penneylaneonline

There's a ridiculous (to me) stigma attached to buying, owning and reading a paperback book as opposed to owning and proudly displaying the more coveted and somewhat more elitely-tagged hardcover than is palatively digestible to those of us who do happen to buy and own paperbacks. Don't get me wrong, I own hardcovers too. Now, I get the investment angle if that's what you're into (First Edition, Hardcover, signed by the author) have a market value outside of the more practical just-want -to-read... Sign in to see full entry.

Do you ever feel afraid that you'll get found out for being a fraud? That the current success you now enjoy (however fleeting) somehow feels like it ought to belong to someone else? That very thought occurred to me in the late/early hours of this morning. It caught me on the hop, came completely out of the blue, entirely left field. I feel sure these things are sent to test us (again and again it would seem). It's a disturbing insecurity I have that tends to send me into a tail-spin from time to... Sign in to see full entry.

There are signs afoot here in the 'Sham that Spring's about to burst forth overnight. Pink and white cherry blossom trees have erupted into spectacular bloom. Not all of them, just the enthusiastic few! You've gotta admire them for that! There's something about good news that makes you want to be the first one to tell it, I figure that's how these enthusiastic few feel about the incipience of Spring. It's early morning here right now, five am. The backyard is draped in a black pitch. I love this... Sign in to see full entry.

I was 16 (and then some in subsequent years of reading) when I first read the biographies of women like Katharine Meyer Graham (Katharine Graham, A biography) Golda Meir (Golda), Vera Nabokov (Vera - Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), Amiria Stirling (Amiria, The Life Story of a Maori Woman), Rosa Parks (Quiet Strength), Janet Paterson Frame (Wrestling with the Angel: A life of Janet Frame) Mary Joseph Aubert (Never Let Go!) Riperata Kahutia, Neilsine Paget and many many more... they made me feel honoured... Sign in to see full entry.

Moving on from can be traumatic at the worst of times but it's the moving to that seems to raise the blood pressure the most. It's such an odd thing that, I mean, you'd think (for some of us) that disrobing from the past could be the best thing we've ever done but you'd never know it by the way we act sometimes. Perhaps it's the grief of it all, a stage in the death process that makes us so fuzzy-brained. I believe we die a thousand deaths each day, every day. It's just that we don't pay too... Sign in to see full entry.

There are those among us who advocate that today marks the beginning of both an auspicious day as well as an auspicious cycle of good fortune. I agree. I see it in Life, in her seasonal rhythms. I can't help but marvel at the intuitive way in which we fall into step with her. I feel a synchronic sense of togetherness happens because it must and does, it's all too uncanny for description really. Yet there's no denying it either. It happens on time and seemingly every time. I love that there is a... Sign in to see full entry.

Do we value friendship as much as we say? Or is it just a convenient verbal brush off to say it and then do nothing about it? Heaven knows I've been guilty of neglecting it on many occasions in the past. My long-suffering friend Sal would probably agree with that, she's a great writer, a great keep-in-touch-with-er'. Friendship has such an everyday goodness that I suspect we can take forgranted its nutritional value to us. The reason this entry is so short today is I'm waiting for the sound of... Sign in to see full entry.

Father Chris Riley is a living saint, he's been in the priesthood since he was 18 years old. He's a real, true blue christian (Catholic by persuasion) walking his talk. Walking it and talking it among chronically homeless and drug addicted youth off the street and supporting them while they turn their lives around. When it seemed to them no-one wanted them, he offered them his hand. When it seemed to them no-one else cared, he cared. When they were hungry, he fed them. And when their tears had... Sign in to see full entry.

I'm reminded how singularly precious life is when one is allowed to hold a small and new life in ones' arms, the innocence and loveliness of whom leaves a deep yet soft impression in one's heart. Welcome Philip. In an age when children are given all manner of strange names and are expected to live inside of them for the rest of their born days, the name Philip was startling to me when I first heard of your arrival. Startling because it's from another time almost. And then I met you yesterday,... Sign in to see full entry.

Things change so quickly here in the 'Sham. Yesterday the sky was a transient blue, the colour of a newborn kitten's eyes and now the heavens have opened their reservoirs once more. This grey overcoat mightn't be what we'd wear by choice since it can make usual city garb look drab, but, there are farmers in great need of this longed for drop somewhere in my catchment. That thought brightens me no end. On another tack and speaking of choices. Singledom is a not-so-drab topic of conversation as... Sign in to see full entry.

