Definately Definitely

Tonight is my last night in the house here on Edgar Street and I am very sad. These past few weeks have been wonderful. I am almost considering changing the locks.

So today is the day that I have to start getting everything ready for the return of the family. I've got to clear all my stuff out. Clean everything. Change the sheets. Do the washing up. Just the usual. I am very sad though.

It's been lovely being here with Ria. We haven't had to share our space with anyone. I can walk around in my underwear, and Ria can look on disapprovingly. We have the run of the kitchen. We can choose to watch tv if we want to. I've been storing beers in the fridge. Ria's been eating all of the cheese slices.

I know that this all sounds rather mundane, but that is what I have been revelling in. It has been mundane. It has been the every-day. It has been what life is often like. The only difference being that it has been our mundane. Our every-day. We haven't had to share it with anybody. And that has been the excellent part.

This afternoon we'll have to go around to the neighbour, Stuey, and make sure he still wants us to look after his place for the next two months. Hopefully he will, and we can start all over again. If not? Then I guess we'll have to find a place of our own.

And then we can go shopping together at Ikea!

She Has A Moist Vagina

I finished that Kurt Cobain biography the other day. It was good. There wasn't any huge surprises. In case you didn't know, he dies at the end.

There's a flyer at work for a cake company. One of the people making these cakes has the same name as my girlfriend. Her name is Ria. They make your usual sorts of cakes. Barbie cakes. Football cakes. Wedding cakes. Then there are some cakes I haven't really seen before. Stripper pole dancing cakes. Bulging bikini cakes. They are interesting. Not very appropriate for child care.

My weekend had ups and downs. Saturday was mainly ups. I cut back my grandmother's bush. I was given 10 cans of ginger beer. I saw
The Glass Menagerie. This play was awesome. I really enjoyed it. I don't know about the lady next to me. She started crying. And so did the lady on the other side. And the one behind me. It could have been what was happening on the stage, or it could have been that they were all suffering debilitating stomach cramps, or it could be that they loathed the play and Tenessee Williams. Who knows?

The rest of Saturday was good times. And sherpa chicken at the Himalayan Kitchen.

Sunday I woke early and headed to the beach for my first session in the boat. I've taken up rowing again, at Southport. It was fun. A little cold at the start, especially when it was raining, but it was good to be on the water again. Unfortunately we weren't in the surf, we were only on the Broadwater, but we did race an old ferry, and we totally kicked its arse.

The rest of Sunday wasn't the best. There was a bit of power struggle. There was a resolution to the conflict, which is good. Otherwise I'd be very sad. And smoking alot.

Neep Neep

The other day I had a real grandpa night. It was fantastic.

Ria was meeting up with my Dad to talk about something or other, so after work I dropped my boots in at the cobbler's. Then I headed over to Dad's office to get Ria. From there we decided that it was Japanese time and we walked over to Oishii Sushi. This is a sushi place just near Coorparoo Junction. I reccommend it.

We ordered up big, not as big as the first time we went there, on account of Ria playing netball later in the evening, but certainly big enough to keep us satisfied. I think that there was some tempura, some sashimi, some nigiri, maybe some eel? Anyways, it was awesome.

We brought the food back to Edgar street and proceeded to pig out.

Afterwards we retired to the bedroom. The time on the bedside clock read 6:30. I stayed in bed for the rest of the night.

It was wonderful. Ria left me in peace at 7:00 and I just lay in bed, under the covers, in my underwear, reading a biography on Kurt Cobain. The light was bright, so I wasn't squinting, the air was cool, but the doona was thick and I was extremely comfortable. I was almost disappointed when Ria came back. Almost.

The next day was also a great day. I did struggle getting out of bed a little bit, but that's to be expected when I had been horizontal for over 12 hours.

Last night Ria's sister Marise cooked a roast. She actually cooked two. They were awesome. As were the gravies. And the vegetables. Truly delicious. It was a fun night. There were some funny stories. There was one though which I didn't quite believe, it just didn't quite ring true. Just call me Columbo.

I don't have a problem with people relaying urban myths, there is a good reason why they spread like wildfire. They're entertaining. But saying that your dad's brother's sister was involved doesn't really impress anyone. You could always just say you heard this story. Anyways, it was a good re-telling.

