The Hideout's Blogspot

Twitting

2010-12-06T11:16:00.002+10:00

Let's all tweet together - and LIKE the Facebook page to win a journal! Drawn on 18 December 2010

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aged-Blank-Journals/172822052731761

Visiting Guttenberg

2010-09-02T20:30:00.003+10:00

Won't be long and we'll be calling it home - the inherited family home built in 1860 in Guttenberg NJ. 15 minutes from Times Square, a short bus ride through the Lincoln tunnel to Victoria's Secret, Macys, Saks and a million other great shopping places. First step - major renovations to turn it into the most fabulous house this side of the Hudson, a bohemian refuge for all the artistic people in our lives, with welcoming room for any family and friends (and friends of) as an alternative to expensive NY hotels.
Stay tuned for updates on the development of a dream! Thinking an Absinthe Ritual set up would suit some space there!

April Giveaway!

2010-03-26T08:33:00.004+10:00

To celebrate the publication of the tenth book by Viola Books we have one copy of this unique journal to give away. All you have to do is send an email to violabooks@yahoo.com.au with 25 words or less about what you will be writing in your journal, along with your name and address. Entries close on Friday 30 April 2010. Entries will be judged on creativity and winner notified on 5 May. Have a go, it may just be you! Good luck.

The Latest Publication - first for 2010

2010-01-05T08:37:00.003+10:00

Here's the latest blank journal from the hideout. Another any-year journal with 5 days to a page, pre-stained and worn, ready for your magic memories. Get in early - or start late! Buy now from http://stores.lulu.com/kezviola

Wise Woman's blank Journal

2009-11-05T11:01:00.005+10:00

The third book in this series of almost-blank journals, ready for you to fill with whimsical wafflings of your own. Reach the women within and fill this book with them! This will be available to buy from lulu.com from the end of november. A great Xmas present at a very reasonable price. You won't find these anywhere else!

Update 23 Nov. Now available to buy from my online store: http://stores.lulu.com/kezviola

Days and Dreams

2009-10-25T17:10:00.006+10:00

Finally a blank journal online at lulu.com. I've tried to make this as handmade as possible, the inside pages are all antiqued paper.
A journal to fill with your daydreams & nightmares, desires & dreads, your innermost thoughts, petty peeves & passing passions, shopping lists, wish lists, birthdays & bereavements.
Based on my own journal keeping to inspire you to make it a treasure! Your book of keepsake moments ... uniquely yours.
Don't think the title is misleading, it is your book to fill with ideas for losing weight, making money and finding true love & happiness. Your goals are within grasp!

Buy now from Lulu.com
http://www.lulu.com/commerce/index.php?fBuyContent=7846794

Make Your Ending Happy!

2009-09-19T13:45:00.003+10:00

Revamped for this third printing Happy Endings is just the book you have been looking for - when you hear a favourite song you can jot it down on your funeral song list, start compiling a list of the people you want attending your farewell party and all those other cumbersome little details to satisfy your need for order!
Buy this book on Lulu now!

We have a Google gadget!

2009-03-05T09:30:00.005+10:00

Click here to add us to your Google page.

Thanks to the genius of SPM we now feature a Google gadget. Hopefully this step up in technology will revise our flagging fortunes!

2009 here we are!

2009-01-12T09:30:00.003+10:00

Seasonal laziness sets in with the heat of summer in the Hideout but the update must happen before the year is half over. Here's the latest piece of art to grace our rooms, a beautifully crafted sand table, ready for mediative doodling or serious incantations by the full moon. Thanks to MSMS.

We're Stamping!

2008-09-14T14:04:00.003+10:00

Been busy stamping for the last few months. After finding a divine shop in Greenwich Village, the Ink Pad, where I bought up big! Next step will be to get the machine to create unique stamps here in the Hideout, but meanwhile here's a great resource if you're looking for unusual rubber stamps.
The Stamping Queen

There's even a monthly giveaway if you want to try before you buy.

