Musings

La, la, la, tum, tee, tum, tee, dum. Oh, woo, woah, la, la.

Da, da, tee tum tee dum. Raat, ta da ta da.

La la la la tuh tum too tee.

Yip yip trip-it trip-it.

La la.

Visitors from New York

Yes, it can be done. People can visit Melbourne from New York! Phil and Di are here with their three girls, Freya, Astrid, and Imogen. And Di is pregnant yet again! And it's going to be another girl! Strewth! We are going through our book of Norse myths looking for another name that matches the previous names. All suggestions welcome.

Getting tired of winter now and would like some warm sunshine - can you guys spare any? I have started at my second school. I am teaching 9th and 10th grade Math and 7th and 11th grade History. Today in 11th grade history we did the Vietnam War. Heavy duty stuff, but the kids handled it pretty well. I am reading a lot of young adult fiction for my English literature elective - novels directed at the 12-16 year old set. Sex, sex, sex, that's all they care about. I get a bit steamed up as I read. Rachel has had to deal with the consequences!

The kids have now learned two Abba songs on the keyboard so Hannah is playing Dancing Queen all the time, Sam is stuck on Mamma Mia. We have also been using our bikes and discovering all the terrific bike trails around Melbourne. Hope all is well with everyone.

News from Melbourne

Glad to see all is well in New York and everyone looking as lovely as ever. Wish I could have been there to have a drink with you all. I am in the middle of four weeks vacation from university. The semester finished with a blizzard of assignments and I can't remember much of June except that I was sitting here typing, typing, typing. I was also teaching Grades 7, 10 and 11 math at a nearby high school. I think that went pretty well and by the end I was beginning to feel comfortable in front of a group of teenagers and had begun telling little jokes that none of them understood. I had one of those teacher moments when one of the kids in my class got his highest ever mark for a math test in the subject that I was teaching. He said, "You're a legend, Mr Nicholls!" How sweet! Next semester, I will be teaching math and history at our local high school - the one that Hannah and Sam will go to if we still live in this neighborhood. I just hope I don't have to teach my babysitter - that might be embarrassing.

We didn't get to go to Sydney after all. Rachel too busy at work, so that trip may have to wait until September. We are planning to go to the UK for Christmas to see Rachel's Mom and the rest of the family. I've been running a bit more often but it is difficult to get away at this time of year because it gets dark so early and Rachel doesn't get back from work until so late. Also, this area has hardly any street lamps - I'd be running in pitch black. Australia's a fairly rich country - surely we could invest in some lights! I may have to start getting up at 6 and running in the early morning. Ick.

The kids are busy with swimming and football. Sam has decided that he is going to be a footballer when he grows up. They are both getting rather tall. Sam has lost his first tooth. His accent is now distinctively Australian, but I think Hannah has hung on to her Englishness. They both gave performances at the end of semester keyboard recital. Both played Abba's "Mamma Mia" very well.

I'll be posting six months worth of photos on the other blog soon and I'll post a link to it here. I haven't posted on that site for six months and I think Rachel's Mom will be getting rather cross with me if I don't get something on there soon.

Tom Cruise is in Melbourne at the moment. You would have thought the rest of the world had simply stopped. All we get is Tom Cruise went shopping, Tom Cruise went to the footy, Tom Cruise had dinner in a restaurant. There was some other news about some pop singer having died. Then we got Tom Cruise's reaction. The Australian media is even more awful than it was 20 years ago.

I went to the doctor's the other day for a checkup. We've been in Australia for a year now and the doctor asked how we had settled in. I said we were all fine and described all our activities. Then I explained that it was a bit different here because everyone in Melbourne lives at the back of their house and in their own backyards. Every single social event has to be arranged in advance. There is less opportunity to meet neighbors or socialize when simply running into people who are sitting in their front yard watching kids play or reading or barbecuing, and there is no central focus such as Prospect Park or Central Park like there is in New York. The doctor looked at me for a few seconds and then said, "Australians are just not that friendly. All that mateship business is a myth that we have created. We are just not that friendly." Hmmm. I'm going to have to think about that. Maybe he is right.

