Category Archives: learning

Hairstylist turned chef. Ok, maybe not quite.

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Words have not been flowing so easily this week. Not sure why, but it’s time to give this a go again.

Food, walking and reading have been taking up the better part of my days recently. I finished Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential a few days ago – a very good read. I found myself relating to him a few times and learning a lot about the food industry.

First, I had to laugh when he wrote about his jobless days: “A few hours earlier, I’d been lying dazed and hopeless in my unmade bed, wondering whether to take another nap or call out for pizza.” Ah, yes. Just before beginning that chapter, I was myself wondering whether to take another nap, start another chapter, or go stuff my face.

Then, about not having the same days off as the rest of the world: “…Never having a Friday or Saturday night off, always working holidays, being busiest when the rest of the world is just getting out of work, makes for a sometimes peculiar world view…” Well, this seems an awful lot like life in a salon.

And, once more, when he was explaining the types of people that work in the food industry: “The business, as respected three-star chef Scott Bryan explains it, attracts ‘fringe elements’…They’re comfortable with the rather relaxed and informal code of conduct in the kitchen, the elevated level of tolerance for eccentricity…” Now, depending on what salon you work in, the vibe may not be informal or relaxed. But there is definitely an excess of ‘fringe elements’ and eccentric people in the hair industry.

I came to Australia to have an adventure. To live overseas for a while. And to try something different. As I have said before, as much as I love the hair industry and appreciate all of the opportunities it has given me, I am restless. Ready for a change. However, I still need to have movement in my day. Sitting at a desk does not suit me. I need to be on my feet, occupied, doing something with my hands. That’s why I thought I would try working in a cafe in Melbourne!

No such luck. Nobody wants to hire and train somebody, from the ground up, that can only hold the same job for a six month period because of their visa restrictions. Maybe it is just this city – Melbournians are ridiculously serious about their coffee.

Anyway, suffice it to say, I have had a lot of time on my hands since I arrived in Australia. And when I have a lot of time on my hands, my imagination runs wild. (Okay, maybe that’s all day, every day.) One of the crazy ideas that I have come up with recently was maybe I could be a chef. Maybe I will own a bistro with my man-friend one day! Okay, okay, let’s bring it back a bit…maybe…maybe…A FOOD TRUCK!

Thus began my search to find a food truck willing to take me under their wing. And you know what? I found one! I have only helped out two days so far, but it has been fun. I have been on register and also in the kitchen. IN THE KITCHEN! I even got my first chef’s cut! And by chef’s cut, I mean food-prep cut. I spent that day preparing basil, parsley and all sorts of herbs as well as shredding cabbage for coleslaw. (The coleslaw shredder is where I sliced my finger.) Kind of proud of it, though – kind of like cutting yourself on your shears for the first time as a hair stylist. A scar to wear proudly!

So, we will see how this goes. Perhaps one day I will attend culinary school. That is, if I don’t get distracted by all of the other things I want to study…photography…literature…journalism…Spanish/Italian/Portuguese/German/Sign Language and all of the other languages that I want to learn…oh, the things we’ve got to cram into our short lives!

(No photos this time – although there are more uploaded to my facebook page!!!)

Indulgence, Luck and a Little Bit of Melodrama at the Museum

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Wow. Where do I even begin with this one? Let’s just say, sometimes the universe is mysterious.

A few days ago, in the middle of reading Sherlock Holmes, I had the urge to do some research on Frida Kahlo. I am sure that something sparked this sudden desire, I simply do not remember what. I was quickly enchanted by Kahlo’s story and decided to put Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic on hold so that I could read a biography of the Mexican painter.

Hayden Herrera’s book, Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, seems to be the most popular. But I decided to go with Margaret A. Lindauer’s Devouring Frida: The Art History and Popular Celebrity of Frida Kahlo. According to some reviews, and even Lindauer, Herrera’s book does not accurately portray Kahlo as the strong woman that she was. So, I’ve opted to read Lindauer’s book first, followed by Herrera’s.

Moving along to the first two things that I’ve promised for this post: indulgence and luck. I have been fairly strict with money and diet recently. Whenever I do this, I end up on a bit of a binge later. Or today, ha! Yesterday, after starting my book on Frida, I decided it was a museum day. I made it all the way to the CBD, only to run into this:

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Boo! What a random day to be closed. And this was after running around the CBD looking for cafe jobs and being terribly unsuccessful. Suffice it to say, I was down in the dumps at the end of yesterday.

Today, I woke up and decided that I was going to get myself some Mexican food. Today, I was going to indulge! Then, I would try again at the National Gallery of Victoria because I was longing for some museum time. But first, I was going to make some phone calls. After calling around to a few book stores and being informed that they were not hiring “at the moment” (which really means the entire season, come to find out), I stumbled upon an even better job opening. My dream job, really. I called to see if they would be willing to hire someone in Australia on a working holiday. The answer? Yes, please send your resume.

LUCK! But that is all that I am willing to say about that for now, I cannot risk jinxing myself.

After calling Evan, who surely thinks that I am manic at this point (yesterday, I was on the verge of tears from frustration and disappointment, today I was on the verge of tears from excitement and hope) I left for my daily adventures. I decided to check out a recently opened Mexican place called Guzman y Gomez. I went with the “mini” barramundi burrito. It was $6. And this big:

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“Mini” is not a joke at this place. The containers to the side are the condiments I decided to take because I had just purchased the world’s tiniest $6AU burrito. I ate an entire container of  jalapeños. Which was probably not the best decision…I ended up with some pretty serious heartburn. Which lead me to the frozen yogurt establishment next door. This indulgence was not planned. But my green tea frozen yogurt with cheesecake frosting was certainly delectable.

