Soon soon the return

I have just finalized plans to return and stay nearly a month at my second home. It will be great to see the Man and Supadog. We'll be together for New Year's, gonna see a Grace Jones concert at the Enmore and do the things that a family does. Hang out, walk the dog, get groceries, be with each other.

In the meantime, we do Skype every day or twice a day. It's good but not great. I miss him a lot.

Stasis

Well, dear reader, given the low likelihood of a quick return to home, I think I might need to put this site on hold for a while. It doesn't mean that I will not return, it simply means I have to orient toward being in DC for the time being and figuring out a plan for return.

Dear Jim

It's been a while since I've had a long conversation. (Does a bletter count?) I felt compelled to get with you, because of all the changes in your old neighborhood.

I just went to the new Vida Fitness that is just a block south of your old place. It opened a few weeks ago and it's really nice. I think I might join it. It's in a new condo building, the Metropole, at the corner of 15th and P. Just down the street from the Whole Foods, and there's a bunch of other new and newish apartment buildings all around that 1400 block of P.

The gym has these swimming pools with current machines in them so you're always swimming and staying in place. All the new equipment. Free weights. All kinds of aerobic equipment. Nice lockers. All modern, great music too. No bike parking: big minus for me.

The crowd at the gym was pretty young, pretty much all with sleeveless shirts or tank tops. Very gay. I think you would like the eye candy.

Amazing to think you would be 56 if you were still alive. I always wonder why I'm still alive, and why you left us so early. I never really got a chance to say goodbye. Almost to the end, I thought you would somehow pull through.

I miss you Jim, even though so much has happened since then. 18 years! Time flies.

I hope you're still looking out for me. It sure seemed like you did those first few years after you died.

Your love,

Mark

Mindless corporate prattle

I don't know about where you live, but here in Washington there are all these ads on buses and things about how oil companies are big on carpooling and such. Chevron has this:

"I will carpool to work. And power a school"

It's even going on in Australia. BP has this website there:

"Talk stopped long ago." (Editor's note 2013: dead link now)

For Americans, it's a completely different story from BP. We Americans are responsible for high oil prices because of our "decades long failure of US energy policy." Yup, high oil prices are all our fault.

I guess it's not really mindless, but it just seems to me like such a transparent charade. Any comments?

Some favorites

Waking Life is one of my favorite movies - here's a little blurb from Youtube -



Then there's Everything But The Girl ... make sure you have Flash before you click ...

Pics from Mount Victoria

Finally uploaded some pix ... these are from a hike V, Supadog, and I did last Saturday 13 September.








Gum Forest, near Mount Victoria, New South Wales









Sandstone Cliff, near Mount Victoria, New South Wales

Back to DC

Landed in DC just a few hours ago - got home a little bit ago after picking up some groceries. Work tomorrow. Not really excited about that, or about being here.

New work from Brian Eno and David Byrne

Found this today ... thanks Chris.

Dinner disaster; lunch more than made up for it

Saturday night we went to Icebergs for dinner, in Bondi Beach. While V's meal was wonderful, mine was pretty bad. First, the waiter got the order wrong; then when it came, the flounder was undercooked. Plus it was immature - not a very sustainable practice. Finally, the waiter had attitude about the whole thing.

A huge contrast was where we had lunch on Monday, at Giotto Art Cafe on Stanley Street in East Sydney. Partner and I went here and had a wonderful meal. I had a grilled barramundi fillet with apple salad. The barramundi was great; the apple salad was sublime. Partner had a chicken burger on Turkish bread; he was quite satisfied as well.

Service was prompt and friendly. Great work.

Blue Mountains

The Blue Mountains is the local name for the Great Dividing Range, which are a mountain chain nearly hugging the entire eastern coast of Australia. The distance from Sydney to Katoomba, pretty much the heart of the Blue Mountains, is only about 100 km. But between city traffic around Sydney and then the mountainous roads past Penrith, it takes about an hour and a half or more.

Home: first the hike

I arrived in Sydney last Saturday morning around 7:30; picked up a car at the airport from Hertz and drove in. A beautiful morning soon turned into a beautiful day. It was election day - Sydney city council races, and V was in line to vote when I called to let him know I was heading into the city. By the time I got to Darlinghurst, he was already through with voting and waiting out in front of his building. He found a space for me pretty quickly. We went upstairs and while I showered, he made breakfast.

A quick breakfast and then we were on our way to the Blue Mountains. Last time the three of us went (V, Supadog and I), we found out that dogs are not allowed into National parks. This time we did a little planning and found some great hikes where dogs are permitted. We ended up going to Mount Victoria. The hike started in the southern end of the town, which is on a plateau. From near the start of the hike is an outcropping where you get this incredible view of the the mountains and valley below. Here is a pic I found online that is similar to what we saw. When I can load my photos onto my laptop, I will put some here.

The terrain is so different from North America. In the more shaded areas, in the valleys, the place becomes very green, very moist, with giant ferns the predominant undercover. It even smells differently from the other sunnier areas.  Even the soil is richer in these shaded areas.

We saw an echidna. First time ever for me. It's about the size of a rabbit maybe - a fat rabbit - but walks pretty slowly. Thank God Supadog didn't see it. They, like the duck-billed platypus, are monotremes and have some interesting characteristics which you can read about here. 

There were many small streams along the course, so Supadog was fine for water, as she had the chance to drink many times during the hike. While the distance we covered was not so far linearly, it still took us almost three hours. It was extremely hilly, with the hike starting at the top of the plateau and then descending several hundred meters down into the valley, then up again some, then down again, and of course, finally back up again to the town.

It was a great start to my short stay. 

Soon back home again (which home?)

On Thursday the 11th, I leave for Sydney again, arriving on Saturday the 13th. I bought the tickets some time ago; it's the last follow-up checkup for my rotator cuff surgery. Today I reserved a rental car - I've asked Vishnu if we can take Supadog out to the Blue Mountains on the day I get in. The funny thing about Australian national parks: no dogs. We'll have to find a local park that lets them in ... should be doable.

Low key

Last weekend was low key - the highlight was ironing my shirts. I'm trying to get the hovel habitable, and it's just this close to getting there.

No bike ride, and probably not one this weekend either.

Bike Sunday (bike ride beautiful day part 3)

Kate and I drove out to The Plains, which google maps tells me is about 48 miles from DC. From there, we did this bike route here which was really beautiful. A screen shot of the route is below:


The Plains is just off I66 and really in the country. The route took us to Middleburg, and then a bit north and west, and then we headed back south and into the village again, where we had lunch with this couple we met while riding.

The ride took about 3 1/2 hours, which wasn't bad at all given the terrain and the stops we took. I definitely need another water bottle and bracket - I ran out of water and that is not good. We had lunch at a nice little place in The Plains and also stopped by a farmers market out that way before getting on 66 and heading home.

Thursday is almost Friday

Life is a funny cycle right now:
Get up.
Do my stretches and exercises.
Make breakfast. Have breakfast.
Turn on the computer. Load Skype. Talk to the Lord of the Universe.
Shower, shave, brush teeth, get dressed.
Ride bike to work.
Work - a lot of hours, a lot of work. Remember to keep it chill.
Towards the end of the workday, call the Lord of the Universe.
Ride my bike home.
Get on the computer.
Make some dinner.
Go to bed.

