Triscuits!!

I haven't thought of triscuits in about a year. And now for some reason, I really really want some for lunch today!!!

I don't even think there's an equivalent here.

I don't think it's my memory...

I can't remember what radio station(s) I listened to in Atlanta.

I was particularly enjoying a set of music this afternoon on the radio statio in Canberra (Mix 106.3) and I can't remember what radio stations I listened to at home. The only one I can remember is Q 100, but I know there is one that can sound like my iPOD on shuffle.

This happens whenever I move. When I left San Diego, I thought nothing would match Planet 103.7. Then when I left Berkeley/Alameda, nothing in Atlanta was like KFOG. In fact, I used to stream KFOG at my desk at work, since Atlanta had nothing close.

I guess with being away for a year (!!!!) it's understandable that the little daily things fade. I was trying to remember my commute the other day - and it's fuzzy in the middle. I think I'll rent a car (maybe) when I'm in Atlanta in a month, but now I'm afraid I won't remember how to get anywhere. I hope it comes back to me. And I hope I can remember how to program the car radio.

Or at least remember to bring my iPOD.

Recent photos

Enjoying the sunset over the Indian Ocean (I'm pretty sure it's the Indian Ocean, not the Southern Ocean, but could be wrong...and I don't feel like looking it up) at Scarborough (pronounced Scar-bro, not Scar-ba-row, apparently) Beach, north of Perth, June 2007.





Some shots from AqWA, the aquarium in Perth, which is in Western Australia. They're clever with their names, aren't they?)

Frozen

You know how every relationship has a break-up song? Frozen, by Madona (Ray of Light album) is the song for my relationship with my college boyfriend S. Today I was flying back to Canberra from Sydney and heard the song on take-off. Usually I don't bother listening to it, although it certainly doesn't have the impact it did 10 years (!) ago. But this time I listened to it and ruminated. Cause I'm a cow. hehe.

Anyway, I had to laugh as the song started and felt like apologizing to my roommate at the time, saramoon, I think I drove her CRAZY by playing this song as loud as I could, on repeat, in the Camino Ticino house after S left for Germany. I was just out of college, with no idea what I was going to do, trying to find a job, and just a bit bitter. Such a good combination.

Fast forward 10 years... I was sitting on Bondi Beach today, as you do, after my work meeting. The last time I was on Bondi I was chatting with S, on New Year's Day. We hadn't seen each other in more than a few years and it was a bit weird to see him in real life. SOme things were so different, while others were so the same. Today on the beach, as I was digging my toes (and still swollen ankle) into the white sand, I was reflecting. Since S and I broke up, I've certainly moved on, but he has always been in the back of my head, watching the choices I've made, the paths I've chosen. He never did this in real life, but I incorporated him as one of those people (yes, there are people in my head... at least I admit it!) that I sub-conciously needed/wanted approval from.

Now, bear with me... this all comes together... I think...but in the last month I've really started to feel more comfortable in my own skin again, settled in Canberra, and confident again. When I last saw S, I certainly didn't feel that way and I guess I was sort of looking for him to validate my decision to come over here, to be impressed. But it didn't feel right to be looking for that validation from him in real life, and he didn't really even give it. Hearing Frozen today sort of sealed it for me, I've got my own life, that I get to create for me, by me, and at my own pace. And I can see that S, while a friend now, is not a person that gets to weigh in on my decisions, whether he's aware of it or not. S may indeed read this...if you do... I think of all people you'll understand this. I hope. To be honest I'm not sure I do myself, but the bitterness and need to romanticize and pedastal-ize (is that a word?) S is gone.

This is my life. And no-one gets to weigh in on it. And that's a pretty freeing thought.

So now Frozen is just another song and S is what he was and nothing more or less.

And, for the record, Bondi Beach is still flipping gorgeous!

Done and done.

J.K. Rowling is a flipping genius.

That's the most perfect book I've ever read.

Y'all better let me know when you're done so I can talk about it!!!!

Harry Potter Day!

I have the book!!!! And a Beanie owl, since we'd prepaid and picked it up today!! Named KnOWLedge. I've re-named mine Hedwig.

I waited for an hour in the Borders this morning with my friend D, who I play soccer with. All the staff were wearing various pieces of witchery (scarves, hats), there was a magician walking around, and 2 girls walkig aroud with a goodie trolley. We even got to walk by the boxes of books with a security guard standing by. I wanted to take a photo of that, but was afraid of having my camera impounded. The boxes said "EMBARGOED. Do Not Open Until 21 July 9:00am Australian Eastern Standard Time." So cool!!!

As we snaked our way through the Borders, we tried valiantly not to pick up anything else to buy, but to no avail. We both walked out with extra. BUT - the most important part, I have the book now! And in 10 minutes I plan to be curled up in bed with it. But I wanted to share my excitement.

