentist appointment followed by a session with the shrink. 

I think I prefer the dentist. 

It's over in ten minutes. You go away feeling all clean. I've been seeing my dentist for well over 15 years - so we know each other. It's a functional, transactional relationship.

I walk into the dentists office at 5.30, I say hello to the nurse, have my teeth checked, pay up and leave. The waiting room is a utilitarian space with prefabricated chairs and signs in Greek (I go to a Greek Dentist in a Greek medical practice. It was near the place I was living at years ago.)

And I only see him every six months. 

I see the shrink every three weeks. 

The shrink and the dentist charge about the same.

The shrinks office is in an old building on a major road. It has the pokiest set of stairs I've ever had the misfortune to climb. The music, coming from the tinny radio was not so subtle. D-Ream's Things Can Only Get Better... It's a song that takes me back to dodgy pub nights in London in the nineties, a pint in one hand, cigarette in the other, dancing away the evenings and ending up with inappropriate men - what you're supposed to do in your mid-twenties. 

And the dentist doesn't stir up all sorts of emotional shite, stuff which I've been with thinking about over the next few weeks - like what gives me a sense of achievement, and what do I do for pleasure.

She found the fact that I think I'm a bit of a failure at life a little harsh - but I will try. Even if achieving something means making my bed every morning, or hoovering once a week. 

She's trying to reframe my thoughts. Hmph.

More on this when I've processed things more, but for the moment, I'm going to err on the side of the dentist for being the more pleasurable appointment. You know what you're going to get. He hurts less - and its over quicker. 

Today's song: 

Little Things from Today

 I find there are two kinds of anniversary day.

There are those that you dwell on. And those you try not to dwell on. 

My father would have turned 82 today. He died 27 years ago - so there is a lot of water under the bridge, but I still remember that today is my father's birthday. Its good in one respect because I then remember a couple of friends who have a birthday today - and I've wished them happy birthday accordingly. 

But other than the nod to Dad's birthday, it was an ordinary day. 

I'm still thinking about the trip to Paris, translating everything in my head in my schoolgirl/Duolingo French. My old French teacher would be very proud. I've got the past perfect, past imperfect and conditional down - the future tense not so much. But the daily 20 minutes of French lessons are bearing fruit. I just have to work on the vocabulary, which is getting better by the day. 

Other things from today. 

I've discovered Turtle Chips. I don't know where they come from. They don't contain any turtles. The churros flavour are amazing - all light cinnamon and chocolate. A bit too yummy. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

Lucifer is still being a sook. He's jumping up onto my shoulders a lot - ever since I last left him with Blarney. He's also got this great habit of coming into my online meetings, walking onto the laptop and shutting down the machine. It's most annoying. Today, as I was trying to talk to a colleague, upset about the decision to euthanise her own pet, he jumped up on  me, showed them his bum, made me contort my neck in all sorts of ways that aren't chiropractor endorsed. Thankfully, it put a smile on my colleague's face. Putting down a beloved pet is never easy. 

And that's about as exciting as it got today. 

Right, to bed. I've got a tradie coming over first thing. 

Today's song:

Booking

France is not too far away. 

I look at the list. 

• Airline ticked booked and paid for
• Writer's retreat booked and half-paid for. 
• Travel insurance bought
• Itinerary before and after the Writer's retreat is underway. 
• The two nights before the retreat are booked in Paris

Decisions have been made. 

We get back to Paris on the 15th of October, after five days in Provence. (Yeah, hard life) I'll need to book a room in Paris for that night. 

The next job here is to get into contact with Reindert. He lives in Colorado, but is originally from the Netherlands, where his aging parents still live. We're looking to meet up in Paris after the retreat.  The plan is to meet up, grab a hire car and have a bit of a drive around Normandy and Brittany for a few days before I make my way home - a 31-hour journey from Charles de Gaulle, to Helsinki, to Hong Kong, to Sydney then on to Melbourne - that last leg was not what I ordered...

Then there's the London bit to get organised. I've got it in my head I want to spend the first night in a hotel - bomb myself out on a sleeping tablet and hopefully meet a friend for lunch the following day in the centre of the city. There's another friend who's already offered me a bed for a couple of nights just out of the M25. And there's another mate who I'd love to catch up with in deepest, darkest Essex.

On the 4th of October, I'll make my way to Paris, taking the Eurostar - something I've always wanted to do. I've booked a room at the hotel in which we're staying for the retreat - but this is a single room, on the retreat I'll be sharing with a mate. 

Things are falling into place. 

It's the organising which is exciting. 

My feelings about going back to London are a little more difficult to un pack. But that's a topic for another post on another day. 

Today's song:

Sunday Stealing Questions

I started writing this from a friend's kitchen table in Adelaide. We're here working on a website for our masonic lodge. It's fun. 

We're also being overseen by a one-eyed black cat named Wink. 

Life is pretty good, but I also need to get this one before hopping on a plane back to Melbourne where I have my own stroppy black cat to make sure I'm doing the write thing. 

Questions have come, as always, from Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. What are your plans for June?

I've got a couple of theatre performances to go to. I'm also wanting to 

2. Your mid-year resolutions or goals?

Not really. I just want to get through winter.

3. Are you good at taking care of plants

Not really. I can keep the cat grass alive, but that’s about the only plant that I have in my flat. That and the in the mold in the bathroom.

4. What makes you feel nourished?

Music, Reading, theatre, friends, good sex. 

5. Which animals do you see most in your area?

There are a lot of small yappy dogs that inhabit the street of Richmond. As well as a lot of greyhounds that have been re-housed.

6. Books on your summer reading list?

The next book on my list is The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. I have to get this ready to book read by the 21st for book group. It's my book. 

7. Projects you want to tackle this summer?

Summer is a long way away. It’ currently winter. My project is to up my weights with my trainer.

8. Do you have weddings, graduations, summer celebrations?

Nope.

9. Which summer snacks are you excited to enjoy again?

It’s winter here, so I’m looking forward to eating lots of pumpkin soup and stews. I love winter food.

10. How much time do you like to take for vacations?

Not that much. However, I am going to France and England in October for three weeks.

11. How much has changed since last summer?

Summer only feels like it ended about a month ago. I haven’t really thought about this.

12. Something that would be out of character for you?

Voting for a Conservative political party (In Australia, that's the Liberal/National Party - in America, that would be like voting Republican). It wouldn’t happen.

13. What do you miss about winter?

I am currently standing here at Melbourne Airport, waiting for a bus to take me to where my car is parked. It is about 11°. This is winter. I don’t use it at all. Mind you. I was in Adelaide where it was about 10° warmer.

14. Your favorite free / cost effective ways to have fun?

Go to the park and talk to the dogs running around. That or just go for a walk. 

15. Who do you trust most to house & pet sit?

I am very lucky. I have a lot of friends who I trust with my house in my cat. Jay looked after Lucifer this weekend.

Today's song: