Out saving the planet

Thank you for stopping by! I am busy trying to save the planet just now, but will try to make an extra effort to save the readership too and post something new here in the near future.




In the meanwhile, bike to work (keep up with it Simon!), think green and make one good thing for our environment already today.

"There are no passengers on spaceship Earth, we all all crew."
-Marshall McLuhan, 1964-

Simple pleasures

Morning newspaper, cafe au lait and the view from my balcony.
Holiday continues.

Holiday and piece of news

Friends,

I have returned back to Finland and will start my four week (!) holiday today. I am not planning to travel anywhere as I have been doing nothing BUT travelling (although in business) since November last year. My feet might get restless after a couple of weeks though, but this time I won't travel to far away places but settle for being close to home. Bliss.

I will also try to stay off line as much as possible, but this is easier said than done. I have developed a serious habit of checking what's going on with You almost daily and my curiosity will not take holidays. I am also a real news junkie and I need to know what's happening in the world although nothing much is happening with me. One very bad habit of mine is to check my work email every time I get online, but I guess we all have our faults.

Also, it's now official - I am changing jobs within my company and will start in a new position after my holiday. I will move from my company's media relations team to our environmental team and just could not be happier. Trying to save the planet for a job (well, sort of...) is what I call a meaningful thing to do. And hey, not travelling by air this holiday means I will also do my tiny little bit of not causing any more CO2 emissions than what I already have this year..

With this I wish you a wonderful summer - or early spring if you happen to be on the southern hemisphere. Have fun and take care!

Vacca foeda?

I was very pleased to find a comment from Denise Rich on one of my earlier posts about cows.

Denise is a cow painter and I asked her what made her to start painting cows in the first place. This is what she said:

"The easiest answer to why cows is that they just make me smile, I love their faces, their demeanor, their attitude, the fact that they are not in too much of a hurry for anything. I just can't look into the eyes of a cow and not be intrigued, they are much more intelligent than they are given credit for I believe. I just can't help but smile and even laugh when I am with them."



"Wide Load Ahead"


I can really relate to all of her reasons. That's why I like cows too.

I have heard that that in high tech farms the cows can decide themselves when they want to get milked - so it's not any more necessary to wake up at 5.00 am to have that done. They can have a sleep in too! I also know that some clever people have developed machines through which the cows can walk to have their backs scratched. Sweet life.

The sad fact however is that cows do not get to live a full long life but are slaughtered when they are not productive anymore. This happens in their teens. Given a chance a cow could live up to 25 years.

Whilst I can naturally understand that, it still makes me sad. And I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not a vegetarian. Talking about double standards...

Nevertheless, my dream is one day to own a cow, who could live a long and happy life in a farm with back scratching machine and no alarm clocks. I realise that I will never own a farm myself but I would be willing to pay for the B&B for Mrs Cow if someone would be willing to have a long term lodger like that. I could then drive to the farm with a a friend. "Look at those cows. Do you see the one, with a happy smile on her face? She's mine. "


"Black Angus Cow and Calf"

The lovely pictures here are Denise's paintings. You can view them and more on her site and her blog. Or if you are in sunny San Diego, why not go and visit her gallery.

Tongue in the cheek

Thought some of you might appreciate some cheering up this Monday morning.

This photo I managed to capture over the weekend really makes me smile. Hope it does the same to you.

Have a good week! It's my last in Joburg.

White night - this is as dark as it gets

It's midsummer eve in Finland. The sun rose in Helsinki at 3.56 am this morning and will not set until 10.49 pm. That's almost nineteen hours of daylight!

Midsummer is one of the biggest celebrations in Finland. The cities get deserted as everyone heads to their summer cottage by the lake.

If you have a life list - things to do before you die - you should add the Finnish midsummer to the list of things to experience. The white nights are magical.

Here in Joburg it's mid winter and business as usual...

Pink Doughnuts

The place to buy art in Finland I told you about earlier currently holds this work called Trio by artist Jonna Johansson.



It is currently reserved for someone else, but only until the 22nd of this month. With any luck they won't take it and it will be mine.

I can already imagine this splash of color next to some black and white graphics I have. Fingers crossed!