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australia

Jean up in the air

I already danced like no-one is watching…

now I had the chance to sing like no-one is listening

[okay... well maybe not exactly NO-one!]

I am at this moment flying over the Whitsunday Islands winging my way back to the Gold Coast… and home! The clouds are doing something rather odd this morning. They are sketchy and low today. Way away down below us… they’re casting long shadows across the water. It’s early and the sun is still low.

It’s odd to see clouds from this perspective. How used we are to looking UP at them. Now it is we who are up here looking DOWN on them [if that makes any sense at all].

[My grammar check is screaming for me to rephrase this line with that quaint little squiggly green line that underscores grammatical errors in Microsoft Word.  And yet I am unmoved!  In writing... as in ALL THINGS these days…]

I intend to do it my way!

I can see the plane’s shadow traversing the water below us giving sense to the speed with which we must be travelling. And yet up here it feels as though time is standing still. Suspended… right here where we are… with 35,000 feet of precisely nothing between here and the world below.

I was back in Cairns this week for a couple of days.  They told me it had been raining since I left so I could only deduce that the place missed me… (cough cough) which was a reasonable assumption endorsed by the fact that the sun came out upon my arrival… after three solid weeks of rain!  [If only I could be that powerful...*sigh* grin]

cast netting on beachFishermen Trinity Inlet  on my early Thursday morning walk

Yesterday I went to a Casting for another television commercial… this time with Tourism Australia. You can’t begin to imagine how the emailed Brief piqued my interest. I couldn’t resist!

“Come in shorts with walking boots bush hat and backpack”… it said.

“Be prepared to sing Waltzing Matilda”

I was in!

Let’s face it…when am I ever going to get another chance to sing Waltzing Matilda with the camera rolling? (((chuckles))) Whether or not it ends up on the tellie seems of little consequence at this point. I don’t care. It was just so much fun to go to the casting… talk on camera about the things I love to do [paint write... oh and of course sing]… and yep… finally have my one minute of fame singing Australia’s favourite song!

Not entirely sure national television is ready for that!

But I sure was… and can now strike the experience off my bucket list of odd and extraordinary things I must do one day before I die!

gold coast skyline 2Gold Coast skyline on descent

So just love this country… and would happily sing about it! (((chuckles)))

It was also great to catch up with dear friends again. It’s only been a month since I left… but already there was so much to talk about.  It felt kind of nice to know that even though a vast distance now stands between us… these valued friendships will prevail no matter what.  It helps me to know this… as I step boldly forward into the next chapter!

green teaSadly… not pineapple and banana cake *sigh* [grin]

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Full Tilt

August 7, 2009 · 10 comments

full-tilt“Full Tilt”

Cartoon Pen & Watercolour 9″ x 12″

Copyright 2009 Jean Burman 

Here is my entry in the 21st Rotary Cartoon Awards… a national/international competition hosted once again at the Bunker Gallery in Coffs Harbour.  The Awards are a bit of a big deal in the cartoon world with entries accepted from both amateur and professional cartoonists worldwide.  

I had two entries ready… but upon (erroneous) advice that captions were disallowed… I didn’t send the second one.  Foul play?  No I don’t think so (grin)  I should have read deeper into the fine print of the entry form to learn that captions were disallowed in the International section only.  So I could have sent the other one as well.   Ha!  Oh well.. c’est la vie.

Originally this was going to be “Climate Change – Full Tilt” (avec captions)  but turned out being plain old “Full Tilt” because that’s all I could fit into the toon after the fact!  Never mind… I think the gag stands quite well on it’s own two feet as a humorous ‘take’ on the irony of weather in this Great South Land over the past year.  I hope so anyway.

Besides… I have no expectations for this entry except that… by participation… it represents my persistence to prevail despite everything.  

Keep smiling… you never know when someone’s gonna smile back!  (((chuckles)))  :-)

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