Hiatus OVER
Looks like the green light in my personal recharge monitor is finally showing again. Awesome.
8 months since I left Tokyo. I think I can say they have been the weirdest 8 months of my life.
Culture shock. Lifestyle shock. Health shock. Woah.
And to be frank, I haven’t been handling it real well. Things have been quite bleak though I was determined to keep up a brave, positive face to family and the alter-universe at facebook. Naturally, I haven’t wanted to blog at all. But that’s all changing. I guess all this healthy living is finally paying off and I can feel the fire in my belly coming back.
Part of the reboot includes the import of 6 years worth of blog posts from frangipani.info (and the now completely unfamiliar and unusable Movable Type software) into the nice and friendly new home at martinecotton.com and a very cool wordpress format using the fabulous themes at Graph Paper Press. I plan to start blogging a couple of times a week again, get the personal creative juices flowing again.
I haven’t been doing much photography for myself since I started doing newspaper and real estate photography – but I think that’ll start charging.
Despite having my gorgeous family here (as you can see in this entry’s photo’s), I haven’t met too many like-minded folk here and as I no longer drink (!!!) it’s been doubly hard to get out amongst it. Just call me Hermit. Anyway, plans are afoot for a move to Melbourne early next year – or sooner if I can save the cash.
In the meantime, I shall continue to LOVE the beach and the jungles and the simple, peaceful and oh-so-healthy life I am leading.
Evie
It’s nice to be blogging again.
Oh, and the comments should be working on this blog so feel free to say hi.
Darcy
Darcy is 12 today. Tall, lanky, good-looking and a naturally gifted athlete, he is gonna win hearts when he starts getting interested in all that stuff. Which is gonna be pretty soon I reckon.
He’s my nephew. He calls me Aunty Party sometimes (actually something that Evie started I believe). I seem to have acquired a kind of Auntie Mame image which is amusing – I like being thought of as an eccentric bachelorette with a taste for parties. I also like that Auntie Mame was very fond of her nephew. Coz I am too. (I have 2 of them to be fond of, lucky me!)
When we talked on the phone last week, he begged me to come back to Oz for his birthday. Ouch. It sucks being so far away from them!
Happy Birthday Darcy, I love you! Make sure your Dad checks the Post Office Box every day till my present arrives. Evie’s is in there too – I’ve been a busy aunty.
Happy Birthday Evie!!! 3!!!
My wickedly angelic god-daughter turns 3 today. The most adorable little girl in the world!
Happy Birthday Evie!!! I love you!!!
The Roadtrip
Hello friends, are you still with me? I know it’s been a while but it only seems like a few days! So. I’m in Tokyo, nestling back into my cosy little house with a new vegie cookbook, a million chores to catch up on, fresh Kaldi coffee in the fridge and my full iTunes library. I got back on Tuesday, during a remarkably mild period – it was 12.5 degrees that day, but the coming forecasts scare me and I think I feel a healthy hibernation coming on. I’m back at work, eating well, avoiding alcohol and considering a detox.
2007 was a fantastic year for me, I have to say, although it did have the odd sour point too. Spending the past 6 or so weeks with my family and getting to catch up with so many old friends and family members during the Australian holiday was such a momentous occasion. The trip was important on so many levels, and I will be sharing many of the highlights with you over the coming weeks as I trawl through the photos and dig through my beer-soaked memory files.
In the mean time, please feel free to check out this ROADTRIP slideshow I made testing the slideshow generator at animoto. It’s made up of photos taken during the roadtrip I took from Mossman, in far north Queensland, to Maroochydore in the states south-east – a distance of around 1800 km. I had this idea about making a roadtrip slideshow after watching the awesome video Michael Gondry made of a cross-USA road trip. Of course, his video is way more awesome and well-planned than this little kindergarten piece… but I have to say I’m pretty happy with animoto – it’s a rather nifty little service though the photos seem to have degraded a little and maybe even been made a little fuzzy (?).
They told me I needed a long, legal song so I chose one of my favourite old songs – The Day Everything… – from the fabulous Rival Flight (a great band I used to manage) since I doubt they’ll sue me for copyright infringement. It’s a little dramatic but I like the effect and I think it makes for a nice little first slideshow video attempt.
Just remember, it’s 8:49 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back 
Oh, and I put a handful of new holiday pics up at Flickr. More to come.
The eagle has flown
Phew. Think I’m gonna sleep for a week. The eagle (the surprise visitors ie my brothers family) has flown and I actually went home early last night sober and had tim-tams, vegemite toast and tea for dinner. What an amazing week it’s been. Hectic, frenetic, fabulous, drunken, laughter-filled, adventure-filled, crazy and utterly wonderful. Think I wanna turn 40 every year, it’s so much fun!
