Tree of Life

Having recently turned 28, my folks very generously brought me an Electra Tree of Life bicycle. I'm picking it up tomorrow and can't wait. I couldn't help but blog about it before it happened. I have so many plans for my new baby. I already have a modelling career mapped out for it. It will star in a photo shoot this week and then spend the summer up in Pearl Beach. It's going to be a busy little bike. I've decided to call her Jane, simply because I'd like one day to have a dog called Tarzan.

Then I can tell my friends that "Tarzan and Jane will be coming!".

Jane was concieved at Bike Depot in Enmore. Ask to speak to the lovely Chris.

Green Blog - New York Times

When I started to write this piece for The New York Times, I didn't realise what a big deal it was. As far as I could tell, no Australian media outlet had picked it up. Which, in itself was a worry. As I did the research and the phone calls, it dawned on me - what are our elected Ministers actually doing? We as citizens, elect a Government who are supposed to serve and service our country. But when I tried getting a comment from three different environmental ministers, not one of them would comment! This is a HUGE environmental issue, yet no one had anything to say...

New York Romance makes it to The New York Times

Image: Jack Atley

I recently had an article published in The New York Times real estate section. However, the most charming part was their 'meeting story'. Below are some of the wonderful moments that happened in the interview but didn't make it to print.

...When a little pop-up chat box appeared on Alex’s computer screen in a Williamsburg loft in New York City of October 2003, little did he know he’d be married 10 months later.

At the time, Alex was working towards his PHD and had a thriving social life, but wasn’t meeting the right type of girls. Alex remembers “It [JDate] was perfect because I was really busy and JDate was time effective. It was so easy I could set up an experiment and plan for it to finish by 6pm

Romy and Alex’s internet relationship began with emails but soon blossomed through the wires and they would sit and chat to each other for hours. Alex says “we were like pen pals – there was no romance, we started off as friends”. At the time they were both dating other people. After the phone calls started to exceed 5 hours, Alex thought, maybe it’s time to meet.

Alex looked online to see the cost of tickets to Australia – but they were expensive. All the cheaper ones were going quickly. In fact, by the time he went to his wallet to pay for one, it had already disappeared. So when another one came up, he bought it without thinking twice. It then dawned on him that I hadn’t even discussed it with Romy! He thought “Oh no! What have I done?” This was Alex’s first big international trip outside of Israel.

Alex left a message on Romy’s phone saying he’d booked a ticket to Australia. Romy listened to it about “5 or 6 times” and thought “What am I going to do with this guy?” She recalls the wild situation saying “all my friends thought I was mad. My best friend thought I was an idiot”.

Alex flew half the way round the world for their first date – an expensive one at that –but it didn’t take him long to realize what a treasure he had found.

From the beginning it was comfortable and organic. After a month together, Romy decided to go to Israel with Alex. They spent their first Passover together and went to Paris for a few days.

By the time they returned – they were both head over heels – and Alex proposed.

Alex thought it was either “we would get married or say goodbye and I wasn’t ready to say good-bye” .

The fairytale was just beginning. Romy went back to Melbourne to pack her belongings. She quit her job, sold her car and moved to New York.

Alex found an apartment in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn and Romy quickly found a job at the New York Post in the IT Department as a Project Manager.

After 3 years in the City together, they started to find New York draining and not uplifting anymore. It was taking more than it gave. They both decided that Sydney was doable with an easy lifestyle and an amazing energy.

The Time Line

October 2003 – Start chatting on JDate
Feb 2004 – Alex arrives in Melbourne
March/ April 2004 – They both fly to Israel
June 1st 2004 – Romy moves to New York
August 3rd 2004 – Married
Dec 2005 – Visit Australia
Jan 2006 – Arrive Back in New York
March/April 2006 – Decide to live in Sydney
Dec 2006 – Move to Sydney (The day before Alex submits his last thesis for his PHD)
August 3rd 2009 – 5th year marriage Anniversary.

Street University

In December 2008, the Ted Noffs Foundation and the University of New South Wales launched Australia’s first ever Street University. While on international tour, famed hip-hop group ‘Public Enemy’ performed at the launch party and cut the inaugural ribbon.

The Street University is a place where young people are able to walk in off the street and take courses in anything from basketball to biology. Housed in a massive converted warehouse in Liverpool, the space has several classrooms decked out with top of the line Mac computers, recording studios, a basketball court, a graffiti wall where individuals are encouraged to express themselves, a prayer room, a library and a cafe run by young people and their families.

