I enjoy reading all the weekly notes that Sathya and others write. And it's fun to look back at my notes from last year to see what I was doing then. So, I'm giving the weekly notes another attempt, to see if I stick with it this time around.
In my life
We're back in Sydney after a difficult two weeks. I'm glad to report that my dad is now home and doing much better now. I was admittedly struggling for the first few days. The dreary, rainy Sydney weather meant I couldn't go out for walks which usually helps improve my mood when I feel low.
But coming back has also meant I went back to the gym for a PT session on Thursday, and my trainer has been pushing me to get back on track which I'm so grateful for.
Sathya's away for a week starting today, so I wanted to spend some time with him before he left but also wanted to get out of the house for a bit. The Saturday weather forecast said it would rain so I suggested we head to the Art Gallery of NSW for a few hours and grab lunch somewhere after that. We spent a few hours exploring the exhibits at the north building which holds contemporary art works.
We first viewed an exhibit of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander art works in the Yiribana Gallery. Outside of some (what I think of as) traditional artwork, there were also those making commentary on the social issues facing these communities - the effects of colonization, increased levels of alcoholism in the community, over policing in areas traditionally occupied by them, amongst others. There was also a collection of pottery by Judith Inkamala showcasing the good & bad sides of life on outstations.
The second exhibit we visited was called Making Worlds showcasing artwork of artists from all over the world. It included photographs by Gauri Gill (such a pleasant surprise to see these in person) and introduced me to the strangely compelling work of Wolfgang Tillmans.
I was soon too tired as I had an early morning PT session, so we decided to come back another time for the rest of the galleries. We ended up at The Terrace on Domain and had a nice Italian lunch.
Today (Sunday) I went to Newtown to explore the area some more. It has a lot of street art, cafes and second-hand record and bookstores (nothing quite like Blossoms though) and is always bustling with people. Coming here and just browsing around and digging through all the shops is a fun way to spend a few hours.
This time, I managed to find two albums for Sathya - Led Zeppelin 4, which I'm listening to as I write this, and John Frusciante's Curtains.
In the bookstores I found some secondhand copies of books by CJ Cherryh & some books from the Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. I've been trying to read more female authored science fiction books over the last few years, and I loved Vatta's war series so wanted print copies of them for my collection. CJ Cherryh is next on that list of authors, just need to find the time - and a copy of Downbelow Station.
On my screens
There really hasn’t been much airing that captured my attention these last few weeks so I’m rewatching an old favourite and waiting for new episodes of two shows.
- High Potential (Ongoing) - Based on a French series, the show is about a High IQ cleaning lady who becomes a consultant on LAPD cases. I enjoy crime busting episodic shows like Law & Order SVU, so this one is right up my alley.
- Lovely Runner (Korean, Rewatch) - I love my romance stories as much as I love my crime/revenge shows and this was my favourite Kdrama from last year. The actors did a brilliant job of it, believably acting both as teenagers and 30 somethings, the music is on my Asian playlist and the direction/plot/cinematography are all really well done and I'd happily recommend it anyone looking for a timeslip, romcom Kdrama.
Summary: Im Sol is a big fan of the Kpop group Eclipse. When her bias Ryun Seon Jae dies from a suicide she's transported back in time to their school days and she decides to do whatever it takes to make sure he isn't depressed in this lifetime. - ThamePo (Thai, Queer, Ongoing) - Yet another idol romance that has been absolutely brilliant at hitting all the romantic notes like Lovely Runner did last year. It actually talks about the kind of problems that idols face in their lives - slave contracts, lack of creative freedom, no dating rules, parasocial fans etc. Fingers crossed that it sticks the landing with something believeable.
- Nice to Never Meet You (Thai, Short Movie, Complete) - If you knew that your relationship would end in tears and you had a chance to start over would you choose to meet your partner again? Watched this on the plane while travelling to Sydney solely because Tor Thanapob was in it, but loved the cinematography.
On my bookshelf
My focus over the last year has shifted to reading Asian novel translations/mangas & manhwas. This week I read these books.
- Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio - I have been reading this on and off over the last year after hearing good reviews but its been slow going. What I have read so far has been great and I'm looking forward to continuing with the series.
- I feel you linger in the air by Violet Rain (Thai translation, Queer Romance) - I watched the show last year and wanted to read this ahead of season 2 to see how the story ends. I enjoyed reading about 19020s Chiang Mai and it was far better written than some of the other translated novels I've read.
On my playlist
I saw this song was recommended on the Sunny Side Up newsletter from Finshots and gave it a listen while travelling. It’s been on repeat all week since then. Some of my favourite lyrics from the song -
Nobody knows where all the years go
Our stories unfold
What a time, what a time
What a time to be alive
On my camera
I want to try to share photos I take and maybe talk about any of the processing tools I used.
This is a photo of the Sydney Hospital Nightingale Wing - the site of the first nursing school in Australia.
The initial photo was slightly tilted due to the angle I took it from and fixing that caused it to be stretched. I then imported int Photoshop and used Generative fill to fill in the content for those areas. This is my first time using that and I was pleasantly suprised by the results.
Thanks for tagging along!
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