Rena's birthday party was fun!

(We may have drunk a shitload...that is why there are only photos of a few of us and they are all relatively near the beggining of the night...and of course why they involve animal props.)

wish we were here.

together.

someday.

Sometimes I feel like this when I don't get time to slow down and process.
Miss you girls. Thank you for the birthday sentiments.

Chritmas was funular!

Hello girls

Happy New Year!!

The picture is of Rangitoto island at sunset. I thought it was too beautiful not to share.

Well I had a lovely xmas and new year down in Wellington with my family. I really enjoyed the time I spent relaxing and eating lots of good food!

I'm now back at work and totally ready to just throw it all in. But it's a new year and that means change is on the cards. Not sure what's going to happen. Fingers crossed it's something good.

In other news I may have met someone. It is very early days, we met on Sat night. His name is Matt and he's a forensic scientist for the Police. We went for a walk and got ice cream on Sun night - that's when the photo is from. I'm not sure about it yet and I've instituted a go slow policy as he is a friend's cousin, so we're going slow - not quite Christian American slow but slower than I would normally take these things. It's nice so far. So we'll see.

Feeling a lot disenchanted with my job as I spent all of today researching how to get around an agreement to keep a public park as a public park and let developers turn it into housing. I hate myself.

Thinking of you all. Love Liz

haaaaaaaaapppppppppppppppppppppppy new year.
ho ho ho.



So i had meant to do this earlier - AND I HAD TRIED - but i forgot my username and that made me delay my return until just now when i finally remembered it (it's not the same as my 'contributor' name that goes under each post). Anyway, on to bigger and better things.







The above picture is the abyss of 2006. Look into the abyss my young angels, look and see what will be. I look and I see happiness for you all. I see that Bethany has already started seeking out her happiness and rounded first base as a large part of North America entered said abyss.


p.s. - Please note that boys are not the only means of seeking out happiness. Sure they work and the good ones are fucking damn fantastic at providing a type of happiness and fulfillment that even the abyss never assumed possible for us mere humans, but life has many more amazing and complex aspects and avenues that are just beaming with potential pockets of happiness.

p.s.s. - LIZ - Earlier I saw that I missed you on msn. I'm sorry. I wish I would have actually been there.

p.s.s.s. - BETHANY - Thanks for the quick chat. Looking forward to the next one!

p.s.s.s.s. - MORNA - See you in furry Glasgow.

p.s.s.s.s.s. - I like adding extra s's instead of extra p's. Deal with it.

snow eh?! pfft! not impressed....

you should see our beautiful city here.....it's been a hell of a lot drier than summer, freezing but nothing is falling from that grey sky-glasgow weather is fucked! hopefully we get some snow in jan so i can go have snowball fights in the park (i gotta enjoy it in all seasons).

wish i was there too...on the bright side though gotta hang out with ashy loads recently and went to a party the other night in edinburgh where it was like 90% linlithgow people (and pretty much all the ones i actually liked) including a certain boy who i used to love and who is now pretty hot in the style of jim morrison (it was dark and i had been on the rum n cokes). he's in his last year at art college and already has a commision for 14 grand for when he graduates...looking good. also, his surname is de Feu...
id take it today if he asked!

I am at home and its snowing. It is snowing buckets. I think I will be ice skating in the center of Syracuse tonight with a bunch of drunk farmer boys and Ukranians but I am glad to be home. I wish you all were here and .....

I am moving into my new place on January 15th. It is my friend's old place -- she is moving to Los Angeles for seven months or so. Its over her grandmother's house so I don't have to worry about wayward eyes or beach invitations.

Liz: Where have you gone to?
Let's all post bits here for Christmas. I'll put strange family pictures here, I promise.

Love to my girls.

Do you mean this one?

Congrats on finishing your assignment. Yay for you!!

so, I was awake (and at uni) from wed 9am till thursday 1pm...thats 28hours.....but the good thing is that i handed in my sociology essay on time and then walked home in a zombie state to collapse on the couch for 8hours.

i like graffiti too liz....remember that one in the main building at uni?

im tired and i dont want to go to work.

b, i tried to call you but the microphone didnt work, so you couldnt hear me....ill try later...you at home for christmas? well, if not, i can have a wee chat to your mum :0)

shower would be good.

miss you guys.but in a good way.

Sometime I like graffiti .... I wish you girls were in a taxi ...

