January 2011
20 posts
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Why I am scared of February
Before I launch into a way too ‘heart on sleeve’ post I want you to do something for me. I want you to clear 20 minutes and 20 seconds of your life and fill it by watching this talk about vulnerability by Brene Brown.
Because you’ll understand this post a whole lot more once you do.
Tomorrow, the 1st of February, I am taking the Feb Fast challenge. I pledge not to drink any...
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“When you are deciding what you want to do with your life, look at peoples’...”
– Penelope Trunk on the shortcut to making big life decisions. Basically, surround yourself with the people you want to be like, and it will happen.
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Weekend Reader - links I loved
The return of my Weekend Reader has been derailed by the activities in Egypt. Very little else stacked up, in comparison, so I’ve kept it short and sweet. Enjoy.
Egypt:
I spent this morning watching the situation in Egypt unfold via Al Jazeera’s quality live coverage. The Guardian’s coverage is also good, but as for any Australian media outlets? Disappointing.
But wait a...
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Ada or Ardor, Vladimir Nabokov
It was late at night, after dinner, and our breath preceded us. Announced our entrance into the cold night. I was young, full of fairy tales and the notion that there was such a thing as romance. (There still is, of course, but I was soon to forget.)
We left the bar and let the night fall about us. The blanket of a Russian winter resting heavily on our shoulders. Arm in arm against the chilled...
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Look what I'm doing now!: Meet Lyrian, our new... →
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Overcoming my Australia Day ambivalence
It may come as no surprise that I am somewhat ambivalent about Australia Day. It’s easy to list the things that make me squirm: southern cross tattoos, racism, and the invasion of Australia and subsequent trauma experienced by Australia’s Indigenous people.
Ever since the Cronulla riots in 2005, I’ve been touchy about the Australian flag too, when used as a symbol of...
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Tunisia -the revolution that was (partly)...
Last year Malcolm Gladwell wrote a much commented-on piece arguing that the Revolution would not be Tweeted. I, along with many others, think Gladwell got it wrong, but there are many people who agreed with Gladwell in full who argues that online activism is not real activism.
So it is with much interest I’ve been following reports about the role of Facebook in the recent Tunisian...
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“We’re also writing to say sorry that we’ve been completely and shamefully...”
– An e mail to our Parents (from Gen Y) at The Awl had me chuckling, nodding and squirming in parts. The whole thing is worth a read.
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So how about this tantrum Mother Nature is...
It’s been one hell of a month for major weather events this January, and we’re not done yet:
There were Floods in Queensland with 75% of the state affected
Floods in Sri Lanka with a third of the staple rice crop in danger
Landslides in Brazil killing over 350 people
Floods in South Africa and Mozambique with seven out of nine districts in South Africa declared disaster zones
...
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“The thing about trauma is that, as odd as it may sound, it’s a terribly mundane...”
– Strong words by Steven Wright in The Provedence of Things for Overland Literary Journal. I personally don’t go as far as he does with the economic reading of things, but his words about trauma being mundane struck a chord.
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January's reading list
A quick snapshot of the things taking up space on my bedside table this month, with a feature of my favourites:
Lionel Shriver, So Much For That
Shriver is a woman who doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to characters. When I started this book, I tried to forget just how strong the impact of her last book We Need to Talk About Kevin was because it is one of the most impressive books I...
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“Because I co-wrote a book about Donald Rumsfeld I’ve been getting a lot of...”
– Stephen Elliott, The Daily Rumpus
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Is 2011 the year of commitment?
I have spent much of the past ten days contemplating milestones and their significance. Milestones offer a great way to mark passages of time, to step aside for a moment to consider where you’ve come from and where you look like you’re going, and to work out if things need a minor tune up or a complete realignment.
For me, 2011 is the year of complete realignment. At first I I...
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Watch‘The three A’s of Awesome’ is, well, awesome. Find out what three things Neil Pasricha knows will bring you all the awesomeness you’ve ever wanted in this TED presentation.
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The environmental toothbrush
My find of the day: The environmental toothbrush
In Australia, over 30 million toothbrushes are used and disposed of by Australians each year, amounting to approximately 1000 tonnes of landfill each year. The plastic they’re made of won’t break down in our lifetime. Nor within the lifetime of our children. Imagine that on a global scale.
What a great (Australian!) idea, I’ll be...
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Melbourne's most influential, inspiring and...
A young girl smiling for me (or the camera, you decide) - Noakhali, Bangladesh. One of the many reasons why I do what I do.
Excuse me for a moment while I engage in some shameless self promotion, but I was pleasantly surprised by getting a mention in this list of Melbourne’s most influential, inspiring and creative people.
How utterly flattering, thank you Lara McPherson!
And I’ve...
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what's this about the girl effect?
Have you seen the Girl Effect video yet? It’s pretty good. It’s catchy, dynamic, simple, engaging. It’s all bright colours and non-confronting silhouettes and devoid of heavy-handed poverty porn (though there are subtleties…did you notice the flies?).
I loved it the first time I saw it, and I still love it now. But this critique over at Aid Watch makes a few salient...
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10 things from 2010
Placing my palms on the giant stones of the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, New Year’s Day 2010
Are you busy? I’m busy. I’m starting to think this will be life-as-usual from now on, every day filled with moments encroaching, the past just a figment until it isn’t, and ever more waiting more or less impatiently just there.
This is how I feel tonight when I am not feeling...
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