Don’t Be Friendly or We’ll Take It the Wrong Way

May 13, 2013 in Gender, Human Rights, News, People, Society, Travel

I was casually scrolling through news.com.au one lunchtime, and came across an article entitled “Western women warned “friendliness’ confuses Indian men”. My first reaction was “huh?” which of course prompted me to read the article. In short, Indian men “often get the ‘wrong signal’ from female tourists who are simply being friendly”. Well that makes complete sense… In this day and age, women are constantly being told they can’t do things. We can’t expect to earn the same as men. We can’t expect to be treated with respect in our chosen career. We can’t expect other women to accept us [...]

28 Is My Scary Age

May 2, 2013 in Gender, Health, Parenting, People, Pregnancy & Birth, Self

When I was 18 years old I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and told I may have difficulty when I came to trying for kids. Up until then kids had been a footnote in the plan I had for my life. I was happily cruising along, fresh out of high school with a steady (dickhead) boyfriend, planning to head into modelling, acting, singing and all the rest of it. So the doctor looks me straight in the eyes, ”This does not mean you will never have kids, but for your best shot you should have the first one before you [...]

Politeness Gone Too Far

April 16, 2013 in Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, People, Self, Society, Travel, Work

Lately I’ve noticed I seem to be suffering from a case of politeness gone too far. I seem to have a fear of inconveniencing other people. This could be considered normal manners, I suppose, but in me it’s accompanied with such a paranoia it’s taken to extreme levels. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve leapt up from a train seat to let someone past so fast I drop my bags in the process and end up taking longer to retrieve them. Or the number of times I’ve had my name called in a waiting room and I’ve [...]

First Day Back and I’ve Been Robbed!

March 26, 2013 in Anecdotes, Lifestyle, People, Society, Travel, Work

On Monday, I came back to work after having two weeks off. My break was fantastic. I caught up on sleep, gamed my little heart out, spent time with family and threw a going away party. There were some not so nice things too, but we’ll leave them be. All in all, it was a relaxing break, exactly what I needed, and I’ve come to work feeling all refreshed. I sit down at my desk, log on to my computer, and scan the surroundings while sipping my necessary cup of coffee. OH MY GOD I’VE BEEN ROBBED!! The box of [...]

Silent Night: A Warning to Drive Safely

December 6, 2012 in Lifestyle, News, People, Stories, Travel

Today’s guest post from Chantelle Dalgarno: “People say their heart misses a beat when they hear the sound of squealing brakes; when they hear the sound of someone screaming after an accident. Mine doesn’t. The screech and squeal of brakes show that there was time to react, to prepare, to brake, to brace. The screams of someone involved in a motor vehicle accident show that they’re alive, they’re conscious, they’re aware. When there’s only silence… when there’s nothing… that’s when my heart misses a beat.” It’s been a year since my baby’s first Christmas. It’s been a year of ups [...]

What Do You ‘Fail’ At?

August 31, 2012 in Humour, Lifestyle, People, Self, Stories, Travel

I had a bit of an ‘episode’ the other day. I tend to have a lot of moments like this where simple things completely overwhelm me. In hindsight it’s quite funny but I always wonder why it takes me so long to figure it out in the first place! You see I’m not good at quite a few things – while I can string a sentence together; talk under water; reply to SMS’ promptly – I am hopeless with math; can’t reverse park and am terrible with remembering to defrost my dinner! I put this all down to the simple [...]

Finally Understand The Appeal of Being a Tourist

August 22, 2012 in Anecdotes, Lifestyle, People, Self, Stories, Travel

For many years I had derided the idea of taking a tour. I had always LIVED places or visited friends. I always detested the idea of just doing whistle stop visits. Dropping in, taking pictures and driving off. I saw Europe through the eyes of my friends and Canada with relatives. I always wanted to know a place and understand its culture, something you could not do from a moving bus. I lived in London, learned the tube system, complained about going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, and learned the joys of an English [...]

I Just Can’t Bring Myself To Take Leave

August 14, 2012 in Entertainment, Film & TV, Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Money, People, Self, Society, Travel, Work

I just can’t bring myself to take leave. Unless I actually have to take leave, I just don’t. The thing is, I only get 4 weeks a year so I’m paranoid if I take leave I’ll be wasting it. Some people take a day here and a day there, the only leave I’ve taken in the last 2 years was when my boss told me I had too much leave, and when Stepdaughter comes to visit. It began back when I worked in marketing and taking leave, or a sick day for that matter, was akin to writing “Be disappointed [...]

Overseas Weddings: Fad Or Fun?

August 9, 2012 in Lifestyle, Marriage, People, Relationships, Religion, Self, Society, Travel, Wedding

I read a lot of blogs but one that I follow religiously is Sam de Brito’s All Men Are Liars* which runs in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Sun Herald paper. He always has a knack of being honest about life’s shortcomings or just things that we, as a society, put up with. Sam de Brito doesn’t put up with much. He calls a spade a spade which just goes to show that the name of his opinion column couldn’t be further from the truth. I had the pleasure of meeting Sam, somewhat shyly, in Dymocks George Street late last [...]

New Orleans

August 7, 2012 in Anecdotes, Food & Recipes, Lifestyle, Stories, Travel

Today we’re visiting New Orleans. I’ve only got two stops left in my American tales and I have been dragging it out because I don’t want to stop telling my stories! It will be truly over once I finish the last post. New Orleans was not really on my list of “definitely want to visit” places in America. Before going, I would have easily swapped it for San Francisco or Los Angeles or Boston. However, Mr W’s brother, who gave us the excuse to travel to America, was studying at Tulane University in New Orleans on exchange so we had [...]