When you get what you want when you don't want it anymore

 Tomorrow, for work, I have to facilitate a group doing arty stuff expressing lived experience, and on my, I don't feel prepared. I should be packing my car now, but I am not, I'm going to 'wing it', which is a bad bad philosophy, that relies on personal charm, and people's willingness to free range. 

Umm, swapped notes with work Jess about books, campus novels, performative male in the wilderness, the latter prompted by the sighting of a male, 40plus, well dressed: khaki duster jacket, Tortoise tshirt, Japanese skater jeans, shoes, clear plastic spectacles, cap clad, on phone, waiting for work colleague, younger, boob tube, bomber jacket, skater jeans. Such a cool platonic couple. Sadly, phone battery flat. 

Earlier I'd been up the hill at Flinders campus, working out the whole Sturt campus, medical campus, Bedford campus, the bridge, the wilderness, the lake, the community centre, the market garden, the permaculture garden, the library, the art museum, which is in exactly the same place as last time, but I still couldn't find it.

The campus is so utopian, the people responsible get a pat on the back for me, forging an independent and progressive educational agenda. Meanwhile, library looks good, looks modern, exhibition of the 'modern' archeology students, invitations to make a zine, but you get up to Level 3, and dusty books, etc, but they did have good art, hanging. I overheard an unofficial meeting of disgruntled staff, wondering what and how to react to the fact that they/the institution 'aren't competitive'. (Compared to?). I asked the library staff to help me gain reciprocal borrowing rights (wanting to watch the oeuvre of Eric Rohmer, why not) and they were helpful, but when I said aloud "oh, where am I, what should I do next, which way is north" they nodded in agreement. It was mid year orientation day, so I was hopeful of finding free doughnuts, did not happen, I also parked somewhere without visible parking ticket purchasing options, so I'm sure that will go south. Overall though, lovely day, it's never too late to embrace novelty. Flinders is A okay. 

Then I went down the hill to the city, via Colonel Light Gardens, the planned neighbourhood, filled with lovely 1930s bungalows, what a treat, and also weird crescents and confusing traffic; then via Duthy St/Hutt St, and the hipster cafe where I saw the hipster folk, finally ending back on Adelaide University campus. There is a little part of me that sees the logic of amalgamating the city campuses, and maybe one day they'll be as competitive as Flinders and Flinders will be as competitive as (?), but for now, it feels like the worst of everything, the campus looks dated, there is little evidence of intellectual community, it feels a bit stale. Give it time, thinks the optimist in me. I do like pockets. The reason I was there was to listen to a panel and thank goodness I went, it reset my thinking back to the best place, which is 'how do I want to change and grow and learn and embrace the next stage". Didn't last long but nice to have felt it and put it in my back pocket.