Howard Gardner was spot on :-)

Taking a mini-break from my Christmas Story, I thought I would do another of those wonderful little quizzes (idea stolen from Ceramix. Thanks!). While he came out as SPATIAL (see his post here):

http://ukceramix.blogspot.com/2008/10/howard-gardner-has-lot-to-answer-for.html

I apparently come out as Linguistic. I wonder if that's good or not? Given especially since this is the SECOND test telling me my best career options is as a writer.....

Anyway, here's what they had to say about me:

Your result for Howard Gardner's Eight Types of Intelligence Test ...

Linguistic

31% Logical, 22% Spatial, 65% Linguistic, 31% Intrapersonal, 18% Interpersonal, 33% Musical, 6% Bodily-Kinesthetic and 27% Naturalistic!

"Verbal-linguistic intelligence has to do with words, spoken or written. People with verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words and dates. They tend to learn best by reading, taking notes, listening to lectures, and via discussion and debate. They are also frequently skilled at explaining, teaching and oration or persuasive speaking. Those with verbal-linguistic intelligence learn foreign languages very easily as they have high verbal memory and recall, and an ability to understand and manipulate syntax and structure.

Careers which suit those with this intelligence include writers, lawyers, philosophers, journalists, politicians and teachers." (Wikipedia)

A Shopping Centre Christmas - The Revenge of the Snowlord....

As I made it to the doors of the inner sanctum, I realised - with no uncertain dread - that I could no longer hear them behind me. Instead, I became aware of a foreboding presence lingering somewhere in the vicinity I had just vacated. I turned, fearing the worst.

There he was - the Snowlord himself - Frosty.

And behind him, as far as the eye could see - elves and snowmen.

There would be no getting out of this one, it seemed. I found myself being surrounded on all sides. Elves with candy-canes began to herd me towards the doors to the Centre again. Frosty glared at me from behind his little black coal button eyes.

I knew that if I didn't somehow manage to escape, and soon, I would find myself in the crushes with the children, or worse, being forced to sit on Santa's lap - at the threat of a rap from the dreaded candy-cane-carrying-Elves.

There was nothing for it. I kicked out at the Snowmen nearest to me, jumping over fallen top-hats and stamping on pipes in my rush to get away.

They were quick, but I was quicker! Afterall, I had two legs, and Snowmen have none, and I was, quite frankly, desperate!

I turned again, and ran back into the Centre. There HAD to be another way out! Behind me, I could hear the Army of Snow, with Frosty at their head...their evil Elf minions at their every beck and call.

I ran back to where Santa was still miserably handing out presents to the children, and wondered, not for the first time, how I was going to get out of this mess.

I scanned the area as I ran. Up ahead was another emergency exit - this time leading directly onto a proper outdoor area. No chance of Snowmen following me down there, then. Oh! but how to get to it? All around me, as far as the eye could see, were Elves and Snowmen.

Still standing guard over the retched-looking Santa was Mrs Frosty, so no help from the big man in red, then.

Suddenly I realised that I was being watched by a pair of Elves.

To be concluded in the final installment.....
Please note - this story is copyrighted to me, and is not to be republished anywhere.

A Shopping Centre Christmas

In an attempt to regain a little of the Christmas Joy, I went in search of it. Here and there, I looked. Under tables, inside cupboards, even on the top shelf of the wardrobe, but no luck. So I thought - ooooh - I should search further afield.

Up to the shops I went, where I found a sinister looking Frosty The Snowman, and his wife, Mrs Frosty, standing guard over a rather thin looking Santa Claus, who was miserably handing out presents to small annoying children. These children were being herded by elves, each armed with large candy-canes with which to reprimand the children, or perhaps Santa himself.

The parents were kept well away from the enclosure. Once the children were removed from their loving hands, and herded into the crushes, there was nothing to stop the Elves or the Snowmen from their complete domination over them.

Not wanting to be mistaken for one of these poor small individuals, I quietly slunk away from this sinister scene of mass-enforced Christmasness.

Everywhere I looked, I found myself confronted with elves! Constantly patrolling the Centre, ever-watchful for small children. I had to get out of there! I made an initial dash for the nearest entrance, which was guarded by more of these evil little creatures, only to be turned back by a stampede of parents hurtling towards me with children in their arms, or above their heads, in an attempt to get away to safety.

Eventually I found an unguarded emergency exit and took my chance. Freedom! Oh, but wait. Where did those snowmen come from? Thousands of them - as far as the eye could see. What now? How do you deal with that many snowmen in one hit? I, an unarmed woman, was no match for what lay ahead, or behind, me.

I started to edge towards the carpark, hoping I might find somewhere to hide until I could think of some way out of this. I could see them, warily watching me, evil personified, their little black hats tilted ever-so-crookedly on their obscenely rounded heads, their pipes billowing smoke even now.

To hell with it! I ran for my life! I could hear them behind me, a vague sort of slithering slushy sound.

As I ran, I knew they were getting closer, but I could only run as fast as my little legs would let me, and they were catching up. Ah! An idea! It's 35 degrees Celsius outside, and what are snowmen made of?

SNOW!

Where they had amassed outside the doors to the centre had been an air-conditioned covered area, so they hadn't melted. But outside? What chance did they stand in that kind of heat?

All I had to do was get past them, and through the doors to the outside, and I'd be free of this madness.

And so I ran, heedless of my own safety. Ducking and diving, weaving left, then right, past the outstretched branches of these cruel masters of Christmas Joy. I knew they would follow me. They had to, or all would be lost.

Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment....

Please note - this story is copyrighted to me, and is not to be republished anywhere.

Christmas is hereby cancelled....

Due to overwhelming lack of interest worldwide, the united governments of the Planet Earth have decided to hereby cancel Christmas from this time forth.

Anyone in possession of any Christmas paraphernalia are kindly asked to hand them in at their local Community Centres before the due date of December 23rd.

Also, let it be known that on the night of the 24th December, worldwide, there will be a giant bonfire in every city in the world in which to burn any presents bought before the cancellation was announced. Please feel free to make use of this service. Charges will be posted at the gates. Please abide by the rules and governances of your Councils.

Anyone found in possession of anything even vaguely Christmas related come January will face court proceedings.

You have been warned.

Thank you for your co-operation.

The United World Governments.
Planet Earth

Writing prompts - 1, Inspiration - ziltch

Ever wondered why sometimes grass grows quickly and other times not? Nah, me neither! :-)

But either way, having spent half the day rearranging my dining room (again) so that I can finally have a table under the windows that look onto the back deck and the paddock down behind, in an effort to give me enough inspiration to actually WRITE something sometime soon that's worthy of being published ... I've noticed that my grass needs cutting. It's been a month since the last time though, and it's pretty much rained constantly since then, so I shouldn't complain, I guess.

