Along the way...

2010-09-21T16:39:00.001+10:00

My blog has moved to: www.thirdlifecrisistherapy.blogspot.com. Also FYI my website is http://lynnettehoffman.squarespace.com.

2009-10-30T12:31:00.002+11:00

had a conversation with an evangelical muslim the other day

it's fascinating how convincing any passionate person can be. i think i've heard equally compelling arguments for and against just about every religion. you take any eloquent individual who has thought things through, and it's likely they can make a strong case for anything....

im at a point where these kind of conversations seem counter productive and useless. why do we spend so much time quibbling over details when we have SO much in common...

2009-10-25T10:56:00.003+11:00

I havent blogged in a while

It's easier to write about the personal when your audience is impersonal. If I don't know you, I'll tell you just about anything. That's what makes blogging so hard for me. Not too many people read this thing, but I'm fairly certain most of the people who do, know me. I am never sure what's appropriate to discuss or what could come back to bite me...

I suppose I've had little to say really. I went to NY. I had a blast. I came back to Tasmania and wondered what I was doing here and what I was going to do next. I stayed here for a couple weeks, which were perfectly adequate but nothing extraordinary. Then I spent a week in Sydney and Helensburgh. It was wonderful. Except that I barely exercised.

But apart from that it was a beautiful week. I visted James and Louise and their little boys Lachlan and Will. They were so much fun to play with. Will was crawling all over the place and Lachie has the most infectious smile. J and L are like family, except that we never fight. ;-)

We talked about life and God and values and what next, the eternal question.

Then I headed up to Newtown with my boss Steph, who's really more a friend who I work with. We met up with Bec who has the other two-thirds of my job. (A job share, to be more precise.:) Newtown shopping and people watching. Thai food. MMmmmm.

Australasian Medical Writers conference. Inspiring. Encouraging. Maybe I don't hate medical writing afterall. Just need to be more selective about my work.:)

Random dinner with friend of a friend who's not really a friend (gotta love the Internet, where people you've never met introduce you to their buds.:))Good conversation, wine and food.

Then I headed Parramatta way. Caught up with a family I lost touch with because I was too ashamed to tell them I was getting divorced. Long story.

But it was so awesome to see them again. They are originally from Afghanistan and I met them a week after they arrived in Australia in August 2001. For 18 months we (my former husband and I) spent about one full day a week with them. When they moved to Sydney we still saw them regularly, but slowly as our relationship disintegrated we stopped spending as much time with this family, until we had lost touch completely.

It seemed too awkward to explain. I was ashamed. I didn't know what to say so I said nothing.

Over the last few years I always wondered how they were but my attempts to track them down were always fruitless. Then finally a couple weeks ago I found one of them on Facebook. Just in time for my visit to Sydney.

Felt like the prodigal son(daughter?) when I showed up at their house-- there was a platter of pastries filled with cream, chocolate cupcakes, marble cake, cardemom tea, platter of nuts and caramals. They had made fancy rice with carrots and raisins. Egg plant. two types of beef curries and a chicken curry. Homemade yogurt. A pasta dish. And salad. That was just for lunch!!

There were hugs, stories and introductions. And explanations.

Lots of all of the above. And some photos, which I've yet to upload.

Now I'm back in Tasmania, once again wondering what I'm doing here, what next...the eternal question.

2009-10-05T11:51:00.010+11:00

The rest of my NY pix

I just got back from a long weekend of biking and hiking at Maria Island which is on the east coast of Tasmania. The perfect remedy for post holiday blues: take another holiday!! It was perfect-- blue skies, brilliantly white sand, sculpted sandstone cliffs, an enormous array of brighly colored birds including some rare and endagered ones, more wombats than i've ever seen (including one with a baby that was sooooooooo cute) and lots and lots of kangaroos and wallabys. I forgot to bring bike shorts, and my butt is very sore-- I can finally authoritatively concede that bike shorts do indeed serve a purpose beyond making one look silly! I didn't bring my camera so you'll just have to imagine the most idyllic surroundings you can-- and that's pretty much what my weekend was like.

Now-- here are the rest of the pics from my trip home. one of my favorite things about NY is how one minute you can be in a beautiful climbing area seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and less than 90 minutes later you can be abuzz in the restless, frenetic energy of manhatten. ah new york, i never tire of you!!

i recall taking this same series of pictures upon my first visit to NY as an adult many years ago.... i never expected to find a graveyard inside!!

public library in an old church-- love this.

this mural is really interesting-- i didnt know rosa parks had a predecessor!

911 tribute.

pretty funny climate change protest-people... buy this survival ball costume and you'll be protected from everything bad and scary...exzcept the government;) just kidding, im not an anarchist, really. but mark is!!!

Sign on the building where my (new)friend works. :)

Minnewaska State Park near New Paltz
featuring Mark R, my first adventure buddy.:) (responsible for introducing me to the mighty adventures of greyhound buses, back in 1997. Thanks Mark!!!)

2009-09-24T15:07:00.001+10:00

Words that move me

While home I discovered a bunch of poems copied on bits of looseleaf that had obviously moved me at some point. This one still does.

Recognitions by Irving Feldman

Not the God, though it might have been
savoring some notion of me
and exciting the cloud where he was hidden
with impetuous thunderstrokes of summoning
-it was merely you who recognized me,
speaking my name in such a tone
I knew you had been thinking it
a long, long time, and now revealed yourself
in this way. Because of this, suddenly who
I was was precious to me.

2009-09-24T06:00:00.002+10:00

I am finally back in Australia and very jet-lagged. Here are some more family pictures (and one of my dad's cool roommate at the nursing home, Carlee). This was the first time my whole family has all been together in several years. It was very hard to leave. (I have a few pics from NYC and New Paltz).

2009-09-22T06:29:00.008+10:00

so much for sleeping on the plane.

i love how random life is. last night i opted not to sleep since we had to leave at 4 30am for the ridiculous red eye i booked. i figured i would just sleep on the plane.

and i would have, except small talk led to the discovery that the woman in my row had lived in Fairport (my itsy bitsy home town) for 16 years, and had 3 kids who graduated from my high school, one of whom was in my class (and is now stationed in afghanistan). It turned out that son graduated from the same college as me. it also turned out that the woman was attending a church reunion, and the church was the local mormon church, so she had just caught up with the parents of several friends i knew.

figured i would just sleep on the next flight...

but that was before i realised i was sitting beside Rod Man a hilarious standup comedian, and the equally hilarious, but very well worn and full of CRAZY and sad stories, Jack Russell, lead singer of Great White ... who offered me some sleeping pills they gave him in rehab. I declined. Given how much the poor dude was shaking, I'm not sure they worked too well anyway.

!2 hours to kill in LA airport-- lucky I then met Fernanda, a Californian who has lived in documentary maker who has lived in australia and venezuela and is hoping to relocate to new zealand.

2009-09-21T15:57:00.002+10:00

excerpts from old journals:)

March 13, 1990

..."This week is spirit week at school. Monday was red and white day. I didn't wear any red or white." ...:)

That summer, on the way back from Newfoundland trip.
..."There was a plane right in front of us and we almost crashed. We're going to Toronto. We are in between clouds. Clouds are gasses.(sic)I have to get back to the window."...

2009-09-21T15:41:00.002+10:00

sad to be leaving in a few hours

2009-09-16T13:25:00.001+10:00

climbing today. NYC tomorrow. life is GOOD.

2009-09-15T15:18:00.003+10:00

Little update

I am currently about 15 minutes from New Paltz NY, which is the first place I moved to when I left my hometown of Fairport in 1996-- I spent a year at SUNY New Paltz before migrating west. I'm meeting up with my long lost adventure buddy Mark, who I met that year on a hike somewhere. Go figure.

We're staying in an absolutely GORGEOUS house with tons of art everywhere, and very cool host/hostess (longtime friend's of Mark's) to boot. (Speaking of art, yesterday Kerry and I spent all day at Rochester's awesome clothesline arts festival-- it was a lavrynth to get through, but so inspiring to see all the creativity and color everywhere. Plus the butterfly fries, made by attaching a potato peeler to a household drill (well thats what it looked like anyway) were to die for.

Train ride here was about 6 hours, but super productive-- how cool is it that the trains have a power outlet for every passenger?! How not cool is it that the 'gentleman' beside me (who stank of alcohol, cigarettes and BO) continually tripped on my power cord and stepped on my foot every time he got up to go smoke (which was frequently).

Oh well-- I got lots of work done and had a great evening meeting new friends and catching up with old one.

2009-09-15T14:06:00.005+10:00

Lake Ontario at Webster Park

Mom looking out across the lake

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

not the most flattering of angles, but i wanted a pic of mom and me together

Mom has such a youthful spirit. Here she is wearing a "broach" consisting of some Queen Anne's Lace she found attached with a thistle:)...Not long afterward she proceed to hug me, thereby transferring 2 thistles into my hair...nice one!:)

Our high school cross country team used to come here to run-- definitely brought back memories when a whole busload of school runners turned up as we were leaving.

we took turns tree climbing.

ive never seen grafitti reflected on water before-- i thought it was pretty cool!

the obligatory handstand pic.

lots of mallards on lake ontario.

2009-09-13T13:28:00.005+10:00

two cameraless days and scary hicktown eating

This weekend there have been several local festivals on-- I can think of at least 5 off the top of my head. We checked out Pitsford Days, but it was rainy in the morning and then turned gray, and there was hardly anything there--- not really sure what the point of it was, so we went to see dad. Then we drove back but kept going down the rural road past our house. We thought we might go to Palmyra or something but only about 5 minutes past the house we saw all these cars and signs for a lumberjack festival!!! I was super excited, because I absolutely love random stuff like that (although I confess I had NO IDEA we had stuff like that here-- i remember thinking it was unique to Tasmania the first time I saw such a thing... I recall taking a pleothora of pictures at the Brunie Island woodchopping festival a couple years ago...who knew we had one a minute down the road from where I grew up.... but saying that, I'm pretty sure Macedon is in 315 area code zone, and it's A LOT different from Fairport;-))

We were pretty hungry and headed straight to the food. When i saw they had pumpkin pie I excitedly ordered a slice...but when I bit in I was a little perplexed. The pie wasn't orangy brown, but instead was this weird gray color (kind of the color of a wallaby), and it wasnt creamy or smooth. In fact it had all this weird shredy stringy stuff throughout, like coconut. And the flavor was....strange. Not completely going-to-throw-up disgusting...but not yum-I-want-to-eat-this, either. The two women at the stand were very nice and thought it looked weird too, so they replaced it with a slice of a different pumpkin pie made by someone else. It was much better, so Kerry decided he would get a slice of blueberry pie.

