Australia, Part 2

I bought a Christmas tree last night. It's tiny, scraggly, crooked and I love it very muchly. It's also the first tree I've had in five years. I'm going to decorate it, and the apartment, tonight and then I will be living inside the twinkly Spirit of Christmas.
I've been going to holiday parties and that's always fun. There was the Fox TV Animation Holiday Party! and the Come To My Giant House In The Hills Holiday Party! and both of them were fabulous. The Fox party was a swanky, super-Hollywood affair - Seth McFairlane sang Fly Me To The Moon with the big band, Seth Green was hanging out at the mashed potato bar, THEY HAD A MASHED POTATO BAR, everybody was dressed up and there were open bars and buffet tables spread throughout the massive venue.This is Laura, myself, The Explosive Neil, and (I wanna say Scott? Sam? Angus?) Guy with Gold Tie being super-swanky.

The second party, last weekend, was smaller and just as fun. It was held in a gorgeous house in the hills, killer view of the city, lots of pretty people and good friends.

This is the wall the host insisted everyone pose in front of ("We just tiled it!"). There are lots of photos of people standing in front of this wall and while it is very pretty, I think it looks like everyone was standing in a giant shower stall.

That's it for the recent news: Party, work, party, tree, work.

More Australia!!

This is something I didn't know - the money is made of plastic, with a little clear plastic window built right in. You can wash the money, spill ketchup on it, stir your coffee - DOESN'T MATTER!! The money, it is indestructible. I was hugely impressed.
My friend is a professor of law at the University of Melbourne and I got a little tour. It's the loveliest place. That gorgeous building covered in vines? That's a classroom. The corridor below? That's just one of the passageways. It felt a little like Hogwarts.
I think this was the courthouse... I kinda don't remember anymore. But it looks very courthouse-y, right?

At the Victoria Marketplace I saw rows and rows of stalls selling candies, cheeses, fruit, and yes, fresh kangaroo meat. I really wanted to try some but my friend is a vegetarian and totally against the eating of the kangaroo. Normally, I would have disregarded any and all obstacles between me and the eating of Something Strange but I got the feeling that in this instance, eagerly shoving Adorable Kangaroo into my mouth would have cost me the friendship of the only person I knew in the country. I made do with a meat pie. And it was delicious.