tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-308359392012-01-30T18:18:06.625-08:00Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.comBlogger821100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-26895896545904573432010-12-22T00:38:00.000-08:002011-02-20T12:02:48.195-08:00

So it's Christmas and I'm thinking about all the friends heading back to their hometowns and homelands from this City of Angels, this city of transients many, and it makes me think of how we don't think, of you, California. I spend so much time longingly thinking of my past, the roots I can't (and shouldn't) shake. Of my native lands of Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. I spend so much

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-20140037805127032432010-06-24T15:05:00.000-07:002011-01-20T11:29:37.832-08:00

Forty-five seconds in to the Carolina Chocolate Drops’ set at the Henry Fonda Music Box in Los Angeles last night, the tears came. Lord knows I cannot find tears in all sorts of situations where they would not only be deemed appropriate but in fact expected, but the right combination of notes on the right night with the right measure of sincerity and I’m a leaky boat. Probably not what the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-75011311187594263612010-06-21T17:28:00.000-07:002010-06-22T18:08:19.842-07:00

It was a poignant accident that we, a group of fifteen people, whose lives constantly find reason even beyond our control to flow into each other, came to be watching, “Still Bill” the new documentary film about American singer-songwriter and musician, Bill Withers on Father’s Day. I’m Australian and we specially honor our fathers on a different day of the year. Thus, when I originally sent out

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-22779892383587221052010-01-25T22:45:00.000-08:002011-01-19T21:08:31.988-08:00

Click Image to View AlbumWe love Mexico and we always will. So it was no question when our good, Aussie friends (now based between Ensenada and San Diego), invited us to an intimate, birthday, dinner party at their local, favorite restaurant in Ensenada, “Ophelia” that we would oblige. I put in for a Monday off, packed the car up Saturday morning and hit the road to make the four hour journey

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1526913313426410372010-01-16T00:20:00.000-08:002010-01-19T15:42:28.480-08:00

For nearly fifteen years, I have made the same wish. Every time I have extinguished my birthday candles, seen a shooting star, blown on a dandelion or encountered a new, supposed, wish-granting superstition, I have made the exact same wish and wished it hard. The wish? Well, it has always been yours of course. I have spent all my wishes on you, for nearly fifteen years. Tonight, at thirty-four

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-33044330573200097092010-01-08T00:01:00.000-08:002010-01-10T14:46:19.893-08:00

From NYE 2009 The Rosebowl Parade PasadenaI love dogs. I love all creatures in fact. Even the cockroaches and the bird-eating spiders. I’m mad for each and every one! I was once the human of a ferret or three, back when they were extremely uncommon (in Australia). And it was as the human of a few, much-loved, much-spoiled ferrets that I got a peek into an underground world of total,

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-53488346423973187392009-12-26T12:50:00.000-08:002010-01-04T11:44:04.546-08:00

Click Image to View AlbumThis was my husband and I our 5th Christmas away from home. I've been hurting for my family a lot lately, expecting this Christmas to be my very loneliest yet. My parents are getting noticeably older, my nieces and grandniece and grand nephew are growing at a pace I can’t keep up with and family pets are departing this earth at an alarming rate. Life is moving so fast

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-23918770938024451192009-01-26T08:16:00.000-08:002009-01-26T18:15:20.090-08:00

You know how some nights, the stars are aligned and there’s this... energy in the air? It's palpable. You know when everyone is just in sync, up for anything, all wanting to have a really good time all at exactly the same time? Last night was like that. Everyone wanted to party hardy and everyone did. I was drunker than I’ve been since I was 19 and I'm really not quite sure how I got that drunk.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-25264366239140368352009-01-08T22:48:00.000-08:002009-01-08T22:58:34.694-08:00

From The Great Southern Roadtrip 2008PLEASE CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW WHOLE ALBUM.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-7536867449599855062008-12-03T08:00:00.000-08:002008-12-03T13:50:37.915-08:00

The City of Angles, the Moon, Jupiter & Venus. Sunday, the sky seemed to smile over much of planet Earth. Visible the world over was an unusual superposition of our Moon and the planets Venus and Jupiter. Pictures taken at the right time show a crescent Moon that appears to be a smile when paired with the planetary conjunction of seemingly nearby Jupiter and Venus. Pictured above is the scene as

