Writing My Bucket List

It's time to try new things, decide what I want, and GO FOR IT. In short, I need a bucket list...

1. Ride in a hot air balloon.
2. Visit LEGOLAND.
3. Learn to play the guitar.
4. Invent a boardgame.
5. Learn French (I've already made a half-assed attempt).
6. Become a published author.
7. Go on a Sex and the City tour in New York.
8. Visit Europe.
9. Be published in Vogue.
10. Learn how to make cheese (dunno why, looks fun and I dig milky treats, okay?!).
11. Go zorbing.
12. Try shooting a gun at a firing range.
13. Be an extra in a movie (er... aim high, right?).
14. Write and sell a TV script.
15. Attend a grand slam tennis event, preferably the Australian Open or Wimbledon.
16. Build a Big Thing like the Big Pineapple.
17. Try a life drawing class (hey, I'm not a perve!).
18. Learn Japanese.
19. Try fencing.
20. Become an awesome breakdancer!
21. Learn an obscure musical instrument.
22. Milk a cow.
23. Learn archery.
24. Go on a helicopter ride.
25. Own a pinball machine.
26. Learn how to pick locks (I can pretend I'm Hercule Poirot or something).
27. See a psychic. Completed 15 January 2012 at the Pyschic Expo.

Gosh, this is a bit lame. I'd like to add heaps more items.

HELP!!! I need ideas!!!

What's on your list?

Fabulous Fridays: 25 November 2011

 Fresh (or rather, worn out) from a mega-exciting dance class, I'm bringing you the skinny on what's amusing me this week...

• Luckily I avoided the Dorito tan fate when I went in for my first ever spray tan on Monday. It's actually lovely and natural-looking, unlike these...
• And Doritos, like all foods, always go well with an ice cold Coke. Refreshing feeling... ice cold Coke. Refreshing, Ice. Ice. Refreshing. Ice cold... Ice. : )
• I'm dubious about their leg-warming properties, but these rose and lace beauties are super-adorable.
• Dear Facebook, why do you keep filling my sidebar with dieting ads? Whatcha tryin' ta say? Here's my side of the story. Sincerely, Becks xx
• The land of Aus is set to get its own ELLE magazine (well, again... our previous version folded 10 years ago). Hopefully it takes after the UK title rather than the US one. Yes?
• Sometimes I get real, actual shivers hearing an incredible ballad, like when I heard Charlie Puth and Emily Luther's cover of Adele's "Someone Like You".
• Pole dancing celebrities don't get any bigger than Jenyne Butterfly and I got taught by her tonight at my regular studio!! Here she is on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
• Watching old episodes of The O.C. reacquainted me with the cruisy sound of Crowded House song "Fall at Your Feet" (one of Mr Big's favourites).
• I'm thinking I take my ninjabread cutters out for a test drive with this simple gingerbread recipe. Mmmm... Christmas-y goodness. : )
• Apart from Fanta, I've never really bonded with orange, but it's definitely having a moment in the beauty world. Surprisingly flattering in lipstick and nail polish.
• In Year 10, I worshipped "Set You Free". Best. Song. Ever. And it definitely made me cool, right?

Later, lovelies! xx

The 2am Update

Why am I writing this at 2am?

Two reasons:

1. I've been sleeping off a killer headache all day (no, not self-inflicted from a hangover or anything -- I'm a good girl!); and
2. I drank a Coke to perk myself up at 4pm and therefore am wide awake now. No fairsies!

The upside of this is that I can share my recent writing-related exploits with you. Project Zine is going ahead well. A bit of back story... For those of you who haven't heard, I've recently fallen in love with independent zines, cute A5-sized booklets put together by rather cool individuals. (To see why I find them so delightful, head to the little Facebook gallery I've compiled of my girliest faves here.)

So, I'm making one myself for magazine-lovers, and plan to sell it on Etsy and zine "distros" (small DIY shops). First, I must finish it and hooray, hooray, I'm starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. It's rather slow going compiling it, but I gotta say I'm having a blast! The picture above is of a new double page in a section on making your own magazine-themed gift baskets. How could I resist recommending a Sex and the City version? You like?

All going well, I'm hoping to launch the zine in early December. I absolutely cannot wait! : )

In other news, my 12-month hiatus from my desk job at Consumer Affairs is coming to a close and it's crunch time for deciding if I'll return in 2012 or continue freelancing and office temping instead. My old manager Steve called on Tuesday and I'll call him back tomorrow. I think I know my decision, but it depends on what he says too.

