Day 31: One day a weed...

Day 31: ...the next a tea...

I've long been fascinated by the way we classify things. Whether it be good or bad, in or out, weed or flower... Definitions and classification are part of my day job. The biggest one I've had to grapple with in recent years is 'terrorist', for example. International security and politics throw up these questions all the time. 

Tea...?

Out in the garden too, we wrestle with these questions. Some would have my jacarandas out the back dismissed as imported weeds; I'm going to keep them because I love their purple flowers. The dandelion is another. A favourite as kids as we picked them as blew their seeds away, they were designated weeds for a while and met their fate via the lawn mower blades. I've always hesitated however and confess the the yellow flower stage is one of the most beautiful of nature's geometric possibilities. Just look at the complexity in those petals. These days it is a highly regarded health food plant. Heh, gives me some hope that my work will be something one day. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 9.18am] 

Day 30: Little ideas...

Day 30: ...crop up sometimes.

With no outside commitments today and the first 2014 deadline for submission met, it was time today to review the to-do list and decide which article to write next. I have quite a few to do, ranging from territorial disputes to teaching novels and 9/11 to continuing with the meanderings of a 19th century Japanese gent. I'm reading into the theory for my next project and there are presently three conference papers to prepare. So much to think about.

In the meantime, I need to re-work the study, from a study to a library since I hardly use the desk in there anymore. The laptop gives me roaming privileges one unimagined...

Little ideas...

It was out on the back deck, this evening as I was packing up that I noticed the yellow waxy flower of the Aphelandra squarossa has popped up recently...an even closer look and I noticed that there are smaller blooms emerging from its tips...'little ideas' emerging from the bigger structure. Bit like my working day at the moment. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 5.51pm]

Day 29: Colourful start

Day 29: ...morning greetings

Last night I captured the geckos on the window. This morning, the lorikeets started up quite early. Time to get the 'big gun' out I thought. The loris are wild but have become quite accustomed to people around the place. This flock will come right to my back door at times, they huddle under the eaves in heavy rain. They wake us early in the morning. 

Bluey

All in a suburban backyard. Even as I write, they are out there, squawking away. Wouldn't trade it for anything. There are moments one feels so lucky. Not Daft at all. 

[Camera : Canon EOS60D, lens 75-300mm; 6.28am]

Day 28: Gecko...

Day 28: ...gecho...echo...

Another day at the office today. A drive up the Bruce Highway and back, just once a week for now. It's work and I'm working through my list of things to write, submit, publish...one tick today, ahead of schedule.

Home again and I have those mixed feelings that the opportunity to stay home and read and write. I shouldn't, it is part of the job, but it is taking some adjusting that it will be my primary job this year. It feels like a luxury, but it shouldn't. 

Two geckos

Getting home, I don't have a tv. During the day, I can get distracted by the antics of the lorikeets outside. They have 'swimming carnivals' in the birdbath, gather in the eaves of the pergola, compare the seed offerings in houses in the neighbourhood. At night, it is the turn of the geckos. The geckos spend a lot of time chasing moths and each other across the window. Something different everyday and every night. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 7.30pm]

Day 27: Public holiday...

Day 27...light and shade

Today was the public holiday day for yesterday's public holiday actual day...yes, it's like that. Still, the pest control company wasn't taking any notice of that and the fellow turned up at 7.00am, no sleep in. No pests either, so that's something.

Rehearsal for the orchestra commenced this evening. Big year, we're going for a name change after 40 years: St Lucia Orchestra to 'Brisbane City Pops Orchestra'. Do I agree? Not really but I just sit up the back playing the semi breves and count bars of rest. 

In the shadows

I was getting a little practice in this afternoon when the sun hit the lounge room wall in a particularly noticeable way. Yes, the light, the shade, the shadows cast...like our music, it might be black and white on the page but it all depends on the light and shade we add to it when we play. 

Let the new (orchestral) year begin!

[Camera : iPhone 4S*, 6.12pm (by complete coincidence)]
*People ask why I keep putting the fruit phone. I have another couple of cameras which I will use from time to time, and I plan to keep a record, we camera wonks can be a bit like that...

Day 26: January 26...

