Today’s book review is Stasiland, by Anna Funder. Stasiland is the former East Germany, and this book is the story of people who Anna Funder met in East Germany, and what life was really like for them. It is a powerful story, and told in wonderfully evocative language that getsContinue Reading
Jody over at Raising WEG has a new post about surnames, and why she changed her surname when she got married. I didn’t change mine, which seemed a very simple decision at the time. It’s only later it seems more complex. It meant though, that we had long long discussionsContinue Reading
I love The Economist magazine. Perhaps its my politics, (left of centre on social issues, in favour of market solutions on economic issues), or perhaps its the good writing. Or maybe its just the only adult magazine that generally covers the world. One thing that has been bugging me latelyContinue Reading
Laura at 11d has a post asking whether feminism has been a success. A big question, but an interesting one. In my personal experience, my life has been much less predicated on my gender than my mother’s was. She gave up her PhD at age 26 to marry my father,Continue Reading
Before I had kids, I would have thought of lactation rooms as one of those luxury things that employers do to prove that they are really female friendly (rather than something that is actually important, like maternity leave, or childcare, or being non discriminatory in choosing who to promote). WhenContinue Reading
I’ve been reading a few posts (mostly at Half changed world) about the gender issues in employment, and how people decide whether to have one parent or both at home. The surprise to me is how much health care comes into it. The issue of whether a job has healthContinue Reading
One of the things I love about my current role is that I’m senior enough to manage my work life balance in a reasonable way. When I need to, I leave the office at 5 – forward my phone to my mobile, and log onto the office (completely seamlessly) fromContinue Reading
I did the city to surf today. I just managed to avoid doing a new personal worst time (although it was pretty close). I was reminded again what a great event it is. From the very beginning – getting on the train to town filled with people in their daggiestContinue Reading
I went for a run this morning, (one of my very few training runs for the city to surf), and jogged straight past John Howard on his morning power walk twice. I’ve been running around North Sydney since he was elected, and he has been doing his morning power walkContinue Reading
I was over in NZ for a meeting today, and for the first time ever, didn’t change any money. So I spent the whole day in a foreign with absolutely no cash! It did feel a bit scary (particularly when my diners card was refused at the airport), but itContinue Reading