Girl With a Satchel

The Satchel Review - Friday 27th January, 2012

2012-01-27T15:00:00.290+11:00

Did you know the first daily newspaper in Australia was the Australian founded by WC Wentworth in 1824?

The Four 'n' Twenty meat pies and tomato sauce stowed away, our patriotic pride laid to rest for another day, it was back to work and to school today, that is if the rain waters aren't keeping you away.

For the kids of south-east Queensland, the beginning of the school year has been a bit of a fizzer. Barely a chance to scribble a sentence within freshly contacted exercise book pages, some were sent home or deterred from attendance as their teachers couldn't navigate the rising waters on the roads and, well, it might not be safe.

"Yippee!" said the kidlings, "Oh, no," said the mums hoping to have some reprieve this week (alas, it was not to be... out with the craft and the DVDs!).

Australia Day was similarly a day of mixed feelings. Patriotic pride put aside as we took in images of unrest in Canberra – anger, violence, contempt – it has been a time to reflect on the healing of a hurting nation and the meaning behind the proposed amendments to our Constitution.

A referendum to change the constitution to recognise our land's original inhabitants is expected to proceed in 2013, but recent events may have put a dampener on the idea while further entrenching the racism of rednecks.

Just this week, neurosurgeon Charles Teo, the son of Chinese immigrants who gave the Australia Day address, said an undercurrent of racism does exist in Australia and should be recognised as such in an interview:

"My daughter doesn't like Australia Day because she has in the past dressed up, got into the spirit of things... worn the green and gold and been told by drunk Australians to go home because she looks Chinese," he said. "That's so sad because you can't get more Australian than my daughter."

So close but so far away has been a familiar refrain.

"An aggressive, divisive and frightening protest such as this has no place in debates about the affairs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or in any circumstances," said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Michael Gooda. "The point could have been made more peacefully and respectfully."

The Aboriginal camp has put the whole event down to incitement (not excitement) from Tony Abbott and retaliation by the police, while Prime Minister Julia Gillard came off wonderfully despite the fright and losing her shoe: her gesture in attending to Abbott's welfare was quite the heartwarming treat.

Knowing full well how referendums can turn pear-shaped for those all for change (only eight of 44 referendums have succeeded in their cause thus far), there is reason to worry about popular opinion which may, indeed, have been swayed or inflamed by the event. The watering down of proposed pokie reforms to protect prolific gamblers was another contentious issue this week in public debate.

Original Yellow Wiggle Greg Page was reinstated amidst declarations of sympathy for the ousted Sam Moran, and Geoffrey Rush was named Australian of the Year, telling us, "I feel sure my colleagues will see this as an endorsement of our national story of creativity". Demographer Bernard Salt said there's more to our national identity than "swagmen, jumbucks and Snowy River brumbies", as, "We are more likely now to drink wine than beer and latte than tea".

Really?

The Australian Open was welcome home entertainment for those of us who have spent the most part of the week indoors. Rafael Nadal beat Roger "Nice Guy" Federer for a place in the final, while a vocally charged Maria Sharapova will compete with Victoria Azarenka for the women's trophy.

Goyte's "Somebody That I Used To Know (Feat Kimbra)" won the Triple J Hottest 100 song, while his In Your Light' and 'I Feel Better' also made the cut. Speaking of cuts, the International Monetary Fund has pared back its prediction for Australia's economic growth in 2012, downgrading us from 3.3 to 3 per cent. Still, that's better than growth for last year, which hovered around 2 per cent.

In other financial news, while Gina Rinehart's considerable wealth continues to expand (diamonds, uranium, oil and gas are reportedly her new targets), it's anticipated that the legal battle that has seen three of her children challenge her role as trustee in a family trust, thus far suppressed by her lawyers, will be heard in the High Court.

Closer to home, GWAS photographer Sophie's mum, Susan Rossi, has won an international award. As Director of Interior Design for a billion-dollar Abu Dhabi development undertaken by Queensland architects DBI Design, Rossi has spent the past six years on the assignment, which trumped major projects in Paris, Hong Kong and London to win the 'World's Leading New Hotel Award'.

"Pretty proud of her," said Sophie. Go, Mum!

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchelist: Kim Maurer, Mount Tamborine

2012-01-27T13:00:00.004+11:00

The Satchelist: Kim Maurer, Mount Tamborine

Free-styling hairdresser and mum Kim Maurer took to the streets this morning in her ensemble of delicate white dress and brown ankle boots, stopping at the newsagent where we met before moving onto a cafe for breakfast with her husband.

The Tamborine Village resident's home has thankfully not been accosted by rising waters, but her kids' school was, meaning they had Tuesday and Wednesday off. "They loved it," she said of her seven and 10-year-old, "But I had to cancel a day of work."

Girl With a Satchel

Place: An Australian symphony in photographs

2012-01-26T08:00:00.011+11:00

Place: An Australian symphony in photographs

Breathtaking – we are truly blessed, are we not, to live in such a place.

Film c/o National Geographic Society and Remote Photography

Girl With a Satchel

Snapshot: Madam Tojo's cafe, Labrador

2012-01-25T11:00:00.132+11:00

Snapshot: Madam Tojo's cafe, Labrador

By Sophie Baker

'Daily whims', singing dishwashers, vintage travel cases, velvet curtains, gilded mirrors, stacks of books, Albert Einstein's musings on mystery inscribed in chalk...

Welcome to Madam Tojo's, a cafe that could have been where Hemingway hung out in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, where nothing is quite as it seems. "A dishwasher isn't always just a dishwasher, talent is everywhere," says the cafe's creator and owner Antoinette Edmunds, referring to her newest employee.

Sophie Canning

A girl of 16 with a talent for singing and guitar playing, Sophie Canning frequented the cafe with her mother before joining the team. A firm believer in looking beyond someone's occupation and herself a sculptor and painter, Edmunds is encouraging of Sophie's beautiful musical gifts.

In fact, she says all her team are "talented and wonderful people", and she'd rather they receive the attention and accolades than herself (she declines to be photographed). Her cafe is like a ship for nurturing talent and Edmunds is its captain.

To further this endeavour, in December Edmunds started the Madam Sparrow's Market, just two blocks from the cafe. Described as "a market of oddities, retro, handmade art and craft, furniture, vintage and entertainment", the next markets are due to occur on Feb 4th, as they do on the first Saturday of each month.

Located in Labrador on the corner of Musgrave Avenue and Clayton Street, Madam Tojo's opened five years ago and just as the community has embraced its offerings of home-baked goods (a must-try for first-time visitors) and coffee, Edmunds showcases local businesses and events on Madam Tojo's walls.

You will also find photographs of loyal customers sporting Madam Tojo's t-shirts in all corners of the globe (a travelling roadshow, of sorts) and Edmund's exhortations to live well on blackboards and tables. "Let's paint ourselves in Tojo beans, melodic coates of coffee dreams, and whatever tomorrow brings, we'll embrace with open arms, open heart, open mind, to save us from mediocrity."

Madam Tojo's is open Tuesday to Friday 8am 'til 5pm, and Saturday to Sunday 8.30am 'til 5pm, and you can enjoy Tapas on Friday nights til "late". Phone (07) 5532 2874 for inquiries.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is
the mysterious. It is the source of all true art
and science. He to whom this emotion is
a stranger, who can no longer pause to
wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good
as dead: his eyes are closed." - Albert Einstein

Sophie @ Girl With a Satchel

Arts, Culture & Media Update – January 25

2012-01-25T10:46:00.000+11:00

The Academy Awards nominations are in, with HUGO taking out the most for any film, an impressive tally of 11 nominations to Martin Scorsese's credit. The whimsical story of an orphan boy who brings his clockwork automaton friend back to life, with the help of his bookworm friend Isabelle who holds the missing piece, and in turn revives the dormant career of Paris' finest early filmmaker, Isabelle's godfather Papa Georges, the movie speaks to us all about the importance of craftmanship and a life with purpose.

The Scout About Street Fair is coming to Coventary Street, Melbourne, on February 19 with retailers creating whimsical window displays that depict the theme 'Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, Stories and Myths' in the lead up to the inaugural event. "We’re keen to show Melburnians the amazing array of beautiful things you can eat, wear, experience and take home from South Melbourne," said Sam Tresise, president of the South Melbourne Business Association. Entry is free and kids' entertainment includes Maisy, Spot, Angelina Ballerina and Grug.

'Can Pinterest benefit business?' asks Holly Zuluaga of CommuniquePR. "Pinterest provides a platform for contests and a tool for businesses to demonstrate thought leadership by sharing fresh images. Additionally, Pinterest can help businesses drive traffic back to their sites by pinning content. In fact, Real Simple reports that Pinterest drives more traffic to its site than Facebook."

"The areas I know about are popular culture and the arts, and the media, so I've been looking at things which have those connections," Next Media co-founder and VIP Art Fair investor Phillip Keir told The Australian Financial Review on Friday. The Art Fair replicates a bricks-and-mortar fair in that it brings together galleries and artists from around the world for "a few days of concentrated art consumption", wrote Katrina Strickland in 'Art e-fairs close distance gap'.

