Garth Doyle : Art

My friend Garth Doyle has recently launched his blog site, http://www.garthdoyle.blogspot.com/ Garth is a sculptor and he not only makes beautiful pieces but also jewellery – which I really lust after. His work is sensuous, voluptuous, even though some of the pieces are quite small, and you just want to hold and caress them – well I certainly do!

This is an excerpt from his blog to whet your appetite: “these single edition, hand tooled sushi sized visual poems explore …… contemporary product design, jewellery, sculpture, Japanese toys and miniatures. Painstakingly crafted in a 'dentist like' workshop, these little bite sized gems absolutely beg to be collected by patrons of contemporary culture and design. Tokyo is their next destination...”


Garth’s jewellery is unusual and beautifully sculpted. He uses non-precious materials such as stainless steel and aluminium. His jewellery sits so well and looks like it was made just for you.

So, visit his site and check out his work for yourself.

PS: Garth will be helping me with some design and material issues I have with some pieces that I want to do…….. Lucky me.

Spreading Misery

A week or so ago I wrote about Toni’s presentation based on the Pink Pig of Happiness – and how he leaked his Happiness over the other pigs and they also became bouncy, twirling happy pigs.

Well, this isn’t as daft as it sounds. Nicholas Christakis, in addition to being nominated one of Time’s most 100 influential people in the world, is a sociologist at Harvard University and one of the subjects he studies is Happiness. And he endorses what the Pink Pig already knows: that “happiness, like the flu, can spread from person to person” and that our closeness to happy people (especially family and friends) influences how happy we are and how happy we make other people. And he goes on to say that conversely, if we mix with miserable people we tend to be more miserable ourselves, and spread the misery, usually unfounded!

I was just about to write about stuff that spreads misery when I came across this article which says it all and contains a couple more points than I had on my list. And the author of the article, Ali Hale, says it really well. She ends the article by saying your shouldn't take it to seriously - but I kinda think we should.... my advice: print it and stick it on the wall as a reminder!!!

10 Ways To Make Yourself (And Everyone Around You) Miserable - by Ali Hale

Have you been miserable lately? Got the hump, feeling down, worrying, stressing? Whatever’s got you down – swine flu, the credit crunch, the weather, a busy time at work -- you might as well milk it for all it’s worth. Here’s how to make yourself (and everyone around you) feel completely and utterly miserable.

(And don’t tell me you don’t want to be miserable. I’m pretty sure you’re already doing at least a few of the things on this list...)

1. Turn Molehills Into Mountains
When your printer jams, it’s not just annoying, it’s a disaster. When your car develops an odd rattle, it’s not just normal wear and tear, it’s clearly going to cost a fortune to fix. When your son swears at you, it’s not just a bit of acting out, it’s the first sign of junior delinquency.

However small your problem, magnify it until it becomes overwhelming. You can only be properly miserable when you have huge problems.

2. Dwell On It
Now that you’ve got a big problem, make sure you dwell on it. Let it fill your waking thoughts. Let it spoil your time with your partner or family. (And make sure you keep bringing it up in conversation so everyone knows how awful you’re feeling.)

Imagine all the worst-case scenarios that could result. Lie awake at night, dreaming up new ones.

3. Worry About Things You Can’t Change
Of course, problems that you can solve can only make you miserable for so long – eventually, you’ll either fix them or they’ll melt away of their own accord. So you need to worry about things that you have absolutely no control over.

And you’re in luck: there’s a ready stock of these things on the daily news. Just switch on CNN, and start worrying...

4. Let Everything Mount Up
Whenever there’s something which might cause you stress – unanswered emails, unpaid bills, your taxes, your Christmas cards – let it mount up. Leave your bills unopened for months. Shove all your receipts straight into one big envelope. Don’t bother updating your address book until December 15th.

This habit is self-reinforcing: the more the pile grows, the more reluctant you’ll be to tackle it. And guess what? The bigger it is, the more it’ll prey on your mind. An easy way to make yourself miserable.

