On being haunted #70—An attempt to explain strange coincidences at odd moments.

Do ghosts haunt us? Or something else? Join me in my latest essay/podcast as I attempt to explain some strange coincidences. (10 min)

www.mindflexing.com.au/p/on-being-h...
#ghosts #spirits #coincidence #music #brain #neuro #mind #selectiveattention #substack #essay #podcast

The Moon Race: Round 2 has begun #60—On your marks. Get set. Construct! There’s nothing like global tension to spark a land grab in outer space.

NASA’s Artemis II is preparing to launch. If all succeeds, the crew will be the first to fly around the moon since 1972. Here’s a little something I wrote about the renewed ‘race’ to the moon back in August last year. Who will get there first?
open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...
#moon #artemisII #nasa

Real possum found hiding with toy animals in gift store | ABC NEWS YouTube video by ABC News (Australia)

Oh the little love.

youtu.be/ky60Ace3mgc
#animals #animallovers #possum #aussieanimals #funny

The river that runs in reverse #69—It's easy to be fooled into believing all nature is natural.

This month, come with me on this short thought expedition to explore two very different rivers. Read or listen (9 min).

#environment #rivers #nature #substack #essay #podcast

open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...

Found these ‘blind dates’ at my local library 😆 What a great idea!
#books #blinddate #readers #writers #booksky

Can we truly be content when we as a species are destined to want?

Read or listen (8 min) here: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/the-infini...

#essay #substack #australia #writer #podcast #thoughts

The infinite want Listen or read now | #68—Why are we forever wanting? Join writer Alia Parker in this short thought expedition as she looks for contentment in a world of wants.

This month, I’ve unleashed my thoughts on ‘want’. Wanting is constant. Without it, we would cease to function. It is problematic, but not the problem. I'd love your thoughts on this one...
#substack #essay #philosophy #psychology #happiness #writer

open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...

Creative Workplaces Survey Share your experiences and help create the first national picture of what it’s really like to work in Australia’s creative industries.

Heads up Australian creatives... Creative Australia has launched the first national survey focused on our work and pay conditions. You can get involved here: creativeworkplaces.gov.au/survey

#australia #creatives #arts #writers #auslit #ausart #creativeaustralia #art

Life among the invisible #67—A short flight into the philosophy of hermeneutics while learning to trust the wind.

What is hermeneutics and how do paragliders know how to stay afloat? My first 'Sound Bite' for 2026 (only 9 min listen or read) is out now... Enjoy! Follow Mind Flexing in your podcast app for more short thought expeditions. 🙏

www.mindflexing.com.au/p/life-among...
#philosophy #writer #podcast

FOI docs reveal Meanjin axing never debated by Melbourne Uni. And why were all bids to save it rejected? The University of Melbourne's finance committee didn't invite members to question the closure of the 85-year-old literary journal, instead only waving it through. Meanwhile, all external offers to sav...

This is the way #Meanjin ends — not with a bang but a whimper.

New FOI story from me for @crikey.com.au:

www.crikey.com.au/2025/12/17/m...

5 Hours of Relaxing Psychedelic Space Rock Travel Dos YouTube video by Cerg Orm

Different writing assignments require different writing music. Today's vibe is Relaxing Psychedelic Space Rock. So good. 🎶

music.youtube.com/watch?v=YkgF...
#writer #music #youtubemusic #vibes

ELEMENTS OF THE WRITING LIFE All 5 classes of Elements of the Writing Life, the 2026 online masterclass series presented by award-winning authors Emily Perkins and Charlotte Wood.

Happy to announce ELEMENTS OF THE WRITING LIFE masterclasses 2026 are open for enrolment! How to keep writing at the centre of your life when the world is trying to tear it away. With brilliant NZ novelist/screenwriter Emily Perkins. charlottewoodwriter.thinkific.com/courses/elem...

Farewell Cinema and other cultural relics #66—A nostalgic trip through some things we have lost and something we're losing.

So it's a deal. Netflix is set to buy Warner Bros.; the 102-year-old stalwart of cinema. As I was saying just last week...

www.mindflexing.com.au/p/farewell-c...
#substack #writers #cinema #nostalgia #essay #creativewriting #memoir #warnerbros #netflix

Great culture can save lives. Literally.

