Bye, Rieke and Buddy!

At the airport. First stop Thailand, next stop Melbourne for studious 6 months at the Australian Centre, then New Zealand, the US and Mexico. They'll be back sometime next year.
Good luck, Rieke! Another Mistress of the Arts to be. YEY to you and Melbourne!!!
And Buddy, be a good girl over there! I trust you...

Posted by Ingale

Peace!

For the first time in my little uninspired life I got an autograph... Some people might not find this significant but I do. And this is my blog. Huh. So, Monday night, it was cold and dark but there was a plan. Dinner and music. It turned out to be Thai for dinner and a One-man-happy-Aussie-folk-show for the music part. I almost choked to death over my green curry, which might have been the hotness of the yummy food, my desire to talk as much as I could while eating (which is sometimes not such a good idea) OR the company... An extremely small Aussie girl was sitting across from me (no names here. Don't want to offend anyone.) . Could that have startled me enough to choke on a green pea??? Who knows. I'm not a vengeful person, so I didn't make her run after the car but offered her the passenger seat next to me.

I'm going to skip some of the really exciting bits and get to the point: Xavier Rudd, who I can only describe as the happy Australian version of Ben Harper (although i realise that it's not fair to XR to compare him to anyone at all), really rocked the Kalkscheune, even though there were not as many people as there should have been. Well, they missed out big time because this little blond Aussie guy just really knows how to wrap his serious pleads into summerlike storms of beaming sunrays, thundering waves and mind-blowing, hip-moving beats and sounds. Anyone who hasn't had the chance to see him yet and will have the opportunity, should go and see him. You won't regret it! Unless you don't want to get addicted. Well, it's too late for me! Ani is still my top girl but Xavier is somewhere up there with her. Andy and I met him as we were walking out and he was not only nice but also down to earth and surprisingly open, given that he does concerts for a living. There and then he signed first Andy's CD and then mine. I felt a bit like a groupie but he didn't seem to mind at all. He even carried an Edding with him so he could sign anything anytime. He's coming back in March. I know where I'll be when he's on stage here in Berlin... PEACE!

Now back to real life. As I've announced before: I'm now officially freed of any semblance with Al Bundy! No shoes, no shoe talk, no sales voices, no customers, none of that anymore! YEY!

My mother got sooo excited about it that her heart decided to skip a few beats again. I had to take her to hospital yesterday morning after an ordeal of convincing her to let me take her and not ignore the bad state she was in. She can be a tough cookie, my mother, but when it comes to looking after her own increasingly fragile body or letting someone else take over the looking after or expressing concern she is like a little kid who doesn't want to take a bath because she doesn't like water. Well, I spend a long time in the emergency ward waiting. It turned out they had forgotten me, so that I only found out that my mother had been admitted to hospital after four hours. She was much better when I eventually sat by her side but they still need to send some electric shockwaves through her to make her heart conform again. Hopefully she'll be out of hospital tonight. Have I mentioned that I love my mother amazingly much!

And what have we learned from all that? Avoid green peas and keep your excitement to yourself!

It's all good. At least it will be very soon. Look, Oi don't agree but Oi think it's noice. Different. Unusual...

Hey folks!

Yes, I'm still alive. Short news update: you can still call me Al (REALLY getting over the shoe thing... I wonder if it's a bad sign when I keep dreaming about shoes...), I'm still single (or again depending on what you consider non-single), my preliminary home turns out to be a bit more permanent, which is nice because then I don't have to worry about moving and I love living in that neighbourhood (close to the canal, to the vibrant life of underdog Berlin and 2 minutes away from both my sisters).

And one rather surprising news (at least to me): part of my thesis might get published next year in the New talents edition of the Journal of Australian Studies. Would mean that those horrible five months of giving birth to my intellectual and degree-giving brainmash is going to be appreciated by more than just two people (my supervisors). Scary if you think about it.

Anyways, just wanted to say hello. shucks i

Election day

hey folks!

Long time, no write. Hence there's quite a few news to report (if anyone is still checking this blog after such a long time of neglect...).

1. Elections. Germany decides today if Maggy Thatcher II will take over the reign of this ailing country... If there wasn't enough reason before to emigrate, then there definitely would be... We can only hope and get drunk all the while. I was going to be a good girl tonight but I think it's going to be a close thing between the German Labour and Conservative side. Too much anxiety and also fear of a conservative tidal wave that needs to be drowned. Wish us luck!!!

2. I got a job. Unfortuantely it's one of those money-earning jobs: threetimes a week I stand my feet sore in a shoe shop. Guess what I'm doing there! Yes, I'm selling shoes. Call me Al. Al Bundy. I've heard this one many times...

3. I might get a real job soon. Maybe. I don't want to build up any expectations. The only downside to that: I would have to move to Munich... It's prbably not that bad down there after all but I've got soooo many preconceptions and second-hand experiences with this city and its arrogant inhabitants that I'm not too happy to maybe live there. For two years! But if they offer me this TV-cadettship (a mixture between a job and traineeship as a journalist) I'd be absolutely sick in the brain to not do it. We'll see. Anything is better than selling shoes...

4. You probably knew it all along. And I probably knew it as well: no matter where I go I get myself into the same kind of unhealthy emotional situations that I know so well. I'm handling everything much better (got a lot of experience of course) but that doesn't mean that it's less difficult... people...

