Perth Now
Finding home wherever you roam
MY fondest travel memory was a desk girl who would whisper recommendations to me: “Don’t go to that tailor, their commission is too high.” She whispered so conspiratorially that I felt like I was a spy.
Food Instagram feeds a hard act to swallow
I ARGUE that whenever you think about the most truly memorable meals in your life, their appearance was of no significance.
Embracing the naughty pleasure of pain
THE main attraction of other people’s misfortune is that it’s not happening to us. It turns out that misery is not nearly as much fun if you’re the sufferer.
A small price to pay for a warm glow
WHEN you do something nice for a stranger, there’s a look that comes across their face. It’s a little incredulous, a little embarrassed and a little overwhelmed.
Online stupidity — the proof is in the posting
SPARE a thought for the millennials and Gen Ys who are compelled to take a picture or video of every single thing they do. There is evidence of their stupidity everywhere. And it stays around forever.
Life lessons from off the beaten track
TRUDGING along clifftops trying to ignore the fact that it feels like someone has repeatedly smashed your little toe with a hammer gives you the chance to reflect on life.
Risk-free playgrounds? Not in my day
HOW did any of us survive our childhoods with unsupervised bus drop-offs and metal play equipment that became hot in the sun? And speaking of sun, we used to play in it, WITHOUT A HAT ON.
Rightyo, here’s to dads who get it done
FOR a guy in his 70s, with dicky knees and no depth-perception, Dad stuck the landing like a Chinese gymnast.
Rio Games: Higher, faster, older, weirder
I’VE developed a peculiar penchant for watching athletes I’ve never heard of, from countries I’ve never been to, competing in sports that I’ve never had any interest in.
Reining in naughty little ratbags
SOME parents seem quite terrified to tell their misbehaving kids to pull their heads in. I’ve seen kids in cafes careering around, crashing into waiters.
Sizing up our body issues
I DON’T live up to what society says is beautiful. Pffft. Society is a pretty ordinary measure of what’s right and wrong, don’t you think? It allows a lot of pretty horrifying notions to be perpetuated.
Fair go vs fear-mongering
SONIA Kruger was particularly affected by images of very young children and their grieving parents. But she doesn’t have a monopoly on being upset.
Nat Locke: Lessons well unlearnt
PARENTS, it’s simultaneously completely your fault and not your fault when your kids do something bad. Great. That makes it easier.
Nat Locke: Shying away from angst
HERE’S my issue: Telling a shy kid not to be shy is like telling a tall kid not to be tall. And I’d know, because I was a shy kid.
Nat Locke: Cheers to date disasters
THE weird thing was that somehow this guy had made it to his late thirties without realising the basics of socialising.
Nat Locke: Poll fizzles and sizzles
I HAVE to run the gauntlet of frothing how-to-vote card pushers. It’s like some form of medieval torture where you have to beat off the advances of marauding savages in order to exercise your democratic right.
The first rule of Book Club
ALL the men I know are slightly intrigued about Book Club. But they’re terrified that we might tell them. Perhaps they think we hop into our Victoria’s Secret lingerie and have pillow fights.
Nat Locke: Hot-doggedly individual
A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl who picks a hot-dog costume over a princess costume is clearly a complete badass. In a good way.
Nat Locke: Bad mum? Try legend
THIS heinous mum admitted that sometimes, when life is ridiculously busy, she’ll put her kids to bed dressed in the clothes they need to wear in the morning. The monster!
Man up, boys and girls: it’s just a cold
NAT Locke’s germ-ridden man doesn’t have influenza A. He has a cold. And she has three words for him. Get. Over. It.
Taking high road and driving on T-plates
THE Kiwis have got it right in demanding tourists sit driving tests before they gallivant around the countryside on their T-plates.
Revenge of the nerds: Go smart alecs
KICK a goal and the world smiles with you. But if you’re a little brainiac, where’s the applause?
Why I’m a scanner junkie...and proud
I AM startlingly honest at the self-checkout, and I’m not sure why. Put a lime through as a lemon? I could never do it.
Nat Locke: A nod to soldiers, not war
I LIVED next door to an old man who was imprisoned at Changi. He ate cockroaches to get protein. He made crutches out of bamboo. And he would steal food from the Japanese.
Nat Locke: Bo-o-o-o-red now
THERE weren’t any “structured holiday programs” or play dates or brunch outings when I was a kid. Hell no. If I wanted fun, I was required to make it myself.
Notes on avoiding a scandal
IF YOU can draw witty cartoons, or have a poetic bent, leave a note. I’ll be far more receptive to your written criticism if it’s in the form of a haiku or there’s a cartoon dog.
Nat Locke: Leash the dogs of waah
IF you picked your home because you love nightlife and proximity to the city, the price of that is noise and a lack of parking. Life’s too short to spend every waking hour calling the council to complain.
Nat Locke: Memories are made of this
CARAVAN-PARK friends teach you how to build new social networks, provide early pashing opportunities, and develop primitive stuntman capabilities.
Nat Locke: Please let Trump just be a joke on us
TRUMP’S proven that he’s a pretty good businessman, if you ignore that he’s been bankrupt four times, and that he got started with a sizeable little nest egg from Daddy.
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