Winter Fell

Here it is...June already...
Bluesfest has happened and my oh my!
You can not believe how exciting that was, well, maybe you can but Holy Jeeezzus Joey Ramone, it was GOOOOOOD!
I was frantically looking for a suitable dress...at Tree Of Life (shop) they had a halter neck hippy type maxi-dress with pretty embroidery that I had been eyeing for awhile... but when I finally decided to try it on and buy it I discovered it was completely see through.... which may be OK if you are in your 20's but probably not so much when you are 42. But as time kept marching on and Cinderella had nothing to wear to the ball, I rethought that see through dress, deciding it might be acceptable if I wore really sensible under garments....? The husband said No and I had to agree, so I decided to stop being lazy and I scratched through my dress patterns and dug through my fabric stash and made my own halter neck dress....

Then we had our early Easter... My sis and her hubby to be and my nephew came over... and we had our Easter feast on Good Friday...

and then early the next morning, sis and I hit the road, with Beasts of Bourbon howlin' and wailin' just as we like it...then Iggy had his turn at blasting our ear drums.... as we approached the state line, I screamed the loudest YIPPEE I ever let out in my life! (I warned Miss Debbranne first of my ear shattering intent, didn't want her running off the side of the road in shock, lol) When we got to our destination, we got to work pretty quick getting the tent up and mattresses in place for our tired return later on. I was like Bear Grylls in a dress and plastic wedge flip flops, hammering in tent pegs double time....
After getting some food and coffee, we went and had a bit of a peep at RocKwiz, then watched Mark Seymore and The Undertow then went back to the car to get into some "sensible" shoes, then went and waited at the stage where Beasts Of Bourbon were to play. They did not disappoint, they were awesome!!

And, joy of joys, they played "I'm a Drop Out" I screamed so loud when they played the opening bars of the song and then when the pure gold line came along, I screamed even louder "Purple is my colour!" Actually, I screamed so loud I almost fainted, lol!

then we had to hold on for dear life when The DropKick Murphys came on....luckily we were right at the front and we could hold onto the guard rail thingie in front of us. As one of the photographers said to us before they started playing.... we were hammered! I had to dig my knees into the guard rail, and stick my butt out a bit to protect my tummy, coz it was still tender from the surgery.... but anyway, we managed to survive it. Anything for Iggy and the Stooges! And they were as fabulous as expected and it is a memory I will cherish forever. And my word, that man has the softest hands!!

The next day, we had a little trot around Byron Bay. So beautiful. 

The drive up to the light house was beautiful, breath taking views. We saw a 2 pods of dolphins in the waters below. The journey up the winding road to the lighthouse is a popular running track, which made me pine for a good jog. 

It was almost sad to have to go home. 

The very next week my lovely sister got married to her Punjabi Prince. 

She looked so beautiful and radiant in her traditional Sikh wedding dress and her stunning henna mehndi on her arms, hands and feet. Makes me want the same paisley patterns on my feet in purple tattooed ink!

Debbranne wanted me and my niece, as Brides Maids, to wear the same dress, so she was stuck with purple... I couldn't wear anything but...which was fine with my sister but I did not make anyone else wear purple, it is honestly what they each chose and I think our stunning purple looked brilliant with the bride's eye catching red. My eldest daughter read out a poem her Aunty had chosen for the wedding. She took it very seriously and enjoyed her part of the celebrations, as did my youngest daughter who was the flower girl. It was such a beautiful day.

I think a few weeks after this, I returned to my running, after about 4 months break due to my tummy tuck. I do so love to run!

In May, the next highlight was seeing the Hard Ons again at Punkfest. Always awesome. Their music has motivated me to live my life for me, to be who I am and to do whatever the hell I frikin well like, coz you only get one life and I'm sick of being scared and sick of trying to please unpleasable people.

the following week, Blackie (Hard ons lead singer/guitarist) had a solo gig supporting Isaiah Mitchell. A very groovy night of awesome guitars. Sadly, my sister and I were unable to stay for the entire show as in her rush to get there in time, she parked in a car park that shut at midnight. It was a terrible feeling leaving before Isaiah Mitchell had finished his set but it was unavoidable.

