I’ve always enjoyed being outside, and I was lucky enough to have a childhood that encouraged it. Every day, my sister and I would be off and about on our rollerblades, or our bikes, or sometimes our skateboards. We spent our holidays at my grandparents’ wheat farm in the countryside, and I fondly remember those times as some of the best of my life: we would set our exploring in the morning, come back for lunch, and then head back Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve always been a voracious reader. Even when I was a toddler, I would carry around my well-loved, well-chewed books, and things have never changed (although my books today have fewer tooth marks on them). When I began primary school, I was thoughtfully indoctrinated into the wonderful world of the reader by my kind primary school teachers, and my lover affair never ended. Every day, I would trek up to the library at the end of my street, and would Read the rest of this entry »
Growing up, I never really had much of a great relationship with my dad. It wasn’t that he was cruel or abusive, or anything like that, but he worked very long hours, and it always seemed that his work came before my sister and me, and that we were an afterthought like having Botox. Thinking back, I can barely remember any times that my dad took me to the park, did my hair, drove me to a friend’s house, or came to Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve always been the shy type. The type who will remain pressed to the wall at a dance event, or who will pick the seat up the back. Talking to strangers for some reason terrifies me, and results in my voice turning into a pained squawk. Sometimes I find it hard to make eye contact, or to smile at someone who smiles at me.
Obviously, being this painfully shy has a crippling effect on what you can get out of Read the rest of this entry »
When my sister moved to the other side of the country, her friends put together a huge photo album filled with photos from high school all the way through to their working lives. Each photo had a written description, and the book was decorated with little illustrations and personal notes to my sister.
I thought the photo album was a wonderful idea—how often do people go away, whether temporarily on holiday, or for a longer period of time—without knowing how Read the rest of this entry »
This morning, I was taking my regular long morning walk into the city. The walk takes me past a series of gardens, and along a main road that passes a major train station. We all know that train stations are lures for all sorts of performers, magazine vendors, and buskers, and today was no different. Amongst the throngs of business people stoically making their way to work, huge coffees clutched in their hands, newspapers crumpled beneath their arms, I could Read the rest of this entry »
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