The iHouse

It seems to be symbolic of the times in which we live that the Australian Family Hendricks household is surrounded by all things i.   Every meal, we push to one side various MacBooks,  iPhones, iPods, iPads, iPhone chargers, iPad chargers, MacBook chargers, iTimemachines, and even an iMouse. All of our film watching is rented or purchased from iTunes and streamed through our Apple TV.   The majority of the music we listen to all day is streamed from Pandora to our iPod on our Bose iPod docking station. 

Geez with all of this itechnology, i need an iraise at my ijob.   In spite of C2s initial reluctance with the proprietary nature of the Apple O/S, clearly resistance has been futile;  we have drunk the kool-aid!

Within our household's iWorld, i have observed something which i am coining "igenerational".

The 40-ahem-somethings and the 20-somethings both have a MacBook

The 40-ahem-somethings each have an iPad and and iPod, neither of the 20-somethings do

The 20-somethings each have an iPhone,  neither of the 40-ahem-somethings do

Why?

Here is my theory:

The 40-ahem-somethings use their iPods whilst exercising in our valiant attempts to ward off the evil effects of aging.  We also use cool apps on our iPods like Pandora so we can listen nostalgically to 80s music (we love us some Depeche Mode and Erasure) whilst reading the daily newspaper on our iPads.  This segues nicely into how we 40-ahem-somethings use our iPads to access digital newspapers and magazine apps like The Atlantic and The Huffington Post.  Also, we use iBooks on our iPads to read books on airplanes and in doctor's offices.  Are you noting the lack of gaming on our devices?  Are you with me so far?

We 40-ahem-somethings use our smart phones (Blackberries in our case) to call, and fast text message things like "pick up milk", "landed safely",  and "Skype tonight?".  In my case, I also occasionally check in on Facebook.  The screens are too small and I'm too paranoid about data charges to do much else with it.  Are you still noting the lack of gaming so far?

The 20-somethings, on the other  hand, listen to music on their iPhones whilst sporting gigantic headphones to walk to the tram.  While on the tram, rather than stare out the window and marvel at the world going by, they  play game apps on their iPhones and become immersed in the world of Brain Trainer, Logos Quiz, Temple Run, and Astro Runners.  They also do this while waiting in line at the grocery store, the bank, before the movie starts, or in bed waiting to fall asleep.

Their iPhone text messages tend toward long threads of meaningful conversation with each other; things like "What do you want to do tonight?" "I don't know I'm kind of tired, how about a movie?  How's work going" "Pretty good, I've made a few sales,  I had a meeting with my supervisor and he seems happy with my performance so far.  I don't know about a movie, it's Wednesday and not cheap night" "Glad work's going well, by the way, the mall is open for a special event until midnight tonight, so I think after yoga, I'll go there and see what kind of deals I can get""Oh great idea, why don't you and Auntie Kiki go and I'll watch J, maybe we can go get some Laksa tomorrow night""Awesome, ok, see you when I get back, have a good rest of the day, love you".

It's an interesting anthropological istudy, don't you think? Any opinions?

Father's Day Down Under

The weather is getting warmer - check
Trees are popping and flowers are blooming - ok check
September 1 is the first day of Spring - uh ok check
September 2 is Father's Day - uh seriously??

Yes it's been a balmy warm early September down under.  I am seriously disoriented;  it feels like Indian summer but for the scent of jasmine, Australian wallflowers, and daffodils most definitely heralding Spring.

Adding to my disorientation is the Australian custom of celebrating Father's Day in September.  Quaint, cute but most definitely curious!

We started our day by expecting C2 to make his usual Sunday breakfast: Lemon ricotta pancakes, chicken sausages, bacon, and fruit salad.  He did so with good humour.  He accepted J's gift of a "Daddy's Only" beer carrier filled with Belgian Leffe beer with good manners.  We told him he could do anything he wanted with his day but then told him that no, he couldn't go mountain biking, he was coming beach walking with us.  He accepted that news with less than good humour or manners but beach walking we went.

It was a warm sunny day and after a hurried kitchen clean-up, we drove about 30 minutes south along Port Phillip Bay to Bon Beach.  We walked, we ambled, we played, we rough-housed, we attempted handstands, we threw sticks for Murphy, and we collected shells. 

 
 

After that we were hungry.  We're hungry a lot in this house.  At C2s request, we drove a further 30 minutes south to the town of Mornington at the top of Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula to one of our favorite spots, D.O.C. Mornington, home of the best pizza in Melbourne!  It was close to 3:00pm by the time we got there, so we only had to wait about 10 minutes for a table....it's always busy at D.O.C.

We rolled out of D.O.C. and down to Mornington's beach for another amble in the fading afternoon light.

We returned home around dinner time, poured a glass of wine and decided we were all hungry again.  Dinner was fit for the King that C2 is:  Seared tuna teriyaki with a paw paw, melon, avocado salsa, and wilted spinach.  I hope it made up for the lack of mountain biking.