All good things...

Sorry guys, it seems I have no staying power. Now that I've got other things going on in my life I don't seem to find the time, energy or enthusiasm for blogging.

Fickle ol' me eh? I'll still be lurking, reading all your blogs, and having a beer with the lucky ones of you who meet me in person occassionally :)

Be Good people (or good at it)!

so... come see it

Excuses 101

No apologising for not blogging... there's plenty of exciting stuff out there - you all know where to find it, and if you don't you can email me and I'll send you all the links (with commentary).

The hunt begins...

After careful consideration of the evidence, we have pieced together a timeline of the night in question...

There was money in my wallet when I bought a ticket to see Sideways and went into Cinema 9 at Broadway Hoytz. There was no money in my wallet when I went to use it again.

During the course of the movie, while my bag was on the floor next to me (stupid, I know... but there was hardly anyone in the cinema) the money from my wallet and my beloved camera were taken away.

I've called around all the local pawn (and even some porn) shops in the vain hope that whoever decided that it would be a good idea to steal my camera didn't fall instantly and madly in love with it and decide to keep it.

Not all of the people who answer the phone at pawn shops are helpful.

So, dear readers, I appeal to you. If you find yourself walking past a pawn shop and you have a spare five mins, could you please pop in and ask if they have a Fujifilm Finepix S5500 (it had a 256 xD card in it if that helps)... and if they do, could you please contact me as quickly as possible with any means you have at your disposal.

Thankyou. That is all.

WTF?!

There's a goldfish bowl in the Budgie Jar. The verdict last night seemed to be a unanimous poo-poo. No wonder he was drinking down the road.

Love lost...

Somewhere between 7:00pm and midnight last night my camera left my bag. Perhaps our love wasn't meant to be. I can't imagine life without my one true love and, as such, will be withdrawing from all activities that cost me money until I raise the $599 to buy back it's love and the $100 to commit it all to memory.

7th Annual Anti-Valentine's Event

BACKGROUND
On February 14, 1999 a group of 8 single people, disillusioned with International Hallmark Day gathered in the beer garden of a fairly seedy pub in the Rocks. They eat, drank, laughed, visualised the rest of the beer garden naked and generally had a whale of a time.

Over the next year news spread, members of the Group of 8 became otherwise involved with members of their chosen gender but more people came to replace them. There were approximately 25 attendees of the 2nd Annual Anti-Valentine's Day event.

By the third year, interest had grown. People in relationships who were equally as disillisioned with the annual "celebration" expressed interest, so a set of rules were drafts. These rules have been lost in the sands of past email accounts but the essence remains:

• if you are taken but your partner is away, you can come
• if you are taken but your partner is at work, you can come
• if you are taken and you AND your partner want to come, you can come... but you CAN'T have any physical contact with your partner during the course of the evening (physical contact with people who aren't your partner strongly encouraged)

Anti-Valentine's 2001 was held inside the pub due to inclement weather. There were about 40 people (including at least 2 couples). One Portek was the only remaining founding member.

Anti-Valentine's 2002 had a record 75+ people and is remembered by all involved as a highlight of the 21st Century thus far. This year also saw the return of some founding members, back from Planet Taken.

AV03 and AV04 were also hits, though the lateness of organisers (yours truly) meant that some people arrived in the beer garden, looked around, couldn't find me and left. There are now a number of people who have attended multiple years, and each year there's a new batch of people to add to the mix. Each year there's at least one couple who "breaks up" for the evening cos they remember their single days and how much more fun AV. We still eat, drink and are merry. We have been known to boogie into the wee hours of the morning

Since 2002, about this time of year, I start receiving emails, phone calls and texts confirming that "it's still on" and I'm still organising it. At AV04 it was suggested that we should let the establishment know that we run it there each year and try to get some free booze happening. Laziness and busy-ness has meant that I haven't got around to it.

CHANGE OF VENUE
Let's face it, the Orient is a hole. Each year there are sleazier backpackers and the beer is more expensive.

