The end of Pollyanna...

So I'm very much past my six week trial of being "glad", aka my own personal Pollyanna project. To catch you all up I challenege myself over a six week period to the task of noting things as part of an ordinary day in my life that I was glad about, that made my heart sing or my brain stop for just a moment or so - see the original post here. Then I blogged them - see the posts under the Pollyana Project.

All the budding researchers among you are awaiting my chapter on analysis and results I know, so here it is plain and simple. What makes me glad? (Or should I phrase that what are the moments of bliss in amongst the daily grind? Sorry Pollyana doesn't live here any more!) Well....

• rainboots...and rain, and weather in general, storms, sunshine, the changing of the seasons and everything in between including spending time on the high seas!
• professional people I admire, aka my professional heroes - getting to meet and work with them is an added bonus!
• pets - other peoples, ones on the street, native wildlife. If I can pat it, I like it.
• friends - that mostly love to eat (and yes have the odd tipple), and then there are their friends - the joy of meeting people that know your friends (social networks! gah!) are always a new possibility
• time to myself - and learning to make that time
• Phwoar and Swoon - men worthy of cravats and breeches (and cycling lyrca).
• random acts of song/music - it is something about voices raised together (BYO daggy 80's hits) or music that floats into the street (BYO violinist and soprano)
• armchair sport spectatorship - I've yelled and booed at the World Cup and the wondrous Le tour de France, perhaps lawns bowls spectatorship next?
• art in everyday life - off to galleries and performances, being reminded of art works I love...
• sleep - lots of it, preferably a nice daily dose.
• giggling - to take a leaf out of Elizabeth Bennet's book 'Follies and nonsense, whims and inconsistencies do divert me, I own, and I laugh at them whenever I can' closely followed by instigating said giggling
• achieving something - and having it immortalised on a plaque or planting the seeds of bigger achievements

So basically I'm glad if I get to sleep, eat, drink and giggle (preferably with other people), pat animals, hang out in the weather and watch other people play sport, make art and performance, and/or wear cravats. That is all.

Aren't you glad I'm back?

If you think the posts below magically appeared perhaps while you were napping...(I mean carefully watching Le Tour de France...) then the answer is yes. Things got busy. This blog didn't! But I'm back....I think I've lost some days in here somewhere...but I try my best to be the bearer of glad tidings.

TUESDAY

My bed! Finally my bed!

Glad moment: it made it up the stairs...now who wants to come over and try it out?

WEDNESDAY

Office pranks. If you think I'm kidding when I say I'll send you the bill in the internal mail, I wasn't. One perfectly delivered faux-invoice. A day to wait for the response.

Glad moment: the smugness that only delayed gratification can bring.

THURSDAY

Quick wit delivered by return internal snail mail. How I do love a sense of humour.

Glad moment: keeping pedants in business.

FRIDAY > SUNDAY

Lost somewhere in France.

MONDAY

Rest night at Le Tour de France...

Glad moment: finally a night in bed early!

TUESDAY

see Friday > Sunday.

WEDNESDAY

Old friends, old art...Abstraction at The Art Gallery of NSW followed by the perfect antidote, Victorian Visions. Don't get me wrong my bower-bird eyes lit up at the works in the Abstraction exhibition. The Mondrian and Braque works especially feel like old friends and I comprehend the momentous shift this exhibition tracks...but there is just something so lush and seductive about voluptuous figures and the quality of heavy oil work of the Pre-Raphaelites and their other Victorian-era friends that stirs something deep, or should I say much deeper.

Glad moment: 'other' art making my heart sing.

THURSDAY

Thinking about escape (I mean er, travel) plans!

Glad moment: The more I say it, the more it forms as a tangible alternative.

FRIDAY

Yep...I'm king of the mountains! Wearing polka dots did it today.

Glad moment: Yes, the lack of sleep does effect my wardrobe choice.

SATURDAY

Rollin with my homies...and eggs for breakfast.

Glad moment: Eggs taste better in the company of beloved girlfriends.

