Arbor-ation

Walking back from lunch yesterday I noticed that there were three shopping trolleys lying on the ground on the lawn between the bus station and the office. One was upside down and the others were on their side. I thought this was a bit odd, but given there is a shopping mall across the road the occasional stray trolley isn't anything unusual. Then I looked up.

The tree had three more trolleys in its branches.

The displaced shopping trolleys were clearly ripe and had recently fallen to the ground in order to sprout and grow more shopping trolley trees. Or were being shed so the tree could hibernate for the winter.

The things I never knew grew on trees...

And so the invasion of Earth begins...

Thanks must go to Aristotle for the title of this post- it was his reaction when I told him that there were 5 daleks running about the National Museum of Australia on the weekend. Conflux 3, the Canberra SF convention, was on and I had a fantastic time.

After a totally horrible day at work on Friday where I deleted files I shouldn't have I headed down to the Rydges hotel to meet Little John and the Fabulous Jo. It was great to see them and we went to wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the museum for the opening ceremony of the convention. The bus didn't stop where it was supposed to so we ended up taxing with James. We may have declared that we loved the taxi driver. At the entrance to the museum we were greeted by Daleks and Stormtroopers which was surreal, but very cool. For those of you who haven't see it the National Museum has strange, funky slightly futuristic architecture, which is well suited to a science fiction convention.

Before the opening ceremony started I milled around catching up with people who I haven't seen in awhile but who I care about alot. Wuffie now has bright pink hair and everyone else seemed pretty good. The opening ceremony was amusing (go the Red and the Blue!) when it started and beforehand they had samples of the digital work from the artshow on a large screen. The artshow was great- so much stuff to look at of such a high standard. The rest of the evening was spent at the cocktail party where I got my ID checked (I told the waiter he made my night!) drinking, chatting with people, teasing a boy in Melbourne and generally hanging out.

Walked down to the hotel on Saturday morning and was interviewed with April about fandom by a nice man from a glossy magazine. When asked why we were attracted to fanboys the first words out of my mouth without thinking were "They can fix my computer." You know it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't true...

Had lunch with Bec H and wandered around the art show. Went to a panel or two but mostly hung out chatting to people. Wandered into the Hucksters room and discovered that the artist that writes/draws "Greener Pastures" one of my favourite comics is involved with the Supernova conventions. Ran into Magical Trevor on the way to watch the interview with Sir Arthur C. Clarke and got to see it from the technical room. Also got to meet my "twin" which was a little bizarre. She has similar hair to me, has the same first name, is a vegetarian and works as a teacher.

I decided not to go to the Medieval Feast (vegans didn't fare well in medieval western Europe) so went home, did some grocery shopping and then headed back to the con. Greg was having a bit of a birthday party in his room so hung out there for a bit before Wuffie and I decided to see the Steamy Readings panel. It was running late so instead of catching the last 15 minutes we saw it all- even had front row seats. Which was fine until a piece involving the alter-ego of my ex boyfriend was read out. That sounds so vague. But, it is now known that I can turn a lovely shade of beetroot and my fetish for pirates with bad accents has been revealed.

And my goodness, chaosmanor writes some saucy stuff. Damn she can read it oh so well too!

On a more serious note the reading before chaosmanor's unfortunately resulted in alot of issues that I had buried deep down to be brought to the surface and I spent far too much of the evening being quite upset. On the upside I got drunk (again!) and got to talk out some of the issues I have been having about the breakup with a few people which helped with the healing process a little. Thanks especially to Russell, Lyn, Jo and Bec for that. It's interesting that a reading could evoke such strong emotions out of me that I didn't realise were there and cause me to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. Oh where has that hard, cruel bitch gone?

Was mopey on Sunday to begin with, had food with Shay and caught up with what he was doing in his life which was lovely. Saw a number of panels and enjoyed them before heading out to dinner with April, Bec H and Karen to a noodle house. The noodles were yummy and it was good to sit and have a talk with three very intelligent wonderful women. Whilst I only met Karen at the convention it turns out that we both know heaps of people in common (she works at the same school as one of my relatives and knows several people involved with some of the activist circles I used to work with) and she is a lovely person. After tea April and I set out in search of alcamahol which wasn't too difficult to find and we purchased girly-drinks. We were ID-ed again and the lady behind the counter realised that I was much older than 18 she gasped in horror.

Me: "Yes I am 25."
Man behind the counter turns to April: "I suppose you aren't 25 too?"
April: "Actually, yes I am."
*laughter*
April turns to me: "Next time we get fake ID we need to check that it says we are only three years older, not ten!"

They still let us have the girly drinks.

Wandered back to the hotel and quietly got dressed as Wuffie was sleeping. After having my hair in two long braids all day (to go with the spikey collar) my hair came out all curly- the exact type if curly hair I have always wanted. It worked well with my dress and I looked a little like a pixie/fairy creature. April dressed as the chick out of Resident Evil and we proceeded (fashionably late) to the Masquerade Disco.

When we got there we discovered everyone else wanted to be fashionably late as well so we drank our sparkling wine and chatted. Had someone take a picture of us and then a man came up and spoke to us in Italian. I replied in Italian. He then spoke in English (you can't impress me that easily with languages), and proceeded to try and pick us up. Patrick arrived to save the day and then we went dancing.

