anyresemblance

Catholic lapse

George Pell, well, well.  Here's a reminder of our brush with the former cardinal.  What a despicable man.  David Marr wrote a good piece in the Guardian.

Your lack of apostrophe means I can never eat in your restaurant

Yesterday was one of those perfect near autumn days with the clearest blue sky.  The dog and I went for a walk early and enjoyed watching a whippet race  its owner laps around the oval.  I spent the day in mild house organisation putting the rugs out and beating the dust from them, changing the sheets and dusting.  The garage is looking rather chaotic so I need to sell and give away some stuff to make room for the sofa I am re-inheriting next week.  This new/old sofa needs a recover but I am trying to find an upholsterer that does not cost the earth.

I went to dog park in the evening and saw a woman I have not seen for a couple of years.  She had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction in January.  She refers to her new breasts as Pinky and Perky but you could see the brush with mortality and this was bravado.  I had also talked to my old boss on Saturday morning who told me her mother has breast cancer.  I hesitate in these circumstances.  I could say "my sister had breast cancer and was cancer free for 13 years" but I don't know how to deal with the punch line "but then she died riddled with cancer from her pancreas ..."  I try "I am sure you know many women who have successfully dealt with a health issue like this" all of which sound ridiculously inadequate.

I binge watched Dirty John on Friday and Saturday night.  There was a lovely dog and I thought "I can't tell my daughter about this program unless the dog survives."  The dog survived.  Juno Temple is astonishingly good as her older daughter. I found it all uncomfortably triggering but I'll get through that.

 

Headspace

I spent about 3 hours doing my expenses and finally worked out I was not stupid and yes, indeed, the travel company had sent me the wrong invoice.   Tiresome.

Also completed, a Kanban board to get my priorities in order, a clearing of the desk of extraneous rubbish and a shared calendar.  Nope, not the above picture from my old home office but something much more ordered.

Mandarin

I flew back overnight from Singapore.  I had an intense and introspective few days of training with a huge backlog of things to attend to.  I was glad to get an upgrade to premium economy at the bulkhead.  I put the mask and neck cushion on and did not wake for anything until we landed.  On the way up, I watched Can you ever forgive me which I loved.  Melissa McCarthy is so much herself but so immersed in this role.

Sex Ed

I have been obsessed watching Sex Education on Netflix.  I'm glad I heard Pandora Sykes talking about it else I would have found the mismatch between British accents and pop culture references and American high school setting a bit weird but I was hooked by the end of the first episode.   If you haven't watched it the premise is a nerdy teenage boy son of an embarrassingly sex positive therapist mother, played magnificently by Gillian Anderson, starts using his mother's techniques to give sex and relationship advice to his peers at school.  It covers the gamut of teenage sex stuff, is hilarious, touching and sad in equal measure with some marvellous performances.   I was also pretty glad to be watching it on my own and not having to worry about being over performative in the company of others.

I was touched by the episode on abortion.  It's sad but straightforward. It doesn't ruin anyone's life.  She's not alone.  I'd just read Jodi Picoult on the same topic and while I don't love her narrative structures, I find her research gets presented in such a consumable way I feel I have learned a lot more by the end of each book.  Apparently nearly 1 in 4 women have had an abortion.  That might be a US statistic but it doesn't surprise me.  I know a few who have.  I am one of them and I've had two.   And thirty years on I feel like I ought to be more open about it.  It's not the worst thing I did in my life.  It didn't impact my chance of going on to have healthy children.  It wasn't painful or traumatic.  I'm grateful to have had choice and access.

Sunday

 
It’s changeover day today with me heading to Singapore and the kid coming back from Sri Lanka. We have an hour in the airport together where I hand her the car keys and instructions and she complains. 