My camera did not capture the creative lighting well at all...

I enjoy Blackie's solo stuff very much... he is like a quirky Cat Stevens... hee hee.. and he has some beautiful ballads too. Tickle, for example.

Mothers Day was in between these two events.

We went to the movies to see Oz The Great and Powerful. All of us being great fans of the original movie, we really enjoyed it. Even tho' Keenan was not impressed to be kicked out of bed quite so early on a Sunday morning, he needed some convincing that it would be worth his while.

and my lovely presents...

I can't begin to explain how excited I am about those there bikinis! They are SO adorable! I wanted them a year and a half ago when they first hit the shelves at Myer but I hesitated and ummed and ahhed about it, not confident about exposing my tummy back then. I bought the matching thongs (flip flops) as a reminder to myself that I wanted to buy them, that I deserved them for all my hard work, losing weight, but just couldn't....and leading up to the surgery I agonised over those bikinis.... thinking I could have worn them once the operation was done... but they were the last seasons design and were now unavailable in stores.... I searched for them everywhere...then finally... after the operation, I decided to do a very thorough search of the internet, looking for them, and I found them..... along with the Ramones books (that I really desperately wanted too!) So it was a very happy Mothers Day for me this year. Sadly I will have to wait until Summer returns to wear the bikini... which is inspiration to keep hard at exercise to stay in shape until I can wear them to the beach, I can't wait!!!  :)

So, in light of that, and just the plain fact that I love to run and have been interested in the idea of a marathon of some sort for awhile... I have entered a 14 km fun run City2South...I am SO excited about that!

It's on Sunday the 16th of June, starts at 7am. Only bad news is they don't want us using any music devices.... waaaah! With music I am unstoppable. Pooh! I will just have to sing... sorry Brisbane! Trouble is, I only know the first 2 opening lines of my favourite running song and then I just bang my head and pump my arms as I run along to the music..... oh well.... I know all the lyrics of another good running song .... "Two Laps In Serbia"... but if I sing that out loud I'm at risk of having the ambos (ambulance officers) tackle me to the ground and carting me off on a stretcher.... omg, I'm so excited.... I AM Forrest Gump.... I'm a running fool! :)

