Don't Shoot and Drive

Okay, so i probably shouldn't have taken this photo.. but magic hour is so irresistible.

The Studio

My friend Adrian Stojkovich is an amazing painter. He is starting to paint again after a brief hiatus. At the moment he is working on a photo-realistic painting of his mother in the 1970s. Hung out at the studio with him until the early hours of the morning.

  

Latte

Over the past few weeks, my mums chemo treatment has had unbelievable results. She can walk, talk, and even work in the garden. Obviously, she isn't completely better. It is only a temporary fix, but its good to see her have some of her life back again. However, she has been growing bored. She can't work, and as most of her social network are there, it can get fairly depressing. Whenever I can, I try get her out of the house. Yesterday, we head to Gem Pier in Williamstown for a coffee. 

Its all about the journey

Ash's parents both recently have had birthdays. Ash decided to drive up to Wodonga to surprise them. People say The Hume is a boring drive. I quiet enjoy it.

I like the way the light fell on the road.

Beechworth Bakery for lunch

Beechworth

 

Changing Landscapes

Cabbage White

Took the dogs for a walk. Saw butterflies. Took photos. 

Iressa

Approximately 6-7 weeks ago, my mum underwent a bronchoscopy as part of the diagnostic process to pinpoint the precise genetic mutation that led to her type of cancer. Approximately 2 weeks ago; we recieved the results. It was good news. She was positive for a particular strain which qualified her for a targeted specific form of chemo with the brand name Iressa.

She has since been on it for 11 days now with some noticeable change. Her breathing has drastically improved, and her energy levels have allowed her to do some gardening and to head to the market. Shes been watching TV, staying up later, and experiencing less pain.

After watching a doco on Australian Immigration (Immigration Nation, SBS - I really recommend it), she told me about her story. She told me about how she was processed at a refugee processing centre in Malaysia, about how she worked at Verbatim, studied accounting (which she dropped out of due to the language gap), studied English at Myer (they apparently it there at some stage), how she came to her job at Australia Post, and how my family settled in Melbourne.

Mum taking her chemo and pain-killing medication.

My uncle and my mum waiting at Royal Melbourne Hospital

Every morning, my mum faces out of her bedroom window towards the Buddhist temple across the valley from our house.

Yesterday, Mum insisted that we go the market. Last week, she could not get out of bed.

My Aunt and I put in money and bought my mum a new TV. She watches Asian soap operas almost every night. 

Gem Pier, Williamstown

Had a few hours to kill last night and with the beautiful weather we have had of late, I decided to head down to Gem Pier in Williamstown. Its a beautiful place to sit, reflect, and watch people and seagulls. 

Moomba!

Spent the morning out at the annual Moomba festival in Melbourne. Found out that a whole heap of my drag friends were in the show representing Midsumma Festival. There were a shitload of people watching, taking photos, laughing, smiling, and it was generally a great day. After walking throughout the city and towards the shrine, we were kind of left stranded with all the queens not wanting to walk back in heels. We ended up getting a lift from a chick who was in the parade. She borrowed one of the official vans and we fit too many people in not enough room which resulted in the bottom pic.

 

Lorne

Okay. So I have never professed to be a landscape photographer, so don't judge me. My friend Adrian and I decided to jump in the car and head down to Lorne for the arvo. In particular, we were interested in Erskine Falls. In particular, we were interested in the parts with no people. So when we arrived, we were kind of pissed when the car park was completely full. And there were people climbing over everything. So we decided to walk downstream. Totally worth it. Natural beauty at its best.

These pics have been worked on. I won't lie. Not in the sense that I put a tree in or got rid of anything, they have just been HDRed. Enough camera wanker talk for now. I just recommend heading to Lorne if you can!

Photography is nothing, it's life that interest me.

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Charlie and Peanut

Yep. So I know its weird putting pics of my dogs on here. But since I have moved back home to help mum out, I have kind of spent a lot of time with them. Generally its kinda just telling Charlie off for barking all night outside my window.. but I really do love these dogs.

Dumplings/Cob Loaf/New Housemate

So Ash had a few friends over last night to celebrate her new housemate Kristy moving in. I kind of realised in retrospect that I didn't actually take any photos of Kristy.. Which is probably useful considering it is the main contention of this blog... They made dumplings and cobb loaf..