Crazy/Beautiful

'You are crazy,' he said. 'That's why I chose you.'

I have been described as many things - crazy, eccentric, insane, charismatic, even wild. 

I like to think of it as a positive attribute. If someone was ever to ask why, I would merely say that I am an adventure, you just never know what you are going to get, and thats what makes this wonderful life I am living exciting.

I don't want to be you or someone else. I want to be and feel every single part of what makes me, me. If I want to scream I will scream. If I want to make love with a stranger, dance naked in the rain, I will. Why? Am I self destructive, a loose cannon perhaps? Maybe. Maybe I just want to do and experience everything I feel. Thankfully those feelings are harmless and just a little fun, but I don't want to bow down to what people think is appropriate.

A man said to me recently,'You are crazy. That's why I chose you. You were not following the norm. You didn't seem to care about yourself or others, you just did what you wanted.You were crazy, but  god you were beautiful.' 

Wedding Cake Rock

Damsels in distress , giants on machinery zooming through the forest and a cliff face of death… this was my Saturday. Ok, ok it is slightly exaggerated but what was supposed to be a casual bush walk with friends turned into one massive, exhilarating and exciting adventure.

We began our walk in the Royal National Park to Wedding Cake Rock early Saturday morning; me and three friends. My friends slowly trudged their way along the path, making their way slowly to what would soon be our destination. Not me, I was on an adventure. I wanted to walk fast, get to Wedding Cake Rock as soon as possible and experience the wanders that this National Park had to offer. Needless to say I separated from the pack and raced ahead.

Stupidly only one of us had a working phone and knew the way to get to the rock – obviously this person was not me. So after approximately half an hour of me walking on my own I reached a fork in the road. I look left there is not a soul in site. I look right and I see one person on the horizon, so I turn right.

I stride ahead confident in my decision. After a period of time with only the company of dead shrubbery and the whispers of bush animals do I start to think to myself, am I lost? I have probably walked approximately 3-4km and should probably have reached my destination by now. As I continue walking ahead I finally come across human life. Two large gentlemen kitted out in motorcycle gear with large spears strapped to their backs. In my head I am thinking, don’t look at them, say hello and just move forward. As I move past them I finally notice that I have reached the end of the road. The end of the road being absolutely nothing. I have obviously gone the wrong way.

Kindly, one of the gentleman - we shall name him Adam - asks me if I am ok. To put this into perspective Adam is probably about 6’8’ tall and is a very solid man, not intimidating in the slightest (insert sarcasm). I toss up whether or not to lie or to tell the truth. Generally I would say don’t talk to strangers but alas I was in a bit of pickle and they looked like I could outrun them if things turned sour. I told them where I was supposed to be and they politely informed me that my destination was a whole other hike in the complete opposite direction. Looking like a lost sheep I think Adam and his friend Sean took pity on me.

“Well I guess we are going to have to give you a lift then?” My first thought went straight to my mum and I blurted something along the lines of ‘oh god my mother is going to kill me.’ Ha classic. It took a solid ten minutes of them trying to convince me but eventually I was swayed. With nothing but one of their helmets on my head and a firm grip around Adams waist I was on the back of a motorcycle racing through the bush.

I am going to let you in on a little secret, when a man riding a motorbike says that he will take it easy he is lying. We flew over, puddles, through sand and mud to get to my destination and I was shitting myself the entire time (not literally, I have better bowel control than that). Half way through this ‘joy ride’ he yells out to me in his deep Scottish accent, “you aren’t a lawyer are ya love?” “No I’m not, why do you ask?” “Just in case I actually do crash this bike I wanted to make sure you weren’t a lawyer first”…. Thank you Adam, that is very reassuring whilst I am already on the moving bike.

Finally I see some speckles on the path in-front. I recognise my number one lady ahead and I start screaming her name. Joyous to share my adventure with her and also so excited that I have not died. She turns around and is probably blindsided by the mass of man coming straight towards her on deadly motorbikes, so I pop my head to the side hoping she will catch a glimpse of my mop under my helmet. As soon as she sees me her body slightly crumbles into a fit of giggles. When I asked her what she was thinking she just said that she was not surprised in the slightest that this type of thing happened to me.

My knights in shining armour dropped me at Wedding Cake Rock and my body was safely back on safe ground. Wedding Cake Rock was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed the view, but I think my Mad Max esque adventure was the cherry on top.

