Michelle
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schadenfrieda.bsky.social
Michelle
@schadenfrieda.bsky.social
370 followers 460 following 1.5K posts
Reading, listening, watching, overthinking - and any day now once again baking and gardening. A dreamer and a sillyheart. she/her

Dharug Country, Western Sydney
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schadenfrieda.bsky.social
I regret nothing.
A vague recreation of the David Byrne figures in the Once in a Lifetime video but using a figure from the Bayeux Tapestry: four moving to the right, and a larger version heading to the left.
November 9, 2025 at 1:28 AM
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The result: a display inspired by our lush springtime Hallowe'en. It was a rushed effort in the end but something to build on next year. It's storming outside, incidentally.
A dimly lit Hallowe'en display of sorts. There are several different bottles, containing fake mushrooms and moss. There is an orange frog in one, and a teal lizard crawling over some others. A closer view of some bottles and fake white flowers in a basket, and that fake teal lizard. A closer view of some fake mushrooms and the fake orange frog in bottles.
October 31, 2025 at 8:01 AM
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Spent a delightful afternoon at the Independent Theatre with the Australian Ukulele Orchestra, US guests Mika Kane, Matt Dalhberg and Kalei Gamiao, and a closing jam.
Nine people playing ukuleles and singing, seated on the stage of an old theatre space with white walls, ornate white ceiling, and gold trim. The lighting is atmospheric and lavender-hued.
October 25, 2025 at 5:49 AM
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Enjoying this at the moment (my first listen) and realising that I just don't listen to enough albums any more. I need to fix that. #MusicSky
The cover of Melville by Rheostatics: a section of the painting "Prairie Grouper" by Martin Tielli - a big grey grouper fish lying stranded on a yellow prairie against a cloudy grey-blue sky.
October 18, 2025 at 12:40 AM
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I expected Toronto to be interesting but I didn't realise how beautiful it is. Interesting is more important but how about these views from the tower, the street and the water? I hope I'll be quick (relatively speaking) to return.
Looking down on the city at sunset - there's an orange sheen to the water, the lights are on, and the baseball game at the Rogers Centre is lit up like daylight. A lush-looking park, full of people walking or sitting, with the city including the CN Tower in the background. From a boat, a broad view of the Toronto skyline at sunset, with a clear peach-blue sky. Still on the boat, now looking to the west; there are the highrise buildings of more city centres in the distance and an orange sunset.
October 12, 2025 at 5:38 AM
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I joined a tour from Toronto to Niagara Falls - truly spectacular even if the surrounding area is very touristy. On the boat I got drenched from the knees down and loved it - I dried at an outdoor table, with fries, enjoying a singer and guitarist who had "Don't Dream It's Over" in their repertoire.
Seen from a higher vantage point, the Rainbow Bridge: a steel arch bridge high above the dark greenish-blue water between two cliffs. The far side is the USA. Still looking from higher up, a view of the American Falls: a wide waterfall crashing onto visible rocks, sending spray high into the air. Still looking down, the Horseshoe Falls, the famous curved cliff with an unfathomable amount of water spilling over it, sending up so much spray it partly obscures the falls. There's a boat amongst the spray. Now we're on a boat. Most of the frame is filled with waterfall and spray and just a section of blue sky. The people on the boat are wearing translucent red plastic ponchos that are flapping and billowing in the wind.
October 12, 2025 at 5:11 AM
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I went to Harry Hartog at Penrith for #LoveYourBookshopDay and bought this trio (guess which one is a gift!) - plus two Penguin books meant a small friend for me. 📚💙
Three books and a penguin figurine on a cotton tote bag. The books are: - Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody by Patrick Ness, illustrated by Tim Miller - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak - Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson Close-up of the three-dimensional rubbery model of the Penguin penguin. The base it's standing on is a small open book with an orange cover; on the white "page" is printed 2025.
October 11, 2025 at 7:48 AM
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Here it is - somehow this might be the first scrambled tofu I've made my vegan-for-26-years self. It's tasty! Needs just a little extra flavour next time like stock or black salt.
A big pile of turmeric-yellow herby scrambled tofu on some toasted pide, on an orange-rimmed plate.
October 10, 2025 at 10:19 PM
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Next I flew to the mighty Toronto on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. I enjoyed shows at Second City and the TSO, good food, and all the museums and galleries to explore.
Amsterdam Brewhouse: a burger, fries and a beer on a bartop with more of the bar in the background. The beer glass is etched with "Toronto Original" and an outline of the CN Tower. Roy Thomson Hall: we are looking down at the orchestra preparing on stage in a large hexagonal space with steeply raked seating. There is a large circular rig for sound/lighting above the stage, with a grey circular uppermost ceiling that looks almost like a spaceship. Royal Ontario Museum: the old section of the building including the two-storey entryway with tall stone arches and an intricate mosaic ceiling in gold and jewel tones. Art Gallery of Ontario: the sculpture gallery, a long room like a wide hallway, with one wall and the ceiling made of a curve of glass windows on a pale wooden structure. There is a dark, abstract or totemic sculpture in the foreground and others in the distance.
