This will hurt me...

Triffids blooming. Arthurs Circus, Battery Point. August 2013. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and RSS feeds.) The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last week. I call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning... In our work-ethic-as-self-worth culture, we ignore the importance of laziness to a life well-lived… Public urinal users face fine for poor aim. It’s a bad time for psychology, a field rife with fraud, bogus maths and murky concepts. Happiness research, for example… Go on, get reading! "In 1998 men in the Health Care and Social Assistance category were being paid only 21 percent more than women. But that gap now stands at 48 percent - the worst figure for any industry in Australia ." Should we judge people of past eras for moral failings? On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs.

Blow Henry blow!

Duck feet (from below). Geilston Bay. July 2013. I'm back on the buses again, which ups the time I have to read. This is always nice. After The Wall , Jana Hensel: I'm always up for an East German generational memoir, which is Hensel's goal here. What differentiates this one from many of the others is that Hensel reflects on the very last of that generation, those that were at the tail end of their childhood at the fall of the Berlin Wall and whose teenage years coincided with the process of reunification. I'm not certain that this translation helped (it was packed full of jarring Americanisms), but was an interesting-enough reflection. C . Grendel , John Gardner: A fascinating novel that retells the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf from the perspective of the monster and - quite successfully - explores (among other things) the nature of good and evil; man's capacity for violence; finding meaning in the world; and the power of literature and myth. I really enj...

Tree on a cliff. Clifton Beach. May 2013. As you know, the Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (and RSS feeds.) The following are some things that I've had a look at in the last week. I call this: a Compendium of Click-throughs for Monday Morning... Why are we not much, much, much better at parenting? Girls on Film: The real problem with the Disney Princess brand. Reconnecting with Food. Essential for our health. Ocean scene: before and after overfishing. Educational waste: what’s missing in Australian classrooms. Coffee addiction: Do people consume too much caffeine? Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing. Best Night-Sky Pictures of 2013.

Yes Henry, robots are destroying Tokyo...

No spitting...

Tall tree. Royal Hobart Botanical Gardens. November 2012. We , Yevgeny Zamyatin: one of the earliest examples of the dystopian genre. We imagines a totalitarian and conformative modern industrial society where free will is the cause of unhappiness, and that citizens' lives should be controlled with mathematical precision based on the system of industrial efficiency. A tricky read, but effective. B- . The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers , Delia Falconer: Set a quarter century after the event, this novel imagines Captain Frederick Benteen remembering the destruction of Custer’s Seventh Cavalry at Little Bighorn. A meditative book, this is an exquisite eulogy for the ordinary soldier, alive and dead. Brilliant. A+ . Utz , Bruce Chatwin: A satirical portrait of life in Communist Czechoslovakia rooted in the idea that human nature is the same no matter what political winds are blowing. I liked it a lot. B+ . Ellen Foster , Kaye Gibbons: Thoughtful, funny, tender and - most important...

Does that smile look genuine to you?

I don't ever wanna feel like I did that day. Take me to the place I love, take me all the way. Under the [Tasman] Bridge, Hobart. February 2012. Theme Thursday ? ICE CREAM? I scream? You scream? We all scream? For... ICE CREAM? Why? Me, I'm more of a sorbet man myself.

At some point, at some time, one of my children simply must find a considerable amount of money and/ or equivalent amount of jewels, doubloons, treasure in the sand, given the sheer amount of digging that they do on beaches...

On a clear day you can see forever Henry...

Oops.

He's had a snip since this snap, but it grows so quickly he already needs another snip!

Ezra’s first upskirt upshorts pic!

The sky is the limit. MS1 , Campbell Street, December 2010. The building on the right is known as MS1 (Medical Science 1 to its friends), the home of the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania, in the heart of Hobart's Medical Science Precinct. Let’s just say that a lot of rats go in, but they’re rarely seen leaving… A Few Rules for Beginners , by Katherine Mansfield Babies must not eat the coal And they must not make grimaces, Nor in party dresses roll And must never black their faces. They must learn that pointing’s rude, They must sit quite still at table, And must always eat the food Put before them—if they’re able. If they fall, they must not cry, Though it’s known how painful this is; No—there’s always Mother by Who will comfort them with kisses.

The last guy that tried that with me... Well, let's just say, I man him an offer he couldn't refuse.