Category: Soul
Why Baby Boomers Are Angry Birds
September 24th, 2019What Am I, Chopped Liver? It’s spring in the southern hemisphere. A cause for celebration? Yes! And … no. It means spring-cleaning and renewal. But we’re not only talking tidying drawers, squeaky-cleaning the kitchen, re-grouting the bathroom tiles, and physical detox, here. We’re also talking cleansing our psychic innards. Heavy-duty stuff, this last one, and… See More
The Poetic Slicence of Plastic Surgery
October 31st, 2018My, What Big Ears You Have! I love Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of South Park. I love their warped humour and their characters—foul-mouthed, politically incorrect bunch of yobs! I admire Stone and Parker’s ability to satirise. Apparently, I do a bang-up job of this myself, according to an Amazon Hall of Fame reviewer…. See More
Are You a Kick-Arse Woman in Your Own Life Story?
April 30th, 2018Meet Ms Perfect … What woman doesn’t love the quintessential female protagonist? Who doesn’t aspire to emulate a wonder woman—a fit ’n’ healthy, perfectly-sculpted chick with an hour-glass figure (but leaning towards lean), lustrous locks, flawless skin, a sense of her own self, assertive in the boardroom, a tiger in the bedroom? A gal who… See More
The Anatomy of My Weird Characters
August 29th, 2017I See Strange People Both my parents were immigrants. It was pretty much all they had in common—they lived together, but were poles apart. She was a staid walking cliché who struggled to live the Australian way; he thought he was living it because he could fart the national anthem. My father the patriot. She… See More
Why It’s Time for a New Women’s Anthem!
April 14th, 2017I ♥ My Dirty-Girl Mouth I have a potty-mouth. It’s not a bad thing. For a long time, though, I was ashamed of what came out of my bazoo. Why couldn’t I be demure—ladylike, like the fairy-tale damsel? It’s not as if I didn’t try to make nice. We bobby-socked baby-boomers were groomed to. Still,… See More
Why the Lure of Horror Is a Good Thing
April 3rd, 2017A Nightmare on Overwhelm Street The man’s bloodied forearm dangled limply outside the door of his horribly smashed-up car. I slowed down to get a better look at this accident on the other side of the road. The drivers in front of me had also reduced speed, but the stretch ahead of them was clear. No… See More
Why Obscenity Is Good for Your Health
July 20th, 2016Truth or Dare? Dare. I dare say we all crave obscenity. Ooh … I sense prudes mounting their high horses, shouting a spotless synonym for ‘bullshit!’. But that would indicate that they’ve opened up this post, which could indicate that they were unable to resist sneaking a peek at something that might be grubby. Why?… See More
Why a Square Peg in a Round Hole Is the Ideal Fit
June 7th, 2016Here’s to the Crazy Ones! It was a small poster that came in the mail almost twenty years ago. Apple sent it to me because I was a true-blue Mac user. ‘Here’s to the Crazy Ones,’ it said. Woo-hoo! I felt buoyed, not because I liked being considered crazy—the poster wasn’t personal, although, it was… See More
How I Deal with the Inner Critic
April 8th, 2016SHUUUT UUUUUUUP! Does that work for you? Mostly, it does nothing for me. Zip. Nada. Bupkis. The inner critic won’t listen. All writers have to contend with one, but writers don’t have the monopoly. This bitchy, nit-picking predator of the psyche doesn’t pick and choose. It assails everyone. I couldn’t silence mine—and I was loath… See More
Sleeping with the Enemy? (Why It’s Worth It.)
February 22nd, 2016Who’s Been Sleeping in My Bed? I’m sleeping with the enemy. And there’s more than one. Oh, I don’t know them in the biblical sense, and I haven’t seen them, as such. Then who are they? My personal demons, that’s who. Yes. I am in bed with my demons. United We Stand, Divided We Fall?… See More