So despite it being the absolute dead center of “winter” here in Brisbane, there are still multitudes of flowers blooming everywhere such as her royal gorgeous orangeness shown here in the act of dominating an ugly wire fence near my house. I know that native Queenslanders, or even Australians from the southern, more season-possesing cities are totally unsurprised at this flashy display of sub-tropicality. But man, I just never get used to it. WOW people. Seriously! look that that color!
Here, lemme give you a better view:

Did I mention this plant is a WEED? It grew there on it’s own. In fact, the fence it lives on surrounds a scrap-metal/fixture warehouse type place and I’ve twice seen workers carelessly hacking it back to reclaim some hunk of industrial detritus that it had enveloped.

Anyway, besides it’s obvious beauty, I bring up this plant give you an idea of how I’m feeling lately. Not to say I’m a beautiful orange creeping vine, but that I’m feeling really tenacious, determined and optimistic. The job I’ve held for the past six months ended last week; peacefully, wonderfully, and all parties are sad to see it happen but it’s kinda out of our control for reasons I’m not sharing with the internet. I’ve spent the last three days job seeking and I’ve already found two solid “no positions are officially available but things might be changing soon wink wink nudge nudge” leads and one “absolutely yes, we are hiring” all with businesses I would be super psyched to work for.

So that’s that. Fingers crossed all goes well and I get something before the money grows thin. I know I should have started looking before my old position ended, which I did, kinda. But the truth is, I think I didn’t want to admit that it was ending and also it’s a total pain to look for a job when you’re busy working one.

In other news, we got a new neighbor in our building and she seems very friendly and charming.
I’m pretty relieved as we share a porch with her and the previous occupants of that apartment were a euro backpacker couple who had significant difficulty understanding my vocabulary and accent. I’ll admit that I’m a word-loving dork and my verbosity earns me the occasional raised eyebrow on a semi-regular basis, but the accent thing I never understood. I mean, I know I’m a foreigner here, but I’m from Washington, not New Joisey. American television is everywhere! Why did these people have such difficulty with my tuh-MAY-toe?
Anyway, it was awkward. I felt like some snobby jerk with my three dollar words and hoity toity accent so I’d find myself trying to talk differently and end up sounding like some toddler/robot doing a bad Aussie accent.

So the new neighbor seems to understand me fine which, yes, fantastic. I chatted with her at length today which was great except for having to bear the bad news that yep, the boys in unit 1 are pretty loud albeit very friendly and actually the real estate totally lied when they told you that the washing machine in the back was communal, we were pissed about it as well.
It’s never that great to deliver crap news like that to someone on their first day in their new place, but she seemed to take it in stride and remained upbeat about her new place.

The one thing I failed to mention to her though was our landlord.
Internet, I need your help with this one.

Our landlord is an extremely elderly man who hangs around the property quite a bit trimming hedges and painting walls and lurking in general.
He’s also openly racist in the way that 80+ year olds unfortunately often are. Our new neighbor is not white. Should I say something to warn her? Let her figure it out on her own? Opinions and advice would be totally appreciated.

Dear 21-year-old Shilo,

I have some great news for you. Although you haven’t always make the best choices along the way, the path of your life is turning out to be a pretty awesome one. You’ve seen and dealt with enough bad stuff to build a solid sense of empathy, but you’ve had so many wonderful people and experiences in your life that the negative keeps you grounded instead of just grinding you down.

In the name of improving even further on this trajectory, I’ve got some advice for you.

As an adolescent you dreamed of growing up and moving to the city, having cool friends who do amazing stuff, and spending your time hanging out in cute cafes. In less than a year you will be sitting in a cafe in Seattle reading a book and eating lunch when your friend, an indie-famous musician walks in the door. After a quick chat and a promise to get together soon, you realize then that voila! everything your teenage self asked for has come true. This will be the first of MANY examples that self-fulfilling prophesy is TOTALLY REAL. Use this knowledge to keep asking for things, and ask for really awesome big things. You cannot shoot too high, I promise. You’re simply too practical for that.

We both know you want to travel. The key to making this happen that you’ve yet to realize is that you simply need to buy the ticket and trust that you’ll figure out the rest. You will come to this conclusion later in your 20′s, but really, your flat-brokeness isn’t a big deal when you’re willing sleep on floors and you’re a part of the very welcoming world of artists, activists, and musicians. Feel free to get started on traveling earlier rather than later.

Speaking of social communities, know that rockabilly kids are fun to hang out with due to your mutual love of old cars and playing dress-up, but beware the rampant misogyny lurking in that scene. It will flare your raging feminist self to a point that is unhealthy for your mental state. Be careful the hardcore/straightedge world for the same reason. You don’t have to reject those people or scenes wholesale, just be cautious of how deep you get.

You don’t wanna hear this, but I just gotta say it. Don’t give your heart to people in bands that tour. You will try over and over and it just doesn’t work. Date them, be friends with them, hang out with them, but do NOT fall in love. I know, I know, easier said than done, but seriously, it just doesn’t work.

