8 Weeks Left

I can't really believe that this will be my last term at La Salle College. In a way it's countdown time. In another way I don't want to leave and I think Dave and I are crazy to go all the way to Canada.

We just keep reminding ourselves that we could all too easily stay her at our comfortable jobs, in our familiar and comfortable neighborhood, going to familiar places to shop, eat and go out. It would be fine, in fact, it could be really good. We could buy a house and settle down. OR...Because we don't have a house, kids or any major responsibilities or obligations we could try something new. An adventure. You only live once, I think it's the best thing to try new things and new places, even if these things are out of our comfort zones.

It's Week Nine

It's week nine of term three. Less than two weeks ago until the next break and then only 9 more weeks working at La Salle College. It's so, so strange. I still haven't told the kids I'm leaving.

Highs of the Last Month:

• We played our Album Launch, it was so, so fun
• Dave and I booked flights to Thailand and San Francisco
• Larni is in town
• It's getting warmer
• Film Study with the Year 12s - "American History X"
• The Year 9s are so excited to write their Historical Narratives
• Some nice movie nights with Dave
• Hell's Kitchen and Mad Men

Lows:

• I've just recovered from a chest infection that lasted for over 3 weeks - I had to take a week off work, I've never done that.
• Rude, abusive parent I had to deal with a few weeks ago
• My Year 8s do not inspire me
• A ton of marking
• Slicing my fingers on a soup can

Overall, I thinks the highs are usually much better than the lows. :)

Rackets and Fives Album Launch

Last night Rackets and Fives launched our full-length album, "Roslyn" at the Rosemount. I actually can't believe it's all over. My favourite high school English teacher and drama director used to tell us to prepare for the empty feeling that comes after the elation of performing a play when it's finished. Sure enough, after spending countless hours preparing for a performance, it's a strange feeling that comes when it's all over.

The same is true with the launch being over, although the whole experience was really fantastic. We spent over 2 years as a band, learning, arranging, playing and finally recording the songs from Roslyn. When Dave and I were in the car on the way to the Rosemount, we were a little stunned that the day was finally here.

Richard and Bre flew in for the launch and we had a fun day of practice at Sound Suite before the big night. We were all supposed to play with the CD beforehand to prepare and Dave, JP, Kok and I had a couple of practices together as well. For a little while it seemed like we were on shaky ground - we hadn't played together in so long! After a bit of a wakeup call from Dave we got back on track and felt a lot more confident when we left Sound Suite.

I have never been to a gig that went by so fast as the one at the Rosie that night did. I had actually been thinking that all the waiting to play would seem long, but it wasn't so. It started off quiet, with few people, and as the night progressed the place filled up. That was a relief.

Geraldine was great - I'd never heard her sing before and she has a really lovely voice. Her soulful, relaxed tunes with the sporadic percussion accompaniment were perfect to start the night off. Next up: Little Ships. A duo (Jack Midalia and Sarah Tout) that I've seen play many times before and they just keep getting better. Kok Wah played some guest basslines that added even more depth to the songs. The third band to play was Community Chest, featuring Laurie Sinagra, the great guy who recorded our album. Their drummer was unable to make it to the gig at the last minute, so the band was a lots more chilled out than usual, which was just fine. They played a really tight set that I got to see most of when I wasn't chatting with the lovely people who came down to see us play. I was trying to keep the speaking to a minimum as I was recovering from Bronchitis. Water, scotch on the rocks and lozenges in my pockets were keeping me going.

After what seemed like minutes it was our turn to set up. The setup went smoothly and before we knew it we were playing "The Good Old Colony Times", a fun, traditional song to warm us up and figure out the sound. Song by song we went through the album, and I think we all had a really fun time playing together. There were some issues with the sound, and despite my remedies my voice was not in top shape but in the end, we just wanted to play the songs and have a good time. I think the people who came down really liked the set. We finished with Confederate, which is such a fun song to play. We were all on a high when we finished playing, hugging each other and sporting wide smiles. I was especially proud of Dave, he wrote all those songs and really, it has been Dave who kept our momentum going, who put is whole self into the band and the music.

After the gig it was back to ours for a celebratory scotch. When everyone had gone Dave and I sat up and talked until late, ten went to bed after a truly great day.

Rackets and Fives are:

Angela Boyce

Breanna Evangelista

Richard MacKenzie

David Lee Owen

JP Papineau

Kok-Wah Seet

You can listen to us and buy our album Here.

