16th January, 2026
Hiiii! It occurred to me recently that I haven’t done myself the reflective pleasure of writing my little life-summaries in quite a while. Last you heard, I was nursing the ever-suspicious Harry Styles Flu. Below I have outlined several other ailments that I’ve survived since, including a recap of the most wretched kidney infection and an accidental run in with Amy Shark. You’re welcome to stay and read, if you like.
Ethel died & gave me a kidney infection!
I’ve been over this, probably more than once. I bring it up every day, actually. It’s my new favourite sob story. It’s a more fun story to tell than the “I got hit by a truck” allegory. I won’t re-hash it here though, if you’re interested enough, follow this link and fill yourself in. Although, if you’re interested enough in my personal life to be reading this, I’ve probably already told you the story myself. Alas, have fun! God knows I did not.
Wedding & Taylor Swift Tickets
This is also something I’ve written about and talked about at length – It excited me greatly! Toward the end of June, I was second shooter for my good friend and photography pal, Sammie, at a wedding she had booked. On the same fateful day, I acquired the most coveted goods known to mankind and squealing little girl alike – Era’s Tour tickets. Against all odds.
Firepits & Film
Shortly after this wedding extravaganza, I got my tax return. It was fantastic. I spent some of my riches on a firepit! It’s got a cooktop, and I put it together myself in my shed one night. It is the joy of my life, and I put it to work the following night, as I hosted a dear friend’s birthday get-together. I am still very excited about it. Also, one of my lovely housemates got a hammock a little while ago, and that has also brought me much joy. My aforementioned photographer friend did me the honour of using up my truly ancient roll of film – and now these silly cute photos exist!
In The Wake of Barbie?!
I’ve already dropped my full analysis of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, but it is the most significant marker of the year to me, so I must re-hash it. Have a read of the full unabridged essay, if you like.
The Uni Break that wasn’t
The mid-year uni break came and went in no time at all. I honestly don’t remember what I did with the time – assumedly worked. This semester I’m doing a few subjects that I’m not particularly excited about, just tying up the loose ends of my degree, but last semester I did some work that I was really excited about. I already posted my little montage video assignment, so you can check that out if you like. I also helped make a short documentary, which you can watch below.
Catching the tail end of Vivid
During the break, I went to hang out with the family in Sydney for a bit. We ran around seeing a few light shows and just exploring. It was nice. I took some photos just for fun, and I think I really like some of them, but I’m still fiddling with editing, so I can’t show you those yet.
May-a, Teenage Dads & Amy Shark is here?
I spent an unseemly amount of time at Metro Theatre one week. My Dad and brother got tickets to see Hobba and Hing’s ‘Leaving Triple J’ comedy show. It was a lot funnier than I had expected, and also… Amy Shark was there. So now I’ve accidentally seen Amy Shark perform live. This is not a thing that I thought I’d ever say. The next night I headed back to the venue of dreams to see Triple J Hottest 100 Winner, May-a. She was fantastic. We saw her at Oxford Art Factory last year, and she’s only gotten better, somehow, since then. I’ve got a few concerts coming up this year, including Neck Deep, Slowly Slowly & Stand Atlantic and Angie McMahon. I’m excited about all the above.
The Women’s World Cup
I didn’t think I cared about soccer before last week. I think that’s true for a lot of Australians. Maybe I don’t care about soccer in general, but it was fun observing and taking part in the culture of it lately. I had to go to Sydney last week for a big kid excursion to the Powerhouse Museum (I was unaware that excursions were a thing in university, but I had fun).
I hung around afterward and we headed to the pub to watch Australia vs. England. It was packed, breathing down each other’s necks, and we waited for like an hour in line for half-priced beer, just to watch the Matildas lose. But it was so fun and interesting. I watched the Australia vs. Sweden game at home with my dad and had a lot of really aggravating feelings about how mean the other team was.
Overall, it’s been really beautiful to see the support and community that the Women’s World Cup has garnered from the nation. It’s started countless interesting conversations.
Taylor Suzuki Swift Sport is all fixed up and ready to transverse the earth again!
I’m heading home to Dubbo later this week, to celebrate my nephew’s first birthday! I was worried about the longevity of my car on the journey home – as she’s been suffering a spark-plug related ailment. As it turns out, there was a bit of an oil pool in there. But all is well and I’m excited to make the journey home and spend time with loved ones, however brief.
Recommendations
Read
Someone discovered Virginia Woolf’s personal copy of her first novel, ‘The Voyage Out’, at Sydney University a few weeks ago. Naturally, I was very excited about this news. They’ve scanned the entire book, complete with annotations through and made it available to the public. I’m only reading the annotations, but I highly recommend giving it a squiz.
Listen
I’m not sure what came over me, but a little while ago, I woke up and put MUNA’s ‘Number One Fan‘ on, and then just let the rest of the album play for the rest of the day. It’s fantastic. Give it a spin or two.
Watch
There’s a television show starring none other than Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe. It’s called Miracle Workers, and it’s very funny if I say so myself.
