Category Archives: Uncategorized

Make up your own mind.

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Tonight I ate a mullet. Apparently the worst fish in the whole sea. AND it was amazing.

My brother caught it off the beach this afternoon. He is a clever fisherman and a clever cook and I am glad that we didn’t listen to the rumours on the sand and on the internet. They all said that mullet sucks. Tonight we proved them wrong. We also ate an amazing meal. We (I am cashing in on this, but it was mainly my brother) fried the big mullet, chopped it, mixed it with spring onions, vietnamese mint, chilli and lime and then wrapped it in betel leaf. All of the aforementioned ingredients were from his communal garden. (He is a pretty great guy). And then we ate it. We could have been sitting in Longrain. But instead were sitting in his Bondi apartment eating a homemade meal of mullet with a fine glass of red. Superb.

It might make professional fishermen and chefs cringe, but sometimes the majority are wrong. It is good when you are the black sheep and make up your own mind.

This afternoon a good friend of mine made the observation that everyone in my family is, by default, happy and positive. I had never thought of my default state before. But I like that. Naturally upbeat and positive. I am going to try and hold on to that characteristic. There is a little bit of good in everyone and everything. Sometimes we forget that and just listen to people when they say things are bad and mullet sucks. Instead make up your own mind and look for the good stuff. It tastes great.

Mental palate preparation.

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The power of the mind is amazing. We all know that. But usually it is in reference to things like healing, athletic ability, telepathy or deja-vu. But it is also overwhelming powerful at preparing the palate for food. As old Pavlov’s dogs will attest – when we know something tasty is on the way, we salivate. We mentally prepare our tastebuds for the sweet refreshing sensation of pineapple. And when we take that first bite and discover that it is instead a triangle of cheddar cheese. Our tastebuds retract in horror. Even though usually they actually quite enjoy a chunk of cheese. It is all about expectations and what our mind has prepared us for.

The cheese incident is a true story and happened last night as I was about to enjoy a Martini. My good friend Luke also was all set to eat a green glazed cherry that turned out to be a pickled onion. Talk about the mind playing tricks and a shock and a half. Or maybe we should just not have ordered Australian vegemite martinis in the first place.

*This photo is THE Martini from last night – who would guess that was cheese and an onion? Definitely pineapple and a cherry… yes?

I also had a similar instance when I was younger. I remember my mum picking me up and passing me a water bottle which I thought was full of water. Being a thirsty child I chugged back the water. Which turned out to be lumpy. And sweet. I spat it out. It was disgusting. But the worst shock came when I found out what it actually was. A nice cold pre-mixed bottle of Milo. What a lovely Mother. And I loved Milo. But because my pre-emptive controlling taste buds were only prepping themselves for water, they retorted at the thought of Milo. So strange. The amazing power of the mind. Important not to forget what our mind can control.

 

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

The power of the lazy me.

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I slept in this morning. It was too dark and rainy and cold looking outside (although it was actually hot…) and well I was just plain lazy. So when my alarm went of at 6am I turned it off and planned to roll over and go back to sleep. But that didn’t happen. I kept thinking – “I should go. Get up. I don’t want to go. I should go. Get up. I don’t want to go.” You get the idea. A little internal monologue that goes around in circles. Next thing I know it was 7am, so naturally I turned on my computer, checked my email and made a cup of tea.

Usually my motivational voice wins and I get out of bed. Go for a run or swim or to the gym. Come home, pat myself on the back, feel pumped for the day and really enjoy breakfast and a coffee.

So why is it that even when we know the rewards are great, we still can’t snap our lazy selves out of bed? No injuries, not sick, not particularly tired… just lazy. Where is the logic in that. When we know that the benefits greatly out way the costs but we continue to lie still and pretend to be fast asleep. Not logical. Not results driven. Just stubborn. We then have that smug, guilty niggle that proudly sits on our shoulder all day.

Sometimes the power of the lazy me is just too strong. 

After 9 hours of self motivation and internal pep talking. I ended up running after work. In a thunderstorm. And it felt great. But man I hope the lazy me quietens down. Self-motivation can be draining.

 

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

Bring your other, care-free travel self to work.

