Is it true you tell me we’re failing to see that we were dreaming of a lifestyle
Now this is why I moved to Australia. It is finally starting to feel like summer in Adelaide and I’ve got to say it was worth the wait - warm, dry days and cool, breezy nights. It’s as near a perfect climate as I’ve found. The locals tell me that I may change my mind come February when 40°C (104°F) days are not uncommon, but for the time being I’m a satisfied customer.
After one whole grueling day of work, today was Papa and Boy Z party day. Rather than letting my little terrorist destroy the family home, we hit the road for a visit with the Family Arizaphale. Lunch by the pool and then a trip south to Port Noarlunga was a perfect way to spend an absolutely gorgeous summer day.
Arizaphale’s become one of my favorite people that I’ve met in Australia - charming, gregarious, and an easy conversationalist. Despite her Pommie heritage, she’s characteristic of the friendly Aussie. After four years spent struggling to crack the iron veneer of the painfully reserved English, I find myself almost suspicious when I’m bowled over by affable Aussies strangers. But in general, they’re just genuinely good natured and friendly, much more like my fellow countrymen than their former colonial masters.
In fact, in most ways Australia is more like the U.S. than the U.K. There’s room for the suburban sprawl characteristic of American cities rather than the claustrophobic crowding of British city centers. Once you get into the countryside, the wide open spaces are reminiscent of parts of the American West. The Aussies love their cars and their sports and their road trips. And their donuts. They are often individualistic to a fault and fiercely nationalistic - like their American cousins. We’ve got all the American chain stores, all the American TV (or Australian imitations) and based on the news coverage during the election you would have thought that Australia had a few electoral votes at stake. Now that the Aussie twang sounds normal to my confused ears, sometimes I forget that I’m 10,000 miles away from my birthplace.
A little while before we departed for the Antipodes, I read a comment by The Prettiest Denny’s Waitress describing going to Australia as “like going to San Diego except the people use some funny words and the snakes are more poisonous”. I bristled a bit at that - surely Oz would be more exotic than a medium sized California city full of retirees and uniformed servicemen. But you know what? If you unfocus your eyes a bit while driving through parts of Adelaide, you could easily be in SoCal - San Diego with the occasional wandering marsupial and fewer Marines.
If Australia had been my first expatriate experience, I think I would have been disappointed. When I left the States in 2004, I was looking for something foreign. I got more of that than I expected in Britain, so much so that I was almost completely overwhelmed for the first couple of years. But four years into my expat adventure, I relish the familiarity that Australia offers. I’m looking for a home and on days like today - with my son, in the company of friends, basking in the sun and surf - Australia’s beginning to seem like just the right place for that elusive home.
———————
Badly Drawn Boy’s “One Plus One Is One” is available from
.
Popularity: 10% [?]

I’ve had this late 80’s classic lesbian-folk song in my head for the last few days - I blame 

Coming in at Number 2 is the latest from one of my favorite bands of the last decade. With two lines from their 1998 debut “Gangstabilly”, the Drive-By Truckers made me a life long fan:

Well, now that Christmas is over for another 365, A Free Man’s holiday can start in earnest. I’ve got a house near the beach, Dr. O’C, Boy Z, and Timmins, and no work until January 5. I’ve got
I’m cheating a little bit in my choice of the #3 album from an independent or unsigned artist. Actually, it’s my list so I can do whatever I want. But I’m including the latest album from Austin’s 

Just a reminder of where we’ve been thus far:
I really like that one. In fact as I write this I’m still torn and am thinking that maybe I made the wrong decision. But my favorite, for reasons known to a few of you, came in late and on the wrong post, from 
Those of you who have been around for a while know that A Free Man originated as a site that was cleverly named after myself - my full name. I started to get a little nervous about internet pirates and also wanted to prevent coworkers or old high school acquaintances from finding the site. I wanted to be anonymous. To be able to say what I wanted without occasionally reckless or borderline libelous statements being attached to me forever. You never know, I may still make that run for president. For the most part, A Free Man works OK. If you google my name, this site doesn’t come up as a hit. Perfect.
Or maybe I’ll just listen to a good album, like the one by the artists who released my choice for the fifth best album of 2008 -
I’m sorry to report that their is no movement on the Christmas spirit front. Not even after having a Christmas tree thrust upon me, a spell of Christmas shopping and a Christmas party on the weekend. Though, sitting in the warm late Spring sun at a barbecue doesn’t really summon up the Noel for me. I suppose if it’s going to happen at all, it will be watching Boy Z open presents on Christmas morning.