The last few days I've not been sleeping all that well, due to various things going on in my life, so instead I've been catching up on the blogs I subscribe to. You'll probably notice that I've added a few new ones to my "Places to visit when you're not here" list. (go see!)

Mostly they are writers (no surprise there), and for the most part, British (again, no surprise). But as long as it keeps me happy, or at the very least, out of trouble... :-)

Aarrgghh!!!

Not feeling terribly Christmasy again this year, and wondering who will be the new people in the rent-a-house next door, given that my neighbours seem to have vanished literally overnight, along with my dalmatian's girlfriend (the staffy). Such is life, I guess.

Anyway, boring old housework to be done. More later (perhaps)...

Ah! the scent of coffee on a sunny Summer morning....

After a rather odd night, filled with odder dreams, it was very nice indeed to see the sunshine this morning. It's an absolutely glorious Sunday here in Queensland, and I, for one, am enjoying it greatly.

I've been outside to have a sit on my back deck with my dalmatian, and we've talked over the morning's events, which for him included early morning barking at everyone going past our back fence, and for me included answering emails from people I enjoy talking to (you know who you are!). I've also been out to the courtyard, which is where I took the photo at the top of this blog. It's a lemon-scented gum, apparently. It's in the middle of shedding its skin/bark, so when there's a breeze we (the animals and I, anyway) get a lovely lemony scent wafting over the courtyard. Not such a bad place to live, I guess.

I have to admit that I do love my little courtyard at the side of my house. It's paved, so no mowing necessary, plus it's lovely and sheltered. One of the main reasons I bought the house, in fact.

Other things happening in my life - I was informed of another writing competition for next year, and on doing some research, found a whole bunch of them, so I will indeed be one very busy girl for the next few months or so. But it's all good - if it gets me published, even better.

Anyway - emails to answer....

Toodles :-)

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Well at least it's sunny today. Once again, I've been up since before the crack of dawn, but no matter. I have things I want to accomplish today, so it's all for the best in the end.

Not a lot going on today, just places I need to be a bit later on. Apart from that, nothing spectacular.

I've been doing research into various writing forms - in other words, I've been listening to radio dramas on BBC7, watching various versions of Shakespearean plays, and watching movies of all forms.

But it's all research to a writer, I guess. The radio dramas were interesting, though. I have to admit - I like that style. Somewhere abouts I have a collection of old radio dramas from the US mostly - the stuff our parents and grandparents used to listen to of a Sunday evening before the advent of television. They make for entertaining listening at times :-)

Anyway, the sun is here for once, my dog's just appeared at the window inquiring whether I'll be joining him for my morning coffee anytime soon, and as I'm still half asleep, going outside might be just what I need.

Have a good day, all....

venture this way at your peril....

Once again an early start, but no matter. Sleeping is overrated, in my opinion :-)

I spent a great deal of time yesterday sorting out my MP3 collection (which is currently on three different hard-drives, and will take me awhile to get through). It's an interesting little detour off life's hard roads, for those willing to venture down that particular dark alleyway, into my music hoard.

Oh! the things to be found in there! Venture that way at your peril! :-)

But it was good to rediscover a few things about myself, if only that I have rather odd music tastes. It also brought back some interesting memories about the years that have since passed us by, and the things I got up to when I was a bit younger than I am now. Makes me sound bad, now, doesn't it? :-)

However, no - I only meant my long association with the choral scene (including men's barbershop - yep, that's men's, even though I am a woman, I sing the male vocal range), as well as with the various drama things I've done. Dark Horse, that's me!

But what more would you expect, with me being a writer? Of course I'm going to be creative. I'm going to be doing things like getting up on stage on a regular basis - something that both terrifies the living daylights out of me, and fills me with glee - to do everything from singing to playing musical instruments, to even acting on occasions. These are things I have done most of my life, in one shape or another.

Perhaps 2009 will see a return to that kind of life for me. Who knows?

Right now, though, I'm taking a well-earned break from serious writing, to just sit and ponder life's mysteries for a few days, and chill out with my music collection. That doesn't mean I'm not writing AT ALL, because I am, but mostly I'm finishing up some things I had to or chose to put aside over the last few years. And generally just taking it easy.

Anyway, coffee and music awaits, and I'm off for another day.

Toodles.

The Trepidation of Story Competition Entries

It's early here, or at least it was when I woke up about an hour ago. I've not been sleeping all that well of late, so I guess early starts are part of that.

I put my completed story in yesterday. It was interesting, standing in the line, waiting to be served, and doing a bit of people watching. I fast realised that I wasn't the only one holding a precious bundle in their hands. :-)

Just in my little section of the line I counted five of us, sheepishly standing there, ever-hopeful looks on our little faces, and our life's blood in five little packages in our hands, each as precious to us as our own lives.

By the time I reached the service desk, the number had risen to eight. Three blokes, five women. All of us, each as equally scared as the other!

Oh well, here's hoping! Only four more months before we find out who the winners are...

I am 35, going on ... umm ... 12?

I went out today with a friend, to celebrate two things:

1. finishing my story on time

2. my friend's new job as a Postie

What got me, was being asked for ID. Now that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's very odd indeed, considering I turned 35 this August just gone!

By my reckoning, I've been a fully-fledged adult now, for the past 18 years (god I feel old!), so why am I still being asked for ID? Probably because while I might be over the age of consent, I have yet to reach the HEIGHT of consent (apparently). Being a person of a smaller stature, with a young face - so I'm told, anyway - I often get mistaken for a child.

Mostly it's quite funny, but sometimes it can be quite annoying.

I'm not sure how to take today's little episode. Perhaps as it was meant - as a compliment :-)

Tired, but content

Ah!!!! The sigh of contentment that I can breathe, knowing that my story is all done and tucked up (almost) ready for bed.

It's been a fairly frantic few days here, trying to get it completed before the deadline, and I've noticed (somewhat) that I've been doing a bit of minor swearing in my posts of late, and for that I am truly sorry if I have offended anyone.

I do my best not to have what my mother (to this day) refers to as a "potty mouth" (don't you just love that term?), but sometimes stress gets the better of me and little furphys like the ones that have appeared over the past week ... umm ... appear?

So now that I'm not as stressed anymore, perhaps they might ... disappear ... ?

