Two Thousand and Zen

So before I even got my mouth open to start ranting and comlplaining about what a poo this year has been, my friend Simon, an ex lover who both drives me bonkers and who I adore with a passion, told me to stop looking at the negative and concentrate on what wonderful things did happen this year and to move on in to next year with a smile on my face (and possibly a champagne coupe in my hand)!

I just love it when friends love you enough to not take the same bollocks you keep spouting and literally slap you out of the pessamistic cycle you have once again found swirling around in - and friends like these find you a soggy mess and provide you with some air.

So there will be no talk of the love that went horribly wrong, the family that I hate to Love, the crappy job, the ever so slow process of learning and heading towrds my goal of Psychology.

Instead I will bask in the knowledge that I found a new love and interest in bars and hospitality, thus learning a new trade that will hopefully become something of a full time occupation. I learnt the art of tease and sexiness within the genre of burlesque and have even started to perform in public (oh my!) it's allowed me to discover, once again, the overwhelming passion I have for performance - that unique relationship a performer has with their audience that cannot be created anywhere else. I have new beautiful pictures on my left arm - one inparticular that reminds me of my sensitive, innocent and gorgeous heart and soul just yearning to live, learn and love everything and everyone. I went overseas and discovered new and amazing places and touched base with friendly faces I had missed so much. I successfully got through more of my degree - one more stepping stone down toward my ultimate goal, I learnt more about me and shared wonderful times with others.

So next year I have named two thousand and zen - the year in which rather than seeing problems, we see solutions and we enjoy the moment for what it is. My goals are beginning a job in hospitality while I finish my degree, I want to start a book club, I want to nourish good relationship and walk away from the bad, I want to learn more about me, and something tells me that a half marathon under 2 hours may be on the cards as well.

You with me? If we get scared we can hold hands xx

Merry Bloody Christmas! Ho Bloody Ho.

"I can't help detesting my relations. I suppose it comes from the fact that none of us can stand other people having the same faults as ourselves."

Oscar Wilde

With a rush of urgency I hopped on a tram to the city - it was xmas eve and I was still down 3 presents. We had been given an early mark from work which gave me an extra couple of hours. I had arranged a traveling date with my work mate Racheal and she most obligingly took my bags under her very capable wings arranging to fly by in a taxi and make a stop with me before we hurtled off to the airport.

At this time of year one must "prepare for battle" as they head into the Christmas buying crowd. Too many times in the past few weeks since returning from overseas and realising "Fuck are we in December already?, holy crap I have no time, why do the years keep getting faster and faster, it's not fair, breath...breath" I ventured to the shops in an "everyday frame of mind" - allowing everyday thoughts and wonders to creep into your head and having the pace of a snail - wrong. I was eaten up every time. Every shop you entered seemed to be full to the brim of people as if the shop had decided to try a world record of the most people in one tiny shopfront, some pimply kid on summer hols called Brad has been given the summer job of directing the job and he is doing a splendidly shit job of trying to pick up those young girls wearing cutoffs that are leaving nothing to the imagination and trying to achieve some sort hair do that you got when one of your friends gave you a "noogie" as a kid (who would have thought that would become the popular??). A summer lass called Sally is in the corner wrapping presents so badly the thought actually crosses your mind that she might be retarded due to the fact that no one seems to be minding her efforts - but you soon realise that everyone in the wrapping queue is a man and are just totally lazy bastards who would possibly reach the same effect with their own attempts.

oh god I stopped moving - I am suddenly thumped by a load of shopping bags with then pushes me into someone else and I begin to feel like pin ball whirling around a slot machine. Retreat, catch breath, consider going in again, decide against it. Safe decision however this is how I am now at the point of the eve of the most famliest day of the year and 3 presents down. What a failure. But I have time so here I am the sense of urgency is preparing me greatly to do this swiftly and quickly, I feel myself rise to the challenge.

1 present down, 2 presents down - I am feeling ace. Damn what do you mean you just sold the last one? ok road block but it's ok, re-group Alexia re-group, call from mum, she needs almond oil (what the fuck for?) but it has given me focus and purpose while I think of present 3. Shit that health food is shut hmmm, oh I know another one and on the way, like a light bulb flash I deviate for a moment and smack down present number 3 (oh yeah oh yeah), however still almond-oil-less and running out of time, quick, success with the second health food shop - have slight difficulties deciding on which of the 3 almond oils I should get but make a choice..... and whilst I am surrounded by health products promising me of a life with a better me... don't mind if I do. Purchases made - quick look in Mag nation because I just can't help myself, I step into that place, breath in the magazine smell of goodness and I'm already feeling more relaxed. Call from Rach she is on the corner, race down, hop in cab and we are on our way.

