I always do a bitter-ish villanelle for 26 January, reflecting on the ills of Australia. I started doing them in around 2012 from memory and I always post them.
You can see previous efforts here:
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
This year's one is concerned mostly with my conviction that changing the date of Australia Day is the first and minimally decent thing this country could do to stop hiding from the reality that 26 January celebrates the beginning of indigenous dispossession and genocide, rather than anything to be actually proud about.
A Villanelle for 26 January 2018
A nation’s day that celebrates a start
of sorts: the first day of the end;
Blood on the ground, the country’s aching heart.
Denialism is its own dark art
Without owning, nothing here can mend;
A nation’s day that celebrates a start.
And rejection of all others is a part
of the same ill mind that never makes amend
Blood on the ground, the country’s aching heart.
Fireworks and sausages impart
a triumph, sickly-rooted, of whitewash trend;
A nation’s day that celebrates a start.
There might not even be a way to chart
a better way; but at least let’s not pretend.
Blood on the ground, the country’s aching heart.
The truth is stranger, deeper, and more tart
than the fairytales that old white men send.
A nation’s day that celebrates a start,
Blood on the ground, the country’s aching heart.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Monday, January 22, 2018
This month in review, this quarter in view
Last year, for a few months, I was doing review / in view posts here. I started off doing them weekly in March, then later dropped to fortnightly and then 4-weekly, before abandoning them altogether in November as end-of-year shenanigans took hold.
I did find them a useful, albeit unsustainable, exercise for most of the time I was doing them. It helped me to get a bit of perspective on my life and activities balance, and gave me a bit of a boost in weeks that I felt I wasn't achieving anything (counting your tasks can have the same effect as counting your blessings in that regard!) I plan to sporadically do a similar thing this year, but I'm not going to commit to a particular schedule, as that gets a bit difficult to sustain.
As the New Year is no longer brand-spanking new, though, I thought I'd do a little overview of how our summer has gone so far (I date "summer" for this purpose as being from Boxing Day onwards) and the big-ticket items coming up between now and the end of term one (Good Friday).
The summer has been quite a good one. It has not been the height of excitement or indeed relaxation (we haven't gone away anywhere big, although we have done day trips and fun things) and I have been back working from home since 8 January, so that has not been completely challenge-free, but it has still been a positive month overall.
This first term looks frankly monstrous with work commitment levels, but I am hoping to get through it intact. I am trying very hard to plan for a scaling down from term two onwards, to recalibrate my business commitments in the second half of the year to be never more than 4, and preferably 3 - 3.5, days a week (rather than the 5-6 I could easily fill now - only having the kids home, and one unexpected migraine that kicked out most of a planned work day, has stopped me working full weeks since 8 January). This will partly be achievable by developing more formal subcontracting relationships and really using others' expertise.
As indicated below, despite how busy I am, I am also going to take two Mental Health Days during this term on weekdays where I can have 6.5 hours while the kids are at school to do something relaxing and recharging. I will probably use one of those days for doing a bunch of mildly enjoyable but also necessary non-work things like getting my hair cut and going gift / party shopping - this one I'll locate close to my 9-year-old's birthday party in late Feb, so I can make sure I have enough unstressy time to get everything I need for that. The other day, not sure, see what I feel like when I get there!
So we'll see. The nature of my work is such that things really can change on a dime, so my projections below might end up needing adjustment. This is the putative plan though, for now.
- Weekly ice-skating visits for 12-year-old and some combination of friends and family
- Several swimming-related excursions (beach / pool)
- Day trip to Hanging Rock (that was magnificent)
- Visit to the Triennial exhibition at the NGV (also magnificent)
- 2 x movie trips (a split one where some of us saw Ferdinand, some of us saw Wonder, and one of us saw The Greatest Showman; and a me-and-kids-and-their-friends trip to Jumanji)
- A two-night holiday at grandparents for the kids
- Dinner out to Hellenic Hotel for husband and I (while kids were away!)
- Much Ado About Nothing at the Pop Up Globe for me with a friend
- So far, 7 days of paid work for me (4 in week of 8 Jan, 3 last week), with an anticipated 3.5 days this week to round off the month
- Finalisation of Japan trip plans and payments
- Participating in Month of Poetry challenge - haven't missed a day yet!
I did find them a useful, albeit unsustainable, exercise for most of the time I was doing them. It helped me to get a bit of perspective on my life and activities balance, and gave me a bit of a boost in weeks that I felt I wasn't achieving anything (counting your tasks can have the same effect as counting your blessings in that regard!) I plan to sporadically do a similar thing this year, but I'm not going to commit to a particular schedule, as that gets a bit difficult to sustain.
As the New Year is no longer brand-spanking new, though, I thought I'd do a little overview of how our summer has gone so far (I date "summer" for this purpose as being from Boxing Day onwards) and the big-ticket items coming up between now and the end of term one (Good Friday).
