ANZAC Day

For me (and everyone else I know) not a glorification of war but a day of remembrance and respect for those men and women, husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who suffered trauma no people should have to suffer in order that we are among the lucky people of the world who have the right to complain about things like the "glorification of war" on social media such as twitter and facebook.

While I am standing in the chill and lifting-dark of early morning at the Dawn Service I am thinking about how cold, dirty, sick, hungry, lonely, sore and scared the majority of soldiers were in that transitional time between night duties and day duties on front lines.
I also often think about the agonising unbearable unknowingness that people at home must have felt in a time before skype, satellites and high speed internet.
Not my idea of glory, that's for sure.

Thank you to those people I know of in my family who were changed immeasurably and in some cases lost their lives and futures as a consequence of war.

I do my best to remember you, especially today.


Uncle Bob Silcock  1917 - 1999
WW2 #296993
4th Brigade 20th Battalion 2nd NZEF 1939 - 1945

Uncle Bob Papps 1922 -
WW2 Navy

Uncle Les Papps 1923 - 2006
WW2 reg# 618429. 
Compulsory military training. He was called to service overseas including Egypt and Japan. 
 
Uncle Richard Papps 1931 -
Served in army in Malaysia

Uncle Jack Park 1926 -

Great Uncle Edgar Noble Papps 1908 - 1998

Great Uncle Charlie Papps 1883 - 1943

Great Uncle Henry (Harry) Papps 1878 - 1958

Great Uncle George Samuel Papps 1874 - 1948

Great Uncle Arthur Papps 1888 - 1977
WW1 #33149 Lieutenant New Zealand Rifle Brigade

Great Uncle Herman Wendleborn 1896 - 1962
WW1 #7/1160 & WW2

Upon enlisting in 1915, Herman stated his year of birth as 1894 to appear older and therefore be eligible for service. After being wounded at Gallipoli (head wound) and spending some time recovering in Egypt, Herman was sent home to New Zealand on 11 February 1916.

At the outbreak of WWII, Herman re-enlisted for duty with the Home Guard. He again changed his date of birth, this time to make himself seem younger (40 instead of 43). He served at Papakura Military Camp, Waiouru Military Camp, and HMNZS Devonport until his discharge on 2 January 1944.


Great Uncle Laurence Wendelborn 1893-1918
WW1 #7/291 Corporal

Laurence served in Egypt, Gallipoli and Western Europe.
His military awards included the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
He was wounded in action at Gallipoli on around the 7th August 1915 and admitted to hospital on the 9th. He was discharged back to base and readmitted to hospital a few times throughout August, through September and into Dec 1915. On 13 Nov 1918 he was admitted to the Featherston Military Camp Hospital in Wellington and died on 15 November 1918, age 25.

Great Uncle Darkie Wendelborn 1884 - 1952

Clifford Wendelborn 1914-1995
WW2

Lance Corporal Clifford Laurence Wendelborn - serial number 16215. Clifford served as an infantryman, despatch rider, tankman and driver during WWII. He repeatedly refused promotion. 

Ron Wendelborn
 WW2 Reg #: 21111 NZ Army Corp 1939/1945 

He returned to New Zealand on 23 January 1946. During the trip back, Ronald requested a demotion from Sergeant back to Corporal.

Jack Leslie Friend 1920 - 25 May 1941

WW2 reg #8378
Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF), 1st Echelon 20 Canterbury and Otago Battalion
Died of his battle wounds in Crete

Stanley James Wendelborn 1919 - 1945
WW2 Gunner, New Zealand Artillery, 4 Field Regiment
Died at war - Cassino, Italy

Henry (Harry) John Windleborn 1910 - 1988

WW2 Chief Petty Officer Airman
Military awards include  the 1939-45 Star, the Africa Star, the Pacific Star (Burma clasp), War Medal 1939-45 and the New Zealand War Service Medal.

Percy Herbert Windleburn 1885 – 1945
WW1

New Zealand Mounted Rifles, Reserve Battalion. # 80399. When he enlisted in 1918, Percy gave his birth year as 1890 rather than 1885, making it appear that he was only 28. 



Lawerence (Lon) CF Windleburn 1897 – 1974
WW1 New Zealand Expeditionary Force 42nd Reinforcements D Company

Philip Edward (Tulip) Windleborn 1920 - 1990
WW2 Korean War reg # 72279 & 207892

 

New Zealand Field Artillery, 29 Light Anti Aircraft Battery: Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force (2NZEF) & Kayforce.

Military Awards

• 1939-45 Star
• Pacific Star
• Italy Star
• Defence Medal
• War Medal 1939-45
• New Zealand War Service Medal
• Korea Medal 1950-53
• The United Nations Medal (Korea)

Henry Charles Schroder 1895 - 1971
WW1 reg #: 26461 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 14th Reinforcements New Zealand Engineers

Percival August Edward Schroder 1896 -
WW1 Reg # 35501  NZ Rifle Brigade 11th Reinforcements 4th Battalion, (H Company )

Albert Charles SCHRODER 1874 - 1929
WW1 reg# 72861. New Zealand Expeditionary Force 37th Reinforcements C Company

Bernard Austin Schroder 1897 - 1956
WW1 reg# 25/570. NZ Rifle Brigade 3rd Battalion, C Company

Cecil Lawerence Schroder 1883 - 1968
WW1 reg# 59463 New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 31st Reinforcements Auckland Infantry Regiment, A Company

Henry James Schroder 1881 - ?
WW1 reg#25/144   New Zealand Expeditionary Force 3rd Battalion, B Company

Arthur Charles Schwass 1905 - 1982
WW1 reg#74550  New Zealand Expeditionary Force 40th Reinforcements E Company


Leo Philip Schwass 1897 - 1918
WW1 reg#48413  New Zealand Expeditionary Force 26th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company killed in action 15 July 1918 Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France


Sidney Charles Schwass
WW1 Reg# 29307 New Zealand Expeditionary Force 18th Reinforcements Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company

Lewis Henry Windleborn 1893 – 1917
 WW1, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2 Battalion, 13 Company

Polygon Wood (Polygoneveld, or Bois de Polygone), named for its shape, was a large wood near the Ypres-Menin road at Veldhoekn (north east of Ypres), Belgium.
A prominent artificial mound in the wood, called the Butte, had been used by the Belgian army as a shooting range prior to 1914. Fought over during the First Battle of Ypres in October/November 1914, it thereafter remained in German hands until Third Battle of Ypres (aka The Battle of Passchendaele) in 1917.

