I spent a few hours today watching old films. When they’ve been colourised and no doubt sprinkled with some magic AI and there’s something that seems a little more “real” about them. Having the soundtrack too makes the film that more emotive so you can’t help but get sucked in. Or to start crying like […]
Reading The Divine Comedy by Dante
It was about time I read this book. We have two copies. The first one is the Oxford Classic which I’m poring over (you have no idea how much I love going deeply into the book with its end notes and references to figures of history and philosophy – which I may add, all happen […]
Holey Moley
A bowling alley, arcade and mini golf course (putt putt) has recently opened up near where we live. We live near an industrial estate and a lot of the factories are now closing down and the area gentrified with boutique breweries, gyms, cafes and restaurants. The new trend to to build these “experiences”. I’m not […]
I Reached 3000 Subscribers on YouTube
A few days ago I reached 3000 subscribers on my YouTube channel. All without using social media to promote it, creating Shorts or using AI for any of it. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes. I don’t think it’ll explode in growth (I don’t want it to) but I think it’ll peter out […]
Creative Writing Practice
I have been having a lot of fun writing creatively every day. Most of it is done in a journal called the Writer’s Workbook which I’ve nearly completed. It encourages you to let the mind wander and write whatever comes to mind. That comes easily for me especially if I have a pen in my […]
What Possessed Me To Read The Road?
Picture this. It’s near midnight. I’m on the couch nearing the end of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road about a post apocalyptic world then I hear our garage door open outside. My heart stops. For a few seconds I hold my breath and listen for more noise. I get up suddenly but stand there not […]
Pretending Like it’s 1942
Over the last few days I’ve been pretending it’s 1942 in Melbourne. It was a weird time back then. Singapore and Phillipines had fallen to the Japanese and there was a general sense of impending doom. The prime minister of the time, Curtin, inspired Australians to serve and that was the time, the war came […]
A Visit to Prahran Mechanics Institute Library & Toying with a Storyline Idea….
Yesterday was a warm humid day in Melbourne and I had planned to play golf in the morning. However, I decided to change it at the last minute and instead, figure out something else to do with my time. I got online and started searching on YouTube and stumbled upon this little-known fact that the […]
AI Prompts for Inspiration 😒
Is this a thing now? Selling prompts for ChatGPT? Spare me. 😒 There has to be something bizarre when people spend more time refining their questions and asking a machine that trawls through all the sites online some genuine, some not and full of crap…and then pull them together and make them into more products […]
Floodwatch Warnings..Again
We are expected to have 2 months of rainfall in the next day…up to 200 mm. We have had so much rain these last few months that it’s crazy. Most of Queensland is under water too. Floods this year have devastated entire towns. With the recent earthquake, it’s created a crack in our roof and […]
Fake Eyelashes Everywhere
What’s this trend seeing young women everywhere wearing fake eyelashes? Yesterday, I dropped my car for a service and both attendants who were at the desk (one was under training), had the longest eyelashes and her eyes were hidden underneath them. With the longest painted nails that looked like talons, she tapped out my details […]
Ancient Greek Pebble Games
As is my usual custom every year, I started on a health kick. We have a wedding to attend in March so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to lose a few kilos. I’m not going overboard. Simply mindful eating, more whole foods and proteins, less sugar and refined foods, lots of rest […]
How to Lose a Library – Public Books
How ironic that the most quaintly analog form of research possible, using physical books in a physical library, has been devastated by the hijacking of a digital system. — Read on www.publicbooks.org/how-to-lose-a-library/ “Certainly in the context of the United States right now, public libraries are hot potatoes of the culture wars, and public librarians the […]
My Year in Books
2023 was a great year for reading. I read War and Peace as my “Big Book for 2023” and I LOVED IT. I was a bit sad when I finished it because it had been part of my life for a few months. I discovered Anita Brookner and read six of her novels. I fell […]
Happy New Year
Goodbye 2023 and hello 2024. I can’t believe how quickly the years go by now. I stopped work in October 2022 and decided not to return to the corporate world of learning and development or social and virtual technologies ever again. That ship has sailed and in some way, when I think about my past […]
Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
Here’s my latest book review that was just published on YouTube. I think this book is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Lake Tuggeranong
A morning walk around this man-made lake in Canberra that was built in 1987 to trap sediment for the Murrumbidgee River, is a picturesque start to any day. All along the east coast of Australia, there has been a lot of rain. Torrential rain resulting in flooding and entire towns cut off. I’ve never heard […]
The Day Before Christmas
The day before Christmas and I’m spending it outside again lapping every bit of sunshine. I thought I’d enjoy the sunny day because as of tomorrow on Christmas Day, there’ll be torrential rain and hail again all week. The only negative out here are the mosquitos. That explains the can of Aeroguard on the table…. […]
The Only Story By Julian Barnes (A Book Review)
Here’s my latest book review. This year, I’ve read 75 books so far with my favourite author finds are Julian Barnes, Anita Brookner, Mieko Kawakami and Yoko Ogawa.
109th Women’s Annual Golf Trophy Presentation & Christmas Lunch
Today was our golf club’s 109th Women’s Annual Trophy Presentation and Christmas Lunch. I was looking forward to this event. We were in teams of three and had a shot gun start at 9am for 9 holes. We all got dressed up in our Christmas costumes as there was a prize for the best dressed […]