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-88517468785109361812008-12-02T07:15:00.000-08:002008-12-02T17:33:16.381-08:00

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-71665954711052739432008-12-01T08:20:00.000-08:002008-12-01T17:12:34.075-08:00

From Click on image to view album 24.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-91965133304800296792008-11-18T21:22:00.000-08:002008-11-19T14:34:59.125-08:00

Harry Gurerra is an arsehole. He makes me say things I really do not mean and worse, makes me see things in ways in which they usually would not appear to me. He makes me stand in the middle of an isle in Trader Joe’s supermarket and call my husband to say, virtually sobbing, “Why am I here? I don’t remember what we’re doing this week. What do I need to buy? What do you want to eat? I hate

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-4887526963043286232008-11-12T08:08:00.000-08:002008-11-17T14:41:05.745-08:00

My love and I are married. This is our choice. This is what works for us. We should not have the right however to impose our lifestyle choice on others anymore than any government should have the right to deny the lifestyle choice of consenting adults. We all have the right to love whomever we please. Marriage is a civil right, an equal right for all plain and simple. My husband and I are not the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-29415300705885768462008-11-07T07:28:00.000-08:002008-11-07T12:40:14.212-08:00

There are many, AMAZING photo-essays flying around the internet that walk us through the incredible journey to this great moment in history. The moment in history when a young, black man with an unusual name, the son of an African immigrant, raised by a single, white mother became the 44th President of the United States of America. But here are my favorites. For me it has always been and will

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-4873247651355655862008-11-06T10:34:00.001-08:002008-11-07T11:31:02.458-08:00

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-30032181910738255512008-11-05T16:56:00.000-08:002008-11-05T23:20:47.547-08:00

Click on it to enlarge.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-7652125057968919832008-11-05T09:54:00.001-08:002008-11-05T15:45:17.780-08:00

I bow deeply to you America, in making the fine choice to take your country back. Power to the people! The future is now in YOUR hands. Let the hangover from the parties subside and the dust settle, then it's time to roll your sleeves up and get involved in putting your country back together. He needs each and every one of you to help turn things around. I am truly honored to be able to be here

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-29403843254106136822008-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:002008-11-02T01:45:12.230-07:00

These are - by far - the coolest school kids I have ever seen. Offering a breath of fresh air, here are some super fly students from the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, reminding you all of the incredible freedom you are blessed with, in being able to vote without fear of retribution. PLEASE drop what you're doing and go out and vote next Tuesday. If these children are representative of the future

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-18068266209851741032008-10-15T08:00:00.000-07:002008-10-20T11:39:10.966-07:00

7:30pm Tuesday 14th OctoberVenice CA 90291Perhaps they suffer delusions of diminutiveness or perhaps they’re plain stupid. But I’d probably bank my money on them being in possession of one phat attitude and a whole lot of spunk. If you were a nocturnal creature the size of an English bulldog whose very nature was to be covert and stay out of harm’s and humans' way, you’d think that neighborhood

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-55451981584881888332008-10-13T21:46:00.000-07:002009-12-15T10:50:10.019-08:00

From Click Here to View Album 23.About two and a half hours east of Los Angeles, nestled in the High Desert hills surrounding the Yucca Valley, lies the strange, little legacy of an era of western films, Pioneertown. Built by some Hollywood investors as a set in 1946, the township's solitary, main street has provided the setting for The Cisco Kid and Buffalo Bill Jr to name a couple. Many of

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-46849041462625769452008-10-10T08:00:00.000-07:002008-10-27T16:50:02.893-07:00

by Frank SchaefferThe Huffington Post Great presidents are made great by horrible circumstances combined with character, temperament and intelligence. Like firemen, cops, doctors or soldiers, presidents need a crisis to shine.Obama is one of the most intelligent presidential aspirants to ever step forward in American history. The likes of his intellectual capabilities have not been surpassed in

