Gettin' Motivated

“The people in my classes, including me, did not need to be controlled, managed, nor even taught. What we needed was to be encouraged, accepted & loved just for who we were. We needed not to be governed by a set of rules that would tell us what we needed to learn & what we needed to express, but to be given time in a supportive space to explore who we were & what we wanted, with the assistance of others who had our best interests at heart. I believe that is true not only for my students, but for all of us, humans & nonhumans alike. All we want, whether we are honeybees, salmon, trash-collecting ants, ponderosa pines, coyotes, human beings, or stars, is to love & be loved, to be accepted, cherished & celebrated simply for being who we are." — Derrick Jensen

And another from the same dude:

"Writing is really very easy. Tap a vein and bleed onto the page. Everything else is just technical."

Who is he?



According to Wikipedia, he's not just a dude that's fond of daggy sweaters. "Derrick Jensen (born December 19, 1960) is an American author and environmental activist living in Crescent City, California."

Pretty clever dude.

Cutest video on the internet?

Yes. Most definitely.

Today Tonight, Black-Eye Tomorrow

It's not like you should actually need a specific reason to not want to work for Today Tonight, but if ever you did, this could be it.



This is Brisbane-based TV reporter Damien Hansen after he was assaulted by a family that have been accused of squatting for the last six months in a multi-million-dollar mansion.

Surely it was only as matter of time until someone from the foot-in-the-door "investigative journalism" (yes purists, I'm using the term lightly) programs of today copped a beating. Not that anyone deserves it, but on a television show focused almost entirely on exposing scumbags, surely no one is overly surprised.

But if you're going to be assaulted, surely there's no better time than when you've BYO'd camera crew. Hopefully the psycho squatters can be brought to justice, with Gold Coast police superintendent Jim Keogh stating "detectives are examining footage of the incident filmed by Today Tonight and hope to speak to the alleged offender very soon".

CSI Granny Saves the Day!

So apparently someone else likes crime shows as much as I do... And she's an 89-year-old granny!

And not only does the Leeds-residing old-timer dig the show, she studies it - and helped catch her own rapist with her skills.

When a 31-year-old, 127kg bouncer (Mauro Lopes) entered her home posing as a policeman, our hero had the presence of mind to dig in her claws when things turned ugly.

"I have been watching CSI so I scratched his face so you could get DNA from my fingernails," she told the court.

And because evil Mauro was sprung drink-driving in 2005, police had his details on file and he's since been jailed for nine years.

How good is that! Go Granny!

Guess What? Guess What? Guess What?

Today I got a new MacBook!

So expect some hilarious images like these until the novelty wears off a little...

And I also found out I'm moving into the cutest and coolest house in Sydney - a revamped tea house in Balmain.

So expect some stuff about my all new adventures from next weekend onwards - after we cart all my clothes and shoes to the other side of the Anzac Bridge!

Nice... Ahhhh... Shoe?

Get on the train with this fashionable slideshow. Just don't start working shoes into your do... I'm thinking it's one of those things best kept to the catwalk.

And now I think I'm addicted...

Black & Gold by en206 featuring Givenchy jewelry

Wednesday Wear... If only.

Wednesday Night by en206 featuring Dolce & Gabbana boots


And by the way, the owl is a handbag; a US $3800 handbag.

Mmmm... Caaaaake...

I challenge you not to become addicted to Taste Spotting.

How can you say no to a blog that involves pages and pages of yummo food? Especially when they're linked to the corresponding recipes, as noted by people cooking in their own home kitchens.

This Lemon Chicken with Croutons is what I'd make if I was 15 years older and had a husband and kids to feed.

This Roasted Garlic and Goats Cheese Spread may well appear at my Dad's birthday shindig this weekend...

And these Chocolate Chip and Peanut Blondies looked too good not to include. I'm sure I'll whip them up some time soon! Mmm.

And the winner is...

So apparently the couple that picked up a cool $53 million in this week's mega lotto jackpot decided to just go back to work.

I totally agree with Paul Colgan:

"I'd like to think I would be yacht shopping this morning, wearing a cravat, and being followed around by someone I'd hired specifically to top up my champagne flute."

At least for a few weeks I'd like to go somewhere awesome... Like maybe here: