Yankee Sydneysider

Athena, finished

2010-06-27T03:25:00.000-07:00

Athena, in progress

2010-06-20T17:28:00.001-07:00

Maybe it is the bubonic plague

2010-06-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on my way into work, I noticed a dead bat--the Sydney bats are huge "flying foxes" and wonderfully cute and batty--still hanging from the telephone wire they sometimes sleep on when they don't make it back to the Botanic Gardens (or so I imagine). It had mostly decayed, but a skeletal arm was still clinging to the wire. Nasty, nasty, nasty. I would not want to be around when the tendons finally give way and the corpse falls to the street with a thud of decayed bat.

Ick

2010-06-15T16:25:00.001-07:00

There was a dead rat on my patio this morning. I am hoping dearly that it was a random unfortunate event and not that my backyard cat has decided to start bringing me gifts.

Wow

2010-03-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

I just made a currency transfer (AUD to USD) and my AUD4000.00 bought me close to exactly USD 1100 more than it did at the depth of the currency crash!!

Hot!

2009-11-21T19:40:00.000-08:00

It is something like 39 or 40 degrees C outside, which is well over 100 degrees F. Happy Thanksgiving week y'all!

Victory!

2009-11-21T01:15:00.000-08:00

After 2+ years, my backyard cat has finally let me pet him/her. It only lasted a few pats, but there is a bright and shiny future for the two of us...

A new and gross creepy crawly

2009-10-28T03:47:00.000-07:00

I had a seven inch or so version of this guy on my kitchen floor this evening. Boo. Apparently, they eat earthworms. And amazingly, they are actually called hammerhead worms, which meant that it was an easy google to learn about it.

Yuck!

There is still a hole in my heart

2009-09-11T09:59:00.001-07:00

Birth of Athena

2009-09-06T05:55:00.001-07:00

I think I want to fuss more with the coloring, but it is basically done. Think it will keep the students away?

Not-quite-so-scaredy cat!

2009-08-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

The shy cat that I have wished I could woo for the past two years, the one that lives in my back yard, actually ate some of the food I put out for him! Right next to my door!

A huntsman in my kitchen

2009-08-30T17:49:00.000-07:00

The eloquence of compassion

2009-08-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8212153.stm

Spring is here!

2009-08-14T17:23:00.003-07:00

I just killed my first mosquito, erm, mozzie, which makes it official.

YouTube Art

2009-07-31T18:05:00.001-07:00

The Kiwis are coming!

2009-07-23T04:33:00.001-07:00

The Kiwis are coming!

Do ants sleep?

2009-07-13T02:42:00.000-07:00

A question I often ponder, given my excellent view from the toilet of a swarm that refuses to eat the ant poison.

Thanks to the miracle that is the Google, I now know the answer.

UPDATE:

The world's biggest ant colony was discovered in 2002. This supercolony has billions of ants living in millions of nests. It stretches 3,600 miles, all the way from Italy to northwest Spain.

!!!

Yikes

2009-07-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Apparently, Australia is not immune to the very worst of American cultural mistakes.

Slugs at the trough

2009-07-04T02:10:00.000-07:00

It turns out that slugs really do like beer. I don't know what it does to them, but at least they gather around the beer dish rather than hanging out in the middle of the floor where I am likely to step on them and have them squish between my toes.

The rain

2009-06-20T05:12:00.001-07:00

never stops. My house is full of slugs.

Way cool

2009-06-16T04:17:00.000-07:00

On my walk home today, there was a man standing under the massive (and now very soggy) fig trees in Wentworth Park playing the bagpipes.

Latest sculpture class product

2009-06-12T17:12:00.000-07:00

This is after "The Complaint" by Kathe Kollwitz. Sadly, the photographs don't really show that the piece is BLUE. I have been dreaming in blue for this one for ages and while the result wasn't what was in my dreams, I am very happy with its blueness....

NOTE: The book I used titled the piece "The Complaint" (maybe "Die Complaint"? Is complaint German as well?) but I see here that it is titled (in English, at least) "Lamentation." I wish I had found this earlier, since it is a much better picture than the one I was using. Oh well!

