On the quest to zero

It has been a bit of a quest for us as a family for a few years to approach zero – zero carbon footprint. Each year, we target one aspect of our life, and see how we can change it to reduce our negative impact on the world around us.
This year, we have joined the war on plastic waste and our aim is to reduce the number of single-use plastics in our life.

I think it is important to make the distinction. There are good uses for plastics, such as longer-term storage (Tupperware, etc), plastic toys (Lego, figurines) and so on. It would be impossible to live in 2019 and not have plastic in your life at all - unless you are lucky enough to live on an island paradise where you can construct everything yourself from the materials around you and grow all your own foods.
Unfortunately, we live an urban life and need to have jobs to sustain those lives, so some sacrifices have to be made. And while we sort our waste and put things into the recycling bin, the big issue with plastic is the overwhelming amount of single-use plastics that do not get recycled (even if you sort your waste) and then end up in all the wrong places.
We realised the bulk of our single-use plastics come from food packaging, and so this is the first thing we are targeting this year.
We found a lovely service that delivers milk and fresh fruit juice in glass bottles right to your front door. They also happen to deliver to one of our neighbours, so it is a single stop for the delivery vehicle, we get farm-fresh milk in glass bottles, and they also have lovely fresh produce that they deliver in card board boxes. This has already made a huge dent in our weekly plastic disposal.
We’ve also realised that a part of this is reducing the number of chemicals we use around the house, especially ones that enter the water system, so we are phasing out store-bought cleaning products for both the home and the body, and replacing them with more natural product – home made as much as possible, but we will also be supporting brands like Lush for the products we cannot make ourselves.
This will be a big focus this year, so I will try and keep track of our progress here. I kind of wish I took a ‘before’ picture of our week’s trash pile of plastic, or at least some way to know what our start state was, but we will keep track of it nonetheless and find ways to measure our progress as we go long.

A road revisited

I must be going through some kind of mid-life crisis or something. I have been seriously re-examining my life recently, as one does from time to time, and while I am fairly happy with the life I have, I am not so happy with what I personally have achieved. I mean, I was supposed to be an astronaut and published author by now. 9 year old me is very disappointed.

My brain has decided it needs to be fed, and so I have decided to attempt studying again. But I have decided to study outside my comfort zone, and pursue a B.Sc. over the next couple of years, hopefully with an Astrophysics focus. This year, I will spend some time catching up on all the Math that I missed in the 20-odd years since I left school. Living in the digital world is fantastic, as there are just so many free resources available to the enquiring mind.

And yes, I know, it is possibly not the best year to tackle this, what with us moving and travelling and things, but really, when is it? There will always be a reason not to study, there will always be a reason to procrastinate. If I don’t do this now, I will probably write a very disappointed blog post in about 20 years from now about missed opportunities, etc. And that is something we really do want to avoid.

I will revisit the novel and the writing one day when my Muse and I are back on speaking terms.

Here’s to a year 9 months of Math.

Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours." ~Robert Byrne

So, it would seem we skipped Autumn all together, and went straight to Winter. The trees are desperately trying to catch up to the weather, and there are still a couple of birds frantically packing up and heading north. But oh my god, Jo’burg is suddenly freezing cold and grey.

We bravely tackled a renovation project at home (rebuilding two of our boundary walls) that is finally nearing completion. What used to be our front garden is still a pile of rubble, and everything is covered in dust.

The cats have been loving the new playground – despite hating the disruption to their daily routines.

We have been very fortunate to work with a fantastic builder, who has removed a lot of the stress from the process. But, even so, it is not for the faint hearted, and I would probably not do this again. If ever we had to attempt a build project again, it will not be where we live.

The husband and I built a cupboard yesterday to store our rapidly growing DVD collection. We will need to build another soon, as this one is kinda full already.

Fans remake 'Star Wars'

Current obsessions

Wenchy posted hers, and it was so awesome, I decided to steal it :)

Book: Currently reading Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. It is the first book by mr Palahniuk that has made it into my reading list, and I am thoroughly enjoying it, but I also have A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami sitting on my bedside table, waiting for me – and it calls to me.

