Here's a pic of Damo and me taken in Cairns in June 06, a year ago now. We left the Sunshine Coast for the north for a little bit of warmth and sun. Did the usual - reef trip and snorkelling, Kuranda sky-rail, white water rafting, two nights at Turtle Cove Resort, too much eating etc.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
This is us
Here's a pic of Damo and me taken in Cairns in June 06, a year ago now. We left the Sunshine Coast for the north for a little bit of warmth and sun. Did the usual - reef trip and snorkelling, Kuranda sky-rail, white water rafting, two nights at Turtle Cove Resort, too much eating etc.
Summer holidays
Yes, yes. I know the title's out of place at this time of the year (southern hemisphere people), but we wanted to get through a bit of a backlog of pix and blurbs from the recent past. December 06 saw us head to Lake Cootharaba, just north of the Sunshine Coast, for a couple of days of camping.
The weather was just right for some time outdoors, including a bit of kayaking up to a place called Harry's Hut in the Noosa Everglades. I took my kayak and Damo hired one, so with a supply of snacks and water, we headed up-river for a few hours in the sun. All up we spent about six hours on the water, there and back; came back with burnt forearms and struggled against the afternoon wind. Got some good exercise and spent some quality time together, before wine, cheese and reheating some chicken chausseur from a few nights before - roughing it? I don't think so!
The pix are sunrise on the lake and kayaking in the Noosa Everglades. Look for more of our backlog to come.
The weather was just right for some time outdoors, including a bit of kayaking up to a place called Harry's Hut in the Noosa Everglades. I took my kayak and Damo hired one, so with a supply of snacks and water, we headed up-river for a few hours in the sun. All up we spent about six hours on the water, there and back; came back with burnt forearms and struggled against the afternoon wind. Got some good exercise and spent some quality time together, before wine, cheese and reheating some chicken chausseur from a few nights before - roughing it? I don't think so!
The pix are sunrise on the lake and kayaking in the Noosa Everglades. Look for more of our backlog to come.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Ignorant Australia
Recently our local small-town, small-minded newspaper, The Sunshine Coast Daily, featured a 'word on the street' topic as part of its 'letters to the editor' section. The topic: same-sex couples adopting. Will try to locate the original comments, but in the meantime my response, below (which the paper chose not to print), should speak volumes.
10 June 2007
Imagine my disgust and anger at Saturday’s ‘Word on the street’ topic of same sex couples and adoption. Disgust and anger at the perpetuation of ignorance, discrimination and irrationality reflected in the respondents’ comments.
Given the divorce rate and levels of various kinds of abuse within ‘regular’ families, might I suggest the heterosexual world get its own house in order first before railing about tradition, history and society falling apart. With the struggle that a same-sex couple has to go through just to exist, the desire to raise a child in a stable, loving environment, rich with an acceptance of diversity, speaks volumes about commitment and how well that child will grow up to become a valuable member of society.
And what a skewed sample – two straight married couples, given far too many column inches than their ignorance deserves.
10 June 2007
Imagine my disgust and anger at Saturday’s ‘Word on the street’ topic of same sex couples and adoption. Disgust and anger at the perpetuation of ignorance, discrimination and irrationality reflected in the respondents’ comments.
Given the divorce rate and levels of various kinds of abuse within ‘regular’ families, might I suggest the heterosexual world get its own house in order first before railing about tradition, history and society falling apart. With the struggle that a same-sex couple has to go through just to exist, the desire to raise a child in a stable, loving environment, rich with an acceptance of diversity, speaks volumes about commitment and how well that child will grow up to become a valuable member of society.
And what a skewed sample – two straight married couples, given far too many column inches than their ignorance deserves.
Another pic
Here is a composite of a couple of photos taken in Cambridge a few years ago - it was then a few more years till I started to experiment with Photoshop.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Hello again
Hasn't it been a while. Have recently submitted a short story for the 2007 Forbidden Fruits 03 anthology, which should come out very soon. Read it below...
A Hot Tin Roof
The air is light, and carries the sound of cicadas. The just-turned-out fluorescent light in the bathroom glows surreally. Outside, through the dust on the flyscreen, light is diffused indoors.
The heat of your body is disturbing as I lay down beside you. From behind, my hand moves to your chest, my palm aware of your beating heart. Over the next few minutes, our body temperatures equalise as the tin roof creaks and groans. Lying with my lips resting on your back, our breath falls in sync and I drift into your slumber.
We occasionally in sleep, an impression of you in the impulses of my mind and soul. Maybe that’s not you though. Maybe you are the oddly dressed schoolgirl, or the growling lion, or the colour blue that recurs within a scene of an abandoned house my soul explores. The house is my security. The abandonment is my giving up to you. The blue, a colour that’s with me constantly in my waking life – the clothes I wear, the sea, the sky.
A possum’s steps outside cause you to stir. ‘Roll over.’ And your hand clasps at my heart, fingertips burrowing into the hair of my chest. One last complaint from the roof as sleep envelopes you again, and the tiniest vocalisation escapes you, punctuated by the squeeze of your hand.
A Hot Tin Roof
The air is light, and carries the sound of cicadas. The just-turned-out fluorescent light in the bathroom glows surreally. Outside, through the dust on the flyscreen, light is diffused indoors.
The heat of your body is disturbing as I lay down beside you. From behind, my hand moves to your chest, my palm aware of your beating heart. Over the next few minutes, our body temperatures equalise as the tin roof creaks and groans. Lying with my lips resting on your back, our breath falls in sync and I drift into your slumber.
We occasionally in sleep, an impression of you in the impulses of my mind and soul. Maybe that’s not you though. Maybe you are the oddly dressed schoolgirl, or the growling lion, or the colour blue that recurs within a scene of an abandoned house my soul explores. The house is my security. The abandonment is my giving up to you. The blue, a colour that’s with me constantly in my waking life – the clothes I wear, the sea, the sky.
A possum’s steps outside cause you to stir. ‘Roll over.’ And your hand clasps at my heart, fingertips burrowing into the hair of my chest. One last complaint from the roof as sleep envelopes you again, and the tiniest vocalisation escapes you, punctuated by the squeeze of your hand.
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