This year has been something of a transition year - my redundancy, the passing of J's Mum, 2 weddings, several 40th birthdays - including my own - and 2 births (well one is still actually pending but I figure a due date of January 17 means that the majority of 'womb-time' falls into this year). But one thing in particular has made this feel like even more of a watershed year...when I read this week that Don Lane had died.
At this point, you might be saying to yourself 'who is this guy?' (for those who don't know, he hosted one of Australia's late-night 'chat' shows, whilst I was a young'un) or 'what about MJ and Farrah Fawcett?'. But here's the thing. Don Lane was like this quintessential piece of my growing up years - not that I thought he was great or anything or even that the show was on all that much in the house I grew up in. But Don, his show and Bert 'Moonface' Newton as his sidekick, was just there in that patchwork of Australian late 70s-early 80s culture. Not really as an idol but more an icon of my youth - something I didn't choose but perhaps chose me.
A bit like musk sticks from the tuckshop at lunchtime or the smell of Coppertone Sunscreen, the daffodil wallpaper in my childhood bedroom or the seed pods, shaped like tiny fried eggs, that descended from the tree in the back yard. Or even the annual 'all-day-on-the-telly' 'Hardie Ferodo' live from Mt Panorama.
So now I'm off to pick up some Halloween goodies for our imminent bevy of neighbourhood 'trick or treaters' and the disappearance of one of these icons, long forgotten until this week, has brought up such a wave of nostalgia around my childhood I'm now wondering how I can recapture some of 'it'...
Do you think Sainsbury's have got musk sticks?
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Ol' Four Eyes...
Yes it's true...in the aftermath of my 40th birthday and after 8 years of perfect vision, I bought a pair of glasses today...
I knew when I had laser surgery back in 2001 that I might only get 7-10 years before my eye muscles started to weary with the - ahem - 'natural age-ing process' and my regular eye test back in January this year confirmed that this had indeed begun so I did attend my appointment with the optician on Thursday with a more than sneaking suspicion that a return to glasses would be the outcome.
However, I would like to reassure you that I am not so despondent about this as you might think. Tired eyes and headaches are certainly no fun and it will be quite useful to glance quickly at the distant train schedule to ensure I do not end up on the wrong tube - I admit that I am currently resorting to asking the waiting passengers on board any platform-ed train 'What line is this?' or 'Where is this one going?' as I come racing down the stairs...instead of dashing along the platform until I am close enough to see whether it was actually the train I should have been on...or not! If you've been to London, you know how completely shocking it is for people to make eye contact, let alone actually be addressed, during their commute so I feel that as London is my home, this aberrant behaviour of mine must stop.
As J is heartily sick of me squinting/complaining 'I can't read that'/borrowing his glasses, he (and his daughter, the lovely A) came with me to ensure I did not end up looking either nanna-ish or try-hard-trendy and in the end, the choice was pretty easy...and a rather cool pair of specs will be awaiting me in about a week's time.
So peeps, ol' four eyes is back and better than ever!
I knew when I had laser surgery back in 2001 that I might only get 7-10 years before my eye muscles started to weary with the - ahem - 'natural age-ing process' and my regular eye test back in January this year confirmed that this had indeed begun so I did attend my appointment with the optician on Thursday with a more than sneaking suspicion that a return to glasses would be the outcome.
However, I would like to reassure you that I am not so despondent about this as you might think. Tired eyes and headaches are certainly no fun and it will be quite useful to glance quickly at the distant train schedule to ensure I do not end up on the wrong tube - I admit that I am currently resorting to asking the waiting passengers on board any platform-ed train 'What line is this?' or 'Where is this one going?' as I come racing down the stairs...instead of dashing along the platform until I am close enough to see whether it was actually the train I should have been on...or not! If you've been to London, you know how completely shocking it is for people to make eye contact, let alone actually be addressed, during their commute so I feel that as London is my home, this aberrant behaviour of mine must stop.
As J is heartily sick of me squinting/complaining 'I can't read that'/borrowing his glasses, he (and his daughter, the lovely A) came with me to ensure I did not end up looking either nanna-ish or try-hard-trendy and in the end, the choice was pretty easy...and a rather cool pair of specs will be awaiting me in about a week's time.