Thanks to everyone who helped organise and/or participated in the celebrations!
I’ve been going through the zillion photos and started editing, but it’ll take a while. Here are a few from yesterday – my families last day. More soon.
The kids are alright
My brother finally updated his Flickr account with a bunch of pics from recent kiddy Bday festivities. Those gorgeous kids all have their Mum’s big blue-gray eyes. Evie is such a hilarious character! Fraser is a beautiful, big, sporty softy, and Darcy is just such a big loving, lovable goose. Now I’m feeling all homesick. By the way, those of you who still have no idea what a frangipani is, that’s one sitting prettily above Frasers ear in the middle photo above….
Today: only 2 classes, a visit to immigration, a swim at the pool. The forecast shows the big happy smiling sun-face and 14 degrees. Yeah, nice. Have a good day whatever you’re doing!
[posted with ecto]
Technorati Tags: Australia, family, homesickness
Happy Birthday Evie!!!
Today the funniest and most beautiful girl in the world turned two. Happy birthday, darling Evie! Evie is my god-daughter and niece. I took these photos of her during my trip to Australia in May last year… She’s grown so much since then, and has taken to Skype web-cam chats like a true champion. She calls me Party Marty and loves to chatter away in baby-glish for ages with the headset on, gazing at herself and her Party Marty up on the monitor… it cracks me up every time!
Technorati Tags: family
A different life part 2
In keeping with the Australian bush theme, here are some pics my brother sent me of their recent holiday on a cattle farm near Cooktown, in Far North Queensland – complete with authentic Aboriginal cave art. Enjoy.
Technorati Tags: Australia, family, life, photography, travel
A different life
On my fathers side of the family there is a long history of ‚Äúbush‚Äù Australia. My great grandfather was the owner of one of Australia’s largest cattle properties, Brunett Downs, which has long since been broken up into much smaller properties. My Dad spent most of his young life – from age 15 to the time he met Mum, working out west around Longreach and Cloncurry and so on, working with cattle or on huge cattle stations. The bottom picture here is him, aged around 20. He was the real deal. A working cowboy, able to roll his own ciggies with one hand while the other held the reins.
My cousin Andrew fancies himself a bit of a bushie (due to the family history, no doubt), despite the fact that he lives in a little cottage in Ascot (ok, ok so his folks own a small farm, too)…. he likes to head out to the bush where some of his mates are real bushies, and today he sent the family these pictures from his latest trip. They are such great photos that I thought I’d share them with you all. Australia. An amazing, drought-stricken country. Such a different life.
Technorati Tags: family, life, Australia, travelphotography
Speeding towards that time of year…
‚ÄúSo we’re speeding towards that time of year
To the days that mark that you’re not here
And i think i’ll want to be alone
So please understand if i don’t answer the phone
i’ll just sit and stare at my deep blue walls
Until i can see nothing at all…
And now my sorrow seems so far away
Until i’m taken by these bolts of pain
But i turn them off and tuck them away
’till these rainy days that make them stay
And then i’ll cry… to these sad songs…
So i’m waiting for this test to end
So these lighter days can soon begin
i’ll be alone but maybe more carefree
Like a kite that floats so effortlessly… ‚Äù
Azure Ray, song title “November”
I think I hate rainy autumn days. My flatmate flew home to Canada today to be with her Mum for her cancer surgery. It’s all been very sudden. She’ll be gone a week, all things going to plan. I think I’ll be drunk all weekend. Grieve the passing of summer, accept the approaching winter, worry about my flatmate and think about my Mum and Dad a bit. It’s almost been a year since Dad passed away. The passing of time shocks me. I recall again the words of Robert Frost: ‚ÄúIn three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.‚Äù
BTW, email problems are still not fixed.
Another death in the family
My little buddy Percy died about an hour ago. This is the last photo I took of him – that’s him on the right, with Gertrude. It was taken a few days ago when he was on the comeback trail (or so I thought). Last Monday I cleaned their big new superdooper mega-tank, and was a bit worried by how mossy the slate bricks were getting – so opted not to put them back in till after I gave them a big scrub later on that evening. I thought they would be able to get up onto the basking rock without the use of those bricks but it seems I was wrong. Red eared sliders aren’t the strongest of swimmers – they need to take pit-stops.
When I got home Monday night, Percy was upside down in the bottom of the tank, not moving. I grabbed him out of the water and I was pretty relieved when he started moving… After a quick search on the net, I followed the instructions on how to save a drowned turtle and after a few hours I was pretty confident he’d pull through. I kept him in a separate tank with a really low level of heated water and put him out for walks every morning. He was getting stronger and stronger but he wasn’t interested in food at all.
