Well, so much for that...

Fellow diner at A Girl Called Jayne last weekend 

(Cafe not named after me)

It's just as well I didn't sign on to do NaBloPoMo officially because I've failed at the second hurdle. How embarrassing.

But I have reasons! I worked until 8.00pm on Thursday and then met some long-time online friends from America for dinner (yay for meeting internet friends in real life! I've been friends with one of them since Myspace was a thing - 10 or 11 years). I didn't get home until almost midnight and went straight to bed. 

Friday (my day off) I went in to work again (despite having a barely functioning brain in my head), came home and went straight to bed. I slept from about 6.00 pm until 5.30 am.

Saturday I went to the osteopath about my back, and poked about in the many op shops on and around Chapel Street*. When I got home I had to lie down to recover.

Sunday I spent most of the day lying down, apart from when I went up the street to get my nails painted all silver and sparkly. Apparently I am known at the salon for liking glitter polish. Everyone else seems to go for far more conservative nudes and pastel pinks. (One time recently though, at a different salon, there was a 60-something woman sitting next to me who was tossing up between two colours, including the silver sparkly one I love, and I enthusiastically urged her to go for that one.)

So basically I failed at posting every day because I was busy lying down or sleeping, and expect the rest of the month (and year) will proceed in this same manner.  

* While I was having my blog slump, I finished my year-long no-shopping challenge (successfully) and started my new challenge: a year of only buying secondhand and handmade clothes (and shoes, though I don't foresee needing to buy any footwear). 

It's harder than not shopping at all because the vast majority of clothes at op shops are at the smaller end of size range. It's also hard trying to find a specific item when you just never know what you'll find, if it will be in your size and in good condition. 

But not knowing what you'll find is also the fun bit. It's like hunting for treasure. 

It's that time of year again...

It's November and here I am again participating in National Blog Posting Month to get myself out of a blogging slump. I've barely turned my lap top on for the last five months, but now it will be on every day for a month. 

I didn't have a particularly gleeful day. Work was a bit overwhelming and I didn't leave until 7.30 pm, my back hurts, and I'm tired (as usual). I had a nice sandwich for lunch though. Turkey and coleslaw and cheese.

Tomorrow should be better. 

No more NaBloPoMo

Well, my NaBloPoMo efforts didn't even end with a whimper, let alone a bang. I only published 19 posts, but I'm too too bothered. 

Today is the first day of summer and, as if on cue, the cicadas have just started singing (or whatever you call that noise they make).  It looks as if we've finally - thankfully - left the winter weather behind. Spring? What spring?! I saw on the weather report last night that it was Victoria's coldest spring for years (I forget how many. Eight maybe?).

I'm so glad it's my weekend now. I've been busier this week than I have for a month or so and I'm clearly not used to hard work because I'm very weary. I'm very much looking forward to putting my head to pillow and keeping it there until well into tomorrow morning.  

I had to do some maths today. It's end of month billing and most calculations are done automatically by the software, but I needed to use my brains for one particular bill because the tax-inclusive total had to add up to the same amount of money we had in trust. I worked out the pre-tax amount on my calculator then typed the figure into the computer and BAM! It all added up perfectly! Go, me! 

NaBloPoMo: day 1

Today is 1 November, the first day of National Blog Posting Month. I've been pretty slack with posting the last couple of weeks (mostly due to an extreme lack of energy), so I'm going to use NaBloPoMo to help me push through the fatigue (as well doing stuff to help overcome the lethargy).

Today is also the last day of my five-day extra-long weekend. I had plans to make the most of the break, but I've ended up doing very little. I spent most of the weekend horizontal, often asleep but not always. Part of me feels I've wasted the whole five days, but mostly I don't feel bad about it because I needed to rest...and I think I feel better. 

I only have to work three days this week. I moved my day off this week from Friday to Monday, which meant I didn't need to use a day of annual leave, although I would have happily taken a day of leave and worked only two days if I didn't have to contend with monthly billing.  It will be a short week, but a busy one. 

