Andy Goldsworthy

Laurence and Victoria introduced me to an artist named Andy Goldsworthy and lent me a DVD about his work.

He uses nature as his medium and almost always the piece is exhibited in nature. He is very influenced by the surroundings of his home in Scotland and the force and energy of the river.

Often or almost always, the art is intended to mutate as nature exacts its cycle.

A string a leaves set free in a river is bent and curls and dances.

A stone cairn is weathered by rain, snow and sun.

The pieces are incredibly unique and beautiful.

Here is a clip from the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TWBSMc47bw

Round for morning tea and dinner

I have been "round for" morning tea and dinner at several different friends' houses. Casual entertaining in the home is the way to go!

My friend Fiona had me "round for" morning tea not too long ago. She made coffee, not tea, per my request. But had turned out ala Martha Stewart a chocolate cake to have with the beverage of choice. We had a lovely time along with her 8 month old Alice. So nice to catch up.

Three of my mother's good friends have had us over for dinner along with their kids, whom I have all known since I was 2.

Have also been over to my friend Laurence and his wife Victoria's place in Clovelly - I drove there all by myself. On the wrong side of the road. In the dark. And I made it there, had a really nice night and got home.

Hilarious conversations, fantastic food and good tips abound being asked "round".

Dive in

Outdoors is the Sydney way of life. Very like California in that sense.

One of best things about Sydney outdoor life are the swimming pools. There is one in almost every suburb. A lot are half salt-water. And some like the famous Icebergs pool in Bondi, is completely saltwater.

I have dipped in now a couple of times and it is utterly refreshing.

To the markets we go

Sydney has a vibrant thriving system of markets, where artisans and farmers sell their wares and produce. And they are fun, with musicians playing, kids running around and adults spending lazy days.

My sister and I went this past weekend to the Glebe markets. Glebe is a suburb just west of the CBD - the Central Business District - or "the city." It is close to the university and the water, and has lovely old Victorian homes and a park where the markets are set up every Saturday.

We stopped at the very first stall, at the belt man. My sister already has a few belts from the belt man. I now have one too. He cuts them for you right there on the spot with his handy tools. My sister got the second great shopping deal by having me around. (The first great deal was when we went sunglass shopping last weekend. Again, because I spent $$, she was offered a discount. She is liking me being around. She even said so.) Because I was buying a belt, he threw in 3 free leather wrist bands. We decided to split the winnings and I now have a red leather wrist band that looks very like something Linda Carter might wear. My belt is a beautiful wide black strip of leather with fine tooling to create a design in light beige.

After the intense selection and negotiation process, we were hungry and got some food - I opted for vegetarian salads of lentil, pasta and greek varieties. My sister got a yummy Turkish sandwich called "gozleme", bread filled with feta cheese, spinach, chilli and meat if you want. We sat on the grass, listening to the band and people watching.

Sauntering after our tummy's were full, we found earrings and plants and clothes and many watch fobs.

And for the final act, my sister purchased a beautiful gold plated chain that is costume jewelry from where, but the States!

American economy and politics as seen from Oz

Scary. Like watching the parent make a huge mistake. And the children must deal with the ripple effect.

The world is so incredibly affected by what happens to America's economy and political system. Or it has been.

There is intense but very quiet speculation that America has now lost its international credibility in its financial strength and expertise. That was something held in high esteem and was viewed as separate from the government. It will be some time if ever that world banks borrow from American banks, invest in American bank issued securities and it may mean that credit will not be as available to American banks from abroad.

The bailout package is seen by most as a white flag, but no one is very optimistic that it will guarantee against a recession. And with the presidential elections coming up quickly, doubt seems to prevail or at least a sense of instability. No one knows what the future will bring and speculators of all sorts love playing on that regardless of the long-term damage.

The New York Times ran an article discussing the collapse of the Swedish banking system in 1992. The government chipped in about 5% of GDP, about the same that the U.S. is allocating, but insisted that 1) banks write down their losses first meaning that shareholders of the banks would be affected first before the government and taxpayers and 2) if they aided a bank, the government became a shareholder. In the end, some banks opted to re-org themselves, like SEP who showed a profit the next year. And only approximately 2% of the GDP was spent. Adding true accountability was the Swedish model.

The U.S. did take on shares of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG. Perhaps taking on anymore would be "over the top" as they say in Australia.

