Terror in Turkey.

Last year, my mum and I were lucky enough to visit Gallipoli for the centenary commemorations. We landed in and then left from Istanbul Ataturk Airport, which as you  may have heard was the site of a suicide bombing on Tuesday in which about 40 people were killed, with scores more injured. I learned of that yesterday morning over breakfast, and as selfish as it may sound, my first thought was, "It could have been Mum or me last year." Because you think about it: overall, how much REALLY changes in one year? Not very much, at least for a news junkie like me, and that first thought I got from yesterday morning's harrowing news proved very sobering and frightening indeed.

But nonetheless, for me it was just a thought, and I am grateful for that. Because tragically for many others, it was, or will for a long time be an ordeal. My heart goes out to every last one of them, and all their loved ones, although I firmly believe they and Turkey will march on.

Now, I'm not sure if it's quite time to politicise this tragedy and I so I realise I may lose a few of you here, but we cannot turn any such acts into excuses for stigmatising all Muslims as terrorists, or justifying Islamophobia. I do think more less-radical Muslims could step up and try to peacefully combat extremist Islam, and its sources and motivations, but ISIS and ISIL are not universally supported among their own religion, and by going after just one group, I think you're just cutting a branch off a tree rather than digging deep to get to the root.

I know what I consider the root of this whole saga, but I want this time to let you all draw your own conclusions. If you've followed my posts here and/or on Facebook, you might already know it anyway.

Peace still works. And as well as ever.

A mild existential crisis.

This one will be very hard for me to write, but hopefully it won't be too hard for you to read. I know it's very risky publicising personal stuff like this but I can't let any of it eat away at me, so here goes.

I turned 20 in 2008. Back then I was still an undergraduate student, I'd just finished three years as a chemist cleaner (a job I couldn't stand; they eventually had to fire me), and I'd just come off my first relationship, though I still wasn't open about my Asperger's. And as a staunch Labor supporter, I was delighted that Kevin Rudd had just been elected Prime Minister. After finishing my chemist cleaning job I chose to focus totally on my studies, and I remember feeling genuinely optimistic about the future. About my future.

And what has that optimism come to now? Well, today, I'm pushing 30, and if the quarter-life crisis hasn't yet struck, I can see it approaching. I think I know what I can do to avoid or lessen it, but I'm stumped about how to do that. I'm very proud of my education, and deeply grateful for and happy about all the personal and professional connections I've formed over my life. And one big positive changed I've pulled off after uni is living independently, which I'm also enjoying. But I can't ignore the facts about my career: I'm nearly 28, currently unemployed despite an Honours Degree, I have no business management experience, and objectivity is not a virtue of mine. For that matter, my degree often makes me either over- or underqualified for a job, depending on the industry and role.

I've also changed personally a fair bit in the last few years, for good and bad. I remember saying on Facebook last year about my then-upcoming ten-year high school reunion that I couldn't wait for my old teachers to see how so many of my former classmates had grown from unruly kids to mature, upstanding young adults only to then find I'd done the opposite. I still feel that's what's happened, though for the record I know when and how to be mature; I just despise prissiness (but none of my friends are guilty of that).

I find when living alone you get quite introspective often, and maybe that has also inspired this piece. But that's a very important mindset, especially when you've reached a crossroads or you're approaching a life milestone, however old you might be. My dream career is to be a writer, or anything in film and TV. I've worked as a volunteer radio announcer, and this year, after two actor friends kept egging me on, I've started performing in local theatre productions, which is great fun. I've also written a short play for a festival with the theatre group I belong to (it was rejected for apparently being too technically challenging), and of course I'm actively writing this blog now, though admittedly I was egged into doing that also. I really do love all art, but for whatever reason I still need prodding to get off my arse and pursue it, continuously. What will it take? A very sudden death of a close friend or relative? I certainly don't want anything like that, but as the philosopher Jagger once said, "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you'll find you get what you need."

I should also emphasize that for some time after finishing my 25 000-word Honours thesis in 2012, I truly felt like a survivor.