October 9, 2025 at 12:14 AM
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Throughout October, Charlottetown is holding a scarecrow festival - luckily for me, the scarecrows were installed a couple of days early.
Four crow scarecrows with big padded orange beaks, straw hats, and checked and denim clothing. A scarecrow trio of the Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. They are holding a sign advertising The Charlottetown Scarecrow Festival. A set of Simpsons scarecrows: on the right are Marge, Homer, Bart, Lisa (sort of in Homer's arms) and Maggie being held by Marge. On the left is Mr Burns in his striped nightshirt and cap, holding the festival sign. They all look kind of amusingly misshapen but recognisable - the colours are bright. A scarecrow Addams Family: Cousin Itt, Wednesday, Morticia, Gomez, Pugsley and Uncle Fester. They are all sort of misshapen and out of proportion but instantly recognisable. There is also a Wally/Waldo scarecrow just behind them.
October 6, 2025 at 4:09 PM
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I stayed three nights on Prince Edward Island/Epekwitk on the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq People. I've wanted to come here since I read Anne of Green Gables over 35 years ago. It's certainly beautiful, and I felt very inspired by L.M. Montgomery herself. 9-year-old me wants me to write again...
Autumn leaves photographed with the sun behind them, turning them vivid red. The sky is clear blue. A row of houses with grey boarding and white trim. The nearest has a glassed-in front porch, a bright turquoise door and masses of pink flowers in front (mostly hydrangeas and roses). A small hanging wooden sign says it's the Prince Street Suites. A two-storey house with white boarding and a dark green roof, trims and shutters: the house that Montgomery often visited and which inspired Green Gables. Red sandstone cliffs and low scrubby vegetation by the ocean's edge. The sky is grey and clouded and the ocean looks rough with lots of white caps and spray.
October 6, 2025 at 2:55 PM
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Sunday was for the Willow Creek hoodoos, the amazing dinosaurs of the Royal Tyrell Museum, and Horseshoe Canyon - the diversity of landscapes continues to astound.
A side view of some people standing on a viewing platform to the right, looking up towards the rocky columns of the hoodoo formations on the left. The ground is heavily textured grey and brown and the sky is overcast but glary in different shades of grey with a little yellow. "Black Beauty", a dark-coloured complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in a slab of rock. The heavy original skull is on the ground below, replaced by a lighter replica mounted on the skeleton. The Borealopelta markmitchelli fossil of an armoured dinosaur, preserved in amazing detail. This guy looks like a big spiky turtle. A view of Horseshoe Canyon from the top, looking out over dry rock dotted with conifers, with a walking track through the bottom of the canyon. A set of wooden stairs leads down from near the photographer to a lower viewing platform.
October 2, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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On Saturday, I took a day tour back into the Rockies, to visit the unfathomably beautiful lakes Louise and Moraine, with lunch in Banff and a quick stop at Bow Falls on the way back to Calgary.
Lake Louise, a calm turquoise lake surrounded by the conifers and steep banks of the Rockies. In the distance, partly obscured by cloud, is the Victoria Glacier. There are two orange-red canoes on the water at some distance. A view of Moraine Lake, a brilliant turquoise blue colour, from a high vantage point. The mountains in the background have some snow and are obscured by cloud at the top; there are conifers in the foreground on the left. The main street of Banff - there are bikes, trees, many pedestrians, brick buildings, and mountains in the background. A front view of the Bow Falls, spanning the width of the Bow River between two steep banks. The calmer water is turquoise.
October 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
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Book 10: Halfbreed by Maria Campbell. Just purchased this in a bookstore in Charlottetown, the day after Orange Shirt Day. Campbell is a Métis woman and this 1973 memoir is described as a seminal text in Canadian literature.
The cover is a muted grey-teal, with the title and author's name in white. The cover image is a 2007 portrait of the author by Christi Belcourt. The book is sitting on a white and grey marble-effect surface.
October 1, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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I based myself for four nights in Calgary, on the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) and the people of the Treaty 7 region. I spent my first day just exploring: the National Music Centre, The Confluence museum, the River Walk and the Calgary Tower.
A dark-walled museum space with guitars, clothing items and outfits on display. A statue of a colonial military man on horseback looking toward the city of Calgary, with an artwork by an Indigenous artist mounted on a rock in the foreground. A path alongside a river reflecting a blue sky. The river and path pass under a truss bridge, which has red flags mounted on each upright. A view from street level of glass-sided high-rise buildings reflecting the blue sky, and in one case the Calgary Tower.
September 30, 2025 at 11:53 AM
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(Still more catching up...)

