Sunday Stealing: The ABCs of Sunday Stealing

 I'm home. It's good. I've got my recalcitrant cat back. He's forgiven me. I need to go to the gym I've got a play to go to later. Yesterday I was a zombie. Now I'm trying to recalibrate. Life as a FIFO. 

Anyway, here's this week's Sunday questions, provided, as always, by Sunday Stealing. 

The idea for this week's meme was inspired by Creative Bold. She used the alphabet to tell us a little something about herself. Now it's your turn.

Let's Do Our ABCs

A. Auto

Auto what? Do I drive an automatic car? Yes, but I can also drive a manual (I can drive a car with a stick transmission if you're American). Was I on auto-pilot yesterday? Yes, I'd had very little sleep thanks to an over warm cabin temperature and the woman next to me having exceedingly good child bearing hips. 

B. Bed size

I have a standard double bed - not a Queen size. It's enough for me and the cat. 

C. Cats

Love them and they love me. Lucifer is sitting next to me as I write this. He's happy to be home. 

D. Dogs

I love them too. Actually, I tend to prefer animals to people. Animals are wonderful. 

E. Essential start to your day

My morning routine. A quick scroll, feed the cat, a cup of almond decaf, take my blood pressure meds, shower. In that order. 

F. Favorite color

Red. The brighter the better. Think English phone boxes. 

G. Gold or silver

Silver. Always has been. I'd say I'd go platinum if I could afford it. 

H. Hand you favor (righty or lefty)

Technically right, but there a lot of things I do with my left - scissors being the big one. I also still can't tell left and right apart without checking. It's a neurodiversity thing. 

I. Instruments you play

The food. I played the flute at school and picked up a bit of piano. Love music. 

J. Job title

In my day job I'm officially known as a technical writer. This means I write stuff so people can do things. I'm also known as a nerd translator or business/technology intermediary. It's a skill.

K. Kids

Kids? Oh, I forgot to have them. I don't see this as a bad thing. Other than they're smelly and expensive, eat you out of house and home and take away your free time, I've never been in the position, (you know, solvent, happily partnered up, active sex life etc.), to have them. I like kids but could never eat a whole one. 

L. Live (rural, suburb, city)

I like living inner city but can do well in a country setting. Don't make me live in the suburbs. I don't like the suburbs. Bad things happen in suburbs. 

M. Meal plans

I should do more of it. It's easier in town rather than when I'm travelling for work. 

N. Nicknames

I'm known as Panda to most. It suits me. 

O. Overnight hospital stays

I've had a few for mainly minor things. There was the one when they were fixing my legs as a kid. I had to overnight after a general anaesthetic for a small girly servicing and there was nobody to stay with me overnight (they are strict about that over here). Oh, the last overnight stay I had was when they took out my gall bladder. Best thing ever. 

P. Pet peeves

• People who are rude to service staff (unless the wait staff in question are being awful from the onset)
• Exclusionary behaviour
• People who question why dessert needs to be eaten with a teaspoon (ADHD quirk - don't ask)
• People who stay EXpresso - for heaven's sake, it's eSS-presso. 

Q. Quote from a movie

There are so many, but here are a few:

The Crash Davis speech from Bull Durham. Watch from 1.10. 

Most of the movie The Castle - but most Australians can quote this film verbatim. 

R. Regrets

No time for those. Any regrets I have are minor. No point pondering them. Waste of time. 

S. Siblings

Two. One sister and one step-sister. 

U. Underwear

Basic, natural fibres, utilitarian, clean and comfortable. Love Boody undies. Bamboo is good. Nobody sees my undies unless they're on the line. My bras are like industrial scaffolding. 

V. Vegetable you love

I love potatoes. They are everything. I dream about potatoes. 

I'm also fond of: 

• Water chestnuts
• Mushrooms
• Broccolini
• Sweet potatoes

W. What makes you run late

Life. I'm often late because I don't want to go. Social anxiety. Another neurodiversity trait. I try and be on time - I sometimes fail. Ah well. 

X. X-rays you’ve had

Again, the odd on for the odd injury. I remember having a chest X-ray in Dublin when I was on holiday and they were trying to work out if I had pneumonia. It felt like I was a bug splayed on a windscreen. 

Y. Yummy food 

I got Uber Eats in last night as I didn't have the energy to go food shopping. I went to this new Mexican place to procure my food. Decent jalapeno poppers and excellent tacos. I'll go there again. I love Mexican food. 

Z. Zoo animal

I could watch all animals, but in particular, I love watching the seals. I could sit all day in the seal house at Melbourne Zoo. They're awesome. 

I also love big cats. They're just big puddytats after all. 