Get a call from the airline they just canceled my flight, typical, but can get me onto an earlier flight, not typical, this journey is turning out better than I planned, I even start to get a little excited about Christmas and perhaps enjoy a little daydream of a family together overjoyed with seeing me and so thankful for the gift and how did I get it so right....

The airport on the eve of xmas is an exciting place to be, there is a sense of comradery as everyone is traveling for the same purpose. There is also a sense of intensity as all the flights are always either late or canceled and everyone is challenged to make it to their destinations on time. Whole families, new couples, old couples, new babies, singles all traveling to see loved (or unloved) ones, lots of hand luggage with wrapped presents poking out the top, ginger bread houses, bottles of wine - all trying to make it there before midnight, The C day.

So Christmas day came and went and not a moment too soon, remember that day dream? Well it was definitely in my dreams. I came home to a sister who I would say is a full blown alcoholic based on the fact that she had the smell that bus have that you get stuck next to on a tram and spend the rest of the trip breathing out your mouth, I never once saw her without a drink in her hand and I found empty bottles of beer in the back seats of cars and in the shower, she was preaching things like she is not a conformist or trapped by anything and wants to be free of possessions hence the reason she had got no gifts for anyone else and was giving things of hers preloved so she could rid herself of possessions, lovingly wrapped in newspaper I received a pair of nerd glasses. She also is convinced of being able to read peoples minds and believes that President Obama is the devil. The devastating part is that she honestly believes she has it all under control and that we are the crazy ones every time we try to talk about this issue of hers - truly sad - but the responsibility is hers to decide to live or not - I hope she does she possesses a great deal of talent and soul.

My father was a shit the moment he walked in the door he had the look about him that he wanted to pick a fight with someone - he had accidentally just made a mistake by going into the wrong toll booth at the Eastern Distributor and had to pay an $8 fee online, my father being the mature adult that he is, decided someone was going to pay for this and I guess I found my way into the firing line trying to, once again and unsuccessfully, protect my mother from being the chosen one (really why could they not have divorced like normal fucking parents - why is he still coming around to my mothers on Christmas fucking morning?) I think there comes a time where you have to say yeah I know I happen to be half of your genes but you make my life feel like shit every time I see you so perhaps we should just shake hands and go our separate ways

My poor mother, bless her heart still lives with the dream that one day we will be like a "normal" family and act "normally" - after 28 years I think one has to come to terms with it's never going to happen and actually do something together that makes us feel good about ourselves - I have finally convinced her to come to Melbourne for Christmas next year - I will take her to the carols and we will finally have a happy time of it.

Most of my family presents (excluding my mothers) were met with a perplexing "why" look - which makes me think A) I don't think I really know or understand my family at all and B) Why do I go through the hideous spouts of battling crowds for this and C) Why the fuck are we still doing presents? You know the ones where you have to get something for everyone and spend a little amount of money on some shit which altogether adds up to a large amount of money, why haven't we figured out that we buy ourselves a mega awesome rad super fucking cool ace gift for ourselves and then play show and tell? Note to self must drop that one into the suggestion box.

The last hideous part was that you spend the whole day on your toes thinking of the right thing to answer to your grandparents who essentially hate each other but realised it too late and are spending the rest of their lives with different opinions on everything for the sake of it, so answers to questions by them need to be neutral in case one is playing the other off using the poor grandchild as a pawn. I must of dropped my guard as suddenly the alarms bells are screaming, not the beep beep ones that just make you alert but the whoop whoop ones that are telling you to get the fuck out of there fast. A complacent agreement to consume a glass of champagne if grandad did indeed open the bottle left my grandmother saying did you see that he nearly hit me - now the day is over and my grandfather curled over with his forehead on the kitchen bench muttering the words why are you doing this when I'm about to die. Damn my need and pleasure for bubbles - damn them to hell.

The only upside being that the champagne was indeed opened anyway and I was forced a glass and a toast was made to me at the end of it all, it was all met, thank goodness, with fits of laughter from the clan and laughter was mainly shared by the group for the rest of the afternoon because really at that point what else is there to do.

I can't help thinking I may have been born into a family with a dark cloud hanging over its head and nobody can see the wood for the trees. They are too busy doing things that they should do, at the cost of themselves regardless of it making them miserable, they have forgotten that life doesn't have to be that hard, that we have choices and if it bloody kills me I intend to break the mould. I'm going to stop putting pressure on myself because socially something may be the right thing to do and actually do the right thing by me, see what is good for me, step away from it all and see everything in its true perspective - it's just a silly day, which started as a coming together but has ended up putting everyone out and laying think pressure over everyone weighing them down - its time to stop now.