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-68194795432922636792008-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:002008-10-10T15:57:18.757-07:00

by Jonathan Freedland The Guardian (UK)'If Sarah Palin defies the conventional wisdom that says elections are determined by the top of the ticket, and somehow wins this for McCain, what will be the reaction? Yes, blue-state America will go into mourning once again, feeling estranged in its own country. A generation of young Americans - who back Obama in big numbers - will turn cynical, concluding

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-10402956328979936212008-09-04T19:55:00.000-07:002011-08-26T11:06:54.591-07:00

From Click here to view Album 22. I’ve lost my husband to the desert. It’s true. We have desert in Australia too, but why he is so in love with the desert here in the USA remains a mystery. Maybe it is that here in the southern parts of Arizona, there is a monsoon season. Flying across the desert on the long, lonely highway in the darkness we hurtled toward the fantastical display of an

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-60440493157606892792008-09-03T23:17:00.000-07:002008-10-10T01:20:54.017-07:00

From Click on image to view Album 21.CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO VIEW THE ENTIRE ALBUM OF OUR LITTLE BUNGALOW.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-15179207612655135592008-08-05T22:25:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:36:55.882-07:00

“Daddy!” I gasped, as I pulled over to the curb yesterday morning and turned the radio up. “Morgan Freeman and a companion were in a serious car accident on Sunday night, August 3rd, 100 miles South of Memphis in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Although he is in a serious condition and the jaws of life were used to extract him from the wreckage, it is said that he is not facing anything life

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-78047397078957198722008-07-08T19:00:00.000-07:002008-10-09T11:29:01.129-07:00

Taken From: Broowaha: Citizen Newspaper NetworkInterviewer: DigidaveShe has won our hearts and minds. An interview with our old school Broowaha contributor V. Find out what makes her tick, what she thinks of the Broo and if she will marry me. Yes, I proposed. You describe yourself as an Australian living in "Amorica", how does this influence your writing?When I first moved to the USA 3yrs ago, I

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-27113324962401399172008-07-06T21:55:00.000-07:002008-10-15T16:06:04.313-07:00

From Click on image to view Album 20.We traveled nearly 1000 miles (about 1,601 kilometers) in a meandering, long-weekend journey to the northern rim of the Grand Canyon on a mini-America tour. A fitting excursion we think for the holiday that commemorates America’s 1776 Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. Leaving the state of California behind us and heading East out to Las Vegas –

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-80008605647557526112008-07-02T18:52:00.000-07:002008-10-10T01:21:57.396-07:00

Should he be or is he? Look what happens when you marry one of those passionate musician types. I had nothin' to do with it but couldn't be more flattered. I love my husband. From Click on image to view album 19.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 19.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-14469295589271831612008-04-02T19:59:00.000-07:002008-10-10T01:22:13.018-07:00

From Click on image to view album 17.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 17.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-77052867602144866332008-03-07T22:39:00.000-08:002008-10-10T01:22:28.496-07:00

From Click on image to view album 16.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 16.Stumpjump Saturday, 23rd February 2008It was late one beautiful, spring afternoon in October, 2004. The sheep were lambing, the Canola in bloom and together Matt, Vavine and close friends cleared the fallen branches and logs in a paddock, as was their designated farm chore for the afternoon. It was at dusk, atop a granite

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-37792981846663270462008-02-12T18:50:00.000-08:002008-10-09T14:32:04.475-07:00

While this could be seen as lacking in relevance to my American readers, I beg to differ. We are after all, citizens of the world. So too, Americans and Australians alike are currently living in times of serious change and, I believe living in an atmosphere of hope. On the 3rd of December, 2007 Australia changed government. Our 25th and second longest serving Prime Minister, the Liberal Party’s

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-55715873380364015422008-02-07T00:13:00.000-08:002009-04-30T16:09:48.410-07:00

Like God knows how many other women in La La Land, I’m starving – and it’s self-inflicted. The bizarre maple syrup potion I’ve been swigging on all day instead of eating food seems to be mostly working its magic and keeping the hunger at bay. But the overwhelming smell of my fiance’s carne burrito is giving me the illusion of hunger. It’s an illusion so strong, that it is taking all of my

