Words of Wisdom

Examine what is said, not him who speaks.

Arab proverb

Art: "Let Me Dream" by Carole Felmy

Licence Plates

WA has a great way of issuing licence plates - aside from the generic state plates, each shire can also issue their own plates - so as you drive down the highway (or sit in a cafe in Bellingen) you can tell whether soemone is from Collie or Karratha or whatever. Now I personally have a wave at everyone policy (or more to the point, list the pointer finger in a friendly gesture) but it is always handy to know if they are m ore likely to be someone you actually know.

This is just a very random sample taken on my travels.

A quick explanation: the black and white plates were the first ones issued (GN 1910 - from Greenough), followed by the yellow and black range (9HT 794 - a generic plate) when they ran out of numbers. The first personalised plates were the blue and black (JAC 999) and soon after the Eagles plates (logo 029).

The blue and white range are the latest (1AYK 695 - a generic plate) and expected to last for the foreseeable future. They are also available for towns and shires (W 19 for Wagin), (PL - 561 for Plantagenet), (AL 22132 for Albany) or (JP 936 for Jerramungup). A full list of all the shire plates can be found here.

Just thought you would like to know :-)

The World Isn't Flat

Taken from the airplane on the way to Perth.

Pardon?

What you do speaks so loud I cannot hear your words.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Art: "Offer Your Best" by Karin Turner

Live, Laugh, Love

Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.

Berthold Auerbach

Art: "Edge of Paradise" by LaShun Beal

Ouch!

I have an insect bite on my bum. I noticed it last night - I specifically noticed the little "hard" tag. My mind kinda went to a tick - or more specifically the head of a tick - but I ignored it.

It started to throb at 4 this morning. I got up and put some ti-tree oil on a bandaid and applied it in the said position. Ti-tree is a great antiseptic so worth a try.

At 11 this morning it wasn't only throbbing but the actual site was stinging really strongly and a welt had risen up next to it.

Thinking of my upcoming travel and not wanting a butt infected with a tick head I headed to the hospital.

One nurse looked at it. Not really sure. Another was called it. The hard tag they decided, was not a tick's head but a little piece of skin. It isn't a tick. No idea what it is - apparently the site is the site two 50 cent pieces now - but it isn't a tick. The nurse applied Soov and I was back home within 40 minutes.

So good it is all okay but oh so very embarrassing :-)

Photo: "Sprinkle Bum" by auxcentral

Days of John

We are coming up for the anniversary of his death again - and it will coincide exactly with me going back to WA. Not the best timing and lots of buttons have been pushed as a result.

And a new awareness - I hate what alcohol does to people.

I don't want to be around drunks. I don't want the burden alcoholics bring to their friends and family. I don't want to make excuses for them anymore. I don't want to make excuses to myself anymore. I don't want to watch the destruction that happens to them, their bodies, their relationships. I don't want to have another conversation with someone slurring their words but pretending to be sober and thinking no one notices.  I have done my time. I am not doing it again.

I am not into prohibition - I am sure I will be having a drink or two again. I am talking about heavy drinking or binge drinking or drinking to avoid life and all that it entails.

It is interesting to watch myself and this grief/memory cycle. I haven't focussed on the alcohol before. Maybe because I am now a long way away from working in rehabs. Maybe because of all the political talk of alco-pops in 2009. Maybe I have just woken up.

Having said all that my heart still aches for him and I so wish that he was here.

I'll Wilt!

The forecast for Perth this week:

Tuesday    Sunny.  Min 12     Max 30
Wednesday  Sunny.  Min 15     Max 35
Thursday   Sunny.  Min 19     Max 36
Friday     Sunny.  Min 19     Max 35
Saturday   Very hot. Sunny.   Min 19     Max 39
Sunday     Very hot. Sunny.   Min 21     Max 42

Aaaarrrghhh! Okay so I will actually only be in Perth for Wednesday and start heading south on Thursday but you have got to be kidding!!!!

