Barmy for Obama

(Can I just lead this off by saying I think he's a bit hot, actually? I mean, it's not just the new-Leader-of-the Free-World thing...usually that kind of power doesn't do it for me. No, it's his mouth, and his eyes...very warm, sensuous, intelligent, that quirk of humour...lucky Michelle, I say!)

Well, whatever he's got, America and most of the rest of the world want to see more of it! Hurray!

There is going to be a whole lot of serious and measured political commentary (and a whole lot of drivel, too)in blogs worldwide on the rights and wrongs of America's choice tonight, and I have nothing to add to that.

I can only talk about what I see, which is a man of courage and quiet dignity, who has given me a sense that he is capable of initiating that change he has been talking about. I would have voted for him, if I were American, and I think I would have been pretty vocal in my belief that he was the right man for the job in the lead-up to this election.

The change that he represents, as the new leader of one of the world's major powers, is startling, and refreshing, and an occasion for great hope.

Can we hope, as the world faces a huge economic crisis, climate change spirals out of control, families struggle to meet basic needs and retain a roof over their heads, and war zones simmer with discontent?

YES, we can!



(This fantastic mosaic image is called Hope Over Fear, by tsevis, and is available under Creative Commons license from Flickr. Check out some of his other works, too.)

Contrary to popular opinion...

...I have not been abducted by aliens.

For some reason, which I have been unable to specifically formulate but instead have been idly examining in the privacy of my own head, I have drifted away from the habit of blogging and immersion in the blogging world.

There's some superficial explanations, like how immensely frustrating I found it being back on dialup this year, and how much that limited my enjoyment of the Net in general, and blogging (both writing and reading) particularly. And how caught I became in real-time activities like the campaign and preschool etc.

Ultimately, I think that blogging and the blogging world gave me a much-needed sanctuary, an escape, when so much of my life was going shit-side-up. Now, as things in my life are taking shape in ways which are generally pleasing and satisfying and sometimes just plain time-consuming, I have lost the habit of blogging as the need that it filled (to be heard, to be understood) has fallen away. I'm happy (mostly). It's on a level almost below sensing, like a sub-sonic hum - it has replaced the hum of misery which was there before. People tell me I look happy, whatever that means.

I might have forgotten blogging for a while, but I haven't forgotten the amazing people I have met while blogging, and I have been thinking of you and occasionally dropping in quietly on a few of you when I can. (Trish, Tiff, you two are particularly in my thoughts...you have had a VERY tough year, and I am still here cheering you on, awed by your courage and humour as ever. Cec and JCK - catching up real soon!)

For those of you who have been crazy kind enough to hang in there waiting for me to bob up again, here's a quick summary of the last couple of months:

The Election

- I ran for Council after all, but only on the bottom of the ticket to support the group and our leader who, I am thrilled to say, got on to Council. And what a Council!

We have a lady Mayor, Jenny Dowell, who I had the immense pleasure of getting to know a little through the campaign - she is a person of courage and grace and integrity, which has been incredibly tested as she was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 days after winning the election! She is having a mastectomy on Tuesday, and fully intends to be at the first official meeting of council the week after. The community at large is sending her a massive amount of goodwill, love and support, shocked that she faces this crisis so soon after her triumphant win, but I'm sure that she is winning even more supporters by her honesty and dignity in sharing this terrible time with us, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month has got itself its new best advocate.

We have a Green female Deputy Mayor, Vanessa Ekins, and we have a great mix of progressive and fairly young councillors making up the majority of the council, with only 3 of the original dominating conservative "Six-pack" voting bloc remaining. Clearly, the community has spoken out for change, and I am really happy to have been part of the process. I wanted to make a change in our council, and see a better representation of women, and I helped achieve that without having to be a part of it myself...

...This time. I have had some feedback from some of the wonderful people I worked with in this campaign, to the effect that I have "...a shining future in local government" if I want it. The group who worked behind the scenes to support our party (including some of those who supported the claim of the other local candidate) are keen to work with me, and him, and others, to continue to support our man on council, and make long-term plans for the next elections, four years hence. Looks like my career in politics isn't over yet.



We Moved

- The wee man and I have moved on from one-room living, and now have more than enough room to swing a cat (and she loves it!) In fact, we have a lovely little 3 bedroom house with a jungle of a garden, and our darling dog Rusty was returned by the wee man's dad when we moved, so we are a very happy little family.

