Saturday, August 29, 2009

Grumpily gleeful


I confess I have been glumpy* since yesterday and I don't really know why. Yup, it's true. I'm not always dancing happy jigs and clapping my hands with glee. Sometimes I am a moody cow, and occasionally I am a moody cow for no good reason.

But rather than sitting at home sulking today, I went out and managed to have as gleeful a day as you can when you've got your cranky pants wedged up your clacker.

I felt like a change of scenery so I donned my doonaparka and walked to St Kilda beach. It started to rain with determination just as I arrived and I was very damp by the time I sat down to a hot chocolate and (very sub-standard) fruit toast on Acland Street. I got some nice photos of raindrops on purdy flowers on the way to the cafe though.

Thankfully the rain stopped by the time I finished brunch, and I headed to the beach. I like the beach in winter and today the grey clouds and almost deserted beachfront suited my mood.

Visiting St Kilda brings back a lot of memories, happy ones and less happy. One of the happy memories is of a really fun (and somewhat alcohol-fuelled) date I had on Grand Final night a couple of years back which involved my date risking death to rescue a blue-ringed octopus that some callous fisherman had left on the pier. It also featured dodgem cars at Luna Park, a pub crawl and pashing** at some underground bar. Sighs....

After taking photos of the boats and clouds, I walked back up to Acland Street for cake and then jumped on the No 96 tram to the other side of town where I went to the Rose Street Artists Market. I've been meaning to go there for ages, and today I finally did. I bought myself an awesome Cybertart bag, which temporarily lifted my flagging spirits (I got the Grrrr one on the bottom left. Of course). Some of their bags have a clever zip-off, interchangeable flap/pocket feature so you can have several bags in one. You can also customise some of their products with your own photo. Hmm...*thinks* what an excellent gift idea....

Returning home to discover I'd won a book from Readings bookshop also lifted my spirits. I won a copy of Literary Melbourne just for sharing (on Twitter) my favourite place in Melbourne to read a book (I said on my couch, with the winter sun streaming in the window). Sweeeet.

I walked nearly 15kms today. Tonight I'm going to put my pyjamas on, eat cheese and Vegemite toasties and watch Clerks on DVD. I think I'm slowly emerging from my grump...


My photos...






Is this the fiercest merry-go-round seat in the world or what? It's at Luna Park


Luna Park is pretty much craptacular, but its merry-go-round is stupendous


* glum + grumpy = glumpy

** tongue kissing, for you non-Aussies

9 comments:

Leo said...

Glad to see you back all gleeful and Jayne.

Your post reminds me of a favourite Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, where unhappy Calvin, after a very unlucky day, says, "You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."

(The fiercest merry-go-round chariot I have ever seen!)

chrome3d said...

craptacular...nice to learn new words! Yeah, there is nothing like a coool sea breeze to wash away the cobwebs from the brain.

Jayne said...

Hi Leo. Well, nearly gleeful again.

I think I will have to check out Calvin & Hobbes. A friend of mine has been urging me to have a look too.

Hi chrome. I like made up words, even those I didn't make up, like craptacular.

The wind was quite bracing at the beach yesterday. I really enjoyed the change of scenery, not least because it was nice to have something a bit different to take photos of.

Anonymous said...

Photos, and not a person to be seen! Yeah, up and down, all part of the merry-go-round of life.

S3XinthePantry said...

The loan yellow boat in front of the others is eye catching and beautiful! Glad ur feeling better!

Katrina Fries said...

Sometimes just getting out and seeing new things does the trick.

I also recommend Calvin and Hobbes. One of my favorites.

Dina Roberts said...

Brave of your date to try to save that octopus. Yikes!

I'm sorry you're in a grumpy mood. We all get that sometimes...unless we're Stepford Wives.

Jandy xx said...

Happy birthday Gleeful! Thanks for helping make my days full of glee

Jayne said...

Hey Anon. Yep, the people were very thin on the ground indeed.

Hi S3X. The little yellow boat is quite eye catching against the blue/grey background, isn't it?

Hey Katrina (took me a while to figure out who Katrina is!). Yep, I knew if I stayed and home and sulked things wouldn't get better.

Will definitely check out Calvin & Hobbes!

Hi Dina - brave or inebriated or a combination of the two. He picked it up using his mobile phone and wallet. He didn't actually touch it, but when they are agitated they can jump! This one might have been a bit worse for wear though.

Hello jprp. Thank you for reading!