Counting down to the last days.

I only have 48 or so more hours here in Sydney, and I can say that this has truly been "the trip of a lifetime". Would I come back for another visit? You'd better believe I will, even if it takes forever to get here. I don't think that I'd ever visit this place in summer, though - 40+ Celsius temperatures are just a bit too much for me to handle. However, my next "target", so to speak, is Europe. I do want to visit the U.K. and Ireland, both places where my ancestors supposedly came from (my mother's side is from Devon in the south of the U.K., my father's side from northwestern Ireland, County Sligo - you know, the black marshes and shit, heh). But that'll be some time away, as I now owe a fuckload of money, pretty much. I still have to settle this shit with the stuff from D.C. - they unbelievably "gave my job away" while I was out of the country and they're supposedly upset about it. Uhhuh. Whatever. This is why I didn't pin any hopes on this shit, but... it still hurts.

I didn't really get a lot of pictures here - I guess I was just too excited to take a lot, and my Powerhouse Museum shots have seemingly disappeared into the void - which I truly am upset about. But we'll see what happens. I still have a couple of places to go before this trip is done, so I'll get what I can.

I attended a fabulous concert last night at The Basement here in Sydney, and saw Tina Harrod - she's fabulous! I've been slowly getting into jazz and slow 'night' style music, and let me say this - this woman will not disappoint by any means. I think one of my favorite tracks was 'C.C. Rider' - the heart and soul that she put into that track was unbelievable! She also did Portishead covers (I think that was a lot of her influence, tell the truth), Beatles covers... her range is impressive. It's a shame that she's not known in the States - she should be. She doesn't appear to have a website (it's down), but ABC Australia has a link here - go listen! Now! I command you! :D

I do have a rant, however, concerning the concert, and it has nothing to do with the music, or the performance - no, they were first-rate. This has everything to do with... my shoes. Yes, my shoes.

I purchased a beautiful pair of black and silver accented 'ballet flats' shortly before I came to Sydney. Indeed, I even bought them a size too large so that they'd fit comfortably. They're Dr. Scholls - a name well known in America for quality, comfortable footwear and foot products. Don't believe me? Have a look for yourself - it's all right here.

So I'm wearing these shoes, and suddenly my feet are pinching in the toes - this is not a normal place for shoes to pinch, if they're going to - normally all of the discomfort is going to come from the heel. Not these motherfuckers. Oh, no! I ended up standing at The Basement in my bare feet because these shoes pinched so badly that I couldn't even stand in them!

You should have seen me trying to walk back to the apartment. Ladies and gentlemen, a walk that would normally take me 5 minutes to complete in tennis shoes took me 45 minutes to walk - in bare feet. That's right, I walked the mean streets of Sydney at 12:45 in the morning - in wintertime, yet - in my bare toes. I only thank Christ that Sydney's sidewalks are practically clean enough to eat off of, because if this were Baltimore my feet would have been minced meat by the time I got back.

And the final insult? It says right on the shoes - "feel crazy good". Uh, right, my fat ass. If your idea of feeling crazy good is to have your feet pinched just standing in a pair of flats, then honey, this is your brand. I expected better from Dr. Scholls, who have a fucking reputation to protect.

Fuck you, Dr. Scholl. I bet your ass isn't a real fucking M.D., anyway. I bet you're one of those quack motherfuckers that sold cocaine as a wonder drug in the 1890s. Dickhead.

Now that my rant is over... I'm going to enjoy some stir-fry, and unfortunately start packing. I'm going to miss this place, very much. But it's time to get going on what is... well, left of my life, I guess.