Fabulous Fridays: 20 January 2012

I'm finding the life of a features writer isn't all glamour, especially when you get a mid-week migraine (owie!). Let's see if we can find a cure...

• Does Zooey Deschanel have champagne-flavoured nipples or something? The whole world has the hots for her in a major way right now and I just don't get it!
• I'll be whipping this up for lunch today using leftover roast vegetables. Looks easy enough even for me. : )
• Like Etsy, art, nature, jewellery and dreamy pictures? Step right this way to the JooJoo blog.
• I'm crushing on Lula magazine right now. For fans of alternative fashion glossies like Frankie, Russh, and YEN.
• If you're not already following hilarious Star Trek legend, George Takei (on Twitter, on Facebook), do yourself a favour!
• My favourite stationery store, Typo, recently raised the ire of conservative Christian feminist, Melinda Tankard Reist for selling "pornographic" products... marketed towards adults. Overreaction, much?
• Want a flawless look? Get Fotoshop by Adobe. Love.
• The new version of '80s hit, Young Talent Time, will hit Aussie TVs this week. You can blame the original for launching Kylie and Dannii Minogue and Tina Arena into stardom. Sorry.
• Hello sailor! Gorgeous.
• My friend Nicola sent me this link: The Six Weirdest Cities People Actually Live In. Who wants to visit fun-sized Disneyland with me?
• Feel like you're always in the dark? Leave a light on, I say.

A little Friday frivolity always cures what ails ya! Have a good one. : )

I Tried... Visiting a Psychic!

When I decided to tick "visiting a psychic" off my bucket list,  I didn't realise there'd be a psychic fair in my suburb the very next weekend. It was like it was meant to be...

In matters of the mystic, I consider myself an "open-minded skeptic" (aka fence-sitter). I've suspected I was clairvoyant on occasion when I accurately predicted, say, my dropped toast would land butter side down, but it usually turned out to be well-founded pessimism in disguise.

With this in mind, I dragged Mr Big along to the psychic fair and for a mere fiver, was admitted entry to the local arts centre transformed into a world where hippies ruled supreme. Middle-aged women sauntered among trestle tables of healing crystals, boxed tarot card sets, incense and bohemian jewellery of questionable style, but the psychics were where the real action was, at $30 or more a pop (ouch!).

Poor Mr Big looked terminally bored. I left him browsing books with titles like Find Your Guardian Angel and What Colour is My Aura? and stepped up to the only available psychic's table for a 20-minute tarot reading. She looked, well, like a pretty, thin, middle-aged lady with a kindly face bare of makeup. Not especially hippy-like. Good start, as far as appearances can take you.

I confessed to being a newbie and asked how we should proceed. She explained as she got me to shuffle and cut the card deck that I could either ask a specific question or have a general reading. I opted for the latter. Some nice-sounding cards came up in the latticework arrangement she made on the table. Except the hanged man. I hoped that wasn't a bad one.

When we started, I deliberately didn't reveal anything about myself to see what she would come up with unprompted. She zoned in on career questions, explaining I had many possible paths and that I should try to extend myself and learn new things (like trying a pyschic reading, perhaps?). She said my partner is very accommodating (correct) and that she could see travel to nordic countries like Denmark (Legoland?!).

All of her predictions sounded positive and in tune with my past, future goals and present plans. I was a bit puzzled when she could see pharmacy or chemistry around me, but hey, maybe she was predicting last night's jab in the bum to cure my migraine? Who knows. In any event, even the hanged man turned out to have a positive interpretation, something about the bubbles surrounding him representing opportunities I can pluck out of the air.

And there you have it, I'm all predicted up and ready to kick my future in the balls. Or something.

Have you visited a psychic? Did they have any startling predictions for you?

The 4-hour Work Week

There was such a huge buzz surrounding this book, I just had to check it out...

I hate business books, as a general rule. To me, they always seem to be filled with vague mantras like "work smarter, not harder", without giving examples of how to actually put the concept into practice. Plus, their hard-sell language on the back cover always puts me right off.

I made an exception for Tim Ferriss's book because, frankly, who can resist the lure of working 4 hours a week? Plus, everyone seemed to be raving about it, so there must be something to it, right?

