vidyarrrr7th April: watching transatlantic on netflix, i'm grateful for the existence of the transatlantic accent (though its sadly lacking in this show?).Yrs ago i used to do a comedy character who hit her head & thought she was Katherine Hepburn. There's a lot of linguistic advice on doing the transatlantic accent out there but my little acting shortcut is tht before I go on stage I simply unhinge my jaw & wrap my entire mouth around an old radio mic while emitting a low hum until my cue is called ;)
8th April: a bird has built a nest in the tree outside my window, screeches every dawn and sunset, sings and has big chats with other birds, lays eggs etc. etc. grateful for this new neighbour and wish my other neighbour who constantly plays Break My Soul (by Beyoncé) on repeat would get on this bird's vibelength. Like it's been nearly a year since the album dropped ... I think queen B has done all she can to empower??.. I wish you well tho, dude across the hall.
9/4: was telling my friend about an upsetting thing that happened this week & she sent me an ubereats voucher out of the blue. i'm really not in need of it in any financial or practical sense but it actually made a bit of emotional difference? a nice change from the usual 'let me know if u need anything' - which I feel like I say a lot to ppl too. feeling lucky to know someone who just kind of actions care? / gonna try and do that more when I can too /
10/4. Ate a really good ginger biscuit. Ginger, but also the sweet of a biscuit? Feels bisexual, can't explain why.
11/4 - grateful for the perfect childhood role model - helga pataki. don't know if kid's cartoons are still so nuanced and filled with irascible and extreme girls but I feel like no? anyway ---- move it, football head!
12/4. This poem 'what you were waiting for' by Aria Aber, fully propelled me into the sense memory of the one winter I lived in Europe for a couple of months, barely out of school and so skinny in the cold, eating chocolate on old steps and curious and cloyingly heartbroken about everything
13/4. Unlike a lot of indian men of my father's generation (and in his friend group) my dad is super domestic: loves cooking and is amazing at it, cleans, does all the practical care-work we associate with aunties. it doesn't occur to him that he's unusual that way, but i'm grateful for growing up with that model of masculinity.
14. Not much good today, caring for a sick parent is a unique torture. I admired the clear and brilliant blue of the perth sky for a little bit, glad it existed A rest for my eyes from witnessing harder things.
15/4. Hometown friendships, I'm grateful to still be drinking bubble tea at the local mall with N, one of my first friends in Australia & a true soul- mate. Something about someone who's known you since you were a teenager - feels like a rare treat for immigrant kids who've lived across a few continents.
16/4 okay but I had the best time at the dungeons and dragons movie. kinda grateful to have joined this geeky subculture 5 years ago now?? it's brought so much silliness and joy.
17/4 i had a really long chat with my dad today about his childhood in rural india and managed to record it. over the years i've been trying to archive some of these memories, pressing up against the pillar of mortality. i'm glad i could capture today's conversation. so much of this history is unrecorded, ephemeral and yet completely the locus of 20th century migration and politics.
My mum's love of clothes is delightful. It's a very pure aesthetic joy, there's never standards or pressure which I know from friends can be rare in how they were raised by their mothers. She's a bit of a 'if u dress how u want to feel it'll help u become that sometimes', just some casual Judith Butler by way of saris.
Okay the best thing about today was realising the Total Solar Eclipse is tomorrow. I've never experienced one. Darkness during the day??? I'm a simple woman and I'm excited.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-19/total-solar-eclipse-in-australia-when-and-where-it-can-be-seen/102115376
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-19/total-solar-eclipse-in-australia-when-and-where-it-can-be-seen/102115376
What time is the solar eclipse? Here's a capital city breakdown of when it's happening and how to enjoy it safely
Exmouth in WA will be plunged into darkness for about a minute when the eclipse happens but gazers in other states will experience a partial eclipse. Here's a rundown of the timings
20/4. Eclipse spotting was ridiculous fun, especially the bit where our makeshift pinhole projector turned into a streetside attraction and ppl kept stopping to look and try. Inside every person I guess there is some kind of evolutionary desire for SHADOWPLAY???!!
I still wear some clothes I wore as a 10 year old. That's 2 decades ago. I wish I'd kept them for noble sustainability reasons but it's just cause they still fit and feel like putting on a hug. Or maybe they let me believe in some kinda essential self. Anyone else keep clothes this long? Is it weird lol??
22/4. I love that buildings like the old Nicholas still exist in Melbourne. It's as close to being in an art deco noir labyrinth you can get for free. Strange mezzanines. Random offices for private detectives and tarot readers. A sign on a door for a museum of electrical philosophy...I need a TV show in there yesterday.
a south asian art gathering this morning turned into a random eid meal turned into hours chatting with strangers, finding community in the diaspora can be so clumsy and fraught it's nice when it emerges from a spontaneous impulse
Had a great night stroll to the city. I love walking at night, but the real danger of being in a femme body in public space makes it something rare. Did u know pepper spray is illegal in most of Australia? Fun fact.
black cats are so satisfyingto look at, wild to think they were considered unlucky. encountered one that almost made me want to adopt but then i remembered the only plants i've kept alive have been in a video game.
spent a lovely evening chatting with a panel about tram journeys as part of Tramlines - a new series of audio works for Melbourne you're supposed to listen to while on a tram. it occurred to me that this is basically augmented reality but old school, with audio as the layer. my contribution is using the tram as a future museum simulation of...a tram.
anyway cool to live in a city that does stuff like this:
https://cityofliterature.com.au/tramlines/
anyway cool to live in a city that does stuff like this:
https://cityofliterature.com.au/tramlines/