Hottest Trends & Destinations Antipodean race: A sea-change in the pursuit of happiness
The trouble with the rat-race is, even if you win, you are still a rat.
In a country where, on average, people move house every six years or so, you might think packing up is something we take in our stride, but even those who proudly claim they've moved 10 times in the past 15 years will tell you it never gets any easier.
Since I arrived in Australia in 1980 I had the pleasure of living at the Villawood (my Hollywood) Hostel, then surviving at the public housing estate at Wentworthville. In 1982 I moved to a different kind of wood, Burwood. After the engaging honeymoon with Lauren in Vienna and Lido de Jeselo, we settled in the west side of the city of exiles, a place called called Westmead. By the time we settled at Darling Point we disliked the idea of moving until we found ourselves with a child and another pregnancy and I blame this move on the euphoria behind the Velvet Revolution. This time we headed for the multicultural hill of Bellevue. According to the KGB ‘files,’ the new millenium took me closer to Lauren’s father and the life at bayside South East Queensland. While Packing Up is Hard to Do, it is impossible if you happen to break two arms only weeks before moving. Still better than breaking two legs. My Good Luck.
Nearly a quarter of us, according to new research on the SeaChange phenomenon, which has found that 23 per cent of Australians aged 30 to 59 have sacrificed income for the sake of a more balanced lifestyle in the past 10 years.
· Packing Up is Hard to Do [SMH]
· Be Happy [SMH]
· No Worries [SMH]
Cricket-mad Aussies
Instead of wasting time queueing for cooling beakers of Victoria Bitter, cricket-mad fans paid young women from the modelling agency Sex Bomb Promotions A$65 an hour to do it for them.
· Drinking Trendy [Reuters]
Want to wear the latest in hip writerly fashions? Want to live in a place designed in up–to–the–minute style? Then you need to go back 100 years.
· Going Trendy [Style]
2002 Year-End Google Zeitgeist, the definitive distillation of global consciousness.
· Spirit of Times [Google]
· Roots, Branches, Logs & Leaves [bLog Tree]
Best Use of Taxpayer Dollars (Or Most Likely to Make Andrea Dworkin's Head Explode): The National Institutes of Health commissioned a $147,000 study to discover what kind of porn turns women on, and lucky chicks were paid to watch blue movies in the name of science at Northwestern University.
· The Best & Worst of Sex in 2002 [Villagevoice]
If you thought sex scandals were the only interesting things happening in the Church in 2002, check out John Allen's 10 neglected Catholic stories. They recognize that this life is insufficient for lasting and perfect happiness. Even at our moments of greatest happiness, there is always an admixture of unhappiness and disquiet.
· Disquiet [National Catholic Reporter]
