Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

01. A brilliant night at Denmark House for the Spirit of the North dinner (part of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival). And no, wasn’t daunted by the many, many shots of akvavit that were paired with each morsel – totally took it in my stride 😀 Continue reading

Found, Wanting by Natasha Sholl

I recently did a Grief 101 session for colleagues, mostly to explain the types of grief other than that associated with bereavement. At the end, someone asked about further reading and without hesitation, I recommended Natasha Sholl’s memoir, Found, Wanting. The ‘without hesitation’ bit is noteworthy because I’m usually reluctant to hold up a memoir as a means of understanding grief in a text-booky-way, but Sholl’s writing is succinct and beautiful, compelling and devastatingly real and it would be hard not to identify with what she says in a helpful way. Continue reading

Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

01. The weather wasn’t looking promising before the Hoodoo Gurus concert but it turned out to be a fine evening and when they played Good Times, I felt grateful to be able to go to such events again. Continue reading

Melbourne Writers Festival 2022

I’m interrupting my usual Sunday night HAPPY posts, to bring a special edition of Writer-Festival-Happiness (that’s a picture of the ceiling of one of the Festival venues, the Capitol Theatre, which never fails to thrill me).

I didn’t get to all of the events I had originally booked (work has a way of foiling plans!), however, I’ve had a terrific weekend and managed six events in total. Some highlights: Continue reading

Things That Are Making Me Happy This Week

01. Morning walk was accidentally interrupted by breakfast at Cumulus Inc. (BTW that’s a smoked trout frittata with crème fraiche, and madeleines with bergamot curd in the background). Continue reading

My MWF 2022 Reading List

 

The Melbourne Writers Festival program has been released. I’ve booked lots of sessions and realised that I will have to get busy reading in order to be across the books that the authors will be speaking about. On my reading list: Continue reading

Things that are making me happy this week

Seems I’m eating and drinking my way through Lockdown 6.0…

01. Attica Chicken and Chill dinner – highlights: house smoked King Ora salmon with macadamia cream, lime oil and ciabatta; the asparagus ‘green slaw’; the silky white chocolate and yoghurt panna cotta with preserved blackberries and caramel corn. Continue reading

Things that are making me happy this week

01. Melbourne Writers Festival program – an apt theme, given our uncertain times. In The Comfort Book, Matt Haig quotes film director Jean-Luc Godard who says a story should have a beginning, middle and end, but not necessarily in that order. Is it fair to say that we’re all craving classic narratives and conclusive endings, right now?! Continue reading