Okay, seeing as that is sorted out, I'm off to have a cuppa, not getting much joy from the sleeping thing!

Wah-friggin-who part 2

Yay! Time to do a happy dance! My story, weighing in at 4963 words, is finally completed! While it's only just within the word limit (that being 4000-6000 words), at least it's done.

Now it just needs to be checked out by Mum and my sister, and I am ready to enter it into the competition.

Oh happy day!

:-)

Wah-friggin-who

I'm up to 3943 words of my story. I HAVE to finish it tonight, so that it can be checked over by the "Powers that be" (read Mum and my sister there), before I take it on Monday.

And what is currently happening directly above me? A bloody storm! I've already had two brown-outs already in the past 10 minutes. My story is getting really good, and I really REALLY want to finish it tonight, but instead, it looks like, with the flash of lightening I just got through the window, that I won't be getting it done.

Damn!

Having just peeled myself off the ceiling after one rather close crack of lightening, I think I'm going offline for now.

I'm pretty sure I'll stop shaking soonish.....

Blog entry 2

I did a little questionnaire today that's supposed to tell me what kind of job I am best suited for. I thought, considering the results, that you might like to have a little read of what they said about me:

Personality Profile Results

This assessment provides a detailed snapshot of your personality type and working style. It's part of the more extensive Humm-Wadsworth Temperament Scale psychological assessment.

People with this temperament style can display quite contrasting behaviours. At times they will be outwardly competitive, vigorously defending and tenaciously holding to their position, particularly when challenged. At other times, however, when similar challenges are before them, they may withdraw (either physically or psychologically) from whatever is threatening them, not necessarily yielding to pressure but also not vocalising their opposition and, therefore, often appearing to others to be shy and reserved.

People with this temperament style take great pride in whatever they undertake, striving to develop expertise and often aspiring to prestigious positions. They are strong willed people who hold firmly to their own opinions without feeling the need to conform to the views of the majority. They are often able to argue their point of view with compelling conviction and will not change their views unless they are provided with irrefutable evidence.

Pressure builds rapidly for this style of person if they perceive that other people are interfering in their area of responsibility or criticising them unfairly. Their reaction to such stress is either to take a dominant stance, angrily and aggressively defending their point of view, or to merely "close off" from the offending person or situation, pursuing their intended course despite opposition, and more or less ignoring people who displease them. It is usually difficult, if not impossible, for others to predict which reaction this style of person will have. People around them can therefore find them very confusing and, as a result, may be wary of interacting with them.

They seek a work situation that has some status and prestige attached to it, where their work parameters are clearly defined and where they can be in charge of their own assignments, free from any form of external interference. They will expect to be thoroughly trained in whatever work they undertake, so that they can demonstrate competence and be free from adverse comments. They tend to find satisfaction in seeing "runs on the board" that provide them with a clear indication of their progress. Recognition of that progress, be it financial or in terms of status or other types of reward, is important to them. Their ideal work situation is one where direct management is not needed, where, for example, they can assess their own progress against previously established criteria.

People with this temperament style generally view their social life as their own business, choosing their activities in their own way and their own time, rather than being pressured into them by other people.

Summary and recommended professions

An individual with this temperament style is an absolutely independent person with strong opinions that do not often or easily tolerate contrary views. Often idealistic, their closed-minded approach makes it hard for them to work for others, except in a role where they have a say in the outcome or can come and go as they please. Alternatively, they like creative activities. Suitable roles would include:

Professional: Journalist; Hospital Administrator; Contract Designer
Skilled: Aide-de-Camp; Chef; Self-employed Consultant; Political Activist; Union Rep.

Strange how, in the listing of jobs that went with this Personality Profile Results, the very (VERY) first one was that of a writing job in South Australia.

Seems I am the perfect personality to be what I am - a writer. And no, dear sister, I am not going to take the job in South Australia - I don't have enough experience to get it yet, as one of the things it calls for a serious backlog of journalistic work, of which I have not a great deal. And as you know, I have plans that reach further than South Australia! :-)

Blog entry 1

Okay, this is a cut and paste job, but it is so well worded (and comes from a writer I actually thoroughly love reading), that I thought I would add it here:

The “Bcc:” Field is Your Friend

Published by John Scalzi at 1:32 pm

Since I’ve just received the third such e-mail in as many days, a happy, friendly, not-at-all passive-aggressive suggestion:

When you are sending out an e-mail to a large number of recipients, many of whom do not know each other, won’t you please please please PLEASE GODDAMNIT PLEASE put all those addresses into the “Bcc:” field rather than the “Cc:” field of your e-mail software? Here’s why:

1. Some people actually consider their e-mail addresses somewhat private and don’t want them broadcast to a bunch of people they don’t already know, and/or:

2. Might not want those e-mail address stored onto the computers of strangers who may or may not have viruses on their computers that harvest e-mail address for spamming purposes, and/or:

3. Might not want the inevitable flood of pointless e-mail that follows when someone on the “cc:” list decides to hit “reply all” rather than reply directly to the original e-mailer, up to and including the angry “Damn it will people please stop hitting the ‘reply all’ button!” e-mail sent 10 or 15 messages in, and (of course) sent “reply all.”

Since I have a very public e-mail, points one and two really don’t apply to me personally, but point three really does, which is why my general response to e-mails sent with a large “cc:” field filled with people I don’t know is to immediately mark the e-mail as spam, so I don’t have to see the followup messages. Whether the person who sent the original e-mail actually ever escapes from the spam trap is an interesting question.

Since I expect you don’t actually want to have your correspondence to me instantly ported to the spam hole, I ask again: When sending out e-mails to a large number of recipients, many of whom do not know each other, won’t you please use the “Bcc:” field? I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

--------------------

For those who are interested, the link to this blog can be found here:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2008/12/05/the-bcc-field-is-your-friend/

I have to admit, he's got a point. It drives me nuts, when friends of mine do that to me. I don't want to see who else they've sent it to, and I sure as hell don't want the world knowing my email address! As it is, I've had to change my email address in the past because someone, through means such as email spam, made my life a living hell for about six months, and got me struck off the university email list by hijacking my student email address and using it to spam thousands of people every day until it could be sorted out. Thanks, but no thanks. I will keep my email address private from now on, and I'd appreciate it if my friends and family did the same.

Feel free to forward the link to John's blog entry, or even cut and paste the entry itself from his site (rather than mine, if you don't mind. That's why I included the link, afterall), and BCC it to all your friends and family, just so they know the proper etiquette.

Here endeth the sermon for this particular topic, anyway....

