Okeefereport

This is replacement blog to provide a medium for the extended o'keefe family to keep each other informed of all their news, travels, adventures and whatever. Happy blogging.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Stagalicious

Hi everyone

I'm trying not to worry too much about Mart, who I sent off this morning to celebrate his stag do in Galway, Ireland. This is what he looked like this morning (with little bro Kiffy and best man Jon). Look out Galway!

Love Kel xx

Monday, July 19, 2010

Ruminations on love

I just fell in love with a strawberry blonde whilst having lunch at the View. At first attracted by her slightly husky voice, probably the product of her long Aquiline hooked, possibly broken, nose. Once she had gained my attention, through no intent I'm sure, I found it impossible not to steal glances. Thus was I able over the course of an hour long meal to witness the passage of attraction. You see at first glance, aside from her voice, she was not very attractive. Straight hair on the mouse blonde end of the strawberry scale, straight and severely tied back was not a winner. The already described largish nose only made a rather narrow oval face look narrower. Her mouth was awkward but it's hard to know why. Her best feature was probably her pale freckled but otherwise unblemished youthful skin. I was never close enough to witness the colour of her eyes and her fair brows and lashes offered no definition.

Nonetheless over the next forty five minutes as I was caressed by her attention commanding voice she turned into an irresistible beauty. Perhaps relaxed by the beer brought by her partner her previously awkward mouth relaxed and turned into the focus of her evolving beauty. The partner who was mostly back on to me seemed silent but on observation was obviously involved in the conversation. It was easy to feel that he was not a match for this commanding conversationalist but I resisted feeling jealous. There is a thin border between snatching glimpses and bald staring of which I am very sensitive but there's no telling when a stolen glance will be intercepted head on as at least once it was.

Her full face was broader than it had seemed in profile and her nose of which I may have seemed critical was, if not cute, certainly intelligent. I've been fooled by cute noses which can easily turn piggish I've learned to appreciate the large and crooked so strawberries nose would never alone have turned me off. I couldn't be sure in this one off stolen glimpse but the sense of proportion and spacing I was left with was heart warming. By now her speech, mouth and lips had become irresistible and whilst I could enjoy her voice surreptitiously I found myself longing for one of those perverts baseball caps or sunglasses to hide my sight lines.

Probably this is more a testament to the effects of alcohol, food and relaxation than to any heart breaking love and devotion for life ever after. I left the View at the end of this hour and retreated here to share with lucky you who I do really love for life ever after. With every hour that passes the memory of this love fades. The beauty of it is in the fact that it is possible that I can and do and always have loved just as you too do.

Postscript: I'm not at all happy with the name of my favourite local. No patron wants to be so loquacious as to call it the Warren View anymore than they want to call theirs The Duke of Edinburg rather than The Duke, Or The Ancient Britton, rather than the Britt. The choice then becomes that between The Warren, doh, a place where rabbits breed according to Macquarie Dictionary, well what else do rabbits do, or a slum to economise in words for their other definition. Makes you wonder about the parent who would christen their child Warren doesn't it. I mean some things are possible even for a Kevin, for a short time anyway, but a Warren, I don't think so.

As for The View, which I have chosen here, of what. Obviously if we had passage to the upper floors there are unencumbered outlooks over the greater southern suburbs for as far as your eyesight allows but these are not for us. Ours are views of one another, the strawberry blonde, the pepper tree, walls and sky. Of course we can call it the view but when a foreigner embarrassingly asks of what... The Duke's patron can say "of Edinburg" of course while equally those asked of the Britt can say, "the Ancient Britton". "Of where the rabbits breed" is too embarrassing and the view "of the strawberry blonde" takes too much explanation don't you think?

Robert

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

My 29th birthday in sunny Cyprus

Hi everyone

Today is my first day back at work after celebrating my 29th birthday in Cyprus. It was lovely, hot (32 degrees!) and very lazy. All we did was sunbake and swim by day... eat and drink my night = heaven!!

