In which I have nothing to say because I have so much to say

You may have noticed, by not visiting, that I have not had much to say of any consequence of late. There are several reasons. One is that I am tired from working a more grown up sort of job. One is that the Noodle has expressed a wish that I not blog about him very much any more, and I try to respect that.

One is that many of the things I care about overlap with my work, and I am never sure what the Commonwealth owns and what I own with the information and the thinking so it seems I should err on the side of silence. This is a good thing because it means I am doing a job that I really like and care about, but gosh it's an odd feeling not knowing who owns stuff that is inside my own head.

Another one is that I am not reading the way I used to. Something inside my mind just doesn't do it right now. No doubt it is because my brain is busy with a bunch of other stuff, but it is messing with my sense of who I am and what I am for.

So all this adds up to me not being sure if I need to blog at all right now, because writing for people to read isn't really happening. So if I don't come back for a bit, thanks for all the interest and comments and general making the world a bit more intering-ness over the past few years because the thing that I miss is the sense of being in a conversation with other people that can roam and ramble and still make some kind of sense. And somehow I still feel a bit lonely for that, even though I am talk talk talking all the day long.

Ms Broccoli, meet Ms Frost, MsFrost, Ms Broccoli

Frost, I know that Broccoli has never done you any harm. So please leave Broccoli alone from now on, eh? I am starting to think that you are a bully.

It's probably too late for poor old Mr Lettuce.

Grown up

In the past year I have obtained a driver's licence, a house and a proper job.

Coco, Coco never meant it to be this way, as Sandra Berndhardt once said.

On the upside, I still can't manage to tell when to use 'license' or 'licence', so that's something I suppose.

Autumn leaves

Also, if you go behind the West Block in the Parliamentary Triangle* you will find a most satisfactory build up of autumn leaves at the bottom of a small hillock.

Dust-free and private. Actually, probably only private on weekends, but if you don't mind showing off your autumn leaf crunching action to a bunch of desk-bound public servants you could go tomorrow.

Are there public servants in the West Block? Maybe it's the ghosts of public servants from 1927. They would be more used to looking at sheep and British royalty, I guess.


*Don't believe Wikipedia, though. If we called it the ParTri we would be well and truly Looked At. Someone is being a bit TriHard to my thinking.

Say yes to climate action

Have been an active citizen by attending the climate change rally here in Canberra. It feels a little odd rallying in front of Parliament House, when the politicians are presumably home for the weekend, but there it is. Symbolism and all that.

As to the number of people, there were Lots. Organisers estimated 10,000. John Hewson spoke sensible words, wondering why the topic was politicised when it was clear that something had to be done and nearly everyone wants something done.

I heard a rumour that two people turned up to protest against a carbon tax, with a sign saying that the next tax would be a tax on breathing.

There weren't many funny signs at all, but plenty of dogs. It was very cold and I wished I had brought a nice thermos of tea.

Everyone was encouraged to write to their local member, to the Prime Minister and to the Leader of the Opposition. Rude comments about the Leader of the Opposition were very infrequent, presumably on the basis that he gets quite enough attention anyway thank you very much and that his opinion on climate change is only worth ignoring.