YL -Getting old

Blargh. I am a total fish out of water. I dont understand this country at all! Up side is that I am learning Spanish and I see that they sell little packets of pot at the local bottle show in my fishing village of Horcon!

The romantic idea of spending my birthday in another country is just that - an idea. The reality is a bit different. I am now one year older in a place I cannot comprehend and no amount of Neruda poetry is going to help me now.

Becstarr : Hopping kerbs

Feeling very triumphant about organising the very successful family picnic we had on Sunday to celebrate my brother's birthday (Tim, half of the twins).

There was a picnic with free-range bbq chicken and lime & coconut macaroons, then a walk along the Bay Run and coffee at Cafe Bones. We had fun watching the dogs, and I got to try out Tim's Rather Expensive superbike, getting some coaching on how to bunny-hop kerbs. I have a bit of training to go, I think...

Becstarr : Pickernicker

Annual Guy & Joe -fest in the park, which included saber fights, Coke chicken, skittles knocked over with footies, manifold frisbees, international and intersuburban guests, one baby out and one on the way, and a giant patchwork of quilts. Hurrah!

Becstarr : A move and a mob

A few big days of clearing out J's studio has made room for little sister Zoe (20) to move in. Flatmate Sarah has also announced she's found a place, so in about 2 weeks J gets his studio back! The clear-put was good though: many things thrown out, and good training for my own upcoming move. It's much less emotional helping someone else sort their stuff!

My main birthday present for J today (1975) was cooking for a big family dinner: parents, Zoe, uncle & grandfather up from Melbourne - 7 people all up (with a possible 10 at one point). It was a lot of planning but I'm pleased to say I pulled it off! Roast chicken, heaps of vegies and chocolate mousse for dessert. Plenty for everyone and pretty much without stress.

The other great thing today was seeing Bob Brown, Kerry Nettle and Jenny Leong launch the Greens' higher ed policy up in the Quad. I loved what they said, but I also loved that they didn't seem to have the fakey "gloss" that many pollies have. It's good to feel there are some people I'm really happy to get behind and vote for.

Shoshe: Still here

I went to Spirit and Opportunity's second (Mars year) birthday party! :) It was very cool. We had carrot cake, cider and champagne, and the folks at JPL had cake and organic milk (apparently they weren't allowed to have alcohol). The rovers didn't get anything special for their birthdays as far as I know, but one of the models in the MER conference room had an "I am 2" badge, which was very cute.

Our friend Owen from Sydney visited us this weekend, which was awesome. My parents were up to, for my mom's art opening in a "nearby" town (2 hours away). On Saturday we went to my classmate's pumpkin carving party, and Owen carved his first pumpkin. B's becoming a pumpkin carving pro :) I finished grading my students' papers over the weekend, but didn't get any other work done :(

And on Friday night, we watched Stephen Colbert perform live.

YL - interesting weeks

Well some weeks are more or less the daily grind towards a far flung goal. Other weeks are puntuated by interesting events that cause you to think and evolve as a person.

The last 2 weeks have been interesting. I was pleased to turn 30. It was wonderful to be able to share that time in your life when you feel that things are going well and that you are finally yourself again with friends. I havent seen the actual present yet guys, but how can it not be awesome? It's bunnies!

Conversation at the pub on Fri with SJ and Bec always enlightening. =) There is just so much life experience in this group that we have here!

Becstarr : The wheel of feasting

Yen Li's birthday feast was on in style at a laaaaarge table at the Marigold, with a giant lazy susan, two Peking ducks, and many dishes. Squid, jellies, fish, piggies, beef, steamed chicken in lotus leaves, shitaake mushrooms, bamboo membranes... you name it! The other hit of the night was Elora, who was very charming and put up with being dandled / flown / etc around the entire table.

Karaoke after helped tamp it all down, though I couldn't manage to join the King St drinking procession that was being planned. Looking forward to hearing how it went! Thanks YL for a lovely evening. :)

Becstarr : Dad's birthday lunch

Went for one of those slightly tricky "combined family" lunches at Dad's new partner's place. Sat on the deck, met Barb's daughter Jill (about Jess' age I think), and gave Dad his presents: 2 tix to Keating! and a bird-identification book, both of which went down well. It all went reasonably smoothly, but I was totally zonked afterwards. Took a lot of energy.

Becstarr: South American yum cha

Visited King's Cross for yum cha in the evening at a South American bar called Favela for Marina's birthday. Avoided the bleak Russian film that consituted dessert.

Becstarr: APECapalooza

The circus was in town and we went to join in. Saw the riot squad and water cannon, naked men wearing 2 pairs of socks (promptly hauled into the converted jail-buses by the police... they know party people when they see them!), and Grandmas Against War.

G&A's "APEC a-party" was the evening fun, and it was great to see a bunch of people there. And I hear that October is shaping up to be a month of many birthdays! Huzzah! I'm looking forward to it.