Goodbye Summer

Goodbye to Summer, much as it was... here in Queensland we have had more rain than we need. We personally  haven't had any damage, other than loss of power, so nothing to complain about really, other than the inconvenience of damp clothes hanging around the house, mud tracked floors from outdoors and depressed and stir crazed feelings from being cooped up indoors for weeks on end. Other significant news is...I have been recovering from an operation. An operation that I decided that I needed, wanted and was determined to have.... After 2 years of constant hard slog and exercise to lose the 40 kilos I had gained 10 years ago, I felt I needed, wanted and was determined to have a tummy tuck. Maybe this is pure vanity, maybe it is some childish attempt to reclaim my lost youth but frankly I don't care and I am good with it.... I was tormented by my reflection in the mirror. After working so hard to lose the weight, it upset me that my tummy didn't look as good as I felt I did on the inside. No amount of sit ups, incline bench ab crunches, planks and side planks were going to reduce the excess skin that I had around my tummy. It cost alot of money, money that should have gone to more important things but I also felt like I really deserved it too. The husband could waste money on his own selfish, childish whims, so why couldn't I? When I first decided that I was wanted to lose weight, I felt I had to look deep inside myself and figure out why I had put the weight on to begin with. Chubbiness is one thing, but obesity is another. I was obese, lets just get that straight. I began thinking about the necessity of losing weight. I didn't want to face up to it but I realised I was not just simply chubby. I was obese. Obviously there are health issues that go along with that. I didn't have any health issues at that time but I knew if I let myself be that big for any longer that they would eventually arise. Type 2 diabetes for one. Back problems, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart problems. I didn't want any of them. Plus I also knew I needed to get back into the work force and I knew it would be easier if I was slim. I also knew that fat people were depressed people. I had to explore why I was depressed... why was I willing to punish myself with food. Food is the fat persons source of comfort, sometimes the only source of comfort. I looked at this and wondered why I relied on Tim Tams and ice-cream to cheer me up. My husband never called me fat. Never comlained about my weight, so I never thought of it as an issue. But I was unhappy about being overweight. If I was going to lose weight, I had to do it for myself. Then something happened to open my eyes as to why I had allowed myself to gain weight. My husband is an intensely jealous man. When he was a teenager, his first girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend. That little girl's mistake, made many years before I met him, affected the way my husband treated me. I learnt very early not to talk to other men, no matter how innocent it may have been. He would never be violent in word or action to another man but I would cop a verbal bashing if some poor bloke accidentally happened to look in my direction. This did not affect my weight directly but when I had half my thyroid taken out due to a tumor, the weight crept on and, probably only subconciously, I felt it made my life easier in that regard. I truely don't think men looked at me, it was just his imagination, but the fatter I got, the less I got in trouble for men apparently looking at me. Then, when I felt that that was no longer a problem, he had another hissy fit. Ridiculas, I told him. I'm 97 kilos, there is no way anyone would be looking at me! But he went on and on. It was then and there that I realised I was only allowing myself to be fat to make my life with him easier and it was now no longer working, so I aught to lose weight to make myself happy and be done with it. I am not responsible for the way he thinks. I am a good person, I have never cheated and have never given him reason to think that I would. I will not remain overweight so as to keep his insecurities at bay any longer. And so the hard work of losing all that weight started. I started small, and slowly increased my excersise over time and the weight came off. Not all of it, I am a big sookie girl and still think my legs are fat, but whatcha gonna do? So anyway.... I've had a tummy tuck. I am at week 8 and I feel wonderful and don't regret it for a second and am so happy and grateful that I was able to afford it. The husband sold his first motorbike after he got his Harley and I demanded the money he got for it for my tummy tuck. I get my way sometimes, lol. I have only recently returned to riding my bicycle to work and other than that and walking, I haven't returned to my beloved running or gym as yet, but I am determined to get back to that level of fitness, coz I get off on that adreneline buzz and recognise that excersise is the best depression buster there is..... it ain't just the rain that has made me a sookie blubber guts lately, it's the lack of hard core excersise. I miss it! All in good time.... So in the last 8 weeks post op. I have been trying to keep myself amused. The first 2 weeks I was off work. The doctor said I aught to have 3 weeks off, but I couldn't ask my boss for that long off. Not to mention we couldn't afford for me to have that long off anyway. In that time I read. Lots of reading. I read "Les Miserables"  I read "And the Ass Saw The Angel" by Nick Cave. Well, I had started that before the operation, but I had lay that aside so I could read "Les Miserables" before I went to see the movie. Then, as those 2 books were depressing, I felt I needed something light and fun, so I read Gretel Killeen's book "Visible Panty Line" ... very much like stand up comedy in book form. Then I read "Gridlocked" by Ben Elton. Extremely funny, tho also an intelligent read plus the hero dies, so now I am reading "Babylon's Burning: From Punk to Grunge" by Clinton Heylin. I also started reading this ages ago but had a hard time getting into it as I am not so fussed on his style of writing but I hate starting a book and not finishing it, plus the genre interests me, of course.
On the 8th of this month, my sister and I went to see Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at the Brisbane Riverstage in the Botanical Gardens. (Same place we saw Blondie) I had sewn myself a lovely purple halter neck dress. Tho I was worried that it was a pointless waste of time, as it had been raining quite heavily for days leading up to the concert and assumed I would have to go sporting a purple long raincoat over the top of it but happily, the rain decided to take a hike for the night and we were not harrassed by it's constantant wetness for the evening. A truly wonderful night. Everything you would expect and more. Queensland Symphony Orchestra and a childrens choir from Annerley State School were also included, adding their talent to a stage full of it. Last time I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds was 19th July 1990. I even have a set list from that time.... From Her To Eternity,The Mercy Seat, The Witness Song, I'm Gonna Kill That Woman, The Weeping Song, Foi Na Cruz, City Of Refuge, Deanna, The Carny, The Ship Song, The Good Son, The Carnival Is Over, Black Betty, Tupelo, Cindy, Long Time Man, Knocking On Joe,  All Tomorrow's Parties, Shivers, Lament, Streets Of Laredo      (I got this set list from this website... )
and they are right...Nick did call the song Shivers "juvenile" ..... obvioulsy at that time, Shivers was an old song for Nick... and not even a "Bad Seeds" song.... but it was still fresh in everyone's mind due to the movie "Dog's In Space" and the audience was shouting out and requesting "Shivers"  and Nick said.... "that song is a little juvenile, isn't it?"  (I did not call out to request it.... just sayin'..... I never call out asking for songs at gigs.... the band will play what they wish to play and I am content with that.... I will call out for an encore tho of course.... the only time I called out for a song to be sung at a gig was at my first Rat Cat gig... I asked for their song "Car Crash" to be played, but they did not play it.... lol... that was their first song I heard of theirs via Rage.... ) anyway... back to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds...I was supposed to see Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at the Livid Festival on the 12th of December 1992.... but this was actually the first time I took my husband to a music concert when we were first going out.... I have mentioned it on this blog before. I had nervously got myself drunk, as I was concerned with seeing an old flame whilst with the husband... (he was only my boyfriend at the time) and he had insisted on taking me home before Nick came on, so I missed out that night. But I am very happy I saw them this time round. A wonderful night.