5. Blame Other People
To be truly miserable, you mustn’t take responsibility for any of your problems. Blame your parents. Blame society. Blame the government. Blame your boss. Blame your big sister. To be honest, it doesn’t really matter who you blame. Just so long as you’re clear that you aren’t to blame at all – meaning you couldn’t possibly have any power to change the situation.

Of course, to make sure that everyone else is just as miserable as you, be vocal, and tell people that it’s all their fault that your life is so screwed up.

6. Beat Yourself Up
Once you’re bored of blaming other people, start beating yourself up. Listen to that little voice in your head which says that you’re stupid and lazy. Let it go on and on until you believe it. Blame yourself for mistakes you made twenty years ago. Blame yourself for not being 100% perfect.

This is a fast, easy and reliable way to become miserable and to stay miserable. If you do it well, you’ll be convinced that you have no power to change yourself.

7. Complain, Whine And Grumble
When you’re miserable, let the world know about it. Complain to your co-workers about the food in the staff canteen. Whine to your friends about your long hours, aching back and credit card debt. Grumble about the weather, the price of gas, the media, the government.

If every word that comes out of your mouth is a negative one, you’ll be doing a great job of maintaining your miserable mood – and dragging down everyone else’s mood to match it.

8. Never Accept Help
Inevitably, your whining will cause someone to offer some help. Perhaps a friend at work says he’ll help you out with your paperwork, or your partner offers to do your tax return for you. Maybe your sister says she’ll look after the kids one Saturday to give you a break.

Always insist that you don’t need help. Make yourself believe that the person offering couldn’t possibly lighten your burdens ... and make sure they know that they’ve stepped out of line by being willing to lend a hand. (They won’t offer again.)

9. Follow The Path Of Least Resistance
Whenever you have to make a decision, just follow the path of least resistance. It’s easier to stay in your current crap job than to hunt around for something better – so stay where you are. It’s easier to grab take-out rather than cook, so keep doing it (and make sure you feel thoroughly miserable about the effect on your wallet and your health).

If you’re feeling demotivated, lethargic and dispirited, don’t fight it. Let yourself spend the whole weekend sitting around in your pyjamas, playing video games. Then beat yourself up (see number 6) for not getting anything useful done.

10. Never Take A Break
Sometimes, the path of least resistance doesn’t lead to duvet days and general apathy – it means carrying on with life at your current reckless rate. Keep working ridiculous hours; lack of sleep will contribute to your misery. Laugh at anyone who suggests a vacation – and tell them (or at least think to yourself) that they’re slackers for wanting a couple of weeks off.

Make sure you’re burning the candle at both ends – and hating it. Go to bed miserable, and wake up miserable. What more could you want?

Written on 5/25/2009 by Ali Hale. Ali is a professional writer and blogger, and a part-time postgraduate student of creative writing
From www.dumblittleman.com/2009/05/10-ways-to-make-yourself-and-everyone.html

On Being Busy… again

I picked up these questions from Jonathan Fields latest blog titled: Give Me a Break: Are You Busy For a Reason?

The questions are:

What’s keeping you so incredibly busy right now?

And…...

Is what’s keeping you so busy moving you strongly in the direction of coming alive…or simply keeping you so busy you don’t have to think about what you really want to do, and why you’re not doing it?

Great questions aren’t they?

The Meaning of Life

Last week I watched a really predictable movie on TV; boy meets girl, they have a misunderstanding, part company, meet a few years later and live happily ever after. But, there was one line in the movie that stuck with me: “We shouldn’t be looking for the meaning of life; we should look for the feeling of life”.

