Home and Away

Does it count as a blog if I only do it once a month?  I guess I get some consideration for the fact that I was away from home for two and a half weeks.  Home being Sydney.  I went back to my old home - the U.S.  I had a great time seeing family and friends, going out eating and drinking, shopping, and playing.  Mostly what I did, and the thing I loved best, was just talking, gabbing, joking, complaining, planning, dreaming out loud.  Living in Sydney, on the other side of the world, I really miss having friends and family around who know me and who I know so well that we don't have to start each sentence with a backstory.  We can be with each other at our best and at our worst and it is all O.K.

Sabin and his girls in Jeff and Jenni's front yard with me and Maisy

Jenni's neighborhood in West Seattle

part of the Eugene crowd in Marianne's backyard

Joel, Ted, and James in Ellen  and Ted's front yard

summer evening at University Park in Eugene

three generations of Clancy girls

In case anyone out there doesn't know, I come from a huge family, and it is getting bigger all the time.  There were heaps of little children and babies to be seen, all beautiful and sweet, talented and super intelligent (of course), (no, really, they were).  I had to squeeze a lot of catching up into a short time, which was heart wrenching and frustrating, but better than nothing.  We met in groups of varying sizes, expanding or shrinking depending on who was busy, sleepy, or free.  At parks and public places the kids ran around while the adults relaxed and chatted.  I grew up with this scattered, somewhat frenetic way of interacting, and while it can be exhausting, and distracting, I miss it.

I was able to see two of my closest friends in Eugene.  They both looked great, healthy and happy, and it was so reassuring to know that we can still hang on to that friendship, that we can pick up where we left off.

me and Paula in her living room

me and Marilyn at Mt. Pisgah

Now I am back "home."  I missed David and the girls while I was away, and I miss everyone there now that I am here.  I guess that is the price of being a global citizen with histories and friends around the world.  I can never be close to everyone.  If I had never left Michigan, I wouldn't have my friends from Santa Cruz.  If I hadn't left Eugene, I wouldn't have my friends from Flagstaff or London.  Will I make new friends here that I will miss someday?  That is yet to be seen.  Meanwhile, I will try to keep the ties to old friends and family strong.  I will try to keep visiting when it is possible, and I hope they will keep writing, skyping, and even visiting.

Beauty and the Beast

I've got random thoughts running through my head.  Maybe if I start to write it will form into a story with a theme.  Right now it's just: wine, death, singing, travel, flowers, garbage, art.

I've been thinking about art a lot.  It is in my head almost all the time.  This is a good thing as I can feel my head expanding and shifting with creative ideas.  I see art, design, patterns, creativity, wherever I look.  I saw a quote recently that said something like: being an artist means being able to make others see what you see.  I have been thinking about that and asking myself: what do I see when I look at things?  It makes things seem beautiful, and it keeps away the boredom.  Now I just have to work out how to recreate it on paper and fabric.  I love the idea of my vision wandering around on someone's skirt or jacket.

this is an actual Calder that I came upon in the foyer of a big office building in the city

I have also been working on some stitching and sketching.  Valerie and I had a little art session last Sunday where we painted on fabric with gouache.  It was fun and relaxing.  Paint and pencil are not my favourite medium, but I am trying to get more comfortable just jumping in and making attempts.  I had my Embroidery Guild class two Saturdays ago.  I turned in my notebook with my four completed projects in blackwork, cross stitch, hardanger, and assisi.  I was pretty pleased with all of it until I saw what everyone else had done.  I am humbled and yes, slightly threatened, by the skill, creativity, and commitment of my classmates.

Anyway, we moved on to a new teacher and a new unit.  This time we are doing Pulled and Withdrawn Threadwork.  White thread on white linen for the most part, it is a strain on the eyes but quite beautiful.  I don't know why I thought I was good at embroidery.  I have very little knowledge, and the abstract geometry needed to copy a stitch from a pattern was always one of my mental weaknesses.  When we had to do testing in school, I always scored low on the "flip, rotate, pivot" parts.    I literally almost started crying at one point when I could not work out how to make a stitch and about 3 people said "don't you see? It's easy."  My inner 10 year old almost burst out.  Of course, once I got it, it was very easy.  It feels good to know that I can still learn and maybe change through learning.

one of my favorite buildings

Speaking of changing, the ultimate change, one that is hardest to accept, is death.  I find that the beast of death keeps coming onto the scene.  People are either dying now, or I find that someone I know has had to deal with a tragic death.  I don't know why I am still surprised to find that it is so widespread.  I do feel that I am getting less surprised.  It's not like it is something we can cure or stop.  It happens to everyone, but it never gets easy.

