When I enter the store, Elliot is sitting by the window making “God’s eyes” while a couple of his friends are reading and chatting on the next bench; the record player entertains them all spinning an old tune. The room is shady and aromatic with incense, I look around… Read full post »

 Luisa

My mum is a keen knitter and I grew up surrounded and dressed in handmade stuff: jumpers, blankets, socks, you name it. In teenagehood it was a mixed blessing, but for the rest of my life it has truly been a wonderful thing. Ever since we adopted our son,… Read full post »

I was once part of a training group called Evolution and exercised on Sydney beaches, often in awe of the most magnificent Australian sunrises (evolution starts at 6am!). When Mike asked me to design some corporate cards for them, I was thrilled. The result is beautiful and/… Read full post »

What a nasty debate this 53% is! Is one entitled to berate his/her fellow citizen who has fallen on hard times just because he/she is working hard at one or more jobs?

Recessions are horrible times when change comes in unexpected, unwanted ways and when… Read full post »

Our friend Sera gave us some of these lovely biscuits for Christmas a few years ago and we immediately asked her to hand over the recipe, which she did graciously. These thumbprints are so easy and gorgeous that we have been baking them regularly ever since. If you… Read full post »

Open letter to Giulia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia 

Dear Ms Gillard,

I believe that your Government's treatment of refugees is torture. I am appalled at Australia's treatment of refugees and disappointed that your Government would treat the weakest in our society so inh… Read full post »

The Buddha of Changhua, Taiwan 

 The Making of a Great Western Lama - Part 1 of 2

How Lama Shenpen ended up leading a Sangha and living in a hermitage in North Wales makes for another interesting story: “What happened was that His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpo… Read full post »

Since 2009, every year the city of Sydney dresses up the sails of its Opera House in colour for the Vivid Festival. The event is designed to cheer locals and visitors up from their Southern Hemisphere winter blues with light installations and music. The first two festivals were designed/… Read full post »

The Bluesfest is one of Australia’s biggest music festivals; it takes place every year over the Easter weekend and is a showcase for many Australian and international musicians at various stages of their fame Bell curve. Thousand of visitors stomping on the soggy ground of Byron B/… Read full post »

“Are you going to Bob Dylan?” asked the hitchhiker in my car. “God, no! He is too boring”, was my honest answer. I was about to launch into the story of when I went to one of his concerts twenty years ago and his whine put me to… Read full post »

Ivana

Photo Curtesy of www.ivanatrump.com 

 There is a scene towards the end of the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, where Elizabeth / Jennifer Ehle is asked when she fell in love with Mr Darcy / Colin Firth. She answers that it happened when she saw his house: the stately… Read full post »

Cast Iron Table (detail), Nimbin, NSW, Australia 

Since moving to the country, I have been driving a lot. I don’t particularly like it and I am not particularly good at it: my friends still tease me for driving straight… Read full post »

After the first hour’s drive south, the manicured macadamia orchards perched on Bangalow’s posh hills with ocean views gave way to the sugarcane plantations that inhabit the floodplain. The cane fields are interspersed with farmhouses: beautif… Read full post »

175ml extra virgin olive oil

75gr pine nuts

1 garlic clove

150gr fresh basil leaves

100gr Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

salt

2 ice cubes

·       Toast the pine nuts, wash the basil,/… Read full post »

For my cocktail at Sirocco’s Sky Bar, I had packed a silk Nicole Farhi shirt from my yuppie London years. It is sexy without being revealing, which fits my lazy gym habits perfectly. On the 64^th floor of the Dome Tower, a flock of carefully groomed waitresses in modern ao… Read full post »

If you have missed the beginning of this article and wish to read it, you can find  it here: Speed-dating Bangkok - Part 1 of 3

Bangkok has a bad reputation for traffic so on this trip, I stick to the river and its ferries, which prove efficient, cool and rather pleasant.… Read full post »

Nonna Iole and I escaped the dust storm that swept the East Coast of Australia and wreaked havoc on all sorts of transport just two days before our departure and arrived in Bangkok with no delay and no hassle. I accompanied my Italian mum half way home to… Read full post »

I still have not found a magazine I fancy reading. If you are male, not into sport or DIY and not in the mood for perving on bare breasts (or six-packs), the newsagent is a barren and inhospitable land. When I am stuck in an airport short… Read full post »

·      All cards are professionally printed, blank inside, come with a cream C6 envelope and a clear plastic sleeve to protect them.

·      All images are my original work.

·      You can… Read full post »

Melbourne Airport is delightfully easy to be in: it is spacious, light and its terminals are just a short walk away from each other. I landed here, learned that mum’s Etihad flight was delayed, walked across the footbridge and checked into the Hilton. I had booked a room (W… Read full post »

My wife picked Nano out of the 61 gigs at the 2009 Mullumbimby Music Festival. We were going through the program judging performers by their portraits. I glanced at his free flowing “Joanne D’Arc” hairdo and flicked the page while she noticed his grin and picked him as… Read full post »

·      All cards are professionally printed, blank inside, come with a cream C6 envelope and a clear plastic sleeve to protect them.

·      All images are my original work.

·      You can buy th… Read full post »

“Do you mind looking ugly?” is an unsettling question coming from anyone pointing a camera at you; it is positively discouraging when the photographer in question specializes in beauty. I make a mental note to cross out modeling from the list of careers I might try when my… Read full post »