New York

I know it has been forever since I have written an entry - I am sorry for that. I don't really even have time to write anything now but I wanted to post the pictures i took in NYC so at least Rohan new that everyone was still alive and healthy. We all missed you VERY much Rohan and hope that all is going well in aussie land -- should we call you teach now? Please say HI to the kids.

Kristen and Kathy Aaron and I have bought our tickets to come back out to NYC. We will be there Saturday August 22 to Thursday August 27 -- so set some time aside. I will be in touch so we can make plans.


Sarah Holden's little boy -- August -- he is now just a few weeks over 6 months


Me, Nika (Till and Sara's little girl), and August


Kathy and little Chloe (she is so cute)


Kristen, little Chloe and Mateo sleeping in the corner (Lorenzo was on the other side of the bench asleep too -- we were in the restaurant across from Kirsten's house for hours hanging out).


Kristen's Sister from Toronto, Me, Kristen, Little Chloe and Mateo.

All for now - I PROMISE - I will write more later.

PS I just ran 3 miles tonight for the first time in months! I had to rest my IT band -- still hurts but I am sick of getting more and more out of shape and fat...so...here we go...I least I started. Wish you all were all here to run with...it is just not the same running without you.

Nearly halfway

Three more weeks until the end of first semester. I've taught 40 math lessons to Grades 7, 10, and 11, given out two detentions, moved several people to new seats in the class, marked three tests, set several assignments, and told loads of jokes that teenagers just don't get. Oh well, I laughed. I've also written about fifteen assignments for the university course and I'm getting very good grades, thank you very much. I've given two presentations, one on the history of Venice and one on indigenous education and both went down pretty well. Starting to make some friends - I'm no longer just that old guy who sits at the front. Mind you, I have shirts older than most of the people on my course.

Family is all well. The children are both in the school choir and will today be entertaining the school with a rendition of The Monkees, "Believer," which I feel like I've been humming to myself for about a month. Yesterday we all went to see Cirque de Soleil - we bought tickets for Hannah's birthday and she was amazed over and over again. Sam on the other hand wanted to leave at halftime. I sat between them and while Hannah was making "wow, oooh" sounds, Sam was making sighing and groaning noises and even yawned a couple of times. Kids.

Hope all is well in America.

When semester is over (June 12) I have five weeks off. We are going to go to Sydney for a few days. I will also be up for a Skype conversation. Anyone want to book some dates?

All is still good...(hehehe)

Ok, I know - I have been awful at writing entries lately - so sorry - I still think about all of you VERY often.

Kathy - you must give my best to the new baby! So beautiful and perfect looking -- so were you the midwife? how cool is that -- she is so lucky to have you there - I bet you were incredible! Congratz on the work - you must send more pictures! Good for Albert for pimping you out - that needs to happen these days!!! Your work is awesome and needs to be seen.

Kristen - Oh my god I can't believe how big those kids are getting!!!! I really hope things are getting better for you -- it sounds like they are - yes?

Roh -- Congratz teach!! How is it going? Do you love it? What grade are you working with now? What are the next steps or are you almost a full fledged educator? How is the family? What is Rachel up to these days?

Ok - now that I have flooded you with vague and repetitive questions I will give a brief update on me. All is fantastic! Aaron is now up here and he still likes me after a week and a half - pretty good huh?! I swear I must have done something right in my life to have found him because he is honestly a dream! He is so good to me. For example I came home last night (after having a rough morning at work) and he had dinner, flowers, wine and a kiss ready for me! So amazing! I love him. We have so much fun together. Ok, I am gushing and will stop -- but honestly -- it is great and he really is a wonderful person. My mom even loves him!

Work has been tough -- with all the cut backs it has been tough to keep up with things. It is hard to keep my head above water lately. It does make the day go by quickly but I am SO tired when I get home that the last thing I want to do is get on the computer and write...so that is much of the reason for the delay in writing.

Really everything else is pretty damn good. The weather is getting warm so it is easier to ride a bike to work -- I am out of shape!!! I have not been able to run at all because of all my damn pains -- sore knees, IT band and back -- I am going to start doing yoga because I have to do something to get stronger so that I can start running again. It is driving me nuts -- I look like a bowling ball, fatt butt... ok, enough of that Lily...ok, I am done.

ok - I thought I would update you with a few photo's. Love you and miss you all - I will write deeper and more profound messages later.

