Many years ago when I was in the corporate world, every team bonding activity involved some kind of personality test. These tests evaluated our preferences against others in our teams and shed light on how we prefer to lead and work with others but also come to understand our own strengths and weaknesses. (I’ll say […]
Spaceman from Bohemia Book Review
So I guess now you can say I’m being paid by YouTube for my book reviews. It was a nice surprise to see $100 in my account from people watching my videos. Although it’s a pittance, I don’t care. It’s enough to buy myself a few new books. As long as I enjoy making the […]
Morning is My Favourite Time of Day
It’s Wednesday morning. Outside, except for a call of a magpie, it’s quiet. I pulled out of playing golf early this morning because I hadn’t slept well last night. I’m the type of person who needs to have a good night’s sleep or have things perfect order (clean house, swept floors, bed made, general tidiness) […]
The Lifespan of a Fact
On Saturday night, Andrew and I went to a local theatre group to see a performance of this play based on a book called The Lifespan of a Fact. We hadn’t been to amateur theatre in many years and we do have some local groups in the area. I had seen this as advertised in […]
The Cult of Taylor Swift
I don’t know how many times this year I’ve thought to myself that “I don’t understand the world we are living in right now.” It’s as if the lines are blurred between fact and fiction; real or fake. Nothing makes sense yet nothing is surprising anymore. To be honest, I think we have lost our […]
Battered by Melbourne Storms
The day was sweltering hot on Tuesday. It was 38 and with strong winds. The worst weather you’d wish to have in a state that still remembers the worst bush fires that decimated entire regions, homes, livestock, flora and fauna a few years back. I had just started my French class when there was a […]
What’s in My Book Haul?
Here’s the latest book haul video I filmed this morning to share on my YouTube channel on some new and second hand books I’ve recently bought to read sometime…. I’ve got a whole heap of videos banked up to be published over the coming weeks. Here are some of the reviews I’ll be sharing: I […]
Celebrating Our 18th Wedding Anniversary
Today was our 18th wedding anniversary and we usually celebrate the day with a dinner somewhere. This year, I decided to instead see an exhibition in town followed by some lunch. The Titanic Artefact Exhibition was on at the Melbourne Museum and it was a fantastic one that walked us through gangway right to the […]
Fake News in Our News Media
Everyone is talking about how one of our biggest news channels this week used generative AI to Photoshop one of our politicians photos. Of course she was a young woman and she called it out in X even saying that she knew the photo was clearly wrong because she also has a stomach tattoo that […]
Live Writing
This year I joined Writers Victoria based out of the Wheelers Centre at the back of the State Library of Victoria. The centre supports writers by providing an excellent library, events, workshops and other resources for people to write. Twice a week they run Live Write sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays online. However on the […]
Conversations with People Who Are Still Working and Those Who Aren’t
I’m at this weird age where some friends, family members and acquaintances are still working, close to retirement or just decided to retire early (like myself) brought on earlier than planned due to various factors in their lives such as “post pandemic life rethink”, ageing parents or career transition. I’ve got various groups of friends […]
Time Without Clocks
I’m excited!!!! I’ve booked myself to do this creative writing workshop at the wonderful home Mulberry Hill, of writer Joan Lindsay (author of Picnic at Hanging Rock) and artist Darryl Lindsay. WORKSHOP: WAYS OF LOOKING Saturday 17 February 202410am – 3pm Created for writers, this is an interactive workshop where participants encounter a work of […]
Colourised Old Films
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 […]
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 […]