BRISBANE WEST UPDATE
We have had a lot of really good discussions this year. Our group now has ten members, and
what a dynamic bunch we are. We meet monthly in our own homes, where the hostess of
the day serves up coffee, tea and biccies. We deal with any business there may be, before
launching into our discussion topic for the month. We choose our topics in advance, generally
at the start of the year, with everyone having input.
We started the year getting to know each other a little better with the topic “Who are you?”
We described ourselves outside our domestic relationships. We found we have in our group:
A Spanish speaking mechanical engineer, who has worked as a chemist, astronomer and
educator, who has dug for fossils all over the world, does research for Earthwatch, and enjoys
geology, environmental matters, and maths for engineers;
A singing, dancing, reciting piano player who loves sport and recently turned 84;
A gardener and bookkeeper who loves books and animals, theatre and painting, has worked
in the hotel industry and as a landscaper and gardener, and enjoys being alone, but teaches
yoga in her spare time, and finds life is full of exciting opportunities;
A history buff who is mad about the arts, loves reading, fishing, public speaking and family
history, a former library technician who is a greenie, socialist, optimist and feminist but who
has no sense of direction – a late bloomer;
A former nurse who loves choral singing (in French!), reading, painting, pottery, playing the
piano, speaking French, Spanish and Italian, an optimist who enjoys gardening and
entertaining family, writing stories and poetry, and going to movies and concerts;
A former stripper (in an oven factory!) and a ‘Handmaiden to God’ (who received special
permission to clean the area behind the altar of her church, an area normally restricted to
males);
and A former Chartered Accountant, then theology graduate who lost all faith in a loving,
caring God, but who loves to sing grand Latin masses in a choir, is polite, compassionate,
loving and a good friend, but who can be two‐faced (horrors!)
Now, having given an overview of most of our members, what else is there to say?
Our other topics this year have included:
A significant woman of the 20 th century
An outstanding character from the entire history of the world
A famous person I have met, almost met, or would like to meet
The new test for Australian Citizenship
How important is people power?
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