Excitement, adventure, and really mild things

There have been some interesting developments in the last few weeks or so:

Australian invasion!
Sophie came for a visit, and it was so effing good to see her and have an excuse to eat with abandon at all my favourite restaurants. I look forward to learning more about her interesting developments in the coming months.  :)

I also learned that Anthony will be coming for a visit in July, and watching him take on Boston in full summer swing should be good for many, many laughs.


Moving on!
Colleen-the-Lawyer, Flattie Karen and I found a house! This is extremely exciting, not just because I'll be moving in with the G-word (!) but because it took us a fucking lifetime to find a place. We were actively looking for a solid three months; if you think the real estate situation in Sydney is bad, well, I'm not even going to start on the mess here, but please believe me when I say that it is much much much much much worse. This was not helped by our minimum requirements, which included being near public transportation while also being near the highway; two full-sized bedrooms; outdoor space; extreme pet-friendliness (two dogs and a Buster among us); and a maximum rent that was fully $600 less than pretty much anything of a decent standard that fulfilled all of our other requirements. (If we would have been happy living in a hovel, we'd have been golden.)

It is also much much much much much more expensive and involves massive deposits: landlords are allowed to (and almost always do) demand first month, last month, and security (= 1 month) in advance, PLUS the renters cover the real estate agent's fee, which is usually another full month again. This is standard operating procedure: it doesn't matter who you are or what your situation is, you're expected to front four full months' rent before you can even sign the lease. We lucked out in that we only got charged a total of 2.5 months' worth, but even that was a big ask.

But it was all worth it in the end, because the house we found is awesome: it's a row house, but unusually for Boston it's divided vertically, not horizontally/by floor, so it feels much more like a house of our own than a flat. It's sunny and spacious, and the location is fantastic: slightly less public transportation-convenient than I've been spoiled by in Dorchester, but in exchange I'll be back in a neighbourhood that has an identity - Inman Square, which is part of Cambridge - and is chockers with cute shops and good food and some of the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. We're one block back from the main street, and as happened in most of my Inner West houses, that's enough to mean that we're isolated from the street noise and cars while still being right in the heart of stuff.  And to top it all off, we'll have a guest room, so there is a standing invitation to you all that won't include sleeping on the couch or sharing my bed. It's so good!


Happy hemiversary!
Colleen and I had our six-month-iversary  a couple of weeks ago. That is, of course, six months from when decided we were officially dating, not from when we first started the whole ridiculous process - which was almost two years ago now, if you can believe that (I can't). The day passed pretty much unremarked upon, but it's nice to know we've made it this far, because god knows most people weren't sure we would (I wasn't).


Dance for your life!
I performed my first drum solo the other day. I've done lots of them before, but I don't think I've ever performed one, and I know I've never performed one by myself. Drum solos are notoriously tough: they're fast, and sharp, and they tend to be short because they're hard to maintain for more than 3 minutes. My whole performance was about 5 minutes long, but that's because it starts with a short sword piece (that's actually way more like a drum solo itself than it is a traditional sword number; they tend to be slow and dramatic, and this one is quick and flirty) and goes into the drum solo. They fucked up my music a couple of times so you'll see some weird pauses, but it's pretty fun just the same, I reckon:



(In other news, I need new dance pants: they're not supposed to be baggy!)


XOXO