Third Time Lucky
Aug. 5th, 2004 12:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
waitingmanOkay, I give up...
Gillian wasa over this evening, helping me gainn control over this live journal thing. Given that this is my 3rd attempt to post an entry this evening (& the quality of entries has suffered accordingly), you may form your own judgment on the tutorials success & whether it's down to reacher or student...
As a consolation - here's everything I've been up to since late July. May it give you more pleasure vicariously than it did me in reality...
J.
Tuesday 3 August
9.32pm. Best thing about work was getting out of it early today - via Ultimo & Chippendale… but early nonetheless. Off to Film Australia sound studios to hear how our soundtrack is faring at the hands of the engineer Janine is working with. Quite well in fact. The film is starting to come together & the subtleties that we were told would be there, are becoming apparent… is that what subtleties are supposed to do??
Conference on the back seat of Auric with Bernard afterwards. We have another gig offered on the 21st & the possibility of another in early September. So, from zero to 4 gigs in 3 days… could this be the start of something… or a flash in the pan before the gas runs out?? We have some work to do on the backing tracks in the next week & then take them into a rehearsal studio to see how they perform on unfriendly PAs. Then time to rustle up the rent-a-crowd in earnest. Death threats if you don't attend. Elizabeth is coming up for at least one of the gigs… hooray!!! Just when I was thinking of going down to Melbourne at the end of the month… boo!!
Cold day, colder night. Time for bed & Terry Pratchett.
Monday 2 August
9.56pm. Well, not sure what kind of start to the working week this is… Feeling a little out of sorts all day - kind of observing the whole thing from outside the box. Too much sleep? Well, 10 hours is more than I'm used to… Aftermath of catharsis? Hardly… Saturday night was relatively intense but hardly cathartic… maybe a little draining, but - one hopes - in a good way. I think it was just shellshock that another weekend is gone & left nothing of merit to remember it by… as far as great leaps forward are concerned.
Only one thing for it really… a home cooked curry, a bottle of red wine & a John Cusack DVD.
Received a positive feedback e-mail from the organiser of Friday night & another gig on the 18th this month. Joshua called & e-mailed - a gig on the 25th. So here we go again… waiting for the great leap forwards…
Sunday 1 August
3.04pm. Tried installing a live web journal at about 6 last night before heading off to Parramatta & Pacifier with Liz. Still haven't figured it out & am beginning to wonder whether it's worth it…
So, metal in the western suburbs is alive, loud & well. Pacifier were fun, the Roxy is the last kind of venue you'd expect to see in Parramatta - a good thing & we wound up in the Cross at about 12.30am discussing our love lives, or lack thereof. Don't know if I'm getting turned down flat or receiving mixed signals… my own fault really, as I refuse to be direct about it, preferring to stick to my usual subtle investigations of possibilities, that way one avoids embarrassment & can maintain a friendship without putting unwelcome advances into the mix… Had my image critiqued & a few of my lurking dissatisfactions with myself brought to the surface &, whatthehell, had them critiqued too!
All this resulted in a bit of retail therapy for me - a new jacket, shirt & a couple of CDs - Radio Birdman & Suzi Quatro… I'm still eclectic… that'll never change. Maybe a couple of drinks with father at the RSL later & a movie with Tris this evening. Here comes the working week again… already…
Saturday 31 July
5.43pm. A lazy day for most of the daylight parts… noodling on the computer, making CDs for Liz, but not really doing very much. Long conversation with Bernard, post-morteming the gig last night & discussing yet more ways to slither the band in a forward direction, seeing that full steam ahead & damn the torpedos isn't working. A little shopping in the afternoon; DVDs, CDs & a couple of books. Debating with Liz where to go this evening… my vote for Theredsunband at the Hopetoun has been cast out in favour of Pacifier at the Roxy theatre in Parramatta. So, picking her up at 7 & off we go…
Backtracking…
Friday 30 July
Yet another dull day at work, to round off what was really a dull daylight week!! Spent most of the day wishing it was 5.30, so I could go to the pub for an hour or so with Jenny et al, before heading off to Castle Cove for the gig. Time refused to fast forward, but eventually I turned up at the Tennis Centre to find that our 8pm slot had been usurped… we finally went on at about 9.20. Good set - a little loose again, but attitude, panache & quick-witted banter carried us through. Good response from both the crowd & the organisers - so not to waste an opportunity, we handed out some demo CDs to see what will happen. Collected a couple of e-mail addresses too.
