Optus are cunts.

Ohhhh...it should be easy

So the next evening I’m in the Columbia University cafeteria – the only place open till late with free wifi, and no pressure to keep buying food. I’m on i-chat to a friend ( you know who you are) about weather to email this guy and go on a date or not, and she is making me laugh, when a student sits down at the next table…

He is not fancy, but has a friendly open face. We get talking, and without even realising, the night slips away. I’m not attracted to him, but he is very interesting to talk to. He’s from Texas, studying philosophy, is a pilot of light aircraft, and has worked as a financial advisor previously. Recently, when the price of coper skyrocketed, he developed a machine that sorted pennies made before 1982 (as they were primarily made of copper). He then tried to melt them down and sell them. The government found out about him after seeing someone had been withdrawing hundreds of thousands of pennies from banks in the area, and ordered him to stop. Crazyness!

I like it. He’s also restored a sailing boat. Worked briefly as a card dealer in a casino and can’t bare the thought of getting trapped in a career he doesn’t love. Hmm same as me. We finish our ‘Snaples’ – a sweet sugary drink that’s cheaper than bottled water. (Go figure.) Then he has to leave and get in some piano practice, before writing a paper on weather God exists.

Hmmm. He does sound like a nutter and I can tell he’s a bit of a loner (aren’t we all?), but he was funny. He made me laugh and I love meeting interesting characters. He made Merrill Lynch boy seem dull in comparison. Which reminds me… conversation should be easy! When you click with people you just click. I’m going with my instincts on this one….

I will not be emailing Merrill Lynch boy for a date.

Starbucks Adventures #1

I’m totally sitting opposite the girl who played the victim of paedophilia in Devils Advocate… one of my favourite movies of all time! My first star! Unless you count all the people wearing hats and sunglasses that I’ve passed, knowing full well they were probably Madonna. I wonder what paedophilia girl has done with her life since then?

How I keep ending up in Starbucks is a complete phenomenon to me. It’s kind of like asking ‘why do people slow down to look at car crashes?’. I’m just going to resign to the fact that the need for comfort and warmth, and convenience outweighs the terribly bad coffee and zero wifi…. and that I’m probably going to find myself in one, roughly 8 times a week.

You Know You're an Aussie in NY when... #2

Last night, I went to the Upright Citizen’s Brigade theatre, and I had some time to kill before hand. So I walked into this dvd store across the road. Three older heavy-set guys turned and stared, and as I strolled in, eager to check out how much dvds cost to rent here. It was then that I noticed a heap of merchandise stacked next to the cashier. With a slow, and unwilling realisation, I discovered they were oversized dildos and sex toys. Oh dear…. I was in hardcore porn store. That explained the pretty neon lights. Spinning round in a blur and exiting the building I had a chuckle… this was the second time I’ve done this, this week… no joke.

Joy-rage

Stepping outside this morning, a cool wind slapped me in the face, along with an intense excited feeling, that I hadn’t allowed my self to truly feel yet due to the uncertainty of my staying arrangements. It is the same feeling you get when driving a new car, and realising it’s yours! It surges up from inside of you, until you just gotta scream! Only you are on the streets of New York, and screaming in a fit of joy is probably not advisable, unless you want people to clear the area around you immediately, and behave like you are holding a fresh bag of anthrax.

Which begs an interesting question. If suppressing anger is bad for you, what does suppressing joy do? Could suppressing joy build up and up in your guts, until one day you just can’t take, and you totally flip out – and just explode with happiness? What would this ‘joy-rage’ look like?

I have a feeling that Fifi Box, on Sunrises weather is in danger of showing us this on live tv.

I'm Beautiful

When I was a little girl, I used to stare at my self in the mirror, and declare to everyone that I was an ‘ugly toad’. My mother, to her credit, made me look in the mirror and say ‘I’m beautiful’. And it changed the way I felt about myself for a long time.
But it’s easy to forget to stare at your self and say ‘I’m beautiful’ every day. So these days, I choose to live with a relative with dementia. They will tell you that you are beautiful all the time, and keep telling you, because they forgot they told you just a few hours ago.

You Know You're an Aussie in NY when... #1

Well, you know you’re a Melbournian in NY when you go into a Starbucks to see if they have free internet, and you can’t bare to stay because the coffee is sooooo bad.