That's all for now. Hope you're all having a super-exciting, fun week! xx

Fabulous Fridays: 18 November 2011

Happy Friday, everyone! Yes, I've been busily beavering away on my soon-to-be-released zine and another sneak peek is on its way. In the meantime, feast your eyes on assorted goodies...

• This rings true: "Why You Should Be Wary If Your Partner Starts Dieting". What do you think?
• I had a galah land on my boobs on Tuesday. That's not a euphemism, it really happened while visiting a lovely bird rescue lady. Her feathered friend was almost as charming as this fellow.
• Colossally lusting after Butter London's Black Knight nail shade. Sophisticated with sparkle.
• My latest music obsession? Jessie J singing "Domino" on US X Factor. Yes, she's the real deal.
• I've recently contemplated making jam from our fruit trees' produce, but feel a little too Susie Homemaker. This is way far in the other direction, though. A microwave? Really?
• The closest Lily Allen clone I've found, but light-hearted musical fun in her own right: Kate Nash.
• A high school friend of mine moved to London and became an archaeologist by day and burlesque performer by night. Intrigued? Meet Ava Iscariot. : )
• Saucy Japanese schoolgirl hijinks I've been reading of late... Pastel. Good stuff.
• Into shopping with a conscience? At the urging of a friend, I happily bought the Shop Ethical app to spend my dollars better for the environment, fair trade, cruelty-free and more.
• Haven't been able to evict the Glee Rumour Has It / Someone Like You mash-up from my head since I heard it. Damn, Santana can sing!!!

Wanna be part of the next Fabulous Friday? I'd love to hear of any brilliant blogs, sites, articles and generally tomfoolery you'd like to share. So, what's been inspiring you lately?

High Tea and High Hopes

Writing for magazines isn't all sipping tea and glamorous events. In fact, I'm still waiting for the glamour part of the equation to kick in (any day now, right?). Occasionally though, I do enjoy a cup of tea in a classy establishment...

Five of my best gal pals and I went to a seaside high tea yesterday afternoon, complete with finger sandwiches, mini quiches, tiny scones and danishes, tea, coffee and best of all, CHAMPAGNE! We caught up on plenty of Sex and the City-style gossip, went for a walk and generally got some girl-bonding time happening. It was fantastic!

Back down to earth today, I've sent a Valentine's Day pitch and am working on another one to do with flight attendants. It's a very cool topic that I haven't seen covered before, so I'm eager to make the pitch work. We'll see.

I've also made a BIG decision -- I'm not going back to my mediation job at Consumer Affairs in January. I've taken 2011 off as a year of leave without pay and I'm now going to extend it for another year. I don't want to cut ties altogether with them, but I feel pairing magazine writing and being a guerilla secretary-for-hire is working out well. I want to give it more time and see where it leads. : )

In other news, this week I'll be getting stuck into the Magazine Love zine, so I'll be able to show you some more pretty pictures of my progress soon... maybe you'll even get an update tomorrow. You never know your luck. ; )

How about you? What are you working on this week?

Fabulous Fridays: 11 November 2011

... And we're back!!!

Thanks for sticking with me for the past week! Our home Internet has been playing up. I emailed the health article I'd written to my editor Thursday last week at 4:15pm (skating in just 15 minutes before deadline!) and two hours later it died. So glad it happened in that order!

It was fixed yesterday, so we have mucho Fabulous Friday goodness to catch up on. Let the games begin!

• This song should be our national anthem, but up yours, Telstra. You killed our Internet. Gotta say they've done a decent job sorting it out though.
• Not that I would usually endorse actual ridgy-didge cooking, but if you use your oven for something more than storage, try making this adorable oven mitt for yourself, or as a gift. Cute!
• On a scale of 0 to 10, how wrong is it that I secretly wanna learn to pick locks? Not to steal stuff, just 'cos it's kinda geeky cool, alright?
• You can see the exact moment when the fox thinks, "Holy f*ck, I can BOUNCE!". : )
• The Oh Joy! lifestyle/decor blog is a bit spesh. Say "peonies" and "pom poms" and I'm totally there.
• Ignore Mickey Rooney's character and focus on the classy performance by Audrey Hepburn and the beautiful "Moon River". Ahh...
• Feeling playful and longing for a little '70s goodness? Get yourself a Space Hopper. One of my bestest birthday presents!
• Wow, the ditziest of The Plastics in Mean Girls can really belt out a tune. I'm impressed with this Amanda Seyfried bird.
• How cool would it be to play chef by setting yourself up as an underground restaurant?
• Sarah Jessica Parker at the Melbourne Cup on the blog for stylish brand, Sass and Bide. The horse-face jokes have almost stopped now. Almost.
• Betty White commercials from 1959 in colour! Can you believe she is now 89? She's still stunning though. : )
• Do you keep certain clothes because they remind you of a happier time? You should read this: love and comfort clothes.
• I am so unimaginative, attending a Halloween/engagement party (interesting mash-up of events!) as a black cat. Boring! So wish I'd chosen one of these costumes instead.
• I love Jane Austen. I love mysteries. Combined? DO WANT!!!