"If you've had wonderful family relationships, you will be able to call yourself a true success in life no matter what else you've achieved."
Vic Conant..........

........ But I'm going to call you a fucking liar.

Mr Jerry Uelsmann

Thank you to my new New York friends who introduced me to an artist who is now in my treasured bank of beloved photographers. You are going to say to me yeah yeah Lex just another good digital photographer, using the art of modern technology to create his works. And this is where the best bit comes in - cos the answer is no, he doesn't use modern technology - all of this work is done in a dark room, splicing many negatives together, creating layers and voila! (Such a simplistic explanation of what I think must be a crazy, super involved, highly artistic process) Feast your eyes people!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Uelsmann

The Heat of the day

Yes I am aware that this is a post in the present, about the present and that USA stuff will still follow it and I am all out of sync. I never said I was a good blogger - no doubt I am the worst on the planet - i really have no idea what I'm doing and I only have one follower anyway.... hey Prue....

Today was hot and weird, we began it with (well according to twitter an explosion and it kills me to think that we now rely on continuous status updates but some douche bag to find out what the hell is going on.... back to the story lex, oh yeah right) an explosion in Richmond killing the power across the suburb. I think the killer was the fact that none of us had yet popped down to our local and got coffee yet. Anyway it was all very weird - does anyone actually know what the hell actually happened?

I went for a run today - the weirdest thing happened as I was running I saw 2 cars on the road coming towards me one of them was going normal speed the other was angrily speeding and took the normal speed car over with such force on the inside - at the point of passing the car they were actually also passing me who was on the path. As the car passed me it felt as if a hole had been ripped out of my lower belly - a perfect circle - i could feel the edges of it and everything and with the sensation came this odd injection of emotion - an overflow of anger, nervousness, stress, sadness - a bubbling, boiling injection of negativity that bubbled speedily through my body to the point of making my hands and feet feel limp with pins and needles as if the emotion had eaten through my muscles - I had to stop regain control - the feeling of the hole was hard to fill. Weird.

So anyway I am traveling through the city on my bike this afternoon - I had a few things to pick up for my show on New Years before I needed to meet Gab at Dumpling House. I had been given free tickets to the MSO at Hamer Hall. As I'm walking my bike through the city I pass a nerd, a neo nerd, the new look going on at the moment that is raping Melbourne to the point of ridiculousness. so ok it's bad enough that everyone has popped along to their local optometrist and failed on purpose only to skip happily out to the showroom to pick out the biggest rimmed glasses to the point where the bottom of the frames is almost in line with the persons lips. And I am not saying some people aren't looking cute with this look some fellas and chickies are pulling it right off with super cuteness. But today I passed a dude wearing a cap with a plastic helicopter propeller thingy attached to the top of it - and with Melbourne's wind the thing was spinning round so ferociously it looked like it may just pop off and land in someone's eye (except that everyone is fortunate enough to be protected by giant sized spectacles) I tried to give this dude the benefit of the doubt thinking - on his was to a dress up party for sure - it's xmas time - possible - nup this dude was for REAL. sigh. There is nothing but regret there and I feel slightly awkward having to pass him.

I think it is funny that people attend cultural events like the orchestra because people think it's the right thing to do. It's more for a tick in a box that requires a certain amount of ticks to be officially labeled a white collar upper class dweller of somewhere like Tookrak - what's that? Oh of course we would include Malvern, quite acceptable. Then you look around when it gets dark and everyone around you has settled in for the weekly two hour snooze to classical music. One dude woke up with such surprise from the applause from the first piece. And there was a little old man 2 rows in front (I like to think his name was Hubert) with a balding head in the shape of a gnarled turnip with 2 big dried apricots stuck out to each side for his ears - At the end of each piece he would say something to the person who brought him (dragged him?.... Either way), so loud yet so inaudible and most likely so inappropriate - he made me smile.

Empire at Sunset

Things I noted from up there - the chrysler building is truly awesome, the city is huge, the park is huge, a dead baby bird (how the hell did it get up there? 108 floors up) and the ice staking rink near rockafeller had opened and sunset are pretty up in Empire Building.

99c Store

My Tribute to Andreas Gurskey's beautiful work, 99c - 1999 (much more beautiful than my amateur photography) The epitome of poverty and excess wrapped up together as one in bright packaging.

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Cent_II_Diptychon

A walk (run) in the park

Ok so this entry is actually from November the 10th, quite soon after arriving. My stupid uni has decided to schedule my stupid exam on the second stupid week of exams instead of the usual first week and the stupid course coordinator wouldn't let me postpone my exam because my trip was for pleasure and not business and it was all just.... well.... stupid. So here I am, heading to the upper west side (posh) to a lady called Katherine's apartment on 72nd street right next to central park so she can watch me take my exam.

Her apartment is very Harry Potter like and I feel like I am in an old boarding house. The apartment is over 4 very small all open mezzanine floors. The first is a small hall (where I take the exam on a creaky wooden fold out table which takes up almost the the entire hall space) plus there is a small bathroom and tiny kitchen, up a few stairs and you have the lounge with extremely high ceilings (but again small in floor space) with a bedroom off it - the only room that can be closed privately. There is beautiful wall the ceiling glass french doors that you can open up to the noises of the street you can take one step out but that's all and I imagine the real estate considers it a proper balcony. A few more steps up and you are on the level directly above where I am taking my exam. It's a long thin hallway level with what seem to be another front door that apparently goes nowhere (hmm???) You can then climb a ladder to what the real estates refer to as the 2nd bedroom but really it's a 2 x 2 loft with a height of just over 1m. A crawl in bedroom I am told but really it just looks to be storage space to me, but with the prices of the upper west side - I would be calling it a suitable bedroom too.

There is a ginger and white fat cat called Sam, who meows a lot and is very friendly. He is super cute until I start my exam and then he just becomes bloody annoying. Katherine feeds him and this shuts him up. I had 120 minutes for the exam but I only took 60minutes. I think this may have been a combination of the simplicity of the subject and my eagerness to get back into exciting Manhattan.

Once out of the exam room I head towards the orange coloured park (the king of fall), I enter the park at Strawberry fields (an area they have named in honour of John Lennon as he was shot only a street away outside his upper west side apartment). Now some of you will think me crazy but I think it was one of the most beautiful ways to take in my first meeting of the famous central park.... I ran. I ran the entire way around the park which by my calculations was around 10 or 11km's - it's a really big park. It is a really beautiful run with nice hills and twists and turns and I suggest that if you can make the distance you try it yourself when you are here. I ran mostly on the road and sometimes on the path - there are people everywhere, fellow runner, tourists, bike riders (I also took a bike ride at sunset around the place - highly recommended), buggies, horse and carts and squirrels - gazillions of squirrels racing around everywhere - they run beside you looking like slinkies that have been thrown down the stairs only stopping occasionally to inspect the condition of a nut.

Running in central park was probably the closest I will ever feel to being a local, you are always more at one with environment around you when you are running in it. (It took me 60 minutes).

Fall..... Fall?.....oh... Autumn

Oh my god the colour in this place right now is insane. The leaves are turning and falling and there is a range of 20 different colours the leaves are taking - red, orange, brown, yellow. It's like an amazing warm cosy rainbow of colours. The city seems to suit this season, the buildings/apartment housing (called brown stones and also called walk ups) totally suit the environment as if the buildings had literally grown out from the ground and stand old and tall like the trees themselves. The concrete stairs (called stoops - and often people have little stoop sales instead of garage sales - cute - sorry I'm digressing.... back to it) are covered in moss and gates and window rims are curly, twisting wrought iron which match perfectly together with the twisty turny branches of the trees. Both look like they are poised in dance together. Plants and greenery creep between cracks, holding strong position, the trees often push the pathways up making the journey for the walker (and his dog because everyone who is anyone has one) like a small roller coaster ride. The fallen leaves cover the path in a carpet of crunchy fire, however be careful when it's been raining the carpet turns from crunch to sludge very quickly and if you are not careful you may very well slip... arse over tit.

People totally get into the season with the pagan traditions we now know as halloween. Specially made small narley little pumpkins line peoples window sills, and straw and coloured corn pods make wreaths for doors or are tied to banisters of stoops. Larger pumpkins with cut out faces sit on the stoop steps looking like fat happy little men (I think they are supposed to be scary faces but they are way too cute for that) however over the 2 weeks we have been here - those happy fat men have begun to look like sad fat men as time has caused them to droop and has changed their smiles to frowns. People have also gone to a wonderful effort of also hanging skulls and skeletons and spider webs all around making every few metres of every street an amazing sight to behold.

No Smoking. No Littering. No Boom boxes.

Hey Y'all...... This is the G Train....... Heading to Church and 6th Avenue...... stand clear...... cos the doors are closing y'all.