Snack: Anything cheesy, but especially oven-grilled Haloumi cheese.

Restaurant: Home for now. I recently changed my eating habits quite considerably, and haven’t ventured out to a restaurant that caters for the new lifestyle yet. I am giving Cynthia’s Indigo Moon quite some thought at the moment, as this is where Hubby and I will be celebrating our upcoming 15th anniversary.

Beverage: Anything berry, really. Absolutely addicted to berry juice.

Decor: Steampunk all the way, blended with some Safari style :)

Actor: Tough one. I’m a Johnny Depp girl, but Alexander Skarsgård is quite nice to look at at the moment.

Actress: Aishwarya Rai without a doubt. So beautiful. And then, of course, there is Monica Bellucci.

Movie: I have been obsessing about Avatar for months now – simply because it is such a box-office juggernaut. I have also spent a fair amount of brain time on Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (mostly because I am still trying to decide how I feel about it), but the movie that is really keeping my attentions right now is the next instalment of the Harry Potter franchise.

TV show: Lost. We recently started watching the show from Season 1 again, to give my daughter a chance to catch up, and it is stuck in my head all over again.

Hobby: Other than blogging and playing games on Facebook? You mean I am supposed to have time for other stuff? Although, I have had to start cooking seriously again, due to aforementioned lifestyle change.

Band: Kaizers Orchestra. Yes, still. And, of course, Johnny Hollow.

Song: This week’s song seems to be Superhero (Johnny Hollow)

Blog: Oh No They Didn’t. An ever present guilty pleasure.

Lover: My husband, always.

Friend: My husband, always.

Peeve: Selfish people.

Sport: No, don’t do sport. But I have no choice but to have football on the brain right now.

Singer: Nick Cave.

Quote: We are formed and moulded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them. - Buddha

Saturday 2:42pm

This blog post is way overdue. Life is hectic, but enjoyably so.

Needless to say, the story is still very much in my head, instead of in the Word doc that keeps knocking on my door just as I am about to finally fall asleep.

But I have been taking lots of pictures. Some of my favourites from the past week.

 

You may notice, we’ve had a lot of sun recently.

It is a funny thing that happens to a person. You kinda go through life and do a bunch of things, and one thing leads to another, and one day, you wake up, and you’re an adult. I mean, really, an Adult. You have a good job and a bond and a house and a car and two point five pets and a child and you’re looking at schools because your child wants to be a lawyer and you’re an Adult. Whack. And it’s not half bad either. It’s just funny how it just suddenly creeps up on one. And how suddenly, your own parents make a lot more sense suddenly.

Friday 11:39/Saturday 10:50

Friday:

I had so many things I wanted to write about this week. Like how it pisses me off when parents don’t take responsibility for their children’s education. Or how selfish the human race is, and how much selfishness pisses me off. And how bad customer service pisses me off. And how the whole ‘it’s not my problem’ attitude pisses me off. Writing this list now actually makes me happy that I didn’t have time to write about each of those – it gives the impression that I am constantly pissed off.

I am rocking it old skool today, since my playlist seems to be made up mostly of things like Fields of the Nephilim, Laibach, Sisters of Mercy and so on. It is good to hear these voices again.

Saturday:

I learnt two very important skills this week, one work related and one completely useless in most respects. I almost feel like I am working on a bucket list.

I suspect I may be working too much again. Even when I am not actively working, I am thinking about work. Time to crack open the hobby jar again.

I had a short story idea this week. I think I may just force myself to write it this week-end.

One word

I am finally catching up on my email and blog reading, and noticed I received this via email from Wenchy during the week and that Sally-Jane opted to rather post her responses to her blog, and figured I would follow suit.

