Keyboard Karma ~ by Helen Crozier

Friday night $2 bubbles to start the weekend

To end a week which seems to have been hurtling at breakneck speed I met with a small group of small business women at the Blues Point Hotel. My parking karma was in horrific form so I was running very late. Driving round and round the block waiting hoping wishing for a space that did not want to eventuate was a very frustrating exercise. I made it into the hotel just before 7pm so was able to claim one of the last glasses of 'friday night $2 bubbles'. What a cheap night out!!

The company however was by no means 'cheap'. It was a great group of women and with the exception of two whom I had met independently there were three more that I 'knew' only because of twitter. I was most excited because I had been chatting with Valerie Khoo for some months virtually and finally it was time to meet her in the flesh! Having read her great newsletters and fun tweets I felt as if I already knew her extremely well - a bit like internet dating perhaps!! There was no awkwardness or unsure moments of what to say. We couldn't stop talking about many things... technology, writing, iphones, Biggest Loser etc.

I continue to hear much negative sentiment towards twitter but I would like to reiterate that it is what you make it. If you let the noise flood into your twitter stream and if you yourself tweet meaningless nothings - you will get very little in return. Valerie reminded me that I had helped her out in the early days of when I was on twitter and she was really grateful for that. I didn't do it with any ulterior motive - I was just pleased to give her the contact details of someone who might be helpful for her to know. The two most valuable things about twitter are the chances of deep and meaningful connections/relationships plus the opportunity to use it as a resource or directory just like google.

Yes there's rubbish on there but there is also rubbish on the internet. Filter out the rubbish and you will find gold I promise you!

Special thanks to Catriona Pollard from CP Communications for organising - look forward to the next one! Great to also see Robin Powis from Defining Style, Susanne Thiebe from Less Mess and Karen Andrews of Shine Sales Solutions.

Women in Small Enterprise

Had a delicious and fun lunch today at Alchemy in Mosman with the Women in Small Enterprise (WISE) group in Mosman - run by Michelle McCallum from Colour Design Studio. I knew a few of the girls there but met some new ones as well and we had great fun telling eachother what we did, what we were celebrating and also recommending a good book to read. I was really happy because I grabbed 11 of my favourite books and gave them all away. Everyone seemed to get a book that they were very pleased with - good karma!!

I'm looking forward to catching up with and even writing about these very entrepreneurial women in the very near future!!

Tech-free breaks becoming more popular

Sydney Morning Herald yesterday...
Digital Day of Rest

On that note I'm taking a tech-sabbatical until Thursday - going to a beach house with four kids and only reading novels....!!!

Flight of the Conchords:Introducing Bret & Jemaine

Apologies to the New Zealanders & Americans who may already 'know' this terrible twosome. Australia is so behind the times. I was embarrassed on my trip to NZ in February to admit that we had not seen "The Flight of the Conchords" - 12 shows about 2  kiwi guys in a band trying to make it in New York. Thankfully Poppy spotted the DVD at Auckland Airport & we spent a rainy Good Friday first organising photos into albums and CD's into boxes & THEN having a hilarious Conchord Marathon with the family. They are so funny and quirky. You've got to get the DVD or check them out on You Tube ("Business Time" is hysterical!). Channel 10 have bought the show but we won't see it here until later in the year. Laughter is the best medicine yes so please pass this on!!!

New Zealand - go there now before someone steals it's beauty

After three years away 10 days in New Zealand just wasn't enough. Poppy and I visited aunts, uncles, cousins and I of course caught up with old friends at the girls college reunion. What took our breath away as always was the beauty. No billboards or advertising clutter - a completely wonderful lack of visual pollution. Fruit trees heavily laden with fruit bags of which were being  sold in little stalls on the side of the road. Boutique wineries galore - all with fab restaurants often selling delicious seafood chowder. By ONE day I missed Opera in the Park in Nelson where you could hear Dame Kiri for a mere $15!! Big NZ ice-creams for 50 cents!! Everyone seemed so incredibly friendly as well. I better stop before I sound like a travel brochure and get home more often I think!!

Life without the internet - bliss or not possible?

I'm in New Zealand this week connecting with family and old school friends. Just back from a trip to visit my uncle who lives in the remote but beautiful Golden Bay. He's just built a stunning house overlooking the sea and has a 15 minute drive through spectacular scenery to his office each day. I needed to log on to the internet to check out something and asked him if he had access. His reply? "No, don't have it....it was too much hassle so I gave it away." Sure enough the old pc was sitting redundant in the garage next to his amazing blazing red triumph motorbike. I kept thinking of all the things he might be missing out on by not having the internet but then I thought of all the 'time' he would gain by not having it. Interesting how lately I've been craving internet-free or computer-free zones in my life. Does being bombarded by the web and all the information it contains add to our stress? Why do some of us become so addicted to being up to date and current with all that's going on EVERYWHERE? Is the simple answer just to stop being always 'on' and 'connected'?
Gen Y can't seem to live without it but perhaps we should be training them just exactly HOW to do so. This has been done on a slow dial-up connection at my Dad's house which is more than enough to make me stay off-line!!!

I want what Tim Ferriss is having!

Tim Ferriss is this famous, famous guy who proposes we can all escape the 9-5 (who does 9-5 anymore anyway?), live anywhere and join the new rich. He went from $40,000 pa and 80 hours per week to that much per MONTH on 4 hours a week!! I have known about this book for well over a year but for some strange reason I've resisted it. Don't ask why I can't explain!! Anyway after reading Leo Babauta from Zen Habits great email ninja post on Tim's blog I was determined to just get the The 4-Hour Work Week and read it. I hadn't seen it on my travels so had not even browsed through the pages so thought I would need to order it from Amazon. Not so. I was in Dymocks this morning and jumped with excitement when I saw it on the shelf - it was a totally different cover to the 'normal' one - this one's a bit strange - but when I flicked throught a couple of the chapters I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. Strange what a holiday can do sometimes. You always get a mini-fresh start and outlook on life so perhaps it was just good timing. I saw a chapter called "The Low Information Diet" and I was just dying to read it.

