Killer Squirrels

I've been chasing squirrels around Boston for the past two days trying to get good photos. I had no idea that they could be dangerous, but Ange just sent me this link: http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,488343,00.html

Day 2 at Harvard

Met some more interesting people today. One man doing the course is a pulmonary and respiratory specialist who works in ICU and is on the faculty of one of the other USA university's med schools - can't remember which one. Another woman is an anthropologist who specialises in conflict resolution between native indians. Interesting!

Took lots of photos today around the campus. Got a great shot of a squirrel eating a nut and later saw one trying to chew on a nut almost twice as big as he was! Also saw a guy with a chihuahua! Found a really weird looking insect in my bathroom - no idea what it is - kind of a cross between a centipede and a daddy-long-legs spider. It looks like one of those deep sea creatures!!!

Really hot today - I'm guessing around 30 degrees. Wore casual clothes to class today - thought I couldn't bear work clothes in this heat. Other people turned up in jeans and shorts too, so guess the requirement for "business attire" is out the window now. There is a woman from Jamaica in the course and the poor thing is freezing to death! We have the airconditioning turned up full bore and we're complaining how hot it is, and she's sitting there with a shawl around her shivering! So funny!

Learning heaps, my head is spinning with new ideas and exciting revelations. As one of the presenters, Sheila, would say: I'm having a brain quake. Sheila commented yesterday "You have no idea how hard it is to work in Australia with my name"! We three Australians cracked up laughing and then we had to try and explain why it was funny, especially to the Brazilians. I don't think I did a good job explaining it - one of them said to me, "so it's like your name is whore?"!!!! Imagine if I had to explain to him the concept of Brazilian waxing!!!

One guy said to me this afternoon: "You sure have lots of funny stories!" I replied "yeah, it's kind of a hobby of mine"!

Crockery Dundee saves the day

I'm in the USA at the moment. Spent the weekend in LA with Susan, possibly the funniest woman on the planet. My stomach muscles still hurt from laughing.

First night of our stay there we were woken in the wee hours of the morning by this banging noise. Susan rang reception and said "what's going on?" and they said "i'm so sorry, it's the fire service, there's been a fire and they have to find a gas leak". We looked outside and there were the firemen, with sledge hammers, destroying the fireplace. There was smoke damage and the people in the rooms above the fireplace were asleep on the sun lounges around the pool!!! We were the other end of the pool, so had no smoke, just the noise.


The next night we were having dinner on the poolside when a waitress dropped a plate and a piece fell into the pool. Staff immediately came running and they told everyone to get out of the pool. They then closed access to the pool and all stood helplessly on the side looking at the fragment of plate in the bottom, trying to figure out how they could get it out. I said to Susan, that's ridiculous, I could just dive in there and get it for them. She said, they won't let you, they'll be worried you'll hurt yourself and sue.

I couldn't help it, I raced up to the room, grabbed my goggles, went back to the pool, ripped my shirt open, dropped my skirt, put on the goggles, and in the spirit of crocodile dundee, yelled "that's not a piece of crockery, you should see how big they are in Australia!", jumped in, picked up the bit of broken plate and handed it up to the staff. They all clapped and laughed (Susan took a photo) and I was suddenly the heroine of the night.

They call me Crockery Dundee, the Crockery Hunter!

Free margaritas, vodka cocktails and desserts later, I staggered back up to the room!

(Check out the waitress on the far right - is she doing the "you're my hero" pose or what?!!)


Rode cruisers down Santa Monica and Venice beach. Saw a guy holding a sign saying "Will work for marijuana"! At least he was honest!


At Harvard this week - Boston is beautiful and the Harvard campus is gorgeous. I am channelling Elle Wood from Legally Blonde - as I walk around the campus all her best lines keep popping into my head! So far I haven't seen any law students with chihuahuas!

Fun with the kids this weekend

Sunday's entertainment!

Four of my favourite Melbourne people!

My first attempt at being a Hockey Cheerleader...

It would help if I knew the rules!

Saturday night's entertainment!

These boys sure have fast fingers! They played in a church, which had great acoustics but was pretty cold and those pews are not the most comfortable places to sit. Ange and I planned a whole business venture based on hiring out banana lounges and selling mulled wine...we would have made a killing!

Wednesday night's entertainment!

She was great!