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 in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·7 hours agoMember-onlyUnmasking the ScammersWho are they, and why do they love your bank account? For a while now, I have been receiving interesting calls from Pay Pal, which informed me via a recorded message from a polite-sounding woman that a $199 transaction has been charged to my credit card, and that if I…Scammer Alert7 min readScammer Alert7 min read
Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·6 days agoMember-onlyThe Unusual Goings-on at № 10What went on at an unassuming townhouse — The time had come. Due to increasing “old house” issues with our home, which included it becoming a popular Booking.com destination for rodents and a nightmarish plumbing issue, my wife and I made the difficult decision to sell it. Our plan was then to rent for a year or two…Comedy Writing6 min readComedy Writing6 min read
Published in Minds Without Borders·Mar 12Member-onlyHow Maintaining Hate and Anger can Harm YouHow unresolved and unexpressed anger can ruin your health — In my family, anger at past trauma has caused two family members to cut off all contact with our entire family, resulting in a broken family relationship not only with them, but also with their children. I have shared this in a previous article. How Breaking Up With Your Whole Family Affects Your Children While cutting them off may seem right to you, how will it impact them?medium.comAnger4 min readAnger4 min read
Published in Family Stories·Mar 11Member-onlyThe Implications of Having an Uncanny Resemblance to an Iconic British Television CharacterI don’t drive a 1977 Leyland Mini 1000 Mark IV… — It was happening again. I had just dropped a student form in to the office of our son’s primary school and was returning to my car when I was confronted by a rather cheeky year 3 boy, his younger brother and their father at the school gate. They were slightly…Comedy4 min readComedy4 min read
Published in Minds Without Borders·Mar 9Member-onlyMisadventures in DrivingThe start of life’s great road trip — Do you remember learning to drive? And if so, are your memories tinged with fondness or frustration? I have vivid memories of my own journey, and can still smell the interior of the driving school’s near-new Nissan Stanza, with its black-and-white cloth seats and large “L” plates attached to its…Family7 min readFamily7 min read
Published in Minds Without Borders·Mar 5Member-onlyMeet the Arachnid EnderWhat to do when creepy crawlies come to call — Warning: Fuzzy critters contained in this article I live in a household of arachnophobes, in which I am the sole “spider hero” (i.e. the only one who doesn’t display guinea-pig-like symptoms whenever a fuzzy eight-eyed critter grins at us from a far-off corner of a room). As Arachnid Ender, I’m always ready to spring into action. Thus, whenever one appears around the far end of a curtain…Life Lessons6 min readLife Lessons6 min read
Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Mar 2Member-onlyCelebrating the Miracle of Colour TelevisionHow this changed our lives… — I know that many people take colour television for granted, and cannot imagine that once upon a time, the smart TV, with its access to everything online was just a thought bubble in a scientist’s brain, and that the amazing television was a boxy piece of furniture, looking like the…Memories4 min readMemories4 min read
Published in Minds Without Borders·Feb 28Member-onlyThe Irresistible Attraction of Conspiracy TheoriesHow they suck you in — When I was growing up, my mother, a very strong, conservative Christian, would often remind young, impressionable Mark and his even younger sister that the world was rapidly approaching the End Times. She would refer to biblical passages such as 2 Timothy 3: 1–5 and Matthew 24:21 to support this…Conspiracy5 min readConspiracy5 min read
