I joined RSVP three years ago this month. Happy anniversary to meeeeeeee! Actually, joining RSVP was a pretty miserable milestone - hated it - but the experience ended well. I explained to the youngest the other day that I met DD on a dating website. She was HORRIFIED. It was funny to realise I’d never... Continue Reading →

I was in such a baaaaaaaad mood when DD arrived at my place on Saturday afternoon. I think it was a combination of exhaustion from my Australian drinks Awards marathon and a little too much alone time with my over-thoughts. After listening to me rant for 10 minutes while viciously dissecting a bunch of celery... Continue Reading →

I finally finished writing stories and posting photographs from the 2017 Australian drinks Awards at about 12.10am last night. As I started shutting down the computer I  remembered I'd promised you some happy snaps. I was pretty knackered at that point. I know it sounds very glamorous to go to the 2017 Australian drinks Awards,... Continue Reading →

While I've had my "respectable" moments in journalism - as a cadet at the Newcastle Morning Herald and as editorial director of Singapore Harper's Bazaar - I've mostly spent my career on the "darker" side. My work has usually focussed on subjects that offend conservative or high-minded individuals. When I was at Cosmopolitan, I copped... Continue Reading →

Life has given me many wonderful gifts. Aside from my kids, one of the best ones has been a second chance. That makes it sound like I had a near-death experience, but it wasn't nearly that dramatic. I just got to cast off the chains that 45 years of self-imposed guilt and shame and fear... Continue Reading →

It constantly amazes me that two people can combine their genes to create new life and produce someone so completely different every time. My kids don't look the slightest bit alike. One has red hair and hazel eyes, one has blonde hair and blue eyes. They don't act the slightest bit alike. One is into... Continue Reading →

Things got a little heated in the lead-up to Father's Day this year - an early childhood activist suggested it be renamed "Special Person's Day" and the internet almost broke. A tidal wave of outrage poured out on social media. “People still celebrate fatherhood even after their father and grandfathers have passed away, in fact... Continue Reading →

I'll probably jinx it by writing it down, but I think I've passed another post-marriage-break-up milestone. I've had four booze-free days a week for the past fortnight. And it hasn't been tough at all. During the years when my marriage was imploding an unhealthy habit sprang up. My husband's coping mechanism during those unhappy times... Continue Reading →

I feel things a little too deeply sometimes - both stuff that affects me personally and the problems of those I love. It can lead to tears in the shower and a reluctance to face the world on cold winter mornings. The sensitive diagnosis was confirmed a few months ago when I got Herrmann profiled... Continue Reading →

If you could jump on a plane tomorrow and go anywhere, where would it be? Don't think about it, just blurt out the first place that pops into your head. The first place that pops into my head is Ningaloo Reef. If I thought about it, a spot of shopping in Waikiki or eating lobster... Continue Reading →