Hello my pretties,

I am lost .... but I am alive ... Alive .... Alive I tell you .... (cue thunder and lightening).

Maybe I am going through some kind of delayed quarter-life crisis ... maybe I'm just going crazy. I only have two weeks left of work and then I get to go home and hang with my family for three weeks. I can't wait. Please don't take that in a flippant, I'm really looking forward to it, throw away comment. It should be read as - my sanity is hanging by a thread and it will not take much to push me over the edge and force me to shave off my hair and join a buddist monastry. I would look terrible without hair so this is quite a major step for me .... that is how far reviewing leases and writing rates apportionment clauses has pushed me. I complained at my performance review that I wasn't getting good work, for my sin I have now been thrown in the deep end. This might be motivating and challenging if I cared one iota about this job. I don't.

On the bright side my psycho flatmate has moved out. She didn't even say goodbye. I'm not sad about that, except that it robbed me of the chance to recommend to her that she seek professional help. The first thing she said after coming back from her new flat was that her new flatmates were "pigs". I give it 2 months before either all the other flatmates move out or her boyfriend finally realises she's crazy and dumps her ass.

There is a hopeful turn in my quest to find something fulfilling to do with my life. I have a meeting with two people who work for the company the commercialies all of the intellectual property generated by Auckland University. I'm hoping that it goes well. I plan to spend the holidays polishing my CV and sending it out everywhere in the new year. EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

So I remain lost ... but with hope of direction on the horizon. I will let you all know when the storm passes and I can see land again.

Biological differences take on significance only within culturally defined value systems. It is suggested that men must seek a cultural means of creation through technology or symbols whereas women’s creativity is naturally fulfilled though the process of giving birth. Gender differences between male and female only become apparent as a result of differences between the sexes which are culturally constructed and reaffirmed by action.

This is part of my essay.....I think I'm finally getting there.....its 8pm on a fucking Friday night.....should maybe be done by the time this place shuts at 2am....hopefully.

p.s. I know this is time wasting but I've been reading since 4 so time for a wee break eh...

Rena and Morna:

Thanks for having a beer for me on Graduation day. Okay, so I teared up when I saw the picture and felt homesick for Glasgow and Rena, Liz, and Morna. So to cheer myself up, I put the picture on my blog too. So all the dirty Americans can see it.

Tee hee hee. Hee hee hee tee hee hee.

Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

liz is missing






this liz can be easily found through a google image search, but she's not the one we are searching for

rena hates me....she wont let me write what i want....










there are words for this occasion. but i cant








i cant


i cant



recallthe proper words .....



oh yeah



thats right



you got it baby



baby equals bethany






congratulations baby










youre a master bethany

I have never been in love.

Okay, so this is what my uncle john told me point blank in the car over thanksgiving. He thinks I have never been in love. Hmmm. Boy, well that hurt, even though I took it with a grain of salt and decided to mull it over further. I mean, you let people in and they still just say what they want sometimes, eh? Maybe he was right.....the jury is still out.

But it made me think about Morna's weekend. Love, what a stupid time! Sounds like your family was not being thankful. Too bad the Scotts don't celebrate this holiday officially. You could have reminded them all that they should have been thankful for you instead. Because that is what thanksgiving means. And the real benefits to returning to Paraguay also have a lot to do with your level of familiarity with the culture. You will really have an outsider's understanding of their moreys and stuff. I mean, adding another country under your belt is great and all, but you can travel while you are there! Also, I really applaud you for standing on your own two feet and remaining independent. At the end of the day, you won't have to die in Colombia -- your family could instead be proud that you follow your heart. Cheezy? Me? Never. But seriously, Mo.....

The other family fun I had was the disaster that is my mom. Cute, but really frustrating when you only get to see her for two days. The minute she got out of the car, she turned around to pet the dogs that were barking just over the fence next to where she parked. She instantly lost her key. Had she put the rental car key on a key chain? No, of course not. Who does such logical things? (Not the Olsons.)
Then we spent the next day and a half scraping large magnets around the yard, raking through leaves, making phone calls and finally going to a dealership to get a key re-cut.

Lastly, taking the bus during the holidays is a real shite idea. Some kid from Essex literally ran into me at the bus station and consequently asked me out. Not only was he 21, he had left the ROTC in England to join the bloody American Marines! Not my type? Well, yes. I suppose you could say that.