5. That's it for now. OOOH, I forgot the most important: I'm now officially a MISTRESS of the ARTS. I finished my degree with a distinction (exams + thesis), which is good but also rather average. I guess there's worse. Well, I can find solace in the fact that my supervisor is a tough cookie when it comes to grading but she gave me an excellent feedback. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the mark but after her assessment of my thesis I left her office with a big and proud smile. So, I guess it's all good.

Right kids, winter is slowly returning to the northern hemisphere. Today will probably be the last of the Indian summer days for this year. I'm going to go to the park now with Kassandra. She's a book by a very well-known and awfully brilliant German writer (Christa Wolf, if anyone is interested in checking it out). I tell you: every sentence a little piece of art.

Lots of love to everyone! shucks i

Back in summer

After a horrible 26 hour flight I finally (and with crazy big hair) arrived in a sunny and warm German city by the lovely name of Berlin. I can't tell you how much I was forced to drink when I eventually had a shower and felt human again. When I went to bed Monday morning at 7 a.m. (after a crazy big night out) my vision was blurred. that's all I know.

Anyway, I'm good and quite happy to be back at the moment. The first time in three years that I feel like I don't need to be somewhere else. Very relieving.

Well, have to run.

shucks i

Grand FINISH

"Regardless of future directions in contemporary Australian cinema, the ‘grotesque era’ of the late 20th century has left an indelible mark on the international perception of Australian identity as well as on the country’s own self-reflection."

A fabulous final sentence, I find! The credit for this one goes out to Ren. 'Grotesque era'... don't you just love the implications of an extravagant history it evokes!

I'm still buzzing. Can't stop smiling. It's OVER! Can you believe it... Well, I'm still in the process of taking it in.

Thanx to everyone for keeping in touch. Thanx to my fabulous assistants in this adventure. Thanx to life and sanity and a working computer that only let me down once. On the last day but it wasn't fatal after all. YEY!

shucksluv i

Who would have thought that...

...I'm about to finish my thesis one week early (okay, so I got an extension for two weeks but still!)
...it's not as good a feeling as expected.
...I actually look forward to seeing Berlin again after all this. Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy my last couple of weeks of freedom here in Melbourne. That'd be the true reward for the misery of being in labour for five months!!! (Writing a thesis really does compare to this being-pregnant-and-giving-birth miracle - says the ignorant and inexperienced almost-graduate... hello sis!)
...I'm not particularly into the idea of being on the dole but I'm quite optimistic that something will come up eventually. Something good as well!

And now, for the amusement of the general public, my new favourite statement of my thesis (discussing the significance of the line in Priscilla “That’s just what this country needs – a cock in a frock on a rock.”):" This mocking statement points to the central theme of the film: the performativity (“frock”) of Australian (“rock”) masculinity (“cock”)."

And because it was so much fun, here is my second favourite (in relation to The Castle and grotesque humour): "Every underlying profound implication of the film is wrapped in mocking laughter like sausage rolls in pastry."

Cock on!

Blue skies down under...

Lygon St towards the city. There you go: the sun is back!

Posted by Ingale

The royal residence

Not the best snapshot but it should give you a good idea about where I live. It's the house next to the laundromat. 1004 Lygon St in North Carlton.

Posted by Ingale

Brief, VERY brief update

I'm being pressured into producing more grotesque blabber. I think Anja has become addicted to this stuff now. She can't get enough of it... Weird, huh!
Not much to update anyway. 2 weeks to go. 15 pages left. I'm getting better at the waffling, and for some reason it seems to make sense. To Anja at least. I'm amazed. Don't know what I'd do without her...
Yo, people, gotta get back to work. Ooooh, I finally remembered to buy batteries for my camera. Now I just have to wait for another sunny Melbourne day and then I can show you my current home. It's raining today though. Have a feeling it's gonna be like this for a while now. At least that's what my sinuses and my throat tell me...

So long! i

"Popular Australian cinema is not particularly popular." (so far my favourite sentence in the whole of my thesis)

Good News!!!

I'm proud to be the first person to inform you about the latest events in this lovely Aussie town: THE DEED IS DONE! Errisch has made it. His thesis is finally on its long way homewards. Phoooh!

Now the bad news (there always are): I still got about three weeks to go. My deed is rather dead at the moment. Went out last night (weird!) till 4 a.m., overslept of course, and spent the whole day trying to recover and readjust my synapses so that I might be able to understand the text I was reading. All day. Still not finished. Shouldn't be that hard really but for some reason it is... So, now I'm sitting at the office (finally made it to uni at about 6.30 p.m.!), and what do I do? I stare at the piles of paper and books... and hop on the internet. YEY! I'm such a coward. Can't even bring myself to open up the document I've been working on yesterday. Might have to do with the fact that I basically deleted everything I had already written, so that I pretty much have to start over again. Bloody brilliant! I mean it was a load of bullocks and sandras but the words filled the screen. Deleting them is a very painful experience... OUCH!

Anyhoo, the sun will come up tomorrow again and maybe the little 'Heinzelmaennchen' will have done some overdue work on my thesis and then it'll all be good... Mhaw!

Posted by Ingale

22 hours, 12 minutes...

The countdown has started. Not for me, thank f..., but for my beloved Kollehsche Erigge. Tomorrow night he'll be as free as a bird and probably as drunk as a skunk (the German translation for this expression is a lot better: 'voll wie eine Haubitze'... YEY!). I, on the other hand, have just found out that my extension has been granted, which should make me infinitely happy but right now these two more weeks before D-Day feel like two more tons of weight on my chest. I want the additional time - but I don't...

