This will hurt me...

Late afternoon swim. Little Howrah Beach. January 2014. I think that I owe you a Q and A. How about the Summertime meme ? 1.) What first tells you that Summer is here? The girls are showing a lot more of their thighs. 2.) Name your five of your favourite distinctively Summer habits or customs. Swimming, snorkelling, evening runs, early-morning walks and fruit platters. 3.) What is your favourite smell of Summer? The beach. 4.) What is your favourite taste of Summer? Icy poles. 5.) Favourite Summer memory? Swimming during intense electoral storms. 6.) Extreme heat or extreme cold? Which would you choose and why? Hot hot hot! 7.) What books do you plan to read for the season? Good books! 8.) What is your favourite part of summer? Anything involving the water. 9.) What's your favourite quintessentially summer food? Least favourite? Fresh berries are my favourite. I don’t usually eat what I don’t like. 10.) Best beverage to beat the summer heat:...

Does anyone have a twenty-cent coin?

In flight. Howrah Beach. March 2013. Denver , David McKee: Even though I've read a LOT of children's books, I rarely review them. Here is an exception. Denver argues that rich people are better than poor people; poor people cannot be trusted (and are guileless idiots to boot); and that sharing is a very bad thing. Perhaps the worst thing that I have ever read. F . A Spy in the House of Love , Anaïs Nin: I'm sure that this was frightfully shocking in the 1950s, but it's all a bit of a yawn these days. D . Railway Maps of the World , Mark Ovenden: If you like history and you like maps, you're bound to like this lovely coffee table book. B . Loser Takes All , Graham Greene: One of Greene's self-derided 'entertainments'. I enjoyed it. B- .

Henry is not too fussed with icebergs in the water. Sharks, that's another matter!

In fact, there are many ways that you go about doing it. But first, we really need to define 'it'.

There's more than a touch of James Dean about Hank here...

Crab #1. Little Howrah Beach. March 2013. Theme Thursday again. GREENERY. Hmmmmmmmmm. Ummmmm. Give me a second. Crab #2. Little Howrah Beach. March 2013. (tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick) Crab #3. Little Howrah Beach. March 2013. Yeah. Sorry. I've got nothing this week. How about I post this up now and promise to add a drabble this afternoon on the topic?

Ice Cube or ice cube?

Which hand?

Hot and cold?

One of these people does not need a wetsuit...

Mr Krabs? Is that you...?

Can you believe that this guy goes to school now? Amazing...

Yes Henry, robots are destroying Tokyo...

Ezra, don't shove your bother's head down the drain...

HENRY HAS CRAB S !

Patterns. Little Howrah Beach. February 2012. This week, another stolen Q and A from Sunday Stealing, The Get Out of Jail Free Meme, Part One ! As ever, the invite to contribute questions for me to answer remains open to all! 1. When you're home alone, do you still close the door when you use the restroom? ‘Restroom’? That’s even worse that ‘bathroom’! No, I don’t close the door when I am home alone and use the toilet. 2. If you have to go grocery shopping, would you rather go alone or with someone? I prefer to do it online these days! If forced, I’d rather go alone. 3. It's your best friend’s birthday, would you buy them a gift even though they didn't buy you one for yours Probably not. I wouldn’t expect it in the first place though. 4. You win the lottery. Lump sum or small payments over a period of time? Why? How small are these payments? Is there a significant tax loss if I go lump sum? I’ll need more detail before I can decide on this one, althoug...

The real end of summer. Hobart as seen from Little Howrah Beach. March 2012. People who find breastfeeding offensive are idiots. Hope is the thing... , Emily Dickinson Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all, And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm. I've heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea; Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.

It really wasn't that long ago that we were decked out in singlets and hanging out at the beach. It's all snow on the mountain and frigid southerlies at the moment. Beanie weather, with no space for singlets (unless it's underneath a shirt, jacket and raincoat).

Hen and Jen search for treasure. Little Howrah Beach. March 2012. The Internet is a wonderful place filled with the rich and varied treasures of the world holds (as well as a refuge for many, many sad and lonely people.) 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.. Let's start with one that gets me fired up. On the topic of the current trend of middle class entitlement here in Australia, it is no very clear that current funding policies of Australian schools aggravate the widening social gap in achievement . Grants to non-government schools encourage social selectivity and policies promoting 'choice' lead parents with cultural and financial advantage to pool their resources in schools of choice, both public and private. The key point is of course, that the winners of our education system are the best off and the losers are the worst off, and that dynamic is self-reinforcing...