Boff came over last Tuesday to see me not iron before I went to Canberra. I'm glad he doesn't mind the mess my room is in, although he did create some more when he climbed up to my loft and bashed his head on the light there, smashing the (glass) cover. It's the only place in my house that has carpet, too, so it needed vacuuming. I only managed to clean it up tonight after borrowing a vacuum cleaner from my neighbours. We have since developed an in-joke about lightbulbs and vacuum cleaners and brains which I think I find far more amusing than him, especially because his head *still* hurts.
Canberra was its usual staid self. The bus was late to arrive because of traffic out of Sydney and the wet road making it difficult to make up time on the highway. My sister picked me up and we went to trivia at The Hellenic Club in Woden, which really is a very lovely place that almost shouldn't exist in Woden. We came like fourth or fifth out of 12 teams and came really close to getting the jackpot questions. We missed out on the year Buster Keaton died by five years or so.
Wednesday consisted of waking up late and pottering around doing various bits and pieces online (sort of working) until it was time to interview Paul Henry, one of the Export Heroes, at the Hyatt. I then drove to Government House and arrived without getting lost, only at 5.15pm I was too early - when they say 5.50-6pm, they really mean you have to arrive in that time period.
Awards were nicely done by Governor-General Quentin Bryce. I like the woman, she has poise. She is also followed around by an attractive man in uniform, which can't hurt. The after-award drinks were held in the large dining room. I got talking to a DFAT trade negotiator and Export Hero David Gaul before I left to get to The Boathouse, where the awards dinner was to be held.
Instead of arriving unfashionably early I became terribly lost: managed to find myself in the city (one exit too early), then recalculated route and, due to roadworks on the way to the venue, found myself crossing back towards Parliament House instead of a nice little driveway down to the restaurant. Gah! So I missed (Parliamentary Secretary) Anthony Byrne's speech but came just in time for dinner and the Hero panel session.
Thursday was an early one, starting with a breakfast seminar at the Hyatt at 7am. I also met with some client contacts for lunch, which was a lovely meeting. My sister has been having boy trouble so she was exhausted from not sleeping very well, so took the rest of the day off work. We went to the city and I checked in at the YHA before we went and saw 'Scott Pilgrim vs The World' which was pretty funny, very stylised. Ate at Cafe Essen and talked a lot (about said boy trouble) before she had to go home and study.
I spent the night uploading old content onto my revamped website but still remain confused as to how I'm going to sort the content.
Friday morning was coffee with a work contact, then freedom to roam around the city. Browsed some of the shops on the mall, namely Redpaths (the shoe store where I got my awesome red boots last year) and Mind Games (where I chatted to the manager about acetate cards and Hanafuda).
Caught a bus to Woden and found myself once again at The Hellenic Club drinking cheap beer and cocktails and Brown Brothers wine on tap (don't knock it, twas good - better at $3.20 a glass) with my sister and her mates. We ate dinner upstairs at Ginseng and then she dropped me back at the hostel. I got a craving for fruit so I wandered down to Supabarn and bought strawberries and an apple and discovered the DVD kiosks (oovie and RedRoomDVD). RedRoom is defintely easier to borrow from - oovie was quite confusing and I also had trouble returning the disc the next day. Borrowed 'Whip It' and 'Moon' for the night and watched them on my laptop in my dorm.
'Moon' was different to how I imagined. Although it had an edge of menace, it was actually more a film about the protagonist's journey of self-discovery. 'Whip It' was fun, albeit cliched. The dramatic bits just weren't big enough narrative elements to warrant the reactions in the film, but now at least I understand how roller derby works.
Rach and I went to Delissio in Braddon for breakfast on Saturday, then wandered around the Gorman House markets, which seem to have shrunk. I wasn't looking for anything to buy but ended up getting a new phone cover (after I LOST my Mozi one on the train last week), a couple of greeting cards and a Kinky Friedman omnibus (even though I have a ban on buying books), which I started reading on the bus home.
Saturday evening was more eventful. I was supposed to go to The Vanguard to see Tinpan Orange with Assie, but she called in sick so I made Boff come instead. We ate at Sherpa Kitchen, a Nepalese restaurant I've never noticed before. They have the tastiest (oiliest) roti I've ever had - and at $2.50 it's a cheap, quick meal I'll be sure to remember if I'm starved and strapped for cash.
Tinpan Orange were fantastic, much better than I remember from Peats Ridge Festival. Boff liked them too, despite admitting that he's not really a music person. But he's willing to try new things and I like that about him.
Yesterday was also crammed with activity. Woke up at around 10.30am, went to Belmore Park for Walk Against Warming at noon and persuaded Boff to come too. Expected to see Gla and Robert there but they were both doing other (related) things; Gla was training for Oxfam Trailwalker and Robert was doing some political campaign prep. It rained a little, but not enough to get really wet, and we did our turn around the streets.
I then tagged along to Sydney Park in St Peters where Boff plays social volleyball with a Meetup group and had a few digs before we headed to the pub. Embarrassingly, I am quite sore from the gentle exercise but it's okay because I saw Emi today and had a massage.
This week will be quite mixed. Have a few interviews to do tomorrow at both ends of the day but will be seeing Boff in the early arvo (we both have Tuesday off) then in the evening I'm going to vollie night for the Sydney Underground Film Festival. Other things on the cards: dinner with Skippy, Amanda's farewell, a day out with China visitors Kristen & LQ, card night on Friday, before voting in the election and then back to Canberra on Saturday. I'm pleased that work has mostly kept out of the picture. At last!
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