Amazing letter in today’s @thetimes.com about Tom Stoppard

Farewell Cinema and other cultural relics #66—A nostalgic trip through some things we have lost and something we're losing.

I've had the biggest itch to go to the cinema lately, like in a one last hurrah sense... Anyone else feel that way?

www.mindflexing.com.au/p/farewell-c...
#cinema #film #art #1980s #substack #writer #podcast #nostalgia #essay

Will have to check it out!

Finally read Trent Dalton's 'Boy Swallows Universe' since it topped the Top 100 Books of the 21st Century, and wow. What a ride. It’s fast, funny, harrowing, quirky and cringeworthy. It’s everything we loved about growing up in Australia in the 1980s. It's a book that stays with you.
#booksky #books

How Australian democracy has changed since 1975, in six charts 50 years on from the Dismissal, how has Australian democracy changed? Here are six ways that Australian politics looks very different to when Gough Whitlam was PM in November 1975.

"How Australian democracy has changed since 1975, in six charts" @browne90.bsky.social #OffTheCharts #ThePoint

thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

This short story is based on true events. There's a 'little surprise' at the end...
open.substack.com/pub/mindflex...
#shortstory #autofiction #essay #writers #substack #story #goodreads #booksky

What an interesting list! I would find it impossible to make a list in order. It would constantly change, and I'm sure Bowie's did too.

This👇 absolutely. And also 'news' organisations (like Southern Cross Austereo) stealing the same work to churn out AI news to avoid hiring journalist. Additionally, AI constantly stuffs up and hallucinates, so the spread of misinformation is increasingly a threat to people trusting anything.

A little scene I painted to illustrate this month's essay. It's of a pod of Orcas that came in close to us while on a beach in the north of New Zealand.
Story here: www.mindflexing.com.au/p/orcas-in-t...
#whales #ocas #pod #newzealand #wildlife #nature #art #painting

Orcas in the bay #65—A little autofiction about a time I looked straight at something remarkable and didn't truly see it.

Hello Bluesky flyers. Just wondering... if you had an entire pod of orcas at your toes, would you see them? Would you really? This little story is based on true events.
www.mindflexing.com.au/p/orcas-in-t...
#shortstory #truestory #autofiction #writer #orcas #killerwhales #newzealand

I just heard from a high school teacher that the poem option given to students in yesterday's VCE English exam was not actually one of the 10 poems listed to study. Anyone else heard this?
#vce #vceenglish #exam #examstuffup #victoria

Labor rules out giving tech giants free rein to mine copyright content to train AI Attorney general Michelle Rowland shuts down contentious proposal to grant copyright exemption for AI models

Good news!
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
#copyright #AI #writers #authors #australia #news

How Google AI falsely named an innocent journalist as a notorious child murderer A politician named the man who allegedly confessed to the murder of a three-year-old girl. Then AI identified the wrong guy.

These AI mistakes are just scary. It's frightening how businesses have jumped to adopt AI when the info it often provides is really subpar if you take the time to fact check it.

www.theage.com.au/national/how...
#AI #AImistakes #AIhallucinations #theage #news #fakenews

Spring blooms move in procession through my yard. Today, it's the turn of the pink dogwood, cornus florida. Always one of my favourites.

#spring #flowers #inbloom #dogwood #gardening #inspiration

Disappearing jewels. Today’s Age cartoon

2025 AusArt Day Participant Gallery Thursday 23 October 2025 is national AusArt Day.

So many great literature projects to support on this inaugural AusArt Day. All donations through the platform are tax deductible.
creative.gov.au/ausartday?ar...
#ausartday #literature #australia

Back book creators and support Australian stories on AusArt Day - Australian Society of Authors The ASA is participating in the inaugural AusArt Day, a national day of giving to the arts being held on Thursday 23 October 2025.

Lots of worthy arts orgs to support today - @asauthors.bsky.social is one of them! Help us fight AI theft and stand up for writers’ rights ✊🏼

www.asauthors.org.au/news/back-bo...