Last week students from the Street University marched in protest to the Liverpool Council to show their dismay against the possible closure of the Casula Legal Walls.

Many students from the Street University use the public creative spaces to depict their experience, their dreams and their hopes for the future.

The council has deemed these walls as vandalism and thus is threading to close them down. No only will it be a loss for young creative individuals, it will take away the community atmosphere that the youth have created in Liverpool.



The Street University educates young people who are at risk of being involved with drugs, alcohol, crime or homelessness. The marginalized youth are able to re-educate themselves surrounded by scholars, experienced teachers and caring individuals.

The Street University and its family of volunteers provide a new way of thinking and learning to those who would otherwise be turned away. It is a place of discovery, determination and opportunities.

The Street University is total goose-bump territory. I'm so proud to say that we have something like this in Sydney, Australia.

Blessing in Disguise

What do Thomas Edison, Tom Cruise and Walt Disney have in common?

They are famous, well accomplished, influential and Dyslexic.

As individuals they are the personification of success in their beloved professions, colleges are named after them, they have engravings in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and holiday destinations linked with their personalities. There is nothing backward, nor disadvantaged about them.

It’s been 10 short years since I graduated from High School. When I received the reunion invitation - I realised I hadn’t thanked the teachers enough for their kindness, educational support and encouragement. I set out to write each teacher a thank you letter. Many of the teachers were from my primary years. As I wrote the letters it occurred to me that these teachers were the mentors and leaders that led me through my most challenging educational years. I was slow to read and even slower to write. I couldn’t spell to save my life and my times tables were a simple guessing game.

I was lucky. My parents were both well educated, medical savvy and had the money to spend on outside educational tutoring. I was very sporty, so my afternoons were spent playing tennis, swimming and running. After these activities my mother would schlep me from me tutors address to the next. By the end of the week I was exhausted from brain overload and physical fitness fatigue. I think I had the same amount of tutors as teachers at one stage.

After taking many IQ tests my family and I realised I had something called Dyslexia. In the late 80’s it seemed very little was known about it. I remember my parents earnestly coming home from learning seminars and talking to me things like I was a moron. I remember my mother clapping a lot and my father talking slowly. This didn’t last long, as they knew I was smart, creative and thoroughly involved with all my peers. It was just when someone asked me my left from my right, I didn’t have an answer.

My primary years swung by and my high school years shot past. Once I graduated high school – in the top 10% of the state, I finally proved to myself that Dyslexia was not a wallowing wound but rather the greatest blessing in disguise. I worked harder, longer and smarter. Naturally, I compared myself to my peers and when they were doing better – I competitively strived to outshine them. My best friend was probably the smartest person in the grade. She duxed Art and Drama and got a total score of 99.6% in her HSC. So my standards were high. I was at a private school too, so generally it was competitive but by that stage I didn’t mind. I was thriving.

The profession I chose is surprising to some, considering my spelling is shocking. But thanks to spell check and several sub-editors - I’m a confident writer and journalist. Sometimes spelling mistakes slip though the lines and I get told off. But I live with it. Just as those that have asthma and have to put up with it, I too live with – Dyslexia.

I used to be embarrassed to say that I have it. But most people guess once they see my scribbled writing and back to front letters. Now, I joke about it and find that’s really the easiest way to be. After all I have made something out of my life and used my small struggle to accomplish all that I have wanted to (and more).

Last week, The New York Times tracked me down and requested an article. Not quite an engraving in the Hollywood Walk or Fame or a destination named after me, but in my own small way –I’ve made it!

**I've just started giving talks through an organisation called Circles of Learning

Me on 3

Nothing more can be said - this is my ABC3 Application

Chic and Cheap

Sydney put on a beautiful display of weather yesterday. Not a cloud is site; the harbour was calm, charming and begging to be played with. So what better activity to do, than paddle a kayak to Nelson’s Bay and down a couple of beers and bite into a burger. My friend, Mat a visitor from overseas was ready and rocking for a ride in the harbour. We set out from Rose Bay, renting the kayaks from the boat shed. Our original idea was to paddle to Watson’s Bay, but by the time we made it to Milk Beach (40 minutes) we thought our exercise for the day was done. We hid our kayaks under a tree and walked to Nelsons. It’s a beautiful 15 minute coastal walk to the next beach. At the local café we had the most delicious lunch. The seagulls were squawking, mums and bubs walking the promenade in bikinis and tourists jollying along. We sat and watched the waves splash effortlessly against the sand. When the day was over, it felt like we’d spent an afternoon hanging out by the French Rivera. It was a little chic on the cheap.