The year of living recklessly: an update & forecast

Dear all,

I've missed you, and (rather surprisingly) I've happily discovered that some of you have missed me too.

Late last year I declared that this would be the year of living recklessly, and after having said this with such certainty to all of you I feel obliged to give an update.

Since we last talked, these things have happened (roughly in this order):

• 4 months ago...My camera broke (a significant contributor to the lack of blogging - no photos = little inspiration to write). I would like to attribute this to a particularly reckless act, like swimming in the duck-pond at 3am in the moonlight just because I could, however I think that it just grew old, filled with sand and water after too many adventures and gave up. Today's pictures are brought to you by my flatmate's camera.
  

• 3 months ago...After having thrown in my old job, I landed a contract at the Sydney Royal Easter Show (Australia's largest event! and, according to Wikipedia, the sixth largest event in the world). I watched children plunder showbags, herded cows and also an escaped and angry pig, learned an excellent lime cordial recipe*, followed a trio of ducks with more dress options than even I have, pushed a pirate around on a trolley, ate half my weight in Show food and then drank myself green on closing night.
  

• 2 months ago...Molly & I (plus a rather nice man) moved out of the lovely home that we have shared for over 3 years. It seemed reckless and daring at first until I realised that after campaigning so hard for the change I moved us into a brilliant new place only two streets away from the old place, still within the same tiny suburb, and into the equivalent room (upstairs, front of house) - all these terraces are laid out the same. This particular terrace, however, sits higher on the hill, meaning more light in our room, and said light-filled room also has (joy of joys) an ensuite bathroom and built in wardrobes. Not one wardrobe, but two. That is one each. Words cannot sufficiently express the delight.

Pretty new room (plus kitten, if you look closely)



Pretty new flatmates outside the new house, living what a passer-by described
as a "charmed existence"

Molly, quite content in her new home, although not ready for her close-up

• 1 week ago...I turned a year older and largely tried to pretend that it wasn't happening as I felt I didn't have the time, then threw a cheese & cocktails* thing at the last minute when I realised that it would be a year before I could celebrate my birthday again.
  

• Yesterday... I bought a pair of delightful boots. Recklessly expensive (*congratulates self on use of key word*) but beautiful. The camera, and my leg, don't quite do them justice.

• Today... I blogged, instead of churning out more job applications. And galloped, instead of walking, around the house. Galloping lifts the spirits and distracts from more serious things, like job applications.
  

• Tomorrow...will be the beginning of the end of my employment, as my contract ends at the end of the week. In suitably reckless fashion, I have nowhere to go. In a style somewhat less reckless, my impending unemployment is troubling me and nights at my place frequently end with a significant amount of foot-stamping and a tirade about how I don't want to write any more answers to selection criteria.

• In the next 8 months...I will possibly do any, or none, of the following things: start one of the million craft projects stowed under my bed, skydive, sew, start a street festival, stop eating chocolate on a daily basis, drop everything and visit Canada using the power of Mastercard, write more often, be a little less of a 'fraidy-cat and start singing along whilst I learn to play guitar, join a burlesque troupe or start working as a film extra.
  

And that concludes today's update and forecast for the remainder of the year ahead. As you can see, I'm about as reckless as your nanna, or on the recklessness meter, I'd rate somewhere around 'Probably still pays for virus protection software when it can be downloaded for free'.

Until next time, when I think of something inane to ply you all with!

*Lime cordial and cocktails piqued your interest? When I started blog writing I promised myself that I would include something useful for the reader in each post. So this is the useful part.

The lime cordial recipe I learned is on the CSR website...right here...you can use regular sugar if you prefer, you will just need to double the quantity.

The cocktails recipe that I came up with is just an elaborate version of the cordial above. This served approximately 20 people, and made quite a nice non-alcoholic punch for those who prefer it that way.

You will need...

15 limes, juiced (save skins!)
2 punnets of strawberries, crushed with a fork
1 1/2 cups of raw sugar
1/2 L water
dash of Angostura bitters

3 L sparkling mineral water
2 L ginger beer
spirits of your choosing (vodka and gin were good, pimms was excellent)
ice, ice, ice

The how to...

