Back in the routine

Well, it is high summer here in the southern hemisphere, and I find myself favouring writing venues with air conditioning for my daily jaunts. As you can see from the photo, the sun is shining on the streets of Melbourne, and today there are hardly any clouds to speak of - a beautiful day. Tomorrow is going to be 39 degrees celsius in the shade, that's 102.2 degrees fahrenheit. Pretty hot! While we are discussing the weather, let's spare a thought for Australia's firefighters, who are battling bushfires in different parts of the country right now. That's the downside to the extreme heat, and more is on the way.

Today I am writing at my regular weekday venue, the café near my studio. It is called Red Capsicum, and they look after me well there, keeping me supplied with a drip feed of iced coffee. Yes, it is too hot to drink espresso at the moment, but I still need a regular caffeine fix.

It's high summer and the sun is beating down.

The working year is only three days old, and I am trying to get into new and positive habits - this includes keeping the purse strings tight as well as the calorie intake. So in the near future my café writing stints will be fuelled by smaller amounts of caffeine than those in previous times, but fuelled nonetheless. It is shaping up to be a busy year, and I think this will provide a boost to my creative activities. I am once again adding university teaching to my calendar, running a design studio at RMIT University here in Melbourne. I am not looking forward to the hard work particularly, but it will be great to work once more with fresh young minds.

So all things considered, we are off to a rousing start. I look forward to keeping you updated as we enter what promises to be a deeply creative year. Happy 2013.