Five for Friday no.49

Mash up of movie trailers for 2012.

12 enjoyable names for relatively common things.

Generation Y Expat (Why Not) travel blog for young professionals.

The worst words for 2012.

It's 200 years since the release of the first edition of the tales of the Brothers Grimm. 

Five for Friday no. 48

Great re-interpretation of '50 Shades of Grey' into '10 sex tips'. Very funny.

Because I know you've always wanted a foldable version of yourself. 

The worst boyfriends of TV and film.

 When you really think about it ... he doesn't normally hang around for a second date.

Year in Review time! YAY!

The Atlantic's The Year in Photos. 

and...

What I call as my favourite year-in-review- for 2012: the 40 most influential corgis of 2012. You're welcome.

Five for Friday no. 2

Flower ice cubes. Having seen this photo I just want to recreate the idea. I want to try it with juniper berries in ice for afternoon GnT's

Photo from A Cup Of Jo.

I don't particularly like Switzerland, but I think I should take Chuck there, and we should visit this restaurant.


For those of us not lucky enough to be in New York at the time, here is a website overview of the Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition.


Re-learning to sew is one of my projects for 2012, and this Superman Dress is a good example of why I want to be able to make my own clothes!

Photo courtesy of Cation Designs.

I'm not planning any travel in 2012 but budgetary reasons, but the world's best inexpensive hotels makes me wish I was.

New Years Eve

NYE is one of those strange holidays that we're supposed to really enjoy but which so often degenerates into a disappointing drunken sprawl or else a struggle to stay awake until midnight.

I am now in favour of quiet NYE. My ideal night would be dinner, wine and conversation until midnight with about 6 or 7 other people. Next best thing, last night I was at a delightful quiet party at a friends' place by the river. There was an outdoor esky made of recycled flood sandbags, a BBQ, sparklers and loud arguments about the sex appeal of current international heads of state.

Happy New Year everyone!

New Year resolutions: the 2012 edition

Photo courtesy of moshpitson.

I think the problem with most 'resolutions' is that people set themselves challenges or targets they cannot possible hope to achieve. They plan to go to the gym every day, loose 15kgs, sew a new dress a week; start with mad enthusiasm in January but in the long term, simply cannot balance out the demands of their 'resolutions' with the demands of their daily lives.

The best resolution I ever made was to learn to like the foods I didn't like. What makes this resolution good is that it requires progresive year-long dedication and minimal effort, making it relatively easy to keep. Don't like olives? Be sure to order pizzas with olives until you like the flavour. Simple. It worked a treat and with the exception of capsicum, I succeeded in changing my taste buds by years' end.

For the last few years I haven't made resolutions so much as goals for the year. They're less specific than resolutions and are more of a guide for positive personal change. For instance, last year I wanted to do at least 2 hours of exercise a week and have at least 3 alcohol free days a week. This year I have the same goals and also some projects that I want to do, complete with plans and time lines. Oh yeah, organisation.

So the back pages of my diary look something like this:

Projects

• Improve my German language skills.
• Re-learn how to sew and have made at least one dress by the end of the year.
• Finish off my Vietnam diary, complete with photos.
• Undertake a selection of DIY projects.
  
• Forward plan my life for 2013-2014.

Goals

• At least 2 hours proper exercise per week and get fit.
  
• At least 3 alcohol-free days a week.
• Save money. I do have a specific amount, I just ain't putting it here.
• Keep a written and financial diary every day.
• Keep at least some of my herbs alive for the whole year.
  
• Consider doing a detox of some sort. (Clearly I can't commit to this just yet)

This is quite a lot to do, so I have made a New Years Resolution:

Be more proactive!

A Pair and a Spare have an awesome blog post about making and keeping new years resolutions.