Check out this new online gizmo. Web 2.0 Suicide Machine allows you to wipe yourself from social networking. Forever.

become as free as a REAL bird

Web 2.0 Suicide Machine can strike you off Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace. At the press of a button.

As the site says,  be as free as a real bird. A 2010 resolution, perhaps? To free yourself from the relentless tinkering with and preening of your social network sites?

I am very much hesitant about why I have a Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn presence. It all seems rather counter-intuitive to my search for simplicity and LESS in all aspects of my life.

This one really got me:

What is it about these videos? I think it’s the sense of Something Big and Human Happening. Of something simple that’s developed (often) innocently, but that grows exponentially through people’s desire to connect and share.

Check these images out: one model’s, well, model size (a US size 2). The other, Crystal Renn, is a size 16 (US size 12).

It’s a grand gesture that appears in the upcoming issue of V Magazine. To my knowledge, it’s never been done before. That is, putting women of different sizes side by side in the same spread. We can all see the point of it…to show us it can, in fact, be done. One fashion blogger describes it as “Renn taking on a typically slim model”, as though it’s a battle. He describes the onslaught as “revolutionary”.

Sure. But does it makes us feel any better? Salon.com’s Mary Elizabeth Williams’ 9-year-old daughter Lucy (have you followed that?), put it nicely: “That makes the fashion part of my mind hurt.”

I just needed an excuse to post this snap courtesy of awkwardfamilyphotos.com:

it's not easy to upstage the tree!

* and just a little reminder for anyone finding themselves reading this because they’re feeling overwhelmed by family and Christmas and expectations, you don’t have to be having a “happy” Christmas. Last night I slept on a foam mattress. 

Do you do this? Fret about finding the perfect holiday WITH A PURPOSE? Recently, I went around in 238974897 circles trying to find the best place to do a traditional Indian treatment. That’s what I do. I Over-research. Eventually the right answer pops up in front of me. So obvious. I didn’t want to travel to India. India ain’t good for us vatta types. But, it turns out, the first ever ( officially recognised ayurvedic wellness retreat outside of India is in Ubud, Bali at Como Shambhala.

Can’t sleep? This works. It truly does, in a gentle, lasting way. Gwinganna retreat in the Gold Coast hinterland is where I did mine. I can’t recommend it enough. I learnt that you shouldn’t eat grapefruit at night and that sleep cures most things – auto-immune, cholesterol problems, weight issues. Four months later and I’m still living out the tips I learned there. Aside from anything else, the place is authentic in its commitment to wellness. Some of the best healers on site, organic food, a wise old legend who lives on the estate