Category Archives: ‘sham dailies

cheers

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I was a-bloggin’ away on Wednesday morning when the screen went dark and all was quiet. No more faint high pitched whizzing of the hard drive, and no more low whir of the fridge from the kitchen. I blinked. The power had cut out. Aha, I thought. This has happened before. I hot-footed it around to the front porch to see if the guy from the electricity company had switched us off and left a mean note about not paying the bill. But the switch was still on. I figured that the construction site down the road had tripped something. There was nothing to be done but to get out of the house.

Rachelle was talking to Therese, two doors up, to see if her power was out too. It was. Up the street, shop-keepers were standing around in doorways with their hands on their hips, looking up and down as if the answer was going to be delivered in a taxi speeding down Canterbury Road. The traffic lights were out, motorists were left to their own devices. It was a genuine neighbourhood event.
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ONE LINE ONLY NO SCREAMING

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Jasmin called me several weeks ago to discuss the ‘sham project. She said I should expect various levels of jealousy about what I am doing here. I get to stay at home, mooch around, take some time out. It’s like a holiday at home. It’s like being a tourist in your own town. Not to mention the inevitable “but is it really art?” etc etc.

I was surprised. I guess I hadn’t thought much beyond the confines of my own list-of-things-to-do. But notwithstanding the curly question “is it art?” (which I will add to the FAQ’s, and attempt to answer – hopefully with your help – in the near future) I bet yer all gonna be jealous of what I did yesterday!

I rollerskated at the Majestic RollerRink.
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Good Grief

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It’s been a week. I’ve just spoken to Chris in Perth, who knows my history (more than nearly anyone), and I feel clearer now about what needs to be done.

Following my post from yesterday, where I expressed concern that I was not “feeling the freshness” – that I was going through the motions a bit – that it all felt like a bit of “a job” (heaven forbid!) – I received several encouraging emails and comments, urging me to keep “powering along” with it. To all who wrote, thanks. It helps. At least I know what I’ve done so far hasn’t been entirely tedious, tepid, or turgid. However, I still think a change is called for.
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hold yer horses…

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I’m struggling a bit to hang in here. I’m very much enjoying “just being” in Petersham, but the writing is not coming as easily as I would have hoped. In Kellerberrin, the form of the project – blogging each day – seemed to grow from the place itself. It came easily. Here, it seems partly like I’ve taken a strategy from somewhere else, and attempted to apply it in another place. In fact, that’s exactly what I’ve done. And it’s an uncomfortable fit.

Something about the town of Kellerberrin being “different,” and “new” to my experience meant I could write with a freshness. I felt that freshness. The very task I set myself – to see if I could experience that freshness in my own neighbourhood – is proving more difficult than I expected. Or maybe, I did expect this difficulty (it’s built into the project brief), but I haven’t developed a method of moving through it yet.

So, to hammer away on the daily writing regime might make me seem a busy boy. But is it distracting me from something else?…to allow something to grow from this specific place…

…while you wait for me to work through this one (or even better, while you’re contacting me with your brilliant ideas!) have a look over at these photos of the Great Petersham Pub Crawl. Hooroo!

Petersham Saturday April 8, 2006

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On Friday morning, I knocked on Luciana’s door. I had two things in mind. First, to debrief about the real estate visit. And second, to get her to help me carry the bench from our balcony at the back of the building, out to the front porch. That way, we can sit out there in the morning and drink our coffee. This serves three purposes. First, we catch the morning sun. At this time of year in Sydney, the air is cool, and to spend time in the sunshine is a pleasure. All humidity has disappeared. Second, we get to check out the neighbourhood – we become local “vecchietti” ( little old men and women who sit on their front porches and watch the world go by). And third, by occupying the porch, we send a message to would-be burglars that this place is not empty – so they better not try any shenanigans on us.

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Petersham Friday April 7, 2006

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One for the fans only: this post is going up on Saturday arvo, whereas it was really written on Friday. I also wrote for Barbara Campbell yesterday, which threw me out a little. Not that I had to do any extra work – I just edited down the second section of this entry to squeeze in under her 1001 word limit. Once I’d done this chopping, it felt like quite a different piece. I wasn’t sure whether it was better or worse. Nor do I really have any criteria for judging. I tried to make it a bit less wordy, so it would be easier to read out aloud (which is what Barbara does, each day, at sunset). But then I thought, hmm, maybe I should use the reduced version in my own blog, so I put off putting it up online to think about it. To cut a long story short, here’s what I’ve done: the original longer wordier version is below. If you want to compare and contrast, check out the brief version in Barbara’s archive.

OK, enough boring admin talk, on with yesterday’s post…

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