The lead up to me leaving Australia was weird.
First of all, I landed in Australia (from travels in Europe) with aplomb - a super great 'welcome home' bbq occurred the day after my return, and then my good friends Ozland and Carly got married the day after.
I immediately went searching for work, but in the back of my mind, I thought i would probably be flying to the USA in January. Being the honest Joe that i am, speaking this probably worked to my detriment with my usual summer employer (they would want me to be there for the whole summer). I didn't work for them at all during my time back. I had a trial day at the ABC, editing a story for the show 'Behind the News'. That went really well, and when i was honest in saying i was potentially leaving, it went down very positively with my contact there - Phil was very encouraging of me travelling and having an adventure.
Alas, no income.
It didn't really matter - instead of earning money, I worked on my 'Bluebottle Kiss' documentary that had been laying dormant for over a year. For two weeks i put in strong full time hours...and then took a holiday to Alice Springs with my mate, Cameron. Again, unsure that i was leaving but wanting to make the most of my time - i thought hanging with Cam would be a good decision. And it was. Great times exploring the middle of Australia - great times.
Christmas came and time was running out, and still no confirmation i was going to the USA - no visa, no plane ticket. In a weird frame of mind then, unsure and uncertain about the future, I was momentarily distracted by my good friend Leila (an Austin, TX native) visiting me. Had a lot of fun with Leila - visting McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley (with awesome and rambunctious friends to boot), beaches, pubs...but inside i was still growing a little bit more and more unsure each day: the USA is not even confirmed, the Bluebottle Kiss documentary is super close to finished (but not finished), my savings are fast being drained and i have no income...what am i going to do if i stay in Australia?
Things with the USA worked out less than a week before i left, and there were adjustments right up to the last minute. On Wednesday morning, I found out that my flight had been changed from Friday, to Thursday morning. I frantically changed farewell party plans (with a good number of friends being able to legendary change their plans for me and say goodbye at the last minute) and packed my bags, with one last night of NBA Wednesday at Cam's going down a treat.
It wasn't at all easy making the decision to come to the USA. On the one hand, I was super excited to have this adventure, volunteering with this company I believe in and enjoy being a part of. On the other hand, my time in Adelaide was brilliant. I was having a good time up until the moment i left, so in thinking heavy thoughts of the future during my last week in Adelaide, I had to weigh up that I was leaving:
such great, great friends
probable freelance broadcast tv work (love it)
probable good income with video/broadcast freelancing and relief teaching
a potentially stable life where one can potentially have a potentially stable girlfriend
summer time and all it's benefits (beaches, Fringe Festival, Big Day Out, Womad etc.)
a great live music scene
a chance to play on a regular basketball team
fun writing for dB magazine again
probably more stuff too
For me, that's a lot of good things to give up. So it wasn't an easy decision to come to the USA at all.
But, I'm here in Boston, Massachusetts at the moment, on the road, volunteering in my 'traveling salesman' type role, promoting Travel for Teens. And...I like it. I think I made the right decision. I'll tell you about the USA in my next blog.
I do miss all that Adelaide had on offer....I guess at the end of the day, I'm grateful for my 2 months from December 2009 - mid January 2010 there. It was very special. This is one of those occasions where I'm happy that I left on a high.
And the adventure continues...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
What? Blog? How! Why!
Where do I start?
I like writing. I'm aware of all the negative aspects of social networking websites - the worst of which is when you perceive that you're actually having a decent relationship with someone, meaningful time spent together, when you're not at all. You haven't spent any time in the presence of that person. And, at the end of the day, it's time actually spent amongst the presence of others that actually nourishes us. Social networking sites and information gained from the press (and let's include blogs as a new form of press, for this argument's sake) never give you as much of a perspective of a person as actually meeting them face-to-face. And interaction through technology is never as satisfying as interacting with them in the same room.
And, i'll let you know that I passed up an opportunity to meet some new people and go and have a drink to write this tonight. And, perhaps people will instantly message me on my computer whilst i write this, and without hesitation i'll start a conversation with them. But i know i've made a simple correct decision tonight.
I believe in God, i believe as in Deuteronomy it says "there's a time and a place for everything...", I believe in moderation as being a generally good guideline in life, I believe i haven't got anything new to say...I guess as individual, unique human beings who mainly all love Monty Python, or maybe, football - beauty isn't in the fact that anyone of us has a revolutionary idea or invention. I invented the digital photo-frame in my mind long before i ever knew how to actually put the electronics together and make it tangibly happen - which i won't ever do now that someone else has actually made digital photo frames...AND i will never be interested in actually making them or in acquiring the prior knowledge needed to actually make them.
That's not good writing, but for me, it's enjoyable writing.