Rethinking the Ancestor comment :-)

In no particular order:

Okay, so perhaps I was a tad hasty with my British Ancestors remark of a blog-entry comment or so ago :-)

Perhaps I, rather than making certain Englishmen I know feel ANCIENT, should have made that comment to refer to the fact that I am of British descent myself (my grandfather being a Yorkshireman, to begin with), and that a lot of Australians as a whole do actually come from British Descent. Especially since the white settlement of this Great Southern Land only happened because our British ANCESTORS dumped all their bad'uns on us back in 1788 in three fleet-loads.

And if that wasn't bad enough, lol, when Australia was opened up to free settlement in the mid 1800s, they kept on coming! Mind you, if they hadn't, then my own British Ancestors (including a bunch from Berkshire, Ceramix!) would never have arrived on the sunny shores of Australia, and I wouldn't be here writing this blog about it! :-)

So, just perhaps, to reiterate, I should have said British COUSINS (that make you feel any younger now?), and left the Ancestors comment alone!

According to my sister, my point format in the previous blog entry was total crap. Yeah well - I'm verbose. Can I help it if point format isn't a high priority with me? :-)

There's more storms this week. The last two nights we've had late night thunder and lightening with a touch of heavy downpour, but so far nothing like the bad storms we had a couple of weeks back.

My dalmatian and his girl-friend, the staffy from next, still play-fight over his toys on a regular basis, as can be seen from this picture:

I'm still struggling to finish this story about Brisbane. At the moment, it still has very much the feel of a list of things that are going to happen, and I don't know what is frightening me more - my inability to reach the word count, or the fact that I am having trouble making the whole thing gel properly. Only time (of which I have very little at the moment) will tell, I guess.

I went for a little travel on Wednesday, down to Deception Bay, not too far from Redcliffe (all of which is still in the same shire I live in, only it's now called the Moreton Bay Regional Council), and was surprised to see, or rather, to be reminded of the fact, that I really do live in what is termed "Urban Regional". Up here, in my little neck of the wood, it's referred to as "Urban Country" though, and the wording is rather apt, considering that while from my front yard I can see the main road of my town, with all its rows of industrial buildings and the like, at the end of my street is a farm with cows and horses. Going on the bus down to D-Bay on Wednesday also reminded me of this, as we passed huge amounts of native bushland, interspersed with sheep and dairy farms. Having grown up in Brisbane for the better part of my life, to me this is such an unusual sight that I still get a kick out of it. I hope I never reach a point where it stops giving me the thrill it currently does. I have no wish to take anything for granted in my life.

Anyway, this story still awaits me, hanging as it is, like the proverbial stone about my neck!

"We're happy little vegemites, as bright as bright can be..."

I woke up this morning in SUCH a good mood. Not really sure why, but glad anyway :-)

Thanks, Ceramix, for answering my questions (and for managing to answer one I actually forgot to ask, that being when Season 7 of Spooks starts).

In answer to a few of yours though (or at least, to comment on a couple of things you said)

1. Given I don't actually drive, I get asked a hell of a lot WHY I watch Top Gear. It's because, as you said, you don't need to be a petrol-head to enjoy it. It makes me laugh, and it teaches me things (sad but true), and except for a couple of episodes that were played recently on foxtel (and were rather old) where Clarkson and Hammond are having a go at their "Colonial Cousins" this side of the pond, I thoroughly enjoy every episode I've seen. I've enjoyed the specials (the Polar Experience being one of my favourites), and probably my two favourite episodes of what I've seen here in Oz are where they attempt (for a second time) to turn cars aquatic, and only Clarkson's ute makes it to France across the English Channel, and the ep where Hammond almost succeeds in turning a car into a space rocket.

The major problem with our Cable TV providers is that we rarely get an entire season of something, more likely getting enough episodes to fill a gap left by another show (which explains why I am getting a mix of episodes of Inspector Lynley just now), and while SBS (one of our free-to-air channels) has started with a new (for us, anyway) season of Top Gear - having removed the crappy Aussie version from our TV screens - Foxtel is playing a different season.

However, the time slot that Foxtel is currently using for Top Gear is generally when Dr Who or Torchwood gets slotted to (though not always), so it will be interesting to see how long that lasts. Given especially that it was moved from its old slot of Saturday night at 7.30pm so that Robin Hood (season 1, mind!) could be shown instead!

2. VEGEMITE - Firstly (and damn this is embarrassing), Australia's favourite spread is, in fact, 85 years old this year, rather than 75. So obviously I'm not as good at maths as I should be. Yikes! Secondly, yes, indeedydo, it is made from brewers yeast, just like Marmite. Only thing is, you have to make sure you buy the one that says Made in Australia. There is, apparently, a Kiwi (New Zealand) version out there that tastes very very different to the original and the best. So be warned!

More later - things to do!

Weirdly allergic to editing.....

It's a strange old world sometimes. The last week or two, here in the Great Southern Land (but in the upper reaches of said country), it's been raining up a storm....or, well...showering cats and dogs? Umm, yeah. That thing that happens when there's lots and lots of wet dribbly stuff coming out of the sky (ok, so I am very much aware of just how wrong that sounds, thanks very much - no need to write in and let me know!) :-)

Either way, it's most certainly storm-season here in the Sunshine State (where, perhaps - just perhaps, mind - it has rained more in the last year that it has in England in the same time), and while we are again due for another week of thunderstorms and torrential downpours, I don't plan on talking about the ruddy weather for much more of this blog!

So, instead, I thought I might converse on other things - like sunrise and sunset times (God I'm boring at times, I know!). But it's something that interests me, especially since one of my dearest and closest friends buggered off to London for two years with his dad (lucky sod!).

He's been filling me in on English curiosities, such as the fact that the sun is still shining at 10.30pm in London (I'm guessing that's only in Summer though?), when it has well and truly set this side of the pond by 7pm at the latest in Summer in Queensland, and about 4pm in Winter. What I want to know, and perhaps Ceramix in Berkshire can help me out on this one, is "if the sun goes to bed at such a late time, and gets up around 3am (so my friend says), how the hell do you sleep?" Or is England full of people who only sleep six months of the year, and party the other six? :-) Just wondering, mind...

But apart from thinking odd thoughts about our cousins, the Poms (affectionate terminology only - no offense intended!), I've also been super busy with this story competition. What story competition? Didn't I mention it? Oh - Brisbane (the capital city of Queensland), despite being hit by bad storms, is having their "One Book, Many Brisbanes" competition again this year, and my sister suggested (somewhat forcibly) that I enter it. So I am.