Day 26: ... and all that...

Sunday, Australia Day, or Botany Bay Day as I tend to think of it. I'm Sydney-born and growing up, 26 January was always a very Sydney story for me. I've always been intrigued that a boat landing in Sydney in the late 1700s has come to mean what it has. My ancestors arrived a few decades later making me fifth or sixth generation Australian. Both sides from England, apparently. 

I feel fortunate and grateful on many levels to be here in Australia, and appreciate the opportunities I've had as well. I despair at the anger and envy which seems to permeate our society these days although I guess it took my university studies and time living overseas to really appreciate what it means to be a member of a society, this community. We can and should embrace our diversity and all that it brings. 

The eucalyptus...

Pie and pav...

...and reflection

So, on this day, I have a little moment of pride, a little moment of Aussie, and a moment of reflection of our land and its history. I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which I live, work and play. Thank you.

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 11.55am, 1.45pm, 4.40pm]

Day 25: Just when we think there's nothing new under the sun...

Day 25: ...our flowers remind us of renewal

Working, reading...Arendt, Barzun. The state of thinking, the state of the intellect. Funny how few ideas are really new. Arendt's and Barzun's lament about the state of education applies just as equally today. Have we only ever imagined an ideal perhaps? I shall persist nonetheless. 

Something new...

Opportunity though to take a short break outside. Noticed one of the ginger plants has a new flower--the first since I planted them a few weeks ago. Must be doing something right. 

Meanwhile, today the Australian of the Year was announced. Footballer Adam Goodes and former parliamentarian Fred Chaney as senior AOTY. Good people. I feel hope and optimism that reconciliation will attain genuine prominence this year. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 4.19pm]

Day 24: Long weekend ahead...

Day 24: ...green and gold, all over red rover

We have a long weekend coming up. Some commemorate, some celebrate, some commiserate 26 January, officially Australia Day, also Invasion Day. I don't like the jingoism and anger that has come to surround the day. I think it requires time for us to think, reflect. 

Which side do you sit?

Coincidentally, as I was working this afternoon, this gum leaf blew across my table...its green and gold got me thinking. It sort of signals the end of the 'summer break' and the year begins. Lots of things to think about this weekend. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 4.39pm]

Day 23: The rain came...

Day 23: ...and stayed and stayed...

The rain we were hoping for yesterday arrived, overnight. It was nice, there was just enough to consider the garden watered. There was even a little bit left this morning. A good afternoon then to head to the Bookfest, the big secondhand book sale run by Lifeline, held twice a year now in Brisbane. And how it has expanded.

A little light reading

While I was there, relishing this small sample of, among other things, rare and out-of-print bargains books, the skies unleashed much pent-up precipitation. Reports of 80-100mm plus all over the city and a slow wet ride home. I'm pleased it came, but would quite happily have it redirected, out west, where we need it most. Perhaps there is more out there for them.  

Quite a few little gems in my book finds today: photographs of Japan in the 1920s, books on various philosophers I'm researching, and illustrated Strunk and White (pendants rejoice) and the rather interesting find, on top there, Annabelle Bucar's 1949 book on The Truth about American Diplomats, published in Moscow. Bucar was an American who opted to stay in the USSR at the end of her posting as a US diplomat. Defection, asylum, spying and intelligence gathering...so 2014 1949. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 9.04pm]

Day 22: Clouds came...

Day 22: ...and clouds went, but we're waiting for the rain

Classic Brisbane summer's day. Hot, humid, late afternoon breeze and, as I write, the possibility of a storm. The clouds are here, the thunder rumbles in the distance...but we await the rain. That's fairly typical these days too. To hose, or not to hose, is the present question. 

Clouds, after all

Early this morning, the clouds caught my eye. The sun, the light, the grey with promise of rain. The clouds had all gone within an hour or so and the sun made its presence felt for the rest of the day. 

Actually, I came very close to making this a daily blog about the clouds, I find them quite fascinating and they've featured in my photography for many years. This won't be the last cloudy pic...



[Camera : iPhone 4S, 7.16am]

Day 21: Waiting for the rain

Day 21: ...a few drops to help

Hot days ahead in Brisbane so the plants and bids in the garden need a little bit of tlc. Not that long ago we had a lot of water restrictions so using water in the garden still comes with a little bit of caution. 