But just in, according to an article in NYT on late Sunday U.S. time,

"The [U.S.] Treasury would receive warrants giving it the right to acquire nonvoting common stock or preferred stock in firms benefiting from the bailout. The program would be subject to oversight that includes a bipartisan committee and the Government Accountability Office. The GAO would have an office located within the Treasury Department.

The Treasury plans to hire asset managers to determine the criteria for the purchase of securities and oversee the portfolio once the buying begins. While those details remain murky, the Treasury expects to buy up large chunks of assets at a single time. The asset managers would likely start buying the simplest assets first, such as mortgage-backed securities, and then move on to more complex ones, such as collateralized debt obligations."

It would seem from the outlined plan, that the U.S. Treasury will be left to figure out the details of what assets to purchase, at what price and how to manage those assets.

The Arts at the Opera House

The first of two really incredible nights at the Opera House with Mum was last Saturday night for the symphony in the Concert Hall at the Opera House. It was a farewell to the conductor who has served for the last 5 years. He is a jolly round Italian, full of life and passion and smiles. The symphony played his varied selections beautifully, beginning with pieces from Beethoven's 7th, interspersed with bits of Verdi and finishing with Ravel's Bolero. Bolero is kind of Mum and my song, having heard it together a few times, most recently at the Hollywood Bowl. At the pinnacle of Bolero, confetti burst in arcs from either side of the stage and green, red and white balloons suspended above the audience were released. The enormous grin on the face of the conductor Gelmetti was in plain sight from our seats behind the orchestra. The encore was superb, with Gelmetti conducting the audience clapping as if they were the percussion.

Last Tuesday night, now professionals, Mum and I returned to the Opera House for none other than an Opera - the Pearlfishers by Bizet. It was simply enchanting. The production design alone was worth it - the ephemeral Buddha on screens, the shadow box adding simple yet astounding depth to the stage and the understated effective costumes were incredible visual cues to a rich story and magnificent voices. At intermission, I ventured out to the balcony and was wowed by the sight of the Harbour Bridge, Kirribilli House, and of course, Sydney Harbour at night.

Back inside, I grinned from ear to ear seeing my Mum and thinking how lucky I am to be with her experiencing these wonderful things together and so pleased to have moved to Sydney.

www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/arts/passionate-embrace-ends-with-a-bang/2008/09/18/1221331045412.html
www.opera-australia.org.au/scripts/nc.dll?OPRA:PRODUCTION::pc=PC_90090

Bonnox

I have learned of the existence of something called Bovril. It is like Vegemite, but instead of consisting of yeast extract, it has essence of beef but is suitable for vegetarians somehow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovril

An apparent nickname is Bonnox. A friend in hospital after having her appendix removed was offered daily by the nurse, "Coffee, Tea or Bonnox?"

reflections

the last few days i have slowed down a bit and jetlag/reality/thoughts have emerged.

i am in sydney, living at home with my mother and sister, who have lived in the same house together for 6 years. they have always lived in the same city, while i have not lived in the same country for 12 years. needless to say, they have a routine.

they created a lovely space for me in the room always dubbed "anna's room" but which also served as the guest room and computer room. a "built-in" closet was constructed in my return's honor in said room. careful selection of pieces of furniture for the little room resulted in a single bed, black leather reclining chair, nightstand with a beautiful white alabaster lamp, a table with a stereo.

space was made in the bathroom as well. i have my own portion of a shelf in the new cabinet, my own drawer and basket underneath the sink.

i have learned from my sister where the extra tissue boxes are kept so i can replace the empty box in the bathroom.

i am learning the system of communication that allows a natural order to flow. the first key to this system are the notes left for each other on the kitchen counter, morning and night. this way everyone knows what is happening for the day.

for a person who has lived in her own apartment, with no roommates for over two years and communicated with her family once a week via phone, this part of the system is emblematic and intriguing. it is a good communication device, direct, familiar and informative. and requires that you know what you are doing in advance.

day of culture

yesterday i made full use of public transportation and my legs. welcome relief from sitting in a car for 8 years in los angeles. after getting off at the museum train stop, i walked through lovely Hyde Park which is in the middle of downtown Sydney, or as they call it here, the CBD - Central Business District. Many people in suits have lunch in the park and a lot take their lunch to put on their "joggers" and run.