The subway is a world unto its own. 30 degree heat engulfs you and pulls you down as you leave the above world of what at the moment is around 8-10 degrees. You better start peeling off the layers unless you want to pass out. The stations all stand with time on their side, a hideously beautiful sight. Once opulent or at least a consideration to the aesthetic, the walls are covered in once shiny tiles, mosaics rim the walls with patterns or form the stations name signage. Some stations even have sculptures or installations. However you know the sense of beauty is now an aged old woman, these once lush and considered designs are now somewhat buried under the leaking, um, "whatever that stuff is" from pipes, going somewhere. Everything is now layered with a film of grit, hiding the colour the brightness, created from the breath of fast paced people, the smokiness from fast paced trains, oil, litter, dust, it holds tight, a grumpy old ghost, that frames the history of artistry, pointing it out to keep reminding us of once was. Years of chewing gum, now black circular patti cakes have morphed and have become one with the ground, creating a distinct pattern of their own. The paints peels off the ceilings, in the shapes of autumn leaves threatening to fall from the tree, exposing the bare bones of the place.

The beauty of these places has now moved into it's passengers; all differently glorious and wonderful. Musicians play their bases and their sax with such pleasure on the platforms, leather pants, high hair dos, poor men and woman, stand as if on trial, pleading their cases as loudly as they can to a full carriage in the hope of at least one offering help. Skins of all colours ride this train together, different shapes and sizes, ages and dress types. Suits, NY yankees caps, velvet red pants, prams, shiny gold go go boots, square and sparkly diamond earrings, braided hair, shiny coloured weaves, dazzling bling, more prams, bright eyes shadow colours, gold teeth, nerd glasses of large proportions. The body seems to be a canvas in which the palate can create an infinity of looks and types. This plethora of individuals sit, stand, even squish together talking, singing, laughing, yelling, keeping to themselves with their ipods in their ears - a marketplace of possibilities really.

Each train guard covers a variety of accents, with not one you can understand properly. The smells of the place, although you would never describe as pleasant, has an all too distinct and familiar scent - it's now become the smell of going places, going home, going to work, going out, going to the park, going to the shops. Going anywhere, going fast, just going... 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - there is no shut eye for this old lady, yet she still stands strong.

PS so the line I am staying on is the G line. Probably the worst line ever. One has a love hate relationship with this line and from this there is now a blog dedicated to the g line (see below) and there is a pageant that is currently looking for Miss G train (also see below) Too funny

http://gloriousgtrainseries.blogspot.com/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wires/2009/11/13/williamsburg-miss-g-train_ws_357123.html

Holy Crap it's cold

Finally here after 20 something hours. It's a funny feeling that you get when you walk out expecting an alien world completely different from your own only to realise it's pretty much exactly the same.

It is subtly different though - and the place is HUGE, and we are definitely going into winter here, the place is freakin freezing. Totally impressed with the heating that comes with apartments here (it's included in the rent) sometimes it's almost too hot!

Lauren hadn't come home yet from work (she works ALL the time) so we went to conneticut muffin for a chai and waited for her there, we had thought this lttle cafe was quite cute and homely like - and we were very disappointed to find that there is literally one on every corner - I reckon it outnumbers starbucks, so many chain stores.

Chats and red wine for the rest of the night. Then bed...... knackered

Better 12 hours early than 12 hours late

Excitement. All packed. Lists checked. Rechecked. Passport? Yes. Stuff? Yes. Do I really need 5 hats? Yes. Have a quick dinner. Pack the car. Buckle up. We are on our way. Arrive at airport. No queues. Man, it is our night tonight. Everything is going swimmingly.

Air check in Chickie (ACC): Good Evening

Us: HI! (Excitement way to evident)

ACC: Where are we flying tonight?

Us: New York?

ACC: Are you sure?

Us: (slightly nervous response) ahh, yes.

ACC: Are you flying with us?

Us (larger nervous response) Um YES

ACC: Could I see your itinerary? (Looks through details) hmmm I see...... you are 12 hours early for your flight...... you are flying at 12pm tomorrow.... in the day..... not midnight.

After laughing hysterically for a good 5-10 minutes, and the Air Check In Chickie assuring us that this kind of thing happens all the time (thanks but yeah right) I have possibly just experienced the biggest anti-climax in my life.

Call Danno. Through her laughing hysterically she gets a sentence out that sounds as if she will turn around and come get us. Get home. Go to sleep. Morning. Get up. Back in car. Drive to airport (again)

Attempt 2. Success. So there is a sunny end to this story. New York. Here we come.....

Welcome

I have created a little blog for my travels to NYC, LA and San Fran. I will be sharing this little blog with my travel partner and friend Jeremy, but will most likely continue it when I am back. Welcome and enjoy. More to come......