small steps

pic from mini hipster

Pic from the small steps website

I recently stopped watching the news because it was too depressing. I spend a lot of time researching NGOs and nonprofit organisations (i study grad diploma in international development, like project management for aid work) and i think its why i've got a new positive outlook. I get to see some people at their best, normal people who saw a need and decided they could do something about it.

I am really interested by small non profits which are out there achieving things. I think everyone has the skills to make a difference in someone's life and people underestimate their own abilities. Occasionally i am going to post about some of the organisations i hear about. I am not going to get all preachy or guilt anyone into donating. I guess this is just my way of say i appreciate what they are doing.

So my first of these posts is on Small Steps. Now if you follow the link the website is rubbish and i wish they would hire me to work on their social media campaign cos it stinks but what they are doing is amazing.

Small Steps supports children living on rubbish dumps around the world and raises awareness of the unacceptable hardships faced by them through film. They are working to put shoes on the feet of children living on dump sites and 100% of donations goes to children on rubbish dumps.

It sounds like a small thing but i have seen some of these dumps where people are spending their lives and i wouldn't want to venture in there with a hazmat suit let alone without shoes. These kids spend their days sorting through piles of burning garbage with no protection.

And if you have time this is worth a watch. Around the world in 80 dumps...

Around the World in 80 Dumps: Small Steps Project from Amy Hanson on Vimeo.

I have a real thing for stationery...

these lovelies are from hello jenuine here

but i found them at but, honestly here

and these really get me going. I (try to) write a letter to my boyfriend in Nepal every week and i think i might have to start making more of an effort with the envelopes. I would love to get mail in one of these beauties. It might even make it worth getting bills!

from here

I am a little bit in love with this sweatshirt. It isn't very expensive but shipping is $20 and I just don't have any spare dosh at the moment because i have a big school bill coming up. Ohhhh I am destined to be banished from the shops forever! I want new clothes and i want them now.

just 12 mintues

picture from ALT123.

Check out their flickr... some awesome pics

I saw a study the other day that stated the average couple talk to each other for only 12 minutes a day. The rest of their time is spent working, texting, emailing, watching TV, running children around.

This statistic made me sad. Where are we headed if we can't even make time to talk to THE person in our lives. The best part of my day is talking to my boyfriend. We live on different continents at the moment* but we try to lock in an hour on Skype every day or two and a huge number of text messages.

Maybe for some people 12 minutes is enough. I look forward to seeing his grainy picture and slightly delayed voice at the end of the day. It doesn't matter how tired i am, when i hear his voice coming down the line, asking me how my day was everything feels better.

I'm glad we're still in that bubble where you find the most mundane facts about each other interesting... "really baby, you had a tuna melt for lunch? wow that is so interesting". I hope it never bursts.

* We met when I was volunteering in Nepal. We dated for a while before i had to come home to Australia. I just wanted to clarify we aren't a cyber couple. 94 days and we will finally be back in the same postcode.

Love is shocking

Yesterday night i watched the movie Valentines Day. It has 19 'stars' in it but some how still manages to be a bit terrible. Its a bit like Love Actually (which i did enjoy). It does that disjointed story lines, seemingly disconnected characters coming together to form a whole picture, thing, but it doesn't do it well.

The reason i mention it is there was one line in the movie which actually resonated with me.

"love is the only truly shocking act left"

The more i think about this the more it seems true. Everybody craves love. We are all chasing it. We love a love story. We are all searching for that perfect someone(s) who will make violins play, birds sing, butterflies jump in our stomachs and the world stand still while we kiss.

But no one really seems to believe in it. We are honestly shocked when married couples are still in love. We look for the cracks in relationships. We expect infidelity. It is almost embarrassing to admit you are in love, it is like saying you believe in the tooth fairy. When we see a couple being affectionate in public it is peculiar. Love just seems so impossible, implausible, impractical.

Why is this? Why do we search for something we don't really believe exists? I say i believe in love but i don't act with any conviction. I never think love with last.

new picture

I love this picture. We have been in a drought for a really long time out here. The other day my friend and i went for a drive and we came across this creek which had risen up over the road. Everyone who has grown up in the country has memories of their dad driving a car through a swollen river; its exciting and scary all at once.

Thanks for the picture Glenn.