begin again

i have started a new blog, nothing much at the moment, just documenting and posting inspiration for the writing project that i've undertaken for the year.

you can view it at http://littlezine.blogspot.com.au/

end

thursday, last week, i had my last exam.

i have done so much over the last three years. moved interstate, studied for my ba, run penny black, curated an exhibition, gotten married, found myself the 'breadwinner', had a table at two design markets. it exhausts me just thinking back over it. and i have also learnt more than i ever imagined too, mostly about myself - how i am and who i want to be.

i have always felt that i have lacked focus. been interested and tried too many things. for a while now i have longed to be able to work out what was important to me and to just focus on a few selected things. now that i find myself at the end of this three year journey, i think that i may have just found my focus.

living with little money has meant that a lot of things have had to been culled. although this has been hard and at times depressing (it's approaching twelve months since my last hair cut), in a way it has freed me from a lot of things that i thought i needed, but in reality turned out that i didn't need after all. i have been given the opportunity to review my whole life and in turn to discovered the things that i value the most.

as we pack up the house and start on our journey back home to brisbane, i am excited about starting the next three year journey - of becoming a qualified accountant and about focusing on my few selected things - the big one of which is to start to writing again.

it's been almost three months since my last post, and i've decided to make the break official, too long doing too many things. time for a proper holiday. if you'd like to stay in touch you can find me on facebook and pinterest.

all

I finished reading All That I Am by Anna Funder during the week. The story is based on Funder's friend Ruth Blatt and her friends who after Hitler came to power, fled and while in exile worked against the Nazi's and tried to warn the world about the war that was coming.

I really enjoy Funder's writing. As with Stasiland, it was compelling and devastating.

"The blue eyed rabbi in our village at Samotschin used to talk to me as though I were a grown person, even when I was just a boy. We must believe in God, he told me, because if we don't we will have to believe in man, and then we will only be disappointed." (All That I Am p.237) 

bloom

The plum tree out the front of our house will soon be in full bloom.

I took a photo last week of the very first flower to open.

The tree is now halfway there and this morning I took some more shots. The blossoms make me smile they are so pretty. The flowers are also a welcome sign of warmer weather on the way.

I am hanging out for the rest of the flowers to open before I take some more photos.

Before too long the birds will be fighting over the small dark plums, despite there being plenty for everyone to enjoy.

sixty-three

The last couple of weeks have just spun by, and with them my resolution to post once a week. I am way too hard on myself. It is a nasty habit that must stop.

A couple of weeks ago now, I finished reading Stasiland by Anna Funder.

I really enjoyed this book.

I ordered it from the library after Anna won the Miles Franklin for her latest book 'All That I Am' (which I'm currently reading at the moment).

I've always been in awe of people who stand up for what they believe in. Especially those who live under the threat of nasty consequences (my hero of all time is Nancy Wake). I'd like to think that I would be strong enough to post prodemocracy flyers around town (like Miriam who was subsequently declared an enemy of the state at 16), but then I also hope that I'll never be put in a situation where I'll find out.

"After the Wall fell the German media called East Germany 'the most perfected surveillance state of all time'. At the end the Stasi had 97,000 employees - more than enough to oversee a country of 17 million people. But it also had over 173,000 informers among the population. In Hitler's Third Reich it is estimated that there was one Gestapo agent for every 2,000 citizens, and in Stalin's USSR there was one KGB agent for every 5,830 people. In the GDR, there was one Stasi officer or informant for every 63 people. If part-time informers are included, some estimates have the ratio as high as one informer for every 6.5 citizens." (Stasiland p.57)

It is horrifying what people are capable of doing to one another, but it is also inspiring the brave acts that ordinary everyday people make.

elephant

First week down.

Twelve to go.

My last three subjects are Project Evaluation and Planning (during which we have to develop a business plan), Management Accounting (which at the moment just seems to be concerned with cost accounting) and Advanced Financial Accounting (which is more of those exciting accounting standards). But right now all I can think about is getting home and getting my life started again. 

But that's just me getting ahead of myself. 

There's still a way to go yet.

deal

Ok, so here's the deal. Next week is the first week back at uni and in an effort to keep a tighter grasp on my sanity I want to do at least one post a week. I almost typed 'try' as a little preemptive scape goat for myself, but like Yoda says 'do or do not, there is no try'. I will do one post a week.

I have said this before, but this is my last semester and my last chance to get things right (or keep things a little less stressed).

Only three more subjects to go.