Returned to the pub in Gladesville after the gig to find Jenny & Carol sitting pretty much where I'd left them 21⁄2 hours before, albeit drunker… lucky things… Hung around for about another hour, before time was called & came home about 12.30ish. Not a bad night as nights go…
Thursday 29 July
9.03pm. Another night in!! A chance to restring the Matron for tomorrow's gig & in general, not do very much. Another early night planned, maybe I'll get a start on the Michael Moore book Carol from work lent me. Not much to report on the work front. Jenny's birthday, had a rose sent to her anonymously & listened to her trying to figure out who it was from for most of the day.
And so, to musical & domestic duties.
Wednesday 28 July
9.04pm. Well, having thought about it during the day, I've changed the format of this diary to resemble Robert Fripp's online one, where new entries are on top of on another instead of underneath. At least it means I won't have to scroll through page after page of boring reminiscence to get to the point where I can record the current day's tomfoolery. I may borrow another few of his tricks & phrases too, as time goes on, mainly to cover up the fact that, just occasionally, I'm not at home early enough to write the day up on the day it actually happens. Like yesterday, for example, but I'll get to that.
Today was another dull day at work. Unusual for a week to be turning out like this, as the last couple of months have been anything but… actually, they've been mind-blowingly busy. Really tired for the entire 9 hours, had a Coke at 9am, just to encourage the eyes to stop drooping embarrassingly in front of everyone. The Coke wore off at about 2pm, but I didn't want another one - too much caffeine. Which must explain why I've just finished a Johnnie Walker & Coke can whilst writing this. Having struggled through the day with absolutely no get-up-&-go, I was determined to have a non-event evening. Honourable plans to watch about 7 backlogged episodes of Angel were laid, but wound up watching Spin City, South Park, Whose Line Is It Anyway & half of Skithouse before coming to my senses, switching off the TV & checking my e-mail & usual sites. 13 e-mails in 2 days!! And the African scamsters have found me for the first time ever!!! I never received those 'Please help me smuggle millions out of my troubled country…' letters before. I wonder whose list I'm on that has been onsold or hacked? Since the last great virus & diskwipe of a month ago, as well as the death by spam of my last e-mail address, I've been very careful as to what mailing lists I subscribe to, but obviously not careful enough…
Backtracking…
Tuesday 27 July
A dull day at work, finishing at about 6ish, a change of clothes & off to Liz's place for the evenings entertainment. Wound up waiting there for a couple of hours enjoying the Liz & Tobias Domestic Disturbance Show. Eventually piled into Liz's little Ford for the trip to the Annandale to see the Electric 6 for the 2nd time in a week. Better venue, better view, better sound, but the show at the Gaelic club last Thursday was better in my opinion. Still pretty good though… Liz's friend Terry (f) was supposed to meet us outside the pub so we could claim our tickets together, which I'd booked & had the reference no's for - only to give up waiting for her &, once we were inside, discover that she'd somehow walked in for free & wouldn't tell us how she'd done it. Afterwards, Liz managed to inveigle her way upstairs to the band room with 2 lesbian autograph hounds, whilst Tobias & I were slowly but surely herded towards the exits by increasingly fractious security staff. Oh, the tales of rock excess & ugly groupies she returned with… after only being gone for about 10 minutes!!
Home by about 2ish, straight to bed, knowing I'd regret it on Wednesday… I did.
Monday 26 July
9.20pm. Just finished rehearsal with Bernard for our songwriters gig on Friday night. A half hour set of instrumental stuff to dazzle the assembled throng, whatever size it will be. Last time I played this night at the Castle Cove Tennis Centre, there was a reasonable crowd that fluctuated through the evening according to who was playing & who was playing social games of tennis on the courts. Chris & I did a mixture of old Cathedral St songs & some of his newer ones to good reception - as well it might have been… there wasn't much competition in the room that night, so maybe the same will hold true for this one. Overconfidence usually leads to disaster - & I should know by now that the 2nd time is never as good as the 1st, so will try to do some more practice on Wednesday or Thursday… or both. I need to restring the Matron too. And clip my nails.
Work today was pretty tedious actually. There are a couple of things outstanding that I could have done, but the sense of urgency I need to do them was absent all day. I do this job better when I'm under pressure, or terminally short of time - otherwise I tend to let things slide a little… creating my own pressure I suppose. Still, it's worked so far…
Been missing people lately… Elizabeth in Melbourne - who I haven't seen since March… understandable that one… but also missing Liz in Rose Bay - who I haven't seen since about 5 am on Sunday… & it's only Monday… what is my wasted heart doing to me now?? Part of me knows that nothing is going to happen between us, part of me knows that if it did I'd have my hands absolutely full & part of me says whatthehell, bring it on… Feeling lonely I suppose is all it is. 3 1⁄2 years single & 1 1⁄2 years celibate is obviously preying on my mind, breaking out of the box I keep trying to confine it in.
