Random tangent (blog)
Ameel Khan's personal blog. This is a blog about life, technology, photography, typography, the internet, science, feminism, books, film, music, and whatever other random stuff I come across or happen to be interested in today.
It’s my last teen anniversary with Nadia :)
Selfie of a man and woman standing outdoors. There is a large number “19” added to the corner of the photo. The man has a black-and-white beard and is wearing a black printed t-shirt and black baseball cap. The woman has long black hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. The woman is resting her head on the man’s chest.
How time flies when you’re having the best years of your life.
I attended the South Asian Round Table at the Australian Muslim Writers Festival 2022 which featured Nadia Niaz, Adalya Nash Hussein, Tasnim Hossain, and Tasneem Chopra (as the moderator).
The Coburg Library, where this event was held, is the very first library from which Nadia I got library cards when we moved to Australia in 2006 :)
Photo of a library event space with three green armchairs and a couple of coffee tables arranged in front of a wall. On the wall behind the armchairs is a TV screen with ‘The South Asian Round Table’ displayed in large letters on it.
The discussion was great!
The upshot was that we’re all excited about more (probably second and third generation) South Asians getting into the arts – both in front and behind the scenes. And though there’s been some representation in recent years, there’s still a long way to go and a lot more to do.
Photo of four women of colour sitting on armchairs, taking part in a panel discussion
Here Adalya is talking as a journal editor about making space at the table for South Asian writers.
Photo of two women of colour on a panel discussion. One of the women is gesturing with her hands as she makes her point.
Here is Nadia talking about how she built her own platform to showcase multilingual writers in Australia because nobody else was doing it.
Photo of two women of colour on a panel discussion. One of the women is gesturing with her hands as she makes her point.
And here’s Tasnim talking about creating safe spaces for minoritised groups in her role as theatre director.
Photo of two women of colour on a panel discussion. One of the women is gesturing with her hands as she makes her point. The other woman, who is the moderator, is listening attentively to what’s being said.
Finally, a big shout-out to Özge Sevindik Alkan from The Right Pen Collective for running the whole festival. (This particular panel discussion was organised in conjunction with the SAARI Collective, fyi.)
Özge is the festival director. And, as you know, a festival director’s job is never done!
Photo of a woman wearing a bright blue hijab. The woman is sitting on a chair with a laptop on her lap, while at the same time typing on a smartphone that she’s holding above the laptop.
It would’ve been nice to attend more events from this festival this year, but hopefully I’ll get to do that next year.
Happy birthday Nadia!
#StarOnAStick #PotatoQualityPhoto
Photo of a woman standing in a public park at night. The gardens behind her are decorated with lanterns strung on poles to illuminate walking paths. The smiling woman has long hair and is wearing a black puffer jacket.
We celebrated Nadia’s birthday with an evening at The Wilds, an outdoor festival of art, light, and performance that had food trucks, bars, and an ice skating rink.
We got a little wet – which we expected, given the weather forecast – but we had an otherwise lovely time.
Photo of a large, artistically swooshy, and brightly coloured wireframe sculpture bathed in strategically placed lights on a dark, overcast evening. People have gathered around the artwork, and some of them are taking photos. In the background is a metropolitan cityscape with tall buildings that have their lights turned on.
Of course we couldn’t bring a cake to an outdoor event, so instead we brought all the macaroon flavours for everyone to share :)
Overhead photo of a box containing fifteen brightly coloured macaroons of different colours.
For the record, those flavours were: French vanilla, Nutella, salted caramel, double Belgium chochlat, crushed pistache, original bubble gum, lemon meringue, crème brulée, authentic tiramisu, strawberry & cream, raspberry & white chocolate, and blueberry cheesecake. I got these from Antipasti Deli & Cafe in Yarraville.
Another year, another fantastic Barbell Babes Brigade lifting party for Nadia – with one equal and two new personal bests!
Photo of a woman in a large indoor power lifting gym. The woman is wearing black exercise gear, wrist straps, and a lifting belt and is smiling at the camera. She is leaning on a barbell with heavy weights on it that’s been placed on a lifting rack.
This year’s results:
Squat: 90kg
Bench press: 50kg
Deadlift: 107.5kg (up from 65kg just two years ago!)
Photo of a woman smiling broadly at the camera. The woman is wearing a sleeveless black exercise top and is standing in a large power lifting gym.
#JustStrong
Photo of the back of a woman’s head. The woman is standing in a large power lifting gym. She is wearing a sleeveless black exercise top and her hair has been arranged into a bun that’s being held together with paint brushes.
Nadia Tweeted this:
Best part of the day. (Less so for @ameel because he has to spot me these days.) pic.twitter.com/BfgngsknPA
— Nadia Niaz (@NadiaNiaz) March 2, 2022
Which I quote-tweeted and said:
Don’t tell Nadia, but spotting her is one of my favourite things to do. Not only do I get to watch her lift ridiculously heavy weights (and increasingly heavy ones at that) I also get the opportunity to hang out with her when she's having the most fun (+ take cool photos of her)!
