Chasing Rainbows: Where The Bright Women Are

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Kym Hamer

Today I came across a blog called Where The Bright Women Are. Their premise is this: what happened to all of the bright and brave young women readying themselves to rule the world and how did we end up so unrepresented at ‘the top’? (According to Grazia magazine, only 12.5% of women run FTSE 100 companies and WTBWA confirms only 3% of CEOs are women.)

I have found myself asking that very same question quite a lot of late. Being at ‘the top’ just doesn’t hold the same appeal any more and the last year or so has had me speculating why.

In retrospect, moving to London in 2004 was not the greatest career move but I suspect I was disenfranchised before this and maybe upping sticks like I did was my way of throwing all the toys out of the pram at once to see which of them I yearned for most. I have never wanted to get married and even less, to have children and that hasn’t changed. And nowadays, I find myself ranking happiness, maybe even a little joy, and self expression most highly in both where I work and what I contribute.

Self expression – maybe that’s the key. Not moulding myself to fit someone’s ideal of what it takes but rather finding an environment that allows me to be the full force of ‘me’: demanding, smart, brave, compassionate and eminently likable. The creative thinker. The solution finder. The rapport builder. The one who loves to belong but needs her space. The pragmatic soul who revels in chasing the occasional rainbow.

One of the great benefits of the online world is that it is an absolute treasure trove of learning opportunities, opinions, discussions and communities. We may not meet others in the same way our mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers did but the circle of women is still there – asking, sharing, offering advice and learning from each other.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not looking for Where The Bright Women Are to provide ‘the answer’. But being amongst a group of like-minded women asking the same questions may provide some interesting signposts for me for the next stretch along my own path.

Quite A Milestone…or is that A Quiet Milestone?

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Kym Hamer

There is much surprise and delight here at Gidday HQ today!

You see, I’ve been away for a few days at a conference (more about my travels later) and have not had the time or the internet access to lavish my usual attention on these virtual ramblings.

But it seems that in my absence, you’ve been rather busy in the ‘lavish-ing’ department over the last couple of days.

I opened my dashboard today to see that Gidday from the UK had tiptoed quietly past the quite significant milestone of 10,000 page views to reach 10,088 page views.

That represents all of those times you dropped in to say ‘Gidday’. Amazing! Wicked! Bonza! I feel honoured and completely chuffed. Who would have thought it eh?

Thanks so much for your support/visits/comments and hope you continue to enjoy fossicking around for the next 10,000.

Gidday Is Getting Around…

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Kym Hamer

Excitement over here at Gidday HQ. Gidday from the UK has been awarded featured blog status on Blogging Women for the month of June.

Blogging Women gathers together women bloggers from all walks of life to offer a comprehensive collection of the best spam free women’s blogs online.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
(That’s a squeal for those of you who are Gidday neophytes).

Now, back to my little staycation…

Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics…

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Kym Hamer

They say that you can prove anything with statistics.

The Times reported yesterday that ‘$200 a barrel for oil [will] hurt and squeeze spending’ for households (no sh*t Sherlock!) and earlier in the month, The Economist used The Shoethrower’s Index to determine the potential for unrest in the Arab World – apparently Yemen is ‘Top of the Pops’ here, right ahead of Libya. In other news, Michelle Williams wore the ‘most loved Oscar outfit’ according to Friday’s Metro – with Aussies bastions of style Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett occupying the first and third rungs on the worst-dressed ladder respectively – and the National Trust informs us in the latest edition of their member magazine that a ‘large-beach-towel-sized’ area of coastline costs £52 a year to maintain (and there’s room for 624,800 of said towels!)

But what do statistics really prove?

One of the cool features of having a Blogger account is that there is a stats area where you can check out things like daily and weekly visits to your blog, most popular posts and where your visitors are coming from.

It’s quite addictive as you can click on all the ‘Mores’ and get more fascinating detail to pore over like the most popular post/s and where your audience is located. But I am often mystified by how it all works.

For example, I am Australian with family and friends in places like the USA and the United Kingdom, and I have recently posted about an expat Russian accordionist who lives in South Korea so these nations being near the top this week makes sense to me…

…but I don’t know anyone in Poland, Iran, Taiwan, Philippines or Moldova (where a few kind souls have visited from this week) and then today, some chaps from Vietnam, Ireland, Turkey and Belarus popped by – I don’t know anyone from any of them either.

Is this what is meant by the Global Village? Maybe they are just being neighbourly and are stopping by to borrow a cup of sugar…after all, my most popular post is about The Art of Latte!

Or maybe it’s just people mispelling ‘late’ in their google search…

Narcissism? Let Me Check My Blog Stats…

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Kym Hamer

It would appear that I am not alone in pondering the navel-gazing nature of blogging… please give a huge Gidday From The UK welcome to my special guest, author Nancy Stewart, who’s been giving narcissism a little thought herself!

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I’ve been thinking lots about narcissism and blogging and attention to one’s web site. Is that the very definition of narcissism? Maybe.

Picture books are a passion of mine, and I’ve been writing them for five years. My first one in a series of three, One Pelican at a Time, was published by Guardian Angel Publishing last week. All three of them took much time, thought, critiquing from my writer’s group and self-doubt right up to the end.

Never, though, during that process, did I run to the computer after having been away for an hour to look for comments or pour over stats. This realization may say something to, or perhaps, about me. Oops. There goes that narcissism word again…

The shift from creative writing to blogging/web site production may carry with it the need to be more personal, more introspective, more in tune with one’s own psyche to convey who we are to our readers and, perhaps, to define our own worthiness to ourselves. And with that may come some narcissism by task default. I certainly hope that’s what it is.

