well and truly

This weekend sucked.

No doubt about it.

Now my trip back home is in danger of being cancelled.

It has been in fact, but the boss here is fighting the powers there, to get it back on.

News at 11.

Or, tomorrow.

Or, something.

swimming and sinking

I can hear my Mother's voice in my head. Or, more specifically, my own imitation of my Mother's voice when she is in nagging mode:

"A whole month has passed. You don't call. You don't write. Pick up the phone every once in a while!"

I was surprised that it's been so long. I am a surprised that time seems to pass so quickly.

My life, transplanted, carries on much the same as it had when we last spoke. Much as it had in Boston actually, with the following improvements:

• I am loving Australia, Melbourne, and my suburb in particular.
• I love living on my own, even if it's in a "vintage" little shoebox of an apartment. No more DirtyIsaac, EvilDave, 3 AM hot dog fires or post-it notes on giant blocks of cheese. (I swear, to this day, that none of us were eating it.)
• I am healthier than I've been in ages. After a number of months spent sulking on my lonely couch, I joined a gym. After a number of weeks, showing up rather sporadically, I hired a trainer. Since then, I've been working my butt off (quite literally) 5 x a week, every week. I've lost a stone (which I really like as a unit of measurement) since the beginning of May. Thank you to those of you who have inspired me, been my long-distance gym buddies, and put up with my frequent announcements of progress. This is all a bit new to me...this success thing.
  
• The music scene here is amazing, with a wide variety of venues. The logistics of touring work very differently here. I have lots to tell you about, and I promise I'll find the time.
  

And the following difficulties:

• The business of making friends is slow-going. Casual, "Lets meet for a beer...say, once a month after work," friends are fine. The network of gig-buddies is growing, providing I'm content to be the ring-leader and idea-haver. But the Ikea-helper, the "come be co-pilot while I learn to drive a rental car on the proper side of the road" buddy, and the "lets go away for the weekend" sort of friend. I begin to wonder if I'm capable of cultivating that sort of relationship.
• As time passes, I think it less and less likely that friends from away will actually come visit. There is no such thing as a truly cheap airfare here, and the exchange rate is....well, it just is.
  
• As a result, I have things I need help with, and no one but my own self to get the job done. While I'm a born and raised New Englander, and damn proud of my resourcefulness, it can get a bit tiring, all this getting things done one ones own.
• This is compounded by the fact that my job is to be a team leader, technical resource and general Gal Friday for the area of the business I work in. I problem-solve for other people ALL DAY LONG.
  
• It might be stress, but I've been having headaches all of the time. If anyone knows any natural remedies, I'll give anything reasonable a try.
  

And the following curiosities which are not wholly one thing or the other:

• I can still derail an entire conversation with the pronunciation of just one word. This week, it was "Squirrel." (...which they don't have here, just so you know.)
  
• Speaking of wildlife, I was attacked by a magpie today. No joke. Feet first, onto my head. I went to work, and was told, "Yeah - they do that sometimes," so I googled it. Here's the best part, with my favourite bits highlighted. May I suggest you incorportate them into your daily lives, just for fun.

If a magpie swoops at you:

• Walk quickly and carefully away from the area, and avoid walking there when magpies are swooping.
• Make a temporary sign to warn other people.
• Magpies are less likely to swoop if you look at them. Try to keep an eye on the magpie, at the same time walking carefully away. Alternatively, you can draw or sew a pair of eyes onto the back of a hat, and wear it when walking through the area. You can also try wearing your sunglasses on the back of your head.
• Wear a bicycle or skateboard helmet. Any sort of hat, even a hat made from an ice cream container or cardboard box, will help protect you.
• Carry an open umbrella, or a stick or small branch, above your head but do not swing it at the magpie, as this will only provoke it to attack.
• If you are riding a bicycle when the magpie swoops, get off the bicycle and wheel it quickly through the area. Your bicycle helmet will protect your head, and you can attach a tall red safety flag to your bicycle or hold a stick or branch as a deterrent.

da (bath) bomb

It had been a week and a half since I'd seen my PT. He was away last weekend, learning new ways to put the hurt on me.

But I was ready. I'd been working hard. I was prepared for the aftermath, thanks to a present from a friend. (Which was meant as a joke... 'cause what's with the flag? ...and smelled nice, but turned out to colour the bathwater an alarming shade of orange. Which was great, in my "retro" pink bath tub.)


As some of you may know, it's health issues, rather than a burning need to fit into a size two which are driving me, and I have been rewarded. I had a follow-up appointment with my doctor this week, and in a mere three weeks, I've brought my blood pressure down from in-need-of-medication, to the normal range - through diet and exercise alone.

My doc deems it a minor miracle, and my PT is similarly impressed.
Each week he starts where we'd left off.
"How was that?"
"I could do more," I reply.
The pin goes one plate deeper.

