It's that time of the year

I keep telling myself it's just a case of volume, not weight, and I wonder how big your handcarry can be. Another suitcase would be helpful.

I'm crap at packing. My dad repacks for me here, and Weng packs for me over there. I can never make it fit perfectly and from what I've seen so far, my stuff is definitely not going to fit. While I try to solve this increasingly pressing problem, my dog has renewed her hatred of suitcases and has been glaring at it whenever she follows me into the room.

I'm also nursing a bad cough courtesy of my sister, not getting enough sleep, and trying to remember what errands I still have to run. My mum's been shoving 'a gentle infusion of raw ginger and honey' down our throats in a bid to stop us from trying to hack up our lungs. It's really foul tasting.

I fly tomorrow.

They've got little bows

Finding that one accessory that transforms your outfit from drab to fab is like the ultimate quest, and I think I've found one such sacred item in the form of a pair of shoes.

I feel a deep sense of satisfaction. Nothing irks me more than going to the shopping mall with a plan and coming out empty handed.

I am at peace.

Stomp

It was as if the most organic sounds from our everyday lives had been taken and forced into a lattice of pure noise. Listening to the pulsing rhythms and trying to pick out the interplay between all the musicians was like looking at a painting for a split second and trying to admire the care of each stroke and stepping back to absorb the overall effect at the same time. There was a lot of aural squinting going on.

My favorite act, if you've seen it, was with the sinks. So cool.

Two hours of raw energy has left me dying to turn over the pails in the toilet, grab my mum's bamboo frying slice and bang away to my heart's content, but I predict that my effort will be less warmly applauded.