Today has been a good day. Erin had her graduation ceremony this afternoon, so Congratulations to her! Here's my Graduation present!

Congratulations Erin!

Celebrate!

Redirect Your Feed

One day after dropping Ria off at work for the early shift I received a phone call on my way home. It was from one of the ladies at the child care centre, who was also working the early shift. She had rung to tell me that she wouldn't be able to work, and would I be able to open the centre up for her. I said I could, of course, and motored straight over there.

As I had originally thought that I would be only dropping Ria off, I hadn't prepared myself for work and was only wearing a pair of Ria's trackpants and a jumper and stuff. That was okay though, as they weren't a daggy pair of pink trackpants with unicorns and things on them. They were a simple pair of trakky daks, navy blue in colour, with elasticised ankles. Work that morning was a breeze. The centre opened with out a hitch and I think that part of it comes down to how comfortable the pants were. They were outstanding.

Have you ever been at work in a pair of track pants? They are so incredibly comfortable that when it came time for me to go home and have a shower, I was seriously tempted to put them back on. They were sensational. They really had everything you need. Pockets, coverage, warmth. Fantastic.

After the revelation of the other day I made a commitment to myself that I would purchase a pair of these pants. Unfortunately I was too drunk on the weekend to make any sensible purchases, so yesterday after work I went to Carindale shopping centre and hunted down a pair.

The first place I looked was Big W. I thought that they would be the home of track pants. They are not. They are the home of King Gee workwear and toys. I was very disappointed. I couldn't believe that I was unable to find a pair of track pants there. I realised that I would have to search further afield.

The clock was ticking, and the staff were beginning to finish up for the day so I raced into the next most likely venue, Best and Less. It was here that I was able to find some track pants. Unfortunately though, they only had pants without elastic around the ankles. What was I to do? One of the main reasons that I loved Ria's pair was that I could quite comfortably walk through puddles and mess without getting my heel covered in crap, resulting in the back of my pants being wet and cold. Time was running out though, and I had to sacrifice something. I didn't want to go another night without a pair of trackpants. So I gave up on the elasticised ankles and bought a regular pair. They were only $7.50, which I thought was a nice price.

I brought them home, and put them straight on. They were great, but I missed the snug feeling of comfort around my ankles. I think that I will need to venture out again, and find a pair that will do the job I want them to do, without fear of wet heels.

Converge

I should have known that yesterday was going to be trouble when I received a phone call from Josh before Stuart and I had even left the Brisbane city limits. Josh was ringing to say that they'd started a bush fire which had necessitated the Esk Rural Fire Brigade visiting the party to put the flames out. Josh had burned his foot and was recieving medical treatment. This was before midday.

Stuart and I were heading out to Esk for the races. Dave Wassman is living out there now, and he had decided to have a celebration of his birthday at the track. Stuart and I were suited and booted and heading out there when the call came through.

The Esk races were BYO as long as you didn't have any glass, so I had an eski filled with goldies and ice in the backseat. I had a few beers on the way out there.

We stopped at Fernvale and had something from the bakery. The weather was perfect and there was plenty of people on the road.

By the time Stuart and I had arrived at Dave's place the emergency was over and everyone was standing around getting ready to go into town. So into town we went. Josh was feeling a bit under the weather, what with all of the fire and injuries and staying up all night drinking, so we pumped some Airbourne for him and he was revitalised.

The races themselves were a huge event. There had to be 100 buses out there. And thousands of people. 15000? It was massive! All the action was in the centre of the track, and it was a maze of marquees. Walking over the track itself was quite novel, and it didn't take long for everything below the knees to be covered in a thick coating of dust.

Inside it was Bedlam. Lots of older people getting drunk. Real drunk. It was pretty chaotic. Kind of fun too. I was sticking to the goldies, and I guess I sort of thought that I could pretty much drink as many of them as I felt like, because they're only a mid-strength beer. This was a mistake that I paid for later on. But getting back to the scene inside the race track. There were people everywhere, with large lines for everything. There were 6 races at the track, but from our position I only saw horseflesh a couple of times. It was pretty full on. I put some bets on with Josh and actually had win with Ming Ping or something.

