A Big Deal? Melbourne Cup memories, millennials and Michelle Payne
I first discovered that the Melbourne Cup was a Big Deal when my kindergarten class ran our own sweepstakes. There was no money involved, of course, and I don’t recall watching the race, but every 5 and 6 year old in the class drew a small piece of paper from a Danish cookie tin. Thus were we each assigned a horse. Being a very rational … Continue reading A Big Deal? Melbourne Cup memories, millennials and Michelle Payne
The seed to lead: reflections of a beta girl
I’ve always thought of myself as a beta kinda gal. Even as a child, it was mostly my younger sister who spearheaded our games and playing.
I was 26 the first time anybody told me I had demonstrated leadership. Continue reading The seed to lead: reflections of a beta girl
So there’s this giant thank you card you should sign
I wasn’t always an optimist – quite the contrary. When I was 14, I wrote this poem about climate change: The earth heats up The sea rises And so we sink Deeper into ignorance It’s good, right? Yeah, well, as much as there was something satisfying about writing emo poetry and listening to Linkin Park – and I still do both occasionally, though never at … Continue reading So there’s this giant thank you card you should sign
Paradise
Paradise, he declares while I proceed to speak of chains. I am Con-Tiki in reverse, a raft that’s weathered wind and wave. But I’ve tethered me to this here shore, I’m jealous of the roaming tide; these feet that wander rarely now, this heart traversing cloud. Freedom, his desire’s for while forty-five million slaves cry out. Deaf to their lament, their groans, blind to his own … Continue reading Paradise
Aperture/Closure
I. It’s been one of those nights when sleep escapes and in its wake these words that race, stampeding through your mind; longing to be verse, yearning for release they cry out ink me, ink me onto parchment. Metabolise the pain, sweet heart. After all, it’s like any other bitter thing – the bile, the aftertaste, it will linger, but it will fade. Swallow, stay … Continue reading Aperture/Closure
Notes from a champion tickboxer
Sometimes I think I might have made a great bureaucrat. But alas, I don’t like ticking boxes. And so it is that since graduating, I’ve given up ticking the boxes and being boxed in. Instead, I’m beating the box and I’m boxing the ticks. Continue reading Notes from a champion tickboxer
City love (and lack thereof)
There are lots of things I love about you, Sydney.
I love your dazzling waterfronts, stretching out from the Sydney Harbour that the tourists see, all the way west up the Parramatta River – simply spectacular, even on an overcast day.
I love your cafés, even if you’re no Melbourne.
And I actually love your trains, even if people are always complaining about how these are always running late.
When I thought I might be leaving you for good last year, it was easy to list the things I would miss.
But loving things about Sydney isn’t the same as loving Sydney.
Now that I’m back here with you again, I’ve realised that I … Well, I don’t love you.
Unfortunate, hey? Continue reading “City love (and lack thereof)”
Half-time: the benefits of alcohol
I’m halfway through my commitment to match my charitable giving with my alcohol spending.
See how much I’ve paid for booze so far. And see which charities are going to be better off for it! Continue reading Half-time: the benefits of alcohol
Not-so-random acts of kindness
I don’t have any bones to pick with public transport, but sometimes it can really screw you over. This is a shout out to the kind stranger who helped me out a few days ago. I was up in Brisbane for work and needed to get a bus from Central to my meeting out west. Wanting to check that I was in the right place, I turned to a … Continue reading Not-so-random acts of kindness
Of vengeance and forgiveness
Did anyone else catch the Jesus parallels in the Divergent series? All in all I was mostly disappointed with the trilogy, but at least there were some interesting ideas.
The books, however, did explore themes of guilt, regret and sacrifice. I suppose in that context, some Jesus undertones are unsurprising.
Continue reading Of vengeance and forgiveness
