Let's get sweary

I'm over this. 

Seriously, I'm just completely over this COVID shitfuckery. 

And yes, I know it is for my own good. And the good of the community. And I know that if we don't do it lots of people will get very sick and die and put a massive strain on the health service, and then be sick for weeks and months after that. 

This extended lockdown is about as wanted as those text messages the Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly are bombarding your phone with ad nauseum. 

But I'm fucking over it. 

I want to: 

• Get my bloody eyebrows waxed so I don't look like John Howard any more
• Have my hair fucking cut and coloured. My hair is now past my bra strap.
• See a sodding movie on the big screen
• Have some dinner with my flipping friends
• And have dinner at their bloody place and not have to be home by 9 pm. (I'm not twelve)
• And I want to get on a bloody plane and go somewhere...anywhere that is not the four walls of my fucking flat. 
• And meet up for breakfast at Cafe D'Lish after meditation
• And maybe go on a date and get laid (yeah, I know, big call)
• And work from the office where I don't get excoriated by the flipping cat on a daily basis
• And to have the ability to go on a munchie run at 10 pm for a Magnum
• And the list goes on. 

Yes, I'm over it and I'll get fucking sweary because I fucking can. 

Please note, I'm not angry with the State Government. I do get why they are doing this and for the most part, they're doing a good job. Their job is unforgiving. I couldn't do it. 

And I'm fully aware of the privileges I have being employed, able to work from home and having taken up the chance to get vaccinated early.

And I will still silently judge people who choose not to get vaccinated because their immune systems will suffice/don't believe in COVID/think the vaccines are going to implant a 5G chip in their bodies as selfish cunts. But I will do this silently, just as they have the right to do as they choose, I have the right to silently judge and not to direct my seething disbelief and anger. 

It's three fucking weeks. I'll just pull up my big girl trousers and get on with it and keep on swearing intermittently. 

That feels better. 

Today's Song: 

August Check In - September Goals

 That time of the month again. Time to set the monthly goals. 

It's probably not the best day to do goal setting as I'm feeling a bit meh. I'm not sure if it's the wind or the change in seasons, of the never-ending lockdown. but I've been feeling meh. Creating things helps, but it's not good for getting things done at work.

Anyway, this too shall pass. 

And here's how I went last month:

Read four books. 

Done. I finished the following books: 

• Matt Haig's The Midnight Library
• Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age
• Andrew Sean Greer's Less
• Larissa Behrendt's After Story
• Sarah Krasnostein's The Trauma Cleaner. 

10,000 steps a day (or an accumulated 310,000 steps over the month)

Nearly. I badly twisted my knee late last month, and what with lockdown and some pretty yucky weather, I missed the goal by about 30,000 steps. But, this is not a bad result over all. Didn't raise a cracker for Breast Cancer research, but I didn't advertise it either. 

Finish the Masons' books

Yeah, nah. Maybe this weekend. Not having a printer doesn't help either. However, my tax is prepared and ready for Thursday when I have a virtual appointment with the Tax Accountants. 

And have a happy birthday. 

I had a lovely quiet birthday, thank you very much. 

And goals for September:

Read four books. 

I really like this goal. It keeps me reading (and listening to audiobooks)

10000 steps a day

I'll put this down again. Now that the weather is getting better and I'm a lot better mentally if I get out for a walk for an hour, consider it a necessity. 

Make a new dish

Heaven knows when we will be let ut of lockdown, but I think making a meal which doesn't come from the microwave might be a good thing. Make something different for a change. Yeah. 

Work on the novel for half an hour a day

Again, needs to be done. I've been doing this off an on, but I want to get a bit more traction. The goal is to have a first draft done by January. 

Watch one of those movies I've been meaning to knock off the bucket list

I have this long list of movies I haven't seen. Movies like The Godfather Trilogy, Heat, In Bruges, Schindler's List (though I have read the book)...  As we're stuck inside, maybe I could knock off one or two of these during September. 

What else am I supposed to do. 

Admittedly, I'm still not feeling it. 

