Life, Laughs & Lemmings » Random Acts of Kick Arse

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion

Sami — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:00:11 +0000

RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE

Dani from Positively Present came up with this month’s Random Acts of Kick Arse theme, and she chose passion.

I had planned on writing something quite different on the topic of passion but as life would have it, I was given inspiration that has led me in a different direction.

Lance, from The Jungle of Life recently posted a tribute to his friend, Amy Pratt. On February 25, Amy left this world at the all too young age of 34.

I didn’t know Amy but Lance’s beautiful tribute really impacted me. It reminded me that when I strip it all back, my two greatest passions are;

Those close to me.
Living like I mean it.

Whilst Amy has gone, from what I can gather from her site, She Sleeps With Sea Glass, she has left behind a legacy of love, caring, laughter and adventure. And a great example for the rest of us.

So, my friends, don’t wait.

Call that friend.

Spend time with your family.

Start that business.

Tell that person that you love them.

Use your “good” wine glasses.

Go on that trip.

Chase that dream.

Write that book.

Dance, play, explore.

Take the plunge.

Whatever it is you’ve been leaving for tomorrow or “some day”, let Amy’s story be your inspiration to do something about it today.

The Other RAOKA Crusaders

Check out below and at the end of this post to find out how the other Kick Arse Crusaders spread passion this month;

Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Lance from The Jungle of Life
Gayze from Gayzehound’s Animal Communication
Zeenat from Positive Provocations

Getting Involved in RAOKA!

If you’d like to become a Random Acts of Kick Arse Crusader, then here’s your chance;

Follow along with our monthly themes and spread the random acts of kick arse!
Write a post about what you got up to and publish it on the first Wednesday of each month if you are in the US or Thursday for Aussies (for everyone else, check out your corresponding day here). If you need a reminder each month, feel free to email me at sami [@ symbol] lifelaughsandlemmings [dot] com letting me know you want to be a RAOKA Crusader and I’ll send you a reminder email). If you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to play along in the comments.
When you see my RAOKA post published, fill out your details in the form below including the URL address of your own RAOKA post and the title of your blog in the “Link Title” field. This will then automatically create a link to your post for others to see what kind of arse kicking you get up to. See the following link as an example (link 1).

This Month’s Theme

This month’s theme was chosen by Lori at Jane Be Nimble: Laughter. Here’s to a month full of belly laughs!

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Gratitude RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Melissa from Operation...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Wacky RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Lance from the...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Kindness RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE (thanks Melissa,...

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Gratitude

Sami — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 20:05:50 +0000

RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE

Melissa from Operation NICE came up with this month’s Random Acts of Kick Arse theme, and she chose gratitude.

You know, this is our 5th month since starting the RAOKA Crusade and I’ve noticed a theme. At the beginning of each month, I tend to think to myself, “OK Sami, how the hell are you going to spread [insert theme] this month. Pretty much every time, I say back to myself, “I don’t know. Can we go have a rum and ginger beer now?”

Despite the voices and the consumption of rum and ginger beer, every month, the “how” just comes knocking. I’m rapidly learning to just go have a rum and ginger beer and let life, and the theme, unfold as it should.

This month was slightly different in that there was something I’d been meaning to do but hadn’t gotten around to it. The “something” fitted perfectly with this month’s theme so I was a little more proactive with this particular task. As for the rest, well, let’s just say, the rum and ginger beer came in handy!

RAOKA 1: The Lost Art of Letter Writing

For a while now I’ve wanted to write a letter to both, my parents and Chris’. We have to be two of the luckiest people on the planet to have the parents we do. You would have more chance finding a brain cell in a block of cement than finding better folks than ours.

I felt it was high time I told them so.

Those who know me are aware that in my world, efficiency is highly prized. Writing a letter is not efficient. Apart from the time it takes to write it, address the envelope, find a stamp and post it, it also takes time for the receiver to decipher my chicken scrawl handwriting.

However, with efficiency, in communication anyway, comes a certain lack of personalness (and yes, I did just make that word up). In light of this, and despite the onset of Repetitive Strain Injury post letter writing, I sent my letters containing all the reasons I’m grateful to have them in my life.

RAOKA 2: The Currency of Beer

Some time ago, I wrote about discovering our newly bought car, who we’d named Bluey…

…was indeed mostly a lemon. We have just sold it. It was not without the help of a local mechanic who moved heaven and earth (or rather, other customers’ jobs) to fix it’s lemonness and provide a safety certificate so the sale would go through.

