Location
Brisbane, Queensland
Way Corp group(s) I was in
15 and 14
Where I live
Brisbane, Queensland "Sunshine State", Australia
About Me
Born in Kenya, raised in Australia. I am a Subject of the Sultan of Zanzibar, a British subject, a naturalised Australian Citizen and I have two Kiwi/Aussie children... but I don't think I have a valid passport just at the moment.
My Interests
English literature, history, education, music, dance...
Employment or Career
I am gradually working towards my BA, majoring in History and English literature as an on-and-off part-time student.
In the past I have been employed in the following jobs: fruit shop assistant, waitress, Arnotts Biscuits factory worker (biscuits = cookies), Hoyts candy bar attendant, legal secretary, McDonalds front-counter (are you impressed?), student nurse, nurses aide, customer service at St George Bank: loans and enquiries, motel house-maid, cocktail waitress, house-cleaner (for Dial-an-Angel), Telecom NZ faults centre officer, bookkeeper, and self-employed office manager for high-rise window-cleaning business (the latter for about 13 years.) I resigned from my full-time job in administration at the University of Queensland to study and complete my Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Literature and History.
Music I Like
Piano, guitar, clarinet, trumpet... I mean, I like to hear other people playing them - solo, as accompaniment, in orchestras, and bands.
I like music.
Books I Like
I love to read! Recently I've read several "Postmodern" novels for a literature course.
I enjoy novels by Jane Austen, George Orwell, Charles Dickens, PD James, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jonathan Swift, Gerald Durrell, John Steinbeck, Rosemary Sutcliffe, E Nesbit and many others.
I like reading the poems of writers like Rudyard Kipling, AB Peterson, Lewis Carroll, William Shakespeare, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Henry Lawson, John Donne, Robert Frost, Mo Wilkinson (she's my mum!)
And I like books that help me to spring-clean the brain cells:
- The Peter Principle (Laurence and Hull)
- The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Hoffer)
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig)
- Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior (Brafman and Brafman)
- The Language of God (Collins)
- In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed (Honore)
- Dumbing Down: Outcomes-based and politically correct – the impact of the Culture Wars on our schools (Donnelly)
- Endangered Minds (Healey)
- The Tipping Point (Gladwell)
- Coercion: Why We Listen to What “They” Say (Rushkoff)
- Boys Adrift: the Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men (Sax)
- A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-First Century (Van DeMille)
- Eve’s Bite (Wishart)
Television I like
Crime investigation, British comedies - don't watch it very much - so I even find the adverts interesting!
Movies I like
The Mission, Out of Africa, The God's Must Be Crazy, The Constant Gardener, The Devil Wears Prada, Gone With The Wind, The Bourne Identity, The Sound of Music, Brave Heart, Spy Game, Finding Nemo, The Insider, Pulp Fiction, Along Came Polly, Love Actually, The Full Monty, Cool Runnings and all the rest! :-)
Sports Teams I like
Yeronga Devils, Brisbane Lions, the Kenyan Olympic team and the Kenya national rugby union sevens team.
Comments
Diane gave me the message. How are things down under? At best communication with the Aussies has been little, but that will change if I have to go there in person.
Jer
I remember you well. Thanks for the Birthday greetings(although at my age those birthdays don't mean what they used to). I am alive and well in sunny Florida. Married and 1 child(Haley-11 yrs old and a delight). I'll put up some pictures when I have a chance. Didn't you go back to Australia?
How are things going for you and your family over there?
Drop me a note when you have the time.....
And thanks again,
Al
Thank you again. God bless you!
Yes it's me. How are you? I was in Australia last year and plan to be there this fall. I would love to see you while I'm there, we could do dinner or whatever.
Love you!
January
Nice song! Rock on!
T