~ it's been a while

I can't believe how fast time has flown! It's amazing how the months have sneaked past you and it's now April 2009. Gosh ...

Alot of things have happened since my last post. I'm now the proud owner of some bricks and mortar, had a fantastic (!!!) holiday in Malaysia/Singapore/Malacca/Hanoi, and my mom is now visiting me in my little sleepy country town ... something I never thought would be even a remote possibility! She'll be here for 2 weeks, and being a very city gal, I'm not sure she'll take to the cowboy-country with wild crocs and barra fishing being the theme of the day :) Oh well .. one baby step at a time right?

it's good to be back.

~ Top nine ridiculous name places by Steve McKenna (taken from NineMSN website)

Australia may boast some of the funniest sounding place names in the world, but it doesn't have a monopoly. Scattered across the globe are towns and villages with names so unfortunate that it's hard not to feel sorry for the locals. But if you're looking for an amusing spot to add to your travel itinerary, these places are ideal for a visit, especially if you'd like your smiling mug captured on camera next to a silly sign.


Muff — County Donegal, Ireland Undeterred by a name that conjures up all sorts of hairy images, tonnes of people have been crossing the border from Northern Ireland in recent years to relocate to this once-sleepy village. Despite the population explosion, Muff hasn't lost its traditional soul. Each year, during the first week in August, residents celebrate the Muff Festival, which includes all kinds of parades, parties, copious beer consumption and a raft of bizarre competitions, like JCB heavy vehicle driving, pig racing and lorry pulling events.

Twatt — Orkney Islands, Scotland While unfounded rumours abound that this is Muff's twin town, the inhabitants of Twatt have become rather used to people laughing at them. This far-flung village off the north coast of Scotland featured at number four on the list of most vulgar sounding names in the book Rude Britain. Perhaps surprisingly, Bell End, Minge Lane and Cocks were ruled even cruder than Twatt, which also has a namesake on the Shetland Islands.

Whiskey Dick Mountain — Washington State, USMountaineering aficionados may dream of reaching the peaks of Everest and K2, but the humorous hiker heads to Whiskey Dick Mountain. A two-hour drive from Seattle, a 15km trail leads you through rugged desert area, blessed with rocky outcrops, hidden canyons and a blaze of flora and wildlife, until the 1200m-high summit appears before your eyes. People have been known to reward themselves at the top with a swig of Jack Daniel's whisky from their hip-flask.

Titty Hill — Sussex, EnglandAlthough it's just 40km from Portsmouth on England's south coast, Titty Hill feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by a patchwork of fields, the tiny hamlet consists of a couple of houses and a farm called, appropriately enough, Titty Hill farm. In a country that's well known for its wealth of silly place names, Titty Hill is within easy driving distance of Thong in Kent and Shitterton in Dorset, but a fair way from Wetwang in Yorkshire.

Gobblers Knob — Pennsylvania, US Immortalised in the 1993 film Groundhog Day, Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney is a place of pilgrimage for those wanting to hear if winter is finally over. German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the precursor to Groundhog Day, the hedgehog (or badger) will see its shadow and six more weeks of the cold season will follow. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania they continued this tradition, using groundhogs instead of hedgehogs to predict the weather.

Dildo — Newfoundland, CanadaDildo was founded in 1700 around fishing and whaling activities, with unsubstantiated rumours that its name came about because of the phallic-like shape of its harbour. Consistently named among the prettiest towns in Canada, it's recently become a magnet for tourists. Australians may already be familiar with Dildo as it was featured in the 'What the?' segment of Rove Live in 2006. The Dildo museum is popular for the replica of a 9.1m squid hauled from local waters in 1933.

Hell — Stordal, NorwayThis pleasant Norwegian village hardly lives up to its dastardly name, especially in winter when, with temperatures as low as minus 20°C, Hell literally does freeze over. An easy train ride from the major city of Trondheim on Norway's fjord-peppered west coast, Hell was put on the map in 1990 when Mona Grudt, a green-eyed redhead, was the country's Miss Universe representative. She billed herself as 'the beauty queen from Hell' — and lost.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch — Anglesey, Wales Although there's an uninhabited hill in New Zealand called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, this Welsh town has one of the longest officially recognised place names in the English-speaking world. Locals claim that when translated from Welsh it means 'St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool and the church of St Tysilio of the red cave'. Thankfully, it's also spelt Llanfairpwllgwyngyll and commonly known as Llanfair PG or Llanfairpwll.

