World Blog Tour 2013: Jump on board the air-bus-train

Inspired by the absolute joy of meeting over 100 fablicious blogges on the weekend (and, you know me, I pretty much got around to say hi to every single one of them), I'm getting back to basics with the whole blogging thing.

Remember, back in the day, at least two years ago, when blog images were sepia-toned and we were little 'communities' rather than this gigantic city we've all found ourselves in? Yep, well. Back in the day, I used to click from blog roll to blog roll to find a new blog to love. It was such a fun way to spend an idle hour or two.

Then I stopped having an idle hour or two (or so I thought) and a lot of bloggers stopped having a blog roll (why!?) and so I stopped my little blog tours.

Until now.

'Cos I miss that fun bit of blogging, I really do. So I'm making the time each week to go on a little tour and this time I thought I'd share my journey with you. A Tour of the Blogisphere, meeting new blogs and showcasing what's out there.

Grab a ticket on my tour and let's get started!

This week I'm starting randomly on my own blog roll and heading out from there. Whichever blog is on top on my blog roll is where I'm going and I'm not going to stop until I run out of blog rolls or commenters or an indication of someone else's blog to click over and check out.

Here we go, click on the header images to visit the blogs... first stop...

This is Amy. Amy changes her blog header about as often as I change my bra (which isn't as often as you'd think, but often enough). I like her latest header.

Once upon a time I visited my blog roll blogs every single day, but these days it can be a long time between visits. And every time I get over here to Amy's, I regret not coming more often. Being here is like sitting in Amy's kitchen in Illinois, USA and we're talking about this and that and wondering if the rain is going to hold out for the weekend. Amy calls herself a "hot mess", but I just call her hot.

It warmed me to the cockles to see my own name on Amy's 'Favourite Reads' section (thank you, lovely lady) and then I clicked on...

 My first visit here and of course, I came because we can always use some sunshine AND I was just talking about rain with Amy. Rebekka is doing Jodi's 52 week project like me, which just goes to show how BIG Jodi's project is because I get around to a few of the participants each and every week, but I've never met Rebekka. She's a crafty one and a stylish one and a mum to four little ones. Lots going on at Rebekka's! This is a super blog and I'm Bloglovin' it for later perusal.




Now, Rebekka didn't have a blog roll that I could see, but this tour doesn't give up that easily! I clicked on on the last person who left a comment on Rebekka's blog and found myself back in Australia at...

A fellow Bron! Hi Bron! There are a few of us hanging around the Aussie blogville (shout out to Bron and Bron!) Bron looks clever and crafty and is ALSO doing Jodi's 52 Week Project and AGAIN I've never met her via that ginormously popular project. Bron also shares the story of her eldest daughter, Taylor Louise, who died in 2004 after fighting hard against a brain tumour. I love that blogging gives space to people's important stories and a place for Taylor Louise's beautiful smile to shine on in everyday life.  

Again, no blog roll on Taylormade... wah! But Bron did do a shout out to a blogger for sending her a handmade gift, so I'm heading over to Sophie's...

There is a really, truly fabulous post up about Identity on Sophie's blog Little Gumnut today. Now, I'm not exactly the religious type, so I confess that when I usually click over to a 'lordy' blog, I often click straight away again. True, true. But on my blog tour today I took the time to read Sophie's words and (apart from the goddy bits) they really struck a chord with me. Sophie asks us "where is your identity located?" and I honesty cannot answer her just yet.

Off to Sophie's blog roll and, you won't believe it, I'm back at a Bron...

Didn't I just give you a shout out up at Taylormade's stop, Bron? Hello again. This just proves how circular a blog tour can be and it's so nice to be here. This is a Bron I know rather well - I've been following babyspace since it first began, even though for most of that time I haven't had anyone at my place even close to baby state. No matter, I just like looking at kid stuff. Bron also blogs at Expressive Compulsive, where is hangs up the nursery decorating tours and  writes like the wind.

And here my tour will end... for now. Next week I'm setting out from the 'Links' tab on Expressive Compulsive and seeing where the day takes us.

Do you know any of these blogs already?

What's a new blog you've recently discovered?

20/52

: : A portrait of my children each week, every week : :

                                                              Cappers: Making small houses in the garden - this is for house number 80

                                                              Badoo: Paint smocked and ready to paint #80

                                                              Maxi: Learning about the Scouts and holding my slingshot - must be 1952.

My fave from 19/52 was easily Che in his goofy glasses - Jodi always captures her children's personalities so beautifully. Loving being part of her 52 Portrait a Week Project.

