Jump with both feet
Red Bubble has a lot to answer for.
When I joined in April 2007, I thought I could post one little story, and then slip away. I thought that perhaps three people would read it, one might comment, and I’d turn my attention to other things.
No-one told me that a little red add your work button would change my inky outlook forever.
I really should have been warned that the Melbourne and Victoria gro…
By the roots of my hair
By the roots of my hair some god got hold of me.
Sylvia Plath
When I was fifteen, I took English Literature in high school. For one assignment we had to choose a poem at random, and write a review of it. I remember the Norton Anthology of Poetry falling open on Sylvia Plath’s ‘Night Dances’, and the first lines reaching out to grab me: A smile fell in the grass, irretrievable. When I told my teach…
Hotter than a pepper sprout
‘So babe, we’re right with the volcano and the shrine to Elvis impersonators, but how do you feel about ventriloquism?’
I’ve had countless journals about overseas trips, and many of those have been taken either with bubblers or to visit bubblers. So yes, it’s that time again, but now with the glorious Lisa Jewell by my side.
Yesterday we sat with a bottle of champagne and our credit cards, and h…
The red notebook of 2011
About a month ago, I reached into my bag for my little red notebook, and came up empty handed. Somewhere, in a night of rockabilly quiffs and double basses, it had fallen out. It wasn’t the lost addresses or stories that had my head in my hands; all I could do was groan ‘All my quotes! My quotes of 2011!’
So with the blessings of the eagle-eyed friend who found it, and the lashi…
Open your mouth and speak
Three times in the last fortnight, I’ve received an email from an editor saying "Thank you for submitting your story. However, we don’t feel it’s suitable for our publication and as such, will have to pass.’
So I tend to turn up Elvis, pour a whiskey, pout a little (or a hell of a lot), and try again.
I don’t pin the emails up on my walls and throw darts at them…
Tattoos, tails and a double bass
Some years ago, about to move overseas and not wanting to ship all my CDs, I decided to invest in an MP3 player. So of course, being the committed tech head I clearly am (not), I bought an i-river.
Come on, the guy in the shop swore they would catch on.
Now that the 12 hour battery lasts approximately…oh… three songs, I’ve upgraded to an i-pod touch. And lord, am I having fun shifting…
Berlin...again
This is my sixth time in Berlin and believe me, it won’t be my last. This is also my third Berlin journal over the years, and the happiest one yet, given that three of my favourite people skipped along the cobblestones with me – a Red Bubble reunion of the best kind.
Holls and I in front of the Berlin Wall
This time I had three weeks to set up camp, renting a beautiful apartment with a balcony to…
Poland - Szczecin
I curled my hand around my coffee cup, and blinked sleepily at Gretchen across the couch.
‘What does a person pack for Poland?’
And we both broke into peals of delighted laughter at the day ahead of us.
At the tail end of three amazing weeks in Berlin (journal to come!), the divine Gretchen Cello and I decided to pack our pens, notebooks, and a couple of apples, and head across the border to Szcz…
Estonia
My first hour in Estonia, I thought I was going to be sick.
The sky above the Baltic Sea was black with thunderclouds, and the massive Viking ferry from Helsinki had slammed through the rough waves for hours, making my stomach churn. I fell into a taxi in the capital of Tallinn and rolled the window down for some fresh air, only to recoil at the rather foul stench emanating from the originally me…
Finland
My first day in Finland, I ate cloudberries and learned that the Finnish word for darling is kulta.
I love travelling more than secondhand bookstores, medieval Flemish paintings,and gingham knickers put together. And I want more, more, more.
Which is a damn good thing,given that Helsinki is the first port of call in a tour planned to take in Estonia, Germany, Poland, Hong Kong and even, I think, …