January Roundup...

Do you believe it's the last day of January? Already? Me neither. The summer is two thirds of the way through and Christmas seems like it was weeks ago.

It can't be possible, surely? And yet, it has been busy...


As I said in the first days of January, I have big plans for 2012. Some of them have had a good start, a couple have already fallen by the wayside.

So far I have managed to blog every day. Though, I will admit, I did cheat a little bit over the weekend. It was Sunday morning when I remembered I hadn't posted the day before, so I quickly did a post and post dated it to Saturday. Hmmmm... not quite what I had in mind, but at least I managed to have a post uploaded for every day this month. That's a first. And I am determined to keep it up.

The daily diary was the first casualty. And I am disappointed with myself on that one. I started well, but I missed a couple of days and it wasn't long before the rot set in. It is something I really love but for me I wanted it to be an artistic outlet and I had all these grand ideas as to how it would be filled. Unfortunately, if I want to fulfill this plan every day, it's just not maintainable, and it takes too much time. It's a bit of a copout I guess but that is the reality. As I said earlier, it's going to be a big year, and I will be doing a lot of journalling but I have decided it will not be in the form of a daily diary as such. Journaling yes, Dear Diary, no.

Apart from that little glitch, January has still been a big month and a busy start to the year. Despite taking no additional time off work, I have been lucky enough to catch up with friends, enjoy some great weather, relaxed on the beach and had a few swims in the sea. I have been kayaking on the Yarra River and have done a 4 hour photography course in St Kilda. And last, but certainly NOT least, today I activated my RSVP profile in a return to internet dating. I know - crazy huh?

See, it's all go go go here.

How is the beginning of 2012 going for you?

Barcelona Street Sculpture...

Sunday snapshot.

Instagram weekend project...

Have you checked out instagram? Do you love it like I do? Did you know they have a weekend hash tag project. @jayzombie announces it every Friday. This weekend is #soloparking.

Let me know if you're taking part. I'm going to try and do it each weekend. No doubt I'll post about it here.

Looking forward...

Looking forward to a weekend hanging out with one of my oldest friends.

The instagram pic is from yesterday's Australia Day theme.

Australia Day...

"I've been to cities that never close down,
From New York to Rio and old London town,
But no matter how far or how wide I roam,
I still call Australia home."

Music & Lyrics, Peter Allen

Australia is my home and I count my blessings every day.
Happy Australia Day everyone.

The Butterfly Circus for you to watch...

The Butterfly Circus - HD from The Butterfly Circus on Vimeo.

The Butterfly Circus...

Have you seen The Butterfly Circus? It's a magical short film that was introduced to me by my Dad and has become a favourite. In fact everyone who I have recommended it to has been equally entranced.

I recommend you track it down and take some time out to watch it too. It's just over 20 minutes, so grab yourself a drink, make yourself comfortable and lose yourself for just a little while.

You can watch it here on the website...

And once you've seen it and decided you'd like a copy for yourself, you can buy it here. And if you really like it and want to give a few copies away to friends, like my Dad did at Christmastime, you can buy a pack of five here.

Summer grapes...

Summer fruit.

Sunday snapshot

Old ute,
Eden Park.

I heart home #7...

This is my favourite room at my favourite time of day...
My bedroom, late in the afternoon, when the dappled sun rests on my bed.
And a few other things I like here too...

I heart home #6...

My little pot garden.

In the absence of a garden of my own, I have managed to plant a little garden of pots that sits in the courtyard out the back. I am lucky to look out of my kitchen window at my beautiful frangipani.

I heart home #5...

I heart home #4...

My special treasures board. 

And surprise surprise - a few more J's.

I'm not really liking the way the iphone blog app is bringing in images... there is no formatting options (size, position etc) and it seems low res. Hmmm... will have to look into this at home.

Have a good day everyone!

I heart home #3...

Top of my kitchen cabinet 

I heart home #2...

I loved my flat the moment I walked through the front door and knew instantly that I wanted to live here. I immediately felt at home and could imagine our furniture fitting in beautifully and my partner and I making it our home. To be honest, we never expected to be able to buy it as it was out of our price range, but as fortune would have it, the timing was right, we stretched our budget, and we bought it at auction within a month of seeing it for the first time.

It's had a bit of a face lift in the years since, especially after Alan and I broke up when I (with the help of family) renovated and redecorated and made it my space.

I bought in as much light as I could, removing the heavy wooden venetian blinds and replacing them with more light friendly roller blinds, and painting the walls a rich cream that was warm as well as inviting and bright. It's a ground floor flat, so the light can be rather shadowy sometimes, but it's heaps better than when we first moved in.

In the 12 years since we initially took possession, and especially since I have been on my own, I have filled it with bit and pieces, furniture I collected from garage sales and a junk shop or two... a few homemade items and lots of trinkets, some of which have grown into collections. I hung art on the walls, some by me and some by artists I love and can afford or have been lucky enough to have gifted to me.