Rena, its time for us to catch up again. I will be hunting you down on MSN.

There is a gigantic plastic ball in the grocery store with a fake Santa and frosty the snowman. Fake snow funnels through the back and snows on said Santa and company. Think seven feet tall plastic blow-up snow globe. People buy these things from the grocery store, set them up in their front yards and consume ever more electricity. Happy fucking Christmas. I would say 'Happy fucking American Christmas', but Rena? They sell them in Canada too. James gave me a first-hand account!

This is soooooo where I'd rather be right now..............

I feel like updating you guys with some shit I've been up to. So here goes......
I was away this weekend in Linlithgow and up in Aberdeen with my parents to see my sister. The thing is, I shouldnt have fucking bothered. I ended up spending about 60% of the time argueing with all of them. First off there are the general complaints: 'you look ok just now...except for your face, are those spots, you still look a bit fat' etc. That was a joy but something which I could overlook. Then comes the biggie. They start slagging off Paraguay and saying how unadventurous it is to be going back and why would I want to do that..blah blah blah. Now, as I am clearly Paraguayan I got upset (and for that my darlings, read 'mad as fuck!'). I mean, it is clearly my decision where I go and my reasons for doing so. They are complaining about how much money it will cost to come visit me (although at the same time going on about how they have never been to South America and it'll be great to have an excuse to go and have someone to show them around). I mean, to be fucking honest, they dont have to visit me...I'll be back! It was sooooo annoying, what the fuck?! Not adventurous enough? I'm not a fucking pioneer! Do they really want me to go to the bloody Columbian jungle and get attacked and killed so that they can say 'well at least she was doing something really new!'.

Then, oh yes, there is more. Then, we start talking about Christmas day. Now, you'd think that would be a more happy topic. Mariel was meant to have been coming to Glasgow but now she is going to France which is a shame but ok. Also I'd told my mum that Lotta might come and one of my other friends who is here this Christmas without family. This was all fine. Now, Mariel isnt coming and neither is the other girl but I said to my mum that maybe Lotta and Mikko would come. So she is like 'em, no way. I mean we take in waifs and strays but if they have each other then they dont need to come'. Basically voiding the invitation. I mean, what the fuck? I know they wouldnt be alone but might they not want to come to see a Scottish Christmas or so it wouldnt be just two of them, or that I might want my friends to come and meet my family. (which is something I'm thinking perhaps I dont!) I told Lotta and thankfully she laughed but at the time I felt like telling my mum 'fine then, enjoy Christmas, Im going to cook Christmas dinner for them in my flat!' Where has the beauty of Scottish hospitality gone??!!!! Where I ask ye one and all??!!!

Anyway, however trivial and stupid all that sounds I was well pissed off. I mean, the only person it was worth going to see was my dog (and even with her, she had been up on the couch with me for like 2 hours when my mum tells me she thinks mij has fleas! haha, well, at least she cant talk was all I could think!)

Why is this time of year so full of shite? ...essays, way too much time with family and huge amounts of consumerism!!!!! So my beautifully fun weekend left me with a great desire to get to a sub tropical beach and lie under a palm tree for Christmas. Well, at least next year I will be doing it for real........heaven. Hot sand, coconuts, a few friends and some ocean surf to cool off in. Can't wait.

I was going just put publish but it all feels a bit negative....also had a fucking amazing thursday where started with my 11am tutorial and the tutor being drunk when she turned up for class. Cue her asking us our names about four times (despite having talked to us out of class about a hundred times) and trying very hard to focus and pronunce words with some vowels. She even asked us to say 'hurrah' for the fact she had turned up for class! Fucking hilarious. Then a drinking session with Lotta and Vesa (new finnish boy friend from portuguese class) which went from 1pm when our class was cancelled until like 8 when we went to a thanksgiving dinner where we were kinda drunk so ate so much all we could do was lie on the floor laughing about how full we felt. That was a good day and makes up for a 'fun' weekend.
Also met up with Kerri, Andrea and Kevin for a curry on Friday night, which very nearly killed me after the thanksgiving dinner but was cool to see them..........ye were all talked about in nostalgic 'the gate' days stylee! Was fun to order cos as we were a little shall we say 'affected' we decided it would be a good idea to order 4 nan bread for the three of us eating curry (kevin was running the next day and decided it would be a bad idea). This seemed entirely reasonable until I was in the middle of ordering the curry and got to the nan and realised it was a fucking HUGE amount and started giggling so hard I couldnt say the words and after a few mins had to hand over to kerri. I felt like I was asking for like 72 popadoms to go with our 3 curries.....hmm, suddenly not funny but at the time I was crying......

anyways, if you have read this, well done!!!! (especially if you are rena as you have probably heard all of this already) If not, whatever.........
back to the beach for me!
loves.m.x

I'm sorry but this made me kind of chuckle.
Kind of.


Anyway, look at me! I'm blogging!
I'm a blogging fiend!
A fiend, I say!
A fiend!







This is a heart of snow, found in a small river in Lapland, Finland.








unpopular pears
unnoticed elms

stolen from vision,
deflected from light.

cosmetic actions;
mere pennies in snow

i'll broaden our vision
all can welcome our sight.

THE EVE OF HALLOWS AND SCARY PIRATED UP US!!!

preperation

All about me.

I just wanted to write a (hopefully) brief summary of what is going on with me to catch you all up. I am still looking for a new job. I like my flat but I fear that one or both of my flatmates may turn out to be anal retentive passive aggressive neat freaks of the Joc-e variety.

Last Friday my grandmother died. I had not been down to see her since returning from Scotland. Cue feelings of guilt over my slackness. I had a cry at work, I hate crying in public. I then headed up north for my road trip as the funeral wasn't going to be until my Aunty J got back from the US. The roadtrip was awesome and just what I needed. On the Sunday one of the girls I was travelling with got the news her friend had committed suicide. We were all in very contemplative moods for the journey. Luckily that fitted with the scenery.

This week was hard as I was distracted at work and had a bunch of deadlines to meet. I had to keep getting people to check my work to safeguard myself.

On friday we had halloween themed drinks at work which were fun, I then went to going away drinks for a chick from work and then headed home to change into my vampire costume and headed out to my friend Nat's Halloween party. The party was awesome. I was already pretty jolly before I started so it was easy to get in the mood. The evening is all pretty fuzzy. I got absolutely wasted. It was fun last night. It was hell this morning.

I woke up wrapped in my cape asleep on my friend's couch. I knew it was going to be bad. I waited until she woke up and then went into her room and collected my bag and shoes. I then walked home. It is by now 11am and all the normal people are out enjoying the sunshine and their weekend latte. I stumbled past looking like death warmed up wearing a long black cape. Halfway home and on the busiest street on my way, I start to get the horrible feeling that tells you, you are just about to throw up. I spy a rubbish bin over the road. I don't make it and end up throwing up in the gutter. Not pretty. A concerned woman offered to go into her house and get me a glass of water. I decline and pull myself together to get home. She asks if I'm "really out of it" I tell her it is just a hangover - she looks terribly relieved. I make it home and after a bit more throwing up, some pain killers and some sleep, feel markedly better.

I come up to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea and my usual - toast with vegemite and cheese - to help make me feel human again. I find 2 crisp A4 sheets attached to the fridge. One of them is the cleaning roster. It is my week to clean the house and the bathroom. The other is a list of tasks that make up cleaning the house or the bathroom. The flatmate who wrote the list has been avoiding me all morning. We finally bump into one another. She comments on how much washing she has to do. She only visibly relaxes when she sees me mopping the floors. I feeling of impending doom comes over me.

I go to work and try to do my assigment for Monday. It doesn't get done. I guess I will be in early on Monday.

My Mum is in town tomorrow and I am looking forward to seeing her. It will be a nice chance to catch up before the full family gathering at the funeral. Apparently I have to say a prayer or something. I'm hoping that I won't get struck down for taking my heathen self into the church and trying to say a prayer. It's not considered good form for an omnipotent being to take you out at a funeral right? I may wear rubber soled shoes just in case.

I'm thinking that I might have to steer clear of the alcohol for a while as I clearly am not in a fit state to control my intake. I'm quite lucky that the guy that I had spent the night flirting with took a shine to my friend Isabelle and ended up scoring her. I ended up having a cry when Nat insisted on telling me how strong she thought I was and how sorry she was that she couldn't understand what I was going through. I told her that I never wanted her to understand what I was going through. Cue more tears and I love yous. I think this is the point where I gave up being social and just drank myself into oblivion. I had been the ideal party goer before this point and I now became the girl you pity because her makeup is all messed up and she is using the walls to navigate. Yep, back on the wagon I'd say.

