Springvale....

I have been living in Springvale for several months now. The place is okay but I miss the bookshops and CD shops of Malvern.

(I have taken to visiting "Chronicles" in St Kilda on the days I work at the Salvation Army Crisis Centre - on a quest to find printed food for my brain.)

It is cool having my own place for the first time in my life - a two bedroom flat filled with books.

In August my mother died. It was a peaceful death for her but it has left a gap in my life.

In September I adopted an 8-year old cat from the RSPCA. She is a tortoiseshell. I have named her Embers. She is a delight.

I am still working in Werribee. An okay job, but so far to travel.

The "Melbourne Below" project at http://melbournebelow.com.au/ continues.

(Yes - a party with witches. Names I had heard, but unfamiliar faces.)

Continuing to search for *balance* and *inspiration.*

This brings us up to the present.

Gnomes

The Gnomes came to the party! More on the Party later.

Flat ... man!

Yes folks I am in danger of becoming one of the landed gentry.

After many many years of renting flats I am finally in a position to buy one.

If the Gnomes of ING give me their okay I will move into a place in Springvale.

The good news is: IT DOESN'T HAVE BEIGE WALLS! I am sick of beige walls. Arrgh - could landlords the world over have chosen a more boring colour?

It will be *cool* to be able to create my own environment at last.

Some of my old posters could come out of the cupboards and go onto the wall - since the old blu-tac or nails ban is banished.

I can become a cat owner. The old landlords have banned pets, and I have felt the need of feline company.

It is exciting and scary all at once.

Time ... it was!

(To fill in some of the gaps in the narrative as it were.)

1). Finished my TAFE course in 2004, but I keep in touch with some of my friends from Swinburne.

2). My interest in subcultures has blossomed into a new website called http://melbournebelow.com.au/ (It wasn't all my idea. It is a project created by me and some friends. We are the Melbourne Below Collective.)

3). My favourite girl is no longer my favourite girl (but we are still friends).

4). I haven't become a nudist.