There's this documentary i've been making about a rock band. This rock band, Bluebottle Kiss, whom i absolutely adore, will never ever make any decent money. They'll never be famous. They've been around for over a decade, and basically no-one knows who they are. To a lot of people, the question must be - why do they bother then? I would ask that same question to a lot of other bands.
The answer for Bluebottle Kiss is that they love doing it. The motivation is in writing, playing and recording music for the sake of it. Strangely enough, packing a lot of shows into a short time frame, working really hard, getting tired and then a bit sick, and then having to go back to work a day-job is what they do because they love playing music. And whether or not I admire them for doing that - they just DO enjoy playing music.
I like blogs because i really enjoy hearing about what my friends have been doing. It was weird however, when i met up with my friend Simon, who started to share an anecdote/joke with me and i stopped him short, as I'd already read it on his Facebook a few months prior. Lol. That kinda sucked. It was cool that i laughed at the time he posted it (and dutifully clicked 'like'), but it sucked that i had had this false friendship with Simon going in my mind. I thought i knew him, but i really only knew about him. Knowing Simon came about when we were both in the same city at the same time, and had some well-wicked hanging out going on - whether we were winning at tennis in real life, winning at tennis on the wii, or not playing tennis at other great times of drinking.
Then there's Cam. Cam doesn't have a facebook - one of those 'of principle' people who can't say what that principle is. So Cam told me anecdotes, and i laffed/laughed, as i hadn't heard them him tell me it a month earlier via a public posting on facebook.
- i think that's my biggest annoyance about facebook - you have no idea what friends know what about you as you have no idea who's reading or looking at what -
I think it's important to tell my social networking world that i just patted an unchained tiger today, by updating my status. Thinly veiled boasting has become so much easier thanks to computers, and that was a need that had to be met by someone. So thankyou Mark Zutterguy. Also, Simon Bills for admitting that it's thinly veiled boasting and making us laff.
I would love to be in Wagga Wagga right now, shooting some news footage and having a beer. Simultaneously, i'd love to be hiking across Tasmania and then touring some breweries with buddies who are living there at the moment. I'd love to be watching NBA Wednesday at Cam's place, or better yet, be courtside at whatever game was playing with those very same boys who were at Cam's the other night. Also, I'd love to be in Austin, down at Clementine's having a $1 Lone Star with a whole bunch of cool Austinite friends, maybe playing some Boulderdash or Taboo. And this list could go on and on and on forever. In actuality, i'm quite content sitting in Ned and Kate's lounge room in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, writing this blog.
In May of 2008, I started travelling. In September, I stopped in Austin, Texas and sadly left there in May 2009 when my visa ran out...but on the plus side, travels of Europe were calling. In November 2009, I hung out with my friend Scott Bills in Cambodia whilst on my meandering way back to home-town Adelaide, Australia. I didn't hang out with Scott much at all when i was previously living in Adelaide, but he was an old friend and a good friend none-the-less, and it was super awesome hanging out with a friend like that when the last good, old-friend I'd hung out with (with the exception of my brother in England), had been a long time prior. Hitting home in Adelaide, I was honored to not only have a great welcome-home BBQ in my honor (complete with awesome friends), but also drive around a bridal party of excellent friends the very next day.
The main point of writing this blog was to let a lot of friends and family know what the hell i've been up to. Unless you're very close (and even then), it's ridiculously hard to keep track of me, lately. I think i've failed to fill in most of those details, so i'll do that another time. For me, writing this has been fun, so even if i missed most of the main point of writing, or digressed from writing the details i THOUGHT i'd include when i started, who cares: i've had fun. Plenty of time to fill in the gaps another time.
By the way, i'm in Pennsylvania, I was in San Fran for lunch the other day, I'll be in New York on Tuesday, Boston on the weekend, probably Baltimore the week after, Miami for a week after that (i think...these are all fairly loose ideas of plans at the moment)...
Oh, and i'm volunteering with "travel for teens" - a company that i worked with last June/July taking kids on trips in Europe and South Africa. I hopefully should get an immigrant visa through these lovely people soon, and be working and earning some cash after that.
Chaotic writing over for now.
Thanks for reading.
I like writing. I'm aware of all the negative aspects of social networking websites - the worst of which is when you perceive that you're actually having a decent relationship with someone, meaningful time spent together, when you're not at all. You haven't spent any time in the presence of that person. And, at the end of the day, it's time actually spent amongst the presence of others that actually nourishes us. Social networking sites and information gained from the press (and let's include blogs as a new form of press, for this argument's sake) never give you as much of a perspective of a person as actually meeting them face-to-face. And interaction through technology is never as satisfying as interacting with them in the same room.
And, i'll let you know that I passed up an opportunity to meet some new people and go and have a drink to write this tonight. And, perhaps people will instantly message me on my computer whilst i write this, and without hesitation i'll start a conversation with them. But i know i've made a simple correct decision tonight.
