Decisions

This morning I had to assemble an outfit that was suitable for work in an office, was kind to my busted knee (no clumpy heels), that worked in a tattoo parlour and gave easy to the area getting inked and then roll effortlessly on for Olafur Arnalds and Moby. As a bonus it would be great if it could also look sexy and creative.

Not only did I fail, now I am running late.

Election Day

Hemingway

“Often a man wishes to be alone and a girl wishes to be alone too and if they love each other they are jealous of that in each other, but I can truly say we never felt that. We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others. But we were never lonely and never afraid when we were together.” - Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms.

Nice and good things

I am dusty from last night, run down and so very tired, but I am happy. Gracious there are a lot of excellent things about. I'm on a mission to learn it all, see it all, feel it all. However, I have the memory of a gold fish and an over-stretched brain so here is my attempt to remember and share some of the things that have made me happy in the past week.

Banjos, Muppets and Steve Martin. A sweet and simple pleasure.



Opera Australia just launched their 2014 season and they have $60 tickets for under 30s. They also are performing The King and I on my birthday(!), as well as Carmen, Madama Butterfly, La bohème and lots more throughout the year. Opera is an expensive thing for you to decide to be into so this ticket pricing is amazing. Like subsidized Krug.

I've been an admirer of Philip Glass for a while, but in that funny way that sometimes happens, Mr Glass has been popping up more often in my life lately, forcing me to pay attention. Of course that means I've fallen head over heels in love. His roiling, rolling melancholy and looping structures haunt me long after I've stopped listening. My particular favourite at the moment is the favourite of a friend, who put it on for me late one wine soaked night and it completely swept me away. Enjoy Mad Rush.



Lord I fancy Glen Hansard. Him rocking out at the end of this clip is almost too much. Hooray for bluegrass and handsome gingers and Van Morrison and beat up guitars and raw enthusiasm.



I am a sucker for a sad love story and the 1940s is my favourite thing.So it's not surprising I adore the film Brief Encounter. So when I heard that the Melbourne Festival is putting it on, I knew what I had to do. Hello Melbourne in October.



If you live in Sydney, get yourself down to Oscillate Wildly in Newtown and order the strawberry and watermelon cake. Just do it.

And finally, if you're like me and a clichéd self obsessed, Gen Y, cynic/romantic, then maybe you should go see Frances Ha.

why would I want to do a thing like that

“Choose a life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers... Choose DSY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit crushing game shows, stucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away in the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself, choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that?” 

― Irvine Welsh, Trainspotting

Eating it

Maurice Sendak (Where the Wild Things Are) once told a story about a young fan. The fan had written to say how much he loved his book and Sendak responded with a little personalised drawing and message for the boy. His Mother wrote back to thank him, but to say her son was so thrilled with the gift, he ate it. 

Sendak really loved this response, that you would love something so much you simply had to consume it. While I've never eaten an artwork, I do kinda understand this urge. To adore with so much ferocity that you want to somehow incorporate what you love as part of you.

Being a fully fledged enthusiast I thought I'd write down the things I've felt this way about lately (in other words; things I really, really like).

Laura Marling. Urgh. I will love her forever. I think she may be writing the soundtrack to my heart. Everything she does is perfect. Every lyric, every chord. And I'm seeing her live next week, possibly hanging backstage. It's almost too much.

Walks at night while playing loud music in my headphones. Possibly this is unsafe, but I'm not stopping. Stomping along in my own world, darkness and bright lights and cool air and my own thoughts is fabulous. It's a space to be dreamy or feel all the darker spectrum of emotions in privacy and seclusion. And then walk it off.

Spontaneity. Spontaneous nights out. Spontaneous chats with excellent strangers, spontaneous dances on bars, spontaneously changing plans, changing course, booking tickets, catching up and not every surprise being a bad one. Tina Fey once said to say yes to everything and figure the rest out later. I'm following that rule and it's brought a lot more fun than some of my careful plans.

While Miss Marling needed a special mention of her own, there is a lot of really great music that fills me up with joy. This week the list has included: Peer Gynt; the Alabama Shakes, Girls and Boys; The Heavy, the Grateful Dead; the musical Sunday in the Park with George, Alberto Ginastera, Sidney Bechet and Aretha Franklin.

Send sleep and exercise

I seem to have developed a darling little facial spasm in the manner of a lunatic just barely restraining themselves from going on a killing spree this morning. It matches the shadows under my eyes and the stricken expression I get when worn down.

I complained bitterly last week that not enough was happening for my liking and the universe immediately provided with an over abundance of activities. Unfortunately the days only have 24 hours in them so eating, exercise and sleep have been brutally cut back to make room for all the things that needed to be done. After nearly a week of this, my little facial twitch (just under my right eye) is politely suggesting I eat a proper meal, go for a run and sleep for longer than 5 hours. 

As ever in this life, achieving balance is the hardest thing. Finding the perfect combination of brilliant nights out, cultural activities, my darling friends and family, my demanding and rewarding job and the more hum-drum concerns of foraging for food, sleeping and exercise and sorting the giant pile of papers I've been avoiding is tricky but rewards itself with more energy and focus, and hopefully the absence of alarming facial twitches.