He ate a bite and thought it tasted a little odd. He said it tasted kind of moldy but didnt see it so took another bite. I looked at the pie and noticed white furry stuff with black dots all over it. I told him, and he spit the bite in his mouth all over everything...including me!;-)

I of course told him the pie would be fine...mold isnt that dangerous, blah blah...but he threw it out anyway. When we got home and told my microbiologist mom the story, she was pretty horrified. Apparently GREEN mold is fine. Black spores is not fine. She used some big technical word to describe it...but anyway I guess it was good that Kerry spit the mold out.:)

IT was lots of fun seeing all the crazy wood carvings and watching the slippery pole competition-- a giant wood pole covered in Crisco that teams of three or four climb on top of each other to reach the top...where there's a $10 or $20 bill waiting usually. Ick! But it looked like fun...

Then tonight had dinner with Rachel and Amy old highschool track teammates from way back when. It was really fun to catch up again.

-----

On Friday Kerry Mom and I drove down to Naples and visited our old neighbors, The Franks. Anne and Dave have 68 acres of property that they inherited, and about 8 years ago they built this beautiful home on it with bright white walls and cathedral pine ceiling....the pine against the white is gorgeous...but the best part of their house is the network of trails Dave has built around the property. It;s awesome:)Always fun to see Anne and Dave too.

We were late visiting dad that night, and the nurse (heather, who happened to be in my graduating class and on the track team with me) said dad kept saying he did not think we were coming. He was pretty happy that we did! Unfortunately he is going to have to get another new feeding tube the week after I leave. There have been some problems with the current one leaking.

Last night I was up pretty late reading through old letters and going through boxes of artwork and junk clearing out my old room. Makes me regret not having really kept much of a journal throughout my life. Some of the snippets I did record were pretty telling.

Have some pix from a few days ago that i guess i should upload soon. Maybe tomorrow.

2009-09-10T15:12:00.004+10:00

Super fun day.

So my brother Kerry is a whole decade older than me, and growing up we were never very close, mostly because he left for college when I was about 8. As soon as he graduated he moved to Denver and we didn't see each other for many years. In fact it's really only in the last couple years that my brother and I have talked muuch at all, and it turns out Kerry is hilarious, eccentric, and a ton of fun to hang out with.

He moved back to Rochester this year, and is currently looking for a new job, so we've actually had some time to hang out.

Today after some laps around the Mall, we headed over to the Ganondagan Historic Site in Victor,where the Seneca indians once lived. It now has a little visitors centre, some cool "interpretive trails" with really longwinded explanations of Senaca history and a lot of words we couldnt pronounce, and thus impatiently skipped over. They even have recreated a longhouse, complete with polyeurothane elm!!! We met Steve Richman, the groundsman, when we checked it out, and he gave us all sorts of interesting tidbits about the Seneca people and the way they lived. I love that the entire extrended family lived in something akin to a college dorm room with no partitions or curtains or anything. According to Steve they didnt have any inhibitions about sex at all, and just got down to business with everyone right there since "it's natural":).

Here are some pics of where the town used to be.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/GanondaganHistoricSite#

Next we stopped for cider and donuts (i am currently 10 pounds over my "fit weight" but i degress).

And then came the highlight of the day. Kerry loves antiques. I usually kind of hate them... or I thought I did, but we went to this crazy haunted antique shop on the way toward Canandagua and it was SO fun. We were there for hours looking at all the dismembered and decapitated dolls and marianettes and weird paintings and reading bizarre books about masonic rituals and instruction manuals to kitchen magazines and stuff.

Here are some pictures of some of the oddities we happened across. :)http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/ScaryAntiqueShopBrowsing#

2009-09-10T01:45:00.005+10:00

Apple 101

This is apple country (there's even a Mott's factory on the way to Chimney Bluffs...) but unfortunately apples are late this year. Only Wealthy's and a few other varieties are out but none of the classic fall varieties, and no apple cider, which is a total bummer. Hopefully before I leave the apples will make an appearance. Last week I received an email from my friend Dana who is officially an (almost) accredited apple connoisseur. I thought I would share her insider insight:

Important info: they have created a new type of apple called SweeTango. It is apparently even better than HoneyCrisp, which made the apple industry millions more than any other (I have been a huge fan for years). They are supposed to have released it in Roch. by this weekend... it's apparently an even stronger flavor, with some fall spice in it, very juicy and crispy. Strongly recommend you try Power's or Schutt's and buy as many as possible. I'm going to see if I can have a few shipped, since I don't think I can get there this Fall due to total lack of $.

2009-09-09T14:49:00.002+10:00

"I just wished I could figure out how you learned so I could find a way to teach you."
Quote from Mrs Shaw, my high school math teacher, who I had lunch with today.
Ha. I guess having someone THAT hopeless at something, who actually tried, must have been especially frustrating:P
Fortunately my high school suspicians were correct, and in fact being bad at math really has not hampered my life in any significant way. (Thank God for calculators and accountants:)).

2009-09-07T09:07:00.005+10:00

Chimney Bluffs State Park

A couple days ago we went to my favorite park near where I grew up, Chimney Bluffs. I had not been there in years and years, and had forgotten about it, until my brother who had never been there saw it on a map and suggested it. Mom and I immediately remembered how cool it was so we set off.

The Lake Ontario shoreline from Sodus Bay to Oswego has lots of bluffs--and according to Wikipidia Chimney Bluffs is the most visited, and the bluffs are eroding between 1 to 5 feet per year. They certainly looked quite a bit different than the last time I went which I think was back when I was still in highschool.

Click here for some pictures from the day.

Got lost hiking in Mendon Ponds today with Mom:) MORe Flashbacks of highschool!

Right now I'm watching this amazing documentary about global education called Wide Angle.

On the subject of education, I cannot believe the uproar about Obama's speeches in schools. Now some schools are requiring parental permission for their kids to listen to him talk.

2009-09-06T13:42:00.002+10:00

I love this pic...

that I took today of my brother Neal, while we were all hanging out his friend Ray's. It's been perfect weather all week, though that is supposed to change next week.

2009-09-04T13:58:00.001+10:00

Fieldtrip to the George Eastman House

Me, Kerry Mom at the extravagent gardens on the property.

2009-09-04T13:51:00.005+10:00

one more pic of dad from the other day. im really enjoying spending time with him.

emergency sun hats courtesy of good ol' taco bell:)

2009-09-04T13:17:00.003+10:00

Mr Squirrel

2009-09-04T12:34:00.004+10:00

Note to mom

Only she didn't see it because we put Kerry's turtle magnet on it, instead of her puffin magnet. :)

2009-09-04T00:58:00.002+10:00

Time machine

I was walking in the village (the town center) with my mom last night-- dark out, about 9 30 p.m.
Car pulls over up to us.
"Lynnette!!!"
Amy, my highschool track and field teammate, friend and carpool buddy, who I haven't seen since 1995/96 (she graduated a year before me but may have come back to visit my senior year...at any rate it's been a bloody long time!). She was with her husband, who I've never met, celebrating their anniversary-- no idea how she recognized me-- but it was great to see a familiar face.
No one has asked where I'm from yet, either. Maybe my accent is returning:)

2009-09-04T00:53:00.002+10:00

Conversations with my mother (who needs hearing aids)

Lynnette: "You didn't hear what I said."
Mom: What?! You wish I was dead?!"

And so it goes...:)

2009-09-02T15:12:00.003+10:00

Highlight of today: Charlie Tuna camera at the George Eastman house. http://www.flickr.com/photos/60585948@N00/1121733309/ I know I'm a Canon shooter, but having grown up in Rochester, I'll always have a soft spot for Kodak.... even if Mr Eastman did have a massive elephant head on his living room wall and a camel foot ashtray in his billiard room. (The feature exhibition was a bunch of black and whites by Jessica Lange: not abosultely terrible but definitelt over-rated, I thought.)

Lowlight of today: Inflammatory fight with my brother.

Bumpersticker of the day: Boycott Veal (on a purple glittery, yes glittery, Jeep Cherokee, next to a law school sticker). Get a real cause. (Spotted by afforementioned brother. We laugh a lot when we aren't about to mutilate each other.)

2009-09-01T14:27:00.006+10:00

Family

2009-09-01T12:05:00.005+10:00

Lake Ontario

Some pictures of my brother Kerry and I

You really need video to capture my brother Kerry...
In the line at the bagel shop yesterday he warned everyone that bagels have three times more calories than donuts...
The skinny soccer mom in front of us was horrified.

Tonight I learned that the reflective running vest I was borrowing was made with cat eyes. "But don't worry they died of natural causes."

2009-08-31T14:44:00.003+10:00

Healthcare in America

Listened to a lot of stories from Kristy's sister Kimberly, a surgeon at a county hospital in CA which treats mostly people who don't have insurance. She has story after story of people showing up with super advanced stages of easily preventable diseases-- because they have no access to preventative health clinics. In one case a man had gangrene so bad that his family had actually painted his foot with decorative colors to make it look prettier...as it rotted away on his body.

From LA to Atlanta I sat next to a 50 year old med student (previously a chiropracter, who after telling me his own sad story, had plenty more shockingly similar to Kim's.

Then I sat next to the director of rehabilitation and the director of theraputic recreation at a local nursing home from Atlanta to Rochester. They seemed confused about the proposed changes to healthcare and felt individuals should have to pay MORE for investigative testing so they wouldnt use it as frivelously... (I get where they are coming from but I think that would probably lead to even later and more expensive diagnosises...a point they conceded).

Then today I went to see my dad at his nursing home. His roommate is a friendly man named Carlee who is only about 50-- he's had both legs amputated due to uncontrolled diabetes and that is how he ended up in a nursing home.

That should NOT happen.

Meanwhile support for Obama falters because the middle class are afraid that healthcare reform will jeopordise their choices and current insurance policies. I don't understand the details of Obama's proposed plan enough to comment intelligently, but it would be disheartening and exasperating to see such an inefficient, non-cost-effective, inequitable system as this continue.

2009-08-31T11:20:00.004+10:00

Garage sale finds

On the way to Webster Park, where lake Ontario was splashing up something that smelled a lot like raw sewage, we stopped at a "Giant Garage Sale."

This designer camo shot gun, printed with pretty folliage, can be yours for just $300, no reference checks necessary.

This is perfect for a tighter budget.

2009-08-30T17:33:00.000+10:00

3 new T shirts. Yippee:)

2009-08-30T03:40:00.008+10:00

Liza Minelli at the Hollywood Bowl.

Kristy: You know her. She's an ICON!
Lynnette: I know the name, but I don't know what she sings.
Kristy: She's Julie Andrews daughter. She's won a Tony a Grammy AND an Oscar. She sings All That Jazz. She's the original most famous singer of NY NY.
Lynnette: i thought that was Frank Sinatra...

Never mind-- we went anyway, and it was a blast-- her voice isn't much but as Kristy says that's not really the point, it's the personality. Nearly 70(?), breathless, charmingly self conscious and obviously wrapped that people would pay to see her.
Unfortunately kristy left the tickets at home and had to buy more once we got there, oops--sounds like something I'd do.:P
Think the highlight was the old lady dressed head to toe in gold sequins. :)

Then went home and watched When Harry Met Sally.