My knights in shiny armour in all there glory... Told you I wasnt joking about the spears and the very tall man.

My girlfriend fantasised of a romance between me and my knight.... this was her oh so subtle hint. Smooth. 

And what is a Marlow Lou post without a few terribly unattractive but completely natural photos. Shakas braaaaaaa

CAKE FACE

I caught a taxi the other night and struck up a conversation with the lovely man driving the cab. We spoke for the 20 minutes it took to get me home. He spoke fondly of his wife and family, I spoke of my night and my plans for the weekend. Very casual, idle chit chat, but it was nice to connect with a complete stranger who you knew was a kind, generous soul. As I was hopping out of the taxi he said 'are you from here, Sydney I mean?'. I told him that I wasn't and he said 'I can tell, please don't let this place change you.' I walked the rest of the way home with his statement going round and round in my head.

I have always been one of those people who says good morning to every random stranger that walks past or is happy to strike up a conversation with anyone. Always happy to offer a helping hand or to meet new people. I found the taxi drivers comment distressing because it meant that to him, I was a minority. To him most people were the opposite, cold, distant and not eager to go out of their way to be kind. 

I felt so disheartened by this. Happy that he thought well of me, but disheartened that there were so many individuals out there who were the opposite. I was sad in human kind for the way we have become. That a simple small thing for someone is now viewed as a hassle; to be kind to a stranger is now few and far between. 

So when I went to coffee the other day I was so surprised when the waiter gave me free cake. The man had no hidden agenda it was just a beautiful sunday morning and he felt like being selfless and providing myself and my friend with cake. Immediately my spirits soared and my faith was once again restored in human kind. I know what you are probably thinking 'is this chick on crack, he gave her some cake' but it is about more than the cake. It is about doing a nice gesture that you as an individual gain nothing from. It is about being kind without receiving any benefits from your kindness. Instead of doing something out of selfishness this was an act purely out of compassion. 

To the man at the coffee shop you will never know just what that piece of cake meant. Other than it being absolutely delicious (summer bod you can wait) it showed me that there are still people out there willing to do things for others without benefit for themselves. Thanks Mr cake man.

XOXO

Sydney Tea Festival

Tea enthusiasts, if you missed the annual Sydney Tea festival on the weekend then boy did you miss out. I was in tea heaven. As I walked through the door I smelt cinnamon and nutmeg, fruity aromatics and baked goods. I knew from that moment forward it was going to be a good day. 

Three of my friends and I strolled through Carriageworks taste testing tea to our hearts content. Some were aromatic, delicious and moreish, others were less to be desired. Each various tea adding a story an experience to that of tea tasting. The tea stalls were a mix of various teas from green, peppermint to hibiscus, served by sexy men with beards and man buns. Scattered throughout the stalls were tempting sweet and savoury treats. I consumed salted caramel macaroons, vegan cherry ripe granola, lemon semolina bars and chocolate ganache. Any idealisations of a summer bod were out the window with zero thoughts of regret and it felt good. 

For those of you who aren't lovers of tea hopefully you got dragged along to the festival to just share in the atmosphere. I am not sure my friend was impressed when we rocked up. She saw the sign stating 'Sydney Tea Festival' and goes 'f*ck right when all I wanted was a coffee.' Bless her cotton socks. So after hours of tea tasting we took her for coffee at the end and stuffed our faces with dumplings. Oh what a glorious day 

XOXO

 This my friends is a face of pure content :D 

Kaleidoscope Eyes

We see what we want to see. It may sound harsh but sometimes we look for the imperfections or the mistakes, the filth on the street and the negative in ones personality. We see it because we are looking for it. To some this may look like vandalism; hideous markings of spray paint covering a building. To me this is art. This is expression. This is a culture. 

Generally I am trying to escape the city; rebalance and find myself within nature. This last weekend i didn't venture to the nearest woodlands instead I wandered the streets of the city. I escaped to the footpath, to the rhythm of my own footsteps pounding on the pavement. I was searching for a distraction, something new to fill my mind and thoughts with.What I found was beautiful women peering at me from the side of a building, a single eye opening itself to the world, my childhood memories splattered across bricks.What I found was walls of self expression from all walks of life. 

We choose what we want to see. I choose to see beauty and art in all things through these kaleidoscope eyes.