"While the long-term effects of Apple’s digital textbook service will take years to sort out, they’ve at least come out to a very strong start," reports Forbes on the launch of Apple's foray into educational textbooks, which resulted in 350,000 textbooks sold in three days.

The beautiful new edition of Spoonful magazine invites readers to look up to the skies in 'Objects of Affection', munch on the Hummingbird cake created by Katrina Meynink and take a walk in the woods of Germany with photographer Toni Weber.

"We have the technology to build a new type of democracy but equally we might create a new type of totalitarianism," writes freelance journalist Heather Brooke's in her new book, The Revolution Will Be Digitised: Dispatches from the Information War with reviewer Richard King taking a case in point: "Thus the FBI an CIA can track the movements of (say) Islamist terrorists at the expense of keeping (say) Islamic extremists in power in other parts of the world: a solid case, if ever there was one, of the unintended consequence."

Additionally, The Times has printed an editorial outlining its views on press freedom and privacy in light of the Leveson inquiry. "The value of journalism is to tell many people what few people know. The public has more to fear from secrecy than to gain from privacy. A muffled press does not make for a quieter world, but for a cacophony of rumour. This newspaper is therefore an unrelenting advocate of press freedom."

Speaking of press freedom, the Afghan Women’s Writing Project is an organisation that mentors Afghan women writers and publishes their work (poems, essays, personal stores) for a global audience who leave words of encouragement for them. The universality of women's hopes, dreams and desires is apparent in their beautiful words.

Salman Rushdie may address India's biggest literary festival via video link, instead of an in-person appearance, after a rumoured death threat followed several high-profile writers reading from his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, reports The Guardian.

Darren Davidson, the editor of Yaffa Publishing's AdNews, is joining The Australian as business media writer to strengthen the newspaper's leading coverage of media and marketing. Davidson, who starts in March, joined AdNews in 2010 after relocating to Sydney from London.

Jane Hall

Former Neighbours star Jane Hall is joining former The Circle chair-occupier (who left the show last year to order her family priorities and focus on her "old love", radio) Chrissie Swan as co-host of Mix101.1's all-female breakfast show in Melbourne starting Monday February 6. "For a self-confessed morning person, going to work every day with a good mate in my home town seems too good to be true! It’s truly an honour to be part of Melbourne’s only all-girl breakfast radio show with Chrissie Swan…2012 is shaping up to be a great year," said Hall.

Journalist Kathryn Robinson and meteorologist Magdalena Roze complete Channel Ten's new Breakfast show line-up along with hosts Paul Henry and Andrew Rochford. "A self-proclaimed weather nerd, she completed a tertiary degree in Atmospheric Science, winning both the Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Prize and the Biophysical Environments Prize," reports Mediaweek.

Belinda Hickman-Newton

In other media appointment news, Mia Freedman has officially joined the News Limited fold with her columns to be published across the company's stable of major Sunday mastheads ("While I'll admit to more than a little stage fright, I cannot wait to get started," she said), U On Sunday founding editor and The Sunday Mail assistant editor (features) Belinda Hickman-Newton has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Quest Newspapers ("I am very excited about the future at Quest and the challenges ahead, particularly developing editorial initiatives in digital media to expand our relationships with readers," she said) and NewsLifeMedia chief executive Sandra Hook is moving on from the company after eight years ("I have decided after a Christmas break it is time to look for a new challenge," she said).

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchelist: Zoe, Hamish and Kate

2012-01-24T10:14:00.002+11:00

The Satchelist: Zoe, Hamish and Kate

Zoe Foster, Hamish Blake and Kate Hunter, printed with permission from Mia Freedman/Zoe Foster

Kate Hunter is an hilariously funny advertising-art-director-slash-author who looks nice in a frock; Zoe Foster is an hilariously funny beauty-editor-slash-author who looks nice in a frock; Hamish Blake is the hilariously funny bloke – the slash – between them both. Don't they look smashingly great?

Of note: the ladies are both the size of Kylie Minogue; Hamish is not unusually tall. But he is engaged to Zoe; isn't that lovely?

Girl With a Satchel

The Reading Table

2012-01-24T10:07:00.000+11:00

The Reading Table

A wet and windy end to January, the house surrounded by a mote of water, the perfect antidote would seem to be to envelop the mind in some hearty reading fare to the tune of Blanche Dubois' Young Heart, with a cup of tea and a little prayer to nurse the spirit.

Girl With a Satchel

Short & Sweet - week beginning January 23

2012-01-23T07:00:00.070+11:00

Le Petit Nicolas @ Pinterest

The newsagent is packed with harried mothers who have left the book-pack purchasing to the last minute, the leafy street front outside the primary school is busy with bumper-to-bumper four-wheel drives, and mums in stylish garb hold the hands of their little ones and make way to the gates (soon to get back to the computer for a Facebook piccie update).

Is there a more special occasion than the beginning of a new school year for adoring parents for whom the school holidays drawing to a close is just as exciting as the break from routine the end-of-year brings?

But, no sooner have the little ones, and their teachers, got into the groove of things, including the new National Schools Curriculum, we will all take a week-day off to celebrate our nation's founding amidst talk of a referendum to acknowledge indigenous Australians.
Let's catch up: Her books covered in contact, her lunchbox packed and hair in pigtails, my niece attends her first day of school today. I am thinking I will drop by for afternoon tea. Meanwhile, around The Satchel, we are anticipating the arrival of a new family member: Betty, the puppy!
This week's agenda: Interesting people to meet and issues to contemplate.
The Word for the Week: 'Why are you crying out...Tell the Israelites to move on.' Exodus 14:15
Quote of the Week: 'If we did all the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.' Thomas Edison
Dictionary.com word for the week: natheless \NEYTH-lis\, adverb: Nevertheless.
"Natheless, it was to be that Little Olivia would embark on her first year of primary school education come January 23."
Reading: "You Will Never Guess Who Is Really Responsible For The Softening of Males In The Church" by Mark Sayers.

Girl With a Satchel

Satchelnomics: Good job hunting

2012-01-20T15:45:00.007+11:00

The warnings are coming in thick and fast: the economy is at risk of going bust. Quick, stash your cash away for that rainy day! Mind your job while you're at it, too. But maybe all's not that bad: The Australian Financial Review reports today that there was a net loss of 100 jobs in 2011. It doesn't sound like a terrible lot, does it?

No, it doesn't. But when put in context, it's not a great sign. Usually jobs are being created; lots of them, at that. In fact, it's been 19 years – since we were listening to Boyz II Men in our bedrooms in 1992 – that the jobs market has created so few new positions. In 2010, 370,000 new jobs were created. Last month, 29,300 were shed. What gives?

Quite obviously, the faltering European economy has made employers nervous about enlarging their workforces; some are rationalising, some are downsizing. Hiring is happening, but on the cautious side. The unemployment rate currently sits at 5.2 per cent.

"We are an economy with strong fundamentals, we've got growth, we've got low unemployment," a confident Julia Gillard was quick to remind us. "Look around the world we're talking about unemployment just over five per cent. In the euro zone they're talking about it at 10 per cent, the Americans more than eight per cent."

But despite the relative stability of home-soil, we also have to factor in the taking of jobs off-shore, the loss and viability of 'old economy' jobs relative to new economy jobs creation (Amazon is reportedly in talks to set up an Aussie-based website), and the structure of employment (24,500 full-time jobs were created in December; 53,700 part-time jobs were lost).

There has also been exodus from the labour market itself with the jobs participation rate shrinking to 65.2 per cent. Mining is not the match for everyone's skill set, and nor is health which is doing well, while retail stores have shed staff and cut hours (some staff opting out altogether), manufacturing is on Struggle Street and the banking sector has felt the pinch, too.

National Australia Bank economist Alexandra Knight told The Sydney Morning Herald job-seekers were giving up looking for positions, which is reflected in domestic labour market data. "It shows there has been a bit of 'discouraged worker' effect because we've seen the participation rate fall as well as the unemployment rate," she said.

Then there was the Queensland floods.

"All my staff lost their jobs," said Lauren Jays, manager of Toowoomba's Coffee Club. "They were all casuals, so they had to go and fend for themselves and look for other jobs. I was happy that I got to keep my job, but I had to say goodbye to a lot of people. You can’t pay for a business that’s not running."

While Coffee Club has since re-hired some "pre-flood" staff, and over 30 casual staff for the re-opening of the store, the event took its toll on sentiment.

"We had a customer today say, ‘Isn’t the re-opening a celebration for you?’ One of my staff said, ‘No, I lost my job for six months and I struggled because I had nowhere to go.’ I kind of feel the same; I was happy that I got to keep my job, but I had to say goodbye to a lot of people and we couldn’t do anything."

The banking sector is expected to contract in 2012 with ANZ planning to trim 1,000 roles of its payroll and Westpac cutting 600 positions. No wonder our friend Courtney is feeling tense about leaving university and wading into the jobs market.