Today's Song:

Today's Cards: 

Enchanted Map Cards: Flying

Archetype Cards: Gambler

Cards Against Humanity: What don't you want to find in your Mongolian beef?  A pyramid of severed heads. 

Year of Wonders

 Geraldine Brooks has written a masterpiece of a book called Year of Wonders. It's always been a favourite of mine. It tells the tale of Anna, a housemaid in 1666 in an English village. One day, a stranger brings in a bolt of cloth to the village, containing fleas which then go bite people and give them the plague. The village is closed off to the rest of the world for a year, incoming goods left at the milestone, the villagers left to manage death, pestilence, suspicion, mental illness and the gamut of other emotions and situations on their own terms. 

It's a brilliant book. 

There are many great things in this book. Geraldine Brooks is an incredible writer at the best of times, and this, her first novel., puts her brilliant research skills togethier with her her writing skills. 

And the novel looks at a pandemic. And a lockdown. Anna's village, to save the rest of the country from the plague, shut themselves off for a full year. 

Some people are good with it. Others not so much. Some thrive, some fail. Some go mad, as the plague makes its way through the town. 

I think I need to delve into it again. It will be the third or fourth time I've read it, but under the cirucmstances, I think it needs another room. Along with Albert Camus' The Plague. 

There's something comforting about the storming, forming and norming affect of pandemics. 

It's books like this that remind us that this too, shall pass. 

Today's song:

Today's Cards:

Enchanted Map Cards: Making a Choice 

Archetype Card: King

Cards Against Humanity: War! What is it good for? Battlefield amputations.

Sunday Stealing: One Direction Asks

I started this late on Saturday night, we are in lockdown and under curfew orders (9 pm-5 am - really, it's not that bad) Iwas doing my ironing and watching Marvel movies, which is what you do on a Saturday night, in Melbourne, in lockdown (which will more than likely be extended for at least another two weeks) You have to make your own fun. 

But the Marvel Movie got the better of me and it is now Sunday morning and I'm doing this between things - like an exercise class, as going for a walk and odd jobs around the house. It is that much fun around here at the moment. 

Questions, as always, provided by Bev at Sunday Stealing.

1. Are you a Jeopardy fan?  Who do you want to replace Alex Trebeck?

Um, we don't get Jeopardy around here. We used to get an Australian version of it back in the seventies, but it's not been around since then. And sorry, I have no idea who Alex Trebeck is. 

2. What’s your favourite horror film?

I'm not really into horror films, but Shaun of the Dead is pretty good. 

3. Are you a possessive person?

Not really. I'm good at letting things go and letting people live.

4. Who’s your idol?

I don't really have an idol, but there are writers I greatly admire. Carrie Tiffany and Hannah Kent are up there. 

Catherine Hamlin and here work in Africa is incredible. Oh to be able to reach people like that. 

5. List five things you can’t live without.

The pandemic is teaching us we can live without a lot of things. But these are the things without which, live would be very bland:

• Friends
• Books
• Movies
• Walks on sunny days
• Gin

6. Where do you feel home?

Pretty much at home. And at Blarney's place. Anywhere you can put your feet up on the sofa is home to me.

I also felt very much at home in London, and Boston and strangely, Toledo, Spain - all places I could live easily away from Adelaide or Melbourne. 

7. What are your three best qualities?

I'm kind. I'm fairly intelligent. And I'm tenacious. 

8. Name three things that make you happy.

• Being in water
• Not being at work
• Being out of lockdown

I have no idea when we will be out of lockdown. 

9. What helps you when you’re feeling down?

Getting away from it all, which is also difficult when you're not allowed 5 kilometres from your front door (another one of our wonderful restrictions). But just going for a long walk normally perks me up. That or playing with the cat or watching a favourite movie on the television helps a lot. Talking to friends also helps. 