We went to New York!

2008-05-21T16:08:00.004+10:00

Found my rightful spot in the world - I was meant to be living in a brownstone opposite Central Park, dining at Frida's on Columbus and breakfasting at Ronda's. Checked out all the park benches looking for Woody Allen but he must have been busy on those days I visited the park. Watched the jazz musos by the fountain and meditated in Strawberry Fields instead.

Visiting C&B

2008-04-20T21:05:00.001+10:00

Here we are driving down the east coast of northern NSW from Brisbane to Farrants Hill, which is just south of Tweed Heads on the way to Murwillumbah.

The new way of searching?

2008-04-01T09:34:00.000+10:00

Living Creatively

2008-03-06T10:25:00.002+10:00

I've joined a site to inspire my artist within. Living Creatively is a new place to browse, make and become inspired to sell your creations online. Ideas to make wonderful cards and paper creations as well as designs for aspiring jewellers and artists and lots more. Click the button to look. Very well done online mag to read as well as any print copy.

Facebook Connections

2008-01-27T13:02:00.000+10:00

Never thought Facebook would lead to re-connecting with cousins and family not in contact for many years. It's not just for teens, seems people of all ages are finding it a great way to stay in contact, broaden minds (by playing scrabble or taking grammar tests etc) and share photos. One of my cousins has focused his page on our parents lives growing up in Tonga.

That's my mother on her fathers knee, in Tonga about 1927/28. Read her diaries to experience a little of the life of a teenage girl in 1940 when the family came back to Australia after many years in Ha'apai. Click Pat Pyne's Diaries link on the right of this page.

January's Book

2008-01-09T08:12:00.001+10:00

First book out of the hideout for 2008. Blank journal 100 pages with expandable access to add more pages if required. Wrap-around cover is heavy cartridge paper treated to aged and textured finish. Added glue and varnish for strength. Secured with leather tie.

2008 - Year of the Earth Rat

2007-12-31T16:10:00.000+10:00

Happy New Year to everyone and specially all you rats out there!
I'm predicting a mega good year in the Hideout. A new top of the range Mac laptop will do me thanks, & a nice little blue car wouldn't go astray. We'll be packing our bags, or in my case taking almost empty bags, to jet off to New York in May. Looking forward to doing some shopping tours, particularly around recycled fashions and warehouses.

Now 14 year online anniversary!

2007-12-12T13:55:00.000+10:00

Once again another year crept up and flew by before I knew it. Time to upload the good old Aussie Santa again, that will do for the decorations around here. There's a gold star hanging out on the front verandah that's been there for 2 years.

This has been a good year in the Hideout and I want to thank everyone who has clicked on any google ads on the site, or even browsed a few pages; it all brought in added income greatly appreciated. Have a happy one and note my predictions for 2007 that John Howard would lose the PM position in disgrace came true! I predict a much much fairer Australia with Kevin Rudd leading a great team.

Black Coffee & Drugs

2007-09-09T11:07:00.000+10:00

Here in the Hideout it's Beat HQ. We stay up all night drinking black coffee and chain-smoking while we play jazz blues and read poetry. Sometimes we'll tango to a Stan Getz tune and do drugs ... all with our turtlenecks and darkest sunglasses on.

Well ... that's what we would be doing if we didn't fall asleep watching old episodes of Columbo. At heart this is beatnik HQ, we're advocates of creative freedom. But we have to get up in the morning to iron our pants for work and a trip to the supermarket to get more tins of food for the cat.

A Chance to Buy Your Retreat!

2007-07-05T16:10:00.000+10:00

A chance to own your own piece of peace in Queensland Australia. 100Km inland from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast.

Click HERE to view the property!

