hello from london [part thirty-five]

hello friends

i have many new things to tell you. i am always telling you things and i love it when you write back. what i am saying is, this can be a two-way street.

01/ i am properly single. i am not dating anyone or even wasting time eyeing well-dressed east london types. amazing, no? i feel so free! but i do miss the press of lips, oh well.

02/ last saturday my friend, bahbak, and i ventured way out south to wimbledon for a car boot sale. o m g treasure galore! and cheap! i came away with a fine china raccoon [50p], a bingo set [£1], a 1930s coin purse [£2.50, like the ann demeulemeester owl-looking one from a few seasons ago], and a charles and diana commemorative mug which i gifted to b. he very kindly bought me a polaroid camera and i melted a bit. i cannot wait to get film for it, polaroid is definitely my favourite film stock. the best thing b picked up was a functioning record player for £4, i still cannot get over it. i saw a typewriter [charming grey number] for £3 but i managed to drag myself away. the thing that owned my heart that afternoon was a 1950s snapshot album of black and white photographs taken by a couple on a cruise to morocco. ok i totes made that up but that is what i imagine is the meaning of the photographs. it was so beautiful and i sort of regret not forking over £10 for it but, you know, girl has got to eat. besides, i usually get all the material possessions i want, maybe it is good to be denied something?



how awesome is this fence? we saw it on the way to the car boot sale. the fence looks flat front on but it has something to say when one views it from the side. maybe superman was between jobs?

bahbak looking like a tourist in wimbledon.

03/ rodrigo and i had a difficult moment on friday night and after i promised myself not to see him again for a long time. but he comes over on monday to see my housemate, k, and brings my birthday present with him. damn. do you want to know what it is? you know how i am in awe of michel gondry and want his children and think he is a genius? months ago, r sent gondry his favourite photograph of me and gondry painted it and sent it back. are your knees melting? only my doppelganger would think to gift me something like that. i was so overcome with emotion, i hid in my room for a bit, then went over to rebecca's to watch television. the painting has been hiding under its envelope since monday, i cannot look at it.

this is the photograph r sent michel gondry as reference.

this is what michel gondry painted in return. i can sort of tell it is me but the man is a creative genius, i am sure i could see myself in a melting lump of ice cubes if he said so.

04/ guess who is going to paris fashion week in october? ok so maybe it is not a big deal for some of you because you go every season but it is very exciting for me. ok so maybe i am not really going to paris fashion week, per say, but guess who will be working the e k showroom during paris fashion week? mark thinks i am some kind of computer geek with retail skills [that pay his bills] so he made me part of the sales team for paris. sure, it will be hard work and long hours but bring on the after parties, free booze, hot french accents, and walking fashion plates. i am sure i will be in for a rude shock but right now that is how i imagine paris will be. nicola, laeticia, meet you there! oui oui.

that is it. this update was pretty much a vehicle for me to tell you about paris. oh i do have a bit more.

05/ i really miss jonathon. when i think of something to do, like a lie down in london fields on a sunny day or going someplace for a dance or a new cultural experience, i want to call j but he is not here and i have to think of someone else [who is not rodrigo] to call. my legs are in desperate need for a dance but who will go with me? jonathon, i know you are reading this, come back.

06/ my second visitor from home touches down next friday. you know timothy? tall, curly hair, likes to wear two necklaces and cuffed trousers? him! i am so excited about showing tim a london he might not have seen before. did someone just say adventures galore?

07/ i am getting my haircut tomorrow [just my short side shorter] and then my friend, bahbak, is coming over for dinner and to watch an illegally downloaded film. on saturday, unless someone offers something better, i am doing time at r's slave labour camp, oops, i mean painting party. he invited his friends over to help paint his new apartment [which he will own as of tomorrow]. in exchange, i am using his leftover paint to paint two wall-mounted shelves for my bedroom. on sunday, fingers crossed, i am going to a car boot sale in chiswick. i do not know where that is but it sounds faraway and full of goodies.

take care, you.

love
o

hello from sigh city [part thirty-four and a half]

hello again

here i am all sigh city but before i get to that let me tell you about my week so far. you will be so proud of me, i have been doing random social things i would not usually do. on monday my flatmate, katie, invited me to her friend's bbq. i was not really feeling it that day [the day after r's confusing knee squeezing] but i said yes, i mean, meeting new people can only be a good thing. we were on the bus and ten minutes before our stop, i ask k if she minds if i go home. she is not impressed and urges me to continue the journey with promises of fun. ok. we get there and there are interesting people, delicious home-made food, marshmallows, a trampoline, and a hula hoop. what can i say? despite my grumps, i had a good time.

i cannot remember what i did on tuesday but i am sure it was fun. oh yes, rebecca came over and we made dinner together. wednesday night was my second date with ben. we went to a talk on the velvet underground with ritchie unterberger, went for a drink, had vietnamese for dinner, went for a walk, then he waited at the bus stop with me where we held hands and made-out for a bit. i suspect he has written a modern gentleman's guide to impressing young ladies.

tonight i was going to meet r because he asked to see me, my birthday present has finally arrived in the post. my friend, chris, calls and asks if i want to see soko with him, he has a spare ticket. remember her? she is petite, french, plays the ukulele, had a song called i'll kill her [that she hates now and never plays]? what to do? i always choose r over anything else but i like soko too. i choose soko. can you believe it? but hold the applause. technically i am not free to see r until monday but i caved and cleared tomorrow night's fun and games [it is the v & a museum's annual village fete] to see him.

beneath all my bravado, i still like him despite the hopeless situation. sigh city.

love
o

hello from london [part thirty-four]

hello friends

boys, meh.

one, r is sending me the most confused messages, it is really annoying and i do not want to talk to him for a few days. we braved the rain on thursday night to see bat for lashes. at the bar i hear "olivia! olivia!" who is that? it is luke of romance was born fame. it was such a pleasant surprise to see anna and luke and at a bat for lashes show of all places. caught in the rain, we all race to the nearest tesco [chain supermarket] and fashion ourselves knock-off martin margiela jackets with garbage bags.

london is where it is all happening, kids.

r and i are stuck with two choices, have a huffy time under buckets of rain or shrug it off and enjoy ourselves. we chose the later. bat for lashes played an amazing show, she sounds even better [if possible] than on the album. she wore a paneled bodysuit with fringed arms which she made effective use of. everyone in the crowd at one point or another wanted to have her babies. r and i held hands during one of her songs and when we rushed through the onslaught of rain to the tube station, it was hand in hand. why? i had dinner with him and two other friends on sunday night and he squeezed my knees under the table, trapping them between his, making eyes all the while. tease! he is a recent homeowner and hosting a painting party in two weeks time and he asked me if i will accompany him to the paint shop to choose colours. how domestic! you know when you like someone and you think their every action and word uttered is dripping with hidden meaning and complicated messages of undying love? you will be pleased to know i am not falling for that old chestnut and keeping ice cool about things. but we just had a fight [on facebook chat!] and now i am so over him.

is this a bit too intimate? you all joined the honourary girlfriends club a long time ago.

so, umm, two, i am dating a boy i met a few months back. are you all rolling your eyes and having a chuckle? can someone draw up a legal document stating men will leave me alone for the next few months? this boy, ben, is thirty [a good start, more man than boy], tall, skinny, and nerdy in a bookish manner. he is not east london cool like rodrigo, more utterly charming in a young english gentleman by the seaside way. it is too early to know anything, we are going on our second date tomorrow to a talk on the velvet underground. if i can tell anything, it is this thing with ben will simmer for a long time and that is what i want. maybe it is a case of once bitten, twice shy?

do you want to hear some proper news?

three, mark likes to randomly congratulate me for the money i make from the online store and our most recent sample sale. we had a studio meeting today where he got huffy about the lack of progress on his online bric-a-brac store [i am supposed to be working on that] but at the end of the meeting he throws in a “you are doing a phenomenal job!” yes ok thanks. at the end of the day i ventured over to his office to ask him something but i sort of hid behind a clothing rail to gauge whether or not he was busy. he looks up, sees me hiding but looking at him, laughs and calls me a weirdo. i believe we bonded in that moment.

four, e k are in a position to open a pop-up store and guess who mark asked to run it. uh-huh. can you imagine? my own pet project. i am so excited. ever since working at poepke, i have always wanted to run a store. i can see it already: a narrow but long space, print-heavy interior, wooden shelves merchandised with knitwear and knic knacs galore, the rails a colour explosion, print curtains in the change rooms. die.

some general news?

five, poor english people do not know what summer is. they are deprived! no wonder so many britons overstay their visas in sydney. it is supposed to be summer right now but the weather is overcast, rainy, and windy. the sun can only manage low twenties. why?

six, you are familiar with peter jensen? he had a sample sale last week. i went and promptly parted with money for a long stripey button-down top and mustard yellow mac. it is sample sale season here, ching ching!

seven, maybe i do not work for a trends forecast company or anything like that but word on my street is this: roll-your-own-vietnamese-rice-paper-rolls and playing backgammon are hot right now. you heard it here first, you will probably read about it in i-D magazine next month.

eight, i miss you.

love
o

hello from london [part thirty-three]

hello friends

thank you to everyone who saw me or wanted to see me but could not. i really appreciate your time and love. right now i feel far away from the people i care about. you know since jonathon has left and now that rebecca is preparing to move to berlin, i only have one very good friend left in london? of course i have a handful of new friends but there is nothing like a friendship built on years of tears, sweat, and good times. rodrigo and i broke up today. i almost want to come home so i do not feel alone. i had a big cry with one of my flatmates. i feel like such a girl getting upset over something that only lasted four months and when i spoke about it with catherine [my flatmate] i was clumsily spilling cliches all over our kitchen floor. you know what this ride has been like, you know how excited i have been meeting someone so eerily my doppelganger. he is doing the classic boy thing and does not want a relationship. how can i work with that? i am so proud of myself i did not bargain for more time.

