The day before Good Friday and it feels like I am still recovering from the weekend.
Friday saw our new dishwasher be installed and the real estate inspection done on the house. It was one of the most boring days I have had at home. So when I got a message in the afternoon from L that she was in the mood to catch up for a couple of drinks I was excited by the prospect of company other than my own. Not only did she pilfer half a bottle of red wine from work she also bought along tickets to a comedy show that she had won off twitter.
You can tell it is going to be a good night when you all have no expectations but are willing to be spontaneous. The three of us (L, me and GB) trundled off into the city for our first show of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. L had won the tickets from Josh Thomas on twitter...and who happened to be at the show and sitting in the seats behind us. It is a very stange thing the feeling that one gets in the stomach when they see someone from the TV. You know that they are not any better than you, you know that they are just a person but you suddenly get all embarassed and awkward. I think it is because there is a false sense of familarity on our part that can't be reciprocated.
Not wanting to end the night there we headed to Festival Club to see what was on offer. Tom Gleeson was the MC for the night with several other acts. This can either be great or it can be disappointing. Friday night was great. With our cheeks aching we headed home where L and I stayed up late watching a movie.
After little more than a 5 hours sleep I was up and off to the shops to try and find something to wear to the wedding we were attending on Sunday. Shopping with a purpose is one of the most painful things you can do and always brings about the confirmation of Murphy's Law. In addition to trying to find something in particular that doesn't exist was the soul destroying, utter despair inducing moment in the Myer change rooms when I noticed that with the 4 mirrors they have arranged you can see yourself from every angle. I still haven't quite recovered my verve from that experience.
Saturday night GB and I met C, W and C's bizzare and intense sister for dinner at the Hofbrauhaus for a farewell dinner. Lots of pork and beer consumed. Lots. After, we waddled out of there headed back to the Festival Club for more beer and laughs. This FC night was disappointing and more so because the night before was so great. In addition to the disappointment of the comedy I was in a slightly bad mood because C's sister has such an issue with GB being portly that she has to mention it every single fucking time she sees him - and not just to GB but to me aswell. And I get stuck in the position of not wanting to be rude to someone who is related to one of GB's friends - when I really just want to give her a big old punch in the throat.
Sunday afternoon GB and I frocked up and headed to the wedding of our friend from work. The ceremony was lovely if not too religious, being a good Italian Catholic it was a lot shorter than I was expecting. The bride looked amazingly gorgeous and groom was full of emotion. Exactly what a wedding should be. The time between ceremony and reception was spent at home watching the F1 Melbourne Grand Prix. A couple of other guests joined us in downing beers and watching super fast cars go super fast. The ceremony was at the Botanical Garden and was just lovely - for a reasonably large wedding it felt intimate due to the sister of the bride being the MC for the night and the speeches dotted throughout the meals. Our table was made up of all the friends from the work were GB and I met. Most of them are all married with kids now and we don't get to see them very often so it was fantastic to catch up. The only draw back was the questions of when GB and I were going to do it all. The night ended with GB and I walking through the gardens and nearby park in the rain. SO ROMANTIC!
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Up in the Air
I pretended to look as good as George Clooney when I caught a flight to Sydney yesterday morning for business. And booking into the hotel. And catching a cab. All the with air of importance and impressive looks. Ha!
I am so small town that travelling interstate for work did give me a little thrill. Somewhat over it today though. Loving the hotel. Am surprised that we (work) put people up in such swanky places.
Managing to entertain oneself for the hours between the end of work and bedtime is not as hard as I thought it would be. I walked down to Circular Key to take in the best tourist snapshot view: The Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. Really quite impressive. After my little wander I kept to the hotel for the rest of the evening.
Now I must go and walk around the office like I am important.
CATS!
An iconic musical in a beautiful theatre. Happy Birthday to me. It is like I got two birthday presents. I have very excited when I got the tickets for my birthday last year - and then I get the actual experience of it months later.
I managed to get GB to take me to dinner in a pub that was not the Charles Dickens, which is harder than it should be. We ended up at Beer Deluxe in Fed Square. It was fun to try out some different beers. Although at $13 a pop (and that was one of the cheap ones) It is not somewhere I would envision having a big night. The honey beer was my favourite. It turns out I kick arse at picking good beer!
Cats was playing at the Regent theatre - which is one of my favourite venues in Melbourne. I managed to get some dodgy snaps on my mobile before being told that there was no photography allowed.
The stage looked amazing - great lighting. I didn't manage to get any photos of the cats. They were astoundingly precise in their mannerisms and timing. Great dancing and fun songs. I tried not to have any expectations - I didn't read any reviews or anything about the story. And I was pleasantly surprised. Although I didn't really understand everything that was going on, watching the dancers kept me entertained enough. It seems to be a pretty weird concept for a musical but what fun.
I managed to get GB to take me to dinner in a pub that was not the Charles Dickens, which is harder than it should be. We ended up at Beer Deluxe in Fed Square. It was fun to try out some different beers. Although at $13 a pop (and that was one of the cheap ones) It is not somewhere I would envision having a big night. The honey beer was my favourite. It turns out I kick arse at picking good beer!