Photo of a strong-looking woman in a black sleeveless shirt and hair held up in a bun with paint brushes. The woman is wearing wrist straps and a thick leather belt for lifting heavy weights. She is standing in a room in front of a weight rack that has a loaded barbell on it.
Hello from Herring Island in the Yarra River in Melbourne!
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and a straw hat. The man is standing in an lightly wooded area that’s on an island in the middle of an urban river.
The island is a short punt ride from Richmond.
Photo of a small punt making its way across an urban river to ferry people to the other side.
It has gazebos, public barbecues, several picnic areas, toilets, and even a pottery store.
Photo of a gazebo and some park benches in a large open field surrounded by a wooded area.
Plus there’s artwork to check out. Including this one – ‘Steerage’ by Jill Peck – that you can sit in :)
Selfie of a man wearing a t-shirt, sunglasses, and a straw hat. The man is sitting inside a large piece of artwork that’s shaped like a wide boat. This “boat” is made from pieces of granite, so it looks like grey cobblestones.
It’s a lovely place for a walk and a picnic. 8/10 would recommend.
Photo of a woman in a red and black patterned dress and a straw hat walking across an open field that’s surrounded by tall trees.
#JustStrong
Black and white photo of a woman standing at a weights rack with her hands on a barbell that has heavy weights on it. She is wearing wrist straps, a lifting belt, and a black sleeveless top with the phrase “just strong” written across the back in bold, all-caps letters. She looks like a badass.
It’s our eighteenth wedding anniversary today. I am a very fortunate man.
Selfie of a man and a woman, both wearing black, both smiling at the camera.
From Nadia:
Happy 18th wedding anniversary to the (wiser) head growing out of my shoulder. @ameel pic.twitter.com/SHWzIM6LoE
— Nadia Niaz (@NadiaNiaz) February 1, 2022
Had a lovely afternoon with friends at Donnelly Weir in the Yarra Ranges yesterday.
Rebecca picked an excellent spot for a picnic, and the weather cooperated by giving us a a nice, cool day after the recent heatwave.
Group selfie of eight people in a wooded area.
Donnelly Weir has a picnic area as well – with a three-table gazebo, barbecue, and nearby toilets. It’s not too busy, either. Only one other table was occupied for part of the time we were there.
9/10 would recommend. But only because we had to drive across a shallow river to get to the car park, which not everyone and every car will be comfortable with.
Photo of a picnic area next to a weir in the middle of a forest. A weir is a small dam built across a river to control the flow of water. The picnic area consists of a wooden gazebo with picnic tables and benches, as well as a shared barbecue.
Weirs are always relaxing places to visit, and this one is no different.
You can’t get into the water here though. This spot is part of the rainfall catchment area that supplies Melbourne’s water supply (ie the water from here fills the dams that supply the city’s water).
Photo of a weir, which is a small dam built across a river to control the flow of water. The weir is located in a wooded area and has a log fence built to once side of it.
But that’s fine. You can still take lots of photos of the water :)
Photo of a weir, taken with the camera held out over the stone wall that’s been built to control the flow of water. Towards the back of the photo is is a small wooden foot bridge built across the river.
Both with…
Close-up photo of a weir wall that has water flowing over it. A long exposure effect has been applied to the photo, making the flowing water look smooth.
…and without the long exposure setting on your camera.
Close-up photo of a weir wall that has water flowing over it.
There are a couple of short trails you can wander down as well.
Selfie of a bald man, wearing glasses and a grey printed t-shirt. The man is standing on a walking trail in a wooded area.
But all you actually need to rest and recharge is to be surrounded by all the trees and birds and running water.
Selfie of a bald man, wearing glasses and a grey printed t-shirt standing in a wooded area. The man is looking down into a camera that is aimed towards the grey, overcast sky. Behind the man you can see the full length of the tall trees that surround him.
What time is it? It’s time for me and Nadia to take our annual Australian Open tennis tournament selfie!
Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of an outdoor tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; N95 face masks; and blue Australian Open lanyards.
With the 50% capacity limits placed on attendees this year, we even managed to find a totally empty section of Kia Arena in which to take a slightly less pandemically themed selfie :)
Selfie of a man and a woman sitting in the stands of a large, open air tennis arena. They are both wearing geeky, black, book-related t-shirts; sunglasses; and blue Australian Open lanyards.
One more in our full “hot day at a sporting event in the post-vaccine era” regalia.
Selfie of a man and a woman in front of Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia on a sunny day. The man and woman are both wearing black t-shirts, wide-brim straw hats, sunglasses, and N95 face masks, and have blue Australian Open lanyards around their necks.
Speaking of hot days, Nadia was reunited with her happy place at the Australian Open :)
A woman wearing shorts, t-shirt, sunglasses, large hat, and an N95 face masks walks up to a large fan that is spraying a fine mist of cool water onto people walking by.
Nadia and I made the most of the gorgeous, post-lockdown Sunday we had today.
