This corner of the Earth

Today while kicking it around Melbs I heard good ol' Jamiroquai busting out of the crackly shopping centre speakers singing "this corner of the earth". The lyrics made me think of MY little corner of the Earth here in Melbourne. Quite a fitting description as we are tucked quite far down in the southern hemisphere. For your viewing pleasure pictures of my home follow. Unlike the song I wouldn't say that this corner of the Earth is like me in many ways unless you consider me uncoordinated and peeling just like our many wallpapers!!!

Finger lickin muffin makin good, real good

Over here at the Motel Mont Albert or Mont Albert Mansion (that description might be a stretch for my 2 bedroom unit) I have been anxiously preparing for the arrival of 3 of my besties from Perth!!! In anticipation and excitement for this weekend's guests I have been a baking... yum yum! Yes, me and the hummingbird bakery cook book have been reunited and are at it again.

Already on the menu - spinach & cheese muffins & for the sweet tooth banana & cinnamon muffins. Now while the savoury muffins sort of look like some sort of mud pie I made as a child I guarantee that they taste gooooood AND if you're not convinced maybe you should come here and try it for yourself ;-)

Balls!!!

I often said to people that I had to sell my vital organs affording to live in London for 5 years. For those of you who may not be aware I therefore moved back to the land downunder and here I am.

My first stop was my hometown Perth - drenched in sunshine, beaches, mining companies, isolation and fortunately, in February - art!

Determined to live a cultured life despite the ease of arty London being so far away the Perth International Arts Festival, The Perth Fringe Festival AND the International Film Festival along with the sunshine nurtured & settled my wanderlust. Among many shows including Poland's "The Table" & France's beautiful dancing acrobat "Raoul" every day somewhere around Perth you could stumble upon Kurt Perschke's "RedBall Project".

"What?" you might say.

Yes, every day there was a giant inflated red ball that could be found wedged in alley-ways, stuck in door ways or, in my case, shoved under the bus shelter or floating in a fountain. I found it hilarious where this random ball would not so subtly appear. It was at times inappropriate and invasive like a loud dinner guest chewing with their mouth open. At the same time it was just quiet and innocent going about its own day to day business.

So enamored & charmed was I by the giant red ball that on the last day I hunted it down and actually touched it!!!

Photographic evidence follows...

FLIPPIN MINT MATE

Anyone who knows me knows that I frequently burst out with the old phrase "MINT" every now and then when something is GOOD and by every now and then I kinda mean every hour - haha!

So here I was reading a blog called "MINT" and the following quote by Ira Glass had been posted...

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through".

— Ira Glass

SOOOOOO TRUE!!! As a creative soul and appreciator of all things creative those words ring so true!!! Being one's own worse critic can really make you your own worst enemy. So my resolution is to just keep on working through it!

I felt Ira's quote was MINT... Flippin MINT in fact therefore the choice to post it in mint... innit!

You've failed me miserably

I was blog surfing as per usual and found this image entitled "We have failed eachother miserably" by Christine Young. Haha. When it comes to me and umbrellas, although I live in London and it frequently rains I don't bother with them for the very reason as depicted in the above picture - they fail me!

If they manage not to break then I'm stuck with this wet thing - like a dirty tissue - why do I want to carry that around?

I think a more appropriate title would be "You've failed me miserably" and by 'you' I mean the umbrella!!!

Kelli Murray

So basically... earlier in the year while I was an enthusiastic bridesmaid for the lovely Misty Moo I was busy scouring bridal and wedding blogs etc in search of inspiration etc... So on Green Wedding Shoes I saw this super cool, funky wedding and was enamoured by the craft and detail in this wedding...


It looked super cool and I admit that I am partial to blunt fringes and head bands so this wedding was off to a good start!!!

Then I saw the following accessories that each of the bridesmaids wore and were made by the Bride's cousin I think...

I love neutral/ warm colours so I was sold on these accessories - sign me up now - I want them all!!!

But it was the following picture of "the bride" which got me hook, line and sinker...

Turns out the wedding I was stalking and admiring was that of illustrator / designer / artist - Kelli Murray and now she's my favourite!

Obvo I had to check out more and I was happy with the artistic inspiration I found - Get in!!! I've been following her work for about 8 months now and I've seen lots of Kelli's work that I love not to mention the super cool events she gets involved in through her work. I shall post more of her work in future posts for you to also admire but in the mean while... bon appetit!

Le Concert

Yesterday, armed with new found freedom and a 40% off movie voucher I decided to go to the movies. I didn't really have anything I particularly wanted to see but was tempted by a movie that was made by the same people who produced Juno and Little Miss Sunshine but watched the trailer and soon moved on from that! I then took the chance on watching the trailer for Le Concert. I thought it was going to be a bit serious and heavy but then I watched the trailer and realised it was driven by strong characters and was quite light hearted with that nice artistic twist.


