Blowing it

So here I am in the land Down Under that raised me up -- or at least tried to -- and it would seem I might have already blown it...

It's possible, I can't quite remember (trying to forget), that when being interviewed about my book for the local rag last Friday by a man who ended up confessing he was of a certain religious persuasion, I told him, prior to this confession, about my first piece of life-writing that was titled ''My first job'', a piece not about any regular kind of employment, though there were certain aspects to the ''job'' that were reminiscent of a number of employment situations -- namely, the positions of the man and woman involved.

I think now, with the benefit of sweet hindsight, that I did mention this ''job'' and his confession was an attempt at saving me from such situations in the future. Never mind that we were supposed to be discussing my childhood dance memoir and not the sexual proclivities of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, the Australian election is imminent. Indeed we're in the last week of campaigning, which means the media is saturated with people blowing and sucking it up left and right -- as well as "pulling ahead'', as one headline had it this morning -- so that my timing could be just right. If my interview is published this week and includes mention of my first "job'', nobody is likely to bat an eye of disapproval. Phew.

On the other hand, with election day scheduled for Saturday, the day before the Sydney launch of my dance memoir, it could be more a case of nobody even opening an eye to read about some old ex-pat has-been dancer who can't stop talking about her first windy job.

It's hard to say which way the wind will blow. Either way, I'm not holding my breath. It's not an effective strategy for helping things go the way you want; I learnt that the hard way.