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Green tea cheesecake fro-yo in hand, I continued on my path to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV.) I passed a man who was sitting on the curb looking quite forlorn and decided to shoot him a smile. Turned out he was homeless and asked very nicely if I had any spare change. He had come from Adelaide and been on the streets in Melbourne for nine days. I said, “Hey, man, I understand, I am low on my luck right now, too. But I have a dollar to spare.” It was my last one. “God bless you and may your luck change, too,” was his response as I walked away.

Finally, I walked through the doors of the NGV. Almost immediately, I was openly weeping. Why do I ever stray from the art world? It is where I belong. I love the way that I feel in a museum. I love the smells, the sounds and, of course, the sights. I love how my heart pounds and the gears inside my head start spinning. I love soaking in the minds of other artists and my own ideas that are sparked by them.

There was even a little bit of Warhol and Rothko:

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Suddenly, I was back at my home town museum, the Smithsonian. I know all of the Smithsonian museums like the back of my hand. Again, shedding a few tears.

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After making it through the European and contemporary side of the NGV, I ran smack into the Arts of Asia wing. Knowing that, if I were to set one foot into that side of the museum, I would never leave, I decided to put the arts of Asia off until tomorrow. I then headed downstairs for some more grub. (Well…I’d started out the day indulging, why not continue? I will be good tomorrow.) I went with an orange cake and a soy latte. Bad choices for my esophagus, scrumptious choices for my taste buds!

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On the way home, I stopped at the library. This is what I came home with:

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I suppose it is safe to say that I have jumped on the Frida mania bandwagon for the time being. And I am totally fine with that.

Oh! And remember the homeless man that I gave my last dollar to? On my walk to the gym, I found a five dollar bill with no owner. Today has been my lucky day. And I will be passing that luck to my sister when she arrives in two days by putting that five dollars onto her myki card.

This has become an incredibly long post. Cheers to those who have navigated my ramblings and made it to the end.

-fin-

Big, messy brain dump

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Not really sure where I am going with this post…so, bear with me. I am not exactly in the writing mood, but the only way to get any better at it is to practice, practice, practice.

The next few weeks should really be fantastic. My sister arrives in Melbourne this Friday. She will be here for about 9 days. Half will be spent here in Melbourne, the other half in Sydney. I can’t wait to see my sissy-bear!

She leaves on the 20th, and on the 22nd I have tickets to see Against Me! That shall add to the fabulousness of January.

Then…and then! Evan arrives. I think he is trying to surprise me, so I do not know the exact date. “Somewhere in the middle of February” is all I know.

Things are looking up.

I am still only working once a week assisting in a salon. Who knew it would be so difficult to get a job as a barista? A little over a week ago I had two VERY promising trials at a cafe. I was supposed to sit down with the woman who would train me at the end of my shift to discuss my schedule and other paperwork. She then got a call and needed to go help out at another location. Said she would call me at the end of the day. When I had heard nothing by the next day, I called her. She answered, “sorry mate, I know I was supposed to  call you yesterday! I actually just got off of a plane, can I call you in about an hour?” That never happened, either. And then the holidays happened in Australia.

They really take their free time here seriously. Which I think is absolutely fantastic. Exactly how I think the whole world should work. You put in your 8 hours, then you have your damn free time. You get your damn vacation time.

But holy shit. I could use a job. I am holding on to the hope that, although the cafe was open for the second half of this week, since nobody had seen my would-be barista trainer since before the holidays, she is still…on holiday. Tomorrow is Monday. Fingers crossed that I will get an affirmative phone call. If not, back to the drawing board.

Again, I could easily get a salon job. But I came here to learn something new. Maybe I have learned something new – what it’s like to be turned down from a job. Not to boast here or anything, but this truly is a new experience for me. I have never been turned down from a job before. Ever. This is a bit frustrating (…a BIG bit frustrating…) and a bit humbling, I suppose.

Anyway, the new housing situation is still going well. The landlords are great. We hang out just enough and I have just enough alone time. Balanced.

Hm.

Other new things I have done/seen/learned:

-Beers on the beach

-I have learned that you can order different types of fish from a fish and chips shop

-Because of above, I have ordered, eaten and learned what the most common type of fish in “fish ‘n’ chips” in Australia is: “flake” aka “gummy shark”…I have eaten shark.

-Apparently, there is no law against females bathing topless in Victoria. I will be getting rid of these tan lines, thank you.

-I have never in my life taken a cold shower. I do not like being cold. However, the other day it was 104F and I sure as shit took a cold ass shower.

-Made one of the ice creams from my previous post – the avocado coconut lime raw ice cream. It tasted like lime. Just lime. So, I added agave, vanilla and a pinch of salt. Still not my favorite, but much better. (Speaking of raw food, this raw pot luck must happen.)

-Sometimes, things just don’t go as planned. Try as you might to steer the universe in the direction you want it to go, sometimes it is YOU who has to change direction. And you’ve just got to give in and open up. I used to watch a certainly unhealthy amount of the Travel Channel. Mostly just Samantha Brown and Anthony Bourdain. Once, Samantha Brown said something along the lines of, “You’ve always got to have a plan B and C. Because sometimes plan A goes wrong. And then sometimes plans B and C go wrong and you’ve got to be okay with going along with plans D, E and/or F.” Well, I thought that I would immediately have a job in a cafe. 2 and a half months later, no dice. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?! Something. Nothing, maybe. But, nothing has gone as planned and I’ve got to be okay with that and keep on truckin’.

I’m sure that I have had other thoughts over the past few days. If I keep typing, this will turn into an even more jumbled, messy brain dump. So, here, I will bid you adieu. With a few views from my window.

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