28 May 2010

The Hallowed Ground of Glebe

A piece of land, given by Governor Arthur Phillips, who had no right to give it, to Reverend Richard Johnson (Chaplain of the First Fleet) who similarly had no right to take it, but did anyway, in the name of the Anglican Church...

Sydney's been raining for almost 2 weeks straight, so our second big move in this seaside town took place under the auspices of a gray and wet sky. The Sydney Writer's Festival was also on this weekend. Other than a few minutes sitting on a wet wharf listening to PA speakers set up for the "overflow" at a John Ralston Saul event, I missed the whole thing. The bad weather didn't help, but really, honestly, I didn't go because we had so much moving to do.

Moving sucked, as it nearly always does, but since 6 members of a delightful and crazy brown family aren't visiting this week, the move was considerably less stressful than last time. And we had amazing, tireless, brilliant help. Vix and Ruby rescued us from cutting the mattress in half as we dragged it up a flight of stairs with two-- yes! two!-- 180 degree turns in it. And Sarah came to our old apartment the next day and helped us clean it. Our Sydney friends are beyond the pale, I tell you. You Atlanta ones have some competition for the title of "Most Wonderful Friends Craig and I Have Ever Had." That's right. It is a competition. Get to work!

Craig's new place is in Glebe, a beautiful historic part of town, cheerfully residential. We've mentioned Glebe before on the blog, too. A welcome respite from Botany Road's clattering traffic, it's so quiet and leafy here, we actually heard birds this morning! Craig's room is all set up now and he's got two lovely housemates, who seem, thus far at least, to be accommodating, kind, and generally classy ladies.

I've mentioned an event called "Penguin Plays Rough" before on this blog. And here's my post about the second time I went.

Well, last week, yours truly took one of her own humble little stories and read it for the PPR audience. I had to go first, because I was an "extra" wild card that they accepted at the last second, but going first was actually a blessing in disguise, because everyone was still excited and not yet too drunk. No one had cramped legs or an aching butt from sitting on the floor all night (but they would later...)

I got Craig to play some music for my story. You can listen to a live recording here. (A warning to Mom: this story is about you. You might not like it. But I wrote it because I love you.)

People really seemed to enjoy it; lots of laughing and clapping and fun-having. A nice feeling, that. And I got a mention on the blogosphere... well, someone other than me mentioned me on the blogosphere, anyway. Check that schnit out!

I finished my last day at Alfalfa on Monday, and even though I haven't exactly had a free moment since then, Sydney feels somewhat bittersweet and strange knowing my little desk there is no longer, well, mine. I'm feeling a bit anchorless.

Also, I'll be putting together my last episode of Final Draft tomorrow, and my heart's been creaking louder than usual these days. I'm definitely not ready to be finished with the radio show; I don't know how to leave something I'm so honoured to be a part of. In fact, I'm sort of just refusing to leave it alone-- I've already got two more ideas under production.

One of which is an interview with John Boswell, the creator of Symphony of Science.com. Have you guys seen these things? They are beautiful, they make me cry, and I can't wait to talk with him.

Have any questions you want me to ask him? I'm thinking along the lines of "What makes you so magical?" and "Why are you so wonderful?"

With that, I'm signing off for today-- another bit coming tomorrow!

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