The summer has been quite a good one. It has not been the height of excitement or indeed relaxation (we haven't gone away anywhere big, although we have done day trips and fun things) and I have been back working from home since 8 January, so that has not been completely challenge-free, but it has still been a positive month overall.
This first term looks frankly monstrous with work commitment levels, but I am hoping to get through it intact. I am trying very hard to plan for a scaling down from term two onwards, to recalibrate my business commitments in the second half of the year to be never more than 4, and preferably 3 - 3.5, days a week (rather than the 5-6 I could easily fill now - only having the kids home, and one unexpected migraine that kicked out most of a planned work day, has stopped me working full weeks since 8 January). This will partly be achievable by developing more formal subcontracting relationships and really using others' expertise.
As indicated below, despite how busy I am, I am also going to take two Mental Health Days during this term on weekdays where I can have 6.5 hours while the kids are at school to do something relaxing and recharging. I will probably use one of those days for doing a bunch of mildly enjoyable but also necessary non-work things like getting my hair cut and going gift / party shopping - this one I'll locate close to my 9-year-old's birthday party in late Feb, so I can make sure I have enough unstressy time to get everything I need for that. The other day, not sure, see what I feel like when I get there!
So we'll see. The nature of my work is such that things really can change on a dime, so my projections below might end up needing adjustment. This is the putative plan though, for now.
Summer in Review
- Multiple friend sleepovers, hang-outs and playdates for all three kids- Weekly ice-skating visits for 12-year-old and some combination of friends and family
- Several swimming-related excursions (beach / pool)
- Day trip to Hanging Rock (that was magnificent)
- Visit to the Triennial exhibition at the NGV (also magnificent)
- 2 x movie trips (a split one where some of us saw Ferdinand, some of us saw Wonder, and one of us saw The Greatest Showman; and a me-and-kids-and-their-friends trip to Jumanji)
- A two-night holiday at grandparents for the kids
- Dinner out to Hellenic Hotel for husband and I (while kids were away!)
- Much Ado About Nothing at the Pop Up Globe for me with a friend
- So far, 7 days of paid work for me (4 in week of 8 Jan, 3 last week), with an anticipated 3.5 days this week to round off the month
- Finalisation of Japan trip plans and payments
- Participating in Month of Poetry challenge - haven't missed a day yet!
Term in View (from now til Good Friday)
- Kids back to school and school routines from 29/1 (primary schooler) and 2/2 (high schoolers)
- Return to weekly gymnastics, swimming, jujitsu and skating classes: Two key differences will be the extended length gymnastics class for almost-9 year old , which will add one pressure, and the 14-year-old self-commuting to jujitsu, which will relieve one pressure (although we will still be picking her up at the end)
- Average of 5 days booked work per week over 4 client projects for me, with at least one, and probably two, interstate trips to clients
- Preparations for our overseas trip (!)
- Plan for two Mental Health Days across the course of the term (dates TBC)
- Special events: youngest's 9th birthday and party (late Feb), Roger Waters concert and overnight hotel stay (me and hubs), Evanescence concert (14 year old and her dad), husband's birthday, friends' second wedding
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Summer Staycation Daytrip: A Picnic (and Climb) at Hanging Rock
We did one. Here are a few of the best of the zillionty photos!
Monday, January 1, 2018
Month of Poetry #1: A Poem for New Year's Day, 2018
I will definitely not be posting all my Month of Poetry efforts, but I do like to put my New Year's Day poem, so here it is!
A Poem for the New Year, 2018
The new year arrived quietly, while I was almost sleeping;
tucked up against a warm-flush child, her face a mirror of passing dreams
half-smiles and flickering eyelids a semaphore of visions under the skin
The new year: not in coloured skies and disinhibited screaming
but softly, in even breath and the sussuration of trees
between one moment and the next, slipping in under the door
tucked up against a warm-flush child, her face a mirror of passing dreams
half-smiles and flickering eyelids a semaphore of visions under the skin
The new year: not in coloured skies and disinhibited screaming
but softly, in even breath and the sussuration of trees
between one moment and the next, slipping in under the door
The newborn to replace the dead, as it always does
and the calendar turns over
And we have done this before
and will do this again
and it will, every time, mean both nothing and something:
and the calendar turns over
And we have done this before
and will do this again
and it will, every time, mean both nothing and something:
caught in the human mystery of renewal
the seductive belief in clean pages and blank slates
the mesmerising idea that we, too, can be born fresh
a new self for a new year
forgiven our trespasses, and forgiving those who trespassed against us
here in this year that is granted to us all, every one:
this new-hatched year, with no pain in it yet.
the seductive belief in clean pages and blank slates
the mesmerising idea that we, too, can be born fresh
a new self for a new year
forgiven our trespasses, and forgiving those who trespassed against us
here in this year that is granted to us all, every one:
this new-hatched year, with no pain in it yet.
- Kathy, 1/1/18
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