Weekends are a lot more interesting. That's when I do the laundry. :-)

Bike ride beautiful day II

Today was basically a repeat of yesterday in terms of weather: much better than what we deserve for August. I wanted to do a real ride today, so I set out the Route 66 trail, which starts as the Martha Custis Trail and then turns into the W & OD Trail (named after the railroad right of way it runs along, the Washington and Old Dominion). I wanted to do 45 miles, and then decided to go for a metric century, 100 kilometers, or about 62 miles. Here's the route, which ended up being 104.56 km, or 64.97 miles...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2159768

Here's a map -



You, dear reader, get to see each ride I do, if you read this carefully, so you know this is by far the most I've ridden since I started the blog. I'm a little tired right now, but feel okay. My knees are a little sore. Along the ride, I did not eat right or control my blood sugar well, so I had a "crash" feel there for a while. I did not do it too quickly, either, but at least I did it. Given the need to slow down or stop at all the cross streets, it's difficult to get much speed up along much of the route.

I had an extended stop with two dear and close friends, K & J, in Fall Church, just a little bit off the trail, so I really did a little more than the 65 miles.

Bike ride beautiful day

An incredible day here in DC today. I got a little bike ride in, to Pentagon City. Total distance was only 20.4 kilometers ...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2157229

Last week, it was a little different ... 31.6 kilometers ...

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2157285

Both days were nice but last Sunday was a lot hotter.

Saturday chores

Typical Saturday - laundry, cleaning. Also trying to get rid of some furniture and a tv and dvd player. If I'm real lucky, I'll get a nap in ...

Deputy Dawg

Sorry for the delay in updating. My PowerBook's hard drive died last Wednesday and I just now got it fully functional. Thank God for backups and extended warranties.

I went to New York over the weekend and saw Laurie Anderson. Amazing concert; she continually reinvents herself. This incarnation: jazz musician. Proof: she played at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

New York is worth about ten entries, and I doubt I have the time to put that effort in. Highlights: for weirdness, the Chinatown bus up. For comfort, the train back. For the wow-I'm-so-glad-I'm alive, my view of the World Trade Center site from the 18th floor of the Millennium Hilton on Church Street. For remembering, the same view. For optimism and hope for the future, the same view. For Only-in-New York, the same view.

A great time chillin with good friends. Thanks Neil, Jan, Jean Marc. Elmo, next time.

On a hot summer night

would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?

Tonight was one of them - a hot summer night. I saw a bunch of wolves; none had roses. Today is not a bad day at all, even though it started out pretty bad.

Shoulder keeps improving. It's all good.

Trinitite

Last night I sat in the front row of the Woolly Mammoth Theater and watched an astounding monologue by Mike Daisey: "If You See Something Say Something." Amazing storyteller, and an even more amazing set of stories, all woven together to form an uncannily honest description of our life in "post-9/11" America. He says all these things that all of us think, including some disturbing stuff about how much of a police state we've turned into.

He talks about the history of the Department of Homeland Security, about White Sands, about George Washington's farewell address, and about the little worm that is inside him, that I know is also inside me. The worm is the insurgent, the insurrectionist in all of us as we wait in line at airport security. He had one way with dealing with it; I have another. When I know I am not hurried for the flight, I simply refuse to take my shoes off. When asked why not, I explain the truth: it hurts me when I walk without my shoes. It always requires an inspection, but if everyone did this, I think that they would stop asking us to take off our shoes.

If you live in Washington, go and see this show! He really says it like it is. He also makes clear that we need to do something about this.

Why is the title called "Trinitite?" Click on the word and see ...

Shoulder update July

I've been going to physical therapy again and starting to make some good progress in increased flexibility and strength. Amazing what happens when you do your exercises!

Fun Stuff

Philip and I went for a great bike ride. Here's the part I did:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2072125

Beautiful day, a little warm.

Stuff

When getting settled in, there are all these things that one must have. Spices that you threw out from the last move have to be replaced, cleaning upplies, all these things. I had to get a new vacuum cleaner, ironing board, iron: the list goes on and on. Lots of stuff.

Moved in

My niece came down from Rutgers in Newark to help me move in. The movers moved all the boxes on July 2; we made a giant dent in the unpacking. The kitchen is pretty much done; actually most everything is unpacked. I need to downsize and get rid of many things, and this is quite apparent when there is so much furniture in the place.

My niece is so great. We spent almost the entire time talking - asking each other serious questions, and not so serious questions. Comparing who we thought was hot, serious discussions about relationships, about what's important in life, like good health and family and friends, and what is not so important, like material goods.

Speaking of good health, I did a great bike ride last weekend:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2033013

46.4 km or 28.9 miles - really wonderful ride, mostly along the C & O Canal Towpath

Then yesterday my niece ran, and I rode my bike, along this route:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2051595

Total distance was 18.45 miles, or 29.7 km. She ran all of it but two miles. I would switch places with her and run for a half mile or mile - for a total of two miles running for me. So she ended up running almost 16 1/2 miles.

This morning we did this run, together:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2053444

It's the first time I ran since October 2007, and I wanted to do over 3 miles. We did it. And with no pain. (I have had foot troubles too.) I am so happy about that.

Post-moving

Moved ... more to come

Where Am I?

Well I know that I'm back in Washington, but it's hard to tell sometimes. The weather in Sydney was pretty nice the whole four days I was there, and the weather is pretty nice here. The days are longer here, that's true.

I guess the fact that I'm "away from home" now is getting a little bitter taste to it. I will soon be making my own home, but it's still a way off. At least today I reserved the moving truck.

Monday

I saw the shoulder specialist today and things are not ideal. I have an unusual weakness in my infraspinatus. Abduction - moving my arm away from my side - is what is affected by this. It is stronger than at my last checkup, but definitely lagging behind the improvement in the other muscle groups. 

The weather has been pretty sweet the whole time I've been here, and I leave on Tuesday the 24th. Qantas is having industrial action by its engineers and 18 flights will be cancelled on Tuesday. I doubt if mine will be one of them, but we'll see.

Why the title, "Monday?" Because it sure feels like it. Leaving my family is just plain not easy. 

Saturday in Sydney

It was, like most Saturdays, spent doing chores. Supadog got some brushing; we both cut each other's hair. I went through a lot of the stuff I still have here, and we packed up the work computer equipment that is still here and took it to Fedex-Kinko's. Four forms for each box later, and we were able to escape.

Then we went to the gym. It was the first time for both of us in a long time, so we took it pretty easy. Situps, biceps, some kind of chest machine, and triceps. It was my first time since the surgery for some of these exercises, so I kept it really light. The chest exercise was more of a stretch than anything, and it felt really good. No shoulder work: still too early for that.

Monday the 24th is the three-month follow-up for the surgery. Wish me luck!

The carrots are better

Just arrived in Sydney earlier today and all of it comes back into the present. The carrots here are definitely better. Vishnu made some juice and it all came back to me. Also, it's warmer than I thought it would be. The flight was every bit as long as I remembered.