The NZ Division went to Polygon Wood during the winter of 1917-1918 (about October). It was a very cold winter. NZ suffered about 3000 losses during that winter in Polygon Wood. They carried out the attack on Polderhoek Chateau on the right hand side of Polygon Wood on 3 December.
 On the 13 December Lewis was killed in action here.
At the end of February 1918 the NZ Division were relieved from their post.

Lest We Forget 
.

My Bill Bailey (?) dream

 The other morning in the early hours I had this dream and I was so keen to not forget it I had a dream where I could remember all the details of my dream in which I was sure I was awake and then I woke up.

I was still really keen to remember my dream but then I got up and went to work but I still could remember my dream.

But I forgot to write it down so this is what I remember of the dream I was really keen to remember - three days later

I was with Bill Bailey (who was a brother kind of figure to me in this dream) and we had to catch this chairlift thing to this island sanctuary place to spend the day looking around. Bill got on the seat thing and the harness strap automatically came over his shoulders from the back to attach to two button things like how overalls attach on his chest except mine didn't attach properly so off he went and I didn't get to go...
 So I had to go on the next one so I don't think I saw Bill again.
When I got there it was raining so then I couldn't go looking around the island and I had to wait for an hour before the next chair lift thing back.
There was something about a gift shop with activities on the island that I went to instead of looking around and instead of waiting the hour I said I could just walk around the other side coz across the lake I could see a back way I could walk around.

So I walked that way and on the way I stopped at a house right by the side of the lake/water and in the garden there were flowers all different with colours but some of them weren't flowers they were camoflauged flying butterfly seahorse shaped things (like those sea dragons).
I was showing them to a young person thinking about how I could just see them even though other people had trouble, I just had no trouble spotting them.
There was something about the water of the lake there. Something happening to do with a zoo kind of thing with animals in the water and keepers but disappointingly I cannot remember that part right now! Perhaps dolphins or seals and keepers keeping an eye on people who had gone into the water at that part.

 I was meant to remember! No idea why I was meant to remember this dream, LOL -  it is not like it is important like other dreams I have. The only reason I am writing it down here is because it is not worth writing down anywhere else and the main thing about it was how I was anxious about remembering it when I work up!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve was invented by Greg Orian in February 1582.
Greg was the 13th Pope called Greg and like to put his right foot in and then his left foot - in a move later called the Hokey Pokey.
New Year's Eve is celebrated as a cascade across the earth and involves kissing strangers and making noise.
New Year's Eve is a famous time for lying.
In some parts of South America it is important to wear brightly coloured underpants on NYE in the event you have a drunken accident and are taken to hospital. It is also important that they at least start out clean for this reason.
In Denmark a vital part of your NYE costume is a chair. At the stroke of midnight there is a mad dash to scramble up on your chair and jump off in order to banish the evil spirits lingering in the previous year.

In the Philipines the people in the know were polka dots and carry fruit such as grapes and oranges in honour of the moon.
In Spain it is common for people to choke on the stroke of Midnight.

Time

Time was invented in the mid 1600s, at about five to eleven, to mark the appropriate part of the day to have a wee smackeral of something.

Thyme has nothing to do with time, or Time, or The Times.
Morris Day however, does have a connection to The Time.
The Times timed the time it took to grow thyme, while listening to The Time.
(32 days) (incidentally, Morris Day does not have time to Morris Dance).

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was invented by prisoners in the tower of London in 1666.
It is most famously celebrated by pilgrims who breed turkeys and release them on the last Thursday in November. Amongest the Masai people thanksgiving is observed by selecting a long branch or switch and whipping your female grateful relatives.

In America the holiday began as the giving of "Fanques" a french breed of dog. Unfortunately the native americans couldnt pronounce "fanques" the word became "thanks"....
The holiday is observed in all the the fifty american states and also the other two that aren't represented by stars on the flag and all other countries where Americans are living, except for at Beth's place coz she forgot (that's what happens to people when they successfully break free of patriotism and their country and become kiwi!).

Today I am thankful for all the people I love and my Oprah Ticket!

Oprah

Oprah was created 457 million years ago from ancient star dust and discarded unicorn horn. She was transported to the earth on a small quilted cushion through a multidimensional wormhole from somewhere in the Horsehead Nebula.

Her alien origins have been hidden from public view, with the exception of a few occasions. One of these was when she tried to "unwrap" her 1985 Best Supporting Actress Oscar, thinking it was chocolate wrapped in gold foil. Her film career has included playing a slave, a goose, a bee and a frog. Of her 18,000 books her favorite is "Look Under Your Chair: a guide to gift giving". Oprah isn't just a tv/film star and author, she also rules the radio waves with her epic radio show Oprah And Friends.

Oprah will never technically die as her blood cells are actually bioengineered with nano particles and her brain is riddled with secret apple computer technology. It is said that one drop of her blood will dissolve flesh eating bacteria. Her skin is elvish mesh and tattooed with positive affirmations which become embedded in the subconscious of all who hear her voice. Oprah weighs the same as two shedded snake skins.

Extraordinarily flexible, Oprah is trained in 37 martial arts. In her 5th grading in Go Ju Kai Karate she accidentally opened the portal to nirvana and to avoid being pulled into the next life of bliss she performed the oft thought impossible Finger of Radiant Contemplation closing the portal and inadvertently ending a drought in Southern Ireland.

Oprah holds honours degrees in Cognitive Metastatistics, Molecular Stereooceanoacoustics and Polyeconomics. Her name, which resulted from a mispelling of Orpah, has been attributed with healing rabies in wolves and cleft palate in humans. Seven species of South American butterfly, three species of Papua New Guinea marsupial and two species of extinct New Zealand bat include her name in their scientific designation.

Favoured by morris dancers, Oprah is reverred as Queen of the Maypole and celebrated three times a year by a mass parading of morris dancing in small Welsh villages.

In the winter months Oprah travels the world on the back of a giant white swan granting wishes and performing random acts of compassion. On the birthday of a very special man Oprah will magically appear in front of thousands of Southern Hemispherians AND I WILL BE THERE!!!!

Shine's Unbelievable Birthday

Shine's birthday was invented on Pluto and is tattooed on the hand of all geniuses (genii?). The two days leading up to her birthday are celebrated by agricultural events and the gathering of large workhorses which parade in sparkly harness gear pulling sleds and logs back and forth in front of her. Many people compete in vegetable growing and decorative bakery to gain her favour.
In America Shine's birthday is celebrated with a meal of gratefulness on the closest Thursday.
The beginning of her birthday month is heralded by a famous horse race in the town of her birth which draws horses from all over the world.

