Tunnelling Through the Week with Whitney...?....!

Hi!

Well. Look at this - checking in 2 weekends in a row! Gasp! Just like old times! I suppose because I actually got out of the house a coupla times this week and actually had a little bit of fun. Had to do something to break up the monotony of looking for work!

So work. Yep. We're still parted. Still looking. Same ol' story there..... Trust me when I say the day I do finally get a gig, I'll check-in with a special 'breaking news just in' post! Fingers crossed it's sooner rather than later.....!!!?

And then there were very small Adventures had (hooray)! Monday evening was really...... interesting, and bonus - free! Remember how I'd won tickets to go see ol' Whitney Houston in concert? Oh yeah. We went. Boy were we happy we didn't pay for the tickets to that stinker of a concert. Whhhoooooooowwwweeeeeeee she was TERRIBLE. Like, bad. Like, really bad. So bad that the news ran stories (read the comments, booooo-hiss!) about it for two nights after the show (and they rarely even run stories about good shows!). And I hear they've mentioned it up there too. Yeah. International bad reviews. That's bad. Those poor people who paid around $200 for tickets are screaming for their money back. As you would. She should be the high-school poster girl for why not to do crack. Hee hee, one person who commented about how bad the show was said she wishes Whitney from 20 years ago could slap the Whitney now for ruining her career. I thought it was funny. I mean, we felt bad for her because she's clearly lost all talent she used to have, and she had lots. It was really just sad to watch her struggle and croak and cough through her drug-induced mist (apparently she wasn't sober at the show, go figure). Sad. Interesting way to spend a Monday!

And then there was the rest of the week. Eh............ quiet. Hot and humid, which makes focusing on work-hunting a little tough. Because when you're hunting jobs, you have to have a clear and focused mind and a razor-sharp resume! And to think Autumn is like, well, tomorrow I think, and yet it's still as horrible as it's been since October..... Sigh..... Tropics.......... I'll just appreciate the Autumn, Winter and Spring that much more! Hooray! I can't believe I spent the whole summer unemployed in this hot sweat-box of an apartment. I'll probably freeze to death this winter if the temperature goes below 70 degrees!!!!! I'll have to invest in a heat lamp! I am The Lizard Queen (step aside Jim Morrison!)!

And then there was the weekend. Got out a bit, which was niiiice. Yesterday, Saturday, went out for a good long walk with Kim over to show her the "nice" side of Fortitude Valley - James Street. Oooooh fancee-pants! Lalalalalaala they only let you drive along James St. if you own anything in the Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, Aston-Martin, Ferrari, etc, families (preferably 4x4). Even better if you have at least 3 small, blonde (of course) children. We love the 'hood cos even tho we can't afford to buy anything in any of the groovy boutiques (yes dahh-link, they're boutiques, not shops), it's a nice spot to hang out. Clean, tree-lined, polite, smells nice..... Come down and I'll show ya! But our walk ended early as we were driven out by (not by small bank balances as you would expect) the rain. It moved across and settled in. So having seen the bulk of it, and shops - er, boutiques, were closing up for the day anyways, we hot-footed it back to Paddington. I should get down that way more often - it's got a lot of interesting boutiques, bakeries, cafes and tons of art galleries...... Yuppie culture! Hooray! It certainly beats the "other" side of The Valley - it's where all the nightclubs and bars that are open until sunrise. People stumble out of these places after drinking for at least 8 hours straight, and the moment they hit fresh air and daylight they throw-up and pee all over the sidewalk and then beat each other up. The place just stiiiiinks, and watch those puddles. Oh yeah. Good times. Sure. Call me old - go on! I can think of better evenings out and better ways to spend a few hundred dollars! So yes, the James Street end of The Valley wins. Who knew yuppies would win over drug-addled youths. I am getting old. Hooray!

