This vast numbness. Staring out the window of my office. Seeing nothing. Thinking nothing. Trying to resist pouring wine so early in the day, which has become my habit over the months of hard writing. Drinking and crying—especially towards the end. By then, the build-up was intolerable. Sometimes my husband would find a glass tainted deep red as he stacked the dishwasher in the late afternoon. He’d frown: ‘Have you been drinking?’ ‘No,’ I’d say, although this is clearly untrue. In response he didn’t say anything. There was no point. The situation was too fragile and he knew that. On… [Read more]

I’m sitting at a communal table in an inner-Melbourne cafe; from the back of the laptop opposite, a row of cryptic-looking cartoon characters—all heads, no bodies—are grimacing and mugging at me with odd-shaped mouths. A woman at the next table says ‘winter is coming’ and her companions laugh, because they are in on the joke. Out on the street, a child waiting for a tram is rendered a mere stick figure under his/her oversized, fluffy head-dress: yellow with big black eyes and rosy cheeks, instantly recognisable as Pikachu the Pokemon. And I wonder: what does it all mean, this ocean… [Read more]

If you’re not John Bolton, stop reading. This isn’t for you. Though if you could pass this on to John Bolton for me, that’d be great. Cheers. John, how are ya mate? I hear you’re trying to kick off another illegal imperial quagmire in the middle east again. Tut-tut John, you already have two wars on the side, you’re a greedy little bugger trying to kick off a third, who do you think you are, Burt Reynolds? Check your mustache and your privilege mate. Anyway, do you like movies? Clearly you see anyone hailing from anywhere east of east Connecticut… [Read more]

Tony Smith was re-elected unopposed as Speaker of the House of Representatives yesterday, the third time he’s managed it without an opponent. No-one’s done that since the first Speaker, Frederick Holder, between 1901 and 1909. Smith’s nomination was moved by Lucy Wicks, the Liberal member for Robertson, and seconded by Maria Vamvakinou, the ALP member for Calwell. Comity. Bipartisan support for a man doing a difficult job well. It was a hopeful sign for the opening of the 46th Parliament, which was otherwise greeted by a Daily Telegraph front page bellowing, ‘Give us what we voted for’. Civility and respect… [Read more]

It is a mini season of anniversary and memory. A major historical event, a personal re-connection, a television show.  Remembrance daring consideration of what we were and what we are now. The 1969 moon landing still resonates. It seemed to draw a hopeful line under two years of trauma—Vietnam, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy.  For this scrawler, they were also the years when the boy was emerging from childhood.  The memories are more complete, more rounded, although stunningly inadequate. As someone whose memories are structured around the triangulation or coincidence of residence, education, employment, relationships and current events, there is… [Read more]

Chronicling Donald Trump’s many flaws—as a man, as a husband/father/politician/businessman/actor/pizza hawker—has kept many of us (un)happily distracted for the past eight hundred or so days. As bountiful as that flaws list is, credit where credit is due: the man is an exceptional media manipulator. I draw no pleasure in complimenting him, but watching Trump lie and misdirect and conjure evermore distractions to whiplash media attention from one calamity to the next is something he’s disproportionately gifted at. Americans were pitched a showman, they voted in a showman, and surprise surprise, a showman now binges on cable news in the Oval… [Read more]