So peeps, ol' four eyes is back and better than ever!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year...
The weekend is here again and despite the fact that during this last week, there's been just a little nip in the air as the sun dips backs down to the horizon each day, today we were blessed with a beautiful Autumn Day...so beautiful, in fact, that the top came off...
...my car you numpty, I'm talking about my car...
Got your attention though, didn't it! Ha!
Anyway, Autumn is my most favourite time of the year.
(English people think I am weird when I tell them this. The usual reaction is an unbelieving 'What about Summer?'...I try to be gentle when I tell them that we don't all live in 'Summer Bay' and it does actually rain in Ramsay Street.)
The leaves are starting to turn now so we are getting some of that startling red and orange appearing in the midst of leftover summer-green foliage. The mornings are peppered with misty puffs of breath and there is an extra layer of clothing in place on my daily, crunchy-leafed walk to catch the bus. And the daylight hours are definitely getting shorter too with my normal journey home cloaked in evening by the time I reach my door again, with the tip of my nose gone all cold and tingly.
![]()
...my car you numpty, I'm talking about my car...
Got your attention though, didn't it! Ha!
Anyway, Autumn is my most favourite time of the year.
(English people think I am weird when I tell them this. The usual reaction is an unbelieving 'What about Summer?'...I try to be gentle when I tell them that we don't all live in 'Summer Bay' and it does actually rain in Ramsay Street.)
The leaves are starting to turn now so we are getting some of that startling red and orange appearing in the midst of leftover summer-green foliage. The mornings are peppered with misty puffs of breath and there is an extra layer of clothing in place on my daily, crunchy-leafed walk to catch the bus. And the daylight hours are definitely getting shorter too with my normal journey home cloaked in evening by the time I reach my door again, with the tip of my nose gone all cold and tingly.
But it's lovely - crisp and invigorating outside and cosy inside - and a great excuse to rediscover my warmer wardrobe staples that have lain abandoned over the glorious summer that we had...and so it all feels like new.
Yes, Autumn is definitely the most wonderful time of the year...
.JPG)
The view from my front door...glorious!!!
Monday, 5 October 2009
The Absence of Blogging...
I missed getting to my blog this weekend...not because I forgot or I didn't want to but all the other things to do and catch up on just got in the way...and before I knew it Sunday was done - and my blog wasn't...
While there's an urge to apologise profusely to those of you who wait with baited breath for my snippets of opinion and activity, my bigger urge is frustration and an I-haven't-blogged-for-a-week restlessness. It's addictive, this blogging caper. I never thought it would 'be' me but having writing back in my life has been such a joy. Sometimes there's so much stuff happening or so many feelings all at once that I find it hard to choose 'the snippet' - although it usually ends up choosing itself as I write - and sometimes there's an event or opinion or feeling that's right there, bursting to get out...so get ready for loads of restless creativity and frustrated expression bursting forth!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phew!
Now that's out, I have room to say 'really sorry I haven't blogged peeps'. I am also delighted to report that I have two official followers (my big half-sister and that bloody trouble-maker from my drinking days in Melbourne) and I'd really love more of you to join my Peanut Gallery of followers, make hay with these two (or not) and heckle (or not) to your heart's content.
So chop chop...
While there's an urge to apologise profusely to those of you who wait with baited breath for my snippets of opinion and activity, my bigger urge is frustration and an I-haven't-blogged-for-a-week restlessness. It's addictive, this blogging caper. I never thought it would 'be' me but having writing back in my life has been such a joy. Sometimes there's so much stuff happening or so many feelings all at once that I find it hard to choose 'the snippet' - although it usually ends up choosing itself as I write - and sometimes there's an event or opinion or feeling that's right there, bursting to get out...so get ready for loads of restless creativity and frustrated expression bursting forth!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrgh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phew!
Now that's out, I have room to say 'really sorry I haven't blogged peeps'. I am also delighted to report that I have two official followers (my big half-sister and that bloody trouble-maker from my drinking days in Melbourne) and I'd really love more of you to join my Peanut Gallery of followers, make hay with these two (or not) and heckle (or not) to your heart's content.
So chop chop...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)