Stories from all categories

so much spoilt
It's very nice to "take time every day to think through your day and see if there's anything you can be genuinely grateful for". But such advice also makes me a little sick. Why don't ...read more
people’s republic of woodford
Woodford. What I forgot is that it is less of a festival, more of a place. Wherever you go and whomever you see, the valley grounds hold everyone up to the sky and in the ...read more
new year’s stain
I was uncomfortable at Woodford to hear the Tibetan monks who had been hired to chant the festival's "Dawn Ceremony", alongside the thrilling singing of Tenzin Choegyal, being largely ignored or at best treated as ...read more
meatbags
It's Monday afternoon and we are eating meatbags for lunch. This is because we are in Brisbane and have a German visitor. This German visitor has only been in Australia once before, in Melbourne for ...read more
a little brown bottle wrapped in paper
Went into the corner store. "Do you have olives?" "What?" "Olives." "Oil?" "No, um, olives." "What is that?" "It's a kind of... tiny vegetable. I'm looking for the kind that come pickled in a jar." ...read more
brandy barter
12
I must have lived in Berlin too long because it's screeching hot on a Sunday afternoon, I am exhausted, and somehow the idea has crept into my head that I would like to drink a ...read more
ice cream man
Something I dig about the guy I'm travelling with. We are staying with my folks and Mum, fielding a houseful of hungry guests, sent us down to the supermarket with her credit card, and her ...read more
feast of increments
16
Christmas can be excruciating. All this talk of love and family throws heartache, loss and loneliness into relief. A woman I used to know killed herself this week, from sheer isolation it seems. In German ...read more
peeling
I'm peeling. Last time this happened I was about 14. Went for a long long walk and it was early in the morning and I just forgot about the sun. 'Hey there, zombie girl,' says ...read more