| Dax RIP |
[May. 28th, 2011|04:21 pm] |
Poor old girl. We had to let her go today. She had a difficult last year and her health was in a permanent decline - diabetes, kidney problems, IBS - so the question was "How much is she enjoying life?" The answer was "Not much at all." There were glimpses of her old snuggly self, but far more defensive hiding in safe places, trying to sleep off the discomfort and generally having a bad time with the litter box. I was worried that I might be calling "time" too early, but I think she really was ready.
Goodbye, baby cat. You were mine for twelve years. I'll miss you. |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 27th, 2011|11:26 am] |
Mum and Sarah tell me our cousin Jenny's house has been severely damaged in the Christchurch earthquake. She's fine. Other more distant relatives were there, but news has yet to reach us. I can barely remember who these people are. I have numerous cousins, aunts and uncles in New Zealand (grandparents having passed away long ago), but I really don't know anyone. That's what twelve years on the other side of the world will do. Also, twenty five years with no visits to New Zealand has an effect. My family has been large in reality, but in my mind it has been small, shrinking disastrously on my father's side early and making me think of it only in terms of loss and contraction. This is at right angles to the truth - the family has expanded with marriages and children. It just hasn't included me very much, what with being the gay uncle on the other side of the world. We came back to Australia to improve the situation.
I'll be going back to SF for Google IO in May. It's been nearly a year since I was there for Pride 2010. Looking forward to catching up with friends, wondering how many more of them have moved on. Soon enough I'll be as rootless there as in New Zealand.
Mum has been on a fantastic adventure - a personal mission of mercy to a destitute family in Queensland. Their farm house in the Lockyer Valley was made all but uninhabitable by the floods. Via an online bridge playing partner she heard of their plight and decided to do something about it directly.
None of that organised charity - just collecting donations, purchasing replacement hot water system, washing machine and fridge (not necessarily new, but working), bringing up all sorts of household goods and delivering them during another torrential downpour in which the car was temporarily bogged. Luckily this was within meters of the house.
Amusingly, the family has since had attention from the state premier, the local disaster relief agencies and so on, all "just checking to see who might have fallen through the cracks". Word must have got out that a Sydney woman was doing more useful things on her own. Probably scared a few officials who were getting too bureaucratic. Process-oriented people: fine in the slow times, not good emergency responders.
My own adventures have been a bit boring. Lots of work, two weeks of an annoying summer cold, an air conditioning breakdown during the heatwave, parking fines in our own street, and next weekend marching with Gayglers in the Mardi Gras parade. Oh, and the Abba World exhibition last week. And a movie night with friends that same night - Faster Pussycat Kill Kill featuring the late Tura Satana's boobs and kick-ass moves. And Mardi Gras fair day the next day. And Bingay at the Beach (actually, the Paddo RSL) yesterday. I'm going to be completely gayed out. |
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| Losing a Friend |
[Jan. 9th, 2011|05:22 pm] |
We didn't spend that much friend time together, but it was the best quality. A backyard bbq party in Balmain. A bottle or two of wine shared at our work offsite in the snow. A crazy beautiful evening in San Francisco eating Ethiopian food at New Eritrea then stumbling into the Academy of Sciences Museum dressed up as a night club. Your infectious smile and wicked sense of humour.
I'm going to miss you, Mike. 42 is no age to be leaving this world. |
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| Tron Review |
[Dec. 20th, 2010|08:11 pm] |
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Why not just crap on us instead? |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 31st, 2010|06:30 pm] |
Here I am again. Not dead. Didn't forget you.
I just got a little clogged up on the "talking about me" front. Life has been quite interesting, really.
1. I have been playing my violin. Some improvements are happening. I have been slack about finding a teacher, but that should be remedied soon. I took my violin to the local violin maker for a check-up and routine maintenance, being nearly thirty years since its last repairs. In that time it accumulated some scratches, dirt, a few other things like the sound post position are going to be adjusted. Then it's time for some real lessons to bust out of the old bad playing habits and make some new good habits.
2. I've been less anxious about work. Mostly, I stopped hesitating to write up my thoughts for people to critique. I'm no longer worried to look like an idiot a few times before getting it right. That's a huge change - the old anxiety was quite stultifying.
3. We're on holiday. As I write, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) yuriverse and I are staying in a lovely gay retreat in the hinterland near Byron Bay. We're on a road trip. So far we've been through the Hunter Valley, visiting a couple of wineries (Lindeman's for Yuri's favourite plonk and Brokenwood for my childhood memories of weekend stays with working bees, labelling, boxing, cleaning, etc.). From there we drove to Mum's unit in Tuncurry to stay the night. This morning we embarked on the leg to Binna Burra (near Bangalow, not the lodge in Lamington National Park) after a quick turn around the breakwater. We're here a couple of nights followed by three in Noosa. I'll update after that.
4. Our plans for renovation have been in front of council. We're not through yet, but it looks hopeful. After that it will be time to really plan. Neighbours across the road are moving which is sad because they have been so nice to us. Let's hope the new owners will be equally nice. I hope for some friendly pooves but it'll probably attract a young yuppie family with its four bedrooms and backyard pool. Still, any of you well healed lj-ers thinking of moving to Balmain? Come and get this!
