Recently, I’ve been re-reading some short story classics by women writers including Grace Paley’s Somewhere else; Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Eudora Welty’s Why I live at the PO and Where is the voice coming from? I was taken from small town America to Mao’s China. Once again I was amazed at the power and [...]

Posted on March 27th, 2009 by Pat Turner
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Over the past week bushfires have devastated the Australian state of Victoria. Almost 200 people have lost their lives and thousands have been left homeless. The nation is grief stricken and is still trying to come to terms with this worst natural disaster in our history. Along with the human tragedy, it is feared that [...]

Posted on February 13th, 2009 by Pat Turner
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There are some great devices available for reading ebooks on and most ebook publishers offer downloads in multiple formats. I have just begun experimenting with reading ebooks on my Ipod Touch. There is an excellent free application called Stanza which allows users to download a range of books directly to the Ipod Touch and Ipod [...]

Posted on January 24th, 2009 by Pat Turner
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Sydney Harbour is gearing up for its annual NYE spectacular. This year the theme is ‘Creation’ and a ’storm’ of lightning and rain will light up the bridge and shower the Harbour with fire. The show is one of the highlights of the year and people stake out their spots on the Harbour foreshore in the early hours of the [...]

Posted on December 31st, 2008 by Pat Turner
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I am taking a course in Creative nonfiction for fun and I wrote this for it.  It’s a commentary on my trip to Thailand a year or so ago.
I’m the last out of the happy room, the Thai pit stop place.  As I step away from the long palm-shaded building smelling of disinfectant and gardenia [...]

Posted on November 29th, 2008 by Connie Gotsch
Filed under: General | 1 Comment »