I had the morning in lovely Jasper before travelling down to Calgary by coach - which gave more opportunity for being glued to the window. The scale of the Rockies is hard to fathom.
Jasper: looking across the main street towards the surrounding mountains. There is early morning fog/cloud at their base. An art installation at the Indigenous Exhibit in Jasper, by sculptor Lionel Peyachew and artists Lisa Shepherd and Kristi Bridgeman; a bronze eagle sits atop a large silver sphere imprinted with words from six different First Nations languages; below the sphere is a representation of the artists' beadwork. A bus-window view of the Columbia Icefield with other vehicles parked in the foreground. A roadhouse with a coach and other vehicles parked outside it. Behind it are tall mountains with conifers, bare rock above the treeline. In the foreground are a circular information board and a large Canadian flag on a pole.
September 30, 2025 at 1:58 AM
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(Still catching up...)

I took the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver through the Canadian Rockies to Jasper (via an overnight stay in Kamloops). Stunning, ever-changing scenery - I hardly touched the book I'd brought.
A view of a calm teal-coloured river flowing past banks with grass and trees in different shades of green. Hells Gate on the Fraser River: a greenish river flows rapidly between rocky hills dotted with trees, and under an orange-red bridge. Kamloops: a view of the river and bank at sunset, with silhouettes of a headland, a bridge, trees, a jetty, and two people standing in the water. A train window view of Mount Robson. There is some snow on the peak, trees in the foreground, and a brilliant blue sky.
September 29, 2025 at 1:47 AM
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It's Tim(e)'s.
A takeaway coffee cup on a brown tabletop. The cup branding shows that it's from Canadian chain Tim Horton's. The white plastic lid has a big maple leaf indentation.
September 28, 2025 at 10:53 PM
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...not to mention its beautiful waterways and great food.
A view from the seawall looking across the water to North Vancouver. There are seaplanes to the right, boats, a jetty to the left, leaves and branches at the top of the frame, and hills in the background. The sky is blue. A box of assorted doughnuts including caramel-glazed apple, pink iced with sprinkles, and jam filled - plus a funfetti cookie. A great looking vegan pizza with kale, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, pesto and vegan cheese. A view of Vancouver as seen from a boat - highrise buildings with some parkland and the Burrard Street Bridge.
September 26, 2025 at 2:15 AM
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(Catching up...)

I spent my first two days in Canada on the territory of the Coast Salish peoples, getting to know Vancouver through its architecture and museums...
A view of one of the Art Deco pylon gateways and some of the steel trusses of the Burrard Street Bridge. The front of a modern round building. A colourful sign says MOV (Museum of Vancouver). In front is the large metal sculpture The Crab (George A. Norris, 1968) - which looks like exactly that - in the middle of a pool with a fountain. A view, looking from under a tree, of the neoclassical facade of the Vancouver Art Gallery. It has four tall columns and a triangular pediment. There are leaves and branches framing the view at the top. A street view of Vancouver, showing an intersection with lights, painted green bike lanes, a mix of medium and tall buildings, and some fir trees along the footpaths.
September 26, 2025 at 2:04 AM
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Book 9: Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin - another Canadian read. A romance but it's what I could get my hands on. Wish me luck!
The cover is in shades of aqua and teal with the title in yellow under an illustrated arch of white flowers. Below that sit two illustrated brown-skinned people: a bearded man in a suit, holding a rose, and a woman wearing a hijab, with her arms folded. They are sitting on chairs with their backs to each other, in front of a vase of red roses on a white-covered table suggesting a wedding or similar event.
September 22, 2025 at 2:25 AM
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Book 8: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel - I'm diving into Canadian literature for my next three or four reads.
The book cover shows the title in soft blue and author's name in black, in a white circle surrounded by blue, and a spray of white dots arcing around the main circle. At the bottom of the circle - is it the moon? - are the silhouettes of conifer trees; below them, shades of twilight pink and a dark horizon.
September 14, 2025 at 8:49 AM
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That's the thing about wattle trees - you don't necessarily notice them until that time of year when you really do.
A close-up photo of bright yellow wattle blooms and grey-green foliage, against a brilliant blue sky.
September 14, 2025 at 1:18 AM
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20. The Big Short (2015) dir. Adam McKay

I saw this last night and admired it more than I enjoyed it. The performances are excellent, the script and direction clever, and I finally understood more of what happened. But I would've liked more time with people who lost out in the crisis, not profited.
The poster showing the characters of Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling, each in an arrow shape pointing inward to the film's title in the centre. The colours of these screenshots are subdued and the rest of the poster is white.
September 6, 2025 at 10:52 PM
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I realised I hadn't been to Marrickville in a few years. Tonight: dinner and a drink at Harriet's Bar, and a show at the Sydney Fringe.
A tabletop with a small gold-coloured lamp and a burgundy menu saying Harriet's in pink on the front. A tall glass contains a pink drink with a slice of dried orange and a fresh raspberry. The room is dimly lit except for a brightly lit wall in the background. The interior of an old building (Marrickville Town Hall), looking up from in front of a doorway towards a high ceiling with some peeling paint. A sign above the door says Safe Room + Flamingo Room in pink writing on black.
September 5, 2025 at 12:53 PM