Rescue remedy

my friend called

to rescue me from Thursday morning

we found adventure in the brown swell

of the Yarra

down the muddy embankment

to Laughing River

she and her son

two red-hooded figures

misty rain

jonquils white and surprising

in all that green



From Tim Burton

Words this week come from the Tim Burton exhibition, currently showing at ACMI. What I loved most about the exhibition were the sketches, ideas and hand written notes of Mr Burton's and this quote in particular stood out to me. It is a hand written comment about the film Beetlejuice:

This has to be a human story ... rather than a big picture.

Simple words.

Philosophy for great story telling.

Dog day afternoon

So it is nearly 3 weeks since the dog ran me over in the park and I fell on my head and today really is the day I should be out there again and running.

But the canines are still out there ... plotting the demise of my fitness routine.

And you know, it is very cold in Melbourne this time of year.

And the dishes need doing.

Maybe a walk.

Yes.

Late night World Cup eyes

I ask my boyfriend to explain offside to me

I understand the concept but my vision is too slow

to see it coming or judge when it has just been

‘Offside makes me itchy’ I tell him

It feels the same as trying to play elastics

or jump rope as a child

I knew what I wanted to happen but

couldn’t match the idea to the reality

‘Poor hand eye coordination’ my high school

PE report said one year

An infection develops in my left eye

‘Does it feel like there is sand in your eye?’

Asks the pharmacist

Drops sting and drip acrid

down the back of my throat

I dab my face with a tissue and blink slowly

straining my eyes at the screen

At least in matches where there are a few goals scored

I can see what is happening

Between times I let my gaze glaze

and enjoy that ball magic and magnetised

dancing at the end of their feet



Posting perfection

The tiny dead bird

is perfect

I know a woman who makes

jewellery out of them

But I don’t know what sized

envelope will fit best

how many stamps to put on

or if it is possible to post perfection



Instant idiocy hold the fries

why do fast and medium food franchises

insist on giving their products wacky names

i find the over alliteration anxiety-provoking

and cannot escape the feeling that uttering words

such as wendy’s whizzer and willy’s wobbler is an obscene

act designed to humiliate us into not questioning

whether that is actually food they are serving or just some kind

of ironic gesture wrapped in plastic with fries on the side

even more disturbing is the earnest enunciation with which

these ridiculous names are uttered in affirmation by pre-pubescent

staff pimples sneers and vacuous glances not withstanding they

follow the pattern and do not seem to question what they are saying

why can’t I just name the items I want in order: those corn chips with tomato

salsa and sour cream with extra jalapeno peppers please why

does it have to be bernie’s burning ring of desire – did I just

miss the gene that makes this fun acceptable or worse still not

even worth commenting on or is everyone else suffering

in silence so desperate for the sugar hit or extra dollop of fat deposits

that they will degrade their mouth to any degree both what goes in

and what comes out of it

a slow humiliation this death by quirk demise by pun changing

our language so that soon we will have no other way to ask for

anything than to add a rhyming cutesy name completely ineffectual

in the transmission of actual desire or communication so that it won’t

be long until we lose the will and wherewithal

to ask for anything at all

yes of course I’ll upgrade that to a meal deal

thank you very much for asking



What cows think

cows know we are not cows

you can tell by their regard

what - do you suppose - do they think we are?



School train afternoon

on the train loud round girls

shout insults at each other

braces on their teeth clanging

it is a blue swaying afternoon

pale winter sun

when they are done with themselves

they turn attention to commuters

look at how she is sitting!

acid wash nice look!

their sharp eyes miss nothing

I come under fire as they note

that behind my sunglasses I am looking at them

what are you staring at?

surprised at how much it stings

when they get home will they kiss

mothers hello

go to their room

put on weekend clothes

eat pizza or burgers for tea

building up layers of protection

diminishing what gets in



Why I like grapes

When a friend is visiting and there is a bowl of grapes on the kitchen table they will feel comfortable reaching in and taking a few to munch on.

They don’t need to ask and no comment needs to be made.

This leads to a sense of accidental hospitality and shared enjoyment.

I don’t think the same can be said for any other fruit.



Let's not forgettery

Watching a program called 'War on Film' with a focus on WW2. Compelling, moving footage of daily life in a war zone.

A young American nurse speaks of being at the Dachau Concentration Camp in 1945, after liberation.

There are many anecdotes and verbatim quotes. One that stands out is so simple, from a German Jew, who has been incarcerated at Dachau. She simply says:

vergessen Sie nicht (do not forget)

I think of Kevin Rudd who, early on his leadership, spoke of a thing called the forgettery. It is a place his family has created for putting difficult times, conflicts, things they want to move on from.

I'm not sure that a forgettery is a such a good idea. Especially if it means forgetting promises made or  wounds that still need healing - at home or as the leader of a country.

I wonder why watching the footage from WW2 had more of an impact on me than the nightly news (where atrocities and tragedies continue around the world).

Perhaps because it was story rather than news bite. People rather than ideology. And those three words that stood out were not a tagline or sub-heading.

vergessen Sie nicht.

Cloud computing

We're putting a lot of faith in the cloud these days aren't we.

Yes we are

...

What if it rains?

Diagnosis

Due to trouble with a sore hip while starting a new running program, I trotted off to see a physiotherapist. After earnest discussion and some targetted prodding he informed me that the problem was not my hip. The problem was more to do with the muscles around my hip.

To be specific, I have a lazy gluteus maximus.

I think this means I technically have the diagnosis of a lazy bum.

This got me thinking about other possible afflictions and associated diagnoses. Would flabby arms make me a flibbertygibbet? A blocked nose be due cause for the label of nincompoop?

And what bodily dysfunction might lead me to be diagnosed as a poo-head?

Something to think about ...