Now in NY. Been on a plane all day.

CORRECTION: Kristy said Liza was Judy Garland's daughter...not Julie Andrews-- I wouldnt want to forsake the friendship on that one. Thanks Amanda, hehe.

2009-08-29T03:03:00.001+10:00

kristy and samuel

2009-08-29T02:15:00.004+10:00

Watching forest fires out the window.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/firefighters-make-progress-in-palos-verdes-la-canada-fires.html

that was the view from Kristy's apartment when we got home from Red White and Bluezz last night around 12 30am. (the margarita watermelon salad with tequila lime honey dressing, fetta and arugula was killer! the music was also groovy smooth jazz...Kristy was a little disappointed that I didn't recognise the key boardest from his regular gig on american idol...)

2009-08-28T08:14:00.005+10:00

aw summer, i almost forgot you existed

arrived in LA yesterday morning, already feasted on Mexican cuisine, always first on the back in the USA to-do list.

108 degrees today, thank God Kristy has a pool, makes life immeasurably more bearable.

bit bummed my uncle had to cancel our bi-decade meet-up, due to the fact that he woke with "a blister on his stump" and is now wheel chair-bound as a result. Side effects of chronic disease (diabetes). Speaking of disabilities, I was surprised to see someone dismounting a public bus via wheelchair--how cool, i dont think we have wheelchair accessible buses in Australia, though I could be wrong.

great to spend time with Kristy and hear about her crazy work adventures as a first-year lawyer at a very high-powered firm...she makes me want to go back to school and be a medical lawyer...well momentarily, anyway... it has been 15-plus years since the two of us slopped fake-beef on tortilla shells at the penfield taco bell and it's fun to see how far we've both come.

side note: qantas planes are a health hazard. i had the misfortune of being in the middle of the middle row, so knees at chin and no easy way to get out and move around, well not without climbing over the hot kayaker who was sitting beside me (poor guy, a foot taller than me, at least he had the aisle, seat, but still). watched back to back (times six) ramsey's kitchen nightmares. maybe if i dont become a lawyer, I'll open a restaurant;-)

Looking forward to a couple nights of live music.

2009-08-25T11:32:00.002+10:00

epic starts tomorrow-- honestly who was the sadist who thought it was a good idea to schedule a flight at 6 30am??! and i have a 6am one out of rochester at the end of my trip. wish me luck!!

morning torture notwithstanding im looking forward to
--American candy (in particular York Peppermint Patties)
-- Ben and Jerry's chocolate fudge brownie icecream/frozen yogurt
-- Cheerios, plain in the yellow box!
--three new Tshirts awaiting
--big city fixes in LA and NY
--maybe some turning autumn leaves in September, if I'm lucky
--apples and grapes from the farms by my parents house
--a family portrait with all five of us in it??
--spending time with my dad and stretching out his arm and fingers and watching the reflex reaction as they wiggle and then gradually fall back into place
--hiking with my mom
--late nights with old friends
--maple, beech, birch and pine forrested trails
--reading my brother's script
--going through old letters and photos and yearbooks and being amazed at the random paths we've all wandered onto
--playing with my 24mm lens
--neal in his gangsta sweatsuits
--bagels
--hot apple cider
--beating my brother in a push up contest ... ive been training!!

2009-08-01T10:27:00.002+10:00

ive mostly stopped writing, stopped working, stopped riding...stopped.
i have a lot to do in the next three weeks, before i head to my homeland to spend time with my family and old friends who knew me when i was skin and bones, braces, glasses, pimples, turquoise and purple taco bell uniform, walls plastered in posters of death metal singers and romanian gymnasts.

today i need to start work again.
ugh. it's blue(ish) skies, and i've given up climbing to work...i thought i was feeling motivated when i woke, thought it would be a super-uber-muy productive day...

in fact i feel like writing-writing, raw real writing, the kind of writing that comes from way down deep in your gut and exhausts you of every ounce of energy....

however once again i shall resist, and instead convert that purist desire to a much less meaningful but far more practical purpose. im not used to living like a peasant, and there's only so much food you can mooch off friends.

so today i'll be writing about glaucoma and GP burnout and organ transplants. writing for a buck. a writing whore.

my time. starts. now.

2009-05-26T11:40:00.004+10:00

Somalia is a scary place for journalists...and everyone else

Just read about a freelance journalist and photographer being held hostage in somalia... http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5597153/kidnapped-aussie-appeals-help/
...this is why i personally would always want the backing of a large organization if i was going to report on controversial issues abroad. freelancers take more risks to tell the stories that are harder to get-- and have no one to bail them out when things go horribly wrong.

Meanwhile last week Reporters without borders announced the death of journalist Abdirisak Warsameh Mohamed, of Radio Shabelle, who was shot as the Somali army launched a major offensive against Islamist “al-Shabab” insurgents in the heart of the capital Mogadishu. He is the third journalist to be killed in Somalia since the beginning of 2009. The killing of 11 journalists since 2007 has made it Africa’s deadliest country for the media.

2009-05-22T08:50:00.003+10:00

my cell phone has died. simcard too. day before a major deadline. agony. well not quite, but pretty freaking frustrating, anyway.

been working on sales pitch for 'my book.' yeah THE book. the same one. that i started 100 years ago. the one about me. i know im not that interesting. but im pretty good writer... anyway cross your fingers, i think im gonna seek out every distant remote my-friend-knows-the-cleaner-who-works for the best friend of the top publishing chick at random house contact that ive got....

i have been obsessed with words and the power contained within them for a long time. i remember once, just after i moved to australia, i wrote a poem. actually i wrote a few poems, because this was back when integrity in writing was all that mattered to me. anyway, i sent the poems to a friend who i went to journalism school with, a friend whose writing i really respected.

she wrote me back, and told me the poem i had written made her cry.

what an amazing feeling, to think that the words you put on paper in the middle of the night when you should be dreaming can create that kind of emotion.

i want to do that again. i want to write something that moves people....

2009-05-11T14:37:00.002+10:00

i put more pix up

the first seven albums from this link http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman are all argentina-- and thats it for pix from that trip.

2009-05-04T16:34:00.002+10:00

one disadvantage to living in tasmania

is it means a lot of extra flying, and i hate flying. just found out i have to be in sydney at the end of the week. guess thats the price of living in the middle of nowhere.

2009-05-04T14:08:00.002+10:00

slowly putting pix online

latest album is here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/Freytojacob#

2009-05-02T10:24:00.003+10:00

Newspaper theft is on the rise

The first thing I do when I get the newspaper, is to take out the sections I'm probably not going to read. When I buy the Sydney Morning Herald or the Age, I immediately discard the Drive and real estate sections. Just not interested.

With the Australian, I usually get rid of Business and Sports (both of which are inherently more interesting than cars and houses, but I only have limited time, and reading the newspaper the way I do takes a lot of that. So out go business and sports.

Anyway this morning I was sitting in coffee shop with laptop and newspaper-- business and sports sections on the table adjacent to mine--i hadnt even browsed to be sure there was nothing of interest, and some guy came over and took them, without even asking. I guess just assuming it was coffeeshop property.

But really, I have to pay 60 cents extra per copy for my newspaper to be flown over to this little island from the mainland (!!!) -- at least give me a sec to skim before you snag it!

This incident probably wouldnt have registered too much on my radar had something a little peculur not just occurred on the flight back from Auckland (via Buenos Aires) a few weeks ago.

Side note: Aerolinas Argentina provides almost no entertainment (there is one screen for all of economy class-- two stations providing audio for whatever bad film is showing, with one in spanish and one in english, and two incredibly bad radio stations. That's it. So in Auckland I grabbed my favorite newspaper in the whole universe: The Guardian Weekly. And when I got on the plane I smilled, winked and got the flight attendants to give me a copy of the New Zealand Herald that had been designated for the priveleged first class.

I commented to the guy next me on how stoked i WAS TO HAVE NOT ONE BUT TWO NEWSPAPERS TO READ, AND RECOUNTED MY TALE OF SCORING THE FREE PAPER. lITTLE THINGs make me happy.

So I was indulging in the Guardian Weekly, with the Herald beneath it when an older gentleman a couple rows up tried to get my attention. He mouthed some words and gestured toward the paper. Eventually I figured out that he wanted to read the other paper.

I'll admit I was a little reluctant since I wanted to read the fresh uncrinkled paper first, but I knew it would take me a while to get through the best paper ever, so I agreed. I try to be community spirited, you know.

So the gentleman read my paper...and I couldnt help but notice that the pages were distinctly not crisp and unwrinkled any longer.

(Ok Im anal about my newspapers. It's my livelihood, afterall!!).

I finished my paper and waited for the man to give me the other one back, but when I looked up to make eye contact I realised that he had distributed it to everyone else in his row, so it was now in several pieces.

i waited a little longer, and then finally asked for the paper.

"Oh," he looked a little flustered as he set about gathering the various sections.

"I thought you were Spanish and couldn't read our paper..."

2009-04-30T10:10:00.001+10:00

saw lior last night. so inspiring. left and wanted to write a novel. or paint a canvas. or something,

2009-04-22T20:01:00.004+10:00

freaky face grab kiss apple selling man. but i guess i did take a lot of pix. too bad the light was terrible.

anyway heres a link to some pics from this little town south of Mendoza:

San Rafael shots

2009-04-22T17:48:00.004+10:00

Just to prove my point

Here are some pictures from the tour to las Lenas. Ie the worst tour ever to be created. Im not really sure Ive made it look as bad as it really was. You have to imagine the REALLY LONG distances we had to drive between each point, and remember that this was not even the tour I requested.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/TheTourFromHell#5327421377152803874

2009-04-22T00:04:00.002+10:00

random hiking point and shoot pix

2009-04-21T23:27:00.002+10:00

at the estancia

2009-04-21T23:05:00.005+10:00

sometimes you just have to use your imagination...

these are point and shoot pix. but honestly, i have seen tons of condors on both trips to south america, and never once captured the background and bird simultaneously. most of the time i dont even bother to try. i was there. and for everyone else, there's discovery channel.

2009-04-18T08:47:00.000+10:00

Back in Oz

I guess it’s predictable, that just as my Spanish reached passable levels, it was time to leave Argentina. I think I “got” Buenos Aires a little more on take 2. Maybe because my ability to communicate had improved, maybe because I was crashing at my friend’s Palermo pad instead of a hostel, and thus found myself interacting with her network of friends for park-side picnics and late-night parties high up in multi-story buildings with the city sparkling below... or maybe it’s just a city that requires some time. Whatever the reason, round 2 in the city that seriously NEVER sleeps, trumped round 1 by a long shot.

This time I hit up a great art museum, some galleries and markets that left me inspired. I found cafes with gorgeous waiters and killer food. And I wandered into a market-inhabited park that doubled as circus practice. There were acrobats, jugglers, slack-liners…and a great puppet show with handmade puppets. It was the crazy eclectic mix of creativity and eccentricity that makes cities so alluring, and I was happy to see Buenos Aires does indeed have its share of it.

Rarely do I get to the end of a lengthy vacation without at least some little bit of longing to return home…but this was the exception.

Nevertheless here I am, back in Oz. Perfect weather, old friends...and a rapidly accumulating pile of work.

2009-04-10T02:58:00.002+10:00

Tonight I head back to Buenos Aires...not my favorite of cities, but Im looking forward to hanging with my new friend Louise. My trip is nearing its end. The last few days have been a lot of fun exploring the region around San Luis with a couple chics from BA and a girl from Montreal. One of the BA chics was pretty much our designated tour guide and Spanish teacher. :)

The highlight was this vast dried out red canyon we went to yesterday. Reminiscent of southern Utah. So much unique vegetation too. Im not sure I can handle the heat much longer though!

2009-04-07T07:32:00.000+10:00

74 minutes until my bus out of here...

but who's counting?

it was really nice of the hotel staff to let me put my leftover food in the fridge, and even nicer of them to eat the gourmet cheese and olives I was planning to save for tonight's bus ride.

i also loved it that they showed me a room with a double bed, gave me the key to it, and then made me move to another dingier room with icky bunkbeds a couple hours later.

and the cockroaches were the perfect finishing touch.

2009-04-07T06:10:00.004+10:00

óther things from San Rafael that make me smile. or not.

Free WIFI in the park.

Yeah you read that right-- they have WIFI in the park. Brilliant. Why can´t they do that in City Park in Launceston? Can one of my politically aware community minded Tasmanian friends lobby council to trade in the monkeys and get some WIFI, please??

A romantic picnic...in a traffic circle/roundabout/rotunda??

Yup. Yesterday was a very sunny Sunday, the kind of sunny sunday where people while away the afternoon in a nice park kicking a soccer ball, sipping mate, or otherwise living the tranquilo life. But what totally made me laugh was the number of people who simply pull off the highway and set up a full-blown picnic right there next to the main road. Yeah it´s a canyon, but really, dont you think you could find a slightly more scenic place to chill??? Well there´s always a roundabout...as we passed the main rounabout at the entrance to the city, the grassy area in the middle was completely full of picnicing families.

Dudes selling apples out the back of a Ford pickup, also off the main thouroughfare, with a scale hung in a tree.

Too bad the cost of taking a picture of above scene was a face-and-neck-grab-porn-star kiss...yeah like i´m really gonna meet you for an icecream @2 now, freak! Id hate to think what would have happened had the apple-stand not been on the main highway. And the pic didnt even come out cuz the light was so bad!

2009-04-07T05:51:00.005+10:00

Food for thought

the world´s best ham sandwich
the highlight of yesterdays excursion was the ham sandwich i bought at the swanky pit stop: crusty bread. locally produced extra dark extra virgin olive oil. good aged cheese. arugula. a little dried chilli. and proscuitto.

pretty darn good.
still, should a ham sandwich really be a highlight???

other food faves

Chilli beer! Almost as good as chilli chocolate.

The town of el bolson produces its own brand of beer, and possibly in an effort to seduce people like me who are generally not that into beer, they´ve created some new flavors, some of which are seriously good.

Frambuesa beer (rasberries) is one, but my personal favorite is Aji cerveza. I mean really, adding chilli to beer, how can you possibly go wrong???

Value adding at coffee shops
On another still semi related note, one thing I like about Argentina is when you go to a coffee shop, you always get lots of extras with your drink-- a small cup of sparkling water (sounds so much better than augu con gas, doesnt it?), and usually some chocolates or cookies too.

One thing I dont like is that it takes FOREVER to get them to bring your bill, which is why I recommend asking them to bring it with your food. I just always forget.

I think its cute that sandwiches in cafes and shops always have the crusts cut off (not cute that they always come on disgusting white bread).

But someone needs to teach these people how to grill a steak!

Last food gripe, how can the country thats world famous for its steak have so many chefs that habitually overcook it??? seriously if you order a rare steak it should be juicy!!!

But they do do all things Italian very well here. I just wish someone would create mint with brownie icecream (wouldnt that be so much better than mint chocolate chip??)

2009-04-06T20:05:00.003+10:00

If I seem bitter

Its because I am.

Today will be my third day in San Rafael, a warmer, dryer, sunnier place to be than Bariloche. I arrived in this wine-country town at 6 am Saturday and had a grand day. A Bolivian parade made its way through the centre of town with an elaborate marching band and dance performance-- I think they were celebrating something to do with easter, but Im not entirely sure. I gorged myself on some yummy and very cheap empanadas. And then I walked to all the wineries within walking distance of here and met some fun people to explore with. With the fabulous weather to boot, it was a great day. When I arrived back at the grimy hotel that evening I had an internal debate about whether to stay or go--Id done what I really wanted to do in the town, but there is a canyon not too far away that people said would be worth a visit...but its difficult to do without a tour.

Now you dont have to know me all that well to guess that I hate tours. They go against my intrinsic spontaneous nature. But against my better judgenment I decided to give it a try. Mostly because I leave Argentina in a week and I no longer have as much time to chill in each spot. It was 11pm when I arrived back at the hotel and talked about all this to the middle aged employee whose Spanish I really struggle to understand. But eventually I communicated what I wanted to do and he called the tour group affiliated with the hotel.

I didnt shop around. I didnt know what was included in the tour. The only thing I asked was the price.

But I did distinctly hear the man at my hotel ask about tours to the canyon thats only half an hour away.

So I assumed thats where I was going.

Not to a ski resort 200 kilometers away in early autumn where there is not a flake of snow.

Who goes to a ski resort with neither a bike, nor a snowboard nor skis????

So I spent all day and a hell of a lot of money to sit in a car and do nothing.

When we got to the resort we took a four wheel drive trip which was optional. Everyone in the group did it, and there was no alternative if you chose not to, but it was "optional" none the less.

i was stunned when afterwards it cost two-thirds of the price of the tour. And the tour--read drive to the exact place I had just passed in the bus the previous day--did not include anything...not even food or the obligatory beer that EVERY tour includes.

Despite not moving more than 10 steps all day I was exhausted by the time we got back (2 hours ahead of schedule, i should add) -- the guide didnt speak english and because everyone else on the tour was from Buenos Aires he didnt make any attempts to slow down or use simpler language for me.

Then, and dont ask me why on earth I trusted the tour guide after all that-- ive missed the bus this morning because he said he was going to the town I wanted to go to and woiuld take me along. Of course he didnt show up.

So now I am stuck here for another day.

The only buses from here to there leave at 6am (arriving at 10), 8pm arriving at midnight, or 12:40 am arriving at 4 40am. honestly. who makes these schedules up????

Yeah. Im a little bitter.

2009-04-03T01:46:00.007+11:00

A little Patagonian adventure.

(Warning this is probably too long to read, but I wanted to write it down for myself so I wouldnt forget.)

There´s nothing like scaring the shit out of yourself when you want to enhance your senses and feel fully in the moment.

It´s now officially the low season here in Bariloche. In a week most of the huts will be closed and it will no longer be possible to hike into the backcountry and be served a three-course meal.

The weather has been pretty bleak, but on Sunday the rain paused, and the notoriously unreliable forecast predicted only a 20 per cent probability that it would start again that day. High winds, but probably not too much rain...So it seemed like the best chance for a last foray into the backcountry here. The particular trail I chose for day one is sheltered almost the whole way and not particularly long-- you meander through a mossy forrest for a couple hours, then climb for the last hour to reach Laguna Negra-- a lake that really is almost black. At the start of the climb you are essentially standing at the bottom of this enormous bowl that has been carved by glaciers.

The huge granite cliffsides are covered in Fagus (the same deciduous shrub/tree found in Tasmania), and because it´s now emerging into autumn, the colors are a blend of greens, yellows and burnt oranges. And there are waterfalls. It´s a spectacular feeling to be completely surrounded by these peaks...360 degree views.

Not long into the hike I met someone to hike with-- a young but exceptionally nice guy named Ezekial--so we hiked together and chatted away. (Yay for a free three-hour Spanish lesson:)Ezekial wants to be a mountain guide, and was good value-- spotting a pair of red headed woodpeckers at one point.

As we began the climb it started to snow..and the higher we got the more intense the weather. So the snow evolved into hail, and the wind kept turning it up notch after notch. Putting my tent up was a challenge because the wind kept attempting to take the fly for a ride, but eventually I managed to get it up in a nice sheltered spot. This wasn´t ideal picture taking weather-- the granite peaks were covered in low clouds, the snow was thick, and the hail was bouncing off the lake. Plus my hands were too cold to be nimble enough to bother, so I didn´t really.

It was actually colder in the hut than in my tent, but we congregated in there to drink tea and discuss whether we would keep hiking the following day.

The chick at the hut, Natalia, didnt think it was a good idea to continue, so I bummed around until midday the next day, and then heeded her advice. I followed the same mostly-sheltered trail back down. But as you would predict, just as I arrived at the bottom the skies began to clear. Of course.

I decided to camp illegally trail-side. I woke the next morning to perfect blue skies, and decided to hike up to the hut I had originally planned to continue on to (only this time on a much shorter, easier route).

I left around midday. It took under two hours to get there, even with a full pack, and the only person there was the guy running the hut, who left before I did.

How long is it to the bottom? I ask before he takes off.
An hour, tops, he says...even if you´re going REAllY slow, it wont take more than an hour.
I ask about the trail and he points it out quickly and then disappears into the bush.

I stay at the top for another hour so, and consume the remainder of my food.. except for 3 slices of cheese and one granola bar.

According to the map there are three trails that all lead to the entrance from this hut, so I didnt worry too much when I hadnt passed any of the landmarks Id seen on the way up. The trail had been a straight steep climb up, and now it was a straight steep climb down. It seemed to be going in the general vicinity of where I wanted to be, and it was marked with the ubiquitous red trailmarkers they mark everything with here. If I followed the red spots on the trees downhill, how wrong could I go???

After an hour I didnt seem to be getting any closer and still had not passed anything familiar, but it seemed like too hard a climb back up with no food... so I decided to continue on a little longer...

Until the trail disappeared completely. I took several false leads that all ended up in dense bamboo forrest. At that point I changed my mind and decided to hike slowly back up-- from the hut there is actually a road you can take, so I decided I would attempt to do that-- only I could no longer find anything resembling a trail at all. After a long while of searching I decided that option wasnt going to work either...and I started to get a little scared.

I get really clostrophobic in dense bush like that...and I find it hard to think clearly when I can,t see out of it... so with that in mind I made what was probably a pretty stupid decision.