I've been back on anti-depressants - the very small dose I was on before I weaned myself off them - and I feel so much better already. I'm much nicer to be around. If I have to stay on this low dose, then so be it. 

November: the last day

The last day of November means the last day of my unofficial NaBloPoMo efforts. I've enjoyed blogging again. I might not be here every day from now on, but I will be here more often.

It also means only 16 days until my holidays! 

Today was very warm, but a cool change has arrived. A refreshing breeze is blowing in my window as I write.

I thought I'd lost a brooch while out and about the other day because I noticed it was gone as I was on my way home. But when I was cleaning on the weekend I found it on my bedroom floor. I can't explain it - there were no pockets on my clothes or bag for it to fall into. Odd, but good.     

It's November

Hello, November! Yes, I'm making another (mostly likely half-arsed) attempt at resurrecting my blog by participating in NaBloPoMo. Sometimes I wonder if I should abandon blogging altogether - if I really wanted to write this blog, I'd just do it, wouldn't I? 

Regardless, here I am. Thirty posts in 30 days. 

I've had a very lazy weekend, which was just what I needed. My body was feeling broken after walking down 38 flights of stairs during an emergency evacuation drill on Monday, a migraine on Thursday and a very vigorous (but excellent) massage that left my back and neck feeling bruised. 

Thursday's migraine was the first I've had in almost a month. This is almost unprecedented! I'm on new prevention medication that's working well so far, and I'm only on a half-dose at this stage. Happily, the side-effects are minimal. 

This coming week is only four days long thanks to the Melbourne Cup Day public holiday on Tuesday. I have to work tomorrow but it will most likely be very quiet as so many people take the Monday off as well. 

The element of surprise

The other book I was waiting for arrived today. It's Mark Forsyth's new one, The Elements of Eloquence, which is a departure from his previous works because it isn't a collection of odd, interesting or amusing words. This one is about stringing words together well - that is, the figures of rhetoric. 

I was pleased when it arrived, but I was thrilled when I got home and opened it to find that IT'S AUTOGRAPHED!!! I gasped and sat there, mouth agape, for about a minute. Now I don't feel so bad about ordering it online from Book Depository, which I only did because it isn't available here yet and I had to get my mitts on it. 

I can't start reading it until I finish my current book, and The Little Prince, but it's going straight to the top of my still-to-read pile. 

Another NaBloPoMo in the bag

That's my third - or is it fourth? -  NaBloPoMo over and done with. It has had the intended aim of getting me back into the groove of regular blogging, although I would have done a better job of it if I wasn't plagued by fatigue and headaches, and hadn't left it so late in the day to write my posts.  (I will get to that word nerd post.)

I was half-expecting no one would still be reading after my absence, so thank you for not forsaking me, and for taking the time to comment (especially you, Lindy!). I'm still terrible at replying to comments, but I do read them all. 

NaBloPoMo day 1: The return of glee

Hello, world. It's been a while. Glee has been a little thin on the ground for the last few months and I've been too glum/tired/lazy to force myself to keep blogging through it like I've done in previous gloomy periods.

But I've been feeling more myself the last few weeks (yay for medication) and the urge to blog has slowly returned. Since it's NaBloPoMo time again (already) I thought I'd use it to get back myself back in blogging habit. Yes, I'll be back tomorrow. And the day after. Etc.

Finding things to write about isn't likely to be a challenge because I intend write about stuff that happened while I wasn't blogging - including my trip to England and Paris in August. But I'll start with more mundane stuff. 

I had my performance review at work today and it went well - the partners are happy with my efforts. Not that I expected it to go badly, but for most of the past six months I have felt unmotivated, unenthusiastic and - for a few weeks after my holiday - almost inert. I was sure my funk must have been obvious, but either it wasn't or I met expectations regardless. Whichever. Thankfully, since I've been chirpier, I've been much less inert at work. 

