As part of the Writers Festival, Julia Zamiro did two shows from the BMW Edge. For each she had a house band (The Bamboos) and had a comedian perform plus a singer songwriter and she also interviewed some writers. Julia is best known as the host of RocKwiz but has done many many things in theatre, television, radio and live shows - basically, she's a busy lass. The show we went to featured Steve Hely (How I Became A Famous Novelist), Jon Jon Goulian (The Man in the Gray Flannel Skirt), Tess Gerritsen (The Rizzoli & Isles Series), Felicity Ward (comedian) and Gareth Liddiard (The Drones). It was an interesting show and I'm glad that I went, but it could have been great but wasn't.

A local performance of a musical that told the story of the Mamas and Papas and included fantastic versions of a lot of their numbers performed live. All the performers were great and played their characters very well. But what attracted me to the show in the first place was seeing that Casey Donovan was playing Mama Cass - I think Casey is a sensation and it's a shame that we haven't seen too much of her since she won Australian Idol at the age of 16 back in 2004. The play was very well written. The actors and band were great. The story was interesting. I think that it is a show that could get quite big, so I will watch out to see whether it gets picked up and develops.

Gurrumul is a member of the Gumatj clan of north east Arnhemland and it is the songs and stories of the Gumatj clan that Gurrumul adapts into contemporary song styles. At the age of 15 he was identified as a young and extremely talented multi-instrumentalist and joined the ARIA Award winning band Yothu Yindi where he played an integral role until 1992. Currently a member of the hugely talented Saltwater Band he has contributed greatly to the Indigenous music industry which was recognised again this year at the NT Indigenous Music Awards where he was awarded the Album of the Year and Song of the Year 2008. He plays the piano and guitar but his best instrument is his voice. It appears that people either think he's fantastic or they don't like him - few sit between those two. I am in the first camp. I've only seen two of his solo shows, the first being better than this one - but it is still special to be at a show of his.

There is no getting away from it - I am too fat. I am not fit and am not healthy - I seem to have let myself go. But no more. I have decided to take action and reverse the trend. To assist with this, I have increased my work hours each day and am therefore doing my weekly 40 hours over 4 days thus freeing up a day. So I will now be working a 4 day week leaving Tuesday's free for me to sort myself out. I have signed up to do a pilates class each Tuesday morning to get things started. I have had my pushbike fixed, so I will go cycling at least on Tuesday afternoons. And as I have the day free, I can pop up to the roof and use the pool as nobody else will be there to be shocked at my bulk wobbling around the place. I have also decided to attempt a diet for the first time ever - not a full-blown one, but one that excludes eating or drinking any rubbish and that makes me choose the content and size of my meals with forethought and caution. I have decided that the goal is to lose 20kg - that is just over 3 stones. It will be a challenge, but I think that it is important to try. If nothing else, it will be nice to fit my clothes again and it won't make me look like I have stolen clothes from a thinner person.