The Little Things - May

 I can't believe how fast this month has flown. And then we are almost half way thru the year, less than 50 days until my trip. I don't know how the wheels keep spinning so fast. And yet they do.

Terrifyingly large fungus

I get a lot of benefit from these monthly summaries. It's like a gratitude post for all that I've not acknowledge in the last 30 days. I often feel I've done nothing but when I look back, I'm always struggling to find my top 3, to narrow down the field.

The pictures for the most part this month are just things that made me happy when I saw them.

READ My husband sent me an article about going to live music keeps you younger - that reseach show it reudces biological ageing by 4 years. I don't know about that, and it definitely takes a toll on hearing so wear earplugs (ONE BILLION people are suffering hearing loss from going to festivals apparently). Apparently going to gigs fortnightly could boost life expectancy by up to nine years. I'm not sure how this can all really be true, and the article was a little lose on it's explanations. I will say for me, it definitely helps with my well being (and mental health). Some of the reasons are because it reduces cortisol and boosts endorphins, I would also add certain gigs for me are the equivalent of 10kms or a festival up to 30 kms (I've got bounce...mad jumper!) so there is heart health and general fitness (but by the end I feel every bit of my age and hobble home). Apparently listening to music stimulates the auditory pathways and encourages neuroplasticity - but surely the same would happen if you listened to new music (unfamilliar music) at home? Singing and dancing in a crowd creates collective effervescence and according to the article reduces loneliness and increases self worth. Again, I'm not sure about the loneliness and self worth however these is something in the collective effervescence. I definitely find myself smiling at people like we're sharing something, or when we all move together in unison, there is something unifying in that. There are studies that say The Arts do this - and I would agree there's something very nourishing in theatre or galleries. Reducing aging though? I'm really not sure that's possible. No matter how much we wish for it!

(To clarify, I don't have any facts to argue it's not true, I'd need to see more of the study details. I'm not dismissing science outright, I'm just saying my personal expereince, as someone who by their outlines should be reducing ageing.)

WATCHED I've been to so many great plays this month. A young playwright, Ruby Blinkhorn had her first play produced and it was so clever (and funny). Yet it's left me thinking about things, about how no one is incorruptible and how power corrupts for it's own end (benenfit). Tickets to Cadaver Synod are here until next Saturday. (Based on a historical event). If this is her first place, it's safe to assume she'll go onto great success.

Guttenberg at Hayes Street theatre was hilarious (mentioned here) and the Illiad at STC was excellent. Both superb staging and acting. If you don't have tickets, make sure you go. This show is worth every cent. It's incredible.

Lastly I saw Savior (on until 14 June). It's something I think about when giving money to charity. Who decides who gets what? How is it delivered? How do they treat the on the ground workers? Does government or local power brokers corrupt the process?  This is a very funny show but will leave you thinking about the issue. 

I also had a great time at the Comedy Festival and the Writer's Festival. Sydney is in full festival mode and I do love to be part of it all.

HEARD Had a string of gigs - Eric Bibb, Ev Jones singing Sam Cooke, Jeff Goldblum, Beck(husband's pick but a good way for me to see the SSO without having to struggle with classical music), Frank Turner, Clayton Doley, Electric Fields, Galantis, Genesis Owusu and Hot Dub Time Machine. A little bit of everything and a lot of fun dancing. I was very disappointed to miss Ruthie Foster and Jaguar Jonze due to clashes but you literally can't have everything.

 

MADE The most of my husband being away by having a gaggle of friends for dinner before Hot Dub and the Mah Jong ladies over for dinner and mah jong. Not that he minds if I have people over but you don't like to be taking over the dining room and lounge all the time. All that open plan living becomes in convenient at times...

WORE More in the giving away dresses. Another from Paris that is just a little too tight. And my friend gave me these socks, and as I'm part Moomin, I absolutely adore them and have been wearing them non stop! Sparkes and Moomin themed - what more could you want?!

In the street library

MY TOP THREE MOMENTS FROM THE MONTH GONE BY Now the tricky part. I'm not sure I can narrow it down to three. I laughed so hard with Takashi Wakasugi and Gutenberg (so I will tie them for that post show moment where you are a little giddy from laughing and feel your cheeks hurting from smiling so hard). I spent time with so many different friends this month. That was really lovely, to catch up with so many different people. While I will admit I accidently overbooked myself this month, as I'm at the end of it, I will also admit it was really wonderful and I feel lucky I got to engage in so many different aspects of the arts. As I've said before, I find it stimulating and nourishing. (I also had a family get together for my mother for Mother's Day and my MIL for her birthday, so it was lovely to see all the extended family together too).

As always, you can follow along on Instagram here.

