penneylaneonline for Friday, September 28, 2007

My neighbour Russ is 82 years old. He came to visit me yesterday looking in his posture for all the world like he had the weight of it on his shoulders. He's a slight man, wiry to be precise and despite his advancing years there's an energy about him that's noticeable even if you didn't know him that well. He was devastated. His daughter's Whippet dog had been run over when he left the gate open to cross the road to meet the guy returning his ailing scooter. He didn't see Coco run out onto the... Sign in to see full entry.

I love a good belly-laugh, its so liberating, so decadently nourishing for the soul that I prescribe it be eaten by the bowlsful. My neighbour Shelly has the most deliciously genuine belly-laugh that is totally infectious. It's true, it's totally catchable. On a really good day, a really dinkum blow your socks off belly laugh emanates from somewhere deep in the soles of her feet, whizzes past GO where she collects 200 giggling wannabes, they take a left turn into Pall Mall, then out onto... Sign in to see full entry.

I observed a strange behaviour in myself today but one I suspect that's not all that uncommon if the truth be known. I went to the Doctor and despite the condition that warranted such a visit you would have thought I had 'A' Reserve tickets at Covent Garden. I looked a million dollars. So tell me, why do we do that? And why is it that after eighteen months of sickness hell when we can finally drag ourselves out the front door and into our Doctor's surgery that the moment we get there the illness... Sign in to see full entry.

From time to time I have a chuckle about how I managed to accumulate stuff. Now don't get me wrong, I'm no hoarder (not that theres anything wrong with 'keeping' everything that you're given, find in shop, market or anywhere else you acquire things from) but I was remembering how I got Mol (Molly-wally-doodle-all-the-day, her show-off, I mean show name). I got her on Freecycle. Freecycle www.freecycle.org.au is "about recycling goods but not charging for them or being charged to take them to the... Sign in to see full entry.

From time to time I'm reminded that the 'big' things in life are totally enjoyable too. Like yachting in Sydney Harbour, in and out of her crooks and crannies, being served delectable oceanic morsels in a nice quiet spot just off Watsons Bay, looking back to the city lights of the inner harbour and my eyes tipsy from drinking in too much of that intoxicating sight. I've sailed a 16-footer under the Harbour Bridge before today. It was an interesting experience because the flaws (sudden sea... Sign in to see full entry.

There's something immediately likeable about touching base with family and friends like this, over the internet. It has all the feel to me of saying hi over the back fence (except sort of more global). Contrary to what most (older) people think, the internet is and can be a very connective tool within social networks that people have or develop (and like most things, can be de-constructive when used inappropriately). The first time I saw BroTown was last year. Okay, so I'm a late bloomer. I... Sign in to see full entry.

I was thinking some more about my Dad overnight and more particularly about how everyday things like having a cuppa and eating shortbread is one of our favourite things to do. And it struck me that simple pleasures like that meant and mean so much to me. My Dad loves crossword puzzles, I do too. There's something totally satisfying about finishing one or almost finishing a Cryptic Puzzle. I call that half finished Cryptic "saving the challenge" (when in actual fact I just mean that my brain is... Sign in to see full entry.

It's Father's Day. I chatted with my Dad this morning, he lives in Waipukurau in Central Hawkes Bay on New Zealand's North Island. And I live in Sydney, Australia. We talked about the drought here in outback Australia, the equine flu, the New Zealand economy and the effect of global outsourcing on its local economy, and what music he's listening to these days. It's what you do on Father's Day when one of you is there and the other of you is here. You talk about stuff you'd always talk about as... Sign in to see full entry.

Absence is a funny thing, they say that it makes the heart grow fonder and I suppose that's true to some extent. But absence is absence, it means you or they (whoever 'they' are to you) are not in the same place and therein lies the complexity of the human condition. When that happens, absence can disconnect us emotionally too. Now, before you all read the riot act to me, understand, while we all like the warm and fuzzy idea of secure familly ties and or friendships, the reality is that life... Sign in to see full entry.

Today my friend Elizabeth buried her husband. He was young, had cancer left her and two young sons. We had his Wake at our little Bowlo; it’s just across the road from where they lived. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a Wake, particularly one that wasn’t a Maori one. Maori people call a Wake a tangi. They can be very emotional times tangi’s and they can also be one of the most connective times of a person’s life. It’s a time when you meet new people; many of them you realise later are... Sign in to see full entry.