He really did go above and beyond the call of duty to get it sorted for us. To express my gratitude, I rocked up with a couple of ice cold beers…and $800 for the f****** repairs. He greatly appreciated both.

Oh yeah, and I’m also grateful for the couple who bought Bluey. So you know, I made them aware of his lemonness but they still wanted to go ahead with the sale. I would make the worst car salesperson ever because I simply cannot (and don’t want to) lie.

RAOKA 3: Symo, You Rock!

I have deep gratitude for all my friends and over the years I’ve let them know that in various ways. There is one friend however, that I realised I hadn’t really communicated this with. What better time to do it than now.

His name is Symo (a nickname by the way).

And a more loyal friend you will not find. Whether it’s cooking dinner, grabbing a lift, supporting my latest project, taking me water skiing, forwarding my blog, fixing a computer or a myriad of other things, Symo has always been a first class friend. Generosity is his middle name.

So Symo, I hope you’re reading this because you rock my friend! I’m grateful to call you a mate. Thank you for all the good times, support and friendship over the years. xxx

RAOKA 4: I am Grateful For…

This month also saw me start writing in my gratitude journal again.

I’ve used this journal in the past to help me identify what I’m grateful for whilst going through tough times. My thought; Why not use it when times are great too? This month was a perfect time to crack it open again.

RAOKA 4: To You, The LL&L Community

And then there’s you lot; the crazy, funny, supportive, caring, exceedingly brilliant community around Life, Laughs & Lemmings. Without you, my words, Flashdancing and rants would be nothing but an echo reverberating in the Internet chasm (some would argue they’d be better served as echoes!). As a token of my gratitude, I have written a poem in your honour;

To all the folks that visit here,
From some places far and others quite near,
A big thank you from me for taking the time,
To read prose, watch me dance and hear me whine.

Your comments and quips amuse me no end,
Especially when, and let’s not pretend,
I speak mostly shit and oh yeah, tend to cuss.
How I manage a G rating is anyone’s guess.

Nevertheless you come by and pay me a visit,
Not in your droves but that’s how I like it.
The connections and community is what makes this fun.
To each and every one of you, thanks a tonne!

The Other RAOKA Crusaders

Check out below and at the end of this post to find out how the other Kick Arse Crusaders spread gratitude this month;

Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Lance from The Jungle of Life
Gayze from Gayzehound’s Animal Communication
Zeenat from Positive Provocations

Note: We’ve had a couple of core RAOKA members exit the group due to other commitments (thanks so much guys for being founding members) and as such, have 2 regular and enthusiastic contributors to this movement taking their place; Gayze from Gayzehound’s Animal Communication and Zeenat from Positive Provocations.

Getting Involved in RAOKA!

If you’d like to become a Random Acts of Kick Arse Crusader, then here’s your chance;

Follow along with our monthly themes and spread the random acts of kick arse!
Write a post about what you got up to and publish it on the first Wednesday of each month if you are in the US or Thursday for Aussies (for everyone else, check out your corresponding day here). If you need a reminder each month, feel free to email me at sami [@ symbol] lifelaughsandlemmings [dot] com letting me know you want to be a RAOKA Crusader and I’ll send you a reminder email). If you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to play along in the comments.
When you see my RAOKA post published, fill out your details in the form below including the URL address of your own RAOKA post and the title of your blog in the “Link Title” field. This will then automatically create a link to your post for others to see what kind of arse kicking you get up to. See the following link as an example (link 1).

This Month’s Theme

This month’s theme was chosen by Dani at Positively Present: Passion. Here’s to a most passionate month ahead!

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Dani from Positively Present...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Wacky RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Lance from the...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Beauty RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE It’s Random...

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Wacky

Sami — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:14:01 +0000

RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE

Lance from the Jungle of Life came up with this month’s Random Acts of Kick Arse theme, and not surprisingly for Lance…

…he chose wacky.

Not surprisingly for me, I had no problems attracting wackiness, being wacky and spreading the wack. In fact, wackiness runs in my family…

And in my partner, Chris’s family…

So you see, even if I wanted to be normal, it would be inordinately difficult seeing as I have geneology working against me.

RAOKA 1: Bond, James Bond, or rather, Jones, Christmas Jones

The company Chris works for (Flight Centre), is known for their wacky Christmas parties. This year’s theme was Bond. I went as Christmas Jones, an evidently little known Bond girl, as noone knew who the hell I was. I took comfort in the fact that at least I fitted the Christmas theme AND I had the biggest gun of anyone there.