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When you are travelling you make more friends, get offered more opportunities, stumble on more good luck and in general just have more fun. Does this actually all happen because you are in a sunny, care-free place with palm trees or simply in an open and welcoming mental space?

I often wonder if the people that you befriend when you are on holidays would act the same if you met them in their home environment.

Would they be the same person, or are they a care-free travel version of their real self?

I do think that the holiday mode kicks in, and because you have less time constraints, less structure and generally less on your mind, you are more open to distraction in everyday activities. Sometimes this distraction can be chatting to the person sitting beside you on the bus, asking for advice or directions from a stranger at the traffic lights or talking to the waitress in a restaurant. All these interactions that you would usually avoid because you are busy thinking about the next thing you have to do, can lead to opportunities. Whether it be discovering a new place, learning something about the history of a town or trying a new type of food. All which are exciting and adventurous and open up a new little pocket of your mind.

So why is it then that when we are home, set in our routine, we close ourselves off to these opportunities?

It is almost like we are too busy to let any interaction deter us from the path that we are on so we keep our eyes down just incase. We become a less approachable and disinterested version of our holiday self. Last week I wrote a post about how sometimes being a little lost is good for us. This is the same concept. But in an everyday approach. Trying to bring some of that carefree attitude to your ‘normal’ life.

Allowing your holiday self to enter into your working day life will also lead to opportunities. Being open to deterrence can result in great things.

I ended up on a deserted island in the Andaman Sea, sleeping in a hammock and eating coconuts all because I was in holiday mode and that turned out pretty well. Just imagine what could happen if I brought that welcoming mental space to work… especially with online collaboration tools, my Mac Air and a love of the cloud.  Ah the possibilities…

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

The Fig.

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An interesting, sweet, versatile, perhaps confused, odd looking and weirdly expensive fruit when fresh.

Normal to some people and completely foreign to others. I am one of those kids that grew up with a mum that loves figs. Fresh figs, dried figs, figs in savouries, figs in sweets. So they were never strange to me. But I have many mates who screw up their face at a dried fig and have never seen a fresh one. Strange. I do also find it odd how much you pay for a fresh fig. At the moment they are in season. You can buy them separately at the fruit shop for around $2 each. The season is short and the life span mini. I mean they are tasty, but they are still just a fruit.

Anyway, lucky for me, we have a tree. So at the moment, so many figs we do not know what to do with them (if times get tough – perhaps sell them for $2 each in the old school, lemonade stall nature strip  style. But not yet).

Instead, this morning I had some figs on home-made muesli for breakfast, and then tonight I made some fig, lemon and rosemary pasta. Easy. Tasty. And shareable. So here goes…

Making Fig pasta

Pick some rosemary sprigs. Grate a lemon for its rind then squeeze it. Slice some figs into quarters. Chop up some garlic. Fry up some pine nuts. Make bread crumbs out of three slices of real bread,  then fry it up in a pan till crispy.

Fry the garlic in some oil. Add the figs. Add the rosemary. Add the lemon rind.

Cook some fettucini. Strain the fettucini. Put the fettucini in a bowl, pour over the lemon juice. Add all the tasty bits. Voila.

Or another Fig option…

Perhaps if you have to pay $2 a fig you would prefer not to make them into a pasta sauce. Instead try cutting them in half, putting some blue cheese and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar on top and sliding them under the griller. Another tasty option for Mr versatile Fig that can sit in either the pre or post dinner category. Not bad at all.

*On a side note I do feel slightly strange that  I dedicated my whole blog post to figs. But that is the beauty of a blog. And of sharing. And of the Fig I guess.

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

Why wearing lycra with the work crowd is a good idea.

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I like to be outdoors. I like fresh air. And I like to bond with my work pals. As much as I like to share a beer or glass of vino with colleagues and business partners sometimes I think it is good to mix it up and do some bonding over exercise.

5 reasons why I wear lycra with the work crowd:

1.  People let down their guard and remember it the next day.

2.  You earn respect that does not tarnish your professional reputation.

3.  Once people see you in your running gear you don’t worry so much about what you wear to work.

4.  If there is an awkward moment you just focus on running or riding or boxing. Superb.

5.  You actually wake up feeling good the next day.

Strong and real relationships are founded when you share a bit of exercise in the outdoors. I can vouch for that. And a good career needs good working relationships. So time to get networking in lycra.