We have our own rooms ( I can't tell you how grateful I am not to take 2 steps and then trip on Thomas the Tank Engine or Alfie or Harvey or whoever the hell little metal engine was sticking into my instep...?!), the wee man is sleeping through the night (most nights) in his OWN room in his OWN bed, and I am experiencing that amazing phenomenon where you shut your eyes and then you open them again and it's morning...wtf? It's only been nearly 5 years. (Humble apologies to anyone not currently experiencing this phenomenon - I'm not boasting...oh, okay...maybe a little bit.)

It's been wonderful to get all my things out of storage after nearly nine months, and while a few boxes have been shoved into cupboards unopened, generally the place is looking and feeling like Home. (I can't wait till next weekend when various members of my family will be arriving to help celebrate my birthday, and will get to see it.)
















I Had a Haircut

- More importantly, a haircut I LOVE! In fact, it's six weeks this week since it was cut and I am itching to go back for a trim, but my newly-discovered treasure of a hairdresser has had the gall to be off sick this week...lol!




And So Has The Wee Man

- Photos to follow...I haven't even seen it yet!?! He's away this long weekend with his Dad, and they rang me on the Friday to tell me he had been to the barber and he now had "little hair"! (Don't worry - this was a previously discussed decision. In fact, I had promised the wee man he could cut it as soon as the weather warmed up, but I drew the line at the Number One with the clippers that his father was itching to do!)


So...as I said, Life is generally good. Not perfect, nor necessarily easy, but good. Satisfying. Promising. And sometimes, laugh-out-loud great...

A (Very) Short Career in Politics: Pt 2

Hmmm...serious bit of bad soap opera, leaving you hanging like that - I didn't plan it that way! That's no way to treat my 17 remaining patient and dedicated subscribers; "Love youse all!" as a particularly articulate (not) Aussie boxer is wont to say. (With particular linky love to my dear Cecily, who was egging me on to finish almost before I'd stopped typing...LOL)

So, the phone call.

The party leader is a very nice bloke. We have enjoyed getting to know each other, and kicking around ideas the last few weeks. He sounded distinctly uncomfortable as he told me that certain members of the party, all from one community group, felt that they would be "better represented" on council by another candidate (from their group) who had only just decided he was willing to have a shot at it.

As background to that, this group has been working particularly hard together over nearly two years to represent their village (mine, as it happens) in the fight against a particularly odious development proposed for it (Hardie Holdings - will mean something to the Aussies amongst you). They felt that this candidate had more experience, in this issue, in reading the associated reports and EIR's and DPs and LEPs (Environmental Impact Reports/Development Proposals/Local Environmental Plans) etc...and he did.

(But that is not all Council is about. And I'm a pretty fast learner, for a blonde. But I digress...)

Plus, this group discussed it amongst themselves, without raising it at the party meetings. It only came out in a private conversation with the party leader, the day after our last meeting, which lead to his phone call. So much for increased transparency and honesty, the bedrock of our campaign for council!

My initial feelings were of anger and defiance. I told him I was not prepared to just quietly back down and wanted to think about it. He was really supportive, very disappointed too at the way this issue had been raised, but able to see both points of view - we both have particular strengths as candidates, and either would make a good running partner from his point of view. Also, and importantly, the community groups form the support team for this little local party - any bad feelings or dissent risks undermining the whole team. We agreed that, unless either one of us was prepared to back down, we should put the #2 slot to a secret ballot of the party at the next meeting as the fairest way to decide. Since we were all about to go away on holiday, that was nearly 2 weeks away.

The next 24 hours was quite interesting. What had been a little head cold suddenly decided to become laryngitis - with so much to think about and talk about, suddenly I couldn't talk at all! It was great. Everything had come to a screaming halt - and as soon as I realised this, I started to look at why, and to wonder what the message was for me.

That's when I realised how much I was putting on the line if I actually got on Council - my life, and most especially, the wee man's life.

We've been through a lot in the last couple of years, and particularly the last 6 months. I have been very conscious of a certain amount of anger he has felt towards me, as the one he perceives as the instigator of the breakup of his family unit. I understand that, and want to be able to work with him to help him heal those feelings. And I realised that my Council dream would take me further away from him, and give him more reason to be angry at me...and that was the last thing I wanted.

So, a couple of days later, when I had something of a voice I called the party leader back and told him to drop me...waaay down the ticket, where I had no chance of making it onto council. I am still going to run, to support the party and make a group voting ticket possible, and because I believe in what they are trying to achieve, and because it will be a valuable learning experience. There's no sour grapes - I'm still a bit peeved and disappointed at the way the local group handled the matter, but I'm a big girl, and I know politics is always a dirty game...even this close to home.

All the more reason for me to run in 4 years time, when the wee man is much older, and I'm a little wiser, and backed by people I can trust and who can trust me...