And then today (Sunday, thanks for playing along with the calendar at home) was was really, really cooooool! Tho not cool temperature-cool, but neat-o coooool! Today was the Open Day for the new big Clem 7 Tunnel ("...named after Clem Jones, Brisbane's longest serving mayor from '61 - '75....") they've been digging at for 3-some years and cost over 2 billion dollars. Today was the day they let the public walk all the way through it! And the bit that we walked was just over 2 & 1/2 miles long! Neeeeeaaaattt! Cos if you think about it, if you're walking around in that tunnel at any other time, well, that can't be good. Let alone sit or lie down in it! Neeeeeeeeat. I know it's kind of geeky, just like when I walked along the new bus-way a few months ago, but really pretty neat in a history of the city kinda way. So I went with my friend Dom and met up with his friend and his girlfriend and off we walked! Woooooo we were pretty beat after. I mean, it wasn't a tough walk by any means, nor long, but just sort of draining in a way. Hard to explain. Still tho, it was really cool. I mean, seeing as I have no wheels, and I refuse to spend the $4.28 to zip through it if I did have a car, I probably won't see the inside of it for quite a while, and hopefully not at walking speed. Awwwww, if anything neat like this happens in your city, and they give you the chance to go look at or walk around in/on it - go. It's a once in a lifetime kinda thing. I know it's got a pretty high geek factor, but deep down, whoever thinks you're a geek secretly wishes they could've gone too if they knew it was happening. Oh yeah.

And that brings us to, well, now! Am in real need of a biiiiig glass of water and a shower (that tunnel was dusty, and it was a hot and humid day (yeah, yuck)), oh and a glass of wine wouldn't walk by alive! So there you go, some nice little Adventures were had! Hooray! Hope you're all well up there! Hey, if it's turning to Autumn down here, you get to have Spring up there! Well, that just means you can come down here any time cos the weather's going to be lovely (uhhhhh, sooon, I hope.....!)

BYE!
J!

Art, Soil & Chocolate Truffles

Hi!

Well. It's been a while. Am sorry. Partly no news to report, partly too hot to write that late in the day, and partly just too lazy. But here we are! It's neither hot, nor late, nor am I feeling lazy! The lorrikeets (and other assorted birds I haven't figured out yet) are happily chirping away, a breeze has slowly kicked up, the sun has set........ Hooray!

So work. Yeah, I just know there's a job out there that I could well be hired to do. It just hasn't contacted me yet. Same ol' story there - have put in, well, so many applications that not only have I lost count, I can't remember what half of them were doing that I sent away for. Sorry for me the day they call and I have no idea who they are or what they want! Just hire me! It'll be fun! So in other words - no gig just yet. Sigh. I think, now don't get me wrong here, but I think I'm getting just a little bit bored. I mean, I have lots to keep me busy, I just would maybe like to be kept busy not in this apartment anymore, and for money. You get the picture......... Am just sayin'.

So what else can I report on........? Have been up to my friend Kim's in Strathpine a couple times.... Always nice to get out and away to another 'hood.......... Finally made it out to my friend's parent's house, well, they're in the process of building their house, up in the semi-rural 'hood of Kilcoy, about 1/2 hour, 45 minutes west-north of the city and a bit inland. Very pretty spot. Tho the day we went it was absolutely pouring. I haven't been in a car, in that kind of rain since I can't remember. It was really bad. Hydroplaned just once, which I thought was pretty impressive. And of course when we finally arrived at the parent's place, no rain. But while we were inspecting the building progress (it's going to be amazing when it's finished - I wanna live there too!), well that's when the rain moved in and stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Eh, it's ok from the inside of a nice comfy place, but rotten to be driving in it. So we had breakfast and lunch and a good chat and by then, late in the afternoon, the rain had rained itself out and away. Even the main highway was basically dry by the time we got on it - home safe! Hooray!