D and I went to a new chocolate cafe to celebrate getting the books. Koko Black (www.kokoblack.com) opened in Canberra about a month ago and it's very cool! We ordered a hot chocolate each and shared the Belgian Spoil plate, chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse, 2 Belgian chocolates, shortbread, and chocolate cake.



While we waited for our goodies we each read the first chapter! 10 minutes after the chocolate arrived we were both sure we were going to go into a diabetic shock, but it'd have been so worth it!

I also bought a new red carpet/rug for my bedroom, to take the edge off the concrete coldness emanating through the existing carpet, which is maybe the thickness of a piece of paper.



OK - off to Harry-land!!!!

Word of the day

bildungsroman:

“formation novel” (German); a novel that chronicles the development of a hero or heroine from youth to maturity.

Use THAT in a sentence today and I'll buy you a coffee.

It was used in a review of the new Harry Potter book on the NY Times website. The review doesn't give the ending of the book away, but there are some details revealed, so don't read if you want to remain a blank slate for the book.

And, btw, the NY Times website has this cool feature where you can double-click any word in an article and a separate window with its definition will pop-up. So neat!

Random Aussie fact

I keep this book: "Everything You Didn't Need to Know About Australia", by Adam Ward, next to my computer. WHen I need a break at work, I'll pick it up and read a random fact.


Today's fact:
The Witches of Oz

According to 2001 census figures, witchcraft is the fastest-growing religion in Australia. There were fewer than 2,000 witches in Oz in 1996, but five years later the figure was almost 9,000. The fact that several states in Australia decriminalized witchcraft around this time may explain this increased statistic: Queensland, for example, won a bid in Parliament to repeal the offences of witchcraft, sorcery and fortune telling from the Criminal Code. There was also a significant rise in the number of pagans (from around 5,000 to 10,000). Interestingly, there was also a strong rise in religions deemed to be 'inadequately described'. This category included several people who described themselves as Jedi.

White stuff

It's supposed to snow in Canberra tonight.

Everyone else is very excited, there's a jittery feeling in the air, as they watch the weather reports and think about black ice and snow in Canberra from 9pm tonight.

So, am I excited? Nah. Not so much.

In fact, not at all. I'm a bit apprehensive about it all.

Will it get so cold that my little heaters in my apartment will stop being effective and I'll freeze to death in my bed?

What if I hit a patch of black ice while walking and fall and break something?

I have to walk, no, HOBBLE, to the bus stop, my house, the grocery store, in white stuff??

I need to move back to summertime. I realize some of my concerns are a tad ridiculous, but come on. It RARELY gets this cold enywhere else I've lived, let alone SNOWS!!!! It's all new.

Real connections

I was talking with my friend F the other day - we went to coffee after soccer (I watched, didn't play...) and we were talking about friends and moving and living in new places. She is from NZ and lived in London for 2 years and has been in Canberra for 3. She made a really good point about people you meet - that when you move someplace, it's not usually the first set of people that you meet that you actually become friends with. Had I been in possession of that little insight I think (maybe?) my transisiton would have been a little easier, since I wouldn't have spent time wondering why it wasn't working with the people I was meeting. Cause it really was a self-esteem blow to meet people who weren't really interested. Now that I know people that are interested in being friends with me (they like me, they like me!!) - with whom I have that 'click' - it's like I'm back to feeling like me again. Cause I certainly haven't felt like ME in a long time. It's so important to have people genuinely interested and who care for you.

And I remember that when I first moved to Atlanta - I met tons of people and it is rough sort of waiting to see who you really click with and who you actually become friends with. And, truly, it just takes time. 10 months into my time here (like I'm serving a sentence?) I can see that, but MAN was it dark for a while. And not that it's all perfect now, but it is quite amazing the difference a few friends can really make.

I hung out a lot with my new soccer team this weekend and it was like a combination of my New Year's crowd and the Schmucks - we played soccer in the morning (again, I just watched) and then went to K and R's house and played board games all afternoon. We played Clue (called Cluedo here - say what??), Taboo, Buzz (a trivia game on playstation) and a game of Risk was started around 3pm. K made curry for everyone and it was really one of the best afternoons I've had in Canberra (since my afternoon with M from Perth).

It's all about making a real connection with people who take you as you are. So invaluable.

Last picture, I promise!

Slightly better shot - good color!!!! I don't know if you can see how swollen it is. You may have to just trust me.

Ankle update #2

Went to the physio after work today. Got ultrasound, massage, and electro-shocking (very mild!). Chatted away with the physio and forgot to ask for a time prognosis... but I think at least 3 weeks. I had painted my toenails over the weekend, as you do when your ankle is not pretty - I don't think he noticed. :)

Anyway, the bruisig is quite the rainbow right now. I need to take a picture in the daylight - it's a bit tough to see in these. I know it's sort of weird to put up injury pictures, but oh well. The most bruising is on the outside of the ankle, where I"ve torn a front and back ligament, and then there is some lesser bruising on the inside of the ankle where I've sprained that big ligament.







That red mark is a reaction to the tape he used to tape me up. I always forget to tell people who are taping me up (cause it happens so often...) that I'm pretty sensitive to tape. He had put on a hypo-allergenic layer under most of the tape, but obviously missed a bit!

I've learned a lot about anatomy, muscles, and ligaments through all this. Ligaments just attach to the bone! How crazy is that? And they don't stretch at all - they are made of collage, strong stuff, but not elastic like elastin, which is in muscle along with the collagen. Ligaments are there to stop the extremes in range of motion - unless they are too overwhelmed and then they break. Ouch.

And it's still super swollen. I can't imagine what it would like if it hadn't bee compressed for the last week, or even within the first hour. Although - there is a part of me that wishes I could see how bad it would have been. I believe that's called the counterfactual. :) (good thing I'm an epidemiologist - we LOVE the counterfactual!) I need to find someone just like me in all ways, who had the same thing happen, but didn't do any first aid. I believe that's called a parallel life.

Anyway... I've got all sorts of exercises to do each day, and hopefully with some luck my ankle will be normal size (and color!) for my sister's wedding in 6 weeks!

Harry Potter

So, how much does the new Harry potter movie kick ass??? So good! But too short - I could have sat there for 2 more hours without a problem!

I saw it with some friends at the Premium Cinemas at the Dendy in the city. We had fully reclining leather seats and seat-side service of food and drinks. We had champagne as the opening credits were rolling, and then I had potato wedges at 30 minutes in and scones with an hour to go. It was quite perfect!

I made my friend take this picture of me in the lobby. I should have taken a pic in the theater with the seats, but I was too excited for the movie! She had to take the picture3 times because the flash kept obscuring Harry's face, and we just couldn't have that!



There is so much going on in this movie, and you could see where they had to combine or leave things out from the book. But - I think they did a good job. And Harry's getting to be a cutie! But, he reminds me of my brother, so I have to watch out. Yeah. And I so wish they had spent more time on Ron and Hermionie. And there was no Quidditch! Can't wait to see it again.

Ankle update

So, I spent yeserday getting x-rays, seeing a physio, and resting. Good news - no fracture or chipping of the bone! Just 2 torn ligaments that should heal okay with proper attention from the physio. Who, by the way, is super hot! It's so nice to get specialized attention from a hottie. I get to see him twice next week. :)

And I've got a great painkiller - one of those new cox-2 inhibitors. One pill a day for 5 days - and it really works! So great to not have to be taking a couple pills every 4 hours for days on end.

I"m at work today, but can't really concentrate... so I may not last all day.

But, I get to see Harry Potter tonight!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!! I"ll definitely update on that, since we are going to the "premium" cinemas to watch it - fancy leather seats that recline all the way and seat-side drink and food service! I get to be pampered while I watch Harry take on You-Know-Who.

Why I'll be waking up every 2 hours tonight

I know it's hard to tell in the picture - but I've done a doozy to myself. A grade 2 sprain on my right ankle. I'm getting x-rays tomorrow morning to make sure I haven't fractured the bone. Good times.

I'd like to tell you a great story about how i rolled it in an awesome soccer move that resulted in a goal, but alas, I can't. I DID score 2 freaking awesome goals (if I do say so myself) in indoor soccer this past Sunday night, one right after the other, but that's beside the point - and now unlikely to happen again for 4-6 weeks.

I really wanted to see Knocked Up tonight after work. I've heard it's really good and Tuesday night is half price movie night in Canberra. So, I got home, made dinner, and left for the cinema. It's about a 20 minute walk up to the cinema and I decided to run the last 5 mins since I was a little late. Not to meet anyone, I was going alone. No, my ankle is fu&^%d because I didn't want to miss the previews! I crossed the street ad started to run. On my second step I thought to myself - I should be careful, it's dark and I'm not wearing good shoes to run and I may trip, right as I rolled off the sidewalk and HIT the ground.

It's been a while since I rolled an ankle, but holy crap. I went light-headed, couldn't stand, and started sobbing on the sidewalk, in the dark. I didn't even have my mobile phone to call my housemate to come get me. And it happened because I didn't want to miss previews! How stupid is that?????