I know why I tend to write short stories, though, and not medium-length ones! Medium-length ones are hard, that's why! I'm learning that my attention span is not very long at all, and I don't like being made to concentrate for long periods of time, even when it's for something I like doing! (if I were any younger, I'd chuck a tanty about now...)

However, I'm getting there. I will probably be a lot more there tonight when I stop writing in my blog and get back to the story-telling, but I'm getting there nevertheless. It's been a hard road for me, this particular time. So that my sister doesn't edit my story to mere point format (sorry, Sis, but I know you don't like all the fluffy descriptive stuff, scientist that you are), I've done it for her, so where I once had a story of about 2500 words (I need 4000-6000 though), I managed to edit it down to 744 words. AARRGGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh well, but I've been busy since then, and added more story-line, bone structure, and general words (words are good!) to make it a bit more fleshed out. I've even got it up to 2624 words now, so I guess I'm about half way. And at least it's all planned out - just needs fleshing out. I'll get there. I have to - it's due in a week!

What else have I been up to? Moving copious amounts of ex-trees around in little piles all over my front yard, watching my back deck quickly disintegrate now that there's no branches overhanging it, enjoying the odd day of sunshine while absolutely hating the 30+ degrees Celsius temps. You know, usual stuff.

And because I haven't in ages, (and to keep my sister happy), I'll give all of that and more to you in point form :-)

1. I hate summer in Queensland, due to A) storms, B) intense heat, C) localised flooding in the Caboolture Shire means I can't get out of my ruddy house, even to buy my dog some food!

2. Been catching up on the Inspector Lynley Mysteries on Foxtel. It's a bit odd, because I've been getting both the first few early seasons (when he had the blue car) and also the more recent stuff (now he has the nice flash red car), and two different Helens are hard to deal with. And yeah I know - she got killed. God I hated that ep!

3. TOP GEAR IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! (don't even bother to ask what I think of the Aussie version - the ONLY one worth watching is the Pommie one).

4. Vegemite is officially 75 years old this year.
And.It.Tastes.Better.Than.Marmite.
(and I eat it with a spoon - yummmmmm)

5. last night the moon and two planets played smilie face all night in the sky. It made the news and Mum rang me to tell me all about it, so I went and had a look. When I get around to it (and if they are any good) I'll upload the pics I took of it.

6. Still waiting to hear who will replace our sexy tenth incarnation of the current inhabitant of the little blue box that makes wooosshhhing noises, and that I wish (desperately) would appear in my lounge room one of these days (or nights - either is fine by me!)

7. Also waiting patiently for news of when Series 3 of Robin Hood is to be broadcast (England, Australia - I don't care. Just some news!). It is going to be very very odd without Lady Marion, and now that Robin Hood has/is left/leaving......umm, pray tell, how do you have a show called Robin Hood without a character called Robin Hood?

8. Scarily (or maybe not), I recently found a 10 episode disc of DRAGNET among my DVD collection, right along with a mixed double disc of episodes from Peter Gunn and another similar cop show. I think the scary part is that I actually thoroughly enjoyed them! Or perhaps it's that I remember watching Dragnet on TV when I was supposed to be in bed :-) Yeah, that'd be it!

9. I haven't watched many monster-movies of late (Godzilla is more a winter thing, I think), preferring to stay in and watch the BBC classics that are being broadcast on a Thursday night. It started early this year with "North and South" (gotta love Richard Armitage), and went from there. Most recently we've had "Larkrise to Candleford" which I thoroughly enjoyed, and they've just started "Jane Eyre". Not sure how I feel about that one yet. I practically know that book backwards, it being one of my favs from when I was a kid right through to adulthood, and I am always on the lookout for versions of it and the other classics. But I think the problem I have is with the person put in charge of turning it from a novel into a 4 part tv series. The script-writer, perhaps. Either way, she's the same one who did "North & South" (previously mentioned above), and just like that one, she's cut swathes of the good stuff out. Fair 'nuff - it's her job - and she's doing the authors a favour, actually, because you HAVE to buy the book just to be able to fill in all the gaping holes she leaves - but damn it makes it hard to follow sometimes!

I mean, both are equally watchable, and lovely and all that (especially N & S with it's wonderfully haunting soundtrack), but I actually had to go and buy Elizabeth Gaskell's novel just to find out what was missing. Not that I minded. I've actually become a big fan of hers now. But while I thoroughly enjoyed watching Richard Armitage swan about in top-hat and tails (and a cravat! Can never forget that, or the scene towards the end when he finally took the bloody thing off!), I was well and truly aware that there were huge chunks of necessary bits removed. Okay, so maybe necessary to me. But I like to get the whole picture. Not the highly edited version. I LIKE the fluffy descriptive stuff :-)

And she's doing it again to "Jane Eyre". Sob. :(

No fair, no fair, no fair!

A day in the life of a hard-working tree-lopping crew

Meet the boys from Australian Tree Services. From when they arrived around 11am on Friday, until the last of them left at 5.30pm, this crew of 6 men worked their little backsides off. Never have I been so impressed with one company's work ethic as I was yesterday. Des and the boys were kept on the go all day, lopping one tree after another, and never once was any one of them anything other than thoroughly hard-working, polite, friendly and keen to work to the absolute best of their abilities for me.

They made the job look easy, but I for one know that it wasn't. I was gobsmacked more than once during the time they were here at the sheer quickness of their work, especially with Bobby the tree-climbing tree-lopper (makes him sound like a strange extra member of the Wiggles, but no matter) who, every time I turned around, seemed to either be up another tree, or climbing one in one direction or another. I certainly don't envy him his job!


These guys (and I honestly can't praise them highly enough) took a yard that looked a lot like, well, a storm had hit it (which obviously it had) and turned it into something to be utterly proud of. At all times, they were ultra careful with my fences, my power lines, my already established plants in pots, and even the grave of my little guinea pig who died about a year ago (they put a witches hat on it so no one would step there, and Bobby did his best not to drop branches on it - how lovely is that?). They were great with the dogs, patting them in the dog yard when on a breather for a few minutes, and didn't mind at all that I was out taking photos of them hard at work.



As each tree came down, it went into the Intimidator (an entirely well-named beast, believe me). This thing was huge, and what it did to whole trees is something that must be witnessed to be believed. I had the choice of keeping the mulch or having them remove it, but I chose to keep it, and here is the result:


All day Des and the boys worked constantly, with the ever-present threat of a storm over their heads one minute and bright sunshine the next.