The men of Shine's country grow moustaches all month in honour of her birthday, raising money which they donate to charity.
November in Taiwanese means "Month Of Shine"... and the natives of Easter Island perform a dance celebrating the birth of Shine, whilst wearing small gourds upon their heads...

In Scandanavia men sing a song titled "Shiney Hiney Me-o Miney" to their cats, and paint ancient egyptian runes upon their shoes.
The legend of Shine dates back to Viking times, attributed to the first queen of the vikings, Shine the reflective.
This name was given to the queen, not because she was introspective about herself, but rather that she reflected 80% of ambient light from her smile and her orange hat.
Viking Queen Shine was known to be generous and kind, whilst her nephew Rain was known to be silly. This led to the phrase "Rain or Shine" to which the asked would answer, "Dawn."
This made no sense.
The Babylonians worshipped a Godess named Shyne, who loved horses above all other animals. She loved them so much she married 71 of of them. This led to the coining of the phrase "taking a shine to you"... meaning the speaker would gladly shovel out the listener's stall.

On Jupiter Shine's birthday is only 9 hours long, but on Mars is it nearly 25 hours long. Martians celebrate this day by carving enormous faces in stone, looking towards earth. On Neptune Shine's birthday is celebrated with the traditional giving of purple nurples and candy. On leap years Shine leaps without looking, but doesnt come to harm because November 22nd is a long way away from February 29th.

The New Bullying aka When is a Joke Not a Joke

So... an airport that may or may not have needed to close due to snow, so frustrated a guy (who perhaps didn't have his RL friends around to vent to, or perhaps he has no friends... I'm just sayin'...) that he had a verbal tantrum akin to roadrage. Expressed in a 140 character tweet in which he mentioned blowing up said airport.

Seems an airport person, probably also frustrated about something (having no friends perhaps?), saw it (were they doing a search about their workplace?? see previous brackets) and reported it to the police. Original frustrated person was arrested, sent to court and fined for being menacing.

This brings to mind at least two different uses of the concept of "joke".
1. The tweeter says it was "only a joke" (and don't get me started on the way people flippantly deny responsibility by cracking out this line coz that is a subject for an, as yet, undrafted blog post).
2. The public money and time spent on this - it's got to be a joke! #twitterjoketrail

Anyway... so, of course lots of people are venting about it in their different ways.

Lots of tweeters (including a number of celebs) are showing support by tweeting their own version of the offending tweet with the hash tag #iamspartacus and changing their avatars to include a "may be a joke" disclaimer.
Stephen Fry (we love him!) has declared he will pay whatever this fellow is fined. I assume on the principal of free speech - and not the principal of badly managing one's feelings ...
People are writing blogs (err, not just me!) and columns about it. Including this one which refers to someone inferring they would like another person stoned to death (another joke, of course?!?) They got in trouble too and their defense? "I did not 'call' for the stoning of anybody. I made an ill-conceived attempt at humour." <-- read: "Just joking"!


The whole airport bombing tweet arrest and fine thing just reeks to me of old fuddyduddies grasping at straws trying to work out how to deal with this new problem of abuse. And, even though they are fuddyduddies, and out of touch with the youth and their new fangled communication technologies, their intentions are good.

But to me it's not a new problem. It's the same problem. I don't know when it started but it's been around for a long time.
Maybe millenia, maybe the cave people abused each other by being mean, angry and spiteful - or maybe it has evolved more recently since tribal warfare largely became out dated and more people began sitting around inside at their desks and doing less physical exercise.

I don't know.

I do know that it makes me think of a larger context of text bullying and facebook bullying and the destruction of a teenager's last refuge. Of vulnerable people lying on their beds, in their only sanctuary, with abuse spewing out of their phones.

I don't know if the broadening of the potential percieved audience or the escalation of the spread of a teenagers humilation exponentially increases their crushing feeling of despair and hopelessness, or their likelyhood of suicide. But I know about lying on your bed in the dark and stewing about the awfulness of being, and I can only begin to imagine how much this is compounded by a string of texts reinforcing it.
A bullying victim with a cell phone or a computer has no safe refuge.
I have to applaud people who want to do something about that.
Or do I?

Just as there are better things to have a tantrum about than an airport closing due to weather that no one can control, there are better things to spend our money and time on than the process of fining someone for saying something stupid on the internet.
If only we could take that time and money and put it into some sort of personal development programme that helps people deal with their anger better, build self esteem and be more compassionate.

So... where does freedom of speech come into it? Sounds like a good thing to be in support of, don't you think?
I am tempted to be wary of Stephen Fry throwing down his money in a way that can be percieved as supporting an idiot (that's a joke... I have no idea if this guy is an idiot, unless you go by his texty actions of course). I imagine he is actually throwing down his money in the wider principal of freedom of speech and such.
The freedom to make a joke?
I don't know if there is a definition of joke that everyone could agree with. Just as there is no universal joke that everyone laughs at. It's one of those "in the eye of the beholder" things.

The whole thing just brings up lots of "I don't know"s and "I do know"s for me.
How should it work?
People have the right to say what they want? People have the right to say what they want as long as it is not offensive to someone else? People have the right to say whatever they want as long as they don't do it directly to an individual?

Did people take a break from saying horrible things for a few decades and now that they can do it from behind a screen where no one can see them they feel free to express the anger they hold inside? And now that they aren't seen they say it.
I don't know.
I do know it all boils down to self hatred anyway.
I do know it's not new, it's just that there is a faster and broader audience for people's wretchedness.
I do know I understand the frustration of lawmakers with good intentions, law enforcers and people that can only cope with an impending airport closure by having an abusive tantrum.

So what do we do about it?
I don't know... but I'm thinking about it.


Now I shall go and research the concept of freedom of speech... and perhaps common sense.

Unbelievable Oranges

"Oranges are made of titanium. They were discovered on the Galapagos Islands by Buzz Aldrin in 1761, during the Franco-Russo-Anglo-Gnome War.
When you peel them they are segmented inside. If you remove one segment, the orange will explode 6 years later.
The french word for Orange is Pink and it is said Marie Antoinnette ate 72 oranges a day, until she was beheaded at the end of the French Revolution. It was said her blood had 25% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C." - Todd

"*buzz* I think it is true that oranges are segmented inside. And i think it is true that she was beheaded in the French Revolution" - Shine

Anyone else listen to David Mitchell's Unbelieveable Truth?

When did this happen?!?

One can no longer buy blank videos.

