Just too busy being busy at Bay? It's not often that I break into song, probably because whenever I do, bad things seem to happen. Birds fall from the sky; normally gentle domestic animals suddenly turn rabid and terrorize peaceful suburban neighborhoods; fistfights break out amongst flower-bearing Hare Krishnas at Jervis Bay… Still how nice to anticipate the moment of song, peace and tranquility ;-)
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back...
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
- Anonymous Media Dragons
Children of Men Catch a Word
Imagine building a friendship with someone you thought you could trust - only to have that person deceive you! This happened to two famous women in the 1980s.
Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.
-I Know This Much is True never grapples with anything less than life's biggest questions....a modern-day Dostoyevsky with a pop sensibility. In his view, it's not just the present that's the pits...it's also the ghosts of dysfunctional family members and your non-relationship with a mocking, sadistic God, whom you still turn to in times of trouble -- which is all the time. [Oprah Winfrey's benediction]
Never underestimate the power of understatement. Many people wonder why Jane Austen's "Emma" has lasted in our hearts so long, and why we linger over her love. Emma's true love is finally recognized at the end: Mr. Knightley. It begins with him declaring his love for her, as they stand alone in a garden. The air is thick with emotion. What does she reply? Austen says: "What did she say? Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does." We end up filling in the blank with our own emotion, and when we think about it months later, we don't remember the absence of words, but the emotion we felt.
Also, it is usually better to show the emotion than to try and put it into the character's words (show it through actions and reactions). In real life, this is often the case.
• Writing about Wtiting ;
'To do our work, we all have to read a mass of papers. Nearly all of them are far too long. This wastes time, while energy has to be spent in looking for the essential points.
I ask my colleagues and their staff to see to it that their reports are shorter.
The aim should be reports which set out the main points in a series of short, crisp paragraphs.
If a report relies on detailed analysis of some complicated factors, or on statistics, these should be set out in an appendix.
Often the occasion is best met by submitting not a full-dress report, but an aide-memoire consisting of headings only, which can be expanded orally if needed.
Let us have an end of such phrases as these:
'It is also of importance to bear in mind the following considerations', or 'Consideration should be given to the possibility of carrying into effect'. Most of these woolly phrases are mere padding, which can be left out altogether, or replaced by a single word. Let us not shrink from using the short expressive phrase, even if it is conversational.
Reports drawn up on the lines I propose may first seem rough as compared with the flat surface of officialese jargon. But the saving in time will be great, while the discipline of setting out the real points concisely will prove an aid to clearer thinking.' Winston Churchill, 9 August 1940 'Brevity' - Memo to the War Cabinet
• · Entertainment and Poisone; ‘Community media is undoubtedly the way of the future’ –Rupert Murdoch (The Australian, 29 June 2006)
Think very carefully before you purchase a digital free-to-air television set or box. Depending on where you live, you might lose an entire channel. This may come as a surprise. It is unlikely that you will have read about it in the news or seen a warning sticker on a set-top-box. We were told that digital television would offer more television, not less. In fact, the underlying principle of digital conversion was that households who purchase digital receivers would still get to see programs shown on conventional analogue television. It was supposed to be ‘TV for all’, delivered free-to-air, whether through microchips or rabbit ears, right up until the analogue switch-off date. Why would any of us purchase a digital television set if we were going to get less television? Where is OurSpace on Digital Television? By: Ellie Rennie
• · · Online Opinion article: Australian literature on the nose? ; So here’s a question for you — Is it enough just to believe that governments should interfere less in both the economy and citizen’s personal lives, or does a person have to believe this for the right reasons? Is Andrew’s definition too narrow? Keating Musical: Liberal Light on the Hill ; Fearless and flexible: views of gen Y
• · · · Out of India, a daughter claims her inheritance; Some Writers Deserve to Starve: 31 Brutal Truths About the Publishing Industry