When the Cheshire emerges...

As well as TINAB, I'm completing a summer list and have gotten a few things ticked off. Receipts from as early as 2003 have been cleaned out, but more importantly the missing pieces of my Cut Print Review collage have been slotted in. My photo of the day shows my wall feature with all the films I've reviewed/opinionated(!) on since I started writing for the site about 15 months ago:



To other tasks, and after a really slack three days I decided to make use of my bus trip to work and do another entry. This one really intrigued me and I wasn't sure whether I'd fill the page with my answers. But as per usual with these things, I was struggling for room. Page 192 was about 'a parallel universe'; what would my world be like if everything was the opposite of what it is now?...

Instead of a mum, dad and brother I'd have a dad, mum and sister. I would be a PR graduate rather than a journalist. I would loathe movies and TV. If hospitality's the opposite of retail then that's what I'd be working in. I'd have a long-term boyfriend. Both my grandpas would've seen me grow up and graduate. Overseas trips would be the norm. I wouldn't have tears welling up while writing this. Wouldn't be writing this on the bus either (like I was supposed to). I'd be the youngest child. All my closest friends would be male. I would be male. Does this mean I'd be a version of my brother? I'd rarely go to concerts. I'd hate Kylie, Gyroscope, etc. My playing sport of choice would be AFL or (gasp) netball. I wouldn't have loving, hilarious friends. I'd hate Facebook and Twitter. I'd have hated uni. I'd be Italian or American - depends on what you view as opposite. Wouldn't have woken up with cramps in my legs this morning. Really wouldn't like hanging out with the family. I'd be the youngest of my cousins, and the same gender as most. Other things I won't mention here. I wouldn't have an interesting life. Because I do have an interesting life.


Yesterday's (Day 12) 21st ended up being a good night. However, it must be noted as the first I'd managed to experience so far with a stripper show (unbeknownst to the lad in front of family :/ ). It was really something. Below are Penny and Jana during the show. Impressed? Hm. Awkward? Just a little:




Today ended up having a series of known events but with random consquences. Had to go to church... turns out Croydon has a new priest flown in from Melbourne with plans to shake things up to get the young people back in. More English (very handy), no candles at the front (gasp!) and the guts to shut the old ladies up. There was an outraged lady screaming outside after and it was intense. Afterwards, one of my 2nd cousins (he's 2) would hardly let go of my legs and proceed to dribble all over my jeans. Ew. And then I had my Fresh Xmas BBQ, where there was a good amount of cricket and for some, rowboat rides in the lake. Today's photo is of Meg supposedly having enough (but really trying to push their boat over the completely shallow part). At least there's no chance of drowning!


There is interest in completing a group task tomorrow night... oh how that would balance out my tasks to date!

COUNT:
Pages in progress: 62
Pages completed: 1, 8-9, 7, 88, 124, 192
Pages completed by others: 7 (Spratt, 1-12-09)

Ok, so this could be the most pointless blog in history (because I haven't done any extra tasks - major sadness.) but as part of completing the book, I am determined to show every photo for this month. So here goes.

While I realise it's the 10th I don't think having six days worth of content is viable here. Day 5 was a day I'd been looking forward to for months. Had no work, and an afternoon full of good vibes and plenty of dancing. But not at Stereosonic like the rest of Adelaide. I was where those NOT at Stereo were - A Day on the Green at Peter Lehmann Wines in the Barossa Valley.

Why would I, a 20-year-old, go there over Stereo? Well, these tickets went on sale months before, and I wasn't going to miss out on the first Australian tour The B-52's have done in my lifetime. That's right, the Rock Lobster and Love Shack people. They're still around. And they kick arse. With Mental As Anything and The Proclaimers as supports it was actually a really well-rounded show. We had a very large group of Scots next to us who knew all the words to every Proclaimers song... when 500 Miles came on my auntie and I went down the aisle to where a few of them were waving their Scottish flag and grabbed it. We were all singing (horribly I might add), waving the flag and it was the funniest thing I've done in ages.

My latest TINAB task came a bit before this (for I still had it in full view of course)... page 124: 'This is a MOMENT IN TIME. This day will never happen again. Document it's passing.' So I wrote:

"Red Red Wine by UB40's blasting over the speakers at A Day on the Green in between Mental As Anything and The Proclaimers and everyone's singing along. I'm to Mum's right and Angela, Toula and Tanya's left; we're chilling with riesling, food and anticipation for The B-52's!"

I would've missed the day if I'd written about it all. But the concert was rad, they played most of my favourites, and to hear Love Shack live, my fave song of ALL TIME, was incredible. To say I went nuts is an understatement. And Rock Lobster as the encore went OFF. The photo pick for the day is hard (there's a particularly funny one involving chocolate) but below is of the band, as close as I could get before the reserved seating. I've just realised the idiot in the cap is very reminiscent of the puppet from Hey Hey It's Saturday. Gilbert?



All in all, it was an amazingly awesome day with the (family) girls, with perfect weather and great atmosphere.

Day 6 wasn't very eventful but the photo shows my excitement from the concert continuing. Worn this T-shirt twice already... <3 id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413403952931941698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbUVwhbd8u4lSoxTFJGCi-nH-54JExRrDcEXq3DGvwyuyQsvFESelt2D_oooc1wN38No9VcbpqU6Tm1ZDqMZQezuuwcu7o6KYVoDPP4QCFFghXmYpkqtwLl9MYWfGEQymhMO2X/s320/IMG_1554.JPG" border="0">
Day 7: same, but it marked the last day of my first challenge. During the week of placing TINAB in full view, it's gone with me to work, the gym, a festival, The Ed, coffee, the movies, and Fresh at least. Here we had a minor water spillage (sssh!) but TINAB was spared. Anyway, the studio is my photographic choice for this day so you can see where the magic comes from!

I really need to get cracking on these tasks. But so little time! Doing this AND the contents of my list aren't happening at a great pace :/ Having said that, stuff is getting done. So that has to be positive.

COUNT:
Pages in progress: 62
Pages completed: 1, 8-9, 7, 88, 124
Pages completed by others: 7 (Spratt, 1-12-09)

So the past two days have been hectic. Just a bit. No additional tasks were done yesterday because of commitments. However, my first stop of the day provided the perfect photo op:

So I have begun my summer quest to complete This Is Not A Book (TINAB). And the one thing that's sticking in my head and won't leave until I remember right now is: how much I would regret using a pen to write in there. A pencil is what I need. Oh the days of writing in pencil. As my new workmate Regina put it, who writes with the lead after they get their pen licence? Me now, that's who.

My Melbourne 'Unies' trip let me discover many things. One of those was this grand new release 'book' called This Is Not A Book. Funny that I discover it in a bookstore away from home, but I couldn't resist. It was staring at me from the counter. It was red, and had a scribbled title which intrigued me. And I hadn't bought a book in ages (from an actual bookstore). So I bought it.

And it's not a book. Might be in the shape of one, but it's telling me it could be something that could change my life. A series of 'tasks' fill the pages, asking you to do things outside the square. What a perfect way to spend the summer. And summer it is... fitting that I decide to grab it this morning and realise it's December 1st. Woah. December. The first 'official' day of summer. Sweet.

I've yet to look through it all but thought I'd be logical to start with and begin on page 1. The task is as follows:

This is an inconvenience. Take This Is Not A Book everywhere you go for one week. You must place it in full view at all times.

So if you see a red book poking out of my bag or on the table over the next 7 days you know why. And I'm daring you not to be curious. The goal is to get through everything in the next few months. You can help me if you wish. Because this thing with pages that apparently isn't what it's meant to be is sticking around.