KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

Scented stationery probably isn't very grown up but I justify bringing scented pens to work because pens are much more grown up than scented colour and grey lead pencils. Introducing Smens 2.0 - the (slightly more) grown up version of the original Smencils.

For a little while these babies were only available in bulk (sets of 500 for fundraisers....ok, primary school fundraisers) and they finally became available in sets of 5 (one of each scent) a few weeks back. I got a couple of packs for my current work team because they're awesome writers who deserve nice stationery...ok, we're web editors and we don't really use pens but I needed an excuse to buy and smell the new range.

Smens 2.0 come in mocha, wild berry, cinnamon (my fave), creamsicle and passion fruit. I'm sorry to say the scents aren't as delicious as the pencils. They also won't age as well as smencils, which unleash a fresh layer of scent after every sharpening. I probably won't get another set of pens (unless they release Smens 3.0 with longer lasting scents).

If you're looking for an environmentally friendly scented black ink pen then Smens 2.0 is the way to go. They are made from 100% recycled plastic and newspaper - even the individual tubes they come packaged in are made from biodegradable plastic.

Smens say it best: "Helping the planet, one pen at a time."

I'm training my nieces to like me through positive association with food, but they're not always hungry so I sometimes use cute, fuzzy animals instead. That's the main reason we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary on Anzac Day this year in Fig Tree Pocket (Brisbane southside).

We saw the sheep dog show and fed lorikeets but the ultimate experience was feeding the kangaroos! Sure, koalas are cute and I'm glad they've got a sanctuary in Brisbane. But koalas are always sleepy little nuggets because it's so goddamn draining to digest eucalyptus leaves - they just lounge around looking dopey. People-friendly kangaroos, however, hop around eating food out of your hand!

Big Brother Pham went and got his hand pecked open by birds because he tried to feed them too. Sometimes I worry that half my nieces' genes come from his side of the Phamly. Here's hoping their mum comes from a self-preserving breed of human. That's her in the background of the photo by the way, with Baby Pham #3 in her belly!!

P.S. Don't judge Lone Pine by their website - the sanctuary is a much more beautiful place to visit than their verdana-loving white text on black background website: koala.net. Also, they have a photo of Jackie Chan holding a koala on their site. That earns 'em some good web karma points.