Our friend Michelle Simpson died in Canberra on April the 26th. She was a remarkable person with a wide range of talents and interests—among other things, as a rower, hot-air balloonist, scout leader, musician, and scientist—and was a dedicated volunteer in the Canberra community, which honoured her with an ACT International Women’s Day Award in 2002. She was also one of Jane’s best friends.
Read More · 30 June 2007 · · People
I got back from a conference in Naples a week ago, but came down with a cold a few days later so haven’t had a chance to turn my impressions and photos into the usual post for posterity. (Fortunately, the little guy seems to have escaped infection.) While I was away the North Sea decided to take a holiday in Britain, and now everything feels damp and un-Mediterranean.
Read More · 24 June 2007 · · Travel
Flora and fauna from the past couple of weeks.
11 June 2007 · Journal
I’ve been gradually reading The Amateur Emigrant and Across the Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson, taking me halfway through a volume of his writings about America (next up is The Silverado Squatters). Edinburgh bookshops often have old hardbacks of his lesser-known works, and they’re entertaining stuff. This passage struck me, in light of current American resistance to ditching the penny and rounding prices up or down to the nearest five cents like Australia does...
Read More · 10 June 2007 · · Books