22:34 TUESDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2006

An amusing moment when I found this, a quote from an early 2004 interview: “I'm not afraid to love ... I do, very passionately … but I suppose I'm very fearful of relationships and in some ways keep myself very busy as a way of avoiding marriage. When your life has been a series of bereavements, you develop a fear: what if I come home and he has had an aneurysm and dies on me? I tend to take all the available data. I'm a romantic actuary! Does he smoke, drink, at what ages did his parents die? Once that's worked out, it's completely horrifying. I have this reputation as a man-eater, yet I'm always the one running away … I don't go to bars, don't drink, don't do drugs, I don't sleep around, I don't go to parties ... If I did [marry], he'd have to be made of tungsten in some ways, the sweetest man in the world, with infinite patience and kindness and an element of bumblingness about him … and he'd have to marry me extremely quickly, probably after slipping Rohypnol into my hot milk.” Ahem.

08:02 MONDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2006

Alexander and Edward got on extremely well, which was a relief - much enthusiastic discussion of virtual property and intellectual design. Otherwise? Constant rain (actually very lovely) and much work. I am completing a critique, Alexander is roaring through various features, and B is chewing a small yellow bucket.

08:16 SATURDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2006

This is very funny. Otherwise? We're loafing about on big fat soft white cushions with Desperate Housewives, Series 2, today. Sushi tonight, and Edward over for supper tomorrow.

23:45 WEDNESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2006

Alexander tender as can be, and B is magic. Otherwise? Wired on commissions and this is my gorgeous cousin Alice, the Italian tv star:

10:18 MONDAY 4 SEPTEMBER 2006

Unbelievably BEAUTIFUL weather - hot, bright, blue - and we're recuperating from a mad weekend of work and the last dregs of unpacking: the apartment now actually looks like a home, rather than a small regional library. Wedding pictures up, easel in the corner, and the toys have all been corralled. Otherwise? More critiques from me, more interviews from Alexander, and this is one of our bookcases:

20:06 WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2006

Gwyneth Paltrow has posed for the intensely worthy charity keepachildalive.org. The response? Powerful. But perhaps not in the way she anticipated. "Yeah, she's African," one viewer agreed. "I saw her up on 125th street sitting under the scaffolding airing her thighs. She braided my hair for $60. It doesn't look right though; I don't think I'm going back." Another mused: "Hey, in Shakespeare in Love she played a woman playing a man, so I guess she can play an African, too. Now, if she tried to play an African woman playing an African man ..."

The best visual response?

00:00 WEDNESDAY 30 AUGUST 2006

Kathleen Maltzhan: "[W]orldwide where prostitution is legalised, sexual slavery increases. This is not difficult to understand. Legalisation legitimises prostitution. Despite the fact that most efforts to regulate prostitution come from a desire to limit the industry and protect women within it, the fact is that sex industry entrepreneurs always have more power than the women in it. They put huge resources into lobbying for recognition of the industry. Over time, what begins as a way to address sex industry criminality and violence becomes the means to portray prostitution as a legitimate industry which should not be criticised."

08:40 TUESDAY 29 AUGUST 2006

Bobbo writes: "Ming interrogates me every time I refuse to stay in Beijing more than 3-4 days. Every time I visit Beijing I get sore eyes, lung congestion, and flu-like cough. Riding a pushbike in Beijing is another carbon monoxide treat. If her parents didn't live there and I weren't sensitive to Ming maintaining family face, China would not be on my travel itinerary. The pollution is to die for - the culture of yesteryear isn't worth the price of admission." Otherwise? Life is returning to its easy, blissful clip. Alexander tender, funny, lovely; B, heaven in a pair of very small socks. And she sings.

09:18 SUNDAY 27 AUGUST 2006

From brainwave.org.nz: "Babies are born with most of the brain cells (neurons) they need. But just having these is not enough. If your baby is to learn to speak, walk, run, play, and become a bright, imaginative and loving child, their brain cells need to connect up with each other to form pathways and networks in the brain. It is these connections that enable your baby to see, hear, learn, and think in a more developed way. As the brain connects up you will notice your child beginning to reach the milestones associated with child development, such as grabbing an object, learning to speak, crawling and walking. Most of this development (85% of the brain's structure) will have happened by the time your child is only three years old. We now know that day to day experiences are responsible for shaping the brain. Her experiences of the world are what she sees, hears, feels, tastes and smells - trigger electrical activity in the brain enabling it to form these connections and grow.

"Day to day experiences don't just create a background for early development and learning - they directly affect the way the brain is wired, its size, its capabilities and its limitations. Your baby's brain development will reflect the quality and quantity of the experiences that she is exposed to. For example when your baby is touched with warmth and care, her brain is flooded with hormones. These enable her to form the connections that she needs to develop feelings of warmth, love and empathy towards others. Similarly, talking and singing to your baby triggers the brain to start building the connections that she needs to develop language. As these experiences are repeated the connections, pathways and networks become permanently etched into your baby's brain.

"The brain of an infant that has received stimulation, in a loving caring environment will be dense with these connections and pathways. By eight months of age the average infant, living in a stimulating, secure and loving environment, will have sparked 500 trillion connections. By the age of two she will have developed around 1000 trillion connections - twice as many as her parents. These connections lay the foundation for her adult life. They will affect the way that she thinks, learns, interprets, experiences and understands the world as an adult. It is not just good experiences, however, that affect brain development. Your baby's brain development is equally vulnerable to poor quality experiences, neglect and abuse. And the repetition of these experiences can have long term and devastating effects. Babies deprived of stimulating experiences and love have been found to have brains 20%-30% smaller than others of their age.

"This research has important implications for the way we parent. The way we treat our children in these early years of life has a definite and lasting impact."

00:44 FRIDAY 25 AUGUST 2006

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP): "Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight. After a tumultuous week of clashing over the essence of the cosmos, the International Astronomical Union stripped Pluto of the planetary status it has held since its discovery in 1930. The new definition of what is — and isn't — a planet fills a centuries-old black hole for scientists who have labored since Copernicus without one ... The decision at a conference of 2,500 astronomers from 75 countries was a dramatic shift from just a week ago, when the group's leaders floated a proposal that would have reaffirmed Pluto's planetary status and made planets of its largest moon and two other objects."

16:30 WEDNESDAY 23 AUGUST 2006

Book contract stuff underway, an avalanche of work for both of us. Otherwise? Tors is off to Vietnam, and dear Brad has returned from some godforsaken place to enjoy his first actual holiday for centuries. Father's Day in a week or so, and my Alexander is in for a surprise.

18:57 SUNDAY 20 AUGUST 2006

Alexander on the blower to film directors and I am a bit sick (mild fever, snuffly, the usual drill). That and bagpipes heard from the neighboring block in the evening.

15:06 FRIDAY 18 AUGUST 2006

New piece uploaded. Otherwise? Our experience of moving: in tomorrow's "Primespace" (property section) of The Weekend Australian.

16:00 THURSDAY 17 AUGUST 2006

Britney, in excelsis.

00:04 TUESDAY 15 AUGUST 2006

While deeply satisfying for many, the current over-eroticization of the breast has had an unfortunate social impact. A US study found that a mere 1% of infants are being exclusively breastfed at six months. In the West, the overwhelmingly sexual perception of the breast results in many mothers feeling uncomfortable with the intimacy of breastfeeding. As a result, our children are not only being inadequately nurtured, but are suffering an absence of critical maternal contact, and the effects of this deprivation are evident in our increasingly inhuman culture.

15:08 MONDAY 14 AUGUST 2006

Just scored a regular column - more soon.

11:21THURSDAY 10 AUGUST 2006

A man ran into a 7-11, pulled a gun, and shouted, "All right, you mother-stickers - this is a fuck-up!" There was a moment of silence before the man ran back out.

10:44 WEDNESDAY 9 AUGUST 2006

Ah, military men ... some psychopathic, some naive, most anger management cot cases.

21:09 MONDAY 7 AUGUST 2006

Reluctant to leave last night's deeply charming memoir behind ... may reread it soon. Otherwise? Putting the finishing touches on a long, long piece, and fighting the urge to buy more "classic face" Madeline dolls. And a Gund Pooh with moving arms and legs. And - oh, I'm completely addicted to online shopping, let's face it. Alexander, on the other hand, is inviolate: hand on heart, and powering through commissions.

00:09 SUNDAY 6 AUGUST 2006

The most turbulent week in recent memory, just exhausting.

20:33 TUESDAY 1 AUGUST 2006

The last month of winter, and in every sense. Last week our new washing machine began spewing water all over the kitchen floor, we were without cable for a week (Alexander nearly lost his mind), and had police everywhere after an attempted break-in (I was awoken by the opening window, a powerfully disturbing episode). Domestic drama aside, Alexander is roaring through various features and I am swamped by commissions. Otherwise? Both longing to loaf in each other's arms whilst watching Bringing Up Baby.

12:00 WEDNESDAY 26 JULY 2006

To find out more, buy this month's Vogue, on the stands now ...

13:24 SUNDAY 23 JULY 2006

The antediluvian Australian psychiatric community again triumphs over justice and sense.

11:54 FRIDAY 21 JULY 2006

A wonderful site. Otherwise? Both deeply excited about next week. Also bought wonderful flashing egg-shaped lights. (As you do.)

12:07 TUESDAY 18 JULY 2006

The common-or-garden psychotic is back. Alexander opened and read yet another two (infantile, ineffectual) letters. Plus ca change. Otherwise? Have started collecting classic Madeline dolls and have almost finished speed-critiquing a number of books. Sniggil & Missus over on Saturday for cake, which will be perfectly perfect.