Just a few drops

Still, photographically-speaking, I do like to capture sunlight, raindrop and plants... somehow its a picturesque combination. 

The rain didn't come, in the end. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 7.08am]

Day 20: Listen Nan...

Day 20: ...you can hear the ocean

Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my nan's house in Sydney. She lived right on the beach at Curl Curl. The ocean and the surf were a part of our everyday. We learnt to read the surf, when it was safe, when it was dangerous. We'd head 'out the back' on our boards when the surf was up. We played footy on the sand. We used to watch the big tankers making their way to and from Sydney Harbour. It was indeed a fortunate part of life. 

My nan had some cowrie shells on one of her coffee tables and they were one of my favourite things to look at when I visited. 'Listen', she'd say, 'put it to your ear, you can hear the ocean...' Now, as a youngster, I was never sure if I was hearing the ocean through the underside of the shell, or just the actual ocean, just there, beyond the front patio (as they were called back then). 

Listen...

In recent years, I've found myself making a bit of a collection of cowrie shells as I make my way around markets and shops of little knick knacks. These days, I live in Brisbane, quite a distance from any ocean but when I listen I can hear the ocean...or maybe that's my nan. 

*This pic was taken when I was doing a little housework today: as every writer knows, the house must be spic and span before any writing can really happen...hehe (^.-)/*

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 4.58pm]

Day 19: Coming to rest...

Day 19: ...pondering a juxtaposition

Not a lot doing today, more time at the computer, writing, thinking, researching in variously randomised order. A bit of a wander around the yard again at different times of the day revealed more little things of interest. 

End...of the day

The bougainvillea are coming to the end of their colourful season and the ground is carpeted with pinkish petals. This one that came to rest against a red gum leaf provided just the contrast to the dried lawn. Worth a look and ponder, just like the day really. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 5.58pm]

Day 18: You say neenish...

Day 18: ...I grew up with the neinish tart...

Saturday, with no plans to do much other than housework and research and writing work. The research was quite exciting, possible breakthrough...stay tuned.

And it's not the plan for this blog to be about my garden or food life, but it seems so so far I suppose. Today's pic is an impulse buy I made this morning at the bakery. We have a lovely little bakery down the road which still does all the simple things like we used to get as kids: cream buns, coffee rolls, the swiss rolls--jam, coffee and chocolate and cream--custard tarts and so on and all made with old familiar recipes. Oh, and pies and pasties...

The neinish: 101 years old!

As I was buying my bread I noticed the neinish tarts...they do a nice one here and so I bought one. A little lighter in colour than the old days but with that old-style taste. Just for research purposes, I looked up the tart: it was 100 years old last year, apparently and is an Australian original, apparently. The more common spelling is 'neenish' apparently, while the 'neinish' of my familiar is apparently an affectation, to intimate possible German origins. So there you go. A little bit of nostalgia, close-up, for morning tea. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 11.21am]

Day 17: Iced coffee...

Day 17: ...or coffee on the rocks?

A simple day working at home for much of the day. A little on the warm side but not quite the extremes our southern cousins are experiencing at the moment. Our turn is coming though. Mostly immersed again in the Queensland of 1893, verifying and backing up various claims, such is the life of a researcher. 

Coffee, on the rocks

One of the nice things about living between Australia and Japan is the different things one can pick up for day-to-day living. I've always been a bit of a fan of the iced coffee. Many years ago, I used to make them here in Australia--milk, ice-cream, cream, dusting of choc on top--the full deal. In Japan, however, I learnt that 'ice coffee' is just that, expresso over ice (to which you can add sweetener and milk/cream to taste, if you wish). Coffee on the rocks. Now that is a coffee I can go for on a hot Brisbane summer day. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 4.19pm; Coffee : Oxfam fair trade, Africa Blend...double shot]

Day 16: Is that a cloud, or...?

Day 16: ...a canopy...