Sometimes the smallest steps take us further than we ever imagine it possible to go in a few well made strides. And the big deal about that you ask? Well, there’s none really except that understanding how purposeful we can make our lives through simply watching where we place our feet is something I never really thought about until I had the occasion to be looking at my feet for an extended period of time. Then I remembered how I used to employ the same purposeful steps when walking across... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s overcast outside, it rains when I’m not looking and stops when it thinks I am. There is something entirely reticent in the day’s manner that catches me unaware. I suppose I can live with that. Truth is, no one much else cares really. Molly is catnapping, off chasing flying saucers of tuna a la mode in the happy hunting grounds in her mind. Can’t blame her really, there are worse things a cat could do on a day like this. I’m not sure what exactly, but I’m sure there are. We’re pretty... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s muggy like a claustrophobic granny-hug. Gets you every time! The humidity has that cloying quality, in much the same vein as a granny that hasn’t seen you for a while and holds you with the wrestling grip of a Chris Benoit cross-face. It feels like you’re being smothered (which of course is precisely how it is). But the day marches on. There’s a gentle hum of busyness round the ‘Bowlo’ this morning. It’s Fleas (as in Flea Market) on the Green this morning. The update on our little ‘Bowlo’... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s strange but have you ever noticed how just one day out from a birthday you expect that waking up the next morning will make you feel different? As if! I pinched myself today just in case I’ve involuntarily let myself fall into a forsaken stupor and not realised it. God forbid! The trouble with a horrifying thought like that is that sometimes it’s true of our condition and we don’t actually realise it until someone points it out to us, then, I’d say we’re really in trouble. For my part, I... Sign in to see full entry.

Today’s my birthday, I don’t feel different and I wonder why I don’t. I think it’s because the expectation to feel something different is rather underwhelming to be honest. Do I feel older? Yes and no. My life feels more lived in I suppose but then it should. The truth is I feel abit flat. I don’t know whether it’s the fact that being sleepless in the ‘Sham (Petersham) is taking its toll or I’ve singularly become unimpressed with adding years to my age and after so many years of doing so it all... Sign in to see full entry.

My soul feels sluggish lately, like it’s carrying extra weight around that has slowed it’s progress. It’s frustrating and peeving at the same time! It’s like being in charge of something that has both a life and mind of its own but you’re still expected to keep charge of it! If you’re anything like me, you tend to throw you hands in the air and throw a hissy fit designed to give you the sense of an immediate ‘feel better’ hit while still using an octopus-like manoeuvre to bring all the... Sign in to see full entry.

Like most people, I love a feel good story and I love it because there are some stories that should be told because they help us back to the place where we can believe in the capacity for human kindness again. It surprises me then that the media tell them so infrequently and they are (for the most part) the exceptions to the rule rather than the rule. Why is that? Is it because ‘good’ is a bad seller? That bad is a better seller in fact? Quite possibly! I’m heartened though that the ‘feel good’... Sign in to see full entry.

From time to time I get to thinking how lovely it would be to simply drop everything that currently exists in my life and just pull up roots and relocate some place else. The feeling is most unsettling really, like a nagging yellowing bruise that still aches when you press it. And invariably you do (press it) because you just can’t help yourself! There’s something approaching stupidity that makes us do that, whether consciously or not. It’s a strange sensation, sort of like sweet and sour,... Sign in to see full entry.

I love dancing. I love the way it makes my feet sing and my spirit soar. Do you ever feel that way? It’s a beautiful thing, yes? Yes. And the right kind of music has a way of showing us the state of our spirit which has (in the long term) more salubrious connotations for us than we might have originally thought. Dancing unknots in me the tangled emotions that one simply pushes beneath the surface and mistakenly believe will iron themselves out over time because out of sight is out of mind! Sound... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s fun to speculate sometimes just how successful a thing could be even when it isn’t just yet? Don’t you think so? I mean, it’s sort of like a structured dream when you think of it like that. Opportunity plus effort and action equals success. Isn’t that a fairly simple enough formula for it, success I mean? Okay, so I was being simple-minded but it’s a fair enough no frills formula right? No? Then what? Oh okay, so there’s the business nuances. Business is light and shade, yes I can concede... Sign in to see full entry.

When time gets away on me, I often wonder what I’ve done to allow that to happen in the first place. Usually it’s quite an involuntary response to a more voluntary concern. It happens when the allocation of time becomes irrelevant to the focus of my attention. Sometimes a good thing and sometimes not. For the most part I believe there’s a place for allowing such run away moments. Cementing the passion is one of those times, definitely in the beginning, sometimes mid way or even when we are... Sign in to see full entry.

Sumner Redstone said, “The best deal is one where it’s fair to you and it’s fair to them”, this from a man who has engendered loyalty from his staff because he has shown it to them. And this too, from a man who has an estimated personal fortune of $US9bn. He says, “He looks for three things in a person, competence, character and commitment”. What do you look for in a person you want to be in your team? I ask myself that sometimes in quieter moments. What makes a real dream team? Great individual... Sign in to see full entry.

I had dinner with my friends Graes, Jen and Ian (Tamsin was away) tonight. I always love my time with them. Their friendship is like an oasis. Not that life has been desert-like lately, no, it’s just that it’s so refreshing. Their friendship is life-giving. There was an introduction to Peter and Louise and one of their sons Angus. If you are guaranteed one thing at Graes and Jen’s it is that you will always enjoy fascinating and lively conversation and a great baked dinner. And so it was. I’ve... Sign in to see full entry.

