Category: Daily Prompt
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Dadirri
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done? Years ago, my wife and I were driving home from a weekend away when we stopped at an art gallery and café. I saw a painting I liked and bought it immediately. That was very unusual for me. Normally I would think carefully about something like that.…
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The Myth of the Maintenance-Free Life
How do you make time for self-care? When I was younger, I did not really understand the importance of maintaining a car. At the time I was a student and had very little money. I put petrol in the car, checked the oil and water every so often, and more or less assumed the rest…
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And Yet It Felt Like Home
What’s a place you visited that felt like home? Moshi in Tanzania felt like home. That is strange, because it is nothing like my home in Australia. Mount Kilimanjaro rises only about 30 kilometres away, so close that it seems to preside over the town. You glimpse it above buildings and along ordinary streets, its…
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A Different Timetable
What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life? For a long time, I worried that I had started late. I took a different road from many of the people around me. While others were getting married, buying homes, raising families and building careers, I was walking a different path. I did…
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Muttley
If you could pick any fictional animal to be your lifelong companion,what would it be? If I could choose any fictional animal as a lifelong companion, I’m not sure I’d go for a dragon, a Pokémon, or some majestic creature from a fantasy world. I think I’d choose Muttley. Muttley is the scruffy cartoon dog…
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The Shipping News
If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week,who would you choose? I was asked an unusual question by an international student this week. They had identified Canada and Australia as two popular study destinations. Then came the personal question: If you could live anywhere, would you choose Australia or Canada?…
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Hannibal Lecter
Have you ever liked a villain more than the hero? Who and why? I found The Silence of the Lambs fascinating. Fascinating, and frightening. I’m not normally drawn to psychological thrillers, but Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins are brilliant in it. There is something about Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter that is difficult to look away from.…
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Voss
What’s the longest book you’ve ever read? I read Patrick White’s Voss many years ago. At around 450 pages, it is not especially long. But Patrick White is not light reading. His writing is dense, demanding and full of things to think about. I loved it. Every spare minute I could find, I was reading…
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When the Work Is Done
What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you? I was strangely moved by a story our minister told recently. He had spoken with a 97-year-old man who had lived an extraordinary public life. He was a highly decorated naval officer, had served in several wars, and had eventually risen to senior leadership.…
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More than Rooftops
What’s one thing that would instantly improve your city? Sydney has embraced solar energy. Rooftop panels are now a familiar part of the suburban landscape, and I would love to see that continue. But perhaps the next stage is not simply adding more panels. Perhaps it is learning to see the whole city differently. Cities…
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A Big Country
What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken? Australia is a big country and a long way from almost everywhere, so Australians become used to travelling long distances. We do it because we have to. Distance becomes part inconvenience, part adventure. The longest trip I have ever taken, at least in terms of time on the…
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Spend Less on What Doesn’t Matter
What’s your best tip for budget travel? One of the best holidays we ever had was seven weeks travelling around Europe, mainly by Eurail. We had saved enough frequent flyer points to cover the airfares, so that made a huge difference. We flew to Amsterdam, spent a few days there, then stayed with friends in…
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Pepé Le Pew
Who is your favourite cartoon character? It seems strange to admit now, but when I was a kid, I loved Pepé Le Pew. There was something irresistibly funny about an overly amorous French skunk who couldn’t tell the difference between a cat and a fellow skunk, and who launched himself into romantic pursuit with absolute,…
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Get the Foundation Right
How does your mindset affect your financial success? Financial success begins before the budget. It begins with deciding what kind of life you are trying to finance. For me, that starts with relationships, meaningful work, generosity, rest and worthwhile experiences. Those things matter more than simply accumulating money. They form the foundation on which everything…
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Let’s Play
If your pet could talk, what would be the first thing it says? Dogs are pretty easy animals to care for. I often think they only need three things: food, exercise and companionship. If our dog could talk, her first word might be “Chicken!” She gets a chicken strip every morning and learned that word…
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The Unconsoled
Have you ever regretted reading a book — which one and why? I read Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled when it first came out. I’m not entirely sure why I picked it up, except that everyone seemed to be reading Ishiguro at the time. The Remains of the Day had appeared a few years earlier and…
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A Good Airport Is a Doorway
What’s the best and worst airport you’ve been to? The best airport I have been to is Kilimanjaro International Airport in Tanzania. Not because it was luxurious or impressive, but because it was small, efficient and just a little exotic. There were no delays, no long queues, and almost immediately it felt as though the…
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When Courage Becomes Contagious
What’s the most annoying trope in books or movies? I must admit that I am conflicted. When I was younger, I enjoyed the Dirty Harry movies. Harry Callahan is the lone, morally certain cop who sees what the system cannot or will not see. Bureaucrats, courts, procedures and superiors get in the way. Harry acts.…
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A More Human Pace
If you could relive one year of your life, which one would it be? If I could relive one year of my life, I would choose our first year of marriage. It was an exciting year, but there was too much change too quickly. I had just finished my studies and begun work as a…
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Brave or Foolish?
What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done when no one was watching? I don’t know whether it was the bravest thing I’ve done or one of the silliest. I was walking along the main street of an inner-city suburb when I heard someone yell, “Stop!” I turned and saw a man running towards us, with…
