The Purls of Wisdom romped home to another victory, even with a depleted team tonight! Some of the stumpers we grappled with:

• What were Queen Elizabeth II’s two middle names?
• What is the country with the highest population whose name only has 4 letters?
• Which Australian actor provided the voice of “Buzz” on the PlayStation 2 game of the same name?
• Which athlete was announced recently as the first one ever to become a Ken doll?

After our walk yesterday, we had to quickly freshen up (and tend to our wounds!) before heading back to the State Library’s “Portraits of a City” event. Inspired by the current Peter Kingston exhibition, curator Mathilde de Hauteclocque brought together a panel of three artists whose work has often depicted Sydney: Vanessa Berry (of the Mirror Sydney blog and book), Reg Mombassa (of Mambo clothing fame), and Michael Kelly (painter and printmaker). Mathilde led them through an interesting discussion about how an artist thinks about capturing a place, as samples of their work (and Kingston’s) played behind them. Reg was clearly the draw, as his work is by far the most well-known. He was the least reflective about his work though, admitting that his first impressions of Sydney (as a 17yo Kiwi immigrant) was that it was “too hot and dirty.” His artworks invoke the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House simply as handy iconography for “Australia.” The other two artists were much more personal in their approach. Vanessa seemed to consider herself as more of a writer than an artist, but I loved her hand-drawn “maps” of the Sydney of her youth. They had a real DIY zine vibe. (We were especially tickled by the inclusion of Alex Cordobe’s Pizza.) Michael also seemed to feel a responsibility to capture parts of the city before they disappeared, and we got to see some lovely examples from his sketchbooks. After the discussion we headed up to the Library Bar for a well deserved drink!

Guess who just passed her RAS volunteering interview? I will officially be volunteering for half a dozen shifts at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show. I told my friend Jody that I was going to do two shifts in the “Farmyard Nursery” and she was like, “Did you think that through?” 😂 But really, it was that or the Poultry building, and I’m not a big fan of chickens…

Be sure to let me know if you’ll be visiting on any of these days!

Called my Representatives and Senators again, this time to ask them to oppose HR 740, the “Veterans Access Act,” which will contribute to dismantling the Veterans Health Administration. I told them that my grandfather James Harter proudly served in the US military on multiple tours of duty, and at the end of his life support from the VA was vital. HR 740 will be detrimental to the health care of over 9 million US military veterans, and for a nation that says they care about veterans, that’s completely unacceptable.

If you’re an American and care about this issue, I urge you to call your representatives too.

I am a Hoosier born and raised; I’m a tax-paying American citizen; and the Republicans are trying to stop me from voting. The proposed anti-voter SAVE Act would hinder millions of eligible Americans from registering to vote by requiring citizens to present a birth certificate or passport in person to register. All of us overseas – including the military – would be affected. It also means if your documentation doesn’t match your legal name – like if you changed your name when you got married, or you’re trans – you also can’t vote. I’ve just called my Representative and both Senators to leave messages demanding that they oppose this legislation. You should too.

I was on the global board of Women at Amazon for 3 years. I met hundreds of folks working tirelessly on inclusive programs across multiple affinity groups around the world, top of their day jobs for no extra pay. And now this? This is disgusting, a slap in the face to all those Amazonians, and Andy Jassy should be ashamed.

The best time of the year: NYE means it’s time for this year’s Best of Bootie 2024! Banger after banger… 💃

It’s surprisingly hard to find “Jingle Rock Bell” on YouTube, even using quotes, due to YouTube’s assumption that I don’t know what I’m looking for. I assure you, I do. It’s a holiday banger! 🔔🎄