Rosie's Travels

Here are some inspiring stories I've come across today.

Local communities are taking direct action to protect asylum seekers

A New York apartment turns out to be a giant puzzle box, thanks to an ingenious architect

Engagement 101 have invited various community moderators from Reed Business Information to try a "chogging" (chat/liveblogging) experiment today - you can head on over and ask them a question, or share a picture of a tractor or a pilot's moustache, here.

Tim Ferriss, he of the infamous Four-Hour Work Week, has thoughtfully provided an insider's guide to Tokyo on the cheap (Part 1 and Part 2) - some day I'll get there and it will be AWESOME.

And that link came courtesy of the fabulous Gala Darling, an inspiring writer on her own creative journey from NZ to Melbourne to NYC and beyond. Now that I'm planting myself in UK soil, I love following other people's travels.

Labels: a good day, architecture, blogging, sharing the link love, travel, Web 2.0

A quote that moves me because it seems to sum up everything I've been through so far:

"Being Human 101: Make Mistake, Apologize, Fix Mistake, Learn From Mistake, Live a Bit, (repeat)."

From Megan Wallent, whose site describes her male-to-female transition in a way that is elegant, throughtful, and calm.

I just seem to make more mistakes, more frequently, than most. Ho hum.

Light dawns even at the lowest points, though, as I put my intentions out into the world and gradually, from unexpected corners, people respond.

I've been corresponding with a sympathetic writer who emailed me after I left a comment on her blog. Another friend has sent me a link for a job she thinks I'd be perfect at. Finally, out of all the CVs I've been sending, I have one definite and one possible interview for next week. And I've volunteered to help out at a couple of things ... more details to come if I'm accepted ...

And Project Snapshot 2007, for which I interviewed 3 Australian writers here on this very blog, has won the Ditmar Award it was nominated for. I am, officially, award-winning - a fact I have already added to my CV, and a certificate is on the way. I may have to take a photo of it. I have never been award-winning before, except when I was part of a winning pub quiz team and marched proudly home, bearing in triumph a tin of amaretti biscuits that no-one else fancied.

Congratulations to everyone else involved, and particularly to my fellow artiste, and to Alisa, the guiding genius behind Asif! Twelfth Planet Press, and so much else. Meeting such interesting people is inspirational. I don't know quite where the energy for all their projects (reading every Australian specfic short story published during the entire year, anyone?) comes from. There are some people, though, whose influence spreads wider than they realise, and who put good things into the world that didn't exist before they thought of them - and I'm grateful to know them.

Reading Patry Francis' words also puts me into a frame of mind that is at once thoughtful and grateful for the things I take for granted.

I think my advice for anyone going through a period of self-doubt would be to find somebody to say yes to you. About anything. When you feel helpless and as if your skills are not valued ... make an offer, whether it's lending a book or making a cake, and see how much more energised you feel when someone accepts it. No-one is going to call you up and request that you do them the honour of writing for them. You have to keep making those moves, and maybe one in ten or twenty or seventy-eight will say yes.

Experimental baking is making me happy ... as is granting wishes.

Labels: a good day, ASif, cooking, friends, grand plans, Inspiration, jobs, life lessons, Patry Francis, volunteering, writing

I've been strolling through Cairns, appreciating a public holiday with nothing particular planned. Apparently there was a dawn service, but I didn't see it advertaised anywhere. I took a lot of photos of the empty town, which I'll post soon.

There was a crowd of about 40 vacant-faced people outside the mall waiting for the cinema to open at 1pm - a forlorn situation. At the Lagoon, my new favourite hangout where it's possible to lose an entire day, I encountered an astonishingly pale couple from South Wales who'd just emigrated to Cairns a week ago. Their little daughter, who was about 5 years old, leapt into the water and began stomping on the bubbling fountains with expressions of delight, before crawling around pretending to be a crocodile. Her mum half-tried to restrain her "Lyddie! How are we going to get you dry? We didn't bring a change of clothes!" but seemed remarkably relaxed about the situation. We chatted about their decision to make a new life here, and it occurred to me that within a few years, little Lyddie who found the lagoon such a novelty would be a proper swimming and surfing Aussie water-baby - maybe even a surf lifesaver herself. I lent them my travel towel and wished them well, with a sudden rush of emotion at all the possibilities open before them. I feel a huge sense of excitement and opportunity when I arrive in a new place and see it with fresh eyes, and I think I picked up some of that from this couple and their joyful daughter.

Although I'm exploring more exotic locations, when I read articles like this I'm reminded how much of Europe I'd still like to explore. Here, Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, explains his decision to send the Canadian Prime Minister a book every fortnight. What a great idea! I always got the impression that arts funding was pretty important to Canadian life - to know that in a small way Martel is keeping the campaign going is pretty inspiring.

Labels: a good day, Cairns, equipment I'd recommend, friends, reading, travel