Catch Up With A Mate

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. Henry Ward Beecher

Common things : the rise and fall each day of the biggest star in our solar system : the sun.

Sydney has not seen much of this perfectly spehrical ball of plasma over the past few months…Our summer was one of grey skys, thunder storms and flash flooding…So when the evening news confirmed that Sydney was in for a treat, that our favourite star would shine brightly for the next week, bestyowing upon  our city and its inhabitants warm sunbeans and light rays….a celebratory blog post was called for.

It called for commitment on my behalf…to rise out of bed at 6am…to catch the sunrise at Clovelly Beach  at 6.24am…and then to walk the city streets, camera in hand,  taking photographs of the cityscape as the sun bid Sydney adieu…

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Words don’t always come easy, they have limitations when conveying the true beauty of a subject…Photos too have drawbacks…

My advice…get out their and experience this daily phenomena for yourself…Rise early or step outside one evening and watch the sun part ways with the day, and when you do so, hum this little tune to yourself!!

A week passes…The sun comes up, then goes down, replaced by the moon, the stars. This sequence has been repeated 7 times since my last blog entry….

Note to self: Insert  British boyband pop music to best explain this phenomena

A relatively quiet week….work and play, tv dinners and time spent with Flora the cat….

I still feel slightly off kilter….neither here nor there….living within the confines of my inner world, and its thoughts, worries and fears ….And as ever, writing helps, enables me to make sense of the day to day… find comfort in the familiar, provides time to reflect of what really is…inspires me to be in the present, whilst reflecting on what has passed…

It was a strange kind of week…2 days of office trivialities, a public holiday, and then another 2 days of office mayhem. The result….a state of confusion….Wednesday, the public holiday  felt like Saturday, and returning to work on Thursday had a Monday feel…Friday therefore felt like Tuesday…and the weekend appeared to sneak up on us all….

Wednesday was Anzac Day, a national public holiday to honour the Australian men and women who have served in the many wars staged since the turn of the 20^th century…it was, and rightly so, the only highlight of the week that was!!

Both my Grandparents served in the 2^nd World War and both are still alive and kicking…well and truly in their twilight years ( my Nan turns 92 in November….go Nan!!)

In previous years I have had the honour of watching my Nan and her best friend Eileen, who also served during the 2^nd World War, marched, arm linked together, down George Street Sydney as part of the city Anzac parade….

The saying might go ‘ Age shall not weary them’….but sadly, it has….My Nan has lost here eye sight, macular degeneration and a stroke, suffered 12 years ago has affected the right side of her body, movement in her arms, legs is often painful…as for her spirit….well nothing is seems will ever dampen that!!

I walked into my Grandparents apartment on Wednesday morning to find Nan in front of the television….

‘ Hi Nan, its me! What are you up to?’ I asked, as I was simultaneously embraced by a gentle Nan style hug.

‘ I’ve been watching the Anzac Parade…such a great turn out!!’

I smiled, my Nan is legally blind…and watching something is out of the question…She  was , however, doing an almighty job of  listening to the commentary, probably being transported back in time, to a dark part of our military history…no doubt experiencing a range of emotions that come with military service…pride, loss, grief, joy….My Nan…an Anzac day legend!!

The tv was turned off, and I joined my Nan and Grandfather at the breakfast table…the joy of old age…there are not deadlines…Breakfast can be eaten at any time of day…The conversation danced around topics of my brothers impending wedding, my recent trips to Perth and Victoria and the new Channel 9 show ‘ The Voice’, to which my Nan declared ‘ We think Delta is just lovely’…At 11am, as my Grandfather munched on his 3^rd piece of toast, I took to the road…Places to be, people to see…

I headed into the Rocks to soak up some Anzac spirit of a different kind…Two-up and beer drinking. I was to meet my mate Ali, who has recently relocated to Sydney after 11 years in London. Finding Ali was not to be…The Australian Hotel in the Rocks was on FIRE…not literally…The roar of the crowd when the two silver coins were tossed into the air was deafening…Two- up, the heads or tales way to gamble away truck loads of cash…a sight to behold!! I grabbed a beer, a watched the great spectacle unfold…