But make no mistake, I acknowledge I'm doing better than many others, I appreciate that and I try not to take it for granted. I want to grow into a better and more successful person, so I'm not writing this same piece in ten years' time. I really don't know if I'll achieve that. But the future is not set. It is not.

A question of sex and society.

We've all been there. You're having fun socialising, wherever it is. Maybe it's after a long week at work or school. You mightn't have seen the other person for awhile. But then, the conversation takes a turn to the more personal. They bring up what's happening in their sex life, or the emotional side of their relationships, and now you're hearing too much information, especiallty if you're eating. Either you politely tell them so or you try to take it all in, all the while hoping nobody else nearby can notice or hear. That's understandable, and natural.

But I've long wondered why so many of us react this way in such situations. I myself would be repulsed if a friend described their sexual activities to me. But the question is, why do most of us find hearing about or discussing such behaviours so offputting when odds are we also engage in them, privately, ourselves? Maybe it's because I'm not that learned on psychology, but is there something on a more fundamental level - in our collective sensory processing - that just makes the discussion of our sexual activities unpleasant to each other, but not ourselves engaging in such acts?

I'm certainly not trying to encourage perversion or nosiness here, either. I just for some time (on and off, however) have been mulling over the reason for this observation. I also don't know if calling it hypocritical would be completely appropriate either. Come to think it, the answer could just be something we all individually and subjectively provide. But hey, many social questions have a collectively-inspired answer(s). I've covered all the conclusions I can draw on this one. Can you draw any others?

Growing up, growing down.

Growing up isn't quite what it was for past generations. The emotions and personal realisations of it, et cetera; they never change. But in our ultra-commercialised 21st century, mass media and corporations have turned growing up into something of its own industry. The first birthday party I remember was my 6th; it was at McDonald's. I'm sure that's beyond commonplace now. That preceded falling in love with all sorts of brands and pop culture franchises, many of which I still cherish, as I'm sure many other Gen Y'ers do (to say the least).

But do or can we have too much of this as a society? I'm not a parent (although I am an uncle, if that really counts for enough here), but I love children, and they can teach adults at least as much about life as vice versa. Many times even since high school I've seen a new toy et cetera and said "I wish I had one of those as a kid!" And I'm not trying to portray all who work in child-related fields or industries as greedy or insincere either (plus I acknowledge they have financial considerations of their own). I'm just saying, there is a VERY fine line between marketing products to children and exploiting them, for whatever purpose, and we need to stop that exploitation, and stop trying to indoctrinate kids, especially in order for them to conform. And don't even get me started on how most of these companies produce their stock (insert mental image of an Asian child with bloodied fingers in a sweatshop).

But here's something the corporations and media don't tell you: growing up, and coming of age, happen very subjectively, and not always when you finish school. Yesterday I saw Finding Dory, which reminded me deeply about this. You might think it's just an animated movie about fish but I'm here to tell you, thematically, it is about something true with nearly EVERY species.

That citation brings me to the last thing I want to emphasize here: prissiness. Maturity is unquestionably important (and I hope I've demonstrated enough in this post), privately and publicly. And this world will always need our help to improve itself. But in adulthood, I firmly believe if you lose touch with your inner child, all your capability for optimism and impressionability will go with them. Not to mention, your hair often is something you can afford in every way to let down, and by doing that, you're maintaining or increasing your socialisation level.

Why do we consistently progress in some ways while regressing in others? That's like collective society simultaneously growing up and growing down. But, I suppose, any sentiment can be passed down through the generations, too.

There you go again, America.

Among others: Columbine. Virginia Tech. Sandy Hook. Charleston. Isla Vista. And now, tragically, Orlando. America's gun culture is nothing new at all; their Second Amendment was adopted in 1791. And I acknowledge weapons sometimes are needed purely for self-defense, in very extreme cases. But while you consider the right to bear arms, let us also consider the right to live, happily and safely.