10. Which big cities have you been to?

Lots of them. Here's a list:

• Sydney
• Melbourne
• Brisbane
• Auckland (New Zealand)
• Bangkok
• Kuala Lumpur
• Singapore
• Denpasar (Bali, Indonesia)
• London
• Edinburgh
• Dublin
• Paris
• Rome
• Athens
• Madrid
• Amsterdam
• New York
• Boston
• Philadephia
• Los Angeles
• Manchester
• Leeds

I've been ot a lot of smaller cities too, but these are the big ones. 

11. What’s your favourite lovestory? ( Book, film, etc. )

Captain Antonio Corelli and Pelagia in Captain Corelli's Mandolin. That is still my favourite book ever. 

12. Talk about the best concert you ever attended.

Oh, that would be David Byrne at the Bristol Academy in 1993. He was incredible. 45 piece Mariachi band came on with him after the first act. He was off his tree on something at the time, but it didn't matter. And for the last song he did a cover of Sympathy for the Devil. It was incredible. It went on for 20 minutes. Love David Byrne. 

13. What’s one thing you don’t ever want to change?

Cold winters and hot summers and the smell of dogs' paws first thing in the morning. 

14. What scares you?

All of this right wing propaganda and Q-Anon misinformation that goes around the place. Our misguided media have helped an incompetent government really screw up our COVID responce. It's awful and it really does scare the hell out of me. 

15. What are three things you want to do before you die?

In no order, some things I would like to do before I die:

• Walk the Camino di Santiago de Compostella
• Write and publish a successful novel
• Get married (Yes, I know, surprising that one)

Today's Song:

Today's Cards: 

The Enchanted Map Cards: Mountain

Archetype Cards: God

Cards Against Humanity: Why can't I sleep at night? I'm summoning Harold Holt from the sea in a time of great need. 

Lack and freedom

 They were out of the strangest things at the supermarket this evening. Okay, I left my weekly food shop a bit late, and due the the curfew, Coles is closing at 8.30 pm - which when you're used to being able to do your shopping even later, it's a bit strange that the shelves felt a bit empty. 

But I was after some very diverse items. And they were out. 

First up. There were no fresh limes available. I like these with my gin and tonics. Not today. No limes. Some wonky lemons, with thick skins. They would have to do . Strangely, I went down the spice aisle and there was no pre-squeezed lime juice. Obviously people are either drinking a truck load of G&Ts or Tequila,. or they are having either Thai or Mexican for dinner. 

So I went on. 

The next item on my shopping list - miso soup. A trick my naturopath put me onto is if you find yourself hungry, drink a cup of miso soup. It kills hunger pangs dead. But Coles was out of Miso Soup - which I find a bit strange. Again, maybe with al this home cooking going on people are making Japanese. Or maybe they've been talking to my naturopath. 

Oh, then there's the ironing water debacle.  Coles used to do this lovely ironing water - water you put in your iron. The scent I really loved was the jasmine and orchid scent. Now they have this Tropical Blossom scent which smells of three day old frangipanis and the worst Bali has to offer. The stuff still shows online, but it is never on the shelves at the local and this pisses me off. I like my ironing to smell nice. Just as I love it that I got all of my washing dried on the line today. It was the perfect drying day today. Sunny and a little breezy. It would be wonderful if these were ironed up with a hint of jasmine and orchid. Oh well. 

At least there was plenty of loo paper. No chicken  - not that I buy chicken from the supermarket any more. The butcher in the shopping centre is far better for anything to do with meat. 

This is the second night I've been out and about after dark, but before the curfew sets in. I also got some takeaway for dinner and filled the car up with petrol. It was nice to be out at night, even if I'm cruising the suburb in my car, listening to my audio book and for those twenty or so minutes, I regale in the normality of doing something normal, even if it is bending the rules. I'm on my own. I'm within five kilometres of the door. I'm not out after curfew. I had a reason to be out (weekly shop) 

This is my little slice of freedom. 

Today's song: 

Today's Cards: 

The Enchanted Map Cards: Movement

Archetype Cards: Knight

What did Vin Diesel eat for dinner? Half a kilo or pure China White heroin. 