Damn it's cold

2009-06-10T17:32:00.001-07:00

There was supposed to be frost in parts of Sydney last night! My foot feels like it is about to fall off, it is so cold. I wish there were heat. And yes, my space heater is on high and right next to me as I type, but it doesn't make much of a dent...

Love note from the IRS, stink bomb from the landlord

2009-05-28T03:33:00.001-07:00

In my mailbox today were two letters: from the IRS a letter informing me that due to an error in calculating my tax return I am now due a refund of $300; from my landlord a letter informing me that my rent will be going up by $20 a week. The Lord giveth and he taketh away.

I am considering more seriously now than my idle fantasies of a few days ago of looking for a different place. After all, 2 years is an awfully long time to go without moving boxes....

Kangaroos scratch their bellies too

2009-05-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

There is something shockingly human-like about kangaroo mannerisms sometimes. This is from the Gold Coast Wildlife Sanctuary.

Sigh

2009-04-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

The seasons are indeed changing, and I am once again shivering in my chair with a blanket over my head. At least this year there was no hesitation or learning needed--the guest room's down comforter has been added to my own for a good 6 inches of down to keep out the drafts.

Aussie birds lack fashion sense too

2009-04-25T19:44:00.000-07:00

I spent an enjoyable couple of hours yesterday at Wildlife World, an admittedly touristy institution in Darling Harbour next to the aquarium that has a small but well-done collection of native animals. They have a great bird exhibit, and amongst the many birds was the topknot pigeon, which looks like nothing other than a bird with a mullet. Fits right in!

(Note: the birds I saw seemed to have some of the "hair" flopping forward, increasing the mullet look from this photo, taken from here.)

Dear Sir/Madam

2009-04-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

[This arrived today]

We have paid you a one-off tax bonus of $900. This payment is part of the Australian Government's economic stimulus plan.

This amount is based on your taxable income for the 2007-08 financial year.

Your tax bonus has been paid into the bank account you provided in you 2007-08 tax return -- or an account you nominated since them.... If this account has been closed, you do not need to do anything as we will send you a cheque.

...

This payment is not considered income for taxation purposes and it does not need to be included in your tax return.

You do not need to do anything else about this payment.

....

nice.

Living Muriel's Wedding

2009-04-10T06:54:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbors are having an ABBA dance party.

I can't believe it.

Underwater at the Reef

2009-04-02T22:30:00.001-07:00

My newest icky house-related problem

2009-04-02T15:57:00.000-07:00

It's been raining a lot.

Johnny boy

2009-04-02T15:38:00.001-07:00

After Mestrovic's St John the Baptist...

Cute croc

2009-04-02T15:36:00.000-07:00

A baby crocodile in the Daintree River.

Un-effin'-believable

2009-03-17T01:21:00.000-07:00

Australia is not suffering to the same extent as the US or Europe in today's economy, but man, these guys' optimism is a little scary. I was just browsing through the neighborhood circular, and saw a story about a house being sold in Stanmore, a nice, up-and-coming inner west area:

View Larger Map

But get this: the selling price was AUD620,000 and the description of the two-bedroom house includes

the property has polished floors and period features, but needs a lot of work, particularly as its only toilet is outside.

An okay 2 bedroom in an okay neighborhood with no inside plumbing!!!! 620K!!!!!

(Not to mention the idea of no plumbing in Sydney 2009 is a little mind blowing, if you haven't spent time looking at real estate here.)

I was here too

2009-03-13T16:21:00.001-07:00

The island of Waiheke, in the Auckland harbor. Some of the best wine and olive oil in New Zealand.

I was there

2009-03-13T16:19:00.001-07:00

Declaring blog bankruptcy!!!!

2009-03-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

Never fear, this is a Chapter 13 filing.

I have been traveling lots since mid-November to lots of wonderful places (Kioloa, Auckland, New York, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, New York, DC, New York, Philadelphia, New York, DC, New York, Los Angeles, Auckland, Port Douglas and the Reef). Along the way, I've taken tons of fabulous photos, which I want to share with you. But they have piled up, since rather than post them, I have been recovering/preparing/traveling to the next destination and then taking lots more photos.

And then I feel guilty for getting behind, and overwhelmed by the idea of all that time that it takes to upload photos, which just makes me put it off a little longer. So here I am.