Particularly, this time, those of us who are marginalised. In this case, the LGBTQ community. Firstly, who- or whatever you're attracted to or identify as, nobody else's private life, especially if they're a stranger, can really affect your own. It's none of our business what others do in their bedrooms anyway. Like it or not, this is 2016, and homophobia and transphobia in all forms should've been extinct long ago. And being marginalised myself as I have a disability, I feel I am familiar with something like what it is to face either of those evils, and I'd be ashamed of myself if I didn't do my bit.

More specifically, this carnage occurred at a gay nightclub. A place where its customers should have felt loved and safe and free to forget all their troubles, even if for just one night. But as we know, they felt the exact opposite. It's now been revealed Omar Mateen attended the same club several times before, perhaps to plan his attack with an insider's knowledge of the venue. The security and management staff aren't responsible here; they probably just assumed all those previous times since he was there that he was an LGBTQ person, so why not let him in? Obviously, however, I hope they upgrade their security immediately for this reason.

 However, we also should not use this tragedy to justify Islamophobia (and I'm an atheist, by the way). Extremist and fundamentalist Muslims have cast quite a long shadow over their religion since September 11, but the number of terrorist attacks and hate crimes like this (and 9/11, for that matter) which have provoked worldwide condemnation from Islamic groups proves they do not all condone the views and actions of their extremist or fundamentalist counterparts. And back to the U.S. Constitution, the FIRST Amendment states all Americans are entitled to freedom of religion.

I am not trying to capitalise on this reprehensible tragedy, or to indoctrinate anybody. But I have and will not apologise for any part of this entry, and indeed I stand right by all of it, as I stand right by all the victims, their loved ones and their communities (keeping in mind they were also racially diverse collectively). None of us can sit back and turn a blind eye to events like this, or the ideologies  (another of which I believe was in this case America's military actions in the Middle East, as the perpetrator here was of Afghan parentage) or legislations which cause them. You think having the right to bear arms is a good thing? What if you got SHOT in your arms?

Australia as we return to the polls.

Please bear with me here;  nobody has to really care about this post (although I appreciate any support I may get from it), but I grew up with political discussions around the dinner table. Now, many who know me very well will know I am traditionally aligned overall to one of the major parties, though I really have never supported ALL their policies either. But I genuinely want this to be a broad coverage of how I see Australian politics in 2016 and the election campaigns themselves. I suppose I should start with some background info but I figure if you even needed that, you wouldn't be reading this.

Firstly, the leaders' debate. It was widely condemned as a snoozefest, and I must agree. For me it was an hour purely of tired rhetoric from both Turnbull and Shorten; hell, even the moderator looked bored occasionally. It didn't help how both gave one seemingly scripted answer after another. Do politicians never realise just how transparent and insincere that is? Furthermore I always sensed one key point of leaders' debates (as opposed giving a speech at a press conference, where rehearsal can give the impression you know what you're talking about) was to show you can IMPROVISE, and how well compared to your opponent. Here, neither leader tried that once, and in a debate playing it safe like that can just be so unengaging and fake.

Secondly but more importantly, of course the policies themselves. Now, I am here to indoctrinate nobody, but you consider today's most prominent issues or causes: offshore detention, marriage equality, Indigenous affairs, the NDIS, climate change, the economy et cetera. Some political issues come and go, but after at least a decade in several cases, none of those have. That's because they are tangible, and meaningful to at least a broad sweep of Australians. Wherever you stand on any of them, all sides of politics could be more less talk and more action about each one.

Finally, campaigning in Australia I think needs an overhaul also. The classic 1972 Labor "It's Time" campaign clearly worked, because Whitlam won that election, and the Coalition had held government since 1949. It had a very catchy jingle and help from numerous Aussie film and TV stars. But since then, that approach has been adopted ad nauseum, and today, at least to my mind, for that reason it just no longer works. You have to stand out, but without feeling like you're TRYING to, and this election so far is just the latest of many that have inspired too-familiar campaigns with them, from both sides. And then there's scare- and smear-campaigning, which often just brings the party responsible down to their rivals' levels.

