tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-268296432024-03-13T08:31:06.929+08:00Not the doctorEverything except medical advice, for those who sometimes creak a little. Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-56448744084992345332021-03-19T14:10:00.001+08:002021-03-19T14:10:45.121+08:00It's quite a while since I posted "When will normal life resume?" I'm no longer maintaining this blog. But I am still writing. My book, The Edward Street Baby Farm was released by Fremantle Press in October 2020. Hop over to my website, stellabudrikis.com, to learn more and see what I'm writing now.Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-61948152893457833582015-11-16T12:25:00.001+08:002020-05-04T10:43:56.614+08:00When will normal life resume?
Once, when my mother was older than I am now, she told me that she’d been waiting all her life for life to become ‘normal’. She wasn't even sure what ‘normal’ life would look like, but it wasn't what she was living.
It’s easy to understand why she might have felt that way. She grew up in a rough and impoverished area. Her childhood was fractured by her father’s illness and blown apart by the Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-5849070298807123192015-04-20T11:55:00.000+08:002019-03-27T18:03:24.696+08:00How to keep on singing
Nana Mouskouri as I remember her
Do you ever experience a jolt of surprise when you discover that someone famous, who you still think of as being 30 or maybe 40 years old, is now over 80? That happened to me recently when I saw a post on facebook about an upcoming concert by Nana Mouskouri. (Sorry if you were hoping to go, it was last weekend in Perth).
"She must be getting on a bit" I Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-33769410618668330992015-04-09T11:47:00.001+08:002019-03-27T18:18:45.722+08:00Travelling light - the pros and cons
My trusty carry-on bag,
weighing in at 1.6 kg empty.
The colour has grown on me.
Having a daughter who lives overseas and a husband who would like to do the same means I've done quite a bit of travelling in the last few years. By a process of trial and error, I've learned the benefits of travelling with a single carry-on suitcase and a small handbag, no matter where I'm going or for how longStella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-86522186203798410112015-03-30T15:34:00.000+08:002019-03-27T18:05:21.359+08:00On hobbits and the absence of older women on screen.
In 1985 cartoonist Alison Bechdel came up with the idea of a test for gender bias in films, based on the way they portrayed women. The so-called Bechdel test (as proposed by one of Bechdel's comic strip characters) asks three questions:
does the film have a scene with at least two women in it? (Some would add "who have names".)
do they talk to each other?
do they talk about something Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-83264469149175679842015-03-22T18:01:00.000+08:002019-03-27T18:06:16.812+08:00Not the flying doctor
Spring in Torino - not the reason I was there
Waking up to a text message that begins "Hi Mum, I'm fine, but I'm in hospital after being knocked down by a car" is guaranteed to get maternal anxiety going big time. Especially when the daughter who sent it is in a hospital over 13,000 kilometers away in Italy.
We managed to talk by phone. She said that she'd been taken to the Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-63661697226899034122015-02-10T13:29:00.001+08:002019-03-27T18:09:00.110+08:00The empty nest - more than just a time to redecorate
Montezuma Castle, Arizona -
once a thriving settlement, now a very empty place
It was early 2010, and I was possibly the dampest spot in Arizona. My husband had taken 6 weeks long service leave, I'd persuaded my work to give me unpaid leave, and we'd flown to the United States to fulfill one of his long-held dreams - to tour the southern American states.
It should have been a great adventureStella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-73694921211621535342015-02-04T17:01:00.001+08:002019-03-27T18:10:26.760+08:00What makes memories?
Do you ever wonder how famous people set about writing their memoirs? Did they just sit down and write, pulling all the details out of their vast memory? Or did they have to hunt through their old diaries and documents, trying to piece it all together? Perhaps they paid someone else to do the research.
The question came to mind when I started writing a blog post about children leaving home. ItStella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-51929841295531922082015-01-12T12:03:00.002+08:002019-03-27T18:11:17.262+08:00Facebook - Ten reasons why I gave in and joined up.