A little bit of out and about today, first to have a morning coffee with a couple of lovely tweeps Mel (@melkettle) and Susan (@snoozen) then off in search of materials relating to my current project, or one of my current projects. Apart from my 1893 project, I'm currently seeking avenues to build up my Hannah Arendt collection. 

Canopy by Neil Dawson, 1993

That meant walking via my favourite sculpture in Brisbane, Neil Dawson's 'Canopy' (1993) which is suspended outside the entrance to the Queensland Art Gallery. It has been there for a number of years and I like it because it is there and not there, and it is different every time I see it...are we seeing it, or the sky, or the clouds? Look again, it is there...

On the way home, I was reading an introduction to a book about Hannah Arendt's thought. In it the author, Margaret Canovan notes that:

originality need not and often does not consist in discovering new things, 

but in enabling us to notice things that were there all the time 

but that we overlooked because our attention was focused elsewhere...*

I like that. It sums up both what I'm trying to do in my research, and with a little luck, some of the pics that will appear here over the next 365 days. Cheers. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 12.29pm]

*Margaret Canovan, The Political Thought of Hannah Arendt, London: Methuen, 1977; p. 6.

Day 15: All that glitters...

Day 15: ...when you look closely

Yes, back to the home territory today with reading and writing plans high on the priority list. There's a writing project with a submission date due at the end of the month and I'm very keen to get to work on reacquainting myself with the work of Hannah Arendt. News through too about a successful paper submission for an international conference, so there is much to do. 

A little shimmer...

So today's photographic adventures didn't venture much beyond the backyard again. But there is so much to see, when we look...which is what I hope comes through in aspects of this project. 

Not being a gardening/marketing type but a long time Asianist, I do despair at times at the twee nicknames we see on plants. Let's just say that when I looked a little more closely at this Duranta regens I was pleasantly surprised by the little shiny sun reflectors as the rain clouds approached. I can see why it attracts the bees and butterflies all day. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 4.39pm]

Day 14: Day's end...

Day 14: ...through a shadecloth

A change from the backyard today...a sunset shot from the Sunshine Coast when I was leaving my workplace. Twitter lights up at dawn and dusk with marvellous pics of the sun moving in one direction or another. Some days it seems we all have our cameras pointing towards the sun. 

Through a shadecloth, darkly.

I like the play of light and colours, the clouds and of course the sun. Unusually however, my view was 'obstructed' by a shadecloth...something I guess we'd usually try to avoid but I was interested in the 'texture' it might add to the scene. 

Yes, it sort of works but then, it was towards the end of a long day. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 6.32pm]

Day 13: A feather...

Day 13: ...is a feather...a metaphor perchance

In order to write, one must read, and read a lot. It is advice I give my students regularly, for both their English and Japanese writing. Fortunately, for the first half of this year at least, I will be in the position where I can do much reading and writing. One of my projects I plan for this year is to attempt to write a novella based on some of the material I have found about 19th century Australia-Japan relations. While there is quite a bit of material there to work with for a couple of academic papers, there are also big enough gaps in the stories to encourage me to try and 'fill in' the bits in between. It is a bit ambitious on my part, for sure. 

My reading of late, therefore, has focussed on stories built around 'found objects', be they journals, diaries, recollections and so on. Today I finished Ruth Ozeki's remarkable A Tale for the Time Being, a pertinent mix of past and present, based on a found journal. It was both engrossing, and formidable...what sort of task am I setting for myself? Of the many intriguing elements, one was a Jungle Crow which visited a Canadian hamlet somewhat unexpectedly...

Later in the day, and closer to the project's objectives I read a 'novella' coincidentally with a Japanese theme...it felt forced and contrived after the beauty of Ozeki. I renewed my reservations, but for quite different reasons. 

A feather, a metaphor...

I went for my walk, camera in hand, to think...I found this feather. I didn't realise magpie feathers (for that is what I imagine it to be) had a touch of blue. On a writerly, readerly day, I imagined it was a sign from the Ozeki Jungle Crow...an awkward metaphor perchance but one from which I'm taking some encouragement. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 5.53pm]

Day 12: More domesticity

 Day 12: ...though the work continues

It is that odd interval in January where one has not yet returned to the workplace nor can one be bothered with extending beyond the boundaries of the domestic space. It is rather pleasant to not have to actually go anywhere. Even a proposed trip to the Manly bayside was cancelled in favour of just hanging around the house (reading those documents that are, of course, work-related). 

