rejoice thee the glorious sun-filled afternoon
and the soy latte
and the South King Street scrappy fashion movement
and other people's generously offered beds and sofas
and dressing like a backpacker
and possibility
and honest poverty
and lent books
and being back and being happy

Goodbye Malaysia

sat on my suitcase and then gave away as much as I could, if only there were op shop bins here I probably would have given away everything that wasn't uni notes or souvenir. still not exactly sure how this combination of posting to various cities and taking on the plane as excess baggage will work, will it work?

It is late, I've been up all night

Today was a goodbye day and I cried and cried, in little 'oh here we go again' sniffly bursts

And laughed

And cried some more

Giving cousin whizzies on the lawn of the afternoon tea and saying goodbye to people. Double hand shake. Touch heart. Bear hug and single cheek kiss. Double cheek kiss. cry again.

Goodbye to baby and goodbye to cousin who said she wanted to go to Australia with me when we broke the news today. She can't even say the word properly but I believe she would come, would come for the thrill of the plane and the promise of whizzies and love.

Goodbye to workmates and family and in laws who have become family and all these gentle souls who are like princes and princesses and have fed me and amused me and cleaned my clothes and cared about me and taken me places and shown me things and told me stories and given me gifts - the ones you wrap and the ones that ring in your ears and make you smile later. How can I leave those faces behind?

Goodbye goodbye.

Here's wishing for a gentle descent into Australia.

But then again

Maybe all is well with the world after all. Imagine all these sweet high pant sensible shoe wearing guys and gals out there stomping through wet forests checking out moss. They love moss so much they made a website, a special name for it, a journal, they have meetings... (What do you talk about at a bryology meeting - oh hang on, I guess I know the answer to that). Sweet, unself-conscious wonder at the little quiet things.
Aaaah, thankyou bryologists...

Life liberty and justice

Anwar's out! After serving his term for corruption he still had 9 years ahead of him for sodomy. The evidence was very thin on the ground, the smell of set up was so strong it barely needs mentioning. He'd appealed before but to no avail. New PM, new era and new historic decision today.

So...
A bright new confident era of politicians dropping the judiciaries strings? Birds sing, the sky is blue, the people can sleep safe at night?
Or...
Too little, too late. So he bloody should have won the appeal. The trial was a farce, a horrible grotesque posturing of justice.
Or...
He was only let out because the ranks have closed behind him, enough time has passed that he is no political threat to The Party any more. This was a cynical, calculated gesture of administration and judiciary. He can live in the cold dark corner without the patronage to keep him warm - mmm freedom, smells nice.
Or...
Is everyone insane? The point is not whether or not he did it but instead what kind of country thinks it's ok to put someone in jail because of what they did with another consenting adult in privacy? And each of us here, today in this country, and every day that's passed are responsible for keeping that law in place. Every day we don't protest we give permission for it to continue.
And while the educated monied class in our own country thinks that tutting about the state of things over a glass of wine consititutes participative democrary or social responsibility we are just as bad.
Or...
Nevermindwhattodo? Someone should do something about it.