Sunday, November 30, 2008

the oysters were had

we had them last night. half a doz coffin bays. delish. off the shell, no lemon, just like i promised. then we had seafood pasta - pan fried salmon fillets, broken up, baby clams sauteed in spring onion, garlic and vodka (no white wine) and large, fresh, green prawns - then all tossed through the spaghetti with olive oil glugging out of the 4-litre canister.

as dorothy michaels put it so well: heaven, sheer heaven.

in other news:

1. princess was introduced to animal farm. i do believe she enjoyed it the most out of all the cinema 101 offerings. she liked the fact that there was a story she could get a handle on (animal liberation) and tolerated the idea that there was a deeper, political allegory at work as well.

2. in west wing we are up to the bit where donna has fallen for the christian slater character, josh seems to be suffering some sort of un-articulated wistful lovey stuff towards donna, she has, i think, just left in the snow on a chopper to make her connection for getting away on her well-deserved holiday. i smell disaster.

3. i have the most beautiful arrangement of fushia-pink peonies, and a few white ones. they are so pretty i can't stop looking at them, and they make me shudder with delight.

4. i am really, really happy that we have a bit of a clothesline now, out the back, hanging off the edge of my balcony. we live in apartment, it's a funky secret life of them apartment, and with 5 of us in here, plus a gigi, it's at times like living on a ship, which also doubles as a chinese laundry, with clothes-horses galore and racks over the bath with lines of shirts and school dresses. we are bursting at the seams, and my mind keeps turning to our wedding presents, and my books, all in storage along with a ton of other stuff.

5. i have a mad, crazy-scientist type plan to renovate. and go up. we are top floor in the building. things are happening in this direction, ie i am making enquiries, i have an architect friend who is starting to do some drawings, and i had a builder come and look. he said "anything is possible." i like this builder, because he didn't laugh at my idea and more importantly, seems to want the business. the people next door to us are also keen to explore this possibility. i promise now if i can make this thing happen, i will have achieved a great thing. i also promise to invite you for champagne should i be able to pull this off.

6. we have gold class tickets and i am insisting we use them to go and see australia. i know there's a lot of bad talk around it, but i am determined to see it, and fairly determined to like it. i know everyone's banging on about nicole kidman, everyone's come out of the closet and are saying how detestable she is. i admit i haven't been one of those nicole-haters, in the past i couldn't see why some people would get so riled about her. but now, i can see that she seems a bit past her use-by date. that's the best way i have of putting it. she has jumped the shark and i hope she doesn't ruin the movie. for i do love baz and his shows. we'll see. oh, and please no comments about the movie if you've seen it. let's wait until i have, then we can have a free-for-all.

7. lately, i am missing old blogging friends. bevis, for one, has dropped off the radar. he had a new baby recently and that's great, and i suppose i should go and chase him up more, but i miss him being around. and he was always very around. yesterday i was browsing through some old i'm not craig posts, the earlier ones, and it's like reading other people making comments. so witty and fresh. now, it's different. still good, but different. i miss sublime, and rowena and steph and m_m.

i miss fluffy and ms fits and aleks.

i miss groverjones and ladycracker and nadine.

i miss cotton.

but most of all, i think i miss gianluca di milano.

yes, there are new friends. but still, le sigh.

12 comments:

GS said...

I was thinking about fluffster this week and wondering how she is going. Sad to see Sub is the last to stop blogging.

Ever feel like we are part of a sinking ship?

Pepsi said...

Blogging is like the band world, good bands come, good bands go, but if you are a committed gig goer you find goods ones to take the place of the old ones - though you usually have the cd's and bootlegs to remind you of whats gone.

Have you tried Rebecca with the princess, she is old enough now for this little adventure, scary though Mrs Danvers may be.

Mex said...

i miss nadine and cotton too! the loop is definitely getting smaller though. but i am determined to hang on until the last little bit. either that or the death of the internet!

Melba said...

AOF, the ship isn't sinking. like mex, i'm here to the end. pepsi, will make a note of that, thanks. princess wouldn't be scared i don't think, she's in love with a vampire at the moment!

mex, i don't miss cotton that much, i miss roguemaze though as well. forgot to mention him. i guess i miss the "good old days" when it was all so fresh and fun. i read over my old posts and think they are so good compared to what i do now. but it's still all good.

I'm not Craig said...

It's good to see that I'm not the only one who browses old posts before an eyeball.

May I say that, whilst I clearly adore your old posts (what with them being the reason I started blogging in the first place and all) I don't think you need to worry about there having been any dropping off in quality around here.

You can still break hearts with wistful Scottish longings, provoke healthy debates about the nature of a tradegy and entertain for hours with enchanting stories of princess' adventures in film.

I occasionally wonder if I have utterly run out of things to say (or spare time in which to say it) but I am going to keep blogging anyway, if only because it's an excellent way to meet awesome people.

Melba said...

aw, thanks inc. for me, i need to write daily. it's the best way i can express myself, i write better than i talk, always have, always will. while i can be a little short on words in face to face, when i'm writing i feel free and as if i can fly. so, in order to exist as i want, i have to write. hence the diaries. hence the blog now. hence the 3 or 4 started and yet unfinished books kicking around.

it's all part of a process. my process i think. plus it's social. the cb days were ok, but this is much better - i don't have to talk! and i meet awesome people, as you've pointed out.

i reckon in 30 years there's going to be research on how blogging is one of the best ways to slow dementia or alzheimers or something like that. it will be huge amongst the dispossessed, the lonely, the mentally ill, the marginalised, it might just save the world. we all need to feel connected to other people. and i feel far more connected with blogging, than i did before. it's. just. great.

younger people, who still have to pair off, breed and settle, i think for them blogging might be something they do when there's nothing much else to do. large generalisation i know, but still... but for people like me, settled, yet busy, but liking to be at home, it's wonderful and something i can't imagine ever stopping.

my big fear is that once they have us all hooked, they take it away from us. i've been meaning to make back ups of my blog, but seriously, can you imagine?

BEVIS said...

Awwww ... you love me!!

You're so sweet. Never fear, m'dear.



I.

Am.

Back.

sublime-ation said...

Always last to comment, last to quit blogging.
That'd be right...
It's funny, how we all were so into it, for quite a while too, several years really...and then it just petered away. It was like this weird collective consciousness wave.
My problem is I have so little time for blogging now, I don't even have time to read blogs let alone write one.
But I am glad to have been a small part of what I call The Golden Age of Australian Blogging. Damn, I miss those times.

Melba said...

SUB!!

[falls into a heap sobbing]

she's gone. but a breath of wind, sweet, sweet memories, and gone.

i will ring you over summer. we will be down your way at the beach. i will come to you and we will drink some cocktails.

oh, yes we will.

if you've changed your number you'd better tell me now.

Anonymous said...

I'm still around, too, quickly reading blogs and not commenting as I then get pulled away to 'draw a turtle' or change a nappy. Then I went on holiday, but now I'm back. I'll have to make a special effort to comment!

Melba said...

Yay groverjones... I have missed you too.

sublime-ation said...

Yes please, same number.