Identity Kit

2007-05-18T16:38:00.000+10:00

Need to identify that thief who ran off with your handbag last week? Here's a fun way to have your own handy identikit on hand. Almost as good as a police artist. Try for a likeness to yourself. IDENTIKIT

Cultureless Prosperity

2007-05-16T14:50:00.000+10:00

Ever notice how taste declines in relation to wealth increasing? All you have to do is look at the real estate pages to see the characterless monstrosities built by the rich trendies. Bland bland bland, no interesting nooks or crannnies, no gracious old verandahs with a bit of peeling paint here and there. Not the surroundings to inspire creativity, rather to feed the obsessive neat freaks personality disorders, to grow boring children fed by giant TV monitors and foster the greed is good adage.
Go make a mess today, a creative mess is good for you! It's one of the few freedoms we still have.

Being Inspired

2007-04-24T07:57:00.000+10:00

Disappointing stats from The Hideout this month with Google earnings taking a nose dive with no explanation. Anyone who figures Google earnings into their planning will be having a re-think. Putting that aside and hoping it eventually picks up again, being re-inspired after watching the movie 'Modilgliani' and loving the soundtrack, ready to sketch, paint and write again.
Creating Dee's Blog ... you can visit and give him a bone!
Found a great site to create free posters from any size image.
BLOCK POSTERS. Make posters of your favourite photos and paintings or even that treasured love letter! Only drawback is the amount of ink it will use up.

True stories from the Past

2007-02-27T10:27:00.000+10:00

Not news from the Hideout but something that tickled our fancy!

Online Videos by Veoh.com

February Updates

2007-02-15T15:48:00.000+10:00

This month is all about MONEY and ways to make it. Google Adsense is proving to be a wonderful addition in adding to the coffers and I absolutely recommend it if you have a website. My left palm has been itchy for days so am hoping that means money coming in rather than going out!
Another site on the recommended list is the LoseWeight MakeMoney FindLove site. What more could you want? It's all there.

And something to stimulate the mind from the latest Beacon newsletter - excerpt from editorial Maintain Your Rage. "Today, indeed every day, changes occur which inexorably remove our democratic rights, our long-held values, our commitment to a decent society. Each day, a privately owned media, at the behest of its owners, attempts to create public opinion that serves only a small group of international imperialist capitalists." Send for a copy yourself: unitarian@bigpond.com

Money Money Money

2007-01-07T15:19:00.000+10:00

New Year's Resolution in the hideout is to focus on assisting others (and ourselves!) to achieve financial security in these insecure times. Will there still be pensions by the time we reach retirement age? Don't want to end up sleeping in a blue bin do we! With this in mind we are currently involved in research into the best ways possible to increase income no matter what your situation may be right now. Stay tuned for the MONEY page soon to be launched on the Online Hideout site.

Meantime get your face and body into shape ready to make full use of your fortune. FREE FACE EXERCISES really do improve muscle tone and take years off. Your face has many muscles and they can all be strengthened and toned like any other muscle. Try them for a month and see the results. My jowls have definitely firmed up since I started these. Just 10 minutes a day is all it will take to firm the flab!

Have a go (or another go) with the FREE DIET to lose up to 15lbs in 7 days, then check out your body mass index to notice results.

Good luck for 2007. I know you will achieve a slimmer, richer, more fulfilling life by simply focusing on what you want!

Predictions for 2007

2006-12-16T00:33:00.000+10:00

I love reading lists of predictions. It would be even more fascinating if I ever came across one that had made any accurate predictions. At most they are educated guesses. At worst they are religious fanatics predicting the end of the world (again). How come no real mediums post their lists? I'm going to throw my hat in the ring and say Australia's Prime Miniature will fall out of favour in 2007 and possibly even leave his cushy job in disgrace. To my surprise I am predicting Kevin Rudd will show strength as the next possible leader of the country and will gain a large following. Hope will be renewed in the country as we follow a general world trend to recapture democracy. Or is this just wishful thinking? I also predict a large natural disaster somewhere near the equator around May 2007.
Have you had any premonition-like feelings? I'd love to hear them! Please add them to this blog, it doesn't matter if they turn out to be true or not. No-one else lets that stop them!