1. In a large saucepan, over a gentle heat, combine the lime juice, raw sugar and Angostura bitters. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Slowly add the 1/2 L of water as/if required to help this process along.

2. Add the mashed strawberries and remaining water, and let the lot simmer until you have a light syrup mixture. This took about 15 min over a gentle heat, but needs watching otherwise you will end up with something that looks more like jam than something drinkable. Turn off the heat and let it cool for 10 min.

3. Take a jug, add a handful of lime skins and then tip in about a fifth of the syrup. Let it stand for another 10 min to cool if it needs it.

4. Add a scoop of ice to the jug, then top it up with chilled sparkling mineral water and ginger beer - I used about 3 parts sparkling to 2 parts ginger beer, but you can adjust this if you prefer it more or less sweet.

5. Drink! It's nice to leave the jug un-spiked so anyone wanting something non-alcoholic can partake and everyone can choose their own alcohol. Tip a shot of whatever you want into your glass and then fill up with the cocktail mix.

A little less spending, a little more Scrooge.

Christmas, a killer day trip to Brunswick St, Melbourne (source of all credit card woe and consumerist happiness), via Falls Festival, Lorne, and a rather ambitious 25-presents-to-celebrate-my-boyfriend's-25th-birthday project have all conspired to render me without cash or credit for the forseeable future.

Not wanting to be without entertainment I set myself a mission to ferret out free things to occupy myself with this weekend - and have oh-so-graciously decided to share said free findings* with you.

*All two of them. I plan to get better at this, to improve my spend-thrift self.

1. Cinema in the Cemetery

Genre-defining zombie horror flick, George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968), is screening in a cemetery. Yes, it does seem like a blatant bid by the church to draw a younger crowd, but it's also an opportunity to watch a zombie film in a cemetery. For free. Bring a blanket to sit on/cover your head with/turn into an ingenious zombie-destroying device in case of a zombie apocalypse.

When: Friday 5 Feb, 8pm
Where: St John's church cemetery, 81 Alt St, Ashfield

To whet your appetite for all things zombie, watch this excellent 30 second re-enactment of the film...by cartoon bunnies.

2. CarriageWorks Kitchen Garden Project

CarriageWorks is launching phase two of their Kitchen Garden Project, a series of community workshops and activities for those interested in making their urban life that little bit more sustainable. Head along to the opening expo to hear from sustainability guest speakers and get some more info on the grow-your-own-kitchen-garden-project.

When: Saturday 6 Feb, 1pm - 4pm
Where: CarriageWorks foyer

Green AND free, with potential for grocery bill savings when you start growing your own vegies. Aren't you a lucky urbanite.

Since my list is not very list-like, at only two items, feel free (ooh! buzzword!) to add to the list in the comments section.

Art Loves Haiti

A belated Happy New Year to all.


Molly & Turtle have been on a bit of a hiatus of late, mostly because one of us *pointed, indignant looks at the kitten who cannot defend the accusation* broke the camera.


This post doesn't need pictures, however, as we've all already seen the heartbreak taking place in Haiti right now. Courtesy of Two Thousand this excellent fundraiser caught my eye today:



What: Art Loves Haiti
How: Donate art work to auction by emailing art4haiti@gmail.com with an image, two lines describing the artwork and a short bio. Please know that you will also be donating postage. Buy works from Art Loves Haiti online here. New pieces going up daily.
Where: Money raised goes directly to Save The Children: Haiti
Contact: art4haiti@gmail.com


After a week of the same news stories, with the same interviews and footage, what is happening in Haiti fades into just another natural disaster/humanitarian crisis. I read this account just before news of the aftershock came through and was reminded that the 'humanitarian crisis in Haiti' is actually the story of hundreds of thousands of individual people experiencing loss and uncertainity. Published by the Observer this op-ed is written by Regine Chassagne (of Arcade Fire fame); it documents her personal connection to Haiti and reaction to the disaster as well as suggesting another avenue through which you can lend your support.

It's beginning to look a lot like (a budget-friendly, sharehouse) Christmas...

I'd like to say, 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' in an appropriately sing-songy tune (when else can one be so cheesy as at this festive time of year?), but as the shopping centres have been all over Christmas since October that would be a lie. Instead - and for your benefit I'll just write it rather than sing it - it's looking rather like Christmas in my living room.

