February 2015 was a kind of up and down month. It’s hard bedding new habits down. virtue January February notes beauty: body weigh ≤61kg by 16 March 😐 64.4kg 😐 64.3kg Ummm… achievements: net loss of 0.1kg though I have gone up and down a bit over the month. Overall pretty good considering I […]
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On International Women’s Day
I just found out that March 8 is (was) International Women’s Day. I only found out because I’m catching up on my reading (now that Stress Free Dinner Parties is on the market), and one of the services I subscribe to commented on a political party’s choice to have their formal “celebratory” dinner in a men’s club […]
Your Life is Like a River
I have been so caught up in preparing to publish my book Stress Free Dinner Parties, explaining in a delightfully amusing fashion (if I do say so myself) how to plan and host a dinner party. I’m so tired I just had to take a break and do something different. I was re-watching Mohamed Tohami’s interview with Colleen […]
A Short List of Annoyingly Long Productivity Suggestions
This time of year is productivity central. Annoying productivity suggestions in the form of lists of tips and hacks and apps are coming in thick and fast. I mean really… 27 Ways to Get More Sh!t Done – all right, I have to start by saying that I really do wonder why I need to […]
I’m So Very Sorry…
I’ve been a bit off schedule and distracted lately, so I wanted to apologise and explain myself. I am so very sorry for being an unreliable correspondent. As you know, I was inspired by a conversation overheard on the train to start writing an amusing book called Stress Free Dinner Parties explaining the serious business of how to plan and […]
Young Spirit v Older Body
I received a not-for-profit solicitation in the mail the other day. It’s an organisation that I believe does worthwhile work in the local and international communities. I have supported it for many years with donations of money, and more recently with my time and services. But, the solicitation really disturbed me – it made me very uncomfortable on a number […]
The Perfidy of Modern Life
I am exercised today by the perfidy of modern life. That whole “We can get a man on the moon, but we can’t do x.” kind of thing. Realistically, there are billions on people on the planet and things can’t go smoothly for everyone all the time. Well, I mean they could, but that doesn’t […]
Ten Ways to Make Guests Turn Up for Your Dinner Parties
I’ve been busily writing Stress Free Dinner Parties, my book explaining in an agreeably witty fashion (if I do say so myself) how to plan and host a dinner party. But I thought today I would share some of my learnings. (I’ve been quite focused on it for a while now so I haven’t thought about much […]
How to Manage Employment Misery
Yesterday I offered some ways of surviving unemployment, and after hearing about some of Toseland’s workplace issues this morning I wondered whether I might in fact, be the lucky one. No employment misery. Of course, Toseland’s paid work is part-time and that never really helps, because part-timers are always unintentionally excluded simply because they aren’t there. That […]
How to Manage Unemployment Misery
I’ve talked before about the perils of long-term unemployment, and today I heard the news that according to the January Labour Force Statistics unemployment, particularly full-time unemployment (and unemployment misery) continues to rise… The Federal Government suggests this is not really a problem, more of an indication that the Australian Bureau of Statistics can’t get its act […]
Five Life Lessons Confirmed Through Painting
We’ve had some warmer days so I’ve been taking a break from the garden and catching up on some inside work instead. And learning five life lessons while I’m at it. We have a room that was originally a guest room, and when I started dialysis, it became my treatment room. Since the transplant, I have […]
January 2015 Progress Report
January 2015; first month of the year, and first month of Project Worthwhile Life. virtue December January notes beauty: bodyweigh ≤61kg by 16 March 63.1kg 64.4kg I seem to have developed the skill of adding or losing 1kg overnight. It’s quite disconcerting. achievements: survived the month! I really don’t like how watching every mouthful makes […]
Me and Melbourne are Friends Again
As you know, I was quite sad to lose my feeling of kinship with the city. So I am really very happy to tell you that me and Melbourne are back on! Perhaps it was just been that kind of melancholic can’t find a thing to buy feeling – do you get that too? Sometimes having a firm […]
Bemused While Shopping in Melbourne
So today I went into town to do a bit of shopping and meet Katy for lunch. That sounds very grand doesn’t it? Calls to (my) mind hats and gloves, heels and old-fashioned seamed stockings, and perhaps steam trains. And for some reason a nice fitted forest green coat… Sadly nothing so splendid – I only live 30km […]
Jim Carrey on Gardening
I originally planned to write something wonderful (of course) but I stumbled across this gardening quote and had to share it instead.
About Australia Day
Today (26 January) is my national day; Australia Day. On this day in 1788, our first Governor Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Sydney Cove with the First Fleet to establish the first British Penal Colony. An “interesting’ event to celebrate on many levels, but officially we celebrate the country, its culture and achievements. I suppose in the traumatised and sectarian […]
Today, on Rabbie Burns Day…
For those who aren’t Scottish and don’t know, today (January 25) is Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) birthday (or Rabbie Burns day if you are). I’m not exactly sure how a few friends commemorating the death of one of their number turned into a special Scottish event, but there you have it. Many Scots […]
The Dread of Domestic Duties
You might recall that when I first brought home into the virtue of beauty framework, the goal was a comfortable, happy, cheerful, welcoming and calm home that reflects who we are right now. Odd now that I think of it, that I didn’t include healthy given my circumstances. Not to worry, I don’t live in a hospital thank […]
How to Make the Perfect Pizza
I thought today for something different, I would share one of the very great pleasures of being unemployed – “real” food. And as we are coming up to take out Friday, I would do this by sharing my perfect pizza recipe. I am not the only one who things my pizza is perfect – I have […]
Could You Do Fashion On a Budget?
As I mentioned in presence, clothing is an issue that has been concerning me since the transplant. As I mentioned, I had to replace all my clothes, and I went a bit nuts, just buying things that I liked the look of with no real plan of how they would work together or even how they would look […]
Amazingly Unlikely Birth and Death
As you know, I’m working in the garden. Observing birth and death, but mainly just weeding the last few days… Which led to the appalling discovery that I can’t see well enough to weed properly without my “reading” glasses. Might need to get some prescription sunglasses made up for just that purpose… Anyway, I found a […]
There was Nothing More to do…
In keeping with my intention to “stage my house for living“, I have been reviewing my email subscriptions, and I came across this one where Minimalist Joshua Fields Millburn ticked the organ donor box on his driver’s licence. As you know, I was the happy recipient of a kidney transplant in 2011. At that time, I […]
Who are the Home Grown Heroes of My Beautiful Garden?
When I first laid out my garden vision, I mentioned a need to develop habitats for native species – my home grown heroes. I went so far as to announce that I would extend my friendship to those species by supplementing their food in winter, and trying to give them a competitive advantage against the non-native […]
Dressing to Look Like you Know What You are Doing
I spent some time today sneering at the latest round of advice on write-and-secure-a-great-job-yesterday-resumes, and further revising mine for my next assault on the job market. Happily for me, there was also some substance to add because I recently had the pleasure of a few weeks paid work in an office. With a bunch of people like me – other short-term […]
Planning for the Virtue of Wealth
I don’t know about you, but I am sick of half-arsed emails and blog posts about this one’s 2015 planning , and that one’s Top Five tips for the best year ever, so let’s get this last virtue of wealth out there and get down to the business of actually living. Global events notwithstanding. Now […]