Saying ‘I love you’ can seem such an over-used statement of our love for someone we are devoted to widely as we are deeply. I sometimes feel one ought to save the phrase up like a carefully wrapped childhood treasure. You know the ones. The kind we imbue with all the magical believing of a child and transform its ordinariness into something so much more than that. Much much more. I’m not saying one ought to make the phrase obsolete from one’s lack of use. Rather, I feel like we might use it like... Sign in to see full entry.

I read somewhere once that “you don’t have to own the playground to play on the swings”. I found that a particularly odd-about kind of adage really. Odd but somehow quietly truthful in its matter-of-fact manner. Disarming as well. I love home grown truths. They have just enough of a ring about the truth they are trying to convey that one somehow feels (and this despite never having met before) a warming familiarity that by-passes anything one might consider a real stranger danger and therefore... Sign in to see full entry.

How hard is it would you say to find the beauty in hardship? Very I would say. Hardship is just that way isn’t it, sort of like having to crack through the tough outer shell of a situation or even a person. It’s not easy. But to think that we might discover beauty somewhere in the mix is that just a pipe dream? Is the sense of empowerment that comes from the hardship where the beauty lies? Is that the beauty? Empowerment in a situation, those new beginnings that are the growing inner nacre that... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s astonishing how quickly we can fill our days with activities and these just two days into a New Year. Still, any activity at this time of the year is ambitious to say the least. Mind you, it’s the time of year too isn’t it? The time to try new things, or old things you’ve remembered you used to do and want to do again. Life can be so cyclical can’t it? New beginnings happen everyday without us even thinking of them in that way and yet, they are. We have this great opportunity for us to have... Sign in to see full entry.

So the old Coat-Hanger (aka The Sydney Harbour Bridge) looked four million bucks last night, she looked grand. She’s a noisy ol’ dame, a bit of a screamer for all her 75 years! A pyrotechnic delight even! She went off like a lizard flat out drinking. She was grand indeed. Dressed in all her finery and rivalling that other famous Sydney dame, Dame Edna! They both sparkle well. I’m inclined to think that today ought to be one for reflection rather than resolution. Looking back down the beach to... Sign in to see full entry.

New Year’s Eve. There’s a lot of fuss going on here in the Emerald City. That famous Sydney Coat-Hanger (aka the Sydney Harbour Bridge) has once again become the central focus for another huge pyrotechnic display. The Bridge itself will be 75 years old hence the “emerald city” tag. Things are abuzz. Molly and me are fairly laid back about proceedings. I mean, it’s going to happen. And its going to happen whether we are awake or not. That’s the thing about ‘time’ it just keeps on marching.... Sign in to see full entry.

Time flies doesn’t it. Yesterday it just seemed like the year was kicking off and now a New Year is kicking us in the pants and goading us to get ready for more new beginnings. And will they all be new? Maybe, maybe not. The possibilities are the most exciting thing wouldn’t you say. I’ve often wondered if given the chance and one might be allowed to see the future whether one might as a choice choose not to. I wonder if I would have the strength of my conviction to go through with it if I did... Sign in to see full entry.

Things feel so catch up at the moment. Catch up with myself; catch up with others I’ve seemed to have missed over an extended period of time. Catch up can make you feel frantic when there’s really no need to be. Well, so I say, the practise of it, well, that’s an entirely different other thing now isn’t it! Catching up at this time of the year is sort of like reparation I think, we regret that we’ve been remiss in keeping friendships vital (and all in the name of busyness) and yet, like all... Sign in to see full entry.

I love Sydney during the Christmas break. Everyone leaves. And suddenly the roads seem less full of bulging traffic lines along Paramatta Road, less full of mad impatient drivers going in the same direction but wanting to do so faster than the rest of us. It’s great like that at this time of the year. And people seem more relaxed and therefore more inclined to express a more convivial approach when they meet you on the street, so much friendlier! Sadly, that’s the exception rather than the norm.... Sign in to see full entry.

In this city, in whose eyes are reflected our silent, pleading demise no less, no more, beneath a portent whisper, this serial cry against sunburnt arms, indeed this sunburnt heart and face respite finally under this parasol of aloe vera shade and most tender embrace, this quieted lover before the dawn when shadows lift and so too, curses whispered in the dark this blood-red moon sits haughtily enthroned on her night sky waiting for my next move, impatient because I wait her out, out-wait her... Sign in to see full entry.

I love the sound of the wind as it ruffles the leaves in a tree; it can sound like the sea, the way it [the sea] whips across the top of the waves, catching its breath on the tips of waves full to bursting with glee as they race toward the shore. It’s a sound from my childhood. At night on ‘Mangarouhi’ (childhood farm) when the wind played reckless hide and seek in the pine trees at the back of my little bach (New Zealand name given to a self-contained house usually separate from the main house... Sign in to see full entry.

So Christmas has finally arrived. It’s cool and overcast here. The first time in nineteen years since I came to live here. It’s a first by all accounts. I like it this first cool Christmas. I think Christmas should excite me more than it these days. I miss Josh and Dan and Mede. There’s nothing that opens up the chasm-like distance between Sydney Cove and Aotearoa (colloquially known as New Zealand although this term specifically refers to the North Island of New Zealand where my family come... Sign in to see full entry.