Damn straight, there is! He challenges what we've all been trained to believe from a young age: that to be a good citizen, we should work 40 hours per week in a boring job until we're 65 or so and then retire. By retirement age we're often too old to really enjoy ourselves. Instead, why not take mini-retirements throughout your life and work as little as possible? Sounds good to me.

Before you go thinking Tim is one lazy SOB, here's a quick run-down of his achievements:

• Princeton University guest lecturer in high-tech entrepreneurship
• First American in history to hold a Guinness World Record in tango
• Advisor to more than 30 world-record holders in professional and Olympic sports
• Wired magazine's "Greatest Self-Promoter of 2008"
• National Chinese kickboxing champion
• Horseback archer (yabusame) in Nikko, Japan
• Political asylum researcher and activist
• MTV breakdancer in Taiwan
• Hurling competitor in Ireland
• Actor on hit TV series in mainland China and Hong Kong (Human Cargo)

Impressive, huh? Not only does he share how he's done all this, there's plenty of challenges, online resources, examples, worksheets and links to templates on his web site to help you emulate his success. If you even take away one of his tips in the book, you'd see your life improve, but even if you don't implement any of his suggestions, you'll definitely enjoy the plethora of cheeky anecdotes from Tim, his friends and previous readers.

The principles are certainly applicable to writers and freelancers -- how to "batch" your work tasks, not get distracted during the work day, and ease your way out of a 9-5 job and increasingly work from home. They have definitely helped me.

I borrowed this book from the library, read it, bought the expanded edition on Amazon and then reread it. This is one you'll want to return to again and again until you wear the words off the page.

Read it IMMEDIATELY. Thank me later.

Rating: 10/10.

Have you read The 4-hour Work Week? What did you think?

Fabulous Fridays: 13 January 2012

Yes, it's one of those spooky Friday the 13th editions of Fab Friday *shivers*. Quick, distract yourself with these finds of the week...

• Dottie Angel blog. Embroidered elegance and jolly, jaunty designs. Do stop by. : )
• I'm drawn to the vintage clothes and unique storyline of Mad Men, but can't decide if I'd have to grit my teeth through all the sexism towards women.
• The three houses are the best -- floating, hobbit and LEGO -- amongst the 10 most awe-inspiring projects of 2011. What's your fave?
• While I'm keen to live a simpler lifestyle this year, I'm not ready to go money-free like this German grandmother.
• When dolls and food collaborate to bring you syrupy sweet pictures: 50 Picks Daily blog. You can't help but smile. : )
• Getting groovy the old school way. Hands up who remembers that song?
• DIY one-ingredient  face masks sound just dandy to me. Kind to your wallet, the earth and your skin.
• Um... it's not only kids who buy stationery, you know, and some of us actually have a sense of humour... Poor Typo, I think they were hard done by.
• Everyone needs a tiny, playable harmonica.
• The controversial issue of making overweight airline passengers pay a fuel surcharge reared its head this week. Tricky. Your thoughts?

Just don't walk past a black cat or under a ladder in your stilettos and you should be fine. Happy Friday!

Query Letter: "Peppermint" Magazine

Many of you would know of my long-standing love affair with Peppermint magazine. Writing for them would be a dream come true, but unfortunately it wasn't to be this time around. I never got a response to this pitch I emailed...

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

What's a girl to do when she meets injustice in the world? Unfortunately, the modern answer can often be worry about the cause, but not know how to solve the problem.

It's time to bring back the elegantly-phrased protest letter!

I'd like to use my experience working for a state minister and hobby of serial letter-writing to magazines (a major glossy once published seven of my letters in one year -- I stopped before they took out a restraining order) to bring "Make a Statemint" to Peppermint readers. Covering the different causes, where to address your letters and when to start or join a petition, the article would provide a gentle, politically-neutral guide to practicing your penmanship and literary fist-shaking all at the same time.

Coming to 1,000 words, the article would be delivered within two weeks of hearing you're interested.

Yours sincerely,

Rebecca Douglas

Not sure what went wrong. : ( Please send me any advice you can muster!