Opening with a collection of songs from the new album "Push The Sky Away" During "Wide Lovely Eyes" I so wanted to wave my arms in the air....it's unlike me not to... my only regret... 

Nick seated for a bit during "The Ship Song"  Beautiful.

Support act, Mark Lanegan, came on towards the end of the show to sing the 'father' role in the very beautiful "The Weeping Song"......amazing!

A truely wonderful night. I so enjoyed every minute.
Next wonderful thing to look forward to, in 2 tiny weeks time..... My sister and I are going to Bluesfest!! I could only afford to pay for one day... and of course that day is Saturday when the wonderful Iggy and The Stooges are playing. And as brilliant luck would have it.... Beasts of Bourbon are playing that day also!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the name sake of this blog!!!) ..... (Beasts of Bourbon's song 'I'm A Drop Out' has the line....."Purple is my colour" in it.....god, if they play that song.... guess who will be screaming that line out????? LOL!! (somebody stop me!...channelling Jim Carey from The Mask!)  The sad thing is, the wonderful Wanda Jackson is playing at Bluesfest on the Thusday and Friday, so I will miss her there. Originally, she was to do a gig in Brisbane before Bluesfest and I was going to catch her there, but that gig has been cancelled. So devastated about that!! I would dearly have loved to see her :(    
Last week end I finally bought us a tent to sleep in on the Saturday night. My sister would have rathered we book a motel room somewhere but I would have none of that. I want the whole music festival experience. As my sister nor I have ever gone camping before (save school camps, a million years ago) I decided I needed to do a trial "tent erectus" to see if it is within my big girlie abilities. Happily.... I am capable of erecting a tent....and disassembling one. I was so proud of myself, I felt like Bear Grylls! Not so good at getting the rotten thing neatly back into it's carry bag, however. But we won't let that dampen our camping/music festivities. One of the guys that sold us the tent goes to Bluesfest every year, it was good to talk to him about what to expect... lots of good food on sale apparently, so no need to pack any... sniffer dogs... so no naughty treats stuffed down side pockets of hand bags..... by this I mean Easter eggs of course, lol! Yes, sadly, it falls on the Easter week end. No matter, I have decided that the family will have our Easter feast on Good Friday and the "Easter Bunny" will come on Friday night, so Mummy can see the kids faces before she choofs off and leaves them sugar rushing with their Father, lol....really all but the youngest is too old for "the Easter Bunny" and she is getting a little too old for it too, but it is hard to let go of these traditions. I will be more worried about the Easter traffic. Must burn a CD with good driving music for the road.... otherwise, God love her, my sister will make me listen to her Punjabi music all the way there. She is getting married in April to a lovely guy. I can't imagine going back for a second go, but each to their own. I wish her all the best and this will be a good week end to get away, just us two girls, being girlie and having fun. She has been to Byron Bay a few times, so is eager to show me the sights on Sunday after we leave the festival. I've got my bikini packed already.... she wants to take me swimming, just hope it isn't in shark infested waters! Hoping to do a spot of shopping too. I'm sure there are all kinds of purple things I might expect to find available to buy. Now I just need to find a suitable dress to wear. Yes, I have to wear a dress...my sister points out that a dress is not music festival attire, but too bad. I can't wear jeans at the moment due to my tummy being still a little tender, so a dress it shall be. Suppose I aught to hurry up, time is running out. So excited about this. I love having something to look forward to!