Christmas Eve has a way of seeming so much longer than the twenty-four hours leading up to that all important Christmas day doesn’t it. Well, I think so, in many ways it makes the lead up to the actual ticking over of the clock so excruciatingly agonising. Like pulling teeth. I don’t know about you, but I find it’s an extremely bitsy kind of day, almost a nuisance really. A bad juggle mostly because one rather feels like they ought to be going when infact one is coming and depending on the time... Sign in to see full entry.

The city is beginning to slow down, there’s still the festive madness of last minute shopping and all that, an element of Christmas madness we never seem to get out of the habit of doing no matter how many years we’ve been given to practise it! Odd that. I love Public Holidays here in the ‘coat-hanger’ city, everyone leaves, it’s great. The streets are quiet, main roads less congested and despite the Boxing Day sales the day after Christmas, this chunky conurbation they call Sydney reverts to... Sign in to see full entry.

There’s something deeply satisfying about watching some of the ‘older’ blokes of music on centre stage. I was thinking this very thought when I was watching a performance by Cream Live at the Royal Albert Hall. The thing you notice about Eric Clapton is that he’s a very cool guy. Tall and cool, refreshing like a Vodka Lime Twist. There’s something entirely joyful and soul-lifting about watching a guy enjoy sharing his music the way he does. There’s something to be said for a life lived. It’s... Sign in to see full entry.

In New Zealand, deep in the heart of Central Otago, back in 1993, a couple of mates brought a couple of paddocks side by side (only one of them eventually kept the titles to both patches of land) and they had it in their heads to grow some grapevines on both patches of land. To all intents and purposes, they succeeded. I love their story, you can read about it at www.twopaddocks.com my point is that should you ever find yourselves in an establishment that stocks their wine, buy it and drink it.... Sign in to see full entry.

Do you ever just enjoy doing something for something’s sake? Sometimes? Rarely? Never? That’s a shame is all I can say. That and, well you should make a pact with yourself to change that during the Christmas break. It’s really kind of liberating. There’s a lot to be said for ignoring the ‘voices in your head’ and just going your own way about doing a thing. I find that all the time! Surprised? Well, neither am I! But you always knew that about me right? I have certain friends who would... Sign in to see full entry.

I love this time of year, you get to read a lot. I always associate the Christmas season with a cache of newly acquired books and the chance to read uninterrupted through days at a time if one felt so inclined. It’s heaven. The best part of all is that if your favourite author has written a sequel to last year’s novel there’s a good chance you’ll be picking up where you left off with old character friends in some delicate plot to save the world or them and with just the right amount of twists... Sign in to see full entry.

My favourite vegetable is corn; I could eat it till the cows come home. I love it cooked and eaten right off the cob, I love it popped and I love it done in the old fashioned maori tradition, as kaanga wai. “This literally translates as ‘corn water’, but means a water cured corn dish. Maori food has its roots in their tradition and culture, also out of necessity; making use of foods readily available, in season or finding ways of preserving them for future use. ‘Kaanga wai’ certainly comes under... Sign in to see full entry.

I love watching children blow bubbles, their eyes light up as if it were singularly the most magical moment in their lives, and perhaps it is. Right then. I love the single-minded way that they go about their lives. It’s so here and now. We adults could learn a thing or two from living like that. I just love the lit eyes. It’s so in the moment. Nothing else matters. Not the moments before and not the moments after. It’s sincerely priceless. Tell me why it is that living in the moment seems so... Sign in to see full entry.

At the top of One tree hill on Te Tui Station you can see a long long way away. It’s funny how just that little bit of height can give you a perspective you wish you could see from down in the valley. I have a confession. I scrambled up *Himself (my name for the macadamia nut tree in the backyard) today. I needed the perspective. Getting up was no problem as even a fleet-footed cat will tell you, getting down, well now, that’s a whole other story again. But the things you can see up there. Over... Sign in to see full entry.

From time to time it can feel like every day runs seamlessly into the other. Nothing wrong with that I suppose but I can’t say its mind inspiring. I like the bumps in the road, I like the way they cause havoc and make us adapt quickly to circumstances in order to overcome the unforeseen difficulty. Edgy is good. I’ve just finished reading Eric Bishoff’s book called “Controversy Creates Cash”. For those of you unfamiliar with his name. Eric Bishoff was the former President of WCW, the... Sign in to see full entry.

When I think about how the year has played out I can’t help but see it in the context of the people I’ve met. Recently, I’ve met an incredibly brave woman, her name is Elizabeth. Her husband is young, like she is. He’s dying of cancer. It’s a loathsome disease. They have two young boys, beautifully handsome boys. My heart sinks, watching as one does, helplessly from the sidelines as this disease ravages their father’s life with each passing day. How do you speak to the silent pain in another’s... Sign in to see full entry.