08:45 MONDAY 17 JULY 2006

A heartrending story by Christine Jackman. Otherwise? Commitments from all angles. Alexander struggling to finish features, and I am editing and firing off critiques. Last night was spent with Rama Ananda, Michael's liquid-eyed new baby boy. And it is an absolutely beautiful, sun-speared day.

15:31 FRIDAY 14 JULY 2006

Another swampy week. We're both recovering with liberal doses of salmon sushi. Otherwise? Quoted on language and gender in Felicity Loughrey's story in Vogue (August issue), and my critique of Sean Thomas' memoir in tomorrow's Weekend Australian.

22:45 MONDAY 10 JULY 2006

I am ploughing through an edit and Alexander just scored a commission. And this is funny:

00:33 SATURDAY 8 JULY 2006

Consulted Scott Collins, a most excellent naturopath. Otherwise? Alexander and I are cactus after a swamp of a week. And Heike writes: "3, 2, 1  - eben war's noch meins; 6, 5, 4  -  jetzt gehört es Dir."

08:07 FRIDAY 7 JULY 2006

The very best kind of morning news: "Although this is unlikely to have been his No 1 reason, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffett knows his stocks of good karma are on the way up this week, after agreeing to give most of his riches to charity. 'There is more than one way to get to heaven, but this is a great way,' he said at the ceremony at the New York Public Library, where the gift was announced. Buffett has attached a number of strings to his donation, which represents about 85 per cent of his total wealth, including the stipulation that his gifts – to be paid in annual instalments starting imminently – should be spent in full in the year each donation is made. Based on the current share price of his Berkshire Hathaway insurance and investments conglomerate, the total donation could be worth about $42 billion – nearly doubling the existing assets of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."

01:14 THURSDAY 6 JULY 2006

We love Nick Hornby, bestselling author of Fever Pitch and About A Boy.

22:00 MONDAY 3 JULY 2006

Please sign this petition. Otherwise? Reading spooky stories while the rain whips about outside. Oh, and a powerful new page uploaded.

09:50 THURSDAY 29 JUNE 2006

Intriguing reading for all stoners, the older ones in particular.

00:23 WEDNESDAY 28 JUNE 2006

From Alexander's most recent interview: “They can summon and control demons. Cabbalists are sort of our overarching mage-type class. So you've got everything from summoners to blaster classes, and we're actually playing around with their third school. We had transformation for a while, we didn't like that, so we looked at something else, we weren't sure if we liked that, so we moved on to something else.”

09:34 TUESDAY 27 JUNE 2006

And Mark Fass: "The melting point of diamonds is more than four times higher than that of bone, which turns to ash in just a few hours at 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit. A body trapped in the depths of ground zero (where the fires burned at 2,000 degrees) would leave virtually nothing behind, but a diamond could survive essentially unscathed."

00:20 MONDAY 26 JUNE 2006

Uploaded, Caroline Overington's stunning piece on pornography.

08:30 SATURDAY 24 JUNE 2006

Critique in today's Weekend Australian. Otherwise? Sheer joy and stupefying exhaustion. Book stuff, commissions, tea with Katie, and Alexander? If the cape fits, wear it. What a hero.

08:45 THURSDAY 22 JUNE 2006

I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils;
And her quick look, a sidelong pickerel smile;
And how, once startled into talk, the light syllables leaped for her,
And she balanced in the delight of her thought.
~ from Elegy for Jane, by Theodore Roethke

13:34 TUESDAY 20 JUNE 2006

The Delicious Miss A's birthday today; Richard's yesterday; MDH's the week before; Ma Belle's before that. Otherwise? My eyes are scarlet and hanging out of my head after God knows how many nights up reading and writing until 1am. And Alexander? In an exam hall, sweating blood.

09:23 SUNDAY 18 JUNE 2006

Past few days a blur of sleeplessness and wintry illness, but this morning is just magic: sugary sunlight on the jacaranda fronds, and it's glowing inside.

11:56 WEDNESDAY 14 JUNE 2006

"You live inside a rainbow," writes DB II. "I don't have a scanner, but my news in pictures is either the page near the end of Little Black Sambo where the tigers chase each other round a tree until they turn into ghee, or a sloth (my power animal)." Laughed so hard I scared a bird out of its tree.  

20:36 MONDAY 12 JUNE 2006

Alexander ready to punch a hole through the door after dealing with an absolute asshat. The ageing frat boy imbecile in question somehow holds a prominent position in a prominent company. How he got the job, we have no idea. Otherwise? Spending much much too much on exquisite food (prosciutto, baked seaweed crackers), and reading a surprisingly enjoyable and very silly book.

21:39 SATURDAY 10 JUNE 2006

Critique in today's Weekend Australian. Otherwise? The Eclipse is now out in Chinese:

DIARY CONTINUED ...