Despite the chagrin of local milkos everywhere, milk crates continue to inspire possibility, and provide much needed furniture, for uni students around the world.
But as UQ Economics graduate Tim Quirey discovered when writing his self-published book, Create, milk crates have many other practical uses for people all over the globe.
“The idea to publish a pictorial book on milk crates came out of my own need for something to sit on after acquiring an arcade machine,” Mr Quirey said.
“As I started looking, I saw milk crates being used for a thousand and one different purposes. So I decided to take photos of milk crates and write a one-page story to go with each whilst travelling around the world.”
Since publishing his first book, Mr Quirey has gone on to write and illustrate a children’s book, Catch a Falling Star, and is currently working on third book which he describes as ‘a travel diary - of sorts’.
“During one of my overseas trips, I decided to only eat the fifth or fifteenth meal on the menus I was ordering from,” he said of his latest project.
“This idea came from my love of numbers, and that they traverse all languages. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t read the menu.”
Mr Quirey considers his varied subject matters as a way of being able to explore topics that interest him, and remain open to new ideas and opportunities.
“These three projects have opened so many other doors that allow me to help others,” said Mr Quirey.
“The Brisbane City Council has asked me to give talks to other aspiring writers on how to get self-published, and I am trying to set up a children’s drawing program in Fiji.”
You would be forgiven for thinking that Mr Quirey is a full-time writer, but these are all projects he pursues in his downtime.
“I always have ideas of other things to do. It’s finding the time to do them all amongst my family commitments, and my full-time job,” he said.
“I don’t want to die wondering, so I try to fill my life with as much as I possibly can.”
Mr Quirey is one of the 181,000 alumni who have graduated from The University of Queensland in its first 100 years.
Media: Shannon Price, Centenary Communications Officer (07 3346 7660)