I believe in God, i believe as in Deuteronomy it says "there's a time and a place for everything...", I believe in moderation as being a generally good guideline in life, I believe i haven't got anything new to say...I guess as individual, unique human beings who mainly all love Monty Python, or maybe, football - beauty isn't in the fact that anyone of us has a revolutionary idea or invention. I invented the digital photo-frame in my mind long before i ever knew how to actually put the electronics together and make it tangibly happen - which i won't ever do now that someone else has actually made digital photo frames...AND i will never be interested in actually making them or in acquiring the prior knowledge needed to actually make them.
That's not good writing, but for me, it's enjoyable writing.
There's this documentary i've been making about a rock band. This rock band, Bluebottle Kiss, whom i absolutely adore, will never ever make any decent money. They'll never be famous. They've been around for over a decade, and basically no-one knows who they are. To a lot of people, the question must be - why do they bother then? I would ask that same question to a lot of other bands.
The answer for Bluebottle Kiss is that they love doing it. The motivation is in writing, playing and recording music for the sake of it. Strangely enough, packing a lot of shows into a short time frame, working really hard, getting tired and then a bit sick, and then having to go back to work a day-job is what they do because they love playing music. And whether or not I admire them for doing that - they just DO enjoy playing music.
I like blogs because i really enjoy hearing about what my friends have been doing. It was weird however, when i met up with my friend Simon, who started to share an anecdote/joke with me and i stopped him short, as I'd already read it on his Facebook a few months prior. Lol. That kinda sucked. It was cool that i laughed at the time he posted it (and dutifully clicked 'like'), but it sucked that i had had this false friendship with Simon going in my mind. I thought i knew him, but i really only knew about him. Knowing Simon came about when we were both in the same city at the same time, and had some well-wicked hanging out going on - whether we were winning at tennis in real life, winning at tennis on the wii, or not playing tennis at other great times of drinking.
Then there's Cam. Cam doesn't have a facebook - one of those 'of principle' people who can't say what that principle is. So Cam told me anecdotes, and i laffed/laughed, as i hadn't heard them him tell me it a month earlier via a public posting on facebook.
- i think that's my biggest annoyance about facebook - you have no idea what friends know what about you as you have no idea who's reading or looking at what -
I think it's important to tell my social networking world that i just patted an unchained tiger today, by updating my status. Thinly veiled boasting has become so much easier thanks to computers, and that was a need that had to be met by someone. So thankyou Mark Zutterguy. Also, Simon Bills for admitting that it's thinly veiled boasting and making us laff.
I would love to be in Wagga Wagga right now, shooting some news footage and having a beer. Simultaneously, i'd love to be hiking across Tasmania and then touring some breweries with buddies who are living there at the moment. I'd love to be watching NBA Wednesday at Cam's place, or better yet, be courtside at whatever game was playing with those very same boys who were at Cam's the other night. Also, I'd love to be in Austin, down at Clementine's having a $1 Lone Star with a whole bunch of cool Austinite friends, maybe playing some Boulderdash or Taboo. And this list could go on and on and on forever. In actuality, i'm quite content sitting in Ned and Kate's lounge room in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, writing this blog.
In May of 2008, I started travelling. In September, I stopped in Austin, Texas and sadly left there in May 2009 when my visa ran out...but on the plus side, travels of Europe were calling. In November 2009, I hung out with my friend Scott Bills in Cambodia whilst on my meandering way back to home-town Adelaide, Australia. I didn't hang out with Scott much at all when i was previously living in Adelaide, but he was an old friend and a good friend none-the-less, and it was super awesome hanging out with a friend like that when the last good, old-friend I'd hung out with (with the exception of my brother in England), had been a long time prior. Hitting home in Adelaide, I was honored to not only have a great welcome-home BBQ in my honor (complete with awesome friends), but also drive around a bridal party of excellent friends the very next day.
The main point of writing this blog was to let a lot of friends and family know what the hell i've been up to. Unless you're very close (and even then), it's ridiculously hard to keep track of me, lately. I think i've failed to fill in most of those details, so i'll do that another time. For me, writing this has been fun, so even if i missed most of the main point of writing, or digressed from writing the details i THOUGHT i'd include when i started, who cares: i've had fun. Plenty of time to fill in the gaps another time.
By the way, i'm in Pennsylvania, I was in San Fran for lunch the other day, I'll be in New York on Tuesday, Boston on the weekend, probably Baltimore the week after, Miami for a week after that (i think...these are all fairly loose ideas of plans at the moment)...
Oh, and i'm volunteering with "travel for teens" - a company that i worked with last June/July taking kids on trips in Europe and South Africa. I hopefully should get an immigrant visa through these lovely people soon, and be working and earning some cash after that.
Chaotic writing over for now.
Thanks for reading.
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