A small concession: at least we are not facing quite the same fate as our friends in Italy, where the economy is considerably more pear-shaped (27.8 per cent youth unemployment) and highly educated young people are doing all sorts of jobs to make ends meet.

In its Off to a Good Start? report, the OECD's secretary-general Angel Gurria notes that "investing in young people is vital to avoid a scarred generation at risk of long-term exclusion". Based on the most recent OECD economic projections, youth unemployment rates are expected to be around 18 per cent in 2011 and 17 per cent in 2012 after a slow decline in 2010.

"At least 16.7 million young people are neither in employment, education or training (the so-called NEET group)," notes the OECD, adding "6.7 million of these youth are still seeking work, while 10 million have given up looking... Young people leaving school in the coming years are more likely to struggle to find work than previous generations."

And to think all Gen-Y Aussies had to contend with was Boys II Men.

While cautious, the OECD has some comforting concessions for Australian youth, noting Australia entered the downturn from a favourable starting point. "Until very recently – partially as a consequence of uninterrupted economic growth for 17 years – the overall unemployment rate was close to its historical low. Moreover, the youth (15-24) unemployment rate reached 8.7% in September 2008, the lowest level recorded since the late 1970s."

The organisation has also seized on the opportunity posed by a slower jobs market for youth (and why not older Australians, too?) to embrace education and skills acquisition. "Australia is indeed characterised by a relatively low retention rate in education beyond age 16, as compared with many other OECD countries. Hence, too many youths still lack the basic skills needed to embark on a successful long-term career in the labour market."

Let's hope our Millennial underlings are able to bide their time productively and creatively as they wait for the storm to pass (yes, Mrs. Bartle).

See also:
Jobs for Youth, Australia, OECD
Jobs go as confidence evaporates, AFR

Economy shed jobs at year's end @ SMH
RBA has room to cut rates, says Gillard @ The Australian

Girl With a Satchel

Satchel Living: Truth in beauty and perfect love

2012-01-20T10:18:00.012+11:00

Satchel Living: Truth in beauty and perfect love

January can be a confounding time for women. No sooner have the Christmas crackers been put away than thoughts turn to burning calories and starting detoxes as we scan the newsstands. 'Why can't I just watch the tennis/read my new Jodi Picoult/think on Noam Chomsky's revolutionary pacificism in peace?' you think.

Celebrity cook Julie Goodwin is taking it all in her stride. She posed for New Idea in her swimsuit, unkind things were said, and she resolved to remind us all that we are not defined by our body shape. "I am grateful to my body for the three children it has given me, for its strength and ability to work long hard hours, and for its robust good health... I will live my life as fully and joyfully as each day allows, with the body God gave me in all its magnificent imperfection," she wrote on her blog.

Fist pump!

A calm resolve to NOT BUY INTO the dieting jargon, the weight-loss mumbo jumbo, the calorie crap will do you well. Bury your head in your Jodi Picoult! Channel the Chomsky! But if, unlike Julie, you do not possess such resolve, nor the humble acceptance of the body God gave you, your vulnerabilities may flair up during beach season.

How does one go about combating the landscape without requesting that the newsagent 'Please remove all scaremongering materials'; that the current affairs shows lay off the weight loss infotainment; that the pretty young things at the beach cover up? How do you annihilate the deflating feeling that your body is not quite up to scratch (and who's marking out the pitch, anyway?).

By holding fast to the truth. Did Jesus die for sinners just so we could get thinner, or, indeed, gorge on our inadequacies and insecurities? I don't think so.

But, hello, there they are. The battle scars. The weighty stumbling blocks pulling us towards memories, perhaps, of one time in our lives when we were not in shippy-shippy shape (whether too light or too heavy for our bodies to bear), or the self-loathing that followed when someone was so unkind as to point it out or shout, "Hey, eat a hamburger!" or "Hey, lay off the hamburgers!"), or maybe the thought, seared into your soul, that your looks matter most of all.

All this stuff needs to be put in its rightful place: the wheelie bin of your life. David killed Goliath with a sling shot, and you too can conquer your Goliath. You just have to believe it can be true. And here's the rub: PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR.

Fear of man's rejection and woman's; fear of gaining weight; fear of losing your way; fear of past mistakes and future ones, too; fear of people not liking who you really are; fear of allowing your body to be how it naturally wants to be; fear that you will go back to how you were or, perhaps, will never get to where you want to be. Fear schmear.

Perfect love wants what's best for you; perfect love allows you the freedom to be who you were created to be; perfect love keeps no record of wrongs; perfect love calms the storms; perfect love does not poke fun; perfect love does not show off; perfect love recognises you are human; perfect love picks you up when you are down; perfect love does not burden you with unreasonable expectations; perfect love takes your hand and leads you to places of peace; perfect love enables you to revel in God's glory; perfect love never runs out, never fails you.

But, to get to the root of it all, to experience the perfect love that conquers all fears and inhibitions, inadequacies and insecurities – before you can genuinely go out into the world firing off sling-shots at every deflating image and remark – you need to do some work. You have the absolute RIGHT to live a full and flourishing life and to look your very best for the very purpose you were given for being here. Did you know that? I hope you do. If you don't know and feel this with all your heart, let's make a start.

God loved you SO MUCH that he sent his only Son to die for you. This was so you could have a personal and deeply satisfying relationship with him, the supplier of all your needs; for love, for acceptance, for comfort, for peace, for direction, for shelter, clothes, food – for every single thing. With this in mind, with it filtering throughout your thinking and your body, it's safe to turn to thoughts of, 'Well, if God loves me, I must be alright, so I will look after myself.'

What God doesn't want is for you to live in a perpetual state of self-punishment. To give into demands on your body, mind and time that keep you apart from Him and his perfect will for your life. That will only lead you into strife. Trust me, I've been there. I have the lingering battle scars, too: the thinner hair, the weaker bones, the question mark over fertility. BUT, even if you stray from the path, even if you give into the world's ridiculous message that you must be thin, thin, thin, God can restore you to full and glowing health. I KNOW this to be true.

It requires partnership with him, and some further work, too. I personally had to get down to the nitty gritty stuff; the beginnings of the self-loathing and the constant need for affirmation. The seeking out for a mother's love and approval. The covering over anxieties fed by the thought that I would have to look after myself, that I would have to be the very best at things, that I would have to be ace all the time; that I felt wretched because I had done things that made me feel like a very bad person. Exhausting. (If you're not exhausted yet, read more about it here).

Stage two of my experience required a complete rebuilding of my thinking. Each ridiculous thought about food being replaced by something more beneficial. Starting each day saying, "God, I know you will provide for all my needs", including food and the opportunity to move (some days this might be a stroll, others a run, maybe a swim in the pool, maybe cleaning the house; just something). I learned to allow myself to sleep in. BUT, God also gave me an opportunity disguised in an injury: I was forced off my feet for months and months. And, yet, I am still able to complete a 10k run.

The eating thing has been somewhat harder: friend and foe and source of such woe! Used to be that I could control my world through consumption; then, in the depths of despair, I could punish myself through imbibing everything in sight. But an opportunity again knocked to help me realign my approach to food (not faultless). I got gastro.

All I could eat was toast and tea. That breaking of routine was the absolute key. I learned to appreciate every morsel that passed my lips and didn't make me want to run to the toilet. The deliciousness of butter on bread. In a way, it was like a fast – God allowed me, in breaking with my habitual nature, to take a sneak peek at what allowing him to provide for our daily diet – just enough – looks like.

However, I have had to stay vigilant. If my mindset comes under the control of the vagaries of life, of feeling like I should be doing this or that and I am not, it is easy to stumble and fall. To feed one's gob with food instead of turning to God, instead of getting on one's knees and seeking his direction, his calm, is an easy thing to do. Food is all around us, haven't you noticed? But food is good, it fuels the brain and spirit. To have it and enjoy it, and not fear it, is liberating. That is a practised act of faith, and it is its own reward.

And herein another step: if you are a woman of faith, then your source for all things must be God. The minute you step into thinking that you must strive to deliver for yourself – self care, self will – you step out of God's provision for you. He's got it covered. Don't be so bothered. Yes, attend to the tasks he's assigned to you, and do them well, but don't beat yourself up with a stick if they're not completed, if family calls and takes you away from work, if someone is on your back, if you are forced to take it easy for a while to get your health on track – turn to God, look up to him and say, "I resolve to do it your way."

Keeping up with the Jones' (bikini babes, celebrities and weight-loss evangelists) is half the problem. When we take our focus of the unique bodies, the unique lives, the unique work, family, friends, community, hobbies and pleasures that God has given each of us, and turn instead to images and ideas created by the media, we become weaker. Don't let popular sentiments get in the way of your right to a full and flourishing life tailored just for you according to God's best precepts.

Have you seen the Bupa healthcare ads on television or in the magazines? I can most certainly identify with them. Look after what God has given you; it is a right given to you by Christ. Seek help if you need it, but resolve to do what's best for you; and only you. When you are functioning at your best, and accepting who you were made to be, you will be a beautiful carrier of Christ's message of peace and love and salvation for the world, and more able to function in the way he intended for you: body, mind, soul and spirit in perfect alignment with his will.

Now let's get back to the tennis.

A handy Girl With a Satchel artillery guide...
Going out into the world and not coming home feeling battered is hard, but not when you've got the right artillery in your repertoire! Here's a handy guide to keep in mind:

You think: I am fat and ugly. God says: You are God's child (John 1:12) and a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20); you are God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:6)
You think: I am a terrible person. God says: You have been justified (Romans 5:1), are free of all condemning charges against you (Romans 8:31-34) and free from condemning charges (Romans 8:31-34).
You think: I will never be good enough. God says: You are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10) and can be confident that the good work God has begun in you will be perfected (Philippians 1:6).
You think: I have to try harder. God says: You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13) and you are God's co-worker (2 Corinthians 6:1).
You think: I can't eat that, I'll get fat. God says: I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.

Girl With a Satchel

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

2012-01-19T09:06:00.000+11:00


Oprah at her Leadership Academy's for its academically gifted, underprivileged girls. How wonderful. Source: ABC News

"The thing that I’m most proud of is not the academics, the academics I expected," said Oprah Winfrey at the inaugural graduation ceremony for her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. "The thing I’m most proud of is that everyone’s been accepted to college, and everyone’s going and we’ve created a support system to make that happen. But even more important than that, everyone walks out of here with the grace and dignity from which they were raised. Their integrity, their character, their grace and their kindness is what every parent would wish, that’s what you want, as a parent."

Claire Danes plays a C.I.A agent in Homeland

Accepting her award for Best Actress (Music/Comedy) at the Golden Globe awards this week, Michelle Williams dedicated the win to her daughter, Matilda: "I consider myself a mother first and an actress second, and so the person I most want to thank is my daughter, my little girl, whose bravery and exuberance is the example that I take with me in my work and in my life," she said. In accepting her award for Best Actress (Drama), Meryl Streep quipped, "I gotta thank everybody in England that let me come and trample over their history". The Descendants won Best Motion Picture (Drama), The Artist took out Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and Claire Danes collected the award for Best Actress in a Drama for her Homeland series.

Clara Vuletich

The Harvest Workroom is hosting designer-in-residence Clara Vuletich in January. "Clara has combined her knowledge of sustainable textile print and dye processes with her interest in new forms of design and community activity that promote ‘home-grown’ knowledge/skills and encourage well-being," we are told. You can follow Clara's progress on the blog.

Jafar Panahi in This Is Not a Film

Screening at the Australian Centre for Moving Image in Melbourne next week is This Is Not a Film, Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb’s ‘non’ film, smuggled out of Iran and into France via USB stick, documents a day in the life of Iranian director Panahi while confined to his Tehran apartment under house arrest. This followed a court ruling in December 2010 that was upheld by a Tehran appeal court in October 2011. Panahi is currently appealing against a six year prison sentence as part of a sentence that also imposed a 20 year ban on film-making, travelling abroad or talking to the press. Read Margaret and David's At the Movies review here.

Following a cleverly crafted headline, 'Losing it in the dosh pit', Dominic White of The Australian Financial Review reports that the Big Day Out has lost its mojo. "Poor consumer sentient, sluggish ticket sales, a shallowpool of international crowd-pulling talent and a glut of rival events mean that the 'golden age for Australian music festivals' is over," writes White as the event kick-starts in Auckland. "Many promoters don't understand the costs," said event founder Ken West. "It takes three months for a festival to reconcile its costs: from market stall holders to portaloos and generator companies. We also have 10,000 casual staff and tougher government regulations."

Australian artist Bec Laughton will be performing at this year's Easterfest

Meanwhile, while indie rock is apparently suffering a slow and painful death, the crew at AGMF (Australian Gospel Music Festival) are rallying troops for its Easterfest showdown in Toowoomba come April 6-8. This year's artists include Michael W Smith, Mercy Me, New Empire, Bec Loughton, and friend of GWAS Vita Adam amongst others.

Adrian Mole is having a big birthday! The melancholic, prolific poet and beloved tween companion to many Gen-Yers and Xers before them, the protagonist of Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ is turning 30 (well, Mole was born in 1964, but the book was birthed in 1982). A product of a working class upbringing, Thatcherism and second-wave feminism, Mole was a "misunderstood intellectual" with acne, specs, a dog named "the dog" and a girlfriend called Pandora. Time to revisit the book, we think!

Girl With a Satchel

Culture: The TRIP Reviewed

2012-01-18T18:06:00.009+11:00

Culture: The TRIP Reviewed

A unique glimpse into the world of British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, The TRIP is also a study of the masculine persona; the inner longings of the vulnerable man-child whose potential is not yet fully realised despite himself.

British actor/comedian Steve Coogan has been commissioned by The Observer Magazine to do a travel piece taking in six restaurants around the north of England. His American (fictional) girlfriend, Mischa, has returned home, so instead he takes his mate Rob Brydon along for the drive.

What ensues is two hours (or six episodes) of culinary and comedic entertainment. It's very clever. Male bravado, memorable one-liners, dramatic recitations and several Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Robert DeNiro, Woody Allen, Anthony Hopkins and Al Pacino impersonations. For Coogan and Brydon, one-upmanship is sport.

"Broadsheet journalists have described my impressions as 'stunningly accurate'," boasts Brydon over a meal of scallops. "Well, they're wrong," chastises Coogan, suggesting that anyone over 40 who amuses themselves by doing impressions needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

While keenly aware of his ageing visage, Coogan lives in hope of being recognised for the Grade-A actor he is. "I don't want to do British TV," he tells his agent over the telephone, standing in a "literal and metaphorical" Boland trough. "I want to be in films; good films."

Mischa is a magazine writer mixing it with the editor of Esquire at parties while Coogan accepts strange women into his bed and takes a call from his ex-wife about his troubled teenaged son. "I meet women, I charm them, I seduce them, it's the aristocratic way," says Coogan. "Women are my windmills."

They are also his Achilles heel.

Over one meal, Coogan identifies with Samuel Taylor Coleridge's condition (Coleridge was discontented with domesticity, frustrated by his own success and turned to other stimulants, including opium). "It's difficult once you've achieved greatness to match that," says Coogan, who would rather have moments of genius than a lifetime of mediocrity.

"My career is not mediocre," retorts Brydon, who, by contrast, is the faithful family man content with his lot in life who has never smoked anything ("I would remind you of the time I had a Red Bull and Coke," he jests). Standing in a cemetery contemplating their funerals, Coogan gives an unkind eulogy for Brydon:

"Rob was an interesting guy, very funny, very entertaining, and yet, at the same time...there was something about him that was lost, that seemed unable to confront the reality of life...because behind every little, pithy, vaguely amusing joke is a cry for help."

Serious foodies might find the pair's immature descriptions of the dishes and beverages they're served annoying, but they lighten the mood. One green concoction containing mallow, whiskey, ginger beer and chilly "tastes of a childhood garden" ("Was there a lot of alcohol in your garden as a child? I'm sorry, Rob," quips Coogan), who suggests it has the consistency of snot.

Somewhat disconcertingly, as far as feminist thought goes, an endless stream of attractive, exotic women – hotel concierges, photographers – have been cast to posit Coogan as the lady's man who cannot be resisted. There is also drug use, and blasphemy (how easily "Jesus Christ" slips from the lips when he's not on your conscience), so this one is strictly for adults and those whose sensibilities are not easily offended.

The TRIP will have you guessing as to what has been scripted and what has not, attempting to replicate accents, and longing for a gastronomic adventure in the countryside. The scene in which Brydon returns home to his wife and baby daughter, vowing to never leave for longer than a weekend in future, contrasted with Coogan's melancholy return to a stunning apartment of solitude gives pause for thought.

In Coogan we see the narcissist given over to fleeting, untamable indulgences, while in Brydon we find comfort and hope. Coogan may get the girls but it's the morally sound Brydon who sleeps well at night. Despite this, we lament Coogan's inability to triumph over his inadequacies, to find a peaceful communion within himself and, perhaps, with God.

Recently screening in six parts on the ABC (the final episode screening tonight) and available on DVD, regardless of your beliefs, The TRIP will have you contemplating what is truly meaningful in life.

Girl With a Satchel

Snapshot: The great Aussie pie shop

2012-01-17T18:25:00.002+11:00

Snapshot: The great Aussie pie shop

The Warwick Pie Shop

At quite a different pace from the harried streets of New York City, Jim and I packed up the Toyota Land Cruiser and did our summer holiday Aussie-style, covering 3,000-odd kilometres of road (and not a single animal was harmed... almost).

Once Christmas had passed, it was off to Stanthorpe, Granite Belt wine country and home to the Apple and Grape Harvest Festival, en route meeting a lovely young couple who planned to stay two nights there but whose car had broken down.

From there it was off to Wandoan, north west of Toowoomba, where we saw the New Year in with friends on a 30,000 acre property, and milked a cow. Then we were Sydney-bound, taking the Pacific Highway on the way down and the New England on return (I'm sure many readers are familiar with the trip!).