Frangipanis

Agapanthus

And so dear reader, while it is not the deliberate intent of this blog to be embedded in the domesticity of the suburbs, today's offerings come direct from the backyard, but with just that hint of an angle that might encourage  us to look, and look again, at the colours and shapes around us. Interesting too that of these two flowers, one is considered perfectly fine, the other considered a noxious weed, in some parts, apparently.


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 7.28am & 3.13pm]

Day 11: Blurring the lines...

 Day 11: ...between work and play

I think I am the type who finds 'holidays' a little difficult to deal with. I've been working away for the last little while although officially I'm on leave and indeed have several more weeks I need to soak up in accumulated time. Today's pics are from the garden (again) but it was a mowing day and general clean up after some more work on the current research project. A little industriousness, like the ant, and a little washed over, like the water on the bromeliad...

A little industry...

....and blurring the lines

Even when I sit down to read a novel 'for pleasure', the tendency is to go for something that offers something for my teaching. Today I started Ruth Ozeki's latest, A Tale for the Time Being...footnotes, appendices, a bibliography... and a story about flotsam from the 3.11 tsunami, washed up on the US west coast...no wonder my lines between work and play get blurred. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 6.27pm & 6.30pm]

Day ten: A rose...

Day ten: ...petal, there, there

A morning of work, followed by an excursion to the city with a friend to, well, just spend an afternoon in the city. As a child, it was always exciting to go into town with mum and nan, visit David Jones (or Grace Bros, it was Sydney) the highlight of which was afternoon tea at the in-store cafeteria...such sophistication for a five-year-old. 

Petals awaiting transformation

Four decades later, 'sophistication' is defined a little differently though we still enjoy 'taking tea' at a particular shop in town. My friend is a long-standing tea drinker whereas I am learning to appreciate the fine art. Quite a contrast in tea and coffee drinking cultures in town...but I do enjoy the relaxing opportunity. Rose petals feature quite a bit in different teas...I presently have a canister of rose petals, a gift. You can use them in all sorts of things apparently...I'm looking forward to the culinary promise. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 9.00pm]

Day nine: I see you...

Day nine: ...or intrusion?

I worked indoors mostly but stepped out during a lunch break. I spent a bit of time looking at the patch of leaf debris and weeds I plan to turn into something resembling a garden. I don't have a lot of success, but it is fun to try and create something. 

Should either of us be here, now? 

This plant, a 'native gardenia' caught my eye and not for the little creature you see here. This shrub was planted years ago and has hardly grown. It hasn't died either, and in my garden, that's a plus. No, what caught my eye was the appearance of something that looks like a bud, of a flower-type. That's exciting. You've been alerted to possible future pics... I'm not sure if this is an insect I should be photographing, it had the shape of a small cockroach but the colouring of a Christmas beetle. But, it's the detail, and the opportunity. 

My research project proceeds but I took a break (I'm still officially on holidays) to go and see the movie about PL Travers, author of Mary Poppins, 'Saving Mr Banks'. Quite interesting, I might just have to pop out to Allora, out near Warwick...the young PL Travers spent her childhood there. Hopefully the good folk of Allora won't feel we're intruding. 


[Camera : iPhone 4S, 2.08pm]

Day eight: Small successes

Day eight: ...but nice rewards

For an academic on holidays, I seem to be immersed in my work already. So apologies but today is another domestic scene in my quest to find unexpected detail in the everyday. But there is a twist...

Take that, poss!

...today I've brought the garden inside. I've managed to find a possum-proof way to grow herbs, after much trial and error (and loss of said herbs). Today, that nice reward for a small success was fresh coriander on my somen noodles for lunch. Nice.

[Camera ; iPhone 4S, 2.09pm]

Day seven: a drip, some wind...

 Day seven: ...a ripple effect

I've been housebound today, working on my project about Japanese views of Australia. There's a lot of material to sort. The weather was a little more manageable but the wind was rather strong (making work outside a bit tricky). 