There was all sorts of tents that were holding all sorts of social groups. Some of them had barbecues. Some of them had seating. Some of them had music. They all had lots of drunk people. Old drunk people. It was sickening. Not!

Later in the day there were people doing beer bongs and rum bongs. I saw some guy jump up on top of one of the tents. Then when he hopped down some other guy tried to fight him. There was a race with people being dragged on milk crates. There was people randomly kissing other people. It was intense. Josh had a bit of a sleep at one point.

After the last race Stuart and I hit the road. Unfortunately I kept on drinking those beers, and they had taken their toll on me. I was pretty sure that I was repeating myself and getting tired and belligerent.

Thanks to Stuart for driving back. Apologies to Ria for being a drunk dickhead who plays unfunny games.

Micro Machines

After completing my washing up last night I had a beer to celebrate. Then I had another. After all that beer and washing up I felt dirty, so it was time for a shower. Because I did such a good job of cleaning myself in the shower I decided to celebrate by having another beer and calling a cab. I felt pretty good about myself.

I got the cab driver, who seemed to be from the West Indies, to drive me into the Queen Street Mall. From there I walked down to O'Malley's. There I met up with Ria and some other girls, one of them was Nat Hannah. It was happy hour so I bought three more beers. They were Coronas.

Sitting in the pub drinking beers and talking felt good. I was a little bit tired after the working week, but I was keeping things together reasonably well. After a little time passed some dudes showed up and it was decided that we would venture into the night and to the destination of true after work drinking, Fridays.

At Fridays there was lots of people in suits having a good time. I wasn't wearing a suit, but I was having a good time. Unfortunately it wasn't happy hour at Fridays.

While we were at Fridays there was a girl who was dressed a little bit inappropriately. It was fairly cold out, but this girl didn't seem to care. She was wearing a little black dress, and looked reasonably nice. The girls that I was with deemed her clothing to be too inappropriate and made some disparaging remarks about her possible morals. I was in an agreeable mood, and so agreed. I was then put up to a test.

I gathered my nerve and went and spoke to this girl and her friend. They abused me. It was pretty funny. They asked if I was with that group of girls over there who kept shooting them dirty looks. The friend said that her pal looked hot and that they were just jealous bitches. They said that they just wanted to go out for some drinks to celebrate the friend's 19th birthday. It was pretty funny. And I felt that they had a point. And with that I failed the Skank Test.

Apparently I was supposed to say at some point that the were looking at her not because they were jealous, but because she was a skank. Whoops!

After that the night pretty much petered out. I turned into a bit of a grump because I had failed the test. I tried to cheer myself up by eating a tandoori chicken sandwich and a meat pie from the servo over the road. I also consoled myself by purchasing a crappy magazine. I then walked across the road and up the stairs, through the front door and to the couch. There I watched some film clips on rage and passed out.

At some point Ria must have changed the channel and seen an advertisement for a relationship test with one of those sms service things. Apparently we are 58% compatible

"There could be power struggles with this relationship, and you'll need to empower each other rather than trying to be the dominant one in the relationship."

"You seek success in relationshops and like to be in charge of them. When things aren't going well you can be negative. You need to relax and enjoy your lover."

"Your match is happiest when they are in safe secure relationships. They can be a little shy with their partner and prefer to be a home rather than out in the crowds."

That was all (sic).

Today has been a very nice day. The weather was beautiful and I went with Tony to kick the football in a park. Afterwards we had a pie from the Stockman Pie shop on Oxford Street. I have never had such large meaty chunks in a pie before. It was awesome.

Happy Birthday Al!

Last night I finally had a chance to get some food from that little Lebanese food place on Vulture street in West End. I've often looked across the road and wondered what it would be like. There are often people getting food there, and I think that it's been there a long time. It does look a little bit dodgy, but that doesn't mean anything. So last night I finally had something from there. Or somethings.