Unless you are on a British murder mystery show.  I actually just saw a Miss Marple called "Murder is Easy."  It made me think of one of the reasons that I find those shows amusing.  People show up strangled or poisoned or stabbed in the neck, and it is rare to get a gasp out of the living, let alone a tear or a scream.  Half the village can be killed off and at the end of the episode, everyone goes on as if nothing had happened.  I find it hilarious.

This brings me to Wine.  I have to confess that my idea of an entertaining, relaxing evening is to clean the kitchen after dinner, pour a glass of wine, and watch at least two hours of British murder mysteries. It is a relatively cheap date, although I have decided to indulge myself in the experience of good Australian wine.  In a way, it is my duty as an Australian resident to know about the kinds of wine this country produces.  Everything here is more expensive than in the States, but I am not going for the very expensive wines.  I am not settling for the cheapest either.  Just spending a little bit more, I have found delightful and delicious wines.  I will do a whole post on specific wines in the future, but for now, I am just noting that, as bad as it sounds, drinking and TV watching are on my agenda*.

Another quick note that I will do a future post about is singing.  Maybe it is just that I am out in public a lot here, but I think Australians are some of the most Singingest people in the world.  I love it and am very close to getting up the nerve to join in with my tone deaf renditions of 70s classics*.

I've been away from the States for 14 months now, and I am witnessing the first repetition of the cycle of blooms with Magnolias, Jasmine, and Wattle. They are little reminders that life goes on, that, as corny as it sounds, within death and garbage and even mediocrity, we can find beauty.  (I am reminded of the Japanese anime film Tekkonkinkreet which is a visually beautiful portrayal of urban decay.)

I will be going to visit friends and family in the Northwest next week, and am looking forward to the visit and the break from work.  I am going to miss my family here and I will miss my next EG lesson which is really going to put me at the bottom of the class.  Hopefully I will have access to the interweb and some art supplies so I can stay connected.  More later…



(*just for Valerie - YOLO)

Visitors

No, I don't mean the extra-terrestrial kind, although we are so far away it could be another planet.  It is only that we just went through a really busy social phase.  The girls were both on break from school and Mira came home for a month.  It was nice to have everyone together again.  We also had one of David's colleagues  from Flagstaff for one night, followed by our old friends Fred and Nancy who took a detour from their work trip in Melbourne to come up here and have fun with us for a longish week-end.  We loved having them here and it really filled our tanks with friend fuel.  Thanks mates!

We took them to one of our favorite places: Eathouse Diner

Cheers and Life is pretty, pretty good

We took them to Coogee were Nancy and I had an invigorating plunge! Yes, we did.

Mira had her 18th birthday!   We celebrated as a family on the actual day by going to the Museum of Contemporary Art and having a nice French themed dinner at home.  Then, a week later when all her friends were back from their winter break, she had a literary themed cupcake and cocktail party. (The legal drinking age here is 18).  We were kicked out of the house for the festivities, but when we got home, everything was still in one piece.  Well done Mira.  

the MCA. wouldn't it be great to paint a room at home like this?

salade nicoise, french onion soup, and gifts

David took Mira to the wholesale flower markets and got gorgeous flowers

cocktails were prepared ahead of time to match literary themes

yum and yum

Aww, my baby is an adult!

We've got my nephew Noah scheduled for a Christmas visit, Valerie is going to Singapore to visit her school friend in January, and I am going to the Northwest in a few weeks to see my family and a few friends.  Other than that, we are hoping more F&F decide to brave the long flight and come say g'day.

Je Suis Fatigue

It sounds better when it is written in French, but either way, I know I am complaining.  I haven't written in over a month and the reason is mostly that I have just been a little tired.  It is not that there has been nothing going on, nor has there been too much.  I have been working extra hours, and trying to channel my creativity into my needlework, but when I do have time to write and something to say, I feel like I would rather sleep or just zone out.  Sorry about that.
I am going to try to get my blood flowing to my brain by getting back on track with my exercise routine, but in the meantime, I will just check in with some of the haps here.

We had a lovely invitation to lunch at Michelle and Vincent's apartment in the city (they are the parents of Mira's roommate who live most of the time in a small town 3 hours away) where we had yummy food, friendly conversation, and dreamy views.  I had to be a tourist and take this shot.

We went out with Nicole and Aaron to an event at the newly remodeled Museum of Contemporary Art called "Art Bar". The museum was on a friday night with a DJ playing funky, fun music, a green screen room that you could walk in to project yourself into a strange world, 3D glasses and super-real projections, piano pinball, and food and drinks.  We wandered through the art and activities and had a glass of wine on the patio overlooking the harbor and the opera house - pretty damn cool.