As the only surviving founding member I have self-appointed power of veto and have decided that the time has come to move out of the Rocks. We're not in first year anymore.

This year, the 7th Annual Anti-Valentine's Day Event or AV05 will take place in the beer garden of The Rose (cnr Shepherd and Cleveland St, Chippendale). All complaints can be directed to me...

DETAILS
So, to re-cap...

WHAT 7th Annual Anti-Valentine's Day Event
WHEN from 8:00pm, Monday February 14 (I know it's a Monday, so you have an excuse to leave early)
WHERE The Beer Garden of The Rose (cnr Cleveland and Shepherd St) Chippendale
WHO Any single people (come one, come all)
WHY Do you need a reason?
RSVP You don't have to, but if you want to let me know you're coming, respond via the regular channels

Until then,
Be Good (or good at it)

there's a storm brewing...

I can see a storm on the horizon for my folks and I. The news I got 2 weeks ago today (that has since been turned on it's head... slightly) encouraged me to take a long hard look at where I am, where I'm heading and why I'm going there.

I'm starting to think that perhaps I don't want to be a teacher just yet. Perhaps I want to pursue other avenues while I'm still young, single and not yet at the mercy of hormonal changes and gravity.

My thought is that my (lovely, supportive, forward-thinking) parents may have a few things to say about that. I know I'm a big girl and I can be self-sufficient, but I have a very good relationship with my parents and I worry about changing that.

A little background...

My grandpa always wanted to be a doctor but he became a civil engineer.
My mum always wanted to be a teacher (after much encouraging from her dad) but she became a doctor.

Perhaps I'll just give in, continue on my road to becoming a teacher, and gently steer my first born into my desired vocation to live out my dreams vicariously through them. I can see it now.

"... I think you can do anything you want, and that you should go off and be a financial controller or a lawyer or whatever it is you want... but it's really important to have a stable vocational training first, so finish your radio course and your studies in music management, get a few years under your belt in the music industry and then you can go and dabble in those other areas."

So, let's just get this right... I won the race?

[EDIT: actually... this pic seems appropriate]

I've spent almost two weeks thinking I was a failure.

Not a total failure, but you know when you really want something, and you've jumped all the hurdles, and the finish line is in sight. You've started drafting acceptance speeches, planning the farewell party to end all farewell parties and plotting just exactly how to spend the last couple of months in Australia.

Everyone around you is convinced that you're perfect for the position and, after a while and despite your best intentions, they start convincing you.

Then they day comes, and the letter says "regret to inform you" rather than "pleased to inform you" and you read it three more times just in case it changes.

And you cry. And you call China. And you cry some more. And your mum takes you for retail therapy (bless her!). And all your friends send you FATNASTIC messages saying how Cambodia's missing out and they didn't want to lose you anyway.

Then you're so happy that you cry.

And you decide that maybe your approach is wrong and that you need to take a different tack in life. You plan all sorts of life changes that your folks would never approve of and spend your time fretting about how best to break it to them.

Then friends (old and new) encourage you and say how proud they are that you've got back on your feet and are ready to tackle the world again.

And the word 'Cambodia' is only heard in the context of "now that I'm not going to ~, I can..."

Then you get a phonecall. The feedback call that you requested between sobs almost 2 weeks ago and now don't think you need.

And he has good news and bad news. And you politely prepare to jot down notes for future reference and quietly wonder how to use the feedback to help you construct a proposal for a radio show*.

And he says "you were the preferred candidate, ranked first by all three panelists. We decided that they must have interviewed you first and then written the project to suit you. But the project was pulled."

And the part of you that died when you didn't get the job comes back to life, wanders up to the part of you who grew stronger with the news and used it to turn your life around.

The two parts of you stare at each other, not quite knowing what to say.



* does anyone have a good name for a radio show involving a girl called portek and a boy called mondo and a whole bunch of unsigned-but-talented local artists.

Didn't anyone else subscribe?

... it seems The Chaser will no longer grace our newstands. How else will we get the home phone numbers of politicians?

Of course, all is not lost... this lovely lady to the rescue!