2021 annual Australian Open selfie

Given the year we’ve all had, our annual Australian Open (tennis) selfie is a little different this time.

Our round 3 tickets got cancelled because of the snap five-day lockdown in Melbourne, so we just went to the women's singles final instead :)

Selfie of a man and woman, both wearing face masks. They have their backs to the Rod Laver Arena tennis court, which is about half full of spectators. On the tennis court itself is Naomi Osaka, winner of the 2021 Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup – which is awarded to the winner of the women’s singles tournament. Osaka is holding that cup and is getting her photo taken by a large group of photographers gathered at one end of the court.

Rod Laver Arena is such a gorgeous venue to watch matches in. And even at 50% capacity we managed to make plenty of noise.

Wide angle photo of Rod Laver Arena, a tennis arena with a rich blue playing surface. The seats, which are also in shades of blue, are about half full with spectators. The sun is setting behind the photographer so there is a golden glow on the seats on the far side of the arena.

Speaking of venue capacity, it was super strange seeing Grand Slam Oval so empty! But with only two matches tonight, and the whole place strictly divided into zones anyway, it makes sense.

Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing masks, with a mostly empty food and retail sports tournament space behind them. In the background is a building a smaller tennis arena.

Give this was a finals match we got to watch a short musical pre-show, complete with bisexual lighting.

Photo of a large tennis arena with its roof closed. The arena is bathed in blue and purple lighting while a trio of singers perform from one end of the court.

As for the match itself, well here’s Naomi Osaka’s serve in slow motion.

Of course at any modern sports venue the Spidercam is da real MVP.

Photo of a Spidercam camera mounted on a 360-degree gimball that’s attached to the ceiling by wires. This lets the camera zip around above the heads of the players, capturing the action from lots of different angles.

And even though we didn’t need these this year, Nadia is still a big fan!

Photo of a woman hugging a large metal fan that’s mounted on a wide cylindrical pedestal. Combined, the pedestal and fan are 50% taller than she is. On hot days these fans spray a fine spray of cold water over people passing by.

Remembering my mother on Pakistan National Women's Day

My mother, Shahla Zia, would’ve turned 74 today. (#FuckCancer)

In the time that she was alive, Ami played a significant role in women’s movement in Pakistan (one example: she was a founding member of AGHS, the first all-female law firm in Pakistan).

My younger sister, Maliha Zia Lari, is a lawyer who followed in my mother’s footsteps. And in this (bilingual) interview Maliha talks about my mother’s life, impact, and legacy. If you’re someone who knew my mother, this is worth a watch.

Favourite podcast sign-offs

Do you have a favourite podcast sign-off ? I have six!

This Week in Tech

Up first is the O.G. podcast sign-off from Leo Laporte (with an occasional assist from Owen JJ Stone) on This Week in Tech:

LEO: “Another TWiT…is in the can.”

Rocket

Then there's my favourite podcast sign-off, which is from Simone de Rochefort, Brianna Wu, and Christina Warren on Rocket:

SIMONE: “This episode of Rocket is terminated.”

BRIANNA: “Terminated.”

CHRISTINA: “Terminated.”

Darknet Diaries

Next is the most consistently entertaining podcast sign-off, which is from Jack Rhysider on Darknet Diaries:

JACK: “And even though <insert funny, nonsensical, episode-specific tech reference/joke>, this is Darknet Diaries.”

Command Line Heroes

Possibly the most encouraging podcast sign-off is from Saron Yitbarek on Command Line Heroes:

SARON: “I’m Saron Yitbarek. Thanks for listening and keep on codin’“

Full Story

This next podcast sign-off is the most unassuming, but somehow also the most reassuring. It's from Laura Murphy-Oates from when she's the host of Guardian Australia’s Full Story:

LAURA: “Okay, catch you tomorrow” or “Okay, catch you on Monday.”

99% Invisible

Finally there's the podcast sign-off that always makes me happy. This is from Roman Mars on 99% Invisible and ends with:

ROMAN: “…but in it's heart will always be in beautiful downtown Oakland, California.”

17 years

17 years of having our weirds in alignment.

A man with glasses and and a salt and pepper beard in three-quarter profile looks quizzically at the middle distance. A woman with long dark hair sits behind him making a silly face at the camera. (Selfie by Nadia Niaz.)

Happy anniversary Nadia!

Selfie of a woman and man with exaggerated expressions of surprise and wonderment on their faces.

New dog bed is a winner

Maggie adores the new dog bed that Nadia got her! It’s basically a big, comfy shag carpet for dogs.

A red dog lies comfortably on a large, extremely fuzzy round dog bed.

My favourite is when she buries her face in its fuzzy walls while napping during the day.

A dog has its face buried well into the wall of a large, extremely fuzzy dog bed. The dog’s ears are still pricked, however, and those are raised slightly above the height of the bed’s wall.

Her radar ears are always alert to changes in the environment, of course.

A dog that had its face buried in the wall of a large, extremely fuzzy dog bed has now lifted her head out and is looking at something offscreen.

