The great reveal

So I mentioned in my last blog post that I have somehow decided that one writing job hasn't kept me busy enough, and I am doing more on the side.
Now I can finally reveal that I'll be blogging for The Modern Woman's Survival Guide! A few times each month I'll be interviewing the people behind some up and coming Australian blogs, and also do some rambling of my own.
You can check out my first post here.

Check out the rest of the online magazine too, it's pretty nifty!

Return to normalcy

I've been pondering recently how easy it is to slip back into old habits, bad and good.
After my return to Oz I was convinced I had been changed so irrevocably that it would be impossible to ever settle down to a normal life.
How could I possibly be satisfied with weeks filled up with chores, work, housework and the ever-necessary run and yoga session without becoming a little bit crazier each week? Even with the saving grace of regular catch ups with my lovelies, and especially constant contact with the bestie without needing to calculate time difference,s I was more than a little concerned that I'd be running for the hills after only a few mere weeks of familiarity.

But then I realised there is a comfort in regularity that I should be glorying in; there are still new places to discover in a city I know well, not one but two new journalism jobs to tackle, new things to eat, people to see, tracks to run and skip and jump along, new music to bop along to.

This might be the 3 cups of coffee I've managed to down today, but being home is pretty damn good.

Besides, when you have a view like this to see, who needs to travel?

Challenge accepted!

I love a good challenge.
Run a 10km fun run? Sure!
Go a month without buying anything new? Why not!
Don't eat sugar for a week? Well let me get back to you on that one.

But today I stumbled across a new challenge which really twigged with me.
The Australian Women's Writers 2013 challenge is aimed at overcoming the gender bias which can appear in the literary scene by encouraging people to sign up and read either 4, 6 or 10 novels throughout the year written by an Australian female author; and review them as well if you so desire.

When you think about it, that's really not that much effort for a very worthy cause. So sign me up!
Methinks some Kim Wilkins, Miles Franklin, Kate Moreton and Kate Forsyth will soon be hitting my desk.

You can read more about the challenge (and sign up) here.

Happy reading!

Hey there, how're you doing?

So I'm back after a bit of a hiatus.

And there's plenty to report:
New house, new job, new (finally working) internet connection.

So life is looking pretty good from where I'm sitting.

I wasn't completely lazy during my forced abstinence from the internet however and even had a guest blog published on Mamamia.com.au which was fairly exciting.

 You can check it out here, you know you want to (and the rest of the site is pretty nifty too).

So how's life been from where you're sitting?

Catch my (running) disease

Every morning lately I've been lacing up my shoes and heading out into the warm morning air, pounding the pavements until my legs feel like they're ready to fall off and and my lungs are about to explode.
Then I turn around and run the one and a half kilometres back home. Hardly an impressive start but I guess it is one all the same.

In my mind I can see myself bounding along the track, feet and spirit light, as the sun rises but in reality my daily runs have become a bit of torture during which my calves had started to cramp and I can feel the pain working its way up my legs to meet the sweat trickling down my back.

Why on earth had I thought this whole get fit thing would be a good idea?

As I huff and puff along I watch the other runners on the track who are easily racing on with hardly a hitch in their breathing and find myself more than a little jealous of their easy ability. I imagine that they've really been walking until they reached the point where others could see them and then sprint onwards until they're out of sight again. Hardly true I know but we all have to console ourselves.

As the pavements slowly pass underneath my feet I find I go to extremes to keep moving; cranking up the music and picking points I have to run to, always slightly concerned that all the swearing circling through my head to keep me moving will eventually burst out of me and be screamed said out loud.

But in recent months, while I watch as the morning runs of more than one friend gradually extend into half marathons and even full marathons, I've begun to wonder if there isn't something contagious about all this running. And even on the days when I wake up with legs so stiff I have to hobble around the house I still find I want to tie up those laces and head out again, to try and move farther and faster than before.

So I guess if it is contagious, then I've caught it.
 Damn!