5. Cats have been their usual selves, with a rather unfortunate side issue of Dax's GI distress. I have cleaned up rather too many accidents although all have been in litterbox proximity. Unfortunately, the proximity is a bit too far in some cases. Gross. Dax will make a recovery soon - she has had a course of antibiotics and was responding but the tract itself takes a while to settle down. Vets are still waiting for test results on the "specimens". Poor Dax. It's hard to cuddle her when you're afraid of squeezing something unwelcome out.
6. Friendly catchups have been a pretty regular thing. Friday evenings have usually been fun until shortly after dinner at which time we all conk out like boring old men. Aging. It keeps happening. However, a couple of Fridays ago I made a point of taking in the newly reopened Imperial Hotel. I was in the front bar which didn't look that different from it's old self. A bit shinier, less closed off now you can look through a wall (did it have a fish tank? I forget). There was more to it but I didn't see it. A couple of beers, a few songs on the jukebox, a conversation with a young Asian guy who (wrongly) though he might get lucky. One or two familiar faces spotted. No desire to look downstairs or in the back bar with the shows. Maybe that's where all the changes have been made?
7. It's my birthday soon so start saving now. |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 24th, 2010|09:28 am] |
Too much guilt over my Lj languishing patiently. When do people return from the glitter and shallowness of Facebook? Why has lj been forsaken? |
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| Ultrasound |
[Jul. 20th, 2010|08:55 pm] |
I'm going for an ultrasound on Thursday. No, I'm not pregnant. We're just trying to see if there are gallstones. The pain situation has been rather nasty these last two weeks. Heart problems are not on the table, nor (it seems) are reflux problems. Pushing the area got the required "ow" from me, so the doctor mentioned gallstones as the most likely thing.
Woo hoo. |
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| Back from the trip |
[Jul. 3rd, 2010|07:19 pm] |
I got back from my San Francisco "Google App Engine / Gay Pride" trip yesterday morning. Firstly, apologies to everyone I failed to see when there. Social opportunities were always pretty minimal outside my work agenda this time. I was lucky enough to run into a few of you and I promise next trip I'll budget some proper social time. The second thing, I was staying nearer my old neighbourhood with some generous friends who gave me their guest room for the week, saving me from having to take a hotel room downtown. I wasn't able to get into Parker Guest House which has been my usual for the last few trips. They were full when I tried to book (the last minute), which was understandable.
Anyway, it was a quickie week, working in Google's SF offices, then down to Mountain View to meet developers using Google App Engine. The bigger deal for me was marching in SF Pride for the first time! Hooray! Two hundred and fifty Gayglers and I assembled on Beale St and waited hours and hours for the parade to begin.
I was pretty damn tired for the parade and here's why.
Pink Saturday Bummer
Of course I wanted to look at Pink Saturday's Castro party. It's always been a pretty happy and very gay crowd when I've been before. Steven and David (my hosts) and I took Muni to Castro before emerging at street level.
This time the vibe was just wrong. The energy was pretty excited but who the hell was there? It looked like a lot of drunk college kids on Spring Break, a lot of Halloween gawkers up around Market and Castro. Further down Castro toward 18th looked more like the usual Pride crowd. You know, the Gays, the Dykes, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the communities by and for whom Pride was created. There were no drinks to be had on the street, a change from the previous time I went (about 2006). Lots of people had them anyway, so I assume you could get a drink in a plastic cup from a bar and walk outside with it.
There was no getting into a bar in less than an hour with the crowd so thick. We threaded our way past the Midnight Sun toward 18th and Noe where we exited the barricades. We headed for the Pilsner and had a couple of beers in the back yard. It was definitely decompress time. That was enough for Steven and David. They went home and I decided to take in Eros. As I figured, it was busy and I stayed "busy" with a few nice gents for an hour.
So now it was about 12:40 and Muni had just closed. No problem, I could always go up to 17th and Market and get a cab when the steets reopen. But what was this police tape blocking Market St at Noe? Stern cops were telling us we had to take a detour around it. I headed for 18th thinking I could slake my thirst and bide my time. (The steam room is quite dehydrating. Who knew?) A short while longer and the streets would be open and I could get a cab home.
Except there was now a line of baton wielding cops clearing 18th St including the sidewalks. I overheard some younger women talking about a shooting, and now I was sure it must have been tonight and not some other street party. There was no choice but to divert to 19th street to try and get out of the Castro. I wished I had gone right instead of left at Noe previously. I was in no mood to try and retrace my steps. I already spent energy going uphill and decided to maintain the high road, all the way up to Market St. OMG the steepness. Up and up winding toward Twin Peaks and still no cabs in sight. Finally an hour and a half after leaving Eros there was a vacant cab coming the other way. I crossed Portola and flagged it down.
The driver confirmed the shooting to me. He had taken passengers to the hospital, friends of some of the injured.
WTF, people? First Halloween ruined by gangbangers and now this?