My annual holiday

It's started! Is there anything more grand than Tour de France...ok possibly being at Tour de France could top merely enjoying it from my armchair perspective but I'm glad today to be looking forward to 21 days of French summer time fun (although we are in The Netherlands at the moment!), Mike Tomalaris, daily Gabriel Gate recipes, helicopters flying over châteaux...oh and a cycling race. Day 1 bodes well for Saxo Bank...(go Cancellara!) and make sure you check out this lovely website http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2010/

Glad moment: Fabian Cancellara's thighs.

Cheers, it's cold...

THURSDAY

Other people's leaving drinks. Any excuse to stop work at 4.30pm and have a glass (filled and re-filled for you) and some chatter.

Glad moment: never having to refill your own glass.

FRIDAY

New bed! (finally...the fact half of it hasn't made it up the stairs ain't great, but hey a good shove and it should make it fine....

Glad moment: lounging on a new bed even if it's just the mattress and it is still in plastic is a wondrous feeling.

SATURDAY

If it's cold, if it's July....it must be time for le Tour! (getting up at 2am tomorrow for the prelude is probably not the best way to make me glad but nonetheless!)

Glad moment: 21 days to go!

Ah yes, where was I?

Ok....

SUNDAY

Cycle chic...see the post here, was a lovely (though hilly ride!) to and from Bondi Beach and a lovely afternoon in the company of other like-minded lovely people.

Glad moment: Chic is a serious business, lucky I had a gold dress in the wardrobe to match the Golden Mongoose.

MONDAY

I'm passing again. If you can find something glad about Mondays...good on you.

TUESDAY

Another Tuesday, another 'Insights Night'! Learning about the artform you promote is never dull.

Glad moment: feeling that a tiny part of what you do has a big impact on other people.

WEDNESDAY

Also known as 'plaque day'. No, not a trip to the dentist! Rather a time when I can actually sing along to this....

>

This is end, my beautiful friend...the end! And here's my plaque to prove it!

Glad moment: Everything looks better on a plaque.

THURSDAY

Um, er....pass again.

FRIDAY

Spontaneous invites by email....the subject line of this one was...'Would you like to go sailing on Sunday?'...now ask yourself, what else would I want to do on a Sunday.

Glad moment: a return to the high seas

SATURDAY

Menu planning for said sail trip...this is where the 'part-domestic goddess' persona kicks in...rushing about, attempting to work out just what encapsulates a winner picnic for a Sunday sailing trip. I am usually so much better at spring/summer catering but nonetheless not daunted...if only I could take my nounce for picnic catering into other areas of my life.

Glad moment: gluttony can extend onto the high seas

SUNDAY

Sailing!

Glad moment: Realising that I love to be out on the water and I'm not altogether useless crew! A gold moon on the horizon as I drove home to a warm shower.

MONDAY

Um, er...

TUESDAY

Ditto.

WEDNESDAY

Glad moment: Mulled wine and being only slight tiddled...

Monday box grumblings

MONDAY

Astrobarry makes me glad today, always some sage advice that doesn't (at least I hope not) have a hidden agenda....! Glad moment: Nicely said today Barry...

Want to think outside the box? You have to leave the box.

if music be the food of love, play on!

Ok, back to the gladness!

TUESDAY

An 'Insights Night' where we invite Patrons and Friends to find out all about new productions. The Insights were great (even for seasoned workers!).

Glad moment: Sitting in the back row like naughty school children was also most agreeable.

WEDNESDAY

Um, er...pass.

THURSDAY

Dinner with friends who work too hard... escaping the office at 5.15pm, dinner, dessert and drinks after...

Glad moment: Team Gourmet rocks.

FRIDAY

I think I have morose Friday's, that is, I always somehow end up with a rather anti-climatic feeling. So there I was walking home feeling rather flat (it may also have been the effect of two or three glasses of wine on an empty stomach) but...lets say a slight ennui was engulfing me. Suddenly I had musical accompaniment! There is a violist who lives on one street I travel as I walk home. I don't hear them all the time, but sometimes (usually when you least expect it) notes catch you and then I stop and listen for a few minutes. Tonight after my stop with the violinist, I was walking down my own street and there was a lovely soprano voice. Haven't heard that one before....but how lovely. Ennui gone, glad face back on.

Glad moment: Walk home concerts.