I had a falafel, a dolmade, a bit of grilled eggplant, a spinach pie and finally a piece of poppy seed cake. It was all awesome. The best part about it was that I ate the majority in a movie cinema. I don't know what it is, but I love taking hot food into a cinema. Especially when it's food purchased at another venue to the theatre. I don't know what it is. I don't know if I'm a rebel without a cause, but I think that it's the best part about going to the movies.

I've had a hamburger. I've had fish and chips. I've had a chicken burger. And now I've had a variety of Lebanese food. They were all awesome. My favourite was probably the fish and chips, the only downside of them was the constant rustling as I dug around for the chippies. The burgers were good, but I was constantly worrying about spilling something in my lap. The felafel was great. As was the cake.

So I went and saw Transformers again. I thought that sitting in a different seat other than right up the front might heighten my viewing pleasure. It didn't really make all that much difference.

After the movie Stuart, Tim, Jimmy and I had a coffee at Denim. Jimmy made an unfortunate social gaffe, but that happens from time to time. It didn't help that everyone else at the table when silent, and then burst into uncontrollable fits of giggles. I feel bad for the poor girl, but she probably should eat something. Beat that anorexia. Then she wouldn't have such hairy arms.

The rest of my life has been going pretty well. I managed to enrol someone today which is always nice. I bought a pineapple for morning tea today, but it had a bit of a rotten core, which was a shame. I bought some cds at WOW Sight and Sound yesterday. That was a result of Stuart having a hard time getting any service. I bought Airbourne, Velvet Revolver, Duran Duran and Sessions 4. I've given them all a little bit of a listen and haven't been overly impressed with any of them. Oh well.

I've got a stack of washing up to do now, so I might go and do that. Domesticated bliss!

Why Combine?

Yesterday was a bit of a crappy day. I felt like I had been undermined. I guess that's life.

The weekend, however, was really great.

It started off with a Mexican Fiesta, which thankfully wasn't a Mexican Fiasco. There were nachos, tacos, burritos, margaritas, cervezas and some Panic. It was a good time. I ate too many burritos though, and my stomach felt like it was going to explode. I couldn't fit anything more into it if I tried.

I also bought a blender on Friday afternoon in preparation for the Fiesta, and I'm very happy with my purchase. Even though the weather was probably a little bit cold for an icy cocktail, they still tasted delicious. So delicious that I had a few more on Saturday night.

But before I get to Saturday night let me talk about Saturday day. I was going up the coast with Stu to go to the Caloundra Cup. There was a mix up with times with Stuart, so I headed up alone. Up there I joined Eamon, Eamon's girlfriend Alice and Joshua. We went to the races and it was a fun day. Josh was feeling a bit under the weather from the night before, but that didn't slow us down too much. It was a beautiful day up there, and even though I didn't have any luck with the form guide, there was still plenty happening. Even though we are only separated by a 100 km stretch of highway, it really is a different place up there. I was lucky to see some very interesting Fashions in the Field. One of the worst was a girl wearing a pink evening gown. Some of the boys were rocking the hardcore look with their straight brimmed caps. It was a good time.

Eventually it was time to come home, and it was lucky I only had a couple of Goldies, as I was breathalysed on the way out.

Once back in Brisbane it was time for a couple of margaritas and some partying. It was a 21st at Jorge and I had a good time. There were some interesting people, and I enjoyed the Asahis and seafood.

While at the party I had an interesting encounter with some American dude in the toilet who was just happy to be alive. He actually sounded a little surprised that he was, so good luck to him!

After the party we kicked on at the Drinking Consultants for a while. There was a guy in the band who reminded me of Hulk Hagan, except he was shirtless. He was in the band, playing the drums and generally being a lady killer.

Sunday morning was a bit of a slow start to the day. Ria and I went and watched Transformers. It was enjoyable, if a little bit confusing. It was unfortunate that we couldn't find a park, as this made us a little bit late, forcing Ria and I to sit in the very front row. If you are going to see Transformers I would recommend sitting further back than the front couple of rows. It's tough to see the giant robots in all their glory when you can only see a third of the screen at a time.

In the afternoon we met up with some people at Lock N Load. We had cheeseburgers. I enjoyed it, but have had better. Other people were raving about theirs, so maybe I'm just a little bit weird.

That's about it for the weekend. It's now a quarter past 8 and I am running late.