Anyway, my parents have requested a picture of the place that I call my home at the moment (it's more of a camp, really - I'm hardly ever there except most nights). I have to get new batteries for my camera first (which I usually forget), so I thought... no, sorry, I can't be bothered describing it to you. Don't feel very eloquent right now. (but of course I am!)

"History repeats itself: first as a tragedy, second as a farce." Marx (who else?)
On this note I'll leave you once again and get back to tackling the last chapter of my grotesque mission. i

Shucks

...my new favourite word. Don't ask! It just happened to pop up in my head one day and now it's become an Inga-word. Maybe because it's onomatopoeic conveying some kind of attitude. Maybe it's just stupid. But at least it's mine. Well, I think it is. It could be anyone's though, right? It's all an illusion. What we think we got and what not. My sister always used to say to me and I've come to appreciate this recently: Close your eyes and what you see there is yours. It's a life-changing insight. Means that fear and jealousy and heartbreak and all that are all just constructs that crumble when we realise that we never really own anyhting or anyone, so holding on and letting go is not logical. In fact, it doesn't exist. It only exists when we create it.

So much for today's philosophy session. I would open up a forum discussion but no-one is reading this anyway, so - hang on - I'm talking to myself... Again. This might become a problem...

Everybody is a case performance...

... insiders will have noticed that I am clever and corrupt enough to use and abuse other people's original ideas, only slightly changing them, so nobody will be able to actually prosecute me.
Tough shit.
So, big deal... I'm an imposter.
At least that's how I feel like sitting here trying to come up and juggle around with academic ideas and weave them into a tightly knit fabric that can be utilised as a base for discussion in the future. On whose floor would it sit though? No idea. I'm just glad when this is over.
So, everybody is a case performance, a space perturbance, a ridiculous prodrudance, a serious impudence. This could go on until I have used all kinds of funny and sophisticated sounding words that the English language so readily provides for academic imposters like me. If nothing else, this thesis will be a well-worded grotesque expression of my insanity. That's something I reckon.

What does the general public think? Share your thoughts but be aware: "Those who take part in social laughter assure themselves of their own fallibility, finality, mortality - and thus of their own ridiculousness." (an insight by Karel Kosik on the crisis of modernity)

FlashMob

For my chapter on the grotesque male I looked up some information on the first fleet and how many men and women actually arrived in those first years of settlement. My argument was, well, is that Australian identity has been constructed around images of men and that this is a result of its colonising past. I was shocked to find out that the first women to arrive were collectively raped and then basically auctioned for marriage or sent to factories depending on their level of attractiveness and submissiveness (The ones nobody wanted were sent to the factories. They called them FlashMob - cool name for a band...). Shit man, this thesis is becoming more and more of a challenge. Not only is my sanity conditioned by grotesque subject matter and forms of representation, now I also have to deal with such depressing facts about the treatment of women in the past. not that I wasn't aware of that but it still makes me quite furious and hysterical (Freud would say I'm mad. I think he called this condition being a woman...)

Anywayyyyyyyyyy, I've actually been in a much better mood about everything. I even woke up laughing this morning. Maybe I am mad after all...
Don't you worry! I'm sure as soon as this... thing is out of the way I can actually start breathing (AND sleeping) again. YEY! So long

Note the FlashMob below! Scary, huh! Grotesque, for sure!


Posted by Ingale

Secret graffiti performance

Shush! Nobody must know! It's a secret after all... Well, I guess, not for much longer. Erigge is going to reveal his secret to the general and ignorant public tonight. I was witness to a first attempt at de-secreting his project last night but due to technical problems it had to be postponed. So, tonight's the night!!!
And now I shall tell you a secret or maybe more: I fell off my bike the other day. I was rude to a lamp post on Lygon St. I never buy tickets for the tram. I'm an alien on a mission to collect the most secret secrets from people like Erigge. My real name is Uschi and I got 13 toes. 13 is my lucky number too!
Enough of the secrets. I must depart now.

"Sorry that I could never love you back. I could never care enough these last days." Sun Kil Moon

Ten things...

I am grateful for . Today. Here in Melbourne. Let's see:
1. I can go down to the beach any time I want. Sit in silence (or not) and watch and listen to the waves breaking.
2. There's a lot of people around me who struggle with the same monstrous task of writing an M.A., or worse: a PhD...
3. Every day I'm learning more about myself. (Doesn't mean I exercise that knowledge... always takes me a while)
4. I feel intensely every day. Guess that means I'm alive. Also means I get distracted easily. Have to work on that.
5. My mom loves me.
6. I love my mom too!
7. There's always a tomorrow. And more coffee!
8. There are some people who will always be there.
9. Better than sleeping pills are arms to comfort you when you're head is buzzing and you can't see the end of the tunnel anymore.
10. I can still go for runs and actually enjoy it. I'm not such a lazy bum after all...

Gee, thinking positive is not that easy. Good exercise though.

"It's all about love" (The Book of Miracles)

Space Cowboy

We walked past this guy on our way from Fed Square (Paul had a book launch there) to a little bar on one of the lanes off Flinders St. I've seen him/her perform at Public Office before, a very cool club somewhere in North Melbourne where they have the best Electro parties. Anyway, this is the first one of my blind picture series. I'll try to hold the camera a bit steadier next time.

Posted by Ingale

Not a lucky girl...

I wrecked my new camera over the weekend. I guess I can still use it but the display is cracked. Might make a thing out of taking snapshots now (maybe they'll even be better than the ones before...). There's a theory somewhere in there, I can feel it, about spontaneity and creativity and the moment and chance. You can make that up for yourselves, though. Have to do all this original thinking far too much at the moment. Can't be bothered. In fact, right now I'm really quite tired. haven't slept properly in a week or two (might have to do with me and a certain girl, our love and our friendship, the other girl that I started seeing and of course not to forget: my thesis, which I have to submit in about 5 weeks).
Had a nice break from all of that when I was up in the country with Mark, the one and only. I guess I kind of hoped somebody else would take over my life and sort things out for me while I was gone. But then, it was only a weekend trip... Maybe I have to go away for longer next time. Huh. Maybe I just have to deal with all the stuff myself. AGAIN... Sometimes it's hard to be me, I tell you.

Well, I should be going. 5 weeks and 60 pages to go... I got a medical certificate this morning, just in case I need an extension after all. The doctor also gave me some light medication for sleepless nights. That might be the "turn-off-your-brain" button I've been waiting for (should be in-built, I reckon).

Yours truly, Sleepless in Melbourne

Feeding

Isn't he cute! His hands shoved into his pockets like that...

Posted by Ingale

SchauMirInDieAugenKleines!

The heartbreaker of the lot. For some reason she was very affectionate. Maybe she liked my style - you know the army pants with the tracksuit jacket. Hope she didn't mistake me for the milk provider... intersting thought

Posted by Ingale

Among likeminded

Inga in the country feeling a bit shy amidst all these gorgeous creatures. At least they don't have army pants to show off with. Thinking about it - they were naked... AAAAAAAARRRGGHHHHH!

Posted by Ingale

Marky Mark

May I introduce you to Mark - he's so special. I don't know what to say...

Posted by Ingale

busybusybusy

Yep, that's me. Had a good day at uni (3 whole pages of regurgitated thoughts and facts!). And now I'm all gurgled out and ready to put my head in a toilet. BUT I might just reconsider that and put some real food in my poor little belly instead, even though it got treated with lots of cookies and coffee today. But since Anja and Erigge und I(gge) are going out tonight (apparently some death metal concert of Anja's ex-flatmate... will be interesting) I might just have to create a solid food base so the alcohol, which will very likely be consumed during the night to come, will not prevent me from coming back here (the office) tomorrow because I couldn't stand the thought of missing out on more frustrating regurgitation.
Feel the love, I say, and drink more coffee! humpf...

A good coffee place on Brunswick St

Atomica. Unfriendly staff but great coffee and hang-out area. Around the corner from everything. Used to live nearby.

Posted by Ingale

My second home

...or maybe my first one. It's been renovated recently, so there's lots of room for sleeping bags and picnic rugs. Might have a little pyjama party sometime... well, maybe not. I don't have a pyjama...
This odd edgy building in the background is the commerce building. Overbearing and deviant I find. Almost grotesque! (ooooooh!)

Posted by Ingale

Me & new hair in front of the Centre

It's short again and I'm loving it. Thanx to the fairy godmother of scissors and perfection! Good that I know how to bait her: fried dumplings and ice-cream. Sounds weird but it's yummy!

Posted by Ingale

Two hard working girls

We're in the same boat and we're having fun. Well, that is when we're not whinging to each other about all the stuff that we still need to do. But we're being held up by corn thins and cookies and cuppas of black tea.

Posted by Ingale

Tag der Arbeit

It's May 1st and everybody knows what will happen today in Berlin. I'm somehow glad that I'm going to miss out on the riots and the teargas and the burning cars in the streets of Kreuzberg this year. It's eight in the morning back home, so I reckon right this minute police troops are in the process of setting up barriers and passing on last instructions about the strategies and dos and donots and such. It's wartime, it really is. Human logic and sensibility will be switched off today in people's heads, if peaceful demonstrator, pumped-up police, or rioter on principle. At some point you won't be able to tell anymore who's acting and who's reacting, who's the baddie and who's the gooddie. I just hope that Flo the Flitze will have part of his brain on emergency call just in case he needs it.

Anyways, I spent my weekend at uni and I actually got some stuff done. When I left the Oz Centre last night I was a bit frustrated because none of the things I had written seemed to sound right. And when I came in today again it actually did make sense after all, I just had to edit it here and there and finish bits and pieces or get rid of them. Feels good. Almost 10 percent of my workload is done. Another 90 to go... eeek! Oh well, I'm sure it's manageable.

Be good, everyone, and please take good care of yourselves today!!! Luv, Ingale

The three musketeers

No place is better to think and ponder than the Seven 11 on the corner of Brunswick/Johnston St. Note the relaxed sitting position and the question mark on Erigge's face: if I wasn't on a diet, I'd go for the chocolate doughnut. How many calories would that have?

Posted by Ingale

Scary

Two odd characters, who wanted me to take a picture of them soooo badly. Disturbing experience.

Posted by Ingale

Flitze Fleischmann

It's him in the photo underneath, still being studious - well, actually I think he was writing a little short story about Valkyries to present at the Gorgeous Night @ Erik's place last night (good fun, I tell you!). So, I guess that's alright then but it still looks like he's being really good and disciplined... Unlike some other people (note the empty chair next to him - at least the computer is turned on, and also: someone had to take the picture, right!)