Happy New Year!!

Well, 2012 is drawing to a close....it went by in a blur of tediousness spotted every now and then with gems of loveliness. Since my last post ... here are a few of them....
Halloween... always a ghoulishly good time... hear me squeal....for the first time in 3 years we got trick or treaters knocking at the door asking sweetly for treats... and happily I gave them lots.... it brings me joy....thank you bewildered but happy urchins!

Then my sister and I went to see The Dark Horses. They were brilliant, I enjoyed them so much. It was at The Zoo, very good sound there and the band were awesome. All but the drummer, happily stuck behind his drum set, the other band members swapped instruments almost with every new song. My sister said... "is this musical instruments?"  uh huh.... lol.. Not being musically talented in any way, this impressed me to no end, can't sing their praises any louder.....they are all very talented....obviously. We had a great night!

Then my eldest son and his lovely girlfriend had their year 12 graduation.

Then they went up the Sunshine coast to my parents farm with 2 of Kale's mates for their "schoolies"  How lucky can a Mother be.... I was worried he would want to run amok down on the Gold Coast... but thankfully he and his friends are level headed kids and being isolated on a farm armed with their Xboxes and games galore, they were quite content. However he did do one outlandish thing ... he brought home 3 ducklings! Little rotter rings me from Mum's place and tells me he has good news and bad news. hmmm.... my mind is racing... he says... we now have a new pet.. oh God, I think, he's bought a puppy! then he says... well, actually 3 new pets.... and I am ready to kill him.... I'm not putting up with 3 puppies! then he says... he and his friends went to the markets and bought 6 ducklings. 2 for his girl, 2 for his mate and 2 for him... but his friend's Mum said "no way!" so Miss Hayley has 3 of them and Kale has 3 of them..... Lordy freaking Dordy... oh well, it's better than 3 puppies, quack, quack.... they really are now my ducks, of course....he does most of it, but I am still doing a lot of watering and feeding and cleaning, isn't I????  *sigh*  Thankfully they are permanently outside now, for the first few weeks they were inside....that was awful but they are all alive and well and growing....was worried that Joey our cat would try and have duck for Christmas but he is terrified of them, when they come waddling and quacking in unison in his direction, he bolts back in the house, lol. 
I have been (on 2 different occasions) to my local cinema and seen The Doors live and Jimi Hendrix live at Woodstock.... both very good events, wonderful to see history up on the big screen.

I forgot to say... in October my Mum was visiting for my birthday...the night before we were watching channel 10's special on Julian Assange "Underground" and "Bye Bye Girl" by the Hard-Ons came on and I squealed so loud that my poor Mother got such a fright and jumped so high she almost fell off the couch! LOL!  it looked so funny, and hearing the song was a nice surprise!! The next day I got my son to take this photo...

It's not the best photo of either of us but I had to share it, it makes me smile.
At the end of November I was lucky enough to buy a 28 day promotional  gym membership at a gym closer to me than where I used to go. So for 28 days I over did the exercise, as you do when you only have 28 days grace. God I love it! If I could live in the joint I would. So between my extra hours at work due to the Christmas timetable and the gym, I have been kept very busy, exhausted really. Luckily Christmas is over and things will return to normal. If there is ever a "normal" in my life...
but before Christmas my eldest daughter graduated from primary school and then the next night my sister and I went to see The Saints, The Stranglers and Blondie at Brisbane Riverstage in the city. Only got 2 photos of Blondie... didn't get any of the Saints or the Stranglers...they searched our bags for cameras, I had managed to hide mine in a side pocket in my bag...didn't read the terms and conditions etc when I got Rob to print out the tickets....was scared that they would confiscate my pretty purple camera... so didn't dare take photos ... it was broad daylight when the Saints were on...but by the time Blondie were on, lots of people were taking photos, so I just had to take at least one photo to record an icon that I was able to witness.... Miss Debbie Harry is still rockin.... and many fond memories of when I was a 14 year old girl listening to Blondie... *sigh*