Earlier this evening, Vishnu, Fannie the Supadog and I went to a gallery opening that a wonderful friend had over on Burton Street. Mel is the proprietor of Kookaburra Kiosk and she had some amazing stuff. What struck me was the mirror art - she had painted some kool patterns on floor length mirrors and other glass. 

The crowd was diverse and Supadog was joined by Mel's two canine kids. A great start to my tiny visit.

All good thoughts return to Vishnu

Jeans to G Star Raw to Vishnu
Shirts, too, for the same reason
Rainbow to Hawaii to Vishnu
Biking to the ride to Manly to Vishnu
Airplanes to travel to the return to Vishnu

The bittersweet of life takes me to Vishnu
(and makes me smile my Happy Buddha smile)

Roos to Vishnu
Kookaburras too
Cockatoos
Gums and plane trees
They all go to him

Dancing? That’s a serious subject. The tribe won’t want me to discuss it: the sacred snoopy dance

Sitting to patience to Vishnu
Waiting to thinking to anticipation to laughter to Vishnu (all almost simultaneously)
Dogs to Supadog to Vishnu
Mobile phones to phone calls to Vishnu

Music has two paths: Gotan Project to Vishnu. Zero 7 to Vishnu. (Actually there are a lot more, too many to describe here)
Even some people, some he doesn’t even know, they just go right to Vishnu

Style straight to Vishnu
Kindness IS Vishnu
So is honor
Respect
Love
Joy

Bad things don’t return to Vishnu
They are in their own bad space
They fester, then wither
and disappear

Everything good returns me to Vishnu

Pale yet sunburnt white middle-aged gay men for Obama

Today was the big Capital Pride Festival, where some 200,000 folks show up, walk around the booths, see some great entertainment, and feast upon the eye candy.

It seems like every GLBTQ organization had a booth there, plus a lot of straight organizations as well. The politicos have their booths, and the Obama booth was easily the most crowded. I volunteered, and my happy task was to get one hundred to people to sign a petition to show their support for the man. I ended up with 101. It took about 3 1/2 hours: I'm not a hard sell kind of guy. But it was fun and worth the effort.

Even though I put on sunblock, I got red (hence today's title). It was interesting human interplay. Lots of people came up to me, asking to sign. Honest to God. Really refreshing.

While it was hot, it was not humid, and there was a breeze just about the whole time. The sun though was unrelenting. After about maybe 2 1/2 hours of this, there was a point where I must've become a little dehydrated, because I was just not thinking very clearly. When I realized what was happening to me and I mentioned it to one of the guys signing on, he went and got me a bottle of water! And he wasn't hitting on me! Seriously, it was just one of those events that rekindles your faith in people.

After I handed in my petitions, I walked around a little. Throughout the day, I saw a lot of my friends, which was really great. Some knew I was back; a lot didn't.

Before I came home, I went to a bike shop and bought a helmet. Yay! Definitely down on the brain damage thing.

The other great news is that my niece is coming down to DC for Independence Day. I'm a lucky guy to have such great family.

Pride Parade

Today I signed a lease on a place in Logan Circle near 12th & M St NW. Fit almost all my parameters: one bedroom, English basement, gas appliances, close in, relatively inexpensive. It's great.

This evening, I did my first Obama event. I walked with a group of about 60 supporters in the Capital Pride parade. The support from the crowd was impressive: all along the way, people were clapping and cheering, yelling our chants, asking for posters, all kinds of support. It was really touching and exhilarating at the same time. What's more impressive is that it really started raining around the middle of the route, but people stayed and cheered. It was really fun.

After the parade, a group of us met at a restaurant / bar and hung out for a while. Good group of people, really dedicated. Interesting mix: all kinds of genders and races and ages. I stayed a while and then walked back to where I left my bicycle. Right then, V called. We ended up talking a while...

Return

I bought tickets yesterday to return to Sydney. I leave next week; I'll be there less than a week. I am going to get my three-month checkup post-shoulder surgery.

It's expensive - over $1700 for a return fare - but that is about the best price one can get. I fly Qantas from LAX to SYD, which is just so much better than United.

Of course I am excited about it, but at the same time not so excited at all, as I already know that I will be there only for a short time. Still, it's better than no trip at all.

Alive and more alive part 2

Monday, I rode to work, and along the way, dropped off an application for an apartment that I saw Saturday in Georgetown. Riding makes me so happy. When I was a graduate student here a long time ago, I had a stint as a bicycle courier one summer. Easily the most exciting job I ever had. Since I was paid by the job, I went as quickly as I could (as did all couriers). It was very dangerous: in that short time working, maybe 10 weeks, I ran into a taxi and grazed a pedestrian. Cut my arm pretty badly hitting the taxi, but didn't get hurt or hurt the pedestrian I grazed.

I was much more of a hot dog then; but I still run red lights whenever no cars are coming on the cross street. I don't go down one-way streets the wrong way: that's something I never did.

So, back to the present. At lunch I rode to see another apartment, and then a quick ride home, and then back to work. Of course, I rode home.

How do I explain the feeling I have when I ride? It's freedom, it's speed, it's the wind in my face, it's a competition with myself. It's being part of the world. It's an expression of thankfulness for my continued good health. It's loving the world, and all its ups and downs and smooth roads and potholes. The head winds and tail winds. The smooth roads, the gravel, the alleys, the streets. Feeling the sun and the shade.

Alive and more alive

I bought a bicycle today! A Cannondale that is better than my old Gary Fisher. Found it on good ol' craigslist for only $300. It rides really well. I'm happy.

Test riding the bike today was the first time that I've been on a bike since before the surgery. I didn't even think about it until I started to get on the bike. It turns out that it's not a problem at all. I went around the block - Sunday was a scorching hot day - and the owner was impressed with the speed. I felt so alive.

A day in the life

I woke up, got out of bed, but didn't drag a comb across my head. Not enough hair. I did go downstairs and had a cup, and then went to the Lollygag for the Cure. Each year, a group of friends all walk to celebrate life, and in memory of friends or loved ones lost to breast cancer. It is a huge event, more than 70,000 this year. We met up at 7:45 at the East Wing of the National Gallery - located here.

The morning started out completely gray, nearly foggy. It was muggy but not yet hot. The haze stayed around until about 9:00 or so when the sun finally burnt it all off. We walked 5 kilometers; Lisa T ran the course this year. You go Lisa!

It was 10 AM before we all finished: it was the lollygag for the cure, not the walk, not the race. Everyone was going to get together for noshing but I had to see an apartment in Georgetown at 10:30. I got there just as the guy was opening up the building (near 27th and Q NW), and all of the apartments were the best I've seen in terms of what I want. I got an application and need to fill it in this weekend.

From there I walked "home" (near 9th & S NW), and along the way, got breakfast at McFU, and saw another open house. This was a completely renovated building, really nice, but a little outside my price range. Went home and did some laundry, and by 2 PM went to two more open houses. One was a basement apartment in the Dupont Circle are, really nice, but it had many people looking at it. Still I will put in an application for that one as well - it really had everything I need.