RAOKA 2: Looney Luna Park

What better place to be wacky than Sydney’s famous Luna Park. A trip to Sydney for an early Christmas with Chris’ family provided the opportunity and Chris’ niece and nephew provided the excuse. Adults with Adultitis, beware! Luna Park is a reliable antidote…

RAOKA 3: Crazy Arse Christmas

A Christmas with either of our families is NEVER normal. Here’s the evidence…

So there you have it, a wacky month in review.

The Other RAOKA Crusaders

Check out below and at the end of this post to find out how the other Kick Arse Crusaders spread wackiness this month;

Lori from Jane Be Nimble

Dani from Positively Present

Melissa from Operation NICE

Brandi from Joy Rebel

Lance from The Jungle of Life

Getting Involved in RAOKA!

If you’d like to become a Random Acts of Kick Arse Crusader, then here’s your chance;

Follow along with our monthly themes and spread the random acts of kick arse!
Write a post about what you got up to and publish it on the first Wednesday of each month if you are in the US or Thursday for Aussies (for everyone else, check out your corresponding day here). If you need a reminder each month, feel free to email me at sami [@ symbol] lifelaughsandlemmings [dot] com letting me know you want to be a RAOKA Crusader and I’ll send you a reminder email). If you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to play along in the comments.
When you see my RAOKA post published, fill out your details in the form below including the URL address of your own RAOKA post and the title of your blog in the “Link Title” field. This will then automatically create a link to your post for others to see what kind of arse kicking you get up to. See the following example link (link 1).

This Month’s Theme

This month’s theme was chosen by Melissa at Operation NICE and she chose: Gratitude. A perfect theme for the start of a new year.

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Dani from Positively Present...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Beauty RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE It’s Random...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Kindness RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE (thanks Melissa,...

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Beauty

Sami — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:15:20 +0000

RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE

It’s Random Acts of Kick Arse round up time again! This month’s theme was chosen by Brandi at Joy Rebel and has been all about spreading beauty.

Now when poised with the question, “how will I spread beauty?”, surprisingly my brain didn’t jump to the idea of leaving random pictures of Johnny Depp or Gerard Butler around town. Yes, they are beautiful but that would be littering, a tad superficial and kinda creepy.

Instead, my mind instantly thought “nature”.

To me, there’s nothing more beautiful than the natural world - mountains, gum trees, beaches, flowers, sunsets, pouring rain, rolling hills, green grass, waterfalls, streams, rock pools, cliffs, desert…I could go on and on. The best part is, these pieces of beauty are all around us and free to experience if we take the time to do so.

RAOKA 1: A Dozen Red Roses

When I thought of spreading beauty using nature as my inspiration, I realised this was a perfect opportunity to tick another goal off my Daisy List. Number 98 on the list is to Surprise Someone with a Dozen Red Roses. My chosen target was Mum (who also happens to be a walking version of beautiful herself).

RAOKA 2: Beauty on DVD

My partner, Chris, is known in our circles as a talented photographer, particularly when it comes to shots of nature and landscapes. RAOKA beauty number 2 was to send a bunch of photos that Chris took on our recent Hawaiian holiday to a few friends who’d also been on the trip. [You can see a couple of them below]

RAOKA 3: Not Spreading the Beauty Terribly Far

My third random act of kick arse was spreading beauty, to, ahem, myself. Hey, it’s my interpretation of the theme and if I want to spread a little beauty to myself, then I will. Besides, as Loreal says (in Australia anyway), “I’m worth it!” So, I ventured into the garden and picked myself these…

Does it count that Chris got to enjoy them too??

They remind me of Hawaii [insert sigh as images of Mai Tais and Waikiki flash through my mind, then insert involuntary shaking as images of the Smurfette Mobile flash through my mind].

RAOKA 4: For You

My fourth RAOKA beauty is for you guys. I’ve been fortunate enough to witness some of the most beautiful landscapes and scenery so in honour of this month’s theme, and so I can spread just a little more beauty, here are some pics for you to enjoy…

Cascade Mountain, Banff, Canada

Sunset, Kauai, Hawaii

Rainbow Beach, Australia

Moraine Lake, Banff, Canada

Secret Waterfall, Na Pali Coast, Hawaii

Glacier Bay, Alaska

Sunshine Meadows, Banff, Canada

Moreton Island, Australia

RAOKA 5: A Different Type of Beautiful

Oh yeah, and I also made this bloody little “beauty” for Chris…

If that’s not spreading beauty, I don’t know what is! Mind you, it would have been more appropriate to reveal this had the monthly theme been “architectural masterpiece befitting Frank Lloyd Wright”. [Note: Making a cupcake stack is number 55 on my Daisy List. More on how this came together to follow.]

