Coffee at Urban Grind

Boundary Street, West End, is host to a mix of cool, funky hip cats (see above), people with bed heads and bare feet, a bustling Greek community, yummy mummies doing lunch, construction workers, aboriginals, office workers, drunks and nutters. That's why I love it so much. These guys were deep in conversation outside the Urban Grind coffee shop. It took me a few minutes to work up the courage to ask for their photo but they were very obliging and carried on as if the camera wasn't there.

Smile!

When I got my head out of the clouds and realised someone was saying "Smile!" to me, I thought it was one of those comments that I would sometimes get back in London like "Cheer up, love - it might never happen" which always used to leave me scowling and muttering under my breath. I can't help it if my relaxed walking look is a bit down in the mouth. It takes a lot of energy to walk around with a big grin all the time. Anyway. The origin of the "Smile!" comment was this bloke here who was pointing to his face, frozen in a big beaming smile and then pointing to my camera..."take my picture?" he asked. What a gift. I wish more people would ask me. We had a good chat and he assured me that I had not lost my English accent which made me feel pretty good. I thought he hadn't lost his either but then he said he was from Adelaide. In the end, he tried to get me to sign up for regular direct-debit charity contributions and I suddenly had places to go.

That's how they get you. You say no the first time, then you think about it and feel really guilty. Then the next time you get approached a little voice inside your head says "don't be such a tight-arse...AGAIN" and before you know it your bank account details are on the clipboard.

But back to the smile - it's an absolute winner, isn't it?

You've Been Framed

This is Peter of Nobel Framing in Highgate Hill. He's framing and mounting the five photos I'm putting into the Avid Reader Exhibition, free of charge. We probably talked about the job at hand for about 5% of the time I was at his place and then everything else under the sun and beyond for the rest of the time.

Top bloke!

Happy Christmas!

This is James -  probably the happiest, cheeriest Big Issue seller ever anywhere. I've never seen him without a smile and he always has a kind word for passers by whether you buy the magazine or not. Happy Christmas from him - and me.

By the way, if you pass a Big Issue vendor selling those funny calenders for only $5, they are a great buy.

Paladar Fumior Salon

This is Paladar, the beautiful Cuban cigar shop and cafe on Merivale Street in South Brisbane. You can hang out on the roof, have a coffee and a chat to the owner, perhaps smoke a Bolivar or Partigas... and listen to some live music.

Strike A Pose

Brisbane Square is quite a striking place. There's the library building (pictured with the scaffolding-y bit up the side), the Treasury Casino building, funky restaurants and cafes, the new Wednesday farmers' market and these gigantic metal balls made from welded vegetable steamers. (hmmm. I'll do a post about them sometime soon) I took this picture about 11 or 12 days ago as part of my 100 Strangers project. Ali was standing on top of one of the balls, posing for his friends. It didn't occur to me to ask him how he got up and I had walked away before he got down but while he was up there, he looked very comfortable. He must be a dab hand at Pilates.