the end was just the beginning
The lovely Angela Mollard wrote a column in The Sunday Telegraph magazine yesterday about a game called "Shoot, shag or marry" that she played on a mountain in Nepal. Everyone had to "nominate a celebrity we'd, you know, do it with if we were single or handed a day pass". She chose Clive Owen. I thought "oooooh,... Continue Reading →
I'd normally use lamb shanks in this family favourite dish, but decided to try a lamb leg for a change. I reckon I'll stick with the shanks in future - or perhaps a lamb shoulder - as I didn't get the same sort of melt-off-the-bone effect with a leg. While I had to carve the meat to serve it, the flavours were still delicious. I made it... Continue Reading →
I've gotta be honest. Visiting prison is really pervy. I mean it's really awful too - as my friend commented yesterday, you feel a bit like crying when you leave. But it's pretty wide-eyed-oh-my-giddy-aunt while you're there. Yesterday there were all these well-heeled people hanging around (looking vaguely mortified) and I couldn't help surreptitiously checking them out, thinking, "Oooooh, what did your... Continue Reading →
What it’s like to visit someone in jail (another refresher course)
Sprog 2 woke early yesterday and asked if we could go for a walk. “Mummy can’t,” I said, “she has to go to jail.” Sprog 2 didn’t bat an eyelid, just curled up on the sofa to watch Charlie & Lola. Mummy had a hangover, so she wasn’t really looking forward to jail. But she’d promised to meet someone there. (Need a refresher course on my prison time? See https://housegoeshome.com/2012/01/06/murder-medicine-and-motherhood/) When you book a jail visit, they tell you to arrive at 8.15am. Lord knows why, because they’re lucky to unlock the front doors by 9am (followed by another 20 minutes of faffing while they get their scanners working). I don’t mind the wait outside, it can be highly entertaining. Yesterday there was woman wearing fuzzy bed socks and chain-smoking. Between puffs she discussed her time doing jury duty. It was a case involving parents who left their sick three-month old baby in the care of her nine-year-old sister while they…
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I went to jail today. Here’s a refresher course on why …
I went to school with Kathleen Folbigg. Well, she was Kathy Marlborough back then. We weren’t close, but we moved in the same circles. She’s probably the most famous person to attend my high school. Well, she’s definitely the most infamous. That’s because she’s serving 30 years behind bars for murdering her four children. Her first baby, Caleb, lived 19 days. Her second baby, Patrick, lived eight months. Her third baby, Sarah, lived 10 months. Her fourth baby, Laura, lived 19 months. The first three deaths were initially attributed to cot death. When Laura died, the police opened a murder investigation. Kathy’s trial had shades of Lindy Chamberlain to it. She was accused of being cold, not showing enough emotion. Like Lindy Chamberlain, people decided she was guilty before the trial even started. Unlike Lindy Chamberlain, most people still hold that opinion. Last year, Kathy sent me a book called Murder, Medicine & Motherhood. It was written by a Canadian legal academic, Emma Cunliffe. Cunliffe spent…
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Becoming a journalist was my teen dream. My parents thought I had my head in the clouds, they suggested nursing or secretarial work instead. But I was determined to make my living from words. My dream came true when I scored a cadetship at The Newcastle Herald (and proved my parents wrong, ha!). I learned so much during... Continue Reading →
Not content with telling my friends and family what to do, I'm now dishing advice to celebrities at Kidspot's Village Voices every Friday. First star on my virtual couch? Jessica Simpson. Read my words of wisdom to the girl who's just been paid $1million to show off her baby in People magazine and $3million to lose her... Continue Reading →
I was going to blog about how pathetic it was that I volunteered to be a parent helper on Sprog 1's school excursion yesterday just so I could go to the IMAX theatre for free (it's been a long time between movies), but there's a heaviness in my heart that needs to be addressed. Fairfax journalists in Wollongong,... Continue Reading →
I drove to Mortdale earlier this week to visit a friend. I had no idea where Mortdale was - other than south - so I consulted my street directory. My street directory is an ancient, decrepit thing, missing its first 10 pages, including most of the "A" entries. Fortunately my friend's street started with an R. I drove... Continue Reading →
I think I'm edging towards alcoholism. How can you tell if you're becoming an alcoholic? Is needing two (ish) glasses of wine on a Monday night a sign? Is needing two (ish) glasses every night - three (ish) on weekends - a sign? I haven't always been like this. I used to go all week without touching the stuff. But lately I've started... Continue Reading →
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