Update…

Thursday, 18^th

Up early, lift to the city from parents who were driving to the fish markets, walk from Pyrmont to Town Hall…overly nice Red Cross money collector complimented my hair (and noticed it was dreadlocked…most people just think it’s a manic growth on top of my head) and my fork bracelet…met up with Kylar, coffee and cigarettes all over the place, Hyde Park and Bill & Toni’s and Hyde Park again….home, Slavica and Jasmina helping my mum cook for Sveti Nikola, but had to leave soon after I arrived…all day running around helping with whatever needed to be done around the house…late night Oz watching. Consumed five coffees and was still dead tired.

 

Friday, 19^th

Sveti Nikola, my family’s Slava. I am horrible at getting into the spirit of things so I mostly hid in the living room and avoided all the guests who were in the sun room. I get really awkward every year because I rarely see a lot of those people, and there’s the confusion of whether I should just shake their hand or do I need to kiss them as well, and do I kiss them once or three times, and what the hell should I talk to them about, etc. Plus, every year someone makes a comment about me losing weight, which makes me wonder if I was obese as a child or something… Towards the end of the night I managed to get away with sitting on the couch and reading as most of the guests had left, my parents were with the older ones and my sister with her friends, and Jasmina had left – these days I have only a few Serbian friends, and those that I do have go to Nikola’s house because his Slava is also Sveti Nikola, and as they’ve been going to Nikola’s well before they met me, they of course still go there. Plus, everyone gets drunk there so it makes more sense anyway. Our house tends to be a bit quieter. Sveti Nikola reminds me every year, very blatantly, just how hard it is for my family to spend a day together and get along. The upside is waiting for midnight so I can eat chocolate.

 

Saturday, 20^th

       

 

Kalaediscope fun; Emma; Kylie; Seeta & T-Nev; Katie & moi; Arex

 

During the day, Annie and I went to a small zine fair that was happening at the first Voiceworks launch to happen outside Victoria. It was nice. Small and kind of quiet, and the people that came along didn’t really seem to know what zines were, but it was chilled out; I mostly sat around reading and occasionally talking to the kids from Just Like Candy & the Black Rose Anarchist Bookshop (on Enmore Rd, Newtown). Afterwards we wandered around a bit, bought a present for Emma which was directly responsible for us speaking Engrish all day – part of the present was a Guns n Roses cigarette case. On the side it had a warning label against smoking but it said something like “cigarette smoke the harmful health”…what the fuck? So all day we were speaking Engrish – replacing every L with an R. “hero, may I have a rarge vanirra mirkshake?” Then I went home, frantically rushed around for an hour getting ready to leave again, then off to Scary Canary…which is a terrible venue but Up the Bracket happens there and it featured good people + vodka and therefore wasn’t horrible like the venue is. Good company featured: Emma (we were celebrating her birthday), Alex (Arex), Katie (ok just quietly, I’m sort of in love with Katie), Kylie, Seeta, T-Nev, etc. Seabas played a bit of November Rain – hell yeah! After a while we went to Emma’s (new) place which I really like. Stairs everywhere! Emma put on The Doors and packed a cone as soon as we walked in which made me very happy.  Katie asked me why I love The Doors and I really couldn’t put an answer into words – they are just so special to me. Bit of hanging around, being lazy, that sort of high when sitting on a couch with a blanket is just like the most perfect thing, then we wanted to watch That 70s Show but the speakers connected to the fancy-computer-TV weren’t working so instead we watched so-bad-it’s-good Stripperella on SBS, then something else I don’t remember, before we went to sleep.

 

Sunday, 21^st

  

 

I woke up around 9.30 and Annie was already awake. We sat on the little balcony smoking – I really wanted to have a cigarette first thing in the morning because I can never do that whilst living at home! Then we wrote a note for Emma and left before her housemates, who we don’t know, got up to find two weird kids hanging out in their living room. Wandered the city in search of a pretzel (nowhere to be found!), then went home. I napped on the couch, watched Oz, and otherwise generally lazed around.