Somewhere, between last year when I bought my brand new video machine and a few tapes and now when my blank tapes are wearing thin, a collective decision was made to stop producing blank video cassettes.

Why wasn't there a public announcement!?!
Consultation?!

I am sure the french would riot!

grrrrrrrrrr

Third week!

Well over halfway!
Last night I cooked brownies to take to work today for Sarah's goodbye morning tea - they look stunning and I didn't get a photo! Cut into teeny squares, sprinkled with icing sugar arranged on a white plate with blueberries and purple/white pansies... I am pretty gutted i didn't get a photo.

Was no problem to make them, I did get a twinge when i grated the mars bar and was stirring it into the rich, dark sweet smelling mix - goes to show just what an addiction the sugary justtakeasmidge thing is - although not a real big problem surprisingly. Commitment. DONE.

Got to work and had to ask Beth to taste one to make sure they were ok LOL - that was funny.
They were well loved.
I am still gutted about no photo of them! I will have to recreate them at some point soon while those pansies are still flowering!

Protein

Many people believe that vegetarian diets do not give you the protein you need.
Just not true btw.
A plant based diet supplies all the protein you need (as long as you do it properly!), furthermore plant based protein contains fibre and complex carbohydrates which animal proteins don't, and they don't contain chlesterol or high amounts of saturated fat which meat, eggs and dairy do.
In fact, eating plant based proteins eliminates those other problems that eating too much animal protein can give you - heart disease, cancer and diabetes.

Bean, nuts, seeds, lentils and whole grains contain lots of protein - vegetables also contain protein. Beans have not always been (no pun intended!) my friend but I am open to enjoying them more now. Still not comfortable creating and contructing recipes with them now but I do find bean things palatable now where once I did not. Prediet cleanse nuts, seeds, lentils and whole grains were a common part of my diet so no big adjustment there.

Dinner is left over spinach and mushroom pilaf with some eggplant, zucchini and orange bell pepper, YUM!

Spinach and Mushroom Pilaf

Something new tonight!
I have been trying to remember a thing I used to make in Timaru that I loved - have not been successful in remembering what it is but I know it had flat leaf parsley in it.
Today while talking food with Beth in the office I found a pilaf recipe and maybe the thing was pilaf... anyway... pilaf for tonight! (recipe link and photo below). It was MEGA YUM. I am really enjoying cooking with spices.
Most of the food I was eating (and I think that a majority of people eat) relies on sugar salt and fat for flavour. Spices are so much more flavourful, healthy, ancient and fun!
it didn't take long to make and I used some things from my garden!

Lunch was corn thins, avocado (one dud) and tomato.. and no humus because for some reason I didn't see it when I opened the fridge at work and thougth I must have taken it home the day before, then when I put the one good avocado half back in, there was the humus, right at the front, where I left it and thought I looked for it (?!) so I just was not meant to have humus today.
















I did add a little of my special smoked garlic salt from the Saturday market man and I only used half a cinnamon stick, (which I almost ate!) he smells so good!! And I have lots of left overs... might take some to work tomorrow. YUM!
Spinach and Mushroom pilaf <--- that is the link to the recipe I used

Day 12

Sick of the disappointment of bad avocadoes!
Makes lunch a bad surprise.

Forgot to have morning snacks today and when I went for "brisk walk" at lunch I had hunger rumbles. (Forgot morning snacks due to problems with work computer which has again put me behind schedule!).

Evening was interesting - I think I had less trouble with after dinner snack pangs.

Dinner was chickpea curry left overs with some courgettes and orange pepper and salad and some berries and cherries.

Chickpea curry

Was wretched cross about somethign when I got home and coudln't relax and was worried I would snack on all sorts of rubbish so I made a chick pea curry from scratch and it turned out GREAT! It didn't take very long to make and smells so good...

Chickpea curry
2 tins of chickpeas (I used one tin)
3 tablespoons of oil (ghee would be better but it's dairy)
2 medium onions chopped
1 teaspoon grated ginger (I keep ginger root in freezer then grate as needed)
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1-2 chillies (seeded and finely chopped - depends how hot you like it!)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 large well ripe tomatoes chopped
1 tablespoon ground corriander (I ground my own from seeds)
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2-3 tablespoons fresh chopped corriander

1. Drain chickpeas and reserve liquid (I didn't)
2. heat old in large pan; add onion, ginger, garlic and turmeric and cook over low/medium heat until onion is SOFT and GOLDEN (not thin and dry and brown lol)
3.Add the tomato and cook until soft. Add corriander and chickpeas and cook for five mins. Add a cup of liquid (whatever you decide to use, I used water with a bit of stock) and cook for another ten mins.
4. Add garam masala, lemon juice and corriander and cook GENTLY for only another 2-3 mins (add more liquid if you want more sauciness).

Yum!!

Weekend food

I made sure I went to the market on Saturday morning - got some amazing raspberries, cherries and blueberries - also some special yumy crackers free from everything and some asorted vegetables and the smoked garlic salt YUM!

Made pumpkin soup for dinner tonight but for some reason it was YUK and more like a soup-in-a-cup, not like my usual yummy pumpkin soup at all.. but wiht the same ingredients so, weird.
Also experiemented with two ways to make potato rosti - one with raw potato and one with boiled. Raw is more to my liking.















I made some hummus - need to work on that mixture and also try to make my own falafel.
Hoping to do some lentils this week too.
Have had another run of dud avocadoes. Blech.

corn, soybeans, 1 person

did you know that 1350 kilograms of corn and soybeans is capable of supporting one person if converted to beef?

 However, 1350 kilograms of soybeans and corn utilised directly without converting to beef will support 22 people! 

I certainly think people eat too much meat (in western societies anyway)
And look at all the money, time, energy and land space that are taken up with it!

bored?

only if you think you are...
perhaps you are relying too much on external influences to provide you with entertainment.
empower yourself to be responsible for your own entertainment and happiness! don't be a victim of external dullness penetrating your core!

Friday

Needed to finish off the cornchips...

BRRRRRRRRRitain is getting a hammering!

NASA image from here

Worry eating

The trickest times for me are those snacking times after dinner where I will find myself wandering out to the kitchen cruising around for something... so I have been working on becoming conscious of what I was thinking just before this happens.

On Monday night I managed to conenct to some worry about going back to work the next day. Partly because the work I had hoped to have done before I finsihed at xmas was not quite done and partly (maybe mostly) because I need to secure a new job for when my contract with NMIT finishes at the end of may (I think.. I need to check the actual date).

