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Year View| Summary| Highlights| December 2006 (Month View)
Aug ‘06 | Sep ‘06 | Oct ‘06 | Nov ‘06 | Dec ‘06 Jan ‘07 | Feb ‘07 | Mar ‘07 | Apr ‘07 |
01.12.2006 – Friday 1 December – Working
- • Working.
02.12.2006 – Saturday 2 December – People’s Day
- • People’s Day—opening of Gallery of Modern Art and State Library. Bronwen and I attend. I take many photos and view lots of art. Clint comes after some time.
03.12.2006 – Sunday 3 December – Cycling Grand Prix
- • Went and took a few hundred photos of a cycling race at South Bank, experimenting with action photography.
04.12.2006 – Monday 4 December – Walking
- • Working 7 to 3, back in the city.
- Night
- • I went for a walk around the city with Maz, taking photos of people. Discovered that I can’t really take portraits with my lens—especially not in low light—while Maz can take brilliant portraits with his. Will have to correct this.
05.12.2006 – Tuesday 5 December – Portraiture
- Evening
- • I walked from work into the city and bought a Canon 50mm f/1.8 prime lens for $125—Canon’s lightest, and just about cheapest, lens. It’s a lovely portraiture lens, not in the same class as Maz’s one, but realistically, just as good for what I want to do with it. I’ve already managed to capture quite a nice photo—just down the road from the camera shop there were a few Red Cross girls, so I took their photos.
06.12.2006 – Wednesday 6 December – Spastically Sleepy & Macro Photography
- • I was spastically sleepy, getting up just after half past five, having gone to bed sometime after two o’clock—not allowing for much sleep. Starting work at seven wasn’t fun.
- Evening
- • I tried inverting my new 50mm lens on the end of my existing lens, and took some macros shots—which quite impressed me. I managed to take a photo of newspaper, high enough resolution that I can easily see the paper fibres.
07.12.2006 – Thursday 7 December – James Bond: Casino Royale
- Day
- • Worked, sleepily.
- Night
- • I caught a bus to the city, meeting Bronwen at South Bank. The queue for Casino Royale was the longest I’ve yet seen at South Bank—instead of using the normal entry to the cinema, they had people queuing the length of the foyer, and back again, and entering via a foyer-level fire exit. The movie itself wasn’t what I’d come to expect from a typical “Bond” movie, containing more depth and emotion than usual, but was quite a good movie. We were all given surveys to fill out by Sony, although I lost my free survey pencil.
- Midnight
- • After the movie, Bronwen and I walked home, and packed for our trip to Stradbroke tomorrow. I didn’t get to bed until midnight, making this the third night in a row where I’ll have had less than, or horribly close to, five hours sleep.
08.12.2006 – Friday 8 December – Stradbroke
- Morning
- • I packed my mostly pre-prepared pile of things into my backpack, and headed off to work. For some inexplicable reason, I’m less tired than I was yesterday morning.
- Evening
- • I caught the train to Cleveland, meeting Bronwen on the way, and the ferry from there to Stradbroke.
09.12.2006 – Saturday 9 December – Stradbroke
- • Bronwen and I spent a very relaxing day at Stradbroke, sleeping a lot.
10.12.2006 – Sunday 10 December – Stradbroke
- • Bronwen and I enjoyed our last day at Stradbroke, before catching the ferry and a train back home.
11.12.2006 – Monday 11 December – Working
- • Working 12 to 8 this week. The sleep-in is a welcome change.
12.12.2006 – Tuesday 12 December – Work
- • Work
13.12.2006 – Wednesday 13 December – Shot by Police
- Morning
- • Called in sick at work. Caught the bus to the Jianshe Imports warehouse in Acacia Ridge, where I had a chat to Roberto, their new advertising and marketing man. Bus home.
- Afternoon
- • Clint and I bus into the city and on to Annerley, where we go through all the op shops, before bussing to Paddington via the city and lunch, where we again op-shop. We then become stuck in the rush for the Robbie Williams concert
- Night
- • Clint and I walked to Cold Rock, where we met Maz. On the way, we noticed a police car pulling up behind us. Fairly obviously, they were going to harass us, but rather than stop walking, we figured we’d make them stop us. What we didn’t expect, was them firing what sounded exactly like a cap gun. I’m not sure if this is some new police policy to attract attention, or what—but it is quite disturbing to be very aware that there is a police car pulling up behind you, and then hear what sounds disturbingly like a shot. They were looking for graffiti artists, and wanted to know what was in my camera bag— which turned out to be my camera surprisingly—though I probably shouldn’t have told them that I liked photographing graffiti.
14.12.2006 – Thursday 14 December – Working & Climbing
- • Worked. Picked up two more 4 GB compact flash cards from Umart.
- Night
- • Another Robbie Williams concert made the buses late, so I walked only to find the footpath closed. It had a helpful sign—“Use other Footpath”. Unfortunately, the other footpath was on the other side of a rather large cliff. I had to climb 12-foot gate, in front of rows of police and security.
15.12.2006 – Friday 15 December – Clint’s Graduation & Work Christmas Party
- 11am
- • I attend Clint’s graduation, taking lots of photos. It is very hot. The ceremony is smaller and quicker than last year.