A pie shop at every stop offering the best meat between pastry you can find, I saw several book stores boarded up, which made me sad for these little towns (my middle-brow furrowed), some which appear to struggle under the weight of big-city capitalism while the West and its mining hubs gain ground.

We chanced upon a garage sale, though, operated by three women (grandma, mum, daughter) where I scooped up a Reader's Digest branded tome on exploration and colonisation. How apt.

Here's a wee video taking in some beautiful Aussie terrain and sweeping plains from the Cruiser window (points to those who identify Ballina!)...

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchelist: Courtney, Toowoomba, student

2012-01-17T13:40:00.000+11:00

The Satchelist: Courtney, Toowoomba, student

Courtney, 28, is wearing a top from SES and shorts by Jay Jay's

Meeting her mother for a coffee date in Toowoomba the day we met, Courtney, 28, hails from the Northern Territory, where her parents operated a cattle station (just like in Australia!), but was sent to boarding school at Fairholme private girls' school in Toowoomba.

She now studies business and marketing, and lives with her younger sister in Annalee, Brisbane, and fears she will soon join the ranks of the unemployed.

"It's looking harder and harder to get into post-graduate positions," she says. "If I can't get a post-grad role at somewhere like Virgin or Suncorp, I'll look at getting into the agriculture sector, 'cause I'm from the land."

Girl With a Satchel

Adventure: A sight or two with Michael Fattal from Planet Blue

2012-01-17T08:45:00.363+11:00

Michael Fattal, founder, Planet Blue Tours

Adventure: A sight or two with Michael Fattal from Planet Blue

It's not every day you get an invitation to New York in your inbox. But so it was, last October, mere days after telling some young women I know about my Contiki tour experience as a 20-something (wonderful if you are prepared to overlook the parts that don't agree with your sensibility), following a tragic report of a young Aussie girl's death on a tour in Italy, that an email from Planet Blue Tours popped into view asking, 'Would I like to join them on a trip to the USA and Canada'. Is the Pope Catholic? This is too good to be true. Surely.

The "too good to be true" theme carried on throughout the tour. I had to pinch myself as I took in the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir's amazing chorus, again as I skated around the Rockefeller Centre to the tune of Christmas carols, again when I took in the awe-inspiring sight of Niagra Falls and again as I delighted in Disneyland.

Again and again and again I sensed that there was something special about this tour company, and so too its founder, Michael Fattal.

A true gentleman with a penchant for the finer things in life (good food, genuine leather luggage, music) with a great sense of humour and a heart that chimes to the sound of the Holy Spirit, Michael has a strong heritage in both Christ and travel: his father owns a travel company.

"My dad was really encouraging of my entrepreneurship, taking me out on business trips from a young age and encouraging me to give things a try," says Michael. "My parents have been the best support in this venture. And my brother is my travel partner; he comes with me everywhere. My success is his, too, and it's good to share it with him."

Michael had been working in travel for eight years, and working in Christian youth ministry for five, when he spotted a gap in the market.

"I was looking for some travel for myself, a group tour, but I'm not really into the whole partying and drinking scene, and after doing some research I didn't find anything that existed for 18 to 35s that appealed to me, so I decided to start doing it myself," he told me.

Two years running, Planet Blue has taken groups to Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and the Greek Islands, the USA, Africa, Taiwan and China, to name a few destinations. This year, in addition to another trip to the USA in December (highly recommended!), Michael will be taking two groups to Turkey for Anzac Day, another to Africa and one to New Zealand for a photography tour.

"Usually the tours go by my interests first, and I end up meeting people with similar interests," says Michael. "I met a photographer in Melbourne and I thought we could pair up our visions for photography. I want to do a fashion tour, too, to Milan."

With daily devotionals, there's a strong spirituality aspect to the tours, but from the get-go the shared faith gives the groups a special bond. Sitting on a hill in Washington, prior to giving us a guided tour of the monuments, Michael gave his first devotional to our small group of seven, encouraging us to contemplate God's sovereignty.

"From a young age, I knew that God was in control of the world," says Michael. "I wanted my life to have a purpose. I knew there was more than just the daily grind. How that turned into tours is that I want people to experience more than just a holiday. The tours are for people for who the cross has a special meaning; it's more than just a fashion accessory."

For those contemplating travel in 2012, Planet Blue's intrepid, energetic leader recommends exhausting yourself in the first few days to ensure a good night's sleep, eating regularly for energy and packing as much as you can, like chargers, into your carry-on bag. Ah-ha! I won't be making that mistake again.

But despite losing my luggage (a blessing in disguise; and it returned four days later), words can barely express how blessed I felt to join Michael on his 12-day New York/LA trip this past December. Though each of us hailed from vastly different backgrounds – they taught me all about "Arab" culture – the sense of comradeship was there from the get-go (I have a few handy new catch-phrases in my satchel and new Facebook friends to show for it).

If it's any indication, though we were given free time along the way, we didn't want to spend it apart. While all the sights were wonderful, it was the new friends with whom I shared breakfast, lunch, dinner, experiences past and present, girl-troubles and solutions, and pressing thoughts on the state of the world, who have endeared me to this young and exciting new tour operation. I would happily recommend Planet Blue's services to anyone.

An affable young man with enough empathy to ensure we ladies had enough toilet breaks built into the day, sleep at night, visits to girl-friendly stores, and adequate healthy snacks procured at Trader Joe's, too, you would be hard pressed to find a better tour leader than Michael from Planet Blue.

So, thank you, Michael, Bianca, Joshua and Alex, and to my roomies Ruth, Rose and Tamara, too, for allowing me to nurture my inner child, my intellectual curiosity, and my love of God, as we schlepped our bags from airport to airport from Sydney to the USA.

Visit Planet Blue Tours to make a booking for 2012.

Catch up with Girl With a Satchel's USA travel tales here:
Short & Sweet: The American Itinerary
The Satchelist: William and Melissa, MoMA store
Snapshot: Tazza Cafe, Brooklyn
The Satchelist: Marissa, NYC Strand bookstore
Snapshot: Martha Southgate, author, Book Court Brooklyn
The Satchelist: Berta, Culture Project intern
Satchelnomics: New York's Uneasy Dichotomy
The Satchelist: Brad, Salvation Army, New York
Perspective: A window onto New York
The Satchelist: Wanda and Olivia, FAO Schwarz
Short & Sweet: Week beginning December 12
The Satchelist: Emma, Empire State Building
Perspective: Hooray for Hollywood? Not so much.
Snapshot: The Farmer's Market, LA
Perspective: Delighting in Disneyland
Video: The Disneyland Christmas Parade
The Satchelist: Cute couple at Disneyland

Girl With a Satchel

Satchel Living: Charting your course in 2012

2012-01-16T12:18:00.449+11:00

Satchel Living

Charting your course in 2012

Early this month we watched Investec Loyal skipper Anthony Bell celebrate his yacht's win in the Sydney to Hobart race with his
crew of "sailing rock stars and sporting celebrities". Yesterday we sat gobsmacked as footage of an impressive cruise liner called the Costa Concordia, tipped over on its starboard side and helplessly submerged off the coast of Italy (three people perishing and 60 still missing), filtered onto the TV.

These events paint a stark picture for us of life: of the vagaries and victories. As we make our way into the new year, it's wise to reflect on the course we are charting, repairs that may need to be made to the ships we're sailing and the final destination.

For those of us in the fleet who follow Christ, it's a comfort to think we are all headed towards the same finish line. But while the navigation system, the map, the basic structure of the boat and the power that propels us along may be the same, the course we choose, the model and make of the boat, our crews and our cargo can look quite different. So too can the storms we encounter and the pace at which we travel. We are all at different stages in the race.

When God was instructing Noah on the building of the ark, he was very specific about its measurements and requirements. Noah, we are told, was a good man with no faults who lived in humble fellowship with the Lord. His biggest act of obedience saved his life, and that of his family (and two of each of every animal with them).

Conversely, the Israelites were extremely double-minded. At certain points they wanted to please the Lord and obey His commands, such as keeping the Sabbath; at other times they were given over to idolatry, choosing to worship things other than God. They were a vexed, stubborn people, but God still showed them his mercy.

"Let my people return to me," He said in Isaiah. "Remove every obstacle from their path! Build the road and make it ready! I live in a high and holy place, but I also live with people who are humble and repentant, so that I can restore their confidence and hope."

Christians are not promised a safe passage through life, but we are given guidance as to how to build the most resilient ships as well as Jesus' guarantee that faith in Him will calm the storms that inevitably blow in. How can we best ensure our ships righteous passage through life?

After becoming a new Christian, I thought my ship was tip-top tight, but I soon discovered that there was a lot of worthless cargo stored below that threatened to sink me (I was very nearly shipwrecked). When we endeavour to unburden ourselves of such things – both physical, mental and emotional – we feel more able to sail smoothly. We are less rigid. We keep afloat. We love, forgive and live more easily.

Peter writes, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness...For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities... they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive." (2 Peter 1: 3-8).

