Not a bad view to wake up to ‘eh.
Sydney has some rather brilliantly located outdoor swimming pools. Above are the North Sydney Olympic pool next to Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Icebergs Club Olympic pool at Bondi Beach.
Diamonds Are Bullshit
“American males enter adulthood through a peculiar rite of passage - they spend most of their savings on a shiny piece of rock. They could invest the money in assets that will compound over time and someday provide a nest egg. Instead, they trade that money for a diamond ring, which isn’t much of an asset at all. As soon as you leave the jeweler with a diamond, it loses over 50% of its value.
Americans exchange diamond rings as part of the engagement process, because in 1938 De Beers decided that they would like us to. Prior to a stunningly successful marketing campaign 1938, Americans occasionally exchanged engagement rings, but wasn’t a pervasive occurrence. Not only is the demand for diamonds a marketing invention, but diamonds aren’t actually that rare. Only by carefully restricting the supply has De Beers kept the price of a diamond high.
Countless American dudes will attest that the societal obligation to furnish a diamond engagement ring is both stressful and expensive. But here’s the thing - this obligation only exists because the company that stands to profit from it willed it into existence.
So here is a modest proposal: Let’s agree that diamonds are bullshit and reject their role in the marriage process. Let’s admit that as a society we got tricked for about century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it’s time to end the nonsense.”
Amen.
Yes! Lets do this! I, for one, have zero interest in diamonds. I have zero interest in rings. I’m also probably never going to get married but if I ever do I’d like a tree rather than a diamond please. Thanks.
Blue Mountains waterfalls
I’m in the Blue Mountains, walking down the ‘Charles Darwin’ track to Wentworth Falls where, I’m told, Darwin saw a platypus and thought, “There’s no way God made that, it’s far too weird.” Then invented evolution. His great great grandson, Chris, lives in the Blue Mountains and works as a tour guide.
Walking on the Hanging Rock highline, Blue Mountains, Australia (by Loz ‘n Tim).
On my way to the blue mountains right now. Might have a go at this while I’m there. Yup.
(via fuckyeahhiking)
I’m in Sydney.
"I can’t stress this enough: Do what you love…in between work commitments, and family commitments, and commitments that tend to pop up and take immediate precedence over doing the thing you love. Because the bottom line is that life is short, and you owe it to yourself to spend the majority of it giving yourself wholly and completely to something you absolutely hate, and 20 minutes here and there doing what you feel you were put on this earth to do."
We stayed in an old jailhouse in Christchurch. #gpoy