He's leaving. Tomorrow. Which means the lunches will become quite a lonely activity from now on. mmh... What am I going to do without him? I guess, I'll lose weight... which is maybe not such a bad thing after all. Nobody likes 300 lbs girls falling on their desk in the library, especially not when she's singing (learned that last night). So, it's all good. I'll miss him anyway though.

Tschuess Flo, alde Schnidde!

a blurry office.JPG

Self-portrait

The creator (of this blog) herself playing with her new toy. A bit sceptical still. She usually dislikes pictures of herself. A lot.

Posted by Ingale

Erik's Pady

Erigge, as close friends of his call him affectionately, is now officially 25 years plus one day old.

So much to his birthday... I wasn't there to celebrate it with him because some people need to earn the money here to provide the local German community with at least the basics. That was my job this weekend. I went up to Yea (yes, this is actually a country town name) and helped out at a wedding function. I'm over polishing glasses now for a while! Well, the money comes in handy especially if one doesn't have any and still goes out and buys a digital camera and gets a very expensive ticket for the Tori Amos concert that's coming up in May (rrrrrrrrreally looking forward to that!!!) I guess, life is short and money is there to be spent, hey!

Oh well, Yea is two hours north of Melbourne, and it was such a beautiful ride up there and back and the weather was fabulous and I got an overdose of instant coffee...

Guess what: my parcel (containing the newly purchased digital camera) has arrived. Need to quickly run to the other building and get it and play with it and take pics and forget about all the work that I should do. There's always a tomorrow, I reckon!

YEY YEA YAY!!!

Applications

I've been wasting my valuable time trying to come up with a kickass cover letter and a CV that makes people go: "Gosh! Who is this girl? We have to meet her! We have to give her a job!" Not that it's impossible. In fact, I think I'm pretty close to the above described scenario. However, most of the application deadlines for the journalist's traineeships (which is what I think I really want to do because I'm talented enough with words and ideas... fishing for compliments here!) are at the end of April for the jobs to start either late this year or in the beginning of 2006. I thought I could just apply from Melbourne and go back home and start right away but it's more complicated than that after all. The whole selection process of writing a sample report and being interviewed unfortunately coincides with my thesis here, SO I guess I don't have an excuse anymore to put off thinking about my thesis. Well, the break was nice. At least I'm prepared now for next year's deadlines...

I wonder what I'll do then... maybe I should consider becoming a bum, a couch-potatoe, a parasite of society. Would make the whole thinking-about-the-future thing unnecessary, which would result in me not feeling pressured and stressed out about it (the thought of going back to Berlin and applying for social welfare is not soooo appealing...).

Anyway, I'm here now and I'm not yet an adult. Got another couple of months before I have to face the bare facts of real life. And the way it looks right now, I'm going to have a ball with my thesis and a Wundertuete in my ear! Yey!

Guess what...

around this time next week I'll have my very own digital camera!!! Well, hopefully! There are soooo many impressions that I haven't been able to document, I'm just going to have to catch up on the last couple of months and let you peep into my Melbourne life, after censoring, that is!

Sitting at the Centre with Anja next to me typing away. Should I feel pressured? Intimidated? Annoyed? No, hang on, motivated! Yes, that's it. Well, I came here today to start working on my future, which means: lots of online research, application deadlines, CV update, arse-kicking cover letters, and last but not least, I will have to find a friendly soul back home who can be bothered doing some printing out, copying and posting for me... (Anyone interested in instant karma???)

Rock on!

Exciting news

well, at least for me. Don't know how I'm going to pay for my living in April but I just won the bidding for a digital camera on ebay!!! Yey! I'll have my own camera soon and then I can provide you with some pictures of my ever so exciting life in down under, like my house, my flatmates, the Melbourne uni campus, the coffee place where I get my fix for the day (unless I'm at Ren's cafe first), Ren's cafe in Brunswick, Ren and all the other people I've talked about, myself (even though I'm really not very photogenic... but I figure since this is my blog you should also get to have a look at the person who writes all this interesting stuff and makes you want to come down to Melbourne and check it out because it's soooooooo cool!)

Anyway, it's now officially autumn here and apparently it's spring in the northern hemisphere. Well, so far autumn hasn't let me down. It's still sunny and warm and beautiful in Melbourne, so no need to get worried about me. Yet. I guess now that I'm raving about the great weather it's going to be the opposite pretty soon. But let's not talk about that just yet. I'm sure you'll hear all about it when it's actually happening.

Not much else to talk about though. Still bumming around mostly reading lots of cinema and gender studies stuff, watching films, and trying not to get too involved in emotional issues. The latter is sometimes a bit of a challenge but nothing like Inga at her best. Have been able to keep my feet on the ground while still enjoying the good bits about spending time with that very special person... Guess, I should get back to that half a page that I wrote a couple of hours ago before I got carried away with the ebay business. Naughty!

Happy Easter!

Easter is coming up, people are going away for a long weekend or spend some time with their families. Well, since my family is not here and I'm not too well equipped with monetary funds I'm just going to do quite uneasterly things like reading bits and pieces on masculinity and the grotesque body, which will no doubt be a fun thing to do. Mind you, I'm kinda getting into this stuff. I just have to make sure that I don't overload my poor little head and blow a fuse somewhere. That'd be not so nice. I'm quite confident though as to my ability of knowing when to stop and... eat chocolate eggs! Yey!

G'day

It's Monday again... wasn't it Monday just recently??? Not that I slept through the whole week but isn't it sometimes a little scary how quickly time passes? Anyway, had an awesome week: saw a coupl of films at the Queer Film Fest (another one tonight), spend some quality time with Ren (we didn't even get into a fight about some random thing which is usually the case when we hang out too much - seems like we are a bit more relaxed now about being with each other like that... feels good).

