Saturday 30 August 2014

Guest Writer #equality #humanrights #discrimination



As you will notice, apart from my sign off as "Winc Spurt', my writing is more airy fairy than the main contributor for Wincwrapincotton. Our dynamics are directed to lifestyles. However, my dear friend is more of a science and logic type of gal.  Ask her to quantify the facts and figures of emissions etc - there she is! I am sure that she could calculate, and discern, the emissions from a gay boys bathroom faster than we can find the local gay haunt.  She is a woman of substance, a woman of character, a no holes barred kind of girl.  The kind of girl you feel safe with.  The kind of girl that you could stroll with your manbag down a dark alley full of poofter bashers lurking, and know that this woman would take them on and win.  
bagrepublic.com.au


You know that if this woman wouldn't kill these people as to why gays have rights with logic, as small as she is, off she would whip her 'Birkenstocks' and beat them into submission.  This woman is a power to be reckoned with.  A straight woman who believes that we all have a place in society, a place where we all can coexist.  This woman will stand and be counted when most will sit back and let it happen. Her husband and her children will attest to her unending passion for equality, and if they don't agree to her thinking, they soon will with her unending passion of getting her point across. 



Where am I going with this you may well ask?  Is my next step to beatify this woman? Maybe, but I certainly believe we should take lessons from her and, follow her lead.  How many of us depend on people, such as this woman, to fight the fight.  How many of us sit in the afterglow of a battle well fought, and say that was tough, without ever even having a hair out of place in the first instance.  How many of us talk, talk, talk of the difficulties of being gay, of being a feminist, of the unfairness of inequality, and never go past the 'poor me' syndrome.  
Yes it is lovely to feel safe with people doing the front line battle.  Its great to have hope that one day all will be equal in the world.  But, can we actually say that we were in this together?  Put simply, NO!   For whatever cause we are seeking won, we must also contribute! Whether it be ageism, racism, sexuality issues we must all contribute.  What would we do if suddenly these people who are fighting for our rights ceased, owing to battle fatigue.  It is well and good sitting comfortably in our gay bars etcetera chatting with our friends, saying another state or another country has signed for same sex marriages but, until every corner of the globe is on the same platform, nothing is safe.

Not for one minute, am I saying that we like my friend, shed our 'Birkenstocks' and start physically fighting the fight, but we all have a voice. We all have computers, we all have pens. We all have the power to vote or not vote for those who do not support equal rights.  We all have ingredients to offer to the mix.  Stirring the pot, adding ingredients of our own will make the mixture much healthier and to our liking.  Taking part in the cook up is much nicer for the tasting if we have add  our touches to the banquet of life.

In short, I am asking you to join these people in 'our' causes.  Don't sit back and wait for it to happen.  The proof is in the mixture of the pudding, and the taste can be a much sweeter victory if we are all united and work together no matter what our cause.

Firm Believer

Winc Spurt

Contact:- leeadmin@wincwrapincotton.com
Place one of these stickers on the window of your business. Show your support for equality and gay rights. They are availble at www.wincwrapincotton.com


Saturday 23 August 2014

A New Slant on Life!

Those who actually know me already know by now that I am fairly non-compliant when it comes to most things. If anyone wants me to do something, the very worst thing they can do, is actually tell me that I have to do it. This is the precise moment when I decide that there is no way on Earth that I will be doing whatever it is that they have recommended, decided, or chosen for me to do. Stubborn, -I suppose you could say that.

This obtuse trait is not isolated to tasks and chores. It plays a very large role in my personal health management plan. I have the idea that if I never go to the doctor, then I will never get sick. Stupid I know but, I feel going to the doctor for nothing major will tempt fate. Consequently, I rarely visit the doctor, I just bumble through with my philosophy of  'You will either get better or you will kark it!' It seems to have worked ok so far.

So came a period recently where I was having a lot of trouble with my eyes. I was waking in the night with a headache in my right eye. After, looking at lights to determine whether or not I could see rainbows, their absence indicated to me that I had not developed close angle glaucoma . So, I decided that maybe I simply needed new glasses. Ooooh how long was it since I had been to have my eyes tested?? Quite a while I thought, and yes,
it was close to 5 years. No wonder my glasses were scratched beyond belief.