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-47284666492080394652008-02-03T21:42:00.000-08:002008-10-10T01:22:58.104-07:00

From Despedida de Soltera TijuanaCLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 15.This weekend was my kind of informal Despedida de Soltera, or in English, "Bachalorette/ Hen's". A great time was had by all my wonderful amigas who who were able to join me on a mission to find the perfect, black boots in Mexico for my wedding. Gretchen so kindly put us all up in her beautiful, downtown San Diego loft where we

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-29907275276542638382007-12-17T19:08:00.000-08:002008-10-10T01:23:19.754-07:00

From A Little Radio ChristmasCLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 14.Our favorite on-line radio station (and radio station period) “Little Radio”, was transformed into a winter wonderland as “The Henry Clay People", “The Rosewood Thieves" and “Dead Meadow " tore up the stage.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-44659608934892840212007-11-29T19:20:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:40:06.048-07:00

From Nic's Last SupperCLICKO IN IMAGE TO VIEW ABLUM 13.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-88606917382043844512007-11-25T20:55:00.000-08:002010-02-10T00:12:22.090-08:00

8pm, Saturday Nov 24.At San Ysidro, Southern California, the US Intestate 5 from San Diego crosses into Mexico at Tijuana. This is the busiest, land-boarder crossing in the world with 55,000 plus vehicles making the journey each day. Today, I am in one of those 55,000 that all appear to be crossing into the USA at once. I have just eaten three of the five Churros that I bought from the lady

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-10280079581330819482007-11-21T00:19:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:41:06.851-07:00

From Betting with Bukowski - At the Track, Fall 1952CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 12.For Hilary and I our 29th and 32nd birthdays respectively, we threw a bash at Hollywood Park Raceway - an homage to ol' Chuck Bukowski (always drinking and always betting). All dressed up, 'At the Track, Fall 1952' we rang in our new years with the thunder of horses' hooves, the smell of whiskey, the biggest cake

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-35883584796599060722007-10-16T23:56:00.000-07:002008-10-26T22:33:58.614-07:00

It was long ago decided, that when I die, I will be going to a great big yum cha in the sky. The bed will be king size, the sheets 1500tc, white, Egyptian cotton and the carts on wheels will circle my bed, laden with an array of all my favorite foods. I will never get full and there will never be crumbs in the bed. “What ARE you talking about?” you ask. I am talking about the Chinese custom of

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-46872366994123374802007-09-12T23:24:00.000-07:002008-10-10T01:06:30.189-07:00

Standing there inside the lava lamp that is Spaceland Silverlake’s dance floor, I tried to calm the anxiety of my own brand of claustrophobia - the kind that has nothing to do with a constriction of physical space and everything to do with a constriction of my freedom of movement. Hungry and wanting to duck out for some quick grub, I was coolly told by the doorman that there was a policy of ‘No

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-81667449494593655042007-07-30T00:02:00.000-07:002009-12-15T10:58:50.314-08:00

From Click Here to View Sequoia AlbumSadly, today I did not see any bears, but I did see the world's largest, living thing. General Sherman - my new friend - is 2,700 years old. Maybe, if I'm lucky, my life will equate to a sprig on a twig of that Sequoia tree one day. A newly licensed driver, I took my first roadtrip to Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Visalia,

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-38300673344995882342007-05-05T23:50:00.000-07:002008-10-10T00:39:44.937-07:00

Clink, slap, clink, slap, clink, clink, clink, slap, slap, slap, slap, clink. It's like a far-off kinder garden class indulging in a free percussion period. But this cacophony of rope slapping hollow metal and the dull squeak of the slacking and tensing of tethers between wooden boat and wooden slip, is as welcome as the radiant sun. I am sailing on a boat with no name and this fact bothers me

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-33201547011604877572007-05-03T21:31:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:42:22.395-07:00

I gaze beyond the blazing bonfire at the blackest night-skies all around me. The air is heavy, hot and wet. I'm holding my breath, terrified. A woman lurches forward toward me, hands outstretched, teeth gnashing, eyes bulging, her skin a rich chocolate, glistening under beads of sweat. In a white, grubby, linen dress, her thick, woolly hair is secured by a scarf of the same fabric. Her body

