a few things i am loving.... by way of australia

posted by:  jennifer


recently i have come across a few things i am loving... and they happen to all originate from australia.   and you know i am practically an honorary australian.... having an aunt and uncle and two cousins there.  in perth to be exact.   

and no, i have never been there, and have met one cousin once, the other never, and have not seen my uncle in over 20 years... but you know.

and, i practically was a pioneer on bring the slang "no worries" to the west coast... i mean i started saying it regularly a few years back.  and now you see and hear it everywhere.  there is a billboard in our town for a bunch of personal injury lawyers.... you know the type... top notch ambulance chasers... they have a billboard and above all there heads is "no worries" spelled out in big, bold letters.   i think of myself whenever i see that billboard.

hmm.

but in all seriousness,  i need to share some discoveries.  the first being courtney barnett.  
i first heard about her on npr.   here and now, dj sessions.  this was back in march of this year.   she is from melbourne, australia.  and she is sweet as*.... and deep, and hilarious.  she was described on that npr segment as tellling the ultimate slacker stories,  the lyrics are great. 
it is one of those albums where you can listen to a song 10 times, and then pick up on a line you have missed the previous 9 times.  and it makes you like the song even more.  here are a few lines from one of her songs, avant gardener:

         i'm breathing but i'm wheezing
         feel like i'm emphysem-in'
         my throat feels like a funnel
         filled with weet bix and kerosene and
         oh no, next thing i know
         they call up the triple o
         i'd rather die than owe the hospital
         till i get old

 so good.  but you really have to hear it because the delivery is where it is at.   the album i have is the double ep: a sea of split peas.   you can find it here.


the second thing is a new author i was introduced to.  liane moriarty.  she is a brilliant author, and has a great voice.  the plot of her book, the husband's secret,  is gripping, like break the rules (my own illogical rules of no pleasure during the day) gripping,  and i would  plop down on the bed to read whenever it suited me.   i love a book that i can't put down. but i think the thing that made it even more enjoyable to me, were the subtle nods to as what life is like, as a wife and mother and a woman.  here are a few of my favorite bits:

     "She could not meet another brand-new group of mothers.  She'd found socializing with
       the school mums difficult enough when her life was in perfect order.  The chat, chat,
       chat, the swirls of laughter, the warmth, the friendliness (most mums were so  very nice)
       and the gentle hint of bitchiness that ran beneath it all."

       ".....it occurred to her that if Polly was having PE today, then Liam would be too, 
        because weren't they in the same class?  And of course he wasn't wearing sports shoes.  
        Nobody had told Tess it was PE day.  Or perhaps they had, but she hadn't registered it.
        She wondered if she should stop at her mother's house and pick up Liam's sneakers.
        She wavered.   Nobody ever told you that being a mother is all about making what 
        seemed like thousands of tiny decisions."

      "She wished she could give Isabel a shield, like the ones riot police held, to protect her
        from male attention, that feeling of being scored each time you walked down a street,  
        the demeaning comments yelled out of cars, that casual sweep of the eyes.  She'd 
        wanted to sit down and talk to Isabel about it, but then she hadn't known what to say.
        She'd never quite gotten her head around it herself.  It's no big deal.  It is a big deal.
        They have no right to make you feel that way.  Or, just ignore it, one day you'll turn
        forty and you'll slowly realize you don't feel the eyes anymore, and the freedom is a 
        relief, but you'll also sort of miss it, and when a truck driver whistles at you while
        you're crossing the road, you'll think, Really?   For me? "
       
you can find the book here. or, as i did, check it out from your local library.  i know i will be recommending it to my book club to read. and it will not be the last book of hers i read.  oh, and one more little thing i read about liane moriarty:
   "Liane fits writing in between chores:  between pick-up and drop off times of her children,
    working the dishwasher, talking to her mom, and drying clothes."

no wonder i like her so much.  i can relate to her, and the parallels that so many women share come across in her writing. 

and to bring this post to a close, a few terms i think we should bring here to america:
   *sweet as:  good.   you mentally fill in how good/sweet it is
     fairy floss:   cotton candy.   
     poo tickets:  toliet paper
     knackered:  pooped; tired
we can do this people.   i mean if i can do it with "no worries"  we can eventually have everyone going to costco to buy a 30 roll pack of poo tickets.  come on... are you with me??

cheers!