The Midnight Library

Tonight's adventure had me driving into town to collect my mail, something which needs to be done once a week. Just being out of the house at the moment is a good thing, even if it is to run an errand, in the near empty city, at seven'o'clock at night.

It's been a pretty fractious week at work, not helped by a couple of shouty meetings nor some uncertainy around what's going down on the project - so a drive, with my audiobook on the stereo, was needed. The perfect pressure release, especially as the city is all but dead, day and night, at the moment. 

Currently, I'm listening to Matt Haig's The Midnight Library, and it's got me completely suckered in. 

It tells the story of Nora, a woman who's crap life has been getting worse and she decides to end it all. Only when she does, instead of fading into nothingness, she finds herself in this mysterious library, where her high school librarian takes her on a wonderous journey where she gets to investigate the roads not travelled in her life - to work through her regrets with the hope she'll find her best life. 

It's a bit of a mix of Sliding Doors and a philosophy manual, in that Nora is a philosophy student with a love of Thoreau and a propensity for depression. (Hmm, remind you of anybody)

Anyway, I've been loving this book. I've only got about 30 minutes left to listen to, and being honest, I'll miss it. It's been thought provoking. Aiding this is Carey Mulligan's excellent naration. 

If I was to go and look at my books of regrets, what would I do over?

Being honest, I'm not one for regrets - they're a waste of good energy. There are very few things I really regret, and in the scheme of things, they appear to be minor, or a victim of circumstance from what seems a better alternative at the time. 

Yet I think of what could have happened. Just as Nora gets to invesigate worlds where she doesn't give up swimming, or quit the band she and her brother were in, or stay with her ex, a very small part of me would like to see what would have happened if I did a few things differently. The big one is always what would have happened if I came back to Australia after my two year visa was up. That's a big one. Or what would have happened if I never met up with the guy I lived with in London. Or stayed in my job instead of moving to a Greek Island. Or got a scholarship to a private school instead of going to the local high school. 

As the book says, we make so many decisions every day. Even the most minor of yes and no choices can make us completely different people. 

Anyway, it's given me something different to think about for the last week - which when you're in lockdown, with no real end in sight, this is not a bad thing. 

Today's song:

 Today's Cards:

The Enchanted Map: Magic Stream

Archetype Cards: Storyteller

Cards Against Humanity: Why am I sticky?  Dark and mysterious forces beyond my control. 

I do not need an air fryer

 Jay and I had our normal post-workout chat. Once Cleo goes off line we tend to do a debrief of the day, and more often than not the subject of the conversation turns to dinner. This was after I got my bag of peas out of the freezer and put them on my knee after overdoing it a bit. 

"I don't know what's for dinner tonight." she told me. 

"Chicken and salad for me."

"I might have to find some thing and put it in the air fryer. Potato cakes."

"I don't have an air fryer," I told her. "Potato cakes?"

"Yes, you can buy them at the posh supermarket. A couple of minutes in the air fryer and they come out just like the ones you get at the fish and chip shop."

"I don't need to know that. And I don't have an air fryer."

"You need an air fryer."

"No, I don't. I'm trying to de-crap my place as it is."

"You need an air fryer," she reiterated.

"No, I don't."

"I'm thinking of buying a bigger one. If I do, you can have my old, little one."

"Thank you, but I don't need an air fryer. I have an oven and pots and pans and a microwave and a Tupperware pressure cooker. Oh, and a sandwich press. I don't need an air fryer."

"Yes, you do."

When Jay gets on a roll, she keeps on it. 

And I don't need to know that you can get potato cakes at the posh supermarket that taste like the potato cakes you get at the chippy. Or that you can wrap Caramilk chocolate in puff pastry and you can have something like a Caramilk Danish. Or heat up chips. Or heaven knows what. 

But I do not need an air fryer. 

Got it?

Really. 

Despite what all of you tell me. 

Today's Song: 

Enchanted Map Card: Home

Archetype Card: Slave

Cards Against Humanity: What's the next Happy Meal toy?  Robo-Cop.