I knew if I followed the river it would lead me back to the trailhead. I could hear it below, but I couldnt see it, and I thought that if I could get down to it maybe there would be a trail beside it. So I made myway down a heavily vegetated but very steep cliffside. I was falling regularly but the bush was so thick that it always caught me, and somehow my heavy pack didnt get too caught on anything. By the time I reached the bottom my pants were shredded.

When I got to the river I was so relieved-- there wasnt a trail, but there were tons of rocks and a wide open view to the lakes and town, so I could think rationally again. I decided that as long as I didnt get wet i´d be fine, and the river was very low (I guess its more of a creek than a river) with lots of rocks and logs. So I followed it down for an hour with lots of near misses where I always miraculously slid off something but landed on my feet not even getting a drop of water on me.

I continued like that....a little worried that the end didnt seem in sight, but also still confident that at least I knew where i was.

Until I reached a waterfall. A way too steep to climb down holy shit what was i thinking, waterfall.

At which point I started to panic. There were only a couple hours of dayñlight left, and I could walk all the way back up the river again, but that seemed like a bad idea given how many slippery things Id crossed to get where I was, and considering that it was the wrong direction and Id still have no idea where I was...

So I decided to climb back up the wet cliff. Only now there was no vegetation, making it slightly more frightening.

By this point I was completely talking to myself outloud. I convinced myself it would be fine if I moved slowly and planned where I would go first.

Fortunately there were lots of holds, and even one firm tree root. I would make a move then stop and recompose myself, then make another move until eventually I reached the top. And a clearing... maybe the trail??

No dice. But about 15 minutes of bush-whacking later, I intersected with the trail I originally hiked up on.

I was cautiously ecstatic... still a little paranoid that something else would go wrong, so I tried to contain my excitment until I finally hit the main road below.

Which I eventually did.

...thankfully it rained for a couple days straight upon my return, giving me a good excuse to stay in town eating chocolate.

2009-03-29T06:16:00.005+11:00

since it´s raining....

ive taken the opportunity to put some pictures online. these are straight from the camera, i cant even crop or rotate, which im not going to lie, makes me incredibly uncomfortable. i hate unedited pix... but given that i still havent gone through all my pictures from china i decided i´d put some up while the mood and weather struck.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/Argentina#

2009-03-29T04:35:00.001+11:00

maybe my favorite pic from this trip so far

2009-03-28T10:09:00.004+11:00

The wind

This afternoon I watched the trees in their frantic, crazed state from the comfort of an enormous, at-capacity chocolate cafe. Everyone else had the same idea. Outside the trees held nothing back. They moved violently and agressively, like a loud drunk at an about-to-spiral-out-of-control drugged up dance party.

I laughed a little thinking about how much I must love this place... you know when you love someone (or somewhere) so much that you forget their flaws, or remember them, but find them endearing anyway? I think that´s a little what I´m like when it comes to Patagonia.

I´ve always been in awe of the wind, ever since it lifted me from my feet and knocked me to the earth in sixth grade when I raced ahead as our class filed over to a school assembly across the street (i promptly earned the nick-name "Kite" since I came so close to blowing away).

I made my first acquaintence with Patagonia a year ago in the far south (not the farthest south, but notably further south than I am now). The wind made its impression early in Chile´s Torres del Paine. First a little rough-things-up-but-nothing-too-serious reminder of who was boss as we watched fellow campers chase their fully assembled but not pegged down tent tumble through a field of daisies into a creek.

It wasn´t long after that that the wind´s blatant power seemed a little less innocent-- threatening us as we walked along steep ridges, so overwhelming that at times we had to crawl...or lay down and wait, and then crawl.

Then a few days later we were in El Chalten, Argentina...where the dirt roads are the wind´s ammo, gusting from calm to furious in moments, pelting gravel into your skin and making you remembe your place in this world...until of course you forget...because that´s what we humans do.

I have photos of El Chalten´s infamous dust storms, as well as photos of my then-trekking-partner´s hair standing 180 degrees in the air, another testament of the insanity of the winds in this part of the world.

In fact in the week we spent in El Chalten last year, the sun only shone on day one--the only appearance of the famous Fitzroy was a fleeting one.

Our major hikes always ended with the granite towers shrouded in clouds and mist. We would stand for as long as we could bear, faces and eyes red and burning, and then we´d drop low and seek momentary respite behind one of the built up wind-breaks...before rising again to be assaulted with debris and cold and hail...

Patagonia is famous for all that, which I guess is why you hear so many mixed reviews of El Chalten and surrounds-- all-up I hear more negative than positive comments from people who go there.

Given that in seven days in the park in the middle of the summer tourist season I experienced only a glimpse of blue sky it´s hard to say why, when reflecting on the trip and planning to return to South America for part II, the place I planned to make homebase was none other than El Chalten.

The weather here scares the shit out of me...and yet i´m drawn to it all the same...

2009-03-28T06:28:00.001+11:00

http://thisiswhyyourefat.com

2009-03-28T05:15:00.001+11:00

ps im back in bariloche and its crazy windy!

2009-03-28T05:11:00.002+11:00

i hate scenic drives

like seriously dont get the appeal-- if the view is that good why would you want to experience it through a window??? and on a shitty winding bumpy road no less (beCAUSE ALL SCENIC DRIVES Are invariably like that!!)? i just accidently took the scenic bus through the siete lagos which is apparently one of those must-do drives. yuck.

2009-03-26T09:31:00.002+11:00

Maybe the decision to stay with the old man wasnt such a great one.

I had a sweet bike ride today, and this place is trailidise, but I´m feeling a little people-deprived. Even my Spanish is suffering. Mario isnt that nice, and if I dont articulate my point in all of 3 seconds he switches to broken English.

There´s a national park just north of here, and I feel kind of obligated to go since it´s just around the corner, but I dont have any information about what to do there, and I kind of feel like just going for another bike ride tomorrow and then skipping town.

I really do wish I had my laptop so I could ride for a few hours in the morning and then work, rather than feeling the need to continually move. It´s nicer to pretend to live in a place, I think.

2009-03-26T05:16:00.001+11:00

dusty single tracks overlooking lake, mountains and turning autumn leaves.

2009-03-25T11:09:00.003+11:00

i finished the book...

now i can go back to being a normal tourist... i did at least break from burying my face in the pages long enough to go for a run by the lake. was hot today. really hot.

other thoughts:
--dunking apples in dulce de leche is YUM.
--the chocolate brownie ice cream at jauja rivals ben and jerry´s and tempts even diehard icecreamphobes like me
--i should have brought my laptop...there´s free wireless access everywhere here...unlike in another country that shall remain nameless...then i could appease all those who keep asking about my photos...unlikely to happen using the crap computers in internet cafes
--i love that this country operates on my schedule. it´s fantastic to be in a place where everyone else eats dinner around 10 and stays up until 3 or 4 too.

2009-03-25T03:04:00.002+11:00

I am now in San Martin de los Andes, a little resort town that reminds me a bit of Jackson Hole or Sun Valley with that typical wooden architecture everwhere, lots of dessert places and perfectly manicured parks. Of course there are outdoor shops everywhere, and a few places where you can rent decent bikes... at this point I do wish I had a friend here to ride with. The weather is perfect but I´m so close to finishing this book... I think I may hang out by the lake reading, then go for a run or something like that.

I´m staying in a tiny room in a very cluttered little house close to the lake and the main street. Mario came to the bus station and persuaded me to come check out his place. I bargained viscously, and arrived at a price that is about the same as a hostel-- i dont get internet or breakfast, both of which i think are overrated, but i get my own room with a TV in it. That´s actually quite useful for enhancing my language skills. Last night I fell asleep watching a special about the New Kids on The Block reuniting. I also get use of the kitchen, though it´s so cramped I´m not sure I can be bothered. Last night I open the closet in the room to find it full of stuff; when I woke this morning I found Mario sleeping on a cot in the kitchen...so it appears that I have taken over his room! He didnt give me change when I paid him this morning...which he should have following our agreed upon price...but after realising that I now have his bed I almost feel too bad to ask! Then again with construction going on upstairs it´s not exactly prized real estate. Hmmm, I´ll worry about it tomorrow.

I was debating whether I should try to stay at a hostel so I could meet people to ride with when I met a Swiss guy in one of the bike rental shops last night. I made an effort to talk to him since I knew I wouldnt meet anyone at the place where I was staying...but he ended up being kind of an arrogant prick who said things like
"I spent the summer cutting down trees...it made me feel like a MAN, (insert grunting noise and caveman actions here) you know??"...uh not really, cant say I do.
He then told me a story about being "fucked by a female dog...can you imagine??!!" ditto my previous response. Then when I was leaving he commented that Im really pretty but shouldnt say that Im not good at things... as if his assessment after a 10 minute conversation had some sort of value... anyway when I learned that he was staying in the hostel I had planned to look for I was happy to be in a little room in a friendly old man´s house by myself.

I´m still finding that any interaction with anyone of the opposite sex here always seems to be interpreted as some kind of a date-like thing, which is really starting to piss me off.

Ok rant over.

2009-03-24T02:06:00.004+11:00

I spent yesterday living THE life...and it was sweet. One of my friends´ guide friends invited me along with him to bum around at Puema Hue (http://www.peuma-hue.com/) this gorgeous private estancia where rich people go and stay to be pampered and play- they ride horses, kayak, eat gourmet food, drink fine wine and wander around on trails by the lakes that dot the area. There´s an organic family farm (next door?) where they produce honey. Outside secluded pebble beaches dot the area, and inside has a cozy classic feel.

It´s all private property, so when friend of friend invited me along for the day I figured I might as well. I hung out inside for a bit talking to the guests, sipping the first un-burnt cup of coffee I´ve had in Argentina, and reading one of friend-of-friend´s books (Under the banner of heaven, story about the Mormon religion, and specifically the fundamentalist versions of the text--....having spent a lot of time studying the religion and living in Utah, but now being away from it for so long, I´m finding the book fascinatinating and un-put-downable. I like the opinionated nature of the writing, as well as the use of language itself. I think most members of the LDS church would find the book offensive, but as good reads go I recommend it. The author is Jon Krakauer who wrote Into the Wild and Into thing air).

Besides lounging around reading the book I wandered along scrambling over trees and exploring various parts of the peninsula. I also played on the ropes course and ziplines they have there, something I havent done since I was a kid. I learned that when Im not scared (ie when I have a harness attached to me to keep me safe) I actually have pretty good balance. Unfortunately that skill disappears inversly as my confidence drops.

When I met up with my guide-friend at one of the beaches we found they had packed us a massive feast of fancy food...killer torrontes (white wine) and malbec, locally brewed beer, salmon and olive quiche, sandwiches on homemade bread, berry tarts...and on and on... it was a nice day. :P

Today if I can get a bus Im heading to San Martin de los Andes, a little mountain town about 4 hours north of here. I´ll probably hang out there for a while and maybe rent a bike for a few days.

