where my songs roll

Australia Day was awesome. Did some work in the day then rattled home in a tram with no air con, with the mercury pushing 37deg (little did I know it was going to be conditioning for the next 10 days of weather...?!). Fired up the BBQ, drank beer and turned snags and generally roasted while listening to the J's. Have to admit I was a bit disappointed by the countdown, but I think I'll still buy it when it comes out in March. So where did my 10 songs roll in?


#70 Kings of Leon - Crawl
#24 Kings of Leon - Closer
#3 Kings of Leon - Use somebody
* Goldfrapp - Clowns
#5 MGMT - Kids
#2 MGMT - Electric Feel
#18 MGMT - Time to pretend
#63 The Herd - 2020
#13 The Herd - The king is dead
* Jay-Z feat. Santogold - Brooklyn Go Hard

So 8/10 got a mention :)

And what was no. 1? No points for guessing! Disappointed but not surprised - too much airplay!

Day 4 or Day 5?

Not sure if it is Day 4 or Day 5 of the heatwave... depends on whether you count from >35 or >40...? arrrh sooo tired, interrupted sleep is starting to take its toll. Have been getting up crazy-early (before 6am is crazy for me) and getting to uni before the tram lines buckles and my shoes melt to the asphalt. Then leaving as close to dark as possible, >12hrs at uni.... I guess the difference from when I lived here last is that we'd be just about due for a cool change right now. no relief in sight in the forseeable weather-future - 35-40deg till next Thursday they say. Without the generosity of the neighbour with the pool, I would be insane from complete lack of sleep by now, and would have moved into the cool dark space under my desk at uni. As much as I love my little granny flat it does not withstand the heat at all. My last flat here was an old stone cottage that barely changed in temperature from Winter to Summer; dark as hell but at least it was a different temperature from the outside.

Power-napped at my desk just before and now have weird lines from the edge of the desk, keyboard etc across my chest and face. Nice! Was too tired to care. Despite heat and fatigue I am otherwise enjoying myself. Cooked BBQ again last night, I swear we didn't even need to put the hotplate on. Drinking lots of Coopers (and must remember you can now get 10c/bottle when returned in SA!). Had last weekend off diving, trying to get things finished, but now must get back underwater and clear my head. I want to do a twilight or dawn dive, to avoid the heat, and maybe I will try L's drysuit? hehe stealth ninja diving under the cover of Darkness. So many things to do, so few weekends....

Been thinking about bloggin'...

...but haven't quite got around to it. Even jotted notes on scraps of paper so I don't forget! haha. Been busy, actually working I guess. Goes back to that old adage eh...

Those who can, do.
Those who can't, talk about it on the internets.

;)

Have you voted?

Just voted in JJJ's Hottest 100. I always mean to then promptly forget, but seeing as though I'm in the country this time, I have no excuse. So what was my top 10? Well actually it was hastily put together list (in no particular order):

* King of Leon - Crawl
* Kings of Leon - Closer
* Kings of Leon - Use somebody
* Goldfrapp - Clowns
* MGMT - Kids
* MGMT - Electric Feel
* MGMT - Time to pretend
* The Herd - 2020
* The Herd - The king is dead
* Jay-Z feat. Santogold - Brooklyn Go Hard


I don't think the KoL will need my help to be honest, and besides I am happy to say I already had their album before they went mainstream... my money's on them for the #1 spot. Hopefully the Herd will make the top 10. I should've nominated Goldfrapp's A&E rather than Clowns, but didn't realise you could nominate unlisted songs till after (darn). Nevermind. As for the Jay-Z song, it was a bit of an afterthought - it's on constant rotation on JJJ at the moment, and I can't get the bloody thing out of my head... B, R, O - OK! - L, Y, N.....come again?!

Jaaaaaaaam hot

Cool free download from my favourite radio station JJJ: JAmHot by Koolism
Almost beach-o'clock :)

Something sea kitten-y going on...

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24889685-5001021,00.html

WTF......?! I doubt there's much "fish" in "fish sticks" anyway!

I don't care. As much as I like diving with sea kittens, I'm still gonna eat sea kittens and chips. . Actually I saw a good recipe for battered sea kittens just the other day! And I know all the sea kittens I worked on, I euthanased humanely.

LOL. I like this game.