It's great to be back on the blogging bandwagon. Let's never fight again, Intermernetz! xx

Query Letter: "Men's Health" Magazine

Here's another of my fabulous flops. I sent this email to Men's Health magazine pitching an article about health and fitness Twitter accounts and never received a reply. I suspect if my girly pink blog didn't scare them away, the boasting about my Twitter knowledge did. Sigh!

I'm a freelance writer who's been published by magazines including Women's Health & Fitness and Cosmo Bride. Samples of my work are available on my blog.

As assistant editor of The Essential Guide to Twitter (currently out in news agencies) I discovered the best Twitter feeds for sports, health, fitness and food. Energy-packed recipes in 140 characters or less? Tick. Sports stars' feeds for insights into how they keep on top of their game? Tick. Feeds to encourage, cajole and kick your ass when you feel like quitting your exercise program? The tools are all there to transform into a more buff and successful version of you.

I'd like to write "Get Fitter with Twitter" to serve up the best Twitter feeds available for Men's Health readers looking to fast-track their fitness.

Coming to 1,200 words, the article would be delivered within two weeks of hearing you're interested.

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Douglas

Major Twitter fail whale!

Get a Real Job!

Children's book author and blogger Christina explores the fine line between "writer" and "housewife" in this guest post...

Christina Rozeas blogs about travel at The Globetrotting Gamine and has written and illustrated Where Did All the Cookies Go?, a children's book about "counting, kindness and sharing" starring her adorable doggy, Vasi. Show her some love on her Facebook page here and become a fan for a much-needed dose of pupply love in your news feed.

A Writer's Observation

In the world we live in today, most new households bring in a steady income from two people: husband and wife.

Nothing is truer than the fact that I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My name is Christina Rozeas and presently, I am a housewife.

I am a vacuum-wielding, cooks-every-night, laundry fluff and fold, and husband-mediator housewife. I even have a puppy and am working on the white picket fence.

And I'm also a writer.

I am very well aware that my "occupation" for the last few years brings up a lot of questions for most, especially the closest of friends. "She doesn't do anything all day!" "You mean you actually have time to do that? I don't -- I have a job!" are comments I hear whispered behind my back and sometimes off to the left. These are questions that people don't have the guts to ask me personally, through any type of communication. People will think what they want no matter what you tell them anyway.

Tortured artist? Pfft. Tortured writer is more the likes of the mess that lingers in my brain. So sue me if I hate to clean and my husband moans about one meal per month that he'd rather do without. Take a look in my purse, for example -- notebook, notepad, pens and markers are abundant. Notes are everywhere -- they may be for one of the five manuscripts I am in the middle of writing, how to promote my children's books, for one of the other 14 stories I need to illustrate, and which agents to query.

In the purses of my friends? A to-do list of tasks to complete upon arrival at home.

Newsflash: I am ALWAYS working. I am not a 9-to-fiver or a 9-to-3 school employee anymore. Puttering around the house and in front of the computer is as exhausting to me as everyone else's job is, if not more so because to me, it's not a job -- I've made a life-choice.

Even when I was working, I would come home to putter and write. I am not a sack of potatoes that runs home to clean and then that's it. I was never that person. So when people tell me, "What you mean you don't have time to go do __________?" it REALLY gets under my skin.

So I don't have a cleaning service come in a few times a month to help me out and I don't drop off the wash at the laundromat, I am it for now. When I get published and the ducks fall in a row, will I still hear the chorus of, "What is she really doing at home?"?

Is this what J.K Rowling and Sophie Kinsella were going through in their pre-published days? Did Stephanie Meyer have the same kind of friends and comments thrown at and around her? I hope not, but most likely...

So before you start the chorus of put downs about your writer friend or relative think of it this way: we are always writing and always creating, just so you have something to read and watch when you get your two weeks off or two months your "real job".

Brilliant post, Christina, it's like you've described my life as well! My mum often asks whether I've gotten a job yet and if I say I'm writing an article replies with "but, I mean a real job". Argggghhh!! Does anyone else have this problem?