Quiet Friday Night
After a busy day at work, it’s been a quiet night. I’m working early tomorrow, so I’m off to bed.
Similar Posts
Do The Bus Stop
Oddly enough as I walked to work this morning I noticed a lot of people waiting at bus stops.
“Had they not heard the news about the bus-strike?”, I thought to myself.
Maybe they were hoping the bus strike would end soon?
Maybe they were waiting for a taxi?
Or maybe they were living under the idea that it’s reasonable to wait several buses to arrive, until finally three or four arrive at once one after the other? The first and second are overloaded with passengers, and the third is completely empty. But of course, that would never happen in Sydney :)
Or maybe they were ladies with fried eggs on their foreheads?
I explained this reference to a colleague today at work when she noted “everyone’s gone crazy”, at which I agreed.
It’s a reference to the Bette Midler “Live At Last” CD where she talks about how the ladies with “fried eggs on their foreheads don’t usually come out until September or October”. It’s a wonderful lead in to the song “Hello in There”, in which she explains eccentricity.
I’m not sure about that, but there are certainly a few “ladies with fried eggs on their foreheads” at the moment, from my experience at least.
It was a mad day at work. Frankly, I was hanging out for a beer from about 2pm, and so when my mate and colleague asked at about 4 if I wanted to have a drink after work, I could have kissed him on the lips.
By the time I got home tonight I wanted nothing more than a night of peace and quiet. The phone rang with a social invitation which was much appreciated, but otherwise…
Catching Up (On Sleep)
I spent a fair bit of this weekend napping. It’s not like I’ve been working excessively long hours, or going out “clubbing” (heaven forbid), I’ve just been feeling a bit tired this weekend. By nature, I’m an introvert, and that usually means socialising really tires me out.
Despite having gone into a career which involves a lot of public speaking, meetings and, generally chatting to people, my natural instinct is for solitary pursuits. I live alone, I like being alone, and to be honest, I’ll sometimes feign illness to avoid social interaction.
And it’s been a very social week. I caught up for dinner on Tuesday night, on Wednesday night I caught up with friends for drinks, and then on Friday, I attended an awards lunch (followed by celebration drinks) and then dinner with a friend.
It was terrific to catch up for dinner with Sue on Tuesday night, the first time we’ve seen each other since she moved to Wagga at the end of January, and when I went down to visit her there. It was good to catch up on how she’s settling in, and to hear updates on how her house was shaping up (as I’d helped her do some unpacking and furniture organisation). It was also good to catch up on how she’s going with her job, and with making friends/contacts. We talked about a few dates when I would next come down to visit, though I’ve concluded it will be more than likely after my forthcoming trip to Hobart.
And then on Wednesday night, I caught up with fellow blogger, Andrew and his partner who were up from Melbourne. Though I was quite sure it was only last year when we had met for the very first time, a quick re-think of the last 12 months was a timely reminder it was actually two years.
They seemed to have been enjoying their time in Sydney with things like a trip to Double Bay (inspired by my recent blog post) with further plans to visit The Blue Mountains and some Japanese Gardens I’d never heard of before, but which sound interesting. Hi Victor! They were a little apprehensive, naturally, about being able to return to Melbourne, so I hope that’s all worked out fine for them.
As Andrew comments frequently on public transport, I asked him for his thoughts on the new tram system in Sydney. He thought it was very good. “The drivers are very good. No stops and starts”, he said, though adding there are parts of the route where they could increase their speeds. Agreed.
And then on Friday, it was the AWEI Awards for LGBTQ Workplace Inclusion. As noted in this media release, the ABC were big winners this year, with three awards. https://about.abc.net.au/press-releases/abc-named-gold-employer-at-lgbtq-inclusion-awards/
The awards are based on the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI), which measures the impact of LGBTQ inclusion initiatives in organisations. The ABC’s annual score out of 200 in this year’s AWEI increased significantly from 105 to 177.
I’m part of ABC Pride which is a staff-led group focussing on a range of staff welfare issues. We also do awesome things like hold morning teas, provide behind the scenes policy and editorial advice, and have participated in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras over the last two years.
