Making Friends With The Neighbours

Rides A Bike has got to be on some 'Top-10 Most Adorable Websites' list. If not, it should be.

I was VERY excited to find out this morning that Joni Sternbach has been awarded the Art Park/Atlantic artist's residency in Bryon Bay. I have talked about Joni Sternbach on this blog a few times before, and her images are inspiring , so I was so stoked to read of her award. And in my home town and all!! Congratulations, Joni. Perhaps I'll see you around town...

Over the years, some of my urban, non-surfing friends have expressed concerns about my associations with surfing. Variously, they have counselled me to get a better paying job, to leave the coast and to grow up. They have expressed their concern that the surfing stories I write and and the ideas I work on preclude me from being taken seriously in the wider world. I listen to them, smile and nod, and appreciate that their interventions are based on care for me and their worry that surfing is holding me back from a greater level of success in my life, work and finances. They love me dearly and only wish me the best. So I sit and I listen to them. But I always find myself smiling and drifting, their words taking me away into the water. Because I like my life and I like that the ocean and catching waves are a part of it, I like the way all of that makes me feel and that I get to write about all of that. I feel lucky. Maybe it is a one-sided relationship, but it certainly works for me.

So, a fair bit of time has passed (and a lot has happened) since I last posted back on December 16th. Since that time my internet:computer:time:energy ratio has been a bit of a negotiation through family, location, obligations, stress, work, and other assorted and general end-of-one-year-beginning-of-the-next chaos. But I have been blogging in my head, so the plan is to back date posts to get me back to this date. I will try and post them in order, but I can't promise anything. If you are really keen, you might have to keep looking back through between here and Dec 16th to catch all that I post in the coming week or so. I'm not certain it is the most rational or necessary method, but this is my blog, so I get the final say in making this that slightly dubious call. It might take me a bit of time, but you will know when I have caught up with myself and stopped posting previous to this, because this post will no longer be the top one, and will itself get buried bene...

(Note: The parasol is hiding a pile of unread/in-the-process-of-reading books, and I acquired the green swimmers yesterday.)

I've introduced you to Dan before. Well, now he's on a prolonged surf trip with a mate (or two or three it seems). He sent me a link to check out their trip so far . Please note that Dan clearly isn't the author of this blog, as I am pretty sure he would rock - not suck - at Scrabble! I can't even imagine how feral they would be... By the way, where's your log, Dan? That slimline, white quiver looks empty (but easy to transport ) without it!

Where I'm from, surfing in summer involves spending a lot of time clad in little more than swimmers. For hours and hours every day, you can wear little more than what amounts to less than a couple of metres of metres of stretchy fabric, covering much less of your skin! And since I spend SO much time in swimmers, I always have keen eyes for swimmers that are practical, which will stay on and, which are cute! In the surfing world I inhabit, the chicks tend to have some fun with their swimwear choices - colour, cut, shape, pattern and style. It's not necessary, no. But it is certainly fun. The other problem of course is that with all that sunlight, salt water, wax and sunscreen, a pair of swimmers lasts for a lot less time than I would mostly like them to, so I make sure I have a couple of pairs in rotation. I do love my swimmers, so I do like them to last. Anyway, like many other women in the water, I am always on the lookout for swimmers to surf in. This is not a talent or asp...

I have never made a secret of my delight in pop music. Admittedly a lot of it is total crap and can be problematic on a whole lot of levels, but the stuff that I find is best tends to be quite funny. When I want to have fun or when I want to stay awake while driving or when life gets intense and I want to escape, I turn to pop (or Dolly Parton !), because it reminds me not to take it all too seriously. Yep, that's right: I like pop music because I think it has a sense of humour. And I was reminded of this recently when I went back and listened to one of Gwen Stefani's albums - she makes some pretty amusing songs. Seriously though, tell me this song isn't funny...

This is what my niece got when a friend of ours indulged her with a toy from one of those coin-operated, lucky-dip machines. Isn't it marvellous! It is so kitsch and unnecessary and oddly enchanting, and I always love and cherish those times when surfing suddenly appears in unexpected and often irrelevant places.