Tag Archives: Adelaide

2016 To-Do List Challenge Part 2: Whoa, we’re halfway there

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Whoa-oh!

lizard-on-a-chair

Lizard on a chair

^ I’m so, so sorry, but this has by far been my favourite meme of 2016. I couldn’t resist. Well played, internet. Well played.

So, not to boast or anything but this list business is going swimmingly. I admit that after my last post on the matter I felt like I may have bitten off more than I could chew, but so many people have got behind the idea and have helped me figure out how this whole adventure can work. And suddenly, I’m actually halfway there!

Item #6 – learn to play a musical instrument 

Why was it on the list? As a kid I was relatively musical. I didn’t have much talent, but I loved making music and had lots of lessons in various instruments. And then I stopped, and that makes me kind of sad. Late in 2015 there was a brief foray into the ukelele which involved lots of you-tubing and one fairly mediocre triumphant cover of that 3-chord classic ‘You are my sunshine’ but the cheap, multi-coloured uke I bought refused to tune properly so now sits on a shelf, a monument to half-realised dreams.

Fortunately, my friend Jess is musical, with a background in piano and song and even a history of teaching people like me how to make the ol’ black-n-whites play a tune.

Cut to: item #7 – learn to use chopsticks

Why was it on the list? Because it’s a life skill and has been on each of my annual goals lists since oh, forever. It’s what I call a rollover goal and anyone who has been to Sushi Train with me knows the struggle is real. How embarrassment. But for this one I sort of cheated reinterpreted. Item #7 became:

Item #7 – learn to use chopsticks

So I give you this…

Yep. I was harbouring a secret musical gift. Who knew.

Item #2 – go to outdoor cinema

Why was it on the list? I was super bummed that I missed the moonlight cinema sessions last year (and the year before, and the year before) because it’s stacks of fun. As luck would have it, my mate Rose stumbled upon a free outdoor screening that the City of Unley were putting on at the Capri Theatre on Goodwood Road. Free, you say? Sold!

The best part about outdoor cinema is packing a picnic and let me tell you: when we picnic, we picnic hard.

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The screening was Eddie the Eagle, a film I would not normally have seen, but its schmaltzy sentimental (and apparently historically loose) vibe was good for picnicking and made for easy watching in a outdoorsy setting. I wouldn’t want to watch anything that required too much concentration at outdoor cinema anyway, so this suited me just fine. So, is ski jumping on the list for 2017?

No, thank you.

Item #4 – go rock climbing / abseiling 

Why was it on the list? Honestly? I have no earthly idea. I can’t remember why this made it onto the list at all. Probably I saw it on tv and thought it looked cool. I do know it’s something I have never tried before, so maybe that’s a good enough reason.

Rose and I hit up Magpie Springs at Willunga – a cute but jumbled sort of hippy / yoga / cafe / gallery / winery set up which Google told me also had a climbing wall that it seemed would fit the bill. It’s not a huge wall and, no kidding, we mocked it. This was going to be a piece of cake. Well.

That shit is hard.

Item#3 – go on a wine tour

Why was it on the list? Um, because wine tours are awesome and visiting cellar doors to chat with the winemakers is always worth it.

Since we were down that way, it seemed a good opportunity to hit up McLaren Vale for a self-driven mini wine tour. We took in Alpha Box + Dice, had a pit stop for pizza lunch at Pizzateca, and finished off at Samuel’s Gorge.

Boom. Wine tour. Done.

Item #5 – write and post a handwritten letter

Why was it on the list? Letter writing is a bit of a lost art. It’s rare, but personally I love getting mail that doesn’t come in a window-face envelope and knowing someone has thought of me enough to take the time to write. I thought sending a personal letter to a friend would be a nice, thoughtful, old timey, heartwarming thing to do.

And really, it was the quickest and easiest thing on the list so there is no excuse for not knocking this over sooner.

I don’t want to overshare the contents but I wrote the letter and loved the process. Handwriting brought out a different style of writing than email or text and jeepers does my penmanship need a little love.

 

TLDR: current tally is 6/12.

‘Til next time,

Sig

Current Obsessions: breakfast, enamel pins, and learning Spanish

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Going out for breakfast

Shout out to my favourite meal of the day: breakfast.

breakfast

Not only is breakfast the best meal to go out for (in your face, dinner!), but something about taking myself out for breakfast just makes me feel like I have my shit together. Also I feel all inspired and writerly if I write in a cafe. Yeah – I’m that guy.

For those playing at home, my fave local weekend breakfast hang out is The Middle Store on Winston Avenue at Melrose Park. Try the beetroot hummus bagel and the baklava. Yums.

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Enamel pins

My denim jacket has never looked cooler. 2016 sure has shades of the 80s and I’m pretty happy about it. Enamel pins clustered together appeal to my insatiable urge to collect things, my love of brooches, and my propensity for online shopping. I’ve been so impressed with so many designs, I just can’t stop. Favourites:

Just make sure you that if you are shopping for pins you are supporting independent designers and not the big chain stores who are ripping off their designs.

 

Learning Spanish

So, back in the day, I studied Spanish at uni and promptly forgot it all. Well, all the useful stuff anyway. I can still sing the first verse of ‘La Bamba‘, but that wasn’t exactly on the curriculum. It’s just fun to do.

Cut forward to now and I’m trying to learn again, this time using the Duolingo app which is free, super easy to use, and something I got hooked on really quickly. Still, better to be addicted to something where you learn valuable skills than something like, say, Candy Crush (and trust me – I’ve been there, it wasn’t pretty).

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Anyway, remember: para bailar la bamba se necesita una poca de gracia*.

Which counts me out, frankly.