Time to start Xmas Lists

2006-11-18T21:18:00.000+10:00

It's that time of year when you start to think of cards, some for people you have no other contact with than a friendly Xmas greeting. So why not send them a card they certainly won't see anywhere else! Drawn in the Online Hideout this original Aussie Santa will make anyone smile.

Have a browse in our online shop for unique bargains never to be seen in stores! Click HERE.

Spring in the Hideout

2006-11-17T13:17:00.000+10:00

Off come all those winter clothes as the weather here in Brisbane heats up ready for our usual hot summer Xmas. Here's Mike getting into tune for the season!

New Career Paths

2006-11-04T19:46:00.000+10:00

Trying out TRIOND as an online spot to earn cents when people view your published works. It will be a slow path to riches but a worthwhile experience if you have some writing stored away. Publish it and you may be surprised. The most popular articles from the site seem to be recipes so have a look through your grandmother's handwritten cookbooks and you may develop a cult following! Triond publishes work on a number of sites including Picable and Authspot.

Painted Gardens

2006-10-03T11:47:00.000+10:00

Here is my garden - as painted by Jo Reitze on the first of Spring! Now I'm going to pull palings off the fence to make the perfect frame for it, peeling paint and all. It was inspiring to watch as this painting took shape and Jo has documented it HERE.

Exercising Your Face

2006-09-29T11:16:00.000+10:00

Even when successful losing body weight, some people find it more difficult to get the fat off their faces. Do you need a face tone up? Doing these face exercises regularly (and that's the key) really will slim and/or tone your face muscles. Set yourself the task of doing a couple each night if you can't bring yourself to make faces during the day in public. Get rid of that double chin! Find your long-lost cheekbones!
FACE EXERCISES

Where did August go?

2006-09-09T15:17:00.000+10:00

How did it get to be a week into September already? I demand to know who took August out of this year's calendar!
Well, though you wouldn't know it from the less than updated website, it's been very busy here in the hideout. The pursuit of income has a nasty habit of cutting into creative time. Birthdays happened, visitors stayed, wild women were carved on stone and travels were taken. Sadness in the air this week with the death of two loved Aussie men, Steve Irwin and Peter Brock. Quite amazing considering the predictions of Susan Miller who said to expect the unexpected this first week in September. Both deaths were total shocks.

Fat and Lonely

2006-06-16T18:22:00.000+10:00

It seems to me, reading and seeing articles and news items all over the place, that the world is full of lonely people desperately trying to lose weight so that they have the confidence to get out there and meet people who will give their life renewed meaning. Is this you?
As a skinny do-gooder I would really like to help people get past a phase that is totally depressing. Being also desperately under-incomed myself I want this blog to benefit both myself and the people who need a hand. The problems you have with losing weight, I have with making money! It seems I Just can’t make myself care enough about accumulating cash though I sure need it!
Recently finding Steve Pavlina’s Blog - Personal Development for Smart People, has motivated me to make a positive move to help myself by doing things I care about and so begins a journey for both of us ... income for me and a happy, lighter life for you.
First of all the main thing everyone needs is to feel loved, really truly loved. If you’ve been loved you know the feeling. It reaches your soul and warms the very core of you. You can cope with almost anything if you feel loved. With that in mind I am producing a CD designed to make you feel cherished. Think a mother’s love, think an adoring lover’s heartfelt words, words that wrap you in a cocoon of peace and shield you from an often hard and ungiving world. I want this CD to become your tool to give you the glow of feeling loved for yourself, unjudged, accepted for the you that you are. In all my research I haven’t come across anything like this CD - so simple and with such profound potential to help so many who feel lost and lonely.
I’m no salesman, in fact I hate hard-sell people pushing anything. I want to make this an interesting blog by posting links to some of the things I’ve found that help make life a more positive vibrant experience. I, like many people, usually look at others websites or blogs with a fairly sceptical eye, like what are they selling or what’s the catch. But surprising even myself, I have found sites like Steve’s and believe that behind it is a genuine honest individual simply sharing knowledge and being upfront about making an income by sharing his knowledge and skill. I found others, becoming immersed in Summer McStravick’s broadcasts about Flowdreaming. She has written a book and promotes it but somehow it doesn’t feel like the usual push as it’s something very personal she feels passionate about. As I do about the “I Love You” CD. These creations are like our children!
Next time I hope to have further developed the CD and will talk about weight loss and methods that will really help!