USING ONLY ONE WORD
Where is your cell phone?	Scullery
Significant other?	Q
Your hair?	Mermaid
Your mother?	Helene
Your father?	Heinrich
Your favourite thing?	Chocolate
Your dream last night?	Work
Your favourite drink?	OJ
What room are you in?	Bed
Your hobby?	Living
Your fear?	Braindead
Where do you want to be in 6 years?	Coast
Where were you last night?	Friends
Something that you aren't?	Girly
Muffins?	Chocolate
Wish list item?	Books
Last thing you did?	Laundry
What are you wearing?	Swimwear
TV?	No
Your pets?	Cats
Friends?	Essential
Your life?	Beautiful
Your mood?	Mixed
Missing someone?	Sometimes
Drinking?	Water
Your car?	Black
Something you're not wearing?	Shoes
Your favourite store?	Amazon
Your favourite colour?	Black
When is the last time you cried?	Unsure
Where do you go to over and over?	Work
My favourite place to eat?	Home
Favourite place I'd like to be at right now?	Coast

Currently…

Listening to:

Loving Woolworths Soft Fruit Gums.

Reading:

for the gazzilionth time.

Consuming:

Yes, again.

(Gilmore Girls) [image source]

Comments

1. I am sorry, I am slowly catching up on reading comments, but I unfortunately don’t have time to respond to each one right now.

2. I do read a lot of blogs, using an RSS reader. I may not always comment, because I often read when I sit waiting for something, but I do read. And thank you for sharing.

3. I’ve had to enable comment moderation, because the levels of spam is just getting out of hand. If this annoys you, I am sorry and I do understand. I hope it will not be permanent.

Right now…

Stolen from Wenchy :)

Outside my window is another grey and rainy day, and pigeons waiting for me to open the back door, so they can savage the cats' food.

I am thinking at the speed of light I am thankful for leading such a blessed life right now.

I am wearing PJs.

I am remembering not much right now - the brain keeps filling up with new stuff.

I am going for breakfast soon.

I am currently reading too many books at once.

I am hoping I am not going mad again

On my mind a million things and more.

Noticing that I may be a little manic

From the kitchen the sound of the kettle boiling - the husband just woke up.

Around the house the signs of the late night I slept through last night

One of my favourite things is sleepy early morning cuddles.

Saturday 9:34

[picture source unknown – received via email]

The family is still sleeping. They all had a late night last night, I passed out around midnight. But it is ok, because, believe it or not, it is still grey and rainy.

My daughter received a personalised invitation to apply at a rather prestigious school yesterday. It is not a school we would consider – it is a Catholic school – but I still think it is a great honour and recognition of her general awesomeness.

awe·some   (ô'səm)
adj.  

1. Inspiring awe: an awesome thunderstorm.

2. Expressing awe: stood in awesome silence before the ancient ruins.

Also:

awesome

1. exclam.
   Great!; Excellent! (Usually Awesome! Standard English, but used often in slang.) : You own that gorgeous hog? Awesome!
2. mod.
   impressive. : That thing is so awesome!

It is all right to be awesome every now and again, but you are not allowed to tell others that you are, in deed, awesome. It is all right for them to tell you so though.

I often feel like I am living in a completely different world to everyone else. Quite possibly because I live in the one in my head, and it is a little too small to fit everyone else in.

And seriously, this rain stuff has overstayed its welcome. There are other places that needs it, my precious.

Pricey guy

Seems like all I do these days is post vids, here is another :)

The Knight Lights – Pricey guy from their first gig.

Taylor Swift meets Coldplay

The link to this video was shared by someone on Twitter today, and I think I have fallen in love with this quite a bit.

Cannot wait for the MP3 download to become available from Jon’s site.

And now for the gnus

Two quick pieces of news:

1. I wrote (and passed) the SCOM exam (70-400) today. This means I am finally qualified to do my job :)

2. SCOM R2 went gold on the 22 of May. I am really looking forward to upgrading my environments soon.

2008 Music roundup

According to Last.fm, these are my top bands for 2008:

1	Kaizers Orchestra	1833
2	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds	1327
3	Einstürzende Neubauten	1052
4	The Parlotones	460
5	My Chemical Romance	380
6	Placebo	315
7	The Young Gods	294
8	Barry Adamson	291
9	The Meteors	280
10	FM Einheit	232

 

And these are my top tracks for 2008:

1	Kaizers Orchestra – Bastard Sønn	54
2	Kaizers Orchestra – Moment	45
3	Kaizers Orchestra – Kontroll på kontinentet	41
3	The Parlotones – I'm Only Human full track	41
5	Kaizers Orchestra – Ompa til du dør	39
6	My Chemical Romance – Teenagers	37
6	Kaizers Orchestra – Dieter Meyers inst.	37
8	Adrienne Pierce – Lost and Found	35
8	The Hives – Walk Idiot Walk	35
8	The Parlotones – Motivated full track	35
8	Einstürzende Neubauten – Beauty	35
12	Kaizers Orchestra – Papa har lov	34
13	Kaizers Orchestra – Den Andre Er Meg	33
13	The Parlotones – Play on full track	33
13	Stereophonics – Dakota	33

 

This is what happens when you have a limited number of songs in your playlist. I do not carry our entire music collection with me, but rather just what I want to listen to, and this is the net result. I suspect the stats for 2009 will look completely different again, but the top 4 bands will probably make an appearance again :)

Scheduling posts in Windows Live Writer

The quickest way to lose readers is to not post. Unfortunately, most of us have lives away from the keyboard, and often, life can interfere with our regular blogging program.

Luckily, with a tool like Windows Live Writer, you can prepare your content ahead of time, and then schedule your blog posts to post at regular intervals.

To schedule a blog post using WLW, prepare your content, and then click on the Set publish date option in the bottom right hand corner of the post window.

A calendar will pop up, allowing you to choose the desired publish date.

You can also change the publish time by typing into this field. You can now click publish.

WLW will, by default, open your blog page in your default browser after posting. You will notice that your scheduled post does not appear, as it usually does, at the top of your blog.

If you use Blogger as your blogging platform, you will now need to log into the dashboard. Click on Edit Posts.

 

You should now see a list of all your published posts, as well as your scheduled post.

 

If you have a Wordpress blog, log into the WP dashboard. You should see something that looks like this, including the n scheduled post item:

 

Happy blogging!

RIP Cool Hand Luke

 

Paul Newman, the legendary movie star and irreverent cultural icon who created a model philanthropy fueled by profits from a salad dressing that became nearly as famous as he was, has died. He was 83.
Newman died Friday at his home near Westport, Conn., after a long battle with cancer, publicist Jeff Sanderson said.
Stunningly handsome, Newman maintained his superstar status while protecting himself from its corrupting influences through nearly 100 Broadway, television and movie roles. As an actor and director, he evolved into Hollywood's elder statesman, admired as much offscreen for his quiet generosity, unconventional business sense, race car daring, political activism and enduring marriage to actress Joanne Woodward.

More: Actor Paul Newman dies at 83 - Los Angeles Times

Owned

I have never really been terribly interested in popularity contests, or any of the online applications that require people to vote for you based on your appearance.
During this past week, however, my husband was working late every evening, and, instead of amusing myself in productive ways, I added the Owned application on Facebook. I am still not sure what possessed me.
I derived a great deal of pleasure out buying my friends and strangers, but my ego was inflated somewhat by the bidding war that apparently ensued over my ownership. By the end of the first evening, my value had gone up from L$1 to a whopping L$90k (L$ being the virtual currency within the application).
I still log in every now and again, to see if my value has increased. I am not sure why I do it, but it makes me smile every time I notice that my value has increased.
Why do we continuously measure our own worth based on the perceptions of others? Surely, as capable, intelligent human beings, we should know that the opinions of strangers have no influence on our lives. In fact, I should not give a rats arse about the fact that some guy I have never met living in a country I would probably never visit paid a lot of virtual money to own my picture on a web site that is pure frivolity? Actually, I should feel a little insulted that I am simply merchandise, and my value is measured on appearance rather than my personality and capabilities.
Eleanor Roosevelt said once No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. The same is true about feeling superior. Ultimately, we control our own emotions, whether we like to think so or not.
Of course, there are situations where one cannot help but feel a certain, based on the actions of others. But, should we allow the simple actions of others to influence our overall opinion of ourselves?
Even the most confident of people I know are influenced to an extent by the actions of others. We are not islands, and it would seem that the larger the population grows, the more reliant we become on the opinions of strangers.

How To Do Stuff

More stuff for master procrastinators:
How To Do Stuff

and
PhotoShopped