This will be my third sharehouse Christmas. The kind of Christmas where no one is actually at the house, because they've all gone home to families, so a tree is probably an unnecessary cost. I took this attitude for my first Christmas out of home - rather than going to the trouble of a tree I set up a Christmas staircase. I still do this for novelty value, just a little more pared back now that I have a tree as well. You can wind tinsel or lights or something similar - I have used a wrapped and beaded wire - around the bannister and then hang decorations from that. The little wiry twists that come with garbage bags can be used to affix decorations directly to the staircase - just put one of the wiry pieces through the loop on the decoration.

As I said, I have a little tree now, just a plastic one bought from a homewares store a couple of years ago. It seemed a tad ridiculous to buy one of the 8ft trees when there would be no one opening presents underneath it. I suspect trees of that stature have to be earned, you would need to prove to the sales person that you had enough people coming to your Christmas to justify that amount of tree. I have to admit that I miss the smell of the pine, but am forever scarred by an image from my childhood of a grand and beautiful green tree taken down in the New Year and left by the house to wither to a sad brown. It turns out there is a service for people like me (besides therapy) - a great business in Melbourne called Eco Christmas Trees that rents out living, potted trees to those that want the best of both worlds - a lovely scented tree that doesn't die AND can be delivered to your door. It's up to you whether you keep the tree or return it after Christmas, and if you're the sentimental type you can even have the same tree back year after year.

Once you have the tree sorted, you'll be wanting to light it up all pretty. If you're feeling green, LED lights are apparently the most friendly and least energy-sucking. They aren't the most attractive Christmas light, but you could make it fun, like this rather handy, design savvy person did. For those still stuck in an 80s/90s glitter nightmare, tinsel goes on next, as chunky and lurid as you can possibly make it. Decorations next. If you like the luxe look for your tree but have a sharehouse budget, buy brightly coloured wired ribbon and tie the ribbon into bows and affix them to the tree. If you like to update the look of your tree each year, but don't want to waste last year's decorations, you can change the colour of the ribbon. This year I've used red ribbon with gold edging.


The Christmas warehouses can be a good source of inexpensive decorations, although I would suggest limiting your time in those places as they tend to divide people into die-hard elves and Scrooges. Alternatively, if you're feeling organised and perky, pack your best armour and pushiest friend and hit the post-Christmas sales at a department store like Myer in preparation for the year to come.

More Christmas posts to come.

2010: the year of living recklessly

After careful consideration, I have decided that 2010 will be the year of living recklessly (obviously the careful consideration and reckless bits are somewhat at odds, so reckless behaviour will commence after that last careful consideration).

I've taken the first step. My contract at work has just expired, and they kindly offered to make me a permanent member of staff. My stomach sank, my marrow screamed 'no'and two weeks later I said no - somewhat less emphatically than my marrow had. Significantly less emphatically, actually, as they weren't quite convinced that I had resigned. It took two tries and that letter to leave.

I don't ordinarily follow/pay attention to/place significant weight in the words of horoscopes, except, of course, when they match up with what I want. But a colleague, upon hearing that I was departing, emailed me a rather detailed description of which moon is moving through which sign, who is orbiting who and so forth (all sounds a bit rude really), the short of which is that apparently this is a time when we can expect radical change. Rather accurate really. And not just for me, either. The fortune of Mr Anti Choice himself, Tony Abbott, for example, has vastly changed. Those ears were just meant for politics and newspaper caricatures.

So, universe, I have opened up a giant and expensive chasm in my life. Now if you could please oblige by sending something radical my way, I'd be most appreciative.

Since it's not quite 2010, the recklessness is quite tame at this stage. This weekend's act of recklessness is to pulp three perfectly lovely mangoes and risk spoiling them for the potentially happy outcome that is sorbet. The other potential outcome, of course, is sad and ruined mangoes that would have been wonderful just as they were until I got all reckless on their loveliness. On reflection, this could be a terrible allegory for what I have just done to my employment prospects: pulped.

If you would like to pulp things I would recommend starting with mangoes before chucking in your job.

This is pretty much a Tessa Kiros recipe, from Apples for Jam (I've just used a little less sugar).