In the meantime, I’ll continue writing picture books, consult with my publisher, meet with my writing group, revise, edit, use my Thesaurus endlessly and only occasionally be deeply introspective. That is, until it’s time to write another entry for my blog. Oh, yes.

And even when it’s posted, I’ll pour over it from every angle, perhaps move a photo a centimeter or two, recheck links to be sure they’re working, read my witty words for the zillionth time and be, well, narcissistic.

Please excuse me now. I have to check my stats.

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If you like what Nancy had to say or you’re basically just a bit of a stickybeak and want to find out more about her, visit her website, www.nancystewartbooks.com. Or for more soulful navel-gazing (just kidding Nancy!), check out her blog!

Red Rag To A Bull…The 50 Book Challenge…

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Kym Hamer

So one of my fellow bloggers, I Blame Oprah, posted about this 50 Book Challenge and as I love love love reading, I thought I’d give it a go. (Just in case you didn’t get the point, the aim is to read 50 books during the year.)

I’ve added a new page so you can check out my progress, marvel at any pithy comments I might share about said tomes and keep me honest if you like.

And let’s face it – I’m likely to have greater chance of success with this than the Great Bake-Off which is still at…well…one.

Let the literary marathon commence!

ps…Book 3 is already underway – Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh…

A Game Of Tag…You’re It!

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Kym Hamer

I got this game from a fellow blogger Ladaisi, via Seeded Buzz. Seemed like a fun thing to try and she wrote out the rules so beautifully that I couldn’t help but leap in and ‘have a crack’ at it. So, these are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. Yep
2. Paste these rules on your blog post. Yep
3. Respond to the following prompts (in bold). Yep
4. Add a prompt of your own and answer it. Yep no. 8
5. Tag a few other bloggers at the bottom of the post. Yep
6. Leave “Tagged You” notices on their blog/Facebook. Soon
7. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve written the post. Before Soon
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1) The best investment you ever made:
Travelling and books…both expand minds, possibilities and stomachs.

2) If you could’ve written any book, directed any movie, and composed any song, which three would you pick:
I would have written The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (such a gloriously unexpected surprise), directed The Devil Wears Prada (all those fab clothes…sigh), and written Born To Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez (showing my age a little here!)

3) Weirdest quirk:

My adoration of Alfie Bear…oh and a serious addiction to peanut butter…and cheese (although not together!)

4) One wish immediately granted:
Debts…gone!

5) Most expensive hobby:
Eating out…I just love great food (and wine) in great company! And it doesn’t always come cheap…

6) An inexhaustible gift-card at which store:
Waitrose…there’s that food thing again!

7) In another lifetime, you’d be:
A writer…although this life’s not over yet…

8) The most famous/interesting member of your family tree:
Famous: Bernadette Devlin
Interesting: Bishop Ferdinand Hamer

So I’m tagging:
Seen the Elephant, Marmite and Fluff, The Vegemite Wife, Clever Girl Goes Blog, Memoirs of a TSUNAMI Girl, Postcards From Across The Pond, Ham Life

So the game is afoot! And you are IT…

ps…If I haven’t tagged you and you’d like to participate, don’t be shy…jump on in! And if you are one of these annoyingly organised, OCD types and have done all your Christmas shopping, I could not think of a better way to while away the 43 days until the fat man in the red suit pops in…

Inspired By…The Optimal Optimist

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Kym Hamer

In meandering around Seeded Buzz this afternoon, I came across the headline ‘Why Leader Are Leaders’. Part of me wanted to dive behind the comfortable couch and hide from yet another platitude about the mysteries of leadership but my curiosity got the better of me and I read on to experience this:

The irreducible essence of leadership is that leaders are people who live their deepest personal values without compromise, and they use those values to make life better for others- this is why people become leaders and why people follow leaders. -Stan Slap in “Bury My Heart in Conference Room B”

Wow! I thought, I wonder where this came from (besides some dude in Conference Room B)? And with a simple click I arrived at the blog of the Optimal Optimist, a twenty-something girl in Philadelphia out to make a difference. And being up for a bit of difference-making myself, I read on to be reminded that:

“Smooth seas do not make for a skillful sailor.” (African Proverb)

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

and my favourite:

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” (George Bernard Shaw)

So I’m going to take my ‘deepest personal values’, follow this one for a while and see where it takes me…

The Universe Provides…Adding A Blog Page…

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Kym Hamer

I have been racking my brains (and surfing the net like mad) trying to work out how to add more pages to my blog. You see, I found out that you could add a menu bar across the top (which I did quite easily) and then thought to myself ‘adding of a page must be a cinch!’

Well not really…I searched through what I thought were all the logical places, and then turned my attention to the not so logical places, followed by a menu by menu trawl through my ‘blogger dashboard’ and then finally a google search…to no avail.

But the power of the internet showed its stuff and thanks to fellow blogger Kate (Marmite and Fluff), I have today added my first extra page – The Great Bake-Off, where I promise to share all of the highs and lows of my baking journey.

ps…for those of you who want to check it out, visit my blog – http://www.giddayfromtheuk.blogspot.com/ and click on the The Great Bake-Off tab at the top – or you can just click here.

Gidday from the UK

Thoughts on life from an Aussie sheila in the UK

Category Archives: blogging