It’s a joint blog with the boy where we both post one photo a day. Started it on the 1st Feb and haven’t missed a day since. Hopefully I can keep it up. Mostly I like that it makes me look out for things during the day that might be of interest or something different. Having a camera on my phone and the ability to blog something there and then is also a big help.

Anyways, enjoy!

A year has passed and I wonder what have I achieved since I’ve been home? Not much really. I spent so much time at work during the last busy season, it stretched from July to November… relentless in its grip on me and my life. I got to December and the year had flown by. I can feel my attitude to work has changed. I am no longer excited or enthused, I dread waking up in the morning and I find periods of time during the day where I sit at my laptop… listless. Devoid of motivation and inspiration. A friend of mine left recently… and other close friends are planning their move. I have resolved that I will do the same.

In happier news, the festive season brought a very welcome three week break with it. I was able to do my usual end of year cleanout of my room. I threw out so much stuff, I filled the entire rubbish bin. I also recycled several trees worth of paper thanks to CA. It always feels very cathartic to do this and I really wonder where I accumulate all this junk from. My parents were really happy I was home for Christmas, considerinng I was away last year. I think we all enjoyed spending time and just being a family. I also got to spend time with friends and enjoy catching up with lots of mates.

So, a quick list of things I wish to achieve this year

• lose weight/get fit/exercise
• eat healthier/drink less
• save money/buy less stupid things/acquire things I will use
• read more books (including comic books)
• play my violin
• play more computer games
• take more photos. Tempted to do the 365 day challenge BUT not sure how that will work with my numerous analogue cameras…
• stop listening to indie pop/electronica/dubstep, despite how much I love them, and get back to my rock roots
• blog more (hah!)
• catch up more with friends that I haven’t seen in ages, spend less time on people who do not care for my overall well-being
• leave work on time

I suspect this list is much the same as last year’s list. The things I want to do never really changes…

And finally, a few photos from my recent photo expeditions. The Minolta Hi-Matic 9 that I found at the markets on my trip to Hobart has proven to be a wonderful find. The lense gives beautiful, clear shots with a tinge that I think only film can capture. The Diana however, is a more complex beast that I am still trying to master.

Fire hydrant (Diana camera, pinhole setting)

"The Canada" under the Harbour Bridge (Diana Camera, 75mm lense)

Owl artwork (Diana camera, 75mm lense)

No riding the crane! (Diana camera, 75mm lense)

I had been wanting to get into photography for years, I just hadn’t found anything that really appealed to me. And then, I found out about the Diana. Harking back to the ol’ 70-80s plastic cameras, these are imprecise, dirty and give a very faded/washed-out look that appeals to me. So, a few friends chipped in to buy me one for Christmas. It came with an instant back that allows me to take Polaroids as well. Very very cool. I liked it so much, I splurged on a deluxe kit when I was in the U.K. The deluxe kit comes with a 35mm film adapter (and backing), and lots of lenses to boot. Perfect for dabbling in different effects!

So last weekend, the boy and I took advantage of the good weather and took our cameras out for a spin. I didn’t use up the whole roll of 35mm in the Diana. The boy did however, find an adapter so we can use the Diana lenses on our Canon SLR/DSLRs. And I do have the results from that. Here’s a few pics from that adventure. Hoping to find some more interesting photo subjects soon.

Fuzzy grainy goodness

I quite like the effect the Diana lenses have given my SLR photos, although I suspect the Diana itself will give completely different results. I think the middle one was taken with the Fisheye lens, but somehow it just doesn’t have that real fisheye effect?

Now, I just need to work out how to get copies of my instant photos so I can put them up here as well.

Singapore was hoooot – but this was very conducive to me staying in the shopping mall and attempting not to shop. Su offered me the choice of “strenuous day” or “relaxing day” on my first day in Singapore. This was the result of “relaxing day”:
So very lucky I didn’t choose strenuous day, huh? I also had an overwhelming sense of deja vu for 3 days in a row, as we walked through the same shopping mall each day… to get an ice cream sandwich:

I did however, make it to Raffles Hotel to have a Singapore sling, so that’s one off the list for ‘trying the local alcoholic specialty’.

I arrived in London on Friday at 6am in the morning. Luckily for me, lots of sleep in the plane meant that I wasn’t jetlagged. However, standing in the line at immigration for 1+ hours was definitely trying at that time in the morning! I managed to make it to my friend’s place, and promptly had a nap.

We flew out to Munich on the Friday evening.. so much flying for one day. We stayed in this cute little hotel called the “Art Hotel Munich”. Each of the doors to the rooms had interesting abstract art painted on them, and there were paintings throughout the hallways. Very cool! The breakfast they provided was also top-notch – cold cuts, bread rolls, coffee and nutella up the wazoo. It’s very important to have a filling breakfast before heading to Oktoberfest (:

We got up in the wee hours of the morning to get to oktoberfest at 7:30am. That’s right – AM. The beer halls don’t open till 10am, however, by 8am there was already a large crowd. Picking a beer hall is an art form – it will dictate the sort of crowd you will have. We expressly avoided the Hofbrau hall as it’s full of bogan Aussies :P Paulaner was a much safer option – it’s where the locals go.