I did step outside for a short wander around the yard though, mainly checking for wind damage. The overflow bucket for the rainwater tank caught my roving photographic eye, twice. One small drop, one larger ripple effect... 

Further reflection

Ripple effect

[Camera ; iPhone 4S, 6.31pm, 6.33pm]

Day six: Day of the storm

Day six: Fit to burst...

One of our long lost summer storms hit southeast Queensland this afternoon: darkened skies, thunder, lightning, pouring rain, flash flooding...the full deal. Humidity dropped dramatically, finally. I spent much of the day sorting research materials, mostly late 19th century and early 20th century Japanese reports on Australia...that's my job. 

Fit to burst, come rain or shine

It's not all work however and about lunchtime I went outside for a bit of a walk. I'm watching this little bud quite closely, jasminum sambac, everyday it is getting closer to bursting into full bloom. Can't wait...

Day five: Barrelling along

Day five: Barrelling along

Today was another warm day in Brisbane but not to yesterday's extent. More of that tomorrow apparently. So it was more a day to listen to the cricket, read, slumber and so forth. Growing up on the Sydney and Gold Coast beaches, days like today would be beach days, automatically. The beach meant surfing and surfing meant seeking the perfect tube ride...

A pink day

I had those memories in mind when I looked into the heart of this emerging frangipani this morning. The flowers in full bloom are the usual white with yellow, but they begin with this rich pink and unfurl slowly. It can be quite a distraction. 

Day three of Sydney Cricket Ground test is the McGrath Foundation's pink day, in support of breast cancer. It was a pink kinda day... (Australia sealed a 5-0 Ashes sweep before the day was done.) 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 6.53am]

Day four: a cinematic moment, or...

Day four : a cinematic moment, or two

Yesterday was warm, today was going to be hotter with projected temperatures in the low 40 degrees celsius. With a friend, we decided the best strategy in Brisbane was to plan a day, a whole day, at the movies. I don't recall having ever done so. It was an early start for the 9.30am session (Frozen) , followed by an early lunch followed by a 12.30pm session (August: Osage County). 

All done by 3.00pm which therefore required further refreshment...what you see...

Iced...coffee, actually

...is the artistry of the coffee maker, the the streak of sauce, the condensation. At a glance though, it might well have been one of the images from the animation we saw today. Just imagine...

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 3.04pm]

Day three: Not all it is cracked up to be...?

Day three: ...or just hanging in there? 

It is January, in Brisbane, we expect the weather to be hot. It just is. But the current temps are a talking point. If I said I'd finished two hours worth of gardening by 6.00am, you get the idea of what we are dealing with. By 6.30am, the heat was apparent. 

Gumnuts in suspension

At about 10.00am I was surveying the morning's work (checking for heat stress) and came across these gumnuts seemingly suspended in mid-air. Our technological dependence might suggest I've cracked my smartphone screen...but no, that's just nature's silken suspension cables courtesy of a resident arachnid. 

I quite like summer, really, I do. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 9.50am]

Day two: A reflection ...?

Day two : A reflection...perhaps...

Happily spending much time at home as present which means time out in the backyard. 

A blemish perhaps...?

I have enjoyed photography for many years and particularly enjoy playing with the elements. Today, before I refilled the bird bath, I pondered the leaf which had landed there. It looks like a bit of a spoilt photograph. 

In the end, this wasn't about the leaf, but the light reflecting on the water...a little bit of reflection to get my day underway. 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 11.54am]

Day one: what do you see?

Day one: what do you see? Do you see what I see?

Yes indeed, I'm embarking on another project 365 blog. I've had a bit of a break from the last one and I'm ready to go again. This one has (almost) no rules or, at least, is not as structured as the last one. Just one photo a day, something that catches my eye. 

This new year will see some changes for me. It is mostly a writing year and and I will be spending a bit of time looking at details, seeing where they fit in the bigger picture. If today's pic is any indication, there'll probably be a few of flowers, plants and 'things'--'detail' might be the theme. 

This is detail from a gerbera, one of an arrangement I received for my birthday. I like the sharp colour; I wonder how that hole got there? That one, right in the middle...did you see it? 

[Camera : iPhone 4S, 8.26am]