top ten pictures from the week ~ 21 September 2011

You would think wouldn't you...

that because it's been two weeks since my last top ten...

I'd have lots of pics to share with you.

But, nope....'fraid not :(

Because the reason I haven't posted for two weeks...

is that I've been busy, busy

and have had to drastically reduce the old blog stalking time.

Sorry about that...

but I made it...

just!

images seen on: a punch of color; brabourne farm; princess anne county; small space style; ada and darcy; casa sugar; the red thread; head over heels; apartment therapy

lessons from the 100 day challenge...

The 100 day don't buy anything I don't really need challenge is over. Here is my first post about the challenge where I tell you why I started this madness and here is the halfway point post where I 'fess up to a couple of small purchases in Bali. And I bet you're wondering what I've learned from the experience. Yes, I am too. But first, a recap...here's what I said I would give up buying for 100 days:

• magazines 
• books 
• appliances
• clothing, shoes and accessories
• music
• craft materials
• anything decorative for my house
• linen and towels
• cosmetics
• iPad applications
• anything from an op shop that I don't need even if it is an absolute bargain and I'm helping a charity. 
• wine (just kidding...!)

So how did I go?

• Magazines: 2 in 100 days, but I did renew my subscription to Real Living last month and I feel fine about that. Magazines are what I thought I would miss most, but I haven't. Not really. Occasionally I'd linger over the magazines in the supermarket but the feeling soon went away. And there are always blogs, and a lovely friend did buy me a few as a gift, and I still haven't finished reading them :)
• Books: ok, moving right along. I didn't buy books for maybe the first month but I couldn't manage for 100 days. I love books. Always have. Always will. Can't live without them. Therefore they fall into the category of 'need'. No guilt. Not a bit.
• Appliances: apart from the kettle that blew up, a little electric mini chopper/blender/whizzy thing. I've used it and it only cost $20 so I think that's ok.
• Clothing, shoes and accessories: nope, nothing. Now that's what I call impressive, although with spring and summer upon us that may change a little over the next few months.
• Music: no
• Craft materials: only the bits I needed for gifts I was making, which still aren't finished. Yep, I'm a great starter but finishing is sometimes a challenge :)
• anything decorative for my house: no, except for the occasional bunch of flowers and I'd say that was perfectly justified!
• Linen and towels: no
• Cosmetics: well, it's like this. I was going incredibly well with this until a friend invited me to a cosmetics party last weekend. I think the products I bought will be brilliant but it's a bit too early to tell yet...I'll let you know
• iPad apps: just the Blogpress one which I haven't used, so that may be justified in going into the things I didn't really need category
• stuff from op shops: I went into a few when we went to Ballarat, but apart from a couple of books (see above) I've bought nothing!
• wine: don't be crazy. 

And, what have I learned (and I'm not about to write an essay on consumerism...although I probably could...so don't worry!):

• that I definitely have enough 'things' and I'm not in the least bit deprived (nor do I feel deprived, there's a difference) if I don't have more/the latest/or in some cases the replacement
• that I'm becoming less interested in 'stuff' (except book type stuff...see above!)
• that while I'm happy to go shopping with others I really don't have all that much interest in buying for myself these days (is this a sign of age I wonder or just an acceptance of enough?)
• that in the early days of the challenge I used avoidance as a strategy (i.e. didn't go anywhere near shops, didn't open emails from shops, didn't follow links to shops on blogs). Now I don't need to avoid, but I'm just not all that interested to be honest
• that when I do buy I think about it much more carefully. I ask myself do I really, really need it or do I love it so much that I will forever kick myself if I don't get it? And importantly if I do need it is this the best option, because for sure I have a lot of things in my house that haven't been the best choice. And if the answer is yes, then of course I'm going to buy it, provided it's affordable. It's not about not buying for the sake of not buying. 
• that I've been surprised at the things I've said no to...they've mostly been things for the house...this has always been my weak spot (along with books!)...and unsuitable men ;)
• that I really, truly love having a zero balance on the credit card statement
• that 'things' don't make you happy (but we all knew that) and that some things make you smile every time you look at them...and that they are the things you know you've bought well...they are the things you would be quite correct in saying you really need :)

And during it all I found this quote, which sums up the experience quite nicely I think.

