Twisted

Bought a pack of discounted chips and they left me unsettled

The cheese flavour was okay, but the sight of a Twisties brand not packaging the twisted shit-shaped nuggets of my childhood was strangely unsatisfying.

Then again, last time I had Twisties I thought they were the worst chips ever.

 

They even twisted the slogan "Life's pretty straight without..."

While I've never been to New Zealand, I wonder if the experience is like going to Shelbyville?

(That's a Simpsons reference, Mum.)

 

The thing that drains you

One of the things nobody seems keen to discuss is Covid

While I can relate to some of what Mr Valbrun is raising in the comment shown, my feeling is that it began in the early '20s.

That's the 2020s because it was this decade when quarantines were lifted in a rush to normalise life as a new coronavirus was still circulating.

 

We're still seeing the impacts that it has on lives.

I know that some days it's surprising how exhausted I feel and there's a sense that my thinking skills aren't what they used to be as well.

 

It could just be me, but the more that I look around the more that I see signs everywhere.

 

In the UK there's been a significant rise in graduates who are unable to work due to health reasons. 

It must be devastating to be at the beginning of your adult life and not have the energy to pursue your ambitions.

People are increasingly tired and, judging by the admission testing for US colleges in the same period, thinking skills are also struggling.

It was seeing these patterns in data that began giving me an insight into the disconnected attitudes that I see in people.

I hope it gives me patience by recognising that people don't have the energy and possibly are lacking in other capacities as well.

Social identity

A friend on Facebook has been arguing that status is a driving force in society

It makes sense given that imitation is a large part of how we learn and the gauge by which progress is evaluated.

As a teenager I remember trying to provoke a reaction from my father, who studied honours in psychology before being conscripted into the army near the end of the Vietnam War.

I grew my hair, pierced an ear and pursued various ways to appear obnoxious like wearing t-shirts with offensive slogans.

His response was frustrating at the time of being a rebellious young adult, as he'd opine something droll like "I see you've moved from one social norm to another as a way of asserting your individuality."

So the idea in this post that my friend shared on Facebook reflects something of that lesson.

However, one of the experiences that probably had a more profound effect on me than the wisdom of my father was living with divorced parents.

On weekends I'd be in my father's house and discovering new technology like computers, compact discs and video tapes, then during the week I'd live with my mother who was surviving on a government benefit.

In some ways mum's demonstrations of being able to survive on less in an affluent society have probably had a more profound impact on me, I think.

I still do a lot of shopping at secondhand stores, seek out discounted items at the supermarket and when I took out a loan on a house I made sure I could make repayments while on unemployment benefits, because I sooned tired of full-time work and have never really returned.

It's the idea of a social identity that probably underpins my creative practices, but I am wondering whether I have a couple of identities from the modelling I saw as a child.

 

Heatwave

Sought respite at the public library

There I overheard a guy explain "I'm not here because I like reading."

Conditioning

I used to have a problem with my ringtone after setting it to something unobtrusive that sounded like crickets

In summer the cicadas would have me reaching for my phone to answer calls when it wasn't ringing and missing others. 

Now I have a problem with the beep when my postman scans a package. 

I'm like Pavlov's dog salivating at the gate when I hear similar small electronic noises.

Australia Day

Australia is a young country yet there's a reckoning awaiting in the telling of its history

Every now and then you get a glimpse of how our Asian neighbours view our nation as a remnant of the colonial powers that have largely left the region. 

The recent referendum on reconciliation, which proposed constitutional recognition for a First Nations advisory to the Federal Parliament, was thought to have been unsuccessful in part because questions remain as to whether a Treaty or a Truth-telling is first required to move forward. 

Likewise it is the reconciliation of Australia's position in the Commonwealth and this legacy of colonial brutality that remains to be addressed. 

Many of our country's residents, for example, do not ponder the genocide that allowed a legal term like Terra Nullius to exist until 1992. 

The treatment of Tasmanian Aborigines that saw their culture almost entirely eradicated from the island state was so shocking that it inspired HG Wells to write War of the Worlds. 

This is something that's been gaining discussion recently, particularly in the book Question 7 by Richard Flanagan. 

For those of us on the mainland of Australia it is worth considering the question of whether smallpox was deliberately released in the late 18th Century to unleash a genocide in the fledgling colony of New South Wales.

First Fleet surgeon John White brought sealed bottles containing "variolous matter" (pus and scabs from infected individuals) with him, intending to use it for future inoculations in the new colony.

There were no recorded cases of active smallpox among the colonists or convicts during the long voyage.  

Then a major smallpox epidemic broke out among the Aboriginal population of Sydney in April 1789, about 15 months after the First Fleet arrived.

This killed an estimated 50% to 90% of the Indigenous population around the Sydney area and spread inland, leaving dead bodies in campsites across the landscape. 

Recently I learned that some marines in the First Fleet had served in North America where British forces had previously used smallpox-laden items against Native Americans. 

The use of germ warfare was known and feared enough that George Washington sent smallpox survivors into Boston to occupy it after the city was evacuated by the British in 1776, since they were immune to reinfection and wouldn’t fall prey to smallpox-tainted items left behind.

It is this question of whether Australia waged a civil war through the early centuries of the colony that remains to be answered by the nation as it moves toward becoming an integrated society, along with many other important reforms to create equity among citizens.  

Changing the date would assist in creating a new and more inclusive way to celebrate a national day.

Dawn's haiga

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I know the quote from Oscar Wilde has a barb in its tail, but I think that recognising one's influence is a pleasing experience.

So I share with you the haiga that my mother penned after a visit to Narrandera yesterday, where we saw my exhibition Zen Roo and looked for koalas and ate a meal at the Red Door Cafe. 

It was also pleasing to have my brother and son along for the drive, as the latter asked if there was a picture of him in the exhibition and I was able to identify one and also one that I think he might've taken (which I really should've acknowledged but I guess he's still my minor). 

Do not project

 

My love for Willie

One of the weirdest things for me so far this year is Willie Nelson

I never would've expected to be listening to Willie on repeat, yet his album Teatro is the one I keep reaching to load into the stereo.

 

 

My partner wasn't impressed at first, saying that his music reminds her of an abusive ex.

Yet yesterday she wrote a post on Facebook saying how it now reminded her of a friend whose death she grieves.

It's a similar connection for me, I think.

My interest in Teatro arose from watching Rich Beato's interview with producer Daniel Lanois.

Around the time my father died, I spent a lot of time distracting myself by watching Beato interviews and the one with Lanois is a highlight.

 

 

It's clear that this old slide guitar player has a funky streak, particularly when describing the importance of getting a good groove in a song -- such as Peter Gabriel's hit Sledgehammer.

Teatro was only briefly touched on during the interview, but the track caught my interest and I ordered the album.

Now as I listen to it I find myself imagining it as something I would've shared with my father and wondering if he might've appreciated Willie's music.

The other thing I realise while listening to the music repeatedly and having an emotional experience is the way it is conditioning me.

A few years ago I wrote about how an album by The Avalanches had begun moving me to tears through being the soundtrack of my son leaving home.

I'm coming to embrace the role of music in sharing these significant moments in my life and realise how it's creating the kinds of connections that I once had with music as a younger adult.

Maybe it's my sentimental streak, but I appreciate the opportunity to create a stimulus that produces a physical reaction.