I like that the older you get the less you have to work at getting every other man and his dog to appreciate that fact. It’s like the imperceptible manner by which seasons change their leaves, over time we know it will happen and therefore we are less likely to stand in its way when it does. And because we know, there’s less of a reason to stand so rigidly on guard. We make friends with the guards and them with us. I love that the addition of another year allows us to pass through areas that... Sign in to see full entry.

Molly and I play this game with each other, we pretend to ignore each other while peripherally maintaining an acute awareness of just what the other is up to. Where cats have it all over humans (and me in particular) is that they really know how to press home the aloof advantage. Molly has honed hers to a fine art. Her middle name should be “pretended aloofness”. Pretended because she’s never so disconnected from events that she isn’t fully aware of exactly where she’s at, she’s wily that way.... Sign in to see full entry.

I don’t know about you but when I front up in a Coffee shop and am faced with the prospect of having to choose a coffee from what looks like a mile long list, it can feel quite daunting! I’m a pleb! I mean, I don’t actually care who sees me drinking coffee, where I’m drinking coffee or indeed what kind of coffee I’m drinking. The prescription is simple for me. It just has to taste good. Ergo, no bitter after-taste and no tongue-burning painful sensations that brings tears to the eyes for all the... Sign in to see full entry.

I love that the cold air is unapologetic about the way it thwacks you across the face no matter how undeserving we think we might be of such treatment. Have you ever wished you could do that to someone you feel has a complete knack for ticking you off and walk away feeling smug about it? In all honesty, the thought has crossed my mind on one or two occasions but you know I’m a wuss. It would be an awful thing to do really. Me, I like the thought of throwing a gooey, messy pie better. And... Sign in to see full entry.

Moving further into the festive season makes the thought of sparkling things adventuresome. Liquid sparkling things I mean. The French have got the champagne market all sewn up, Reims in particular. And while we mere mortals can only aspire to semantic practises of name-calling Non/Vintage Sparkling wines instead of the french-owned ‘champagne’ I doubt that anyone in their right mind cares as long as it tickles the nose and makes us laugh out loud to boot! There is a particular attitude down in... Sign in to see full entry.

The thing about having and showing so much promise is that at some point in time we have to front up with the goods. Is that a truism or what? If you’re anything like me, you’d have to agree there’s a stronger probability that we’ll have a rather more circuitous truth in the bag than real-time ism denoting an actual result. How strongly strange our reality is then. Stranger even than fiction? Well maybe! Have you ever had the passing thought that despite everything we have going for us we’re our... Sign in to see full entry.

Trust can seem so fragile. How fragile? As fragile as a single cobweb strung between the branches of two trees, or a hairline crack in glass that hasn’t shattered completely? Nothing malevolent about that I guess! Maybe, maybe not but the weakness is there isn’t it. A pane now or a maybe a pain later? We can’t tell can we? Over a longish period of time I’ve realised that trust can be tough too. Rigorous in its expectations of us, our lives and our relationships with those close and near. There’s... Sign in to see full entry.

As time goes by I’m more and more convinced that what matters most to us, is not ultimately, what matters most to a single other person in the world. And why is that? Because unless we’ve taken the time to explain in depth to a single other person why we think and believe the things that we do, no-one else really gets it. Well, not immediately. They deserve brownie points for sure if they’ve tried! We’re complex creatures, we humankind. Paradoxically complex and simple, together. We stand... Sign in to see full entry.

I’m reminded that there is a beauty in death that can be overlooked because of the grief experience. The grief takes over and we see and hear nothing else save feel the overwhelming tsunami of pain that comes from a crystal clear understanding that our loved one will not come home with us tonight. That moment is more heart-wrenching than any other. The beauty, though we don’t realise it at the time, is in the humility with which our loved one accepts their destiny. For us who remain living, it... Sign in to see full entry.

I’ve sometimes thought that the act of harmony and accord is such a tight-rope performance, having us teetering above a cauldron of fiery emotions that lick at our heels and feeling for all the world like they might threaten our very existence. And I wonder sometimes why we put ourselves through the wringer like that? Are we simply playing the martyr? Thrusting our chins in front of the local bully and allowing him or her to have a free shot! Mon dieu! I’ve sometimes thought that’s precisely... Sign in to see full entry.

Survival is an interesting modus operandi. It’s odd really because at the heart of a situation is a softness that can somehow gets lost in the translation. I often wonder what it is that enables us to survive situations and experiences. And I am constantly amazed at the human capacity for resilience in times such as those. I wonder how people survive the things that they do and why exactly this one or that one fares better or not so well moreso than the other. Can we attribute it to past... Sign in to see full entry.

At Sarah’s house there’s a flurry of busyness and early morning preparation. The big day has finally arrived. When I arrived later in the morning I felt like I’d happened upon a wonderfully colourful fairy ring made up of real little people. So much youthful energy. And so many beautiful fairies both female and male alike. I liked that some of the boys got into the theme of things, I have to say however; it was Groovy Susie that so made me feel tired and alive at the same time just on the sheer... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s my little friend Sarah’s birthday tomorrow; the world is so big when you’re five years old. And ‘big school’ is no longer a notion but will become a reality. Imagine it! There’s a terrific excitement everywhere, ‘Groovy Susie’ is leading the parade with her fanciful take on life as Sarah knows it. Oh to be five again! Molly is wondering what all the fuss is about. Nose to the sky she smells a party for sure! Do you think that the buzzy feeling inside your tummy ever goes away? You know the... Sign in to see full entry.

