blow-by-blow of the weekend

Friday night I saw Ghosts of Girlfriend's Past. The first half is quite funny, but the second errs on the side of sappiness. Still, better overall compared to my expectations on seeing the trailer. (Not however, inspiring enough for me to do a movie review.)

Saturday I hit the road in the new jalopy to head for Sydney for Good News Week and a catch-up with my ex-housemate, Phi. His girlfriend Hadid, who I met for the first time this weekend, is lovely. Seriously. I like her by herself and I like them together. I'm looking forward to going back and catching up sometime in a place where we can actually hear each other (restaurant was a bit noisy). It was good to catch up with Phi after so many months and see him in such a good place in his life.

As a whole the roadtrip was great, though being gridlocked in a multi-storey carpark for almost an hour is not on my list of things to do again. In fact it made me so late for the show that I didn't get in for the audience. (NB: the reason for the trip...aargh!!!) However, thanks to the kindness of no-longer-strangers I instead got to watch the show from the Greenroom backstage and therefore to also say a quick hello to the people on the show before I left. Nice. :) Still would have preferred to be in the audience with my friends, but not a bad second best.

I learned a lot about driving in Sydney, including how to get back if you accidentally get onto the road that takes you across the Sydney Harbour Bridge...oops. The car ran beautifully. Riding with Blueberry Boy (new Japanese homestay student, 21-years-old, been here a month, very carpe diem attitude, loves blueberries) was good - very easy and relaxed - but I'm really looking forward to the roadtrip back to Sydney with Dancer Boy in two weeks to see P!nk. My sister is going to the same concert so we'll be having dinner with her before the show. I seriously love having a car that I can go to Sydney (or the coast, or the snow if I use chains) in. Been a long time coming.

Speaking of DB, he had an informal performance last night to end the dance workshop he's been doing for the last few weeks. I went with his 'rents to watch. It was pretty low key, but I always enjoy seeing how his dancing's improving. There's only so much he can show me in my kitchen. :)

And that was my weekend. Hope yours was good, too!

what women want

As mentioned a few posts back, I saw Chris Rock live in Sydney last weekend. I also met up with my old housemate, Phi, and slept at his place before driving back early Sunday morning.

An idea Chris pitched in his show was that it's more important for a guy to keep his job than for a woman to keep hers, because a guy won't dump a girl for being unemployed, but a woman will only be patient for so long with an unemployed guy. The material was funny as far as it went, but I did think the idea really was a bit of a crock. At least in my world. I would dump a guy who didn't want to work and was happy to dole-bludge, but I'd never break up with a guy because he lost his job. That's just stupid.

I thought about this again later when I drove back to Phi's. He had parked his car in an off-street park to save it for me (safer than parking on the street). When I got there he put his car in his regular spot under the apartment building and I took the park. He'd also moved the mattress from the room where I was sleeping (which was apparently really messy) and made up a bed in the lounge room. The sheets smelled so fresh and clean. As I was going to sleep I thought, 'I don't need a guy who has money or some great job. A guy being thoughtful is worth so much more than that.' Not that I want Phi. We're friends and ever will be. But his simple thoughtfulness made me feel welcomed, cared for, and that was nice.

I think Chris Rock needs to either update his views on women, or hang out with some that aren't quite so committed to the idea that a boyfriend needs to live up to the lifestyle to which she would like to become accustomed.

fourneau flambé

Note to self: Starting a small kitchen fire is not the best way to make an early start getting away to Sydney.

(Don't worry, REALLY small...as in contained to the stove top. Cleaning up the spilled hot oil and getting the thin layer of smoke hovering under the ceiling out, however, took forever!

Oh, handy hint, by the way ~ you know how you can't put out an oil fire with water? Well salt works really well. Also burned oil and salt doesn't stick to the hotplate. Once it cools you can just pick it up and put it in the bin. Too easy. (Please don't start an oil fire just so you can try this out.)

Okay, I'm off to Sydney to catch up with my ex-housemate and see Chris Rock live. Yah!