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I spent New Years Eve this year with some of my oldest friends having a picnic on the grounds of Vaucluse House in Vaucluse, which afforded a fantastic view of Sydney Harbour and the fireworks.  Sydney Harbour Sunset Continue reading NYE 2011 – EP01 Not the fireworks bit [PHOTOS] When I think about the ongoing destruction of Palestinian homes and construction of illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, I assume that part of the reason is lack of space in the land they already had. You would think if the Israeli government were serious about peace, they would be taking a serious look at how they manage their population.
I’m doing something quite unusual ahead of my study tour to the Middle East (I step on the plane exactly two months from yesterday) which is to try and do some detailed reading about where I’m going before I get there. Usually I just book some flights, read Lonely Planet long enough to work out basically where I want to go within public transport distance of those flights, book three nights accomodation at Destination One, pack a bag, tell my family I’m off for a bit and pay too much to get to the airport. This time however the kind folks at APHEDA are organising all the logistics, right down to people we’re going to meet, the food we’re going to eat, optional day trips and who we get to sit next to on the plane. At first I was a bit worried because it sounded a bit like a Contiki Tour. I have been assured however that the travel time to actually experiencing things ratio is much higher than 10 to 1. Before I picked up my bag of washing from the laundromat this afternoon I went into Gleebooks to pick out a present for the 30th birthday party I’m now going to tonight. Four steps in the door I saw a hardback of Haruki Murakami’s new work, 1Q84. Murakami’s one of my favourite authors (eternal thanks to my sister for introducing me to his books) and he writes beautiful passages, like the following from Dance, Dance, Dance:
I read an interview with Murakami a couple of weeks ago and had filed IQ84 on my list of books to buy. I don’t actually know if the birthday girl –Lauren – likes reading or not, but I bought the book anyway, walking wide-eyed into that chestnut of buying someone a present that I actually wanted myself. I also bought something for myself, a copy of The Great Gatsby, another book which had also gone on my list recently. A tale of two eyes This was the first passport of my own that I owned (I’d shared one before from when I was seven and mum and dad and I went to Hong Kong and then Korea to adopt my brother and sister). I’m fifteen in this photo. Obviously you can see from the photo the genesis of the suave stylish individual you now know and love (or don’t on either count).
Worth noting are the round spectacles, with bonus super strong magnification only on the right lens. This made my right eye appear dis-proportionally larger than the left, quite unfortunate actually because that eye is as lazy as Sunday morning – I never actually use it – and it’s typically not looking at what I’m actually looking at. |
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Copyright © Mark A Riboldi 2012 - All Rights Reserved |
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