that music moment

My music collection is a random bunch of delightful tunes,

not tied together by any sort of specific theme or genre.

When people flick through my ipod, they think

is it owned by several different people?

I say, no, no it's not.

That's just the way I am.

Some might call this ecclectic

Others might just say, damn, these tunes are good.

http://www.sallyseltmann.com/

I'm Listening to

The Truth

'Sun is shining I'm not trying to be what you want me to be,

yes I'm lying coz I'm shy and I do not want you to see my

thoughts because there tangled in a web. Yeah, you heard what i said.

There's music in the background and the rain falls on the roof

I'm trying to be polite but I think I should give you

the Truth

And...

www.myspace.com/theeveningcast

You know that moment when you go to see a new band for the first time,

and as the first song starts it takes your breath away?

Caught up in the melody, you begin to experience the music, 

and you're taken to a whole new place?

This band will do that for you.  

The Evening Cast

Do your musical tastebuds a favour

SO this is what $2 a day tastes like...

Wow.
So here we are, well into the 5 day challenge now, and I’ve come across some pretty crazy realisations about my life and self.

No #1- I LOVE Food

I will never be looking at another piece of food the same way again after this. I have taken for granted every day that I can eat whatever I want, when I want, how I want! It is a massive privilege to be able to have access to a stocked pantry, and a healthy wallet to go down to the shops if nothing at home is taking my fancy.

No #2- I’ve got it SO good

The major, most ‘bomb-like’ realisation that has dropped on me so far this week is just how incredibly blessed I am to live the life I lead. And I can’t help but think about those who have no choice other than to live this way. During this challenge so far, it has gotten difficult. It has been a struggle (Even though it’s only day 3!)
And I’m only giving up the one thing – food. I still have access to running water, my car, my friends, family, tv, internet, toiletries…And the list goes on.

I live in a beautiful home in a lovely neighbourhood, and can’t help but think that even without food, my life is still pretty darn great.

I have a new found appreciation for everything that I have, and hope that by the end of this challenge I can be the sort of person that doesn’t waste the opportunities presented to her. To not waste the abundance I have been given.

To not step-down from helping others when I have the opportunity or chance.
Donate or find out more at my webpage:
http://www.everydayhero.com/jessica_kerr
Or Visit Live Below the Line.com:
http://www.livebelowtheline.com/

Living Below The Line

Living Below The Line!

Soo, starting tomorrow I will be living on $2 a day for all my food! 5 days of exciting stuff!

I did my shop tonight and found out a few interesting things already,

Interesting thing number one, two dollars is not much at all, this does not buy you a lot of food, even when you shop at Aldi.

Number two, no time to be fussy, or for flavor, plain oats with water all the way!

I can see this will definitely be an interesting week, especially for someone (me) who would easily spend up to $15 on lunch a lot of days at work, I will now be bringing my very own home-made veggie soup :)

It was a weird experience shopping tonight. Not only have I never shopped with such an extreme budget before, but I've even really conisdered prices in terms of cents. I found myself turning away from a certain can of pasta sauce because it cost 20 more cents than the can of tomatoes. A different experience indeed.

So my shopping is now done, and my budget has come just under, on a total of $9.59, with a bit of room to spare! Who knows? Maybe I'll by myself a 30c lollipop midway just as a little treat!

So, with a grand total of $9.59, I managed to buy myself the following:

Loaf of Bread, Carrots, Celery, Onion, Can of Tomatoes, Chickpeas, Lentils and a vegetable you call a 'sweed'? (Apparently will add flavor to my veg soup, because I can't afford salt!)

Not a bad effort!

Excited for the week to come, stoked to be a part of something that can help bring an end to global poverty!

To donate to the cause or find out more, head to my Live Below the Line Fundraiser Page at:

http://www.everydayhero.com.au/jessica_kerr

Homeward Bound

Who would have ever thought coming home from travelling would be so hard?
I've had this most amazing trip, an absolute cracker, if you will, of an adventure. Yet I feel so empty inside.