Today's song:

Cancelled Flights

 It's always when you want to get home. 

The text came through an hour ago. 

"Your 1.15 a.m. Flight to Brisbane is cancelled. We are working in getting you to your destination."

Right. 

Fuck. 

And before you ask about why Brisbane - they put me on the double hop back to Melbourne. Leaving late and sleeping on the plane is much nicer than getting the direct flight at 6 a.m. - I'd spend the night waking every half an hour to get up at four, to be at the airport by five... yeah, I'd much rather attempt sleep on the plane. Besides - the Brisbane flight was going to get me back to Melbourne sooner. 

Regardless, the first leg has been cancelled. 

Thankfully, after about half an hour, I got the message that they'd rebooked me onto a DRW-SYD-MEL flight getting me home earlier than I would have been on the original flight. 

I'm not complaining. Didn't need the anxiety, but it's all worked out well. 

So this is the end of the penultimate Darwin trip. I'm not normally one for homesickness, but this trip I've really missed Lucifer, and my bed, and the cool. 

Just five more weeks on this project, one of those weeks up here, and I'm back on the job market. 

Fingers crossed, something will come along quickly. I'll start looking next week. 

Anyway, it's off to the airport I go. 

Today's song:

Gig Review: La Ronde

The Show: La Ronde

The Space: The Spiegeltent at the Darwin Festival

Runtime: 90 minutes with a 20 minute interval

Outlay: Tickets from $59

Until 23 August

I was told to go to this show. Some colleagues saw this last week in preview and loved it and seeing that I’m only around for the Darwin Festival for two days, this was my only chance to see something.

Wow!

La Ronde is everything you want In a cabaret/circus act. Incredible acrobatics, a saucy sense of humour, bright lights, fantastic music and an international talent pool that will leave you breathless. Abs for days, not a scrap of fat on any of them, along with talents you never knew the human body could achieve. 

Part of the joy of this is the location of the show, which is held in the Speigeltent on the lawns of Darwin's parliament. The movable circus tent, composing of glass walls and a tent like roof, with a wooden floor is mercifully air-conditioned. On entering the tent, you come face to face with a huge mirror ball. And once the show begins, you're tantilised, delighted and engrossed in these wonderful performers with their hyper-flexible and incredibly strong bodies. 

The show is raunchy, sexy and funny. The two acts, with a 20-minute interval (which when you see what they get up to in here, they've earned a rest) gives you a time to get a drink before talking in the 
next act. 

It's sheer entertainment. I'm thrilled I got a ticket. 

Today's song: 

Bloody Cat

 The message came through just as I was in a meeting in which I really needed to concentrate. 

“ Houston, we have a problem. The boy’s anxiety is going through the roof. He’s been spraying, and is generally miserable, although he still loves P, but the spraying means he can only go in the rooms where there is concrete or hardwood floors. We are managing.”

There was a bit more to the message, but AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!

Having lost all focus, I closed the meeting early, and rang my wonderful, trustworthy and thankfully cat- knowledgeable house sitters.

It seems that my darling little black boy has got some major separation anxiety. 

Damn, damn, damn.

Of course, I will pay for any cleaning, as he’s my cat, but my head was going in about 300 directions. I was hoping that he would calm down and be happy and be able to stay there for six weeks, because with another two-week work stint, a week at home and then three weeks abroad, it was the plan that he stayed with him over that time to not disrupt him too much. 

He is my baby. That isn’t going to happen now. 

So, I spent the morning rearranging my life. 

My two-week work trip has been shortened to one, which isn’t upsetting me that much as I should be able to get done what I need to do in that time, and on this trip, I have found myself a little bit homesick. I want my bed. A week will be enough to come here and say goodbye to Darwin and be home on Saturday morning. It also gives me more time to get ready for Europe. 

Blarney and Barney will take the boy in for the week while I’m in Darwin, and then I have two weeks at home before I go away. My darling cat sitters will then take him back, but I will have a talk to the vet about maybe getting him some anti-anxiety meds. But good luck feeding that cat a pill. I've bought him some anti-anxiety powder to put in his food. I'll also try putting a bit of rescue remedy in his water. Poor lamb. 

In the end, it has a worked out - after a bit of moving things around. It was a very hard morning.

I also gather this is what it feels like to be a parent. 

Today's song: 

Movie Review: Holy Cow (Vingt Dieux)

 Movie Number 32 of 2025

The Film: Holy Cow (French Title - Vingt Dieux)

The Cinema: The Deckchair Cinema, Darwin

Runtime: 92 minutes

Stars: 4

Blessed be the Cheesemakers!