my first destination was an interesting exhibit at the art gallery of nsw called the "lost buddhas." the exhibit displays 35 buddha statues of 400 found during the construction of a school. they are simply beautiful in their simplicity, grace, expression, fluidity and detail. More info at www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/current/lost_buddhas.


over to darlinghurst on foot afterwards for a bit to eat at a little deli in victoria street. i had a carrot and apple juice, freshly squeezed and a mixed salads - one of broad beans, another watercress with hard boiled egg, tomato and another of pumpkin. followed of course by the best coffee in the world - the sydney flat white.

off then to mecca....the mac store at george and king street. 3 levels. pristine. so excited.

scooted down to liverpool street to the spanish quarter, had a glass of wine and jamon serrano and a chat in spanish with my waitress. imagine speaking spanish in sydney! we made friends, will go for a coffee and practice our language skills.

and last but not least, thai food with nelson in newtown at Doytao. Green Duck Curry, yum. Oh, and then hazlenut gelato.

and then a warm salt water foot bath and bed!

beginning to have a social life

saturday night had mexican food with my sister and nelson. then off to the most random activity in sydney - the dog races. apparently the insider tips are - pick the dogs starting from the outside gates, the dogs that jump and bark at the rabbit and for short races, ones with big muscles on their hind haunches. my sister won $26 on one race using these tips. i did not. but we all had fun. then to leichardt, little italy, for gelato on the winnings.

old family friend dan collected me sunday morning and off we went for a full day of reconnecting. started by having late breakfast with his mother, sister and her twin 5 year old sons in castlecrag. his mother has always been incredibly kind to me and was lovely to see her. hadn't seen his sister in years - she is a gorgeous person. her twins informed the table that they did not like the american, in no uncertain terms. after i showed them how to open the water bottle, impressions were changing but certainly not b.f.f.s.

then went to see old friend fiona, her husband simon and their little girl, alice, who likes to growl. she is eight months.

we scooted back over the bridge in time for rain and a juice in woolahra and then picked up american friend nelson and does what any good australian does on a sunday afternoon, and went to the pub. The Royal at Five Ways in Paddington. Dan explained Rugby League to Nelson. We then had a slight cricket lesson - basically at the moment, my impression is that there are things called wickets, stumps, over/unders and ducks and games can last for 5 days.

to flat or not

after much internal debate, i have decided to live at home for a while to save money. trepidation abounds after living on my own for some time. very australian to live at home for periods of time. nice of the parents. question the sanity of the children.

but went with an american friend of mine who has also just arrived in sydney to help him find a flat. prices are ridiculously high and twenty-thirty people show up for each "inspection." very competitive. you have to be ready to present photo id, bank statements, letters from God on the spot to secure the position. and sometimes give a deposit.

after a day of looking, friend put in three applications. he is waiting to hear. we have fingers crossed.

sleeping with an electric blanket. woke up at nine a.m. this morning. came downstairs and mum and chatted for a while. it was like she had been saving up. then i went for a walk in the park across the street. it is by a public golf course. the older male golfers joked around with me. funny. then had a bite to eat and off mum and i went on a day of errands. had to find the australian version of a notary - they are evidently called Justices of the Peace. I had to have them witness me signing a Power of Attorney. Lots of false starts including one JP who refused to assist because she didn't want to be "implicated." finally found one at the real estate agent's office where mum bought her townhouse. when asked who sold her the property, she answered "he has been a naughty boy" - he was convicted for raping the office secretary and is currently serving 5 years. needless to say, they much preferred to talk about my power of attorney. then went to find a fedex. they looked over the form for a good ten minutes to make sure i filled it out ok. also have gotten forms to get an aussie driver's license, have enrolled for and got national free healthcare, and have my bank account updated. and my sister put some money on the pre-pay mobile phone for me. came home, watching tv online and my sister turned on the tv and told me to use headphones. she needed to watch deal or no deal.

The arrival

arrived in sydney to a perfectly beautiful day and lunch by the ocean with my mother and sister. had a bit of a longer flight because we hit unforecasted storms in the pacific and had to go out of our way avoiding them, thus depleting our fuel. so we had to land in auckland, new zealand to refuel, delaying us by 4 hours. BUT, i had two open seats next to me so I could lie down and sleep. AND they did not charge me for my extra and very heavy baggage. so all in all, good trip.