An hour passed, and I decided to relocate…I was feeling the effects of the drink, and was promptly swept up into the crowd who had ascended on the MCA at Circular Quay. It was a rather overwhelming transition…surrounded by a crowd of beer swilling pub patrons, to a crowd of modern art lovers

I could not do the museum justice that day…To do that I would it would be best not to be under the influence of alcohol….Intent on viewing one work only, that of friend and work colleague, Kate Murphy…I located this video piece and sat down….Kate’s work ‘ Prayers of a Mother’ is beautiful. I would encourage all to see it….As mother prays, you hear her voice, but do not see her face, yet you witness the effects of her words on her 8 children, their faces alternate for the viewer on 4 separate screens….I have said to Kate that ‘ She see’s things that other people don’t’…that she takes the time to document what many of us take for granted in our day to day lives….Kate’s work reminds us that it is in the everyday and the ordinary that true beauty lies….

A quick look at the new roof top café and bar at the MCA convinced me that one day I would dine there…stunning views of the Harbour, the Opera House and ‘ that ‘ bridge’ thing that looks like a coat hanger!!

The rest of the week can get stuffed…You know the drill, office antics, gym sessions, pet grooming, mindless shopping expedition to Westfield Bondi Junction and the CBD… wishing that I had a secret stash of cold hard cash at my disposal to purchase WHATEVER I fancied….

But happiness does not lie in material things!!…I have to remind myself that as I put back the Marc’s coat- priced tag $459.00.

The Anzac spirit and beautiful pieces of Modern Art on the other hand…have longer lasting effects…and they have sustained CUWAM during a week that was otherwise just the sun and moon playing hide and seek….

It seemed quiet fitting that week that saw one of my childhood hero’s buried, that I would see one of my teenage hero’s perform live ( that sounds rather horrible but it is what happened!)

Roxette live in concert…in the year 2012….Never in my wildest dreams would I have been bold enough to predict such a musical comeback….But I am oh so happy that this Swedish duo decided to return to Australia after a 17 year absence.

In a concert filled with songs, described by Sydney Morning Herald reviewer as having ‘ a high cheese content, I was treated to music from a band described in the same article as being ‘responsible for some of the worst crimes in the field of pop music since the mid-’80′s’….But I beg to differ….

Ok the cheese factor was high, extremely high, Per and Marie sing with astonishing conviction in the classic hit ‘ Joyride’ ….’ And we are all magic friends…C’mon join the joyride’….and in the song  Dangerous ‘ Your hiding under a halo, your mouth is alive’….Lyrical GOLD, songs like this would not be written in this day and age.

Cheese aside, my friends and I danced, laughed and sang along at the top of our lungs..belting out the hits ‘ Must have been Love’ , The Look’ and everything in between…We were treated to new hits, a favourite line from a new song which’s title escapes me ‘ I have been in love with your hair-do for a week’….Pure cheese, pure gold, pure light-hearted fun….We left our 2012 worries behind and partied 1980′s style…..

In a week were you get to see your Swedish Idols perform live, little can be written to top such a moment. Yes the band had aged, Marie had suffered and beaten brain cancer…. her movements were not as carefree as they once were….and Per’s looked gaunt, his face had aged…But their performance was heartfelt and you could tell that both band members truly wanted to be on stage that evening…Their voices and love of music has stood the test of time, and I felt lucky to be in the audience that evening…a guilty trip down nostalgia lane….a ‘joyride’ that I did not want to end!!

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The rest of the week was spent listening to Whitney Houston’s many hits on high rotation….I listened to her stunning voice whilst i did data entry at work, I listened as I drove around the city in my little car, I listened at home on my stereo ( and was saddened to learn that my cassette playing had, like Whitney, passed on… it no was no longer working, and my Whitney cassette collection redundant….more reasons to be sad…)

I completed a few gym work outs, I dined with friends at inner city pubs, mexican restaurants and japanese sushi houses. I tried burnt caramel ice cream ( never again) , a fresh jalapeno pepper and drove down a one way street in the suburb of Double Bay ( there was a sign that said no entry, one way traffic only) that I seemed to ignore…Lucky I was going at snail pace and an elderly man wound down his window, and ever so politely pointed out my mistake…Humanity at its finest, crisis averted, I reversed some many mitres, reversed myself all the way into a car park, locked the car, and proceeded to go grocery shopping!!

