Explaining to somebody at a party what it is exactly that you do is hard for anyone, I expect, apart from possibly:

The Queen ("Oh yes, and what does that involve?")

A dentist ("What particular area of dentistry, exactly?")

The Prime Minister ("Excuse me, I just remembered my car is double parked, could you hold my drink?")

A teacher ("Some of you people are volunteering to stay in after three thirty")

or

Possibly, Nelson Mandela ("Care to dance?").

If you're not doing one of these jobs, chances are you have to answer questions like, "What kind of doctor? Oh, really? Could you look at my hives?"

As a writer who also directs and has a small production company but works part time in a legal organisation and who has a law degree but is not a lawyer, it tends to get a bit tedious half way through about Act II of my explanation. I therefore dumb it down, which does me no favours and involves a fair bit of fudging and the waving of hands through sections I would rather not explain, making it seem as though I am a writer who operates a seedy drug ring on my days off.

I met one or two of my personal heroes on the weekend, including Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida, who are everything I dreamed they would be, and also they are human beings made out of cells and so on, which came as somewhat of a surprise. In my head, they were an institution. They were a blockbuster fiction. They were a way of life.

I came across several other peeps on the weekend to whom I was required by social necessity to explain myself, and I found that my common problem (I'm a writer... er, and a director... well, theatre mostly but also...) is a problem shared by many people.

I actually heard someone describe their profession as "Part time motivational speaker. The rest of the time I just look for work", which made me feel a little less conflicted. Part time motivation, part time lack of motivation. Depressing or hilarious? Tis a fine line.

In other news, global warming apocolyptic meltdown notwithstanding, today is a gorgeous day in Melbourne for the riding of brand new bikes purchased at www.unibicycles.com.au - as I'm sure you'll all agree. If things get a little eerie at about 8pm on your ride home, though, don't worry. Apparently the sun and the earth and moon are in perfect alignment. Or something extraordinary and humbling that I am sure to forget about while we have a standing there productions meeting inside a brightly lit vegie bar.

Solipsistic? Exactly.