Tag: unusual

19th Nov – Spoke to a new migrant to Canberra, Australia’s capital, who ardently believes the capital should be on the coast.  His opinion shows the movement of priorities for Westerners:  in 1908 the inland capital site was chosen for its fertility and adequate water supply, but in 2012 the pleasure of seaside living is more important.

20th Nov – Tried on shoes in a shop but they were too tight.  Was given a stocking and told the shoes would feel looser with it on.  If I add a layer, won’t the shoes be tighter?  No, as it turns out, they did indeed stop pinching.  Did the stocking elastic push my foot flesh up my ankle?

21st Nov – The bathroom ceiling, painted a few months ago with unsuitable paint, is peeling in white flakes that float down before my face as I clean my teeth.

22nd Nov – I teach a few continental Europeans who tell me stories of very effectively demanding and receiving money they are owed.  They like the statement, ‘This is not negotiable.’

23rd Nov – Made a hot chocolate from a product which recommends organic non-dairy milk alternative.  But I used chemical, antibiotic and hormone-infused non-organic dairy milk.  Full cream.

14th Nov – Someone from the Ancestry site sent me an obituary of my great-grandfather.  The phrase ‘engaged in suppressing the slave trade’ leapt off the page.  It’s given me hope.

15th Nov – In a car park, a young African immigrant was trying a car door and peering in the window.  Then he walked over to another car as I watched suspiciously.  I heard an electronic beep and he opened the door of a car identical to the first one he’d tried to unlock.

16th Nov – A very butch butcher, tattooed and pierced, prickly asymmetrical haircut, a woman in men’s clothes, sold me some meat and asked for my shopping bag to put it in.  Taking my small orange carry bag, she squealed “Oh that’s such a cute bag!  So cute!” as only a girl can.

17th Nov – A chicken pizza recipe found quickly online included no pizza base in its ingredients.  Instead, chicken breasts are pounded flat and round until they resemble a base, on which you put all the toppings.  Pffft.  As if that’s a pizza.

18th Nov – My son lost his mobile phone last night and today the city police station called to say someone had handed it in.

9th Nov – Accidentally gave my dog three lamb chops I’d bought for dinner.  For us.

10th Nov – A penpal from Germany phoned me today from Central Australia.  Our first conversation after two years of handwritten letters.

11th Nov – When I give a student the writing prompt, “Heaven is like this…”, I often doubt we could imagine it.  Earlier this evening, in the garden lit by filtered sunset and perfumed by jasmine and roses, the street beyond quiet, all neighbours and dogs at peace, I imagined it.

12th Nov – Making up a bed, I threw a clean fitted sheet over the mattress, and a small bird’s nest fell out of one of the elasticised corners.

13th Nov – Hands are constantly visible when tutoring.  I notice nails growing, each day a fraction longer.

25th Oct – When I turn my computer on it grunts like a quietly spoken pig.

26th Oct – At the post office, the woman in front of me was paying her bills in cash.  They totalled $2,100.  It was a long wait while the clerk counted the notes.

27th Oct – Spent two hours researching and writing a blog post of about 400 words.  When I submitted it I received a ‘like’ a literal half-second later.  Not enough time to read even one word.

28th Oct – During the silent prayer time in church, a strange voice called out, ‘WHAT THE…’.  It was an irreverent ring tone on an unsilenced mobile phone.

29th Oct – One of my young students living on a large property has trouble sleeping.  Herds of kangaroos hop right up to his window and snort in the darkness.

15th Oct – Thought it would be easy to change my blog header, but, searching for a new photo to suit the long rectangle form, I found only one that had an interesting horizontal slice.  Still, it’s now in place and reminding me of a very good day I once spent in Collioure, France.

16th Oct – Today I was pleased to see high up in my spruce tree an adult magpie and its fluffy-chested baby.  It was some consolation to know she had one left after my dog killed her other chick last week.  Bad dog.

17th Oct – At a student’s house today, her spoodle, a good dog, was sitting in a leather armchair like a person, its elbow leaning on the arm of the chair.

18th Oct – On the ancestry site today I found photos of my great-grandparents!

19th Oct – Asked a 12-year old student, a new migrant, to invent a bug and name it with a made-up name.  She called it Justin Bieber.