Give me back the overtly, scarily sexual Pink Saturday. Exhibitionists masturbating in windows above the crowd on Castro St, sluts doing it up on top of bus shelters in front of appreciative (and often uncomfortable) audiences. It might have been distasteful to some of the gays, a "bad example". But would gangbangers ever be found in a place like that? Do the East Bay radio stations hype it as a great place to party? No. Do we get crowds of kids completely unconnected with the LGBT communities swarming in and falling down drunk by 7 p.m.?
When was the last time you heard of gay guys settling scores with guns? In a crowd? When gay guys want to get back at each other they bitch each other out, or sleep with each other's boyfriends. They don't fire into a crowd that might contain a future Mr Right. Who the hell is armed? Territoriality and trying to prove that we're big scary men is utterly useless to us. We already said we're a bunch of fags. We are the people that the straight thugs are trying to prove they're not.
If the price of dismantling homophobia is to invite thugs into our parties, I say keep a little homophobia around. Let them be afraid of our cock sucking and ass fucking. It might be "antisocial". That's a matter of opinion. Public sexuality in an adults only street party strikes me as plenty social. Use it to keep the thugs away.
I'm not just complaining that my night was ruined. One man ended up dead. Several others were injured. I got home very late and very tired. I'll take a lot of convincing that Pink Saturday should continue. |
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| Darkness. Beeps. WTF? And Supa Gay Sunday! |
[Jun. 20th, 2010|06:11 pm] |
Yesterday evening we were enacting Domestic Bliss Act III Scene ii in which cats are catting, wine has been poured, internet browsing is happening, dishwasher is washing, heater is warming, dinner is thought about. Then click! We plunge into darkness. Various smoke alarms beep their "where's the power at?" beeps. Great, we think. Another random power outage lasting a few seconds/minutes that seems to happen about every three months here in our neighbourhood.
Except our neighbours across the street haven't lost their power. Nor has next door. Hmm, suspicious. I venture out in my domestic bliss socks to the power board to see which switch has tripped. They're all lined up neatly in the on position on the left side. It's the main one for the house. Bummer. So I switch it back. It flips back imperceptibly fast into the "off" position.
Now my experience comes in. I've been in this situation before. This tells me there's a short circuit somewhere in the house. Some electrical thing has no fuse to blow, otherwise the machine would merely stop and not take down the main power. I'm immediately sniffing around the dishwasher. It's an old clunker from the 1989 renovation of our Balmain Domestic Bliss Dacha. It is a Chef brand, and Australian made (or at least with a label slapped on in Australia) piece of cheapness. Think Kenmore from Sears if you're American. Except lower quality. (Hangs head - I know I'm supposed to be loyal to the Aussie product). It has a water heating element inside. I have a hunch that it has melted down.
Anyway, I test my hunch with Yuri and Firbank looking on. I find the dishwasher power plug in the cupboard next to the machine and unplug it. Out I go again and flip the mains switch. Back to life we are. Power on, lights, camera, DSL modem, action. Just to be sure I (somewhat recklessly) plug the dishwasher back in. Plpf. Lights out, beeps from scared smoke alarms, Dax meows at me to quit it. I don't mention to yuriverse that I just risked my life on the main circuit breaker not being faulty. It worked once, but who knows if it got damaged? (OK, I exaggerate. There was no risk. The breaker worked. It worked right under my finger outside. It didn't smell. It wasn't warm. You can trust it.)
That was enough of my proving the dishwasher to be the culprit. It was clearly dead. It could be repaired (maybe). It didn't smell burny or anything like that. But it was a noisy old clunker and far too unfashionable for today's domestic kitchen.
Today Yuri and I went dishwasher shopping. Moore Park Home Makers' Supa Center. Jam packed with homos. It's far gayer than any bar on Oxford St. Anyway, we did Bing Lee first. Medium Pressure Sales Guy gave us a rapid fire rundown on the merits of the various models. Bosch looked nice - they had one that has the silverware on a flat tray the the top of the machine. OK, so we're now no longer looking at <$1K.
Being an old hand at the "whitegoods" shopping, I did what any well bred homosexual would do, and went immediately to the competition at Harvey Norman. "Bing Lee offered that one for $100 less and free delivery and installation". (OK, I made that last part up, but nobody's children will go hungry over this). So now Medium-High Pressure Sales Girl starts rabbiting on about how the Miele model is $200 off today, has the same features plus more steel and less plastic and anyway the external finish is better quality and easier to keep clean and look at the great user-maintainable drain thingy so you don't need to get serviced and it's Miele for Snob's Sake.
So Miele beat out Bosch. It arrives Tuesday and hopefully Cameron the installer will be hot.
Do Sundays get any gayer without a visit to Ken's? |
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| Another week in San Francisco |
[Jun. 12th, 2010|11:26 am] |
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I'm in SF again for a week from 23rd to the 30th of June. It's really for work, and it's also strictly coincidental that the trip and Pride are overlapping. We don't do Pride in Sydney, having moved the celebration to Mardi Gras. Anyhow, it would be nice to catch up with alla youse who will be there in the thenabouts. See ya soon. |
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