I was not too keen on heading out to the optometrist as my last pair of glasses proved to be a bit of a marathon effort. I had my eyes tested as per normal. Phew, the script was the same. I chose my frames - robust ones! I am very rough on my glasses and when choosing frames I try to buy 'Mack Truck' ones, as any of lesser quality have little chance of surviving the beating they will get. Off they went to get the lenses fitted. 'No worries' I thought! Same script, and I had previously not had a moments bother adjusting to the graduated lenses. How wrong was I! 'The lenses are made with new technology,' they said! 'Soo good,' they said! 'Disconcerting,' they should have said! My new glasses looked great from the outside in. But, from the inside out - eeeeeek. Everything round, became oval, I could no longer read writing that the previous week I could have read easily. The list goes on but my optometrist is a persistent guy and he said not to accept until I could see perfectly. This took three attempts at getting the lenses right. All was right with the world!

No wonder I was loathe to get my eyes tested again. But, off I went. Once again all was fine until the dreaded new glasses were ready to collect. They looked great! BUT, as soon as I put them on, I knew they were not any good. Once again my round dinner plates are oval, my computer screen, ipad and phone screen are much narrower at the bottom than the top, and anything that should be square is a parallelogram. 'Give it time,' they said. 'Your brain has to adjust' they said. 'Wrong,' I said. However, I still have my glasses and, a bit like my view on life, everything is quite warped. The only thing that appears quite normal are my dear friends who are bent. I have no idea if the glasses can be fixed, but everyone keeps reassuring me that they are far superior lenses made with the latest technology. 'Just give me the old technology,' I say. 'We will adjust the ones you have,' they say. 'How do I see in the mean time,' I say. As a result, my new glasses are still firmly glued to my nose.

Seeing as they are on my nose and appear to be there to stay, I will put a positive spin on my my new glasses. Now that this superior technology has given me a new slant on life, I can move forward without bias when discussing the stupidity of politicians; I can lean towards interests that really tickle my fancy and I can recline in my chair and have a nap if I feel so inclined! 

Take care, as things may not be as they appear!
www.regentsprep.org





Saturday 16 August 2014

Nanny State #resilience #responsibility #ownership

Today, I spent the day doing a first-aid course. It was the usual of bandaging, CPR etc with a few new extras such as anaphylaxis and asthma treatment. The one feature of the course that really struck a chord with me today was the arse covering with what you could, or could not do, for fear of litigation. I am not advocating we take things into our own hands and pretend we are doctors, but how you can be sued, for simply trying to help someone, when they may very well perish without intervention, is beyond me! Why can't we be gracious enough to acknowledge the efforts of others and take some responsibility for ourselves.

This got me to thinking about how today, nobody wants to take responsibility for their own actions. It is always someone else's fault! Everyone wants the government to take responsibility for all sorts of things, from regulation of fast food through to all sorts of petty junk that governments have no business being involved in. I cannot believe in this country how readily people give up their rights and freedoms to some government regulatory body simply because they are too lazy, or lack the conviction, to take responsibility for themselves. We are giving away our freedom at an alarming rate and nobody seems to care. Nor do they realize, that every freedom we give up, requires a fee for an application, or a fine, for non-compliance! They simply provide government with another revenue stream, as fees and fines are simply another tax that we have to pay.

Today, we wrap our kids in cotton wool. We do not allow them to do anything that is not organized to the n'th degree. We have made them into fearful, anxious, little beings that have no idea that life is tough. God help them when they get to the tough bit because they have never known failure (We now call that dreaded 'fail' word - success deferred!!!!)  Success deferred???? What the hell does that mean? We do not allow them the freedom to be kids. To use their imagination, to run free and most of all just be! Through the freedoms of childhood come the scrapes and broken bones. But from these kids learn problem solving skills and resilience. They learn to improvise, compromise and most of all to look out for, and after, themselves. 
museumvictoria.com.au

My childhood, in a small country town, was one of long days of play where trees became pirate ships, the chook house, a hairdressing salon!  We left home to play just after breakfast and roared home just before dinner. We never went inside anyone's house to play, we were not allowed to ask for food and if we were thirsty, we had a drink out of the garden hose. We played through long hot summer days, of Cowboys and Indians, had billy cart races down long hills and made hopscotches in the gravel of the road. We went home with sheets of gravel rash, which we knew, would earn us a clip over the ear for overloading the billy cart. We learned to hook up backyard telephones, build cubbies out of galvanized iron and on occasions were known to cut down guinea grass with a Japanese sword that my father had souvenired from the Pacific in the Second World War! Did any of us die? Absolutely not! We learned life skills that have stood us in good stead for our entire lives.

