A Canberra kind of morning
The heat is oppressive and I have been continuously drinking glasses of cold water (and one glass of Royal D enhanced water - filled with rejouvenating electrolytes). Weather-wise, this day/morning has been not at all similar to a Canberran morning (mostly cold).
What I'm talking about is what I've been reading and listening to. I'm studying a little bit of Australian family law which got me started on the Riot Act (an ACT based webpage dedicated to stories on Canberra and the ACT) which led me to some interesting articles on Australian politics, mostly talking about the Kevin Rudd/Julia Gillard leadership spill and now Gillard's leadership. One that really made me think (be warned it's a LONG one) is here:
http://www.themonthly.com.au/why-one-year-after-election-voters-still-don-t-know-who-gillard-prime-minister-interrupted-annabel-c
It's an interesting position to be slightly inside and yet mostly outside the political system. All of the political machinations that go on in Parliament House filter down just a little into the little pods of the public service. But it's second, third, fourth hand news. You know things, but don't know where that information came from. You hear things and then take them on as knowledge.
You're not a political staffer, who are so inside all of the politics that I think they can't see out most of the time. You're not a senior public servant, who hears a lot more and are warned to only tell what is absolutely necessary ("needs to know"). But you're more than a member of the public, who hears only what the media is reporting that day. Between what you hear from your boss who tells you what they think is necessary, and the bosses of your friends around the department and maybe in other departments, you learn a lot. But you piece it all together, and it doesn't all fit properly, but you make as much sense of it as you can.
You cannot help but be a little interested, a little engaged in what is going on.
I am not a political person. I am also not very good at staying ahead of current affairs. While most people are addicted to the news, I will read every article I can find one day, then ignore what's going on for weeks on end. I often find people ask me "surely you've heard there was a bombing/volcano eruption/terrorist attack" and I say "uh sort of?". And when they ask how I avoided finding out, I really have no idea.
I don't really care about being the first to know with these things. But then, sometimes I hear of something and spend the next day reading articles about it. Those ones that you always get after the event, the ongoing analysis.
That is what intrigues me. The way that people try to explain what has happened. It's one thing to be there in a moment, seeing what is happening, but another to try and figure out why. And we constantly do try to understand.
Mostly I feel quite far away from all of this stuff now. Australian politics. My life in the public service. Canberra. Except today, when I got a little bit closer and was reminded of my life last year. But in a good way. I often find myself disparaging my life and my job in Canberra, but in some ways it was really interesting. Not every day of course, as every day life rarely seems to be all that exciting. But from the outside looking back in, I slipped on my rose-coloured glasses and everything seemed a little rosy and pink.
What I'm talking about is what I've been reading and listening to. I'm studying a little bit of Australian family law which got me started on the Riot Act (an ACT based webpage dedicated to stories on Canberra and the ACT) which led me to some interesting articles on Australian politics, mostly talking about the Kevin Rudd/Julia Gillard leadership spill and now Gillard's leadership. One that really made me think (be warned it's a LONG one) is here:
http://www.themonthly.com.au/why-one-year-after-election-voters-still-don-t-know-who-gillard-prime-minister-interrupted-annabel-c
It's an interesting position to be slightly inside and yet mostly outside the political system. All of the political machinations that go on in Parliament House filter down just a little into the little pods of the public service. But it's second, third, fourth hand news. You know things, but don't know where that information came from. You hear things and then take them on as knowledge.
You're not a political staffer, who are so inside all of the politics that I think they can't see out most of the time. You're not a senior public servant, who hears a lot more and are warned to only tell what is absolutely necessary ("needs to know"). But you're more than a member of the public, who hears only what the media is reporting that day. Between what you hear from your boss who tells you what they think is necessary, and the bosses of your friends around the department and maybe in other departments, you learn a lot. But you piece it all together, and it doesn't all fit properly, but you make as much sense of it as you can.
You cannot help but be a little interested, a little engaged in what is going on.
I am not a political person. I am also not very good at staying ahead of current affairs. While most people are addicted to the news, I will read every article I can find one day, then ignore what's going on for weeks on end. I often find people ask me "surely you've heard there was a bombing/volcano eruption/terrorist attack" and I say "uh sort of?". And when they ask how I avoided finding out, I really have no idea.
I don't really care about being the first to know with these things. But then, sometimes I hear of something and spend the next day reading articles about it. Those ones that you always get after the event, the ongoing analysis.
That is what intrigues me. The way that people try to explain what has happened. It's one thing to be there in a moment, seeing what is happening, but another to try and figure out why. And we constantly do try to understand.
Mostly I feel quite far away from all of this stuff now. Australian politics. My life in the public service. Canberra. Except today, when I got a little bit closer and was reminded of my life last year. But in a good way. I often find myself disparaging my life and my job in Canberra, but in some ways it was really interesting. Not every day of course, as every day life rarely seems to be all that exciting. But from the outside looking back in, I slipped on my rose-coloured glasses and everything seemed a little rosy and pink.