Share Four Something - August

Linking with #SundayBest

 Something I loved  It's been a really quite month as my mum was sick so I had to cancel a few things - fortunately, as there were the exams, I hadn't booked as much as normal. So after a rough an lonely few weeks, it was great to get out and sing 90's songs with friends (and dance!) at Sing it!. If you haven't been and you like to sing, definitely get yourself to a show. It's so much fun!     

Also good to get to a couple of comedians - Bobby Lee and Kitty Flanagan. Nothing makes you feel better than laughing AND thinking! Kitty raised an issue that I raised with friends after a talk at FODI on the weekend. I can't stop thinking about it. So more on that to come in a post....

At the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, you could dig through a HEAP of dirt for 5 minutes (timed) looking for art works. I was surprised that it was deeply satisfying and pleasant to feel the dirt under your bare feet (obviously something I don't do enough of) and while it was a test in patience - I said to my friend 'I won't be able to do this for 5 minutes!' I was genuinely surprised when we were called off the heap because our time was up...so it was in fact a very zen exercise.

Something that sustained me I spent the weekend at Festival of Dangerous Ideas and went to about 9 talks over 2 days. There was so much to think about and I learnt a lot, and it was great to discuss it all with friends over a lovely lunch on the last day, and in the breaks between talks if we had them. One of the best ones was Enshittification and you can listen to it here ($17). It's well worth it, in my opinion. There are plenty of other talks from past years on demand here. One thing that came up in the session on Bad Education is that in Australia, education is transactional. It's for a job or for marks - it's not about learning and the love of learning and what feeding interests can do for you (shame on Morrison for what he did to the Humanities). I realised that's what everyone in the FODI audience was doing. We were learning, we were thinking about points of view we may or may not agree with, we were nourishing our souls and exercising our minds and feeling invigorated by learning. I think it's really sad what we are becoming. And you just have to go on Twitter to realise how many people don't understand how elections work (regarding preferences) or how Super is paid. It's extraordinary. So we have lost something in the last 40 years with our decline in education and more importantly, not valuing education, and that's very sad to see. If you have never been to FODI, I suggest you go to at least one talk next year. It's by far my favourite talk festival of the year.

Something I'm carrying forward from this month to the next As I mentioned in this post, my youngest is now 18, so I am finding the balance of parenting an adult, but also dealing with a school kid, who has school obligations. It's a tricky line to tread....you have to find the balance of adult independence but also remind them to study, to get enough sleep, to be doing all the things required for school in the last months...and not damage our relationship in the process by over parenting, but not damage their options by under parenting.... 

Something I'm making space for Grip strengthening and arm weights, plus some neuro-exercises. They're just off the internet so who knows if they do anything, but I'm working on the theory that they don't hurt (if they're the right ones). This is because I read that poor grip strength is linked to cognitive decline. I don't know if it's true (there are a lot of medical articles so I'm guessing it is) and I guess it makes sense that if those neural pathways weaken, those weaker connections show in a physical way, But whether you can correct them in reverse, strengthening the physically to strengthen the mental, who knows? (Sorry to leave you on that cheery note). The John Olson painting looked like a neuron to me, in case you were wondering why I included it...ha!

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Share Four Somethings

I will be on a break for all of July. #Allseasons linky will be back at the end of July. Have a great month all.

Something we loved: The World Cup! Loving the civilised time zone - watching at breakfast and a half hour at lunch! Sad to see Korea go. Love their style of play. Hoping we can ge past Egypt!  Anyway, it's great getting out in a crowd to watch and there's always something to talk about with people! My insta feed is a lot of happy stories. I love this event! And love that it's free on SBS.

Something that sustained us: Been spending time with friends, family and lots of outings. VIVID, Dark Mofo and theatre and dining...it's been a really great month!

Something we're carrying forward from this month to the next: I have been getting rid of a lot of stuff this month - finding new homes for books, clothes and other items. I want to keep on that roll...a life time of stuff builds up around us...a lot of it is 30 or 40 years old! 

Something we're making space for: I'm heading off in less than 2 weeks. I need to finalise the company reports and then I really, really need to finalise all the bookings for my trip. I'm very excited and trying not to worry about how much I have to do between now and then!

Super short and to the point this month as I completely forgot about it! This month really ran away on me.

How was your June?

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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 #TuesdayTwirl #TalkaboutitTuesday #SeniorSalonPitstop #MuralMondays #MondayMusicMovesMe #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....

Share Four Somethings - January

Christmas seems a distant memory and yet I feel January flew past! It dissolved into a holiday in Europe and a flurry of Sydney festival days and nights and yet I feel I haven't done anything! (In no small part due to a lazy long weekend).

And so here we are!

Something I loved We had what is probably our last holiday with our youngest - I loved showing her Paris and I loved spending all that time with her (in thrift shops mainly but regardless!) Unfortunately she got sick halfway through the trip so barely saw much of Italy, but I did get some nice dinners with my husband, which was nice to share with him, as well as touring the Vatican together. I am sad that is the end of my holidays with my kids, but I've had so many precious ones, I have to be grateful. 

Something I learned The gladiators were short - around 5'2- 5'8 (but 5'4 was sort of the best) There were women gladiators too - the women fought against other women or animals, and the men fought men and animals. The gladiator name came from the sword they held, and they notched the handle with their wins.

Something that went well The logistics of the trip went well even with snow chaos at airports and train and taxi strikes in Italy.

Something I let go of  The first time we went to Italy (in the 1990's) the food was so much better than ours - even the fruit. This time, in both Franch and Paris, we only had one 'you must go there!' meal. We had plenty of lovely meals but nothing really blew our minds - some of the rooms did, and of course the history and art did but I think Sydney food scene has really powered ahead - Of course, I'm not really comparing like with like - we know where to eat and we cull out the bad so only go to the good places, be it takeaway, casual or fine dining. The restaurant picks in Paris and Rome were just off a page, So I may not be entirely fair....maybe I should go back and research more? Back then too, we had less money, went out less so eating in restuarants for lunch and dinner during travel would probably also seem more amazing. Anyway, I've let go of my harsh judgement of our food offerings if that's the right word...or at least become more appreciative of our cuisine. Let go of that famous cultural cringe....

And I guess that's the best bit about travel, sure you have fun, learn and see amazing things but as Terry Pratchett said  "Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving."

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