Dear Mr White Falcon Station Wagon

Hey how you doing? After our little run in yesterday, I thought I’d just drop you a line, I’m pt but you may remember me as the rather panicked looking pink haired woman in the other white station wagon on the roundabout yesterday? The one with P plates on? The one that SPUN AROUND NEARLY 180 DEGREES WHEN YOU CUT IN FRONT OF HER IN THE RAIN!?!?!

But maybe no because after seeing that I was already entering the roundabout you accelerated and then you did hold up your hand to the side of your face in effect putting blinkers on thus rendering me invisible! Now I will admit you discovered one of my Super Hero secret power desires, I would be a bit of a dud Super Hero if I tried to be invisible in a massive white commodore station wagon with my head lights on wouldn’t I?

Was it that you did not see that I had my P plates on? The red ones, you may not have seen then from behind your improvised hand blinker but they were there, do you know WHY they are there? It’s to let everyone on the road, not just the coppers know that I am an inexperienced driver! I went to the trouble to display them but it’s a two way street mate you need to take notice and perhaps give a little bit of extra love to the P platers out on the road.

Why I hear you ask? Because we aren’t all young hoons with a death wish playing bad R&B* at deafening levels some of us are 35 year olds who have overcome a fear of driving & has been on the road for less than 12 months. We can drive enough to pass a test administered by one of the trolls from the RTA but we’re new at this stuff...

So even though where you had to go was so very very important I hope that next time we meet you will obey the road rules and maybe even be a bit more aware of the not so experienced drivers out there on the roads too.

I’m so glad we had this little exchange,

Happy Motoring xxpt


*In my opinion all R&B after Marvin Gaye died is bad YES ALL!!

Disco Fever T-Shirt Circa 1982

I’ve decided to start with the ‘oldest’ item in my closet. This shirt came to me via my brother and to him via our closest family friends growing up. B was the owner of this t shirt I remember him having a black one as well, I don’t know how or why a 5 year old in the back hills of the Nth Coast of NSW got two fabulous glittery Disco Fever t-shirts but he did and for some unknown reason he gave one of them to my brother. I doubt B still has the black one it’s a shame because he grew up to be one of those gorgeous gay men with a far too beautiful bachelor pad in Potts Point and had it still fit him (which of course it would not as he is now 6ft 5 and buff) he would have worn the shit out of it.

I was amazed that my heavy metal loving brother kept this shirt so long, worn by his large teddy bear for nearly 20 years before I finally got my mitts on it. Actually I do know why he kept it that long, as horrid as it sounds he kept it because I wanted it. Siblings eh, what ya gonna do? I have his ex wife to thank she knew I wanted it and finally convinced him to pass it on to me about ten years ago.

It now sits in my drawer no longer worn but certainly not unloved. It is a reminder of the summers we played at B & his sister N’s house, riding polystyrene surf boards down the creek, making honeycomb completely unsupervised on Sunday mornings after a sleep over, the time N rescued me from drowning by pulling me out of danger by my hair! The roasts they would have every Sunday lunch time. Watching Molly die on A Country Practice and N recording it on her cassette player and saying “This is the part when Molly’s going to die” hearing the music go wonky and then Brendan screaming out Molly! They lived out of town and I remember B aged 7ish getting flown out by helicopter during one flood because he had an allergic reaction to a wasp sting, another when Dad went a got them in his truck as the water was too high for theirs to get out, we had a week long slumber party at our house that time. It was N that told me about Santa, this only a year after us all sitting on my bed convinced we could hear bells on Christmas Eve before we went to midnight mass.

Plus they just don’t make stuff like this anymore! I have to keep it!

The Mag’s were the closest thing we had to family when I was growing up. We were both from the same small Victorian town and had moved up the coast, the kids were all the same ages S and my mum got along really well sharing sewing and gardening interests as did my dad & L, both Italian descent men married to very non Italian non catholic women, both in the building trade and both with a love of red wine and Mario Lanza. We have seen each other through divorces and marriages, births and deaths, sickness of each other our kids and our parents through B coming out and my brother struggling with alcohol drugs and the custody battle involving his kids.