The Other RAOKA Crusaders

Check out below and at the end of this post to find out how the other Kick Arse Crusaders spread beauty this month;

Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Melissa from Operation NICE
Brandi from Joy Rebel
Lance from The Jungle of Life

Getting Involved in RAOKA!

If you’d like to become a Random Acts of Kick Arse Crusader, then here’s your chance;

Follow along with our monthly themes and spread the random acts of kick arse!
Write a post about what you got up to and publish it on the first Wednesday of each month if you are in the US or Thursday for Aussies (for everyone else, check out your corresponding day here). If you need a reminder each month, feel free to email me at sami [@ symbol] lifelaughsandlemmings [dot] com letting me know you want to be a RAOKA Crusader and I’ll send you a reminder email). If you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to play along in the comments.
When you see my RAOKA post published, fill out your details in the form below including the URL address of your own RAOKA post and the title of your blog in the “Link Title” field. This will then automatically create a link to your post for others to see what kind of arse kicking you get up to. See the following example link (link 1).

Next Month’s Theme

Next month’s theme was chosen by Lance at The Jungle of Life. In typical Lance style, the theme for this month is: Wacky (no, that’s not the description of the theme, it’s the ACTUAL theme, well actually it is the description but it’s also the theme, it’s both, clear as mud? Who’s on first? My head hurts). Let the wackiness begin!

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Dani from Positively Present...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Kindness RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE (thanks Melissa,...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Wacky RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Lance from the...

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Kindness

Sami — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:00:06 +0000

RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE (thanks Melissa, it rocks!)

My how time flies when you’re having fun being kind! A month ago I launched Random Acts of Kick Arse with a group of kick arse bloggers (check out the kindness the guys spread this month);

Lance from The Jungle of Life
Brandi from Joy Rebel
Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Melissa from Operation NICE

I was blown away by the response to the idea. While I thought it might strike a chord with the communities around each blog, I was surprised at how many people actually wanted to be involved.

We’ve had so many emails/comments from other kick arse bloggers who want to get in on the RAOKA fun, I decided to look at how others can be involved. I think I’ve found a way so if you want to get in on the action, head to the bottom of this post to find out.

Now on to last month’s RAOKA theme – kindness. My strategy for kick arse ways to be kind was less about being proactive and more about being aware. I decided to go with the flow and wait for kindness opportunities to show up in my every day life.

Now this was a risky strategy. What if nothing presented itself? What if I got to the end of the month and had a blank RAOKA post? I needn’t have worried, it didn’t take long for the opportunities to present themselves.

Given my strategy, my random acts of kick arse kindness, were, really quite…well, random! Here they are…

RAOKA Kindness 1

This is Katie…

Katie is Mum and Dad’s beloved Border Collie who we recently looked after while they were away. Katie is 12. That’s 84 in dog years, which is elderly by anyone’s standards. She’s deaf, slightly overweight and often walks into glass doors on accounts of her poor vision (lucky she can’t get around like she used to or she’d have constant concussion). She’s also a total sweetie and we love looking after her.

There are few things Katie loves more in this world than food, pats, walks and did I mention food. With this in mind, I decided my kind act was to give her an extra biscuit, a prolonged back scratch and a short walk (I think you can see from her smile, my kindness mission was accomplished).

RAOKA Kindness 2

Chris and I checked out a Festival of Kites in our local area. If you’re wondering what a festival of kites is, it’s a festival and a bunch of kites…

It was hot and there were a lot of people. Tables and chairs had been set up under a tree as an outdoor eatery and we grabbed the last 2 remaining chairs to have a bite to eat. A couple of minutes later a pregnant lady and her family came by looking for somewhere to sit. “Cool! A chance to be kind,” I thought, so I offered her my chair. She declined (they’d brought their own picnic rug) but was very appreciative of the offer.

RAOKA Kindness 3

My partner, Chris, is a travel consultant and his job can get very busy. During one of those weeks, I wrote a note reminding him to breathe and have a fun day and strategically placed it in his lunch. He found the note and rang me to say it made his day.

RAOKA Kindness 4

Our recent trip to Hawaii meant I could spread the kindness kick arse internationally!

