biking
3 minute read
I went to Preston on Saturday, visited Benjamin and cousin Matt.
the best laid plans
I intended to catch the train up until Thornbury, then bike the rest of the way. It would have been easy, and relaxing. The trains between clifton hill and mernda weren't running, and the bus replacement doesn't take bikes. The train ride to clifton hill would have saved, at most, 10minutes, or longer if I had to check my maps more often to find my way. I set out biking the whole way, in jeans and a tee-shirt, with a heavy backpack of bread and salad. It's a fairly doable journey, mostly flat or slightly inclined the whole way. The fraught parts of it are the potential to lose time, and the thin tires of my bike are extremely vulnerable to broken glass, sharp rocks and potholes. If my tire pops, the journey back would be arduous and at least an hour and a half walking.
Had a nice walk sunday morning with Matt, we went along the merricreek trail, reaching around about Northcote.
Left my phone charger at his place, no photos for this post!
Tired and hanging out with Lukes extended friend group.
Friends of the flat, Sean and Emily, came round with their newborn daughter Audrey yesterday, It was a delight to meet her. Sean and Em are part of a group of ~5 (or a little more) that my flatmate Luke has gathered around himself over the last few years, through university and work. Before I met them all I was nervous - Luke is well paid tech consultant who talks about work and market investments. What fresh hell could a group of his friends entail? Thankfully he's been discerning with his friends and they are lovely and not all tech consultants.
- Sean: Works as a Data Engineer, red haired, open and earnest, good question asker. Plays drums. Married to Emily. Father of Audrey.
- Emily: Works as a child counsellor (I think?), funny, from Hamilton (Waikato, Aoteroa). Married to Sean. Mother of Audrey.
- Matt: Works as a prosecutor for the ATO. Intelligent, fun, interested and interesting. Writes and draws, wants to get better. I've read on of his short stories and enjoyed it. Married to Dara.
- Dara: Some type of Health and Safety professional, good chat and likes art. Came to visit in the gallery one sunday, likes food markets. Married to Matt.
- Tom: We have a lot in common - he likes computer science, emo music, computer games, bouldering, dancing, singing, soup, machine learning, movies. We hang out a lot outside of the group.
- Hannah: German, full of energy and very friendly. Got married recently, in Germany. Lives far out of town, I don't know her as well as the others, but we get on well.
- Other Luke: Hannah's husband, I don't know him very well.
what else
- I'm doing portuguese homework today, I need to write about my upcoming trip to Bali
- My upcoming trip to Bali - Next week tuesday!
- Probably going to do some bouldering
- Going to make a sourdough loaf today - I think my starter is ready
- Been thinking about programming, hopefully will do a little today but also my weaving stuff needs a bit of time and effort.
- Will buy a new charger - I've needed to get a new one for a while anyway.
Been feeling anxious lately, insecure about myself and my actions, how I'm percieved. Been feeling weird and anxious about the state of the world and personal responsibility. It feels insane that we're not all all the time asking - how is this sustainable? Why are we not putting our energy into a sustainable system, minimising the harm that climate change will bring and establishing a more robust infrastructure with community, land and culture being at the centre. Why is this not at the heart of every news report, every business plan, every politician running for election, every ad campaign, every story we tell. I know I'm complicit too, as I type this from a brand new laptop and plan short international trips to low income countries. It just makes me feel insane. Is it better, to at least call it out? To not make excuses or justify it? I don't know, it's demoralising. Things will only get worse and most of of our efforts go into systems that accelerate this fact.
Not a thesis, not an answer, just venting.
