By NATALIA HAWK
I am putting my hand up: most of the time, I am disillusioned about my city.
I love to have a whinge about the traffic, the lack of parking in every location, the terrible public transport system, the incredibly annoying booking systems at every restaurant.
But there’s something pretty damn special going on in Sydney at the moment. And no, I’m not talking about the foggy weather or the fact that Gatsby is hitting our cinemas tomorrow night. I’m talking about Vivid Sydney – the festival that brightens up the entire city with lighting installations across our most famous icons, including the Opera House, MCA and the Harbour Bridge.
Seriously – all week it’s been cold and rainy, but I’ve been braving the weather to hang out at Circular Quay and Darling Harbour every night and watch the changing designs. All my friends have been loving it too. What’s not to love, really – it’s like Christmas light spotting only eighteen thousand times better. And more, well, socially acceptable past the age of eight. Cough cough cough.
There is also the added bonus of all the light displays being FREEEEE. Three cheers for cheapskates! Nothing like a free event to make you love your city.
(PS – This isn’t a sponsored post for Vivid – I’m just addicted to the pretty lights.)
Editor’s note (AKA pleasant request):
Howdy ho neighbourinos.
We are running a fantabulous Mamamia survey.
Why, you ask? Well, we want to know more about you, so that we can serve you up the best possible content each and every day on Mamamia.
Also, as you know advertising is a daily reality of the media world and we want to make sure we’re delivering you ads for stuff you actually care about and are interested in.
If you can spare us 5 minutes to fill this little baby out, it would be very much appreciated. In fact you would have our unending gratitude plus we will send Ryan Gosling to your house as an expression of our thanks.*
Click here to access the survey.
Thanks in advance.
Jam – Ed.
*Okay, the whole Ryan Gosling thing is big fat lie but there ARE some rather excellent prizes to be won for those who decide to get their survey on. Have fun!
Over to you all – what’s on your mind?
Top Comments
I haven't dropped by in a while so here's an update
- I am now a Trip Advisor Destination Expert - woo hoo - for Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples! So if you're planning a trip over there, come ask me a question.
- Still no work for the next two terms and I'm getting anxious - which doesn't help with....
- the fact that I'm hooked up to a heart monitor which I have to wear for 24 hours. My heart has been doing weird stuff lately - like racing, slowing, beating really hard. Hope it's nothing serious.
- I've started writing a travel blog so if you want to see some photos and my blagging - have a look here - no comments so far so feel free to add one - thanks!
http://kathyw62.blogspot.co...
I have a much beloved cat, who is about 8 1/2 now. She has become much more an indoor cat since we got another dog 2 years ago (not the friendliest cat). She has a litter tray which gets cleaned and changed regularly, I hate the smell a dirty tray can send out. The problem is that she has taken to using a spare room, our wardrobe and bath mats as litter trays of late. We've shut the doors to the rooms, rolled up/picked up the mats and sprayed biological sprays on the carpet etc, but I want to steam clean the carpets and would like to have doors opened again. I've taken to putting her outside of a morning, she really doesn't like it anymore, in the hopes she'll go outside and start to enjoy it again, but I don't know what to do otherwise. My husband has dubbed her "crap cat" now and I'd like her to just be Cleo again. Do readers have any suggestions?
possible reasons..
The cat is suffering from a medical problem involving the urinary tract or a bout of geriatric constipation.
The owner changed the brand or type of litter.
The owner changed the location of the litter box, or replaced the old one with a new litter box.
The location of the litter box is too busy or not private enough for the cat.
The home is too large for just one litter box.
The cat experienced some sort of trauma while in the litter box and now associates elimination in the box with that trauma.
The unspayed female is in heat and advertising for suitors.
Over time, the cat has developed an aversion to the texture of the litter.
To solve this problem you have to..
To resolve the problem, you need to:
Figure out why he is avoiding the litter box
Reduce the cat's stress / eliminate medical problems
Make the litter box desirable, and
Make the inappropriate locations undesirable for eliminating
There is a great link on this problem..
https://user.xmission.com/~...
Thanks for that. She is spayed and we haven't moved the box, ever. It could be the litter, if not medical problems, because she's previously been ok with different litter used in the box. She still uses the litter box just not as often. Sigh, I guess it's off to the vet.