welcome back.

Hi, youse.

I have just finished off the last of my persian fairy floss which mum purchased for a cracker of an easter. I left it in my shed, for a trusty 2 hours, and lo and behold, the ants attacked it. But I prevailed, due to my nifty tap-work, and now, the whole saga is but a distant memory. Mmm.

It's weird being back in Melbourne. Of course a part of me loves it, of course. The mightier part. But after being so comfortable and happy and slovenly for the past 4 days, it takes a higher operating pace to come back down and hack it. Probably the first poor thing that happened today was awaking with a megaly crook neck. I have a tight back but it has generally been under control/ not painful, but I woke up feeling like a muscle had snapped in half or something. I can't really turn to my right hand-side at all, it's a bit of a worry. Tomorrow I hope to hit up some shiatsu, see if that will relieve me. I feel old. I'm gonna plunge in the bath- always my favourite way to relax- after this email and finish off my book and try to soak away my worries.

Maybe another bad part of today is my book. It's not poorly written, but it's about a dude who returned from Vietnam and tried to cope with being 'home' whilst feeling in complete isolation. Well done, those men. It's an autobiography. He felt tired all of the time and just unable to face the world. Everything had changed- his relationships and how he dealt with those closest to him upon touching back down in Oz. In a weird way I feel empathetic towards what he went through. It feels a little bit similiar, but on a miniscule scale. Adjusting to something which is so familiar to you, but your position in it has shifted dramatically. Interesting.

Thirdly, there was a bogan woman on the tram accusing me of standing in the way with my wheelie bag whilst there were 'plenty a seats around'. No, everything was taken. I felt like taking a piece of her, but couldn't muster the strength. A man got off and I grumbled something to her and took up his position at the back of the tram.

And probably fourthly, I return home to a letter from Centrelink. I won't go into the details as they'll probably hunt me down and kick my arse but rest assured they make me feel pretty damned hopeless. So that was that.

I wanted to take the goddamn night off and mope and bathe and eat and sleep, but instead I attended an Amnesty meeting in Carlton, which was uber close. I was welcomed into a nice warm house, given tea and hummus and bread, Merida also got to come inside, cheeky. A group of us, maybe 15 or so, sat in a circle in a member- Barbara-'s home and discussed the agenda for Cartlon Amnesty's next few months.

Always, this higher purpose doo makes me feel a lot better about everything. Also, no doubt, the community of engaging people trying to help out people lesser off than them is also a reciprocally positive project. It felt good, and I, for 2 hours, forgot about my neck and the day.

Kathleen is home this week, whilst the two others are up at home. It looks to be a bit of a scattered week, though I don't really mind. It will be good being home again this weekend to do some more socialising.

I have an interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed, like last time.

Hasta luego.g.g.