The structural foundations are very important. A complete transformation of your thinking, doing and being is no easy task; but God gives us grace as we go about it. And as each unnecessary thing is cast off, in faith and humble obedience, something more worthy takes its place. I am living proof that God restores, redeems and re-purposes those who acknowledge him and love him.

"I will always be with you to save you; my presence will protect you on every side," he told the Israelites. "When you pray, I will answer you. When you call to me, I will respond... I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never runs dry."

A wretched girl confounded by anxiety, ambition and the lingering need for approval rendered by her parent's divorce, and diminished by the controlling influences of the world? God would not have a bar of it. "What did you gain from doing the things you are now ashamed of?" asked Paul (Colossians 6:21). Nothing. Am I perfect? Far from it; but he's done a mighty work.

God asks us to give things up to free ourselves for more of him. What this might involve is specific to the individual; it's your deal to transact with God. One of the books I most cherished reading last year was The Hole in Our Gospel by World Vision president Richard Stearns. It tells his personal story of leaving behind his career as a successful businessman to (somewhat reluctantly) lead World Vision. He downsized his life and moved his family and thought deeply about God's purpose for him. He found it hard and is not shy about confessing this.

Choosing to abide in God's plan for our lives, indeed for all humankind, is a great act of faith that will bear rewards, though not necessarily what we imagined: he won't give us what we want, but what we need. Like me, you may have to completely rebuild your boat; or you may need to make some repairs, as the scratches and bumps of the past year have left you feeling a bit wounded; or you might need to clean off the crusty old barnacles of resentments, disappointments and rigid ways of thinking. Perhaps you just need a bit of a spit and polish (good for you!)?

How do we go about doing the clean-up job; to get back on course?

1. Ditch the unnecessary cargo. Repent of any lingering sin and endeavour to make amends. If God is asking you to let go of something in your life, do it. Ditch it. You don't need it. Don't burden yourself with guilt if you find it hard to let something go, but know that as you aim to make reparations and sacrifices, God will give you the power to bring them to completion.
2. Build your ship on blocks of righteousness. God's way always works (see Noah) and if you seek him out he will give you precise advice. For instructions, see the Bible. "I have given you my power and my teachings to be you forever." (Isaiah 59:21)
3. Take the right crew and cargo on board. We all need people in our lives, "sailing rock stars", who believe in us and will give us their unfailing support. Additionally, the world is all-too willing to sell you cheap imitation stuff; pack the good stuff into your life. This is everything from food that will give you the energy and sustenance to achieve what's ahead, to the movies and TV you watch in your home.
4. Stay your course. Be less concerned with what others are doing, and eschew blueprints for your life that don't quite fit who you are, and stay the course. Has God shown you that you should buy property, change jobs, commence a university course, spend less time on your career and invest more into your relationship, look after your health, create a new business or rekindle a much-loved activity? Don't be distracted by what the other ships are doing; it's your life, and for you and God to plan out as you adopt more of Christ's heart, spirit and mind.
5. Coat the hull with love. Going through life as if it's you against the world is not much fun. People will disappoint you, they will let you down. Don't let that take the wind out of your sails. Be quick to forgive wrongs, as Jesus forgives yours, and choose how to react to everyone and every situation. Be a bridge builder, not a destroyer. As a Christian, you have a constant source of love, and this free gift should be willingly bestowed on others. "Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7)
6. Keep your eyes on the destination. You know the end goal – getting there is about pleasing God with your thoughts, words and actions, and resolving to accept his grace and mercy when needed.

Though we may come across rocky seas, or make a choice that takes us off course, when we are able to hand the wheel over to Jesus and confidently say, "You're the captain of my ship", we are less troubled, less fearsome about the world, and live in a quiet confidence. I hope you enjoy charting your way through 2012.

*This is an adaptation of a sermon given at Liberty Baptist Church, Mount Tamborine, on January 15, 2012.

Girl With a Satchel

Short & Sweet - back to the drawing board

2012-01-16T09:09:00.000+11:00

Let's catch up: It's wonderful to start a new "school year" at Girl With a Satchel – full of hopeful expectation for what's to come: issues to discuss, people to meet, places to see; new music to listen to, books to read, films to take in; things to learn, milestones to reach and lessons to teach. After ending the year with a trip to New York and LA, it's going to be hard to top 2011, but I've already ticked one thing off my To-Do list for 2012: preaching my first sermon. I'll be sharing part of that sermon in an upcoming post about charting the course for your year in 2012.
This week's agenda: Girl With a Satchel has been undergoing some site renovations (both online and off: a shiny new office!) with still more to come as I go about organising content until it is just right.
The Word for the Week: "Noah did everything that God commanded." Genesis 6:22
Quote of the Week: "I have been on a mission my whole life to be able to give back what I have been given. Today I am fulfilling that mission... Just wait to be amazed by these girls." Oprah on the first graduating class from the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy.
Dictionary.com word for the week: desinence \DES-uh-nuhns\, noun:
1. A termination or ending, as the final line of a verse.
2. Grammar. A termination, ending, or suffix of a word.
"The new year brings both desinence to some activities and the commencement of others, given time to reflect on that which is working and what is not; a clarity of purpose procured after getting on one's knees and praying for vision."
Reading: The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchelist: Nerida Tupas, vintage curator, Toowoomba

2012-01-11T19:48:00.001+11:00

The Satchelist: Nerida Tupas, Toowoomba

Nerida Tupas, flood survivor and vintage collector outside Made Creative Space, Toowoomba

While tragic stories of loved ones lost abound, including John Tyson's loss of his son and wife as flash flooding swept up the family car at the intersection of James and Kitchener Streets in Toowoomba, Nerida Tupas recalls the day of the floods with gratefulness.

On January 10, 2011, Nerida was in the Victoria Street library with her then six-year-old son when flash flooding consumed the township's CBD. Seeing the water rising, she fled across the road to retrieve her car, at which time shin-deep water was already covering the road. "He, of course, thought it was amazing and exciting," she says of her son.

Desperately trying to navigate her way out of town, she witnessed a car float away in front of her before doing a U-turn and making her escape, picking up her other son from kindergarten on the way home. "It wasn't until the kids were in bed that I realised the enormity of the situation and started crying," she says. "We went through all the worst bits and we just missed them."

While in the aftermath she lost her job at Vacy Hall guesthouse, and the business housing some of her vintage wares, Maison D'Art on Margaret Street, was submerged in water, the floods were the catalyst for Nerida opening her own shop and creative space, which is currently housed in a building on Margaret Street (second floor!).

"I had my vintage stuff on Facebook (Nerida’s Little Shop of Oldfangled Beauties) and had a few things stocked at Maison D’Art with Julia, but I thought I needed to keep my job," she says. "Then it flooded, and I lost my job, and I thought, ‘Okay, I have nothing to lose now, I might as well go for it'."

After helping Julia clear her shop of sludge, Nerida set about finding an appropriate space for her collections, including vintage suitcases, shoes and homewares, which are currently retailed through Market to Market, and will soon relocate to creative hub TheGRID hybrid arts collective.

"I had some beautiful old suitcases and sold them within a week at Market to Market," she says. "It's been an amazing year. It’s ironic because this time last year I was cleaning up an old space and starting a new one, and now I'm doing the same again."

Girl With a Satchel

Perspective: To Grantham, with gratitude

2012-01-11T19:45:00.004+11:00

Perspective: To Grantham, with gratitude

Newly laid bitumen melting under sandals with the sweltering 38º heat, I made my way to the Grantham Community flood memorial yesterday afternoon to pay my respects to the lives lost a year ago as the flood ravaged the small township two hours north-west of Brisbane.

Leaning against a telegraph pole feeling the full strength of the sun, as residents, family and those tethered to the community through its year of aches and pains gathered under the blissful shade of trees, I listened to Lisa Spierling give her raw account of how the flood had taken her livelihood, the family dogs, her home and threatened her family.

"I had my youngest daughter on my back and she kept saying, ‘You won’t let me drown will you, mummy?'," she shared. "I will never forget the look on my son’s eyes as I waded through the water to higher ground. One of them was screaming at me, ‘We will never go back there, don’t you ever make us go back.’"

That's a promise Lisa and her husband Stephen made and kept: like many other families, they will not be returning to Grantham to live, instead seeking safety on higher ground, far away from the horrific memories, on Mount Sylvia to be exact, where they have also taken their commercial cut flowers business. Lisa spoke of stress, sleepless nights, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Admitting to yourself that you are not coping and to ask for help is one of the hardest things I've had to do." She will never again complain about housework, she said, because when you don't have your own home you become grateful for such things.

This is a community that is still very much hurting; a community that had little reason to celebrate the coming of the New Year as we all said, "Three cheers!". Grantham lost 12 people to the floods, a monument erected in their memory. The grief is raw and written on faces hidden beneath akubra hats and sunglasses and brave smiles, though there were live-giving glimpses.

Babies being nursed in arms, a butterfly flying past, possibly one released at the morning's service, and a heavy, sluggish train making its way past as the sun began its forgiving evening descent. Janet Crust, who had been in charge of coordinating the makeshift community centre, thanked the good people who had come to the aid of her town.