Linking with #TheLittleThings and #GardenAffair (just for the pics)

I am amazed this is not Sam Cooke's most famous song. I'd forgotten about it and now can't stop playing it.

  

 

I leave you with this fabulous gift from a friend! I adore them! Practical and funny! Perfect for the avid reader!

Share Four Somethings - May

What a month it has been! I feel I've only just done this.

I need to think about Something we loved: as honestly it's been a lot of good times. The Writers Festival is always interesting and a lovely little bubble to throw oneself into. Getting friends together with friends before dancing the night away at HotDub...I would say VIVID but my drone show got cancelled so I've yet to offfically get there.

I will pick RONE. He did a brief weekend installation, Another TIME, that I got tickets to. It was so beautiful. I was lucky enough to have some time to myself in there to really immerse myself in the concert, so to speak. I loved the creativity behind putting us on the stage, with the invisible audience watching us. The trick to these installations is finding the movement in the stillness, the shadows from the past, so to speak. When you hit that spot, it is so moving. 

 

His Chadstone Home is being set up now and here's the throw back to the magnificent TIME. He is one of my favourite artists but these immersive installations are always next level. Hendricks Gin launched a new gin though as it was a work day I did not partake (with my time slot) but I did want to say thank you to them for such a beautiful experience. 

Something that sustained us: I've seen a lot of art and theatre this month. I've also been to a good many talks and gigs. I have written before about how the arts nourishes our soul. And it really does. Saviour and Gutenberg! The Musical are both worth seeing. The Illiad is excellent and probably the hottest ticket in town - definitely the best thing STC has done in a while. The staging is fantastic adn David Wenham preforms it perfectly. I came home elated from Genises Owusu and Galantis - something about the combination of the emotional high and physical exhaustion. So I will say enjoying the arts. Free, or paid for, it is almost always worthwhile. 

Something we're carrying forward from this month to the next: While my husband is away, I'm cleaning out my cubpoard. It's a big job. I'm tidying and getting rid of stuff. Trying to be ruthless about clothes I don't fit. My much loved ones I've given to my daughter. They are 20-35 years old but still 'current' so I was clearly timeless in my youth. It's a big job so I will still be at it next week. Just doing a drawer or cupboard at a time...

This dress is from Paris in 1994. I love it so much. I've held on to it even though I probably haven't worn it since 1999. My eldest is as excited about it as I was. That makes me happy. I have memories of swanning about Moanco in it for the Grand Prix. It was such a good time!

Something we're making space for: Obviously I'm making space in the cupboard. Ha! But I also need to make a little time to sort out MY trip. I've been so busy with my husbands that i sort of dropped the ball on my own. So I need to get that happening asap! It's fast approaching. 

The photos are of the Rone exhibition, and if you want to see (& hear) the Opera of lights, there's a few clips on my Instagram here. And some photos from the magnificent TIME exhibition here.

And so the month rolls into the next. Almost halfway through 2026. How has that happened?

Linking with #ShareFourSomethings, #TrafficJamReboot and #Stylewithasmile for the stories of my loved and now lost clothes...

This song has been on high rotation in the car and I've been bashing the dash vigorously at lights. I think I want to get a stand up drum kit....so I'll need to make space for that! And break it to my husband who will not be impressed....hehehehe!

And this is my version of a RONE....

Sydney Writer's Festival

I spent four days last week at the Sydney Writer's Festival, attending 10 talks. Friends came and went, we ate and chatted and immersed ourselves in books.

I have a huge stack of books added to the to be read list.

I learnt a bit about writing too, which I will put to use if I ever sit down and write another story...ahhh. Not sure why I'm so rusty on this.

I just let friends pick the talks we went to so there were lots of new authors (to me), which was a great way to broaden reading.

There were two highlights that really brought me great joy:

The first, there was a street library there. I took 9 books out of my street library that had been sitting there for awhile and all but one went by the time I left for the weekend.

Secondly, I'd discovered Josh Silver was doing a free talk at our library but it clashed with one of the paid talks I was booked into. Low and behold he turned up at a YA talk we were attending (none of us knew why we'd picked that talk - I thought it was about spies so I was way off! HA!). I was so pleased that it worked out and he did not disappoint. As an aside, I LOVE authors that continue to do the free talks at libraries - especially as a YA author, as a lot of teens have limited access to funds. Review of HappyHead is here. (Liane Moriaty still does free talks at local libraries, which with all that Hollywood money is a real generosity. She's doing it for her readers and to support libraries, rather than for booksales). 

They handed out free copies of the Neal Shusterman series, which I gave to my friend's daughter. My eldest was a huge fan of the Unwind trilogy, so it was nice to share the author with another young person.

Did you go to the Writers Festival? Which talk was your favourite?

Or any auther talk you've been to that hit home for you in a special way?

 

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