We rode our bikes with the wind in our hair, we hung out of trees, flew around on hurdy gurdy's until we could not see straight, let alone stand up. We swam in creeks, played in long grass and we survived!! We looked out for each other. We learned to problem solve - even if it was only to get out of a hiding for lighting a fire in a paint tin and getting burnt. We learned to take responsibility for ourselves and not to blame others for our shortcomings.

I know we live in a very different world today where technology rules (Hey, I am blogging here!) but the rules for kids today should be the same. They should be made take ownership of their behaviour. Mum and Dad should not bail them out of every situation of their own making. This is how we learn from our mistakes, because anyone who has not made a mistake has not lived. This is how we end up with responsible adults. 

We need to tell government to get out of our lives, that we are able to take responsibility for our decisions and, as such, not expect the government to pick up the slack. It will be liberating in more ways than one! We will not have anywhere near the number of fees or fines and, once again children will know the freedom of unrestrained play - the wind in their hair, the dirt under their nails, the skin off their knees and most importantly, the sleep of the innocent.

When, we bring about this change, we will once again see a greater sense of community and have the freedom to get involved without the fear of being sued simply for trying to do the right thing. The Nanny State will have no place in our lives and metaphorically speaking everyone will feel the joy of the wind in their hair!







Saturday 9 August 2014

Weather Girl! #sunshine #happy #moods

I know that 'Cabin Fever' is a diagnosed condition and another name for the depression that settles after a long winter of cloudy skies, virtually no daylight and being cooped up in doors. But, is there such a condition for someone who lives in a city that has almost 360 days per year of sunshine. This situation suits me just fine as I am a sunshine girl.
wallpaper-download.net

I live in the tropics, in an area that is in a bit of a rain shadow. This can be a bit of a curse when we are looking for a bit of a top up for our water supply, but living in the dry tropics can be very liberating. You are virtually guaranteed picture perfect weather for months on end.  The winters are not too bad but I love the summer. It is hot and I love hot. I do not like dry western heat, I like moist tropical heat, the sweat running down your back type of heat! I love the ceiling fan whirring overhead, only having a bottom sheet on the bed and the washing drying in about 10 minutes. 'Oh, but you have to have air-conditioning', I hear you say. No we do not have air-conditioning because I cannot see the point of living in the tropics if you are simply going to live inside with all your windows and doors shut. I like my windows open and the fresh air coming in. I am a sticky beak and I like to know what is going on outside - the sound of the wind in the trees, the cockatoos squawking and in summer the deafening sound of the cicadas.

My mood is wired to the weather. I can handle rain if it is big fat rain that belts down in drenching volumes but, I really dislike cloudy weather where the skies are grey with heavy cloud that simply sits. I like rain that washes everything clean - the cloud lifts and the sky simply sparkles! The air is full of positive ions and all is good in the world. I dislike misty rain that comes with the wind and makes you cold. It makes me want to eat, it makes me bored  and it makes me feel anxious and sad. When it is dark early and cold to boot, I long for long summer days where it is 30C plus from 6am to 9pm and the days are long and sultry. I do not know if my dislike for cloudy skies comes from my childhood where the it drizzled for months on end with the cloud hugging the hilltops and the misty rain gusting in on a cool south easterly wind, but I know I need to live with sunshine.

Do not get me wrong, we do not actively lie in the sun here to get a tan because you can literally feel the sun burning you. You do not tan, you cook! The sun here has some grunt! But our lifestyle where you can really wear very little clothing all year round is idyllic. Yes, sometimes it is very difficult to get your clothes on after a shower because you are already sweating so much they simply stick to you! Your makeup runs off as fast as you put it on! But if your wear clothing that is suitable for the climate, forget the makeup, then you are just fine. Our minimum temperatures in summer rarely fall below 25C so there is no need to look for anything warm when you get out of bed. That is just how I like it. Easy! 

