Category Archives: Commentary

Why Do We Care?

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My regular readers and Twitter followers know that sometimes when I get obsessed with something, I can get too carried away, regardless of what that something might be.  There is no denying that my obsession for the last 12 months has been a TV show called White Collar, its stars and writers.  I tweet about them, blog about them, and of course, talk about them.  Incessantly. My opinions on all things WC-related are often so strong that when someone says something negative about them, I feel the need to publicly defend them.  At the same time, if there was something I did not like, such as one of the episodes that aired a couple of weeks ago, I did not shy away from going into lengthy discussions with my fellow Collars, detailing every plot hole we could identify (quite frankly, because we know the show so well that we were able to spot the plot holes from a mile away) and offering possible explanations for what went wrong.

So, this particular obsessive (and possibly very shallow) behaviour aside, it brought to mind the question of why we care so much about some things and so little about others?  As I write, the major news items around the world involve the Christchurch earthquake (as discussed in my blog “When Tragedy Strikes We Pull Together“) and the continuing turmoil in Libya.

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When Tragedy Strikes We Pull Together

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It is Tuesday 22nd February, 2011.  I have spent the better part of my day today glued to the television but it is not what you think.  I have been watching the rolling coverage of the earthquake that hit 10km south-east of Christchurch, in the South Island of beautiful New Zealand,  At 6.3 magnitude, it has been deemed to be less severe than the earthquake that hit the same area last September, where there had been no loss of lives.  However, the devastation has been unprecedented this time – the quake hit at 12.51pm local time on a Tuesday afternoon, when people were at work or outside having lunch, and kids were in class at school.  Christchurch was still rebuilding from the September earthquake, and many buildings had been weakened by that quake, exacerbating the impact of today’s quake.  As I write, the confirmed death toll stands at 65 and is expected to rise as more than 200 people remain unaccounted for.

Our Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, spoke in Parliament earlier, announcing that a search and rescue (SAR) team was already on its way to help our neighbours across the Tasman (NZ is approximately 3hrs south-east of the Australian east coast – even closer than we are from Central and Western Australia).  She reminded us of the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) spirit, that we rise to the occasion and provide whatever assistance we could to help our neighbours, as they experience one of the “darkest days” in NZ.

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Expectations

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Do you remember the last time you were disappointed by something or someone? Do you remember who/what it was and why?  Well, I can remember it as if it happened yesterday…wait…it was yesterday!

After nearly 2 months of anticipation, the night had finally arrived for my friend and I to go and see the legendary John Malkovich’s performance at the Sydney Opera House as Giacomo Casanova in the Sydney Festival 2011 highlight piece Giacomo Variations, a chamber opera play based on the life and times of the infamous playboy of the 18th Century. I even had to miss out on an evening of White Collar for this!  But it was a rare opportunity to see Malkovich in action doing live theatre and singing a little opera.  And tickets had been sold out almost as quickly as they had been released so what could possibly go wrong?

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It’s All In Your Head

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I am sure at some point in your life, someone has said to you “It’s all in your head!” It doesn’t matter what “it” may be, chances are that person is right.  What am I talking about?  Attitude.  Perspective. The Power of Positive Thinking.  Whatever it is that separates successful people from the rest of the pack.  I am not a psychologist but I’ve watched enough Oprah to know there is some truth to this.

When I started this blog, it felt like it was a long time coming.  I had loved reading and writing when I was in high school and always wished I could be a writer.  I was never that good – as my mother loved to remind me, many of my stories ended with the main character waking up from a dream because I had no idea how to wrap it up (but if you have ever seen the Keanu Reeves/Al Pacino movie Devil’s Advocate or the TV series Dallas, you will realise there are Hollywood writers who suffer the same ailment so I no longer beat myself up about it).  The final kick in the butt for me to start blogging came from my then 7-yr-old nephew who started his own blog (Kids’ Movie Guide).  And even more recently, friends of mine encouraged me to try my hand at fanfiction, and oh boy, once I started typing, I could not stop.  For a week, I spent every night writing for hours working on my story till I finally got it out…over 8500 words!

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The Kindness of Strangers & Friends

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The autographed picture of Matt Bomer and Tim DeKay for my birthday 2010

I have been espousing the positives of Twitter for the past several months to my non-Twitter friends. Some of them find it most bizarre of me to be so obsessed by it and that I could tweet the night away chatting to complete strangers I have never met. Yes, it does seem odd for someone who has grown up wary of the dangers of “talking to strangers”. But the generosity and kindnesses shown to me by my new Twitter friends have given me so much hope that there are still good people out there.

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