I wish I was still there! xx Kel

Mart could get used to this...


The church and main square in Lania, the village where we stayed...


I'm another year older...

Ruminations

I've been having marvellous dreams lately. Last night I had a sort of Alice in wonderland into the wardrobe and beyond thingy dream that was rhapsodic. Beyond the spectacular gimmickry of the wardrobe itself was a twilight world of beautiful, strange animals, birds and insects with touring groups of boy scouts in a cavern mysteriously hidden beyond the brick veneer. It was my parents home and at the mention of beautifully shiny roaches nesting in silk scarves, my mum began to protest that it was the fault of those kids though the priests didn't seem to mind.

Two nights before I dreamt of glorious travels in a reclining cycle type vehicle that was self powered an could traverse all terrains including water and air whilst maintaining its simple physical, exposed to nature feel. A sort of sailing cycle kite I suppose. Time has unfortunately erased the memory of the geography of my travels except for the distinct memory of a slippery clay vertical section which proved no trouble at all.

Now watching this last in the current series of Dr. Who I see the similarity between the Doctors travels and my dream structure. Neither has a real sense but both are beautiful if you just dismiss your desire for comprehensibility, I do enjoy Dr. Who but I can't understand why. This morning Hugh rang to report that he was having a colonoscopy tomorrow, this evening rushing to the bottle shop after a longer than expected nap I encountered Dr. Gok. It was dark and so is he, so while I was admiring his choice of two six packs he recognised my pink and pimpled, almost luminous glow, and surprised me with a greeting. Our brief conversation quickly regressed into a consultation type summary and we bid one another farewell but a Who-like dream quality in the atmosphere remained. Thank god, um Nigel, I had remembered my teeth.

Do you ever wonder how the medical and law professions get away with calling their professional offices "Practices". I mean can you imagine any other profession getting away with this endless collegiate attitude to their business? Can you imagine the Canterbury Bankstown Rugby League Football Practise or the Westpac Bank Practice? No way. Most businesses must disport with a great deal more confidence. Imagine O'Keefe's Building Practice with the motto 'some stay up, some fall down but were still practicing'. No way. You've got to hand it to the medicos thought for their foresight in naming their clients "patients".

Well all that is very well I'm sure but in the real world my estate agent has once more announced his regret that in light of the landlords holding costs he has no option than to increase my rental by $20. Those holding costs are so unpredictable. He tried to rectify the situation only nine months after our original lease agreement with a $20 rent raise but alas underestimated. Fourteen months later he found himself once more losing his grip and again raised the rent by $20. Were he my agent, I would by this time have had serious doubts about his competency. Now he once again finds himself losing his grip of troublesome holding costs (I sympathize in these wet wintery conditions it's difficult to hold even the hand of your beloved) and once again raises the rental. All told a 25% increase in 25 months. With interest rates still less than they were at the start of this leasehold is not bad; for the landlord. You young'ns should take note and be asking questions of your investment advisers.

This snipe still taunts me with his Orwellian slogan at Stanmore Station. Come to think were I the location supervisor for the film of 1984 I could do far worse than choose Stanmore with its turn of the century metropolitan London style

Orwell Ink. Ads. or whatever they call themselves, along with their corporate partners may already have gone too far. Recently reading a real estate for sale add I noted among the few details provided a telephone number advising twenty four hour service. My first thought was of high flyer's bar hopping on a line of coke in early dawn chill calling to buy. My second was of the unlikelihood of hearing a real time human voice this side of Mumbai at this time of the morning. Is there anyone else out there who sees 24 hours next to anything less than unreliable emergency services such as Hospital Fire and Ambulance, who does not immediately think of machines that frustrate with their poor communication abilities.

I can't believe I just wrote a sentence with machines as the subject and communication skills as the object.


I think the lawn needs a mow

A full house

Could I have mine choclate coated



Monday, July 05, 2010

90 sleeps!

Hi everyone

Just a quick blog to say... I'm getting married in 90 sleeps! Am getting super excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Kel xx