He was trapped in a haircut he no longer believed in

The fight to keep my fringe somewhere near my eyebrows has finally ended in defeat and I have been forced to move the battle lines considerably higher up the forehead. Which means, of course, that the classic 80s hairstyle that has served me so well for over a quarter of a century has finally gone and been replaced with the ubiquitous shaved sides and short spiky top (or in my case fluffy top) that most 'men of a certain age' sport. My decision to change styles was also assisted by the fact that Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet and ABC are all coming to town soon (I think 'The New Romantics' could be the next big thing to break over here along with the rubiks cube). It means that there are already going to be more enough 40 something blokes with floppy fringes in the vicinity without them needing my help. I don't remember much about the operation to give me a 21st century hairstyle because I was heavily sedated throughout the ordeal. At the moment there aren't any pictures of my new look, we have tried but they all come out with a massive glare off my over sized forehead.

Wendy flew out to Brisbane this week for a conference on... she did tell me... I was definitely listening and paying attention... that was it ...little east asians or it could have been litigation. Either way it meant flying to the other side of the country for three days and despite being singled out by security at the airport to be searched for explosives she had a good time. Actually, she may have meant that she had a good time because she was searched - not sure.

George is currently taking the local art world by storm with his avant garde, post-modern, surrealistic, new romantic photography. He's been shortlisted for the prestigious Shaun Tan Award open to all school children in Perth for his thought provoking piece entitled urban beasts. The Award ceremony is being held at Subiaco Library, an indoor venue, so I may be safe from sand blowing into my eyes and making them water when he goes up to get his prize. I'm guessing that all of the finalists will get something, I can't see them dragging kids and their families all that way just to clap when somebody else wins.

Hattie was very happy with the Nintendo DS that she got for her birthday. She's not quite so happy with the fact that I am constantly asking her what DS stands for? She's taken to using it with headphones on so that she can't hear me. We weren't able to arrange for any of her friends to sleepover so she had to settle for a birthday lunch and a trip to the cinema to see 'Horton hears a Who'. She also had an ice cream 'radioactive' birthday cake which had some very unrealistic colouring... she came down off the ceiling by the following Tuesday.

We are in the process of buying a house in Connolly, close to the school, the shops, the golf course and the Kangaroo Arms (a pub)... A coincidence? I think not. If everything goes smoothly we should be moving in around the 5th of June. Photos of us freezing to death trying to get the most out of the solar heated swimming pool in winter will no doubt appear shortly afterwards.

We are going to a bona-fide Australian wedding next Saturday so I shall tell you all about that next time.