The other apartment was similar, but updated and way overpriced, $600 per month higher. By now it was scorching hot. I went to Trader Joe's to get groceries, came home, made the bed, and took a nice long nap.

The weather in the day in the life: typical global warming Washington. It got up to 98F or 36. It was hot and I spent much of the day walking around in it. The high on Saturday matched the record that was set in 1999.

It was pretty sunny all day, once the haze burnt off. I was wearing a tank top so now I have this cute tank top sunburn.

After the nap, I woke up and remembered that there was a Cyndi Lauper and B-52s concert tonight at Constitution Hall. I checked craigslist, made a few calls, didn't reach anyone. By now it's 7:30 (the concert started at 6:30; the startup was Tegan & Sara, then Regina Spektor) and I doubt I'll get to see anything. I text the lord of the universe and he calls me. We're just catching up, talking about our days in the life, and I get a call on my mobile. One of the craigslist people called me back; he's at the concert and has the extra tickets still. V understands that I need to go: I'm there in time to see the B-52s and Cyndi. Fave lyrics:

B-52s: Roam ... "Around the world the trip begins with a kiss"

Cyndi: Girls Just Want to Have Fun ... "I want to be the one to walk in the sun"

They both played new stuff and classics. The True Colors Tour is the name of the event, and it's a fund raiser for the Human Rights Campaign. Cyndi looked incredible; Fred did too. The concert had an incredible ending. When Cyndi went offstage after her encore, everyone is still clapping and cheering and hooting. Then all of a sudden, this giant balloon comes out of one of the entryways near stage left, just a few feet from me. Then another, and another, and more, and soon there are twenty or more giant balloons all bouncing around the concert hall. It looked a little like this (photo from another concert), but there were DOZENS of them:




Everyone who performed then came out and sang "Everyday People" ... what a great show! Thanks to everyone who played! Thanks to the craigslist guy! You made my day!

Apartment hunting

I've been back two weeks today. Time has flown by. Between the 50-hour work week and catching up with friends, I'm looking at apartments. There are a few websites I'm using to help:

craigslist - free classified ads, simple search feature
apartmentratings.com - great site where tenants rate apartments and their managers
apartmentshowcase.com - the online version of a monthly magazine of apartment ads put out by the Washington Post
apartments.com - a commercial search website, affiliated with the Washington Post. Yucky search feature.

There are some real estate and rental management websites that I've been using as well. I've probably seen 12 or 15 places. I want a place close in, but I've already eliminated Capitol Hill and Waterfront. Focusing now on Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, and Woodley Park.

Between it all and visiting my brother in the country north of Baltimore, I have not had one day to myself. It's all good, though. V and I talk pretty regularly. I've gotten some nice reimbursement checks related to my shoulder surgery. The weather is getting a little sticky, but hey, it's summer in Washington.

The good thing about work is working with two interns in our office. It makes my day. Today we went to a seminar on the Hill about food security. It opened their eyes. Jim McGovern led the seminar, which was attended by Jo Ann Emerson, Earl Pomeroy and Jerry Moran.

Where Am I?

It's hard to believe I'm in America. My Google News is still set for Australia and I'm still getting culture shock. Today's symptoms:

1. People standing on the right, walking on the left, on the escalator on the Metro. In Sydney, you stand on the left and walk on the right.

2. Big honking American appliances. I just finished looking at an apartment and it had these huge (and inefficient) American brand washer and dryer.

3. Big honking American cars. Sure, Australia has SUVs, even the detestable Hummer, but much much fewer than we have here. It really is amazing how big the cars here are. What will happen to them all, now that gas is $4 a gallon?

4. The permanent underclass thing. You know, the homeless, the addicts and alcoholics, the criminally oriented. It exists in Australia, too, especially the junkies, but it isn't so big there, at least not in my neighborhood. Walking to the apartment on Capitol Hill, I passed a strange-o inside the Metro, two at the top of the escalator to the outside, and one in the little park at the intersection of 8th St SE and Pennsylvania Ave SE.

5. So many people at work are asking me, "Are you back?" to which I typically respond, "You're not hallucinating." I plan to work toward getting my assignment in Sydney again, but how long it will take to unfold is a complete uncertainty.

Hierarchy of Needs: Housing

Since I got here, I've been spending a fair amount of time looking for a place to live. I'm currently staying with friends but that can last only so long. So, I've been looking up places on craigslist and have seen four places already. Focusing on Capitol Hill, Shaw, Logan Circle, Woodley Park, and may consider other places too.

Here's how wild the universe is: when I first moved to Washington in 1983, I rented a place at 747 Tenth St SE in DC: affordable little one bedroom basement apartment on Capitol Hill near the Marine Corps barracks. Well that place is available again, today. Life is just so weird. Maybe I should rent it again.

Memory machines

It's difficult to be away from your love. The modern world can help some with skype and email and all, but maybe the best way to "be" with him is using simple things that bring back the memory of your love, to recall you to him and what he is.

I keep two of these things in my pocket, two small simple things. One is a Vicks inhaler. Yep, just plain old camphor and menthol (in the Australian version). A wonderful, strong, old smell. V uses it a lot and got me to start using it, so that now when I do, it's a reminder of how dear he is.

The second is a type of lip balm I got several months ago. I thought it was his brand, but it wasn't quite the same thing, so I ended up keeping it. To me, it's an indulgence, although I do need to keep my lips moisturized ... well, just another memory machine.

Culture shock (the return)

Late last night, I arrived back in Washington. It was after midnight before I got my luggage, so I stayed at a hotel near the airport. Tonight and for the next week, I'm housesitting for friends - I need to find a place on my own.

Coming back is weird. What's weird ... hmmm ... all the American accents is probably first on the list. Walking and driving on the right. The racism that is everyday life in DC. Toilets with only one flush setting. How cheap American paper money looks is high up on the list. $4 gas was a little weird, but it's still cheaper than in Sydney. I will probably get used to it soon enough.

More Port Douglas

Here is a pic from the Daintree National Park, just west of Mossman ...

Port Douglas weekend

Last weekend, V and I flew up to Cairns and then drove another 80 km or so to Port Douglas. We has a really great time, seeing the Daintree National Park on Saturday, and doing a snorkel trip to the Great Barrier Reef on Sunday.

I took a lot of photos, and am editing them to get them looking good. The rain forest at the Daintree was really spectacular, but because it was so cloudy, in addition to the thick canopy, photos were not easy to take. We saw all kinds of wildlife there.

Here's a map of where all we want that weekend:

http://maps.google.com.au/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=106806480001360213360.00044d03a7b32b1b96ef0&ll=-16.436744,145.245008&spn=1.022107,1.653442&t=h&z=10

More to follow as I get more photos done.

Shoulder update

On Monday May 5th, I went to the surgeon's office and got my 6-week checkup. I am now wearing the sling less and less, and my recovery is going as hoped. I am still quite weak in certain movements, and my range of motion is restricted in just about every aspect of movement. Still the pain is lessening and I am definitely improving.

I am now on a new set of stretches and exercises, and seeing improvements in range of motion just about every day. The new work is relatively strenuous, and is definitely time consuming. It's all good.