This photo was taken during "The Tide Is High" The Stranglers came out in drag, swaying in unison like hula girls,... near the end of it, Debbie asks the ladies in the audience if we were the kind of girl to give up just like that.... I screamed very loudly "Oh No-o!!!!"  so fun.... and  the last encore they played was "Heart Of Glass" and for almost a full 6 minutes the audience were screaming out "ooh-oo oowah" near the end... what a wonderful night!!! And more gems of happiness are coming my way in terms of live music for next year.... I was able to buy tickets to see Iggy Pop and The Stooges and Beasts of Bourbon at BluesFest in Byron Bay in May and also Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Brisbane Riverstage in early May!! SO EXCITED!!!
Rob was not a happy man (under statement) when he found out about the Byron Bay thing. At first I didn't think he would allow me to leave the state without him and I considered going with him but he would not be able to contain his disdain for all I appreciate and admire and he would be bound to say something to piss me off and ruin my day... I made that mistake once before and I will never make that mistake ever again, besides, my sister would appreciate the icons she would be seeing (Stooges) and she also loves Beasts Of Bourbon.... holy cow....I so hope they play "Ten Wheels For Jesus" and "Evil Ruby" I am SOOOO excited about this!!! whoo hoo!!!!!! Sadly Miss Wanda Jackson is also playing at Bluesfest but on a different day to the day I will be going (I could only afford to pay for one day... it is a 5 day festival) I love Wanda but thankfully she is playing in Brisbane... I still need to get around to finding out where to buy those tickets... 2 of my most favourite songs by Miss Wanda are... "Fujiyama Mama" and my all time fav is "Kansas City"
Christmas was lovely...

a lot of work but a nice day spent with family, laughing, having fun and eating too much... now my time at the gym is over I will have to reacquaint myself with my beloved running track... I have missed it... it probably feels I dropped it like a hot potato for the flash new gym and it may turn it's nose up and want nothing to do with me...lol... I will be going for a run there tomorrow....
Happy Days.....
Anyway.... hope everyone had a good Christmas and has a wonderful New Years Eve and New Years Day.
I will try and let go of the past and look to the future this coming year, it is my New Year's resolution....
good luck with all of yours  xxxxx  Goodbye 2012!

September/October news.

well... since my last blog post... my sister and I went to see The Johnnies. They were great, as were 6Ft Hick.

Had a really fun night. Afterwards, Hoody was out the front, I really would have liked to get a photo with him but I was too shy, but I am so glad I went, they were brilliant! My eldest daughter went to Canberra with her school on a four day excursion. Rob had to get her to the airport by 5.30am in the morning. The first day they saw the sites in Sydney... Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Botanic Gardens, Opera House, Captain Cook cruise on the Harbour and the Sydney Tower Eye then they travelled to Canberra where they did a lot of things over the next 3 days. Lucky little lady.

Then I held a High Tea on the 1st of October in honor of the Queens 60th anniversary of her coronation. I really wanted an enlarged framed photo of Tim Brooke-Taylor on the table dressed as the Queen but I left it to the last minute and the only Goodies book I was able to loan from the library did not have photos of that description. But I did have some other photos enlarged and printed up and blue tac-ed to the wall behind us.

You can't get anything more British than the Goodies. Love 'em.  :)
Then it was my 42nd birthday. I chose to have a BBQ.... mainly so I didn't have to cook. I made myself a cake tho and a few salads and vegetarian kebabs which Rob cooked first for me, naturally.