I am now single once more and just recently a flatmate moved in and so I had to move all my stuff into a smaller space and purge or sell (or relocate) the excess. (Yes, I will be having a garage sale at some point to get rid of more!). I still like to surround myself with things that I love, and despite the reduced space, it's still my creative haven.

Often I wander around and take little snapshots of the things I like, so this week, I'm going to share a few  pics with you and give you a little glimpse into my space. A pic a day, maybe with a few words.

Welcome to my home...

This is my bedroom door. The unusual looking instrument hanging on the door is a door harp that my Mum bought for me in Tasmania, beautifully crafted out of tasmanian sassafras (I think). It's makes a soft tinkling noise (funnily enough much like a harp) whenever I open or close the door. 

On the floor is a felt ball 'freckle' rug that I bought on Ebay just before Christmas, and on the bedside table is a framed print by a favourite blogger and artist Geninne, whose blog I have been following since I started blogging in 2007. You can probably see a block of wood with the letter J... it's one of many J's I have collected over the years. No doubt you will spy a few more over the next few week.

I heart home #1...

This week I am going to do a series on why I love my home. Here is the first snap...

A cushion cover I bought in the UK last year. Love it.

Kayaking Melbourne city...

Last night a friend and I joined an evening kayaking trip that began in the Docklands area of Melbourne and ventured into the mouth of the Yarra River and under the Bolte Bridge.

It had been looking pretty ordinary weather wise for most of the day, but thankfully the rain held off and the dark clouds merely acted as a dramatic backdrop to this amazing city as we watched the fading light turn the city golden.

It was pretty spectacular, though the only shot I have to share is from dry ground after the hour and a half on the water.

I do love the Bolte Bridge. And it was a highlight of the night to paddle beneath its span.

I am also happy to report no Coast Guard rescue was required and we did not make it onto the late news.

Mahna Mahna...

Yes. I went to the see the Muppet Movie last night. And yes, it's corny and it's silly, but it's the Muppets through and through...

And I loved it. (In a Muppet kind of way you understand)

If you are a fan, get out there and see for yourself. Take along a little kid and introduce them to your childhood friends... but if you don't have any kids to take along, go along anyway. The number of adults far outweighed the number of children in the cinema last night.

And I challenge you to leave without having a few all too familiar tunes stuck in your head!

Let me start you off...
Mahna Mahna...

It's time to play the music...

It's time to light the lights...

It's time to meet the Muppets...

Their Movie Premiere's tonight!

Yippee! I love The Muppets.

I for one will be going to see it pretty darn soon.

Ma-na-ma-na.

Rude, just plain rude...

Yesterday I was standing in a queue to buy a drink at my place of work (large corporation, has small shop amongst many other on-site serveries that mean the staff don't have to leave the premises).

As I stood there, a guy I know came and joined the queue and together we were waiting patiently and making small talk as the queue progressed. A few moments later, the queue was also joined by his boss... who immediately interrupted our conversation and started talking about work!

What he had to do, what the next deadline was, what her expectations were.

He was on LUNCH for goodness sake!

Lunch time is lunch time and work time is work time.

Not to mention butting in on a conversation!

Lady - you need to get some manners...

That was just plain rude.

So many clothes, nothing to wear...

Work day mornings are never easy. Never.

And choosing something to wear is pretty much my first hurdle. It's the first decision that sees me delay getting out of bed.

And whilst I had to 'downsize' when I took on a flat mate last year and moved out of my bedroom and into a room without built in robes (and I have an amount of clothes that most women would shudder at) I do have a selection of clothes that allow me to rotate my wardrobe and 'mix it up' - a bit. 

Mostly I manage to pull something together.

But why is it, that once you finally make the decision, drag yourself out of bed, shower and find yourself standing at the rack of clothes, that the thing you most wanted to wear has lost a button, is in need of an iron*, or one piece of the 'ensemble' is at the bottom of the washing basket?

Which then generally lends itself to more indecision, a few moments of huffing and puffing and the somewhat disheveled look for which I am becoming renowned.

*Actually a rare occurrence as I don't use an iron unless it's absolutely essential. And given that I try not to even buy clothes that require ironing, even more unlikely! But you know what I mean...

Photo taken at The Tate Modern, London, 2011.

Quote of the day...

The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.

EPICTETUS

Creative weekend... Lino printing using an old mangle as a press

Some time ago I bought an old restored clothes mangle on ebay. It is a beautiful piece and I bought it with the sole purpose of using it to print lino artwork... pretty much giving an old piece of machinery a new lease on life, reinventing it as a printing press. It is old, it is beautifully restored, and it is extremely heavy! Given it's weight and size, it is difficult to transport and is unlikely to fit into my flat. Thankfully my parents are both encouraging of my creativity and have been good enough for me to leave it in their home just waiting for me to get motivated to put it to good use.

Well over a year ago now, a friend and I gave it a bit of a test run, but it was quite hit and miss and we didn't do a great deal, though some results showed promise. Since then the mangle has sat dormant in my parents home.