i could write more but i will save you the awkwardness. double sigh, major cry.

love
o

hello from sydney [part four of four]

hello [again].

one of my favourite moments of the trip happened on thursday night. you know chris morris? he is friends with lily and tadzio, he is a photographer. he kindly shot my final year project [from tafe days] for my portfolio. in return, chris asked for a felt face badge of a man with beard and specs. not that old chestnut! just a little aside, i love that expression. i did not know it until i got to london. rodrigo says it with a wink. like everyone else who asks for a face badge, i thought chris was subtly asking for one of himself so i use his face as my point of reference. almost a year on and i am finishing his face badge in sydney. i show the work-in-progress to lily and she laughs. why? is it hideous? lils informs me chris talked about giving it to his ex-girlfriend. oh. oops. it is too late to change it now though i feel a bit weird stitching "you better look out for love" on the back of the badge like i have with all the faces that have come before. at dinner with lily, tadzio, chris and doris at tapenade [where dave works], i give chris his badge wrapped in tissue paper. he peels back the sticky tape, the badge is face down. he turns it over.

"oh. it is me!"

yes it is. the surprise! the recognition! i felt fulfilled.

love

o

ps this is all i had drafted last night, i still have friday 26 june and saturday 27 june [my last day in sydney] to go but i feel i cannot write more right now. the next hello from london should explain why.

hello from sydney [part three of four]

hello friends

at the airport [last saturday] doris was totally ribbing me, insisting i was going home. she made me realise london is not my true home, i just live there. sydney is where my family and everyone i love are. it took a while, but i know it now.

ready for a recount of my last week in sydney?

a few stray rays on sun broke through on sunday morning so lils, tadz, and i pile into the car and try for rozelle markets again. we came away empty-handed but no matter, tadzio dug deep and proud to produce this nugget of comedy gold.

i met up with mira and ameli [my mad cortes bosses] and their girls at their house. i used to baby-sit milla and lola from when they were 1. milla would give me a hard time and howl at the sight of me, the idea of her parents leaving upset her. it was such a revelation when she tells me "i like your t-shirt with the horses". why, thank you! i love it when kids talk. patiently waiting for my young cousins to start conversations has been worth it. i cannot remember anything funny they have said but i like it they can tell me what they are thinking.

come evening time, doris and i head to hurstville to have dinner at our parents' with our uncles, aunts, and cousins.

do not be fooled, my cousins are only pretending to be camera-shy.


here they are showing their faces.


who is the cutest cousin of them all? that is right, the baby!


i feel for her parents. how are they going to say "no" to this face?

on monday i see samson and delilah on my own. whatever it was i thought i was bracing myself for did not compare to what i got. does that make sense? you should see it. 

do you know who these women are? you should be ashamed of yourselves! they are part of team poepke. i met up with millie, grace, and a bicycle-riding amelia on tuesday afternoon for tea and cake at yellow in potts point. after, we visited juliet and her baby, beatrix. i am sure everyone has heard this story already but it still makes me melt a little just thinking about it. in juliet's living room sit a pair of bongos and beatrix is hitting them with her hand and laughing. i am saying something to her and, mid-sentence, she takes my hand and places it on a bongo. i hit it and she laughs. die! it is so silly but for a second there, her acknowledgement of my existence made me so happy. 

the late afternoon sees me back at my parents' rummaging through my boxes of clothes [i am so over wearing the same wardrobe for the last ten months] and i take up my mother's offer of new underwear. why are undies so expensive now? we head to k-mart in hurstville westfield to stock up on some bonds and i think the three pack is cheaper than buying singles but it is not really. i can feel myself internalising a tantrum again but then i remember who is buying them and everything is ok. sometimes i cannot believe i am twenty-eight. 

for dinner, lily, mayor of dumpling town, makes [from scratch] steamed vegetarian dumplings with chilli soy dipping sauce and stir-fried vegetables. 

witness the magic for yourselves.

my uncle, who is a dentist, cleans my teeth on wednesday morning. i open wide, he does nothing. 

"what is wrong?" 

his silence sounds expensive. 

"there is nothing to clean", he sighs. 

there is a lesson in there, kids. yes, you can make friends with salad and vegetarians have cleaner teeth. 

later, i meet caryl for lunch and we head to chinatown to a new noodle bar. halfway through slurping my hot and sour noodle soup with tofu, dave calls saying he has locked himself out of doris' apartment. he wants to meet me to get the spare set of keys i am holding. when he meets us, dave is noticeably uncomfortable and a little bit sheepish. ok, nothing too strange, i mean, locking oneself out of a flat can be very annoying. when i see doris later that day, she asks me if dave was weird. i nod. she laughs and explains he was in his pyjamas and had not had a cigarette yet that morning. he looked the same to me! 

while caryl and i window shop our way to dinnertime, this sign gives us the giggles.

my cousin and her new groom host a dinner for my parents, doris, and i at a seafood restaurant where we eat ourselves silly. this giant lobster was the main attraction.

love

o