Thing was I had other committments today. Poppy my youngest turns 13 tomorrow - the same day we have a guest arriving from Ireland so she had her 'celebration' today. Movie, Yum Cha then Waterworks with 3 friends. As I strolled through my seaside suburb escorting them from one place to the other I felt incredibly grateful. It was one of those deliciously warm days and many people were still on their holidays. Groups of Europeans sitting at picnic tables playing cards. Dads off work taking their 'tribe' for a swim. Tourist after tourist snapping away. Still who could blame them. The sea was turquoise and truly it felt good to be alive. I was catching up on my missed out vitamin D from the holiday up north and at the same time carrying Tim's book inside my bag thought smugly that I was making a good shot at the 4-hour work week. Returned from holiday Wednesday afternoon. Conference call Thursday morning with my own Tech Coach, Sandra de Freitas. Wrote and sent out my newsletter Thursday evening (2 hours). Browsed technology section of department store for new products this morning (30 minutes - cut short by bumping into a friend and having coffee to discuss pros/cons of buying a mac laptop for her daughter's 18th birthday). Not bad.... 3.5 hours! Seriously I am retiring for the night now and am afraid I will be so taken by this book that I will do what others have done... devoured it in one sitting!! I think we all deserve an easier life and look forward to reading Tim's plan.......

Time out to calm down

Just dashing out the door for a nice holiday where up north where hopefully there will not be any cyclones. Wish me luck that the GPS keeps us on track and all the best to everyone for 2008. See you on the 9th Jan.

Slow Guide - Sydney

I was in Dymocks Bookstore yesterday and I swear I truly love being in a book shop almost if not as much as being in an Apple Store. I found this gorgeous book - the SLOW guide to Sydney (live more, fret less) and seeing as I've not been the calmest lately I thought I'd grab a copy and check it out. "Whether it's urbanisation, consumerism, technology or globalisation, the truth is everything has become a race to the finish line - with a price" - how yuk and how true!!!The writers describe it as a city guide in praise of wonderful, rich, soul-tingling slowness. A guide that reveals the best places in the city to reconnect with your passion for food, hand-made fashion or gifts, architecturally stunning buildings or parks that are brimming with flora and fauna. Excellent.... I shall use this on my tech-fast days and report back.
There is a website where you can peek inside, and also a Melbourne guide.
PS I've set up a new blog category SlowCoach :-)

Truly Offline - pen & paper works too!

When I am asked what "I do" and reply that I'm a Technology Coach some people start looking uncomfortable and you almost see them edging towards the door or looking for a place to hide :-). You see I think they have the perception that my role is to encourage them to spend MORE time on computers. The thing is my ultimate goal is to help women gain more discretionary time that they can spend on themselves by becoming more familiar with or learning about what in the name of technology can help make their lives easier and less stressful. Yes that is my aim... my dream.... to provide women with some extra tools and skills that will make running their businesses and/or homes easier and simpler.

So to practice what I preach I have just returned from a five day break down the lovely unspoilt South Coast - for my part it was completely tech-free. I even left my beloved Treo in my sock drawer because I KNEW the phone reception down there was non-existent. I read a little, walked, chatted with friends, watched Hairspray on a rainy afternoon and when I couldn't resist the urge did a little 'business planning' low-tech in my nice moleskine cahier. Time offline, off-air or whatever you choose to call it is more critical than ever and I'm hoping to help many women who are 'doing too much' chill just a little.... looking forward to the journey!

Bebel Gilberto @ the Sydney Opera House

After a completely mad and stressful week, I was lucky enough to attend Bebel Gilberto's only Sydney concert on Friday night. She was divine!! I was completely blown away by the quality of her voice - smooth, sexy, sultry, whatever.... words just do not do justice to the beauty of the music we were treated to.

Ms Gilberto (yes she is indeed Joao's daughter) was unbelievably cool .... so gorgeous sipping on her glass of red wine.... and the songs felt as if they went right through every cell in my body. I did not want it to end at all.... She sang songs from all three CD's and I must this week purchase Momento.

You can check her out and listen to her music here (great website)  but after her Melbourne concert she's off to Mexico. I've always been a big fan of bossa nova and Bebel's addition of 'chill' by no means cools anything down. Obrigada, Bebel....!!!

Low budget Irish musical 'Once' a winner

Saw a terrific film called Once Friday night - $160,000 was all it cost but it really was brilliant. Story about a 'boy' and a 'girl' who meet on the streets of Dublin while the 'boy' is busking. I refuse to divulge the ending but it reminds me of those great films Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and to a degree Lost in Translation.

I loved the sparseness, reality and normality of this film and as for the music - it was stunning. The melodies and lyrics haunted me for days afterwards. Late Saturday night Bagman was still raving about it so I persuaded him to use up some of his Father's Day iTunes gift voucher by purchasing the soundtrack. We made a CD and listened to it while painting Poppy's room on Sunday. I was desolate to find after doing some googling that the Frames (whose music features in the movie) had been down this way in August!! Where was I - asleep????

So as an aside - don't forget you don't need an iPod to use Apple's iTunes. We have a handful of iPods in this house of course but you don't have to in order to reap the benefits of one of the best free music organizing software programs around.

Download iTunes for free - you can still use it to buy music, download podcasts and make your own mix CD's and stream your collection to different rooms in the house.