Woman I admire- Margaret Whitlam

Hi R
Margaret Whitlam, wife of former Prime Minister of Australia in the 1970's  passed away at 92. 

We have spoken re writing about "Women We Admire" and this is my first entry re this genre.   I believe she wouldn't have wanted us to be saddened by her passing; rather to celebrate her life and achievements of which there are many.
Being married to a strong politican can't be easy - yet she appeared to achieve this with grace. Personally, I went through the Whitlam regime - at the time not being very politically minded either way. So when I look back at the reforms and social changes during this era, I somehow know there had to be a good strong woman behind the man.

Though all of the papers and all of the biographies describe her as the former prime minister's wife, it's the wrong description. She was Margaret Whitlam, leader of women and leader in women's rights and achievements.

Joan Kirner

So you can visit my website for some background of what happened in Australia to make things better for women (and my sister) at the time.

"Memoirs of a Babyboomer" then go to 1970's,

where a personal, non-political endorsement of some of the achievements of this era are covered and why I feel gratitude towards the important changes to Women's Rights during this period.

I would love to hear your thoughts on the age and stage.

Goodbye Margaret and thanks x
Clara

To view or add comment, click on 0 comments at bottom of page or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au or visit my website at www.babyboomerconnections.com.au

Why not be a perfectly natural red head?

Hi R
I have been dying to talk about hair, mainly about issues to do with dyeing it or not - and now you have provided me with the perfect timing.   I have cut out articles from magazines etc, have observed brave friends who have taken the au - naturale road (no no no! Not me! Silly girl!),  so feel I am quite expert at the subject; and I am totally with  you.  Why not be a perfectly natural red head?  I agree with Lynee - you look like a movie star!  More to come on this strand but in the meantime, I am wondering how it has changed your life.
Clara of blonde tresses

Red, Set Go...
self portrait taken with my iPhone and photo shopped just a tiny bit

Have you ever just wanted a change? You know something to brighten your day, set your world on fire? Well that was me yesterday at the hair salon. Why not go red? After all I was born a red head.My father's nick name was Red. I have fair skin and freckles, perfect for red hair. So I pulled the plug (on the bottle)and unleashed the real me. Reddy, set, go. What do you think?
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School reunions a blast from the past

Hi R
Yesterday was a blast from the past as I attended a High School reunion.

School reunions are fun / confronting / interesting / but most of all, they make one realise how much time has passed. I'm not going to mention it publicly as I am in denial, even though if you go to www.babyboomerconnections.com.au and read the 'Memoirs of a Babyboomer', you will get a fair idea.

No-one mentioned the piano accordian
I was required to play at school functions.
Best forgotten perhaps!
What is the definition of a great accordian player?
Answer - One who is a great player of the accordian
but doesn't.

Enough time has passed to mould our lives into a rich and complex tapestry, with more than two generations adding the colourful threads of their lives. The two lunch tables of lovely women exchanged details and empathy re those years, mainly about relationships, past work and present day retirement.

I didn't count, but there seemed to be many of us who pursued the teaching path,(which by the way, has held me in good stead in rocky times and involves me still in the joy of relating to children). My theory as to why I became a teacher, is because of the expectations of the girls' school we attended. In those days, you were encouraged to be a teacher / nurse / secretary - going to University wasn't explored in depth. If ever you strayed towards being less than compliant, the threat was that you wouldn't be eligible for a Teachers College Scholarship.   The teachers were good role models and at a time when the social fibre for women was changing, we were encouraged to achieve our best potential, even though it seemed to be limited at that stage. 
I
 took Home Economics as a  subject and I'm really thankful for the practical background it gave me. To this day, I am an avid cook, was a competent dressmaker, and still use many of the basic principles I learnt then. These are skills which are meaningful, useful, and fulfilling and I believe they are neglected today.

One of my memories, is of being late and having to go to the headmistress (can't remember her name but she was scary) who said to me, " Your hair is a very strange colour." Which was unfortunate because it was actually my natural blonde colour!  I add here that, I made my own school uniform and had adjusted the design slightly to make it more alluring. 
Another, was of Miss ....., Help - with severely dyed black hair, cut in a dramatic bob with short fringe - English teacher who acted out so many of our texts. One in particular, was "We of the Never Never", where she acted out the scene where cup handles were threaded on her fingers as the character adjusted to colonial life. 

I must have been going through a time where how I looked was important (possibly nothing has changed), when I was distracted from class by looking at my nails. She said, "My nails, my nails, by beautiful nails, my interest in you never fails, I dream about you day and night and sometimes even take a bite."
They were good times and there was a good sound background. We were lucky and to this day, I would recommend a single sex school.

I have been actively working on what makes for a successful retirement through the blog, which documents day by day events and ideas. What I have come up with beyond the need to keep active etc is fairly simple - mainly that we need to work on this period of life and not just let it happen; to be interested and engaged in something which makes you want to get up in the morning; and social interaction beyond just the family.

I would be interested in your thoughts.
I have posted the photos - a bit fuzzy for some reason, probably the lighting - but that's OK. I quite like 'fuzzy' these days!

Clara

To view or add comment, click on comments at bottom of page - it's easy to scroll down and choose 'anonomous' in the "comment as' box - or send an email - clara@babyboomerconnections.com.au or visit my website at www.babyboomerconnections.com.au

TOMTOM - so where do you want to go, Clara?