- Afternoon
- • I catch one of the last 407’s (they’re being discontinued—replaced by a faster route via the Green Bridge—today) to the city, where I spend a long time going from menswear shop to menswear shop, hunting for a “wine red” glossy shirt. Eventually find one. Now perfectly coordinated with Bronwen’s outfit.
- 7pm
- • Attend work Christmas party. Enjoy self. Take photos.
16.12.2006 – Saturday 16 December – Maz’s Birthday Dinner
- • Bronwen gone to see her grandfather for the weekend. I make page of photos from Christmas party. Clint and I go for walk through city. It rains. Clint and I pick up Maz and have Maz’s birthday dinner at Kieran’s, getting home quite late. Clint and I go for another short walk around the suburbs, and I get back to my computer around a quarter to two, sadly having to get up horribly early tomorrow to get to work. Instead of rushing to bed, I stay up until around three.
17.12.2006 – Sunday 17 December – Sleepy & Working
- Morning
- • Mildly sleepy. Possibly related to three hours sleep last night. Think this is result of going to bed sometime around three o’clock. Missed City Cat to work by around forty minutes. Taxi only cost $16 and taxi driver was quite fun. Hurts to open eyes, but having difficulty working with eyes closed. Feels a lot like the delirium resulting from completing a semester’s work in a night. Repeat to self, “I enjoy a challenge… I work better under pressure”. Refocus gaze. Remember to blink, need to keep eyeballs lubricated.
Work is fun. I feel like I should be tracking bogeys on high-tech radar, calling in “fire at will”, “acquire target”, “take target down”—but sadly am fighting a more high-tech war. - Evening
- • Clint and I went and got cheap pizza, which we ate at Mount Coot-Tha, before going for a walk around the local ‘burbs. Once again, I got to bed too late to get enough sleep.
18.12.2006 – Monday 18 December – Working Sleepily
- • Generically normal day at work, working from seven to three in the fish bowl, and very sleepy. I messaged the man I bought Mum’s Woodford ticket from, and called Woodford twice regarding it, but still haven’t received it. Will have to call them every half hour tomorrow until I get a satisfactory response.
19.12.2006 – Tuesday 19 December – Work
- • Working. Seems my mail server won’t accept mail from Woodford—sent to another address and received fine.
20.12.2006 – Wednesday 20 December – Work
- • Working. Bronwen home late.
21.12.2006 – Thursday 21 December – Fireworks
- Evening
- • Caught a bus in to South Bank, took a few photos and watched the Christmas Fireworks.
22.12.2006 – Friday 22 December – Circus Lumina & More Fireworks
- • Not working today—working tomorrow instead. Slept in until midday. Cleaned most of the house with Bronwen, who came home from work early. Went and watched “Lumina”—a small circus—in the Queen Street Mall, and then the Christmas fireworks, before a quick “health food” dinner at Hungry Jack’s, and now I’m off to have my customary five-hour-ish sleep before work in the morning.
23.12.2006 – Saturday 23 December – Still Working
- • I managed to get up early enough to get ready and make the city cat for work. The rest is an automatic response—now on autopilot over here at EB.
24.12.2006 – Sunday 24 December – Mum
- Morning
- • Bronwen attended a Christmas party, and I attended to myself.
- Afternoon
- • The hero met his mother, as befits the end of a Greek tragedy. The setting—Roma Street Train Station, having just rushed back from buying cheap takeaway food—was less fitting.
- Night
- • The mother, the girlfriend, and the hero went out to dinner, where they ate too much Indian curry.
25.12.2006 – Monday 25 December – Christmas
- • Today some parts of me became older. To celebrate, my Mother, Bronwen and I, had a delightful smorgasbord lunch, as tradition warrants. Then, Bronwen left for her parent’s Christmas do, a transformer across the road—or its insulator, at least—exploded, loudly and brightly, and Mum and I chatted pleasantly. It even rained a little.
26.12.2006 – Tuesday 26 December – Woodford
- • Up early to pack. Off to Woodford with Bronwen’s dad. We stop at some of Bronwen’s relatives for breakfast.
- Afternoon
- • Arrive at Woodford, find campsite quite near where we camped last time, up on “Cloud Nine”. Set up tents and so forth. It rains. Tents leak.
27.12.2006 – Wednesday 27 December – Wet Woodford
- • It rains more. Much mud. Many mud people. We’ve mostly managed to stop our tents leaking now.
28.12.2006 – Thursday 28 December – Wet Woodford
- • More rain, more mud. Woodford wet.
29.12.2006 – Friday 29 December – Dry Woodford
- • Finally, a clear day! Now it’s hot and dusty, but the atmosphere is electrifying—lots of people are coming out of the woodwork.
30.12.2006 – Saturday 30 December – Woodford
- • Another exciting day at the Woodford Folk Festival. Dry and hot.
31.12.2006 – Sunday 31 December – New Year’s Eve
- • Woodford. A little bit of rain in the evening. Bronwen and I stay up all night, watching the decomposition of the “Sensitive New Age Cowpersons” until well after three o’clock, and then rushing up to the dawn ceremony.
Aug ‘06 | Sep ‘06 | Oct ‘06 | Nov ‘06 | Dec ‘06 Jan ‘07 | Feb ‘07 | Mar ‘07 | Apr ‘07 |