Dear _____,
-
Excuses and Complaining, but Boyfriends and Food
Dear Lana,
I know, I know, I know. It’s not Christmas anymore. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry that I haven’t updated with a letter in a while and it’s holding the whole project back. I’m sorry.
I have so many excuses just for this occasion. I’m prepared. You’ll see.
Things that will pardon me for my absence:
- My boyfriend has gone away and I am a lonely, sick, hermit that is too greasy and awful to move
- I am sick and too greasy and awful to move
- I am a hermit and so my loneliness is so overwhelming
- My main Tumblr is always the first thing I see when I have the intention of posting here and I get stuck scrolling and scrolling and scrolling….
See? Perfectly good excuses.
Things I have done that I did not take pictures or video of:
- Went to Disneyland
- Had a wonderful Christmas party with some friends full of fun and improv and board games and laughter
Things I have not done, but if I did I could have taken pictures for Dear ____,:
- Left the house since Christmas day
- Felt the touch of another human being
- Seen the sunlight
- Felt the wind on my face
- Felt the caress of grass
- Seen trees
Now I sound like Gollum. I am Gollum. I am Smeagol. Are you happy now, Lana? ARE YOU?!
Things I have gotten pictures of since I last posted a letter:
- Food
- My boyfriend
So that’s what I have. Enjoy.
-
Adelaide Hemeji Garden
Dear Bekah,
On Thursday, I went to the Adelaide Himeji Garden with Dazza.
Himeji is a city in Japan, located 650km west of Tokyo, and 8,050km from Adelaide. Adelaide and Himeji became Sister Cities in April, 1982.
Outside the gate, there is a stone with two plaques saying as such. On the right is the Japanese, and on the left is the English translation.
When I stepped into the gardens, I was immediately struck by how peaceful it is there. I have decided that I am going to spend most of my time there, and that is where I am going to go to write from now on.
The first thing I saw when I walked in was the Okunoin Lantern. It has a Japanese inscription that reads: “For the friendship of the two cities”.
The next thing I came across was the large pond in the centre of the gardens. Unfortunately, the light was awful so I couldn’t get a proper photo, so here is the best I could do.
Next to a fountain that I took unsuccessful photos of, there is a milestone that says how far that point is from Himeji.
At the very back of the gardens is one of those “Sea of Sand” things. We sat there and watched My Little Pony while wearing cat ears… yeah. I know… I know.
So yes. I was going to go back to the gardens again on Friday, but I never managed to due to stuff not happening.
I’ve no idea where I will go next.
I really need a cup of tea, so I shall be off.
Love, Lana.
-
Christmas in Coburg. Not that it’s actually Christmas but whatever.
Dear Lana, my love (and Bekah if she’s reading this over your shoulder),
I started today being coerced into a trip to the local Office Works compound. We traipsed up the endless sunny and vaguely gentrified streets of Slightly More North Coburg as I attempted to remember where exactly Office Works was.
The gentrified streets did not last long:
When we were kids my friend and I found an equally disgusting but much larger abandoned hulk of a mattress and spent a languid summer afternoon jumping on it. Until the sound of weary springs angered a local homunculus, who quite literally chased us off his lawn. All I can say is that if he didn’t want us jumping, he ought not have had an elephant’s graveyard of mattresses for a lawn. Anyway.
After the adventure of OfficeWorks - in which Julian asks why we had to go to OfficeWorks to buy eight envelopes, and why OfficeWorks sells 1kg packets of Jelly Beans. If you’re buying a kilo of JellyBeans from an office supply store you’ve probably hit some kind of low in your life- we coffeed at the Hipster Coffee place. I would have pictures of this hive of youth and vigour, but I had too much awkward contempt to aim the camera properly. Next time.
It wasn’t all hipsters and slow burning urban decay, I did find time to have a lie down in the park. This was my view:
Lying back in the grass, my legs and mind relaxed, I felt very much like a Hobbit. The feeling would have been increased had I taken my shoes off to bask my feet in the sun. Were I not so opposed to the principle of exposing one’s feet in public, that is.
On the way home I passed Juliana’s Cafe, the HQ for Lana’s secret reptilian empire as well as being home to Bekah’s “Bi-monthly Julana Shipping Social” events.
