Guran's Niche

Welcome to my page! If you're here you're either interested in who I am (in which case, read on!) or seeing whether I've written anything else (check the left column). Either way, you've come to the right place.

I was introduced to the world of Douglas Adams by one of my older brothers in the early '80's, and the books had a profound effect on my concepts of humour and writing generally. It is with some sense of wonder that I now find myself to be an accredited researcher for h2g2!

I have a couple of edited articles in the Guide, but mostly just poke about looking for amusing things. And, in the spirit of the original Guide, I see no reason to update my entries to keep track with current events. I prefer to let them fester like the thing at the back of the fridge that Dirk Gently and his maid competitively ignored.

The nickname Guran is from the pygmy offsider to Lee Falk's comic book hero 'The Phantom' (you know, wears a mask and purple tights, lives in the jungle). I have a large collection of the Australian 'Frew' published comics (which I'm trying to sell!), but apart from that the interest is passing. I adopted the handle 'Guran' for on-line use a number of years ago when chatting on online, and have found that it is almost never used by anyone else. If you run into 'Guran' elsewhere online, chances are it's me!

In the real world I'm a public servant working in Canberra, Australia. I'm married with two young daughters and a son, who are a source of endless inspiration and sheer amusement. I have a keen interest in live theatre (I have, from time to time, been on stage, designed/rigged/operated lights and sound, stage managed, pulled on ropes and helped construct sets) and a continuing interest in the proper use of Standard English. I believe Earth's English speaking community is an exciting pluralistic one, but there is still a need to maintain an accepted, authoritative and disciplined form of the language, free of jargon, exclusivity and inconsistency. You could say that this stems from my job as a public servant involved in clearing large amounts of written material, and you'd be right.

As well as holding an Honours degree in politics, my working life has included stints as a cadet journalist, retail assistant, waiter, bartender, personal assistant, an international child and spousal maintenance recovery caseworker, the Federal Cabinet Minute Controller, the Federal Cabinet Liaison Officer and now I edit explanatory material for the Federal Executive Council. To get an idea of the sort of world I have the pleasure of working in, check my edited entry on Australian Politics.

I also have a keen interest in home brewing beer. I have a very brew-friendly basement (hovers around 20 degrees C throughout summer - perfect for ales, and between 10 and 15 degrees C throughout winter - perfect for lagers), and have been searching for the perfect brew to become my standard for about a year now. Haven't found it yet, but the search is a lot of fun! I get a lot of guidance, as well as entertainment and supplies, from Grumpy's Brewhaus, in South Australia. They have a lively brewing discussion forum and loads of good advice for novice to experienced home brewers.

Anyways, that's enough about me. I hope that, if you've taken the time to read this you will have an insight into where I'm coming from with my entries. I'm happy to accept and consider criticism or discussion, but can't always guarantee swift responses. In the meantime, I'm just as merry as a grig to be part of h2g2!

Latest Messages

Conversations

Subscriptions

Friends

Guran has no Friends

See all Friends

Followers

Guran has no Followers

See all Followers

Bookmarks

This user has no Bookmarks

See all Bookmarks