Category: Life

Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 51-

Previous.. Invocatio:    To its own substance; woven tracery ran Of light firm texture, ribbed and branching, o’er    The solid rind, like a leaf’s veined fan— Of which Love scooped this boat—and with soft motion Piloted it round the circumfluous Ocean.       –Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Witch of Atlas, XXXIII, 308 51The bath continued… The river Lethe …

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Percy the Pianist: Canto 1, stanzas 42-50

Previous… 42[This stanza has intentionally been left blank] 43He slunk into the bath after high tea,Bringing a wafer wiv ‘im. Today he’d sayGoodbye to innocence, as minstrelsyBeckoned – he hoped he’d be able to stayThe course of his dream, but what could allayThe fear? Failure was no longer an optionTo be contemplated at break of …

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My Pet Insects, or Life without Cats

I grew up with cats. Don’t get me wrong, I like dogs too. But my family was a cat family and I guess that makes me a catman. Our first cat was Oscar. My Dad called him Oscar because … look at my last name! Then there was Lucy and Chloe, two very sociable cats. …

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Living with Hearing Loss, the Invisible Disability

My hearing loss has had a profound effect on my life. The vast majority rarely encounter people under the age of sixty who have this disability. Those who live with it face a daily struggle. Others do not notice the struggle. They might see a slightly vague person who they have to repeat things to: …

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Becoming a full-time composer

A month has passed since I last posted. I’m still learning Chinese and pondering the deep well of life, so 2021 should see more TV shows reviewed and more random posts from the fringes of consciousness etched onto this virtual stone tablet that is my blog. Lately I’ve been occupied by music. I’ve never devoted …

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Left out of the Federal Budget, still no job and a Centrelink catastrophe

The Federal Government’s 2020 budget released in October has a particular segment of the population worried, and I am in this segment: people over 35 years old. The government has incentivised employers to hire people under 35, subsidising those who hire in the 16-30 age bracket $200 a week, and $100 a week for 30-35s. …

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An open letter to my friends, from Mona Clenlow

Hi. How are you? Like how are you really? I’ve been thinking about you. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch. I don’t know what to say really. I haven’t been doing anything much. Probably the same as you. I’m ok. Not great. Sometimes crap but mostly just ok. It’s hard, isn’t it? This pause. …

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Jenessa Abernathy on Quilting in the Time of Covid

I’ve been sewing lately. It brings me peace. With all the hate and ignorance spouting forth I need to arm myself with knowledge and do things that make me calm and focused. I usually make dance costumes but lately I’ve been making quilts. And masks. Lots of masks. Designing quilts made me realise that maths …

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Unpacking a Life – The Wanderer’s Art of Moving (Part 1)

I’ve moved a lot over the years, maybe more than I should have. Perhaps this makes me a wanderer. I am less of a physical wanderer now, at least at the moment, but over fifteen years I lived in four different cities, often moving within cities. I first left Sydney for Canberra. Fittingly perhaps, as …

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Sascha Percuoco on what makes a man

A man comes in many forms, short, fat or tall. But is it his stature? Or the attitude? Or is it any of that at all? Because some men are crazy, they’re murderers and thieves, but in their minds they are men, for in god they still believe. Isn’t it a “man” of god? But …

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