Had a few days off work this week after covering the Christmas period. Did some painting and drawing. I have watched three episodes of ‘Housos’ the past few weeks. It’s ludicrous but pretty funny. The last two weeks I got my Mum barramundi fillets and today I had one. That stuff is so expensive. Mum was happy and it was pretty good. I got heaps of mung bean hopia from a work mate, so good. When I have been near East Gardens shopping centre I have gone to Ms Dumplings and Tong Li.

The Tong Li in East Gardens is pretty good for my general area but I prefer the Haymarket branch. They have more drink choices overall. I went to White Rabbit gallery and the quality of work in the gallery is great but I have seen better shows there in the past. I wasn’t disappointed but I felt like I was covered in cotton wool rather than really connecting to the work. That could have just been my mood today. You go from these curated architectural areas to a street with smashed automatic teller machines covered in graffiti.

There is a big contrast only one block away from what looks like neoliberal paradise to a heavy dose of stark reality. I was in one part of George street and I saw the homeless and opportunistic faces of desperate people. You can feel like a moving target, it is best not to set yourself down in a certain place until you see things are clear. I could see the potential in those seconds but kept moving until I was out of sight. I wasn’t worried but I knew that some people were waiting for opportunities.

A couple of days ago someone stole a person’s shopping in the Randwick Plaza car park that I had described as a dump in a previous post. I think there was some sort of assault, I can’t remember the details. I went to a Thai supermarket in the city after getting off George street, they have the best stuff there as far as Thai sweets go. It is a dollar or two cheaper than everywhere else in the city. There are heaps of these Thai sweets places, the black rice and coconut cream is really good.

I haven’t had much going on in my head lately, a few days ago I was thinking about how with my Qigong training I can just switch my mind off at will. It is a strange headspace because there are no boundaries at all. This is what Taoists mean by being nothing or being empty. You can allow anything to happen, you kind of disappear in that nature can enter into the emptiness. You can’t be in that headspace all of the time but you can at least choose what comes into your mind.

The advantage of being empty is you allow things to happen naturally, you don’t need to think about things. My lack of writing has nothing to do with me switching my mind on or off, I just don’t have anything much to say. I was talking to a friend the other day as I mentioned in a previous post how I felt like I had won the lottery. The dickhead free lottery, that is, no boat shoes, no pink shirts, no walking drunk out of a Paddington Pub after a UFC fight, just peace of mind and a beautiful life in a world burning to the ground.