Archive for the ‘Christmas’ Category

Xmas Downunder

Friday, December 25th, 2009

At this time of year in Australia I like to celebrate the paradox of focusing on winter celebrations in the middle of summer (spring in autumn; autumn in spring, etc) simply because it is traditional.  It reminds me to keep thinking for myself and questioning always, and also to laugh at myself (and others ) and lighten up. How silly and sentimental we humans can be!

I do enjoy the excitement and anticipation and gearing up for a major celebration.  I am celebrating the end of another year, followed a week later by the celebration of the start of a new year.

I also reminisce about my imaginary childhood and on what I love about Europe and England which has a deep place in my heart. Sentimental stuff.

I was chatting to someone recently who said she disliked the idea of a winter Xmas. She thought it would feel too “barren” to have anything to celebrate. I don’t think winter is barren, or that there’s nothing to celebrate. It is a part of a cycle of seasons and is necessary for the next cycle to begin. I loved the idea of Xmas falling into the cold, winter season in the north as it really brings cheer and joyfulness into what could otherwise be a bleak time of the year up there. Here it falls in summer which is bushfire season, so I find it a time where I see pictures of snow and cold and find myself hoping for good rains and mild weather, and that no one will die this season (on the roads too).

So this is a time for goodwill to all, as they say. We wind down, get wound up, wrap up the year, and hopefully find time to think of giving to others.

Something like that anyway. Have a good one.

Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008

Here, downunder, Christmas is green, not white. Unless fire season arrives early – then it’s black and sooty. But the holidays everywhere are becoming greener with more and more people gaining awareness of the footprint that gift giving leaves on the environment.

Here are some great, green, greasy (okay, maybe not greasy) eco-friendly Christmas lenses:

Inexpensive Eco-Friendly Christmas ideas by Lensmaster Evelyn Saenz 
Twelve Days of a Green & Ethical Christmas by Lensmaster AJ2008
Eco-Friendly Christmas Gifts, Presents and Decorations by Lensmaster CleanerLife
Top 10 Best Green Gift Ideas 2008 by Lensmaster Flowski
Recycle It! Christmas Cards by Lensmaster Mortira

I’ve recently launched a brand new blog called Elegant Giving. This blog is based on the idea of putting more thought into the gifts that we give each other, to avoid the physical and emotional waste of unwanted and inappropriate gifts being thrown out. Please visit me there and let me know what you think…

Organising and Updating 100+ Lenses

Monday, July 7th, 2008

Yup. It’s a lot of lenses to keep track of. Even if you have 50, you probably feel like you’re doing a bit of a juggling act.

I’m thrilled to bits with the new(ish) Dashboard features. Here’s how I’ve arranged my updating schedule:

     

  • In addition to all the other labels I’ve madly created, I’ve added four new “Quarterly” labels (January to March; April to June; July to September; and October to December).
  • All my Valentine’s lenses (including WIP Valentine’s lenses) go in the Jan-Mar category. These need to be updated in January so that they are ready for February. During February I just need to keep a check on them and update things like search terms and popular products.
  • Mother’s Day and Father’s Day lenses go into the April to June section – same deal: update in April, check during May and/or June. (Plus Father’s Day goes into July-September also, for Australian Father’s Day.)
  • Halloween lenses go into both the July-September and October-December sections. Updating starts in July.
  • Christmas lenses go into October-December with updating overlapping Halloween. That tends to be a hectic period.
  • Non-seasonal lenses go into a quieter quarter. Movie lenses go into the quarter related to when the movie comes on circuit, and are then moved to the quarter related to when the DVD is released.

Then the important part: set the quarter you are in as the new Default page. Currently my default page is July-September, meaning that all my Halloween lenses are in front of me for updating.

I was originally going to sort this month by month, but I think quarterly will be fine.