26 March, 2016

Gesture of kindness



A good friend of mine told me this story recently and I thought it would be good to share it with you during Easter weekend.

It was a Friday afternoon and Aalia received the news that she didn't get the job she had interviewed for the week before. Crestfallen, she walked through the city aimlessly trying to find some ray of hope in her heart. None.

Eventually, she goes into her local grocery store to buy some food for the weekend. As she stands in the checkout line, she notices, but doesn't really notice, the young man in front of her looking at her.

The man goes through the check out and selects a bouquet of tulips from the display at the cashier counter and pays for his goods. After he has packed everything into his backpack, he turns to Aalia and gifts her the bouquet of tulips with the words, "A little sunshine for you".  

15 March, 2016

Perfect design

What is your favorite perfectly designed household device or tool? Explain why.


Cable tie is the perfect tool. It is the shark of home repair. It‘s design has not changed since its inception.  Thing that I have used a cable tie for:
  • Hanging curtains
  • Temporarily repairing a muffler in my car
  • Fixing my bra
  • For sealing heavy duty garbage bags during a move
  • Building a cardboard fort for our children


13 March, 2016

Meeting one of my heroes


Managed to go to one of my favourite museums in Hamburg to see an exhibit of one of my favourite artists (heroes). It was fun meeting him, if only through his work hanging on the walls. Christoph Niemann has wit, talent, and an amazing capacity, through his art, to make people stop and think and usually laugh.



 If you are in need of a lift out of the winter doldrums, or you know someone who needs cheering up. Buy one of his books and enjoy the beauty of the Every Day.

The exhibit is really small, but there are a few benches to sit on and spend time with his work. Yesterday, I did just that and then I started watching the faces of the serious museum goers light up and become soft with laughter as they walked around. Such a good way to spend an hour on a cold grey Saturday afternoon.

10 March, 2016

What do you see?


This exercise is also from Austin Kleon's Steal Like An Artist journal. Just draw six circles and write down what you see.


Then the same procedure with six triangles.