Again, I'm not trying to influence anybody's vote. I just wanted to use this blog to offer a snapshot (from my perspective) of Australia's political landscape in this election year. And I guess I'm holding hope against hope that said election will make some difference for all Australians.

How urban is TOO urban?

I'm a city boy, overall. I love going to movies, shopping (at least for things I like and/or need), and socialising at pubs and whatnot. Everybody needs activities and resources like that. But when you travel around downtown, what do you see? How much has it changed in the time you've lived there? Has that change been good or bad overall?

I don't mean to be untrusting here but I'm reluctant to mention my exact location here, for my own security and privacy; however, I will again say I'm a Central Queensland resident. I'm currently living in my own unit, but in early 2006, when I was 17 (and in fact it was the exact day I started uni), I moved with my parents to what was once our beach house in coastal town nearby, of about 10 000 people tops. For about the first year, I really hated living there. It was too quiet and slow for me, and I was further away from my friends. But in time, it really grew on me. I came to very much get a lot from being so close to the beach, which became a very nourishing place for me when I needed some R & R, as well as of course being able to take a dip there. It also made me realise, especially once I moved into my own place back in the city, that having nothing explicit or appealing for you to do can motivate you to FIND something which is.

But more to the point now. Cities just seem to keep growing with no end in sight, often in competition against each other, while rural areas are left struggling to catch up. Whenever a new supermarket or restaurant et cetera is even given the go-ahead, more jobs may be created, but it exacerbates both environmental concerns like deforestation and energy consumption, and the pressure to keep up with the demands our producers already face on a daily basis. Retail and hospitality have never been the only industries in which to create employment anyway. To all those who wonder why we hear so much about suicide rates among farmers, well, that's why, and it's not an issue which will vanish any time soon.

I could drag this out further, but I've covered my whole argument. So instead, I'll close with one of my all-time favourite songs, the Eagles' The Last Resort, which is even more relevant now than in 1976. I'd rather listen to them than myself anyway. Thanks for reading, folks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zR9r9olOg

"But you didn't know them personally..." Well, yes, in a way we actually did.

We all have our most loved celebrities. Even some we might even count as heroes or idols. And when they die, we feel compelled to publicly eulogise them. That’s understandable, and something everybody is entitled to do. So far (I’m only 27), those celebrities have been Michael Jackson, Heath Ledger, Robin Williams, Chrissy Amphlett, and this year Prince, to name just a few (and numerous others who died before I was alive and/or got into their work). Today, despite my not being a real sports nut (besides NRL), the unstoppable Muhammad Ali joined their ranks.  But you might know there’s often a flipside to such public eulogising of celebrities when they pass: the whole argument of “Well, since you didn’t know them personally, why should you feel compelled to publicly eulogise them?”

Of course, that argument has a point. We may not have known them personally. BUT, fame and influence and art all reach us so easily in this age of 24-hour mass media, and if it’s an athlete like Ali, when they fight their battles (which in his case also took many political forms), it’s almost like they’re taking us with them, galvanising and inspiring us. When it’s any kind of artist, they have reached us because we identify with something tangible and resonant in their art, and they’re willing to share something of their lives with the world. The media can certainly cross a line in documenting the rest of celebrities’ lives, but that identification is arguably more urgent than ever today, when humanity remains rife with conflict and perils.

On the other hand you have your political leaders. The two most globally prominent of those to die this decade have been Nelson Mandela and Margaret Thatcher, the reactions to whose deaths were a study in contrasts: Mandela’s death marked South Africa united in mourning for a week, and Thatcher’s passing inspired a much-publicised campaign from her opponents to make “Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead” that week’s UK number-one single (it only reached #2). But hey, nothing’s more subjective than politics.

I’m not saying losing a celebrity you love is even on par with losing a loved one. For most of us that’s surely impossible. You just don’t have to have known that celebrity for them to have truly enriched your life.