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-71039942109247620222007-03-09T22:41:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:42:47.553-07:00

High among the tree tops I am drifting off to sleep in my thatched-roof bungalow, seemingly afloat in the emerald darkness of the Gulf of Siam. Bare, on top of a white, cotton sheet, my skin generates too much heat - the by-product of over sunning during the course of a day’s snorkeling and diving. Laying there, eyes closed, I hear the rustle of a warm light breeze in the palm trees, a breeze

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-15873937263477928222007-02-28T19:28:00.000-08:002008-10-10T00:59:33.398-07:00

If you are an American who has had the misfortune to find yourself in the company of a group of expatriates and other foreigners embroiled in the task of migrating, you will no doubt have been exposed to long and tedious discussions about visas. No matter what topic our conversation commences with, you can be certain that, before too long, a smart segue into Visaworld ensues, and with good reason

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-89530929645732447482007-02-07T23:23:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:43:22.971-07:00

If you have wandered around the Venice Boardwalk of late, you will have noticed a new addition to the riotous landscape. Crammed between a couple of tattoo parlors on the boardwalk between Horizon & Wave Crest, lurks a heavy curtained, narrow doorway emblazoned with, ‘Venice Freak Show.’ Although the Spruiker, who stands at his podium out the front, endeavors to lure you behind the curious

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-43093858847801216172007-02-05T00:18:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:43:45.291-07:00

It's 9:30pm on Friday, February 2nd, and I am outside the legendary, Los Angeles music venue ‘The Troubadour,’ waiting to see the somewhat obscure, Canadian, singer/ songwriter, Ron Sexsmith. Opened in 1957, The Troubadour has a rich, contemporary musical history, helping to launch such greats (earlier in their careers), as Tom Waits, Elton John and James Taylor. A music lover’s venue, this

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-75816613602302049672007-02-01T01:02:00.000-08:002008-12-20T02:13:37.166-08:00

It was cold, very cold. On a quiet, weekday morning I stood on the side of a lonely highway, shifting my weight from one foot to the other in a little jig, rubbing my gloved hands together, watching cross-eyed over the point of my nose as my exhaled spirit transformed into mist. I was headed west from the city of Nice in the South of France, up into the Pyrenees, on the French/ Spanish frontier.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-90579575443269072952007-01-13T22:10:00.000-08:002007-12-20T16:32:05.174-08:00

Photo: Antonia Darin

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-91073677527890375642007-01-11T23:10:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:44:52.394-07:00

Australia day, celebrated on January 26th is fast approaching and all around Los Angeles', ‘G’day L.A.’ events are in motion. Australia Day commemorates the landing of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788 and is our official, national day - despite continuing to be shrouded with controversy. L.A. hosts ‘Australia Week’ from the 11th to the 20th of January, in the lead up to the big day. It

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-15313927282394769272007-01-09T19:58:00.000-08:002008-10-10T01:16:36.796-07:00

It was sometime in 1996 and I was having coffee back home in Australia, with a friend who had just returned from a trip to Los Angeles. As we flipped through what would now almost be considered retro – her photo album, I came across a shot of a tall, striking-looking man dressed in a white robe, wearing a white turban, broad smile and an electric guitar. “Who’s that?” I inquired. “Oh, this famous

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-30207671216564771102007-01-01T22:34:00.000-08:002009-12-15T11:05:04.544-08:00

From Click Here to View Album 10At four o’clock in the afternoon, it was 30 Fahrenheit and my Fiancé and I were looking for somewhere warm to sit, drink some wine and conduct our personal Scrabble tournament. We set our sights on the quaint cottage-cum-café that we’d noticed earlier on the main street in town. As we weaved through the tall Pines and Cedars, leaving our foot prints in the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-9110314045558533982006-12-26T18:46:00.000-08:002008-09-04T14:20:44.277-07:00

From Click on image to view album 9.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 9.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-58379970604848481142006-12-20T21:53:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:46:16.591-07:00

