G4A

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Food and "family"

When you spend so much time at the office, the people you work with end up becoming your second family. As a newcomer to the work place, I'm constantly finding stuff like this around the place.


We had our half-yearly review recently, which was a lot of presentations, but also a family dinner shouted by the company. Our small edit team wandered off on our own early for a beer. All of us are different in one way or another. Quiet, loud, opinionated, not-opinionated. Diverse is what I'd call it. 


Wandering around Glebe, there's a street with all of these wooden carvings in it. Almost every house in the street has one, all of similar sort of design. Sort of freaky, but sort of cool at the same time.


Later in the week at the office, there's always someone doing something silly.


I made it over to Newtown on the weekend to visit Pie Tin. Really small place, just off of King Street, but the pies there are to die for. Real chunks of meat in them. Apparently the dessert pies are even better. Maybe next week, but I fear I'll put on weight if I make it a habit.


Wandering through my old university, the old library I used to study at has been emptied out. In true engineering style, some student with a sense of humour defaced the sign. I think I like it better this way.


Then close to midnight, Saturday, one of my mates calls me up for a coffee, which ends up rolling around to the early hours of Sunday morning. What else is open at that hour besides Pancakes on the Rocks? It's been a while so it's time to pay them a visit. Breakfast with Coronas? Breakfast of champions.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

A week of variety

The weekend of the 16th and 17th was all about me shooting for an anime convention called Smash! -- my more "serious" pics are floating around on Flickr. It's cheating a little to include an image from the previous week, but I made sure not to include any Smash! photos then. =) Anyway, I thought the people on the internet would recognise this guy.

 
Also found myself making my way across to St Leonards to attend a talk. I hopped on a train at Museum station. It must have been about ten years since I last saw it since I'm never on that side of the City circle. It's really a lovely place. Something about having everything underground. I guess they don't call it Museum for nothing.


A relaxing Saturday morning spent out in Ashfield at my sister's place. For some reason we both live in old Victorian-style houses, although hers is in much better condition (and I presently wonder when my bathroom is going to collapse). Equally odd is that we both live in streets named after royalty.


I'm not sure exactly where I was for brunch on Saturday, but I sat outside in the cold with my coffee. I've become so used to Campos that it's a bit of a weird feeling drinking anything else, but this wasn't bad. I liked the tiny teddy. Although he lost his foot. Why is that? When I was a kid I always got the teddies with no arms or legs.


Spent some of Sunday catching up on some chores, but also cleaned up the liquor cupboard and added a new bottle of Jack, not to brush my teeth with. Jack Daniels is one of the only drinks that makes me depressed. Everything else makes me a happy drunk, but Jack? Better watch out.

Don't ask me how it's related, but I also somehow ended up at Ikea and bought not one, not two, but three lamps. One is still sitting in its box. I surprise myself sometimes.


And the inner geek in me took a pic of my computer while it was processing Smash! photos on Monday evening. My specs aren't great, but they're so much better than before. It used to be a case of clicking export and coming back after a cup of coffee or tea, but it's much faster now.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Further adventures in shooting street

It's been a fairly productive week. My camera has been following me around practically everywhere (or is it me following it around?) and I've been a bit more daring when it comes to taking street pics, despite the strange looks.

What I've found though, is that people really don't notice you so long as you've been there for a while and even if they do notice you shooting, it's really easy to just continue looking down the barrel and looking at something else.

I also saw my mentor mid-week. To be honest, when I was on my way there, I felt horribly drained, wondering if the path I'd chosen was really the right one, but after the session, I felt so much more on track, so much more inspired. Anyone that wants to succeed needs a mentor, I think, or at least someone that will put you back on your feet when you're feeling like you don't want to go on.

In the Devonshire Street tunnel, there's a lady that often sings opera. She's been there for as long as I can remember, sometimes singing alongside other people, other times just by herself. I've often wanted to busk in there, but a combination of nerves and being recognised have always stopped me. Christine on the other hand, is completely at home, although she said the first few times were the most scary.

The day I spoke to her was the day she lost her job. She'd been busking for the past five years purely for the fun of it, almost twice a day, so she joked she might have to step that up a bit. She talked about people who would walk past and mock her, but then wouldn't have the courage to stick around, let alone do it themselves.

As we were talking, I also met Kelly, a quiet-spoken American girl who I think had recently come to Sydney. Some of her uni friends were busking simply to try and get those few extra dollars to make ends meet. I'd always thought it was interesting that people often mistook buskers as glorified beggars. Most buskers I'd met didn't need the money. Christine was an example of someone who did it purely because she loved to sing, but after hearing Kelly's story, I'm sure there are some out there that are using busking to make ends meet. 

I guess it goes to show, even when you think you've got it all figured out, life turns around and surprises you again.






Christine and Kelly.



Saturday, July 9, 2011

City lights, night life, and happy times






It's occurred to me that I need to visit some newer places. Trying to find time during lunch has been difficult.