The owner of Melbourne’s soon-to-be erstwhile Cherry Bar is hard to miss: after all, he wears a big hat. (Indoors? Indoors.) Although one doesn’t really make out faces from any stage, anywhere–unless there aren’t any faces all, delivering you from the challenge–trademark silhouettes travel well, in spite of distance or dazzling lighting. Impossibly, some manner … Continue reading A Lament to Cherry
The GSP joined a plethora of publishers, small presses and booksellers over the weekend to join the inaugural Fitzroy Writers Festival.
Note: The events of this piece are entirely true, but names have been changed. It’s the tail-end of the wedding. The bride and groom have already left for their honeymoon, driven away in a low, black BMW that took two wrong turns getting out of the venue. For the staff, things should be getting easier … Continue reading Cheers for that, Macca: It’s just part of the job, right?
Just delete Facebook. Easy. No more worrying about your profile being compromised, no more guilt about hours of mindless scrolling, no more stale memes to contend with. You’ll have your life back! You’ll really connect with people! And the best part: there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from making the decision to leave. Or so it … Continue reading A complicated web: deleting social media is easier said than done
Late last year, I left my long-term job. My unemployment was initially self-imposed, deliberate—and blissful, oh so blissful! but soon exceeded its anticipated expiration date, pushing further into the year than planned. It was (and is—for I am still reeling) the closest I have come to economic hardship. But to appropriate poverty is misdirected and … Continue reading Fear and (self)-loathing at the desktop: imposter syndrome in 2018
When I think of the word ‘millennial’, I get a flash of jumbled and somewhat conflicting images: the rise of technology and social justice movements; globalisation; the Harry Potter craze; sardonic memes; Netflix bingeing; the expansion of higher education; a more competitive job market; the shadow of 9/11; and now, unfortunately, the turmoil of a … Continue reading A Millennial in the Time of Trump
As a graduate of a public liberal arts university, I was confident that I carried no stigma against mental illness. I had friends with various disorders, and I felt only compassion for them. I was sure I was above the stigma. And then people started telling me I might be depressed. I knew it might … Continue reading The Struggle to Confront My Own Stigma
It was my fourth date with him—this funny, tall blond boy—and things were going shockingly well. As someone who’d essentially always been single, I was amazed (and mildly terrified) by how easily we clicked, how comfortable I felt around him from the get-go. Our first date, a Sunday afternoon show at the Malthouse, had led … Continue reading Open and Shut
I’m 27 and I don’t own a house. In fact, I don’t own any property. That’s right … I have reached my late 20s and I am a renter. *Gasp!* However, I’m going to make an educated guess that most people reading this would not be alarmed by my lack of property ownership. You’re probably … Continue reading I Don’t Own A House…But
It’s a Thursday night in the middle of October, and I am covered in the familiar, musky cocktail of sweat, blood and beer. Other humans knock clumsily into my shoulders and back, and the air is alive with masculine energy. Despite my whole body damp, sore, or tired, I feel invigorated, and alive. This young … Continue reading Chick in the Pit