Finally homeward bound, I stopped by Phil’s Evil Empire Comics to search and shuffle longboxes madly for comics, a feeling of awkward excitement coursing through me.
A more detailed peek of that beautiful trove:
My tea’s getting cold, so I’d best be off.
~Julian
xxxx -
Christmas in Rundle Mall
Dear Bekah,
As promised, I traipsed into town and took a few photos of Rundle Mall and James Place for you.
Rundle Mall is a long street in the middle of town. It’s paved and lined with shops on either side of the street.
I was there around lunchtime, so it was pretty crowded.
Seeing as it is Christmas, they have some fairly tacky oversized Christmas decorations hung up off the lamp posts in the middle. They have had the same ones every year for as long as I remember. Personally, I think it is time for them to get some new ones.
(on the screen in the background, there is an advert for Rundle Mall showing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptLA7gz-M68 )
About one third of the way up the mall, there are some bronze pig sculptures, five of them I think? They are supposed to be one of the highlights of the mall. I dunno, I don’t really see what’s so great about them myself…
Right in the middle of the mall, is a sculpture thingumy the locals have dubbed ‘The Mall’s Balls’. Basically, it’s two giant silver spheres, one on top of the other. it makes absolutely no sense, but it is used as the general meeting place.
“Where’d you wanna meet?”
“Oh I dunno… Mall’s balls?”
One of my favourite places to visit in Adelaide is James Place. It’s an alleyway that stems off Rundle Mall, that is paved with cobblestones and reminds me so, so much of England. In this alleyway is an old style sweet shop, with the most wonderful façade that I have ever seen.
I briefly considered going inside and taking photos to show, but I decided to leave that for another day.
In keeping with the theme of tacky Christmas decorations, there is a giant tree in Victoria Square, which is just down King William Street. I wasn’t going to get a photo of it, but I got off the tram nearby and thought, why not?
Also in keeping with the whole “pointless sculptures” thing Adelaide seems to have going for it is some kind of skeleton thing that I came across after getting coffee.
The thing I dislike most about Adelaide, Rundle Mall especially, is that everyone knows each other. Today, while I was wandering around taking photos of stuff, I saw about eight people I know, and was forced to stop and talk to about five of them.
Because it was so hot today (about 30 degrees) I spent as little time outside as possible, but I fear I may have gotten sunburnt anyway. Oh well.
I forgot that I was meant to take a photo of Wendy’s for you, but I will get that next time I go into town. That should be within the next few days.
I also managed to stop myself buying records while I was out, you should be proud!
I don’t think I got any pictures of the street crossings, but they seem to be more or less the same here as they are for you.
I’m looking forward to the excuse to go into the second-hand bookshops soon, I have been putting it off for ages!
Love, Lana.
-
Commonwealth at Christmas
Dear Lana,
Our first mission was to explore a main street in our respective towns. I chose my favorite place in my area, Commonwealth Avenue.
My boyfriend, Giancarlo, and I got into the car and headed out into Downtown Fullerton, where this street is located. Along the way, you can see some pretty stereotypical California-at-night scenes.
The buildings and design of this part of the city has always been very pretty to my dry, dust-filled, plain Nevadan eyes, but at this time of the year, it was particularly beautiful.
Some of the best things about Commonwealth Avenue are the thrift stores. There are quite a few, each with a pretty distinct vibe about them. A favorite of Giancarlo’s and mine is The Buffalo Exchange.
While building up media for this blog post, Giancarlo called me into the store to see what had been added.
I always have an issue with wanting the clothes off the mannequins. The problem with this is that the mannequins are placed high on some shelves that run along just under the ceiling and above the general merchandise of the store. Because this is a thrift store, it is highly unlikely that you will find another of the item on the mannequin. In the past, I have been lucky enough to have the items removed and after trying them on, found that they fit and I purchased them. I don’t want to be a nuisance to the employees there, so I try not to ask too often.
Some things that I included in my photo-taking frenzy were some things I was not sure if they’d be the same in Australia, like the buttons you press to cross the street and buses.
The bus footage is included in the following video, as well as some POV shots of walking through this area.
All in all, Commonwealth Avenue is a very pretty place to be at any time, but especially during the holidays. It’s very different from Carson City, where I spent the last seven years.
Looking forward to seeing Rundle Mall, Lana!
Love,
Bekah
