Highlights, Lowlights.

Apologies for the extended silence. The best of intentions were drowned in a flood of, well, phlegm, to put it bluntly. My youngest nannying charge went into the ER last week with pneumonia, and while she's recovered, I am still in the throes of aspirin, kleenex, lozenges, antibiotics, steam inhalations, sleepless nights coughing, a head like a pressure cooker, and being deaf in one ear or the other.

On the bright side, there was an absolutely stunning show 2 weekends ago at the Wharf Theatre (where Cate Blanchett can currently be found performing in Street Car Named Desire). An Israeli/Australian guitarist named Lior played with a 6-string orchestra and a shadow artist who choreographed stories to go with each song. It was beautiful.

In a similarly startling display of lights, I woke up Wednesday morning to a glowing pink room. I stepped outside, looked up, and saw this:

I was not alone thinking it was the end of the world. A massive dust cloud from South Australia had rolled over Sydney the night before and everything was red/orange/pink/yellow until 3 that afternoon. It was bizarre and, again, beautiful.

(from the base of the Harbour Bridge, and not taken by me.)

Honestly.

I saw this walking home yesterday. Reason #843 why I love Australia/ns.

Birthday Happiness.

Last weekend was my dear Matilda's birthday.

Matilda and I met very randomly: I was nannying for a mum who was a friend of Matilda's dad's ex-girlfriend. Yes. When she came to Australia from Finland on her birthday 3 years ago, the airlines kindly lost all her luggage, and she got such a severe case of food poisoning, she was more or less comatose for her first 3 days in the country. When she regained her appetite, she came over to the house I was working at and we all had pizza... and the rest, as they say, is history. Since then we've exchanged hundreds of e.mails, spent hours on the phone, and traipsed around a good portion of India together. It is fantastic to be living in the same beautiful city once again.

Some Ebonies and Ivories.

Last week was a bit of a downer for the Aussies; we lost the Ashes cricket series to England, the Bledisloe cup (rugby) to New Zealand, and came in 4th at Miss Universe. Obviously some sorrows needed to be drowned in some extra-curricular activies, so last Friday my dear Matilda, Naomi, and I decided to go on a bit of an adventure.

Instead of hitting up the local pub after work, we trekked all the way out (via a few buses and a few more trains) to the remote suburb of Castle Hill to hear David Helfgott play the piano.

If the name doesn't sound familiar, maybe the movie will:

(The film made about David's life, which Aussie actor Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar for in '96.)

The first we saw of the man himself was this sight:

Between each piece, he would run off the stage, disappear behind the curtain for a minute, then race enthusiastically back out, give everyone a thumbs up, sit down, and start playing again.


Never in my life have I heard the piano the way he plays it - delicately, flawlessly, and humming along the whole time.

Epic night.