Love what you do.

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To be able to love the work you do, and the people that you do it with is rare and special. I have been lucky enough to go from one great organisation which is changing peoples lives, to another great organisation which is also dramatically impacting millions of people, just in a very different way. I have just spent the last week over in San Francisco at the Yammer head office. The Enterprise Social Network that is changing the face of businesses. They are bringing together some of the sharpest minds in the world and creating a powerful tool in a very unique manner. And people genuinely love what they do.  It is something fun, exciting and challenging to be part of.

An article published online this week showed photos of an after hours tour inside the Yammer head office and a video of the infamous deployment routine that happens every Friday night – something which depicts and defines the Yammer culture. Innovative, efficient and memorable.

Out of longstanding tradition based on superstition, the team blasts Europe’s “The Final Countdown” over the stereo for the entire deployment process. As the code base has grown, deploys have taken longer — they can last up to an hour. So they’ve created a “Final Countdown” playlist with versions in every imaginable language, remix, and cover.

Who was I?

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Last night I went to the most amazing comedy show ever, Get Mortified. A great simple, real and raw concept. People get up and read their school diary entries on stage in front of their school photo. I was in fits of laughter the whole time.

Last night we had readings from the 70s, 80s and 90s. They were some good years. I was not only laughing at them, but I was also laughing because I could relate to so much of what they were saying. Perhaps not the specifics like wanting a pig to be one of the cool ag kids, writing love letters to men in uniform when you were 13 years old, and performing rap songs about the evils of tobacco. But just the naivety of teenage hope and dreams. The confusing attempts to process the thoughts of anger and happiness as your lens of the world develops. The emotional poems that you wrote to explain the wild wonders of your teenage world.

I was one of those kids. We all were. What easy and great comedy.

Each mortified soul was then followed by a a freestyle rap. Amazing. They were the San Francisco based improv hip-hop group The Freeze. There were three of them working the stage, backed by a band. Really impressive, quick and clever. After one girl read out a diary entry talking about how the chicken from Burger King was so much better than from McDonalds, the rap line that followed was ‘Chicken falling from the sky, this time the King has won, you’re going down clown’.

It was such a great night that called for some personal reflection in a really light-hearted, mortifying and musically inspired manner. When you have something in writing, you can’t change it. It is there in ink, just as it was in 1994. There is no denying that it was you. It is really great to be able to see the world once again through the innocent, and sometimes disturbing, eyes of your teenage self. As our MC for the night finished up;

‘We are freaks, we are fragile and we all survived’. 

Thanks to my great mate Dan for taking me along. I really hope that this makes it out to Australia. I have boxes of diaries and poems that would mortify me superbly.

 

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

Keeping life interesting… and weird.

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I like culture. I like quirk. I like things that are a little different. But putting Pumpkin Pie Spice flavouring in your coffee – that’s just weird. And then selling individual sachets of the stuff, well that’s just plain rude to Mr Coffee bean himself.  But hey, each to their own. It keeps life interesting. I love vegemite. Mmmmm the sweet, salty smell of a black yeast mixture.

 

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.

Make a mistake. Say sorry. Happy customer.

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Everyone makes mistakes. Lots of individuals say sorry, however, I find that in the service industry, apologies are often in short supply.

Since I arrived at my hotel in San Francisco at the start of the week there have been a couple of little hiccups. Nothing major. Just an issue with payment and confusion over breakfast inclusion. A little frustrating but we figured it out and I moved on.

Then tonight when I arrived back to my room – oh what a surprise that was awaiting for me! A personal apology note and a bottle of red wine. Only one glass, which made me feel a little lonely… but hey, I am here for work, so I can definitely watch tv and crack a bottle of vino just for me. Here’s cheers to the Parc 55 Wyndham for acknowledging their mistake and providing a super apology.

A personal apology note and a tray of treats from the hotel = Happy customer

 

For the month of March I am writing a blog post every day as part of #b03. Thanks to Steve for the challenge.