The beer isn’t served till 12 noon – following the tapping of the keg. This is done with much fanfare – a whole procession of people come in and a band plays and they say lots of things in German.. and suddenly, there’s beer (: We stayed there for most of the first day, and after a 3 steins (litres) of beer, I was feeling pretty toasty.

The next day, I opted to give my liver a short respite and didn’t head to the beer halls straight away. Instead, I talked a few ppl (which ended up being everyone) to head to Munich town centre to have a look. We manasged to get to Marienplatz in time to see the glockenspiel thing at noon… that was pretty cool. We also headed to the Ratskeller – according to my friends this is a pretty famous restaurant in Munich. I couldn’t resist trying the Lowenbrau  oktoberfest bier:

We headed back to the beer halls after lunch and found tables outside. My friends taught me to play the drinking game “Kings”… this was a bad bad bad idea – I completely lost count of how much beer I drank after two games. Later on, we headed inside the beer hall… they had music going and for the second day in a row, I found myself dancing on the tables – drinking beer and shotting jager. This was not a good idea, seeing as I hadn’t fully recovered from the previous day. And so, for the third time in my life – I threw up thanks to excessive alcohol intake. But hey, if you’re going to throw up due to excessive drinking – oktoberfest is the place to do it.

And if I hadn’t gone outside, we wouldn’t have seen this awesome sign:

And that’s what they were serving – cow in a bun (;

Looking back, I’m surprised that there wasn’t more fanfare considering it was the 200th year of oktoberfest. (Blind dumb luck on my part for picking this year to go :P). I did meet a german girl around my age and she was heaps surprised that I had travelled all the way from Australia to attend oktoberfest as it is “normal” for them. Getting back to London, we spent a day recovering. I can honestly say that after 6+ litres of beer over the weekend, I am well and truly sick of beer (for now).

I haven’t planned any of my time in London, so it’s been a bit of a mish mash trying to decide what to do. I decided to go to Wimbledon on Tuesday as it’s fairly close to get to from my friend’s place. I did a tour of the grounds and checked out the museum and now know a lot more about tennis than I ever intended to. I’ve also finally worked out the bus/tube/train connections after hopping on the wrong bus on the first day.

Will you take me out of here?
When I’m staring down the peril
When I’m blinded by the lights
When I can not see your face
Take me out of here

All I believe and all I’ve known
Are being taken from me back at home
Yeah do your worst, when worlds collide
Let their fear collapse, bring no surprise

Pendulum – Watercolour

Perhaps because I’m looking back at my resolutions for the year and wondering if I’m even close to achieving them.

I definitely have not achieved work/life balance. Although, my recent decision to quit working in two divisions and just focus on one should help with this. At least for the foreseeable future, it is unlikely the work pace will slow down. I realise now though, that work has been making me very unhappy for the last few months. Running on 4-5 hours sleep every night is unhealthy and tired to sustain.I talked to a few close friends about it and most agree that this was a good decision. I hope it pays off.

I have also realised that I have an inability to say “no”. If I really look at myself, that’s probably true in all aspects of my life. I’m not really capable of saying “no” to people. I truly dislike disappointing people. The problem is that, in trying to please everyone – mostly I end up pleasing no one. And I always get in trouble then, for over-promising and under-delivering. I struggle with being an overachiever and a perfectionist. And I’m not really sure how to fix that.

I’ve also been feeling a bit lonely lately. This seems completely nonsensical – I’ve had people over almost every night, but it doesn’t distract from the big empty house. The knowing that sometimes, you really are by yourself and the battles must be fought alone.

Go-karting in Wollongong!

Go-kart Track

Falling to earth!

Hurricane's!

Casualties sustained in clubbing....

And that’s all I really have time to show. Will post some time when I have real things to say…

[Chorus]

Since we’ve been wrong
I’ve been part awake
Since we’ve been wrong
You will never ever know me
What took you so long
I’m not sure all the way
But my heart it asks just one more time
Are you still a mess

One day a rain will come to wash away
The earth that held us was no island
I have become ingrown inside this skin
I’ll find a way out through those eyelids

And all the days become a cast away
I seem to think I don’t belong here

[Chorus x 1]

I don’t belong here
I shouldn’t stay
What falls inside me grows empty
The wall between us will never break
Just seals it shut
It grows empty

Since we’ve been wrong
I’ve been part awake
Since we’ve been wrong
You will never ever know me
What took you so long
I’m not sure all the way
But my heart it asks just one more time
Are you still a mess

“Since We’ve Been Wrong” – The Mars Volta