Down came my palms (as can be seen above), down came the umbrella tree, down came the extra branches in my whatever-it-is between my courtyard and the backyard, but perhaps the most spectacular was the removal of the Norfolk Island Pine:









As you can see from the pictures, it was not the easiest job, especially for Bobby who had to climb it. But let it be said, these boys not only know how to work hard, but know their jobs very bloody well. I, for one, am happy to recommend them to anyone in the Brisbane area who needs the services of a tree-lopping company in this time of storms (or any other time, for that matter). They are worth every cent of what it cost, and I wouldn't hesitate to get them back in if I ever needed them again.

Now for some general other shots of the boys hard at work, including grinding the stumps after the tree-lopping was complete, and then I'll end my little post before today's storm hits.

South East Queensland now also declared National Disaster Area

It's fairly late here - about 11.30pm - but at least the storms have stopped for now. Tonight was a rather odd night here in the Caboolture Shire. While my Mum down in Brisbane was having hail stones the size of golf balls descend on her from every direction, strangely enough, I was watching the fireworks over the shopping centre that signal the arrival of Santa Clause.

Around 4 or 5ish this afternoon, which, for us here in Australia, means that night is almost upon us (the sun sets around 5.30-6pm in Queensland at least, anyway), I was out talking to my neighbour with my ever-present dog, when we got a couple of rumbles of thunder, a splash of rain, and then nothing.

Later on, around 7.30ish, about half an hour after I had spoken to Mum, who informed me she had a massive storm going on all around her, I was outside sitting in my driveway, watching the fireworks to the north, while to the south of me was black thunderous clouds and loads of lightening.

I have to admit - it was odd - there were stars above me, fireworks to the north, and vicious-looking storm clouds to the south. Not something you tend to see every day of the week. Apparently we are due a day of sunshine on Friday, but are in for more severe storms again on Saturday.

After the fireworks I was back inside for less than half an hour when the storms that Mum said were heading up towards me actually arrived. Smack bang in the middle of that my phone rang and I think it might have been my tree-loppers, but I could barely hear them :-)

If it was them, then I think they are coming around lunch time Friday to chop my trees down. I guess we will see around lunch time Friday!

For those who are interested, here are some up to date (for me, anyway) news reports about tonight's storm (third storm to hit Queensland in a week):

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/queensland/the-storms-are-not-over-yet/2008/11/20/1226770641125.html

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,27574,24679141-3102,00.html

Today's storm on approach - due to hit any time now

It hasn't hit yet, but it's on its way. These are the scenes from my driveway. The top photo is looking to the south where Brisbane is, the bottom photo is directly in front of me and shows only the bottom half of what is actually a mushroom cloud. Don't let the fluffy white nature of these clouds fool you. They are dangerous things. I don't plan on being online for much longer, as that storm is very close now and is due to hit fairly soonish.

Here's hoping it's just a light bit of rain (and pigs might fly, I know)....

Photos from the ABC news broadcast and elsewhere

I've had a trawl of the websites, and came up with a few rather scary images. Not as bad as some floating around though. The one above is of the storm on its approach Sunday afternoon. Not something you ever want to see twice in a lifetime.

Recent news is that the new road to Toowoomba in the Lockyer Valley has been washed away during a land-slide last night, and so people are being asked to use the old road, which is a two lane track compared to the new one. One lane in each direction. Venture that way at your peril.

The Inner City Bypass in Brisbane is awash, with the Brisbane City Council currently pumping 11 mega-litres of water from it.

The Centenary Highway is also under water, so travelling to Brisbane or within Brisbane isn't advisable currently.

The train system and bus networks are questionable just now (understandable), and a hell of a lot of roads are still out. Scary stuff. Any travel plans I had have been cancelled. Now I just have the panic of if I remove the trees up against the front of my house, will that mean that in the next cyclonic winds, I might lose my roof? I will have to have a chat to the tree-loppers when they get here on the weekend.

Thankfully, we have our Boys (and Girls) in the Australian Army on hand to help. The people of Brisbane owe them one huge thank you when this crisis is over. That said, we also owe the volunteers from Sydney, Mackay, and the like, as well as the low-level prisoners and our own boys (and girls) in Blue for their incredible help at this time. Yep. I said prisoners. You read that right.

We are in for a really bad storm season, and looking out my window at the rapidly gathering black clouds isn't helping my feeling of unease, nor is the sweat dripping off me from the sheer heat - very similar to Sunday before that storm.

What I wouldn't give to be somewhere where the weather isn't so vicious. England, perhaps? :-) After these storms I think a nice bit of being snowed in would do me rather nicely. Oh well, tis to dream, I guess.

Storm Update - Thursday 20th November 2008

Four days after the worst storm in 25 years, and these are just some of the scenes to be had in the general vicinity of Morayfield Shopping Centre. I went for a walk down that way today, as I know that the pedestrian walkway under the train bridge (see last photo) is well known for flooding whenever there's even a few drops of rain, due to its close vicinity to Sheep Station Creek. But what surprised me the most, was finding that the pedestrian access on Morayfield Road was also under water. In my year and a half in the Caboolture Shire, I've never known that pass to be anything but dry. (see picture 3). The skate ramp park is currently a lake, as you can see from pictures 1 and 4, and the bridge near the pedestrian access on Morayfield Road is a river at present. Normally it is something more resembling a dry creek bed. You can see (in picture 2) that there is a walkway under the bridge, and just how high the water is, by where it comes on the railing.

The shopping centre itself appears to have been under water at some stage in the last four days as the bottom car park still shows signs of flooding, and the walk along Morayfield Road (which included a scramble down a hillside for me at one stage) also shows that the flood waters were up and over the road - something that hasn't happened in a very long time.

From the bulletins today we get news that The Gap has suffered a landslide - not what they need right now, and that Rosewood, where I spent my formative years is almost completely underwater. The Bremer River is still raging, the train lines to Ipswich and beyond are still out, and the Lockyer Valley in the Darling Downs is preparing for more flooding over the next few days.

From Mum I got the report that Dad woke up to find his property flooded, and his horses and dogs loose all over the place.

Off the Western Coast of Australia sits Cyclone Anika - biding its time - before it strikes. We don't need any of this, but it is, afterall, storm season here in Sunny and Hot Queensland.

Storm Warnings for South East Queensland are still in force

I think I've had pretty much all I can stand of Queensland weather for now. We had yet another storm last night, and are currently under a weather alert from the Bureau of Meteorology for a Severe Storm Warning for South East Queensland. Great. The storm they said was due tonight looks like it is well and truly on its way. The trains between Ipswich and Rosewood, on Brisbane's western reaches, are currently down due to the Bremer River flooding last night, and most of the Darling Downs and Lockyer Valley regions are also under threat of floods.

