December 2009
15 posts
Goodbye, Grandpop
My grandfather Ken passed away this week. He was a remarkable man. I knew him as a sugar cane farmer. A conservationalist, even before the term ‘climate change’ was coined. An animal lover. He loved to have a joke and make us laugh. At events he’d play cricket with the kids in the backyard until dusk and then put on his records playing bossa nova beats and entertain the adults – he was the life of...
No direction - and it feels good.
I hate not having a plan. I have notebooks full of plans. Timelines, production schedules, ‘things to do’ lists.
When I consider applying for a job I instantly jump to a five year plan - where this position will lead, what training I’ll do.
(I’m always revising my five year plan by the way)
I hate travelling without a plan - it stresses me out.
So this stage of my life...
Writing up a Storm
I spent an hour at the State Library Queensland working on an assignment (I love that place). While I was there, sitting in a room by the river, a thunderstorm passed over. Wow, that place has good acoustics! The thunder cracked and echoed through the foyer and through the lounge. The clouds over the river were a dark grey, almost black against the skyscrapers – it looked like an oil painting....
We want your input but...
I work in a scientific research facility within a university. I presented some thoughts to my manager on how they could improve their communications through publishing a new or revised newsletter to both their internal and formal (scientific/political) external audience.
I wanted to make the communication less formal. Read: not so much technical lingo and well, a little more marketable. At the...
Prompt?
I’ve had people send not one but two jobs to me within the last week that would mean a return to my old life as a digital (interactive) producer. One of them was so good that my world stopped for a few days as I made the decision of whether to apply for it or not.
Of course it made me think about what I’m happy with in my life now and how those things would change by returning to the...
Choosing a name for my professional blog. I’m terrible at coming up with names for things.
I’m also thinking about leaving tumblr. Sure following people is so easy but I just prefer the usability factor of Wordpress.
“The top is only halfway there”
Sometimes I think we forget we have to survive this race.
Back Story
I’ve always loved computers and gadgets. Anything technical fascinated me and I had to know how it worked. I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do when I left school - I wanted to study IT; be an environmental scientist or biologist (even before I knew anything about climate change); study and teach history; be a writer; play piano - all things I nominated on my uni preferences. But to...
You are what you read
I set out with the intention of becoming a technology journalist. Given my recent job history as a digital producer in an advertising agency, my interest in gaming and my love for gadgets and new technology (and my need to know how they work) I thought I’d have no problem pounding out a few articles to start off with. But I’m finding it much easier to find material for general...
November 2009
9 posts
I want to write for online genres!
I’m feeling a bit lost. I have ideas to write about - plenty of article ideas. But as I start to write, it comes out more opinion-based; better suited to a blog or online column (what’s the difference these days?). I’m feeling like I don’t know how to write features for newspapers and magazines - which is the point of my course.
To be honest I think writing such material...