Judith Ireland is a final year journalism student at the University of Sydney and is doing a stint with Webdiary.
Five years ago, a young, single woman had an epiphany in New York. And for once, it wasn�t Sex and the City�s Carrie Bradshaw.
Fresh from yet another New Year�s Eve without someone to pash at midnight, Sasha Cagen came to the conclusion that whilst she was almost always without a boyfriend, she wasn�t abnormal. She was just �quirkyalone.�
According to Cagen, quirkyalones are independent people who would prefer to wait for Mr or Ms Right than settle for someone ugly, stupid or just plain inferior.
Following Cagen�s epiphany and the essay she wrote about it, quirkyalone-ness has become something of a grassroots movement. Her book Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics was published in Australia in March.
Her web site, celebrating single life and love, has up to 5,000 �quirkyvisitors� a day. And on February 14, the second annual International Quirkyalone Day (IQD) was celebrated in over 40 cities around the world.
Thanks to Cagen, being single is no longer seen a failure; it�s something to be proud of. �Quirky� just might be the most liberating thing for relationships since the pill or Cosmopolitan magazine; doing for Bridget Jones what the term �metrosexual� did for straight men who like wearing pink shirts.
Eight years ago, Australia woke up from a wild night at the polls beside its very own Mr Right.
Whilst for some voters it was an arranged marriage and for others it was economic convenience after the �recession we had to have�, he was still ours. And we have stayed with him for three terms.
But as we head toward the altar of elections again, with the prospect of renewing our vows for a whopping fourth time (here�s looking at you, Menzies), it�s all beginning to feel a little bit Anita and Paul.
Mr Right is used to having things his own way. Until recently he has been able to ignore dissent within the community and side step his critics. Tampa, schmampa. We have still voted for him. After all, the man has given us tax cuts.
But all of a sudden, there�s another man on the political scene. The polls are looking shaky. And the unresolved issues are adding up.
John, we need to talk.
There are some serious problems with trust in this relationship. A GST was introduced after you promised it wouldn�t be. You deregulated university fees when you said it wouldn�t happen. Then it was children overboard, ethanol and weapons of mass destruction.
And you won�t say sorry.
Mr Right has always been good at talking his way out of trouble. In a recent opinion piece for theSydney Morning Herald, Labor�s Kevin Rudd noted Howard�s knack for “choosing words carefully to make sure there is a linguistic escape route”.
Just look at what Mr Right did to the Republic referendum question. Or the �deep and sincere regret� he expressed over the Stolen Generations.
But after eight years of playing verbal Houdini, Howard is running out of things to say. As Rudd said, “The political script is starting to look as threadbare as its author.”
In parliament when Mark Latham fired question after question asking for details on the gagging of Mick Keelty, Howard�s big tactic was to say nothing at all. And he used the same approach over Lance Collins� call for a Royal Commission into Australia�s intelligence agencies.
And when he�s coming up with comments like legislation banning same-sex marriage �is not directed at gay people�, maybe he is better off giving us the silent treatment.
But there is hope yet for our Mr Right. Not only is he free to wear pink shirts without sending the �wrong signal�, but as we move ever closer to the polls, using the budget surplus to re-elect himself can be quirky.
That makes the m�nage with Alan Jones and David Flint s little bit quirky. And the one with Blair and Bush very quirky indeed.
So what if Army intelligence simply has a few quirks? And yes, that�s right, they were just weapons of quirky destruction.
Or perhaps it�s time for Australia to stop settling. Granted, we don�t have the option of going without a Prime Minister until someone absolutely perfect comes along. But at the very least, we need to see other people.
Sorry John. It�s not me – it�s you.
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judith_ireland82@hotmail.com