2009-03-22T14:16:00.003+11:00

more blabbering

so I spent today helping my new friends get ready for Canada, where they live for five months a year. they leave tomorrow, but since one of them was sick, and the other just had surgery last week, they needed some help. The day consisted of running errands, cooking, cleaning and helping them pack. It probably doesnt sound fun, but I really enjoyed it. I guess travelling has a tendancy to feel very artificial, and it was nice to be able to step into people´s lives in a more sincere way and do the sort of thing you would do back home. Also, again, they are the sort of friends you just feel immediately comfortable with. The highlight of the day was that I learned how to make empanadas. I even learned the proper way to pinch the dough (which has an actual name in spanish specifically to describe this empanada-pinching action-- repulgue--in case you are wondering proper empanada pinching differs markedly in accordance with the filling so you can look at the pastry and know the filling...who knew. I also never knew people put raisins in beef empanadas. I hate raisins, but it did actually taste pretty good.

I also met a lot of my friends´friends (that sounds articulate doesnt it) -- most of them are also guides so may try to catch up with them for some kayak-bike etc...but we´ll see.

2009-03-22T13:56:00.002+11:00

end of the blurb about the hike from pampa linda

So to make a long story a little less long, my new friend (mentioned in the previous post) suggested a hike to a place called Paso de las Nubes, which doesnt have facilities or a place to buy dinner this time of year. It was beautiful-- downhill for a long while from the first hut, then flat following a river, through a muddy bog, then through amazing forests and bamboo woods, then up hill and more up hill, and then finally down a very steep descent that went for eons until you finally emerge at the mouth of a glacier with dozens of waterfalls. It seemed like the sun was going down and we had been hiking for 10 or 11 hours, but when I finally switched on my phone after we arrived at the campsite, it had only been something like 6. Ha.

That night we ate cheese and salami cracker sandwiches for dinner. One other couple did the trek, and we were the only people at the campground-- a lot less crowded than to the hut we were at the previous night. We star, planet and sattelite gazed by the river and then crashed early-- my poor friend didnt have a warm sleeping bag or sleeping pad...not ideal in Patagonia!

The following morning the entire glacier, valley and surrounding mountains were draped in clouds, hence the name of the place-- it was spectacular to watch the clouds move rapidly with little bits of the landscape emerging and then disappearing and then emerging once again. and it was really fun to spend the time with someone I actually connected with, and felt like I had known for years, as opposed to the sort of random fellow traveller who overhears you making plans in the hostel and joins you for a day, where you switch contact details out of some social obligation, but you know you´ll never see each other again... this felt like a real friendship... and i´ve been blessed this trip with a few of those--a refreshing surprise.

Day 3 of our hike was much less painful than we anticipated, except for poor Louise, who took a spill in the bog and ended up mud coated (bañado).

I had planned to stay for a couple more days but as we had consumed most of my food except for crackers and battered apples, I ended up heading back to town with Louise where we indulged in Mexican food and cocktails.

I really do love this place, even if they don´t put anywhere near enough chilli in their food.

2009-03-22T01:28:00.003+11:00

Back in Bariloche.

After a failed attempt at a big day-hike in El Bolson I spent a day leisurly roaming around the foothills near town, and half a day scribbling pitches to publishers in a 30 cent notebook before returning to Bariloche Monday evening.

I decided to go to a place called Pampa Linda the following morning-- it´s basically the base point for hiking up to glacier Tronodor (where an Outward Bound guide from the US died last week while taking a group of kids onto the glacier-- not sure the details but I think he fell into a crevace.

My plan was to go to a campsite called Otto Meiling, spend a night there, bum around for a day doing day hikes and the like, and then return to pampa Linda and hike to various other spots on day hikes. Most of the campgrounds have huts where you can buy an somewhat expensive but yummy dinner and after seeing the good eats on the first backpacking trip, I decided this was the option for me, so I stocked up on tons of breakfast, lunch and snack foods (I didnt pack enough last time and ended up puppy dog gorging on people´s leftovers ...haha!). I packed enough for about 5.5 days, maybe more-- and decided heavy was ok since I´ve been getting so much iron from all the chocolate and steak-- so I brought a massive bag of fresh produce.

Of course plans are like rules-- made to me broken. There is only one bus a day to Pampa Linda, and it was full. All argentinians except for me, two Frenchies, and an Australian chick named Louise. I was a little irritated when I realised that her Spanish was much, much better than mine... i mean really, Australians arent supposed to speak Spanish! But alas she lived in Columbia for 18-months before getting a job here in Argentina, where she has lived for a year...so I guess that´s forgiveable. Anyway Lou and I began talking and I´m now officially dubbed Thelma by the fun Argentinian crew we ended up hiking with (aka Thelma and Louise,-)

The first day was all uphill, so of course I loved it, and everyone else hated it. :P Since there were so many people on the trail I took off and hiked by myself when the hill got steep-- as I reached the summit I was surrounded by glacier and mountains, with a condor soaring above-- it was so tranquilo and perfect. I got a wicked campsite, and chilled out until everyone else arrived.

It kept looking like it was going to rain, and then the heavens shifted and the best sunset I have seen in ages emerged-- like scenes from a movie, one color and cloudscape replacing another so that the whole experience went on and on for what seemed liked ever.

The night included lots of mate, confused conversations because the Argentinians were talking too fast for me, lots of erroneous responses on my part, and a candlelit canneloni dinner in the hut. At which point plans began to change.

Again will have to finish this story later-- got to go meet up with friends I met on the last hike who live here-- they spend half the year in canada and the other half here, and are leaving sunday so i need to bid farewell.

Maybe this time I will actually finish the story later if I can be bothered.

2009-03-15T03:37:00.002+11:00

Im in El Bolsen, eating. So far today I have had dark chocolate filled with a walnut dulce de leche paste, a waffle with fresh berries, a lemon tart and a punnet of rasberries.... I should probably force myself to at least go for a run.

El Bolson is sort of the Patagonia hippieville where everyone comes to chill out. The food is fantastic since its all locally grown. The mountains are beautiful but Ive been a little lazy and just bummed around at the ginormous craft market they have three times a week.

Traveling alone is nice because you usually meet more people, you dont have to compromise, and you are more aware of everything you do, if that makes sense. This is especially true when you go out backpacking on your own-- you just pay more attention to everything around you.

On the flipside however, it can be easy to lose motivation and sit on your ass doing nothing. Except eat fruit and chocolates.

I need to go out for a hike tomorrow or this could get dangerous.

2009-03-12T23:00:00.003+11:00

I´m coughing and sniffling and scratched and have finally gotten my voice back...but I´m completely enamoured with Patagonia. Like-check-out-real-estate-prices and concoct-an-elaborate-scheme-to-relocate kind of smitten. Bariloche itself is nothing spectacular (except for the chocolate shops, one of which sells shots of Baileys encased in chocolate...genius!!). But as I was saying-- Bariloche is ok-- there´s a little ice rink down by the lake...zamboni-less, but an ice rink none the less. For the last week or so there has been a big Tango festival on, with musicians and dancers from all over the country and other parts of south america-- for some inexplicable reason this has only attracted locals, possibly because lonely planet neglected to mention it. Whatever the reason I enjoyed the performance I attended the other night and may try for another.

The town´s biggest downfall is the traffic--it´s a small town but there are almost no traffic lights or stop signs, AND NO ONE USES TURNING SIGNALS...the funny thing is the 1 in 100 people who do use turning signals invariably use the wrong signal...so crossing the street is a little complicated.

Anyway a town is a town is a town. But the backcountry here is nirvana. Im kicking myself for not having packed for more than 3 days outside...food and contact-solution wise...everyone i met said there was a 3 day hike, but it didnt occur to me until i was there that i could have stayed up at a base camp and done all these amazing day trips. Anyway nevermind.

I started my little excursion with a German dude from my hostel who decided to day hike to the first hut and return...it was really kind of weird hiking with a massive pack with someonte carrying a day pack...you keep wondering if you´re going really slow. Anyway I felt bad for him because when you get to the hut there isn´t immediately spectacular scenery... it´s more changing light at sunset and sunrise on the cliff face, the reflections in the lake, the full moon over the water... hanging out watching all the climbers bolting new routes, and just chilling with the fun people who live up at the hut that makes the experience so enjoyable.

Anyway by the time I arrived at the campground I had no voice left at all. I was too sick to share in the mate-ritual (it seemed rude to infect others) but the hut-care-takers gave me this yummy cakey thing they made (choclina cookies soaked in milk, stacked in layers with a frosting made of dulce de leche mixed with cream....it was so good!). They had an adorable little shirley-temple-esque daughter who enjoyed playing with my camera. Since I was sick I retreated to my tent early and slept for 12 hours straight. At which point I decided my tent is far superior to a hostel-- particularly when there is not a drop of condensation to be found. You can pitch far away from anyone else, so you can come in and out whenever you want without regard to noise, spread your stuff whereever, and not be woken by snoring etc. Last night was my first night back in the hostel, and I kept waking to wish I was still in my tent.

I hadnt realised that the first hut, Refugio Frey, was in the climbing mecca of Argentina. Zillions of american climbers base themselves at the huts for a couple months and climb all over the valley. The little girl growing up at the hut was already practicing climbing up the outside walls of the place. They start´m young here.

The walk to the second hut was pretty spectacular, at points you are surrounded by mountains on all sides, sometimes there are beautiful forests you wind your way through, and there are long, shitty descents on scree, where I was particularly happy to be by myself so I could go at my own pace and not worry about all teh falling rock, which was kind of insane really. Thankfully the weather was perfect.

This is taking forever to write-- I will finish it later.

2009-03-08T23:31:00.002+11:00

note to self

when riding a bike outside of australia, remember that the left break is now the front beak. oops. ouch. more gravel rash.

i had a brilliant bike ride yesterday, fun conversation with random argentinians on the bus, and some yummy mexican food. unfortunately its all caught up to me and today i have flu like symptoms-- sore body, no audibly voice, the lot. i feel like shit. so looks like i will be putting off hiking yet again. looks like i should have actually rested yesterday.

2009-03-06T08:18:00.002+11:00

I arrived in Bariloche, chocoholics paradise, this afternoon. Just before we entered town a large window on the top level of the bus shattered into a million little pieces. The floor was covered in glass carpet. everyone was ok, but it sounded like a bomb exploded. Im not actually sure what happened...but I didnt see any rocks.

Im thinking of going backpacking for a few days from tomorrow. My body needs it.

2009-03-05T05:46:00.002+11:00

This afternoon I parted ways with Will, the beautiful surfer I met in Chile last year,-) he is heading to Uruguay to work at a hostel where he gets free access to surf boards, a bed and food-- not a bad score. I am hoping to find a place to stay and chill too, maybe ride, do some multi day hikes, and hopefully leave a little more proficient in spanish. But in the mountains rather than at the beach...

