Day 3 of ‘Voluntary’ Underemployment

-Number of cigarettes smoked: Incredibly, still zero.
-Number of Panadol taken in the vain effort to stop the pounding in my head: 17
-Hours spent wondering just what the hell I am doing: Oh, thousands.

And I was at work for half the day. I made the mistake, however, of taking Boy Z down to what I can best describe as the third circle of hell – Westfield Marion Shopping Center. I learned two things in hell. One, after two weeks of school holidays every Australian parent takes their bored and sugar crazed children to the mall so they can wreak havoc on someone else’s property. Two, I will never go to Westfield Marion Shopping Center again.

You know what else I learned today? To a 19 month old boy, the best way to drink water – the only way to drink water – is out of his Papa’s empty energy drink tin.

Jacob wants a story. My fellow Okeefenokeestani (his demonym, I can’t take credit for something so clever) was enchanted by my ‘literary quality‘ posts of a wee while back and is demanding more. Two problems. One, I only have a limited number of stories unless I start cold making shit up. Two, these literary quality posts aren’t the easiest things to write – they take a little time. More than you get during a typical toddler nap or corporate lunch break.

I’ve actually got a story that I’ve been thinking about telling for a while. But it’s a long one and one that I’m not sure I’m ready to tell yet. One of my goals during this time that I’ve got away from the grind is to sit down and write it out to see how I feel about it. So there you go, Jacob. Hang tough.

For today, however, you get photos. Tomorrow will be our one year anniversary in Oz. I was going through my iPhoto library and was amazed to see how much the little guarana-head above has changed in that year. I was also struck by the amount of time we spend at the beach – that is why I moved here. I can’t think of a better illustration of our first year in Australia than a year at the beach.

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“Everyone, Come Outside!” is the sophomore effort from self-described Cincy art-poppers Pomegranates. The record came out earlier this month and brings to mind some of the Swedish pop that turns my crank. Good stuff. They’re in the midst of a U.S. tour or check out the new album at Pomegranates - Everybody, Come Outside!.

 
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