I dedicate this blog to my mates, LWL (ladies who lunch) who started at the same school as FIRST-TIME teachers.  Lovely catch up - great communication.  And the reason I purchased my TOMTOM.  All will be revealed..............

LWL - Circa   mid to late 60's- teachers  



It arrived today - my first non book purchase on-line



You are going to help me find my way!



Hi R
Well........ thanks for your somewhat emotional response to my technical question re what is so good about your ipad?  ie "I'm in love with my ipad. It makes me happy just to think about it."

I haven't made any decisions yet re an I Pad or Android but I did make another important purchase.  And here it is.......  A TOMTOM!  Love the name - makes me feel as though it's going to communicate to me how to get where I want to go. 

So where do you want to go, Clara?  

The answer is. "To where I decide to go."  Therein lie choices, not only re destination, but how I want to get there.

OK,  so here's the history - Ladies who Lunch - LWL - destination was via a route I chose not to take.  I don't do expressways anymore  ever since the unfortunate journey via the airport from Artarmon to an address in Artarmon.  Well - I got into the wrong lane - then was afraid to go sideways fearing that I would be lost forever.

So, everyone else was still driving out of their comfort zone,  except me - which was confronting and cost a lot.
After counselling from the group, when I saw a special deal on the net re TOMTOM, I decided to go for it. 

When I told G about it, he said I really didn't need it, because I didn't drive anywhere out of the area.  So I said, "The less I drive, the more fearful I become."  He understood and is supportive  - we had a lesson even, where I drove to IKEA land via GPS and felt good about it.  He agreed to shut up re my other driving habits - Yeaaah!

So - TOMTOM has arrived and I need to read the manual. Hmmmmmm
Clara



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Grannies have fun Photoshopping.

Hi there
Technical matters - I decided to give us an Autumnal hue to fit in with the current theme.  Quite like it actually.  Wouldn't it be good if  life was like Photoshop where we could adjust ourselves.  An undo function would come in handy as well.

Yes I did yesterday's Wild weather video in Photoshop and today I changed the music - Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons' - Autumn to Winter.

There are apparently many women bloggers out in cyberspace - where they are becoming a force to be reckoned with - not online nerds, but sharers.  According to an article in the SMH 'Conquer the world, one blog at a time' by Julie Power, "In the old days, women marched to win change.  Now they blog.  Change starts with talk.  and these conversations are happening among the 42 million American women  who blog, tweet and update their social networks every week........ The cliche is that blogs are little more than an online diary.  but scratch around most blogs, and you'll find most women want change... whether is is healthier school lunches, more flexible hours at work, more buses or help with the kids." 

Personally it's therapeutic to express ideas and particularly satisfying to share ideas rather than to conquer or win change.  I'll leave that to Photoshop.
Clara    

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A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf

It's fascinating to 'join the dots'. Virginia lived from 1882 - 1941 - her death during the 2nd World War, during which I was born. So it really isn't all that long ago and yet how different it is for women today.

Clara

R wrote
You asked me if I enjoy reading A Room of One's Own. Well, I've been reading and rereading it for years now. It was written in a very different time by a brilliant author who 11 years later took her own life by drowning. The book is actually a series of lectures on Women and Fiction. Her basic conclusion is that before Jane Austen and Emily Bronte, there were no women writers because women were kept in servitude and poverty. All that we know about women was written by men; and what they wrote about them was completely different than how they treated them. She opens with the premise that in order to write, a woman needs a room of her own and money that she does not have to work for. She is not really championing the common woman, but rather women of genius. She gives us a fictional account of Shakesphere's sister who was equally as brilliant but not allowed to write because she was a woman. Ironically she takes her own life because she cannot write. A Room of One's Own has become a favorite of feminists, though I doubt that is what Virgina Woolf had in mind when she wrote it. For me, I find her discussions of women in history interesting.

Perhaps the title is the most important. I think women should all have a room of their own, a space they create in which they can be creative and independent.


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http://www.babyboomerconnections.com.au/

Sex and the City - a few unblinding truths

Hi R and other friends
Have to get this off my chest, so to speak, while it is fresh.

I agree with some of the reviews ....... but for the most part I found 'Sex and the City' the movie, to be good entertainment, with a few unblinding truths woven in.

He'd read the reviews (he reads everything) and even though he enjoyed the TV series, I had to cajole G into it, but since it was my choice, and I offered to pay, he came along. His comment was that it really hadn't emerged much further than a TV sitcom, and 2/3ds through the movie he turned the light on his watch to see what time it was (as you do!!!) but despite that, both of us maintained interest in it.

Yes it was shallow , yes the women were self involved; but it did touch on themes of importance to women: finding your voice and expressing it, workforce discrimination, strategies on making a marriage work after the sparkle goes and he sits on the couch and buys a TV for the bedroom, maintaining your old self when you have children. And then the question as to whether or not to have children, when you are accustomed to a certain lifestyle.

Some of the solutions to these age old dilemmas are simplistic and required more than the average income, but I won't spoil the story.

More tomorrow - too much to review in one sitting.
ps - the Karaoke was fabulous - will try to upload a video - where they sing 'I am woman' with infectious enthusiasm and gusto, especially Samantha.

Clara