Jackson

I live in a rented house, and the lease ends next month. A couple of months before this happens, the real-estate agent ask me to sign a form saying whether or not I want to renew, and for how long. The form includes a warning that there may be a rent increase, but it doesn’t Read more

Google are really trying hard to promote Google+, have you noticed? The trouble is that compared to Facebook, Google+ is kind of like Canberra as compared to Sydney. For those not in Australia, Canberra is a planned city, the capital, where most people work for the government. It’s neat and tidy and well-behaved. It’s excellent Read more

One of the best things I’ve done during 2012—no, the best thing I’ve done—is throwing away my to-do list. When I say to-do list, I don’t mean a few odd jobs scratched on a scrap of paper clipped to the fridge door. “Fix the tap”, “Call the lawnmowing woman”, that sort of thing. I mean Read more

I’ve been thinking about what kind of society we might have in the future, what kind of society I’d like to see develop, if humanity survives the current scary but rather exciting period of turmoil and change. And I’ve written some of it down. I’m nervous about posting these thoughts. I’m nervous that what I’m Read more

When Peter Cowan Writers Centre asked me to be the judge for their recent poetry competition, I was pleased, but a bit hesitant. I don’t often enter poetry competitions because choosing one poem as the “best” from a whole field of entries seems kind of arbitrary. But I’m always up for a new experience, and Read more

But the young man sitting on James Street seemed different. Something about him made me stop and bend down to look at him. He had a clear face, clear eyes, and a red graze on the side of his face as if he’d been hit or fallen. Read more