Yesterday I got tickets for my return flight to DC.

What's that I smell?

Another wonderful aspect of life in Australia is its politics. While much of American political scandal is based on sex and hypocrisy - think Elliot Spitzer - here it is just so much more nuanced. One current scandal, and my favorite of the ones I'm familiar with, is the matter of Troy Buswell, head of the Liberal Party in Western Australia. His reason for dishonor? He sniffed the chair of a female staffer back in 2005, and it's just now coming out.

Now, what does a chair-sniffing leader of Western Australia's conservative party look like? He looks EXACTLY like what you think he would look like. What's the vision in your mind? Greasy hair. Shiny skin. Overweight. Beady eyes. No chin whatsoever. Your vision is so correct...

Photo courtesy theage.com.au

Their take on it is here. The Telegraph (UK) has a good take on it too, here.

Troy is 39, married, father of two. In this photo, he's holding back tears at the press conference where he admits to the allegation, after previously denying it 13 times.

At first, it appeared that the political fallout was minimal, but more recently, voters are turning against him. What's your guess? Does he survive?

The end of the story?

Well I just recently found out I will need to return to Washington, if I want to continue to get paid. V and I decided that for now, this is the decision to make. Needless to say I am pretty heartbroken by it all. It means going back to a long distance relationship with the one I love. You know, the 10,000 miles away thing.

It means temporarily giving up the Superdog, as all the work and expense needed for her to travel internationally is just too much for her. Another month of quarantine? I don't think so.

This is how I feel:


There are tiny little patches of light, but not many.

Henry Rollins

Friday night we went to see Henry Rollins at the York Centre, a semi-round theater at the University of Sydney. He was outstanding - went for over three hours! Spoken word completely, which is just amazing.

Great stories about his visits to Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut, all taken especially because they are capitals considered the enemy of the Unites States. He talked about the generous and welcoming people he met on his journeys, and the fact that people are pretty much the same all around the world.

Real hyperactive, extremely intense, very funny, very serious. Thanks Henry!

Anzac Day

Today, April 25th, is Anzac Day, a national holiday here to commemorate the first major military action of members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during World War I.

Over 8,000 Australian and 2,700 New Zealand soldiers died at the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. For the duration of the war, total losses were over 60,000 for Australia and 18,000 for New Zealand. Given the small population of both countries - Australia had less than 5 million, New Zealand had less than 1.2 million - such losses were enormous. A comparable loss today in the United States would be 3.6 MILLION dead.

Since World War II, Anzac Day has been to commemorate the lives of Australians and New Zealanders lost in that war as well, and all wars since then. There are no longer any living veterans of the first World War, and those from the second World War are all now well over 80 years of age.

It is a solemn day, with nearly all offices and shops closed. Marches of veterans and their families are held in every suburb and city. Here is some reporting of it:

ABC News
SBS News

Maybe one day we'll figure it out.

Rain, pain, staying sane

We've had 11 days straight of rain, with the last several of the all-day-gray variety. Things are green and brown - grass and other greenery is greener than ever, the deciduous trees growing browner and more denuded daily. Definitely feeling like Autumn.

All this weather makes us a little more housebound than usual - Supadog and I still do our walks to Rushcutters Bay Park. After all, if there was ever a dog designed for rain, it's the Old English Sheepdog. We now play kong or ball every time we go there.

My shoulder continues to improve, but it's definitely not a direct path forward. Many nights (last night was one of them) I can't sleep well at all because of soreness or straight-out pain. Mobility and strength continue to improve, but here over a month later, I still can't raise my arm above my shoulder. My physio says this is completely normal, so it's all good.

I've been doing a fair amount of research on carbon trading, mostly just trying to figure it all out. Check out that blog for the boring details here. Overall life is good. This Friday we're seeing Henry Rollins.

Paris and meatballs

Tonight, V and I went to see the movie "Paris" by Cédric Klapisch. V thought it was "Brilliant" - and I agree. A trailer (in French only) is here. An SMH review of it is here.

It's one of these stories of many characters whose lives somehow intertwine. The focus, though, is on Romain Duris' character, Pierre, a dancer at the Moulin Rouge who just found out he has heart disease and needs a transplant soon. The closeness of death makes him realize the beauty and sacredness of life, which he observes in all its small details: the apartment building's custodian taking the garbage bins out to the street, a "jolie" girl in the apartment across the street, explaining to his nephew there is a Santa Claus.

The soundtrack was great, too. Can't find it online.

Dinner was Ikea's Swedish meatballs with pasta. Here's the recipe:

500 grams Ikea frozen Swedish meatballs
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
250 grams button mushrooms
2 cloves garlic
1 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 cube onion flavour
250 grams egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Pour the olive oil in a pan. Cut up the onion, mushrooms, and garlic and sauté for about five minutes. Then add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Add in the flour a little at a time, stirring it in to thicken the broth. Microwave the meatballs for two minutes on high, and put them in, as well as the sour cream and onion flavour. Let simmer.

Separately, cook the noodles. When the noodles are done, the meatballs and sauce are ready. Serve and enjoy!

Dreams from My Father

I've almost finished reading "Dreams from My Father" - Barack Obama's autobiography. I can't recommend it enough. Amazing story, and one that I relate to, and one I imagine everyone can relate to.

He talks about what family means to him, what or where home is, all these things that all of us have to deal with. Do we go further out into the big scary world, or stay in our comfortable space?

He's a great story teller. Read it if you can.

Dad

Last October before I moved, I went to visit my Mom, who lives near Clearwater Florida. While I was there, she shared all kinds of photos with me, including these two of my dad:



My dad taught elementary school until the mid-1960's, first in Florida, then Indiana. The photo on the left was taken before I was born. The one on the right, I want to say, was taken around 1962. Not sure which tie I like better. With the glasses, definitely the ones on the left.

He taught all of my siblings, but not me. He made a career switch by the time I got to first grade.

He died in 1980, when I was still in undergraduate. I'm older now than he was in either of these photos. Soon I'll be as old as he was when he died. I miss him.

Not the Ides of April

Today I heard a story by Soundprint on WAMU called "After the Shot" about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, which took place 143 years ago today. At almost a half hour, it's a really interesting report. One thing it informed me of is that while we all know that the Ides of March is March 15, the Ides of April is April 13. Booth planned on assassinating Lincoln on that day for symbolic reasons, but Lincoln had a bad headache and did not go out as planned. And we all know the rest, until you hear this story.

This brings me to what each year feels like my own demise: income taxes. I still do them with the help of Turbotax, and each year it becomes more complicated and more of an emotional drain. A few weeks ago, V asked me if I had done them, and I just sort of snapped at him. He asked me once, "You don't have an accountant?" and I said no, the economist in me refuses to give in. Even though I'm due a huge refund (because of the move) I still haven't done them. Soon soon.

Letter to my niece

Hey Niece person!

Good to hear from you. Good to hear about Alaska. I'm sure he had a great time as well. Did he go back there? I forget what he does for a living.

School - what we do with our lives before we get serious with our lives, before we get a real life. Not necessarily. If your heart is in your school work, then that's a real life. If you are doing it just because you thought you should, or because you haven't found a job yet, well I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason. You will find a job that you like - it will just take some time.