I haven't danced in such a long time and totally enjoyed the evening. Sean Williams was a fantastic DJ and played music that I love, own and used for work many moons ago. I spent most of the evening dancing with various people, only to pausing to say hello to people. Had many drinks bought for me (Oh, where did that teatoteller go?) and got to meet a few interesting people as well. Then Little John's 21st birthday arrived at midnight and there was much celebrating for that too.

As a side note to all the fanboys and geekboys out there I would like to point out that if you ask a pretty girl if you can buy her a drink, wait until she finishes her reply before running away. If you were that guy who asked to buy me a drink and ran away before I could finish the whole sentence was "No, thanks I'm fine for the moment, but how are you going?"

Once the disco was over those of us who will still up for partying continued to the bar. Sat around chatting and generally having a good time. Kaneda saved me from what could have been a rather embarrassing "wardrobe malfunction" and I mangaged to convince the nice stunt man who was hitting on me to remove large amounts of leather (ah, the advantages of being a vegan...) April, Marcia and I posed for a picture entitled "Three Years of Gorgeous UniSFAn Women." Then April and I sat on Magical Trevor's lap for the "Why You Should Run a Convention" picture.

Eventually we got thrown out of the bar because the staff wanted to get some sleep. We hung out in April, Kandice and Rick's room for a little while before I got a lift home and crawled into bed, exhausted and alone around 4:30am.

I woke and wandered into the convention later than I hoped but felt alot less seedy than I imagined. Caught a few more panels and took lots of pictures of the daleks. Saw the closing ceremony then headed back to the hotel for the Dead Dog. Had a great time chatting to various Perthies and Canberrians. (Thank you Lee & Lyn for offering some much needed advice) Managed to have a catch up session with JP before heading home at a comparatively reasonable hour.

Of course the soccer was on so when I got to work the next day I was well rested and everyone else was tired and sports mad. Also discovered that a number of my workmates are fans and were very interested in how the con went.

So in short Conflux 3 was a fabulous weekend for me. In many ways it was like a really big Swancon, except all the people I don't like didn't turn up and it wasn't in Perth. I'd like to thank Magical Trevor and his committee for putting on a great show. It was also wonderful to catch up, laugh, talk and share with my partner in crime April, Wuffie, GregT, Lily, Bec, Karen, Lee, Lyn, Kandice, Rick, Bec H, Karen, Bec K, Shay, Russell, Little John, the Fabulous Jo, JP, Kaneda, James, Mel, Patrick, Marcia, Julia, Magical Trevor, Lisa, Paul, Stephen, Elaine, Danny, Sharron anyone who bought me a drink and anyone else I interacted with but who I've forgotten right now. You made the weekend a fabulous one.

Thanks, that was fun.

Stormtroopers and Daleks and Fanboys (oh my!)

Conflux was fabulous. Will post a proper writeup later on.

Thankyou all for a fantastic weekend!

Frostbite is your friend

This morning I woke, dressed, pottered around chatting to a housemate who told me the soccer score and after all that set out for the day. I opened the front door and noted that it was a little cooler than it has been in the past few weeks as I could see my breath when I exhaled. I had no idea where my gloves were and it didn't seem so bad that I needed to dig out the beanie so carried on. A few paces up the road I stopped and looked around. Something wasn't quite right but I couldn't put a finger on it. Everything seemed to have a little less colour despite the clear sky and the radiance of Sol. I inspected a leaf on the neighbors hedge.

Frost.

Icicles covered everything. The lack of colour was a soft white caused by the settling of crystalised water over everything. I run back to the clothes line and inspect my washing. Beautiful delicate ice crystals formed beautiful sculptures across my clothing. The leaves on the trees and the fences well all covered. The pile of leaves I stomp through with enthusiasm each morning- each leaf was covered in frost. It made for a wonderful sight and set me off to a beautiful day in a great mood.

Of course spending 5 minutes waiting for a bus without headgear or gloves in near zero temperatures made me loose all feeling of my ears and fingers. Frostbite is a small price to pay.

Leave(s)

I have a place to live. It has a bed in it that I own and possessions that are of some importance to me. My bed is simple but comfortable and has a thick warm doona and lovely sheets on it. I share my home with two strangers who are becoming less so. The garden has a plum tree and a loquat tree. It is full of dried leaves. The path to bus stop every morning is also covered in leaves. A golden brown carpet that lines the streets, that crunches under my feet and breaks the usual sound of my gait. The trees stand bare and naked, waiting for the cold of winter to pass, asleep until the spring. The air is fresh, breathable despite the cold and dry. The birds are foreign, I don't recognise the families they belong to, their colours and shapes are unfamiliar.

In the past two and a half years I haven't owned a bed of my own. I haven't had a permanent job. I haven't had the intention of staying in the one place for more than a few months. The world is a confusing place. One I love to explore, yet one that has left me trapped, by myself and by others. By being tied and obliged to a place I didn't want to be at. Everything that I have wanted and cared about in my life has focused around a single longing to be away from the city that I grew up in. A country town with delusions of grandeur where I have felt nothing but judgment, pain and unhappiness in for many years.

I am not in Perth anymore, there is no reason for me to return for more than a fleeting moment. The temperature, the sky, the buildings, the trees, the birds all tell me this. But it's the sense of calm and the unfamiliar contentment in myself that really gives it away.