To a vast majority of the Western world, Santa Claus is an essential figure in our upbringing. I know that, as a child, I’d spend the wee hours of Christmas Eve in my pajamas, on the windowsill, nose pressed hard to the glass, inspired by holiday season, television viewing, desperate to catch a glimpse of Father Christmas clamoring around on our roof top (despite the fact that we did not have a

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-18545071849485893102006-12-15T21:34:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:46:48.856-07:00

Imagine a city, so beautiful by day with a shimmering harbor, perfect, rich, clean blue skies, endless green park lands, rocky outcrops teeming with wildlife and stretches of pure white sand, the consistency of raw sugar. Presiding over all this natural beauty, imagine, after dark, a modern, vertical and dense business district, its twinkling towers pushing themselves up into the stars, a famous

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-62408806789777870422006-12-14T23:26:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:47:19.327-07:00

Contrary to common, international belief and the demand of a large percentage of the Australian population, ‘Waltzing Matilda’ is not the Australian national anthem. Australia is currently a constitutional monarchy. At a referendum on November 6th, 1999, Australians voted 55% to 45% against a proposed model to make the nation a republic. The Australian national anthem is currently ‘Advance

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-77221684139172430322006-12-13T23:32:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:47:37.479-07:00

Last night I sat forward on my ever so soft leather dining chair, in the wine cellar of a dimly lit, expensive restaurant in Beverly Hills, whose decor evoked the spirit of a Free Mason’s get together at a Swedish sweat lodge, and I took in the culinary arrangement that a model/waiter had placed before me. It was at that moment that I was overcome with a plague of guilt.It wasn’t the fact that I

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-13217390319723556692006-12-12T22:23:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:47:56.012-07:00

I am sitting in a dark backyard in Venice on a warm autumn night, my hands turned unnaturally up, so as not to get the remnants of my first ever crawfish boil on my clothes. Someone from the Brian Jonestown Massacre has just finished spinning some tunes and I am licking my fingers and watching as a fellow arranges a motley collection of wooden crates, hub caps, number plates and other debris in

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-71191845465512726202006-12-10T22:20:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:48:17.524-07:00

The Kingdom of Cambodia is a country and peoples on the mend, rebuilding their economy and morale after decades of civil war, violence, suffering and oppression. Sharing a boarder with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, 75% of its 69, 900 square miles lies very close to below sea level. Like its neighbors in Asia’s south east, Cambodia is subject to tropical Monsoons, wet season commencing in May and

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-69151340832714729352006-12-08T00:06:00.000-08:002009-09-15T10:55:07.140-07:00

Since I can remember, wanderlust has coursed violently through my veins. So it was an aggressively adventurous seventeen year old girl who stepped aboard the Paris Metro for the first time, with no particular place to go. As the spider’s web network of the Parisian metro spun itself to the farthest reaches of the city, I let it deliver me to the threshold of experiences that would become the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1164617903419593542006-11-26T23:32:00.000-08:002008-09-04T14:22:35.212-07:00

From Click on image to view album 8.CLICK ONIMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 8.Two things have often been said to me about San Francisco by people who’d know.1. You would love San Francisco.2. San Francisco is very similar to Sydney.I now know that they are right on both accounts.The past few months I have become increasingly aware of the fact that I am experiencing a very real assimilation to life in LA.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1164138059163259122006-11-20T23:28:00.000-08:002008-01-27T02:16:03.828-08:00

It was 7:30am on a Tuesday and, as usual, a T.V. breakfast show was substituting as my clock. I raced about the house preparing for work, glancing at the television every so often to make sure I was keeping good time.Here it is! One shoe. Now where is the other? Oh, 75 degrees Fahrenheit today. I wonder how warm that is? Damn, forgot to turn the flat irons on. What? Someone shot someone over a

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1163961160611489732006-11-19T22:15:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:49:05.496-07:00

From Click on image to view album 7.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 7.Heart felt tunes. Raucous rock. A piglet named Ponch or the fuzz or Miso. A pink beaver in the boot. Curry and cake on the same plate. Tiny works of French culinary art hidden in the safe. 31 'Sprinkles' cup cakes. A bath tub filled with Guinness. A little book of poetry. A friend. A poet. Some artists. Your name is Mud – the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1163053337172659752006-11-08T22:14:00.000-08:002007-12-20T16:43:45.947-08:00

