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·17 hours agoMember-onlyMy Friend Trusted her Sister with her House Keys (and car keys) During her HoneymoonWhat could possibly go wrong…? — Back in the day when I was new to working life and growing experienced at socialising, my best friend approached me with an offer that was too good to refuse. He had just had a phone request from Max*, a good friend of his. Max needed help with “renovating” the…Honeymoon4 min readHoneymoon4 min read
Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·2 days agoMember-onlyPeople Pay Insane Amounts For Things Touched By Famous PeopleThis might be a possible passive income stream… — When NFL great Tom Brady sat on a beach three days ago to announce his retirement from football after 22 seasons, I suspect that he did not think that his momentous Instagram announcement would spur some enterprising entrepreneurs into action. (Note: this article contains no affiliate links.) Only a few…NFL4 min readNFL4 min read
4 days agoMember-onlyThis is What Happens if you do not have a Valid WillNext of kin, be afraid… Earlier this week I received a phone call from a close friend, who informed me that an “old” friend had invited him and his wife to his rather “significant” birthday. As we chatted, he informed me that this guy, who remarried last year and now…Family5 min readFamily5 min read
Published in Family Stories·6 days agoMember-onlyThere Were Sheepish Faces All AroundWe did not expect this to happen on our late afternoon drive home… — It was late on a Sunday afternoon a few decades ago, and my first wife and I were nearing the end of one of our frequent visits to her parents’ home, a sprawling sheep farm in the fertile countryside near Hamilton, in western Victoria (Australia). It had been a largely…Life5 min readLife5 min read
Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Jan 29Member-onlyWhen I Nearly became a Missing Person (in a National Park)“Have you seen Mark?” “No….” — Back in the day, when I was a wide-eyed nine-year-old, I learnt a very valuable lesson about my father, Eric. It was a very important, maybe life-saving lesson: he was not big on multi-tasking, especially when he was in front of a barbecue, with a pair of tongs in hand…Life Lessons4 min readLife Lessons4 min read
Published in Bouncin’ and Behavin’ Blogs·Jan 26Member-onlyThe Implications of my Voice Sounding Somewhat Feminine over the PhoneEven a scammer called me Ma’am I inherited an interesting collection of bodily features from my father, including my bushy eyebrows, pointy Kleimann nose, barrel chest, and, best of all, a voice that tends to go to a higher pitch when I am excited, or a bit nervous. It was…Comedy4 min readComedy4 min read
Jan 23Member-onlyHow to Avoid Falling Asleep at the Wheel During Long DrivesDon’t be like this guy who couldn’t even make it through a drive-through… Well, it wasn’t actually this guy. This morning, I read on the ABC Website that a 30-year-old man was struggling with the effects of extreme snooze while waiting for his order at a McDonald’s drive-through in Darwin…Driving4 min readDriving4 min read
Jan 22Member-onlyPussles the WondercatThis cat had an agenda… Long ago, when I was a wide-eyed secondary school student with a slight case of acne, my sister mentioned to me that she had noticed an absence of cats in our backyard. …Cats4 min readCats4 min read