SATURDAY

Possums in the park by daylight. Taking the Golden Moongose for a spin around a few blocks to enjoy the sunshine and spotting another cyclist who has stopped and is doing what can only be described as chatting to a possum. Now I love these possums, but I have never seen them by daylight. Usually it's night and I have been known to hand over a piece of fruit (that has spent too much time at the bottom of my handbag) but here was one in broad daylight...we both stopped, we watched as a possum decided the ground cover plants was a better place to hide than on the street chatting to two cyclists...and ran off!

Glad moment: random wildlife moments

Another day, more rambling

This gladness business is getting me down, well Friday was. Friday was a hard day to be glad...I really struggled to reflect on something from the day that made me glad. But I hope I've made up for it over the next few. Well let's not talk about Monday either at this point. Ok, so here's just some ramblings.

FRIDAY

I'm going to need to think.

Glad moment: My game, my rules, I'm not skipping today, I'm just passing for now.

EDITED - ok I'm back and I've got something. This made me laugh on Thursday night (and continued when I shared it with [I hope] a like-minded soul on Friday...Tour de France you are so close, I can't wait!

Having trouble deciding who to support at the Tour de France? Cycling Weekly has this handy guide.

SATURDAY

This is going to sound really odd, but I saw my favourite shoppers today, my 'Maltese Falcons' as I call them (apologies to Dashiell Hammett). Ok, stay with me while I explain. I am a creature of habit really and I love to grocery shop early on Saturday mornings. Less crowds, better parking, a reason to get out of bed and get to the growers markets early, all day stretching before you (and all of Saturday to cook!). In my years of shopping for groceries on Saturday mornings you start to notice the same people. It's like commuting, there's always the people you notice who do the same thing as you at the same time.

For me, there's the guy who puts the fruit out at Harris Farm markets (thanks for the tip on the ruby red navel oranges this week!) to the lady at Bi-Lo check out and then there is the shoppers themselves. Three of my favourites are a father and his two young sons. I don't see them all the time, but often enough they are there. He is tall, lanky and so very Irish with dark hair and killer blue eyes. I usually hear him before I see him, or should I say I hear them. The boys are I'm guessing around 7 and 4 and they are dark, Mediterranean looking (somehow I thought Maltese and it just stuck, how the falcon part crept in who knows, but stay with me). The boys are a delight, glorious in only the way that all little boys are rat bags really. Now they do tear about the shop a little but really Bi-Lo if you paint white and blue squares the length of the shop, any small child is likely see it as the ultimate hopscotch game. However, they are polite and a short sharp (though kind) remonstrance from dad usually brings them into line. Sweet and always smiling...they make me smile. I really want to play hopscotch too!

Glad moment: the future is not all bleak. Polite, well socialised and happy children do exist.

SUNDAY

Image: Anne Ferran

Earlier in the week, The Sagacious Friend and I were standing in a nondescript hallway and I turned around to see an Anne Ferran work on the wall. Anne Ferran is an artist I did a project on during my years studying Art History, she is an amazing Australian photographer and some of her work that resonated most with me was her images of movable cultural heritage objects from the Historic Houses collections that are both haunting and beautiful. It's been so long I don't even really remember what the I wrote about in my paper, all I can really remember is a trip to SCA to view an exhibition and an enjoyable research and discovery period. Perhaps it was this that sparked my interested in Australian colonial photography?

Anyhow...a fleeting moment in a hallway earlier this week, was recalled by a haunting image on my wall as the sun played with specs of dust on my window. I don't think Anne Ferran is in any danger, but reflected and refracted light is fun.

Glad moment: small things, small minds? A blast from the past?

MONDAY

I'm not going to be cynical. I'm not going to be cynical. Come on repeat it with me!

I am only going to say I am glad Australia has two more games to play in our group in the World Cup.

Glad moment: we all get another chance.

Singing and Nutters (and Mr Darcy)

Singing and Nutters (and er, Mr Darcy), yep that's what is getting me glad over the last couple of days

WEDNESDAY

At the place of toil are some lovely and caring people. One such person sings a little song each morning when he starts work to another very dedicated early bird (and night hawk) in our office. The pleasure of coming in early and witnessing this seemingly random act of song just puts a smile on the face.