It's not often that I start a film with a Monty Python quote, but it's apt for this one, as it is the making of the cheese which helps sort out Totone (Clement Favreau), an aimless youth, drinking, fighting and shagging his way through life until an accident has him being the guardian of his seven-year-old sister Claire (Luna Garret). 

Of course I was happy to see this for two reasons. I love the Deckchair Cinema - it's one of my happy places in Darwin. Also, as this is a French Film, which wasn't set in Paris, or a history, it was something to behold. 

Holy Cow as filmed in the Jura region of France, east of Dijon and just North of the Swiss border, meaning that there was some lovely country to view. Jura is the home of Comte cheese - one of those delicacies you may or may not know about. To try to make money, Totone decides to try and enter a Comte cheese competition, not that he has the infrastructure at home to do this. Milk and rennet needs to be stolen, and he has to work out how to do all of this cheesemaking stuff. 

In between the cheesemaking and looking after his sister, Totone finds himself embarking on a casual relationship with Lise-Marie (Maiwene Bartholomy) a local farmer and sister to Totone's nemesis. 

As French films go, this was a bit different. Set in rural France, it shows a very different life. Who knew the French liked bad alcohol and music, as well as tractors and stock cars. 

What moved well for me in Louise Corvoisier's directing and script is how Totone looked after his sister, which although not exemplary, showed growth as the movie progressed. Totone was not a bad lad - he's an 18-year-old boy who's had to grow up very quickly. Some of the loveliest scenes is when Totone and Claire are together. 

It also gave an insight into what it is to make cheese. It's involved and very hard work. Comte appears to be made by hand in a difficult and dangerous process. 

If I'm honest, I was going to love this film, simply because it's French and I was watching it from a deckchair, under the stars, with a beer in my hand. 

Life doesn't get much better than this. 

And the film was enjoyable. I'm glad I got to see it in one of the best cinemas in the world, where the wildlife swoop and the possums try to nick your popcorn. 

Today's song: 

Once More Unto the Breach...

Internet dating. 

Blah.

But sometimes a girl needs to stick her toe back in the dating pool, knowing it's possibly full of piranhas, sharks, slippery eels, pond scum and old boots.

But maybe there's a gem in there as well. 

And yes, I've started chatting with this rather charming plumber from Elsternwick - but I've got my feet on the floor and boundaries at the ready, but he's been nice to chat with, even if he is a Carlton supporter. 

We'll see what happens. He's a Pisces. Divorced father of two adult kids. A plumber. Goes to the footy. 

What do we have in common? Not sure. We both like beer and test cricket. 

See, here is the problem. I am the girl who drinks beer, comes from a country town, likes wearing thongs and puts tomato sauce on everything. 

But I'm also the girl who has a Masters Degree, reads a book or two a week, loves foreign films, lives for the theatre and has an esoteric side that can scare people off. 

Oh, and put on top of this a recent AuDHD diagnosis, which means I'm busily reframing everything in my life. 

No wonder I've had trouble finding a partner for the last 40 years. 

Anyway, I've outsourced this to AI - see what it says. Using my Human Design Profile, I asked AI to describe my perfect partner. 

It came up with this: 

Your perfect partner is someone who:

🟠 Is grounded and emotionally secure, so they don’t feel threatened by your independence or alone time.

🟠 Respects your authority to initiate and act on your own timing. They don’t need to be in control.

🟠 Honors your need for solitude, giving you space to retreat and process.

🟠 Is mentally and emotionally stable, not prone to projecting or blaming when their expectations aren’t met.

🟠 Appreciates your intuitive decision-making and doesn’t push you to over-explain or rationalize.

🟠 Shares your curiosity or commitment to meaningful experiences — or at least gives you freedom to follow your passions.

🟠 Is protective of your environment, helping you create a calm, private home space where you feel safe.

🟠 Can handle your intensity and transformative energy, as your Incarnation Cross brings change and deep commitment to life.

I then asked it where do I find this person - and this is what it said:

🧭 WHERE You'll Find Your Ideal Partner

🔒 1. Your Environment Theme: "Caves"

You're designed to thrive in safe, enclosed, or selectively curated environments — both physically and socially.

This suggests:

Intimate gatherings, not big parties.

Quiet cafés, wine bars, or exclusive lounges.

Online spaces (where you can control the pace and privacy).

Small workshops or retreats, especially around art, healing, or self-development.

Your own home (hosting something small may draw the right person to you).

Pro tip: Your best connections tend to happen when you feel safe and in control of your environment — not when you're "putting yourself out there" in loud, chaotic situations.

🧠 2. Strategy: You’re a Manifestor — You Initiate

But don’t go looking for them.

Instead:

Follow your urges — your inner authority (Splenic) will give you quiet intuitive nudges in the moment. It may be a pull to go to a certain bookstore, say yes to a last-minute invite, or message someone.

