We are amused
We Are Amused What is it that strikes a spark of humor from a man? It is the effort to throw off, to fight back the burden of grief that is laid on each one of us. … [Read more…]
Mirka’s Story
Mirka Mora 1928-2018 ‘Every time you show your work, you really show your soul.’ Mirka I never met Mirka Mora, but she became one of my most favourite people. I only know Mirka through her paintings and her wonderful autobiography, Wicked but Virtuous; My Life. Whenever I stop to look at Mirka’s murals – … [Read more…]
Home Sweet Home
One of the questions I’ve often been asked is – how autobiographical is The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte? Given that Sasha Torte is sabotaged by abusive and neglectful parenting, escalating depression and a later addiction to opium, laudanum, champagne, piratical men and hard liquor, the question becomes loaded and decidedly bizarre. Edward St … [Read more…]
Dangerous Books
I’ve frequently been asked by other writers and readers – what are the books that meant a lot to me growing up? And which particular books are my standout, all-time favourites? This is an extremely difficult question because there are so many books that I love! And when things get a tad tricky and … [Read more…]
A Room of One’s Own and other Catastrophes
In a recent interview journalist and former editor, Michael Gawenda, said of his son Husky Gawenda, ‘He can spend a lot of time by himself in his room. If you’re going to be a writer you have to be lonely in some way.’ (from ‘The Two of Us’. The AGE Good Weekend, 11August 2018). … [Read more…]
On Being Zen
‘The key to a good life is not giving a fuck about more; it’s giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about what is true and immediate and important.’ Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck : A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life. Despite its screaming orange … [Read more…]
The Bees Knees
If you’ve ever been stung by a bee you probably got the impression that bees are quite hardy creatures. I accidentally trod on an unsuspecting bee, in bare feet, when I was a kid and his sting was excruciatingly painful. The adults in charge couldn’t seem to decide how best to handle the situation. … [Read more…]
Me and Eloise
Eloise and I go way back. At about seven I discovered six-year-old Eloise. She was parent-free, running amuck in the Plaza New York and Paris, with her nanny, a pug and a turtle. I didn’t find it strange that Eloise exercised with champagne bottles, as my sister and I had hidden a bottle … [Read more…]
The Midnight Hours
‘Sleep that knits up the ravell’d sleave of care, the death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.’ William Shakespeare Shakespeare knew a lot about sleep, especially insomnia. He often alluded to the fact that sleep is crucial to … [Read more…]
Goodbye to Autumn
It’s great. Having an autumn lie-in. As the host. Haiku by Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) Today is the last day of our autumn and tomorrow winter comes to town. It’s been a superb autumn; because it’s been so dry, the leaf colours have been exceptional. There’s been whole carpets of gold and red leaves … [Read more…]
Ode to an Old School Pub
I often sneak back to the old neighbourhood to meet friends. It’s become increasingly gentrified; old houses have been tizzied up and sold for exceedingly high prices. Subsequently many of the artists, writers, junkies, musicians, booze hounds, photographers, dressmakers, poets and reprobates, I once knew have moved on. Some wisely moved up the coast … [Read more…]
Our House
I was born in London but raised in Australia by English parents. The second house we lived in was referred to by my mother’s friends as ‘ Little England ’ , while some local kids rudely called it ‘ The Addam’s Family House ’. I thought the insult gave our place cachet, as … [Read more…]
The Mad Boy
Lord Gerald Berners was a talented musician and painter. He also wrote for the stage and his impressionistic paintings continue to sell well today (that’s Gerald in the photograph above). He converted Faringdon House, in Oxfordshire England, into a luxurious country mansion that soon had England’s fashion set vying for a weekend invitation. Exquisite … [Read more…]
Freud’s Cigar
‘Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.’ Dr Sigmund Freud 1856 -1939. In my novel The Scandalous Life of Sasha Torte, Sasha is introduced to the famous Austrian neurologist Dr Sigmund Freud, at The Sperl Café in Vienna. Sasha Torte – world famous Tasmanian pastry chef – is … [Read more…]
The Dangers of Fancy Cooking
When I was a child I couldn’t understand why a large part of the world lacked essential food and clean water – and were frequently starving – while the rest of the world were either dieting like fiends or noshing on exotic food stuffs in fancy expensive restaurants. Not much has changed. I find … [Read more…]
The Perils of Television
I no longer own a television. I only ever used my TV to watch DVD movies and most of the time I preferred watching movies at the cinema. I love the occasion of going out to the cinema with friends and being part of an audience. I sold my television some time back when … [Read more…]
The Legend of Cleopatra
CLEOPATRA Cleopatra V11 – born around 69 BC – was an object of fascination and gossip even in her own time. She was a child goddess who was married off to her brother and became Egypt’s queen at eighteen. After many poisonings, killings, plot twists and turns, Cleopatra went on to control most of the … [Read more…]
The Hair Business
There is a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo perched on the American throne. Nobody – not even the CIA or the FBI – is entirely sure how he got there, but nonetheless there he roosts. Meantime it seems that the entire world has become fixated on the Commander in Chief’s goddamn hair and trying to work out … [Read more…]
Travelling with Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova was a gambler all his life, despite having numerous other careers including that of: a soldier, a spy, a preacher, a professional writer, a violinist, a silk manufacturer, a lottery director and an alchemist. Frequently he was so broke that he had to gamble and he was very good at it. … [Read more…]
Murder on the Orient Express
I made a discovery the other day – new born babies don’t enjoy going to the movies. I’d dropped by my local cinema to catch Kenneth Branagh’s, Murder on the Orient Express and didn’t realize that I was attending a ‘Babes in Arms’ movie session. It finally dawned on me – when I stumbled … [Read more…]
Loving Vincent
When Vincent van Gogh committed suicide in July 1890, aged 37, he’d only been painting for about a decade. He was immensely productive, despite suffering acute nervous attacks and paralysing depression. Vincent willingly spent money on art materials but he ate poorly and had lost most of his teeth by the time he was … [Read more…]
Men in Codpieces
I went to a girl’s high school in Melbourne and was lucky to have a wonderful literature teacher in my final year. She was an intellectual who really knew how to lever Shakespeare off the page and into our devilish imaginations. I well remember the night the whole Literature class went into the city to … [Read more…]
La dolce vita
I have a thing for vintage cars, especially Italian Fiats. I once owned a second-hand Fiat Sports that been driven to the brink of ruin. The previous owner was a nurse with a taste for speed and a strong belief in amateur car repairs. Subsequently the wiring under the bonnet was strapped up with … [Read more…]
Urban Cowboys
Melbourne’s Deakin Edge is a strange venue. The whole construction slopes precariously down to the hardwood stage area. Vertigo was apparent on the faces of those pioneering their way down to the front rows during the 2017 Melbourne Writers Festival. Rock icon, Tex Perkins (born Gregory Stephen Perkins), was onstage being interviewed by radio … [Read more…]
The woman who astonished Picasso
Marchesa Luisa Casati When I was doing research for my novel, Hotel du Barry, I read up on luxury European hotels in the early twentieth century. The London and Paris Ritz became my favourite hotels and I discovered the Marchesa Casati because she was a devotee of the Paris Ritz. Her nickname was ‘Medusa of … [Read more…]