This morning, after his walk, I put him in the feed tank with Gertrude. I don’t know what was going on in the poor little fella’s head, but he started walking under the water with his mouth wide open breathing in water. I pulled him out quickly and hung him head down to drain the water but the damage was already done. He spent the last hours of his life gasping for air and making laboured noises (yes, as I wrote that last post). It was pretty horrible. Reminded me of some other deaths I’ve experienced in recent years. It’s a sad day.
I buried him out in the garden, next to the stone lantern. Rest in peace little buddy.
My Family: Portraits
David and Elissa, my brother and sister in law on Newell Beach, 30 km’s south of Daintree in Queensland. I love this photo!
Evie, my goddaughter and niece. Isn’t she beautiful!
Evie comforting her brother Fraser after the boys at footy gave him hell about his blue hair
My nephew Darcy after being told he couldn’t sit in the front car seat on the way to Cairns. I love this photo, he looks so vulnerable and cute.
People
Since I don’t see these people very much any more, I was determined to try to get some decent portraits.
And since I haven’t been posting much lately, I thought I’d make up for it by sharing some of these portraits with ya’ll. There’ll be some more to come…..
Happy St Patricks Day is a loaded phrase…
My brother woke me with a phone call this morning.
him: Happy St Patricks Day
me: MMmmm, yeah, you too.
~silence~
“Happy St Patricks Day” is something of a loaded phrase for we two new orphans. If everything had run according to plan, this St Patricks’ evening we would have been enjoying a whopper of a party with a bunch of family and old friends at the Buderim Heads Golf Club, in Australia. Now, we may have some Irish blood, but we’re not so Irish as to fly people in from all over for a party…. so, no. It wasn’t to be a St Patricks celebration.
The special occasion?
Our fathers 70th birthday. Yes, the Hugh-man would have been 70 today. Happy birthday Dad, wherever you may be floating around in the ether. I miss you.
And Happy St Patricks Day to the rest of you, from an exceptionally windy Tokyo.
This is where my family lives and works
My brother David went up in a helicopter a few days ago, to take photos of Port Douglas for some of the properties he’s selling (he’s a real estate agent). He took this picture and sent it to me this morning to torture me with it. Today in Tokyo it’s cold and overcast. Like it was yesterday (well actually it poured almost all day yesterday). And the day before. And so on. In Port Douglas it’s sunny and 30 degrees. Isn’t it beautiful. Must go back there soon, it’s the perfect place to chill.
Birthdays galore!!!
Down in Port Douglas (Australia) it’s my nephew Darcy’s birthday today and he got a walkman!
And in Maroochydore (also Australia), it’s Tallulah’s birthday on Sunday and she’s going to be in hospital, where she’s been for the last 6 days, having a number of operations on a nastily infected heel. Poor baby.
Hippo Birdee to my little darlings, Darcy and Tallulah. Love you!
Angel Evie
Would you just look at this magnificent creature. She is the happiest baby I ever did meet. Doesn’t she have the most infectious smile! She’s beautiful and I love her muchly. She turns one year old today. Her name is Evie and she is my god daughter and niece. Happy birthday darlin’ girl. Wish I could be with you.
Mata ne
Davey left yesterday. Older, wiser, and with way less money.
Love you bro.
Is Percy sick?
If anyone knows anything about red-eared slider turtles, can you let me know why Percy has started spending almost ALL his time sitting, fully-extended, out of the water on his perch. It’s quite cute but last night, with his head stretched out and resting flat on the ground with his eyes closed tight, I was sure he was dead. He responded to noise and promptly woke up and leapt back into the water straight on top of poor sleeping Gertrude who woke up quite startled. I was worried that maybe something in the water was irritating him so cleaned the bowl and replaced the water twice but he’s still doing it…. anyone?
Happy Birthday bro!
My wonderful (and only) brother, David, turns 35 today. My little baby bro is now a big married man with 3 kids of his own.
I remember once when we were kids, being hit hard on the wrist by a big kid with a bamboo stick. It hurt like hell and I made quite a racket as the other girls dragged me back up to the big house to the alarmed grown-ups. A few minutes later one of the boys came running up looking like the devil was chasing him.
“Mr Cotton, Mr Cotton, Dave’s gone mad! He got the stick that Joey hit Martine with and he’s chasing him and hitting him with it really really hard, and his face has gone all red and he keeps yelling don’t.you.ever.hurt.my.sister.again. really loudly!!!”
Happy Birthday bro. I love you and miss you.
My god-daughter
Seems my niece and god-daughter wasn’t impressed that I missed her christening today. Sweety-honey, I do need more than 5 days notice next time you decide to have a ‘do. I’ll really try to be at your next ‘do, I promise!
I am really most honoured to have been asked to be Evie’s god-mother. I promise to lead her astray at every possible opportunity.
