My plants are dying

I need help/advice. I have two plants and they are almost dead. I have one in my cubicle, (which otherwise only has a map of the US so I can pretend I know where things are) and one in my room. Two have died already.

One at home gets natural light, water every now and again, and not much love. The one at work gets artificial light, water and I assume, carbon dioxide from people's breath. They are both turning black.

You guys were so helpful on the LED question (Light Emitting Diodes, since no one actually posted a comment for everyone to see) that I figured someone would know about the plants. I may have to email you to get you to read this, but whatever....

Ask yourself - what would I do if I wasn't afraid? Then do it.

Last week, a friend quoted Somerset Maugham (as you do) and even though he often quotes people, I still felt compelled to double check - after all, he's only 22! Scary to think that I've reached the age where people younger than me are actually a LOT smarter. Anyway, I found this brilliant site - check it out - www.thinkarete.com

It has quotes, and other tidbits. The site is semi-philosophical, but not in an airy-fairy way. It's about living to your greatest capacity. Here's one thought:

Ask Yourself: What would I do if I wasn’t afraid? Then, do it.

Ask Yourself that Question Again. Then do it again. And again. You do that 10 times and I guarantee you you’ll be a different person. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Always, always, always, always, always, always, always do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”

This little thing had quite an effect on me - so much so that I've set up a daily Outlook calender reminder! (Uber-nerd...yeah I know. Still, I didn't know what LEDs were...;)



In Africa, Shweta and I took part in an Adrenalin Day. This picture is of the least frightning of the activities - a flying fox above the Zambezi River.

Later that day, we jumped/fell/were pushed off the cliff, to be caught by the bunji cord at the bottom, then swung out over the river. I can't remember being more physically afraid as when I was standing on the platform at the edge of the cliff with the instructor and waiting to jump.

And the natural high when I didn't get smashed to pieces on the rocks below was probably the best I've ever experienced!

Thinking about this in more depth led to something of a cathasis for me, really opening my eyes to my own behaviors. I realized how some deeper fears - whether they be societal, or fears taken from childhood/adolescence to adulthood - can drive decisions and create patterns of behavior.

So I'm working on taking a different leap. Not quite so scenic this time!

Ta very much Sarah Bear, for being my bunji-cord.

Salsa!

Tonight I started my first salsa class...actually no, it was my second. Last week was a bit of a disaster.

I went along hoping I could crash a class that had been going for six weeks, thinking 'I've done a few classes here and there, I can go forward and back, I can turn'. The instructor started off going forward and back, but then started crossing feet and swishing legs and ladder this and susie Q that! I was all over the place like a dog on rollerskates - like Goofy! Goofy was a dog, right? - and then when it came to partner dance time - argh! I excused myself, no need to inflict my fear-sweat and unco-ness on the poor guys.

This week was much better. We did forward and back, and then we did side to side.

I was awesome!

Salsa!

Tonight I started my first salsa class...actually no, it was my second. Last week was a bit of a disaster.

I went along hoping I could crash a class that had been going for six weeks, thinking 'I've done a few classes here and there, I can go forward and back, I can turn'. The instructor started off going forward and back, but then started crossing feet and swishing legs and ladder this and susie Q that! I was all over the place like a dog on rollerskates - like Goofy! Goofy was a dog, right? - and then when it came to partner dance time - argh! I excused myself, no need to inflict my fear-sweat and unco-ness on the poor guys.

This week was much better. We did forward and back, and then we did side to side.

I was awesome!

Cold Spring # 2

This is definitely the last post on Cold Spring.

But I remembered one more thing about it that was interesting...

The town is being terrorized by a rabid skunk.

Cold (and boring) Spring

Cold Spring is a little town in upstate New York that is probably beautiful when the sun is shining....but on a grey day, coupled with a hangover and little sleep, the highlight was probably a dog that weighed 130 pounds and sat on my friend Derek's foot.

Derek is a hybrid Kiwi-American, also a reporter, a marathon runner, and has a proper blog - www.derekrose.com where he has linked a posting about Cold Spring to my posting about the Killers. Which feels a little odd, since Derek has a few hundred people reading his blog and I haven't even told my Mum about mine, let alone anyone else! So far my audience loves it... ;)

The folks at Cold Spring told us the best walking trails had a cave and a beach with views down the Hudson River. We could also have gone kayaking, but on very little sleep I figured two hours slopping round in a marsh looking at birds would have finished me off.

The cave turned out to be a cave....a little cave with old pre-last week coffee cup remains and a few more ancient beer bottles. The beach was a complete misnomer.

But we had fun! Maybe it was the fact that everything in Cold Spring turned out to be elevated beyond its station (even the antique shops seems to sell mostly old ladies' hats)...induced a sort of mild, shortlived desire to spice the place up a bit. Low level goofiness. It didn't really last long.

Attached - pics of me doing my best Indiana Jones imitation, escaping poisoned arrows and falling debris as I claw my way out of the cave! And Derek sunning himself on a crappy bit of sand.

Killers! (etc)

Killers! Since I accidently walked out on the Killers pre-U2 in Amsterdam (to get a meatball sandwich), I've been kicking myself (hard) for not realizing how incredibly brilliant they are. My prediction - and its a big one - is that these guys will eventually be as big as U2.

Webster Hall, NYC - 'secret' gig for 2000 people - we were so close! and even on first hearing, their new songs were good, which means after a little listening they'll be O for Awesome!

We'd been fighting off people all night to keep our vantage point- me and three fab guy friends - when two pushy girls came forward and one stood right in front of me - pretty much ON me. So I asked her if she was staying there (and elbowed her a little bit... not the most coordinated dancer....;) Then she says - 'do you wanna do this? do you wanna do this?' - I think the last time someone tried to start a fight with me was when I was nine, so it seemed a bit humorous..... She lunges, there's a bit of commotion, my fab Kiwi friend steps between us, and then a bouncer picks her up and hauls her off. But the silly cow had me by my t-shirt - my 'Yeah Girls' t-shirt from NZ - a gift! and she ripped the collar pretty bad on her way out - bugger.

So, if they're still selling those t-shirts in NZ, can someone please send me one? the boys tell me the new look is actually quite hot but I don't think I could wear it to dinner.

Apart from that, The Killers rocked. Last song, Mr Brightside, the whole place was alive - all 2000 secret friends yelling out "it started off with a kiss how did it end up like this, it was only a kiss, IT WAS ONLY A KISS"

tea-bag wisdom

Just a quickie before bed....;) Need my beauty sleep for tomorrow night - KILLERS Concert! I do believe I love The Killers almost as much as I love U2...based on only one album. Could be an unhealthy obsession actually.

This is a bit of wisdom from the paper dangly bit on a tea-bag. Taking wisdom from a tea-bag probably isn't recommended, but it seemed like a good piece of advice to me:

Live with an attitude of reverance for yourself and all others. You will be healthier, happier and more effective.

night night.

PS I had to fish the tea-bag back out of the rubbish....

NASDAQ

Today I was lucky enough to get a peek inside the NASDAQ building in Times Sq.

From the outside (8500 LED lights (actually, what does LED stand for anyway? if I was smarter I'd have thought of a joke about how many XXX does it take to change 8500 LED bulbs... (?bulbs?))

Anyway, from the outside it looks very large. But as NASDAQ is a purely electronic market, this location is basically an advertising site for the 1.5m people outside, and for the TV networks to have somewhere pretty to film company news. That circular part is pretty much all there is to it; inside its basically a space for companies to have parties, or for men in grey suits to get onto a stage backed by huge screens and 'open' the market or celebrate being listed.

Watching this from the sidelines was pretty strange. The many suits were huddled on the stage, then music starts up...10 minutes to market opening, sort of thump thump, building like Jaws is coming. By one minute (grey suits told to applaud and cheer loudly) the music is frantic and quite frankly, I'm jumpy and pretty sure something terrible is going to happen, or we're going to take off!

Luckily....nothing happens. Nothing at all. It goes 9.30am, I guess money-people in the outside world start clicking their mice, and the screens start showing the prices going up and down. Phew.

Apparently the music was commissioned especially and cost a fair bit. The thumping is based on an actual heart beat (no kidding!). And given that there isn't much else to get hearts pumping (well, in a tangible sense), I'd say it is worth the $$.

I got a free muffin too :)

Hmmm

Now that I'm here I have nothing to say.


So will try to upload a picture instead....

Home....down there, to the right.

Meooooorrrw