Photo: "Three Years" by orbatid

Time for a Change

Ever since I got angry some weeks ago (and now because it is 'that time of the year') I have been in something of a rut. I have become especially aware of that over the past few days so I have kicked my own butt and it is time for a change, time for movement. Okay so I am about to go away so some practical things (like setting aside specific time for writing) will have to wait until I get home but there so attitudinal things I can put in place right now.

For a start there will be a birthday celebration - I don't know what form it will take but there will be singing and dancing everyday for at least a week - and I might even invite others to join me lol.

I have a couple of phone numbers for potential agents - no point calling them tomorrow (the first day of availability after the Christmas break) but I certainly can as soon as I get back. I have been fearing rejection (on so many levels) but I adopting the Colonel Sanders approach and diving in.

I have made my specialist appointments (well two out of the three - the third will be back form holidays tomorrow) so I am moving forward in that regard.

I have been putting off doing a couple of things and they will be done before 5 pm tomorrow so I can leave without worrying about it all.

And all in all I am pulling up my socks and beginning to take that one step forward on this journey that is my life.

Photo: Change your mind" by lohey

Tree of Life

The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected, that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, "In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!"

John F Kennedy

Art: "Tree of Life" by Gustav Klimt

Free to Be Me

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed.

Sydney Smith

Photo: Dandelions" by Henryk T Kaiser

Birthday Thoughts

I know it is months away - no matter whether I celebrate it as a re-birthday in March/April or my actual birthday in August - but I have been contemplating what to do for my birthday this year. It will be the big 4-0 and I haven't really done anything since I turned 30 so it might be time.

Now when I turned 30 I had three parties in one day (a brunch, lunch and dinner) as well as mini-parties on the days either side. Pretty much everyone who could be at one of them was. I felt loved and appreciated and alive.

And that is my potential problem with this one - high expectations. I know that no matter what I plan I risk dashed expectations and a crappy feeling. Which makes me think I should just play safe and just ignore it. But then I don't want to be that person lol.

Okay, so on a practical level, I was still thinking about cooking and hosting a dinner party at my place but Miss K who has a similar birthday at a similar time has suggested just going out for dinner - everyone pay their own way so no big expense, and no mess to clean up afterwards. There is a lot of merit to that plan. If I had a real income by then I could go to the States but I am not sure that that is necessarily practical. I was thinking about a coffee and cake feast (not as posh as the ever-trendy high tea, more like a CWA meeting lol).

Hmm, lots of time to come up with something - and no obligation anyway lol

Photo: The birthday cupcake" by voodo 

Darwin 2009

Yes the Awards that no-one wants to win have been announced for 2009. While the winners (and I use that term loosely) were involved in an ATM hold up, I personally lean towards the incident in Sparkleberry Lane.

Full details, and wincing belly-laughs, can be found here.

Passion and Purpose

When you're kind to someone in trouble, you hope they'll remember and be kind to someone else. And it'll become like a wildfire.

Woopi Goldberg

Art: "Passionate Flamenco" by Leonid Afremov

New Year Words

I have been looking for a way to sum up my hopes for the year to come but gave up when I found this from Cherie at Butterfly Dreamer. She has said everything I wanted to. When you get a minute, click on over to check out her great photos and posts :-)

I think 2010 should be a leap of faith. A leap into unexplored new experiences. A year of more.

More laughter , more tasting the sweetness of life. Letting go of fear, letting go of old things , people and situations that do not serve us any longer. I look forward this year to new experiences, making new friends , new places to travel to. I sat last night at midnight in the freezing night air and stared up at that gorgeous full moon that was shining so brightly it lit the sky. It filled me with hope for some reason. I kept smiling up at it.

I have a very good feeling about this coming year. I am pursuing my dream of photography and writing more of my book. I have much to look forward to.

My wish for you in this brand new year, is that you pursue your dreams, and you don't let anyone influence you that they are not worth it. That you find your own happiness and laughter. Lots more laughter lovies.

 Photo: "Leap" by 7th-Heaven-Creative

Some People

I rang to book my train ticket on Friday and I am sure that if the woman in the call centre had a manual and was judged on on 'How to make things hard for your customer' she would have won the Employee of the Month.