I guess when you start from couch potato and jump in with both feet, you're bound to make quick progress at the start.

So, if you've ever tried, and failed (and failed and failed and failed) I'm proof that if you really, really want it, and give yourself the tools to achieve it, you can do it.

Seriously.

people envy happiness

As you all know, Tom Waits is going on tour from Phoenix to Hotlanta this summer. Aside from the guiding forces from above, Tom further explained the routing choice by saying: “We’re going to the deep south where they still love a man who wears red pants and they make him feel welcome.”

Waits will be touring with longtime musical ally Larry Taylor (bass), Omar Torrez (guitar), Patrick Warren (keyboards), Casey Waits (drums and percussion) and as yet named reed player; performing hollers, mambos and rhumbas.

US tour dates are as follows:

DATE - CITY - VENUE
6/17 Phoenix, AZ — Orpheum
6/18 Phoenix, AZ — Orpheum
6/20 El Paso, TX — Plaza Theatre
6/22 Houston, TX — Jones Hall
6/23 Dallas, TX — Palladium
6/25 Tulsa, OK — Brady Theatre
6/26 St. Louis, MO — Fox Theatre
6/28 Columbus, OH — Ohio Theatre
6/29 Knoxville, TN — Civic Auditorium
7/1 Jacksonville, FL — Times Union Center
7/2 Mobile, AL — Saenger Theatre
7/3 Birmingham, AL — Alabama Theatre
7/5 Atlanta, GA — Fox Theatre

Tickets for all markets are due to go on sale Friday, May 16th.

That was today, kids. Anyone in?

European dates to be announced shortly.

keep walking

this band
as seen here

If you liked that one, here's another. Same band. Same director. As JE says, "It's not sad banjo music!"

PS - Boston is on, and a London/Boston trip in October is a possibility on the horizon. woohoo!

bring it on....i think

for fb in london, who gets to tell the story of how he helped his american friend in australia change a light bulb over aim

I know I was asking for it.

I now know that "Nothing really hurt....not at all, actually," is the wrong answer to:
"How did you feel after last week?"

Or, maybe it's the right answer, depending on how you look at it.

He wasn't expecting, "I could barely move." I know he'd gone easy on me because it had been my first time. He didn't know how far I would go, how much he could push me, and he didn't want to scare me away. I think he was expecting some admission of weakness...a sore shoulder, a stiff calf...something. But I had nothing...less, in fact, than what I'd done on my own at the start of this whole thing.

"I guess we'll be working harder this week," he said, as I trailed after him through the gym.

"Of course," I agreed, understanding that the collective we meant me.

And we did. I did.

I wobbled home on legs made of jelly, willed each foot up each step to my apartment, and threw myself to the floor of the lounge, because I was too gross to be allowed on my own couch and too tired to head straight for the shower.

As I lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling, I realised that hiring a personal trainer might be the best present I've given to myself in a really long time. Knowing that I'll get to measure progress once a week, means it's worth all the effort in between.

So, if you've been wondering where I've been...

I've been a dutiful gym bunny instead of a mouse potato.
I've been working through my first truly difficult weeks in the office since I've been here.
I've been nurturing the meetup, which is probably draining some of the energy I'd normally devote to blogging - though I have done some cool things and found out about some music I'll share with you next time.

May next time be sooner, rather than later.

parallel

A sign in my hometown. (photo from here)

What would your answer be, if you were asked, "How have you been?" or "What have you been up to?" and the stories traded covered more than half of your life?

Have you known anyone you're not related to since you were five years old?

Someone who knows what you mean when you say:

Remember the palomino horse at camp? The plastic pickle swing? The kid who got the stomper truck stuck in his hair? (Your Mom was the babysitter and had to pull the batteries out before she took a pair of scissors to his locks.) Remember Holly Hobby birthday cakes (and the one for the brothers which was both Superman and Batman, depending on the frosting), and that cake the Moms baked after bedtime for stag parties? The boobs were a separate pan and the lacy lingerie was carefully decorated over the pink icing base.

You may remember the college friends who came to visit a few years back. (Was it that long ago?) Well a friend from even longer ago has been in touch with me, and with others I haven't spoken to since high school graduation...or before.

When I'm home in July, there might be two of us, or four of us, or all of us and all of their families. People I can't count as friends because we haven't spoken in over half our lives, and who haven't really ever though of going to a regular sort of reunion, but maybe might make an effort to get together just this once in the old home town we all ran away from.

And it's strange...stranger than you can even imagine, but I'm sort of excited. But airfare back to Boston is expensive, and work hasn't bought my tickets yet, so I won't hold my breath...but I'll keep my fingers crossed, and maybe it'll all work out.

So, reach out and touch someone you've missed, they might be tickled to hear from you.

I was.

Tag.
You're It.