Test Page Up!

2006-05-25T21:34:00.000+10:00

If you'd like to have a look at progress for the new site I've put the test page up here:
The New Online Hideout
The broadband option takes ages to load. It hasn't been honed down to a good speed yet but eventually will be as fast as any other site. It's worth the wait if you want to go make yourself coffee while it's loading. I think it will be a fun page to play with and the whole site can be navigated from the objects on the page. Don't choose high bandwidth if you don't have a cable or high speed connection. The low bandwidth page is fast but lacks all the bells and whistles.
Ignore anything that doesn't work, like some links not yet connected and some buttons don't click to anywhere ... but you'll get the idea and hopefully come back in the future to check on progress!

Illustration Friday - Insect

2006-03-13T12:44:00.000+10:00

My doodle for the week's topic, a hybrid mozzie/fly thing.
Not a really inspiring topic for a lazy artiste!

Inspired Illustration

2006-02-14T15:44:00.000+10:00

I've just signed up to an illustrators group online. Usually lacking motivation myself it's great to find a group that encourages members to sketch no matter what their ability might be. You can sign up to receive an email with a weekly topic to sketch and after you've done your artwork, you upload it to your blog and post the link to the group so everyone gets to see what wonderful things you're producing! I find this totally inspiring and will add a link so you too can join in. I think that once you've overcome the fear of not being good enough and draw the first line you'll really enjoy yourself. Who cares what the finished drawing looks like - there are so many blogs online not many people will stumble across yours unless you let them know about it.
This drawing of our TV was done after looking at some of the older topics in the illustration group. The topic was 'draw your TV and what's on it'. Mike wants to use it on his new website. He's going to put a little movie in the screen. That could be interesting. I'm waiting for the next topic and will be posting it here.

Blank Journals with erotic covers

2006-02-03T12:05:00.000+10:00

It's all go behind the scenes at The Online Hideout with the new website taking shape. One of the features to start the year will be a series of blank books to use as journals, fill with prose or erotic poetry. Sepia photo collages with textured and treated surfaces will stand up to some wear and tear if you like to cart your notebook around with you.

26 Dec 05 Rough sketches

2005-12-26T17:21:00.000+10:00

The new site, as yet still in thought form, will be a flash-based main page photo with links from every object. Here's the very first, very rough, sketch.

22 Dec 05 12 Years Online!

2005-12-22T14:30:00.000+10:00

It's 12 years since The Online Hideout went online. Originally on Geocities and amazingly those web pages are still there!
Thank you to all the various people over the years who have subscribed to the very erratic newsletter, sent me comments, ordered handmade books and bought the Slim You CD and Happy Endings book. With this blog I hope you will be encouraged to interact with the new site when it is launched early 2006 with a great deal of help from my brilliant son Sean. I am excited by the planned changes to the site and re-inspired to keep up with posting news and new ideas. I also have to thank The Lone Gunmen for the creative charge they gave me to actually get up and DO it! You'll find on the new site lots of secret drawers to yield surprises and encourage your creative expression.
This Blog is the place to interact with us, ask a question, post a comment, share your views on anything from politics to font faces. We're about expression! Keep an eye out for the new site launch planned for February 2006! Happy New Year!