Trust those nudges. That’s where the people who match you tend to show up — because they are aligned with your personal path, not your mental plan.

The right partner shows up as a byproduct of you acting on your urges, not trying to attract love.

🧬 3. You're Designed to Be Noticed — But from the Sidelines

That 2nd line in your profile is the Hermit — people are drawn to your energy when you’re just doing your thing.

So paradoxically:

You’re most magnetic when you’re not looking.

Doing things that make you feel alive (creating, working on a passion project, traveling alone, dancing, etc.) often creates a field that calls your partner in.

If you’re "searching," it can repel.

🎯 Specific Places That Match Your Chart

🌙 1. Creative or Healing Spaces

Art galleries, ceramics studios, nature retreats

Somatic therapy spaces, spiritual workshops, or tantra/yoga spaces (especially smaller ones)

Indie bookstores or metaphysical shops

💻 2. Selective Online Platforms

More conscious dating apps (e.g., The Pattern, OkCupid, or even MeetMindful)

Private Facebook groups or Discord servers tied to your passions

🪷 3. Spontaneous Invitations

If you get a last-minute invite and feel a splenic “yes” — follow it.

The right person often shows up via someone you already know.

⏳ When Will You Find Them?

You don’t need to “manifest” them — you’re a Manifestor. You’re the one creating the conditions for the relationship to appear.

When you're living your design — informing others, trusting your spleen, and retreating into solitude when needed — your aura becomes magnetic to the right person.

Often, relationships for Manifestors arrive after a phase of solitude or inner alignment — not during the search.

I mean how do I explain that I have an encyclopaedic knowledge of 80s music, and I like Classical Music as much as I like the Hilltop Hoods. 

I'm a big walking, talking contradiction. 

With ADHD. 

Fun, eh?

But as they say, once more onto the breach. Harfleur's walls need to tumble. (Nobody is going to get that reference.)

Today's song: 

About this Morning

 Before I tell you about this morning, I have to say, the worst thing about staying where we do - a large, multinational hotel filled with one-bedroom apartments, is that there are regular instances when the fire alarm goes off. In the last three days I've heard it go off twice. Once at one a.m. The other just now at three in the afternoon. And yes, you do need to be aware of public safety, but it's bloody loud and bloody annoying, and probably only because somebody has burned their toast or is stupid enough to let the smoke drift in when they're smoking on their balconies. As somebody who dislikes loud noise, it sets my bones on edge. 

Okay, look for the good. 

• My washing is drying in the sunshine on my balcony. 
• I've had a chat to EJ, an old colleague, and my Mum. 
• I've been for a walk. 
• I've watched a wonderful, but very touching film. (Me, Earl and the Dying Girl - fantastic film, but pushes a few buttons.)
• And according to my new Apple Watch, I've done nearly two hours of walking, thanks to the morning activities. 

So, this morning, I got up, had a coffee, put on my swimmers and went down to the wave pool for Granny Aerobics - also known as water aerobics. This happens every Sunday morning at the wave pool. A gaggle of grannies get in the water and get put through their paces by a perky instructor who has far too much energy going for 8.30 on a Sunday morning. There's normally 30-40 people there. It's a community-based activity. For $8, it's cheap, fun exercise which is outside in the sunshine. What more can you ask for? 

What surprised me today was that in the pool with the older women were four blokes - who were probably in their 60s, quite happily bouncing around with the rest of us. 

There is much being said about this loneliness epidemic with men. Yes, men's loneliness is a thing. According to AI, "Yes, there's a growing concern about a "male loneliness epidemic," with many men experiencing significant levels of social isolation and disconnection. This is a complex issue with various contributing factors, including societal expectations, changes in social structures, and difficulties in forming and maintaining close friendships."

And yes, I can see this. I've asked a number of my male friends who their best mate is - many can't really answer this. Men don't appear to cultivate friendships once they hit a certain age. Of course, there are lots of men who do get out there - but there's a hell of a lot who do not. Another wise friend told me that where men shrink back into themselves, women expand and look for connections.

Anyway, there were some older blokes in the wave pool, and they seemed to be having a lovely time.

Maybe it was because the instructor, a little Colombian pocket rocket wearing tiny shorts, a bum that you could bounce coins off of and a the admission that she was a dance instructor. She introduced us to her boyfriend - a fellow named Adonis, who was equally genetically blessed. 

The rest of us older, allegedly wiser women, in our sensible bathers, rashies, bucket hats, sunscreen and sunglasses just got on with it. 

But it was nice to see the older gentlemen getting on with it. There should be more of it. As long as they don't get too blokey. That would kill the mood. 

Today's song: