Don't blame it on the sunshine

Giles + I spent a pretty awesome weekend on the Gold Coast for the TorchWood annual away day - TW Australia Team Hug. We left Sydney on Friday at lunch time and returned on Sunday evening. In between, we had drinks and canapes on Friday evening with ThoughtWorkers from all over the country and some international guests streaming in. I met some cool people who I've only dreamt of meeting and met a few who might be worth avoiding.

See lots of pictures here!

On Saturday, I spent most of the day in a small room listening to my colleagues rant at me, at the conference. It was kind of like a normal work day but with less typing :) G spent the day drinking, eating and hanging by the pool with the partners (behind every great tw'er is a far more interesting partner but I never said that). Saturday night was spent at Dream World which was open only to us and those poor suckers locked in the Big Brother house. There were rides, food, awards for me being loud and well known and lots of dancing. There was even a strange groupie moment with Darci and I but let's not spread that one.

The night only went insane after that - lines of vodka shots; graduates lit on fire; eviction from hotel rooms after some very good cupboard hiding; and many more things that must remain as internal news only.

Did I drink the kool-aid? Not totally but I do like the cult members a lot more after hanging out with them. Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, blame it on the boogie.

On the bus about to leave for Sydney airport and the Gold Coast

The Chairman and the Chicken

Wait to register

Serious guys at the morning retro

Darci Potter and her friends

Birdies!

Duck!

Giles on one of the many bridges at the resort

Relaxing by the pool

Relaxing and waiting for the bus... come on, there had to be a self-portrait!

i can haz facebook

Arrested outside our garage door

Less than half an hour ago, a man was arrested in the alley next to our apartment building. Giles got a better picture than mine because his arm is much longer and could see the drama happening right beneath us (just out of site.) I got some video of him demanding to know why he is being arrested.

flickr

I finally got myself a flickr account. Some of my recent photos are up and more are coming.

Freerange Children

When I first read about the woman who let her 9 year old ride the NY subway and then a bus home on his own, it sounded crazy. After reading her response to the massive criticism she got for doing this, I've decided to exhale and stop screaming "who will think of the children?"

My parents didn't use the freerange approach but they did let us go out and learn things if we really wanted to. They encouraged us try things and sometimes they discouraged us. It was the discouraging that limited me in later life. Don't take this as criticism. Parenting is a difficult thing and parents make mostly the right decisions. I haven't done it so I can only speak from the point of view of the child (at least the effects of that).

When adults (parents of teachers) told me something was out of bounds because it is dangerous, it scared me and worried me in later life. I waited until at last in my mid-20's to travel around the globe. It changed my life. I stopped avoiding things because other people told me it was too risky. I decided to take the risk myself and make the decision myself.

Since then, I kinda like living outside my comfort zone. Go on, scare me. Scare them. Let the children live life.

Feeding and Not Feeding

G + I took our time to meander through Surry Hills on the way to the Bourke Street Bakery. On our travels, we passed the Surry Hills Markets which are held on the first Saturday of each month in the park near the Clock. It was a sunny Sydney day.

There was a chubby Labrador with a sign on his collar saying "Please do not feed me". He waited for us to feed him our spoils from a visit to the bakery but we chose to obey his sign. He tried a couple of other passers by but seemed rather unsuccessful. Poor doggy.

"Please do not feed me"

Me on Bourke Street, Surry Hills

What's with all the shoes on power lines

Let There Beer Light

A couple of weeks ago, I told dcam that the Mexican place on Crown and Oxford Street wasn't a real restaurant but was instead a chain from the US. Oops, if it is a chain then the one they have in Sydney has only one link :) Documenting my mistakes again!

Mad Mex is a small takeaway Mexican joint where you can sit and enjoy cheap, tasty Mexican food over a Mexican beer or margarita (not made from mix). G + I have been there twice now and do recommend it for a quick and good meal on that end of Crown. Try my fave - crispy tacos with black beans and shredded beef. Add cheese, guacamole and salsa + spicy tomato sauce.

The Corona chandelier

Say it with flowers

Thursday was not a great day for me. It was stressful, long and challenging. If I was to print my mood on a t-shirt at that moment, it would have said unappreciated. The fantabulous Gui Girl (cape and all) made me this beautiful flower out of sticky notes and stuck it to my monitors :)

What a perfectly lovely and thoughtful thing to do. My day immediately improve. What a star!

Thanks Linz :)

Manamana do do da do do

The posts have been few and far between due to the painful fact that I'm working harder than I have ever worked in my entire life. It's not hard work but it's challenging and although I whinge, the challenge is what I love.

Lately, things have been good. I've made lots of new friends at ThoughtWorks. It probably has to do with the 5 month mark in any job where you know your place and are aware of whether you'll like the job or not. This job is a keeper, at least for the limit of my attention span. People there seem to have accepted me although there are a few who are keeping their distance.

Life is going well. After exploring a few geeky user groups, I have decided to go along to a few more. Some groups are pretty damn nerdy but there are good things enough to counter that.

The old FD gang have faded a little after a peak including cupcakes. I hope we'll get back to our usual cuddly selves. Yay for Fairfax and the effectiveness of Earth Hour! Kudos to them.

The kitties are awesome and healthy. Sleeping lots and enjoying the cold weather although the sunshine is drying up and they will miss that.

Biggest triumph is getting Rob Pike who wrote my favourite book on Unix, to turn up and support Girl Geek Dinners Sydney.

Lots more coming up once I slow down with the work in early June. Lots of friends have visited and are visiting so more fun to come. Stay tuned!

Easter Cupcake

The cutest Easter cupcake ever!

Easter in Canberra

Happy Easter everyone :)

G + I spent Easter Saturday in Canberra. We visited my Dad and had a delicious BBQ. I also finally found the secret ingredient to the best marinated chicken ever! It's been 20+ years but I finally know - tumeric. That's it.

Canberra weather is already getting cold. It was 19 degrees max while we were there. Woden shops were packed with people buying dozens and dozens of hot crossed buns.

Next time, I promise to catch up with everyone else.

Dad cooking while I wait to eat the lamb chops and chicken

Table for 20

Last night's dinner felt like having 40 friends over to hang out in a funky Surry Hills apartment, eating good food and drinking wine that we all brought. What it actually was - dinner at Table for 20 on Campbell Street.

It's an original and odd little restaurant with the idea behind it being to make Sydney a little less cold by sitting a bunch of 2010ers around two long tables for 20 (so 40 total) with a set 3 course meal and a guy playing a guitar in the corner. You share food from the same plates and break bread together. It works fabulously.

If you can find it, be sure to try it. Make sure you txt the owner to let him know you'll be there by 5pm on the day you want to go so he'll make enough food for you. Dinner is served at 8pm. Try the fabulous Sticky Bar upstairs which specialises in sticky wines and comfy couches.

Big Shopping

There are giant shopping bags on show in Martin Place, Sydney. At night they are lit up and the effect is awesome. It gets me imaging what you'd buy to fill them up. Maybe a car.

Singing kitties

This is so cute.

Licorice doesn't taste like meat

Almost every day, I grab lunch from a very good vegetarian and vegan Thai place on King Street called Peace and Harmony. The food is great and the serves are a good size with steamed rice. Today they mixed up my order for the first time in 2.5 months and I ended up with another woman's chicken cashew nut stir fry. There were not cashew nuts in it but I was happy to finally get a chance to try the fake chicken. Yeah, I could have taken it back but I often see these opportunities as life's lucky dip and a chance to get to try something else. It's like when someone buys you a book for Christmas that you might never buy yourself and you love it.

The fake chicken was nice but it had no basis in chicken. Everything tastes like chicken but this did not. It was salty and had an aniseed after-taste. It must be hard to get vegetables and legumes to taste like meat so I appreciate the effort. I just thought someone should share that licorice doesn't have a meaty taste and vice-versa :o)

Don't worry, be happy now

If you have the time, watch this video and you will be happier

The Beautitul People!

There is no bigger Surry Hills party than the annual Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras!

This was my first year to attend and I can tell you that it was worth enduring the freezing 17 degree C evening, the crazy bag-wielding Japanese tourists and the fence of people on egg crates and $2 plastic stools (bought at $10 from a guy with a trailer) to see the fabulous parade. TV can not do it justice. The vibe is amazing. The crowd is happy. It's the most fantastic celebration I've seen in a long long time.

Here is what I caught on bits...

The Mounties were represented

It was musical

There were angels in white

Clover has a float - yay!

Every man and his dog got prepared in Hyde Park before the parade

There were people on patrol

There were people on buildings

The view from business class

Flying the flag

There's a story there

It looks like people are hearing about GGD.

Geek Girl Shaves Off ALL Her Hair

This pretty lady and geek girl friend of mine, is shaving off her locks for the World's Greatest Shave on the 13th of March in support of the Leukemia Foundation. To support Cathryn Chamley, donate to the cause. Donations over $2 are tax deductible.

I'm going to see how scarred she is from this and might do it myself next year.

The Amazing Flying Falling Floating Ball

This ball floats on the vents of our portable airconditioner at work...

Ridiculous petrol wasting car gets ticket'd

Old Buildings. New Buildings.

Off Macquarie Street, there is an art exhibit on a hill with parts of old buildings that have been knocked down over the years. There are some beautiful pieces there.

Queen Victoria has a big butt

We went out to see another enormously oversized Cunard liner docked in Circular Quay - the Queen Victoria. It's been a year since we saw her two big sisters. Time sure flies between large boat sightings.

Me in front of the big boat

QV1?

Giles + that city

A view from near the toaster

Girl Geek Dinner 0 Delivered!

It's amazing what you can pull together in three weeks with a couple of powerhouse sponsors, the help of a fantastic functions manager at a restaurant and a colour inkjet printer.

The first Girl Geek Dinner in Sydney was a success!!

Skin good enough to eat

The apricot lady is slowly fermenting in Circular Quay. She looks pretty awesome and is enormously big.

So Aus-tray-arn

Last year I spent Australia Day recovering from dehydration and drunkenness caused by the massively fun Big Day Out 2007. Because of that, I had no idea that Invasion Day was such a big deal in this city. They go all out with ferry races, events in every park in the city - Hyde Park, The Domain and anywhere else with grass.

G + I spent the day exploring what people are calling Australian food these days. After trying salt and peppered corn on the cob, passing on chocolate coated strawberries and avoiding Turkish crepes kebabs at that time of the morning, we settled on the classic mostly warm meat pie and a skinny latte each.

We ate sitting on the grass listening to a cheaper version of the Wiggles on stage in the park, while a plane wrote SORRY across the sky. If there was any day to apologise, that was it.

Girl Geek Dinner Zero

The details of the first Girl Geek Dinner for Sydney are out.

My New Album

Follow the rules as stated and make your own album cover.

Jacked Up @ Work

This is how they keep us energised at work. It's completely full of lollies and locked every night.

I'm not going to dream about running away with the circus anymore

Two guys running around a cage with no walls while it spins very fast

A couple of Fridays ago, I saw Le Grande Cirque at the Concert Hall in Opera House. It was the most amazing and dangerous show I have ever seen. Similar to the circus shows out there that don't use animals, it consisted mainly of acrobats and contortionists.

The ticket sellers classified the show as a family event for children but it was lots of fun for the many adults who used their children as an excuse to go. There was plenty of audience participation with the ring master (of sorts) stealing an audience members wife, crowd surfing giant beach balls and a dance off.

One tip - avoid the glasses of champagne before hand because they can cause a little extra freak-out when elastic people are flying around the stage with flashing lights. Otherwise, it is a fantastic event for all.

Mothers don't let your babies grow up to be acrobats. I wanted to join a circus as an acrobat when I was a little girl but I take that all back. Give me a safe ground-level job and let me walk stiffly to my seat and watch much braver and more talented people entertain so thoroughly.

Where on Earth is PNG?

Who is asking?

Too many people have asked me where Papua New Guinea is and if it's part of Australia. This usually comes after a question about where I'm from originally.

Here is a little education for those who didn't pay much attention in geography class and care to learn now :o)

Papua New Guinea (aka PNG)
PNG is one of Australia's nearest neighbours, being just over a 2 hour flight from Cairns, Qld. It sits on the Ring of Fire which is a volcanic region of the Earth that experiences earthquakes and tsunamis and not a Johnny Cash song. Japan and Hawaii also live on the Pacific Ring of Fire.

I was born in Rabaul which was recently partially wiped off the map (or covered in 10ft of ash) in 1994 by the volcanoes that also call it home. The best way to describe Rabaul is being like a half full cup of tea. The tea in the cup represents the water over Rabaul Harbour which covers the flooded caldera of an active volcanic. The rim of the cup is the circle of volcanoes that surround the harbour and just inside the cup above the liquid sits Rabaul. That description never sat well with me as a child, especially when we were woken in the the early hours of the morning as children and made to walk down the stairs and stand outside our house while it shook from a larger of the hundreds (yes hundreds) of earthquakes experienced each week.

Image from thecommonwealth.org

PNG is in the southern hemisphere. My sister was born on a naval base at 2 degrees south of the equator on Manus Island. I often mistold the story and said she was born on a naval boat in international waters. Sorry about that K.

It's a country like Australia that likes to dig up and sell it's dirt to the rest of the world. 72% of it's exports are oil, copper and gold. That's one reason they dispute the succession of Bougainville so strongly because it has a helluva lot of the countries resources.

With just under 6 million people, it has around 1000 languages and dialects. That's about one language per person and it sure feels that way when you visit. English is the official language but the main lingua franca is Tok Pisin. If you are Papuan then you should be speaking Hiri Motu.

Papua and New Guinea were separate territories until they were brought together after WWII. Everyone has had a go at running the place including the Germans and Dutch and finally Australia before PNG gained independence on the 16th of September in 1975.

The currency is the Kina - you'll get K2.3222 for $A1.00 at the moment. It is the 54th largest country in the world sitting on the world's 4th largest island. Sweden is the same size as PNG.

It is a beautiful country with rainforests, white beaches, coffee plantations, infrequent snow on it's highest peaks and lots of friendly black people. I love it and always will even if my Mum does sometimes look disappointed with how Aussie I can be :o) Yes, the main cities like Port Moresby and Lae are dangerous but the rest of the place is worth a visit.

A song for this week

I haven't got much to say at the moment. Here is my song of the week...

New Baby

A geek post from me that you guys might care about :)

blam!

Today was a very very bad day.

Tomorrow will be a better one. If not, the next day will be better.

Things will start to improve. That's just the way it's supposed to work.

Cutest lolcat picture ever!

There Are No Clean Getaways

There Are No Clean Getaways: the tagline for the new Cohen brother's movie No Country for Old Men easily applies to the other movie I saw on the weekend, I Am Legend. Both were very good movies.

 

I Am Legend

I Am Legend is another incredibly entertaining Will Smith movie. If he hadn't done Men In Black + Independence Day, that might not sound like such a bad thing. It's very 28 Days Later but without the spring loaded cats. In all honesty, they are all copies of Day of the Triffids so stop the complaining. There are layers to this movie that I did not anticipate. It left me lying awake thinking until late in to the night after watching it. Well worth the trip to see it on the big screen.

 

No Country for Old Men

[Begin spoilers]

The Cowen brother's movie is based on a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy. It is set in the open, dry expanse that lies at the US-Mexican border and follows a man who discovers a case full of money, lots of drugs and a circle of dead drug dealers. Of course he takes the money and spends the rest of the movie being tracked down by the biggest psychopath since Hannibal Lecter. There is a lot of death as a result of every kind of weapon imaginable, including a cattle gun.

It's about fate and chance. The psychopath Anton Chigurh is a great personification of Death. He drives a car with a horse on it's bonnet, flips a coin to decide the fate of some of his victims and follows the rules as set down by the empty space that is usually occupied by most peoples conscience.

[End spoilers]

If all the paths you choose bring you to watch this movie, then are meant to be there.

Standing and staring at walls

Today it rained in Sydney. Not heavy. More in a relaxed Saturday way. It started sunny but headed the dull way as G and I walked through the park, where they are setting up the Festival First Night as part of the Festival of Sydney.

We were on our way to the Art Gallery of NSW that is well known as the home of the Archibald Prize. It's a building we walk by often on our regular walks through the gardens and the Domain. After Julian told me it is one of the top ten places you must visit in Sydney according to some random guide book, I thought "who am I to argue with a top ten list?" and decided to pay it a visit.

G and I spent a good 3 hours there, starting with lunch in the cafe and then casing the whole joint except for the not so appealing serious looking English portraits with ugly gold frames. We'll save that for next time.

The highlight for me, in their great collection was a painting by surrealist James Gleeson called The Arrival of Implacable Gifts. I'm not sure if photos are allowed but after standing in front of it and bending my head and twisting and turning, I decided that I'd frustrate other viewers less if I simply stole a shot and moved on. At the shop we searched for a print but only found a postcard which I bought. It's really worth going just to see this painting.

The Arrival of Implacable Gifts

The other artist who I found amazing was Jeffrey Smart. I scored a mounted print of Central Station in Sydney and a few postcards of his. He's a modernist who concentrates on urban landscapes. He wanted to be an architect but ended up studying art. I enjoyed reading that although his art has been called surreal, he argues that it is the world that he depicts that is surreal. I agree with that :)

French Lentils and Pork Sausages

I invented and cooked this last night. It was easy and delicious. Pork, french lentils and pepper go brilliantly together. It keeps well too.

Cooking time
1 hour

Enough For
4 people

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 brown onion diced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
200g french lentils
4 pork sausuages cut into 2cm pieces
250ml chicken stock
250ml dry white wine
Pepper

Method
Fry onion and garlic until translucent.
Add sausages and cook until brown.
Add pepper to taste.
Add chicken stock, wine and lentils.
Turn down the heat, put the lid on and allow to simmer for 45 minutes.

Serve in a bowl with a chilled glass of white wine.

It's hard living in middle-class white America

You know your blog is reaching the masses when you check your crackberry late one Wednesday night and discover a comment from a semi-literate teenager who wears too much black and whines emotionally about how hard their middle class American suburban life is :o)

It must be hard to hang out in malls and feel misunderstood. Hopefully my posts can show them that someone out there does care enough to take the piss.

Peace to your momma!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 to everyone!

We spent NYE at Milson's Point looking up at the bridge, across to the city and over to a barge. Thankfully we chose to sit inside the fenced off area with the sedate family types and away from the drunk 15 year olds. On leaving we did manage to witness a hair-pulling fight between two girls. G described it like two stags locking antlers and twisting. It was hilarious and soooo classy.

It took 90 mins to get to the train station. When I worked there, it usually took less than 3 minutes. Personal space was non-existent and this was the first time I thought I'd be trampled to death. It was an experience :)

The first day of 2008 is also my last day of leave so I'm back on the beach tomorrow for 3 days, if all goes well. This year is starting well and will be a fabulous one.

I want to catch up with everyone more often this year. I promise I will.