The Contingency Plan

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Almost like a flash card

This entry has taken me forever to complete. Some of these people I don’t often write about but are the closest to me and I hope this will help those passing through or forgetful (like me) know who the hell I’m talking about.

My plan is to create helpful links for everyone too, but it’s baby steps for now…

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Lucas: We met in a Yahoo chat room. Our first conversation was six years ago and lasted for eight hours. I was there to rest my mind while studying for university exams and although he lived in Canada at the time, he left his job, his family and friends after nine months of correspondence to see me. He hasn't been back since. Like most long-term relationships we’ve experienced a good share of bad and good seasons and seemed to have entered a rather blissed out one following the birth of our son Hugo.

Random: Lucas is a half Croatian, half Italian Canadian citizen who whose jobs have included bungy-jump instructor, Armani retail sales exec and lastly an IT security network engineer. He squeezes his face when excited or surprised and has size 13 flat feet, almost double the size of mine.

Hugo: Born in November 2004, Hugo has almond-shaped blue eyes, olive skin and brown hair that stands in a mohawk. Perfect. He loves having his cheeks and feet kissed, bath times, early mornings watching his DVDs and twisting his thumb into things (skins, couch, toys, etc.).

He also adores walks in his pram. We usually go for 40-60 minutes and he stays completely silent the whole time, which to me is worth the exercise. We stop to feel and smell flowers, leaves and trees and even then he remains quiet.

Mum: Slightly mad and rather eccentric, she looks like my sister with cheek bones so large they almost look unreal. My relationship with her really flourished when I became a mother, possibly because I now have a better understanding of her experiences. We talk almost every day and see each other at least once a week.

Mum and I used to bond through a love of shopping. Throughout high school she would often get me out of class so we could go and see/buy what was new in store. She’s still an addict.

Dad: When I was a child I thought my father was the tallest man in the world. We were quite close growing up and shared a similar sense of humour and taste in music (gospel, soul and jazz). Over the past five years our relationship has unfortunately withered to the effect that we no longer see or speak to each other. He longer speaks to Harry either so Natasha’s his only link.

Dad’s always loved boats and has subscribed to the publication Unique Boats for as long as I can remember. He bought one when I was around 14; a 16 foot shark-cat that Mum was terrified of as she can’t swim. Dad would often get upset as she wouldn’t go out with him in it and bitterly sold it after a few years.

Harry: When we were kids, my younger brother Harry would do whatever I told him to. We played dolls, he was my assistant on the pretend cooking show I had and would wear my small clothes before my homophobic father rebuked me as dressing him up would “turn him gay”. This confused me as gay just meant happy. Now Harry’s my 6’3 tall brother who confuses everyone with his strong build, jet black curls and Asian eyes.

Random: Harry was a talented pianist and singer in primary school and always held the lead role in any musical production. When Rodgers & Hammerstein’s King and I came to Australia he was offered the role as one of the King’s children but my father never allowed him to accept it as the world of theatre would “turn him gay”. Harry never performed after that.

Natasha: Natasha’s the baby of the family and despite entering her 20s this year is still a little vague at the best of times. She recently caused a four-car accident on a major Sydney road during peak hour and no one was surprised. She dreams of working in the music industry, which frightens my parents as she’s extremely naïve and perhaps just a little lazy.

The only one in my family to obsessively follow celebrities, Tash was a major fan of the Spice Girls and boy-band Hanson in her early teens. You can imagine my surprise when, despite being unemployed, she managed to attend both Hanson concerts last week and meet the band afterwards. She’s still part of their fan club.

Penelope: We first met in kindergarten at the age of four and were inseparable until the age of 16. Our birthdays are eight days apart, we lived two streets away from each other and everyone thought we were sisters. We apparently look the same (Pen’s half Caucasian, a quarter Fijian and a quarter Chinese). Although she didn’t finish high school, Pen has a very successful career as a fashion buyer and was the first person besides Lucas to know I was pregnant. We still get the sister thing.

I have so many fond memories with Pen… the way our brothers would put on shows for us when we were in primary school, how we would practice walking in our mother’s pumps in her bedroom when we were around 10, the combined birthday party we had at my place at 13, the way she would camp out at my place whenever she fought with her parents, the argument we had over a boy we both ‘loved’ at 16 (he was a twin and we inconveniently liked the same one), the desperate and dateless ball I dragged her, Charlie and another friend to when we were 19 (I was doing their PR) where we were all dumped by our hideous partners for skanky country-girl hoes, to seeing her absolutely smitten with Hugo.