While some residual bitterness remains, because nothing will be the same and insurance companies had been unkind and the search and rescue effort had been imperfect, Crust spoke of the generosity of workers from the SES and the police force and the army, as well as the help extended by Lifeline, the local church, generous groups in far-away communities, and the Queensland Government, too, who have helped the weary Grantham to get back on its feet.

A minute's silence observed, we sang "We Are Australian" and the Slim Dusty song "Looking Forward, Looking Back": "Got a long way left to go, making songs from what I know; Making sense of what I've seen, all the love we've had between... There are strange days, full of change on the way, But we'll be fine, unlike some, I'll be leaning forward to see what's coming."

A kindly lady passed me an order of service with a smile and others stood proudly with calm and peaceful expressions on their faces to the back of the gathering, impressed, I think, by the sheer humanity of it all and of the human will, which can overcome the most overwhelming situations.

"You’ve all had your ups and downs, your good days and bad days, the moments when you want to pull back and be alone, or perhaps sit under a tree quietly by yourself to remember love ones whose images are displayed so poignantly here or to gather the strength to keep going forward," said Queensland Governor Penelope Wensley.

As the crowd dispersed and shared afternoon tea, I returned home to the safety of my own home on a hill, two beautiful pictures painted by my nieces waiting for me there, my heart heavy with the thought that for many people in Grantham grief, hurt and anger is a more poignant feeling than peace. I contemplated the words of King David in Psalm 23: 2:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths as he has promised. Even if I go through the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me. Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me... I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life; and your house will be my home as long as I live."

Girl With a Satchel

GWAS Postings of 2011 (and a glimpse of what's to come)

2012-01-09T16:48:00.005+11:00

GWAS Postings of 2011 (and what's to come)

Pinterest: best image suite of 2011? Postbox by Amber Carrillo

If you'd like to catch up on some GWAS writings from 2011, particularly if you are new to the blog (welcome, let's get acquainted!), I/we suggest these links, which were somewhat better than most and paint an overall picture of our thinking, doing and being.

The year started out with a flood that consumed our minds and the homes of many Queenslanders, with Liz Burke (of 'The Burke Report'), Lucy Brook and Ellen-Maree Elliot rounding out their time on Girl With a Satchel with reflective posts on the state they call home and SES worker Kim Buntrock taking the time to sit and tell us of her experience.

While Penny Williams was appointed Australia's Global Ambassador for Women and Girls, we were all about elucidating the vision Jesus Christ had for women (and over here, too) and basking in his beautiful vision.

While we dabbled in Satchelnomics as we watched Europe's economy slump and retailers weather a turn in shopping affairs, Emma Plant (with her wry and kindly pop-culture deconstructions and film reviews), Julia Low (with her Digital Gloss Files, handed over by Margaret Tran) and Teen Girl With a Satchel Georgie Carroll joined the crew.

Oh, and we travelled to America, too (thank you, Planet Blue!).

The theme this year was contemplating the life of Christ, re-ordering our priorities and thinking more thoughtfully. To that end, we penned essays on 'Showing Your Face' (makeup in the Amazon, anyone?), changing the status quo in a status update world, living with your irksome detestable self, well-being in the age of the iPhone, eschewing lists in favour of a life less orderly, and the evolution of a personal faith and its application in a professional sense.

No longer content to choose crap over Christ, as the world of media was rocked by the unsavoury journalism practises of News of the World, we asked, 'Is it time for a new media paradigm?'. We also thought about the responsibility of gate-keeping and the cruel war of online words.

While we eased right off on the glossy review front, we penned notes on Paper Giants, occasional Media Satchel updates (usurped by an edit of 'Arts, Culture & Media' news), as well as covers we liked, and thoughts on the rises and falls of circulation and readership.

We also asked whether Princess Kate and her wedding to William would save the gossip media from flailing, pondered what is to happen to sub-editing amidst budget cuts, highlighted some good mags for kids and wondered if the men's magazine genre was experiencing a renaissance of sorts.

Elsewhere, SBS Feast magazine launched as MasterChef came off the boil and The Sunday Mail gave us the new U On Sunday supplement, which we really like. Worth a read: Katrina Lawrence's excellent essay on the evolution of Allure magazine.

In the world of girls, where body image is still worryingly problematic, we asked, 'Is branding girls a good idea?', lamented a lack of positive female sports coverage, talked to Dr. Amy Slater about her research paper, and contemplated the role of new media websites and blogs, as well as organisations like the Girl Guides, in the edification of women and girls (we were privileged to discuss this at All Hallows school in Brisbane along with Rebecca Sparrow, who joined the Mamamia crew).

While Camilla Peffer asked, 'Are blogs for women counterproductive?', Wendy Harmer started The Hoopla with some other wonderful women and online wunderkind Katie May sold Kidspot to News Limited. Additionally, Fairfax launched its Women's Network, News Magazines rebranded, too, and we contributed some posts to JUSTB (sadly, we've since parted company, but we will be visiting!).

Though the numbers don't quite add up, it was a good year for women working in Australian media (Sarah Ferguson got the scoop de la scoop), and 2012 looks to be interesting on this front. We learnt that Monica Attard would be launching The Global Mail in early 2012 and Sarah Oakes will head up the Your Daily Life website for Fairfax. Elsewhere on the internet, we are regularly visiting Q Ideas for the common good, a website showcasing current Christian thought, and frequent filmmaker Elena Rossini's No Country For Young (or Old) Women.

Most of all, beyond the "issues", we enjoyed visiting new places (particularly those proferring food-like goods like this sweet haven in LA and this one in Newport) and meeting people (real, live ones!). We attended a Girlie High Tea flush with personality and humanity, and we had coffee with bossypants of beauty Zoe Foster (who has since become engaged to her beau Hamish Blake), lovely journalist Kaz Cooke, author Susan Duncan, Sue Bazzana of World Vision, evangelist/author/singer Aliki Flodine and radio presenter Emily Jade O'Keefe (who has since had a baby girl).

And isn't that a wonderful proposition to contemplate going into 2012: what kind of world we'd like to bring our girls up in; and what kind of legacy we can leave them.

How can media – and its consumption – better edify, encourage and inspire women and girls (and the boys, too) to make good choices; to pursue study, work, relationships, hobbies and interests that build them up for the long-term; to enjoy, love and thrive, not just survive; to help them exercise their God-given right to feel comfortable in their skin, confident in their abilities, strong in faith, hopeful for the future and better educated about the world? I'm in if you're in.

Girl With a Satchel

The Satchelist: Marcelle and Zac, Caloundra

2012-01-06T11:37:00.000+11:00

The Satchelist: Marcelle and Zac, Caloundra

Brisbane-based sweethearts Marcelle and Zac Sweetman (21 and 22 respectively) were strolling the boardwalk at Caloundra on a pre-Christmas break before the inevitable rush of festive revelry drew them into lunches and dinners with friends and family.

Marcelle works in administration for the public service while Zac is studying to be a Maths and P.E. teacher: Maths because there is an apparent shortage of men teaching sums and such in the education system and P.E. because activity is his first passion. Marcelle's stripey summer dress is by Dotti, in case you're wondering.

Girl With a Satchel

Satchelnomics: Shopping like it's not so hot

2011-12-29T10:37:00.002+11:00

As the yachts set sail for Hobart and the Australian cricket team faced India in the First Test at the MCG, crowds energised by Christmas feasts donned FitFlops, Birkenstocks and Crocs for the ultimate test of resilience: the Boxing Day Sales.

The gift wrap only just starting to settle into bins, thoughts typically turn to bargains and many happy returns (did you keep the receipt?), which seems – in hindsight, maybe – an ungracious thing, to have received and thought, 'I could do better'. Oh, well. I did it, perhaps you did, too?

"How low can you go?", you might have asked, passing store after store heralding the season of red signage that takes place from Boxing Day and extends right through to the new year. But this year the stores were pipped by themselves with discount cards and catalogues appearing in the post long before Christmas Day.

Country Road's end-of-season sale gave us selected styles for 60% off with a further 25% off to be expected for four days between Boxing Day and December 29. If you shopped at Sussan's before December 15, perhaps you would have received a $25 gift card to spend in store on significantly reduced stock, too? Offers of discounts on top of your discounts with incentives thrown in for good measure are everywhere. This tempered the excitement somewhat about scooping up something for a steal.

And did you also notice the crowds weren't nearly as crowd-y? This year, on the shop floors, there's significantly less frenzied activity. Tempered by a topsy-turvy economic year, floods and that uncertain feeling that things might get worse before better (reports out of Europe signal recessionary trends), people have tightened right up.

Others weary from the Christmas shop can't see themselves catching up. A line extending right out the door to the Commonwealth Bank at the mall I visited suggested financial arrangements were being made. One bloke I encountered at an ATM lamented, "When is it going to stop? I still have gifts to buy and I'm sick of it". God loves a cheerful giver; it's hard to cheer when your credit is crunched.

