Monday 23 April 2012

ordinary people

Doesn't it make your blood boil when you hear how some Gen-Y yobbos think it's a given to make mindless and thoughtless assumptions based purely on what they see, or perceive to see? I refer to an article I read in this weekend's The Courier Mail "QWeekend" magazine in Brisbane, whom I once again accredit with being the source behind my current run of trusty worthwhile stories. Seriously, I'm beginning to love this publication! Some of the content within its pages never fails to provoke some sort of a response from me! 

The article focuses on an ordinary woman with extraordinary skills, who just happens to be a bit larger than some of us on the size front - and cleverer than most where it counts. The woman I refer to is Catherine Dunstan, a 33 year old public servant from Brisbane. Her story touches the spot I believe most of us women can relate to - weight! It also highlights the ignorance and insensitivity of some. In Catherine's case she writes about how a carload of young guys - strangers, it turns out - drove past her a couple of weeks ago, honked the horn and called her "fatty" and "stupid cow" for no apparent reason! How dare they? How dare they presume to know this person? How dare they proclaim her to be less than intelligent? One could forgive Catherine for letting off steam and retaliating, or taking it personally and holding a grudge (as any one of us mere mortals, I daresay, would be tempted to do) - but that isn't Catherine's style; it's not what she stands for; and it's certainly not who she is. Catherine is so much bigger than these ordinary people, and their extraordinary badmouthing personas. She's highly educated (holds a Bachelor of Business specializing in accounting and tax law) and is extremely forgiving, to say the least. Catherine admits to going through several reactionary phases in the past - crying, or fighting back - but is more likely these days not to give people that power over her anymore. As she says, things that happen in her life used to own her but they don't anymore. She's finally in control of her life.

So it begs the question, what motivates some people? Why do they feel the need to jump all over people and assume to know them? Is it just human nature, or the peer culture found in today's society where the "power-in-numbers" type mentality exists and is allowed to thrive? Whatever drives them, or eats away at them, leads me to question how these kids' mindset evolved and fashioned them into the unkind people they are today. Hurting strangers for no apparent reason other than to feed their own amusement, doesn't get lower than this. Bravo Catherine for rising above it!

Friday 20 April 2012

blinky on the brink!

The past few days have seen me deliberating and oftentimes agonizing over how best to get this little blog of mine up and running. (Btw, whoever said the whole blogging thing is a walk in the park, is seriously sad and deluded!)  haha  Somewhat fortuitously for me at least, last weekend The Courier Mail newspaper in Brisbane featured a very thought-provoking article in its "QWeekend" magazine on the inside battle to save Queensland's koalas from possible extinction. Despite the mixed emotions it provoked in me, its timing couldn't have been better! It presented me with the perfect topic with which to kick-start my blog, and seriously I cannot think of a better way to showcase and highlight a subject very much close to my heart - the demise of our koala populations in SE Queensland!



Vet: Amber Gillett with "Heath"
Photography: David Kelly
QWeekender

The article I refer to is "Our Fading Emblem" by Matthew Fynes-Clinton, and it really touched my heart. The intensive mapping of south-east Queensland's "Koala Coast" for urbanization shows the marsupial's numbers have dropped by 64 per cent in little more than a decade. The pressure to clear land to meet Australia's chronic housing shortage means that as their natural habitat breaks up, displaced koalas are forced to move from one fragment to the next without cover and under constant threat from motor vehicles, dog attack or disease. The relentless march of industry and infrastructure, coupled with debilitating disease, could see Queensland's koalas die out within decades.
The following article appeared in Wildlife magazine, Melbourne, May 1941. I find it very thought-provoking.
"Advancing settlement inevitably disturbs the balance of nature to the imminent danger of the less adaptable creatures, and sufficient has been seen of the effect of settlement upon the notoriously unadaptable koala to make wise men pause and think seriously of what is to come in the next decade ..."
Incredibly it is more than 70 years since those words were penned ... and I'm having a hard time accepting how staggeringly well they have been ignored! Construction of the long anticipated $1.15 billion Moreton Bay Rail Link looks likely to be given the green light to proceed. It will encompass 12.6km of dual track and six new train stations. There is talk of the corridor being fenced off to stop wildlife from stumbling onto the track, and underpasses and other fauna crossing points being incorporated.
I'm not convinced that this is the best (or only) solution for the ultimate survival and preservation of the koala in this region. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math and figure out that this iconic and endearing marsupial is fast heading into oblivion and the history book. Queensland's faunal emblem could well become extinct unless we stand together on this and do what it takes to stop the devastation of these wonderful, comical little furry fellas! What do you think?
Check out these websites to see how ordinary people are making an extraordinary difference where it counts? Follow their activities here http://koalas.kumbartcho.org.au/ and here https://www.savethekoala.com/.
And here's a sobering thought to leave you with!

Sunday 15 April 2012

welcome!

A warm WELCOME to those of you brave enough to view my new blog!

This blog was born out of necessity and a need to pen some of the more annoying aspects I encounter in my daily life, be it grievances with traffic delays, road conditions, weather, trucks, roadkill, or more localized events in particular. This seemed the perfect outlet to vent. Let's hope it works!

The contents of this blog represent my interpretation, thoughts, feelings and opinions of ordinary everyday things and happenings, and are not politically motivated in any way.

Feel free to jump on board this friendly gripe vine to air and share your own daily bug-bears. Let's take this journey together!