The Great Aussie Weekend...

Yikes, four days to catch up on, after ploughing through "Closet" and posting (written on the fly, so not the best I've done). Oh well, I'll see how I go. Not like I did anything interesting today. ;P

For those with either short attention spans, or something much better to do with their brainspace than remember my schedule, I had to go down to Melbourne after work on Thursday for the statewide Registrar's Conference. Big whoo. At least I get my travel expenses and meal and accomodation for the Thursday night. Which will be more money than I actually spent. *grins*

The upside was that after being imprisoned in a conference hall, starved by stupid caterers who wouldn't know a vegetarian meal if it was shoved up their noses, and frustrated by management consultants saying "Talk about your issues with the job, but don't mention anything about the budget and staffing problems" (which are the issues of the job, damnit!), the upside was that it was in Melbourne. Where my friends, both fanficcer and mundane, are. And I had made arrangements to meet them.
I'd arranged to stay with Wondermouse (one of the karate folks), who lives in an architect's showcase of a renovation in Carlton. Her room is at the top of a spiral staircase. *grins* She'd arranged a dinner party before knowing I was coming, but it was no big deal, as the people were fun, for law types. *thinks* Hang on, I can be considered a law type, so I'd better stop there.

[*giggles* We've got the Comedy Festival standup show on teeve right now; quote; '"I touched my baby on her ghost ship", where the hell is that?" "You don't know?"]

Saturday morning, I was dragged to training. 'Mouse had been threatened with dire consequences if I didn't show, so off to mat-work it was. Actually, it was a lot of fun, in a 'rolling around on the floor with another persontrying to stop them from killing you' kind of way. I'm paying for it now, 'though - I'm sorre all over, and I keep finding bruises in strange places. I got to see Alex and Ivo and a few others who wouldn't be at Ben's farewell that night.

Yasmin and Andraste have already mentioned our beverage-and-world-domination session, so I won't repeat it again, except to say that I will not rest until I drag Andraste to AusCon so she can be appreciated by the rest of us. She's great. :) A worthy addition to the Aussie ranks. And I still think "SnotCon" was a pretty apt description. ;) Once I drag my notebook out of my backpack, I will post "Signs of Ficcer Apocalypse".

Back to Mouse's place at about five for a nap (and some very strange dreams!) before rousing myself enough to shower and get dressed for the pub. 'Mouse was being her usual self - "I'm not sure about this now, I've really got a lot of work, I might come later" - so after helping her with the dishes, I took off on my own.

I might be a country girl at heart, but there's something ineffably comfortable about Melbourne. It's like a favourite old cardigan. I was walking to the pub from the tram stop, thinking, 'I really love this smelly old place'. I know people who shudder from the idea of walking in the city at night, but that night, walking through the deserted streets of a business district, I felt perfectly safe. Content, even, which was good after the strange mood 'Mouse was in.

So, at last, the Redback Hotel. Next time we do AussieCon in Melbourne, I might include this one on the intinerary. It's a cool place, and they serve beer in pints. And they had Mercury cider. *grins wryly* Probably not a great thing given my track history with alcoholic cider, but I wasn't in a beer mood.

Most of karate's usual suspects were there, which was great. It was fun, watching the expressions change to surprise when they saw me. ;) And the other thing about a lot of the karatekas, is you can pouncehug them for real and not knock them over. So, I got some food, got some booze, nd settled in for a good time, once I'd explained the BRM thing several times. I rpobably came across as a bit cold about the whole thing (especially considering later events), but I've always been good at hiding my emotions from my friends. And I was determined to have a good time, and not dwell on stuff.

Which is exactly what I did. I drank maybe a little too much, danced a little, flirted a bit, and beat Adam (the original Fish) at pool. Guess that makes me Allison. *chuckles* I'd forgotten how much fun it can be, being single.

I even picked up.

I won't go into details, only to say Adam's housemate Mike turned out to be a very nice bloke, and I didn't go back to the Mouse House that night. I made it very clear (even while rather sloshed) that I wasn't in any state/mood for another relationship, which was fine by him - "We'll just see what happens", was the general attitude. *laughs* It was funny, in a way; sneaking out of the pub, walking back to his place, we felt like a couple of teenagers sneaking out of a school party. (considering we are both in our thirties, it was funny to us) It was refreshing too; being old enough to not have something to prove, just having a bit of fun. I suppose I should feel guilty, but I don't. As it was, I spent the night at his place, and went out for brunch with him and Adam mid-morning with a silly grin on my face. And he's going to call this week.

Mind you, the teenaged feling lasted until about two, after I left 'Mouse's place. then I was wrecked - I staggered to JB Hi-Fi, got Raph's surprise, picked up sushi for lunch, and then went down to the station for my train. I got the tickets for Sydney while I was waiting - got a discount too! - so everything's set for Easter. I slept the entire three and a half hours home, and then fell into bed once I got there. I'm still tired now. ;P

So that's the low-down on my dirty weekend. ;)

I feel pretty, oh so pretty...

Addendum to the last post, really. And feel free to tell me if you think I'm just grandstanding for attention.

You know one of the nicest things about my weekend? Finding out that men think I'm attractive.

Now, before you break out the Nerf bats, let me explain.

When I was in high school (back in the days before electricity, and the horseless carriage *grins*), I was not considered pretty. Or even vaguely attractive. I was somewhat pudgy and I had glasses and was rather mousy... and I had brains. Not a good combination. So I got used to guys not seeing me as attractive, treating me as a friend when they actually talked to me, giving them advice when they asked for it on how to get the notice of this girl or that one. My mum said they were just being stupid, that I was lovely, but all mothers think that. ;)

When I got to uni, it came as a total surprise to find that guys actually appreciated me, found me sexy, even. I had a couple of flings, then met BRM, adn even through our relationship, every so often someone would make a pass at me. I usually put it down to too much to drink; I couldn't take them seriously, because I'd spent so long being told I was "a dog".

Gradually, over time, I became... comfortable with my looks. I sort of accepted that I would never be considered pretty, but I had my good features, and I was fit and healthy and could throw a guy twice my size without too much trouble. Besides, I was in a steady relationship, that stuff didn't matter. Then the comfy blanket of complacency was yanked off, and I found that 'that stuff' did sort of matter after all - I felt I wasn't physically attractive, because BRM was no longer attracted in that way.

So Saturday night, I rediscovered how nice it is to be told you're attractive. To have someone look at you and think you're something special. It sounds terribly shallow, but I felt pretty.

It felt good.

If I ever get into another relationship, I want the person to love me for my intelligence and personality and humour. I know looks aren't everything. But it's kind of good for the ego, y'know? Especially when you've spent years thinking you're nothing special and never will be.

Anyhoo, I'm off to bed, before I faceplant on the keyboard