I ended up at the Coff's station this afternoon as a 'here's hoping'. The sign on the door clearly said they were closed but there was people inside and being a bit desperate I stuck my head around and asked if they had an agent in my home town - the call centre woman had given me a big bum steer.

A gentleman asked a woman next to him, she didn't seem sure and apologized that she had shut her computer down. Perfectly understandable as they were finished for the day. I prepared to leave but he beckoned me to an empty counter. Within three or four minutes he had my ticket issued, he picked up on my passing comment about a back problem and has placed me in what he recommends are the best seats to minimize any difficulty I might experience - he made sure I had that seat doing to Sydney as well as on my return trip.

If I had've stood there with a gun to his head, or in tears and on my knees begging for pity, this gentleman could not have been more helpful .... and all of this when the office was clearly closed and I was only asking for help in my local area.

The time of REAL customer service has not yet passed my friends, and I know a man who is making a career out of it.

Some Days

Some days you can sit back and know that something has changed - the course you were on has taken on a different dimension. Okay, so sometimes that is for the better, and sometimes for the worse. Today was one of them for me.

I spent the day with Miss K and her family and other friends. From afar it may not have looked like much - I arrived early and played battleship (lost one game, won one) and chess (lost one, won two), we had a great bbq (thanks Mr T for the cooking and Miss K for the rest), we chatted, the weather was so-so but on the verandah it didn't matter. I even took a couple of photos of real people .... but I respect that there was angst so they won't appear here (Miss K's frangipani had no such problem though lol). Four, five hours passed before I gave in to the need to finish my assignment and headed home.

And in amongst all of that something positive and big happened - I don't know quite what it was but I do know that in time to come I will look back and know that whatever it is all started today on Miss K's verandah.

Yes, some days ... you just gotta dance :-)

A Matter of Perspective

To see the earth as it truly is, small and blue and beautiful in that eternal silence where it floats, is to see ourselves as riders on the earth together, brothers on that bright loveliness in the eternal cold.

Archibald MacLeish

Photo from USA George

Tasting Good

It is nice to know I have a purpose in life - I am the food for a generation of mosquitoes - I have over 200 bites on me as we speak - and they are just the ones I can see - I am sure there are more on my back.

Fortunately they are not itchy like they usually are (could they be a different species maybe) because I would be swathed in calamine lotion otherwise lol

Yes I worked out a couple of nights ago that if I sleep with the fan on it does minimize the attacks somewhat (and I know that is a relative comment lol).

Radio Days

I spend most of my days listening to the radio - and most of my nights listening to podcasts of radio that I have missed, want to hear again, or is from overseas stations.

I trawl the ABC, BBC, CBC and NPR for bits that will interest me. Now all of these are public broadcasters and I am not sure if commercial radio has something similar - I haven't listened to commercial radio for over 10 years now.

Anyway, not only do I get to listen to incredible programming on books, science, social affairs, ethics and the like, I get to take full advantage of 21st century technology - linking in with the relevant websites I can comment on stories, debate or discuss things with fellow listeners, click on follow up information, contribute content and look at photos.

All of the programming can stand on its own merits and as such doesn't need the integration that the web brings. Nonetheless, the extra layers add a depth to the information and the listening experience that just can't be beat.

Totally over-run any need for television that I might have had lol

Photo: "on the radio" by irrr

Flowers on the Ground

Mango Chutney

1 T oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 ripe mango, diced
2 T vinegar
2 T sugar
1 - 2 chillis, chopped
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch cardamom seeds
Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil in small saucepan. Saute onion. Add mango. Add vinegar, sugar and spices. Add chilli. Keep at a low simmer until the liquid has cooked off and the chutney is well blended. Season to taste.

I served this with some lentil croquettes, and pumpkin and chicken patties (still working on those recipes - I will post them when they are a bit more refined) with a side salad.

Note: you could also add a pinch coriander powder to the mix. I am a hot kinda girl so I left the membrane and seeds with the chillis - obviously you can take them out.

Happy New Year

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while care will drop awar from you like the leaves of Autumn.

John Muir

Art: "Angel Wings" by Laverne Ross