Book Review: According to Jane by Marilyn Brant

I just finished a book called According to Jane written by Marilyn Brant.

Premise: One day in high school English, Ellie Barnett's class is assigned Pride and Prejudice and Ellie's world is never the same. A peculiar thing happens to Ellie: she starts to hear Jane Austen's voice in her head, and grows to love the author's 'company'. Jane Austen guides Ellie through her life and remains a constant companion through life's decisions, boyfriends coming and going, etc. Will Ellie ever find her Mr. Darcy? What about the infuriating Sam Blaine, who Jane refers to as a "Wickham"?

I thought the premise of the book was fresh and interesting, especially since I like Jane Austen. The book is told in the first person, which I also like. It jumps between the past and present, following Ellie's life from her teens into her early 30s, another technique that I thought worked. I loved the references to 80s music and fashion. Basically, good premise, promising beginning.

I really wanted to like Ellie, the novel's protagonist, and it seemed like I would at the start of the book: smart, a reader, independant, a little nerdy but liked by her friends. Unfortunately she becomes a frustrating, annoying character as the book progresses. It seems like she doesn't change at all in almost 20 years. Every time she meets a guy she immediately starts picturing a future with them, fantasizing about comittment, marriage and babies. Not only that, she consistently goes for guys who obviosly don't want this at all and gets surprised every time a guy doesn't fall in love with her and want to be with her forever just because they've slept together. She holds a torch for this guy Sam, who snapped her bra staps in high school English and ignored her after she had sex with him in the backseat of a car. Hmmmm... As a reader I think we're meant to realize that people change when they grow up, but since Ellie carries on like she's in high school throughout the novel this is difficult.

There is lots of sex in the book, which I usually don't mind, but in this case I found it cringeworthy because of the writing style and the depiction. I almost had to double check that this book was written by a woman because of Ellie's extreme reaction to being touched in any way, and the dialogue, which read a lot like a porno film. I'm not interested in some Russian guy telling Ellie "Come for me now!" (And she does! Right on command!) and if I had to hear about the "folds between her legs" one more time I would have chucked the book. Oh, and I hate it when it's called "making love". Ew. But that's just me.

I know I'm sounding negative. There are elements of the book that I did enjoy. It was a good idea, and I liked the amusing dialogue between Jane and Ellie, and of course the references to Pride and Prejudice. I just wish that Ellie's happy ending would have been to grow up a little! She was supposed to be a strong, capable woman, but instead, her poor choices and obsession with 'landing' a man just make the reader question how much has really changed since Austen's time.

Back to School...

Already, it's the third week of Term 3. How time flies. The house felt pretty quiet without Caroline, and at first it was a bit of a drag going back to work, truly waking up from the lovely haze of the holidays to find early mornings and a few extra pounds from all the indulgence.

As usual, you hit the ground running when you work at a school, so time has raced by, and it's been good. Last weekend Dave and I were in recovery mode and didn't go out except for food and DVDs until Sunda afternoon, when we went for a nice walk. I've resumed my ballet class every week and I've got a pile of marking to do.

Last week the fridge stopped working, which was frustrating because we don't want to buy a new fridge when we're only going to be in the house another 5 months. However, Dave took everything out, cleaned and defrosted it completely, and it's working again! Fingers crossed that it'll last. Dave's the best for doing that!

Highs of the last couple of weeks: Starting TV Genre with the year 9s. Finishing Season 3 of "Breaking Bad". Finishing Parent-Teacher interviews for the year. Discovering the deliciousness of sugar free Aloe Vera drink. Handing in my resignation for the end of the year. Having a good talk with some of the year 12 girls. Hyde Park walk on Sunday. Finding out that Moe's engagement party is happening when we'll be in Montreal. Phone date with Caroline.

Lows of the last couple of weeks: Caroline leaving. My year 8s and their behaviour. Getting soaked on the way to work. My eye twitching. Holiday weight. Chilly, early mornings.

All in all, things are good!

Bunbury? More like FUNbury!

We were sad to leave Margaret River. It's just so serene and lovely, especially in a great place like Willy Bay Resort. But at least the holidays weren't over!