I keep telling everyone that I feel like a kid who has tasted chocolate for the first time.
The kid wouldn't say "Hey cool, so that's what chocolate tastes like hey? Definitely satisfied with that, won't ever need to taste it again"

I don't think so

This kid wants to get as much chocolate as she can, and by chocolate I mean adventure. And by adventure, I mean overseas travel.

I've seen some of the most amazing places in the world on this trip.

The Pyramids
The Sphinx
Petra
Cruised on the Nile River
Experienced Jerusalem and all the Old City wonderfulness that it has to offer
and the list goes on..!

Being in a new place seeing a whole different country for the first time is nothing short of exhilarating, and yet it always leaves you wanting more.

And now, all I want to do now is see more. I've caught the travel bug bad and there's no turning back! I feel like I've experienced a whole new level of open-mindedness and I want to keep going...and going...and going...

My eyes have been opened to new possibilities and now all I want to do is see the world! Unfortunately this dream is quite an expensive one...baby steps Jess, baby steps.

Obviously there's no way that we can keep travelling for our whole lives. There is a need to stay in one place, make friends, have people around us that have known us for more than an hour sharing life stories over a beer and some nachos.

But yet, the idea of just going off and not coming back for quite a long time does seem to appeal to me, experiencing new cultures every day, seeing new sights. Meeting new people and leaving no rock unturned. I guess all I have to do now is get my 'save' on.

The little traveller that could

When I went into a store today looking for 'fishermans pants',
I politely asked the salesperon (with my most polite nice customer voice) "Do you sell anything like fishermans pants?"
And he said, umm, I'm not sure, but the fishing stuff is all over there....

'doh'

these pants might be harder to track down that I had first anticipated.

The reason that I was indeed searching out 'fishermans pants' is because I am about to head off on a journey to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, you know, just for a bit of R&R!

And today, this realisation has just come upon me that I will be in fact sitting in an airplane exactly two weeks from now, looking forward to landing halfway around the other side of the globe, in Egpyt.
(of course because of the long long flight I am assuming I would be looking forward to landing absolutely anywhere, however Egypt is the current chosen destination).

I have in fact never travelled overseas before, and this will be a totally new experience for me, hot dessert heat, trying to navigate myself around in a country where I can't speak the language, figuring out foreign curencies, clothes that comedown to both my elbows and knees, having to wear proper shoes that are proper...etc, etc

So I'm excited, nervous, a little scared, and anticipatory (is that even a word?) well, it is now...And I'm feelin' it, whatever it is.

I think the main thing is going to somewhere that is so totally foreign, and although I have read up just enough to get me around on Egypt, Israel and Jordan, I really have no idea what to expect, which is cool, in it's own 'anticipatory' sort of way

There, now it's definitely a word, I've used it twice, and posted it on the internet
genius

Now all that's left to do I suppose is load myself up with fishermans pants, (thankfully I did manage to locate some, in a different store mind you) sunscreen (oh how my casper colored skin will love the middle eastern sun!), ridiculously comfortable sandals and a lonely planet for my adventure of a lifetime...

Hit the Road Jack

By Jessica 'Kermi' Kerr

My Friend and I just got back a few weeks ago from a truly amaazing road trip. (yes, that extra 'a' is there on purpose!) not across Australia, but up Australia! Well, part of it anyway.

We started out our journey in the humble little town of Narre Warren in Melbourne, and winded up all the way in the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydoore.

I've seen so many incredible parts of my own country on this trip, which is definitely a good thing as usually when my friends ask me if I've been to anywhere interesting in my very own country the answer is a resounding 'no'.

This experience was really a little gem in disguise. I hadn't even thought about it previously, but it seemed like a good idea at the time, so when my friend said:

"Hey, wanna go on a road trip with me up to the Sunshine Coast? Don't really know what we'll do, but we'll figure it out along the way?"

I replied with an enthusiastic: "Sure, why not"

Such a crazy, spontaneous, random and joyous experience should be done at least once in this lifetime. I learnt a lot, experienced a lot, saw a lot...All in all, a lot of lots. I'm sure you get the picture.