So.. worry eating. Plan for next time - replace the wander to the kitchen with a bit of journaling or blogging (!).



Dinner day 7 - guacamole and corn chips.
Today at work was first day I struggling abit with quantity - I wanted to eat and eat some more. Lucky I only had a small amount of pistachios and cashews left so I wasn't able to eat to many. Also enforcing rule of drinking at least half a glass of water before eating anything (even a snack) and then waiting a few mins.

The Books

I had opporuntity today to have a better read over the books as I wanted to lend the main Quantum Wellness one (not the cleanse one) to my chiropractor (who is awesome!) who is starting to expand into conscious eating concepts.


I had fun highlighting parts and writing my own comments in the margins (as the cleanse progresses I will dredge some up for blogging - well, when i get it back from John!).
I enjoyed it because some of the things she says in the books I agree with and some I don't which is perfect as it gives me a chance to clarify what I think to myself: to actually think about it and put into a physical form (writing and then action) what I think.

The cleanse, remember, is part of Kathy Freston's Quantum Wellness idea which includes 8 "pillars" of wellness - the cleanse is one of these (not sure I mentioned that before).
It is Kathy that I picked up the term "leaning in" from.
I like this leaning in thing - you take bits of her ideas, or parts and do what you can, move forward with some of it - no need to do it all strictly at once or even ever do it all. For instance I certainly don't believe there is a need for me to be a strict vegan or even vegetarian. But, like her, I am open to the fact my beliefs on this may shift more towards the strict side at some point (we will delve into these ideas in later entries I am sure).
The leaning in thing is a sustainable approach of creating change.

No picture of dinner tonight - it was falafel, hummus, kumara and a pompadum.

Cleansing @ Work

Dinner tonight is left over and added to lastnightfood.
Lunch was at work - which I over prepared for as I was wanting to make sure it worked and was nto a bad experience. I had corn thins, hummmus, tomato and avocado.
Two comments:
1. I didn't need anything but the corn thins and the hummus YUM!
2. It totally sucks when your avocado is bad and you don't notice until it is already in your mouth.


Had an interesting food memory today. When I was younger, about 11, I would do the 40 hour famine. I remember one time when mum brought me a plate of lettuce and telling me no one would know if I ate it.
I didn't eat it, on the grounds that 'I would know'.

Drink more water

I am not doing a great job drinking enough water.
Tomorrow I go back to work and it will be easier as water bottle sits on my desk and I drink often.

Dinner tonight is Thai green curry which, i have to say, feels liek a cheat - but no, it's all cleanse legal! Although fish sauce is omitted due to it containing 1% sugar!
















Am probably eating to much fruit, speaking of sugar...

Have noticed I often can smell a cigarette type smell and am wondering if it is cleanse related. Although i did recently get a fabric gift from a friend who smokes and although it doesn't smell like smoke when I smell it, maybe that is where the smell comes from.

Day three

So.. the eating thing.. so not a problem - although perhaps it will be when I have to go back to work...organization is something I continue to work on!

What I have had some isues with are my bad snacking nibbling habits. A little bit of something here, a handful of something there, back for more... snacking. With the cleanse requirements is has really shone a light on what an issue that is.

Today Rain, Dawn and Perry came over for lunch, this was good.. they finished off the last of the ham and took the eggs away (to go to the bach with them tomorrow). I feel good those things didn't go to waste.
Lunch was same as last few days.

For dinner I actually made a proper dinner - fried rice with tamari soy sauce. Was yum!

Mayo

One of the things I was planning to do which was gonna be a saving grace was to use potatoes from my garden to make potato salad. YUM... (potatoes are not something I eat outside of cleanse because they are white starchy nightshade family things.. and plus I am addicted to potato chips *giggles*)

I already thought I was a good label reader because I was already looking at labels and being discerning and making choices that were better for me and the environment...I already had a number of products I avoided and ones I looked for for this reason.

So, I went to a few stores and spent a bunch of time scouring labels of different mayos that I could use but tremendous trouble because they all have sugar. So I start lookign at the ones I woudl normally not look at and low and behold... the word sugar not there YAH!
The word corn syrup instead... corn syrup that I avoided precleanse. That being said, yes, corn syrup is a sugar... so a dilemma ensued.

For a whole day, until I realised I had been totally ignoring the part on the label that said EGGS *sigh*.
i think it was because it said "free range egg" which is awesome and I woudl usually be very happy about and write to the company and tell them so..

No potato salad.

And so it begins....

21 days of
gluten free
caffeine free
sugar free
dairy free
animal product free
living...

So far I have found out that the trickiest one is sugar because it is hidden in almost everything...
Also have discovered that the 6pm to 930 pm part of the day is the hardest part.

Need to drink more water.

Am feeling stuffed up in the nose like when I wake up in the morning after having dairy (which I don't do often)... except its ten to 11 pm and of course have had no dairy today.
Also feel this way when I have a cold...hmmmmm














Lunch was yum and at dinner I was not so hungry so had some rice and the last of the broad beans... (and last broad beans are not so good btw).

Currently

listening to Quentin Tarantino 's Jackie Brown soundtrack, making apricot jam and tomato chutney (if I said I was about to begin sewing the shirt I have laid out on the floor.. would that be a bit too much?)

Holding nothing

I have a glorious treasure that is no longer in my grasp
I treasure glimpses of it every day
Every moment is special time, fleeting
Special gorgeous unrealising gift
Gorgeous exquisite lovepain gratitude enfolding
Gratitude, now and present
Intense present slipping suddenly to a memory
Suddenly now a question; is this the last time?
Every day, grasp, accept, last..

Xmas light drive around hunt

So this evening I went with my sister na dbrother in law and nephew Rain ( the coolest boy on the planet) to drive about the place hunting for people'/s xmas lights.

i thought (and so did perry and dawn) that we were just gonna drive around and maybe peak in some windows at people's trees....
BUT there is liek a secret underground xmas lights circuit or something
IT WAS CRAZY
We couldn't believe it
it was like WONDERLANDS
we were like dancing in fairy lights next to sleighs with animated reindeer
and sitting in little xmas grottos with santa collectiosn and xmas terain sets and xmas sofas with xmas picture books and hiphop bunnies

AND (no word of a lie) THAT WAS JUST TWO PLACES















more photos clickie clickie

Sad

Feel like a bag of hurty pain. *sigh*
life eh!
It's somewhat eased off now.

Tomorrow I will get up, feed the cat, plant some beetroot, bake the xmas cake, wrap some xmas presents, talk to Todd, watch some shows and go to bed.