"Enough is abundance to the wise."

 Euripides

Someone indicated to me that Euripides also said "where there is no wine, there is no love".  I suspect that may not be an accurate quote, but I'm happy to go with it!

 Now, what will I try next I wonder :)

images: my clever girl; flickr; google images

turn your radio on...

I don't listen to the radio much. Mostly it will be when I'm in the car and occasionally on the weekend. And as a sign of I know not what, these days it's permanently tuned to ABC Radio National, not to JJJ or a commercial radio station as in days of old. Is this a sign of my age? Probably.

But I've heard some wonderfully interesting things in the last week and I'm determined to turn on the radio a lot more.  I've learned (or been reminded) that:

• lifts are the most unsociable places you can find yourself in (there's a short story that's slowly, slowly taking shape in my mind about this)
• people live in very small homes quite happily, and apparently the 'not so big' house movement is the antidote to the McMansions epidemic. But, Australian houses lead the world in size - double the size of a house in Denmark but also bigger than American houses - that really surprised me. And, get this...the amount of space we take up as individuals is equivalent to 2.5 tennis courts (that includes roads, housing, hospitals, employment). Hell, why aren't we all Roger Federer then? As a comparison, Parisians take up just over one court and Londoners a mere three quarters. Interesting.

• there's much pleasure to be gained in listening to someone read you a short story...back to our infancy perhaps?
• if you're planning to build a skyscraper don't bother with more than 50 floors - above this and you drastically reduce your return on investment (so glad I found that out!)
• I'd really love to see the Aboriginal opera Pecan Summer, inspired by the first mass strike of Aboriginal people in this country - something I knew nothing about - shame on our education system.

• losing weight is not as straightforward as we think - less calories, more exercise is only a small part of the solution; if you engage others in helping you lose weight you're more likely to be successful; and if you're an all or nothing, black and white thinker you're much more likely to regain the weight you've lost. Be flexible about the amount of weight you can reasonably lose seems to be the message. If only it were that easy :)

And there were a few wonderful hours yesterday morning listening to the live broadcast from the Brisbane Writers Festival. Are you a radio listener or is it the TV that turns you on? Or perhaps you're happiest with the wonderful sounds of silence?

image: 1; 2; 3

frozen moments in time...

Sunday is the tenth anniversary of the day that will forever, or for at least a very long time be known as nine eleven. And my heart goes out to all those who are still suffering. I remember exactly what I was doing and where I was when I heard the news...or rather, saw it on the tv. I bet you do too.

I also remember the details of the day Diana died, and exactly where I was during her funeral (on a supposedly romantic weekend away, with me refusing to budge from the tv coverage). Funnily enough that relationship didn't last but poor Diana wasn't the reason!

I also vividly remember the day of the first moon landing. We were sent home from school early to watch it because schools in those days didn't have tv...yep, I'm that old!

I can also remember overhearing my best friend Barbara's dad telling others what he thought should happen to the person who shot Bobby Kennedy. I won't repeat it here.
Closer to home the Newcastle earthquake in 1989 was a shock on a personal level. I was living in England and a phone call from the other side of the world delivered the news that a relative had been killed.

I don't really have a point in writing this post, other than to remind myself how extraordinary some events are, how indelibly etched into our brains they've become and how easy it can sometimes be to take ourselves back to those frozen moments in time. And I also wonder if horrible events embed themselves more deeply than the good ones. I hope not. What do you think? 

all images google images

top ten pictures from the week ~ 7 September 11

I'll let you in on a little secret

 on the night before a top ten post

chania's wonderful florida living room...love it!

which is when I put them together

I'm normally scrabbling around like a mad chook

trying to find just the right pictures

I usually don't have enough

and I get a bit stressed.

