Almost every day I’m contacted by a brand who wants me to mention them on my blog.  If you’ve been reading for a while you’ll know that I almost never say yes to these requests, but I do try to respond to every enquiry that comes my way.  After all, I still get a kick out of the fact that people find this place and want to be a part of it; the least I can do is say thanks for getting in touch.

Scarlet Words is not monetized, because sponsorship money is not what makes me want to write.  I don’t accept paid links or payment for review, and I don’t write about things I don’t care about.  All of this is spelled out pretty clearly on my Advertising page for two big reasons: 1) I want my readers to trust what I write here; and 2) I don’t want to waste brands’ time.

So when I was contacted by Ferrero Australia to write about their Mothers Day chocolate hamper I responded quickly.

Subject: Review on Ferrero Mother's Day Hamper
Date: Friday 20 April 2012, 11.43am
Sender: Toby Olsen <content-au@ferrero.com>

Hi Elizabeth,

Ferrero Rocher Australia has recently launched www.FerreroBoutique.com.au where you can buy chocolate exclusive gift hampers online

We are currently giving high quality Australian bloggers the opportunity to review one of our unique chocolate hampers. As Mother`s Day is quickly approaching, we would like to send you the new Limited Edition Ferrero Mother's Day Hamper, free of charge - all we would need from you is a short review on your fantastic blog.

If you are interested please get in touch and we will send over further details.

Best Regards,
Toby Olsen

Later in the day there was a follow-up email from a different person, indicating that they were having some technical problems.

Subject: Review on Ferrero Mother's Day Hamper
Date: Friday 20 April 2012, 7.36pm
Sender: David White <d.white@atomicsearch.com.au>

Hello Elizabeth,

I am David White from AtomicSearch. We are Sydney based online marketing agency associated with Ferrero Australia.

We sent you an email earlier from Content-AU@ferrero.com email address. Please refer to the email below sent by Toby Olsen.

We have recently noticed an email Content-AU@ferrero.com is having some configuration error and all email to this mailbox are bouncing back. We are trying to resolve this issue asap. In the meantime please can I request you to contact me if you are interested.

You can simply reply to my email and I will be able to assist you further.

Best Regards
David White

No problem, I thought.

To be honest, I kind of liked the thought of giving away something like this on my blog, since I haven’t done a giveaway in such a long time.  There was just one problem: when I heard the word “Ferrero” I immediately thought of the change.org campaign that had been launched around the same time, calling on Ferrero and Lindt to end practices that supported child labour, slavery, human trafficking and abuse.

I decided to give Ferrero an opportunity to answer my questions, rather than just say no.  Here’s what I wrote:

Subject: Re: Review on Ferrero Mother's Day Hamper
Date: Saturday 21 April 2012, 5.33pm

Dear Toby & David,

Thank you for contacting me yesterday regarding your Mothers Day promotion.  It's a pleasure to be contacted by brands who have come across my blog, and I enjoy sharing news with my readers about products that I genuinely enjoy.

I would appreciate an opportunity to ask you some questions before we discuss your offer.

Shortly before Easter I was contacted about an online petition from change.org regarding Ferrero and Lindt and their connections with modern day child slave labour.  Specifically the article claimed that the other major chocolate companies have reduced their support of the farms of West Africa that enslave and physically abuse children, and have also developed timelines to amend their supply chains to accomplish even more in coming years.  World Vision's detailed scorecard tells me that your company is not performing as ethically or proactively as your competitors in this regard.

I acknowledge that this issue is extremely complex, and although I'm somewhat familiar with the Harkin-Engel Protocol and ILO Convention 182 [Prohibition on the Worst forms of Child Labour] I don't pretend to understand the broad issues completely.  However, I am also conscious of the influence that a company as big of yours could be lending to this cause.

Issues such as child abuse, human trafficking, child labour and slavery are so much more important to me than the chocolate hamper you've asked me to review.  With that in mind I wondered if you would be interested in responding to my concerns, and allow me to publish your full (unedited) response on my blog.