And now some major summer loving to my friends back home! I hear that spring has finally arrived which means that the tanning season is coming to an end down here... oh well, we made the most of it.

Labour Day

Yey, it's Labour Day, so I got an excellent excuse for not having done any work at all today. I slept in (ended up having a bit too much to drink last night and then I also talked to my painfully missed ex-flatmate for an hour or so before I went to bed at 3 a.m.), had a quick Email check at uni, and then went to have lunch with friends until maybe 4 p.m. Tight schedule... Well, I was trying to be good and came back to uni but all I've been doing is surfing the net about stuff I could do when I eventually got this bloody degree. Must be good for something! I hope so, at least.

Just to make me feel better I'll walk past the library on my way home. Maybe all the studious energy flowing out of it will rub off on me... and if I'm really lucky it might draw me in and make me study. Wouldn't that be cool!

huh, I just remembered that the two lovely Germans from "the Gore" are back. Maybe I can make them spend some time with me and listen to me whinge about my life and the hardship of it all and stuff...

About mornings

I found another reason why I don't particularly like mornings: well, apart from the getting up part it also makes the day a VERY long day. Usually I go to bed VERY late at night, get up around midday, greet the day with a VERY large cup (back home it was a cereal bowl) of espresso with VERY frothy milk and then go out and get things done. Then sometime in the late afternoon/evening I make myself a VERY nice breakfast/dinner and go out again. Now, however, that I get up earlyish I could devour a horse by lunchtime and then another one around dinner time. Also (and I think that's the scary part), I have these unfortunate fits of chocolate frenzy. Go figure! I mean, I'm usually not into sweet stuff that much. Part of it might have something to do with a certain biological circumstance but that's only an excuse for about one forth of a month, so I wonder what has so much control over my body the remaining three weeks... Mmh, I have my theories but I don't want to share them yet. You might end up thinking I'm a bit of a nut (which I am if truth be told but only VERY few people know that).

Well, thanx for listening. I really had to talk to someone about that. And now back to work...

PS: Oma, you're probably the only one who is interested in my miserable existence, so (schnieff heul seufz) keep it up!

All set up at last, yey!

I not only have a place to stay now, I also have a bed! A queen-size futon! Didn't want to get up this morning because it felt sooooo good just to lie there and finally feel settled. The thesis is also coming along nicely... well, that's a bit of an exaggeration since I haven't even started writing yet BUT at least I figured out a structure and I know fairly well which films I want to discuss. Even Prof. Schuelting liked it. She only objected a little to the size of my plan, which means I will have to cut down the number of chapters and films. Fair enough.

But I should really run now. Meeting Flo for lunch. I had to cancel on him yesterday (the bed-hunting took all day) and so he had to give away my mango lassi that he had gotten especially for me because he knows how much I like them. Isn't he sweet!

Well then, cheerio everyone, especially to those back home! Don't you worry, the sun will come out again eventually... chuckle...

A new home

Finally... I found a place to live! Yey! After weeks of constant rejection or friendly ignorance I can proudly call myself a regular tenant again. Not a guest, not an asylum seeker, not a couch potatoe, not a miserable homeless German impertinently complaining about the weather and such important things... no more of that! I paid my first month's rent yesterday and now it's just about organizing the picking up of furniture from a friend's house (conveniently they've got lots of stuff in their shed they don't need anymore!) and moving the contents of my backpack (it seems to have grown because half of my stuff doesn't fit in anymore... figure that!), probably in a couple of extra plastic garbage bags... I'm really happy about this new situation because I started feeling very uncomfortable at my friend's house, not because we don't like each other (rather the opposite) but as a friend of mine has put it very adequately: visitors are like fish: they start stinking after three days. I wonder what fish smells like after four weeks???

Well, I wish I had a camera to show you some pictures of my new place and the people I hang out with... Flo said he might sell me his when he goes back in April. So, be patient! It's just a matter of time.

Spent the afternoon at the beach yesterday with the boys. The first time in ages that I had a swim in the Pacific... Gosh! Anyway, I forgot how salty real seawater is. Makes you very thirsty and a bit silly too, so Flo and Erik and Tim made this little film and I decided I wanted to be part of it and turned into a half-naked nymph of the sea luring the two main characters in the water to play with me while my friends, the seagulls, helped themselves to the two silly guy's food. Got a bit sunburnt in the process (patches here and there... in some very odd places...) but it was worth it.
Speaking of films: seems like the weather report for today was a bit wrong which means that we will spent another evening at the Botanical Gardens Open Air Cinema tonight. Film: Somersault (2004). Coming-of-age story. Supposed to be well worth seeing. I'm curious.

No worries! (my favourite Oz response to almost everything)

First when there's nothing...

but a slow-burning dream... huaaaahhhh... what a feeling! Might actually sing this song one day at one of those crazy karaoke parties. Who knows the song??? The winner gets... uhm... a faraway kiss with a twist.

Anyway, it's Friday (again!) and I haven't done much except stand outside a bookshop window in a small alleyway, write down room ads and call them. Oh yeah, I also met Mr. Flitze and Mr. Schmitze for lunch. We almost didn't find each other amongst all these first year students who were ignorantly crowding our lunch meeting point. After lunch I killed a balloon with a newly acquired biro, Erik cried and Flo got him another one. I just sat there and giggled like an evil witch. I should have been a bit nicer I guess since I have to seek asylum at Erik's over the weekend. But he's just such a baby... whimsy little munchkin...

