Holiday Season with a lot of Theatre
17 February 2019
Life started to get back to its normal rhythm over the Spring and Summer. A friend, Derek, came to visit Australia in October and stayed with us. He came to the Argos Trivia Night and saw most of the tourist sights of Melbourne.
We went to Healesville Sanctuary so he could meet his quota of seeing Australian native animals. In return he brought with him some Magic Leap glasses from his work and we experienced the future of 3D Augmented Reality.
The Friday after he left we went to see Taylor Swift’s stadium tour. I had given these tickets to Jay as an anniversary present earlier in the year. The production was extraordinarily elaborate with nothing left to chance: quite a spectacle. A week later we went to a one-man show put on by a friend from school: “The Rug” which was less elaborate but much more thought-provoking.
We made significant progress in fixing things in the house, with the garage ceiling being repaired in November and the ensuite bathroom floor in January. We went lucky that the failure of the grout in the tiles had only let water through to the outside of the waterproofing, so there was no damage to the wooden floor beneath.
For Cup Day our friend Kam had organised a boat-ride party on Port Phillip Bay. I almost missed the departure because of delays at work, but he held the boat for me and we had a great time. We did it all again for Australia Day, this time with fireworks.
It was 30 years since my graduation from Medical School and also 50 years since the opening of the current building, so there was quite a big reunion weekend at Melbourne University. It was interesting seeing so many colleagues whom I hadn’t seen in decades. We’re all getting old. This was also the night of the State election, with results coming in on the television at the end of the room. I was surprised how completely the conservative side of politics seemed to have lost the support of doctors: it was smiles all-around.
At the start of December Jay was sent to Stockholm for a week for an internal work conference. Derek was visiting there too and kept him company. I took the opportunity to paint the new ceiling in the garage and replace the wardrobe with one built from Ikea components. He returned in time for us to celebrate an early Christmas with my family as we were going to be away on the date. Our friend Beau also came to visit for a few days as he was sent to Melbourne for work.
We had organised Christmas with Jay’s family in Santa Cruz, California. We rented a house by the beach which was close enough to drive to his sister’s family’s house in Palo Alto. It did make for a lot of driving over the hills and back, but we were able to celebrate Christmas with all of his family together for the first time since 2008 in Burbank. In Santa Cruz we watched the surfers at Steamer Lane, but didn’t get in the water ourselves as it was cool in mid-Winter.
Jay’s brother-in-law Scott had organised a tour of the Tesla factory in Fremont so we had the opportunity to see all of their models being manufactured. We visited the Monterey Aquarium with Jay’s parents and also had time to see Joel and Sam in San Francisco.
On the way home we spent a few days in Los Angeles seeing friends and going out for New Year’s Eve. Derek was in LA at the same time so we had a good time dancing with him and other friends on NYE. We also took the opportunity to go clothes shopping and see The Favourite at The Grove. After returning home we went straight back to work on January 7. The Escher X Nendo exhibit had opened at the NGV and we saw it early on the Sunday after we returned as it was very popular and crowded. There was a very comprehensive selection of his work.
At the Australian Open we saw Alex De Minaur put up a fight against Rafael Nadal and a more one-sided match between Kerber and Birrell.
Midsumma Carnival was on the same weekend. The weather was perfect: sunny but not too hot. We visited the Melbourne Argonauts stand to see people from rowing and spent much of the afternoon with friends in the bar area. Other Midsumma events we went to were the Miss Behave Gameshow, the Australia Day Boat Party, the Queer Pool Party and a concert given by Jane Sibbery. I was not familiar with her work but Jay and James Allan both knew her from her popularity in Canada.
February 2nd was the first anniversary of my father’s death and also Jay’s and my 16th anniversary. In the morning we took my mother to the Springvale Botanical Cemetery and visited the tree under which he is buried as well as having morning tea. In the evening Jay and I had a dinner together at Florentino. My father’s death still affects me every day, but the emotional wound has developed something of a scab so I am much better than I was for the first few months. Finishing almost all of the work arising from the estate has helped a great deal.
Over the following two weeks we had five more theatre events. The Lady in the Van was followed by Evita the next night: both stories of odd women who die abruptly in the second act. We enjoyed Tina Arena as Evita far more than the unsuccessful Miriam Margolyes vehicle the previous night. The next week we saw the marvelously discomforting Underground Railroad Game, a captivating performance by countertenor Max Riebl and then Eddie Izzard’s Wunderbar.