I had a sad massage yesterday. I was given a spa certificate for Christmas and booked a hot stone massage and facial. It was in a beautiful setting in the botanic gardens but sadly I had a therapist who did not really understand what firm meant. There was too much emphasis on ritual and not much on results. Halfway through I was convinced the sound proofing was rubbish and I could hear someone through the walls talking in some African language I could not understand. It was so distracting straining to hear this conversation. Eventually I twigged that it might be part of the odd music that was playing and asked. Yes, it did form part of the soundtrack. Please turn it off.

I had a splitting headache when I left.

Dog's life

I've been busy what with the pets return, the submission of a large and important piece of work, my sister coming to stay and several day trips to Melbourne and Sydney and associated air traffic go slows.

I went to see the pre-Raphaelite exhibition at the NGA with my sis and her husband.  It was huge, most from the Tate but my brother-in-law reckoned a lot of it was not on permanent viewing at the Tate so it was good to see it all assembled.  I loved the Ford Madox Brown's and it was good to see all those familiar poster reproductions from my teenage obsessions.  There were quite a few William Morris tapestries too which my sister coveted.  But, lord, those women all have the same cupid bow mouths, masses of luxurious hair and furrowed brows.  

I nearly got stuck in Sydney driving back from Penrith on a Friday afternoon.  The day had started with my colleague discovering his driving licence had expired (how do adult men have this happen to them?) so I had to drive which stymied my plan to work in the car.  We were a long hot way from the airport but had a terrific meeting which ran over schedule.  That meant Friday traffic and a plane which was waiting.  Fortunately the weather meant the plane was running late and as it turned out I was one of the few flights to leave Sydney that evening.  I know quite a few people who ended up staying the night there.

Anyway, Ned is enormous, Charlie is loving and fluffy and it is terrific to have them home.  Charlie is suffering from lack of company and we need to work that out but he is so much fun to have around.  I took him to the dog park and the other dogs were so excited he was back and Loki, a beautiful husky of our acquaintance, also seemed happy to see me and did a lot of howling chatting with me.

The former prime minster was in our coffee shop this morning along with his parliamentary bike crew.  He was affable and charming but failed to greet the dog who was standing in the queue in front of him thereby revealing his true character.

 

Some things that happened

I've found myself very distracted all day by having binge watched Russian doll last night.  That's not as dire as it sounds as the episodes are only 25 minutes long but it is completely compelling.  I have smoked in decades but it even makes smoking tempting.  Natasha Lyonne is mesmerising.  The supporting cast are excellent as well, especially her surrogate mother, the guy at the bodega who complains he can't get the dialogue right in his novel, her friend making chicken at the party. 13/10

I got my hair cut yesterday and the whole process was irritatingly slow.  I know I have a lot of hair but nearly 3 hours, 30 minutes of which was the endless washing of the hair.  Kill me for saying this but I miss the lickety spit New Yorkers sometimes and the Madison Reed salon where you just do the drying yourself.

I rearranged the bookcases again.  Save me, this is the 4th rearrangement of my living space but one I think I can live with.  I just couldn't get the light right in the little end of the sitting and by moving the bookcases up behind the dining table, I think I have solved it.  I need to put a wedge under one to tip it back to the right but it's nearly there.

The littlest kid was out last night so I ate my favourite snacking things - hummus, pita, olives, cucumber and some halloumi.  I have rolled over January sobriety and am feeling good about it.

 

Burning the candle

Oof, it is so hot and I have so much to do at work so I shouldn't be wistfully looking at pictures of NYC in the snow.

I have plugged my headphones in, listening to MIA and Tribe called Quest and working a list.

I dropped the kid at the airport this morning.  She is off to a design camp in Sri Lanka followed by a visit to an ethical elephant sanctuary.  So jealous.  Also, last minute purchase of travel insurance - nope, nope, not even reckless me is travelling without health insurance.

 

Late

It's late, I've had a tiresome day and I want to be upbeat and optimistic instead of complainy and whiny so here is a picture of Charlie looking out the window.  6 days and counting.