jo’s four favourite posts

I’m on leave, so this is a in-case-you-missed-it post. I asked right-hand chick Jo to highlight her favourite posts from the year. Here they are:

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(PS. this pic above is one Jo took from her flat…she sits here to think each morning…)

1. I love this post: The best reason I’ve ever found for backing the f*ck off. Yeah! Basically because of the title . But also because it talks about pacing yourself, slowing down, ‘smelling the roses’, and focusing on making choices to do life well.The clear message: just choose to start stressing less. Be gentle. Choose wellness.Which is something I have on my radar. I’m determined to attempt to do life well. Also, I made some key decisions around the time of this post, and applied for my job with Sarah four days later (on my brother’s 30th birthday  – which is why I know the date).

2. I like spending time on my own, checking in with my inside people (I’ve never had such a fun way to describe it before). That’s why I love this post. The ocean is my favourite place to refuel. And while I’m refueling, I’m checking in on myself. My soul sorts through stuff when I create the space for it. I’ve LOVED Uge since I read this post (I think it’s been a year or so now). I recently met him and he was everything I expected him to be and more… GENUINE GOOD PERSON. Love him. Love this concept.

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Blogs that get people fired up

So I’m having a little break for a few days. Digesting Christmas lunch! In my absence, a little rundown of posts you might’ve missed, especially if you’re new to this site. They’re the posts that attracted the most comments from everyone. I’m guessing that makes them the most controversial or annoying, not necessarily the most … Read more

thank you

Dearest Readers of this Blog, A little note to say this: I’ve so appreciated all the care and engagement you’ve extended to me (virtually) over the year. I’ve loved the way we humans have found a new way to “have the chat over the back fence” our grandmothers used to have. Mostly, most of us … Read more

my bike gets a guernsey in Treadlie magazine!

Bike fans, there’s a new bike mag out and it’s called Treadlie. It’s very cute and is on sale now in newsagents. It’s got a guide to building your own fixie, and features hot bike looks and other hot bike bits and pieces. Oh, and my beautiful single-speed gets its own spread. If you’re keen … Read more

a charity gift guide for you (cos I hate buying xmas junk)

I wrote about giving this week. So, then, the very committed Julie Cowdroy, an activist and academic and ambassador for Opportunity International Australia and the Global Poverty Project alerted me to a post she’s just put up ABC’s The Drum about how to give goats for Christmas.

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Or, more to the point, how to give a charity gift, instead of something consumerable. She kindly offered to provide a bit of a guide to the gifting charities she rates… handy for any of you out there who Just Can’t Face Buying Crap In A Mall this Christmas. Or Have Left Shopping To The Last Minute. Or who Want to Care More.

I’ve also posted her ABC piece below.

1. OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL AUSTRALIA
Buffaloan: $50
Help sustain the source of livelihood for a poor entrepreneur in India by investing in the buffaloan. For just $50, you can feed this valuable creature for a month, keeping a buffalo full, healthy and ready to produce the milk that provides a regular income for a number of the rural poor in India.

Peas on Earth: $96
This gift helps entrepreneurs in Indonesia plough through poverty, allowing them to start a small vegetable farm – be it cabbage or carrots, beans or broccoli. Once it’s harvest season, they can collect their crop and sell the fresh produce at their own market stall for a profit, using the money to provide the basics for their families. Makes you wonder about money not growing on trees…

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news read: feminists debate the Assange rape allegations (and they are allegations, not charges!!)

This is worth a read: Jaclyn Friedman v Naomi Wolf, feminists debate the Assange rape allegations, on Democracy Now. The preamble transcript gives a good overview of the facts, if you’re a little in the dark still (and confirms no charges have been pressed, they’re allegations only). Jaclyn Friedman argues the sexual assault allegations shouldn’t … Read more

Tuesday Eats: gluten-free christmas recipes

Over the weekend I was handed some Christmas cake at a friend’s barbecue. I don’t like Christmas cake. But such was my overness with having to say no to festive food, I asked if I could eat some of the left-over ingredients – the walnuts and apricots – to feel part of the action.

So I figured it might be good to source me some “bubble-kid” Christmassy gluten-free treats. So I can go armed into this festive week. With a plate.

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As an aside, the people I’ve met “virtually” over the course of this year via my gluten-free networks have proved some of my favourite people. Something about having an auto-immune disease, I think. It forces you to get real. And connect. And share. Perhaps.

Anyway, wrap your laughing gear around these….

1. Pear and Hazlenut Frangipane Tart

The glorious Aran from Cannelle Vanille shared this one. That’s her pretty pic above.
Gluten Free Pie Dough

1 cup (140 grams) superfine brown rice flour
2 Tbs (20 grams) potato starch
2 Tbs (20 grams) tapioca starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, cold and diced
1/2 cup (125 ml) ice cold water

Place the first five ingredients in the food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Add the cold, diced butter and pulse 10 times until the butter is cut into the flours. Add the ice water while pulsing. You might not need all of it so reserve a couple of Tbs until mixed. The dough should stick together when pressed but not be too wet.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and flatten it a bit with your hand. Refrigerate the dough for about 1 hour.