Please know that I am interested in promoting a balanced and respectful discussion.  I would be happy to discuss this further if you have any questions of me.

Best wishes,
Elizabeth
www.scarletwords.com

I didn’t expect Ferrero to be happy about my email, but I did expect a reply.  After all, I had taken the time to explain my reaction to their proposal and offered them a forum in which to respond.  I wasn’t on a crusade (I don’t even own a pitchfork!) – I just wanted to raise awareness and get people talking about it.

Conversation is good, right?

I already knew that the company has published a timeline of commitments in response to these human rights concerns, and that there was plenty of positivity that Ferrero could bring to the discussion.  Given that they initiated this dialogue, why turn down an opportunity to tell people about the stuff they are doing right?

For whatever reason I didn’t get a reply.  I gave it one last shot.

Subject: Re: Review on Ferrero Mother's Day Hamper
Date: Thursday 10 May 2012, 5.05pm

Dear Toby & David,

I was disappointed to have not received a response to my email from last month.

I would truly value an opportunity to hear from you regarding Ferrero's reliance on farms in West Africa, and the conditions of the children who are employed and enslaved there.  My questions were not designed to ambush or harrass, but simply to open a conversation.  Most people would agree that issues of child enslavement, human trafficking and abuse deserve to be talked about openly.

I hope that you will consider responding to my questions and concerns.

Best wishes,

Elizabeth
www.scarletwords.com

It’s been a couple of weeks now, and still no reply.

Now, I’m not writing this post to convince you to boycott Ferrero.  In fact, there’s good news about this company: last month Ferrero made a public commitment in response to the change.org petition to “independent and credible third-party verification of the sourcing of all of its cocoa by 2020″ (full statement here: PDF).  It’s an unprecedented move that puts them at the front of the pack where their industry is concerned.

So, make up your own mind about Ferrero chocolate.

I wrote this post because I am tired of bloggers like me being used poorly by professional marketing agencies and big brands.

Blogging in Australia is young and still years behind the US market, but for the most part the Australian bloggers being targeted by marketers behave according to a high professional standard.  Those who review products and services have organised themselves and established standards of conduct.  They know their value to brands, and so do the companies who have approached them in the spirit of partnership.

It’s time for brands like Ferrero to grow up.

It goes without saying that online discussion works both ways.  That’s why you don’t ask a recovering alcoholic to review your brand of vodka (Eden handled that one with so much grace), or embark on social media campaigns without understanding how your hashtag can be hijacked with complaints.

And obviously, don’t contact a blogger to ask for their help and then become unresponsive when they won’t fall into line.  Not unless you’re really ready for them to write about their experience with your brand.

I’m taking a photo of myself every month as part of my 101 Things in 1001 Days challenge.

You guys are going to be so sick of seeing my face by the time this challenge ends.  But don’t worry, there’s only 28 more months of this to go!

… I know.  I’m so sorry.

My list of 101 things to do in 1001 days is never very far from my mind.

I explained my project to a workmate last week, and she told me that she loved the idea but could never sign up for that kind of thing herself.  It’s a conversation I’ve had a hundred times.  Mostly people tell me that they could never come up with 101 things that they wanted to do (really? That’s terrible!) or that they would wind up resenting the burden of another “To Do” list.

And what if they got halfway through, and then realised that they didn’t care about those goals anymore?

And I get it, I do.  It doesn’t make any sense to take on a commitment like this just for the sake of it, and it probably wouldn’t work out anyway.  The only way to succeed at this thing is to have some sort of an end goal in mind.

To do this well, you have to be able to speak confidently for the person that you will be in thirty-three months time.  You have to know yourself well – the good, the bad and the downright ugly – and be ready to grow.

My list is a really interesting snapshot of the person I am right now.  It reveals a lot about the qualities that I value, and which areas of myself and my life need work.  Even the fun, meaningless tasks on my list have some sort of basis in improving my life, my thoughts, my happiness or my relationships.

Perhaps that’s why I’ve never been worried about whether I’ll be able to finish my project.  When I think of my list, I’m not daunted by the number of days I have left to complete it.  There are no chores on my list, nothing to dread.

My list is invigorating because it was written for me, because I took the time to get it right.

Earlier today I sat down and wrote a new kind of list.  It’s a list of things that I can do right now, or the next time I have a spare afternoon.  Each of the things below will help me to cross an item off my list and get me close to my goal of 101 Things.

• Make an appointment to donate blood (#2)
• Get out the car manual, and find the instructions for changing a tyre (#6)
• Investigate short courses at university/tafe/community groups (#8)
• Pick a famous landmark to visit in the USA in September (#14)
• Pick a new town to visit this weekend (#15)
• Choose a 5km fun run, and register! (#23)
• Go to a yoga or cardio class (#24 and #25)
• Find a hiking trail nearby, and set a date to do it (#36)
• Find daisies, make a daisy chain (#39)
• Start a jigsaw puzzle (#40)
• Wake up early and watch the sun rise from the beach (#41)
• Buy tickets to the drive in cinema or the Astor, or see a movie by myself (#48, #49 and #50)
• Watch a Scorcese film, an old classic or a silent film (#51, #52 and #53)
• Find a YouTube video and learn to juggle (#58)
• Write a note to hide in a library book (#62)
• Start reading an old classic, or one of Tim’s graphic novels (#63 and #64)
• Pick a cookbook from the shelf, and choose a recipe to cook (#71)
• Take a sketchbook to a park and draw (#72)
• Take some photos with black & white film, or on my Instax mini (#77 and #78)
• Photograph myself (#100)
• Sew something by hand or machine (#82 and #83)
• Learn to crochet, or find a pattern for a soft toy (#84 and #85)
• Spend some time art journaling in my altered book (#87 and #97)
• Draw or paint a figure, face, hand, tree or still life, or something from my imagination (#89 – #94)
• Make a video of a drawing or painting (#98)
• Make a mix CD, or make some cover art (#99)

It’s hard to feel overwhelmed when you break things down this way.  Best of all, it looks more like a list of My Favourite Things to Do than a boring old To Do list!

You know what would be great?  If you can see something on my list that you can help me to accomplish, drop me a note.  Teach me to juggle, send me your book and movie suggestions or tell me where to find the best frozen custard in New England.  Whatever you can share that will get the creative juices flowing and keep me inspired.

This project can feel like a solitary journey sometimes, so I would really love to hear from you!

This is John Baldessari’s life, crammed into six minutes and narrated by Tom Waits.

Take an art break and watch this, it’s great.

That’s it, it’s split – it won’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find your fathers and your mothers
If you remember who they are

Over and over they call us their friends
Can’t we find something else to pretend?
Like nobody won and we’re safe at the end

In the darkness the film machine’s spinning so let’s leave it on
We’ll be out in the street before anyone knows that we’re gone

That’s it, it’s split, it can’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them a whole
And chip at the bricks and fill up your pockets
With the pieces of the wall that you stole

The hunt is on, everyone’s chasing
Everyone’s chasing a shot
A shot rings out, nobody wants it
Nobody wants it to stop

That’s it, it’s split, it won’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find your fathers and your mothers
If you remember who they are
If you remember, if you remember,
if you remember who they are

I am super obsessed with this song and video right now. I didn’t want to keep it to myself.

And since we’re discussing Regina, make sure to get your hands on her new album What we Saw from the Cheap Seats. My preorder arrived yesterday and I was nervous that it wouldn’t hold up to her previous albums.  I want to put it on the record that I was wrong, it’s amazing, and you need it.

Fallen Leaves, from my 101 black & white film photo challenge

Life has felt so out of control lately.