Glad moment: Random acts of song, you know I love to perform them, but I love to see others do the same too!

THURSDAY

Sometimes a little praise goes a long way. Being told you're good at what you do by someone you professionally admire makes it even better.

Glad moment #1: praise is sometimes the best motivator. Finding out said person is also a nutter (like me) is a bonus!

Phowar and swoon. Those words make my heart swell...if you are not sure what it means ask yourself if Mr Darcy and Mr Thornton (or any literary hero from the 19th century for that matter) mean anything to you...

Glad moment #2: finding other phwoar & swooners in the world...(hiding in the strangest places!)

Bend and stretch!

Are you sick of me being glad yet? Are you? If you have no idea what I'm talking about see the earlier post. I'm on a mission of noticing and recording one thing each day for six weeks that makes me glad. Glad to be alive, glad to be where I am, just glad really. My impetus? Well, why not? Surely it can't hurt? This might be my alternative to organised religion. Who knows...I'm just out there doing and being and seeing the glass half full rather than empty (as I normally would!)

TUESDAY

So in today's glad tidings is yoga. Yoga at work. Now twice a week, now every Tuesday and Thursday at 1pm you can catch me downward dogging with the best in the boardroom. I've been doing it since February but today it just clicked. Here is 1 hour a week (now 2 hours a week!) where it's just about me. And breathing. And moving. And mostly dying and not believing I can wrap myself in knots and pretend to be a pretzel but holding on for a few more breaths. I haven't done yoga in a class format properly in years but boy I am enjoying this. And you should see my plank.

Glad moment: Me, yoga, boardroom, lunchtime...

Glad tidings...

The gladness continues...

SATURDAY

The monthly pilgrimage to the Pyrmont Growers Market. Sunshine after a week of rain, finally lolling out of bed very late (in market terms) and still managing to get most of the purchases, and a discount on Rowie's Cakes! Sunshine, puppy dogs and bacon & eggs rolls.

Glad moment: All of the above, plus a tall ship against a Sydney skyline.

SUNDAY

Friends of friends influence your life in amazing ways. Catching up with friends (and their friends) for a movie and realising you can have things in common with veritable strangers (no more!). A movie being more than a longish, boring product placement vehicle, now that is gold.

Glad moment: a sweet film called Boy, if this get general release, see it! (and watch the trailer now...)

MONDAY

Glad moment: it's cold. That is all.

A week of Pollyanna-ing...

So, yes I haven't had a chance to jump on here properly and fill you all in my week of gladness, but that doesn't mean I wasn't thinking glad!

MONDAY

Gladness was just a stroll to work, only to reflect I've missed Autumn. Somehow I have managed to wile away those precious months when the trees change and the temperature cools. Autumn is my favourite time of the year, but somehow Autumn and I didn't connect this year? Are the trees late? Was I walking about blind? Was there not a chill in the air? Did I miss the season of mist and mellow fruitfulness entirely?

Glad moment: a huge Autumn leaf across a path, far too big to be dampened by the rain, bigger than two hands and gloriously rusty.

TUESDAY

Glad moment: urban pets. Pets that aren't yours that just don't mind a pat as you walk past their place. Snapped on Belvoir Street.

WEDNESDAY

I didn't intentionally mean to have an urban pet themed week. Nor did I mean to sit in a park on Wednesday lunchtime and feed the last bit of my Bourke Street Bakery lamb and harissa sausage roll to a friendly labrador. But hey, those eyes!

Please note this is not the actual labrador in question (forgot to bring my phone with me!)

Glad moment: feeding a random labrador in the park.

Urban pets rock.

THURSDAY

A new colleague started today, working on a project for the place of toil. She is someone I truly professionally admire, a real hero of mine...and I get to work with her!

Glad moment: inspiration now works in my building.

FRIDAY

Imagine you are having lunch. A Sagacious friend rings, invites you to a movie (with a choc top thrown in) after work. It pours and you get drenched (feet have never been wetter), but you know what, rain, movies, friends and choc tops make it worth it.

Glad moment: no one knows if your shoes are wet in a dark cinema. Conjuring up images of having to buy new shoes because the current collection just won't cut it through a rainy Sydney Winter. Burberry, Choo or Hunter wellies for me?