Does it seem that we’re in a cycle again? The one where everything old is new again? It feels like that right now. It’s happening in fashion, in design (in all its guises). I get that way with memories from time to time. It’s an odd sensation when that happens because there’s that odd-about sense that you know a particular memory for the familiar sense that it gives you. I rather like it when they [memories] surprise me and get about incognito. We can be like strangers passing on the street and... Sign in to see full entry.

The thing about taking a good long hard look at your life is that it can make a person feel regretful or want to compare their life with someone else’s. Now, there might be some merit in that (if I could think of some) but for the most part, I don’t think there is. I mean, empathetically a person could rationalise to walk in another person’s shoes is to at least understand but really and truly, if you weren’t prepared to go the whole hog and actually live the life, why start to begin with? Could... Sign in to see full entry.

The world of boxes is an enchanting one. It’s an interesting phenomenon for the mere marvel of attribution. I have a great little box made from Linden wood, with feather joins and a raised edge construction. It has a sun motif on it and when opened emits the fragrance of the linden wood it’s made of. It was and still is a delightful discovery. Boxes they say, give us a sense of mystery and hidden treasures. I use this small box to keep a box of matches in, I figure it takes away the curious... Sign in to see full entry.

Have you ever sat so close to a fire that smoke’s got in your eyes? It stings and your eyes water profusely. And yet, we can love the warmth of the fire more than the disagreeable experience of the smoke getting in our eyes. Have you ever found that? M There is something so magical about sitting beside an open fire and feeling the warmth of it melt into your skin the way butter melts into hot toasted bread. And speaking of toast. I have to say, despite the wizardry of technology, no toast I’ve... Sign in to see full entry.

Terrifically handsome men still unnerve me, even at my age now. I’m never sure why that is exactly, all I know is that in the company of one or more of them I have a hard time getting my thoughts to act cohesively in an attempt to at least sound like I’m on top of my game. I think it’s the handsome part that does me in a bit. It’s distractive and it’s hardly lady-like to stare is it? We live with such double standards don’t we! I mean, a guy on the other hand has hardly any qualms about staring... Sign in to see full entry.

Molly is snoozing on the end of the bed, her nose buried under the blanket. She makes snoozing look deliciously edible. I could while away the hours with dat puddy tat! And I do. I’ve said it once and I’m sure I’ll keep saying it again and again, she brings me such joy. They don’t ask that much from us our pets. Food, shelter and kindness in return. But what they give us, well, it’s beyond description isn’t it. We feel no judgement, we get no angst though some can be quick to understand their... Sign in to see full entry.

Our little Bowlo is finding its feet. I thought you might like to know that. The new Board has been in place now for 10 weeks, it has worked tirelessly to put the insides to the business. It’s been a huge effort from everyone. And even more interestingly, has been evidencing the strengths of the parts combined to strengthen the whole. It’s like a tapestry. Threads interwoven. And the thing about that process is that the threads while individually sewn, go on to form something more beautiful than... Sign in to see full entry.

A cross the State where I live here in NSW, bushfires continue to burn. It’s been a month now. It’s always an anxious time for people living near or within reach of such menacing devastation. I worry for them and about them and I keep them at the front of my thoughts. The wind outside in the backyard has whipped itself up into a rock concert frenzy and it occurs to me that though colourful in literary description there is a much harsher reality when it comes to the real life situation. Faced... Sign in to see full entry.

There’s a dragon flying into the wind right in front of the window where I’m writing. The energy it must be expending to do that makes me tired watching. It got me thinking about how often I’ve flown into a head wind and seemingly felt like I was going nowhere, no time soon. It felt disheartening at times. The problem with that latter approach to thinking however is that sometimes we’ve actually travelled further along than we know, it just feels like we’re standing still. I noticed that the... Sign in to see full entry.

I appear to have chocolate crackles on the brain. Everywhere I look my brain manages to creature the illusion that makes those certain things look like chocolate crackles in disguise! Impossible? No really, it’s true! This must be how the Cookie Monster feels ALL the time! It must drive him to complete and utter distraction. Take an ordinary everyday thing like a pile of gravel. With enough imagination that commonplace heap of stones has in my context, the look if not texture, of chocolate... Sign in to see full entry.

We seem to be losing the art of how to listen. Maybe we began losing it when we became enamoured with all things video. Maybe video is killing the radio show! I was thinking back to a time recently when as a kid I listened to Children’s Radio from 7am-9am on a Sunday morning. It was such an eagerly awaited day and time. Why? Well, there were my childhood favourite stories like ‘Sparky and the Talking Train’ written by Alan Livingston (who also adapted “Little Toot”), Dr Seuss’ Gerald Mc Boing... Sign in to see full entry.