We have planned some travel for this year: Sydney for Mardi Gras, Fiji at Easter and South America in November. Jay also has work trips to California following a major shake-up at his office.
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We went to Healesville Sanctuary so he could meet his quota of seeing Australian native animals. In return he brought with him some Magic Leap glasses from his work and we experienced the future of 3D Augmented Reality.
The Friday after he left we went to see Taylor Swift’s stadium tour. I had given these tickets to Jay as an anniversary present earlier in the year. The production was extraordinarily elaborate with nothing left to chance: quite a spectacle. A week later we went to a one-man show put on by a friend from school: “The Rug” which was less elaborate but much more thought-provoking.
We made significant progress in fixing things in the house, with the garage ceiling being repaired in November and the ensuite bathroom floor in January. We went lucky that the failure of the grout in the tiles had only let water through to the outside of the waterproofing, so there was no damage to the wooden floor beneath.
For Cup Day our friend Kam had organised a boat-ride party on Port Phillip Bay. I almost missed the departure because of delays at work, but he held the boat for me and we had a great time. We did it all again for Australia Day, this time with fireworks.
It was 30 years since my graduation from Medical School and also 50 years since the opening of the current building, so there was quite a big reunion weekend at Melbourne University. It was interesting seeing so many colleagues whom I hadn’t seen in decades. We’re all getting old. This was also the night of the State election, with results coming in on the television at the end of the room. I was surprised how completely the conservative side of politics seemed to have lost the support of doctors: it was smiles all-around.
At the start of December Jay was sent to Stockholm for a week for an internal work conference. Derek was visiting there too and kept him company. I took the opportunity to paint the new ceiling in the garage and replace the wardrobe with one built from Ikea components. He returned in time for us to celebrate an early Christmas with my family as we were going to be away on the date. Our friend Beau also came to visit for a few days as he was sent to Melbourne for work.
We had organised Christmas with Jay’s family in Santa Cruz, California. We rented a house by the beach which was close enough to drive to his sister’s family’s house in Palo Alto. It did make for a lot of driving over the hills and back, but we were able to celebrate Christmas with all of his family together for the first time since 2008 in Burbank. In Santa Cruz we watched the surfers at Steamer Lane, but didn’t get in the water ourselves as it was cool in mid-Winter.
Jay’s brother-in-law Scott had organised a tour of the Tesla factory in Fremont so we had the opportunity to see all of their models being manufactured. We visited the Monterey Aquarium with Jay’s parents and also had time to see Joel and Sam in San Francisco.
On the way home we spent a few days in Los Angeles seeing friends and going out for New Year’s Eve. Derek was in LA at the same time so we had a good time dancing with him and other friends on NYE. We also took the opportunity to go clothes shopping and see The Favourite at The Grove. After returning home we went straight back to work on January 7. The Escher X Nendo exhibit had opened at the NGV and we saw it early on the Sunday after we returned as it was very popular and crowded. There was a very comprehensive selection of his work.
At the Australian Open we saw Alex De Minaur put up a fight against Rafael Nadal and a more one-sided match between Kerber and Birrell.
Midsumma Carnival was on the same weekend. The weather was perfect: sunny but not too hot. We visited the Melbourne Argonauts stand to see people from rowing and spent much of the afternoon with friends in the bar area. Other Midsumma events we went to were the Miss Behave Gameshow, the Australia Day Boat Party, the Queer Pool Party and a concert given by Jane Sibbery. I was not familiar with her work but Jay and James Allan both knew her from her popularity in Canada.
February 2nd was the first anniversary of my father’s death and also Jay’s and my 16th anniversary. In the morning we took my mother to the Springvale Botanical Cemetery and visited the tree under which he is buried as well as having morning tea. In the evening Jay and I had a dinner together at Florentino. My father’s death still affects me every day, but the emotional wound has developed something of a scab so I am much better than I was for the first few months. Finishing almost all of the work arising from the estate has helped a great deal.
Over the following two weeks we had five more theatre events. The Lady in the Van was followed by Evita the next night: both stories of odd women who die abruptly in the second act. We enjoyed Tina Arena as Evita far more than the unsuccessful Miriam Margolyes vehicle the previous night. The next week we saw the marvelously discomforting Underground Railroad Game, a captivating performance by countertenor Max Riebl and then Eddie Izzard’s Wunderbar.
We have planned some travel for this year: Sydney for Mardi Gras, Fiji at Easter and South America in November. Jay also has work trips to California following a major shake-up at his office.
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