Another friend has been saying for a while now (knowing our shared love of the art) that he would like to come and give it a shot too. At last we finally managed to organise it and Timmo came and stayed this weekend and we gave the press another run. This time round (after a bit of trial and error) we managed to get some great results.

Take a look...

This is Timmo's beautiful piece which measures about 6" square.

These are both my pieces and are around about postcard size. 

The bird is a rerun of of a lino I carved a couple of years ago.

Here we are with the press - note Timmo's newspaper printer's hat.

Thanks Mum and Dad for hosting our creative chaos this weekend, and thanks to Timmo also for a great weekend, a great chance to catch up and to get creative. Now it's time to get carving more lino's, so we can get back there soon and give it another go!

Star app...

Gotta tell you about this awesome app a friend showed me last night and I have since added to my iPhone. If you have a smart phone or mobile device, seriously track this down. It's called 'star walk' and it is AMAZING.

Basically, load the app, take it outside and point it skywards and it aligns with your position and lines up with the night sky, telling you the names of stars, the constellations, the names of satellites... And more.

It cost $2.99au and I (personally) think its well worth it. This pic is a screen grab of part of the sky outside tonight.

Oh, and it can be used during the day too, and whilst you won't actually see the stars to which it refers, you now know where they are. Very cool.

A friendly face...

You really can find a friendly face in the most unexpected places.

Remember to smile today...

If it's so damn hot, why do I feel like I'm living in a fridge?

I love the summer and I love the heat.

I love the feeling of warm sunshine on my back. I love warm mornings where the wind is soft and the light cast by the early morning sun is a pale gold.

I love swimming in the ocean and the instant drop in body temperature. I love floating on the waves with my painted toes bobbing on the surface, rising and dropping with the rhythm of the ocean. I love standing on the beach, with my feet greeting the waves and sinking in the sand as my skin prickles with the drying of salt water on my skin.

I love going barefoot. I love tanned skin and white smiles. I love ice-cream and coke spiders.

I love the smell of a storm after a long hot day. Steam rising from heat soaked surfaces, the smell of plants drinking deeply and breathing a cool sigh of relief.

I love hot summer nights and tall ice-filled drinks. I love sleeping with nothing but a sheet.

I love it. And even when the temperature rises to the low 40's as it has here in the last couple of days, I refuse to complain. Because at least it isn't winter.

And yet, there is one thing I hate about summer... because as the summer heats up and the inevitable complaining of summer-haters hits full force, the inside air temperature inevitably drops as the air conditioning is turned to high. There is no escaping as you enter shopping centres, movie theatres and offices and are subject to icy conditions that would be considered uncomfortable in winter.

I hate the over use of air conditioning. I spend my summer work days unable to escape and unable to appreciate the seasonal passing. I have to take additional clothes to avoid frostbite! I understand and appreciate that cooling is needed for a comfortable work environment, what I do not understand is having to contend with these goosebump inducing conditions at temperatures way below the comfort level.

And my discomfort is nothing in comparison to the environmental implications and additional drain on electricity supplies. Come on people... pull down the shades when the sun is at it's hottest, open the windows when there is a cool breeze, drink long cool drinks and take a swim if you can... embrace the seasons and soak up the summer while you can.

And please please please, turn down the aircon!

I know where I'd rather be...

Some days when I wake in the morning, I don't want to get up. I'd far rather stay in bed and let the world turn without me. but I know, there is no one who will do it for me and I just have to get on with it.

Today was such a day.

It was hard to get up and face a day of work... when just yesterday, this was my early morning destination.

I know where I'd rather be.

2010 - Day 2

I am a great fan of New Years Resolutions. In the past they have changed my life. No exaggeration. At the moment I am writing a book about one such life changing resolution. That is one of my challenges of 2012. It's going to be a busy year...

This year I will be blogging every day.

Yes.

Every SINGLE day.

It might be a brief post, but rest assured, it WILL be every day.

A snapshot, a story, an opinion... 

Along with blogging, on a more private and personal side, I am writing every day. I have a diary which I am determined to connect with every day and that I will share with you every now and again to give you a glimpse of what is going on inside my private thoughts and my daily adventures.

I want to read more too. Dig into that pile of books that continues to grow.

I am also enrolled to return to part time study starting in February, with the ultimate aim of a change in career direction (more details to come).

AND, as if that isn't enough, I am going to make a return to internet dating. After being single since 2008, it is time to throw myself back out there and find someone special to share my life with (yes, I will keep you updated)

2012 is going to be my "Year of Gratitude".

A year full of reminding myself to be grateful for all that I have, all that I have had, and all that is waiting in the future. Acknowledging my reasons to be thankful, of which I have an abundance, will be a big part of my life this year.

It's going to be busy, but I will make the time, because all of these things are important. To fit it all in, I will cut back on the things that are less important, the time wasters... TV... Browsing the internet... Sitting on my butt doing nothing... I will be spending less time feeling guilty about the things I should be doing, and just getting on and doing them.

Welcome to my 2012.

How is yours going so far?

2012

A big year begins now.