There’s this general understanding in Brisbane that at some point we’re gonna have The Big One. A coronavirus wave of berejiklian proportions, then all this *gesticulates* is going to go away.
Plans are made spontaneously, things we’ve been putting off are happening now. We’re all living in the moment and making the most of whatever time we have left.
Things will come good again, of course they will. But we’ll never forgive Morrison for the bungled rollout, or the NSW Libs for letting it spread (quite deliberately) in the first place.
When I came back to Australia and went into hotel quarantine, probably my only complaint was that I had no way to wash my drinking glass. Bar soap, as it turns out, not good. I asked and they sent up a thing of dish washing liquid which I kept ever since.
It’s been refilled a bunch of times and at some point the cap fell off and went missing. It’s been over a year and it was never designed to be reused as much as it has been but it was a small kindness, and as stupid as it is I’m getting emotional throwing it away.
I’m very grateful to Victoria. For putting me up, but also giving me a thing of soap when I needed it most.
When I first moved back to Brisbane I had nothing, really. Ben was kind enough to give me his old TV that he wasn’t using, and it was probably one of the best hand-me-downs I’ve ever gotten. Thank you, Ben.
I have a particular affinity for a good TV. The one I had in Amsterdam was small and bad, so I really appreciated upgrading to the forty-something inch goodness and crisp clarity of the 720p display. I’m convinced everything looks good on a 720p display, it’s the great equalizer.
Now it’s been a bit over a year and I’m back in my place and I want to decorate. I want to mount the TV and cabinet on the wall and have a proper cosy space. But if I’m going to do that, I need to get the right TV first. Measure once, cut twice y’know? 😅
So that’s what I did. I saw there was a one-day sale online, and the model I’d had my eye on was just the right price. So I jumped on my bike and rode into the city to look at them in person.
It was just before closing time, but the guy was very helpful. I suppose he got himself a nice commission from the transaction, so we both win.
It’s an extravagant purchase, and I feel like all I’ve done since moving home is buy more stuff. So I’m feeling a little guilty about it. But it’s been on my list for at a year now, and if it’s like the last TV I bought I’m hoping it will last pretty much forever.
It’s getting delivered on Monday so I have a few more nights with the trusty old faithful. Then comes the tricky part, working out how to mount the new one.
I went out for a coffee to reset my head. It’s a grey and rainy winters day, kinda gives me European vibes. The plants are loving it, though I don’t know where to put them all yet.
Looking into the street through foliage. Grey sky, orange traffic cone in the middle for some reason. Street art on an industrial wall behind the vacant lot across the road.The coffee place is just a hole in the wall. There’s people standing round under an awning with more street art of a woman blowing rainbow bubbles. A pot plant sits on the kerb to collect rain.My plants look almost neon green in the rain. I’ve got them all bunched up on the courtyard to collect water.The sunset was really unusual after a weird, wet week. Pinks and purples and random white clouds.
I bought the iPhone 12 Pro Max for it’s excellent camera array intending to elevate my vlogs, but within the 14 day cool down period I decided it wasn’t for me and returned it. I think I got suckered into the marketing hype.
Instead I decided to get a proper camera for myself, the Sony ZV1. It’s a point-and-shoot form factor designed specifically for video, based on the RX100 line. I wish I did this ages ago.
With a notional risk of community transmission I decided not to meet up with friends this weekend, opting instead for a call and some Animal Crossing. But I still wanted to do something with myself and get some exercise, so I decided to ride into the city and take some b-roll.
It was a fun ride, and I managed to use some of the new CityLink paths. They were not especially convenient coming from Roma Street but I appreciated them nonetheless.
I spent a little time in the city, but for the sunset I camped out on the Goodwill Bridge to watch the birds, ferries, and generally life go by. It was cold but nice.
There’s no shots from the camera because it’s really only for video. But I got a few good clips you might see in an upcoming vlog.
It wasn’t a spectacular sunset, but right toward the end as the daylight died it delivered the goods.
I was taking a walk in West End after having breakfast with Tae when I discovered the old rainbow footpath in West End.
It’s worn down pretty badly. Reminds me of chalk drawings on the road after the rain. But it’s probably fair enough cos it was thrown together by volunteers and I guess they just used whatever paint they had.
I first stumbled on it when it was brand new back in 2017 with Joel, Tom and Shashi. This was just after I got back from Amsterdam for the first time, and I assume Shashi & Tom were visiting for xmas.
Not linking to the bad website, but here’s the description from the original Facebook message where Cr Sri got folks together to paint it:
This is partly a political statement, and partly just an excuse to bring a bit of colour to an old stretch of bitumen footpath at the corner of Besant St, O’Connell St and Vulture St.
If you have a bit of spare paint lying around that you can bring down to donate to the cause, post up in the comments with the colours and quantities, or just rock up on the day and lend a hand as you see fit.
It would be good to use paints that are designed for outdoor surfaces and will last a while. We’ll try to paint in segments, leaving one part of the footpath clear until the other painted areas have dried so as not to inconvenience any mobility-impaired pedestrians.
If anyone wants to bring down other things like baked goods or a bit of music to entertain the painters, that would be cool too.
Jonathan Sri, Councillor for The Gabba
It’s still visible four years later. But might need a fresh coat soon.
We had been loosely planning to catch up this weekend, so after some finagling we decided to meet at Office Works and have burritos in the park.
It wasn’t an especially beautiful day, but it was nice and cool to sit outside on the bleachers (what even is the Australian word for these?)
There was a women’s hockey game being played nearby which was strangely compelling. I don’t really care for sport, but I was drawn into the action on a couple of occasions. The number of times the sticks went flying reminded me of the SBS feature on concussions in women’s sport from a couple of nights ago.
All in all, a decent way to spend a few hours. Gav mentioned this area always feels like the gross old sporting area, as seen while walking along Enoggera Creek. But it’s quite lovely when you’re in it.
I was in the shower today and a low-flying plane flew past the window and startled me. Partly because I wasn’t expecting anything to be up there in that clear blue sky. But I also realised that my little escape from the continent has left me with an aversion to air travel.
Sure, airports always sucked but a trip in an aeroplane used to have this excitement of adventure about it, a chance to climb into the tube and escape from reality. But now all that conjures is masks, hazmat bags, the unforgivable malice of the person leaving their mask down over their nose. Being stranded in a foreign country as the world ends.
It was one of those little culture shocks to be back in Brisbane and see a plane flying overhead for the first time like everything’s fine. It was like a little omen, there to remind us of our hubris. They still startle me, and I didn’t know why. But perhaps now I do.
Between corona and the climate I would happily never step foot in a plane again. I don’t think that’s realistic. But it’s a feeling.
The little West End trendy Scandi brekky cafe. Tae and I hadn’t seen each other for some time and we decided to catch up.
It’s been a fairly miserable week weather-wise. Wet and dark. But that’s a welcome la niña change from the usual Brisbane dry, so we were both happy to head out and grab breakfast before work.
I had the chilli scrambled eggs, crispy coconut sambal, plum chutney, roti bread for $17.0. Tae had almost an entire pumpkin on sourdough. We both drank our volume in coffee and it was nice.
I’ve missed breakfast. The best I managed in Amsterdam was brunch at 11 am, which was fine but I remember it being a stressful affair. Working weird Dutch hours means I haven’t really had mornings since I’ve been back. But I’ve been working on that.
I was curious why the pound sterling was called such.
Turns out it’s from Latin, lībra pondō (“a pound by weight”), as in a pound of silver. Has the same roots as the lira.
The “£” symbol is a blackletter “L” for “libra”, similar to the imperial weight “lb”. 🤯
Occasionally when I’m converting currencies I’ll “convert 100 lbs to aud” for a laugh. Google understands I mean “gbp” and that’s always amused me. Now it feels more connected.
I wasn’t sure if this is one of those things Europeans know that was never taught in Australia, but it does seem pretty esoteric. And Shawn hadn’t heard it before so maybe not.
