crazybrave

As Mark mentioned over at Larvatus Prodeo (which is down today, who forgot to pay the hosting fees?), we’ll both be on a panel at the National Young Writer’s Festival, part of the “This is Not Art” Festival in Newcastle this weekend.

The panel will be talking about intersecting personal and political perspectives – it’s a really interesting topic, and I’m keen to hear any comments about it readers might have as then I can say what you said and look clever and charming in front of a hometown audience. Here’s the program blurb:

From weblog to iBlog: Writing to the world

I blog, therefore I am. This panel explores the influence of blogging on individual politics, both in writers and readers.

We will discuss the reasons a diverse range of people are drawn to blogging and how this has served to strengthen and/or alter their perceptions of the world. We will examine how different political environments affect the access and use of this unique form of writing. A central focus of the panel will be how the articulation of individual voices influences other forms of communication, such as print media and mainstream journalism, and the associated pros and cons. If the purpose of a blog is to communicate a person’s view of the world, is it relevant—or even possible—to evaluate them in the same ways that we judge other types of writing? Finally, we will think about the future of blogging and what this may hold for the political writer.

If you’re in town, come and say hello – there are tons and tons of blog-themed, -related and -friendly events, most of which are free. This panel is in the Waratah Room at City Hall (which is 290 King St), from 10:00 – 11:30am on Saturday morning. I’m the really gorgeous hugely pregnant one ; )

In general I’m very glad that Janet Albrechtson is out there busily fighting the straw feminist orthodoxy of 1974 and letting the rest of us get on with our lives. It’s only every now and then I’m tempted by the teaser on the cover of The Australian, and find myself reading her column.

Today’s column is about how women have female brains. Actually, it looks as if the research she’s discussing might be considerably more sophisticated than that, but you can’t really tell by reading Janet. [However you can get a hint of what poorly constructed crap it might be, and an indication of how generous a soul I really am by reading this at Language Lab - thanks to Kate for the heads up.]

My favourite part of Janet’s story (well, my favourite bit from as much of it as I could bring myself to read) is the answer to the question of why teenage girls never shut up:

Talking activates what [author Louann] Brizendine describes as the “fluffy, purring kitty … feel-good brain chemicals” – oxytocin and dopamine – “which together deliver the biggest, fastest neurological reward you can get outside of an orgasm”. Maybe that explains why women like to talk during sex, perhaps looking for a double dose of delight.

Eww. Too much information, Janet.

Mr Albrechtson, my thoughts are with you.

Why didn’t losing her house, her job and all her mates make Klancie Keogh sound any better on Idol last night?

And could there be some kind of bizarre conspiracy behind it all?

BTW, this over here <– is what people who grew up in Newcastle call a “Gosford Skirt”

Ampersand Duck has posted about the first rush of excitement the Lifeline book fair brings – but I wouldn’t know about that, having not made it until late this afternoon, well and truly the business end.

She was met with a huge queue, which had eased somewhat:

Instead I had to battle the book gutses on their way out:

These were by no means the gutsiest of the gutses – I saw people filling minivans.

And inside was more like this than the literary cornucopia she described:

After I little while, Duck found me – and a little later we ran into Mindy – doing her second bookfair for the weekend (not in the least habit forming).

Still, treasures remained:

Nah, didn’t buy that one. Or these – BOOBS! as Sage would say:

This reminded me of the sad state of literature for young people in the 1980s:

The end of the last day is buy a bag for $2 and fill it for $15. This is my bag with Duck’s last minute special effort, bless her. I am SO good at jamming stuff in that bag.

If you want the full list – and Kamahl pictures – you’ll have to go over the fold.

(more…)

Andrew Norton has a post up today about casualisation of the labour force, and how it might affect perceptions of work security

Before having a child, I worked in permanent or longish (three year) contract public servant type positions. I left my job after Sage was born because we moved cities, in part because we were unable to afford to stay in Sydney on one wage for any length of time. I started work again when Sage was 18 months old; for the last 2 1/2 years I’ve worked a string of casual, short-term or contract positions, mostly part time. During that time my partner’s had two jobs, with only a couple of days in between, so things could be a lot worse.

I’ve appreciated being able to do interesting and professional work as a part time – and I’ve been very lucky in that respect. But we’ve had one week’s holiday in that three and half years, because in a short term job it’s can be difficult to ask and difficult to receive approval for leave. Particularly if you need time off for illness/surgery/child illness as I have. (And yes, I’m shitty because we were going to have a holiday next week and the friend we’d planned to visit has to go overseas for work.)

Andrew asks whether “the new industrial relations laws will contribute to job insecurity in any significant way“. I would think so, what with the getting sacked more easily part. I also think there might be a lowering of expectations, particularly amongst younger workers – I know my parents think the kind of “career path” I’ve had to be pretty frightening. He also links to a Roy Morgan survey finding last year that people have the highest level of perceived job safety since 1975, when they began asking the question. I don’t worry about losing my job, but that’s largely a function of my partner having secure work. I do worry about getting another one when the inevitible happens and the economy falters (and after this other baby I’m growing, of course).

What to get the Presidential history nerd who has everything for Christmas … yes, a “Presidential Action Figure” which speaks 25 phrases in the President’s own voice!

Can’t you hear him now – “I am not a doll!” I am VERY sad that they don’t have an LBJ one.

Somebody – certainly not Owen, my word no – has found that spray-on computer screen cleaner is 100% effective in removing not only grubby fingermarks from microfiche, but all the tiny carefully imprinted text as well.

I’ve been wondering about the name of this tea that’s been sitting in the kitchen at work for quite a while:

But it all became clear when I read the fine print: