Evolving Online

At first I put pages on .mac

Then I got a blog to write and flickr for my pics

Finally gave in and joined CrackBook...

Tweeting is methadone for my status update cold turkey!

Now I'm swimming in the stream, drinking from the fire hose

I'm all linked up at Google Profile .. and waiting to surf the wave

People who inspire me #3 - Sir Richard Branson

This guy needs no introduction from me, although the cool thing is that he actually helped to 'introduce me to the team' back in 2003 when I was on my way to the Worlds in Queenstown!

Since then I have read 'Losing My Virginity' (I love that the title googles top 2 ahead of videos of girls talking about first time sex!) and am currently half way through 'Business Stripped Bare'. This book is great reading for an ambitious entrepreneur who wants to do big things in his own way... ie ME! I'm also following SRB on twitter

I feel as though we have a lot in common and his public persona highlights so many areas to me where I would like to grow.

Common Ground:

1. Sir Richard Branson and I are both born in the Chinese year of the Tiger.

2. He didn't have a 'conventional' upbringing and looks at the world from his own unique perspective.

3. He has a wide range of interests - not content with just being good at one thing.

4. He looks at the World as it could be and leads others towards it.

5. He believes that capitalism can bring positive change to the World

6. He puts his focus on the possible rather than the obstacles.

7. He is an Englishman.

8. He likes adventure and good fun in equal measures.

9. He takes risks in both.

10. He is open and honest about his mistakes.

Inspiration:

1. Sir Richard Branson has changed the way that millions of people live eg cheap flights in Australia

2. He presents himself with ease in public.

3. He doesn't take himself too seriously http://twitter.com/sirdickbranson

4. He is ok with the idea of having lots of money

5. He is into kitesurfing

6. If someone tells him 'It's impossible.' he becomes more motivated.

7. He has a lot of money

8. He has been kitesurfing with a beautiful naked girl on his back!

9. He has some amazing adventures

10. He is humble and friendly - seems he is especially so when you meet him on a plane!

SRB pops up everywhere. Who knows when we'll have our next encounter? I look forward to it. Thanks Richard for the inspiration.

Sign Up for my Newsletter

Click here to sign up for my personal newsletter!

Eckart Tolle on 'Responsibility'

Missions

April 2009: Putting 'it' Out There

March 2009: Knitting two pieces of collarbone into one

February 2009: Entertaining Beth

January 2009: Anthroposophical Conference Adelaide

December 2008: Ironman Western Australia and more

November 2008: Life Balance

October 2008: Getting fitter for fun
Sepember 2008: Loving what is
August 2008: Enjoying the USA
July 2008: Living in the Present
June 2008: Getting to the end of the financial year
May 2008: Dignity through Struggle
April 2008: grace and humility
March 2008: Exploring Australia by Train!
February 2008: To find the best swimming spot in Australia

September 2007: To find the off switch for my mind

Fracture!

P2280054
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Was riding too fast one handed on a fixi and stopped pedalling. Hit the deck pretty hard: HIP - SHOULDER - HEAD and then I rolled and slid hence the ribs and gravel rash!

27th February 2009 - International Party Day.

You are invited wherever you are.

You don't need to go anywhere,
or drink or smoke or take drugs.
You don't actually need to do anything,

just to be yourself.

I mean your real self...

not who you think you want to be...

and certainly not who you think other people want you to be.

Party on the train,
Party at work,

Party with strangers,
Party on your own.
Party with your friends and
Party at home.

Seven Steps to start your own party wherever you are:

1. Don't care what anyone else thinks
2. See the humor in the world today - no matter how bad or sad something seems, there is always a brighter side...
3. Dress up or accesorise to get in the mood.
4. Smile at strangers and don't worry if they smile back or not. Either way you are sharing your love.
5. Laugh at yourself - you are a beautiful individual with your own special quirks and hilarious mannerisms (ask your friends if you aren't sure). Don't you realise how funny you are?
6. Spread the love and invite people you meet to party also!
7. Let go and follow the party vibe wherever it takes you

P2270038.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Party 3

P2270037.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Party 2

P2270044.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Party 1

Remember... Life is too short not to enjoy the party

Today you may be the only person partying.
Next time there will be others...