My Niece and I...


Aaron and my Niece...

So cute...

Ohhhh, how moods can chage so quickly...


A little Chicago romance...




Baseball game...a local Minneapolis team call The Saints...owned by the one and only Bill Murry...


A few beers...

new baby, networking, styling porn, among other things

Hey friends..... I know, I know, I haven't written for some time. You know the story..... constantly getting wrapped up in kids, networking, birthing babies, house repairs, renting apartment, blah, blah, blah!

Let's see......Tifenn had her baby on Saturday April the 11th @ 9:45. His name is Arwen Kai Python Grafe. Tifenn was amazing, early on in the day, she withdrew and turned her focus within, closed her eyes and never really opened them until the baby was born. Albert greatly enjoyed playing Mario Andretti running red lights & stop signs on the way to the hospital. Everything worked perfectly. The baby was never in any distress. Tifenn opened up relatively quickly. Max held & coached her brilliantly the whole time and kept Hank Williams on the radio. I held and massaged her legs. The pushing was pretty long 2 1/4 hours...but he came out absolutely perfect...rosy cheeks, smooth skin, never really looked like a newborn. The kids & Albert were waiting in the family room and got to see him before the cord was even cut.

On Easter, which was the next day, I was suppose to have everyone over, but we changed it at the last minute to Tia Maria's because of the birth. I did my baking as soon as I heard that Tifenn's water broke, so I at least had that done.

We were invited again this year to celebrate passover with our next door neighbors Yvonne (my younger twin sister) & Eddie. They invited about 30 people. We set up various stations in the yards and the kids spent time at each making Harosa, Matzoh, Maror, etc. I was in charge of the Macaroon making which, needless to say, was fun, but a sticky gooey mess which I discover in various areas of our apartment for days. It was very festive with lots of music & song. Yvonne had a friend visiting from Switzerland who is a great accordion player and during a traditional "dayenu song" she improvised brilliantly, so brilliantly that we later put her on utube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjRnPBYkkD8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ3fJvLGTq8&feature=related
(Notice my trash cans before they were stolen!)

Yes, our trash cans were stolen a few nights ago. Unbelievable....how low can you go! When I went to purchase new ones the hardware guy told me that it was a very common problem. Contractors supposedly steal them. So, the new ones we have tried to make as ugly as possible, writing & drilling our address into them. Wish us luck!

My husband's going to be in better shape than I am! Albert rode in the 5 Borough bike race this weekend. He completed 50 miles in the rain without any problems or injury... just a somewhat sore foot. He is training for the NYC Century with team TA and has to raised $1000 dollars in sponsorship which will go to "Transportation Alternatives". http://www.nyccentury.org/teamta/2009participants

I am still running my one loop about 3 or 4 times a week....same old, same old. I did sign up for an African Dance workshop starting June 1 that I am really excited about!

Work has gotten a little better. Albert pimped me out a few weeks ago. One of his clients had a stylist cancel at the last and Albert plugged me. The shoot was for a coffee table book about the "real" girls of Penthouse. It started out as just consulting, but Albert pushed me to do the whole shoot because (if the book goes through) it will lead to 40 more shoots. Having a girl...I was full of mixed emotions doing the shoot and I was a little irritated at Albert's persistance, but I have to help put food on the table, right! The girl we shot was in her early twenties was very nice, a bit shy, wanted the changing room door shut and locked, didn't reveal even an inkling of the professional nature for which she so famous until she was behind the camera and then one understood fully. Here is a shot that I took during the shoot. We shot in an East New York landmark building (owned by her heavy metal boyfriend) which was being used for steel work.



You guys should be very proud of me, I have forced myself to go to a few industry networking parties lately. A stylist friend of mine & I have teamed up for the past two weeks to attend the dreaded events and they actually weren't that bad. We just enjoyed each others company, drank (my usual half-pint of course), and egged each other on to meet who we needed to meet. It would have be just awful if I had to do it alone.

Kristen, Sally & I went out a few weeks ago. It was fun to be out, but not much to tell...a very unusually calm, non-eventful night!

Roe, congratulations on finishing your first term of Master teaching...what a transition huh?! Lily I am so happy for you and your new beau! Can't wait for you two to visit!