jellyfish and geriatrics

Two things I learned today:
1. Members of the Australian Navy sometimes wear short shorts. Captain Tightpants, indeed.
2. There is no hubris more annoying than that of an olive-skinned girl. I thank my Italian lineage for a shade which is often pale, but keeps a tan well and rarely burns. That said, I wear a light facial moisturizer with SPF most days to prevent wrinkles. Also, I've lately worn bangs which keep my forehead in the shade. Today of course I did neither, and came home with a perfectly pink brow. What a pain in the butt.

I met up with a nice French girl named Sandra this afternoon. She's newer to Sydney than I am so I thought we should eat at Harry's Cafe de Wheels. Woolloomooloo has a very special place in my heart. I've spent many chunks of my formative years there, heard INXS perform live there when I was a little girl, and I've eaten at Harry's more times than I can count. I remember when the Blue Hotel on the Finger Wharf was a W Hotel, and before that when it was just empty. And yet I never once noticed the thousands of jellyfish living in the water there until today. Curious.

Sandra quite liked Harry's, and we walked through the Botanic Gardens over to Circular Quay, up through the Rocks, and up to the observatory to chat and kill time for a few hours. It was very nice. She had to go to a meeting in the CBD and I made my way to the Dendy theater to catch the matinee of Brideshead Revisited with all the bluehairs. I really like that theater. For some reason I can remember every movie I've seen there. Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, No Country for Old Men, and recently, Towelhead. I got a lot of inspiration for my writing this afternoon, so I'm excited about that.

Walking home via Mrs Macquaries Bushland Walk, I noticed something interesting. When I was a teenager traveling with my family, I would often think, "I wish I could come back here when I'm grown up with some great romantic love and look like a couple on a postcard." Picnicking at the Coliseum, peering off the side of the Eiffel Tower, or even watching the New Year's fireworks here in Sydney – I mean, I love that I got to experience those things, but a hopeless romantic seven years into girls' school I can't be blamed for thinking that. Today I passed a few dozen couples holding hands and sharing kisses in the dusky botanic gardens with a breeze coming over the water. At fifteen this would have made me so petulant. Today I felt glad to be experiencing a moment that only I had, something to store away as a personal memory. I don't know if I can adequately describe it, but there was a peace in my solitude that I think I'm finally old enough to appreciate. It was energizing.

But now I'm going to take a sea salt soak. I thought about going for a swim but I think it's too cold now. I want to feel like I'm floating for a little while, to clear my head so I can stay up all night writing.