Siamese saga

Australia Day

Happy Australia Day - especially to expatriate followers in Italy!

An Imperfect Offering

Finally finished reading, An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First Century by James Orbinski. It’s an interesting read -  really highlighted my ignorance to world events/conflict.  Can’t say the writing impressed me all that much - it was a bit ponderous and overly detailed in some parts while skipping over bits I would have liked to know more about.  It’s the second book I’ve read (the first being Emergency Sex: And Other Desperate Measures) that shows the UN and all its offshoots in a less than positive light… certainly doesn’t make me want to rush out and sign up with the UN on a humanitarian mission.  As for Doctor’s Without Borders (MSF or Médecins Sans Frontières), they sound like they do good work, but I guess I need to do more reading!

I remember a presentation by the head of the Australian chapter of MSF last year at university.  There were other presenters representing other aspects of a medical career but I recall the MSF speaker was the most popular and nearly all the questions afterwards were enthusiastically directed towards him.  Odd, really, given that his brief spiel basically said: they weren’t looking for people to join up, it’s really hard to get in (you need a very specific skill set and it’s quite competitive), and they’re really focusing on getting staff from within the countries they’re trying to help with the notion (and rightly so) that they are the ones most likely to stay and provide continuing medical services.

Anyway, as a change of pace, I’m now reading a ‘scary’ book called Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill.  Will let you know if it’s worth the effort shortly…

The Graveyard Book

I’ve just finished reading Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book

I haven’t read any other of Gaiman’s books but I really loved this book.  It’s a sweet children’s/young adult book but I found it much more engaging than Harry Potter (which until yesterday was my favourite children’s book/series).

I don’t want to spoil the plot so I’ll try to be sketchy and brief; it’s about a boy who is raised in a graveyard by ghosts.  I found it to be the perfect combination of good writing and interesting plot (you don’t always get both).

I guess I will have to try Coraline next.

More resolutions

9. Waste less time on the internet… This one’s HARD!  Not sure that updating the blog helps, but I have given up Facebook.