A modest recommendation

Sitting by my fire now, quietly polluting the night air via my chimney, and so I come to this.   A recommendation.   Travels with Epicurus by Daniel Klein.  (Sub titled, A journey to a Greek island in search of an authentic old age.)   Funny, smart, direct, thoughtful.   Above all, honest.   He also wrote, Plato and  Platypus walk into a bar.   This tries a bit too hard while the Travels book doesn’t.  Funny, too, but doesn’t resonate... Read More

Thinking about last year

Bronte ocean pool gives moments of beauty, simplicity I’ve put on idleness like a pair of comfortable summer shorts.   Books everywhere on the floor around my bed and on my bedside tables like a still life mice plague, ungovernable.  Their numbers and mess say it’s January, when I reflect, read, plan. What was last year about, what did I do badly or well, what would I like to do this year? I pretend to find answers.   And there are movies, walks, morning swims in... Read More

Big little things on a tropical island

Some observations made during my six weeks in Lombok, Indonesia, a tropical island – my first stay there.  I arrived at the end of August 2012 and left in the middle of October: Lombok has about 4 m people on an area about the size of the Sydney wider metropolitan area “villa’ is perhaps the most abused word in Lombok and Bali, especially when used in ads, the Web and promotion – don’t be confident of something out of Italy – such villas exist... Read More

Free in Freo

Flew with the dawning sun as it raced the plane from Sydney to Perth yesterday.  A beautiful, thing, flying across high up like that; first flight I’ve just completely enjoyed – ever.  Don’t know why.  But has to be mixed up with the way I’m travelling lighter and lighter these days n nights.   Anyway, to Fremantle where the rest of the day was a succession of delights. Studio room at The Painted Fish   I reckoned I’d died and gone to... Read More

In conversation with Mayor Pettit, Fremantle 16 July 2012

Event – New Edition Bookshop – Invite If you’re in Perth or Fremantle on Monday 16 July come to a conversation I’ll be having with Brad Pettit, Mayor of Fremantle at 6 for 630 pm, New Edition bookshop. We’ll be discussing growing and buying local food, cooling cities by cooling their streets and, perhaps (for me, at least) one of the real goals of living sustainably, the dignity and delight we may accidentally come upon when we meet strangers or... Read More

Book talk, Gleebooks, Dulwich Hill Saturday 17 September

At 3 pm, Saturday 17 September I’ll be talking about my sustainable house in Chippendale at Gleebooks, Dulwich Hill. Hear what worked and didn’t over the last 15 years. How has the house kept over 1.5 million litres of sewage on site? How are the solar panels going? How can four people live in the house for energy and water bills less than $300 a year? Booking details: Venue: 536 Marrickville Rd Dulwich Hill NSW 2203 Cost: $20 gleeclub free Book: gleebooks –... Read More

Enough of me, what about you?

The Sydney Writers Festival runs from 16 to 22 May.  In the city it’s at The Wharf, and out at Parramatta, and at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. The venues and program has been published and is on the Net here: www.swf.org… It’s a terrific moment in Sydney’s life and there’s so much to read, listen to, join in and enjoy. You’ve been invited to tell others how you would save the planet.  The event is called, You save the planet.  The spotlight... Read More

Biolytix into liquidation

I’ve received an email from a contact in the wastewater industry with this advisory note from WA Health about Biolytix going into liquidation: ‘ Approval for Biolytix aerobic treatment units withdrawn by Department of Health, Western Australia As of 19 January 2011, Queensland-based company Biolytix Water Australia Pty Ltd has gone into liquidation. In Western Australia, the ‘Biolytix BF-6 Aerated’ model was an aerobic treatment unit (ATU) approved... Read More

13th on the list

Woo hoo – a smiling one. In this weekend’s Spectrum the Sydney Morning Herald’s Literary Editor, Susan Wyndham has included my book, Sustainable House, in her list of the year’s top books to buy for Xmas. 13th. That’ll do. A great incentive for me to catch up on some more writing. May the books be with you, Michael (And that’s terrific, Susan, thank you.)  Read More

Upon being a centrefold . . .

Steady. Pause your beating heart, and breath. Sustainability has today gone centrefold. Ok, so I’m being dramatic, but it is such a B E A Utiful day, I hope there’s a song in every heart that shares it. (Don’t you reckon Earth sometimes can’t resist herself and she puts on days like today when she sings, “Look at me, Look at me . . . “; mmmm ah lurves her then.) Anyway, in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Style liftout section today there is... Read More