Not this week though :)

this week through some extraordinary and inexplicable alignment of the moon and stars

I had more than enough, and I've had them for days!

not only that...

there are two extras this week

and that's the way I like it...

images in order seen on: decorology; razmataz; white trash beautiful; an indian summer; belle maison; wish you were here; desire to inspire; emily gilbert photography via desire to inspire; house of turquoise; mfamb; table tonic

My book list: august 2011

I was chatting to a stranger a few weeks ago, making polite conversation while we were waiting for our respective partners. I had a book with me and we got to talking about reading, and he lamented that he loved to read but couldn't find the time to do much of it.  And he asked me if I read a lot, and of course I said yes, quite a lot. Where do you find the time he wanted to know.  And without thinking about it, without knowing it was the answer, I said 'I make it a priority'.
And that's the trick. I make reading a priority. And I hear you say, if only it were that easy. And I know it's not. But in my world, living alone and without small people needing my attention, or people of any size really, just an annoying cat at meal times, I can do it. And the reality is, I would be lost without the pleasure of reading. Completely lost.
I read eight books this month...I'm pleased about that. The reading frequency dropped off for a while there as I let other less important things get in the way. You'll notice that there are more non-fiction than usual and that many of them are about writing. I'm trying to learn as much as I can...it's not easy! I've also been doing an online creative writing course with the Sydney Writers' Centre so writing has pretty much consumed me lately. Here's the list:

Writing down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg - non fiction

On Writing by Stephen King - autobiography

The Sweet Poison Quit Plan by David Gillespie - non fiction

Short Circuit: a guide to the art of the short story edited by Vanessa Gebbie

Living Oprah by Robyn Okrant - non-fiction/journal

Shooting the Fox - short stories by Marion Halligan

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield - novel (for Book Club)

The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind - novella

It's hard to choose a favourite this month because I've read all sorts of books for all sorts of different reasons (I'll let you know about the sugar quitting in a few weeks...it's not a pretty story I'm sad to say!), but if I were to recommend a book to you, the prize would go to....

...maybe that's because it was the only novel I read, or perhaps I liked it because it's about a writer...two in fact :) Margaret Lea is the narrator, a book lover, and part time biographer who works in her father's bookstore and lives a solitary life defined by an event in her past. She is contacted by Vida Winter, an ageing, ailing and famous author who wants Margaret to record her autobiography before she dies. Vida tells story upon story before the truth is finally revealed. I think you might like it. And you lovely people, what's your latest good read?

exhibitions from the foto biennale...

The lovely Rachael left me a comment  the other day saying 'you do love your exhibitions!'. And it's true...I do. I definitely do.

brian duffy - jean shrimpton

While we didn't get close to seeing all 72 exhibitions when we went to the Foto Biennale in Ballarat a few weeks ago, we did manage a few. There was a brilliant retrospective of Brian Duffy, who died last year and was almost as famous as his famous subjects...

brian duffy - ziggy stardust

The next is by one of Richard's portfolio reviewers Cynthia Karalla...

We met the next photographer Heather Dinas when we were having breakfast at the Bibo cafe. She was lovely. Just as an aside, Richard chose 'the dog's breakfast' from the menu!

heather dinas - i carry your heart

 heather dinas - at your feet

heather dinas - lucretia

The next one by Judith Crispin, who is also a poet really captivated me...

 judith crispin - self diptych

judith crispin - soliloquy

judith crispin - afternoon of the cartographer

...and while I was looking at them I had a discussion with a photographer who'd also been having her work reviewed, about how I thought it was the height of laziness for an artist to label an image 'untitled'. And then she told me that's what she did! But she was very good about it and promised to think about what I'd said and why I thought titles were so important. I wonder if she went off muttering to herself about ill informed, amateur art critics! Probably. But, you know, it's all about the words for me, and how they can enhance the visual. Although I do concede that it's probably very easy to get it wrong.

Love, love, love these next ones by Lisa M Robinson. It's not often that the bloke I and agree on art, but we did with these from the Snowbound series...

 lisa m robinson - phantom

 lisa m robinson - verandah view

 lisa m robinson - running fence

lisa m robinson - echo

alfred 'greg' gregory - blackpool

There's still a few more weeks of the festival. Or if you can't get there, plenty of images on the website.
What do you think - titled or untitled?

Have a great weekend whatever it is you're doing...I might just go to another exhibition :))