Today is Friday and it was sunny after a yet another week of chilly, grey days. Melbourne is having an unusually chilly, grey spring so today's sunshine was very welcome. Tomorrow is going to be warm too. 

I gave blood today. They had gluten-free mud cake in the cafe. 

NaBlaPoMo: THE END

It was so warm last night - the hottest November night in 111 years, in fact - that we slept without even a sheet over us and with the blind up so as not to impede the little puffs of cool breeze blowing through the window. But when the blind's up and I'm lying on my right side (my preferred side) the light illuminating the billboard on the Nylex clock silo shines in my face, which annoys me. 

To solve this problem, I moved my pillow to the foot of the bed and slept up that end instead. But I'm not sure this was a conscious decision, or if it was just the latest odd act in the bizarre nocturnal theatre of my life. I also woke up to find my bedside lamp sitting on the floor beside the bed, which does suggest sleeping up the wrong end was an unconscious decision... Either way, it was an effective solution. 

Here are some photos from my walk home from work.

 Vesper 1, Little Bourke Street

 Vesper 2 - Degraves Street

(Vesper + Clementine = vespertine)

 Clementine's is next door to the Little

 Bookroom I posted a photo of yesterday

 The footbridge over the Yarra has its Christmas clothing on 

 Jacaranda in Queen Victoria Gardens

 (for Piggywhistles)

 The trees are outgrowing their bark

 (also for Piggywhistles)

Luke and I meandered up to Bridge Road this evening for a burger and...yeah, Fritz Gelato again. I'm a gelati junkie. 

We walked along back streets on the west side of Church Street. We saw some beautiful old houses, some grand but most more modest and nicely restored. There were also quite a few that looked as if a stiff breeze would blow them down. But you might already know I'm partial to urban decay. At least dilapidated houses have more character than the modern concrete boxes dotting the backstreets of Richmond.
  

For those times when you can't control yourself...

We decided to walk home again after our gelati. It was a lovely balmy evening to be out and about. The streets were lined with people enjoying their dinner and drinks al fresco and the cicadas were buzzing. There was a gentle breeze. 

We walked along The Vaucluse, Richmond's hoity-toity enclave, which was pretty even in the fading light. Closer to home, the bubble dome was lit up and twinkling. We could hear the crowd roar as we passed by. A group of girls paddling canoes passed under Morell Bridge as we crossed over it.  

There was lightning in the distance as we neared home. Not long after we installed ourselves on the couch, scarier lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled. It rained a little too.   A nice way to end the day. 

Speaking of endings, I finished reading The Horologicon at last. It was an engaging and chuckle-inducing read, although not quite as captivating as The Etymologicon, which had me riveted from start to finish. Even so, I'm looking forward to Mark Forsyth's next book. 

NaBloPoMo also comes to an end today. I've made it through 30 days and 30 posts. *pats self on back*   Thank you for reading. 

Blimp, perks, baby cheese

I stopped to look at the sunset on my way home from the gym tonight and spotted this airship floating about over Southbank. I didn't notice until I looked at the photos on my computer that there's a long rope or something hanging from it. I didn't see anything dangling from it and can't see anything in my other photos. Wonder what that's all about? Those blimps and their mysterious behaviour. 

Speaking of the gym, one of the perks in my now-not-so-new job is a $90 per quarter gym subsidy. I'll be claiming my first subsidy this week. It will bring my gym membership down to about $60 a month - that's $15 a week or $7.50 per visit. That's pretty good. 

We've been having baby beetroot and 'bambini bocconcini' (grape-sized bocconini) in our salads lately. Not only is it tasty, but I like saying "bambini bocconcini".

It's almost National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) again. Already! I think this will be my third year of posting every day for the month of November. Since I have so much fun stuff coming up in the next week or so, I should get off to an easy start. 

Three more days until my five-day weekend!

Wet feet, good deed, and I did it

Drowsy duck is undeterred by wet feet.