We saw trees, trees and more trees. Note to anyone who wants to do a roadtrip similar to this, Australia definitely gets more interesting the higher you go, I mean come on Parks Victoria, how about a 'theme park' once in a while hmm?

At one stop, we stayed in the houses of some delightful people who happened to be total strangers, and shared breakfast with them the next day, whilst they discussed with us the many tourist destinations in Coffs Harbour. They came up with one, the Big Banana.

Now, long road trips all the way up Australia are obviuoiusly going to require a large amount of time spent in a car. If you like driving this is not a problem, however if you don't like the person you are driving with, then you could have an issue on your hands.

Being in a car with one other friend for extended periods of time is always bound to lead to one of two possible scenarios:

Scenario one, you end up getting so sick of each other you want to leave them by the roadside and make them hitch their own way back home, without a care in the world for their welfare or wellbeing, coz they are just so damn annoying.

OR

scenario two, you get along famously, enjoying various tunes galore, decadent roadside treats, and glorious new food experiences, exquisite secenery and those quintessential roadtrip deep and meaningfulls that leave you feeling extremely blissed out, fulfilled and inspired.

Thankfully I got to experience the latter.

Some road trip rules I've learnt along my way I feel I have to share in order for those out there reading this to never have to experience the pure torture of scenario one!

• Sstop at all the restaurants, eateries, cafes and bars you like, and eat whatever you want off the menu 'healthy' and 'road trip' don't really go together.




• Have amazing music, without music, there is silence, and though it can be at times, silence is not always golden




• Pay your half of the petrol share, I know, I know, but it has to be done




• Get enough sleep, fool!




• DON'T take photos of your innocent (and perhaps drooling) sleeping friend whilst they are asleep in the passenger seat, they may just feel the need to reciprocate

Just a few tidbits from my time away, an experience never to be forgotten, but always to be cherished.

The Unique Wedding

By Jessica Kerr



So today I attended the wedding of two friends of mine, and it got me to thinking on the whole 'wedding bizzo'...

The wedding was very beautiful and classic, bridesmaids were lovely with their curled side ponytails of elegant hair, and the bride wore a beautiful white lace dress with a long, flowing lace train, but have we seen this all before?



Weddings are a big crazy and very lucrative industry these days, and in the US alone, the wedding industry is estimated at a value of well over $100 billion annually. AND, apparently, the typical cost of a wedding these days is estimated at a cool $27,000-quite a nice little party really!



So why all the expense over the union of love? I mean, after all isn't that what it all boils down to? Isn't a wedding really because of love, after all?



These days, it's become all about the white dress, the flowers, the suits, the reception hall, the catering, the hair, the makeup, etc, etc, etc...Every girl (and every woman, for that matter!) Is after the perfect day, in the perfect location, with their perfect man, a truly unique ocassion like none other! Hence the $27,000! I mean, golly gumdrops goodness gracious, that's a deposit on a house that is!



But, everyone gets married! Everyone's done it, it's all the same! Well, okay not everyone but there's still quite a few of them lassies in white dresses trotting down aisles these days That I seem to have come across! Why spend $27,00 on a party that everyone else had already held?



And isn't it all really just things we've seen before? I mean, weddings are quite an ancient tradition, nothing new under the sun!


So what makes a wedding unique at all? Isn't it just a big, extravagant, costly party the couple throws for their friends and family when they decide to celebrate their wedding union just like the rest of the world?

It's true, their is nothing really that new or unique about the actual wedding itself, but I guess what makes any wedding really special is them, "The happy couple". The thing that made the wedding of these two friends of mine today so special, delightful, lovely and all things bubbly, was the love they shared, it ultimately was about the people.

And I know this is going to sound so cliche, but it's really not necessary to have all the bells and whistles when the love is genuine between two people, and the friends and family surrounding them are genuine aswell. So, really, in it's own beautiful way, every single wedding is unique. The people are unique, their love is unique, and it's not about the big, flash dash crazy bash they throw for all of us lucky friends and family, but about a love that is pure, and genuine, and will last a lifetime.