I have been wanting to check out a small yarn and fabric store called Calico and Ivy, in a neighborhood called Balmain.  It is hard to get to so I had put it off until a couple of Saturdays ago when Mira (home on break after finishing her first semester) and I took the winding bus journey.  It was so worth it to see this cute, family friendly, heavily Italian immigrant neighborhood and the amazing fabrics and wools at C&I.  We had fish and chips at a casual little fish shop on Darling St. (the main drag), and we picked up some macarons from Adriano Zumbo to bring home to share. Wasn't that thoughtful of us?

Lastly, but definitely not least, I wanted to post some photos from the exhibit we saw last Sunday at the Art Gallery of NSW.  It was called Kamisaka Sekka - dawn of modern Japanese design.  The focus was on the artist Sekka, who was like the Japanese equivalent of William Morris.  They also tied in other artists in the Rinpa movement, which was similar to the British Arts and Crafts movement.  Both had an appreciation of nature.  Both believed in the importance of art and beauty in everyday life.  And, both believed in promoting the artistic value of various mediums such as ceramics and textiles.  Interestingly, over the years, the two movements had a reciprocal influence on each other.  Anyone who knows me will know that I was in heaven walking around this exhibit.  I didn't want to leave.  Instead, I wanted to just stare at the images of blades of grass or birds on a twig.  The subject matter is so simple, and some would say mundane, but the execution of the work, the detail, and the balanced energy is, to me, sublime.  I will definitely be reading up on this history of Japanese art and I will go back to see more when they change up the exhibit because they have quite a large asian collection at this gallery.

David took this tricky photo of me in front of the work of another of my faves: Margaret Preston

So I have gotten lots of food for my soul and inspiration for some, hopefully, worthy textile prints of my own.  I just have to wake myself up.  Maybe a cold dip in the ocean...

One Year On

June 7th was the one year anniversary of my being in Sydney.  There are a few things that I like about living here.  I like having excellent toast every day.  Good bread is always a treat for me, even when it is plentiful.  I like that both of my girls have a swarm of very nice friends, and both big and little sister are thriving in their academic and social spheres.  I like that there is so much inspiration and opportunity for both David and me.  Potential for success abounds.  I really, really like all the fun, entertaining activities there are (there are so many, in fact, that it can almost cause panic to set in when trying to choose).  I even like the rain.  Now that we are in winter, the colder temperatures have arrived, but the climate, overall, is almost tropical, and ridiculously mild.  I am struggling over whether or not to buy a coat because I know I will only get minimal use out of it.

There are also, to be honest, a few things that I do not like about life in Oz.  The main thing is that I miss my friends.  I feel this in a way that is more than just missing someone.  It feels like a loss, like I am cut off from the connections that took me years, if not most of my life, to establish.  Maybe I am feeling this way partly out of guilt for having burned my bridges.  Maybe it is that at this point in life people become less social.  Maybe it is that Australia is just too damn far for people to really fathom or believe in.  I don't know, but I feel the distance of the world between us and it is hard to tolerate.  I still think about everyone and am very thankful for social media, but the occasional facebook messages are really not a substitute for real live friends.

Anyway, the year has gone by quite quickly and I see the next several months rolling towards us like the tide (I know, corny cliche but fitting for a oceanside city).  It is important to make plans in order to not miss out on tickets, etc., and to coordinate with other people's schedules, so I am getting slightly used to looking ahead weeks, months and even years.  This breaks things down into big chunks that go by fast.  Even posting on my blog once a week makes time seem to go from Monday to Monday.  I missed last week and am late on this week!  Missing one day actually means missing a whole week.

So, a lot has been happening, big and small.  I will try to run through what stands out in my mind (and what I have pictures of).

The weather - wind and rain has caused the leaves to fall so the trees are almost bare and the sidewalks crunch and rustle under piles of large brown elm leaves.

fog and rain crossing the Harbor Bridge - thank God David was driving

Needlework - I finally got a facebook page organized for my embroidery group.  It is pitiful and took an unnecessary amount of time due to the fact that I am technologically handicapped.  I know there must be a better, easier way, but no one could help me and I was stabbing in the dark.  It is an accomplishment that I even got as far as I did, and at least the members of our class can now communicate and share in between our monthly meetings.  The class itself has been proving to be more exciting, inspiring, and informative than I expected, so YAY! for that. (I will post more on that when I have something to show).

Valerie's school play - We went to see the joint production of the North Sydney Girls and NS Boys High School.  They combined forces to perform The Pirates of Penzance. I had always heard references to this show but I had never seen it.  Valerie was the Production Manager (ie assistant to the director - a professional that they hired) and we went to show our support.  We were, happily, blown away by the energy and talent of this group of kids.  The production was very organized with attention to all details from lighting, to costumes, to choreography, to sets.  The performances were 100% with energy, engagement, and nuanced humor.  The 13 year old, 5 foot tall Modern Major General with his oversized costume and big thick glasses reminded me of a cross between Woody Allen and a Maurice Sendak character.  I still can't believe that anyone can memorize all those lyrics.  Well Done NSGs&Bs, and well done Valerie.  They all put in months of evenings and week ends on top of their busy, difficult classes.