The drive to Bunners was short but pretty stormy, which wasn't the most fun for Dave. But before we knew it we were there with a nice cup of tea and a movie. Maureen made delicious soup and we ate it with garlic bread and afterwards she put a tasty cheese plate together with strawberries and cherries. We watched "Bottle Shock", a better movie than I thought it would be, and appropriate with our Margaret River wine! We had some Cointreau as well. When Maureen and Allen turned in Caroline, Dave and I sat around and chatted and Caroline took a whole bunch of notes about wedding plannning!

The next day looked a little rainy but we braved the outdoors and went for a walk along the beach and up Bunbury's lookout tower. After our walk we decided to head to Mash Brewery to have some cider and beer, then back to Haig Crescent for steak, potatoes, salad and wine. We also played some Movie-title themes charades, yay! Weirdly though, while watching "40-Year-Old Virgin", I started to feel really hot, and when Dave and Caroline looked concerned (and maybe a bit weirded out!) when they looked at me, I ran for the mirror and discovered that I was covered in a weird, blotchy, scarlet rash. It started on my chest and spread across my entire body! Thankfully, it was gone within a couple of hours, but I still don't know what caused it. Maureen said it was probably something I ate, and that seems likely because I was pretty sick that night.

Because of my stomach I was up a lot at night so I slept in a lot. Dave, Caroline and Maureen had a big breakfast, I sipped on some soup and felt a bit better. We chatted and soon enough it was time to drive back to Perth. Dave said he'd drive (again!) and I was thankful for that. It was a relaxing time in Bunbury - I didn't want to leave!

Even though being back in Perth meant the holidays were coming to an end, it was still nice to arrive home. I told Dave I'd run to the front of the house and unlock the back door from the inside, but I was in for an unpleasant surprise...I tried my key, but found that the lock we didn't have keys to had been bolted. We couldn't get in. Because we'd been away, our phones were dead. It was Friday evening, after 6 PM. Such bad timing. Luckily, our next door neighbor Claudia was home and she let us use her computer and phone. We reached our real estate agent, who reluctantly met us and gave us the keys. Finally, at almost 8:00 we were in.

That night we went out to Lido and then out for a couple of drinks and Clarences and Defectors. Ran into Marc Nesbitt and hung out with him a bit. Good night!

Margaret River: Sights, Food and Wine

Margaret River is one of my favourite places. Only a few hours from Perth city, it's a lovely place to relax and get away. As usual, the three of us, Caroline, Dave and I, were running a little late leaving, but we made good time on the drive, stopping in Bunbury to get DVDs and at a litte place on the road to get Caroline an Emu pie (not really wanting to eat an Emu myself, I opted for a Harvey orange).

At last we pulled up to Willy Bay Resort, where we were staying in a Lakeside View self-contained chalet. Dave and I stayed there for our 2-year anniversary and it was nice to be back, and as lovely as we remembered: 2 bedrooms with big comfy beds, a bathroom with a spa bath, a full kitchen, dining room and a lounge room with a flat screen TV and a fire. The first night we went to the market and cheese factory and got a variety of Margaret River cheeses and foods. We went for a drink at the Settlers Tavern, a cozy lodge that reminded us of Canadian pubs, before returning to our chalet and settling in for the night. I had a luxurious shower and then we all sat down to enjoy a feast of Margaret River food and wine. When we were ready to burst we sat in the lounge room and enjoyed "The Cutting Edge" and "Cadillac Records". "The Cutting Edge" was one of my childhood favourites and I was happy to find that I still really enjoyed it. I thought "Cadillac Records" was really good as well, but Beyonce playing Etta James was a real stretch. Great music and fashion, it captured a time.

Our first full day down south we woke up to see the most astoundingly beautiful weather. The sun shone, the day was calm and warm. We saw Yallingup, Meelup Beach, took some walks and soaked up some sun and great views. We went to Wise Winery to have some tastings and then to the brewery to grab some beer and a bite. In Margaret River town we topped up our food and then headed back to Willy Bay for some more food, wine and as always great company! We watched a very silly, action packed movie called "Crank", it was fun, had lots of great chats and watched some fluffy TV before getting into our fluffy beds.

Day 2 = Wineries! Dave was the best ever because he said he would be our designated driver. We visited 5 wineries: Sandalford, Evans & Tate, Pierrot, Cullen and Vasse Felix. Great times! We also went to the chocolate factory, yummmmm. After our adventures we went to the Settlers again and ran into Taryn, Dave's old fried from Perth and her friend who was from Quebec! We had a drink with them and then, again, visited the supermarket to top up our supplies for our last night in Margs.