May 14. Day 134. Getting an ear bashing

I'm not entirely sure if the term ear bashing still used by anyone else other than my mother but none the less ear bashings are still most assuredly a thing. This noisy miner got one in Musgrave Park today and so too did the Electolux washing machine repair man when he finally decided to turn up. The machine decided late on Sunday night that it would rather not wash clothes any more which given that's its only purpose in life and its only about three years old, I consider rather selfish. The earliest the repair man could get to my place was today and the only indication of time was between 8am and 6pm. Yeah, because I've got nothing else to do but hang around all day and wait for tradespeople. Anyway he turned up and was very polite and was greeted with a big warm juicy kiss from Rumple. Rumple also watched him intently as he worked so it was not as if he was unaware that a dog lives on the premises. But still when he went out to the truck to get something he left the gate open and Rumple took this as his queue to go exploring. Previously Rumple escapes have occurred
1)  When the florist left the gate open
2) When the charity collector left the gate open
3) When the delivery man left the gate open... and so on
People, the gate is there for a reason. Perhaps you might consider using it.
I had bought a sign but there's no drill in the house so it had not yet been attached. It has now. After giving Mr Electrolux a polite reminder about gates, I  presented him with the sign and the screws and suggested he might like to do the honours. He agreed. I don't think he'll be leaving a gate open again any time soon.

May 13. Day 133. Running rings around me

There was this one time I went for a morning walk on the beach and came home and announced to Drama Teen that I met the brother of one of his teachers while I was out. There was a pause, then he said "okay, I give up. How exactly did you find that out?" It's no secret. Dog owners talk and when you talk you find out stuff. One of the things you very often find out is how small the world is. So it was again this morning. I spied this circus performer practicing his art on the lawn in front of QPAC. We got talking. Morgan's a member of Circa and about to go on a tour to Taiwan with a group of other performers. I was about to leave when I asked if he regularly practiced in that area. He doesn't. He was there only because he'd just dropped his brother at at school for cross country training.  Turns out that school is the same one my boy attends and Jordan finished there just last year. We laughed about his half red and half black hair and half shaved eyebrows and how they would go with the school's rather prescriptive hair cut policy. And then I headed off to take my boy to school. Naturally I had to first tell him how I'd been talking to this bloke who went to the same school as he does. Again, there was this pause and the lifted eyebrow that said "Go on, tell me how the hell the conversation went that would reveal that information".  Easy, you talk to people and they tell you stuff and you learn what a small world it is.

May 12. Day 132. Dancing in the street

 You make me feel like dancing, dance the night away. I never understood why dancing was considered the prerogative of women and gays. Dancing is not only incredibly physical and requiring of great skill, it's also extremely attractive to watch. Those straight men who have dismissed dancers have failed to realise just how much women like to watch men who know how to move. This is why I like Hip Hop. This is a style that has brought dancing and dancers out of the closet. It has also taken dancing from dance studios and nightclubs and into public spaces. People are dancing in the streets. This afternoon while at South Bank walking the dog I ran into not one but two groups of hip hop dancers practicing their fine moves. This group outside the Piazza was working on a routine they were preparing to film to attract more people to their group. They were dancing like no-one was watching or everyone was watching but mostly like they were having  great time and without a care in the world. That is exactly why dancing rocks. Literally.

May 11. Day 131. My big fat Greek escape strategy

Some days you are driven to drink or eat honey puffs or in extreme circumstances both.
Such days may include:
Mondays:
Days when the washing machine decides it no longer wants to wash or act like a machine for that matter;
Days when the students you teach have assessment;
Days when the student you gave birth to is stressing over assessment;
Days with parent teacher interviews in the evening;
Or, like today, all of the above.
I came very close to crawling home to bed after the end of the parent teacher interviews but I had made a commitment to attend the launch of the Paniyiri festival at the Greek Club and it is just down the road ....
Let me just say that honey puffs, baklava, and kataifi will not cure all of life's woes but when served alongside things with lots of cheese and things wrapped in vine leaves and washed down by something containing a fair amount  of Ouzo that is enough to take the sting out of a manic Monday.
Less than two weeks until the festival. Bring it on

May 10. Day 130. Mother's Day

Sucked in Hallmark and Interflora. I managed to have a perfectly nice Mother's Day without an investment from my nearest and dearest in either of your products. Truth is we know that Mother's Day survives in a large part because there is a commercial imperative for it to do so. If your mother does not know you love her without a card and flowers once a year there's something going terribly wrong. BUT, and it's a big but, there is nothing wrong with pausing every now and then to spend time with the people nearest and dearest to us and celebrate the fact that they are our nearest and dearest. And let's face it, there is no bigger, tougher more exhausting but rewarding job than motherhood and it comes with no manual and no pay cheque. Today's celebration brought together my mum, three of her kids and their spouses and five grand kids for the sort of crazy you'd expect from such a gathering: Connor fell out of a tree when a branch broke, the dog next door escaped and had everyone running around after it, I may or may not have stepped in dog poo that sort of thing. Just another day not in the office. In between there was not only a feast to  befit the four mothers in the room but also a birthday cake to mark the fact that Connor, the baby of the clan, turns 10 tomorrow. Fortunately for all concerned we don't get to sing for Mother's Day because the rendition of Happy Birthday was truly awful. Perhaps the need to sing can go the way of the cards and flowers. In the case of our family there are MUCH better ways to say "I Love You".

May 9. Day 129. Cold water

It happened this week as it does around this time every year. I failed the cold water test. For months the idea of a cold shower, a cold drink, a cold anything has been seductively attractive. Queensland is God's own country except for that whole humidity business which sponges the energy out of you. Because of this, our houses are built to try their best to keep you cool, to encourages breezes to circulate air. This is all very well and good until you realise that like it says in Game of Thrones Winter is coming. Which brings me back to the cold water test. That's the moment you find yourself hiding in the corner of the shower cubicle trying to escape the cold water until the hot tap finally warms up. And it's the moment at the other end of the bathing business when you delay turning off the now hot water and exposing yourself to the cold air. It's the moment you know the seasons have changed and not for the better. Of course, all of this assumes you are an adult because children do not possess such an internal thermometer and never take the sensible precaution of avoiding the flow of cold water. The water play area at South Bank today may not have been pumping to the extent of a hot summer's day but children aplenty were lining up to get a bucket of cold water poured on their heads today. Foolish creatures. Come to my place, little ones. I'll give you a job of bathroom monitor. You can take my place in the shower until the water and air are warm enough for my tired, old body. Can't imagine how anyone could pour cold water on that idea!

May 8. Day 128. Bees 2 (the sequel)

Sequels for the most part suck. Sure there are exceptions to every rule. Toy Story 2 and Shrek 2 were pretty classy and I seem to remember rather liking Die Harder but that probably says more about me than the quality of the film. Still, I was most pleased with tonight's plan to see Pitch Perfect 2 with Drama Teen and I was not disappointed. I admit that part of the beauty of the first movie was the surprise that a film about college a capella competition could be a joy to watch. Recapturing that was always going to be a big ask. But it but the spot. Funny, a bit naughty, delightful singing and the most politically incorrect a capella pod casters imaginable make for a great night out. Sure this movie will never win any awards but it will be a win at the box office and sequel or not it still rocks. So in honour of today being all about sequels you get a follow up to yesterday's photos of bees with today's photos of bees. Yep, about as creative and imaginative as most sequels I've seen.