Edie Sedgwick eat your heart out

In readiness for turning 30 and becoming a grown up (ha ha ha) I decided to get a grown up haircut, perhaps foolishly making my appointment for Friday the 13th. I figured this would at least give me a week to get used to the 'do' before my b-day shenanigans. Having had long hair for years and despite a half-hearted attempt to cut it into a bob in November, I knew that '60s Factory Girl chic' was the only way to go. Here's an early pic:

The new do

Okay, bad photo, I know, that was at 2am after a long night out, 'scuse the black rings under the eyes! Immediately after I'd had the hair chopped off I went to the Opening Night of the Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney's Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Running late, I texted my friend Alex that I'd meet her in the foyer. 'I'm the one who looks like a Lezza' I quipped. Of course come interval-time I blended into a sea of short-haired women, but I finally found her and shocked her with the 'do. Over the last two years Alex's hair has grown progressively longer and mine has been chopped progressively shorter.

Getting my highlights done

I didn't tell anyone I was getting my hair cut so I'm looking forward to everyone's reactions over the next couple of weeks. I took pictures of Edie Sedgwick and Sienna Miller into the hairdressers as my inspiration. Now I'm practicing blowdrying the style and putting on lots of dark eye make-up to keep up the look.

We've had a real cold snap here in Sydney this last week, with constant rain and cold days. So cold I've even taken my doona down from the top of the wardrobe and last night I even wore a coat out! Eek, winter come early! Hopefully the weather will ease up for next weekend as I'm planning to play lawn bowls for my birthday party, and have rented a couple of rinks at Waverley Bowling Club. How very Australian.

Racing the bush fires

Much of Australia is in a very sombre mood at the moment, with the worst bush fires in history raging in Victoria and South Australia. Hundreds of people have died and thousands have lost their homes and everything they own. Whole villages have been wiped out. I can't quite get my head around how fast the fire can travel, it's astonishing. Everywhere you go people are collecting money to help the victims of the fires, and a huge relief effort is going on. It's devastating.

Wonderful firemen have their work cut out

A Fireman helps a Koala whose paws are badly burnt

Utter devastation

Words of hope and defiance

Seeing fires approach

Almost engulfed

More images are on news.com.au's website.

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