And my new job at the bookstore is going great. So very happy about that. I love books, it just makes so much sense for me to work in a book store. When I first started looking to get back into the workforce, the first place I left my resume at was a book store. I didn't get anywhere to begin with and of course I then got the job at the cafe, but one day I was buying 4 penguin classics for $12 on sale at my local bookstore and I saw on the front counter a sign advertising a position vacant. When I pointed it out to the girl serving me, she was very encouraging and suggested I drop off my resume, which I did and they rang almost immediately to ask me in for an interview. I think I waited an anxious week when they rang and said I was successful! It is only a casual position, I only have 3 days work a week but I get paid the same amount as I was getting for 5 days part time/casual work in the cafe, so I am doing well. Tho I am also getting extra work out at the warehouse/head office of our book store every time they open a new store somewhere in Australia. This week I am working 4 days out at the warehouse. To begin with the husband was driving me out there, but he has started back at work after a hell of a lot of time off work due to his stupid motorbike accident. (don't get me started on that! The great lummox has now bought a Harley Davidson and $10 000 worth of dental treatments, behind my back...again, fume, fume, fume!!) So as of tomorrow, I will be riding my bike out there. Thankfully there is a bike track almost all the way there, as there is no bus that will take me directly there. It  takes 50 minutes, which will be a lovely ride, and I do miss my long bike trip into the city everyday, so it is not daunting to me at all. The only daunting thing was when I tried to do my first dry run out there to see if I could find the joint OK. I thought I got myself lost... I am notoriously inept at reading a map and I was convinced that I was heading in the wrong direction... as all the road signs over the highway along side the bike track said "Wacol" which is where the jail is.... I freaked out and turned around and came home. But it turned out that I was almost there after all and the second time I did the dry run I made it all the way there. So tomorrow I will be out at the warehouse, packing, pricing and re-packing books to be sent to the new store opening in Penrith, New South Wales. For some reason, I thought that there was an old jail in Penrith but Google tells me otherwise... but the theme of the last 2 weeks has been "jail" so I will end this post with Roger Daltrey's apt and brilliant song... Free Me!

Book Shop Girl

Two week ends ago, I went into my local book store to buy 4 classic novels for the low price of $12. One being "The Great Gatsby" I wanted it for two reasons. Firstly, it is one of the books on my 'One Hundred Great Books' list. I have been collecting these books since I was a teenager. As the list itself is quite ancient in itself, some of these classic books are hard to come by or at least in my travels. I have not hunted them ferociously, but simply bought them as I have come across them. Secondly, I wanted this book as it has been made into a movie and I would like to read it before I go to the cinemas to see it. At the counter of this book store was an advertisement that a casual senior position had become available and to submit any willing resumes for consideration. The girl who served me encouraged me to do so. So at my earliest convenience, I did. They called me the following day to arrange an interview and told me the job would be opening in early September. A good amount of notice for my current employers, I thought. I made the interview for Thursday night, so as to not affect my current work hours but I became ill with my daughters stomach virus and had to take the day off work anyway. I slept most of the day hoping that I would be feeling better by the time of the interview but I was still nauseous. None the less, I managed to have a lovely interview and after waiting three anxious days, they called me to tell me I was successful. Whoo hoo! However, they asked me if I would start work in three days! I told my employers with a heavy heart that I had to leave. They were sad for me to go but happy for me also. Last week was my first week of work. It was good and I know I will be happy there. I love books and I look forward to working with books everyday. Another thing that I look forward to and that shall make me very happy is that The Johnny's and Six Ft Hick are playing on September 15th at Punkfest: Prince Of Wales Hotel!! It is so nice to have things to look forward to! Instead of being Tim Brooke-Taylor's "Punkerella",  I will be Gunslinger Sally... (whoever she is, lol) It's too bad I no longer have my Father's bullet belt... hee hee! I have been listening to Six Ft Hick's CD "On The Rocks" non stop and am going for a beautiful bike ride into the city tomorrow to pick up their CD "Cane Trash"  that I had on order at Rocking Horse Records. That is the new... the old is the fact that I am an old Johnny's fan from way back. I have a treasured letter from the band that they sent to a 16 year old me in response to my fan mail to them, somewhere in the house, possibly packed next to my old Indian head belt buckle.... hmmm.... must look for that....I need a good belt to wear with my new black Lee jeans. About a month and a half ago I finally worked up the courage to buy online a pair of Lee jeans for less than half the retail price. Lee jeans are not cheap, let me tell you,  I have always wanted a pair but could never justify the cost. Frankly, my arse was never worth the price. However, I am very proud of my weight loss achievements over the last two years and I have quite literally worked my arse off, so I thought that I deserved to reward my backside the best way I saw fit. I do think I still need to lose a bit more weight but for now... if the jeans fit, wear them. And wear them I shall, lol! I wore them to see Blackie's solo gig recently.