Meanwhile - cold, wet weather. Time to hunch over the heater to get warm enough to go to bed… eventually.
Sunday, 25 July
2.40pm. Well, here goes. Inspired by first finding, then reading, then throwing out, my diary from 2000 - which I managed to keep for 5 months, I've decided to try again. How long it lasts, or whether it morphs into a web diary at some point, is a matter for conjecture. Certainly it's just for my own amusement at this time - a receptacle for rants, raves & things I should try to remember - or try to forget.
Home about 10.45 this morning, after a night out with Liz & Tobias. Hopetoun Hotel first, to see Spencer Jones & band - which featured Helen Cattanach on bass… I'd forgotten how much I 'admired' her in Moler & the rock chick chic with low slung bass & jeans suited her to a T. Then off to the tail end of a party in Balmain, thrown by Roger - an old friend of Liz, who used to run the Valhalla. An Arabian Nights theme, but no-one seemed to mind us turning up in inner-city basic black. Ended up sharing a bottle of wine with a friend of Veronica Gillmer… this city's too damned small sometimes! Back to Liz's place at about 4.30 & it was easier to grab a couple of hours sleep there, than head home & end up trying to sleep in the increasing daylight that floods my room the moment the sun comes up. Continued, on & off, to rid my lair of unnecessary crap built up over years of bowerbirding. Trying to be ruthless & may regret some of the tossing out some time later, but whatthehell!!
Catching up on e-mail & trying not to think of the impending working week…
Must find out if there's a more suitable format for this sort of thing somewhere on this computer… before I write too much to be worth transferring.
9.36pm. Home from the movies with Tris… 2nd viewing of King Arthur for me - knights in not so shining armour. Toying with the idea of an early night… this side of midnight for a change.
Gillian wasa over this evening, helping me gainn control over this live journal thing. Given that this is my 3rd attempt to post an entry this evening (& the quality of entries has suffered accordingly), you may form your own judgment on the tutorials success & whether it's down to reacher or student...
As a consolation - here's everything I've been up to since late July. May it give you more pleasure vicariously than it did me in reality...
J.
Tuesday 3 August
9.32pm. Best thing about work was getting out of it early today - via Ultimo & Chippendale… but early nonetheless. Off to Film Australia sound studios to hear how our soundtrack is faring at the hands of the engineer Janine is working with. Quite well in fact. The film is starting to come together & the subtleties that we were told would be there, are becoming apparent… is that what subtleties are supposed to do??
Conference on the back seat of Auric with Bernard afterwards. We have another gig offered on the 21st & the possibility of another in early September. So, from zero to 4 gigs in 3 days… could this be the start of something… or a flash in the pan before the gas runs out?? We have some work to do on the backing tracks in the next week & then take them into a rehearsal studio to see how they perform on unfriendly PAs. Then time to rustle up the rent-a-crowd in earnest. Death threats if you don't attend. Elizabeth is coming up for at least one of the gigs… hooray!!! Just when I was thinking of going down to Melbourne at the end of the month… boo!!
Cold day, colder night. Time for bed & Terry Pratchett.
Monday 2 August
9.56pm. Well, not sure what kind of start to the working week this is… Feeling a little out of sorts all day - kind of observing the whole thing from outside the box. Too much sleep? Well, 10 hours is more than I'm used to… Aftermath of catharsis? Hardly… Saturday night was relatively intense but hardly cathartic… maybe a little draining, but - one hopes - in a good way. I think it was just shellshock that another weekend is gone & left nothing of merit to remember it by… as far as great leaps forward are concerned.
Only one thing for it really… a home cooked curry, a bottle of red wine & a John Cusack DVD.
Received a positive feedback e-mail from the organiser of Friday night & another gig on the 18th this month. Joshua called & e-mailed - a gig on the 25th. So here we go again… waiting for the great leap forwards…
Sunday 1 August
3.04pm. Tried installing a live web journal at about 6 last night before heading off to Parramatta & Pacifier with Liz. Still haven't figured it out & am beginning to wonder whether it's worth it…
So, metal in the western suburbs is alive, loud & well. Pacifier were fun, the Roxy is the last kind of venue you'd expect to see in Parramatta - a good thing & we wound up in the Cross at about 12.30am discussing our love lives, or lack thereof. Don't know if I'm getting turned down flat or receiving mixed signals… my own fault really, as I refuse to be direct about it, preferring to stick to my usual subtle investigations of possibilities, that way one avoids embarrassment & can maintain a friendship without putting unwelcome advances into the mix… Had my image critiqued & a few of my lurking dissatisfactions with myself brought to the surface &, whatthehell, had them critiqued too!
