Category Archives: Commentary

Hakuna Matata

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Sing it with me!

“Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase!

Hakuna matata, it’s no passing craze!

It means no worries,

for the rest of your days!

It’s our problem-free philosophy!

Hakuna matata!”

Sounds good, right?  If you are a fan of the Disney cartoon, “The Lion King”, you’ll be more than familiar with this song.  “Hakuna matata” is a Swahili phrase that means “there are no worries”.  I will be the first to admit I am a big-time worrier. I worry about everything – I’m not sure if it is hereditary, but I’m sure when my Mum reads this post she will leave a comment and blame it on my Dad 🙂

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Dilemmas of a Shopaholic

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Contrary to popular belief, Sophie Kinsella’s best-selling novel “Confessions of a Shopaholic” is not a dramatization of my life, although in view of the fact that Rebecca Bloomwood ended up marrying a millionaire, I wish it was a story about me.

What do you do when you’re a self-confessed shopaholic without a job and running low on cash?  If your answer is to thank whoever the genius was who invented credit cards, then you should be ashamed of yourself!

OK, so I do love my credit cards, but I’m proud to say I have never been their #1 customer because what they love is a customer who spends lots and never makes their repayment in full every month so that they can charge you a lot of interest while they continue to offer you a higher credit limit and more credit cards.  Sorry, Mr Banker (admittedly, I was a Ms Banker in a former life), but you ain’t gonna get your mitts on my hard-earned cash that way! The government already has dibs on that privilege!

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Making The Tough Calls

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We make decisions everyday, from the moment we open our eyes in the morning to the moment we close them at night.  Most decisions are made subconsciously, like putting your pants on one leg at a time or putting water into the kettle before turning it on. But occasionally, we have to make some decisions with deliberation – what am I going to make for dinner?  Who do I tip this week in the football tipping comp?

There are decisions that are made by governments and corporations everyday, some affect us directly.  In a democracy, we are given the right to vote for our governments who make those important decisions on our behalf.  In the corporate world, consumers and investors influence business decision-making by whether we choose to buy their products and by how much we value the shares in their company.  But ultimately, we leave these decisions to the executives and those elected to power to make on our behalf, in the belief that they are making these decisions for the good of all.  So, why then, do we constantly delegate decision-making to others?  Do we really feel more empowered when we’re being given the opportunity to “make our voices heard”?

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Why I Don’t Watch Game Shows and Reality TV

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A couple of weeks ago one of my best friends from school and her husband went on a game show which just aired in Australia.  When she first told me she was going to be on this show, I was excited for her because it was exactly the kind of thing she loved doing – the fun, excitement, challenge, being in the spotlight and of course, the chance to win some cold, hard, cash.  At the time, I told her I didn’t want to know the results – whether they won or lost.  I said I wanted to be surprised like everyone else when I watched it.  Then as the air date got closer and I started seeing the promotional ads appear on my TV, I started getting anxious.  I sent her a text message in the morning that said:  “If there’s even a remote possibility I might have a heart attack while watching you on TV tonight I need to know the ending NOW!!!”, to which she replied, “You need to watch.  Heart attack guaranteed!”

Then it was showtime! I turned the TV on, sat and waited patiently as the host (not my favourite person on Australian TV) talked through the introductions and explained how the game worked.  Then came the categories for the questions.  They could have lost the lot in Round 1 which would have made for a very short show indeed but thankfully they didn’t.  There were 8 rounds in total and I got increasingly nervous with each round.  I was playing along.  The worst part about these game shows is the long dramatic pauses.  They always annoyed me – the long pause as they made you wait for the big reveal, and then just as you thought they would show you the answer, the host would say dramatically: “we’ll show you the answer when we come back after this break!”  I can tell you exactly what I wanted to break at that moment!  To cut a long story short, the show did not end in my friends’ favour and I nearly had a coronary from the anxiety (for the record, I would have lost the lot, too).  Indeed, I should have taken heed of my friend’s warning: “Heart attack guaranteed!”

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Kind Words Are The Mightiest Sword

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In a society currently bringing the subject of bullying front and centre of our consciousness, it seems to me a timely reminder that it is easier to be kind than to be cruel.  The old saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is certainly not true, especially in cyber-age when unkind words are all that may be required to push a person over the edge and cause irreparable damage.  As of the time of writing, there is a “train wreck” fascination with the ranting and raving of actor Charlie Sheen, who apparently never learnt the adage about not biting the hand that feeds you.  Amongst the recipients of his wordy attacks is the creator of the TV show, of which he is paid millions per episode to star in.  Thankfully, creator Chuck Lorre, is taking the high road and opted to use his vanity cards to let his thoughts be heard.  You can read Mr Lorre’s replies on his site, Chuck Lorre Productions – the Official Vanity Card Archives (and in case you missed my earlier post to explain the name of my blog, yes, I named it after his) – of note are Card#329 and most recently, Card #334.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy following these as they unfold as much as I do.

But I don’t want to dwell on the negativity of using words.

I woke up a little grumpy this morning, after only getting about 4 or 5 hours sleep.  Yes, it was self-inflicted pain as I stayed up later than I should talking to friends on Twitter – what am I supposed to do when we live in different timezones?  Chatting with my gal Lena Lamoray about her photography work and interviewing the latest crop of hot actors in the US (and darl, if you ever send me with a press pass to Comic Con on Matt Bomer/Tim DeKay stalking duties I would go at the drop of a hat and be forever in your debt!), reading the latest blog post by Claire, my fellow White Collar fangirl from Perth and who also has been editor/proof-reader of my stories, and generally trying to work on my next blog are all time-consuming and result in sleep deprivation. Sleep be damned when their long-distance friendship and encouraging words have inspired me to do things that may ultimately, hopefully, be a positive change to my future.

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