quiet paws.

I have loved many movie men over the years, with many of these early screen affairs igniting and extinguishing themselves during the eighties, the decade of my childhood. However some of the most special of actors have stayed with me beyond the pesky boundaries of the decades. As it turns out Robert Downey Jr is one such person who still manages to charm me today.

That’s not to say that our twenty year relationship hasn’t had its ups and downs. Like any affair of the heart or mind, often those artists we love the most are those who disappoint us the most when they fall below our expectations. This is true for me even if the nature of that relationship is as indirect as that between actor and audience member.

Before this year is over and in honour of my twenty year appreciation of Robert Downey Jr. I thought I’d share a quick timeline of scattered memories…

• In 1989 I remember falling in love with RDJ in ‘Chances Are’ a movie about true love, soulmates and destiny. I don’t remember too much at all of the film, but no doubt its quality has not held up all that well.
• In 1991 I drew a black & white portrait of RDJ for a high school art project (though admittedly I chose him because I had an easy picture to reproduce my drawing from… I was ever the lazy artist). I remember having a lot of trouble getting his nose right.
• In 2000 I started watching Ally McBeal based purely on his addition to the cast; he was just too charming to resist. Sometime after this he was arrested (again) and I remember feeling frustrated at him for wasting the opportunity because I adored his character.

So that brings me to relatively recent times where Robert Downey Jr. is once again doing good in life and in the land of movies with his recent efforts in Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes… happy times indeed! Here’s to the next 20 years!!

On Monday, the entries for the second ‘Something for Me, Something for You‘ giveaway closed, and (somewhat belatedly) a winner has now been drawn. With thanks to Mr Quiet Paws (aka Lee), the winning ticket has been drawn from my hat.

Congratulations Paul!! (I’ll be in touch to arrange delivery of your two magical Gracia & Louise zines).

Thanks to Gracia & Louise for creating such beautiful, mesmerising work and therefore enabling this giveaway!!

Thanks to everyone who entered (perhaps next time your name will be drawn!!). Please be sure to drop back again soon to enter the next lovely giveaway which will be announced shortly.

‘Harry, I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee.’ (Agent Cooper)

In the interests of full authorial disclosure I must confess from the outset that I love Christmas. It’s not because of the dreary carols that play ad nauseam in shopping centres, it’s not about dealing with scary last minute shoppers, it’s not the incessant and guilt ridden advertising that fills our television screens and our letterboxes, it’s not about religion, and it’s not about excessive eating and indulgence. For me, Christmas means giving; the one time of year where I have an extra special licence to spoil.

Rather than lavish expensive luxuries on family and friends, I am a firm believer and applier of the rule that it’s ‘the thought that counts’. This could be something as simple as baking a batch of cookies for someone, gifting something interesting or simply taking the time to show and say that you care.

Sometimes when giving gifts we either place too much pressure on ourselves so that we lose all enjoyment associated with the process of giving, or we don’t place enough pressure on ourselves to actually find a gift that ‘works’ for that particular person. Finding the right balance and holding onto some semblance of joy can be hard, especially with the general madness of the season swirling around us.

This year my motto for gift giving is to be FEARLESS! This means that I’m hoping for all my gifts to be handmade; or created by a local or independent artist; or something non-traditional, surprising or bordering on ridiculous; or just something random that I think the recipient may simply enjoy.  Instead of being preoccupied with finding the mythical ‘perfect’ gift, I want to gift something reckless, or something crazy, or something unexpected and try to avoid at all costs the dreary, the mundane and the pedestrian.

ENTRIES HAVE NOW CLOSED!! A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!!

I have long been an admirer of the beautiful work created by Melbourne artisans Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison. I’ve had these two lovely wooden critters of theirs guarding my bookshelves for a few years now, and they’ve been doing an excellent job at keeping unwelcome visitors away from my precious pages.

It was only really a matter of time before another beautiful package from their store made it to my door (I’m surprised it wasn’t much sooner actually).