‘Til next time,

Sig

 

*  In order to dance la bamba, you need a little grace.

 

Things the SA Blackout Taught Me About the Upcoming Apocalypse

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In case you missed it (where are you? is it warm? can I visit?), South Australia was hit by massive storms this week which, on Wednesday, saw the entire state without power. It basically looked something like this:

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Kidding. From where I was sitting it actually looked like this:

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Now – I’m not one to be dramatic*, but sheltered in a pub, two wines in, it certainly seemed that amid the torrential rain, wide spread loss of power, and general ominous atmosphere there were certainly shades of the apocalypse about the place. There would be zombies before we knew it.

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Did a statewide blackout really signal the onset of the apocalypse? It did not. But it might have, right? Surely that will be Step One when old mate Armageddon rolls into town? So let us prepare. Here are some things that the blackout taught me about the impending end of days:

  1. I am woefully unprepared. Torch? No. Batteries? Negative. Important phone numbers? Yeah, in my dying phone. The news keeps telling people in affected areas to enact their flood plans. Is that something I am supposed to have? I don’t. I don’t even have a waterproof jacket.
  2. What I do have, though, is about 1,000 Ikea tealights, which were finally, finally useful.
  3. Reading by candlelight hurts your eyes.
  4. The whole thing was dead boring. What was left to do? Go to bed? I am going to be so well rested in our post-apocalyptic future if there is nothing to do come 8pm.
  5. There is a facility to mark yourself ‘safe’ from flooding on facebook. As far as I can tell marking yourself ‘unsafe’ does not signal for help.

 

In a nutshell: pack a brolly, enact your flood plans.

Stay safe,

Sig

*Okay, fine. Yes, I am.

 

 

 

 

Week 7, in which things turn out ok in the end

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This week my multi-layer Laneway sunburn peeled horribly not once but twice, I buckled slightly under the weight of various stresses, making questionable decisions and speaking out of turn just about every time I opened my mouth. My house went on the market, and sleep eluded me again. I took some serious steps to cheer myself up:

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I bet my dinner was better than your dinner.

Adelaide has developed a split personality when it comes to weather. This week a 40+ degree heatwave ended in record rainfall which caused flooding and road closures across the city, and ruined a very comfortable pair of my shoes:

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Just trying to walk home.

But it wasn’t all so dire. The highlight of the week was Friday’s Adelaide Fringe opening parade. Light City Derby and the Murder City Roller Girls were part of the pre-parade entertainment, and I was very proud to don orange and black to muck around on wheels on King William Street. The weather dried up somewhat miraculously and it was a night of skating, fairy lights, free cocktails, dancing, and spending time with some pretty awesome people. I do think, however, that my orderly HR lady image might be irreparably destroyed since I was sprung wearing fluoro orange tights with fishnets and knee high socks in a public place by my colleagues. Oh well, I guess it had to happen eventually.

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Capping off a pretty fun weekend, I hit the Parade this morning for a breakfast date with some of my fave girls:

Total babes.

Total babes.

Winning.

‘Til next time,

Sig

Week 5: Dudsville

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Here’s the truth: week five of this Happy Days malarkey was a dud. I couldn’t keep my head above water, I chased my tail, I felt like everything I touched fell apart. And I worried, about a lot of things. However would I manage to write a good, positive post when, all things considered, all things were not great?

As it turns out, there is one seriously effective cure for a crap week, and that, my friends, is Eddie Vedder. Throwing caution and budget to the wind, I took myself off to the Adelaide Big Day Out after work on Friday in the sweltering heat and rocked my socks off to some truly awesome bands. It might be two minute noodles for dinner this week, but it was so worth it.

In between it all, when I thought about it, there were actually some other nice things about last week too:

  • Two fun fresh meat intake nights at derby, one of which was followed by beers at the pub and some of the funniest conversation I have had this year.
  • Lunch and a cheeky cider with some former work colleagues who inspire me no end and remind me that I am capable of coping with a lot, even when I tell myself otherwise.
  • Catching the genuinely delightful Saving Mr Banks on the spur of the moment over the weekend, then waxing lyrical about all of life’s ups and downs over some inordinately large glasses of Belgian beer with a good mate.

So all it takes is a music festival and a bunch to drink. Worth noting, people. Worth noting.

‘Til next time,

Sig

Week 4: that time of year again

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It’s that time of year again when Adelaide is transformed into the City of Lycra for the Tour Down Under, creating a cityscape full of tightly wrapped packages and latte-sipping cyclists at every early morning turn. My week, while everyone was hopping on the cycling bandwagon and there was lots of talk of legs and jerseys which went somewhat over my head, disappeared in a blur of meetings and emails, which resulted in an ever-growing ‘to do’ list and chain-drinking tea like an addict.

It was little things that made the early cut for my Happy Days post: crunchy leaves, new nail polish, fresh flowers in my bedroom:

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But Adelaide puts on quite a good show through the summer months, and yesterday my friend Rose and I hit the city for the first Orchard Cider Festival in Hindmarsh Square. Part of the city council’s Splash Adelaide campaign, it was a celebration of locally made ciders, food and music. All in all, a pretty lovely way to spend a sunny afternoon:

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It’s also that time of year again when the nation is gripped by Australia Day t-shirt controversy and the uncomfortable anxiety that comes with knowing a good portion of the coming days will be spent cringing and head-shaking at brazenly offensive posts and messages littering social media. For me, Australia Day will be spent as is traditional  – just a day, with friends and beer and barbecued meat and music, as we collectively grumble over the order of the songs in the Hottest 100 and I quietly worry that the portion of songs I’m even familiar with is smaller again. I expect it to be a thoroughly enjoyable day.

‘Til next time,

Sig