Work got really crazy, out of control even, and I was working most nights to get things done. It's all over now, though: my bi-monthly went to the client today (two days late) and I'm not yet late with the content for the next monthly so I have at least a week-long hiatus until the next round.
Anyway, I rewarded myself last night and went to see 'Mary & Max' with Ass. It was an almost unbearably charming animation by the director of Oscar-winning animation short 'Harvie Krumpet' (which I haven't seen). Highly recommend 'Mary & Max' - and also go to the website if you can because there are some truly funny behind-the-scenes clips.
I should also admit I forced myself to go to the movies because I had a Hoyts student voucher I bought last year when I was at TAFE that was about to expire, despite the fact I still had work to do. I came home after the movie and had to proof a magazine, which is why I didn't get online and why I forgot to blog.
Anyway. Stuff.
Last week I juggled breakfast with Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens, two days of the China Australia Business Congress and the website launch with the deadlines of two magazines and a content-hungry website. I do not recommend this to anyone. It makes you kind of tetchy.
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That wasn't the fun part, though. On Wednesday I went to see The Armada, Jeff Martin's new project, at The Basement with Ass. A rocking show. Drummer Wayne Sheehy had this pimped up drum kit, which was like The World Collection of Drums or something, painted in black and white checks, no less. When Ass and I went to get our albums signed at the end of the night I asked him whether he had them customised and it turns out he makes them himself, which is tres impressive.
The Armada - Wayne Sheehy and Jeff Martin - signing stuff and talking to fans after their show at The Basement (20.05.2009)Ass and I spent the rest of the night trying to navigate through the rain. We were fortunate enough to get the last train back to North Sydney, but because it wasn't Waverton we had to walk from North Sydney under my tiny umbrella in the pouring rain. I had to spend half an hour on the weekend reconditioning my leather jacket.
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The Export Awards launch on Thursday night also went quite well. I got up and said a few words to launch the website. I started off a little nervous (and learnt quickly not to vocalise off-the-cuff remarks that only make sense in my head) but in the end I said what I had to say and I had people coming up to me afterwards wanting to be bloggers and contributors, so that was good.
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Friday was pretty good, although I had to cram all my work into half a day because I'd already arranged to take leave for my Sydney Writers' Festival volunteer shift (it was at 6:30pm but I figured it couldn't hurt to have an arvo off) - plus I'd booked in a dentist and optometrist appointment.
The bad news is that I have a filling missing (presumed swallowed) and will need to get another. The good news is that my eyesight has been stable for two years, hence I am eligible for a referral to get laser eye surgery. My dreams come true! Well, not yet. I still have to get the surgeons to assess whether my corneas are thick enough and meet other physical standards. At the moment I'm researching prices and recommendations.
On Friday night I had my volunteer shift at Paddington Town Hall, which was An Evening with Wendy Harmer. I was the supervisor but really everything went so smoothly I barely felt like I was volunteering. Got to see a bit of Wendy's session, too, which was good because it was funny.
Trudged down Oxford Street in the rain hoping to get into The Bamboos gig at the Oxford Arts Factory but it was sold out. Ended up buying a block of Lindt chilli chocolate and two Portuguese tarts at Woolies instead.
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On Saturday, instead of going to see The Happiness Mistake session at the festival I went to Chatswood to retrieve the bag of vitamins I accidentally left in a clothing store while browsing. I don't generally do things like that but I'm going to blame overwork for eating my brain and costing me a morning.
Got to Pier 4/5 in time for my shift. I was rostered on to be supervisor of Pier 4/5, which basically meant dealing with the vollies who were dealing with the public (ie lines, ushering, info booth, random questions) but was at the last minute assigned the Writers' Green Room and the Heritage Pier, which basically meant making sure the writers arrived and went to their sessions on time and dealing with the ticketed public at the Heritage venue.
Which was totally sweet because we also had the best-looking green room bouncer known to man: a guy named Michael who Grant (gay, 50-something vollie co-ord) had deliberately given another shift at the Green Room because he was eye candy.
Can I name-drop now? Met Christos Tsiolkas, Chloe Hooper and Robert Wainwright and saw writers such as Dominic Knight (The Chaser), Kate Grenville and Miles Merrill. I am also totally crushing on Chip Rolley, next year's guest artistic director. Too bad he's taken (by ANNE SUMMERS of all people...).
As for the Green Room itself, I have to say it was a pretty poor reflection of the festival. It's basically a practice area for the Australia Theatre for Young People, but it's not the space that's the problem, it just doesn't feel comfortable, plus there was only water and juice to drink (no tea or coffee - what?!?) and the allocation of food (ie sandwiches) ran out by about 2pm.
Next year I will mention they need to find a better sponsor than Allen & Unwin. I will even endeavour to find them a tea and coffee sponsor. I will even bake them cookies and put the kettle on myself if it comes to it.
After my shift I got home and changed and then went out to North Bondi for DC's farewell. He was already pretty tipsy, having started at 1-ish. I met the friends who remained there, including a musician named Stoltz (formerly of 78Saab), his French girlfriend Letitia, a guy named Steve who had a real appreciation of Jeff Martin and a few others whose names I have forgotten.
Only a couple of hours after I got there we headed out to Erskineville where Stoltz's friends had another party happening. It was pretty cool, I walked in with a six-pack of Coopers and started playing a version of Pictionary with the people there and eating all the mini cupcakes.
The people who were all incredibly nice, though I don't remember all their names. One was Fanoula, there was a Tamsyn, a Nick. There was a guy whose name I think was Ben who mentioned something about guys in IT being the 'most considerate' lovers in some UK poll, after which we debated the definition of 'most considerate'.
I started to micro-sleep at about 1:30am so after Nick kindly made me a Milo (ostensibly to perk me up but it only made me more sleepy) I gave DC an farewell hug, wished everyone a good night and caught a taxi home.
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I promise I'm getting to the end here.
On Sunday I spent the morning doing chores because I'd been neglecting them for a while. Also, I had to recondition my leather jacket (due to getting it saturated on Wednesday night) before the leather cracked. The secret formula for leather conditioner is something I learnt in Italy: hand cream. Makes sense, right? Cow skin, human skin. Some deal with the moisture retention.
Then I went to the fabulous SWF zine fair at the MCA. Most exciting of all, when I found my friend, unofficial head of my writing group Lee Tran Lam, she was selling zines next to my favourite FBi presenter Jonathon Valenzuela (pic of both of them below). I had a short chat to him about how much it sucked that his timeslot is now Saturday nights and bought his two zines (which are hilarious).
Writer extraordinaire Lee Tran Lam and my favourite FBi presenter Jonathon Valenzuela at the SWF Zine Fair, MCA (24.05.2009)Some work in the evening. Battled through Monday. Made it to today.
Today was quite bizarre, but I'll leave that for a blog entry of its own.
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