Allanah: When I first met Allanah I thought she walked really fast. She possesses a sharp tongue and a body to die for. Sophie, Allanah and I became friends through work. We all loved to dance and one night before clubbing tried a new fake tan that made us look so naturally brown. Unfortunately we didn’t read the instructions properly and our tans literally slid off on the dance floor. We only realised this when we went to the bathroom and saw our skin and clothes unnaturally streaked.

Before having kids (Allanah has two), Allanah and I would often escape to a caravan her parents had on a beach new Newcastle (north of Sydney). We’d walk around barefoot the whole time, spend days browning in the sun, smoking cigarettes in the nearby caves and chatting with the locals at the caravan park. It amazed us that many of them actually lived there.

Gordon: Writing this has made me realise how many friends I’ve met through work. Gordon, Kian, Amelia and I all met from working at the same clothing store while studying around 5-6 years ago. Gordon’s the clown of any group. He’s a popular socialite, a talented photographer, a lover of beautiful things who gets distracted by anything shiny. He can always make me laugh. We’re very stupid together. We used to take dance lessons and make up the moves when we couldn’t do them. He’s a good friend but we all know he’ll be somewhere else if a better offer arrives (see note above about shiny things).

Gordon’s sexuality has always been a hot topic. People have always pulled me aside to ask whether or not he’s gay. Ask Gordon and he’ll say something like he’s a lover of people regardless of their gender (how’s that for ambiguity). Despite occasionally dating females, Gordon’s always been in serious relationships with men; they’re the ones he’s gets stuck on and pines over, and although he’s probably realised it within himself (as nearly everyone else has) I don’t think he’s ready to say it out loud yet, especially to people like his parents.

Kian: Kian would often visit me when I worked in retail to chat and when he started working in the same store everyone, especially our manager, was hell bent on matching us together. This lasted for months but when we finally spoke about it, realised we’re better suited as friends. Nevertheless Kian’s the best looking Asian guy I’ve ever seen with an absolutely perfect physique. Back in those days, whenever the store was quiet our manager would put Kian in a form fitting top, send him on the ladder of the denim wall and within minutes we’d have customers. He now has his own glass company and is obsessed with playing golf and boxing.

Kian and Amelia spent a few years modeling overseas and while in Asia he was invited to audition as a new host for MTV. He attended the audition and although has the ideal personality and killer looks, his Australian accent was far too twangy for anyone to understand. He doesn’t look it, but sounds almost exactly like Steve Urwin, the Crocodile Hunter.

Amelia: Although we didn’t know each other at the time, I helped Amelia get a job where I worked to the praise of every male working with me at the time (around six years ago). Friendly, tall, blonde and absolutely stunning I then played matchmaker between her and Kian and they got together shortly afterwards before traveling overseas. They’re now engaged and affectionately dubbed Barbie and Ken.

Amelia and Kian have more pictures of Hugo in their home than we do. Amelia’s never been a career girl but is always remembered for her television ads for KFC, Snickers and appearances in magazines like FHM. She quit modeling as she became tired of it. Beyond this she’s one of the friendliest and easiest going friends we have and by far the cluckiest of all.

Ivy: Ivy met Gordon through the same photography course at university and became roommates shortly after they graduated. Despite her talent and beauty, Ivy’s a country girl from Bathurst and lacks the pretentiousness of most people in her field. She and Gordon are like perfect partners – he’s the silly one and she’s always the person laughing next to him. Those who don’t realise Gordon’s gay always assume they’re a couple, though that’s ceased since she’s started to seriously date a lovely man she met called Tom.

In 2001, I was sent to Thailand for a week to accompany some journalists at a regional client conference. One morning we planned to visit one of the many popular temples but it was closed so we walked to another nearby attraction. While walking the grounds I saw a familiar face and was shocked to bump into Ivy. She’d just broken up with her boyfriend of two years and had impulsively decided to come back home from three years in London without letting anyone know.

Scott: Although we went to the same high school, Scott and I didn’t really speak during those years as he’s a few years older than I and was far too popular in those days. He tried to date me towards the end but it never worked out so we became close friends instead. He’s like a brother to me, which means we find extreme satisfaction in mocking each other, arguing and corresponding almost entirely via email.

Scott suffers from major spouts of insomnia and I can tell whenever he’s depressed as he’ll grow a beard. He’s a real softie but became rather angry, cynical and mean after a hard year in London where he mixed with the cool kids and took way too many party drugs. He recently told me he’s an alcoholic but has it under control. His dad says the same thing.