One day this life will be over and I'll have worked off some karma for something =)

Still no book.

Still haven't got that book I ordered.

Tonight I made first dinner and it looked great but sucked crap so I threw it out and made second dinner.

Second dinner looked like crap but it tasted good! (homemade basil pesto and angel hair pasta)

Elegant Truths aka I miss Carl...

Writer Nick Sagan, son of Carl Sagan, was impressed with "A Glorious Dawn", giving it a favorable review and stamp of approval. Sagan writes: "John Boswell over at Colorpulse Music is a mad genius, sampling both Cosmos and Stephen Hawking's Universe series into three minutes and thirty-four seconds of pure, concentrated awesomeness...Love it, love it, love it. Dad would have loved it, too." (from Wikipedia)

byebye Whatisbethdoingrightnow

About to delete the joke blog - some people taking it seriously rather than laughing about it.

But wanted to keep this one post *giggles*





















What is Beth doing?

a. Preparing her prayer mat to worship at the foot of Shine?
b. Picking up Jonesy munge?
c. Preparing a little picnic?
d. First aid on a wounded officeworker?

End of the Day

Kind of a conflicting, confronting day.
Got a run in with Jonesy so that is something! Oh and the nomination I submitted for Beth WON!
YAH!

Funny!

Made a new blog today while joking around with Beth at work MUWuahHAHAhahHA!

whatisbethdoingnow.blogspot.com

Will have to remember to take camera to work tomorrow!


Day after freerange chicken is goooooood - especially with lettuce, red onion and mint I grew... thai chicken salad YUM!

Oh.... and a self portrait!

Roast chicken...

Roast free range chicken for dinner.
One step closer to clearing out the non cleanse food in readiness for the Quantum Wellness cleanse.

There is dwelling to be done on the long term merits of veganism vs setting a good example/supporting the humane treatment of animals by buying and requesting humanely treated animals products.

Veganism does little to improve conditions for our fellow living beings.
The commercial power of choosing free range does.

Sony signed Hayley

Totally chuffed!
Although they would have been silly not to right now - she's gonna be doing good music anyway.

My Garden Rocks

Dinner tonight included three items grown myself and supported the leaning into the 21 day cleanse...
Thai Lamb salad.
NOTE: Did not grow my own lamb
NOTE2: Lamb exactly NOT one of things on cleanse list but does contribute towards cleaning out my freezer and fridge of things not on cleanse list before I start so they dont' go to waste (and not, that's not an excuse not to start it's is part of the be more consious and don't waste stuff philosophy that fits well with the 21 day cleanse ideals I'm sure!)


Tomorrow will be Dec and then I woudl have 21 days before xmas to do the cleanse... but, I still have a free range chicken in the fridge and haven't got the book in the mail yet.
I figure I will have cooked up the chicken by week's end thenthere's just freerange pork and fennel sausages (x2) and then I'd be set.
However.. do I want my first day of uncleanse to be XMAS DAY... LOL! I'd spend it throwing up no doubt or at the very least disappointing some poor exvited xmas day chef.

Must dwell more on this, although not long to dwell.
I have a thought today that perhaps 21 days will turn into 365 days of doing something radically different that i coudl blog about every day.
Ok, one thing to dwell on at a time.

Note to self: John Campbell will be doign a bit on the meaning of "free range" this week. He's great (and I am not just saying that coz he twittered me the other night)!

Josh Madden, Edward Scissorhands, The Crow and Heath Ledger's Joker

So, lately, (and I think I can hold Aussie Idol and Rove accountable) I have found myself drawn to the Madden Lads. I don't listen to Good Charlotte (although I know who they are) and don't have any Good Charlotte music (although the song they played accoustic on Aussie Idol I do like so maybe I will check some out). I have, however, been following Joel's (and Benji's and Nicole's for that matter) tweets.

For some reason in my Madden following I found this blog and for some reason I thought it was Joel's... (which leads me to an embarassing twitter gaff that I just realise I have just made by tweeting to Joel to ask him something about the post I am about to refer to in this entry... *blushes with embarassment* - Josh is actually Benji and Joel's brother...at least now I know why in my head I keep calling Joel, Josh... thank god I don't know these people!!)

Putting aside my embarassment for a few mins, this entry got me to thinking about two things.
Firstly - my pie blog post that I made way back last year sometime which is probably a reblog from an eariler blog entry ( I think because of the research and the linking and such) and
Secondly - I wonder if there is a link from the stuff he found links to and to Heath Ledger's Joker - coz Brandon Leee in the Crow reminds me a lot of Heath's version of The Joker (which is the embarassing thing I just asked JOEL in twitter when I THOUGHT I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when he twittered that he would answer the first 10 twitter questions *sighs in more embarassment*).

Ok, back to my embarassment now. *blushes* Man, I hope Joel does actually ignore what I tweeted to him and I don't get "lucky" like I did when John Campbell tweeted me back the other day.
*slinks away to do mantras of self forgiveness*

Two fings

Got up early to crank up the PC. Starting the recovery scan on the broken external drive from a few months ago... don't know why I didn't think to do this sooner instead of sending it down to my IT buddy who wasn't able to fix this one.
He has previously dehoused seemingly dead drives for me and rehomed them in a desktop pc and they are fine and dandy... this one however is a laptop size external so no joy.. until now!
Scan is working!
Time elapsed: 32 mins Processing block: 1444800 of 4882818 Remaining time: 1:18:43 ....
Next issue will be finding space to recover the files too... very little on the PC hence the need for externals!

Had opportunity to get a terrabyte external recently but NONO - bugger putting ALL my preciousness on one drive and loosing the lot in one foul swoop...bad enough loosing 5 seasons of Top Gear all in one hit, can't imagine the depths of depression I would delve into if all my QI and BBC docos went as well!
*shudders*

In other news - I have some 21 day cleanse updates.
I have a rewards card for a big NZ book store chain and they emailed me telling me I would get 20% off if I ordered books from their website.. so off I surfed. Found the Quantum Wellness main book for 23$ (which is the book the physical store told me they don't have in the country and that it wouldn't arrive here until after xmas...) and thought.. ooO and I get 20% off!
Except I don't coz I screwed up the order in my excitedness and totally missed the spot where one would intelligently enter their rewards card number.

No response to pathetic followup email asking if some kind soul could please remedy my err.

OK.. sitting on floor watching process typing on laptop not helping - only inducing cramp AND pins and needles in left foot!

Still over an hour remaining.