Call me simple but most of the time I don’t get pettiness. It looks like a waste of energy to me and it’s so projective. I’ve often wondered what’s in it for the person that behaves like that and I’m left rather nonplus as to the reason why they’d pursue that line of behaviour for so long and for so little return. I think pettiness is like a malaise; it clouds our thoughts and from time to time, there are some among us who allow such thoughts to invoke a deluge of torrential rain that often... Sign in to see full entry.

The weather like so much else about our lives can be so unpredictable. Personally, I have rather a love-hate relationship with unpredictability. I hate the ‘not knowing’ characteristic of it because I’m so inquisitive. I like knowing and that my friends is both a problem and quite different from a propensity to want control of everything about your life. Bottom line I suppose is that I’m just nosy for life. I like poking around in it. I have a mate, Burmo, he’s always got his nose in something... Sign in to see full entry.

Do you remember when you were growing up those moments when you felt left out from a peer group or even among particular friends within your own group of friends. This isn’t a sense of ‘belonging’ incognito. No, it’s something quite different though I’d concede related in some way, just don’t ask me how. The thing about being ‘left out’ is it sucks big time because of the worth that we attach to its importance. Which importance? Well, the one where we are the centre of the universe! It even... Sign in to see full entry.

Belonging has a way of sending us into a tail-spin that no other sense or effect on who we are has than anything I’ve been thinking about lately. I’ve often wondered about that. Why its bark is equal in all parts to its bite. Why, it [belonging] has the capacity to alienate us from reality in much the same way that loneliness can and does. When I wonder about ‘belonging’ I often wonder why it’s so important and I realise that it goes to knowing and feeling we have a place and significance in the... Sign in to see full entry.

Molly is having a lovely time in the backyard. I love watching her raise her nose to the air and follow unseen whiffs of cat-loving delight. It makes you think how little we human bi-peds use senses other than the obvious to take in the full range of our surrounds. Or how often is more to the point. It’s blustery outside, Himself (the Macadamia Nut) tree is having possibly his worst bad hair day since I moved to the ‘sham. The wind is like a wet tea towel flicked at his back in jest or... Sign in to see full entry.

I was thinking that it’s impossible for time to stand still as we hope it will. It’s like a momentary hope on our part to want that, but in all honesty it’s never going to happen. No. Time (as we know it) is destined and determined to continue marching to it’s own drum beat and we, for our part must fall into step with it or alternatively opt out. But to where? I took in an exhibition recently of Peter Lik’s work. Lik is an Australian Landscape Photographer. I loved his bold work with its bold... Sign in to see full entry.

My niece and nephew both came out of surgery yesterday evening. The liver transplant went well but these next 72 hours will be critical. My heart was in my mouth all the while and yet it is still early days. They will both spend Christmas in hospital and Tracy will celebrate her 21 st birthday in ICU. Life. It can sure hand you some curve balls. But the courage of this darling niece and nephew, well, it’s to be admired. My prayers have wings to you both. I’m reminded that this isn’t the first... Sign in to see full entry.

Today marked the start of a new beginning for me. Today I got Molly, a black domestic short-haired cat. She has a quieter disposition than Banjo, not that he was loud particularly. He was a typical boy and as boisterous as they come. When he first arrived home, he was out of the cat carrier, looking around. He was quite nosy actually. I loved that about him. He made himself at home very quickly. Molly on the other hand has had to contend with two major incidences in her life today. Firstly, she... Sign in to see full entry.

My niece Tracy is in Auckland (NZ) Intensive Care Unit. She’s twenty years old. A couple of weeks ago she went to see her doctor because she’d been feeling unwell. After blood work she was admitted to hospital, on a ward initially, but now in its Intensive Care Unit. It turns out her unwellness stemmed from the fact her liver had begun to shut down. She’s awaiting a liver transplant now. How does that happen you and I might wonder. I don’t know. I know about a lot of other things, but I don’t... Sign in to see full entry.

Revenge is a strange creature; it’s a supposedly mythical green-eyed monster. I say supposedly because I’ve known some proponents of it and let me tell you, there’s nothing half-measured about the way that they execute this settling of the scores. To coin some aussie-grown wisdom, “it ain’t pretty!” The act of revenge is actually over-rated in my opinion. I mean to say, does the avenger feel better (well, momentarily I suspect) but better over the long term? I suspect not. Why? Because it goes... Sign in to see full entry.

To my way of thinking, traditions/rituals define an important social component of our lives that I think is fast becoming lost in the Western world and I find that sad actually. I feel they’ve been shelved because of the adverse attention that’s been given to them from a historical context rather than on their own merits in a person’s life. I feel that political correctness in almost all areas of our lives and society is beginning to achieve a sanitation of all things colourful to the point of... Sign in to see full entry.

hump It’s day. The day where we look forward to the coming of the weekend. To be honest, it’s still a stretch when you view it realistically. I mean, there are still three working days left in the week before we can put our feet up. What’s with that? Why couldn’t Thursday be the hump day? I mean it’s closer to the weekend wouldn’t you say? By citing Thursday as the Hump Day, the inference of course is that, the expectation is much greater because it really is closer to the onset of the weekend.... Sign in to see full entry.