Anna: All the boys love Anna but she repays their worship with ridicule. I was wary of her when she first started as the minion of our group at work but we became close through our appreciation of food and sarcastic wit, which no one else quite understood. We planned on making a fortune through a t-shirt range, which would feature slogans like “work sucks, they’re all c@#ts”.

Although we’re close, it’s taken Anna two freekin years to tell me anything about her love life. We had to eat a lot of food to make up for the lack of intimacy. Any time I would ask, she’d simply say it was ‘in the vault’. She later explained that she wanted to remain distant as I was her manager, which I could respect. That respect’s long gone and I’m meeting her boyfriend Tim next week.

Chloe: We lived in the same area, rode to work together every day and ended up having our boys a day apart and became closer through our experiences as a mother. Despite being French (and far more posh than most people I know), Chloe’s son Louis is a divine Scandinavian looking baby with the fairest of skin, white blonde hair, and light blue eyes.

One of the things I really admire in Chloe is her integrity. Although she’s fun loving, highly intelligent and a little wild once you get to know her, she strongly believes that women belittle each other through things like gossip and tabloid magazines and I’ve never heard her say a bad word about anyone, a bold move for someone working in PR.

Marisa: I first met Marisa when I was around 10 years old as one of my youth leaders at church (she’s a few years older than me). That changed when we grew older and we initially developed our dot com idea together before inviting Sophie to join us. Marisa’s one person I just get, which is why we work so well together. We would often think of exactly the same idea or even wearing the same outfit to work on the same day.

Marisa is the mother of a divine girl called Ruby Tiger. Her husband Tim is someone I also know through church and looks like a big Viking, he even has the beard to match. They live adventurously so Luc and I have a great time whenever we hang out and always leave with everyone saying we should do this far more often.

Drew: Our families have been close for over thirty years so I grew up with Drew and her sister Mary as cousins (they have four other siblings but our ages were far too apart for me to be close to them). Our fathers met in Asia while single and studying martial arts and Drew’s mother died of cancer many years ago so my mother was adopted as a surrogate afterwards. Half Vietnamese and half North American, we look quite similar too. Drew has her fingers (and toes) in every possible pie she can fathom. She’s finishing a psychology degree, working full time in web design, making jewelry that’s in demand at exquisite boutiques, helping companies get Government grants (she’s actually an expert at this), learning piano, painting and actively involved in her church and community.

Drew and her husband (also a Tim) have also been trying to have a baby for three years now. I felt horribly guilty when Mary accidentally fell pregnant and I followed suit a few months later. She’s been overseas to visit family in the States each year she hasn’t fallen pregnant and I’m just hoping this year she’ll have to cancel her ticket.

Sophie: My former best friend of seven years, Sophie and I also met while casually working in retail and quickly connected through a shared love of fashion, eating disorders and partying (I have a love/hate relationship with food that’s far more love than hate these days). We moved past those initial phases and she became like family, though it all disintegrated when she started following an Indian guru around two years ago. She broke up with me via a tardy phone call and letter for my birthday in May 2004 (a month late) and I haven’t spoken to her since. Her excuse was that I was no longer spiritual enough for her (huh?).

Random: While running late one day, Sophie ran to meet a train and reached it just in time to lodge her arm between the doors in the hopes of opening them. Unfortunately she lacked the strength but not the determination and loudly ran with the train until the platform ended and a passenger helped to return her arm.
posted by kazumi at 2:32 am

6 Comments:

Hi! I'm also a Canadian like Lucas, and moved here (to Australia) after meeting my (now) husband via the net. Our daughter, Elli was born Christmas day 2003. Hugo is such a cutie pie! So where is Lucas from in Canada? I'm from Nova Scotia.
Blogger Bente, at 2:13 pm  
Get out! That's crazy. Luc's from Vancouver Island. Have you been in Australia long?
Blogger kazumi, at 12:00 am  
I moved here in September 2001, so nearly four years. My aunt and uncle live near Vancouver, but I've never been....well a lay over, but didn't leave the plane.
Blogger Bente, at 2:28 pm  
Oh my God Dayna, you're alive! It's great to hear from you and I'm glad you enjoyed that post :)

Are you enjoying Australia Bente?
Blogger kazumi, at 1:03 am  
Yeah, definitely! I could do without the extreme heat of summer but I love winters without snow.
Blogger Bente, at 1:49 pm  
i have a three year only daughter, and i was searching under indiana modeling agency and i was wondering if anyone knew anything about **baby-modeling **. i think it would be fun
Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:10 pm  

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