Freaking Out

Tomorrow is November. And we're down to the last 60 days of the year. And with that brings an intensifying pressure for me and my studies. After this last module we've been given the outline for the proceedings until the exam early next year. The list of things to be accomplished before then seems impossible right now. Our annual summer holiday will either need to be radically shortened or called off all together. I'm not alone in thinking any of this. All my fellow students have the same realisation. Which not only saddens me but means the few weeks annual leave JD gets a year isn't going to be used for discovering new places nor for having exciting travel adventures.



Enough said. I need to get on with my day. Time is of the essence. I need fewer distractions. And yet I seem to keep creating more.

If Every Day Could Be The Weekend...

...wouldn't life be awesome?!



Since last I spoke all I seem to have been doing is eating out and having a pretty good time. It's been hard. Really it has. The only bummer to speak of is that we have been unable to sell our old car. So if anyone out there wants a gorgeous zippy little red Honda Civic that's a cool retro 1989 model do let me know! Otherwise I fear I'll go nuts wasting time and energy on people who aren't really interested in buying it.



Summer disappeared for a bit this weekend. It was only 16 degrees all day Saturday. Untold. I had the heater on and couldn't get warm.



Saturday afternoon was spent with the lovely nieces. These girls are just so amazing in so many ways, but my god they exhausted us. After they left we were up for almost nothing else. So treated ourselves to dinner out, again, and got a stack of DVDs. My favourite one being, and perhaps is now in my all time favourite list: The Weeping Camel. Without saying anything more about this than it's a doco style film set in Mongolia - it is a definitive MUST SEE NOW! Thanks Milva for pointing me in the right direction!



And most of Sunday was just about chilling and enjoying and the beach was just superb - almost noone was there.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...

9 years ago today....we stood on a clifftop overlooking an emerald green harbour and held hands, exchanged words & rings before our families and friends. It seriously feels like only a couple of years ago.

Happy Birthday to Us!

Yes You! You Can Change the World!

Finally finally went and saw "An Inconvenient Truth" last night. So I obviously don't need to be convinced about the massive ecological disaster we're creating down here on planet earth but I think Al Gore's delivery and concern and really easy to understand graphics make this a must see film - for everyone.

I couldn't help thinking what the world may have been like if he'd become president of the US instead of it being stolen from him. Would everything be totally different now? Or would he have been coerced and made to conform to the policies that the Mr Bigs of the world seem to enforce?

But maybe, it's all been a blessing. Maybe he can do way more with his power and knowledge out of the White House. Let's hope the Mr Bigs kids and grandkids force them to go see this film and start changing their ways.

Grau in Grau....

....translated into English basically means "the weather is all grey and overcast and hasn't lifted or changed all day".



That kind of weather used to do my head in when I lived in Hannover. For days on end at the end of winter it would be like that. Without seeing the blueness of the immense universe my brain would shut down, I'd become gloomy and depressed. I think having clouds pressing down on your head also made me feel like there just wasn't enough space, enough air, and it made me feel all closed in.



Since late Saturday afternoon it's been like that here....I don't like it. So I'm finding colour in my life to help make me feel better. Here is a shot of my first mango of the season and the next one are some weeds at my front gate which have been dowsed in a mystery liquid by a mystery person overnight...staining the yellow flowers and my pavers blue. I hope it eventually comes off my pavers.

The Simple Things in Life Are Always the Best

Had the extreme privelege and pleasure to see The Church perform at the Enmore Theatre on Friday night. WOW. Amazing musicians. Seriously cool music performed by the real deal.



The intense heat continued until Saturday late afternoon. Which was perfect for us as we'd also decided to head south and camp overnight in a national park near the beach.



The water was divine. Not cold like up here - which is usually the opposite way around.



Saw loads of dolphins. Tried helping a family after they managed to not only lose their anchor, but have a wave fill their boat even though the waves were tiny, and then have the boat washed up on shore. No matter how much we bailed and pushed the boat - they had to call to the coast guard to help them.



It's amazing how just a couple of hours out of the city clears your head. And a night in a tent, roughing it a little helps you realise you have complete abundance in your life.

unwound

It's a scorcher out there today. At 9.30am the sun was boiling my brain. After 4 lengths of the beach I had to dive in.......and the 19 degree water temperature absolutely took my breath away. Just 2 dives under and I was out of there. 5 mins back on the beach my boardies were almost dry. It's still officially spring, but 36 degrees out there tells me it's SUMMER.



I'm re-reading the Tibetan Book of Living & Dying. If you haven't read it yet, please try to - it's so full of compassionate wisdom. And so I thought it was perhaps a sign today,of being back on the right path, that on 2 separate occasions I saw the beautiful magenta and saffron coloured robes of 3 women monks. Just seeing these women, on a busy city road pulling behind them a shopping cart, and then inspecting the garden at the front of their buddhist centre made me feel calmer. They just seemed so serene.



Another strange sighting was a cool new silver VW beetle with POLICE emblazoned on the back. When did the cops get so cool? Bizarre. Only in Bondi.

Bravo Diva!!!!!

Madison Square Garden was stunned into silence for a brief moment when Barbra Streisand told a persistent heckler to "Shut the fuck up" in the middle of a skit about George W Bush.

Good on Barbra for firstly standing in front of a crowd and portraying Bush for what he is: a bumbling fool, and secondly for reiterating the fact that the "the artist's role is to disturb". More people with her power should be standing up and doing the same!!!

You rock Sista!

Ready & Loaded

Last weekend was a long one here for the most of us....but I was in fact one of the few who didn't really have a weekend or a long one at that. But considering my normal lifestyle and weekly demands I guess I shouldn't be complaining.



School from Fri-Sun, and then my friend's wedding on Monday left little time for much else. So this week I feel like I'm just catching up.



Daily walks at the beach have kept me feeling sane and grounded, but I'm slowly feeling the pressure of the ever-mounting mass of homework and study. Breathe. It's huge and it's only going to increase before the year is over. I'm already realising that our planned summer holiday is going to be smack bang in the middle of me cramming for the exam not to mention that the practical side of the homework needs to be completed as well and it's Xmas with not a lot of people around or with much time to be able to give me.



Oh, and if you're in to tie-dye, just leave your garment wrapped in a messy bundle on the back window of the car for a few weeks and hey presto...random effect sorted. Or may be not.



Had to include this shot of this sweet strawberry being grown by my nieces. It's one of 3 & it's so very cute.

Happy birthday to Chrissie today!!!! Just 1 more until the big one sista!