Day 59: French pink disks

Today I'm wearing another pair of French earrings, bought in Paris in 2008 when I was there for a few days on my own returning from a conference in Rennes with Fiona, Georgina and the gang. These are not from Satellite, but from a jewellery shop tucked in behind the Rue du Rivoli and the Pompidou Centre. I've worn them often over the years, and they are now looking a little worse for wear with some fading and discolouration around the edges, but at the time I was attracted to the colour - bright pink with blue flecks - and the small sleepers to which the disks are attached.

With Peter, Mary Ann and George,  2013

The earrings link me to the wonderful Mary Ann O'Loughlin. Mary Ann is also part of the Sydney University web - a great friend of Lizzie, Deb, Kate and Betty, and Trevor and Lye. She is a social policy guru, having worked as a senior adviser on Paul Keating's staff, at senior levels in the Commonwealth bureaucracy and now as Deputy Secretary of the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet - the place where I had my first job after finishing my undergrad degree. Mary Ann has an incredibly sharp mind, is a warm and caring person and very witty. She's been big a support to me over the years as I've managed these health challenges, giving me great advice and sending thoughtful messages. I know from those who've worked with Mary Ann, she's a considerate boss and a pleasure to work with. I wish she was there when I was in the Cabinet Office!

Deb and I were fortunate to be have Mary Ann participate in a conference we organised on gender and federalism when she was the Head of the Secretariat of the Council of Australian Governments. She took seriously our work on the need for gender disaggregated data and through her role was able to encourage the Council to include gender indicators in some of its research and policy work.  I was wearing these earrings the day Mary Ann came to speak at a conference; she gave a great presentation that nailed the point about the value and need for this data. We had other high flyers there too including Anna Bligh, just after she'd stepped down as QLD Premier, and former head of the Commonwealth Prime Minister's Department, Peter Shergold. My good colleague, and hopefully soon to be my new Dean, George Williams, also took part.

Lizzie's ginger flowers

Day 59 has been a good one. Serendipitously, I ran into my lovely neighbour Katie and Bec during my walk around Sydney Park this morning, and had a great catch up with them. Of course, with two degrees of separation, Bec works with Mary Ann, and is one of the people that has extolled her virtues as a manager.

After my walk, Lizzie came over for a cup of tea with treats including tickets to the French Film Festival and another bunch of stunning ginger flowers. This evening, while Angus was at his mates place, Rob and I met James in town for his school interviews - his teachers confirmed that he's working hard, but as we've heard in every interview since Kindy, apparently he talks too much! I'm sure there's a way to channel those verbal skills somehow. The three of us went out for a nice Japanese meal to celebrate a job well done.  

Proud Dad and son