Rather than containing things of wood, this time this pretty package contained all things paper. I picked up a few gorgeous zines for myself including ‘Before it’s too late’, ‘Summertime: and the livin’ is easy, just as Ella & Louis sang’, and ‘Postcards from…But for the moon nobody could see us’. A package from Gracia and Louise always means that I will be well and truly treated, not just by their delicate words and pictures, but just from the whole experience.

Of course I didn’t forget about you. I also purchased a second copy of ‘Before it’s too late’ and ‘Geschlecht und Schoklade’ to giveaway in the next installment of the ‘Something for me, Something for you‘ series of giveaways.

‘Before it’s too late’ is a limited edition zine (with an edition run of 70) by Louise Jennison and captures all the beauty and starkness of the Arctic while pondering the impacts of climate change on such a place. ‘Geschlecht und Schoklade’ is a small limited edition zine (with an edition run of 100) by Gaby Bila-Guenther (a Berlin based poet), Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison, featuring five of Gaby’s poems throughout with collage elements. Please be aware that with a title like this, the zine is a little on the ‘adult’ side so prepare yourself for some sauciness, raciness and some very cheeky humour.

If you’d like the chance to win the two zines pictured above, just follow the instructions below. Entries for this giveaway close Monday 7 December 2009 @10pm (AEST). Good luck!!

So, how does the giveaway work?

1. The giveaway is open to anyone in the world in recognition of the global market for things of beauty.
2. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll assign you your very own personal raffle ticket number.
3. Once the competition closes I’ll place all the raffle tickets into my hat and the lucky winning ticket will be drawn at random.
4. If you’re lucky enough to have your ticket selected, I’ll contact you via email so that you can send me your mailing address.
5. Congratulations if you are the winner, your prize will then be on its way!

Thanks are due to the delightful Brad for awarding Quiet Paws with a ‘Your Blog is Over the Top Award’ … I am blushing still. In accordance with the rules of receiving this award I should use only single word responses and pass the award on to five wonderful bloggers whose work I keep returning to (although there is no pressure for them to participate – only if you’d like to!)

1. Where is your mobile phone? Lounge
2. Your hair? Brown
3. Your mother? Older
4. Your father? Oldest
5. Your favorite food? Tofu
6. Your dream last night? Scary
7. Your favorite drink? Coffee
8. Your dream/goal? Travel
9. What room are you in? Mine
10. Your hobby? Writing
11. Your fear? Dying
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Writing
13. Where were you last night? Awake
14. Something that you aren’t? Impolite
15. Muffins? No
16. Wish list item? Time
17. Where did you grow up? Brisbane
18. Last thing you did? Drank
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? On
21. Your Pets? Sleeping
22. Friends? Precious
23. Your life? Imperfect
24. Your mood? Hopeful
25. Missing Someone? Yes
26. Vehicle? Car
27. Something you’re not wearing? Hat
28. Your favorite store? Bookstore
29. Your favorite colour? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Yesterday
31. Last time you cried? Sunday
32. Your best friend? Lee
33. One place that I go to over and over? Work
34. Facebook? Yes
35. Favorite place to eat? Home

Thanks for reading!! The five bloggers I’ll pass this award to are (in no particular order):

1. Pop Couture

2. Artful Kisser

3. Maybe Next Week

4.Quit Your Day Job

5.Culture Kills…wait, I mean cutlery

On Friday, the entries for the first ever ‘Something for Me, Something for You‘ giveaway closed, and yesterday a winner was drawn. With thanks to Mr Quiet Paws (aka Lee), the winning ticket of F44 was drawn from my hat. Congratulations Cyrilla!! (I’ll be in touch to arrange delivery of your lovely gift tag set).

Thanks to Helena of Little Mo and Friends for creating such beautiful gift tags and thus enabling this giveaway!!

Thanks to everyone who entered (perhaps next time your name will be drawn!!). Thanks also to the wonderful Pip who gave me the opportunity to list this giveaway on her Giveaway Central Post (be sure to visit her at Meet Me At Mikes).

Drop back again to enter the next lovely giveaway which will be announced shortly.