All this resulted in a bit of retail therapy for me - a new jacket, shirt & a couple of CDs - Radio Birdman & Suzi Quatro… I'm still eclectic… that'll never change. Maybe a couple of drinks with father at the RSL later & a movie with Tris this evening. Here comes the working week again… already…
Saturday 31 July
5.43pm. A lazy day for most of the daylight parts… noodling on the computer, making CDs for Liz, but not really doing very much. Long conversation with Bernard, post-morteming the gig last night & discussing yet more ways to slither the band in a forward direction, seeing that full steam ahead & damn the torpedos isn't working. A little shopping in the afternoon; DVDs, CDs & a couple of books. Debating with Liz where to go this evening… my vote for Theredsunband at the Hopetoun has been cast out in favour of Pacifier at the Roxy theatre in Parramatta. So, picking her up at 7 & off we go…
Backtracking…
Friday 30 July
Yet another dull day at work, to round off what was really a dull daylight week!! Spent most of the day wishing it was 5.30, so I could go to the pub for an hour or so with Jenny et al, before heading off to Castle Cove for the gig. Time refused to fast forward, but eventually I turned up at the Tennis Centre to find that our 8pm slot had been usurped… we finally went on at about 9.20. Good set - a little loose again, but attitude, panache & quick-witted banter carried us through. Good response from both the crowd & the organisers - so not to waste an opportunity, we handed out some demo CDs to see what will happen. Collected a couple of e-mail addresses too.
Returned to the pub in Gladesville after the gig to find Jenny & Carol sitting pretty much where I'd left them 21⁄2 hours before, albeit drunker… lucky things… Hung around for about another hour, before time was called & came home about 12.30ish. Not a bad night as nights go…
Thursday 29 July
9.03pm. Another night in!! A chance to restring the Matron for tomorrow's gig & in general, not do very much. Another early night planned, maybe I'll get a start on the Michael Moore book Carol from work lent me. Not much to report on the work front. Jenny's birthday, had a rose sent to her anonymously & listened to her trying to figure out who it was from for most of the day.
And so, to musical & domestic duties.
Wednesday 28 July
9.04pm. Well, having thought about it during the day, I've changed the format of this diary to resemble Robert Fripp's online one, where new entries are on top of on another instead of underneath. At least it means I won't have to scroll through page after page of boring reminiscence to get to the point where I can record the current day's tomfoolery. I may borrow another few of his tricks & phrases too, as time goes on, mainly to cover up the fact that, just occasionally, I'm not at home early enough to write the day up on the day it actually happens. Like yesterday, for example, but I'll get to that.
Today was another dull day at work. Unusual for a week to be turning out like this, as the last couple of months have been anything but… actually, they've been mind-blowingly busy. Really tired for the entire 9 hours, had a Coke at 9am, just to encourage the eyes to stop drooping embarrassingly in front of everyone. The Coke wore off at about 2pm, but I didn't want another one - too much caffeine. Which must explain why I've just finished a Johnnie Walker & Coke can whilst writing this. Having struggled through the day with absolutely no get-up-&-go, I was determined to have a non-event evening. Honourable plans to watch about 7 backlogged episodes of Angel were laid, but wound up watching Spin City, South Park, Whose Line Is It Anyway & half of Skithouse before coming to my senses, switching off the TV & checking my e-mail & usual sites. 13 e-mails in 2 days!! And the African scamsters have found me for the first time ever!!! I never received those 'Please help me smuggle millions out of my troubled country…' letters before. I wonder whose list I'm on that has been onsold or hacked? Since the last great virus & diskwipe of a month ago, as well as the death by spam of my last e-mail address, I've been very careful as to what mailing lists I subscribe to, but obviously not careful enough…
Backtracking…
Tuesday 27 July
A dull day at work, finishing at about 6ish, a change of clothes & off to Liz's place for the evenings entertainment. Wound up waiting there for a couple of hours enjoying the Liz & Tobias Domestic Disturbance Show. Eventually piled into Liz's little Ford for the trip to the Annandale to see the Electric 6 for the 2nd time in a week. Better venue, better view, better sound, but the show at the Gaelic club last Thursday was better in my opinion. Still pretty good though… Liz's friend Terry (f) was supposed to meet us outside the pub so we could claim our tickets together, which I'd booked & had the reference no's for - only to give up waiting for her &, once we were inside, discover that she'd somehow walked in for free & wouldn't tell us how she'd done it. Afterwards, Liz managed to inveigle her way upstairs to the band room with 2 lesbian autograph hounds, whilst Tobias & I were slowly but surely herded towards the exits by increasingly fractious security staff. Oh, the tales of rock excess & ugly groupies she returned with… after only being gone for about 10 minutes!!
