now hear this

29/10/201408/11/2014Blogging

Busy Week – Many Choices

It never rains. It pours. There are many weeks (and weekends) where I find myself sitting at home staring at the ceiling, or sitting on the couch scrolling through the television channels hoping desperately there’ll be something to watch. Dullsville

This week and next don’t fall into that category. Work is super-busy right now. On top of that, I have a number of after-hours work-related social occasions. On top of that, there’s a trip to Western Australian for work (with a bit of pleasure tagged on at the end).… Read the rest “Busy Week – Many Choices”

04/12/201306/09/2014Blogging

Now Hear This – Christmas Special

by James O'Brien2 Comments

“Remember your credit card has a limit, not a target” was one of my favourite lines delivered at the Now Hear This story-telling night at the State Library of NSW.

Now Hear This is a radio project I’ve had some involvement in over the last couple of years.

Most of the time it’s a story-telling slam, where people stand up before a live audience and tell a story of about five minutes duration. I’ve actually done it myself once.… Read the rest “Now Hear This – Christmas Special”

27/02/201322/06/2016Blogging

by James O'BrienLeave a comment

I didn’t expect to, but ended up telling a story at the “Now Hear This” story-telling night in Sydney tonight.

I told the story of my great-great grandmother who had a relationship with her first cousin (no, I don’t have two heads). After the birth of their fourth child together, he married someone else and had four more children. My great-great grandmother then went on to live a somewhat shambolic life, it seems, until she ended her life in the “destitute women’s asylum” in Sydney, and was buried in a “pauper’s grave” at Liverpool Cemetery.… Read the rest “Now Hear This”

28/11/201213/12/2015Blogging

Fika och Choklad

by James O'Brien2 Comments

“Is there anyone here who is Swedish?’, the young woman on stage asked tonight at Sydney’s Arthouse Hotel. As much as I was tempted to reply “yes”, I figured it was a little too much for me to claim Swedishness, since I was descended from a varied group of English, Irish and Scottish settlers and convicts, including a family who had arrived in Australia on the Third Fleet. There’s a fair bit of my ancestry I’m unsure about, but I’m guessing it’s mostly Irish genes that I have.… Read the rest “Fika och Choklad”