I was walking through the other day. Stopped by at ALDI for some cheese. Caught the train back into the city.
Stones Corner
Spinning Top
Work by Jarrad Kennedy, nestled between Wickham, Turbot and Boundary streets.
I caught this from the wrong side. It’s actually meant to be a toppled church dome, a reference to the namesake church at Cathedral Place which was never built.
The underside, pictured here, is a mosaic supposed to represent the reflection of the clear blue sky.
Spinning Top paid homage the unbuilt Holy Name Cathedral, which had been planned for the block at the other side of Centenary Place.
“The cathedral was to be the largest church building of any denomination in the southern hemisphere and proposed to seat some 4000 people,” Cr Cooper said.
“Unfortunately the Great Depression and a lack of funding for construction stalled the project until Duhig’s death in 1965.
Brisbane’s new public art installed
A Colourful Valley
A traffic signal box mural by Nurul Amira Salehin, at the intersection of Wickham and Gotham streets, Fortitude Valley.
Completed date: 30 June 2018.
This artwork represents the vibrancy of Fortitude Valley which is known for it’s cafes and nightlife through big, bold and bright colours.
Nurul Amira Salehin
You also check it out on the BCC Flickr.
Please use your elbow to open the train door
A Queensland Rail/Translink sign on the door to a suburban Brisbane train reads:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus: Please use your elbow to open the train door.
I caught the train back from an appointment this morning. It was fairly empty, there really aren’t many people around at the moment. In Brisbane the trains are still running normally, but buses can only be boarded from the rear.
For your safety and to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we recommend considering using your elbow to bump the train door button, rather than using your hand. pic.twitter.com/NcMV9tEuhk
— Queensland Rail (@QueenslandRail) April 3, 2020
Baker’s Delight Lekkerbrot
Spotted at my local Australian bakery. Translated it means “delicious bread”. Although I now realise it’s the German spelling of “bread” and the Dutch spelling of “lekker” so idk.
Not sure if this is actually something specifically German since I can only really find it mentioned in the context of Baker’s Delight.
Centenary Place, Wichkam Street, Brisbane
The art store was closed while the salesperson took lunch. As I was waiting I noticed this little snapshot of lockdown life, the traffic and buses down Wickham Street framed by the Meriton and Marriot.
I just thought it was pretty.
Mcwhirters Building
I went for a ride into the Valley to buy some art supplies and get out of the house. It was a lovely day.
McWhirters is a heritage-listed former department store at Wickham Street, Fortitude Valley, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as McWhirters Marketplace, McWhirters & Son Ltd, and Myer (Fortitude Valley). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Wikipedia
This is an example of art deco architecture in Brisbane.
Note: this photo has been edited to remove a dirty great traffic light out the front.
Lawn mower
I messaged Ben on Friday afternoon with an urgent request to help pick up a lawn mower from Gumtree. 140 bucks brand new. Too good to pass up.
While I was waiting for the person to open the door I noticed a green laser piercing the sky. Apparently because Riverfire was cancelled they’ve set up a laser show that anyone can walk around town and check out on their own time.
I miss this stuff. In Amsterdam there was the annual light festival, but it was an otherwise very boring city. So I’m thinking about taking the bike over the Story Bridge and around to the KP cliffs to check it out. With a tripod this time.
I do miss sitting by the river.
The lawnmower was alright. On Saturday I put it together, adjusted the blades, raked the yard and discovered that underneath the detritus there wasn’t much lawn left to mow. It still looks a lot better having finished it, and also cos I rearranged some logs so now the yard has shape to it. Green bin goes out tomorrow, party time.
Tonight I had dinner with Ryan at a little Thai place in Milton. We’ve been meaning to catch up for a while, but the plans we made were too big and neither of us wanted to follow through so we’ve been putting them off for weeks. So tonight was originally going to be an order-in night, no pressure, but the uber eats app marked everything up enough that we decided to go straight to the restaurant and saved almost thirty bucks.
I took a scooter home and it ran out of battery three quarters of the way back. I blame the hills.
Now I’m in bed, and I really don’t want to sleep. I’ve caught up on Twitter, the news, messaged Shawnie, taken care of my Tiny Tower, and now finished my weekend blog. So now that’s all the procrastination done, I should put on some thunderstorm sounds and get this done.
I haven’t really found a routine yet
It’s been hard. I feel like work is the only thing that’s keeping me together: Friday rolls around and I suddenly don’t know what to do with myself.
As the place is feeling more comfortable I’ve been getting more into the garden. I’ve got a line trimmer and a blower, a little saw and I’ve been taming the jungle outside. I’m pretty happy with how it’s going but I need a lawn mower and I don’t really want to spend any more money on this stuff. I will, of course, but let’s make sure I’m actually going to get paid first.
Lately I’ve been feeling nostalgic for the before times, which prompted me to ride into the valley today before work. I went to the art store and bought a couple of sketchbooks to doodle in. I’ve got the desk out the back where it gets some sun, figure that’s a good spot to get back into drawing.
Now it’s Friday, 2am, and I can’t sleep. I haven’t been sleeping. I’m supposed to call Shawn in the morning. I’m supposed to work normal Australian hours tomorrow. Then suddenly it’s the weekend again.
On preparing to leave
I started packing today. Sorting through my drawers and throwing out stuff I don’t want, and packing away things I want to keep but won’t use any time soon.
I’ve always felt like I’ve had one foot out the door at any given time, but this is different. Europe has broken me. The coronavirus has broken me. There’s nowhere I’d rather be than home and it took being cut off to realise.
I have barely left the house in two months. Maybe longer. I was musing with Shawn today that I miss “places”. The thrill of being somewhere else for a bit. Somewhere not “indoors” in this tiny box with a computer in it.
Two computers. I don’t know what to do about work, but I hope I can swing a remote gig. I don’t know when I’ll even be able to get home. The “last” Qantas flight out of London leaves tomorrow and it’s full, I checked just in case. The other day I broke down on a call to Shawn because part of me wonders if I’ll ever get home at all.
Someone is having a party and I need to get to sleep because I have work tomorrow. I put on a thunderstorm over the speakers tonight to drown out the music