2018

As I look back over the last 12 months, I am appreciative of my opportunities and my position in the world. I have employed throughout and have invested my money in people, events and food. I have been active and open. I have enjoyed the company of some fine people - said hello to some new folk and let others drop off. It has been a consistant year and there aren’t any dark clouds in my blue sky. Looking through my diary, there has been a lot and that will be expressed below.

Folk

There have been many planned catch-ups and some lovely incidental ones. Most names are people I have known since arriving here in 1998, but as I had a trip back to the UK, there are some older connections mentioned:

Af, Aimee, Alex, Allison, Andy, Ann, Carmel, Caro, Carol, Caroline, Cathy 1, Cathy 2, Charlotte, Colin, Connie, Dan, Dane, Danielle, Deanne, Debbie, Dillini, Eden, Ern, Esther, Francine, Freya, Gabrielle, Genny, Georgie1, Georgie2, Georgina, Heather, Helen, Jack, Jackie, Jacqui, Jane, Jenny, Jo1, Jo2, Jo3, Joanne, Jodi, John, Johnnie, Jon, Judi, Jules, Juliet, Karin, Kate, Kyle, Lesley, Linda, Lisa, Loraine, Loretta, Louise, Lynda, Maggie, Mara, Marque, Matt, May, Megan, Merredith, Michelle, Mike, Miki, Mine, Mini, Mona, Murat, Nadine, Nicole 1, Nicole 2, Paul, Pat, Prue, Robyn, Rock, Rosa, Ruth, Sarah, Sharon1, Sharon2, Sharon3, Steph, Steve, Stuart, Tanya, Terri, Theo, Tommy, Tonia, Trudi, Vonne, Wayne, Zabin, Zoe1, Zoe2, Zoe3

For the numbers people out there, the stats are:

• Total people: 101
• Male: 20
• Female: 81
• Family: 10
• Caught up in Australia: 87
• Caught up in UK: 14
• Initially met through work: 34
• Met for the first time this year: 20
• Known for over 10 years: 49
• Known for over 20 years: 26

The more people I meet, the better I get to know myself and the richer my world becomes. Thank you, one and all.

Entertainment

It was another fine year of varied entertainment. I try and live in the moment and immerse myself in where I am and what I am doing - so regardless of how I gauge an event afterwards, I don’t regret attending any of them - I feel enriched by the experiences presented. People often ask me which were my favourites, but by choosing a favourite, you are actually demoting the rest - I don’t do that. So as I list out the events below, it is rewarding to see the number and variety.

International music acts
Out of the 33 acts, I saw 20 (*) of them for the first time.

• 10CC *
• 2Cellos
• Albert Hammond Jr *
• Ben Harper
• Canned Heat *
• Charlie Musselwhite *
• Christian McBride *
• Colin Hay
• Darius Rucker *
• Dr Feelgood *
• First Aid Kit *
• George Ezra *
• Gilbert O’Sullivan *
• Harry Manx
• Jake Bugg
• Kevin Welsh *
• Ladysmith Black Mambazo *
• Lionel Richie
• Lord Huron *
• Marlon Williams
• Mary Coughlan
• Neil Finn
• Newton Faulkner
• Nile Rodgers *
• PP Arnold *
• Queen (& Adam Lambert) *
• Robbie Williams *
• Rodrigo Y Gabriela *
• Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox
• Squeeze
• Walter Trout *
• The Young Folk
• Zourouna *

Australian music acts
Out of the 68 acts, I saw 12 (*) of them more than once. I chose to go and see 33 of these acts in their own shows - the others (#)were part of shows. I saw Chris Wilson 3 times this year but sadly, he will never perform again. I have seen him over 200 times and he is a hero of mine, so I miss him but am appreciative of the pleasure he has given me over the years.

• Alma Zygier *
• Angie Hart #
• Archie Roach *
• Bamboos #
• Brian Fraser
• Bruce Hearn
• Busby Marou
• Caledonian Castaways
• CDB #
• Charles Jenkins #
• Chris Cheney #
• Chris Wilson *
• Clare Bowditch #
• Clio Renner
• Dan Sultan
• Dave Graney #
• Davey Lane #
• David Bridie
• Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier *
• Duxie Franklyn
• Ella Hooper #
• Ella Thompson #
• Gallie *
• Geoff Achison
• Georgia Fields #
• Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse
• Gordi #
• Hetty Kate
• Jeff Lang #
• Josh Pyke #
• Karise Eden
• Kate Miller-Heidke #
• Kate Ceberano #
• Kavisha Mazella #
• Kerri Simpson #
• Kristin Berardi #
• Kutcha Edwards #
• Kylie Auldist #
• Linda Bull
• Lisa Miller #
• Margaret Roadknight #
• Mark Seymour
• Michelle Nicolle
• Mick Thomas #
• Missy Higgins
• Mojo Juju *
• Nkechi Anele #
• Not Waving, Drowning #
• Paul Dempsey
• Paul Kelly *
• Phil Jamieson #
• Rachel Gaudry #
• Rebecca Barnard #
• Rob Snarski #
• Sime Nugent
• Stiff Gins
• Stiletto Sisters *
• Tex, Don and Charlie
• Tex Perkins #
• Thando #
• Tiddas
• Tim Rogers *
• Twoks *
• Underground Lovers #
• Vika and Linda *
• Waifs
• Wendy Matthews #
• Xani Kolac *
• You Am I #

Classical shows
Only 5 shows this year.