The weather has been getting decidedly warmer of late (at least where I live), and with the heat comes the sights that accompany the summer months…

Flowers are bursting into life and delivering their fragrance into the welcoming arms of the world…(they make the bees pretty happy too).

Trees are becoming heavy with fruit and are then in turn frequented by many feathered and winged visitors who are happy to take advantage of their crop…

Thank goodness for one solemn protector who guards the activities of this blooming, buzzing and fruiting garden with watchful eyes…

As for me? Well happily, my recent love affair with dresses will grow ever stronger as we move towards Christmas and beyond. What could be more appropriate than a brightly coloured floral dress to usher in these blue sky days?

Dress weather has well and truly been declared…

ENTRIES HAVE NOW CLOSED!! A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!!

The beauty of little brown packages tied up with string never disappoints. This lovely package pictured below recently arrived in the mail from the wonderful Helena of Little Mo and Friends. Helena is a children’s illustrator based in Australia who has created her own illustrated stationery line, feauring items which are adorable beyond belief (have a look at her store and you’ll see what I mean).

With the festive season fast approaching, I thought I’d get organised for once and start buying gift tags and Christmas wrap a little earlier this year. Happy for me that I discovered these gorgeous gift tag sets which this particular brown paper package contained.

I only really need the two sets of gift tags at this stage, so I bought an extra set to offer up as a giveaway (the first in a number of Something for Me, Something for You giveaways)…The ‘I am nuts about you’ gift tag set includes one mouse hugger folded notecard (6cm x 6cm), 2 x acorn gift tags (4.5cm x 7cm), 2 x acorn posie gift tags and brown twine for tying.

If you’d like the chance to win this mini notecard / gift tag set pictured above, just follow the instructions below. Entries for this giveaway close Friday 27 November 2009 @10pm (AEST). Good luck!!

So, how does the giveaway work?

1. The giveaway is open to anyone in the world in recognition of the global market for things of beauty.
2. Just leave a comment on this post and I’ll assign you your very own personal raffle ticket number.
3. Once the competition closes I’ll place all the raffle tickets into my hat and the lucky winning ticket will be drawn at random.
4. If you’re lucky enough to have your ticket selected, I’ll contact you via email so that you can send me your mailing address.
5. Congratulations if you are the winner, your prize will then be on its way!

So you may have gathered that I like to indulge in a little shopping from time to time. One of my most favourite things to do when shopping (apart from treating myself to something wonderful) is to support the work of the many talented artists that I’ve been lucky enough to come across in my travels around this great big virtual world.

Rather than keeping all this loveliness to myself, I thought it would be nice to buy a little something extra from time to time and run a giveaway on the site. Just my small way of saying thanks to you for visiting, and thanks to the extremely talented artists for creating something of wonder and beauty.

Adding to the excitement and charm of it all, I’ve decided to go with a good old-fashioned approach. With that in mind, I’ve picked up a book of raffle tickets and found myself a hat from which to draw out the winning ticket. The first giveaway will be coming up this week, so keep an eye out for that one and for future giveaways down the track.

If you’d love to make something your own, go ahead and throw your name into the mix. Good luck!!

So in the past few months I feel that perhaps I’ve been a little luckier than usual. I’ve entered a few competitions, and have actually been fortunate enough to win! One such competition was for this Paul Dempsey prize pack (thanks to theinsound.com – for which I wrote a short and sweet poem (well more short than sweet as poetry is not exactly my forte). I was as surprised as anyone when I was chosen as one of two winners to receive a signed 2 CD limited edition of ‘Everything Is True’,  including the four song disc ‘Counterfeits and Forgeries’; an exclusive t-shirt featuring album artwork, and a letterpress print of Paul Dempsey’s handwritten lyrics to ‘Ramona Was A Waitress’.

There has always been a ‘certain something’ about Paul Dempsey’s voice that I find completely irresistible, even though for many years I’ve strangely resisted the music of Something for Kate (the band he is lead singer of).

With the release of his debut solo album however, I feel I can finally shake off past resistances and melt into his music. If you’d like to melt along with me, perhaps you should visit Paul’s site and investigate his music (and his amazingly emotive and enticingly masculine voice) all for yourself.