Cats was playing at the Regent theatre - which is one of my favourite venues in Melbourne. I managed to get some dodgy snaps on my mobile before being told that there was no photography allowed.
The stage looked amazing - great lighting. I didn't manage to get any photos of the cats. They were astoundingly precise in their mannerisms and timing. Great dancing and fun songs. I tried not to have any expectations - I didn't read any reviews or anything about the story. And I was pleasantly surprised. Although I didn't really understand everything that was going on, watching the dancers kept me entertained enough. It seems to be a pretty weird concept for a musical but what fun.
Monday, 15 March 2010
The Official Blues Brothers Revue
Last Friday we discovered a new venue. Spenserslive. It reminds me of those Blues/Jazz bars you see in movies sometimes. There is a stage and then a whole bunch of tables with intimate lighting so you can sit at your table, have a beverage and rock out like an old cat to the music.
We ended up showing up incredibly early. It was just us and the band doing sound check. There was no come back later, we were served drinks, our tickets were upgraded from standing to a table and we got to meet Wayne who plays Jake in the show. I am not sure how starstruck you are supposed to get by a person that impersonates a character made famous by a dead actor, but GB and I were little more than useless at the chit chat with Wayne. He was most gracious and left us to our drinks and the excitement that was building in our dorky tummies.
The show was exactly what you would expect from the OFFCIAL Blues Brothers show. Jake and Elwood were fantastic, the comedy was the same and the band rocked it. It was such a fun night. And the beauty of going to something that is a cult hit, is that fans show up. Everyone in the crowd was having the best time and the crowd participation was fun and not that awful embarassing silent agony that it more often is. GB and I had a blast!
We ended up showing up incredibly early. It was just us and the band doing sound check. There was no come back later, we were served drinks, our tickets were upgraded from standing to a table and we got to meet Wayne who plays Jake in the show. I am not sure how starstruck you are supposed to get by a person that impersonates a character made famous by a dead actor, but GB and I were little more than useless at the chit chat with Wayne. He was most gracious and left us to our drinks and the excitement that was building in our dorky tummies.
The show was exactly what you would expect from the OFFCIAL Blues Brothers show. Jake and Elwood were fantastic, the comedy was the same and the band rocked it. It was such a fun night. And the beauty of going to something that is a cult hit, is that fans show up. Everyone in the crowd was having the best time and the crowd participation was fun and not that awful embarassing silent agony that it more often is. GB and I had a blast!
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Friday I'm in Love
Today I am having a feel good about my job day. This has been happening alot recently. I think what is changing is that I am starting to acknowledge that I am ok at my job, that I do know stuff and I can/do make a contribution to my department.
I was always under the impression that my low self esteem didn't interfere with my work life - but obviously it does, though I think I am getting better at seperating how I interact with people in a social/working capacity.
I want to take more responsibility for myself and the experiences I create. Bemoaning ones position and then not actively trying to change it is one of my least favourite traits.
To get a little bit airy fairy......this year the energy feels like it is precariously balanced. Like there is alot of change around everyone and that the seemingly flippant choices people make will tip the energy either way. The change will happen and it will be your choice whether it is a fun, enjoyable experience or whether it is crap and painful. I am trying to ensure that I am on the happy side of things this year.
We have set ourselves up (GB & I) for a fantastic year. We are socialising more with people I like, we have our overseas trip coming up, we are both pursuing our own interests. GB is going to be a great brewer and I am going to be a WRITER! It is all fun fun fun.
I was always under the impression that my low self esteem didn't interfere with my work life - but obviously it does, though I think I am getting better at seperating how I interact with people in a social/working capacity.
I want to take more responsibility for myself and the experiences I create. Bemoaning ones position and then not actively trying to change it is one of my least favourite traits.
To get a little bit airy fairy......this year the energy feels like it is precariously balanced. Like there is alot of change around everyone and that the seemingly flippant choices people make will tip the energy either way. The change will happen and it will be your choice whether it is a fun, enjoyable experience or whether it is crap and painful. I am trying to ensure that I am on the happy side of things this year.
We have set ourselves up (GB & I) for a fantastic year. We are socialising more with people I like, we have our overseas trip coming up, we are both pursuing our own interests. GB is going to be a great brewer and I am going to be a WRITER! It is all fun fun fun.
Monday, 1 March 2010
21/101
I managed to cross a couple more items of my 101 things to do list. 21 done 80 more to go.
I have a renewed enthusiasm for getting as many as I can done. I think some of the bigger travel orientated ones might have to be extended past the 1001 days time line.
Excitement ensues.
I have a renewed enthusiasm for getting as many as I can done. I think some of the bigger travel orientated ones might have to be extended past the 1001 days time line.
Excitement ensues.
#32 Post an entry ni my blog every day for 1 month
This was a whole lot harder than I expected it to be. It turns out even though I thought there was lots going on in my head there really isn't. You can see posts at www.brethred.blogspot.com
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