So I apologize for the silence. I will abandon all attempts to give you a more coherent story of my travels. But I will start posting again and I will share the best photos in a haphazard way.

Good to be back!

Sydney Obama-Biden Party

2008-11-16T03:40:00.000-08:00

Bestest day ever!

Newport Beach

2008-11-16T02:02:00.000-08:00

Yikes

2008-11-14T03:29:00.000-08:00

I am way behind in blog posts, but I just have to say: there was just a big thunderstorm and OVER 20 SLUGS were invading my sun room! What the hell?? I just re-upped with the salt battle lines at the door. Messy, but goodness. 20+ slugs!!! (I lost count)

Bizarre? Wonderful? Bizarrely wonderful?

2008-10-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

The line at about 2:13 is particularly wonderful. Reminds me of many afternoons spent in the living rooms of coaches' apartments, but with a surreal twist....

Appalachia for Obama

2008-10-04T17:11:00.001-07:00

Ralph Stanley really is the man.

Another sign of the seasons

2008-10-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

New South Wales changes over to Daylight Savings Time tomorrow, which means I get an extra hour of overlap with all of you Northern/Western hemisphere people. Starting tomorrow (my Sunday and your Saturday), the east coast's 5 pm corresponds with my 8 am (instead of my 7 am). The west coast's 5 pm corresponds to my 11 am. This will shift again in a few weeks as you guys change your clocks and we'll get yet another hour of overlap.

Roach laps

2008-10-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

[WARNING: This post is gross]

I feel like the rhythms of my life here are marked by waves of gross creepy-crawly assaults: most recently, after finally figuring out how to end the swarms of ants that would invade if food was on the counter for more than 10 seconds (ant traps at their highway intersections), huge slugs have been entering the house, sometimes as many as 10 a day. A line of table salt at the doors and windows has helped stem the tide, though it isn't completely gone. Well, the year cycles around, and now I am back to the insects I first fought when I moved in here. I saw my first moth in 10 months the other day, and the big roaches are back. There was one running laps around the walls of my bedroom today, high up out of reach. Gross and funny in equal measure (does he know that he is retracing steps?) He finally started to climb down the wall and met a disgusting death doing battle with my shoe. Bright blue guts smeared on my wall. Arms still moving after disembowelment, but hopefully now truly dead after being crunched along several axes with a paper towel. Fortunately, I am a smarter defender of the castle than I was last year, and will crack out a fresh set of roach traps today. Woolens will go back in their plastic casings too.

Spring, erm, Summer is here

2008-10-03T02:44:00.000-07:00

Gone almost without pause from bemoaning that my house is 10 degrees colder than outside to celebrating it. It looks to be a much less pleasant summer this year, if it keeps it up, but at least the birds are back in their full-throated glory.

Labor and Obama

2008-10-03T02:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry to succumb so completely to the election season, but this is pretty damned moving and worth watching. And even apropos-ish given that this weekend is Australian Labour Day.

He's my man

2008-09-16T17:15:00.000-07:00

Here Barack talks intelligently about all of the stuff that I care about, spend my days thinking about!

Wow

2008-09-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

It is actually...warm outside. Not just warm-in-the-sun warm, but air is actively warm everywhere. Except inside my house. But windows and doors are open and maybe my fingers will stop getting numb.

There is still a hole in my heart

2008-09-11T05:10:00.001-07:00

I miss you.

Kind of all you need to know about the Republican Convention

2008-09-09T04:38:00.000-07:00

Warm cheese

2008-09-07T03:46:00.000-07:00

I am having a domestic Sunday full of laundry and baking pie and finally getting around to trying the suggested recipe on my feta cheese package. Slice the feta, roll it in seasoned flour (I just used ground pepper), and pan fry in olive oil. Damn, it was good. What on earth am I going to do with such easy access to divine warm cheese? Arteries, beware!

I also plan on restarting my sourdough starter tonight. It isn't quite so horribly cold inside, so there is some hope that the yeasties will grow.

Basta!

2008-09-06T07:59:00.001-07:00

I just got rid of four slugs in my kitchen. I hate it when it rains this much.

Pictures!