"The dog on the tuckerbox is misunderstood" (written on a brickwall on Faraday St)

My home in a tree

Yep, now you know. Thanks, Erik, for disclosing my secret... There's absolutely nothing that you can hide from those gossip boys... humph... But it feels good to be able to tell everyone the truth now and not bite my tongue (well, my finger tips) everytime I give you guys a fake update on my exciting life here and how I'm staying with this friend of mine in Northcote, while looking for a place to live. If truth be told, every night I crawl-climb the tree just outside the Union House, and just before the sun comes up again, I have a quick swim in the fish pond, leave the university premises and pretend I just came down from Northcote (casually wearing the same clothes just inside out). Hope, I'm not too much of a disappointment to anyone (and if so... who cares?). Yey freedom! Yey bad-hair-days-weeks-months! Yey sore back! Yey to all my little buggy neighbours!

Well, returning to my entertaining journal update: Erik had a house dinner last night (and I was invited!), and I must say I enjoyed myself exuberantly (yummy pumpkin-sweet potatoe-carrot-ginger soup plus wine and beer and awesome company). I couldn't stay very long but I stayed long enough to know that I'm very jealous of Erik's house and his housemates. Maybe I should try and take on his identity... I have to watch this Mr Ripley movie again, I think...

I'll leave out the details about what happened later that night (just to be at least a little mysterious), also skipping all this important information about how I had coffee this morning actually getting some stuff done etc. What I think could be of interest is that it is a bloody awesome day (the third in a row!!!) and I'll soon get out there again to catch some more of these volatile sunbeams, and tonight I'll watch a film at the open-air cinema in the Botanical Gardens with Flo and Tim and more people that I have yet to meet.

Life can be quite sweet!

The day after

wooahhwooahhwoahh, I had the best time over the weekend! Not that I found a place to live or anything BUT I have a job, which is almost as important right now. I can work at the Lounge (a bar/cafe/restaurant in the city) once a week and whenever they need someone. Thanx to Grace, who's one of the shift managers there. It's always good to have connections! Paul also works there ( I think he has been for the last five years). I must relearn, however, to carry three plates again. Haven't worked in hospitality for almost two years, so I guess all the muscles that I once had are gone. Bugger.

Anyhow, after "work" Paul and Grace and Flo and his flatmate Will and I all went to this Electro-Party in West Melbourne. (I left out the bit about me stepping in someone's vomit...) It was such a great night. I danced like a maniac and got pretty drunk (which means that I also didn't have my frustration level under control...) Luckily I'm too shy to act upon my instincts when I'm like that, so I ended up on Flo's couch. Sunday was not quite as exciting but an okay finish to a fantastic weekend. Looked at a couple of houses (one was in Brunswick West which is a bit too far out even though I really liked the people and they wanted me to move in but I just don't want to live around there... was a hard decision). The other house would be perfect, so I expect them to call me tonight or write an SMS saying: we found someone else to move in with us. good luck. Yeah, right! No worries. Everything else seems to work out right now so it's just going to be a matter of time until I find something.

Went to see Kate, the head of the Australian Centre, today and now I'm quite relieved because I'm not in trouble after all. Rather the opposite: we cleared the whole business with the Cinema Dept and then she introduced me to a couple of people and said something about a weekly meeting that I should attend and stuff. She was really helpful!

All in all, things are really bright and colourful right now. Yey!

PS: Avocado on Jeans looks like baby-vomit too!

Very tempting

Flo and I just had lunch together (Laura and Erik flew past on their bikes... they're going to spend a romantic weekend exploring Melbourne's surroundings)... where was I... right, we had lunch and Flo started telling me about going to Nimbin for a week and stuff THIS Sunday!!! It's a big hippie commune a bit inland from Byron Bay, a touristy but very relaxed surfer's town on the way to Brisbane. I'd like to be spontaneous and just say yes and go with the Flo (a little rhyme!) It'd be a week of hanging out, lots of reading, nights around a bonfire and music, walks through the surrounding rainforests and such... I need to find a place to live though very soon and - as always - it's about the money... There's one thing in the world that I really hate wasting mental energy on - moneymoneymoney. Very tiresome.

So, what should I do? It's probably not going to happen, not this Sunday anyway. I'm quite excited about the idea though... wellwellwell

strange weekend

Funny how addicted one can get to being online and checking one's mail and just surfing the net... At home in Berlin (in my beloved old apartment that I voluntarily moved out of...) I had internet access anytime, here I have to wait for the weekend to pass, so I can get back in front of the screen. Not looking forward to the coming weekend! Bullshit, of course I like weekends!!! It's just that right now I don't know the difference between weekdays and weekends anymore apart from the fact that people actually go to work now during the week and that I can't check my mail over the weekend unless I find an internet cafe.

Oh well, we didn't go to the beach on Saturday after all, instead I spent most of the day bumming around at my friend's house (I made pancakes! among other things), then I went to visit Renee at her cafe to have good coffee and show her my outfit that I was going to wear to a "Sexy Party" (not Sex Party! The idea was to dress sexy), then I went to meet Paul, my old housemate, and his boyfriend and we had some awesome Thaifood. Finally I ended up watching Jane Campion's "In the Cut," which I've been wanting to see for ages since I'm a fan of hers. I liked that she never repeats herself in what she does but, disappointingly, it was a pretty solid genre piece with Meg Ryan and some guy with a moustache having a few sex scenes. She used a few cool techniques but all in all it was not the kind of film experience I had expected ( which can also be a good thing, I guess, since I like it when people know how to play with other people's expectations...). Afterwards I still went to this "Sexy Party." I mean I had gone through the trouble of thinking about an outfit - well, it wasn't too hard actually considering the amount of things that fit in one backpack. Anyway, I went there, met Erik, Laura and Flo (he looked like a YMCA gay guy! The girls loved it!!!) and left again after a couple of minutes because I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe with all these drunk and dancing people. Haven't had a claustrophobic fit like that in a loooong time. Freaked me right out.

Sunday was not much more exciting: overslept (was supposed to look at a room close to uni but I could reschedule), went to have another coffee at Renee's cafe, helped her put up little posters in the cafe's neighbourhood, looked at the room (cheap, in the middle of EVERYTHING, nice enough people, available soon BUT I just walked past one of the girls and she pretended she didn't see me with her head lowered... I guess that's not a good sign), went down to the city to check out the Midsumma Carnival, then on to St. Kilda Festival. I love the beach!!! That was one of the things I missed most about Melbourne... Love having the sea so close. But there were definitely too many people around (half a million half naked, sunglasses-wearing, beer-drinking, chicks and hunks). It took 40 minutes to cue up for a pee!!!
Tamsin made out a group of Germans, so we ended up spending most of the night with them. Was fun. The end of the night was a bit dramatic, however, because I stayed over at Ren's and for some reason we got into this argument. Seems like there's still some old baggage that we need to throw overboard even though I really enjoy spending time with her again and also being so close without actually being together (the attentive reader will have figured out by now who the mysterious person was I spent the first night with not falling asleep...)

So, now I'm sitting here, one Dollar in my pocket, no tobacco left, no credit on my phone, and thinking that maybe I should have joined ELF (ErikLauraFlo) to spend the day at the beach. I'm saying that now but I really think they're better off without me today. No intention of spoiling their day. However, it's hot and sunny outside and I'm a twit to sit inside this office here and stare at a computer screen... At least I got some cool music to keep me sane (I gladly blame Henri for that! Thanx honey! It's my favourite CD right now)

Sorry, if I bored anyone senseless. Your own fault!

Miracles still happen after all

You wouldn't believe it but I actually have a staff card now AND a computer log-in AND I can even get books from the library now!!! Lots of books! But only next week sometime. It's Friday after all and Flo, Erik, Laura and I are going to drive down the bay tomorrow and maybe go skinnydipping and sunbaking and surferwatching. And Sunday we'll go to the last day of the St.Kilda Festival, and Monday it's supposed to be really hot, so we'll go down to a beach again. And because we can we'll do the same on Tuesday, so maybe on Wednesday I might start doing some work (if I feel like it...)

There you go. I'm homeless and clueless and still a bit tipsy from last night (I got absolutely drunk with my old housemate last night. oooooh, how I missed him! He rocks!!!) AND I'm wearing a NO WAR sticker on my white shirt because I don't know how to drink a mangolassi properly. Did you know that it leaves really nice looking marks on white shirts that look like baby vomit? So now people at least have a reason to look at my chest. No war, I say!

Well, things can only get better from now on, I decided. Thanx, Erik and Flo, you karaoke queens! For listening to my whinging and for being sooo crazy. Love ya! Inga

PS: Who the heck is OMA??? Can't be my oma unless she has risen from the dead... ooohhhoooh

Not happy

It's raining. Again. Just arrived at uni and look like a drenched poodle. I might have to get an umbrella after all, even though I find it a bit daggy to walk around with this thing over your head and navigate on the sidewalks that are far too narrow for more than one umbrella in the air. But I guess with an umbrella you at least have a weapon to defend yourself with. I'll think about it... No, too daggy, isn't it? Well, the easiest solution for the problem would be if it just DIDN'T rain! Mmh.

Had three coffees this morning, so don't mind me! So long.

Welcome back!

Well. yes, I'm back in Melbourne, so I guess I made my threats come true. Who would have thought?

I arrived a few days ago, the day the biggest storm was about to happen ever since records began, so coming down on the plane was a pretty bumpy experience. Lucky me that I didn't arrive one day later because that's when the storm really got it working. Half of Melbourne had wet feet that day and probably spent most of the night putting bowls and anything else that would hold water on the floor since most of the houses in this country have holes in the roof. And when you're done searching for all the leaks then you can try and go to sleep to a nice little dripping concert or you just don't sleep at all and do what I did (well, I'm not going to talk about that right now... only as much: it involved another person.)

Anyhoo, I've had a bit of trouble getting my staff card that I need to have access to the computers and the Australian Centre where I'm going to spend my time in the next few months being very productive. It's also a library card, so that's pretty important. Apparently it's all going to happen in the next couple of days. We'll see. Other than that I'm looking for a place to live but it's going to be a bit difficult to find something for such a short period of time. I've already looked at a couple of houses (one right around the corner of Charles Street, my former residence and crazy party house that I missed quite a lot when I was back in Berlin) but I got time, so I don't need to hurry (thanx to a friend of mine who lets me stay with her). I'll just be lucky and find a place that's not too expensive yet close to uni and full of likeable people. No prob, I reckon!

So, welcome to the live of Inga! Pop in for more updates soon! Inga

Leaving Berlin

Posted by Ingale