During the trip, we had the opportunity to hike into a lava tube (ie underground tunnel created by a lava flow)…

The stairs to get back to the surface at the end of the tube were quite steep and spaced far apart. A lady with a walking stick was struggling to make it up (she had bad knees) so I gave her my hand and helped her to the top.

RAOKA Kindness 5

On the same trip, we visited the famous Dukes Restaurant and Bar on Waikiki Beach for lunch…

Now, let me just say that tipping is not commonplace in Australia but I have some tipping experience having lived in Canada. I know how much servers require tips to pay their rent! Our server was very friendly, most attentive and kept the Mai Tais coming. It was another chance to be kind by giving a larger than normal tip. The response from the server; “Wow! Thanks!”

Getting Involved in RAOKA!

If you’d like to become a Random Acts of Kick Arse Crusader, then here’s your chance;

Follow along with our monthly themes and spread the random acts of kick arse!
Write a post about what you got up to and publish it on the first Wednesday of each month if you are in the US or Thursday for Aussies (if you need a reminder each month, feel free to email me at sami [@ symbol] lifelaughsandlemmings [dot] com letting me know you want to be a RAOKA Crusader and I’ll send you a reminder email). If you don’t have a blog, you’re welcome to play along in the comments.
When you see my RAOKA post published, fill out your details in the form below including the URL address of your own RAOKA post. This will then automatically create a link to your post for others to see what kind of arse kicking you get up to.

This Month’s RAOKA Theme

Brandi from Joy Rebel chose beauty as this month’s theme. So our mission RAOKA Crusaders, is to spread beauty in any way we wish. Got any cool ideas on how I can spread beauty? If so, let me know in the comments. Have a “beautiful” month!

Random Acts of Kick Arse Photo by kaibara87 In the words of Martin Luther King,...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Dani from Positively Present...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Beauty RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE It’s Random...

Random Acts of Kick Arse

Sami — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:05:21 +0000

Photo by kaibara87

In the words of Martin Luther King, “I have a dream!”

I know, I know, that’s no surprise to many of you. I realise I do harp on about my Daisy List some what. You all know how much I love my Daisy List. Everyone should have a Daisy List. There’s nothing more kick arse than a Daisy List. Daisy Lists rock! Daisy List, Daisy List, Daisy List. OK, MEDIC! Mood stabilisers for Sami, STAT!

So anyway, I do have a dream…but this one is actually not on my Daisy List. “What?!” I hear you say, “Not on your Daisy List?! How can this be?”

Well…because I forgot to include it. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Number 67 is Run a Successful Business and my goal was to have this particular dream as part of that. A big part of the successful business vision is to give back part of the profits through random acts of aid.

Well, this blog is the business in question, however, it’s annual turnover is…well, let’s just say if we did a share float, I might be able to buy a pen.

But I’m impatient. I wanted to start the random acts of aid now. However, a couple of obstacles presented themselves; 1. I don’t know how to do a share float and $1.65 isn’t going to go far anyway, and 2. Given we’re in the middle of a global financial crisis, I’m fairly sure that most others don’t have a bunch of cash lying around either.

I’m not about to let a couple of pesky obstacles get in the way though, and so was born…

Random Acts of Kick Arse!

Before I explain what this is, I first must introduce a band of Kick Arse Crusaders who are generous enough and crazy enough to be involved and are some of most compassionate people I know. They are fellow like-minded bloggers I very much admire. I figured they’d be up to the task and willing to spread the kick arse.

And they were. So introducing…

Lance from The Jungle of Life
Brandi from Joy Rebel
Lori from Jane Be Nimble
Dani from Positively Present
Melissa from Operation NICE

Here’s how it’ll work; Instead of helping others out in the form of donations, we will be helping others out through acts of service. Each month there will be a theme with the only criteria being that it’ll involve giving back something positive in some way. At the start of the following month we will share with you what we’ve achieved, what lessons we learnt and what the results were.

This month’s theme is kindness. Our mission is to go in search of kick arse ways we can be kind.

By the way, if you’d like to join our Random Acts of Kick Arse crusade, feel free to play along in the comments and let us know what you get up to each month.

And watch this space! In a month’s time we’ll be posting our results.

PS. In the meantime, you really should check out my Daisy List!

Random Acts of Kick Arse – Passion RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE Dani from Positively Present...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Kindness RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE (thanks Melissa,...
Random Acts of Kick Arse – Beauty RAOKA logo by Melissa at Operation NICE It’s Random...