Seems I'm part of an elite group
Having written a post in 2013 titled "Ten reasons why I'm not joining Facebook (just yet)" I feel I need to comment on why ten reasons were not enough to prevent me finally giving in and joining up.
1. First, I discovered that reason number 10 is not actually correct. A lot of my friends are on Facebook. Along with a lot of my cousins, uncles, old school matesStella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-85603980190824902782014-12-05T15:06:00.001+08:002019-03-27T18:13:40.536+08:00Getting a good night's sleepCan you remember the last time you slept for eight hours straight? Without waking at 2.00 am and wondering if you locked the back door on your way to bed? Without waking at 3.30 am because your bladder is saying 'wakey wakey!' Without getting up at 6.00 am because the birds are singing, and you know you'll not get back to sleep now?
One of the truisms of getting older is that we need less Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-10043029181817220712014-11-26T21:31:00.001+08:002019-03-27T18:14:18.408+08:00Making the call
Today I did something I've never done before. I picked up the phone and called a Member of Parliament to express my opinion.
To be more specific, I called the office of a cross-bench Senator to discuss my opposition to the government's proposed amendments to the 'Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation', and expressed my hope that the Senator would vote against the changes.
Why would I do Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-25713668330231176332014-11-19T09:59:00.000+08:002019-03-27T18:15:43.668+08:00Ten things I like about getting olderThis week I've been very much aware of the negative aspects of growing old, as I watch my parents struggle on with my mother's health problems. I've decided that I need to remind myself of some of the positives of being on the far side of fifty:
1. As a woman, no more monthly cycle - which means no more PMT, no more silently calculating where I'll be in the cycle when accepting invitations, noStella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-58820638475220341862014-11-08T22:28:00.002+08:002019-03-27T18:16:56.303+08:00HousekeepingWhat is this blog about? Well, "Life the universe and everything", just like the caption says. But I have to admit it - over time it has become a disorganised mess, and claiming that it's written by a renaissance soul with multiple interests isn't going to solve the problem. It's difficult to promote a blog if you can't tell people what to expect when they visit.
So over the past week I've Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-51095463107376531142014-10-23T09:00:00.000+08:002014-11-16T14:21:34.105+08:00Nobel Prize winners aren't all young geniusesOlder people tend to make the media either because they look younger and more glamorous than their peers (think Helen Mirrin, Diana Keaton or Catherine Deneuve) or because they've accomplished some physical feat not usually associated with people their age (remember Cliff Young, the ultra-marathon runner?)
Rita Levi-Montalcini in 2009
Photo: Prezidenza della Repubblica
As someone who is Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-53512009891386290682014-06-10T19:00:00.002+08:002014-11-15T19:50:54.693+08:00Keep your fridge on a power diet(Leaving the planet as we found it)
Icy chillies on a stall in Santa Fe -
no refrigeration required.
It's difficult to imagine what life was like before the refrigerator (or 'fridge') was invented. Those who lived in countries where ice and snow were available in winter would find ways of storing it during the warmer months to keep things cool. In Australia the only option was to use deep Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-33562274414007989532014-05-31T10:52:00.000+08:002014-11-15T19:56:29.135+08:006 ways to keep warm without turning up the heat(Leaving the planet as we found it)
With winter on its way, I thought I'd share some ways to keep warm without turning up the heat or warming the planet.
1. Think "heat people, not rooms". Start by putting on more or warmer clothes. Several thin layers of clothes, or anything fleecy or quilted will be warmer and lighter than one thick jumper. Don’t forget to keep your feet warm too.
2. Go Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-49927053254367643502014-05-26T18:00:00.000+08:002014-11-15T20:08:33.503+08:00Passionate - a word in need of a rest
The other day my normally level-headed, logical and bordering-on-pedantic husband used the word 'passionate' to describe something. He wasn't talking about our relationship (not this time anyway). I can't even remember exactly what we were discussing - something to do with work. But his use of the word made me wince.