I walked home, sobbing the whole way, put an ankle brace and ice on and after about 30 minutes Jen decided we were going to the medical centre - the non Medicare emergency department (without Medicare coverage, it would have cost me $371 to go to the private hospital ed. Yikes. So I paid $70 for the public medical centre). We waited for 90 minutes than I got to see the nicest doctor. He'd just been to CA with his wife and we talked CDC, running, soccer, CA. His first reaction after I got all the wrapping off was " this is a major injury and you saved yourself 3 weeks of recovery with your first aid" Yay for the justification of the trip to the medical centre and to me for actually having an ankle brace (from high school!!), an ice pack, and an ACE bandage in my house. The only bad thing was the ibuprofen I took, since that increases bleeding. So I'm now taking a codeine derivative. :)

Anyway - he said I'll be out of commission for 4-6 weeks, but the nice thing about Oz is that I can just go to a sports physio tomorrow, without a referral, and get physical therapy help to recover. Yay! So, tomorrow I'm getting x-rays (the doctor says I've probably torn both ligaments over the ankle bone and I may have chipped a piece off the bone in the process - YIKES) and then to the physio. And until then, RICE - and icing every 2 hours. Well see if I can make it through a night of icing every 2 hours. I may just not hear my timer go off!

I'm definitey bummed - I've been ramping up my sports recently - classes 3X a week at the gym, soccer twice on the weekend, and 2 runs a week. I've just registered to run the City 2 Surf, a 14K in Sydney in 4 weeks. I probably won't be doing that! Crapola. I was even contemplating taking a fencing class for a few weeks!

The NY Times says so, so it must be.

I was reading this article this afternoon on NY Times.com - a description of one of the myriad of neighborhoods in NY: The Park Slope Parent Trap

This quote made me laugh:
"Still, living here I do feel as if I won the lottery. Mostly, people are really friendly — the kind of friendliness you encounter only in a small country village, or in Australia."

Maybe I just notice references to Australia more now tha I live here. But I don't recall Australia being held up as a paragon of friendliness.

Don't get me wrong - it is. Somehting about the sun and the beach (neither of which I have at the moment, for the record...) It's just funny to see it in print that way. Particularly to describe a NY neighborhood.

My justification for laughing...

I'm still a child!!!

"Children appreciate all that is silly as a matter of course. Their grasp of humor is instinctual, and even the smallest absurdities provoke joyous gales of earnest laughter. As we age, this innate ability to see the value of silliness can diminish.

This unabashed silliness nourished our vitality and creativity. We can take in this nourishment once again by giving ourselves permission to lighten up and be silly.

It is precisely because so much of life is inescapably serious that silliness should be regarded as a priority." DailyOm 9 July 2007

Luckily, I can see the absurdity of almost anything. :)

Some Truths

1. It has been really hard to be out here. There are nights I have felt so desperatley alone that I wasn't sure I could remember how to laugh. When I felt like I was invisible to everyone, and forgotten by all. I know it's melodramatic, but it's weird how real those feelings can be.

2. It's a constant lesson to hold on and let go the appropriate amount. How do you hold on to the past without it suffocating your future? How do you embrace all the new without completely turning your back on the past?

3. All it takes is one person to reach out and it can make all the difference. The ability to step outside of your head, even if only for a while, is truly priceless. I have to feel connected to this place for it to feel like home. And I can't let go of Atlanta, Bekeley, Alameda, San Diego until I have something to hold onto over here.

Peachtree Road Race

I was browsing the Peachtree Road Race photo galleries on the Atlanta Journal Constitution website this morning - I really miss not being in Atlanta today/yesterday! And not just because it's a proper July with warm weather! The high for today in Canberra is supposed to be 9 degress celsius, with rain. Fun. (ALthough - I am getting used to the cold, I think!)

And I really like the shirt for this year!!

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/peachtree/index.html

Ah well - Peachtree 2009 is all mine! Unless, of course, I come home early, in which case, I'm all over Peachtree 2008.

Happy 4th of July!

I know it sounds crazy, but I wish I was doing the Peachtree tomorrow! It would have been my 6th year doing it. And I'd love to be getting ready for a BBQ in my own backyard with my dear friends, and then I'd love (I know - it sounds crazy!) to fight the hoardes of people to be at the Braves game... and the chili cheese fries! And the fireworks! Which we missed out on last year.

Which reminds me. I started this blog around 4th of July last year. If you look in the archives there are pics form that Braves game - 5 drowned rats after the game!!

Man. I can't believe this has been up for a year. And that I've been living in Australia (!) since last September.

Anyway.... I baked a cake tonight for afternoon tea tomorrow - a little bit of red, white, and blue patriotism in the Aussie government offices... I'm even going to play my co-workers the Stan Freberg bit on Betsy Ross and the flag. I think Washington would have been even more horrified with this version of the flag... "Uneven stripes, and gold stars? Heh. Are we having a little bit of fun at the country's expense?" For the record, there may be 4 of you out there that get that - that's okay by me. :)



Hope y'all have a great Fourth! Have a beer, hot dog, and some chips for me.