She can even comfortably keep an eye on the rest of the house while floating lazily on the fuzz.

A dog is lying across the full length of a fuzzy dog bed that has soft, high walls (which themselves are soft and fuzzy). The dog is resting its head on top of the wall so it can keep its eye on what’s happening in its surroundings.

Fuzzy bed FTW!

A dog is lying across the full length of a fuzzy dog bed that has soft, high walls (which themselves are soft and fuzzy). The dog is resting its head on top of the wall so it can keep its eye on what’s happening in its surroundings. This photo is taken from low on the ground so the dog, without lifting its head, is looking straight at the camera.

Anniversary week!

Kicking of our anniversary week with brunch at our local café. Of the seventeen years Nadia and I have been married this last one has been the strangest, but also the best.

Selfie of a man and a women in front of a tall wooden fence. The two are wearing almost identical straw hats and are smiling at the camera.

Stretching to get away

That feeling when you’re in the same field as you parent (in this case, literally) and you have to lean farther and farther away to get out from under their shadow!

Photo of two trees growing in a field behind a residential property. The younger tree is growing too close to the older one, so it has had to bend its trunk and extend its branches sideways to get the best direct access to sunlight. The end branches of the younger tree have bent so far away that they are literally touching the ground several metres away from the root of the older tree.

Velcro dog

Most of the time she’s happy to sleep in her dog bed (visible above my head). But when she wants to be close to me while I’m at my desk, Maggie will pass out right behind my chair. Her shoulder is literally leaning on one of the chair’s casters!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Selfie of a man sitting in an office chair looking up at the camera with an amused and resigned expression. On the carpet directly behind the chair that the man is sitting on is a dog sleeping blissfully on her side. There is also an empty fuzzy dog bed visible in the background of the photo, not too far from the dog’s rear legs.

Nadia's tomatoes

The blackbird that keeps trying to steal Nadia’s cherry tomatoes can only get at the fruit lower down on the plant so the tomatoes in the upper branches are coming alone nicely!

Close-up photo of a tomato plant branch laden with cherry tomatoes at various stages of ripeness.

Close-up photo of a backyard cherry tomato plant with three bright red cherry tomatoes on it, along with a couple of smaller, greener ones.

Brazen Hussies at Cinema Nova

Finally watched the fantastic Brazen Hussies documentary at Cinema Nova yesterday! If you haven’t watched this already, I highly recommend that you do.

I love hearing all the stories and reflecting on the parallels between this movement and the women’s movement in Pakistan in the 1970s and 80s and I grew up in. #SameSameButDifferent

Photo of the inside of a cinema, with empty seats in the foreground of the photo and the large cinema screen in the background. The text on the screen says: “Welcome back to Cinema Nova!”

COVID normal

That 'COVID normal' train life in Melbourne.

Selfie of a man wearing a hat, eyeglasses, and a large face mask. The man is seated on a train that’s stopped at a train station. There is a long instructional sticker on the inside of the train window that says: Keep your distance where you can.

T-shirt game strong

Is this not the most appropriate t-shirt to wear to your office Christmas party? :)

Selfie of a man standing next to a road on a sunny day. The man is wearing a grey t-shirt that shows a tall, distinctly shaped office building – illustrated in a style that makes it look like a Christmas tree, complete with a start on top. The text printed below this building illustration says: Nakatomi Corporation Christmas Party 1988.

Favourite tree

Do you have a favourite tree on the street that you live?

We moved to the suburb of Newport, VIC last month and I've narrowed my list down to four…

This first one is a big broccoli. Well proportioned, nicely filled out, and colourful. But basically just broccoli. And I love it.

Photo of a paperbark tree on a residential street. The tree is shaped like a single branch of broccoli.

The second one is spade-shaped broccoli. It is massive, with a good solid trunk, and is arguably majestic.

Photo of a tall paperbark tree on a residential street. The tree is shaped like the spade playing card symbol.

Number three is a big boy. Both tall and wide, it provides plenty of shade and sounds lovely in the wind. This is a tree you'd want to hug.

Photo of a gum tree on a residential street. The tree is massive.

Number four is a spindly specimen. A tree from a lighter weight class than the others, if you will. But it has a strong zig-zaggy aesthetic that I find pleasing.

Photo of a tree on a residential street. The tree has distinct, zig-zag layers of branches.

I’m sure almost no one else is interested in what my favourite local tree is (currently leaning towards #3 btw). But, hey, if you can’t talk about this stuff on your own blog, then what even is your blog for? :)

New glasses

I love my new glasses! Props to the sales rep from The Eye Lab Melbourne who picked this retro square style from Lacoste out for me and got me to try something less rectangular :)

Close-up selfie of a man wearing a pair of rounded square eyeglasses. The man is bald and has a salt-and-pepper beard.

I do still like my old frames; they just worked better when I had a wider face.

Close-up selfie of a man wearing a pair of wide rectangular eyeglasses. The man is bald and has a salt-and-pepper beard.