That is not to say that my love of hot is for everyone. Obviously, there are many who would hate the heat of the tropics, who rightfully love the weather in their particular part of the world. I just happen to love the weather in my part of the world. Ok, there are the cyclones that I am not too fond of but thankfully they do not visit too often. We take cyclones here very seriously and our houses are built to withstand winds of up to 250km/hr and we have emergency procedures in place. But, when they do come, one positive is that they are fantastic fly screen cleaners. When the wind dies down, and the rain abates, and the sun peeks out of the cloud, the fly screens are spotless!!

This is a weather girl who loves the smell of new rain on hot bitumen, loves the rebirth that rain brings after the last drop has fallen and the sun blazes down in its full glory. This is a weather girl that loves the sun in her face, and a breeze in her hair. So bring on summer with the heat, the sweat and the mozzies! That is when I am at my happiest! 

Happy Summer Days to You!


Monday 4 August 2014

Balance! #farming #conservationists #land

At the moment in Australia, huge tracts of our country are drought declared. At no time since settlement have some areas been de-stocked to the degree that they are today. Farmers are desperately trying to maintain a minimal breeding herd, but for some, even this has proved to be impossible. Some stations have been completely stripped of their herds as it proves impossible for farmers to keep their animals alive. They have been sold off at reduced prices where possible and many that are starving a simply shot where they stand in the ultimate act of mercy by their owners. I know that farmers are pragmatic people but to them, their herds are not only their livelihood, they care for their animals as well. To have to shoot their herd takes an amazing act of courage or an amazing act of desperation. Sadly for many, it is an act of both, as in recent times many have taken their own lives at the end of a gun after destroying their herds.
abc.net.au


Our farmers are a stoic lot. They go about their business under harsh Australian conditions with very little support. There are no subsidies in this country. They farm under non-protectionist policies and are told to compete on a world market where other governments subsidize their primary producers to the hilt. Our farmers have among the world's best farming practices. They are efficient, they are environmentally aware and, if given a fair, go they are profitable. This fair go includes not only the hand dealt to them by the weather, the price for their produce in the market place, the costs imposed on them by essential services but, the support from an urbanized population.

It is probably fair to say that the average urban Aussie has absolutely no idea where the food (and we have quality food in this country) comes from. They have no idea that as they sleep in their doona cocoons with the sun rising, in vast tracts of the countryside, farmers have been at work for hours going about the business they do best - growing food. To them, milk comes from a carton, meat in a nitrogen filled bubble pack in the supermarket, fruit and vegetables from bins at the market. They have no idea how this produce actually arrived at their supermarket, let alone how it grows or where it grows. This is slowly changing with the advent of community gardens within our cities but we have a long way to go before the average Aussie understands exactly how and where there food actually comes from and the calibre of people who farm this great country.


To many environmentalists the farmers have been the enemy and they have done their darnedest to destroy these keepers of our land. Our farmers are the ones who combat feral pigs, woody weeds,wild dogs and feral cats. Introduced pests are not their only problem, as our beloved kangaroo that rises to plague proportions during good seasons, eats out their meagre supply of grass during dry times, and dingoes eat their livestock. When they try to control these factors that mean the difference as to whether or not they make a living, they are deamonized. This is from city dwelling idealists that have never set foot off the asphalt. Farmers look after their soils, their land, their ecosystems, as that is their livelihood. Farmers are Australia's first environmentalists and as such deserve the support of each and every Australian.

The support services in rural ares are poor to say the least.The women must leave to have their babies, the medical services are sparse (the doctors who service these areas are as tireless and as amazing as their patients), and psychological services non-existent. You may say that is fair enough in Australia's vast inland. But, I am talking about rural Australia in general - East Coast, West Coast and anywhere in between. It is no wonder that the mortality rate for rural Australia is much higher than that of their city cousins.

We as a nation, from government through to the man on the street, need to give our farmers the support they deserve. They very rarely ask for support.  Not because they don't need it, but because they are a proud lot who love what they do. Believe me, they would not do it without this extraordinary love for the land. If nothing more, than the integrity of our food supply, is motivation for looking out for our farmers, we need to embrace these hard working, increasingly marginalized people. So, next time you sit down to a meal, give thanks to our farmers. If they need a hand up in difficult times do not be afraid to put your hand in your pocket and help out. It may well be a life or death difference.

This is a harsh land with a generous heart. Make yours the same! 

Give our farmers a fair go!