It´s been fun to travel with someone who doesnt have an agenda to rush around seeing every little thing in as fast a time as possible. We were laughing today about how every traveller seems to have the exact same experiences, tell the same stories, and follow the same trail-- it´s all so predictable, and yet everyone is convinced their experience is unique and compelling enough to grip an audience deep into the night. Sometimes you just have to laugh-- and then remember that you´ve probably told the same story too once.

I am looking forward to figuring out why I am here. Maybe it´s just to reflect, maybe to write, maybe to learn a new skill, maybe to develop some new character trait...I have no idea...but am hoping that following my gut instincts--as I have done-- will again trigger something that reaches beyond this summer. ..

2009-03-04T06:01:00.003+11:00

going to bariloche on the overnight bus tomorrow. hope to find something useful to do around there and stay for a while. open-ended as usual though.

2009-03-03T14:05:00.002+11:00

Mendoza

I think my alcohol induced coma has worn off enough to coherently type. Unfortunately Im not really in the mood. I spent today wine-tasting by bike. The best part was the chocolate-coconut liqour, and the Malbec from Tempus Alba. Soooo good. The riding was fun except for all the big trucks coughing in my face.

Was awoken early by my friend today-- we had planned to meet at 12 but he arrived at 9. Apparently its better to start drinking early here.

Found my way to Manu Chao concert last night---they played forever, and ever, and ever. And it was exactly what I was in the mood for. High energy...lots of dancing and bouncing...and the 2 best parts were

1. they didnt sell alcohol on the premises so there were no disgusting drunk people slobbering all over me
2. argentinians are short, so for once in my life I could actually see the band on the stage even though I was at the back-- yay!!

Other than bike, wine and music (not that there is really much need for more than that) I have been meeting lots of interesting people. Travellers and tooth-deprived men alike-- in the latter department the highlights have been 2 men keen for an "intercambio cultural"... a cultural exchange.... good line huh?! and a 70-year-old man who at one point pulled out a mirror and an exacto knife and began cutting shapes. He had lots of interesting political insights though, so itwas all good.

The day before yesterday there was a big concret in the park, followed by fireworks, to mark the start of the big wine festivalhere.If im honest the music was pretty bad, but the atmosphere was fantastic.

I love that parents bring their toddlers to concerts that end after midnight, and get them dancing the entire time...thats the way to do it i say>!:)

2009-03-01T02:17:00.002+11:00

Yesterday I found a fantastic museum in Cordoba-- the Museo de Bellas Artes Cariffa...or something like that,-) It was all modern photography with two major exhibitions-- one of Swiss photographers and the other of Spanish photographers...I left feeling really inspired. One of the exhibits included giants portraits where the photographer had take two or more photos of the same person, cut out the silloutte and then cut various parts from a second photo (such as a different facial expression¡) and stitched (with thread and needle) that over the top. Im not sure if that makes sense-- hard to translate visual to words, but I liked it and found it compelling.

Spent last night on one of the luxurious overnight buses-- why dont we have those in the States or Australia-- the seats fold all the way back and are so comfortable-- a 10 hour bus ride you sleep the same as you would in a bed. This ride doubled as Spanish practice. I managed to carry on a 2.5 hour conversation in Spanish. Broken Spanish, but still Spanish.

Have 7 of the biggest reddest itchiest mosquito bites ive ever seen-- and they done seem to be shrinking much with time. The guy next to me on the bus, julio, says its ok though because we arent far enough north for the disease carrying mosquitos. so i look like a blotchy freak but probably wont die.

Now in wine country. Mendoza. Can see the mountains in the distance. That makes me happy.

The hostel I booked into makes me less happy-- its the most cramped ive ever seen, not very friendly and took nearly an hour to walk to from the bus station (admittedly with my full pack, but still)-- fortunately im switching to a better one tomorrow. Phew, happy again!

2009-02-28T00:17:00.002+11:00

Che

Yesterday I ventured south of Cordoba to the little town of Alta Gracia where Che Guevera grew up-- its a wealthy suburb with posh white houses and brown curved tile roofs with palm trees, a gardened lake area with a clock tower, and this jesuit estancia place-- also an impressive building and property. The town is beautiful and the kind of place you can imagine being very insular.

The museum didnt discuss any controversy about Che-- no talk of his reputation as a brutal commander-- but it did offer a lot of insight into him as a man of intense passion...intelligence and adventure. He was featured in an adventure magazine for riding his bicycle across argentina with a small motor attached just after high school-- and he was writing articles about his travels through south america in national newspapers at a very young age. He did all sorts of trips-- there are pics of him climbing various mountains, rafting etc. After he helped Fidel get power in Cuba he held several posts in the government there including ambassador positions-- there are pictures of him all over the place, shaking hands with the prime minister of india in nehru and the like.

It was interesting reading the letters he wrote his daughters, telling them that no matter what they must be good revolutionaries, above all else. He hardly saw them as they grew up since he was off fighting battles in the congo and bolivia and wherever else...so i guess that it makes sense that his letters to fidel seemed more heartfelt and emotional.

I guess whatever you say about a man like Che, he fought to the death for what he believed in, wrote about with a rare eloquence, and lived uncompromisingly... the pictures and letters in the museum were undoubtedly compelling in those respects...even if they did gloss over or ignore more controversial aspects of Che{s life.

2009-02-26T05:05:00.003+11:00

La Bomba wasnt to be

Got stuck in the longest, most cramped, scariest line Ive ever experienced in an attempt to see the percussion band L Bomba in Buenos Aires Monday night. No dice-- after nearlyy getting crushed to death they announced tickets were sold out and we headed off with the Argentinian chicks to one of their houses, where I promptly fell asleep on her couch, and then to dinner at a hole in the wall club type place just a block away from our hostel that we would never have seen. Funny the things you miss being a tourist.

That night a car across the street from the hostel was set on fire... quite a sight. It took the fire fighters eons to get to it and put it out-- and they passed the street first. Luckily there was nothing flammable in close proximity and we didnt have to evacuate in the middle of the night!

Bummed around BA yesterday doing not much, then took an overnight bus to Cordoba where I am now. I like the feel of the place with street musicians and clowns and a big´pedestrian mall...and im taking an hour-spanish lesson tonight to try to polish up a bit...but Im eager to split and get to a mountain town where I can just chill.

Still now entirely sure what I am doing here...and hope to have a clue by the time I leave. Hopefullyy there will be some purpose to my travels...

2009-02-23T22:32:00.002+11:00

Things to do before I die.

I guess having reached more than a third of the average life span, I really should know how to shuffle cards properly!

Last night I ended up at a yummy Argentinian dinner party --thanks to my friend Will who met some cool chicks while he was in Uruguay the other week. We learned how to play this game which I think is called Truco'-- they use ´spanish cards´ which have complently different suits to ´english cards´-- and i never play cards to begin with so it was a slightly confusing but entertaining endevour. Plus theres the fact that everyone else is fluent in spanish and i am a halting mess-- but lots of laughter and good food and a lot of wine, which is crazily inexpensive and good.

Besides that have been wandering around a lot seeing the various parts of the city. I havent been in the mood to take pictures. More fun to just take it all in selfishly for the moment.

Yesterday we went to the botanical gardens to eat some empanadas and were amazed to find it teaming with cats. Hundreds of them--fat white ones, splindery gray ones, black ones, speckled ones, even a spiky wash'out cat who looked a bit wary. The animal patrol dude even had to rescue one from the roof of a building while we were there. Eek.

Tonight we are planning to go see this percussion band that everyone is raving about with the same crew from last night. Hopefully Ill stop being so ridiculously shy and start at least attempting to hold proper conversations with people.

Thinking of heading westward tomorrow.

2009-02-21T18:21:00.001+11:00

In Buenos Aires. Arrived this afternoon. Feeling a little restless.

2009-02-18T12:16:00.001+11:00

One more story to go. I think I can. I think I can. Now if the Oz would just bloody PAY me!!

2009-02-16T16:36:00.001+11:00

I think I'd like to be a photographer when I grow up.

2009-02-16T15:34:00.001+11:00

How is it that I'm 30 and I still sleep in till noon on a Monday?

2009-02-15T15:17:00.002+11:00

Escaped V-day unscathed.

2009-02-13T11:37:00.002+11:00

My neighbor is a McDonalds addict. Who doesn't recycle.

2009-02-10T21:47:00.001+11:00

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/MyPlaceInLaunceston#

2009-02-05T17:09:00.005+11:00

Thank you for your concern.

Today I received a letter from the tax office that made me smile. A first for everything. It seems the government is worried about small businesses, and they consider me one (crazy right) so they are offering a 20 percent rebate to all people who overpaid the last quarter. That includes me!! Normally this would be meaningless to me and I'd probably just hand the money over to Fotokids or Red Cross--but this time I actually kind of need it...

Partly because my American passport has expired and it is reasonably expensive to replace it--but they wont let me in without it! I can't believe it has been almost exactly 10 years since I first left the USA.

In honor of that first foray into my beloved latin america, Im planning another excursion, this time to the land of the Tango, steak and red wine. Im not obsessed with travel, though it may seem that way, considering I am once again doing it... even though a quick review of finances would suggest this is unwise. ..I think Im just obsessed with spontanaeity...

2009-01-31T16:58:00.006+11:00

15 random things this week

1. I recieved a New Year's card from an old man I met at the park in Shanghai. In it he talked of how lonely he was and how communism was responsible for ruining his life.

2. I plan to write him back but keep putting it off.

3. Yesterday was the hottest day ever in the history of Tasmania. 42 celcius. It sucked.

4. I crashed my bike down a gravel hill on Wednesday.

5. The bruise on my leg is disgusting. The scratches on my leg and shoulder aren't sexy either, but not as gross as the bruise.

6. At least it evens things out with the bruise on my knee from climbing in the gorge on Tuesday.
7. My house is infested with little brown ants. One dish on the counter is all it takes.

8. I broke a plate in the sink when an ant crawled out of the wash cloth i was using to clean a knife. I thought it was a spider.

9. My house doesnt have screens. That's inconvenient in this weather.

10. The Argentina guidebook my friend sent down arrived.

11. I think the ants are Argeninian ants.

12. blueberries are on sale for $3.45 for 125 grams.

13. Thats not really that cheap but I cant resist the urge to stuff my face with them.

14. Anyway they got lots of antioxidants, and devouring 2 punnets in 6 minutes is still cheaper than botox.

15. Im about to go for a run. If I never post again it could be because I got dehydrated and died.

2009-01-03T00:45:00.004+11:00

zhangjiajie national park china

http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnettehoffman/ZhangjiajieNationalParkHunanChina#

2009-01-03T00:00:00.004+11:00

some tassie pics

my desktop is momentarily working which means i can access photoediting software. yay. so i have put some pics up from my friend louise's visit in november. her mom and 18-month old lachlan were also along. the first pics are from the gorge out my backyard, and the rest are at the Bay of Fires a few hours away. it was great to have good friends around.:)

2008-12-06T11:23:00.002+11:00

I seem to write the same way i read. Not very often, but in a completely unhealthy, can't stop til I'm done no matter what important things should be taking priority, sort of way.

