..."as we followed david through the two coach carriages, 124 pairs of sunken eyes sullenly followed our every move. these were people who had no dining carriage, no lounge bar, no cosy berths to crawl into at night. they had been riding upright for two days since leaving sydney, and still had twenty-four hours to go to perth. i am almost certain that if we had not had the train manager as an escort they would have eaten us." (american author bill bryson, from his hilarious book “down unde...

..."as we followed david through the two coach carriages, 124 pairs of sunken eyes sullenly followed our every move. these were people who had no dining carriage, no lounge bar, no cosy berths to crawl into at night. they had been riding upright for two days since leaving sydney, and still had twenty-four hours to go to perth. i am almost certain that if we had not had the train manager as an escort they would have eaten us." (american author bill bryson, from his hilarious book “down unde...

if i had my life to live over, i'd dare to make more mistakes ... next time, i'd relax. i would limber up. i would be sillier than i have been this trip. i would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. i would keep later hours. i would have more sweethearts. i would go to more circuses and less meetings . i would take fewer things seriously. i would take more chances, climb more mountains and swim more rivers. i would eat more ice cream and les...

my parents are divorced, and they SHOULD be. they are so patently wrong for each other that i am frankly amazed i even exist. in fact, my birthdate lends me to suspect that if my parents hadn’t attended some boozy new years’ eve party in 1968, i would not be here. humbling thought, that ... my entire existence probably came into being as a result of my twenty-something parents bridging their “communication” problems with some dodgy vodka punch and having a festive sha...

i am 35 this year. it is officially time to make “the decision” ... will i gracefully surrender the appearance of youth ? ... or will i become a woman who gets a lot more than the kitchen remodeled ?. there is just no denying it anymore ... things are happening here !. like some tiny continent, my body is shifting and changing. it’s comforting and strange all at once. there is an eerily familiar cast to my “womans' " face ... like a living history, i make my paternal grandfather s...

the internet is now a major player in the romance world. in the good old days, you had to go somewhere where there were actual people in order to "fall in love". now all you have to do, apparently, is register "online" at an "agency" and wait for your dream partner to materialise from the depths of cyberspace. i have a friend that did this. i will call him clay ... 'cause that's his name. . clay is 29 yrs old, funny, clever, interesting, and cute. he is also shy. he did not ...

oh, I should like to ride the seas, a roaring buccaneer; a cutlass banging at my knees, a dirk behind my ear. and when my captives' chains would clank i'd howl with glee and drink, and then fling out the quivering plank and watch the beggars sink. i'd like to straddle gory decks, and dig in laden sands, and know the feel of throbbing necks between my knotted hands. oh, I should like to strut and curse among my blackguard crew.... but I am writing little verse, as little ladi...

oh, I should like to ride the seas, a roaring buccaneer; a cutlass banging at my knees, a dirk behind my ear. and when my captives' chains would clank i'd howl with glee and drink, and then fling out the quivering plank and watch the beggars sink. i'd like to straddle gory decks, and dig in laden sands, and know the feel of throbbing necks between my knotted hands. oh, I should like to strut and curse among my blackguard crew.... but I am writing little verse, as little ladi...

my ex love once told me that i was the the most perfectly beautiful woman that had ever existed. then he came . after which he remained as adoring a partner in general, but i noted he had somewhat amended his description when he sent me a postcard from the louvre in paris which stated that "no masterpiece here has the bland hope of arousing in me the passions that your perfectly-imperfect face can". it is most fortunate for me that i perceive this as the compliment that it plainly i...

there is no longer such thing as a perfect world. the road to peace now unfortunately runs through a bloody and barren wilderness named humanity. i know, i'm sermonising. so sorry. please, may i leave the world now ? ... ( i have had more than enough) may I be excused from the eternal optimists who deduce my crime to be conscious thought ? because, if i stopped thinking so much, i’d be fine, right ? i shouldn’t worry about things i can’t do anything about, should i ? ... 'cause...

(part of this quote is stolen from somewhere. can't recall where ... just thought i should say so) ... he who whispers down a well about the things he has to tell, will not endure one-tenth the doubts of he who climbs a pole and shouts ! (in appreciation of the people who are brave enough to "put it out there", regardless of what "it" is).

strong voices draw criticism regardless of the subject matter. that is the nature of the human animal. we like proof . we like to know stuff. we argue points and exchange views. in this way, we hope to learn. through our challenging of thoughts and ideas, change is born. healthy change. progress is made. new worlds unfold. but when does "challenging" become "attacking" ?. does an "opponent" nullify his/her own argument by presenting it in a less than polite way ?. even though ...