Hi readers! Okay, I PROMISE to give you good news in today's blog post. This is despite the tragic news of the death of five Australian troops in Afghanistan - but I'm NOT going there today. If you check my Twitter feed you can read my rant there. I won't do it here. Phew! So, I will set the tone with this photo (from our garden) of my favourite flower, taken last summer.
I have been learning SO MUCH excellent stuff at uni! Last night we learned about Eastern thinking and about those religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism etc. It did actually Blow My Mind - sorry to be so cliched but that's the way it was. I am really "enjoying" challenging my thinking and seeing different ways of doing things. Part of me is resisting, but only a very small part and I like to think it's a natural instinct rather than a conscious decision.
Here is my cousin Peter's wife and three gorgeous and smart daughters. They live in Austin, Texas and I miss seeing them So Much! I am very "into" my family. I'm just in conversation with my brother who is texting me from Sydney, telling me he's been to the doctor and been started on cholesterol medication! I am staying Jolly, despite the knowledge that he is a) overweight b) he smokes c) mum just had a heart attack and d) one man of every generation on my dad's side has died of a heart attack. Tra, la la! Maybe this will encourage my bro' to give up the smokes... How great would that be?
Speaking of heart attacks, I baked this cake over the weekend instead of doing my uni work. I am finding that when a little stressed, I am having an urge to bake! Where does THAT come from? I was going to take it to class but Spud hooked into it and I thought it would look bad to take half a cake....
Interestingly, I am also getting a mild urge to use Spray 'n Wipe around the office. This is the sports desk (above) and I am itching to get stuck into it but there is always a journo hanging around that end of the newsroom. This photo actually doesn't do it full justice. I didn't capture the "below desk" action in this photo where last week I managed to retrieve an unopened copy of a Walkley magazine from late 2011 which was excellent reading!
I took this photo last Saturday at my beginner running session. This is Wanese, my best "pupil" who is going to run her first 10km this weekend at the Bridge to Brisbane. I know she can do it. When she first came to my group her goal was to run the 5km event and now, about six weeks later, she is doing the 10km and even talking about running the Noosa Half Marathon next year!! I am So Proud of her. She is going to smash it on Sunday.
The best part of today's tragic news day has been the Paralympic Opening Ceremony tonight. It has been sensational and to see all those athletes having so much fun and preparing to challenge themselves and ..... OMG! The Beach Boys are on the news and - I'm sorry but they are seriously "senior"! I can't believe I typed that. Me, who is about to enter her 50th year. It's just that my mind is still back in 1981, pashing my first boyfriend at Whale Beach to the sound of these guys. They aren't supposed to get so... so ... wrinkly!!
Life. There it is again, in all its forms. Don't blame me for all this philosophising! Blame university. Spud is sitting here convinced that your ears get bigger as you age and I have to say, after seeing these guys, that I agree!!
My obituary research is going Really, Really Well. I have cast my net and found about five new contacts this week, all enthusiastic and willing to help me. I spoke to Harry de Quetteville, the Editor of The Telegraph Obituaries, who was incredibly helpful and patient with me. Next time I'm in London, I am invited to drop in and visit (get me a ticket to London, stat!!). Today I made contact with the Editor of the obits column at the Sydney Morning Herald who kindly emailed me back, despite half of her colleagues working their last day at the 'paper today, secondary to brutal journalism staff cuts.
Speaking of obituaries, vale Neil Armstrong (on left) who died this week. What an incredible life that man had. His death, whilst sad for his family, has reignited the excitement of space travel and the miracle of the moon landing, enabling a younger generation to get a feel of how incredible that time was. I like to think that Neil held off dying until Curiosity had safely landed on Mars..... What do you think?
Okay, time to watch some Paraylympic action. Or perhaps I will go to bed with my fascinating obituary book? I am not even going to tell you the time as you will be disgusted. I DID get up at 4.30am to run you know!
Dusty bibles lead to dirty lives
Sign on church in America's Deep South (courtesy of ABC 7:30 Report)
PS: just want to spend one minute, in the final moments, to ask "what is the point of Photoshop?" It ruins so much hope for so many.... This morning, in the cold light of dawn, I fell for this Tweeted photo of a cow photobombing (I love that word) a horse stuck in a gate.
Now, of course, I hear that it is Photoshopped! Of course, now that I am more awake, fourteen hours later, I wonder how I ever thought it was real. Anyway, who really DID invent that horrible, evil program? It should be banned. It's the same program that makes "normal" shaped women look like freaks of nature and destroys womens' confidences. Bah humbug.
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