On the 26th of October, a Thursday night, I stood before the television - which was on mostly for company – trying out my first ever Halloween costume. Due to this fact I was, at that moment, very conscious of what stage of the year we were in. Halloween. Late.The year firmly on thewane.I was a little lost in contemplation of this fact. The usual combo of retrospection and introspection ensued.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1162886845471002612006-11-06T23:05:00.000-08:002008-09-04T14:24:18.885-07:00

From Click on image to view album 6.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 6.Last night, deeply absorbed in adding and subtracting, scrutinizing and counting hundreds of tiny pieces of nearly transparent, long forgotten, pocket-worn receipts for the beastly task of tax return preparation, I was urged to take a break. Having returned from an errand I’d sent him on, the fella came bounding through the door

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1162420818525332302006-11-01T23:37:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:49:50.285-07:00

Everyone ... today my very favorite celebration commences! Remember, this is the annual, earthly visit of our lost loved ones. On the 1st November the children come, followed by the adults on the 2nd. Don't forget to light some candles and lay out their favorite fare!A History of Dia de los Muertos ...The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos, Día de los Difuntos or Día de Muertos in Spanish) is an

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1162182243528131272006-10-29T20:21:00.000-08:002008-09-04T14:25:59.930-07:00

From Click on image to view album 5.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 5.Family is good. Better late than never, but here's a taste of cousins on the loose in So Cal & Me-hico. I was lucky enough to have my PNG sisters come visit earlier this month.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1162138658982763832006-10-29T20:16:00.000-08:002008-10-09T10:50:38.069-07:00

From Click on image to view album 4.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 4.It's only early days with many more parties, parades and trick or treats to attend, but voi la my first 'for real' Halloween. This American celebration is FUN! Last night was the debut outing of Gato Castratti, the greatest fighter this side of Lincoln. Stay tuned for further visuals of Halloween shenanigans.

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1160179200300695622006-10-06T19:56:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:50:56.635-07:00

I am an outsider. I am not from here, so I do not mean to offend. No doubt, however, I will. And I expect a pummeling. But you know what? I don’t care. It is completely and utterly insane to me that I could walk into a gun shop (insane that there are gun shops all over the place), produce a gas bill, my passport that sports a visa advising whoever cares to look at it of my legal ability to work

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159723165221106622006-10-01T22:03:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:51:16.319-07:00

Watching the gorgeous ‘Science of Sleep’ today, reminded me of this experiment that my brother and I used to do when we were small. Psychotically terrified of the dark, I spent many nights of my childhood sneaking into his bed to sleep. We’d heard somewhere that if you held hands when you slept, you’d dream the same dreams. After many failed attempts, we put it down to the fact that we must

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159411553189538702006-09-27T19:19:00.000-07:002008-09-04T14:43:22.803-07:00

We are now two weeks out from that brilliant Banksy exhibition that was held in a warehouse in Downtown Los Angeles, and people are still talking about the pink elephant. Sadly, the talk on the street is more about the actual elephant rather than what he was there to represent.Firstly, I need to get out of the way the fact that I think that this exhibition was sincerely the best thing I've seen

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159241522661041642006-09-24T22:16:00.000-07:002008-09-04T14:29:29.509-07:00

From Click on imge to view album 2.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 2.So the second day of the first weekend of autumn has also been a corker. Today was the annual Abbot Kinney Festival (Abbot Kinney being the name of the street on which festivities are held and the name of the founding Father of Venice). A day of celebration for the neighborhood, the Abbot Kinney Festival is about friends, community

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159087884347778162006-09-23T23:45:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:55:09.606-07:00

From Click on image to view album 1.CLICK ON IMAGE TO VIEW ALBUM 1.As it turns out, it's not so sad that Summer has gone. The first day of the first weekend of Autumn has been a corker. And if its success is any indication, it looks like we're shaping up for an Autumn full of rugged up fun. Today was my first backyard crawfish boil. I'd only waited my whole life for someone to invite me to one of

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159044006017963112006-09-17T23:36:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:55:31.347-07:00

I have woken to the most beautiful, blue skied Californian day and the air has that crisp, fresh, Autumn feel to it. More than anything right now, I'd love my ugg boots (traditionally a practicality not a fashion accessory back home). My camel and black pairs however are at home in Australia. When I left OZ for America last year, and was packing the one suitcase that would see me on a journey via

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159035508784876072006-09-15T23:13:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:55:47.202-07:00

I learned a valuable life lesson tonight and lived to tell the tale.I ride my beloved beach cruiser Mathilda, most everywhere these days. When I am riding her, I feel free and cheerful. The wind on my face and in my ears lifts my spirits completely. I also love that the street scape perspective that riding a bicycle provides (and driving in a car does not), allows me to relate to my environment

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159034645206249732006-09-09T23:01:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:56:06.353-07:00

It's 10:30 pm at the Hotel Cafe, tucked away down a back alley off Cahuenga in Hollywood. A back door opposite a concrete car park is being manned by an uncharacteristically approachable looking doorman. Inside, Matt Ellis and his band are about to step on stage. It's such a dark, sexy, atmospheric room this one (the only thing missing is a smoke haze). The deep, wood-paneled walls arranged in

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1156046311651404862006-08-19T20:40:00.000-07:002007-12-20T17:02:48.492-08:00

chili friesChili fries I always thought were a Mexican thing. Not so. I am told they are a Texan thing. The fries’ component is obviously self explanatory. The better the quality of your fries, the better your chili fries are going to be. And likewise the chili. This American dish 'Chili', is a thick, ground beef, tomato based, spicy sauce. For this particular dish, it is ladled upon a bowl of

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159032339729445792006-08-08T23:20:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:56:37.922-07:00

I was sitting on the beach in my bikini (bottoms) reading, when a large shadow cast a corridor between myself and Sunday's sloppy surf. Looking up, there was a cop truck in front of me.Cop: "Afternoon ladies," he says. Then, turning his attention toward me in particular he continues, "Ma'am, uhm, this isn't a topless beach." Having seriously considered my motivation for toplessness and coming to

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1152413545348557512006-07-08T19:38:00.000-07:002007-01-18T00:45:51.996-08:00

the funnel cake A staple at fairs and fun parks I am told, the Funnel Cake (curious name), is a kind of cake/ doughnut batter drizzled, en masse, into a deep fryer in a woven-like arrangement. Once drained of oil, it is served hot and basically looks like a big pile of cartoon turd. It is then dusted in sugar powder which slightly contributes to disguising its unsightly appearance. To ensure the

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1159031885628021892006-06-06T22:14:00.000-07:002008-10-09T10:57:01.575-07:00

I come from Australia. Australia has not been documented as the utopian ideal for liberated sexuality, such as its not too far off neighbor, the Trobriand Islands. Australia is not a beatnik NYC of the 1950s. Australia is not a hippy-hippy-shake-shake-psychedelic-60s San Francisco. Australia is not an Orange People influenced ashram of 70s India. Australia is not a sexually experimental 1980s

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1158983983787653342006-02-19T20:49:00.000-08:002008-08-14T14:23:25.559-07:00

My Fiance and I had our first My Space fight today. We probably should have been out taking in all that Venice Beach sunshine, but anyway.I was sitting with him while he was fiddling about on My Space and noticed, to my horror that I was not in his top 8. I think it has been about ten days now since I even came to realize that there was such a thing as a top 8 and yes, have now arranged my page

Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06678548082382673319noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30835939.post-1158981314202038742006-01-28T20:05:00.000-08:002008-10-27T19:11:39.851-07:00

It is 10:30pm on Friday night at Abbot’s Habit, the very local coffee house on Abbot Kinney, Venice Beach. With a guitar as his protest flag, Tom Morello is taking to the corner of the room, allocated as a stage, to whip the audience into a peace-loving, revolutionary frenzy.It is a candle-lit room, bursting at the seams and heaving in anticipation. There are young and not so young comrades, once

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