The Gap, in Brisbane, still looks like the site of a bomb strike, with cleanups continuing, and four days after the storms of Sunday, there are houses yet without power both in Brisbane and up here in the Caboolture Shire. I'm lucky in having power currently, I guess.

An ex-boyfriend of mine rang me around 1am last night and then proceeded to send me an sms around 3am just to let me know that his flat was flooding. He lives in an area of Brisbane that has never actually flooded before, to my knowledge, so it was rather surprising. I feel very sorry for him, but given I was going through a rather spectacular storm show of my own at the time, I didn't rightly have a lot of sympathy for him just then. I rang him this morning though, and apart from a few boxes, and his mattress, he didn't actually have a lot of damage.

My yards are still rather damp after last night's storm - currently a no-go area without Wellies :-)

The kookaburras are out in force this morning though - first morning of sunshine we've had since Sunday morning. And the Ibis are everywhere!

The Ibis seem to always appear after a big storm. I've seen them walking over the tops of trees as though they were on firm ground. It's amazing to watch, and they keep up quite a chatter when there's a lot of them. They are huge birds too, so when there are a lot of them all together it is somewhat mind-blowing.

Sometime soon, I will get time to sit down and write a blog that isn't about the weather, although I do believe that this Storm Season is going to be a ripper one - let's just hope there isn't too many more storms like Sunday's!

Anyway, things to do.

Brisbane declared a National Disaster Area

On Sunday, 16th November, 2008, the worst storm in 25 years hit the South East Queensland area, decimating The Gap, a suburb in Queensland's capital city, Brisbane, and causing major damage to the Caboolture Shire, just south of the Sunshine Coast.

The Australian Army is out in force today, two days after the disaster, still helping with the clean-up in The Gap, and locals are pitching in wherever possible.

In my little area of Queensland, the other area hit badly by the storm (Caboolture Shire), we have experienced non-stop rain, localised flooding, and blackouts over the past few days, though nothing at all compared to Sunday night at the height of the storm.

From where I was, I experienced something as close to being inside an actual cyclone as you can probably get without actually being there. The newspapers are saying we had winds in excess of 130km/hr, and that we in the Caboolture Shire had 107mm of rain during the storm.

The day started out as a typical Summer day in sunny and hot Queensland. By mid-afternoon it had reached fairly high temperatures and the humidity was simply awful. By four o'clock, the sky was both black AND green at the same time. I don't rightly remember a lot of thunder and lightening, although apparently there were. What I remember the most is the driving rain and the cyclonic winds. I remember watching my Dalmatian struggling to get to me, and failing, being pushed back by severe winds at least three times. Eventually, through will-power alone I think, he made it to the sanctuary of my lounge room where we camped out in relative, if rather dark (the power having gone off shortly after the storm started) safety for the next six or so hours.

Throughout that time, we watched some rather spectacular goings on by Mother Nature outside the windows.

At one stage I couldn't see the houses on either side of me, and they are very close. I couldn't see the train station across the road, and I couldn't see my back fence either. Later on I saw that the two huge Ironbark Gums down behind my yard (but up against my fence) were actually horizontal for while, as the wind was severe. My clothes line is bent where it got hit by a whiplash from one of those trees as well.

The trees at the back of my house snapped in various places as did three of my front trees. Over the next week or so, I'm due to have the tree loppers in to clear up a lot of the damage and remove the trees that have been declared unsafe due to damage.

At one point I looked out my bedroom window and watched my recycle bin being flung around my driveway - actually lifted up and thrown. It landed in my tomato plants. I also looked out the back over my deck when I could actually see beyond my fence and watched the flood approaching. There's a canal down behind me in the paddock (it's called a council easment though), and it flooded easily during the storm. (It's the white strip above the top of my fence in the photo) It never has in the year and a half that I've been here, so it was a bit scary to see that. I also watched the flood in my back yard (already mostly under water) racing down the little hill to meet up with the rapidly rising mini-flood waters, which was happening entirely too quickly for my liking.

This morning (Tuesday) I took a walk down to the back fence and could still see the floodwaters in the canal. We are due for more severe storms this week, and for most of the Summer. Here's hoping this is the worst of them though.

The birth of "Fat Dally"

Since about 2004, and continuing on until present day, I've been writing a series of short stories based on the adventures of my two dalmatians. In late 2006, I decided that I would morph the adventures into that of just one dalmatian, who I have named "Fat Dally"...at least for now.

Hence the illustration above. He's an original by me (though based perhaps a little on good old Snoopy, at least in body shape), and I thought that you might like to meet him.

I'm hoping eventually to have enough time soonish to sit down and revise a lot of the stories I wrote in the early years, as well as the later stuff, and see if I can make them more about this little fella, rather than about first an old female dally, and then a young male dally pup - both with distinctive (but different) personalities. I know it will take time, but at least it will give me incentive to write more!

Here's to much more adventures of Fat Dally and many more hours hard slog (umm...enjoyment) over my writing!

The haunting (and helping) of the Ancestors...

So many things happen in life to make the everyday seem mundane. I've spent the last couple of months reading, sorting out my new library, getting ready for a return to university, and all the while, other things have been lurking in the background, biding their time, before they launch themselves at me all unannounced.

To put all that into English - I've had the ancestors crowding around the back of my chair again, quietly adding their two cents worth, helping me when I get stuck on a person in my family tree, and scowling at me if I don't go off on a tangent that they REALLY want me to follow. And yes, I said Ancestors, not decendants. Those that have gone before, not those that are yet to follow.

I have, since about Christmas last year, been working on my family tree, and one of the side-effects, apparently, of "doing your family tree" is visitations from ancestors. I have a lot of friends and far-off family members who are also going through the ancestor-helping-temper tantrum throwing-scowling visitations. Sometimes it's quite a wonderful feeling, knowing that the person you are working on in your tree is somewhere around you, trying desperately to help you in any way they can. Other times it's a fair bit frustrating, because to the dead, time has no meaning anymore, so they seem to get annoyed with me when I call it quits at 3am, and tootle off to bed for a few hours kip. :-)

The last few months, I've been studiously ignorning the family tree, because it's been a rather hectic year all told, but especially as far as family goes, and I honestly needed a break. That said, I've met some wonderful family members from far-reaching branches of my tree; indeed, I spent the better part of yesterday with a couple of them, down on holidays from up north to visit their son. I'm off today out into the Darling Downs to visit another branch of the tree for a week as well. So it's all go at the moment.

