I love a sunburnt country

I went to Bilinga on the weekend for a last (or nearly last) jump in the ocean before it gets "cold" (which, in Queensland, is not very cold by most people's standards). I love the beach - it's so relaxing and the whole experience just has to make you feel better about the world! Luckily, I live only an hour or so from some of the world's most gorgeous beaches.

Back to work!

Do you ever find yourself procrastinating at work (like I am now)? I seem to have peaks and troughs, going from working from crazy a.m to crazy p.m, to struggling to put of all those little things I never have time to do usually, with heaps of time on my hands. When I have less on, or less urgent things on, I seem to spend forever on tiny tasks because...why not? I'm reading a great book by Tim Ferris (check out his blog here) called "The Four Hour Work Week" which I HIGHLY recommend. More on this book later, but it is full of great hints and tips relating to work (and doing less of it). One great little tool he recommends in his book, which really helps you keep on track is "egg timer".

http://e.ggtimer.com/

It basically lets you set a little alarm to keep you on track for tasks. So if you want to give yourself ten minutes to complete a proof reading job type into your browser:

http://e.ggtimer.com/10minutes

Give it a go!

Warning: turn the sound down on your work computer in a shared work environment. It beeps (loudly!) once time runs out.

Here's to the crazy ones...

I love this classic ad from the Apple campaign "Think Different". The message is so very true. It's beautifully written & voiced also. This launched in 1997 and was done by Los Angeles agency TWBA/Chiat/Day.

Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The trouble makers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They push the human race foward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world,

are the ones who do.

Risotto triumph

I wrote a few posts ago about my quest to become an amazing cook, which began with Perfecting the Picnic. Well, last week I decided to jump straight from cheese and dips head first into one of the hardest meals to cook well, but one of the yummiest things EVER when done right: Risotto. My colleague tipped me off to a risotto-cooking technique for dummies: oven-baked risotto. I know it sounds crazy but I'm proud to say it was an absolute triumph and I'm thinking of throwing away advertising and opening a restaurant, where I will of course be the head chef.

Check out the recipe here. I followed the tips from the comments and substituted the one cup of of water for stock and used chicken stock instead of vegetable stock.

Goodbye, Elizabeth

I hope she is hanging out with Michael and that they have a never-ending supply of Super Soakers...

Country Victoria

Country Victoria is so pretty, I can't wait to explore Victoria more. Here are some pretty pictures of Stanley and Beechworth.

Have a picnic

It's not easy to create the perfect picnic. I'm working on my cooking skills lately, spurred by a lack thereof which has recently become increasingly obvious to me. You know your cooking leaves a lot to be desired when every single week you're buying mince, Lean Cuisine, and pre made lasagne and going out to avoid your own cooking...

But launching straight into over-ambitious recipes seems fraught with potential disaster, so I'm taking baby steps first and Perfecting the Picnic. I LOVE a good picnic. It needs to be in a pretty spot with lovely food and wine. No pasta salad thank-you-very-much.

Pretty picnic esky: check. Good view: check. Ipod dock: check.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. Note the wee vino.

You can't go wrong with Persian Fetta.

West End, Brisbane.

A happy San Franciscan picnicker.

On the beach, pretty hippy picnic rug from Haight-Ashbury.

Picnickers enjoying the (rare) warmth in San Francisco.