2008-09-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

And the usual stunning views

2008-09-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

Black cockatoo

2008-09-05T21:22:00.001-07:00

Also a first for me.

Fuzzy lyrebird

2008-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

A new bird for me in the woods of the Blue Mountains. I thought it was a road runner, but it turns out that road runners are found in the deserts of the US.... So I think it is a female lyrebird.

Almost 62 Clovelley

2008-09-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Again the street didn't go far enough to warrant a 62.

No euphemisms here

2008-09-05T21:11:00.000-07:00

Aussie bluntness at its best. Note the pigeon toes.

It's finished!

2008-09-04T18:34:00.001-07:00

I finished my hands last night! It is hard to think about what I'll do now that I don't have to agonize about their surviving all of the post-clay steps. But, amazingly, I'm quite happy with how they turned out.

I'll post pictures soon--I didn't have a camera with me last night.

Just...go away

2008-08-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

What can one say? In what world does McCain live in that he does not realize how profoundly offensive and patronizing this is???

Wow.

2008-08-29T04:39:00.000-07:00

For both its existence and its substance, Barack's acceptance speech has had me floating on a high all day.

62 Paramatta (close enough)

2008-08-18T06:03:00.000-07:00

Well, it doesn't go all the way up to 62. This is c. 44.

What were you ... thinking?

2008-08-18T06:01:00.001-07:00

Man, the bugs here are aggressive. I found a slug on my kitchen counter this evening, and I am left to wonder, what was it trying to achieve? That is a hell of a journey if you are a slug, and there is no food, no water, no heat.... I don't get it, and I wish they would stay away.

62 Balmain

2008-08-15T20:25:00.001-07:00

A new project

2008-08-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

I got thinking last week about the annoying habit of Sydney neighborhoods reusing the same handful of historically significant names to name their streets. As a result you can't just get into a cab and say, for example, 12 Macquarie Street, please. The cab driver will have several choices to select from, and you can't be sure that he will make the right choice.

I am trying to make a concerted effort to spend a part of every weekend exploring Sydney, and I thought that one way to organize the exploration that would get me into some random corners of the city is to go around taking pictures of all of the places in Sydney that have the same address as I do. Since this is the public internet, I'll be coy about the street name, but by a quick count of the list in my street guide, I have something on order of 34 places to visit in the Sydney metropolitan area. I suspect that it is slightly less than that, since there is also the problem that some areas have more than one neighborhood name attached to them. For example, my office is in both Broadway and Haymarket "suburbs."

The post above this one is my first foray on this project, 62 Balmain.

Best real estate in the world for dead people

2008-08-15T18:28:00.001-07:00

Surf's up

2008-08-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

These waves were really really big. I know, 'cause they are much bigger than those strapping young surfer dudes who are riding them.

Playing catch up

2008-08-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

This is from two weekends ago now--a walk with friends from Clovelly to Bondi and back (one of the many reasons not to own a car--you have to do round-trip walks....) I feel like I am getting a bit repetitive on this site: too many pictures of gorgeous coastline and blue sky. But that is Sydney for you!

A funny one

2008-08-05T23:27:00.001-07:00

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

A smart ad from a dumb blond...

Boxing Glove

2008-07-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Did the "squeeze" on my hands tonight in sculpture and had time the last half hour to start chipping away at the plaster cast. I managed to get the wrist clear of the female hand and it looks for all the world like a hand wearing a boxing glove. It was hard to put away the tools and say goodnight--there is something magical about the moment when a chunk of plaster falls away cleanly and you see something that is recognizably sculpture underneath.

I like this class, too. The teacher is much better, more sociable, and there were only two other very nice seeming students there, a late 40s-early 50s man and a woman not too far from my age.

Woohoo

2008-07-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Sculpture classes start up again today. Hopefully I'll get to find out over the next week or so whether these babies have survived their transfer to a plaster existence.

Happy Anniverary, Me

2008-07-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

I landed at the Sydney International Airport last year today with more bags than I could carry and no clue as to what I was getting myself into.

It has been a year full of travel and beautiful landscapes and new things and wonderful people and intellectual stimulation and personal growth. Lots of loneliness, homesickness, missing of friends and family and normal food and normal English and the comfort that comes from understanding the nuances and unspoken meaning of what is occurring around you, too. I am still astonished that I live in Australia (Australia!). I think the next step of my life here will involve getting over the self-image of a shell-shocked, fresh-off-the-boat new arrival and start to learn what it means to have a life here.