Strange how, whenever I drag all the family tree stuff out of the cupboard, and open the file on my hard drive, scour my emails for messages from various family and contacts, life suddenly becomes all too hectic. The old saying "it never rains, but it pours" is definitely apt when it comes to my family tree! I sometimes wonder if it's a family conspiracy to wait until the moment when I have the least amount of time on my hands, before they all suddenly descend on me, or come out of the woodwork and demand my attention. That said, it's been a wondeful little jaunt through the annals of history at the very least, and I'm enjoying it thoroughly.

Anyway, the Lockyer Valley awaits, and I must be gone. :-)

Speaking English is dangerous :-)

Just a quick stop-over to drop a link to a rather funny little blog entry:

http://ukceramix.blogspot.com/2007/11/nutrition-and-health.html

I like the way he thinks :-)

Is it morning already?

It's cold here, and early. I have been beaten by the Sun, though only just. The insides of my windows are covered in early morning condensation, because I am hotter than the outside world, and windows are mere thin glass. But the fact remains - it is cold here.

As I sit, bundled up in my Winter wrappings, I ponder the fact that it is, apparently, Spring, this side of the pond. Ah, but it is early days yet. The shades of Winter have yet to truly leave us, and it will be a little while yet before we are properly free of them.

It's cold here, and early. I can hear the birds, all a twitter about something or other, and it makes me smile to think that there is life just out of arm's length from where I sit now, warm and snug inside my Winter quilt.

I cannot see much, outside these windows of mine, because of the moisture on them, although even if I could, there would not be much to see just now, at least, not from these windows.

There are other windows here that to look out of means looking into some wonderful and far-off land, or, perhaps, into a certain forest where lives a certain outlaw of long ago. I can see that from here, quietly, if I sit and listen and look.

It is a window that shows a great deal. Especially early in the morning, before the Sun has properly risen, and no one is about. If I am quiet, then the forest that sits behind me becomes many things. Sometimes I fancy it is the Hundred Acre Wood, where live Winnie the Pooh and his friends, other times, it is the Enchanted Forest, and I wonder how far in the Faraway Tree sits, and whether Moon Face and Saucepan Man live there still, and yet other times...it is Sherwood Forest, and I fancy I see a glimpse every so often of Little John, or Robin Hood. Sometimes I am traipsing along with Bilbo Baggins and the dwarves on their long trek to the Lonely Mountain and the dragon. And still other times it is a land of my own making.

Ah, but it is cold here....and early. Today I am not much in the mood of creating a world to visit. Today I wish nothing more than to retreat back into my warm Winter wrappings, close my eyes, and nod gently off.

Culture is having orange feet at a funeral....

It's amazing what you remember at a funeral, during one of the greatest moments of stress a body can withstand, and yet, it seems, there are always certain flashes of memory that stick out from days like that. For me, at my cousin's funeral last year, it was the fact that one of my aunts had orange feet. Obviously the result of a home tanning kit that went horribly wrong, although I didn't have the heart to ask her at the time, and now we shall never know whether my guess was justified or not :-)

Not that it matters, of course. But it is strange that I can remember her feet, yet I can't remember a lot of actual details about the day.

Stress does odd things to a person. Just now I am experiencing different levels of stress due to different stressors in my life. Of course, one of the biggest is my return to study, which brings in itself many smaller stressors: will I be able to write the two large essays required of me? will I pass my exam? will I find an invigilator in time who won't let me down? can I even dare to compete with students young enough almost to be my own children?

I have other stressors, of course, because I am older. The stresses involved in the upkeep of a house and pets, daily life struggles, and general incendiaries that life is always throwing at you.

Another is the slow dawning of being terribly lonely in my little house, and the unwilling notion that my biological clock is fast ticking to an end; my chances for procreation being few and far between, partly from the belief that I do not necessarily want to "go it alone", and partly because I have yet to find a man worthy of that kind of act. That is, of course, not to say that I don't like the practice involved, because I do. I am human, so that is only to be expected. :-)

However you look at life though, there is always going to be a certain amount of stress at some level. Life is like that. It simply adores throwing you into the deep end without any floaties and waiting to see if you will sink or swim. While most people invariably figure out how to swim (although a hell of a lot of them almost drown in the process), there are always those that never work it out for themselves, and either have to be rescued, or simply drown of their own free will. Note I said "own free will" here, meaning they had the same choice as everyone else, but chose not to take it. I suppose that is where the individuals are separated from the sheep. Free will is for individuals, collective following is for sheep. I, for one, choose not to be a sheep.

Over the years, I have let stress get to me, to the point where I pretty much asked the world to stop so I could get off. I retreated from every day life, and it is only recently that I have begun again to find my feet. And yet, even now, with that tenuous finger poked outside the bedcovers to see if it is safe to come out or not, I find it is a seriously scary place out there, and I am not at all ready for it.

My first subject at university is about Culture. Primarily, Australian Culture. You would think, having been born in the Great Southern Land, that this would be a fairly easy subject, as it is about a society I was born into, grew up in, and am currently living in, and yet....

If this subject has taught me anything (and we are only now into Week 2), it is that I know damn all about Australian Culture as it currently stands. The great Aussie Culture of the 1970s and 1980s - sure. Not a problem. I was a small child and a teenager then. Even the 1990s. But these days? I've been living in my own little world for the past decade, only coming out to visit British and American sites and to read about European culture. Not even my Anthropology studies could help to re-orient me with my own people. And so now, I am left wondering about Australian Culture and all that this subject takes for granted that I must know. I honestly don't know where to begin, and it scares the shit out of me.

The first proposition posed to us is that "Culture is Ordinary". The article we read last week, goes on to state that not only is Culture ordinary, but that Learning is also ordinary, yet I have my doubts. My anthropology training tells me otherwise. My wistful thinking also tells me otherwise. One thing I do know about my homeland is that we are a multicultural country now, so I do not think that Culture can be classed as "ordinary" if a general stroll through down-town Brisbane at lunch time is anything to go by. Everywhere you go, there are little subsets of differing cultures, all mingling, clashing, consuming each other, in the mixing bowl that is Australian Culture as a whole.

The more I re-read the first article, the more I am bothered by the proposition that "Culture is Ordinary". It grates. I find it hard to fit into my nice little way of thinking, though perhaps that is part of the reason it is included there - to make a person uncomfortable, and primarily, to make them THINK.

Thinking outside the box is a very good thing indeed.