Lastly in the realm of friends and relationships, know that if a friend only calls when something is going wrong in their life, they are not your friend. You’ll learn again and again both on the giving and receiving end, that being supportive when shit is rough is absolutely the job of a friend, but it’s not the only responsibility. Being there for the good stuff, the fun, and the excitement of life is part of it too. Like all things, there must be a balance.

Moving on, let’s talk about family. Hang out with your family more. They will not be around forever.

You know you have an incredible family, but understand that even people you love can mess up. We all do. Try to understand that a lot of what you think are your opinions about marriage and children are not your actual opinions. They are instead, things that your parents said when they went through their terrible divorce. Try not to take those statements to heart, they were made in anger, not sincerity.
That said, INSIST to both of your parent that they cannot talk any form of shit or make even vaguely snide or condescending comments about each other in your presence. Not even a raised eyebrow. Tell them to fake it if need be. Then, have patience with them when they fail with this and try to understand that they were both deeply wounded by the divorce. Never forget that they are still incredible people and parents, and that they have always loved you to bits.

This sounds silly after all that heavy family talk, but the key to managing your hair is a dollop of anti-frizz solution when it’s damp and a quick swipe of the flat-iron over your bangs and front bits. A WORLD of difference these little steps will make. That lifelong battle with your crown of fuzz? Follow my advice and it will be won.

Next up in the world of surfacy stuff – Just pay the damn dry cleaner to hem your pants. It’s way cheaper and faster than you think. The fact is you are never going get around to doing it yourself even though you know how. They aren’t going to suddenly start making pants off the rack (or in the thirft store) that are the correct length for you. Quit with the ridiculously tall cuffs and just get those suckers hemmed already.

Keep having all the fun you can fit in, because soon those hangovers will hit with triple strength.

See you sooner than you can imagine!

Love,
31-year-old Shilo

P.S. Sorry to break it to you, but you’re not getting any taller, stop waiting for those last 4 inches, they aren’t coming.

1.
I am really uncomfortable with the use of the word porn in regards to things that are totally non-sexual. IE, food porn, bike porn, design porn etc.
I’m not a big proponent of pornography (although no judgment to those who are, whatever floats your boat..) but I find that equating the Pavlovian response triggered by photos of delicious snacks with raging boners? Yeah, that’s weird to me. I love checking out photos of Scandinavian interior design, but I not so much that I want to, y’know, hump them.

2.
My new website theme seems to be broken-ish ever since I upgraded my version of WordPress and I have no clue how to fix it. Internet, what should I do? Scrap it and use some pre-made one put together by someone with an actual working knowledge of php and not just rampant cut-and-paste skills like myself? Spend nine zillion more hours sweating over it to make it work again, only to have it dump the ability to comment or whatever when the next upgrade comes out? Actually pay someone to make it work? Argh, decisions.

3.
I was talking to a guy at the coffee shop today about New York and he expressed he wants to live there and plans to “just marry an American so I can get automatic citizenship”. Now I’m a nice person so I didn’t say what I was thinking which was HAHAHA WRONG. I instead explained that marriage means next to nothing in the eyes of the Department of Homeland Security and it’s actually easier and cheaper to secure entry though many other visas available to Australians.
Which leads me to, RAH SMASH this process sucks SO MUCH.
I’ve recently been informed that specific details regarding my visa as told to me by the Australian consulate back in the US were OOPS! Completely inaccurate! And that inaccuracy means I have to quit my job! Also if the Mister and I want to move back to the States, we have to fly to Sydney to file with the US consulate on a walk-in-Thursday but there is no actual guarantee that’s we’ll actually be seen that day even if we show up before they open as they can only process a fraction of those who show up and the line is reallyreallyreally long. If we don’t get processed that means we’ll have to wait until the following Thursday, or the one after that, or the one after that. No, we cannot make an appointment regardless of the fact that Sydney is a 3 hour flight away and we have lives and jobs (well not me, as of the end of the month) and rent to pay in the meantime back here in Brisbane. So yes, Australians, if you ever marry an American, expect to spend some serious time in Sydney. Even if you’re from like, Perth or Darwin somewhere else really fucking far away from Sydney.

Hey guys guess what! I got an award! Woohoo!

Elizabeth over at Primoeza gave it to me. It’s one of those pass-it-along blog award things. Essentially, an internet high five if you will.
I totally appreciate the award and am especially grateful for it’s lack of category specification because I certainly wouldn’t have won the award for “having-a-cohesive-blog-that-gets-regularly-updated” or “is-really-nice-and-doesn’t-stick-her-foot-in-it-all-the-time”.

Why just this week I forgot the birthday of one of my closest friends and instead of saying “Happy birthday awesome friend of mine!” I grumped about how broke I’m gonna be in the next few months and thus can’t go on a vacation she offered to plan for us and some other friends. See? Not exaggerating, total asshole. At least I got her a good gift a few weeks ago because I DID actually know her birthday was coming up, I just forgot on the actual day of. She will receive said good gift later today with wine and cheese and hopefully I can get her drunk enough to forgive me.