Wind and the Night Stakes

You know how I said it was windy... well, it still is.

Last night I was outside in the dark and wind with my head torch staking up my sunflowers and tomatoes which weren't gonna stand another night of the weird gusty strong wind of never before...

21 day cleanse

never dieted before in my life...

But wanted to let you all know, in my casual leaning in to a more healthy food instake that aligns better with my spiritual outlook, I am going to soon embark on a version of Kathy Freston's 21 day cleanse and blog about it (just for a bit of accountability).

Was gonna do this soon but as my brother pointed out, when i invited him to join me virtually and make it a joint quest of sorts... the timing is not so flash with xmas approaching... LOL!

Stay tuned!

it's windy

very windy.


EDIT: Please note: This post is not food related...

QI

I am jolly chuffed to have addicted Todd to QI.

*pleased with self*

More things to remember when sewing

2. Don't hold the pins in your mouth.

I can't even begin to explain to you the injury I did to the inside of my nostril...

A Change

I believe I am becoming weary of not enough people being aware of how much I rock...

Things to keep in mind while cutting fabric for sewing.

1. Keep hair tied back.

Twit

Just looking at the length of my recent posts - may as well be tweeting! (twittering?, a tweeter? hmmm)

BBC Radio 4 News Quiz

Nothing like a Sunday morning listening to the BBC Radio 4 News Quiz and eating homemade sushi.

My poor cat friend!

The instances of me forgetting to unlock his cat door in the morning are becoming more frequent.

In writing

it conveys nothing like what it was in my mind

Disappear

I composed a poem in my head just now, I wonder if I should have written it down...

My hoard

In response to this, I too, have discovered an exciting, albeit somewhat smaller and come to think of it, less valuable, hoard of my own.

I Rock

I know coz Beth made me a list!

1. You are surrounded by friends and family who lurve you

2. You get cuddles by request and on demand from a particularly cute wee lad

3. You live in a beautiful part of an amazing country

4. You have a job where people respect and admire you

5. You are fit and healthy

6. You have a good sense of personal style

7. You are intelligent and witty

8. Opportunities abound for personal growth in both your private and work life

9. You have a kickin’ new bike to hoon around on

10. Plus, you just rock!

My new t shirt

I am staying young

I am hip and groovey

I am not an old fogey...

I signed up to twitter *giggles*

new bike-badthing

It was the right idea to replace my stolen bike. I miss my oldnew bike very much, but the new one makes me happy too.

in anyone else

You're part time lover and a full time friend,
The monkey on the back is the latest trend,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Here is a church and here is a steeple,
We sure are cute for two ugly people,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

We both have shiny happy fits of rage,
I want more fans, you want more stage,
Don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I'm always tryin to keep it real,
Now I'm in love with how you feel,
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of the train,
I kiss you all starry eyed,
My body swings from side to side,
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

The pebbles forgive me,
The trees forgive me,
So why can't,
You forgive me?
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you

Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu
I don't see what anyone can see,
In anyone else,
But you.

Milk

"Without hope the USs give up"

Procrastination

200 years ago.

Happy Birthday Charles Darwin!
(and thanks!)

There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.

Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

Part of your house's fire plan...

negative thoughts directed at ourselves

…need to be replaced with good thoughts.

When you have bad thoughts like
"I am so dumb!" you look for evidence to support this, and you find it — in little mistakes you make, in things that go wrong, in every awkward pause or forgotten detail. You become your own prosecutor, building a case against yourself with every dropped key and wrong turn.

When you have thoughts that are positive like
"I am brave and confident," you look for evidence to support that instead. And you start to see it — in the times you spoke up even when your voice shook, in the moments you tried something new, in the fact that you are still here, still showing up.

Depending on how much you have indulged in the negative, you may have trained your brain to be very good at collecting evidence against you. But brains are flexible. They can learn a new brief. They can be trained to look for signs of courage, creativity, compassion, effort — whatever it is you want to nurture.

It takes time. It takes noticing. But it’s not about lying to yourself — it’s about choosing to recognise the whole of yourself, not just the worst bits.

And maybe forgiving yourself for believing the worst for so long.

---

The Human Engine for Evolution

I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about evolution. It stems, no doubt, from my apitude for natural sciences. I really am a follower of the religion of Darwinism.


Often these days my physical-anthropolgist-self ponders about human evolution. What form does this take now?
We have obviously surpassed the whole issue of stronger, faster, handsomer, bigger, better in terms of selecting the other partner for our childmaking.
All our 'advances' in medicine and genetics and science and hygiene and vaccinations and policies and dental care and food production etc etc have all led to a range of what would have previously been unproductive gene contributors who are now actually contributing genes and carrying on their lines (so to speak).

The weak, the small, the obese, the cancerous, the dentally challenged (to bluntly name a few) breed. The bald, the big nosed, the short armed, the computer fingered, the blind, the paraplegic... I'd rather not go on in the event that my seemingly flippant mingling of serious afflictions and non serious may cause offense when that is not at all my intention so let's carry on with my point.
Which is, really, that physical traits and abilities have been surpassed in evolutionary terms and things that are less practical/physical/tangible and more etherial and have become the deciding factor in human gene bequethment. And thank goodness for that (?!)
So, human evolution must be shifting. You can pass on your genes if you are (for examples sake) unable to hunt, and be strong and/or fit. Our weak and weary can pass on their genes making the intangible just as important a contribution to human genetic diversity as the afore mentioned strong fit thing.

Alison Lapper, British artist, was born in 1965 without arms and shortened legs, the result of a medical condition called phocomelia and her son, Parys.

So I ponder - what drives human evolution now?
Today I am pondering that it could well be choice.

Gary Zukav says in his book "Seat of the Soul" that choice is the engine of human evolution.
I gravitate strongly towards his idea that the centre of the human evolutionary process now is choice.
I think that the goal (and I will anthropomorphise the whole process of evolution so I can call it a goal) up until now has been to develop our physical skills and our innovative brain to exploit** the things we identify around us for our own advancement in a species selfish way.
We have certainly reached that goal.
We know how to do that and when you have attained a goal, it is time to set a new one.
We have been so ferociously good at accomplishing our goal we are at a point when the appropriate next goal for our species would be to work on our compassionate and mindful side potential.
You might say.. but that is not how evolution works. We don't get to decide.
And I would say.. before humans came along I would have agreed with you (although the specifics of that argument best not be dwelled upon on the grounds that it might well seem impossible).

We control evolution.
We control, either inadvertently, accidentally or on purpose, the evolutionary process of other species in an accelerated way. We cause the extinction of species and alternatively, we are the only thing stopping some species from becoming extinct.

