Oprah’s Organising Guru Peter Walsh Shares His Organisation Tips

Best-selling author and resident organisation and decluttering expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Peter Walsh (pictured), will be back home in Australia this September to spearhead Dymo National Organisation Week (N.O.W.). This is the second year that Peter has been the ambassador for Dymo N.O.W., an initiative of Dymo Australia to encourage us to de-clutter and change our world from chaos to calm.

Born and raised in Melbourne, Peter Walsh moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to assist corporations in their quest to improve employee’s job satisfaction and effectiveness. It was whilst working in the area of organisational change, Peter realised the problems people had with cutter and disorganisation. Read more

Australian Men Believe in Perfect Love but Women are More Realistic

Australian men may have to start reading romance novels to keep it real, after a recent worldwide survey by international romance publisher Harlequin, found that the majority of Australian men (91%) believe in perfect love, while their female counterparts (55%) are more sceptical. The survey also revealed that 46 percent of Australian men lust after the sweet tempered, wholesome girl-next-door and 82 percent wished their partners were more physically fit. Worldwide half of men (52%) and women (51%) still believe in the concept of perfect love, with 39 percent of men and 30 percent of women trying Internet dating in an attempt to find it. Read more

Man Booker Prize 2009 longlist announced

The judges for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction have announced the longlist for the prize, the leading literary award in the English speaking world. A total of 132 books, 11 of which were called in by the judges, were considered for the ‘Man Booker Dozen’ longlist of 13 books.

Chaired by broadcaster and author James Naughtie, the 2009 judges are Lucasta Miller, biographer and critic; Michael Prodger, Literary Editor of The Sunday Telegraph; Professor John Mullan, academic, journalist and broadcaster and Sue Perkins, comedian, journalist and broadcaster.

The longlist includes: Read more

Book Review: Women & Money by Suze Orman

Known throughout the United States as ‘The Money Lady’, Suze Orman is the author of nine best selling books on the subject. Named by Time Magazine in 2008 as one of the ‘100 Most Influentional People’ in the world, Orman is the host of her own TV show on CNBC, a popular motivational speaker, and the contributing editor of O The Oprah Magazine. And with the release of the Australia Edition of Women & Money in August 2009, I have no doubt Suze Orman will soon be able to count thousands of Australian women, myself included, among her legion of fans around the world.

Suze Orman’s story is truly inspirational. Born with a speech impediment and unable to read as well as her class mates, Orman struggled through school and then college – dropping out of university before graduation when she was unable to fulfill the language requirement. In 1980 the then 29 year old Orman, was working as a waitress earning just $400 a month and dreaming of opening a restaurant, when something quite extraordinary happened. Upon learning that she was unable to borrow the money she needed to follow her dream, customers at the restaurant where she had waitressed for the past six years, loaned Orman $50,000 to open a restaurant. Read more

Simple Solutions for a Green Workplace

This article includes an extract from the new book Green Made Easy: The Everyday Guide for Transitioning to a Green Lifestyle by Chris Prelitz.

Going green in the workplace doesn’t just benefit the environment, it also benefits the health and well being of employees and visitors to your place of business, and it’s cheaper! Yes that’s right, there are lots of green solutions you can make in your workplace that will actually reduce the cost of doing business. Read more

The Eight Qualities of a Wealthy Woman by Suze Orman

This is an extract from the Australian Edition of ‘Women & Money’ by Suze Orman, scheduled for release by Hay House Australia this August.

A wealthy woman absolutely has money, but she also has happiness, courage, balance, and harmony. A wealthy woman is generous, clean, wise, and therefore beautiful. A wealthy woman has it all, so to speak, and brings these qualities into every relationship, carries them with her in every waking moment of her life. It’s my wish that you will carry these eight qualities within you wherever you go and that they will serve as your guideposts to make sure you are always walking towards wealth rather than walking away from it. It is important that you understand that all eight qualities must be present and work together at all times in order to attain and maintain the true state of a wealthy woman. Read more

How Australians Buying Fair Trade Benefits the Poor in Developing Countries

While the market for Fairtrade in Australia is still relatively small, the move towards the purchase of ethical products is a worldwide phenomenon. Consumers in Australia and New Zealand are also in a unique position to provide assistance to their Asia-Pacific neighbours by creating a demand for Fairtrade products in the region.

The Australian Fairtrade market has experienced healthy and sustained growth since its beginnings in September 2003. Initially six companies were involved in selling Fairtrade coffee and tea, but by 2008, the number of Australian companies licensed to sell Fairtrade products increased to 125. This growth in Fairtrade retail sales is great news for small-scale farmers and workers in developing countries. Increased Fairtrade sales means that more trade is taking place under Fairtrade conditions and this means more farmers and workers are receiving the economic, social and environmental benefits of Fairtrade. Read more

A Samoan Hen’s Party

I was dreading the arrival of my hen’s weekend with my four sisters. On the one hand, I was looking forward to the spa treatments in Hepburn Springs, which included an hour long full body massage, scrub and a 45 minute facial. On the other hand, sisters or not, their opinions and quirky habits I could only handle in small doses.

Family outings, especially ones that drag out over an entire weekend, usually ends with someone in tears, that someone usually being Kelly, after callous remarks usually made by Theresa, who unconsciously does not think before speaking.

Example, “Gee you’ve put on weight,” or “Are you sure you should be eating that?”

Maria the pacifier usually tries to sort out the mess on her own, while Christina is usually the fence sitter, typical of a Libran.

I on the other hand am quick to hop on the phone and call in a rescue chopper otherwise known as my fiancé Jordan. “May day, may day. We’re in a hot zone. Get me out of here!”

So when Christina offered for us to stay at her house in Ballarat for the weekend rather than booking single accommodation, I was constantly being reminded by Jordan to just relax, be patient and kind. Read more

Children’s Book Review: Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool by Odo Hirsch

It’s just so glorious to read a magical story that’s not steeped in the stereotypical fairies, wizards, goblins or mysteriously shifting worlds that appear in the blink of an eye or through some unseeming earthly portal.

Since Edith Blyton sent us on Wishing Chair and Magic Faraway Tree adventures, and CS Lewis penned his superlative Narnia series in the 1960s?, writers everywhere have pounced on magical tales set in parallel worlds and crammed with all manner of things stereotypically ‘magical’. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but anyone who loves fantasy will admit that these stereotypical elements are becoming dangerously close to being overdone.

As an adult reading young fiction – and indeed, Hirsch’s books are enjoyed by children and adults alike – I felt totally drawn in to Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool. Hirsch has the lovely ability to write simply yet evocatively; I could clearly see the strawberry fields in the opening chapter; I could sharply imagine the streets in town and see the family’s grand old dilapidated house as if I had closed my eyes and happened across the screening of a film behind my eyelids.

Darius Bell is the youngest son of Hector and Micheline Bell, descendants of the noble Bell family, who live in a grand old mansion that is quietly falling to pieces. The beautiful Bell House and land were originally granted to the family many generations before, and as the Bell men believed in all play and no work, the coffers very soon ran dry, leaving the current generation of Bells reliant on a skeleton staff. This staff live on the property for free, in exchange for services.

But cash flow isn’t the family’s only problem. In order to retain possession of the house, each generation of the Bell family has to come up with a Gift for the local authorities. This Gift requires no value – it can be as simple as a flower from the garden, but as the Bells are a family of proud noblemen, each of the past generations presented a Gift that was both grand and beautiful – something to impress the local townspeople and prove the Bells were still living large. Read more

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