The Super Secret Plottings of the Balderdash Teams

Some people go to the Hunter Valley to drink wine, eat cheese, and see beautiful scenery.  We had more important things to do.  

ahhh Balderdash.

Time flies.

How oh how is it already mid-April???  I seriously feel like it was just December.

So what I have I been up to?

A bit of this...

(easter weekend sailing trip)

A bit of this....

 (5 days in Hawaii with Dina and Christine)

and a lot of time in the university library reading about funding infrastructure, urban economics, and environmental law.  papers, papers, everywhere.

And in between all that- Denise and James got married and put on the most kick ass wedding weekend ever seen in Sydney (seriously, it was awesome), Passover came and went, providing some good family time and more yummy food than you can imagine (and that's impressive if you know anything about passover food), and I made significant progress in my super secret current knitting project.  

Life is good.

The weather here has taken a turn.  Autumn is on it's way, and I'm loving it.  I was getting mighty sick of being soaked in sweat every time I left the house.  If it's sunny again today, I'm off to write a paper in the park and pop in for a last chance swim at the Boy Charlton pool.

Love to you all,

Tamara

slowly but surely...

...i'm posting my photos from this summer's trips.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tamgh654/sets/72157623622214572/
These are photos from my December trip around the state of Victoria (that's the state that Melbourne is in...) with my cousin Lucie.  Highlights included meeting a friendly wallaby, getting bogged in the sand and having to literally crawl under the car in order to dig out (and then realizing that all we really had to do was use our mobile phones and call a ranger), and rocking out at Meredith Music Festival.  There was also plenty of hiking, camping, and darning of sweaters.  It was a great trip.

Enjoy!

Love, Tamara

The Wing Off

What's that saying?  If you can't bring the mountain to Mohammad, you gotta bring Mohammad to the mountain.  Or something like that... Well, in Australia they don't have buffalo wings.  "What???", you say, "How can this be?"  Well, I and some fellow Americans said the same thing.  And from there grew the Bourke Street Buffalo Wing and Board Game Belated Birthday Bash- a chance to celebrate a new home, a belated birthday, play some balderdash, and take part in the infamous Wing Off.  Who can make the best wings in country that has never heard of Franks hot sauce??

I won't reveal my secret recipe, but it looks something like this:

My wings didn't take home the top prize (even if they were the best), but the party was such a success that I think I'm going to host it on a monthly basis.  Before you know it, buffalo wings will be in every household in Australia!

January 28th

This is Tillie in her favorite spot in the house, looking out the window, keeping tabs on the world.  Tillie barked a lot, growled a lot, and scared a lot of my friends.  She was also so smart that she could open a lock and jump a 5 foot fence.  She loved long walks, only liked to swim in the scummiest, dirtiest water, and was a master at getting all the peanut butter out of the kong toy.  She and her friend Oliver used to patrol the neighborhood together.  Sometimes they'd pretend to go for a drive in the car, Oliver in the drivers seat, Tillie navigating from the passenger seat.  Tillie gave lots and lots of love to the people she loved.  No dog could have been more loyal.  Tillie, we miss you.  

This is a glacier at the top of Avalanche Peak in Arthurs Pass, New Zealand.  You can see it after hiking up 1800 meters of the steepest, most difficult walk I have ever done.  So.  Friggin.  Awesome.  As was spending the following day relaxing in a waterfall, reading my book, and going swimming.  It might just have been the best birthday ever.  (Ok I take it back.  Maggie and Kai and Leigh decorating my house and putting balloons in the toilet was still and probably will always be the best birthday ever).  

This is what I have been up to lately.  You?  

one more thing

I forgot to add that if you want to check out Jen's photography, this is her blog.

maine love

I came home from my travels in Tasmania (more on that later- I LOVED tassie) to find this book waiting for me.  It's 60+ pages of photographs taken by Jen of my last 3 years in Maine.  It's called "the why you should come home book."  That's me and Charlie at the Lake on the cover.  Suffice it to say, I've been reminiscing a lot lately.  Tons of love to everyone back home.  I miss you!

Linda Angel 1958-2009

I was all set to write a post full of funny anecdotes about the road trip and festival,  and then I opened my inbox and found out that Linda died.  I'm dealing with waves of gratefulness that she was part of my life and grief that she is no longer.  I can't seem to compose anything worth writing.  I'm too flooded with memories.

This is Linda. 

And because I can't think of her without laughter, here is one of our favorite office videos. 
Linda, like no one else, could do an imitation of Eddie Murphy doing an imitation of James Brown in the hot tub.

In life and death, I love you.  

happy day

Provided all goes as planned- January 2nd, this will be new home.

("this" meaning the flat on top of the fish and chips shops in the pic).

As some of you know, I've been in the market for a new flat for the past few weeks.  My cousin's girlfriend is moving into the place I'm in now, and they want the place to themselves (which is fair enough), so I've been looking for another option.  I was pretty set on a place in Paddington and then at the last minute it fell through.  I had met one of the flatmates, it seemed like a sure thing, but then after I met the other flatmate I got the voicemail that they were going with another person.  They told me they flipped a coin but I have feeling that flatmate number 2 wasn't my biggest fan.  Anyway, it doesn't really matter; the bottom line is- that place was off the table.  So today, I went to look at a place in Surry Hills, and by the time I got back home from seeing the place, I had a message on my phone that if I wanted it, it was mine. YAY!   It's a 2 bedroom apartment on top of a fish and chips shop (no smell, though).  Surry Hills is fantastic- lots of cafes, restaurants, pubs, trees- has all the convenience you want but also feels neighbourhoody.  The flat itself has a lot of light and good breezes coming through.  It's painted a pretty awful colour and could do with some more stuff on the walls but my flatmate (Jess) seems fine with putting up some of my stuff.  My room has no windows but a skylight so it gets good light and fresh air.  Provided all goes as planned, I'll be moving in the first week of January.  

Anyway, it was a big day as earlier in the morning I swam the Bondi to Bronte Ocean swim race.  2.5 k.  It went fairly quickly and I think I made good time (maybe even 45 min?), but there was a moment at the end that I really thought I might die.  I was closer into the shore than I thought and I got dumped by an enormous wave and was under the water holding my breath, exhausted, and just waiting for the wave to stop rushing over my head.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it.  But I did.  Only to fall on my ass in front of a good thousand people, as I got out of the water.  They make you RUN to the finish line and my legs were still feeling wobbly-- I looked behind me and saw this massive wave coming in.  Next thing I knew, I was flat on my ass. 

Tomorrow I head on a plane down to Melbourne for 4 days of camping/hiking around the national parks followed by 3 days of music here.  Be jealous.  It should be awesome.  

Have I told you before I love summer in Sydney??  If you don't live here, you should come visit.  My place is open anytime. 

Love, Tamara

number one thing i love about sydney in summer

... it's perfectly acceptable to walk around the city barefoot in only your swimmers.  no shirt, no shoes, no service-- thing of the past.