What you'll need...

2-3 ripe mangoes
1/3 cup caster sugar
juice of 2 limes
grated rind of 1 lime

The how to...

1. Peel the mangoes and chop the flesh into small chunks.
2. Tip the mango into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients, then stir and cover. Leave overnight - this draws out the mango juice.
3. The next day, blend until smooth. Sieve the mixture if it is stringy. You can add sugar a little at a time if you like, for more sweetness.
4. Top up with water to make about 2 cups of mixture and then pour into a container with a lid. Stick it in the freezer. After an hour, pull it out and give it a whisk then put it back in the freezer for a couple more hours, before pulling it out to whisk again. When it is nearly firm, pull it out for one last whisk then leave it in the freezer to set. If you have an ice cream maker you can circumvent the in/out/whisk thing.

Will post a picture tomorrow if it turns out pretty. This is supposed to serve 4-6 people, but I'm inclined to thinking that on a hot day it is enough to make one person very happy.

Dear Kate Moss,

Regarding your recent comment that 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' (Women's Wear Daily, Fri 13 Nov), whilst I appreciate that you have founded your career on being a controversial angular waif, I would like to suggest - ever so politely - that you are wrong.

I think that the pro-anorexia critics have covered this sufficiently from a health perspective in the last few days, so I don't plan on rehashing that part of the debate.

From someone who knows, I would like to offer a list of just a few things that taste better than skinny feels.

1. Green & Black's Organic Chocolate

Their milk chocolate is to die for. With a higher cocoa content than your average chocolate, it is the perfect compromise between milk and dark chocolate. Every good supermarket will stock it.

How to eat: share it whilst chatting on the couch with your girlfriends.

2. Anything from Sparkle Cupcakery

The fittingly festive iced pumpkin cupcake is amazing. I'm going back to try the lavendar and honey, and lychee and rose. Don't even try to stop me.

How to eat: when a lovely man picks one up for you and brings it home in the late afternoon in the gorgeous thick paper bag as a surpise , risk spoiling your appetite before dinner and share it. Then eat dinner.

3. The freshly made eggplant, onion and roasted almond ravioli from The Pasta Gallery

You can buy it on Saturdays from the Eveleigh Market, or pick it up from their kitchen, or wait for delivery day.

How to eat: have dinner with the man who surprised you with a cupcake. I cooked it up and served it with a butter, lemon juice and sage sauce, tossed with finely sliced zucchini and fresh spinach and rocket.

4. Breakfast at Cafe Giulia on Sunday morning

Eggs scrambled with haloumi, mint and tomato and served with kefte, or smoked salmon rosettes with hash browns, perfectly poached eggs, spinach, lemon, and some kind of delicious mayonnaise type condiment - these are just two of many offerings.

How to eat: a knife and fork will generally see you through. Nab one of the bigger tables in the courtyard and fill it up with your nearest and dearest. Don't forget the coffee.

5. Lemon Calippo

Icy, lemony confectionary goodness. 99% fat free - Kate, I promise that the odd one of these won't have you out of your skinny jeans anytime soon.

How to eat: wait for a hot day then embrace your inner five year old - run off the beach, skip up to the nearest corner store, tear off the foil, slurp away and definitely don't share this one.

So perhaps enjoying food means I won't be starring in a Yves Saint Laurent mini-movie (and yes, Kate, congratulations are due, you do look unrealistically and unattainably beautiful) but it certainly tastes better than skinny feels.

With kind regards,

A happy girl at a healthy weight

P.S. I've included a gorgeous vintage advertisement titled 'If you want to be popular, you can't afford to be skinny'. Just something you might want to think about...

Consumerist kitten

Consumerist kitten does battle with the Visa. Rather exemplifies my love-hate relationship with my credit card. Love at shopping time, and hate at bills time. Kitten moves through the motions a little faster - in all of 11 seconds, actually.

I suspect she was shopping online, looking to import a mail order man(cat) - one of those sexy sleek Siamese, or perhaps one of the more rugged Russian Blues. The neighbourhood cats don't quite cut it. I expect a designer diamond studded flea collar or three and a year-long supply of Tetsuya's tuna sashimi will arrive in the next week or so also.