First we had brunch at the Altona North Jolly Miller Café. (I’d been missing Eggs Benedict so much! Not enough to make any at home though.)
Photo taken from the top of a table in a café. On the table is a menu that’s out of focus because it’s so close to the camera. Behind the menu are a water bottle, two glasses, a salt shaker, and a pepper grinder. In the background are other tables and chairs, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows through which you can see a bright blue sky.
And then we went for a relaxing, hour-long walk through the lovely Paisley-Challis wetlands nearby.
Selfie of a man and a woman wearing hats, sunglasses, and light jackets. They are standing in a flat wetland area, with lots of green grass, several bushes, and pools of water. In the background, behind all this greenery, is the sea.
There were several walkers, runners, and cyclists on the track, but the rest of the place was so peaceful.
A wide-angle photograph of a green, brushy wetlands area, with the blue sea in the background. On the extreme left of the image you can see a thin walking trail with a single person on it.
A lovely way to spring into post-lockdown spring in Melbourne.
I’m not a fan of summer picnics, but spring picnics are most excellent – especially post-lockdown ones! And Newport Lakes Reserve is a great place for a picnic.
Selfie of a man and a woman in a large park on an overcast day. The man is sitting in a low picnic chair. The woman is sitting on the ground and is leaning back on to the man. Both have been caught mid-laugh.
(Don’t worry, Nadia and I only took our masks off while eating lunch, which was immediately before we took this selfie.)
And, since it was such a lovely day, here’s another selfie :)
Selfie of a man sitting in the share of a tree in a large park. The man is balk, bespectacled, and has a salt-and-pepper beard. He is wearing a black t-shirt that’s the original cover of the book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ by Douglas Adams.
New tattoo, who dis?
Oh it’s just Nadia with her awesome new Unico tattoo!
Photo of a woman’s forearm with the tattoo of a gently coloured, stylised, manga-style baby unicorn who is asleep on a swing.
Art by the fantastic Cynthia from Crucible Tattoo Co.
Emerging as the meaning of life, the universe, and everything on her 42nd birthday, I present to you Dr Nadia Niaz!
(Maggie is suitably impressed.)
Photo of a woman with long black hair. The woman is wearing a maroon and black sweater, black jeans, and black boots. With a big grin on her face, she is striking a post in front of the the door to a house. Standing at her feet and looking up to her is a red dog.
When you’re not a regular stargazer you forget just how quickly Earth rotates!
Fortunately our telescope has an equatorial mount so we just had to keep turning one knob to have the moon stay in our sights during tonight’s lunar eclipse.
Photo of a woman standing outside at night looking through the eyepiece of a medium-sized home telescope. Her hand is on an adjustment knob at the side of the telescope.
Writers of Australia! Come “play with language and see what happens” in the ‘Language at play’ session that Nadia is running at the Emerging Writers’ Festival.
This is part of the full-day ‘Language & Writing’ masterclass on Wednesday, 23 June.
I wasn’t feeling well last week so Nadia bought me a big bunch of flowers when she went down to the shops.
Cheered me right up too!
Selfie of a man – bald, bespectacled, with a salt-and-pepper beard, and smiling at the camera – standing on a deck outside a house holding up a large bunch of bright yellow daisies in front of his face.
Today was awesome! I got to watch Nadia lift her personal best powerlifting weights at the Barbell Babes Brigade lifting party :)
Photo of a woman wearing a brightly coloured singlet beams at the camera while holding her hands up towards the photographer to show her palms coated in white chalk. Behind her is a weight lifting rack with a weighted barbell across it.
Photo of a woman in shorts, a singlet, and socks with her hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman is leaning forward and gripping a barbell with heavy weights on it. Her expression is serious and her muscles are tight because she is about to start deadlifting this barbell. In the background is a weight lifting rack bolted into the floor and hooks bolted onto the wall with assorted weight on them. You can deduce from her environment that she's in a gym.
Photo of a woman in shorts, a singlet, and socks with her hair tied back in a ponytail. The woman is standing up, having successfully lifted a heavily weighted barbell. Her expression is one of joy and bewilderment as if she can't believe she just successfully lifted that much weight. She is looking at another woman, also in gym attire, who is clapping and cheering as she walks towards the powerlifter as if to give her a celebratory hug.
This is BBB’s eleventh lifting party and the third I’ve attended. It’s such a joy and rush to watch so many fantastic powerlifters achieve so much and have that much fun while doing it!
Also, happy fourth birthday to Barbell Babes Brigade!
Photo of about four dozen women in powerlifting gear gather for a group photo in a warehouse gym with the worlds 'Barbell Babes Brigade' painted on the wall behind them. The women and smiling, cheering, and shouting. There is a balloon in the shape of the number four behind them.
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.
For the match itself, will here's @naomiosaka's service in #SloMo. pic.twitter.com/nevzjM9Sbx
— Ameel Khan (@ameel) February 20, 2021
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.
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.
This is personal website of Nadia Niaz and Ameel Zia Khan. Here we document our lives in Melbourne, Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia