Up North...

nothing has come to mind to write in the last couple of weeks despite plenty of thoughts swirling around up here. I simply havent managed to make any of it really coherent or directional. i might start with a phrase, get nowhere, attain a certain level of frustration, then pick up my screen, scrunch it up and throw it in the bin. don't expect any direction here, but maybe some semi-coherent ramblings.

and this is where it has got me. I am back in Australia. When i arrived home, no one was there to pick me up. i caught a bus, then a train, then picked up my feet to walk the last kilometre to my empty house. once there i basked in the vast personal space of my home that i would shortly endeavour to clog up with luggage, clothes, letters from the mailbox, dishes, empty recyclables, and various other assortable phenomena.

lurking in the shadows of one of the smaller bedrooms, i discovered Chen the Chinese student boarder. truth be told, i did expect him to be around, but he had the habit, which i would later discover, of being either holed up in his room or being out. Like an electron which is simultaneously at different places until it is measured, i would not know where Chen was until i dared open the door to his room. But whatever, Chen has little significant place in this particular wayward story.

For the next week and a half I got back into soccer and found myself back at Choice, my old work, for a little pocket money. I also applied for a few jobs on the side and attempted to accost John Howard outside the Casino - more on that later. I have so far been unsuccessful in these two regards, although at least one of them is pending...

today i am in Townesville, QLD. after tracking my brother Omar up here to my sister and brother-in-laws place, i did decide to accept the pre-booked and paid for trip up North. Away from the suddenly dreary, wet and cold Melbourne up into the tropics. bbq's to make up for my missed aussie summer and some lessons in the local flora and fauna from my brother in law and his best man.

tomorrow maybe out to magnetic island. will give you some pics soon enough.

hisham

narita tokyo

fatigue is setting in... its stuffy in Narita airport, Tokyo. strange, for some reason there are a lot of japanese people around here.

3 hours to go before boarding the qantas flight back home. my stomachs getting annoyed with me, telling me to get some proper sleep otherwise it'll stop working and and threatening to keep me in the ole bathroom no doubt (don't read that). i wouldnt mind the peace and quiet. anyway, i dont listen to it and instead spend my remaining 10 yen on a crab croissant and some internet time.

i had a nice weekend in NYC. jazz on saturday night, walking and taking in the city on sunday. spent some time with daisy and audrey, and took little 2nd cous Nicholas to the park. felt like a surrogate dad and amused myself with idle chitchat to other 'real' parents; 'oh the weather's a bit chilly...', 'yes, but it's nice when the sun comes out.' how wonderful.

back a few days and i was in washington. i really did not spend enough time there, but i did enjoy it. one week on the riz khan team and i was just working out where to tread, how to say what, and when. good experience nonetheless. i did go for an impromtu interview on friday at al-Arabiya news channel. they broadcast only in arabic. i thought it was a horrible interview, primarily because of my lack of arabic speaking skills, and it didnt take long to convince Sara to agree with me. but it was a good experience. i do not like interviews, but who does? however, i like to see each one as being a work in progress, and ill improve the next time. wise words.

Spent some time visiting the city after work with Sara. this was good for the authorities however, cos we halved the surveillance costs by being in the same place. me, a suspected Ghaddafi conspirator (yea, im sure he's still at it), and Sara being the little hijabi renegade she is. we tried to blend into society and fit within that great iron cage but we stood out apparently and the police not so stealthily parked on the grass directly behind us pointing some sound tech stuff at us. so we moved 50 yards along and stuck it to them. that'll teach em.

not to worry, i made it out of the country after a brief bomb inspection at customs.

oh my god. more japanese. they just keep coming out of the woodwork. and i keep forgotting the greeting here. origato mr robato, sayonara... no probs. ahh. konichiya. but its too late for formalities. im tired.