  

Monday, 22^nd

Spent the day in a really unexpected unbelievably happy mood. I don’t even know why! I just feel good all over. Have lazed around in the sun, reading, listening to silverchair’s Live From Faraway Stables, Love, Alice Coltrane (the last two thanks to Kylar), dancing around the backyard like a character from Hair, discovering Gogol Bordello and reconnecting with my Eastern European roots with mad gypsy music. Good times.

 

(Photos by ANNIE LY.)

It’s Friday, I’m in love

Last Friday

I went to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. Having to bite down, for three minutes, on some weird rubber device with fluoride (I think) on it is incredibly uncomfortable.

 

In the evening, Annie and I went to the city. I was wearing these stockings that have a rip in them that looks pretty good but then I was playing around with it and it ripped a little too much. I got paranoid about the stockings just coming apart so we had to find a new pair somewhere. 7-11 comes in so handy sometimes. There were some really weird noises in the sky as we walked to Kings Cross; we couldn’t figure out if it was thunder, fireworks or bombs. Anyway, so we got to Candy’s and in a hilarious incident with the security guards, got our precious vodka taken away (but they were nice enough to give it back to us later). Then we got free entry thanks to Darren. (I later found out Outrun put me on the guest-list – awww.) Inside we met up with my friends-from-the-ghetto Jasmina, Nenad and Drazen who had surprisingly decided to come along that night. Drazen and Nenad bought me a lot of drinks and let me drink theirs too which was nice.

 

A band called Yen played a really long set. They were pretty good. Kind of mellow and interesting. Sujin and Marie joined us also. Towards the end of Yen’s set, Annie and I went outside for a bit…to…get medicated…and then we went back to Candy’s and saw Outrun play. AND THEY WERE REALLY FUCKING AMAZING. The only downside was the length of their set – nowhere near long enough. But they were so, so good, especially considering that chatting to Josh beforehand, I found out he’d had three hours of sleep! So, rather impressive. I fucking love this band! After their set, we stayed around for a while drinking and dancing and being amused by Drazen’s antics. Was fun!

 

The night ended with an hours-long gutter party, with my friends-from-the-ghetto leaving Annie and I…I don’t think they appreciate the beauty of gutter parties. One day they will learn! It was a really good night but I had a killlllller hangover the next day.

 

This Friday

  

Last night ended really early but for some reason, it felt like we’d been out forever. I guess we did a lot in a short amount of time.

 

First, Annie & I went to see Ohana play at Spectrum and they were so good! That was the first time I’d seen them play live and I was as impressed as I was when I first heard them on FBi. I need to discover more bands like them (suggestions, anyone?).

 

Then we went down to the Oxford Art Factory to see The Vignettes play and they were, as always, heaps of fun and completely incredible. There was a little fan club happening at the front of the stage and they were adorable. After they played, we talked to Natalie and Aaron for a bit, from The Revolution Artist Services, about music and TEETH and other good stuff. They’re both so lovely, and I was completely jealous hearing that Aaron has seen Nirvana live! There’s some good stuff being planned between The Revolution Artist Services and TEETH so…stay tuned!

 

Then back to Spectrum to see Die! Die! Die!, a fucking brilliant band that I absolutely love seeing live because it is always complete insanity and sweat, bruises, spilled drinks, loss of inhibitions, etc. They always put on such a good show!!!!!!! They need to come to Sydney more often. I very rarely see people lose their minds that much at smaller gigs and it’s amazing! Ran into Taps, Andrew and Myers there too which was cool.  

 

After that neither of us could stop talking about how amazing it was and so we regretted going back to OAF where The Protectors were playing because it kind of ruined the good vibes a bit. Seriously…just because you look interesting doesn’t mean you should be a band. Also, looking like the lovechild of Steven Tyler and Mick Jagger doesn’t mean you are either of them.

 

Then we had to leave early because Annie’s sister was offering us both lifts home if we came back not too late, and since we both hate the amount taxi drivers charge, and since yesterday ended with me having 85c to my name, we took up the offer.

 

How I survived with no money: bottle of vodka left over from last week + Annie buying me drinks (thanks dude!) + my father’s spare change jar for Spectrum entry & train ticket. Whoooo!

 

(Photos by ANNIE LY.)