Anyway, this award I have received comes with the condition that I list 7 things about me (aside from the obvious being a forgetful jerk and not updating regularly).
So I know that this website is pretty much always all-Shilo-all-the-time, but here we go.

1. I have naturally black hair. I’m extremely fair and of Whitey McWhiterson mixed-euro/scandinavian ethnic ancestry so it’s very strange that I ended up with such dark hair. People have always assumed it was dyed, even when I was a child, but nope, it’s the real deal.

2. I used to be a fully certified master automotive technician with all the certificates to prove it. I left the automotive world back in my mid-twenties, so my credentials have expired, but just last week I broke down the process of internal combustion to my non-driver husband over dinner. Yes, I can help you diagnose your malfunctioning vehicle, but no I will not repair it for you. I sold my tools long ago.

3. Even though I have been actively participating in the internet since the late 90′s, I still don’t really get FTP. Is it a giant-file uploader? A communication language? Some sort of mystery potion for files? I’ve been trying to migrate the Mister’s website to wordpress and his hosting account doesn’t have one-click install like mine so I’ve been facing the wrathful beast of cyberduck and it’s like wrasslin’ a snake you can’t even SEE. What the hell IS it?
If you can explain it to me, I will give you a cookie.

4. I’m very visibly tattooed. Obviously, if you’re a reader who also knows me in the non-internet world, this is no surprise. I’m nowhere near the level of a tattoo-artist in terms of tattoo visibility, but I have far more than most people. One of my arms has multiple large ones that extend to my wrist, and I’ve even a couple in non-hidable places like my hands and neck. I grew up in a family of tattooed people so I never viewed tattoos with any sort of stigma or reluctance. Some of my tattoos are awesome, some are pretty crappy, but I regret none.

5. I didn’t start drinking until I was almost 25 because I convinced myself that I would abuse it and not have the strength to pull myself out of addiction once I got a taste. Thankfully, I’ve learned a lot about myself since then and feel firmly secure in trusting myself and knowing my limits as well as my own capabilities. That said, I’m REALLY glad I waited until I was older to join that particular party.

6. My teenage rebellion centered around reading the works of Bell Hooks and Susan Faludi and being really fucking snotty to everyone due to their collusion with the patriarchy.

7. I’m a heavy reader but no snob. I’m currently reading an sociological survey of Australian culture in the 1960′s, a linguistics textbook (dork alert), a respected contemporary novel, the “30 under 30″ fiction issue of the New Yorker, this week’s paper, 6 news websites, and 95 personal blogs. I will read almost anything. Cereal boxes, trashy romances, penguin classics, artist monographs and anything else I come across gets equal opportunity.

so that’s it for now. Thanks again to Primoeza for the award, I felt warm in the heart to find I had received it. I would like to pass this along to the following dudes who are awesome AND sass-tastic:

Kylie at Flying Ducks, Mercie at A Lovely Evening and Katrina at Bosco Parrasio.

You try to get on the bus/train/whatever while the people obviously departing have yet to disembark.

Two intrepid readers have contacted me already to ask what happened to yesterday’s Project 365 post.
I figured that since they asked, some of you guys might want to know the scoop as well.

Rest assured I have yet to fall off the project bandwagon, I’ve simply decided to post my photos in a weekly roundup. I felt that having all the random single photo posts was kinda weird.

Anyway, now that we’ve solved that mystery, tell me, are any of you participating in Project 365 as well?

I bet you didn’t really know I was gone did you?

As of a couple hours ago, we’ve finally gotten ye olde dorknet installed in our new home and have a reliable and quick connection for the first time since we left NYC.
The timing is fantastic because I was on the verge of throwing my iPhone at a wall or having a very public meltdown in the city library over the dialup-era data transfer speeds.

In addition to being over the goddamn MOON about having the ability to skype my family and troll eBay for bikes, I’m really feeling great about the quickly coming New Year!

I’ve never been the resolution type, but I’ve got some goals for the year. Exploring Australia further, lots of sewing and web projects, pushing the boundaries of my admittedly limited cooking knowledge and a couple of other things I’m keeping in the bag for the time being.

Do you have any resolutions or plans for the upcoming year?

I just added a new link to my blogroll that everyone should check out.

Kylie Timmins, the author of Flying Ducks is my new internet (soon to be real-life) friend. She wrote a city guide for Design*Sponge giving the lowdown on her town of Brisbane, Australia where I will soon be moving.

I wrote her a thanks and we’ve struck up a conversation that makes me even more amped to start the adventures of the next chapter of my life!

Moving overseas is crazy to think about and it’s even more exciting now that I know I’ve got at least one like-minded lady to hang with.

Check out her blog which chronicles the DIY decoration and remodel of her home, it’s fuel to the fire for us home obsessed!