Monday Blogcrawl

Once a month I conduct a meditation evening, and I find the hours I spend preparing for it some of the most inspiring and, ultimately, productive of my month. It's the reading, the thinking, the checking relative blogs for ideas. Not to mention the reflection and - dare I say it? - prayer. All that to get ready for basically 60 minutes of silence. Preparation is a funny thing. Here are some links from the www to help inspire you this week:

• My talented and incredibly beautiful friend Jasmine Rae singing her moderately naughty song I Faked It on New Zealand TV
• Debra Kristi teaches us how to make a Halloween wreath with the kids
• The new Coca-Cola name campaign spooks me out, and Aaron Lee explains it all here
• I have been a big fan of androgyny since back in the day, and Adrej Pejic is Australia's current international androgyne superstar - some great pics on The Improper
• What's going to happen to libraries? I love libraries!
• BookBuzzr should be essential reading for all authors, and this is a great post on marketing your book on a budget
• Successful author stops writing and tells The Independent she's going to embrace her dream career as physics teacher. Which just goes to show there are all types in this world
• Ever get the feeling you're blogging into a void (Walter raises his hand)? Here are some tips for making sure your blog post gets read - from the wonderful Jeff Bullas
• How gay marriage is panning out in Portugal. Surprisingly, the world hasn't stopped turning
  
• Feature Shoot shows us some haute couture made from vegetable peelings - these are hot!
• Pierre Balmain is one of those wonderful retro fashion houses that is coming back into prominence, and Trend Crib shows us what's new from the house of Balmain
• Short travel articles are way harder to write than books, and editing them to make them tight, terrific and fascinating is ever-so difficult. Here are some tips from the experienced travel writer Claire Scobie
• The Paris Review mentions two self-help books! Except one of them is incredibly obscure and probably not a self-help book, and the other one they haven't read. Plus ca change
• Is it me, or are Shaolin monks everywhere? And on the Buddhist theme, have you seen the documentary Buddha's Lost Children about an extraordinary Thai monk? And in Vietnam there is a big Vinh Nghiem pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, but Buddhist Travelers has some lovely pics of a smaller and older one in the North. Meanwhile, Chinese interests want to turn Lumpini, the Buddha's birthplace in Nepal, into a much bigger tourist attraction
  
• Fancy Goods interviews the excellent Australian novelist Charlotte Wood about her new novel, Animal People
• Over in Brazil, they are leaving the Catholic church in droves