C'est L'hallowe'en!

The hostesses - Miss Dracula Elvis and Marie Antoinette
So, Australians don't celebrate Halloween. Many had never even heard the word. But G and I managed to find pumpkins, fake blood and a Halloween pinata (?) It was definitely a memorable Halloween!
The CC Music crew - Simone & Mark in the back and that's Sean, Blain and Chris in front...

David and I - He makes a cute nun...

Greta's family... a bunch of freaks! Just kidding - Jan, Greg, Greta, Mark, Leigh and Sharon

C'est L'hallowe'en! 2

Todd and G... or Hunter S. and Miss Dracula Elvis...
Dan and Liz... Dan scared the shit out of me...
Mark and Simone... Mark won the best costume mainly because of the wig and because he kept trying to sell Simone all night...

C'est L'hallowe'en! 3

Carl and Amber... lovely...
Frank and me... he was a backwards man... it was too funny...
G and Tristan goofing at the end of the night...
Jason and Jack... Jason was a priest who showed up in a gas mask and Jack just stole bits of everyone else's costumes to make up his...

melbourne cup 2006

The dress. I bought it in Toronto but have only worn it once. Such a shame...








Okay so I have to skip the Halloween post for now because I still don't have all the photos from that night. Rather than get behind in my blogging, I'm deciding to chug ahead with my Melbourne Cup 2006 Race Day installation.



Me and my mate Blain from work who invited me. He's rad! (He told me to say that)











I think maybe Amy's horse won. Not sure...




It started off with a mad rush. Choose the dress, get the flowers for the hair, get a cab and race to the Gold Coast Turf Club only to find a mass of people and I couldn't hear Blain's directions from mobile to mobile because it was so damn loud. I made out that he and his crew were on the lawn so I just wandered around for a bit and I eventually found them. I knew I'd be able to spot him because it'd happened many times before... Splendour, Valley Feista... and now added to the list Melbourne Cup...

We had a grand time. I didn't bet but that means I won since I didn't lose!





Continuing the party elsewhere.

pumpkins pumpkins pumpkins (say it three times!)

Way back, on January 20th, after Greta picked me up from the train station, after flying in from Christchurch, New Zealand, she sat me on our new balcony with a glass of wine and take away sushi, and said, “So, we are going to have the best Halloween party this year.” And I laughed and said, “I don’t even want to think about it, that’s so far away.” Well, now its come and gone – momentously. Just before I sliced my finger.

Sharon having too much fun.

Me and G looking exhausted.

There were weeks of planning. I think it started back in September with statements like, ‘Halloween is only 5 weeks away.” But in the weeks leading up to the big event there were many preparations for the house, the pumpkins and most importantly the costumes. I still don’t have all the photos from the actual party but I am posting the pre-pre-pumpkin carving party that happened two days before. It worked out well considering we didn't find proper carving pumpkins until the day of. I had already bought a large butternut squash thinking this might be all there would be with which to create jack-o-lanterns.

Sharon the pumpkin head.

I ended up slicing my index finger and getting real blood on my pumpkin so it was a serious hardcore Halloween art installation. And the Aussies enjoyed it.

so sentimental...

So, its been a while since I’ve logged my life in poems and pictures. Things have happened and changed and continue to transition. And if we can’t enjoy that, well heck, we’re missing the point, eh?

Ken has departed this fair country now. It was sad to see him go. We barely marked the occasion though. Perhaps it would have been too dramatic to do so. Also, life got in the way. He was extremely busy working the Gold Coast Indy and socking away the last bits of wages he’ll see in months. His head was filled with Hong Kong and home and mine was still here. But the last couple of months we spent hanging out on the Gold Coast were great times. Mostly just relaxing; enjoying being free, on vacation, at leisure, what you will… On our days off together we almost always went to the beach. We went out for breakfast a lot at our favourite places and went to see some good and bad movies. We drank wine on the balcony and listened to music. We went for drives down the coast on my scooter and in rented cars. We watched Little Britain. We sang karaoke (more than once). We hiked around the most easterly tip of Australia (Byron Bay headlands) and saw a goanna in the wild. Basically just enjoyed each other’s company without any serious travelling adventures… except that we were on the other side of the world together breathing it all in… amazing…