(must note that Todd interupts here with "WE. ARE. IN. CONTROL. WITH. OUR. SHIPS." which, no doubt, is reference to the aliens that were meant to unmistakably visit last September, or was it October? and then he notes, somewhat more relevantly "because we have suspended natural selection for others as well").


The world's heaviest parrot. The kakapo. A flightless ground nesting noctural slow breeding marvel of a bird that is all but defenseless against the myriad of introduced mammal species that have devastated New Zealand's native species. 90 of these birds exist currently (up from 54) and only because of the efforts of a dedicated and commited (certifiable?!) bunch of kakapo heroes! (such as Daryl Eason, also pictured)

The humans species has been so good at the evolutionary process we have developed a few traits to an extent which really does set us apart from other species in a number crucial respects.
We make choices and have the ability to weigh up the consequences of those choices, we use increasingly complex tools, we have empathy, we co-ordinate others through sophisticated communication, we practise medicine and tend to our sick (and sometimes the sick of others), we deliberately innovate (rather than mutation related accidents), we modify the environment to suit our needs, we have a concept of a spiritual life and spiritual beliefs, we collect luxury items not directly related to our survival (then pay to put them in a storage unit...!!), we are artists, we bury our dead.

With the exception of perhaps the spiritual life, all these other traits are exhibited in varying amounts among some other species. Otters and primates (for example) use tools, beavers modify waterways, chimps eat a particular combination of soil with a certain plant that combined combat malaria, chimps and african wild dogs both have sophisticated communication for co-ordinated hunting parties, elephants recognise the bones of their dead and at times bury their dead family members, elephants, whales and dolphins tend to and support their wounded.


However, in humans, the very essence of what makes one of those traits different has developed to such an extent we have the choice of what to do our other developed traits. The conscious choice. We have the ability while flexing this choice muscle to utilise our aquired knowledge (thanks Karma) operate in a more spiritually aware, compassionate and mindful way. We can weigh the consequences and fix our intention.
That is the part that relates to this new proposed goal for the next phase of human development - the intention behind that choice.
There is an intention behind every action we have and it is those intentions that shape our individual paths through the world and influence how we see the world and others in it and how we intepret the actions and attitudes of others.
In 'Seat of the Soul', Zukav says

...each choice that you make is a choice of intention.
You may choose to remain silent in a particular situation and that action may serve one of these intentions
* penalising
* showing compassion
* exacting vengence
* showing patience
* loving
Alternatively you may choose to speak forcefully - with the one of the exact same intentions.

What you choose with each action and thought is an intention, a quality of consciouness that you bring to your action or thought.

And it is that consciousness and intention that creates not only our immediate individual realities through attitudes and the way we deal with things that happen to us, but also the future of our species and just as importantly, increasing numbers of other species.


I have yet to take pondering to a further level to actually provide proof of how choice manifests in human evolution past what I am saying because I only conglomerated most of this today heehhehe!
So, stay tuned I guess.
It's all part of my whole "all roads lead to rome" theory on life the universe and everything.
It's the part of me that would like to use my past life regression training as a scientific method to amass anthropological information of the mundane details of lifetimes of the past.

(Todd interupts again to say "Once when I wore metal skirts and brushes on my head..." - which is a throw back to a character from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the lightning guy whose stories of times he was hit by lightning have integrated themselves into his and my daily culture...)

Todd uses this moment to also coin a term for that predilection of mine... "spiritual archeology!"
(That archeology degree had to have a use sometime! Roll on PhD!)

Shine Kelly: Spiritual Archeologist
It's field work without the field!

Maybe in my next life *giggles*

** I understand that exploit here is a very subjective term that really already doesn't relate to a lot of species working in the realm of everyday normal, has-been-going-on-for-millions-of-years, evolution. But it does, to be honest, fit in quite well with the nutshell description of what humans do to the earth as a species. And furthermore, I am not preaching scripture here or delivering gospel - I'm blogging, give me a break.

Blessings for the Day

1. We saw a kereru quite close above the track on the tour this morning (and by we I mean the special children and I, well except the one that was blind and mostly deaf...)
2. All four inside caterpillars look to be cocooning safely (when I say look to be, I mean two have made J shapes on the plant and one has a silk platform on a high shelf and the other one is not sure what he's doing but I left him well provided for and I don't suppose he will hang from teh lower shelf like one of the previous ones who was lost in an unforuntately squishing incident involving the cleaner...)
3. Went for bike ride (although I did not take my gloves so I might have jiggered arms later!)
4. Gate I usually have to stop at to lift bike over, at top of one of the wee hills I bike up, was open and the cows were all lounging about in the shade lookign all mellow and lowish.
5. I did not get a jolt from the electric fence at the gate I did need to lift my bike over (and I mentioned this because last time I DID - although i woudl have worked out a way to be grateful for that as well!)
6. Saw Rain at the river one way back from biking (I saw him on the way bikign as well, and waved to him across the river, it was funny because he was the only one that saw me heehheeh)
7. Ely's little legs unbent (watched Echo of the Elephants with Todd)

Seven Pounds of Pissed Off (NB: contains spoilers for film)

AGAIN I SAY: If you plan on seeing a much better than reviewed Will Smith movie and don't want it to be spoiled by finding out what happens then skip reading my blog today.


'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
I reckon I'd be super pissed if I had a rare blood type and a congenital heart defect and this amazing man came into my life who was good and kind and smart and caring and he told me he loved me and talked about marriage and having kids with me then he went home and lay in a bath of ice with a poisonous jelly fish so I could live a longer life with his heart and woody harrelson could have his cornea.

I reckon I would be so pissed I would turn my printing press into a tardis and travel back in time and kick his arse really hard.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

I'm just sayin'

Barrack

With Obama being inaugurated today I think
... there is a return of reverence to the office of President
... he will be a gracious president
... his example will empower us by showing us all how to use what we have in a positive way to move forward rather than a negitive way looking back and blaming others
... he will use language in a positive and inspiring way that will be a wonderful role model for a leader of others
... his presidency will contribute to the feeling that we are all family and that the planet is our home

Professional Development

.
.

Have decided to give myself some professional development (upskill myself in something because I feel I am just not learnign enough new stuff) so I picked Photoshop cs3 seeing I have it and just am not utilising it to it's full potential AND there are some excellent tutorials easily found online!

These pics show my first effort at two things I have created over the last few days.

My Thoughts are Powerful

Every thought I think
creates my future