If you go to grad school to distinguish yourself from others who do not complete grad school and thus make yourself more competitive in the job market, well that is a good reason.

I went to grad school, basically because I did not have a job - the job market was awful then: unemployment was almost 10% and it was difficult for fresh graduates to get work. And I was very afraid of being unemployed. (Looking back, I think I would've gotten hired straight out of undergrad, if I so chose.) I also did it to make myself more competitive. So for me it was a combination of good reasons and bad reasons. The other reason I did it was to put off reality: a 40 hour work week and settling down, as it were. In that sense I was sort of the opposite of where you sound like you are right now.

What you need to do, in my humble opinion, is follow your dreams. Do something that gets you excited, not that just pays the bills. If you know what you want, do it.

My big problem when I was your age, is that I did not really know what I wanted. I loved bicycling, but I couldn't see making a career out of being a bicycle courier. (It was, though, easily the most exciting job I've ever had.)

I had some ideas of what I wanted: something to pay the bills, something not evil, and public service definitely pushes a button in me. I definitely have a gene for economics in me. That got me headed toward Agriculture and the job I do today. But it's not like ever since I was four years old that I told people, "When I grow up, I want to be an agricultural economist." I envy the people who do feel that way about their work.

Enough unkly blah blah.

Things are going pretty well overall. My shoulder recovery is a lot slower than I had hoped. I can only just in the last week type with my right hand. I still can't hold a fork or knife, or shave, or raise my arm much at all without "yikes". And I am definitely impatient about these things. I am so antsy for the gym. And running! I have jogged a little with Fannie the Supadog, but it looks pretty queer to run with a sling on your arm. At least it's a fashionable black. :-)

Australia is great. V and I are going to Cairns in early May for a long weekend, and it looks like we might go to New Zealand as well for a long weekend. I have friends in Wellington, and I'm thinking we should go climb Mount Egmont. Did you ever make it to New Zealand? I want to think that you did.

All in all, things are good. You've been on my mind, and I almost called you the other day. Did I ever tell you my U.S. phone number? It's (no you can't know without asking). It either rings on Skype or my home phone here. If you do want to call, call either before 9 AM or after 5 PM. We're 14 hours ahead right now ...

Unk Mark

Here and There (Bilocation)

In this virtual environment, it's easy to go to the old home. Back in DC, I listened to NPR at WAMU on the radio; it's real easy to listen to All Things Considered or Marketplace here on my Real player. What is a little weird is listening to the evening news at 8 in the morning.

Of course, I read washingtonpost.com to catch up on DC and US news. It's not like reading the paper - especially the comics - but it works.

Here my print news sources are the Sydney Morning Herald and Australian Financial Review; for television, it's SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) and ABC news (that's Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Both are state-funded. SBS is very interesting, as its mission as a network is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society". They also report in English.

For the papers, I buy them maybe two or three times a week. Newspapers here are more expensive in the United States. The Sydney Morning Herald is $1.30 (about US$1.21) and the Financial Review is $2.70 (about US$2.51); I haven't yet checked to see if they provide discounts for daily delivery.

The Australian perspective is rather refreshing, and more comprehensive in its international coverage. The financial news follows the U.S. business environment since the United States makes up such a large share of world business news (plus it's making a lot of news right now, with the deepening recession and subprime mess).

What is so amazing aboout our internet age is that I can have my feet in both the U.S. world and the Australian world at the same time.

Dining in Balmoral at the Bathers' Pavilion

Last night, V took me out for dinner at The Bathers' Pavilion in Balmoral, a suburb in the Mosman Council. Mosman is a municipality "on the northern shores of Sydney Harbour." Balmoral is a suburb kinda like Mass Ave Heights in DC, maybe like Scarsdale in New York. Check out the menu we had here.

Here's what we had: for appetisers, he had the Moreton Bay bug tail with fennel and ruby grapefruit salad, with shellfish butter, and I had the freshly shucked regional oysters on ice, with home made pumpernickel, red onion vinaigrette. "Moreton Bay Bug" is a type of shellfish: a picture of it is here.

Our wines: V started with a 2006 Jean-Luc Mader Riesling from Alsace; I had a 2007 French Island Pinot Gris from Victoria.

For mains, he ordered Farmed Tasmanian Arctic Charr with scallop, ginger and pork crepe and coriander pesto, and I had Jewfish with olive crust, with prawn ratatouille and organic tomatoes. Charr is a member of the salmon family.

Dessert for me was a menage a trois des chocolats; his was the roast vanilla peach with stone fruit parfait, nougatine, and apricot sorbet. With dessert, I had a 15-year port from Rockdale; V had a Scarborough Late Harvest Semillon.

It was all pretty amazing: the food, the wine, the service, the venue. The restaurant itself is in the old municipal bathing pavilion on the beach at Balmoral. It was originally built in 1928 and redone by Alex Popov in 1999. Here is a blurb about his work.

Topography and Scale

The architectural scales of my neighborhood vary tremendously. The block I live on is an example: it has mostly two-story terrace houses on the west side, but on the east side are one-story homes, two-storys like the west side, four- and five-story apartment buildings, and similar low-level office buildings. But just a few blocks away are five- to eight-story apartment buildings, mixed in with three-story houses, and 10- to 15-story buildings. Just a few more blocks away are 30-story buildings, and within a ten-minute walk is a 42-story building.

You would think that this would be an architectural disaster, but it's not, and that's because of the extreme topography here. A building may look like it is only one-story in front, but in the back it's three floors, because it is built on a hill. Near a park we walk to every day is a 6- or 8-story apartment building, that rises maybe two floors above street level, because it's built in a ravine.

Because the landscape is rolling up and down everywhere, small and large, short and tall, can all fit in together and still look pretty good. There are some exceptions of course: some pretty ugly stuff from the 1960's or 1970's, but it all fits in real well overall. There are some pix of all this on my flickr pages. Take a look:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgt33139/sets/72157604067232214/

Some of the pix in the set above have sailboats - well they're on Rushcutters Bay, and this satellite pic is the same scene from above, from an earlier entry ...

http://startnewsydney.blogspot.com/2008/03/yarranabbe-park.html

Bjork's Wanderlust Video

look here -

Global Giving

Because I am so lucky and blessed (are these two things really different? - maybe the work should be blucky ...) it's important for me to give back.

Maybe you feel the same way. A friend of mine told me about Global Giving ... here is an ad they did ...

Watch more videos like this at www.quantumshift.tv

Yarranabbe Park

Yesterday, V, Supadog and I went on some great walks - first to Surry Hills, then to Rushcutters Bay and then on around the Bay a little to Yarranabbe Park. From the point you get a great view of the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour. Here's the route:

The many names of Supadog

Supadog has many names, perhaps not as many as Vishnu (who has a thousand), but here is a list:

Danger Dog
Darlo-dog
Dinky-dog
Doggy Girl
Evil
La Fania
Fannie
Fannie Fae Farmer
Fannie Foo Foo
Fannie-Lou
Jumper
Linky
La Loba
Lobita
La Princesa
La Princesa de la Casa
Mop-mouth
Mugwump
Power-pup
Pup
Puppy-dog Girl
Puppy-duppy
Puppy-girl
La Reina
Sheepdog
Shtinky
Sneaky
Stinky-butt
Stinky-dog
Supadog
Swamp-dog
Vacuum Cleaner
Wake-up Wolf
Water-dog
Wicked
Wicked Wolf
Wolf-butt
Wolf-dog
Wolf-pup
Wolfie
Wolfie Dolfie Lolfie
Wolfie-Girl
Wolflet

From The Onion

Typical Onion story, which I love:

Big shoulder day

Today is a big day: the stitches and bandage from my shoulder surgery come off. Main consequence will be that I can shower again, and perhaps more importantly, easily wash my hair. Right now it's bathing, which is okay, but just not my style.

Pain continues to attenuate; I still have trouble sleeping, though.

Some positive differents

Many aspects of everyday life here in Sydney are simply better than in the old country. Two examples:

Attitude toward dogs
In three words, more laid back. Supadog usually goes on walks without a leash, and no one blinks an eye. Many if not most dogs are walked this way. Technically, there is a leash law, enforced as much as jaywalking.

In parks, this great laid back attitude is institutionalized: most times of the day, dogs are allowed off-leash. There are no segregationist "dog park" fenced-in areas where the dogs are all cordoned off to. They have the run of the whole park. It's so civilized.

Traffic calming
Here in Darlinghurst, just about every residential street has speed humps every few hundred meters. This, and closing off streets and alleys, keep speeding and taking shortcuts through neighborhoods to a minimum.

Better still

Still improving - mobility up, pain down , sleep more. We had friends over for Easter dinner ... all originally from France. A lot of fun.

Better

Definitely better today - greater range of motion, less pain. That wrong move still hurts way wrong, but I've gone pretty much off the opioids. Sleeping was a little better last night ...

Pain ...

is a bit of an issue, especially if I move my shoulder a certain way. It also keeps me from sleeping soundly, but I make up for that with naps in the daytime.

The painkillers are only so effective. I feel best when I am standing or walking, or when there is an icepack on it.

Pix: Bio-Rorschach

I've had a chance to look at the pix and, well, hence today's title. Here are two:At least with this one I can see the thread ... but what about this one?What do you see here? And don't say it looks like chicken. V already beat you to it.

About the movie, I'm having technical issues with trying to view it. Could be a Windows v Mac thing ...

Slo-mo

is today's word cuz this is the way it is. I am definitely moving slowly. The pain is not bad when I am not using my shoulder but every once in a while I do and then it is very painful. Not able to sleep well except right after taking the painkiller, but at the same time, a little sleepy all the time.

The surgeon gave me a DVD of the operation. Today's goal is to see it and give you all some screen shots.

Post-surgery: doing fine

Home from surgery several hours now. Definitely a little dopey - slower thinking and an "I don't care" aspect to all thought. The nerve block done to numb my shoulder has turned my right arm into a log. Some 10 hours on, I am just starting to have more feeling and motion control in my fingers. The rest is still numb and limp. It will all come back in the next few hours.

I am fast learning what being sinister is all about. Eating with a fork makes me feel like a three-year-old: I can do it, but it's real clumsy. I can button a button, but it's not that easy. Ah, these new things to learn ...

Speaking of which, the PowerBook has some cool voice recognition software, but it does not work with evil Word and I haven't yet figured out how to get it to work with Firefox (my web browser) ... so I am stuck with lefty typing for a while. It all works out, though: I can type about as fast as I can think. :-)

Contemplating the forced-sinister life

Tomorrow I have my shoulder surgery, which will mean some serious new learning. These include:

a. being dopey again.
b. wearing a sling.
c. doing stuff left-handed. Frankly, shaving has me a little worried. :-)
d. learning the speech-recognition software on my Powerbook.

I'll keep you all up on things, but watch out for dopey writing!

Sunday bike ride

What I hope becomes a typical Sunday: an early morning romp with Supadog playing some serious kong. A great breakfast with some home-made muesli, and then off to Edgecliff for some shopping. After a yummy lunch courtesy of V, we got our bikes out, topped up the air in the tires (or tyres as the Aussies would write it), and set off for Manly Beach. By bicycle, this is a bit daunting, because Sydney is one hilly city. Here is the route we took ... thanks gmap-pedometer.com: M&V go to Manly. Part 2 to North Head. Part 3 back to Manly. Ferry ride back to Circular Quay is here. Bike ride back home. Total distance rode was more than I thought - 35.3 km, or almost 22 miles.

DEAL OF THE DAY: Ice cream cone at McDonalds, Manly Wharf: 30¢!

Skuzzy service of the day: Max Brenner Chocolate at Manly Wharf. Really bad service cancelled out the great chocolate drink I had ...

Grocery 101

Even food words are often different ... here were some words I came by while shopping today:

Caster sugar = superfine sugar
Tasty cheese = cheddar cheese
Rockmelon = cantaloupe
Coriander = cilantro
Capsicum = bell pepper
Aubergine = eggplant

While not a food, I also saw this at the grocery store: soil wetter. And it is exactly what you think it is: it helps the soil in your pot or garden retain water.

Saturday was ...

one of those days. Around mid-day, while V was doing laundry, all this really disgusting-smelling water comes spewing up out of one of the drains in the back yard. Somehow the drain pipes for the house had suddenly blocked up. It was nauseating. We're talking about stuff that should not have been coming up, should never be seen or smelled by the public, but it did anyway.

Well, over $1,000 later, some really wealthy plumbers got the drain pipe cleared. It turns out that tree roots were nearly completely blocking it, and something got stuck and blocked it completely.

Our landlord will not be happy. It appears that the problem is bigger than that, with the city line itself also experiencing a great deal of blockage. Our landlord had told us to get this done when we first moved it, that he has had it done every six months, so maybe he won't be so upset.

Kitchen appliance hieroglyphs or Why I Need Oven Translations

This afternoon I went to Cammeray, which is a close-in suburb across Sydney Harbour. Of course I went by bike; the way I went was about 9.7 km, as I did not have a good map and got lost.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1698093

I had to pick up some parts for the washing machine. The door doesn't close right (it's a front loader) and the latch on the door broke recently. It's easy enough to fix - so I just ordered the parts and will fix it.

This got me to thinking about Australian kitchen appliances. Most of them are written in Bosch hieroglyphs ... for example, these are the controls on the oven:

17.24 is the time, and for the first picture, I can figure that the middle dial is the temperature in Celsius, but the rest of it ... well ... I know now ...

The dishwasher is not much better ...

but I figure just about any setting is going to get them clean ...

In response to popular demand

Because of the many requests from my adoring fans, here are some pictures of Supadog.

Supadog was the second Old English Sheepdog that we got. (Mollie was the first, RIP.)

She was my first internet-intermediated purchase - I found the ad for her and her siblings on washingtonpost.com. We got her back in July 1997 and I found the ad for her online by doing a word search. Supadog is a country dog from Virginia, and has since become a great frisbee catching, kong chasing city dog.

Supadog (one of her many pseudonyms) is originally from Massanutten, Virginia, about a three-hour drive from Washington. When we met her, she was playing with her siblings and a bunch of piglets that her owners were also raising. The piggies and the puppies were all about the same size, running around, playing and chasing each other. It was a little surreal, but she really stood out in terms of personality.

Since then, Supadog has vacationed in DC, Maryland, New York, Vermont, Ohio, Florida, and her most recent state, New South Wales.

Differents III

Medicine
One of the more interesting aspects of being bicultural is observing the medical angle. With my shoulder injury, U.S. specialists rely on MRI to assess the condition of the bones, tendons, and other connective tissue. In Australia, the orthopedic surgeons rely on sonograms. In my case, neither had definitive diagnoses ...

While we're on the subject of medicine, here are a few more differents:
Physiotherapy = physical therapy
Anaesthetist = anesthesiologist

Drugs have different names, too, and over-the-counter drug consuming habits are different. There is no OTC benadryl in Australia, except in cough syrup. Paracetamol is acetominophen.

Some other things
bitumen = asphalt
footpath = sidewalk
pushbike = bicycle
ute = truck, pickup truck
boot = trunk
bonnet = hood

A lot of these are valid in the UK ...

Shorten that word

Some unique Australian language usages are adding the "ee" sound in "ie" or "y" sound after the first syllable of the original word ... barbecue becomes barbie, football turns into footy, Australian = Aussie, mosquito = mossie, etc. The same kind of thing happens with adding "o" after the first syllable of a word as a way to shorten it. For example, Darlinghurst becomes Darlo, Paddington is Paddo (these are two Sydney neighborhoods), service station becomes servo, etc.

The neighborhood and environs

The neighborhood I live in is Darlinghurst, which is very close in, a 20-minute walk to the CBD. Here is a layout ... zoom out some to see some places not on the original view ...



View Larger Map

Shoulder surgery: education session

Today I had an information session with the surgery center. There were eight of us to get shoulder surgery next Tuesday 18 March. Only three of us are getting rotator cuff work; others are getting shoulder replacement and other things.

The session went over what the surgery involves. Mine is arthroscopic, which is minimally invasive. Three or four small incisions are made where a small camera is inserted and the surgeon gets to directly view the types of damage I have. According to the sonogram diagnostics, I have two or three of my four tendons torn.

Besides little cameras are little saws and I presume other little things that the surgeon can insert in there to do what he needs to correct the problem. For me, the torn tendons are reattached with little titanium anchors in the top of the humerus, reattached with what I think are nylon lines. Imagine fishing reel.

While he's doing this, I'm sitting up, and either conscious or unconscious. I think I will be unconscious, from the description provided.

Total recovery time is 6 months, with improvements in mobility noticeable after 6 weeks. I will wear a sling for several weeks.

Star Radio Liberia

I just got an email from a friend of mine about a radio station that she works with in Liberia, called Star Radio. Here's their website:

http://www.starradio.org.lr/

As you may know, Liberia has experienced two civil wars in the past 20 years, and since 2003 has been on the road to reconstruction. Star Radio plays a critical role in this effort, by providing independent information and news to the Liberian community, with broadcasts in 18 languages. What is so great is that, through the Internet, you can hear them too, in English or French.

So yeah, Sharon (my friend) told me about Star Radio, and how they need financial support. She asked me to help out, and there is a website where anyone can contribute. I gave a little, but thought I could also put the word about them. That can be done here:

http://www.globalgiving.com/pr/2000/proj1961a.html

Global Giving is a really great website for helping out grass roots groups throughout the world. Check them out at:

http://www.globalgiving.com/

Shoulder surgery

This afternoon, I went to see an orthopedic surgeon for a rotator cuff injury I've been dealing with. There are two separate tendons that are torn on my right shoulder (infraspinatus and supraspinatus). I've agreed to have surgery to reattach them, scheduled for next Tuesday March 18. Wish me luck.

The surgeon's office is out in Kogarah, about 17 km south and west of town. I took the train - it didn't take long at all to get there. The surgery will be outpatient; I have the option of remaining conscious during the procedure. I think I will.

Differents II - Housing

The housing market works differently, both rental and for home owners.

Rent by the week.* Rentals are advertised by the week, rather than by the month. For example, rent here is $750 per week (about US$700). But rents are typically paid monthly. So we pay $3,250 per month (US$3025).

Variable interest rate mortgages. In Australia, mortgage terms are typically variable rate. Where most U.S. mortgages have a fixed interest rate for the entire term, which is typically 30 years, Australian mortgages generally have a variable component to them. There is often an initial length of time (1 year, 2, 3, or 5 years) that has a fixed rate, after which the mortgage goes to a variable rate.

Auction. Many home sales are conducted by auction.

Some of the words are different as well ...

Deposit. Down payment.

Strata. Condominium.

Valuation. Appraisal.

Sames, differents

It is so easy to see superficial similarities between Australia and the United States. Here are some of the differents ...

Highway driving. In the States, the norm is to speed, at least 5 or 10 miles per hour over the speed limit. In Australia, from what I've seen, drivers stick to the speed limit. I've driven from Sydney to Canberra a few times, as well as on New South Wales' South Coast, and on the highway, it's pretty much going at whatever the speed limit is ...

Small businesses. I think it's the tax code, but there are a lot more small businesses in Australia than in the USA. I'll try to get some photos, but today's pick was a portable grill cleaning service. As in barbie kind of grill. This company would even detail your grill, if you had the money.

Traffic calming. While it is starting to catch on in the States, I see traffic calming and road closings (to prevent through traffic on a neighborhood street) done a lot here. It is very pedestrian-friendly, which is a good thing. Sydney is much more densely populated than DC.

Day 2: a typical Sunday

Pretty typical day to start. Up at 7:30 with Supadog and went to Rushcutters Bay Park, where we played Kong and wore Supadog out. Went home, had breakfast, checked email, dih dah dih dah. Later in the day went with V and Supadog to Surry Hills again, checking out the houses and the neighborhood. Saw lots of cool little houses, as well as plenty that had been bastardized.

Some background notes

A few months ago, I moved from Washington DC to Sydney Australia. Two years ago, I met someone and fell in love. It took me this long to move here to Sydney. It's not been easy: uprooting pretty much all of my life, placing a big bet that I can have a relationship again.

It's really a lot more than that. It's starting everything over, except maybe language (more on that later). It's an amazing feeling.

Day 1

This morning was the first time I heard it: a kookaburra. It sounds like one of those movie jungle sounds. Really amazing. This is what they sound like ...

http://fcfhsp.customer.netspace.net.au/kooka.wav

Beautiful day. Blue skies, nice breeze, ideal temperature, like 25. Got out with V and Supadog and walked to Surry Hills. Great little streets with these really cool old houses back in hidden alleys and roads.

Saw a movie at the Academy Twin. It's a local art house cinema, maybe a ten-minute walk away. The movie was "Animals in Love" (Les animaux amoureux) - a beautiful documentary that is part of the French Film Festival. The subject was pretty much that - from whales to zebras to all kinds of birds to praying mantises. Not vulgar at all. Startlingly beautiful cinematography ...