You're going straight to the car park for that one

Let's talk about car parks. I swear that if I don't start being nicer in general, when I die I'm being sent straight to an underground car park, most likely attached to a Westfield Shoppingcity. Oh my lord (sorry, Lord - see, I'm being nicer already), there couldn't be a nastier place to go.

Take this morning, for starters. It took about 20 minutes just to get through the boom gate because someone was blocking the entry waiting for a car space that may or may not have been opening up. I refrained from honking my horn to the tune of "why are we waaaaiting" (many didn't), but I couldn't figure out why this person felt the need to wait for so darn long just to park right there.  We all know that the entrance to the car park is always at least a 55 minute walk from the actual shopping centre doors, so what was the urgency?

I soon found out. Even though it was only 9:35 am, the entry level of the car park was already bursting. Of course, driving just one ramp down to another level meant there were loads of spaces, but no one wants the horror of walking up a whole flight of stairs, so they create chaos on the entry level for everyone to wade through instead.

This morning we also had to manage the usual car driven by one of those Special People Who Don't Need to Follow the Rules Like Everyone Else parked pretty much in the middle of the road, streams of frustrated drivers carefully manouvering around it. Those Special People are just a little bit annoying, aren't they?

They're the ones who whizz by you in heavy traffic as they zoom along in their own lane which was previously referred to as the bicycle track. They're the ones who never indicate because the world can just get out of their way whichever way they decide to turn; who tailgate because that apparently makes the car in front go the speed they want it to go; and the very same ones who park in the No Parking zone right outside the school gate each afternoon, blocking everyone's view of the pesky pedestrian crossing.

They are also the ones who drive up a down road so they can zoom into a free parking space moments ahead of the car that had carefully driven along the arrows to get there.

"Excuse me," I called through my window. "I was supposed to get that spot, you went the wrong way down the road and pushed in."

"Everybody does that!" She scoffed. "Nobody else minds."

"Oh, I think they mind," I retorted. "They're just too shy to say something. I'm not shy at all."

"Doesn't bother me," she snapped. "I'm going shopping."

"Have you ever seen Fried Green Tomatoes?" I screeched after her.



The thing about cars and car parks and roads in general, is that unless you're prepared to ram them with your car (so very tempted), you're pretty much helpless against the rude, arrogant Special People of the world.

And nothing, nothing makes my blood boil hotter than that.

What makes your blood boilth overth?

♥

Are you going to the Kidspot workshop and party tomorrow? Of course I'll be there!

Pin of the Day: Neon binoculars

We're obsessed with constructing stuff from stuff around here. We wash and save all our recyclables and throw them into a giant basket and then make things when the urge strikes. Sometimes I'll give the kids (okay, the girls, Max does not participate, but I live in hope) a word to start them off ("insect", "car", "giant", "plant", etc), but usually they just get on with it.

Lately they are particularly keen on constructing elaborate houses out of shoe boxes. I should share some of them here. Last week Cappers made a room for a bear and she scalloped the edges of the shelves. My kind of girl.

These sweet neon binoculars made out of yoghurt containers would fit an "explore" brief perfectly. The pop of neon is like a little scalloped edge on a shelf.

The DIY project is by Spanish blog Little Cook.

Visit Little Cook or click on the image to see the pin!

Is your craft box your recycling bin too?

Do you know what I miss most about working in the city?

It's been well over a year since I left the grey world. No more suiting up and hobbling around in heels, (because apparently it's more 'professional'). No more cubicle-city-working, popping meerkat-style over half-walls to talk to colleagues. No more endless meetings to talk about our next meeting.

Gone is the rattle and hum of 1000 fingers clicking on 100 keyboards, launching email after email into space. Tap tap tap taptap sigh tap taptaptap sigh tap tap tap.

Gone is the 'well, I can tell you X about Y, but you're going to have to ask Brian about Z because I'm not allowed to comment on that part of the proposal' conversations.

Gone is the long commute into the city with 1,000 other sleepy heads who also nearly missed the 8:06 express to Burwood via Wynyard.

The commute. Yep, I miss the commute.

OMG, it's truuuuue.

I always thought I hated it, but now I see it for what it was. Half an hour in the morning and half and hour in the evening just for me. To sit (or stand, as it were) and do something, anything, nothing while the train hurtled down the track, back to my busy life. A long pause and time being passed quietly and without fanfare. Stay still, there's nothing to do here, wait for time to finish bringing you to where you need to go. Idle thoughts stray and wander, dancing down the tracks.

I didn't appreciate those delicious pauses when I had them. I wished them away and thought them annoyingly inconvenient. I endured them and therefore wasted them, trying to fill up space that was full enough already.

I miss the commute. I miss the pause.

Do you have a 'forced pause' in your day?

[Image by Mary Robinson]