Campaigning by sound bites. This poem is as relevant as ever.
I have no patience for your lies; no tolerance for your excuses.
I’m hot and getting hotter. Read more
WordPress Daily Prompt — Creature
This is a true story about finding a new community and about re-connecting with loved ones. It is also yet another story about me growing wiser, as well as, coincidentally, a story about hunting virtual creatures.
It is Australia Day so I had better say something. If you don’t already know, there has been much debate in the Australian community about whether Australia Day should continue to be held on January 26. On 26 January 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip sailed into Sydney Cove to establish a penal colony for the British Empire. Read more
Let’s talk about coffee. When I talk about coffee, what I’m really talking about is community. It’s my observation that there is a clear divide in caffeine quoffing. It’s coffee drinkers versus tea drinkers. Of course, this is a huge generalisation, but stick with me. Until five years ago, I was solely a tea drinker; however, sooner or later – when you reach a certain age – tea is no longer strong enough to keep you awake alert. Alertness calls for something stronger. I’m not talking anything illegal; I’m talking coffee – specifically three double-shot espressos a day. Suddenly, coffee is nigh on a religious experience for me.
My husband and I are both introverts. We don’t socialise much. Nevertheless, we have found that somehow coffee has a way of bringing people together. As a tea drinker who has switched to coffee, I’ve really noticed the extra pulling power of coffee. I’m not trying to denigrate tea, no way. I can appreciate the allure of tea ceremonies and high teas, but they’re really only for special occasions, right? No-one queues to buy a cup of tea. But, there is community in coffee. Read more
There was a time when I was youngish and shallow, when I sort of lost perspective about the important things in life. I guess I was embarrassed and also so very tired. I was embarrassed about my weight, my strange and difficult children, my parenting skills, my lack of career progression, and most of all, I was embarrassed about the suburb I lived in and my shitty little house that was so untidy even my mother didn’t like to visit me (cue violins playing). Read more
I want to give hope to all those people out there, who, like me, have felt, and still feel, that they don’t have an artistic bone in their body. As a kid, I used to like drawing. I drew butterflies, dogs and horses. They were all out of proportion and simple; just a kid’s drawings really. I wasn’t gifted but I had fun. When I reflect back on that time, half the fun was in day dreaming about my drawing, or starting with a blank page and just seeing where it would take me. Pencils were everywhere and anywhere, left lying around when the drawing was done. There was no packing up art supplies. There was no helicopter parent offering a critique or having special art time with me to foster my ‘creativity’, whatever that means.
Then I went to high school and I thought I would try art class as an elective. I know a lot of children thrive in art classes. But for me, it was torture. Read more
I have been giving a great deal of thought to the forthcoming postal survey – not to the pros and cons of the survey itself but to the question the survey is asking. Should Australian law be amended to allow same-sex couples to marry? For me this question is both universal and personal: to deny same-sex couples the legal rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples offends my sense of justice, but also, a couple of years ago, one of my children came out. Unfortunately it seems that a polite exchange of views between the opposing parties is no longer possible. It saddens me that there appears to be nothing that my LGBTI friends or I could say that would make a difference, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Read more
Reflections of An Untidy Mind 