Otherwise the excitement and adventures have been mainly limited to free stuff in town. So have been up to the Art Gallery and the Modern Art Gallery - both free with the most freezingist air conditioning, grocery stores would beg for the recipe! I couldn't even stay too long cos, silly me, as it was hot as hell outside, and after spending all summer in this sweat box of an apartment, I have blood thinner than a lizard, it didn't occur to me to bring a scarf, coat, hat and gloves. Next time tho, am wise now. And am kinda kicking myself for not visiting the galleries more often, if not for the culture, the air conditioning!

And have also been invited to pizza and games nights a few times, which is always a good evening out, boring as it sounds, it's actually quite fun (and the pizza is way bitchin' - hooray for homemade pizza!) And one good thing about having a bit of time up my sleeve is that since I can't contribute to pizza nights like I used to, I've been baking/creating desserts for it. This past Friday I think I outdid myself! I made, completely from scratch, Oreo-Strawberry Truffles with a strawberry whipped cream on the side. It sounds sort of gross, I'll say that, but nonononono, they turned out gooooooooooooooooooooood! And how easy is it to make your own whipped cream? And how much better does it taste minus all the chemicals and preservatives and crap store-bought stuff has (sorry Cool-Whip, but you've been replaced!)???? Easy and soooooooo good! But I had to first de-frosting the Oreo's (it was a little like de-veining shrimp, minus the grossness and the smell, but then, what the hell do you do with half a pound of Oreo insides? Ideas, send 'em through!?), then mashed up all the cookies until they were a fine sort of powder. Then all you had to do was mix that with a thing of cream cheese into well, truffle balls, then dip them in melted dark chocolate, dust with a bit of vanilla powdered sugar and voila! So for more fun I made whipped cream and mixed in 1/2 a cup of fresh mashed strawberries as a side to dip the truffles in. I say I had to do all of this by scratch because A) No job means no livin' large and B) I don't have room for stuff like food processors and bowls and such chef pro-gear. So having to make do with the ultimate basics, man, it still turned out fantastic. Makes me think I don't need a place like Williams-Sonoma (but oh if they had them here.........)! I just love making desserts, especially when they turn out amazing! Hooray for me! Success! Next stop Paris and the Cordon Bleu Pastry School!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y'know, you may snigger a little at my joy of baking and light gardening, go on, but just think I could be into worse things with my downtime. Like Tupperware. Or Avon. Or ~shudder~ Amway. Oh yeah.

So.... what else...... Y'know, I can never think of stuff to mention, then about a day or two later I remember stuff....... Kim and I are off to see, tee hee, Whitney Houston tomorrow night. Hmmm. Will report back on that....... Hooray for free tickets! Ummmm.. Oh, today was really quite nice, my friend Hasse came around and we went to have lunch in the 'hood of Bulimba. Which was extra nice because it wasn't the same ol' 'hoods of Paddington and Rosalie, places we've been to a trillion times. And while I've passed through Bulimba, I never really spent any time there. So we had a good wander from one end all the way down to the river. Then on our way back we found a nice spot for lunch and that was that! Ooooh was a nice place, must try it for dinner one evening. And it wasn't until we ordered that I remembered my camera. Dur. Wandered up and down the main drag and to the river without one photo. It's because of not getting out that I think I forget. Also it was hot and all I could think about was air-conditioning and wine. But at least I got a shot of the dessert! I'll take myself back there again, with camera, on the ferry, been meaning to for ages........ Then it was to Bunnings Warehouse (just like Home Depot only instead of orange, it's green, and, well, called Bunnings) because have been doing some light indoor gardening, I needed potting soil and they had huge bags of it on sale - plus a dude and a car to carry it all - bonus!

And that's that! Now you see why I haven't been checking in every weekend? I think about it every Sunday evening but then I also think there's not much to report. Do you really want to hear how the lemon trees I've started from wee seeds are slowly but surely growing? Didn't think so. When things pick up, will get back to the Adventures, photos and checking in more often. Promise! Because I'd hate to lose all one of my readers! Hahahahaha! So there, I hope you, my one reader, is well and happy where ever you may be reading this!

BYE!
J!