A (Very) Short Career in Politics

*Insert copious and effusive apologies for long absence of regular blogging - include butt-kicking etc. Repeat as required.*

Yes, I know...it's been a while. And it wouldn't surprise me if I'm sitting here talking to myself by now - anyone who has had the patience to hang in there waiting to see if I was ever going to show up again needs to facilitate a workshop in patience skills so I can enrol...!

It has been a busy time for me, with the usual committee-related activities spiced with the beginning of the lead-up to the Council elections in September, culminating in the school holidays over the last 2 weeks.

Last week, though, things briefly came to a grinding halt as the combination of a phone call and a (thankfully brief!) bout of laryngitis gave me a couple of quiet days to look carefully at my life and the choices I was making.

A bit over a month ago, mutual acquaintances had put me in touch with a present councillor who was not running again, but was interested in supporting local candidates who were interested in supporting the issues and community groups he had been putting so much energy into. I went along to a meeting and by the end was thrilled that we all seemed to coming from the same place, were fielding a party supported by many local community groups, with values of transparency and community consultation, and the group had offered me number 2 on the ticket. (In the scheme of things, this gave me a reasonably good chance of getting on council - the #1 on a well-supported group ticket usually gets in, and the #2 has perhaps more than a 50% chance of also getting in, depending on preferences.)

We continued to have fortnightly meetings, and shared emails with ideas and layouts for brochures, flyers and manifestos. Together with the leader of the party and the current councillor, I went to several public community meetings throughout the area to hear the issues that galvanised them, and to show support for the difficulties they were facing with the present council. I was flat out, enthused and inspired. The wee man went away for 2 WHOLE WEEKS with his father to visit his father's family, and despite missing him like a constant dull ache, I was really too busy to mope.

Then the phone call, and my full stop...

The call was from the leader of the party.

And now I have to run - stay tuned, I'll be back soon to update you on what happened next.... xxx

Preparing to leave the harbour

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
-- Mark Twain

This week, Past, Present and Future collided. The Past - memories of my father turning up unexpectedly at the very first Australia's Biggest Morning Tea (an annual Cancer Council fund-raiser) I hosted. He was in the city on the way to an appointment with an oncology specialist, and dropped by to see me. He was startled to discover my sunny little flat filled with lovely young women, many of whom he knew from different aspects of my life, sipping aromatic teas and sharing scrumptious cakes for him and others like him, fighting cancer. He shared tea and cake with us, laughed and chatted, before continuing on to his appointment.

The doctor told him to go home and prepare to die. He obeyed, dead 13 weeks later.

I remembered all this, and told the tale, as I watched my Present run around the playground, bearing my father's name, while we sipped tea and shared scrumptious cakes at the Preschool this week. I was hosting another Australia's Biggest Morning Tea (in the Afternoon) - for him, and others like him, lost to cancer.

And as I contemplate my Future, a couple of days after my first pre-election information seminar, I'm sure my dad is egging me on. My learning curve is becoming a "learning perpendicular" (as Jan Strom described it so eloquently at the seminar), and I see the bemused expressions on some faces as I try to describe why I feel compelled to run despite all the negative preconceptions many of us share about local councils and the role of councillors, but I've come away from that seminar feeling really good about what I'm doing.

Dad would understand (even while he may have his own, private reservations); it's time to sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds and explore some new horizons.

After all, this is the only life I have.

Entering the arena

Feeling a little like a lamb about to lie down with lions, I am preparing to follow through on my inclination to run for local council this September.

Those who know me have been universally supportive and encouraging, though I'm sure more than a few are wondering if I know what I'm letting myself in for. The short answer is; I don't, not really, but I'm keen to find out. Over the last week or so, I've spoken to several councillors and former councillors, seeking insight and advice.

The key piece of advice so far has been to attend current council meetings, to familiarise myself with the process, decide if it is for me, and assess and meet other councillors...with a view to future alliances, amongst other things. The thought of the electioneering and politics to come is more than a little daunting, yet at the same time, the idea of helping to break the ground and encourage more women to participate in the process is really motivating. The 3 women currently on our local council are widely respected, as caring and functional members of council, and are actively promoting the need for more women in all levels of government. Talking with two of them has been illuminating and inspiring, and I hope that I can continue to learn from them throughout the process. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I had a chance but I am just beginning to understand the depths of my ignorance and, if nothing else, will learn an incredible amount through the next 6 months.

There are going to be many conflicting demands on my time. My little man is always my number one priority, but I hope the compromises I will be making over the next few months will be worth the lessons I can teach him, about going after something meaningful regardless of the result, and living the truth of your values.

The Great Interview Experiment

In my blogging travels last week, I came upon this great idea at Neil Kramer's blog Citizen Of The Month - the Great Interview Experiment.