The more I thought about the "feeling of life" the more I liked it. Feeling life makes me think of wonderful, happy times spent with family and friends, writing poetry in my head when I’m stuck in the traffic, listening to music and singing along, laughing myself silly, looking at pictures, reading a book, the chilly wind on face, sweeping up red and brown leaves from my tiny patch of lawn, my cat sneaking under the duvet with me………

Toni and the Pink Pig

My friend Toni Hughes was one of the opening night presenters at the first Pecha Kucha event in Johannesburg last week…. And you may well say Pecha what? I will tell you a bit more about Pecha Kucha later - first I want to tell you about Toni.

Toni was also one of the organisers of this event – her company being nominated to run Pecha Kucha in South Africa and she did her presentation based on the book by Edward Monkton called the Pink Pig of Happiness. The purpose of the Pecha Kucha presentations is primarily design and secondly to get your message across in 20 slides of 20 seconds each – no easy feat. Toni’s presentation is a stunning animation - the Pink Pig gallivants across the screen, leaping and frolicking with all the miserable pigs until all the happiness that the Pink Pig is leaking (think water sprouting out of the pig) soaks into them – and they also become full of happiness. There is a really good message there so take note! But, Toni’s presentation had people laughing and genuinely feeling happy and the entire event was a huge success. They expected 40 people to attend and over 100 turned up…. (In some cities there have been attendances of 3000!) They are now looking for another venue – it was opposite 44 Stanley where Toni’s new offices will be (lucky thing.)

So, now a little bit about Pecha Kucha: It is free, there are Pecha Kucha events in 195 cities around the world, it was started as a place where designers (and others) could meet and network, it is a place where people can share ideas and display their own work. The events happen about every 3 to 4 months, will always start at 20h20 and the presentation must be 20 slides of 20 seconds each – is this 20/20 vision – I think so *grin*

The Pecha Kucha web site is : http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

This sculpture is called Wavefield by

one of my favorite artists - Maya Lin

And this is a little blurb from Wikipedia and it tells you how to

pronounce it:

Pecha Kucha (ペチャクチャ ?), usually pronounced in three syllables like "pe-chak-cha") is a presentation format in which content can be easily, efficiently and informally shown, usually at a public event designed for that purpose. Under the format, a presenter shows 20 images for 20 seconds apiece, for a total time of 6 minutes, 40 seconds.
It was devised in 2003 by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo's Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa), who sought to give young designers a venue to meet, network, and show their work and to attract people to their experimental event space in Roppongi.[1] They devised a format that kept presentations very concise in order to encourage audience attention and increase the number of presenters within the course of one night. They took the name Pecha Kucha from a Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit-chat").

Doing the same thing over and over again

Something that contributes to us being miserable, unhappy, dissatisfied, frustrated (you get the message) is when things don’t turn out the way we want them to. And very often this is because we are doing the same old thing over and over again, expecting the results to be different – thanks to Einstein for this pearl of wisdom, although he did link insanity to it!

We need to look at what and how we are doing things.

· If our business is not making as much money as we want anymore, maybe we need to do things differently; maybe we should be marketing differently, revising pricing structures, revising product and service offerings
· If we are in a toxic relationship we need to understand why and fix it – which maybe means getting the hell of there or seeking counsel….
· If we have constant money problems, get help and sort it out
· And so on…. you can make your own list!

But the crunch about these miserable situations is that they are going to stay exactly the same, unless you do something about it. Sure, it’s nice to revel in a bit of drama on occasion but this becomes self defeating and very tiresome for family and friends. You might also think this it is “just the way things are” and find lots of excuses and reasons for the status quo; global economic meltdown, that’s just the way it is, he/she promises this time to stop drinking, I don’t earn enough money and so on.

It is quite fine to talk about your unhappiness, dissatisfaction, frustrations. Make the space to talk about it and talk to the right people – and make the changes.

Note about the fridge magnets: They are at the printers and will be despatched shortly

Another amazing performer

Another amazing performer from Britains Got Talent - this was on Saturday nights show..... Just love this guy

Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O88k4i6pF1A&feature=PlayList&p=EFA8FC34A3E79687&index=4

How to have a good fight

I read something the other day that said when you have an argument with a significant other you only fight about the reason for the argument for the first 30 seconds then dump every slight, hurt, whinge and other bit of baggage and fight about that!

It is no wonder we walk away from a fight feeling that the problem hasn’t been sorted out and often feeling really lousy and wishing we could un-say stuff.

So how do we go about having a “good fight”? How do we go about having that tricky talk without it blowing up into an ugly fight? Well, first you must understand that usually every time you want to have the tricky talk, the other person will probably react by getting on the defensive - which is very normal behaviour. Secondly, it is a really good idea to make the time and space for this talk.

And thirdly, Remember: The talk is not just about you – listen really well to what the other person has to say. You don't have the win the fight at all costs.

This is my list on how to have that good tricky talk and I would love to hear what you have to add to it:

Tricky Talk Openers
Hint: don’t be ambiguous – make sure the other person knows what you want to talk about

· What I want to talk to you about (xyz) is really important to me
· I may be over-reacting, but please listen to what I have to say about xyz
· I believe this, xyz, isn’t just my/your problem – it is our problem
· What are we actually disagreeing about – please can we talk about it
· I am not asking you to find the solution for this but it really helps me to talk to you about it
· I understand you are in a difficult situation at the moment but it is important we try to
solve this together
· I feel unappreciated and want to talk to you about why I do

Things to say during the Tricky Talk if things hot up:

· We are getting off the subject – can we get back to talking about xyz
· We can agree to disagree on that issue
· I might be wrong on that – I am sorry
· I hadn’t thought of that
· I understand your position/situation
· I understand it is not your fault
· How can I make this better

Things to say at the end of the Tricky Talk

· Thank you
· I love you

And last but not least, a little sense of humour helps a hellava lot!

“My wife Mary and I have been married for 47 years and not once have had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.” – Jack Benny

Special Offer

My free gift of the fridge magnet template was such a hit that I am having some made up - like proper ones with an actual magnet at the back so you can stick it on your fridge *grin*

If you want one, drop me an email with your name and postal address and I will send one off to you in the near future.

Love

Liz

Listening with everything we’ve got

People who know me know that one of my favourite mantra’s is communicate, communicate and keep communicating. This is the thing, I believe, that keeps all our relationships in good health.

I am going to direct you to a TED Talk a little later. I want you to listen to a particular talk given by a Scots woman called Evelyn Glennie. She is a world famous percussionist and has been deaf since she was 12. The talk is about 32 minutes long and I really recommend downloading it when you have a bit of time.

But what caught my attention was firstly her great use of music as a medium to demonstrate how to listen, but also her wisdom on how we should communicate. It certainly isn’t rocket science but it sure is good to be reminded.

She talks of testing our listening skills constantly – being focused so that we get everything we can out of an interaction. About how we should give time to listening – sometimes the chemistry might not be quite right , but give it a bit of time. We need to connect with sounds – how much better it is to be in a concert hall and not only hear the music, but feel it as well; take in the performers, audience, conductor and everything involved with the performance.

She also talks about how much emotional baggage we take with us into an interaction or concert hall - Simply because someone might have said they didn’t enjoy the performance doesn’t mean we won’t enjoy it. How we listen to things is hugely important (open mind!) and that we should try not to be so judgemental in our relationships.

Evelyn is amazing, a great speaker and great percussionist. My interpretation of what she said is:

Face to face is the cherry on the top for communicating, for relationships and making sure you are on the same wave length – you get to see everything about the other person - just remember to stay focused on them! Email and text messages just don’t cut it. Have an open mind – just because someone doesn’t like something (because of their own baggage) doesn’t mean you can’t hear/listen on your own terms. Sometimes you need to give things a bit of time – give a bit of time to the person/music for the chemistry to work. Listen very hard to what is being said. Listen and feel – let others fill the space with their sound.

The link to the talk is: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html