We all lead very different lives now my Dad lives somewhere in Nth QLD, Mum and Sdad are parenting tween kids again, S & L are now fully retired potter around their property and sell plants at markets. Us four kids have now taken very different paths too B & I are in Sydney and N & my brother are still in our home town albeit it with very very different lives. And while we don’t often speak I know that if any of them needed me I would stand by their side holding hands for strength in a heartbeat really are like family.

xxpt

Comforting the Sick (and Whiny)

I am poorly with a flu :(

So today because I am a nice coworker (unlike the one who infected me) I am at home on the lounge, I watched daytime tv and on Ellen I watched Stevie Nicks perform her 61 year old arse off only to finish and disclose she had PNEUMONIA!!

I am, unlike Ms Nicks, woeful when I am sick it’s ugly I’M UGLY. I whine and I mope around the house, I drink endless pots of peppermint & chamomile tea to try to keep myself warm. I get at least a couple of big hurty pimples which I then pick because I don’t already look bad enough (the current count is four) and my hair decides its a great time to up the oil production ten fold. I sniffle and breathe through my mouth, I stay too long in the shower and snap at my family. Funtimes I can assure you.

I have a uniform when I am sick too it serves both as a warning to my family that I am ill and should then be given a wide berth a cocoon to me.

- a beanie I bought when I was 18 from the Bellingen Markets, the lady I bought it from grew the sheep, spun the wool then knitted the beanie herself it is natural shades of brown she dyed herself and has covered not only my head but doubled as a hand warmer, pot holder, improvised bag and a shrug for a once tiny TC.
- a mans knitted cardigan pilfered from an old flatmate, she later regretted it & even went to the trouble of bribing me with a replacement Mrs Brady style cardigan, she did not succeed. Sorry Spunner I love you but its mine now I hope you understand.
- at least 2 handkerchiefs one to smother in essential oil and the other to blow, hankys are so much nicer that tissues I think, softer on my nose and they remind me of my nan and my Sdad. I am heartened by seeing a young person pull out a hanky to clean their glasses or dab at their nose. Part of it is a dislike of creating waste the other part is finding tissues in the wash and on the coffee table and kitchen bench and the computer desk, you get the idea.. the final part though is that they remind me of these loved ones, in fact when my nana died a lace edged hanky was one of the few things of hers I wanted.
-Vicks on my feet and big thick socks, I don’t know why it works it just bloody does
- a big cup of tea to refill over and over (this one was my mothers day present this year it the exact cup I pointed out to TC in the shop!)
- a mashed potato vegemite and cheese breville, I wish that i still had the breville machine from when I was growing up it wasn’t the triangle one it was rectangles and it made a grub shape on each side alas it died many years ago.

So today I have indulged in many of the above things in an effort to both wallow and feel better. Is there anything that you do to comfort yourself when you are ill?

stay well dudes xxpt

the Real World....

Well I think I'm out and I think I love it time will tell...

Last week I went to KSack's book launch and came to face to face with many of the people I talk to on twitter I met other people too but the ones that made the biggest impressions were those I have spoken with for the past 18 months. It was wonderful and exciting and daunting and overwhelming all in a schooner glass.. One I liked so much I kept drinking until I saw a cab and thought to myself "Self, you've had enough of this blast in a glass it's time to go home"

I outted myself to the gorgeous Chantelle at FatMumSlim as once I asked Sass to make the blog pretty I went to her blog for rules and suggestions on how to fill the pages. I read her how to make a great About Me page and her pictures are so lovely. You suckers will only get pics from my iphone as that is all I ever have with me I'm sure you'll deal with it guys.

And tonight on twitter I told Twitchy, I sucked it up and sent her the link (hey girl! shhhh ok?) my reply to her post about her big gay mate from high school and her note back saying it was as honest as any blog post helped push me out there too.

Every little bit helps right? I'll get there xxpt