Enjoy!

Dunstan

People who inspire me #2 - Byron Katie

Byron Katie has brought the gift of 'The Work' into the world to share with all of us.

It is a simple and effective tool to work with judgments.
Rather than allowing these 'stressful thoughts' to play out
in our lives or suppressing them (which amounts to the
same thing!), the work is a way to hold them still and look
them in the eye.

"I don't let go of concepts--I meet them through inquiry,
then they let go of me." byron katie

Now THAT really is alchemy.

Please note: The Work is not something you can UNDERSTAND.

There are several great ways you can EXPERIENCE it.

1. Go to the website for 'The Work', click on 'resources' and

a) download the first 3 documents.

• Judge-Your-Neighbor Worksheet
• Instructions for Doing The Work
• One-Belief-At-A-Time Worksheet

b) print them out.

c) follow the instructions to the letter... this can be the hardest part!

2. Read a copy of 'Loving What Is'.

3. Look at some of the video clips of Byron Katie using the 4 questions to guide people to some pretty profound realisations as they work on the full spectrum of life challenges. Access via the website.

4. Go to a 2 day workshop or a 5 day retreat. There are run in Australia by Rosie Stave. I'm just about to sign up for the retreat in Byron Bay from 21st to 26th April. There is a full list of weekend dates throughout Australia so check it out!

If you are interested in Byron Katie herself - and after all, why wouldn't you be? - then check out her blog here for some deep wisdom that can be easily accessed by anyone with an open mind!

At the Movies

Beth and I are on the way back from Govindas. After dinner we went upstairs to the movie lounge, slipped off our shoes and reclined. We didn't know much about 'In Bruges' but we had a good hunch and were certainly not let down.

It was refreshing to see a film that held my attention with long, slow shots (a stark contrast to the epilepsy inducing opening scene from Quantum of Solace) interspersing a strong plot. The characters were disarmingly genuine in themselves. Each of them served a purpose (Guy Ritchie please take note if and when you follow up on RockandRolla) and they all moved me in some way. Colin Farrell's eyebrows alone did the trick for his character, Ray!

Jokes were plentiful and anything but PC and the characters pulled them off. The stereotypes weren't original but the juxtaposition and randomness of 2 hitmen in a medieval Belgian town at christmas breathed fresh life into them.

A real treat of a movie - far better than its trailer.

Beth's Rating: 5 Stars (upgraded from 4 1/2 as she really couldn't fault it!)

Another Blog To Read!

Man I'm getting behind... so much interesting stuff to read!

Testing Software

... and more

Customer Service

Writing Code

Tami Simon's Blog

This looks really good.

Note to self:

Come back and read it in full later!

http://shop.soundstrue.com/blog.soundstrue.com/wordpress/?selection=Publisher's%20Blog

International Slow Day!

I think Carl Honore is great!

http://www.carlhonore.com/?p=150

Another post on goal setting

Hmmmm... must be the new year or something.

Lots of people seem to be setting fresh new directions for themselves... 

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/01/07/the-power-of-less-leo-babauta-zen-habits/#more-1053

One to read later ;-)

Goal Setting

This is really good - a fresh and insightful perspective.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/08/how-to-set-goals-you-will-actually-achieve/

Thanks Simmi!

People who inspire me #1 - Sam Davies

Name: Samantha Davies

Age:

Occupation: 

Current Mission: Racing single handed around the world aboard 'Roxy'

Conection: 

Website:

Hammer Man

Hammer Man
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Race report coming soon...

Freewheels are for P*****s.JPG

Freewheels are for P*****s.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

(click the link for more photos)

Q: Why am I riding a fixed wheel?
A: Because I can!

Busselton is the flattest Ironman course in the world. I doubt many people will be using more than a fraction of their 20 gears in any case! Ok I also need to find a way to get lots of attention without having to go too fast but mainly I just wanted to know what it is like!

