In OZ

I have made it to the other side of this little globe we all call home. Still all in one piece or so it seems.

I have set up a new blog, yankeesydneysider.blogspot.com to celebrate the occasion. I think this may be the last posting I do at Navel Gazing....

It's been real.

Freak out

I'm having a bit of a freak-out this weekend. Not clear what it is that is worrying me so much, but am in full hibernation mode in response.

Aussie movies #9 and 10

The Dish--Sweet, self-deprecating, low-key. Much in the same vein as the other comedies. Interesting contrast of Americans and Aussies from the Aussie perspective. Complicated mix of admiration, kinship, and contempt.

The Incredible Adventure of Mary Bryant--convict movie. Shows the horrifying conditions of the early convict colony. Lots of plucky-ness too.

New website on right

Just want to point out the link to my first Sydneysider blog. This one by a cabbie who drives the night shift in Sydney.

I have been on a lovely week-long vacation/furniture shuffle, so I am behind on my Netflix. I have finished Five Mile Creek (really good in an embarrassing sort of way). Now for more movies....

Aussie TV circa 1980s

So I have been working my way through the first season of Five Mile Creek, which is a saccharin, somewhat revisionist view of Aussie settlers in the outback in the mid 19th century. Based on Louis L'Amour novel apparently. Still sort of enthralling in a Disney-fied way. Learning more about Battlers and Bush rangers and other Aussie types. Two more discs to go! Then back to movies....

Aussie Movie #8

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. More self-mockery and camp (double dose with gay and Australian rolled into one). I remember not loving Priscilla when it came out, and I still feel the same way. Part may be that the audio is obscure, so a lot of the zingers are hard to hear AND in a funny accent...

I expect that will be my destiny a lot in the next several months!

Bread

Finally doing the things I've dreamed of doing on my "vacation."

I'm baking a quick beer bread right now. Yum. And all the better since it is a recipe adapted on the fly to the ingredients I have on hand, and it is going to be sooo delicious!

I'm tempted to try to get my own sour dough starter going, though I won't have a ton of time to work on it and use it before I have to go. Maybe I can pass it on to a friend along with my tomato plants and other projects I can't finish?

Obama

...shook my hand last night!!!

It was very exciting. I am so impressed by him, and seeing him talk in person only confirmed all the good vibes I have from him.

I hope he makes it.

Less aimless

So after head shrinking, I got a little less aimless and went to the gym and to dinner with friends. The dinner with friends part was particularly nice. I have great friends! Also nice (and this sounds horrible) to go out without NM. I like being a part of a couple, and we actually had a surprisingly nice dinner with HR last night, but it is somehow more comfortable to be without him.

I think I might bake some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I bought organic chocolate chips the other day in a fit of crazy inspiration.

Aimless

I think that today is the first day that the full force of my unemployment is hitting me. Delicious but also aimless. What to do?

There are plenty of things to do, but none quite pressing enough to actually do. It is a gorgeous day out--I should go do something random and fun, but....

Aussie movie #7

Lantana--loneliness and isolation. The thin veneer of civilization with the Bush ever present danger. Hopelessly unsophisticated (the sophisticated couple was half American and ultimately the most broken of the four). Was surprised to learn that Anthony LaPaglia is an Aussie.