Who is this Mo?

I'd like to think that names don't mean much, that my being a Mortimer is as wonderfully pedestrian and normal as the sea of Johns, Ah-Tans and Pablos out there. But can a name mark a person a Moses, Ghandi or Madonna? And if yes, is that why Mortimer, or, "Mo" as my friends so affectionately call me, has so branded me thus (Think "Moe" from 'the Simpsons'): dead-boring personality, body language of a post-coital zombie, thought-processes buried 6 feet deep in... er... earth? (although Mortimer roughly translates to "dead sea") And the list goes on. I suppose I'll have to lay down the welcome mat now: Welcome to the morgue[insert macabre joke here].

Just a few basics to get your interest piqued: Was born in Melbourne, grew up in Singapore, did college in Brisbane, uni in Melbourne, love London, almost died an hour out of Chefchaouen, Morocco, and I'm addicted to those penny-pressers in the U.S. (See how I 've shamelessly tried to imply how international/ well-travelled I am? - I'm not. Alas.)

I'm a fortunate public policy and management grad, as well as an unfortunate architecture grad (take the course to find out why!), heavily interested in social theory, public policy and international law. Have constantly flirted with doing a law degree at LSE, or taking a year off to paint, sculpt, exhibit, bludge, drive round Oz... but for many and one reasons, I've never really gotten round to it. I deeply enjoy travelling and believe that it's an integral part of the way I will live my life for a long time. But travel guides irritate me - they're so... prescriptive. And, local.

Part of moving around a bit when I was younger's left me with this constant desire to be somewhere else no matter where I was (grass greener yada yada), but I've discovered that Melbourne's crept up and grown on me in a very strange way: I used to find the lack of density to the city very disorienting, and the aged shopping malls somewhat dystopic - but I've changed as much as the city has in the last 8 years and its swanky new buildings and refurbished urban rooms have captured me as much as its pace of life, the splendour of its rural backyard, the bay and the wonder that is home. Am currently based in Perth where I stay in an incredibly beautiful Californian Bungalow (it's an architectural housing typology in Australia) which I hope to renovate somewhere down the track. I also have an incessant need to name everything (my house is named "Popolo").

Hit my blog to get to know me better!