There was much to celebrate, and so lunch morphed into dinner with a friend and former colleague. We caught up for a drink, and then headed to a light and sound installation at one of the former monorail stations. As awesome as it was to see one of the former stations still exists, to be honest, it wasn’t that exciting for either of us. But still worth doing, and an awesome idea.
My friend, Andrea has recently moved to Sydney, and we had much to talk about. We had dinner at an old favourite, Red Chilli. We’ve also been to the equivalent part of the Red Chilli in Canberra (where she’s been living). Interestingly, despite it being fairly busy in Chinatown, and Red Chilli being usually fairly busy itself, there was only a handful of people in the restaurant, and then it was just us. So we could be as noisy as we wanted, and could consume some of their wonderful food without having to worry about neighbouring tables.
By the time the weekend came around, it was time for sleep. It’s less busy this week: catching up with a friend for dinner and drag queen bingo!!, and then on Friday, it’s time for having my AstraZeneca shot. By the sounds of things, I’ll be resting up next weekend, as most peopleI know have reported feeling a bit under the weather the next day. AstraZeneca sounds like a drag queen, too, right?
NSW Australian Of The Year
I have almost lost count of the number of times I’ve been to the announcement of the NSW Australian Of The Year. Though, it’s something I have a connection with through my work, it’s something I really enjoy being involved with on a personal level. There are so many great stories of people doing amazing things. Truly humbling.
Here are some photographs from tonight’s NSW @ausoftheyear (Australian Of The Year) highlighting a wonderfully expressive signer. Gosh she was great. It was a fabulous evening, and especially terrific to catch up with one of the finalists for Senior Australian, Terry O’Connell who I remember from my days in Wagga Wagga (where he was a local police officer), and Senior Australian Of The Year 2015, Jackie French, who I also came to know through my days living in Canberra. Flashback!
Swedish Saturday
“It’s more Swedish than Sweden” was the text message I sent to my friend Grant who was originally going to join me at the Swedish Church in Sydney fete held today. Unfortunately, he was ill and couldn’t make it, but that didn’t stop us texting each other in Swedish throughout the day.
When it came to a real-life conversation in Swedish with some real-life Swedes I experienced a little bit of stage fright today. When someone said something to me which I couldn’t understand, I felt a bit stupid and I guess it took away some of my confidence in further conversations.
Still, I enjoyed walking around the fete for a a few minutes or so and browsing the stalls which were selling a range of handicrafts, home-made preserves, Swedish books and magazines. Unfortunately there was no Swedish music playing in the background. That would have made a big difference to the atmosphere, I think.
And then inside the Café Svensson there was also a variety of Swedish food for sale, including meatball sandwiches, cinnamon buns etc. It was funny to see the little cafe where we have our small classes each week suddenly alive, and so incredibly Swedish.
So in summary, this week I’ve been to: Swedish class, I chatted with my Swedish colleague Carrie, I went to see Swedish band, Oh Laura play at The Basement, wore my Sverige t-shirt to the office Christmas party and today I went to the Swedish Church Christmas Fair.
I really should just move there, shouldn’t I?
Mary Poppins
There’s a scene in the current Australian production (and presumably the other international productions) that is without doubt the climax of the show.
I won’t tell you what happens – though you can probably guess – since I don’t want to spoil the magic of the moment in case you’re planning to see the show which has already run in Melbourne, is currently in Sydney, and will presumably move to Brisbane next.
“A little tear welled in my right eye and rolled down my check when that happen”, I told my friend Colin as we enjoyed a post-show post-mortem. “Me too”, he told me.
The thing about Mary Poppins is that it’s all so wonderfully familiar from childhood, but importantly this production includes a few magical surprises.
The songs are brilliant, though I’m stuck with an supercalifragilisticexpialidocious as an earworm.
The cast is energetic to say the least. The dance routines go on and on, and you wonder from time how much energy the cast expends while doing them. The actor who plays Mary is on stage for most of the production.
Although there were a couple of bits in the first half which I thought were a little “busy” (I think it’s the first half score that causes it), I though the second half was really well-timed and enjoyable.
And then of course, you have THAT scene.
The audience contained a lot of “mums with kids”, and I really hope it was the kind of magical theatre experience that will keep them coming back to live theatre for many years to come.