I noticed the other day that the Hibiscus cutting in the backyard was sprouting leaves. It’s a beautiful thing that. The quietness of the act yet the abiding sense of the continuing lifecycle. The Jacaranda tree has carpeted the ground at the front gate with a luxurious, soft deep purple pile. It makes me feel like lying down on it and rolling around on it the way you would any new carpet. Leaving a butterfly wings impression in it seems definitely on the cards. I noticed that the neighbour’s... Sign in to see full entry.

Sometimes we never see the bend in the road (particularly when it’s dark) until we’re on it. “Modern roads feature a convex transverse profile known as superelevation or a camber This camber is designed to allow water to drain away from the road to its edges. Water is then carried away by gutters to drains placed at intervals. Some roads don't have gutters and water simply drains away to a naturally porous verge, or into ditches. Modern roads employ cambers in the bend of the road to help car... Sign in to see full entry.

The interesting thing about meeting and talking to relatives you’ve never met before is that you learn something more about your broader family than you otherwise would have by simply reading a name on a family tree. What do you learn? Well, you learn that there are more ‘family’ stories than you could poke a stick at much less hear about on bush telegraph that has strange but interesting twists. I like those ones. The ones that lead you up the garden path. They make you work harder to get the... Sign in to see full entry.

The weather has been playing tricks on us again. It’s cast a grey blanket over things like a slow dirge. Ever notice how people seem to be caught as if in slow-mo on a grey day? Grey days certainly have an odd effect on people. Or maybe just me! Grey days make me feel sluggish; make me feel like I’m dragging my feet. I have a conversation with myself that goes something like this, “so what’s the go? Why the long face?” The fly in the ointment is I’m just horsing around, that’s why the long face!... Sign in to see full entry.

The strangest thing happened to me today. By some serendipitous stroke of cosmic interference I was phoning my neighbour Marie and somehow managed to key into my mobile phone a bunch of totally incorrect numbers. The result was, I ended up reaching another Marie whom I had been at school with 19 years ago. It was absolutely incredible to say the least! And more than that, she was living in another State, in the same country. When I told her my name the voice on the other end of the phone asked... Sign in to see full entry.

There are times in our lives when we have to play hard ball against some fairly strong opposition of our own natural inclinations. I’m talking about confrontation. If I could, I’d avoid it like the plague. I say that, but I’ve never actually walked away from the frontline when push comes to shove. What invariably happens to me is, I’m brought face-to-face with a situation and the rather more pragmatic side of my nature kicks in to deal with it in the most efficient and effective way it knows... Sign in to see full entry.

There’s something about being surrounded by art that resuscitates my soul. I can’t put my finger on whether it’s the high concentration of ideas or energy or kindredness or all that and more that makes me feel that way but what I know, is the effect is always the same. I feel alive. Colour is an extremely heady sensation for me. I love it. I love the energy of it. And best of all I’m besotted with the emotion that energy evokes in the depths of my being. Life calling to life. And despite what I... Sign in to see full entry.

I like the timelessness of thought, how being able to set down in just about any time, place and or dimension is entirely permissible because thought allows us to do that. It’s kind of cool isn’t it? It’s interesting too to consider just how people around us do that as well, particularly when you think of some of the world’s greatest thinkers. Good thinking changes an atmosphere, an environment and an attitude. I’ve always wondered how it did that. For instance, where does an atmosphere, an... Sign in to see full entry.

"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love for love, it would be utterly scorned" - from Song of Songs. Here in these lines are the rich example of "biblical wisdom literature" and in these words are wisdom's description of an amorous... Sign in to see full entry.

Sometimes making sense of everything can give you a headache, wouldn't you agree? So here's the thing, why do we feel we have to have an explanation for everything? Whatever happened to the delight of wonderment? My friend Lucas, his old flatmate Bec and I pondered this very thing over dinner the other night. Okay, so that was Friday night, I'm a slow thinker, my reflective reflexes are still yawning from another late night/early morning. Nevertheless, it's a valid question. Why do some of us... Sign in to see full entry.

Have you ever been travelling so much that you wake up the next morning wondering where on earth you are? I mean you remember the bit where you understand that you've been travelling for what feels like an eternity. It's just that when you open your eyes some mornings you're just not immediately sure what city you're in. I have. It's particularly disorientating. Over time and a Pink Elephant (gin, lemonade & bitters) I developed a way of reminding myself exactly where I was the next morning by... Sign in to see full entry.

It’s eerie here in the backyard today, no birds twittering, and no insects making insect-noises. It makes things feel not quite right somehow! Unnatural even. I noticed the fig tree along Brighton Street where I walk has been fruiting furiously. Such serious fruiting reminds me that Christmas must be just around the corner. And butterflies. There seems to have been a profuse explosion of them this year. Particularly, the large black ones with spots on them that have taken to dancing on the wind... Sign in to see full entry.