cat on the mat

Find myself unexpectedly in charge of a cat. Very happy with this state of affairs, as am most definitely a cat person,  and this is an especially nice, very affectionate, version. Her favourite game is to jump up the newly installed net curtains in the bedroom - held in place with drawing pins - so that she can ping these out; first to chase around the floor and then hoard under the bed (as a responsible person I have, of course, now removed the pins).   Luckily she also seems to have an inordinate amount of fun sniffing and pushing around the doormat, so is keeping busy.

assumptions

Bit of an unintended posting delay; got sick with food-poisoning last weekend and only just getting my act back together. Actually hilarious, as it made me realize some of the assumptions I had about this trip. That nobody gets sick in Sydney because the weather is so nice and everyone is health and fitness obsessed. Even worse, believing that in moving here for the year I would seamlessly (and effortlessly) transform into a whole new kind of person – fit, slim, a healthy eater, relaxed, calm and able to research a new book ‘on the side’ of having a job. Ha! Yes, of course, just prevaricating as usual, and pretty much the same shape/healthiness as when I arrived. Also, seems like food poisoning is actually quite common (given the comments from my workmates), and that the sunshine - at this time of year at least - comes together with humidity/storms, which presumably helps bugs to thrive. Oh, and of course, Australians get sick just like anyone else. 

warm bones

The bloke on the bench also had plenty to say about other things. About Sydneysiders - that they may have a reputation for being friendly and laid back but are actually pretty aggressive, out for what they can get. And endlessly (accurately) about the dire, damp nature of the English climate. It gets into your bones he said. Of course I defended the pleasures of dampness, all the time thinking ah yes, warm bones. 

Note - the beach at Coogee has been invariably packed body-to-body. This is an unrealistic view (showing the Pavilion in the background which is also always packed) taken early in the morning before the crowds arrived. 

some weather

Got talking to a bloke on a bench - and as in England, it was mainly about the weather. ("Nice day" he said, "it is", said I.) Maybe weather talk is is as common here. Or more likely, as K suggests, everyone is just overexcited as winter turns to spring and summer; ultra-weather-sensitive and rushing to the beach at the slightest opportunity. Those opportunities were a little less immediate last week, with some cloudier, stormier weather. I finally succumbed to buying an umbrella after hoping I could hang on until autumn. And then - of course - it has been beautiful this weekend, so have now succumbed to buying a hat.

hurrah!

It turns out not only that the Rabbitohs play rugby, but that they were playing in the NRL final last night - and won for the first time in 43 years. Big open air screen by the beach, lots of excitement and a bunny or two. 

a sporting life?

It must be obvious that I am much more comfortable with contemporary art than with sporty things. I am planning to try harder. As well as swimming, running, beach volleyball and the like, Coogee also manages to fit - into its valley between 2 escarpments - tennis courts, cricket ground and a bowling green (I won't even bother to mention the various fitness and wellbeing centres). For the spectators, there are sports bars. And, just from the red and green insignia everywhere, I know to support the South Sydney Rabbitohs - and will probably find out what sport they play quite soon.

group shot

After the trolleys, I joined in another public art project as part of Art and About Sydney, this one called Us by James Dive of the Glue Society, that makes a riff on formal family and group photographic portraits, by bringing together complete strangers. So I got to take away a portrait of a random collection of people, with all the many many variations (taken over several days) on view here.

trolleys

Saw a brilliant outdoor performance of a ballet/spectacle called trolleys by the Shaun Parker Company. In brilliant sunshine, 4 dancers and their supermarket trolleys made stories about shopping, love, competition and friendship that were both balletic and hilarious.  Lovely.


You can see a version of this performance here.

finding the edge

Just before I left for Sydney, I got invited to afternoon tea with someone who has worked in this city for many years. When I asked why she didn't stay, she said that Sydney lacked an edginess that she missed - and expected to find - in urban life.

Funnily, that was the same phrase I had been using in talking about my own preconceptions, that Sydney was relatively bland - without an edge - compared to many of the world's great cities.  But what do I mean by edge?  Interestingly chaotic, even dangerous? An intense density of people, buildings, activities? Some unspecifiable form of urbanity? Does Sydney really lack it? Have I just been reading the surface or only seeing the tourist version? And why should I want edginess at all- maybe that is my problem, not Sydney's.