Home by about 2ish, straight to bed, knowing I'd regret it on Wednesday… I did.
Monday 26 July
9.20pm. Just finished rehearsal with Bernard for our songwriters gig on Friday night. A half hour set of instrumental stuff to dazzle the assembled throng, whatever size it will be. Last time I played this night at the Castle Cove Tennis Centre, there was a reasonable crowd that fluctuated through the evening according to who was playing & who was playing social games of tennis on the courts. Chris & I did a mixture of old Cathedral St songs & some of his newer ones to good reception - as well it might have been… there wasn't much competition in the room that night, so maybe the same will hold true for this one. Overconfidence usually leads to disaster - & I should know by now that the 2nd time is never as good as the 1st, so will try to do some more practice on Wednesday or Thursday… or both. I need to restring the Matron too. And clip my nails.
Work today was pretty tedious actually. There are a couple of things outstanding that I could have done, but the sense of urgency I need to do them was absent all day. I do this job better when I'm under pressure, or terminally short of time - otherwise I tend to let things slide a little… creating my own pressure I suppose. Still, it's worked so far…
Been missing people lately… Elizabeth in Melbourne - who I haven't seen since March… understandable that one… but also missing Liz in Rose Bay - who I haven't seen since about 5 am on Sunday… & it's only Monday… what is my wasted heart doing to me now?? Part of me knows that nothing is going to happen between us, part of me knows that if it did I'd have my hands absolutely full & part of me says whatthehell, bring it on… Feeling lonely I suppose is all it is. 3 1⁄2 years single & 1 1⁄2 years celibate is obviously preying on my mind, breaking out of the box I keep trying to confine it in.
Meanwhile - cold, wet weather. Time to hunch over the heater to get warm enough to go to bed… eventually.
Sunday, 25 July
2.40pm. Well, here goes. Inspired by first finding, then reading, then throwing out, my diary from 2000 - which I managed to keep for 5 months, I've decided to try again. How long it lasts, or whether it morphs into a web diary at some point, is a matter for conjecture. Certainly it's just for my own amusement at this time - a receptacle for rants, raves & things I should try to remember - or try to forget.
Home about 10.45 this morning, after a night out with Liz & Tobias. Hopetoun Hotel first, to see Spencer Jones & band - which featured Helen Cattanach on bass… I'd forgotten how much I 'admired' her in Moler & the rock chick chic with low slung bass & jeans suited her to a T. Then off to the tail end of a party in Balmain, thrown by Roger - an old friend of Liz, who used to run the Valhalla. An Arabian Nights theme, but no-one seemed to mind us turning up in inner-city basic black. Ended up sharing a bottle of wine with a friend of Veronica Gillmer… this city's too damned small sometimes! Back to Liz's place at about 4.30 & it was easier to grab a couple of hours sleep there, than head home & end up trying to sleep in the increasing daylight that floods my room the moment the sun comes up. Continued, on & off, to rid my lair of unnecessary crap built up over years of bowerbirding. Trying to be ruthless & may regret some of the tossing out some time later, but whatthehell!!
Catching up on e-mail & trying not to think of the impending working week…
Must find out if there's a more suitable format for this sort of thing somewhere on this computer… before I write too much to be worth transferring.
9.36pm. Home from the movies with Tris… 2nd viewing of King Arthur for me - knights in not so shining armour. Toying with the idea of an early night… this side of midnight for a change.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-04 08:34 am (UTC)ok - for your next lesson. Any post likely to be longer than a page or with lots of pics needs to be behind a cut. At the point in your post where you want to cut, put
[lj-cut text="This is where I cut it"]
except that the brackets need to be angle brackets (above the , and . marks.)
Lovely dinner, my friend.
Later
(no subject)
Date: 2004-08-04 10:56 am (UTC)http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000889.html
and the whole http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000876.html