My mother has gone mad on genealogy and has found us ancestors going back to the 15th century!! Oh my god! We're Hugenots! I always supposed that our people just popped out of a seedpod in Echuca one day.

I feel all venerable.

So the day has gone something like this ( Read more... )

A warmish night last night, and the first bogans of Spring were warbling outside my window until 2am. Three drunken women opinionising -- well I can't disapprove of that as a principle but pleeeeease, pleeeeease, why so loud? And so it begins ( Read more... )

The other day I found myself in Canberra, our terrifying capital city. It is the weirdest place I know. Everytime I've been there I'm bemused by the entire apparent lack of people: it seems just vast freeways, always curving towards the distance, traversed in the bleak streetlight and the freezing dark by lone figures trudging haplessly (and yet ( Read more... )

Two things I learned overseas:

In Swedish, 'end of season sale' is spelt SLUTSPURT.

Yes.

I have a newspaper ad from Stockholm on my kitchen wall to prove it.

And there is an artist who sells at Spitalfields market whose entire oeuvre I should so much like to buy if I weren't poor:

Here is Dan Hillier's stuff, molto Victoriana-grotesque!I have ( Read more... )

Back from trip overseas number 34,988. To report ( Read more... )

So! Off overseas again! Hooray! What a ridiculous life I lead.

TO FINLAND, or, as we like to warble,

finland finland finalnd
the country where I want to be
only trekking or camping
or just watching tee-vee
finland the country for meeeeeeee

Plus other bits of the world. Will report if I get a chance. It better be WARM over there, is all I'll

Hey, this is beautiful.There is a farm in Western Australia, just outside Perth, which is home to tired, old, past-their-prime pianos. It is a Ruined Piano Sanctuary. The pianos are brought, tottering and tiredly grateful, to live out their days in orchards, meadows and woods, until they fall apart. The curator of the sanctuary performs on them ( Read more... )

Oh god. I am suddenly seized by a violent, indeed frantic, desire for crumpets with butter and honey ( Read more... )

As I was happily burning chops, wearing an amazing assortment of daggy jumpers and shawls in my cold apartment, listening to Radio National and a cd at the same time, fluffing my fluffy clean hair and contemplating the joy of getting my dinner ready just in perfect time to sit and watch the 7pm news and some dvds, I thought: I just fucking love ( Read more... )