Being alive
**
We walked around the city for most of the day, beneath weather that was exuding its Melbournian personality (i.e. indecisive). It was threatening to rain at times, but never actually did. Just as well, because neither of us could be bothered carrying an umbrella.
We seemed to have spent most of the time poking around in bookstores and obeying my appetite (for food! whaddya think?!). And we found a neat little literature store tucked off in Flinders Street, which I will no doubt visit a fair bit from now on. Oddly enough, I didn't buy any books today.
Melbourne is starting to look dressed up for Christmas. Maybe it's just because I haven't had time to notice before today. We popped into the Town Hall to look at the Chinese Tibetan Historical Exhibition, though first, we had to get past people from the Australia Tibet Council. They were handing out leaflets saying that the stuff inside was really propaganda - that China is really destroying Tibetan culture by having instilled Chinese as the main language, destroying buildings, works and text of historical and religious importance. And well, it was propaganda. With words like "Peaceful Liberation of Tibet" and "riddance of backwardness". Most disturbing ...
Double scoop of ice cream (and double cone, cos the guy broke the first one) from Charmaine's at South Bank, sitting in the sun and bopping along to a four-person music act doing cool renditions of songs by Frank Sinatra, The Manhattan Transfer, and "Bohemian Rhapsody" - including several seconds of attempted head-banging in the appropriate bars.
Being alive, and living it.