Roll out the dough to about 1/4″-1/8″ thickness and fill the tart mold with it. If the dough cracks, don’t worry, just pinch it back together. It might happen if it’s too cold. Return the tart mold to the refrigerator for another 20 minutes or so while preparing the filling.

Roll the leftover scraps and cut shapes with star cookie cutters. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake at 375F for about 8 minutes. Reserve.

Pear and Hazelnut Frangipane Filling

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup (110 grams) cane sugar
1 egg
1 cup (110 grams) hazelnut flour
1 Tbs (10 grams) tapioca starch
pinch of salt
1 Tbs dark rum, optional
7 forelle pears, halved and core removed

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how generous could you be?

I found this read really very inspiring – about a Melbourne-born guy who earns $47,000 a year, one-third of which he gives away to charity. He’s also set up a movement Giving What We Can encouraging people to give 10 per cent of their earnings away. Could you do this? Could you take the plunge and just….give? It’s a good time of year to think about this.

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It’s got me thinking about how tightly I hold on to “my” stuff. I get scared things will run out. I accumulate like a squirrel, mostly due to my upbringing of scarcity. Although also because I get sucked into the messages of our culture – to acquire and accumulate. But it’s dumb. I don’t need or want any of it. Eventually it shits me and I do a massive give away. One’s brewing at the moment….

It’s all or nothing, generosity. Once you’re in the space of giving, it’s effortless. But if you hold on, it’s hard to give 20 cents to a busker. We’re encouraged to grip. It takes a certain firm, conscious elan to slide into generous flow. But once you’re in it, EVERYTHING feels breezier. I think you just have to start. By giving away your lunch. Or handing out stuff you were going to sell on ebay to friends instead. It feels good. So on you go.

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sunday life: in which I meet James Randi (magician, awesome guy, skeptic)

This week I’m awesomely skeptical

oddbirdout-1290489777I don’t know if you’ve ever had an ontological debate about what gives a squirrel’s life meaning with an 82-year-old skeptic… who also happens to be one of the world’s most famous magicians and escapologists, who broke Houdini’s record for remaining sealed in a metal coffin under water for 104 minutes, and who toured with Alice Cooper in the ‘70s performing the “guillotine routine” on stage?

It’s pretty fun.

I met Canadian James Randi, known in his magician days as The Amazing Randi, on Friday while he was here attending the Australian Skeptics’ annual Amazing Meeting (that’s seriously the name). In a moment of the kind of synchronicity that skeptics frown upon, it was the day after celebrity psychic John Edwards, a target of skeptical thinkers, spoke in the same room. Amazing!

The whole experience was rendered more surreal by the fact Randi looks like he’s stepped from warlock central casting – stooped and coming up to my ribcage he sports a long white beard, wireframe spectacles and a comically cocked eyebrow. And is delightfully enthusiastic.

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James Randi and me

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the best-ever iphone apps: a listicle (part 1)

I’m excited about a few apps that make life sweeter, better, lighter. I’ve listed the ones I swear by. Please do add yours to the mix below (I’ll do up another post down the track of your suggestions…).

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Most of you know about Bump (free) and Shazam (free), yes? The former shares contacts when you bump another Iphone owner’s phone (which also has the Bump app installed). Bump!

The latter is just mandatory. You like a song on the radio. Or in a mall. You press the button. It tells you the name of said song and artist. You can then buy it on iTunes. Shazam!

And I’ve banged on enough in the past about Instapaper (free) for saving and reading Web pages after you’ve moved offline.

Others on my iphoney (be sure to add to the list at the bottom in the comments bit!):

Hipstamatic ($1.19)

This is seriously sweet. A photography app that will – unpredictably, randomly, in an artful way – saturate, blur, sepia your pics. It runs frames around them, makes them look like old-school Polaroids and so on. Here’s an example (the kid isn’t mine…Aldous is my best mate Rosie’s little urchin. BTW, I just noticed the Photo Restoration sign in the background…how synchrolicious!).

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Sleep On It (free)

You an insomniac? Don’t know why? This one lets you track your nightly patterns and moods and daytime snoozes,  helping you work out what factors are affecting your sleep and how much sleep you need each night to feel rested and energized and other stuff. It’s also an alarm.

Google (free)

Don’t waste your time with the standard browser – the app is waaaay better and funnerer. You can voice your search – you can say “Caltex” it will use GPS to find you the nearest one.  Handy at trivia nights. Just say the topic and it will find the wiki for it. The recent update allows you to take a photo of, say, a book or DVD or a wine bottle and Google searches for information on it!! So clever. So fast.

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