Some stores, and shoppers, are staying defiantly upbeat. Myer has said two million people have passed through its doors nationwide since Christmas. "From a sales perspective and movement of stock it's been a good start and within our expectations," a spokesman told The Australian. Movement of stock doesn't necessarily equate to soaring profits with margins trimmed by all the discounting.

The Australian Retailers Association remains hopeful – sales are expected to tip $55 billion in the week from Boxing Day. But ask Jerry Norman, the voice of realism, and he's quick to say the malls will see closures in the near future as proprietors feel the strain of rising rents and wages and increasingly more shoppers turn to the 'net (good news for builders of warehouses, logistical staff and the postal service, too, which will help to lessen the impact on the shifting economy). Did you hear that discount department store Sears is closing 120 stores in the U.S.?

Samara and Jean at Danny's by the Billabong Cafe, Pacific Fair

Samara, 20, worked at a T-Bar store before turning to real estate six months ago. Out shopping with her grandmother, Jean, and taking a moment's reprieve in a shady spot over morning tea, she says the store was always quiet. Today, however, both women have had success: Jean has purchased two tops and Samara a Canon SLR camera from JB Hi Fi reduced from $1300 to $999.

Years ago, Jean remembers people would park around her place just to get access to the sales. Now Pacific Fair, her closest shopping mall, has free car park spaces. Robina Town Centre has taken foot traffic away from the AMP Capital-owned centre, but it's more than that. "Everyone I know is struggling this year with the exception of a few rich people," quips Jean.

If the rich can keep the economy afloat in the meantime, we may all be cheery givers come Christmas 2012. But in this cautionary, contemplative climate, perhaps the holiday shopping toll will at least be less than previous years? Economic indicators in the new year shall tell.

Girl With a Satchel

GWAS Notes: Thank you and Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:20:00.003+11:00

GWAS Notes: Thank you and Merry Christmas!

A BIG thanks to Emma, Sophie, Georgie, Julia, Margaret, Ellen-Maree and Lucy for their contributions to Girl With a Satchel in 2011; to James Manning of Mediaweek for keeping me in the loop; to glossy editors and assistants for their helpful updates; to Diane and the beautiful GWAS prayer support team; to Spice of Life cafe for the coffee and hospitality; to all those who have stopped by to read something here; and, of course, to God for his gift of Jesus and his never-ending grace and generosity.

GWAS will be back to regular blogging from January 16 with intermittent posts in the meantime.

With love,

Girl With a Satchel

A GWAS Special: Disneyland Christmas Parade

2011-12-25T09:14:00.006+11:00

A GWAS Special: Disneyland Christmas 2011

For Tallulah, Angus, Fynn, Eric and Isabella; Connor, Sarah, Olivia, Allie, Ava, Bonnie, Elle and Caleb.

With love,
Aunty Erica

Perspective: Delighting in Disneyland

2011-12-23T13:42:00.207+11:00

Perspective: Delighting in Disneyland

Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Disneyland, December 2011

Truth be known, Disneyland is not much fun if you are there without your loved ones or the little ones in your life. Without nieces and nephews to join you on the excursion, taking in the character cavalcade, the wonderful world that Walt Disney made, one is inclined to pontificate on the bugbears that are exorbitant food prices, the Emporium's maze of memorabilia manufactured in China, the paper and plastic waste and crowds and queues and waiting for the loos.

Boo! Disneyland would be tops – truly the happiest place on earth – without the mundane minutiae of life, you think. To achieve that feat, old Walt, who is immortalised in bronze at the end of Main Street with his friend Mickey Mouse, would have had to do some manufacturing of robot-like, non-pooping nor eating people to walk around his 'toony town, because humankind has the uncanny capacity to rain on one's parade and bring the whole show down.

(Imagine, for a second, being in a toy store as a child running wild... and then waking up to the sound of your parental alarm).

Furthermore, Disneyland is a place where children still throw tantrums (impressive, world-winning wobblies) and parents get disgruntled. Where people still have disabilities. Where there are rich people and poor people (who have saved their pennies to get there). Where there are attractive people and not-so-attractive people. Mean people and nice people. Ergo: Disneyland is not heaven.

But, if you take to Disneyland with a practical backpack full of provisions (drinks and snacks and an extra jumper and socks in winter), with some people who share an optimistic, childlike outlook on it all – whose hopes are not easily dashed by sore feet or the five hours (seemingly) it takes you to get into Toy Story Mania – you'll find your experience the better for it.

A stodgy breakfast of porridge, nuts and sultanas under my belt to sustain me through to morning tea, I joined my trusty Planet Blue group at the gates to Disneyland for day one of our park experience: day two would see us tackle Disneyland's nextdoor neighbour, California Adventure Park.

Entering the park, I took in the vibrancy that is Main Street, a tall Christmas tree the first hint that the park is transformed to an engorged Santa's workshop at this time of year. Our maps in hand, we resolved to stick together for as long as we could stand it, and I'm glad we did. Like a wardrobe full of dresses but no ball to go to, Disneyland is lonely flying solo.

Up past Sleeping Beauty's castle, we made our way to Fantasyland, home to the heroes and villains, princes and princesses, of fairytale mythology: Snow White, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty herself. A moment to contemplate feminism. Hmm. First ride stop: the Tea Cup, a tribute to Alice in Wonderland, a mild and lovely way to ease into the day albeit in a Mad Hatter kind of way.

Our predilection for whizzing around whetted, we moved onto Space Mountain, a thrill of a ride through a blackened galaxy with just enough dips to keep us on edge, followed by a screening of Captain EO (in 3D, which in the 80s would have been impressive), starring Michael Jackson. I may have sobbed. Such a talent he was and we have lost!

The duration of the day, until we gathered to "watch" the spectacle that is the nightly fireworks display, was spent navigating our way from Tomorrowland to Frontierland to Mickey's Toontown, stopping to fuel up along the way (when the sun set, the hot chocolates – served in gigantic paper cups – didn't go astray) and to take in a viewing of the Christmas parade.

Marching bands, elf-like dancers, acrobats, giant costumed renditions of Disney animations, Chipmunks in a car, a motorised Santa Toy Factory operated by Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio, Woody on his horse, Snow White and the seven (giant) dwarfs but inches away... the kids all around us were smitten.

While "It's a Small World" has the capacity to freak a small child out, its little bobble-headed dolls representing all the nations of the world, and the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blaster takes some muscle, I most enjoyed the Pirates of a Caribbean ride (Captain Sparrow looked so lifelike!) and the Indiana Jones Adventure (girlhood crush!).

I also adored The Many Adventures of Winne the Pooh, an alternatively tame and sensible way (with a zany middle bit; what's in that honey?) to end the day shared with my girl Tamara when the others thought it fit to get drenched coming down Splash Mountain after dark (no, thank you!). We passed on the Haunted Mansion, too. The evening fireworks display was obscured by legions of people in Main Street, so we retreated and vowed to get there super-early the next night and stake out the best vantage point.

A good night's sleep behind us, we tackled California Adventure Park on Day 2, diving straight into things with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The Disney parks aren't known for their wild rides, but this was enough to send one of our crew into a state of scream-for-your-life shock. I walked (wobbled?) away wondering when the punch line was coming (yes, I am so cool).

Taking to Ariel's Undersea Adventure took me right back to age 10 or 11, when my mother ushered my sister and I to our seats for a screening of The Little Mermaid. It remains a favourite. We did some California Screamin', having procured a nifty Fast Pass for the occasion (each visitor is given a Fast Pass to use, which fast-tracks you past the queue for a ride of your choosing) but I was far more terrified by Mickey's Fun Wheel, my stomach plunging to the bottom of our cart with each halting stop and turning over as we swayed and swayed and swayed (I want to be sick just thinking about it). That mouse is sadistic.

While I adored the Muppet's in 3D on the screen (oh, Kermie!), I shed a tear during the stage production of Aladdin. The genie was excellent with his improvised quips about Lady Gaga and all manner of current newsy people and things, but "A Whole New World" sealed the cry-baby deal for me: "I'm like a shooting star, I've come so far, I can't go back to where I used to be...". At that moment, I thanked God for the childlike spirit that possesses one who carries Christ within; who can delight in God, feel His presence and see his hand at work in the world and in our own lives.

Standing watching the fireworks display on our very last night, which at this time of year is choreographed to the tune of Christmas carols and Disney tunes, I found myself lamenting that I was not there with my husband and thinking, "Is this all a bit ridiculous? I'm soon to be 31!". And then God gave me permission to just enjoy it – to revel in the extraordinary detail, the sheer human work force, the coming together of people from all over the world, where many a Make-a-Wish dream comes true, while practising a humble gratitude.

I would never have asked God for a trip to Disneyland, but he sure does know the quiet longings of our hearts. That's the beautiful thing about having God in your life and Christ by your side. Our joy in Him, above all things, is reward enough, but it means you're never lonely, you don't have to be afraid of what other people think, you don't have to hide, and sometimes you are surprised.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (The Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6: 9-13)

A short video of my Planet Blue Tours trip is to come!

Girl With a Satchel