Thought for the day, aka more Paul Bowles goodness

For Audrey. My condolences, lovely girl.

Death is always on the way, but the fact that you don't know when it will arrive seems to take away from the finiteness of life. It's that terrible precision that we hate so much. But because we don't know, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

-Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

Going more slowly, he continued. He had brought with him some figs, which he now pulled out and devoured. When he had followed the river's complete turning, he found himself facing the sun in the west, looking up a small valley that lay between two gently graded, bare hills. At the end was a steeper hill, reddish in colour, and in the side of the hill was a dark aperture. He liked caves, and was tempted to set out for it. But distances here were deceptive, and there might not be time before dark; besides, he did not feel the necessary energy inside him. 'Tomorrow I'll come earlier and go up,' he said to himself. He stood looking up the valley a little wistfully, his tongue seeking the fig seeds between his teeth, with the small tenacious flies for ever returning to crawl along his face. And it occurred to him that a walk through the countryside was a sort of epitome of the passage through life itself. One never took the time to savour the details; one said: another day, but always with the hidden knowledge that each day was unique and final, that there never would be a return, another time.

-Paul Bowles, The Sheltering Sky




Today I've been taking life slowly and savouring the details. Savouring the rain that may help stave off stage four water restrictions in our drought-ravaged city. Walking from my house to Sydney Road and spending the whole morning op-shopping. Slowly making my way through the culinary delights of Brunswick: this morning it was El-Faiha sweets; last time it was cannoli ricotta from Pasticceria Italia (my first cannoli ever!).

I may not have a lot of money, but when you can walk home with a bag full of op-shop gems and Lebanese treats from Sydney Road, with change from your twenty dollar note left in your pocket, who needs it?

Logies 2007 Fashion Wrap-Up

This year's batch of Logies frocks in one word: uninspiring.

Ah, the Logies. Australian television's night of nights; or, should I say, the night when Australia's top c-grade celebrities and a couple of imported f-grade American celebrities come together to celebrate the remnants of the Australian television industry: McLeod's Daughters, Rove Live and a couple of soapies and lifestyle shows.

If the Logies is anything to go by, the Australian television industry is remarkably homogenous. So many thin blonde women. So many young starlets who I can barely tell the difference between since I don't watch Home and Away or Neighbours.



Case in point: apparently the person on the left of the above shot, 'Pippa Black', is a different person to the 'Eliza Taylor-Cotter' of the next shot. Can you tell the difference between then? I'm certainly struggling.



Jessica Alba looked pretty, but the girl could look stunning in a paper bag.



Avril Lavigne was her typical monosyllabic, underdressed self.



Green seemed to be the colour of the night. I wasn't particularly impressed by any of the dresses though.

Natalie Blair



Kate Ritchie



Catriona Rowntree



The award for worst dressed of the night wasn't a hard decision. I'm singling out Nicky Whelan for this hideous floral ensemble. It doesn't look that bad from this angle, but trust me, it is that bad.



Michala Banas had an equally horrible dress on, but I seem to locate a photo of it. Perhaps all the photographers were too horrified to click their cameras when they saw her outfit.

Runner up for worst dressed is Natalie Saleeba. She looks a bit like a tiered wedding cake.


As for the best dressed of the night, it's a tough call. There were plenty of nice frocks out there, but they were all kind of boring.

So just because they dressed a little differently, I'm giving props to Tania Zaetta for wearing a sari...



... and to Jeanne Little for being her own crazy self in a boring television world. Forget the Gold Amercian Express dress, here's the next big thing: Frill-neck lizard stylin's, brought to you by Mix FM.



The I-have-no-idea-what-to-say-about-this award goes to Sandra Sully. Anyone want to help me out here? I can't decide if I hate it or like it. Maybe she thought the night had a Strictly Ballroom theme?



The WTF award goes to Megan Gale and Andy Lee for being the odd couple of the century. He looks ok in this picture, but really, how on earth did this man score Megan Gale?

.

I. Just. Don't. Get. It.



You've got to feel a little sorry for Anna Jennings-Edquist, girlfriend of Hamish Blake. She looked nice, but standing next to the Amazon that is Megan Gale she just looked... really short.



On a final note, I think Sally Kate Ritchie looks really pretty here, and deserves congratulations for winning the Gold Logie. Australia's little girl is all grown up!



Til next year! Well, if there are any Australian shows left by then.

Metablogging.

Toothpaste for Dinner

It is kind of amazing when you think about it. How we can cross international borders so easily and peek into each other's lives from across the screen.