Don't prepare.....

How lucky we were in the Southern Hemisphere on Tuesday evening - the perfect place to view the full lunar eclipse. The night was clear and balmy, and the "show" began around 7pm. I was at my yoga class at Newtown. The instructor dedicated our practice to the moon so we did a lot of "moon" poses. When I came out it was 7.15pm and nature's show had started. The park was full of people - families with picnics, photographers, dog-walkers, everyone with their faces turned skywards. I hadn't planned it, but I grabbed some take-away noodles and joined the crowd in the park. I didn't have my camera with me, so I've "borrowed" these images from Flickr = and guess what? They were taken by someone from Newtown who was in the park!

Synchronicity indeed. Watching the eclipse made me acutely aware of the insignificance of the human race compared to the forces of nature.

We'd better start looking after our planet a little better!!

Say Yes

A friend asked me along to the premiere of a play he is directing, so of course I said "YES". It is one of four short plays which together make up "The Journey into Sin" - interesting!

Each play was quite different in its staging and approach to the theme of sin. Each one was thought provoking and well acted (and directed, of course!)

I love the Newtown Theatre because it gives small theatre companies a chance to put on quality performances without breaking their small budgets, and being Newtown, is close to some great restauraunts and pubs. We had an amazing Thai meal for $20 per head, saw four great plays, an old-fashioned fan dancer entertained the crowd at interval and champagne flowed at the end - a great night out, thanks Malcolm!

Pay Attention

What a great art lesson we had today! The syllabus suggested looking at Picasso's Guernica as a stimulus for making an artwork about a global or social issue. Picasso is one of my favourite artists, so this suggestion was welcome. I downloaded an image and put it on overhead. The children - 10,11 and 12 years of age - were absolutely fascinated by the artwork and the story behind it. We had a great discussion about the imagery and techniques, then they were asked to think of an issue that affected them. These wonderful kids came up with: global warming; the war in Iraq; the war in Lebanon; apartheid; divorce; stroke; pollution; death of a family member; and September 11th 2001. They are now busily creating sketches on which to base their final artworks. Some days are diamonds................

Wake Up to the Gifts

Did I say spring had come early to Sydney? Oops....spoke too soon. But - it's Sunday, so no need to go out in the rain, or even get up early. The dogs very kindly slept in too, in their cosy trampoline bed in the garage; the garden is being watered, and we moved our Sunday picnic to in front of the fire. Nice! Eliza bravely went to see her cousin play rugby ( rain does not stop play for rugby players). Reflections of a wet Sunday:

• Listening to: Rufus Wainwright. I discovered him (belatedly) on a documentary about Leonard Cohen, "I'm Your Man". Great soundtrack.
• Reading: Digging to America" by Anne Tyler. Fans of Anne Tyler will not be disappointed with this new book.
• Watching: Series One of Six Feet Under on DVD. I have never caught any of this series on TV because it was on at a very late timeslot on Monday nights. Loving it!
• Best Movie I've seen recently: Lucky Miles - an Australian movie about "illegal" immigrants told with pathos and humour. http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s1963611.htm

Take Care of Each Other

My beautiful daughter turned 22 on Sunday - she celebrated long and hard, and one of the celebrations was lunch at an Irish (?) Pub (above). Her brother in NYC arranged a flicker

slideshow http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullyoung/sets/72157601382332079/show/ for her with, by coincidence, one of her best friends who was having a stopover in New York - she is an Emirates flight attendant. I am constantly awed and humbled by how much being a parent has enhanced my life. I have learned so much from my kids, met so many lovely people and had so many wonderful times because of them. They have influenced my working life - from starting a Montessori Pre-School I moved to welfare work, then worked with the NSW Gifted and Talented Childrens Association, then into teaching (where I am the Gifted & Talented Education co-ordinator). Thanks kids !! - and Happy Birthday, Eliza Jane.

Wake up to the Gifts

I love Saturdays! And Sundays! Two whole days to do whatever you wish, no hard fast schedule to follow. Spring is definitely in the air in Sydney, although the calendar says it is still winter. Global warming? At least we had good snowfalls this year on our aptly named Snowy Mountains.

Kicking back with coffee and the papers outside in the sun, art class this afternoon, relaxed dinner tonight, got me thinking - if you didn't work hard, you wouldn't appreciate leisure; and sometimes we need to be reminded that we should also appreciate our good health, loved ones, peaceful country, abundant food and the roof over our head.

Say Yes - to coffee!

Great news for the coffee lovers out there from Reuters in my morning paper - "Coffee helps women remember"........I am fairly selective about which researchers I pay attention to, wanting only good news of course, so I was pleased to discover that drinking more than three cups of coffee a day helps protect women against some age-related memory decline. The research was done in France, so we'll assume it was good coffee - I wonder if a croissant would help too - and the chance of these women having memory decline was 33% less. More good news is that drinking the equivalent in tea works as well!
Going out for a cappuccino, alone or with friends, is one of life's simple pleasures for me; cheap and relaxing, a chance to chat or catch up with the papers. Now I'll be doing it guilt-free - coffee, anyone?

Don't Prepare.....

My son and blogging mentor, Paull , has tagged me to give eight random facts about myself. I've decided to pick up the "eight" theme and run with it.......

• At 8 years of age I was newly arrived from England to Australia. We lived at a Naval Base set next to an idyllic beach in a national park.


• At 16 I found school boring but managed to top the school in English. Then I left.


• At 24 I was living in Sydney after two years living and working in Papua New Guinea.


• At 32 I was the proud mother of Paull, 2 and Eliza, 2 months old !


• At 40 I was working for the Stroke Recovery Association and studying counselling.


• At 48 I had completed two University degrees and begun a new career, teaching.


• You'll have to wait a few years for the next instalment, so, um, our dogs, Beavis and Butthead, are 8 this year! (Never let your kids name your dogs)


• I adore Lindt 85% dark chocolate ...................

I now tag - my entire blogroll!!

Pay attention!

One beginner's art class and I'm seeing art everywhere. That puddle sure looks like a snake!- and the red on that branch and leaf is brilliant. I think that nature can outdo the best artist every time - what do you think?

I loved the scribbly gum,too - took lots of shots of that one.

The art class was great, I've learned lots already. I've always been puzzled about how to turn my sketching into a painting. The mystery is slowly revealing itself!

It doesn't matter that none of us will create "great" art - we are focusing, learning, relaxing and creating. Surely a creative society is a better society?