I realised today that for a while now this feeling has become the rule, rather than the exception.  I’m not actually any busier than usual, so why am I always falling into bed exhausted at the end of the day?  How come I hit the “snooze” button on my alarm 3 or 4 times each morning, and still accidentally go back to sleep?  And how come my memory is full of dumb trivia, but I can never remember to take my multivitamin?

When I stop to really think about it, the answer is actually pretty clear:  I’m just not taking very good care of myself.  I’m facing the world each day with brushed teeth and bright lipstick, but too little sleep.  I’m choosing my outfit from the laundry pile instead of a hanger, and filing my mail on the floor of the spare room.

I’m faking it.  I know I’ve said it before, but for me a messy house is the #1 sign that my brain is messy too.

Ivy, from my 101 black & white film photo challenge

Earlier this week something snapped and I spent 2 hours tackling the mess that had accumulated in my house.  I threw out anything that wasn’t nailed down, scrubbed the bathroom until it smelled like bleach, and did 4 loads of laundry – all before Tim got home from work.

I’m realising that the more clothes and stuff I have, the less in control I feel.  And when I lose that control I find myself existing instead of living – just doing the bare minimum, thinking ahead no more than 24 hours.

My brain has been trapped under a heavy fog, and I haven’t felt like my usual self in a while.

Border control, from my 101 black & white film photo challenge

Last night Tim went to a footy game with some of his friends and I had the house to myself.  All to myself!  Now, I love that boy to pieces but the prospect of some selfish Alone Time was like finding a suitcase full of $100 notes on the street.

The universe gave me everything I needed for a perfect night alone – pouring rain, howling wind, a warm puppy and a new Regina Spektor album.  I worked on a painting, played my neglected keyboard (why is my piano 2000km away?) and later on I switched to an old Nick Drake album and let the music wash over my thoughts.

I was happy when Tim texted to say he was on his way home, but those few hours were just so perfect.  There was no TV, no gunfire from the Playstation, nobody to consider but myself.  It gave me time to remember that it’s okay to put my music and art first sometimes, even if there’s still a messy spare room and more laundry to do.

(There was also no boy to make me cups of tea, so thank God Tim eventually came home!)

Why do we need to give ourselves permission to indulge in the things we love?  So much of my energy gets wasted on the professional face I have to present at work, and maintaining a lifestyle that traps me there.  My head is full of rocks, but my time is wasted on the sand.

The truth is, I’m just like that painting up there: everything looks pretty right, but so much of the detail is yet to be figured out.  Just like this painting I have to work on the broader elements, and trust that the features will emerge.

We are both works in progress.  But, at least we have some sort of a plan.

My brand new Nikon D800 arrived earlier this week.

Unfortunately, thanks to a retailer I will never use again, there’s a really unpleasant story that goes along with it.  Part of me wanted to put the entire story here and let Google preserve it for all of time, but what good is revenge at this point?  The damage has been done, and I have responded by buying my lenses, memory cards, Black Rapid and my parents’ HD video camera elsewhere.

If you’re buying a new camera in Australia I suggest you do the same.

I took the day off work yesterday so that I could go to an appointment, and while I ate my breakfast I heard the screeches of a flock of cockatoos as they flew over my house.  I’ve heard them a few times lately, but they tend to fly overhead and disappear before I have time to grab my camera.  This time they stayed, and at one point they even gathered on my front lawn as a group to nibble the grass.  There must have been 200 birds.

The photos are beautiful, but they don’t even begin to explain just how many birds there were yesterday.  Cars driving down my street were honking their horns to scare the birds off the road so that they could pass.  People came out of their houses and gathered on the footpath to watch the spectacle.  At one point about one hundred birds flew directly over me – just two metres above my head – and I had to dive for cover in case I was bombed!  The dog almost lost his mind at that point.

It was this wonderful, magical experience that lasted for about 10 minutes.  I felt so lucky to have been home that morning, to have had my lovely new camera in my hand, and to have been able to capture some of the magic without really knowing my way around the new gear yet.