Fucking — Tarsdorf, Austria Arguably the world's most shockingly-titled town, Fucking — 30km from Salzburg and apparently named after a sixth-century local called Focko — has been the centre of much controversy in recent years. After souvenir hunters kept stealing the signs, local authorities arranged a poll to ask the townspeople whether or not they should change their name. The stubborn lot gave a two-fingered salute, and a four-letter word response, to that little idea.


... heh ;) ...

~ Cookie Breath

Am loving Nathan McKee's "Cookie Breath" which was played at Project Runaway's finale for Leanne Marshall's collection.

Beautiful clothes and outstanding music .. what else can you ask for?

Go to ...

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6988826

to enjoy. I've been playing it endlessly today :)

~ Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2009!

Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the summer solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.

I also wish you a financially successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make Australia great (not to imply that Australia is necessarily greater than any other country), and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith, or sexual preference of the wishee.

By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms: This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.

Yours sincerely,

xoxo

~ Happy New Year 2009

Happy New Year 2009!






THE OX


2009, 1997, 1985, 1973, 1961, 1949



Low and steady marks the ox's character. Bona fide leaders, they are grounded, determined and highly dependable. They have the ability to motivate and inspire confidence in others as well. Those born under the sign are meticulous, systematic and real sticklers for details. They can be straight-laced and prefer routine, aiming to trash things out in a methodical manner till it bears fruit. Simplicity and straightforwardness govern their personality. However, the ox has a temper and it's wise to get out of its way when it rears its horns. It is also a sign that it's overly proud, refusing to seek assistance. The ox chooses to depend on its head to reason things and finds it hard to tolerate the weak. Chauvinistic and even tyrannical, the ox is often grumpy, bigoted and refuses to forgive or forget.



Famous people born in the Year Of The Ox:

Armand Assante, Charlie Drake, Clark Gable, Eddie Murphy, George Clooney, Gregory Nava, George Lopez, Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, Jim Carrey, John Corbett , Jorge Garcia, Kate Beckinsale, Keira Knightley, Meg Ryan, Meryl Streep, Moctesuma Esparza, Napolean, Nomar Garciaparra, Paul Newman, President Richard Nixon, Richard Gere, Robert Redford, Rock Hudson, Roselyn Sanchez, Shirley Bassey, Sigourney Weaver, Van Gogh, and Walt Disney.



The Chinese zodiac signs are determined by the lunar year in which you were born. The Chinese believe the animal ruling one's birth year has a profound influence on personality, and destiny.


The saying is: "This animal hides in your heart."

The date of the Chinese New Year is determined by the Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar. The same calendar is used in countries that have adopted the Confucian and Buddhism tradition and in many cultures influenced by the Chinese. Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon (some sources even include New Year's Eve) and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each lunation is about 29.53 days in duration. In the Gregorian calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, on a date between January 21 and February 21.

~ procrastination

You know how when you've got a deadline for an assignment, or there's a test that you have to study for, or there's something you have to do but you just keep putting it off? Yup .. that would be me. I'm a total slack-*rse. Seriously. I will be putting it off day after day after day .. and minutes will turn into hours, hours into days, days into months .. you get the point right?

There's always something else to do .. be it a tv show that I never normally watch, playing with my girls in the garden in 40 degree Celcius heat (which is insane in itself), or catching up on some zzzz's. One excuse after another. And you know what .. I do know. I know that time is ticking by, and the deadline is drawing nearer and nearer .. and still, I am unmotivated and lazy. Mmmm .. and look, here's the evidence in black and white!

Okay .. time to get off my *rse and get started because at this rate .. I'm never going to finish.

*groan*

~ what's that?

We had an anime night yesterday.

Yup .. you read that right .. anime night ;) I was trying to introduce anime to a couple of the girls I work with, and (on request) brought some anime and we watched it after a fab dinner of tacos and tortillas.

... It went .. alright. *grin* Let's just say that we'll probably be having more proper movie nights, rather than me bringing anime over, which I'm pretty alright with. Anime is a very individual and 'extreme' art-form/past-time .. either you love it, or you don't. It just happens that I do! ;)

Sayonara!