The tide was unusually high

I did a good deed at work. Even though it was close to home time, I offered to help another secretary finish her bills. I'd finished all of mine and I knew she'd been working solidly since 8.00am and wouldn't be able to leave until she'd finished hers.  She was very appreciative.

Wooh! Last day of NaBloPoMo today. I made it!  It seems fitting that I should finish with a photo of a duck.

Nick of time, Mexican, Bess

Phew, it's not midnight yet! I was lying in bed then suddenly remembered I hadn't posted today.

I had delicious nachos and lemon margaritas at Mexicali Rose in Richmond tonight. Yum (except for the margarita that was very salty and had to be returned).

Luke and saw a greyhound on Swan Street after dinner. I like greyhounds. We had one as a pet when I was a kid. Bess was a lovely, placid dog. Coincidentally, now I think about it, we were walking past a restaurant called Bess when we saw the greyhound. It stopped near the open door of Bess as if it had got a whiff of something good.

It's the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekend! 

Remembering, folding, old fashioned food

I'm pretty happy that I've been able to remember to post every day. There's been quite a few nights, including tonight, when I've started to think about going to bed before remembering - "I have to blog!" Phew. Only nine posts to go...

I kind of like folding my laundry.  I'm not one of those weird people who enjoys domestic chores, but there's something about having a wardrobe of neatly folded and hanging clean clothes again that I find satisfying.

I had corned beef for dinner tonight. It's not fancy or fashionable, but I like it, especially with creamy mashed potatoes and curried cabbage.

And now I can go to bed.

NaBloPoMo, feeling better, zombies

I'm participating in National Blog Posting Month again for the third year running. I've been a slack blogger lately, so I thought I'd give myself a kickstart with NaBloPoMo. Prepare for the daily bombardment of glee from Tuesday.

I had a nice sleep in this morning and stayed in bed for a while listening to the rain. Then I got up and went to the gym. Go, me! I've been back at the gym for about three weeks and it's amazing how much better I feel - more energetic, less sluggish and far less stiff and sore in the back and joints.  And that's just from two 45 minute sessions a week of stretching, core work and weights. Nothing overly strenuous at all.

The Zombie Walk lurched through the city this afternoon. There were thousands of them.

As a result, this guy at the ATM didn't really raise any eyebrows. He might have been doing the walk of shame after a Halloween party.

Polly has resorted to begging by the road side for crackers

NaBloPoMo is over

As soon as I hit 'publish' on this post, I will have kicked NaBloPoMo's butt for the second year running. It wasn't hard (and bear in mind I'd been posting daily for about two weeks before the start of November). I'm a blogging machine!

Sweet Virginia, steam and ice magic

From retro French pop to sweaty rock n roll... This is one of my favourite Rolling Stones songs, Sweet Virginia, which features in Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones movie I saw last night. The movie consists entirely of concert footage from the Stones' 1972 tour to support the release of Exile on Main Street, the album on which Sweet Virgina appeared.

It rained this morning, but when I went up the street around lunch time, the rain had cleared, the sun was out and there was steam rising from the warm, wet bitumen all around me.

I spent the afternoon on the couch watching DVDs, which is something I rarely do. I had icecream with chocolate ice magic.

I walked Melbourne

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

I saw this passage by TS Eliot on a banner at the State Library's Mirror of the World exhibition this afternoon after I finally finished my self-guided Walking Melbourne tour, and I thought it was apt. I have now visited and photographed every single one of the 235 significant buildings and landmarks in the National Trust guide, which also means I get to cross something else off my 101 Things To Do list.

The final section of the tour took me to the north-west corner of the CBD, the area I had been working in until last Friday, so I now know the history of some of the old buildings I had previously admired and photographed.

That part of the city has some of the city's oldest buildings, including St James Old Cathedral which is the oldest building in Melbourne (not imported from overseas). Construction began in 1839, although it was moved from its original location to a site opposite Flagstaff Gardens in 1913.