The weekend also presented fine weather…on both days….I swam at Bondi Beach on Sunday at lunch time, and took an early evening dip at Neilson Park, Vacluse….Heaven….I then slept through what was described as a ‘wild night’ in Sydney, with flash flooding in the Eastern Suburbs ( where I live), power lines and trees down, 12 people rescued from cars….Pure carnage…Yet I slept through it all, only noticing the destruction early this morning, for my inside my flat, a mini flood had occurred in the hallway…How had Flora the cat had not drowned in the storm water?…But it was nothing that a mop and a few towels could not fix!!

Ah, on looking back on the last 7 days, it brings a smile, it was a damn fine week….Please sir, Can I have some more?

Inner city life, inner city pressure
The concrete world is starting to get ya
The city is alive, the city is expanding,
Living in the city can be demanding.

Flight of the Concords , circa 2007

I am feeling the pressure of summer in city of Sydney…Crazy times!! Hence I pay homage to the Flight of the Concords brilliant song ‘ Inner City Pressure’….boy is this girl feeling it!! The pressure to PARTY!!

Today I resume Catch up with a Mate’s weekly summary, tomorrow Friendship Firestarters and so on…Oh the pressure…and all  while I hold down a full-time job, catch up with friends at every spare minute and conduct a life full of summer time fun.

The City of Sydney is awash with Festival Fever…though some claim not to be caught up in the party…I am well and truly immersed.

The week that was saw the return to work…BORING….and the hum drum of 9-5 starts again for another year. The week that was saw the return to the gym, for a 20 minute work out session, hopefully the first of many for 2012. The week that was provided much sorrow ie office administration and great joy ie catch up drinks at the delightful Darlo Bar with beautiful colleagues for work. The week that was saw the end of the summer series: ‘ The Twelve Beaches of Christmas’, with the final swim taking place in The Domain, Sydney at the Andrew ‘ Boy ‘ Charlton Pool.

The end of my summer ode to swimming means I can now focus on the events that will no doubt unfold, envelope and consume me in 2012…and if the week that was is anything to go by, it is going to be a ripper of a tale.

A good friend from Edinburgh, Jill is in town, and we spent Saturday afternoon park side, drinking wine and eating summer nibbles. Other friends joined the party, and by 7pm the entertainment started…Festival First Night, the city of Sydney’s free opening night spectacular swept us up into its magical spell, and we danced and sang along to the likes of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, Meagan Washington and the one, the only Manu Chao.

I was introduced to the music of Manu Chao 10 years ago when I lived in Edinburgh as a backpacker…He is a French singer of Spanish roots. He has large South American and European fan base…but never before had he performed to his Australain fans…..until now.Manu’s sweet melodies and party tunes have long been favourites music of mine….Seeing him perform to an audience of 200,000  fans on Saturday night was truly inspiring….Manu…Come back to Australia  soon, we love you….and you clearly loved us ‘ You are Crazy Sydney’ you cried as we danced, and danced and danced….

And then there was Sunday….the effect of wine in the sun and none stop dancing had finally caught up with Jill and I. A late lunch was eaten at Jed’s in North Bondi, and we then headed on foot to the Sunday markets, strolled along the beach and then headed to Bondi Icebergs for a cool drink.

Picking up the pace in the evening, we headed to Oxford street, and whilst Jill had an apple cider,  I sipped on a water, at the very, very cool bar ‘ Shady Pines Saloon’…Dinner at Bill and Toni’s in East Sydney followed…and B.E.D soon after that.

Ah Sydney, I wonder if I can really keep up the pace you require in 2012…I am getting old, require a minimum of 8 hours sleep per night, 3 meals a day, periods of silence  etc etc…the  last week has seen routine go out the window,  dishes pile up and the house gather dust…I ask myself can I live this life, in this state of continual celebration??

The answer is YES…but ONLY  till the end of January….