Each commenting participator has the opportunity to both interview and be interviewed by other participating bloggers. Neil's feeling is that everyone everywhere has something interesting to say and, while we might not all make it to Oprah, we deserve a chance to have our voice heard and to share a little of our lives. (Kind of appropriate for bloggers, isn't it, since it's what most of us are here for...)

Well, the lovely Toni from Wifely Steps, a busy housewife/blogger (she has 8!) from Manila has just sent me my interview questions, and they're great - thoughtful and interesting. Here are my answers:


1. If you were to give your four-year-old self advice, what would you tell her?

I well know the folly of trying to give a four-year-old advice about anything...at that age you think you are the centre of the world and know everything (...and hey, who am I to argue? You probably do...lol).

However, given the chance to impress anything on my early self it would be "Do the things you love." As children we are so in touch with our passions and dreams, and perhaps our abilities, but the intervening years often shake our convictions and our confidence.

My four-year-old self loved dance, and drawing, and books (reading and writing). I saw the Bolshoi Ballet dance "Swan Lake" for my 5th birthday, and knew that I would live a life of creativity. Well, clearing away the accumulated mental debris of the next 35 years, I realise my creative self has always been there, expressing herself in little ways, but definitely marginalised by the "realities" of my life. Finally, I am freeing that little girl to live her dreams.

2. How do you make someone feel appreciated?

The power of a simple and heartfelt "thank you" is under-estimated, especially when accompanied by a smile and eye-contact (where physically possible, of course). I try to let people know frequently how much I appreciate them - I have a horror of people feeling under-valued for their efforts and kindnesses.

For significant acts of kindness or help, I like to spend time with someone making them feel special in a way I know they like - sharing a meal, a movie, helping them in return in some way.

3. What do you find most beautiful about yourself?

My spirit - I am passionate and determined and a bit zany. Some might get to know me for my smile at first, or some assumption they might make about my appearance - but those who stay do so because they like what they find inside.

(Funnily enough, it's what I find beautiful in others, too. Maybe it's one of the reasons I love blogging - appearances really don't matter here, and we get a much clearer idea of the soul beyond the words.)

4. What's your comfort food?

Well, narrowing it down is a bit hard. Good food in many forms can be a comfort for me.

A couple of squares of really good dark chocolate have been a recent comforter of choice, enjoyed late in the evening while my wee man sleeps.

I do love soups, and look forward to the cooling weather for a return to my favourite recipes. My pea and ham soup is a winner - it's what I call "fire in the belly" food, stoking the fires, a cup of comfort under the heart.

5. What would happen if you became [more] fearless?

Ooooh, look out, world! Scary prospect. Lol.

Hmmm - I'd probably get my licence to drive, though I'm not sure myself whether it is fear that has kept me from doing it.

I'd definitely run for local council this year (I'm still thinking about it), with a view to further excursions into politics in the future. The world needs more women with passion and integrity in position to be a voice for change. (And fewer like this!)

And I'd be getting my passport re-application form dusted off and submitted, ready to take the wee man on a whirlwind (or maybe leisurely) trip around the world.

(Note to self: get on with all of the above...)


Thanks, Toni - I really enjoyed the journey you took me on with your questions. Stay tuned for my interview with Jen from A2eatwrite in the next couple of weeks. If you'd like to participate yourself, join the lucky dip for interviews/interviewees here.

Women and vegetables

Hah!...Not what you were thinking!?

This morning in Australia, we woke up to a female Prime Minister. Okay, so Julia Gillard's only Acting Prime Minister, while Kevin flits off to Bali for some R&R (yes, I know, climate change conferences are a serious business - but you can't tell me he's not going to take the chance to pop down the Kuta main drag and get a bit of Christmas shopping done on the cheap...or not so cheap, these days?!), but still...a woman in the top job!

It's a first for Australia, so long a bastion for blokiness. Yes, I know we were one of the first countries in the world to give women the vote (just after Federation - most states were offically on-board by the second federal election in 1903, though women were not eligible to run for State Parliament until after the First World War and it was 42 years before a woman became a Federal politician)), but this country has a deeply macho core, which has long held itself apart from the idea of women in the top jobs. Only this year an online poll suggested that many people felt a female Prime Minister was still 15 years away! Glad they got that one wrong...

At the risk of inflaming the sensitivities of any blokes lurking around...as the crafty cat on my shelf says "The best man for the job is usually a woman"!

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And now for something completely different (as the Monty Python crew used to say)...

Think of these folks the next time you and the kids are chopping up the veges for the night's meal - could put a whole new meaning to "dinner music":