Backloading

Has been a good start to the working week. So many people back at uni, and so many that I know from when I was here before; either still here or been away and returned. It is so strangely familiar. Walking up the stairs to rm104, right next door to my old office. The green tree frog still on the wall, and even stranger, still photos of me all over our noticeboard. Got a decent desk, and getting into some kind of routine at last. need to go to sleep a little earlier though because I've been getting up at 6:30 every morning! I like catching the tram in, despite the crowd of commuters. So, SO good to see EP again; had dinner at her place twice. Wish I lived a tad closer so I could walk between her place and mine. Out of the blue AM rang me and will be coming to Adelaide to catch up. Has invited me back to Arno Bay for a visit. My immediate reaction was HELL NO, but actually, might be good to just visit, without the stress of fieldwork or being there for months on end. Dad may have found a car for me and will look into backloading to get it down here. Seems crazy but when I had the VW trucked it wasn't very much at all. Bit of a deviation from the original bike plan but I think I will still get plenty of exercise walking around. And look into getting a MTB when I'm back in Welly. Been a little windy, hopefully it will die down and be ok for diving on Saturday. Hopefully we will get to do Northern Outer because that means NUDIES :D but I am just itching to get into the water to be honest...

Saturday evening light

Saturday evening light
Originally uploaded by ristari

Love the fading light in the evening Was thinking of going to the beach this to see the sunset, but got distracted by the local cricket instead being played across the road. It was funny, the men all anonymous in their whites, faces hidden under brown caps and wraparound sunglasses, barking unintelligible encouragement (or otherwise) at each other. Haven't been to a local cricket match since going to see Alan play in Yelarbon all those years ago. got attacked by ants, retreated up into the playground equipment to get away from them. I have not missed the ants, nor the flies which found their way around this afternoon as well. Laying quietly watching TV, a black cat with a tinkle-bell slinked in, but startled when it realised I was present. will have to work on him/her. Fed the local magpie familie ham fat; the young one dragging it around the lawn did not knowi what to do with it!

Went for a walk

...and saw some sunshine, located the bottle-o just around the corner and also found an indoor netball place, will definitely put my name down as a fill-in. Saw a flock of galahs tearing into a tree and feeding their overgrown babies, and watched the cricket team in the park training. Felt much better after stretching my tight calves. Still a bit too windy for my liking, but sat in the sun in my courtyard and drank Coopers, and read last Monday's Australian. Two of the other flatmates came over and introduced themselves and gave me some free bread, nice. starting to feel like a poor student again, hehe.

so the New Year begins...

Managed to make it through NYE, although my attempt to use the trains without a timetable was a bit of a disaster! nevermind. will have a bike soon.

Was in bed before the countdown and woke at 6:30am; have been having vivid dreams lately that run like a movie. Didn't get out of bed till around 8:30am though. Was thinking of going to the beach but never made it out the door, got as far as getting changed then all my impetus dissolved, feeling a bit fragile; brittle. It is far too windy now, to be down there anyway. Still might go later in the day, we will see how things go.

Back

Arrived back in Adelaide today. Bumpier than usual flight; lucky flying into Welly has conditioned me. Even finished reading through my lit review.

The granny flat is exactly as it appeared in the photos, which is great. looks to have most things I will need, and doesn't take too long to get to the CBD. had a wander around the city, but it was battle against the crowds clamouring for a post-Christmas bargain. unfortunately central markets were closed, but will go tomorrow and pick my coffee.

Was sad to leave Brisbane and Mum & Dad, but it does seem so familiar being back in Adelaide. Hopefully I will settle in quickly, find some routine, and get what needs to be done, done.

My life feels like I'm clinging to the most enormous pendulum at the moment, swinging backwards and forwards, it is so surreal....

Been reading again

So much has happened since last post haven't trusted myself really to be here. Not that it matters a helluva a lot since according to my SiteMeter, hardly anyone reads this these days ;).

Oppressively humid tonight, feel like the walls are caving in. Finally the Brisbane I remember. Wish it would just stop holding out on me and storm! The last few days have been a bit surreal, definitely been on autopilot at times to get through. Can't believe it's my last full day here tomorrow. Walking around the place on foot the other day, it dawned on me it has been a while since I've had some real proper happy times here. Even looking back to when I was at school and uni, I wasn't really happy. It is Brisbane when I've been through my darkest hours, which isn't fair. It isn't such a bad place, really, just circumstantial. In some ways I can hardly wait to leave, but then feel sad and guilty, because I know I will miss my family.

