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.

I'm still alive, I swear to Gawd. :D

I've been too busy to blog, really, but I'll just write down a few quick points so that I'll know to expound upon them later on. Really, I have a feeling that no one's going to get the 'low down' until I get home, but I will say this much -

- Tricky was fucking awesome in concert. If you don't know who he is, you must make it a point to find out. And the Metro Theatre in Sydney is also in the category of 'fucking awesome'. It reminds me of Rams' Head at home.

- Chicken-flavored potato chips are also 'fucking awesome'. As are Violet Crumbles. I'm going to bring a fuckload of those home and freeze them because I know I'm not going to be able to get those anytime soon, heh.

- TimTams and Burger Rings do NOT mix. Do not eat those at the same time - you will get sick. Guaranteed.

- I am reminded that blaxploitation movies are indeed the shiznit.

- It is cheaper to do your own stir-fry at home than to go out. Though I WILL get to a Vietnamese restaurant here before I leave. Bank on that.

- Two weeks just isn't enough to spend in Sydney. You need a month. Maybe two.

- My Australian friends are right. 'Neighbours' SUCKS ASS. :o

- I was reminded of home briefly when a dead body turned up right outside my apartment building. I was locked in here for several hours. I'm getting everything from "run over by a bus" to "jumped off a building", but the Australian news has nothing. Meh. I've been assured that this is not a common happening here.

Those, for now, are the highlights. More pictures are on the way, though I can't seem to find the ones I took at the Powerhouse Museum, and if I lost those I'm going to be mad as shit, because those were GOOD.

Promise, more details later. Honest. It's hard to keep the wifi going here. Goddamn Australian bureaucracy. :D

It's hump day without the humping. -_-

Teehee at the title. Sometimes I crack myself up.

I've added a "this is how many days I've got before I leave for Sydney" widget thingie on the side. Only 31 days left, holy shit. It doesn't feel like that little! I still have a couple of things to buy, but I'm more or less through. Now to pack up and clean this hellhole of a house - I hope I can get enough strength together for that - I haven't been feeling too well physically here lately. Still, I may go out tonight to the stores and buy what I need to. I do need to get out of here and enjoy myself a little bit, even if it's slow and tedious. The weather's nice enough, anyway, but I want to wait until it's dark. I hate going out in the sunlight, and even worse, the sun isn't fully down over here right now until nearly 9:30pm. Gah, fuck that. I HATE summer!

I've been thinking about discontinuing my Paxil here recently, because I honestly don't think it's helping me anymore, and I'm really worried about the possible addiction factors. The more I read, the more what I'm finding is scaring me. I don't like the things I'm hearing about this drug. And to be honest with you - I've not felt any better on this drug than the others I've tried. But I don't want to taper off of this right now, there's too much involved in doing so and I've got a lot of things hanging over my head at the moment. Perhaps when I get back, I'll think about it. I'm going to the doctor on July 3rd, so I'll have a little confab about it then.

I'll be sort of documenting my trip over the time I'm in Sydney - well, what time I can carve out, anyway - but for those who are curious about pictures and the like, I'll make sure to work something out so that you can see them here. I'm not sure of how that'll be accomplished - I really don't want to open a second blog just for this purpose. But I'll figure it out before I head off.

Maybe I'll go bike riding for a while. It sure is beautiful out, if too sunny. A lot more clouds and it would be perfect, but... eh, the temperature's a good tradeoff.

P.S. The General Tso chicken at China Harbor across the street is the fucking bomb. Goddamned, fucking delicious. I mean that. I mean that. :D