Anyway, it is a quiet celebration here. The Pope is in town and it doesn't seem worth venturing outside and battling pilgrims, so I am huddled in my red blanket and Tasmanian hat trying to stay warm. Have I complained here yet about how the concept of heating seems to have passed by the Antipodes??

Umina Beach

2008-07-12T03:00:00.001-07:00

Pelicans!

2008-07-12T02:56:00.000-07:00

Woy Woy Tats

2008-07-12T02:54:00.000-07:00

The tattoo parlor seemed to be the happenin' place.

Woy Woy, NSW

2008-07-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

Went one hour north by train today with friends to Woy Woy. The name may be more interesting than the town, but a very nice day nonetheless.

I know I complained about this before

2008-07-08T23:21:00.001-07:00

But can I say again that I hate that I live in a country that follows a different spelling regime???

My spelling skills are just not up to the challenge. I am writing a paper for an American journal and I hate that my Word turns behavior to behaviour. Far worse still, I hate that I cannot tell whether behavior is correct in the American sense or not! Close to 30 years of blood, sweat, and tears on learning to spell reliably are swirling down the toilet as I type.

Sorry, but this is too funny

2008-07-06T04:55:00.000-07:00

Child labor heaven or hell?

2008-07-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

Another sight outside the cathedral....

Cockatoos!

2008-07-06T02:16:00.001-07:00

Bats!

2008-07-06T02:14:00.001-07:00

Kookaburra!

2008-07-06T02:13:00.001-07:00

Winter flowers should not be this voluptous

2008-07-06T02:11:00.000-07:00

Another sad note

2008-07-06T02:09:00.000-07:00

There was some sort of Aboriginal pride event in my neighborhood, with this guy performing a sort of under-energized rap. Sadly, the police were the largest group in attendance.

The Pope as marketing opportunity

2008-07-06T02:07:00.000-07:00

World Youth Day is happening soon here, with the Pope's visit, and Sydney is gearing up for it. This depressing tent was outside the cathedral.

New camera

2008-07-06T02:06:00.000-07:00

Well, it is new for me at least. I'm even reading the instructions, so expect to see the picture quality go up on this site.

Hello Sydney

2008-07-03T01:12:00.000-07:00

It seems I've made it back to Sydney in one piece. And despite Sydney life feeling like a dream, my muscles remembered how to get me to work and back, including looking in the proper directions as I cross the street. It was nice to see the usual characters at the grocery and at the fruit and veg. My house seems to have survived tenants, though I still have a load or two of sheets and towels to get through. Fortunately it was a strong sun sort of day today, good for hanging laundry.

I'm looking forward to the clean-slate aspects of starting up normal life again.

Goodbye Santa Fe

2008-06-29T20:44:00.001-07:00

It was a great month.

I can't resist

2008-06-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Corvids are cool everywhere

2008-06-14T12:55:00.001-07:00

Geology is fun everywhere

2008-06-14T12:53:00.001-07:00

Bandalier National Monument

2008-06-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

This was last weekend's hike.

Los Alamos

2008-06-14T12:50:00.001-07:00

Oh for a camera at the right time

2008-06-03T21:59:00.001-07:00

Had a lovely night walk back from the city center with some new friends and at the very end, once I had split off for my dorm, I saw a coyote walking in the scrub brush just off the road!

In Santa Fe

2008-06-03T12:13:00.000-07:00

I'm here, it is gorgeous in a desert sort of way, I am having a ball, and I really need to start getting to bed at a reasonable hour!!!

Hopefully I'll get around to some pictures at some point soon. You'll see them here....

More geology!

2008-05-15T07:09:00.001-07:00

Geology!

2008-05-15T07:05:00.001-07:00

Coogee to Malabar

2008-05-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

A lovely long Sunday walk two weeks ago.

SPIDER!!!

2008-05-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

Royal National Forest

2008-05-15T06:10:00.001-07:00

An adventure quite a while ago now (why is that I only blog when I should be cleaning and packing????)