Battles: winning or learning?

I was just sitting talking to Dad over a 'cuppa' (queen's english: translation: noun & verb: a hot cup of tea with honey as well as the process of drinking this warm beverage which is rumoured to solve the world's unhappiness and tragedies). And he reminded me of an email that my eldest sister forwarded the other week:

There comes a point in your life when you  realise who matters,
who never did, who won't anymore... and who always will.
So, don't worry about people from your past,
there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future.

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some
kind of battle.

I think the last line resonates a beautiful message. We balance between chance and control. There are some things that I think we want to think are in the hands of fate/chance/luck. But I think we give way too much credit to these forces. I think that we think that things are the way they are because there is no other way that they could be. But this is bullshit. We fall in to the trap of thinking that habits are hard-wired. They are not. You can change your habits and consequently change the luck which lays upon you. Of course we cannot control everything. Although some of us will die trying. Not me. But we can control what we present to the world. The irony of this is that I write this whilst procrastinating about writing a god damn cover letter... argh... not sure if the real world is better or if dreaming is where it's at. Was it Yeats who said that to dream is to awaken?

In the End We Begin Again

Dad's Workshop - Where many of the 'shitty inventions' come to life

Blossoms down the driveway

Mum and Dad - Toasting Life and Mum with her new benches

I have returned home. For 84 days I thought that 'home' would simply be within me. I was wrong. There are small pockets across the world that I left feeling very touched and blessed to have walked there. Hoping to return to some places. But there is nothing like 'Pindari'.

Dad & I - August 2008 in Lilyfield

Mum and Dad in the 70's - Crazy Shit

Mum & I - Will's 19th Birthday Dinner

Pindari - 2008

'Bobby' should have behaved better... Poor thing

Dad & I - Moments before my flight to NYC - Dad has a dirty mo!

Dad in the roof of his latest project - how many shooms can we have? How many shitty invention?

Will & Thomas a.k.a Tom-arse, Gremlin, Nelson (he has eyes like Brendan Nelson), ScumDog Millionaire...

Pindari Afternoons


Song of Day - You're the Reason God Made Oklahoma - Frizzell

Recipe of the Day - Meringue and Raspberry Cream Torte - 

Found in Better Homes & Gardens Mag - August 2008. 

Mum made this for us once. She made her own meringues which are ummm... amazing... but you don't have to.

Prep Time: 10 min plus 3 - 4 hrs freezing time

Serves: 8 (or 1 if you don't like sharing)

2kg good quality vanilla and strawberry ripple ice cream

300g fresh or frozen raspberries

10 purchased meringue nests (gently crushed)

Extra 300g fresh or forzen raspberries

Line a round 22cm springform cake tin with cling wrap. Allow ice cream to soften but not melt. Put 1/3 of ice cream in the base of tin, cover with 1/2 the raspberries and 1/2 crsuhed meringue. Continue to layer ingredients in this manner, ending with a layer of ice cream. Cover tin with cling wrap and freeze 3 - 4 hrs.

Remove from freezer and turn out onto a large plate. Top with extra raspberries and cut into wedges to serve.

Ummm... awesome... we are loving the 80's with these kitchy desserts!

The Vatican and the Poor People

The most incredible view was from the top of St. Peters. Well worth 7 Euro!!!




The Poor in the Vatican
The 'Round' Jerry

All I have eaten is Pizza and Croissants and bottles of cheap cheap wine... hmmmm

Roma Tomates? Are they just called tomatoes here?

Me Being dopey at the Colusseum - I have this outfit in most photos across the past three months. Insert background here!
Outside Picasso Gallery in Roma
On my way to The White Horse - Parsons Green - same oufit
Tate Modern - London
Book Sale on South Bank - London - Loved this area

Bouna sera!

It has been a few days since Sonnie J (aka Vanessa or Annej) has ventured into the cyber world  - so here in Roma - we enter again.

Karen and I had a fabulous last night in London. Highly recommend a bar and restaurant The Greedy Buddah around Parsons Green. Half price coctails till 7:30 or 25% off the bill. What could possibly go wrong? Nothing. I wish I could have made that more dramatic! It was just awesome to see Karen and catch up... really catch up on those girly details that bar tenders don't really want to know but you think you are being really quiet and subtle... maybe we were, and through the language barrier I think we didn't do too much damage to our egos. Was a beautiful last night. We contemplated going out but realised that we didn't actually want to. The zen flowing through us told us that we didn't really need to... Actually as I write this I realise that we did go to a pub on the way home...hmmm... maybe the details here should then not be trusted. We went to the White Horse and had some really strong cider and then got shouted expensive bubbles by these men - again the female in the congregation was not impressed... It's funny how young women, old bats and male libido don't mix. Funny... huh?

But needless to say (actually probably not needless to say) it was all above board fun. We pretty much feel asleep in our cider we were that tired/drunk. 

I just found something I wrote done after my first night in Roma (which was massive and totally random). I wrote this sitting on the path leading to the Colusseum (I was actually hiding from the Colusseum - wasn't ready to take it all - it just jumped out of nowhere):

Life begins when you realise that your greatest beauty is your most fearful weapon.

A woman whose finger is wed,

Whose jeans have shrunk,

Will never find relief in what she can never be.

I am sitting on a bench and there is a small potted tree to my right and behind that is the Colusseum - but for some reason - I am too scared to look.

My first full day in Rome I wandered around to the Colusseum and other ridiculously massive monuments. My favourite was just wandering around the ruins and seeing whay nooks-and- cranny-type streets I could find myself up. I found a 'rounder' version of Jerry which amused me. He knew I was trying to snap a photo which made it a little awkward esp. as it was a totally non-photo worthy street. In the evening I hung in the hostel and met a few guys and a girl over a bottle of wine and then wandered around for some pizza.

Today I sight saw for about 8 hours! Crazy.  The Vatican was incredible and the best part of the trip was going up to the very top of the Basilica in St. Peters. Looking out over the whole of Roma! 360 degrees. The highest point I could see for miles. Definitely a highlight! and the Fontana de Treve was just nice - it was just a good time to sit and think 'this is nice'...

I head to Florence tomorrow for two nights and then to Cinque Terre for two nights before returning for one night in Roma before flying out. I can't actually believe that the days are turning into hours and that like all life's lessons we only seem learn them when we no longer need them learnt. There's always time for Level 2 of Life Lesson 1! I think that I have finally started to chill out but maybe that is only because I am going home soon. A job always takes the length of time given to fill it... so maybe it was always going to be that way.

Poem of the day - written 5pm 1st February 2009

My feet have touched the ground

But I am a long way from home

I know not where you find me resting

But in my heart together we rome.