I have read a lot of good memoirs lately. Here are some I recommend.
Scartissue-- by red hot chilli peppers front man.
Between a rock and a hard place-- by adventure dude who had to cut his arm off in a canyon
Eat love pray-- by a writer girl a lot like me who travels around the world looking for pleasure, passion, god etc
Emergency sex and other desperate measures--by 2 guys and a gal who were all in the un, havent read this in a while but its a perrenial fave of mine

2008-12-05T13:33:00.000+11:00

I'd be so much more productive....

if only food, sleep and exercise weren't required...

2008-12-01T11:20:00.003+11:00

take 116

im kind of in a bit of a writing frenzy at the moment, which hasnt hit in like forever, and which is particularly odd as everything in my life has been really stable and happy and well-- and in the past ive often only felt like writing deep meaningful stuff as a way to cope when everything else was falling apart.

this time its almost the opposite and ive got this weird birds eye view of everything that has happened and how it fits together and all i want to do is let it pour out

ive wanted to write a travel memoir since like the beginning of time...and as some of you are aware the reason it has not yet occurred is certainly not for lack of trying.

being a pretty ordinary person with a pretty ordinary life, ive struggled to come up with a theme solid enough to tie it all together. im hoping that ive finally solved that dilemna, and that the words will keep flowing until i reach that magic number of 60,000...

theres something a little egomaniacal about writing about your own life...thinking you have something to say that people whove never met you will gain something from or at least enjoy...and i wont deny a certain degree of that. you probably also have to be a little delusional to gamble the ridiculous amount of time and money involved....

anyway, that's whats occupying my time for the moment. kind of unfortunately i have a couple real-world writing projects to get done this week so i have to pry my brain from its current focus and get this other stuff done so i get paid.

if i dont blog for a while its because my quota of creative brain cell use for the timebeing is working over capacity.

2008-11-28T12:39:00.003+11:00

thanksgiving and stuff

Yesterday I hosted my first ever thanksgiving, with chicken substituting in for turkey cuz i didnt order in advance and the pre-cooked-85-percent-turkey available at the supermarket didnt really swell my appetite.

Talked to dad today. He asked when Im coming home. I dont know. I dont know anything. I have no money at the moment, but let's be honest, it's my own choice: the weather has been superb, my mountain bike has been serviced for summer, and it's the perfect time of year to play outside and be social...work just hasnt seemed exciting, so while Im still working two days a week in health promotions, which is enough to feed myself and make the minimum repayments on my apartment, i havent been taking on much freelance work. im hoping to write some stories instead though i seem to say that often and put pen to paper less often.

rambling aside, as if, i have a lot to be thankful for:

a cool apartment with bright colors and paintings on the wall that make me happy
my hair is growing a little and doesnt look as bad as it did, though some prick who has bad hair himself still made an uncalled for comment yesterday, nevermind
i can live off 14-hours a week work
my brother is writing a screenplay, yay, and i will soon get to read the early draft
Developments magazine came last week in my mailbox
pumpkin pie is in the fridge
there is a choice of two great reserves, both within 15minutes pedal power of my house
friends who make me laugh
friends who feed me
friends who would lend me money if i needed it, not that i do, will, or have, but they would
friends to play outside with
unconditional love
i get to travel to amazing places
i have experienced enough pain and crap in my life to have a valid base for comparison...a control sample if you will
ive got a rideable mountain bike and a smart friend who can and does fix it for me
cranberries are available in australia
mango salsa, heaven
peanutbutter and more specifically, peanutbutter oatmeal chocolatechip cookies
olive basil tomato bread
dukkah
watermelon
an education, a few skills, and a degree of confidence
a reasonable amount of fitness
i live in stunning surroundings....

...this could go on and on...........

2008-11-15T10:30:00.003+11:00

Freedom or security?

Is it possible to have both? If not which would you choose? I meet a lot of Westerners in my travels-- and it seems many who go to places like Cuba and China are so impressed by the plus-sides of such travel-- namely the safety and low crime rates, more later on this--that they choose to overlook the downsides...the worst of which i believe is a lack of personal freedom.

I think people go to the modern parts of china, like shanghai and hong kong, and see this great mass of wealth and amazing public transport system and think-- hey this is not so bad-- i could live here....

and i think most people really could live there. but i am not most people. i value the freedom to speak, write, believe and criticise freely. if i see a problem im not the type to grumble quietly...in other words im exactly the sort of person who ends up in that tiny whatever percent of the population that westerners like to forget about-- the ones who end up locked away and forgotten....

anyway in china and since returning i have thought a lot about this -- and today i read a sad article that brought it to the forefront of my mind again--

Chinese authorities force late abortion

http://news.smh.com.au/world/chinese-authorities-force-late-abortion-20081115-67gs.html

Life is complicated. China does have way too many people. Something needs to be done about it, clearly, but is this the solution?

2008-11-11T22:17:00.002+11:00

Here's the first of my china photo albums...

2008-11-11T21:20:00.003+11:00

Easing back into normality...

Got back from China after a long haul of travel and yet another reason to hate Jetstar ( we closed the flight one minute ago, we're sorry-- we'll put you on the next available flight in five hours...grrrr...).

After devouring all the newspapers I could find, I decided to purchase a book just before boarding the last leg of the flight-- the hour-long melbourne to launceston leg: I went with Scartissue. autobiography of Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers fame. Im completely enthralled and have struggled to put the thing down since returning-- not so my planned travel book, On the Road by Jack Keroac...I abandoned that on a subway in Shanghai, having tried dozens of times to engage with it, and only managing about 1.6 pages. Im not a persistant sort of reader. It either grabs me or it doesnt.

I love true stories, memoirs, seeing how people record their lives and thinking about what they are comfortable retelling and the process of remembering and what kind of flack they might have taken after publishing...all that sort of stuff.

The day after I arrived home my dear friend Louise and her little boy and her mom arrived for a week-- they are still here but are off to Cradle Mountain untilk tomorrow-- a stunning place but Ive been there several times and kind of wanted some minutes to myself to just chill-- and absorb and think about what next.

Im going through all my millions of photos and it is so overwhelming. In china there was really quite a paradox in terms of the culture-- there was the pushing shoving spitting we wont help you for even just a minute side of chinese culture that grated at me. i would wait and wait and wait in line while everyone pushed in front of me and were served food first, got their train ticket first, you name it. If anyone dropped anything, it didnt matter how close it was to someone else's path, they wouldnt think of bending down to retreive it. It's just that kind of self focused culture.

Theres also that money money money is everything mentality.

But along with the bad there is of course good, and I found chinese people to be quite comedic, fun, hands on people...always laughing and playing games and jiving at each other and never seeming to think that age equates to boring, the parks were always filled with people of all ages playing every kind of game you could imagine, and practicing tai chi and spinning those top things and dancing and whatever. I loved that element of chinese culture and i decided in my photos that that was the side of china i wanted to capture... in fact i was so focused on portraying that side of china that i really didnt capture the other side of it at all...and not really any of the sad poor side that also exists. I guess those things seemed more marginal than centre stage in the parts of china i visited...

There are too many pictures and i havent even downloaded all my memory cards. im slowly working through them... here are a couple pics for starters

2008-11-05T05:13:00.002+11:00

another top day

Just when Im totally comfortable here, it's time to go. pity about the pollution and the politics, because all other things considered, this is a great city.

It's 2 15 am and I just got home...one of those days where you just keep packing more and more in. Will prob get up early tomorrow too.

Bought some rad clothes and jewellery today in this funky part of town called the french concession. all these botique shops with designer digs for relatively cheap by rich people standards. Ie like 200 for a designer jacket instead of $1000 or whatever.

Found Fuxing park in the very late afternoon. It rocks. First there were hoards of older people playing this thing where they had a string with two handles and a big brightly colored spin top looking thing that they balance in the middle playing all kinds of tricks with it. Maybe Trevor knows the proper name of that too? Anyway it looked like lots of fun. And cool that they were all middle aged and older who were playing with it. Then I wandered a little further and again found a massive crowd of people learning to dance-- again to recorded music but this time there were also people shaking Maraccas or whatever they are called so it sounded better than in Nanyue.

Throughout the day and particularly at the park i met some v intriguing people -- more on that later tho as im exhausted and that will take time to tell. Bummed I didnt bring my propper camera as it was a shopping day-- would have come in handy at the acrobatics too-- which was phenominal. I loved it...!!:)

After that I found a coffee shop that had a chocolate mint milkshake. Then I went to a jazz club, and then another blues club, where the guy on drums was someone I have run into two other times since ive been in shanghai. Im not a staklker, I promise.

We had a midnite/1am snack at another music venue called the blues room where everyone sitting around playing guitars. And I had banana pancakes that tasted almost like they do in the states except someone decided to add walnuts. hmmm.

I wish I wasnt falling asleep because i have so much id like to say

another time i guess!

2008-11-04T00:35:00.004+11:00

Wanky over the top food vent ahead

Ok I realise I am about to identify myself as a blatant food nerd...but I have to rant. I just went to a top end five star hotel and had the absolute most atrocious overpriced food i think i have ever had in my life. And because this isnt america, no one cared. Im sorry but its true-- its one of the things about America that i really miss. If you get shit food and complain about it, 9 times out of 10 , the people who served it to you will apoligize sincerely and usually refund your money or make you something else. Sadly this doesnt happen anywhere else.

I have a sudden overwhelming urge to become a food critic. At least a scathing review provides some inkling of satisfaction after a horrible meal.

In case you are wondering, I am a bit paradoxical in that while I could care less about fancy hotels as previously noted, I over-value fine food. I dont have a problem at all spending too much money on really good food, even if the portions are a little small.

But it has to be damn good in that case.

So i just went to the westin's tapas bar because it was nearby...i should have known better because the label of tapas seems to be a license to serve miniscule portions of sub par crap and charge through the roof for it. Seriously for every good tapas bar there are 9 crap ones.

This food excursion provided me with 4 bites of food. maybe because they knew no one could manage any more bites than that.... It cost me $45.

The 4 bites were: tandoori lamb kabobs in mint yogurt with pineapple-- overcooked to the point of barely being chewable.
Tomato and mozarella something or other-- the tomato was well past its used by date-- floury and mushy...there was no salt or pepper on it so the cheese tasted like basically nothing. spinach and porchini canelloni, also overdone..ie burnt, and also not seasoned. And prociutto and melon and raddiccio salad, literally a wad of proscuitto on a piece of letuce with some shredded cantelope, not even any dressing.

Ok sorry that was pathetic. I cant believe I came back to the hostel just to blog about how bad my dinner was. What have i come to?