Valerie pretending to be a pirate.

The Vivid Festival - This could be a whole post on its own (maybe next year) but for now I will just say that David and I had a date night in which we wandered around Circular Quay and The Rocks at night and saw amazing, colorful, artistic, projections on lots of downtown buildings - The Museum of Contemporary Art, The Customs House, and The Opera House, in particular.  Luckily it wasn't raining that night, and there were throngs of people, young and old, out celebrating the beauty and creativity of this city.  We worked our way over to the Opera House, where we had tickets to an amazing show that was a collaboration of the Sydney Symphonie Orchestra and a Danish, modern folk band called Efterklang.

Finders Keepers with Nicole - I wrote about this market when I went to the last one back in November.  This time I went with Nicole D after my morning of stitching at the EG.  I hurried over from one train station to the next to get there for the last hour of the show.  Luckily, Nicole was on the same train as I was and we managed to get there quickly and only a little damp from the rain.  It was also lucky that the event was smaller than the November one (still packed with fun and fab artisans) so we were able to see everything with only a little rushing.  It is just so fun to meet all the friendly and funky (in a good way) artsy people, and see their creative outcomes.  We wanted to sit and catch up so we walked farther than we thought, through Redfern, in the rain, but finally found a cozy cafe where we had tea and cake, and chatted happily.  I really like Nicole, and am glad I am getting to know her better (even if it took both of us moving to the southern hemisphere for it to happen).

Centennial Park Walk with Neva -  I had been trying to get together with Neva since, I think, February, but our schedules and life circumstances were working against us.  We finally met at Bondi Junction on Monday last, and walked to and through Centennial Park.  The other end of the park is quite close to my house, and I am still getting used to the geography of the city, so I was surprised that I could walk from Bondi Junction to the park.  There is a whole other end and section of the park that I had never been to, so now that I know about it, I will be able to enjoy and make use of it.  There are lovely treed areas with loads of birds, and there is a nice cafe and gift shop.  We wandered around chatting and checking things out, then sat and had coffee enjoying the nice weather.  We were both able to walk home, splitting off in different directions, and I kept a brisk pace watching the sun dipping below the horizon, not sure of my safety or my navigation skills if I ended up still in the park after dark.  I made it home with about 10 minutes of light to spare.  That was a lot of walking and fresh air for one day.

I need to find out what kind of trees these are.

A huge, beautiful Bird of Paradise 

Sydney Film Festival - Last year we went to see the new Jane Eyre at the film festival just after we had moved here.  I remember being nervous and excited.  One year later, almost to the day, we went to the SFF Australia premiere of Wes Anderson's new film Moonrise Kingdom.  I was not nervous about going to this big beautiful theater event, but I was excited.  The scene was fun, and the film was wonderful.  It is so great to see it on a big screen.  I tried to organize other films but they either sold out or were at times that I could not make.  The schedule was so packed with interesting films that it was a little overwhelming, but I enjoyed spacing out for about 2 hours just reading through the paper version of the program and getting ideas of things to look for in the future since I was missing them now.

the screen before the movie

waiting at the bus stop to go to the movie

I wanted to get a shot of my boots

the girls inside The State Theater

Birthday Shopping with Valerie -  My baby girl, Valerie, is turning 15 today.  She had to go to school on the actual day so she devised a plan to spread the celebration out over the course of the week.  Part of this plan was for me to take her shopping in Paddington on Saturday.  Again, the weather was in our favor.  It was a glorious, sunny, crisp but not cold, day.  We took a cab to the top of Oxford Street where the Paddington Markets are.  Then we gradually walked, and shopped our way back down all the way to the City.  We started at about 11:30 and got to the City around 4:00.  I had forgotten how much I like that part of town.  It is groovy and interesting, but a little more upscale.  In the end though, we found lots of things to buy and some of the prices were less than we might have paid at the major department stores.  Shopping in this town can be a pain.  Things are hard to get to and the costs are staggering, so we don't do it very often.  Eventually, especially if you are a teen-age girl, there are things that you need.  I also feel that if I am going to spend more for something, then I want it to benefit local, small businesses.  I actually enjoyed buying Valerie a chic little dress from a designer pop-up shop called Mister Zimi.  The young woman/designer was there with all her work and I was so impressed that I wanted to support her, besides, Valerie and I both liked it which doesn't happen everyday.

colorful doorway in Paddington

pug puppy cuteness in a shoe store

Valerie with our haul

Happy Anniversary to me and my family for making it one year in the Land Down Under, and Happy Birthday Valerie Violet!

(cake photo from: Zoe Bakes)