• Avro Part
• Chamber
• Goldberg Variations
• Ilya Gringolts
• Kanstantin Shemray

Musical shows
22 show attended.

• 16 Lovers Lane (Go-Betweens tribute)
• Ambushed (Kate Bush tribute)
• Amy Winehouse tribute
• Beautiful (Carole King music)
• Bella Xmas Party (Casey Bennetto entertainment)
• Both Sides Now (Joni Mitchell music)
• The Carpenters (Carpenters music)
• Dancing on a Volcano (Robyn Archer)
• Feeling Groovy (Simon and Garfunkel tribute)
• Gothic (various songs turned gothic)
• Heart of St Kilda (variety show of music and comedy)
• Jazz and Blues (piano and violin music)
• Respect (Aretha Franklin tribute)
• RocKwiz (music and comedy show) - 3 times
• Stand by Your Woman (various female acts)
• The Kick Inside (Kate Bush tribute)
• This Woman’s Work (Kate Bush tribute)
• True Flowers from this Painted World (surfing movie soundtracks)
• Tubular Bells for Two (performing Mike Oldfield’s classic)
• White Album (Beatles tribute)
• Woody Guthrie show (tribute)
• Yasgur’s Farm (songs from Woodstock)

Plays / Stage Shows
Attended only 6 shows.

• Brother’s Wreck
• The Fall
• Fairy Godmother (Kate Mulqueen)
• My Family (David Baddiel)
• Nassim
• Puffs

Movies
7 movies this year - that is a lot for me.

• Christopher Robin
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
• Gurrumul
• Love Without Limits (Louis Theroux)
• Midnight Oil 1984
• Panda doco (at IMAX)
• Rocky Horror Picture Show

Comedy
I went to see 27 comedians. I saw 3 (*) of them more than once. I saw 10 (#) of them for the first time.

• Adam Hills #
• Anne Edmonds
• Barry Humphries
• Best of Edinburgh
• Bill Bailey #
• Bob Franklin
• Catherine Tate #
• David O’Doherty
• Dilruk Jayansinha
• George Dimarelos #
• Jim Jeffries
• Jimmy Carr #
• John Safran
• Jonathan Pie #
• Kings of Comedy
• Kitty Flanagan *
• Lano and Woodley
• Luke Heggie *
• Michael Shafar #
• Moosehead benefit
• Nazeem Hussain
• Rich Hall
• Tim Key #
• Tony Martin *
• Trevor Noah #
• Upfront
• Willem Richards #

Book Talks
A nice selection from these 13 events.

• Amanda Holden - serial killers
• Ben Quilty & Richard Flanagan - book about Syrian kids view of the world
• Billy Bragg - skiffle
• Bob Murphy - footy
• Cory Doctorow - science fiction is not to predict the future, but to understand the present
• David Sedaris - humour
• Eric Idle - autobiography
• Feather Permitting (Jim Robbins) - somebody else’s choice!
• Germaine Greer - gist seemed to be that all men are bastards
• Hillary Clinton - her journey
• Robert Webb - pressure on men to be lads
• Ronan Farrow - predators and his exposure of them
• Toni Jordan - about her book, fragments

Events
20 events that don't fit into the above categories.

• 1000 Doors - Art's Festival maze experience
• Cafe Philosophique - philosophy around death
• Chat 10 Looks 3 - Annabel Crabbe & Leigh Sales podcast
• Dr John Cooper Clarke - poetry
• Fire Garden - stunning use of fire in the Botanical Gardens
• Fitted For Work - unconscious bias and how to address it
• How to Live Better Longer - health and attitude
• Leigh Sales - guests to chat with
• Mabo Day - indigenous event
• Magda Subanski - as though she had died
• Melbourne Music Bus - history of music around Melbourne
• Mind, Body and Spirit festival - bits and pieces
• Moth Slam - story telling
• Nelson Mandela exhibition - life and times of
• Osher Günsberg - intense exposure
• Spanish Festival - mainly food
• Stereo story telling - spoken word
• Tanderrum - indigenous opening to Melbourne Festival
• Wheeler Centre Gala - various folk, various stories
• Wheeler Centre Show of the Year - all sorts of folk

Dance
Nothing. I have decided that dancing is not something I enjoy watching or doing. I will try again in the future - maybe - but for now, no thanks.

