Month: December 2009

declutterbug #2: suicide machine (social network annihilation via a little red button)

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Check out this new online gizmo. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine allows you to wipe yourself from social networking. Forever.

become as free as a REAL bird
become as free as a REAL bird

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine can strike you off Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. At the press of a button.

As the site says,  be as free as a real bird. A 2010 resolution, perhaps? To free yourself from the relentless tinkering with and preening of your social network sites?

I am very much hesitant about why I have a Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn presence. It all seems rather counter-intuitive to my search for simplicity and LESS in all aspects of my life.

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viral videos: why they make me emotional

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This one really got me:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5vRPKIS5UM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

What is it about these videos? I think it’s the sense of Something Big and Human Happening. Of something simple that’s developed (often) innocently, but that grows exponentially through people’s desire to connect and share.

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do these images help/make your fashion head hurt?

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Check these images out: one model’s, well, model size (a US size 2). The other, Crystal Renn, is a size 16 (US size 12).
V mag

It’s a grand gesture that appears in the upcoming issue of V Magazine. To my knowledge, it’s never been done before. That is, putting women of different sizes side by side in the same spread. We can all see the point of it…to show us it can, in fact, be done. One fashion blogger describes it as “Renn taking on a typically slim model”, as though it’s a battle. He describes the onslaught as “revolutionary”.

Sure. But does it makes us feel any better? Salon.com’s Mary Elizabeth Williams’ 9-year-old daughter Lucy (have you followed that?), put it nicely: “That makes the fashion part of my mind hurt.”

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a cheerful* christmas to you all

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I just needed an excuse to post this snap courtesy of awkwardfamilyphotos.com:

it's not easy to upstage the tree!
it’s not easy to upstage the tree!

* and just a little reminder for anyone finding themselves reading this because they’re feeling overwhelmed by family and Christmas and expectations, you don’t have to be having a “happy” Christmas. Last night I slept on a foam mattress. 

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I like: Como Shambhala Ayurvedic holiday

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cse_treatments13Do you do this? Fret about finding the perfect holiday WITH A PURPOSE? Recently, I went around in 238974897 circles trying to find the best place to do a traditional Indian treatment. That’s what I do. I Over-research. Eventually the right answer pops up in front of me. So obvious. I didn’t want to travel to India. India ain’t good for us vatta types. But, it turns out, the first ever ( officially recognised ayurvedic wellness retreat outside of India is in Ubud, Bali at Como Shambhala.

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i like: the balinese shaman

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3414713054_055f0aba1aI know, I know…these details are a long time coming. I posted a while back about visiting a shaman (who told me I shouldn’t do relationships). Tri Makna is his name and he’s a lovely, gentle soul who’s got it going on. He has a twinkle in his eye that says, “I see you”. From memory it cost about $AUS30 for an hour and he’s a 15 minute taxi ride out of Seminyak, past the Denpasar jail where poor Shapelle is couped up. If you’re in the area, he’s worth meeting and being seen by. Go with an open heart…

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sunday life: in which the dalai lama tells me his secret to happiness

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This week I meet the Dalai Lama.Dalai Lama

And can I be honest? The experience nearly turned me inside out, what with the three days of fretting beforehand. I’d been invited to meet His Holiness, the spiritual leader of the people of Tibet, and ask him, on behalf of all you lot, how to make life better. Seriously, what does a girl ask? What’s the one question that will cut straight to the fuggy, constipated, heart-sinky life angst that people like you and me experience when we drop our facades?

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i like: Gwinganna sleep retreat

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This post has been updated. August 2013: My assistant Jo recently experienced the heaven that is Gwinganna retreat in July. I spent a week there a few years ago doing a sleep retreat (you can read about it below). That particular retreat has since been turned into a “Triple S” retreat: focussing on sleep, stress and – … Read more

sunday life: perfect lists

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do lists make your head hurt, too?

spaceball sunday life: perfect lists

This week I write a perfect list.spaceball sunday life: perfect listsspaceball sunday life: perfect listsI find there are two schools of thought on to-do lists. The first says they’re a necessary dumping ground for shower inspirations and must-do minutiae (“fix rear-vision mirror”, “buy Napisan”)…all the noisy guff that swirls unanchored in your head. Ergo, lists are liberating devices that free the mind and help us Finally Get On Top of Things.

The second says lists are annoying. They stall the free-flow fun of life. Folk in this camp might point out that lists are not an inevitable part of the human experience. They emerged in the 1920s after the CEO of a steel company held a competition to find a snazzy new technique for getting more done in a day. The ten-item, tick-as-you-go list was the winning tendor. Mind you, a non-list writer probably couldn’t share such a factoid having failed to jot it down for later reference in the first place.

To-do list or not to-do list? Which is the happier path? It’s a question with far more water-cooler weight than you might think.

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