It was almost as though the Universe was trying to help dispel some of the negativity I was holding on to.  A little bit of fairy dust in the form of a flock of birds, and a morning at home so that I could enjoy them.

This camera really does change everything for my photography.  I am such a lucky girl.

Feel Good Friday is a small collection of the inspiring stuff I’ve discovered around the web.  It’s all about good health, happiness and the stuff that makes us feel good!  Please leave me a comment if you have a great article or blog post to share in next week’s round-up.

Melbourne seems to have skipped Autumn and jumped straight to Winter, and a bunch of my colleagues have succumbed to colds & flus already.  So I was pretty amused to come across Blackmore’s useful article about the colour of your snot!  I wonder if I should put this next to the coffee machine in the staff room…

I love Pip’s Eleven uber-healthy noodle recipes!  We love Pip, we do.

A garlic ingredient is 100 times more powerful than two popular antibiotics at fighting one of the leading causes of food poisoning, say scientists.  The compound, diallyl sulphide, is able to pierce a protective “biofilm” employed by the food bug that makes it hard to destroy.  Plus, fewer vampires.

Eating well by keeping good ingredients in the house.  Without planning ahead it’s too easy to reach for something naughty!

Should you immunise your children?  It’s a contentious topic, and I thought this article explained both sides of the debate pretty well (though it does take a side).  For me it all comes down to risk assessment; I’m more concerned about the damage caused by preventable illnesses than the claims about vaccines.  What do you think?

Source

Do you run “naked”?  My iPhone is my soundtrack, but also a really good motivational tool.  I use it to track my pace and distance (and even the location of the nearest zombie horde!) and that data helps me know whether I’m on track to meet my goals.  However, I see the appeal of ditching the gear and simply running for running’s sake.

10 ways to lunge, by Fitnessista

I’ve discovered a few new health & fitness blogs lately, and been loving them!  Check out the inspirational Andie Mitchell from Can You Stay for Dinner and add Fitsugar to your RSS reader too.  So much great stuff there.

Something to make you smile: Jon Hamm offers advice to teenage girls about love, fashion and dating.  And he looks incredibly freaked out by the entire experience, which somehow makes it even more awesome!

Image source: beachboysbeauty.tumblr.com

It’s been a long week, and this weekend all about suiting ourselves.  We have a breakfast date with our  lovely soon-to-be-married friends (eek, I only have one week to find a dress!) and aside from that I’m just itching to draw and paint.  I’m super happy about the cold and rainy forecast too, so as an apology to my Summer-loving friends I offer you the picture above.

Have a happy, happy weekend.  I’m SO ready for this one!

Source: someecards.com

Please accept this picture in lieu of an actual blog post.  I am on strike until Wednesday.

The 12 Apostles is a collection of limestone stacks, just off the coast of Port Campbell National Park in Victoria.  The rock formations were created as a result of erosion, and they continue to erode at a rate of about 2cm/year at their base.  There were only ever nine stacks (despite their name) and one of them toppled over in 2005.

Tim and I visited a few weeks ago with my brother and his girlfriend.  The sunset was beautiful (although not nearly as good as our last visit!) and we spent a couple of hours there watching as the sun dipped below the horizon.  The changing light makes the rocks and cliff faces look different every few minutes, so it’s a pretty great place to bring your camera.

I would love to come back to photograph sunrise one day.  Something tells me that the direction of the rising sun would make this scene even more spectacular.

Can you see Venus in the sky up there?

It took about an hour and a half to get back to our place in Apollo Bay, and most of that was winding roads through the pitch dark national park.  When we arrived at home we were greeted by the smell of Tim’s Famous Chilli* simmering away in the slow cooker and a seriously excited little dog.  It was such a good way to warm up after our adventure to the Apostles.

We had to leave for Melbourne the next morning, but not before meeting the resident alpacas on the property!  More on those in my next post…

*Tim’s Famous Chilli has a block of dark chocolate in it.  It’s basically the best thing you’ve ever heard of.