PinnedMember-onlyGrief and HopeWorking your way through Loss The phone call from my sister was unexpected. It was Friday morning, the 4th of February this year, and I was at work, calling customers, following up on their enquiries. I work in Personal Banking for one of Australia’s major banks. My sister lives in…Grief Recovery7 min readGrief Recovery7 min read
PinnedMember-onlyThe Revealing Art CourseThere was no shortage of red faces… Back in the day, when I was impressionable and fresh out of Year 11 at College, I made a momentous decision. Based on the very encouraging school report comments from my art teacher (“Mark has refined and developed his drawing skills” and following…Life Lessons9 min readLife Lessons9 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Aug 5Member-onlyWhat Happens to Bullies after High School?Corporate Success? Stardom? Or Prison? — Writer Susie Kearley recently wrote a heartbreaking account of being bullied during high school, which led me to think: who are these aggressive people, what makes them behave like they do, and what becomes of them when they leave high school? Her article is here: I Was Assaulted & Everyone Just Watched The ‘bystander effect’medium.com According to Pacer’s National Bullying…Bullying5 min readBullying5 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Jul 3Member-onlyThe Most Insane Nicknames Ever BestowedWhy a guy was known as Boofa — Nicknames have been used to describe friends (and people who are NOT friends) since the 1200s and, according to Wikipedia, is a term used to express affection, amusement, or as an attempt to describe a character trait. That is true, as some of my closest friends over the years have…Comedy4 min readComedy4 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Jun 25Member-onlyHow an Incorrect Prophesy Put a City Into Panic ModeThe Earthquake and Tidal Wave Premonition — It was early January 1976, and the city that my family and I call home, Adelaide (South Australia) was experiencing a hot, dry summer, which drew a large number of its residents to its beaches to enjoy the cool tranquil waters of the Gulf of St Vincent. House painter and…Prophesy5 min readProphesy5 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Jun 12Member-onlyThe Amazing Blessing of Auto-Correct“Help Choking” was changed to “Hello Clowns” — Back in 2005, a software developer at Apple was leading a team working on a revolutionary new type of mobile phone. This phone would have a glass screen with its keyboard incorporated into it, very different from the separate mini keyboards on the “brick”- type mobile phones of that time. …Technology3 min readTechnology3 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·May 29Member-onlyHow to Increase Your ReadsBreathing Life Into Your Older Articles — Yesterday one of my favourite writers, Britt H., shared a story about an amazing challenge that writer Kerry Purvis (also one of my favourites) is sharing. It is called the ICYMI Challenge. This stands for In Case You Missed It. Unfortunately, I was one of those who missed it —…Medium2 min readMedium2 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·May 18Member-onlyWhere Old School Meets AttitudeThe bands that my parents couldn’t handle… When I was a sensitive, impressionable eight-year-old lad trying to make sense of Grade three mathematics at primary school, my mother, Elli Kleimann, made a momentous financial decision. Among the many complaints that she had about my father, Eric, was “Dare is no…Kissband8 min readKissband8 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·May 13Member-onlyMy Near-Death ExperienceThe bus’s brakes were gone — It was early 1988 and I was a slightly naïve young man, with my life ahead of me. My social life was my church’s youth group, the Box Hill Lutheran Youth (Victoria, Australia), which was one of the largest, most lively groups. It contained some very colourful characters. Every four…Near Death Experiences7 min readNear Death Experiences7 min read
Published inBouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Apr 27Member-onlyFive Things Men Over 50 Should Definitely Not DoWelcome to Cringe Central — As a somewhat “older” man who is well into his 50s, I am very interested in things that I should not be doing (or wearing). This is to minimise cringey reactions from my wife, pre-teen daughter and 11-year-old son. This interest increased recently when a former AFL (Australian Football League)…Growing4 min readGrowing4 min read