So off I went to the afternoon showing. I wandered into the cinema to find a whole bunch of senior citizens and me in the cinema.

Believe it or not I was considering on telling them to sssshhhhh!!! Seniors these days!!!

If you're patient enough for subtitles or happen to know Russian and French I highly recommend the tale of a russian orchestra that comes together after 30 years to perform in Paris - go for it!!!!!

If nothing else you will be left with a new found appreciation for Tchaikovsky. I don't have any Tchaikovsy here so I've settled for Chopin.

Click here to watch the trailer

"Edfringetures"

About a year ago I wrote an entry called "Mouthwatering" about the play KinkyFish would potentially perform, "A Dream Play". After our London run of the surreal show in December we fish were pondering what direction we wanted to move in and the answer we came up with was the Edinburgh Fringe Festival aka the biggest arts festival in the world that runs for three weeks, hosting 40,000 shows and 4,000 performers. This year it also hosted for the first time 10 KinkyFish and even more friends of the Fish.

On average we KinkyFish have met up twice a week for the last 8 months to plan, play and rehearse the adapted version of Strindberg's A Dream Play and it has been wonderful in sooooo many ways, not without hard work and sometimes some drama off the stage as well as on.

I became very mindful when I was about 16 that things I looked forward to never seemed to live up to the imaginations I had... the problem with being very creative ;-) I really learnt that happiness is a journey and not a destination and life has been more joyful because of it. So bearing this in mind, as we prepared for the Fringe I emphasised enjoying the moments and the rehearsals, preparing myself for the inevitable let down the Festival would be.

NO SUCH LUCK - The Fringe was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, sincerely, no exaggeration of the truth it was one of the BEST EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty big call I know but true!!!!! Needless to say - I'm feeling totally rubbish and depressed now that it's over.

Living and performing in the festival was an absolute perfect state of zen. What added to this was that I was sharing the experience with 9 others who owned it and valued it as much as I. It was about having friends in the car of experience.

Each day we would start out by having breakfast and getting ready at KinkyFish Headquarters and then off to the Royal Mile, Box office cue or half price hut we'd go and we'd talk and hand out flyers and basically flog our show for all it was worth. This would go on for a few hours and then later that afternoon we'd witness the spoils of our work when we'd walk on stage and see the crowd that had come for us. Seeing the crowd made it all worth it even if we'd been flyering in the rain or it had taken a million hours to hand out 10 flyers - to see the results of your work inspired you to do more.

After the debrief that followed our show and we'd head off to different shows, meet different performers and compare stories, then we'd catch up with other fish and then head onto a different show and then we'd meet up with someone else at a different venue for drinks etc... As the days went on the shared experience expanded beyond just the fish but fellow performers that we had met throughout the week, they'd see our show, we'd see theirs, we'd help each other flyer. Basically it was AMAZING!!!!!!!!

With that being said I now think I want to perform at the Fringe every year for the rest of my life!!!!!!!

I'm gonna laugh while I'm alive and sleep when I'm dead!

I think it's human nature to complain about work and to believe that you'd rather be out playing than sitting at work! Fortunately, I work with a pretty good bunch at present so office banter and chatter is flowing at a pretty good rate :-)

Friday morning found my colleague sharing with us some facts about laughter courtesy of the Stress Management Society.

Your body cannot distinguish between a real laugh or a fake one... the positive effects on your body come either way.

Obviously this comment triggered a series of spontaneous fake laughs in the office to test the theory... I had no need to fake laugh once this started... I felt like I was stuck in a factory of laughing robots... which, upon reflection is quite a scarey image opposed to humorous.

Another fact which makes a mockery of gyms (look at me casting stones in glass castles seeing as I do have a gym membership) ...

just 20 seconds of laughter is as good for the lungs as three minutes on a rowing machine!!!

I know which I'd prefer!!!

Now the final fact that really got me going was...

The average adult laughs about 15 times a day. Whereas the average child laughs about 400 times!

This didn't sit right with me - I didn't want to be cast as a serious adult with no laughter in my life!!!

So... in all my wisdom to undermine "The Stress Management Society" I decided to create a tally of how many times I laughed beginning at 9.41am today. You'll be happy to know that 37 minutes later I had already laughed 15 times. My colleagues congratulated me that I was now an Adult - this then prompted me to laugh.

I did a little bit of basic maths and worked out that if I'm laughing at a rate of 15 times every 37 minutes that in a day I would laugh 584 times!!!

GET IN!!! Forget sleep. In the fine words of Bon Jovi-ish...

I'm gonna laugh while I'm alive and sleep when I'm dead!

Ed from the Lion King - a famous laugher

Parsnips!

I'm here at lunch discussing the merits with my colleagues of saving money and bringing in lunch... which I firmly believe in... but alas what I really want to say is... "I love parsnips!!!" I just finished my meal of roasted vegetables and I finished on a good one... a nice and gooey, slightly caramelised roasted parsnip!!! Deliciousness in my mouth and my tummy - joyfulness in my soul!!! I'm not quite brave enough to declare my love of parsnips to my colleagues at the moment - I'm just giving them a dose of craziness one week at a time!

Goodly Goodly Parsnip goodness!!!

Around the streets where I work, amidst the pitiful excuses for high rise buildings I've noticed quite a few of the above signs... 

"Danger: Men working overhead" 

One day, creatively unstimulated walking between buildings I looked at one of these signs as I never had before... what makes it dangerous, the fact that it's men working overhead? If it were women working overhead would it read "Danger" still... based on some of the signs I've seen in the city for, ironically, "gentleman's clubs"? (nothing gentlemanly about it)... it would probably say look up!  

Strong opinions about dodgy men working in the city aside I had a giggle thinking that men working overhead warranted a warning. I like to think if you want a job done right give it to a woman... you can also save money that you'd normally spend on danger signs!    

Sense-sational Saturday Cycling

Well, on the back of not working for a month I officially ran out of money... (this may also have had something to do with me going out to play with all of my visiting friends and feeding myself!!!) 

Well you know all good things come to an end, my money ran out and my friends left... there I was on January 25th ready to start my new job, broke and broken hearted after my roomie hayley left for Cairo... with only her bike left behind as a reminder.

As much as I miss Hayley - I honestly couldn't have survived without her legacy - "Bikie" to keep me company and get me to and from work. So with empty pockets I embarked on braving the London streets and riding bikie to and from work, well basically, as Forrest Gump might say, 

"if I was going anywhere I was riding"

The world of biking is quite intense and hysterical... well the world of cycling is intense and the fact I'm part of it is hysterical.

Now it's a fact that I take more from the blogging world than i contribute... seeing as blogs are the only remote social networking I can log onto at work. With that being said I have discovered a number of cute styles whereunto people describe their life and weeks so I am going to adopt some for you!!!

This is cycling based on the technique of "Five Senses Friday" I'm going to call it.... 

"Sense-sational Saturday Cycling"   

Seeing: 

• The roads of London and realising there aren't that many roads that you probably haven't walked or seen before... 
• It has also consolidated that I want to work in shoreditch or farringdon... the heart of all things boutique, media, pr and coolness
  
• Pedestrians looking vacantly in the opposite direction as they cross the road in front of me while talking on their phones or listening to their ipods - grrrr pedestrians!!!

Hearing: 

• Men, women and children yelling at me for any number of reasons but generally if I ride on the footpath or cut in front of them - my theory - a cyclist will never be as dangerous to a pedestrian as all of the trucks, buses, cars, taxis, fellow cyclists are to me on the road but you don't see me chucking a tanty
• People... generally just obnoxious taxi drivers beeping their horns at me, when i go around a parked bus or the like - seriously, just go around me, I impose no threat compared to the threat you pose to me and you don't see me beeping my horn or even ringing my bell!!!

Feeling: 

• Every form of precipitation on my body - yes I have cycled in rain, hail, snow and shine - typically, seeing as I live in London I have yet to cycle in the heat and lets face it I may never do so. I have however felt a burning in my legs whilst peddling uphill. 

FYI when cycling through snow it feels like you're being whipped in the face or maybe even that your eye will be taken out - seriously! 

Smelling:

• the sweet smell of a shisha from an arab restaurant on my way home - not that i endorse smoking at all but when I'm a bit lost on the dark back streets I know I'm not too far from Edgware Road, my beacon of direction!

Tasting: 

• A lot of food. I generally eat like I have a hollow leg at the best of times but with all the cycling and the energy that you need/ burn I'm ravenous and justify eating any/ everything

Another technique for describing one's week is through numbers - if I were going to use such a technique it would go a little something like this...

4 - the number of times I feel like I've given birth to a bike when I've ridden over a pothole 

Just pause and think about it - Sense-sational isn't it!!!???

 

Happy Birthday

This is my boss Sash (photographed here with the lovely Bindya from India looking fabulous in red)

Yesterday it was Sash's birthday so a couple of girls in the office arranged to get him a cake with a picture and a personalised message delivered to the office for him.

And this is what arrived...

Happy Birthday... SARAH? Tash I would've understood but Sarah?

We got a replacement cake but Sash still didn't look too happy about it all.. maybe it's cause the picture was a monkey... imagine if we told him it was a monkey named Sarah!

P.S. Get this - "Happy Birthday Sarah" is sitting in the server room awaiting to be picked up... as if... what are the company going to do with it?!