Nobody is merely interested or excited or well-informed about things any Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-53477172029975465582014-05-21T15:09:00.001+08:002014-11-15T19:59:43.463+08:00An elegant little worm
Wild-type C. elegans hermaphrodite stained with a fluorescent dye
Caenorhabditis elegans, despite its long name, isn’t a creature you’d take much notice of. It’s only one milimetre long and lives in the soil, feeding on bacteria. It’s a transparent worm-like creature* that has neither lungs nor heart. Most of the species are hermaphrodite, having both female and male Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-25552731395679587252014-05-19T16:27:00.000+08:002014-11-16T14:26:36.068+08:00High heels and the gift of joy
This afternoon I felt as dull as the weather, so I decided to put on my coat and joggers and go for a walk in the park. Even on a grey day a walk can help to make me feel brighter.
As I was passing the band-stand, I could see a young couple in wedding clothes coming towards me. The groom in his black suit was manfully carrying the bride across the wet grass (fortunately she was a slender thing)Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-87969283852546746822014-05-16T10:05:00.001+08:002014-11-15T19:48:23.293+08:00Burial Rites - a late-comer's review(Friday files)
Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent, is being hailed as a ‘great first novel’. But that suggests that the book has a rawness that needs to be excused due the author’s lack of experience. Not so, this is simply a great novel, one that would make most aspiring writers say “I wish I could write like that”, and not just because of the unusual success that Hannah Kent has had with her Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-86008917727131394692014-05-14T09:18:00.000+08:002014-11-15T20:00:01.262+08:00Time lapse videosMost of us don’t have the time to sit and watch changing cloud formations. We notice flowers opening, seeds sprouting, and fruit ripening as a series of disconnected observations. Yesterday the flower was in bud, today it is open, tomorrow the petals have begun to fall.
Time lapse photography allows us to see such events as a continuous process. Multiple, frequent images of the same object or Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-1827456006093869992014-05-13T08:57:00.000+08:002014-11-15T19:57:07.372+08:00More than a drop in the bucket(Leaving the planet as we found it
- part of a continuing series on good stewardship)
For Australians used to dancing around under water-saving shower heads trying to get wet, taking a shower in some other countries can be quite a shock. In some hotels where I stayed in the USA, the water pressure in the shower was so great that it practically pinned me to the wall.
The fact is that Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-66124651123161144282013-11-22T13:21:00.001+08:002014-11-15T19:48:23.138+08:00Prayer and the cello player(Friday files)
Last Saturday evening we went to the concert hall and heard Sol Gabetta and the West Australian Symphony orchestra play Dvorak's wonderful Cello Concerto in B minor. The Argentinian cellist's poppy-red gown and animated playing made it a visual as well as an auditory treat.
After the Dvorak, Sol Gabetta played a wistful piece as an encore, accompanied by the orchestra's cellists.Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-66360870406052997652013-11-20T13:19:00.001+08:002014-11-15T20:00:27.138+08:00Rosemary for remembrance
Photo credit: Nefi / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-SA
A recent study at St Louis University found that enhanced extracts of antioxidants found in rosemary and spearmint plants could reduce the deficits caused by mild cognitive impairment in mice with age-related cognitive decline. The rosemary extracts were most effective. Which is a long way from saying that rosemary can Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26829643.post-45815667307288184912013-11-19T18:05:00.001+08:002014-11-15T19:57:36.987+08:00No junk mail, please(Leaving the planet as we found it - part of a series on good stewardship)
If you've ever tried your hand at making paper using recycled materials you'll know that it's great fun, but it involves quite a bit of water and energy. The same is true for commercially produced paper. And while most of us are trying to limit the amount of paper we waste at home and in the office, the amount of Stella Budrikishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01295423148117553286noreply@blogger.com0