I'm riding a 40 : 16 (pictured) which means that the bike goes 5.6m for every pedal revolution. That means I'll pedal around 32 000 revolutions - somewhat higher than 'normal' as I'll be undergeared.
Here is the cadence range I'll be riding:

RPM             80 85 90 95 100
speed(kph)    27 29 30 32 34

Morrison was on his last legs as a rusty red racer when Stuart rescued him and gave him a nice pair of track wheels. Big thanks go to Mr Kane for lending me his bike (and also the 'ironfixi' idea). Training partner Mick helped me out with the pedals and shoes so it was really a team effort to get me to the start line! Thanks to Russel for planting the seed of the idea, to Brenda for all her encouragement and Tony for the runs. I struggle with motivation at times and knowing that so many people are encouraging me and supporting me motivated me far more that the desire to get a fast time. Sure I'd love to go back to Kona one day but that is a story for another day...

Well the santa hat is securely fastened to my helmet and Morrison is all kitted up with silver tinsel. My 'race outfits' are 

I'm as ready as I'm going to be! I've done some good training in the last 6 weeks and I'm prepared for whatever is served up to me through the race :-)

I'm number 120. You can follow my progress at www.ironmanlive.com

I'll see you on the other side of the finish line!

D

Racing Outfit

Today I registered and got my race outfit ready.


Wrisband.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Here is how it went:

Swim

Endurance Speedos $44.99 (Sports Power - Busselton)


Bike (all items from Raylene at 'King Kong' - Busselton)


Bike Gear.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Tinsel for Morrison $2.00 x 2
Santa Hat $2.50
Cable Ties $1.50

Run


Run Gear.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

Afro Wig $12.95 (King Kong again - great shop!)
Sunnies $9.95 (Busselton Bags and Accesories)
Sweatband $0.00 (just don't tell Baxter!)
0.7m Silver Chain $5.70 (Mitre 10 - Busselton)


Screen Printing $132 (Juice Print - Busselton)


Total Cost $212.60


Having a good time on race day...


'fro with 'tude.JPG Originally uploaded by sense of movement

... PRICELESS!!!

Race Week

I arrived in Busselton yesterday and am staying with a fantastic couple - Max and Val. They are involved in organising rides for the local club, a local partner dance night and also have a vegetable garden and worm farm so as you can imagine we are getting on really well! Tonight we ate Dew Fish that Max had caught in Geographe Bay with Rhubarb compote for desert. Yum :-)

Here are 2 things I like about the Ironman WA course straight away:

1. The swim is a single lap with a purpose. Not that I have anything against swimming around in circles until the 3.8km have been achieved, just that I prefer a swim where you go somewhere!

On Sunday it will be a trip around the 1.8km jetty - the longest in the southern hemisphere complete with 4 iconic huts and an underwater observatory at the far end.

2. The bike course is a 3 lap course without a hint of a hill and the sweetest hot mix surface you can imagine! This was part of the inspiration for riding a fixed wheel bike! I went out for a spin earlier and the gear seems about right. In the headwind there was a decent amount to push on and in the tailwind it was just spinning out a bit.

Fixi.JPG
Originally uploaded by sense of movement

To be continued...

Tour de Central Coast by Fixi & Ferry

Today was my best training ride so far.

In 10 days time I'm going to ride 180km

(as part of the Busselton Ironman) and I

hadn't ridden over 100km before today.

It was also a great chance to take Morrisson

the Fixi for an outing. I think it was his first

time on the Central Coast...

The real breakthrough was my mental approach.

When you aren't fit and you need to ride 180 km

you need to tailor your approach! Sometimes its

hard to ignore the voice that tells you that you're

feeling great and should 'go for it'! What worked

for me was to just enjoy the experience and stop

for a wee break whenever I felt like it.

Certainly a different mindset than when I was

trying for a Kona Slot!!!

I mapped the route using a great tool

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com
I did it in two chunks so as to omitt the ferry.

Narrabeen to Palm Beach:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2413185

Ettalong to Narrabeen:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2413219

The software has some odd ideas about navigating.
It seemed to think the Old Pac Hwy was one way so
generated some interesting detours! I think I got it
right in the end but I'd be interested to see how a
bike speedo compares to 'as the crow'. It came out

as a total of 165. but I'd like to think it was closer

to the 180 mark and in any case Busso will be less

distance in energy terms so I think I will survive.

The ferry ride is a beaut - $10 from Palmy to Ettalong

and 25 minutes trip time. Ferry timetable is at

www.palmbeachferry.com.au if you are interested.