Which was lovely, even tho I did feel at times that I wanted to impersonate my Mother when she went to see Elvis in "Love Me Tender" and she felt the need to tell the audience to shut up coz she was trying to hear Elvis speak/sing and they were being rowdy, .... I refrained, of course. Good old Mum, she didn't, lol!
So off to Punkfest my sister and I go once more next month. I am excited to hear the Johnnys live once more after all these years. My sister and I saw them at East Leagues club in 1987. They played with Japanese punk band "Star Club"  I currently have a few Johnnys songs on my MP3 player that I listen to whilst out running or cycling. On my MP3 player I have 3 large folders of songs (plus other individual CD favourites in separate folders) that I use solely for excising. "Ramones"  "Hard-Ons" and "Other Stuff"  which is an amalgamation of favourite up beat songs that gets my legs pumping. Obviously some songs inspire me to run faster. "Move It" and "Dead Men From Boothill" by The Johnnys are two of those songs. When my sister and I went to see The Hard-Ons at the Prince of Wales Hotel in May, I was happily enjoying the gig when one of those songs that helps me run harder came on. I think it was "In The End We All Die Alone"  The whole crowd were enjoying it and moving back and forth like waves on the beach. I looked down at my legs and notice that I have absent mindedly started running on the spot! How embarressment, but then I thought... "oh, just go with it... they are just doing what they are programmed to do"  Lol! So I wonder if the same will happen at The Johhnys gig.... I will tell my sister to grab me by the hair if I start running towards the door, lol....

A Joggers Journey

Let me take you, if I may, on a journey... a joggers journey.
I took my camera with me on my run last week and took photos of my running track. I just love it to pieces... I will be running forever.... quite often on either my run, or my bike ride home, I see this old guy out fast walking, he'd be 90 if he's a day, and I always smile and nod at him and think.... "you go babe, you go"  That will be me.... I'll be jogging until my ankles give out... and then I will get titanium ones put in. I will be out there jogging at 90, with my purple bike shorts and a purple rinse through my grey permed hair going... "get out of my way you young whipper snappers, this purple machine is coming through!"  I'll be like Mom from Futurama.... "pass me my thigh blaster, *squeak, squeak, squeak*" LOL....

          This is at the start of my run, just around the corner from our house. Purple flowers line the way.

                                              Running across a bridge over the Brisbane river.

         Such peaceful and lovely scenery, it fills my heart with joy, I am so lucky to live on this side of town.

                                                  The plaque explains the photo before it.

                                   This is headed away from the river but along side a man made lake.

                                               I am almost half way done my run by this stage.

                                                      Half way done, heading back now.

                                                 Running past the man made lake again.

                                                    Back along side the Brisbane river.

There is a few bits of exercise equipment dotted along the side of the track. I am in love with this ab crunch bench. It is nice to stop running for a bit and have a breather..... doing 4 sets of 30 sit ups on this.

                                        This is the view I have to my right whilst doing my sit ups.

 Then a little way up the track I do 25 push ups off the medium bar, then move to the lower bar and do 25 tricep dips then move to the higher bar and do 25 rows (something like chin ups but with my feet still on the ground) then I go and do another set of 25 of each of them before running home.

You can see the trees that were savaged in the Brisbane floods back in 2011. They are no longer covered in mud and silt but they are bent over and dead and ghostly looking.

                                            Just about back to the bridge that takes me home.

Going over to the left of the river is a skaters park and DFO (Direct Factory Outlet shopping center)

I don't go here too often, only when I need something but only a girl could combine running and shopping, lol. I do feel silly running home with a shopping bag when I buy something, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, hee hee....

                                                              back over the bridge.

                                  along side of the highway,  it is well fenced off  from it tho.

Just  a little bit up from here I almost stomped on a baby brown snake sunning itself on the path. Very nearly home now and time for a beautifully delicious and well earned shower.