Art
A quiet year for art shows, but I know a number of people who are artists and so I get my fix of artistic stimulation anyway. The shows I attended were:

• Catherine Abel - an artist I only became exposed to this year. Dropped into her studio and it was delightful to meet her and chat a bit about what she does and how she goes about it.
• Freya Jobbins - an exhibition some of her wonderful creations at a gallery in Collingwood.
• Max Escher - the NGV show featuring his art. But  not only are his works great, but the presentation was an artistic achievement too - very impressive.

Stuff
A couple of other things

• Jury duty: I’d always wanted to have the chance to exercise my inner Judge Judy and ensure that justice was done. This year, I got to be on a Jury and also be the jury spokesperson. In the case, we found that the accused had done as he had been excused of - but what happened to him as a result, I don’t know, - but I did my part.
• Matt & Sarah's wedding.
  

Holidays

I had one overseas trip where I had 2 nights in Amsterdam to relax. Then got the train to the UK and stayed in London for 8 nights where I caught up with friends and family. Then flew to Krakow and went to visit the Auschwitz death camp.

Only other trip was for a couple of nights in Noosa for the wedding of Matt and Sarah

Sport

Went to a bit of footy, but not much - there were other things that I chose to do instead of going to see the mighty Hawks.

Volunteering

I continue to be a mentor through Fitted for Work, but that has been the extent of my “giving back to the community” this year. I need to find other ways to contributing to society.

Work

I started the year in a role at a very dysfunctional organisation and left after my six months were up. I then took up the role that I am still in today - it has been more rewarding and successful and I have achieved what has been expected of me and have enjoyed meeting the vast majority of the people there - nowhere is perfect. I was due to leave by now but they don’t have a replacement for me yet, so I am staying until the end of January to offer a cleaner transition - so looking for my next role at this time.

Books

There has been a decline in my reading - not much has got into my head this year. I kind of miss reading, but I don’t make the time for it - my attention span is quite short nowadays, so that is one of the challenges. I have a long list of books to read and maybe 2019 will be a year for reading.

A good book that I did read this year was ‘Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives’ by David Eagleman. It is 40 short tales around different versions of what could happen in the afterlife or what the afterlife could be. It is an easy and quick read but triggered some interesting thoughts. I copied a short episode here

Projects

I attempted a project this year and it required the input from friends and not many were up for it, so it sort of died. I may try and resuscitate it and see whether it has legs.

Write-ups:

• In February, it was my 20th anniversary of arriving in Australia and I did a summary of my time
• In August, having visited Auschwitz on my way back from the UK, I wrote about my initial impressions
• Looked at all the places I have lived during my life

I have a couple of ideas for projects in 2019, but I will have to gauge my enthusiasm when I am ready.

Health

Having lost weight in 2017, it did start to sneak back onto me earlier this year, but I have taken action and am moving back to where I was. I will try and make 2019 a year to move even closer to a healthy weight and maybe up my fitness a bit - as that has slipped too. But I am back to walking a fair bit and have also been out on my pushbike a bit. It is now summer, so this is the time to increase effort around the incidental exercise that should be part of my life.

I had a medical and all was good other than my cholesterol level had crept up a bit - I will have that re-checked as it may have been a blip.

Another absence from my year has been Pilates - I think I will reintroduce it - a lot depends on where I am working, so I can find the right location to do a class. Another absence has been massages - I have hardly had any - I don’t know why I have deprived myself of that pleasure - another thing to rectify during next year.

Lifestyle

Looking above, it seems that I average 4 events/shows per week, plus plenty of catching up with folk. There were 39 days when I didn't catch up with anyone or go to anything - though some of those were because plans were cancelled.

So though I do a lot and seem busy, I actually have a lot of “me” time - I enjoy sharing events but am just as happy going on my own. People question where I get my energy from, but I find that doing things generates its own energy and that is what I feed off. I did the Myer Briggs test not long ago and that captured that well. My favourite activity is still sitting with interesting people and sharing a meal, conversation and laughter. I like the variety that different people bring. The more people I speak to, the more I learn - about them, life and myself.

So I continue on my hedonistic way - I soak up what’s there and try and give positivity back. I respect others - whether I like them or not. I just go around looking for adventures and embracing what I come across and take opportunities that present themselves to me. It is a simple life that warms me and doesn’t harm anyone else.

I am hoping to stretch myself further in 2019 and increase the variety of content. It feels like it is time to change things around a bit and spice things up.

So goodbye to another interesting year - and hello 2019 - let’s be friends.