Author Archives: sagesomethymes

About sagesomethymes

Daniela is a writer, theatre producer and civic educator. She has had short stories and poetry published in: 'Prayers of a Secular World', Inkerman & Blunt; 'Blue Crow Magazine', Blue Crow Press; 'Knitting and other stories', Margaret River Press and Radio National’s '360 documentaries'. Her debut play, 'Talc', was produced in 2010. Her short play, 'Sicilian Biscotti', was produced for the launch of “Women Power and Culture” at New Theatre in 2011 and shortlisted for the Lane Cove Literary Award in 2015. Her second full length play, 'Friday', was produced by SITCO at the Old Fitzroy Theatre in 2013. 'The Poor Kitchen' was produced in 2016 as part of the Old 505 Theatre’s Fresh Works Season and was published by the Australian Script Centre in 2017 (https://australianplays.org/script/ASC-1836). It was re-staged by Patina Productions at Limelight on Oxford in 2019. She co-wrote 'Shut Up And Drive' with Paul Gilchrist and it was produced at KXT in 2016. 'Seed Bomb' was produced at Old 505 Theatre as part of the FreshWorks Season in 2019 and has been published by the Australian Script Centre (https://australianplays.org/script/ASC-2166). She co-wrote 'Softly Surely' with Paul Gilchrist and it was produced at Flight Path Theatre in 2022. She directed 'Augusta' by Paul Gilchrist for the 2024 Sydney Fringe. She is the co-founder of indie theatre company subtlenuance (www.subtlenuance.com) and has produced over thirty plays. Her published short stories can be read via the Short Stories tab on this blog.

The Cunning Peasant Never Reveals His Sources

Posted on May 6, 2014 by sagesomethymes

I’ve done a lot of food foraging in my time but it’s usually of the domestic variety. You know, my mothers’ freezer or pantry. So I was a little surprised to recently find myself bent over double, holding a knife in … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiments with Food, My Mother and Me | Tagged A Year in Provence, anarchist hippie, budget emergency, chicory, dog poo, eat local, free food, good life abroad, harvest, hippie, homemade wine, Italy, living sustainably, local produce, olive oil, parks, peasant food, preserves, psychogeography, rabbit food, rabbits, seasonal food, sel sufficiency, Sicily, sustainability, urban foraging, wet the beds, wild food, wild greens, wild weeds | 1 Comment

The Service Station Vintage

Posted on April 26, 2014 by sagesomethymes

Me: Where do the grapes come from? Mum: The service station. My parents were wine-making Italians but not the squish it between your toes in a concrete bathtub types. We left that level of authenticity to our inner city cousins. … Continue reading →

Posted in My Mother and Me, Time | Tagged Flemington Markets, grapes, home made wine, Hume Highway, Italians, psychogeography, semi-trailer, service station, Shiraz, Shiraz grapes, South Australia, vintage, wine, wine makers, wine making | 4 Comments

Deconstructing the Ants’ Nest

Posted on April 3, 2014 by sagesomethymes

Recently we decided to move house. Was it the ants’ nest being constructed in the bathroom cabinet, under the eight watchful eyes of a rather large and furry huntsman spider, that led us to this decision? Was it the waves of … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, Uncategorized | Tagged ant nest, Freecycle, Huntsman, landfill, moving house, peppermint, peppermint oil, recycling, Reuse, Rock Candy, sidewalk, stuff, Ziilch | 2 Comments

The Spirit of Place 2

Posted on February 2, 2014 by sagesomethymes

Here are five more places that make my city spirit soar. Some of them beautifully juxtapose time and place, others blood and survival; reminding us of the price of civilisation. In all of them, our souls connect to water, trees, … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place, Time | Tagged amphitheatre, Koori, Mckell Park, Moreton Bay figs, Museum of Sydney, Newport Beach, Northern Beaches, NSW Government House, oratory, philosophy, politics, psychogeography, red ladder, religion music festival, sculpture, soapbox, Sydney Harbour, The Domain, The Wharf Theatre | Leave a comment

The Spirit of Place

Posted on December 15, 2013 by sagesomethymes

I love the experience of being in a wild place: the sight of a vast ocean, the smell of a eucalyptus forest, or the feel of lichen under my hand as I sit on a warm boulder at the edge of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Spirit of Place | Tagged Canberra, enchanted places, Harbour swimming, Murray Rose Pool, Old Parliament House, psychogeography, Red Leaf Gardens, Red Leaf pool, Royal Botanic Gardens, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney University, The Herb Garden, The Mitchell Library, The Musem of Australian Democracy, The Quadrangle | 1 Comment

Wild Avocados

Posted on November 27, 2013 by sagesomethymes

Foraging has come back into fashion. People used to do it in wartime, in famine and in the 1980’s. When I was an easily embarrassed teenager, my parents used to forage for rocket in public places. They would keep plastic … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiments with Food | Tagged avocados, foraging, rocket, wild food | 3 Comments

Cakeless Cake

Posted on October 13, 2013 by sagesomethymes

As the old saying goes, “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs.” Luckily I didn’t want to make an omelette, not because I don’t like breaking eggs but because I didn’t have any. What I did have was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiments with Food | Tagged apple cake, apples, cannellini beans, dry ingredients, eggless cake, flour, flourless eggless cake, self raising flour, vegan, vegetarian | 1 Comment

The Seagull

Posted on September 25, 2013 by sagesomethymes

Recently, a man twice my age and half my height, stopped to look at my feet. “You have beautiful feet.” That’s what he said. “I don’t usually walk around without shoes,” I said. “I lost them trying to save a … Continue reading →

Posted in The Animal Kingdom | Tagged bare feet, dogs, fishing, mud flats, seagulls, The Esplanade | 5 Comments

The Horses of Excess

Posted on September 19, 2013 by sagesomethymes

As a child I loathed broad beans. They were squat, flatulent vegetable matter. Bowls of these slimy skinned pods filled our fridge every spring. We would spend Saturday afternoons shelling them, and then their particularly earthy odour would colonise the … Continue reading →

Posted in Experiments with Food, Time | Tagged Asparagus, Broad beans, dinner, food, Pasta Primavera, saturday afternoons, Self Help Books, spanish onion, Spring Equinox, vegetarian, Yoga | 1 Comment

Spring Cleaning!

Posted on September 5, 2013 by sagesomethymes

There is something enormously satisfying yet terribly sad about this year’s spring cleaning. I’ve just put out my third load of washing; tidied my underwear drawer; dusted the book shelves; wiped down the wooden floor boards with eucalyptus oil and water; … Continue reading →

Posted in Habitat, The Animal Kingdom, Time | Tagged Federal Election, politics, Spring Cleaning | 3 Comments