The air outside in the 'Sham (Petersham where I live) is very snappy on my face this morning. It has the smack of winter in its connecting hand, I've ducked inside to avoid the connection. On my walk this morning I noticed we have so many animals here in our little part of the world, big woofers and small ones, feline fatales by the pawful. And birdlife with attitude. I love it. My friend Jase was sitting at my desk yesterday (where I do most of my writing) and commented on the fact that it was... Sign in to see full entry.

Jealousy is an unnerving emotion, more specifically, uncontrolled jealousy is an unnerving emotion. I think it's understated to simply call it a 'green-eyed monster' because I fear that it's a more vicious creature when left to wander at will. There's the prowler about it that makes it somehow more menacing but worse than that (as if that weren't enough) there's the fact it has such a dark side to its nature that I suspect even angels cross the street rather than have to look it in the eye when... Sign in to see full entry.

There's something in the air. Some cosmic concentration that requires me to look more closely at my life. Clean out the garage as my old mate Wordman would say. Do you feel it? Do you anticipate it? Would you do it, clean out the garage? I suppose the biggest obstacle is getting past the unwilling cognisance of our thoughts to also dictate our physical inclinations to get up out of our chairs and actually make our way to the garage (read spare room, kitchen, lounge, cupboard, and attic) in the... Sign in to see full entry.

Its hard to believe that we have already reached the end of the seventh calendar month of the year. And its not so much that time has flown by but the fact it has been jam packed with change and changes. I find embracing change is a necessary tension within a modern life context. A necessary attitude to frame or reframe the tension rather than always be struggling against it. It's that easy? Rarely but it is do-able. Having said that, I suffer from a sagging sense (though I'm getting better with... Sign in to see full entry.

Long goodbyes are like Last Suppers, the last place we really want to be but I guess someone has to do it. I've done my share in my time. I wanted to blog about that today but I'm distracted by something more pressing. I did an interview with an inspiring up and coming artist Gemma Hiscox-Helleur yesterday. She's a baby (to be read with affection), just 22 years old, rediscovering her groove in pencil and everything else to come. Gemma Hiscox-Helleur was born in Pukekohe ( New Zealand ) the... Sign in to see full entry.

The 'Sham is cloaked in Country Road blue, the colour of the linen shirts tucked inside dark blue Levis the kind cowboy models wear in those bill-board ads. It's that good. Lately I've been thinking how settled I feel inside, like I was beginning to fit inside my skin again. I'm not sure I know how I want to feel about that but some things are worth just feeling thankful for. I am. Thankfulness is so under-rated but it shouldn’t be. It goes to the heart of all things precious to a person.... Sign in to see full entry.

My friend TB lives in Hong Kong now, again. I met her as one does on one of life's sidings, both of us working in the same place in the backstreets of Marrickville, believing for separate reasons that working a Not-for-Profit was (individually) altruistic, worth while and meaningful. On reflection, we were both probably very naive but our hearts were also probably in the right place. I love hindsight, it's kinder to us than we are to ourselves. Maybe we like the self-flagellation, or maybe it's... Sign in to see full entry.

It's a busy time, I'm applying for a Local Government Grant to produce and exhibit a work I've called " 'Sham This Indifferent Space." It's an informal portrayal and interpretation using a modern multi-medium triptych sense to explore a trio of Premises based on definitions of a culture by George Simmel. Premise 1 contends that " In our modern urban culture people can seem to occupy different kinds of cultural worlds, but the space where they come across each other belongs, by mutual decision to... Sign in to see full entry.

My uncle was a drunk. It's probably not something family members would probably admit about him, but he was. Denial is subversive to say the least. He was a simple man, leading a fairly simple life. By day he earned his living in the shearing shed and in the evening he spent alot of his hard-earned cash drinking beer in the local watering-hole they called "the kumara patch." A kumara is the maori word for a sweet potato and I'm not entirely sure how that figures but that's what it was called. He... Sign in to see full entry.

Affection as we know it these days can be fraught with any number of pit-falls, the worst of which, is possibly misunderstanding. It can be a terribly misunderstood emotion this affection since all and sundry consider it more an action than an emotion. This is a misnomer. It is first of all an emotion that could conceivably lead to an action. It can also be a genuine source of kindredness with its elements of abiding love and also a deeply held respect for the other person. Such elements as... Sign in to see full entry.