There's also this little house and shop on the corner of King and La Trobe Streets, which is one of only a few pre-gold rush buildings left in the city.

  

After I finished my walking tour I popped in to visit the State Library (if you've never been, this is truly one of Melbourne's best hidden gems. Go!). I admired the wonderful domed reading room and also visited the smallest book and the largest book on display in the Mirror of the World exhibition. I always look at them when I go there.  

The smallest book is the Midget Encyclopedia, a collection of tiny books smaller than matchboxes which are accompanied by a weeny magnifying glass. Today it was open to Q for quagga. The largest book is the awesome Birds of America by renowned naturalist John James Audubon. It's massive and open to a different page every time I go. (According to the State Library website, its copy is one of only 120 known copies in the world.)

The dome

I also visted the Cowen Gallery at the library. I'm not sure if they were there when I visited last, but the gallery has on display the last notes written by Burke and Wills before they died.

As well as looking at significant buildings, I also lurked about city laneways taking photos during which I saw three different renderings of the Rolling Stones tongue motif in two different alleys (probably all by the same person) - on the same day that I was to see Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (which was great, although Mick Jagger's er...pantal region was distracting). 

Walking into the city beside the river this morning I saw a bird pecking at something on the path. I thought it was a large beetle at first but when the bird took flight at my approach, I bent down to have a look and it was a tiny crab. It saw me looking at it and it adopted a fighting pose with its little claws thrust up at me. Feisty!

My Girl in Melbourne photo blog has 49 followers. Thanks guys! One more for the half century...

And that's it for day 1 of NaBloPoMo.

NaBloPoMo: over and out

Yay! NaBloPoMo is over and I get to cross something else off my list of 101 Things to Do Before I'm 40. OK, it's not quite as impressive as becoming an early riser or a vegetarian, or even lasting a whole week without dropping the F bomb (still working on them), but it's done.

Thank you for reading...or should I say persevering?

My laptop is in getting fixed which means I have more time for...watching Angel!  Hurrah! I started season two last night, which features Angel 'singing' Barry Manilow's Mandy at a demon-friendly karaoke bar so Lorne (the green dude with the horns) can read his aura. When Lorne asks him why he chose Mandy, Angel says because he thinks "it's kinda pretty". Not quite as amusing as the dorky dancing, but still chuckle-worthy.

Venting

OK, I've had an annoying day, so let me just say I'm glad there are only two posts left in NaBloPoMo, including this one. I've enjoyed it, but it has started to feel like an obligation, rather than a pleasure.

I'm writing this at an internet cafe in Richmond because I um...computer raged my laptop and the hard drive has decided to punish me by not working. I wouldn't need to punch it if it didn't make me so angry, so I'm blaming it.

So I had to walk to the net cafe in the rain because someone stole my umbrella from the gym change rooms today and I didn't buy a new one.

All that, and I spent most of the afternoon with soggy socks after walking to the gym in the rain (my next umbrella needs to be one of those family-sized ones that can take out the eyes of half a dozen people in one go). Soggy socks are not at all good for one's state of mind.

Sighs. I'm going home now. 

Church house

Because I haven't been walking to work in the mornings due to the heat, I've been taking myself on a little wander on my way home to make up for the lost exercise. Tonight I walked through the Treasury and Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, the grounds of the MCG, then across the rail lines and the river.

East Melbourne is another suburb with beautiful old buildings - and also this rather odd confection of old meets new on Powlett Street:

It looks like someone has gutted the church and built a big black glasshouse in the middle of it. I'm not entirely sure that it works looking at it from the outside...but how awesome would it be to live in it?

Oh...well, that pretty much is what happened. Google informs me this is the Cairns Memorial Presbyterian Chuch and it was converted into an apartment block after a fire in the 1980s.

Eep! Nearly forgot to post today! I had logged off and was flossing my teeth and looking forward to sleep when I remembered I hadn't NaBloPoMo'd. Phew!