An hour ago I finished reading Cornwell's latest, Scarpetta. I was a little reluctant to start this one, since the last book was such a disappointment. It had a potential, but felt like it had been rushed. This one is back to Cornwell's polished best. For me, the science and tech her stories contain have lost their novelty, but it is the relationship I have fallen into with her characters that now draws me. I almost feel like I've grown up with them. It left me feeling sad, that the story had to end there, and wanting to review her previous books to refresh myself with the references she had made. Just like old times when I was addicted to her writing. Now what to read on the plane?! I also finished reading Lady Chatterly's Lover last week, which was nothing too astonishing, more like a Mills & Boon of old, with a bit more reflection on the way people (in particularly men) think. I guess have to remind myself of the book's sensational history, being the first to use so many 4-letter words so candidly. I like the criticism of men's devotion to the Bitch-Goddess Success. In some ways, not a lot has changed.

If I didn't mention before I also recently read Raising the Dead by Philip Finch, a fantastic recount of David Shaw's infamous fatal cave dive in Bushman's. My first biographic-type non fiction, and it was good introduction, I should look up more of Finch's.

I guess I'm reading again, after so long, to escape reality. Not such a bad thing if it gets me through. I saw Winton's got a new book out, so I might hit the library when I'm in Adelaide and look it up.

Such a long post, I think Cornwell inspires me to write, a pity she can't inspire me to write my thesis!

cool wordcloud of my blog :)

Eek - mangos for christmas?

...at this price you better hope santa's got room on his credit card!

Chapter 3: Discussion

Found some journal articles last night that will round off the discussion in Chapter 3 just nicely. Yay! Unfortunately 2 of them are in Japanese. Eigo ga dekimasu ka?!

going away and coming back

Still feeling the residual effects of Sunday, but slowly, oh-so-slowly bring myself back up to speed. Sold my car last night, reality is really starting to sink in, all seems so final even though I'm coming back. yes I do love Adelaide and it will be awesome to visit again. Coopers and Farmers Union and Central Markets and AUSC and beach volleyball and cheap coffee and schnitties and BDO and dry heat and red wine and the romance of being a poor student at uni again. Not to mention the friends I'm looking forward to seeing. but I still have a knot about leaving Wellington, now that I finally feel like I am finding my feet here - I hope it doesn't forget me while I am away!

It's a blue bright blue, Saturday, hey hey...

Ah Alison. You sum it up so well.

fucking zombies

Heard ruckus last night coming through the bus tunnel, woke up this morning to find half the cars parked on the street had their driver's side wing mirror kicked in, including mine. fucking zombies. >:(

little red book

Had a discussion last week with a friend of how I am not one of those people who sets life goals, how I tend to look at 6-12months in advance but no further. Well. Then of course I found a little red notebook I had forgotten about... on the first page in uppercase I have printed LIFE GOALS. Hmm. And have scribbled notes under the headings financial, career, relationshiops, spiritual and health.

Think I wrote these down about 6-8 months ago when I was at a low point, in an attempt to find some direction to my life, and no doubt spurred by something I'd read. It is encouraging that I have actually made some progress in most of those categories. Certainly the satisfaction of planning ahead and seeing your goals achieved is nice, but I can't help thinking defensively, what if they fail? (Read: what if I fail?). Pessimistic, I know, but it is a safe and predictable place in my mind. Besides, I always thought it was restrictive to plan too far ahead, like it might blind you to other opportunities. But maybe there is some value to some higher-level goals at least.

On another note, I went through another phase of anxiety last week, similar to how I felt around this time. Wonder if there is a pattern emerging. Will stay tuned. Think I might be beginning to understand myself better now. :)

Hell's Belles and Holyspokes!

...it wasn't too bad actually! We only did the 6hr event, which equated to just over and hour (average) on the bike for each of us. We managed 10 1/2 laps in the time on the ~7km course, not bad considering our lack of preparation for the event! :) No lubricant required (Thanks Dave - Helen had thought of it) I did invest in some decent shorts though! We placed 26th out of the 27 teams that entered... but full of enthusiasm for doing it again next year!! I want my own bike now, but am holding out to buy it on my return to Adelaide, so I have a set of wheels to get around on while I'm there. Fastest of our team clocked a lap around the 24min mark; I was happy with my 36min and 34min laps considering my lack of experience, aerobic fitness etc! The hardouts were aiming for about 15min - sorry to the guys I slowed up in the no-overtaking section