Author Archives: Runcible

My work involves visiting many different people in their homes, it is part of why I love the job so much. I have had afternoon tea on the elegant verandah of a multi-million dollar home at Hunters Hill, looking out over … Continue reading →

I don’t know why I’ve been thinking about Robert Dessaix lately. Sometimes you just need to be with people you understand or who understand you. I certainly feel at home with Dessaix. Robert Dessaix’s writing is so intimate that it … Continue reading →

I decided to write a letter to Hermann Hesse about his book Siddhartha. Seeing I am a Westie girl by upbringing, I reverted to south of the Parramatta River for the missive. “G’day mate. I fort I’d let you know … Continue reading →

This is not a rhetorical question. We see regularly the right-wing commentators and shock jocks using appalling language and imagery, think of Alan Jones’s suggestion that Julia Gillard be “put in a chaff bag and thrown into the sea”. Can … Continue reading →

To me, the only time it is ok to hang up on a person you know is if they are screaming at you down the phone and you need to cut the call short for your own (mental) protection. So … Continue reading →

Coming up 68 and still learning to trust my instincts. Just watched the middle episode of ABC’s doco The Killing Season on Julia Gillard’s rise (and Kevin Rudd’s fall). It reminded me of my initial instincts on the matter, that … Continue reading →

In 1963 Robert Allen Zimmerman, Hebrew name Shabtai Zisl ben Avraham, put out an amazing album on vinyl called The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. It changed my life. At the time I was working for one Rupert Murdoch (pause to spit) … Continue reading →

Isn’t it funny how words can be hijacked? They can become coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population and in fact becomes a dog whistle signifying something entirely different? I soon learned to be wary … Continue reading →

Browsing the miserable book section of the Vinnies opposite my shop is usually a recipe for disappointment. But on one day last year I saw a staff member unpacking a large box of  yellowing old Penguins and marking each one with a … Continue reading →