So I think that is about it really.
Would love to hear from you all

This is the view on our way up to Cape Reinga. Cape Reinga is the northern most part of NZ.

This is Doubtless Bay where we stopped for lunch and a walk on the beach.

This is a picture of kauri trees. We spent some time visiting the Kauri forests and seeing trees that had trunks diameters of 10-15m and had been around for over 1000 years!!

This is Cape Reinga, the northern most part of NZ. The Maori legends say that when someone dies their soul must travel up here and leap of the land. It then waves from a small island off the shore and passes into the underworld. There is so much natural beauty surrounding you that as you sit up on the hill and look for the invisible signs that two great oceans are meeting out in the vast expanse of water there is a peace that this place possesses that you can't help but absorb and carry with you. I had forgotten how beautiful my country is and I was pleased to become reacquainted with it.

Hey! How did this die out so fast?What happened to all the good contact we were posting for ourselves?

I just wanted to tell you girls to check my blog. I can't call you to tell you because......well, I think you will understand if you read this story. Its a good one. In fact, I'm happy to report that I'm on hold with the phone company right now to figure out how to save the number that I was using at my landline. And The Grateful Dead is playing while I wait. I am happy that this is keeping me company. It's been a fucking long day. Okay, a fucking long five days.

hey guys

I met Andrea on the street near uni today which was pretty nice! She is living near Kelvinbridge underground in a flat she has bought with some random phd student dude who she says is really nice.-i mean, she bought the flat, the guy is renting a room from her and both he and the flat are really nice. She seems good and was asking after you.....well you especially Liz! She was also saying how she is sooo jelous of Manjit who keeps emailing her with amazing places she is visiting on the cruise ships.
so....yeah, she says a big 'HI!' to everyone.

whats up with you liz...its been a while...?????

Hey kids - look what I did!!!

i also found this which is actually fucking amazing. not as nice as your poem B (which was beautiful) but somewhat pleasing nonetheless...i've never thought about how to spell that before and im sure its fucked but ach well....
how are your respective flat situations liz and b? glasgow was soooo wet today and yesterday, you are lucky not to be here. i nearly got blown out of renas living room window the other day-which i admit would have been a tragedy.
im making a sweetie package up for b so liz would you like anything sent over....i expect im about to get a rant about the amazingness of kiwi confectionary..como siempre...but i still dont believe it. i dont. i refuse. yes, most of scotland is shit but the sweets are great. thats why we are all fat. ha. but happy. ha. actually.....are we happy? hmm. well. as you saw from earlier i am just now so......is this from overeating of sweets? could be... i did o.d. on harribo last night. eek. so i hope this is not 'temporary sweet consumption alegria'.
anyway, enough of this....the picture says it all.
loves.

i just wanted to say im feeling kinda happy today, almost contented. i thought it was cool and thought you might too. i got to spend a few hours with a nice boy from spanish class and enticed him with tales of paraguay...he actually seemed to enjoy them and regaled me with tales of his adventures in bolivia, all places i had been too. how nice. i liked it, a lot.
loves

I received this poem excerpt in an email from a friend today. Please, please find a book of Billy Collins. He writes such beautiful things. (P.S. I am looking at a flat near the water...)

Then again, the first dream could have come
to a woman, though she would behave,
I suppose, much the same way,
moving off by herself to be alone near water,

except that the curve of her young shoulders
and the tilt of her downcast head
would make her appear to be terribly alone,
and if you were to notice this,

you might have gone down as the first person
to ever fall in love with the sadness of another.

Panic!


I am not going to find anywhere to live. I will live in a box in Stamford, Connecticut. The cheapest place for my live alone plan that I've found is $1000/month inclusive of all utilities. This is in a good location, but anything else is more expensive, or I could sell my soul and live with a Pro-Bush girl from Ohio. No more crazy roommates is the name of the game! What do you think? Should I go for it and just eat two meals a day? Yeah?

Comments, opinions, dissentions. All are welcome.


The leaves are turning, the autumn bisques and pumpkin pie ice cream are coming out. The apple picking, hot Indian summer afternoons and the last days of sailing are here. Wish you all could be here to see it.

Guess who came to stay?!?! We had a great time even though it doesn't look like it here. Manjit was particularly happy after buying herself a significant amount of chocolate for the flight to the US. We had a lot of fun just hanging out and I took a day off work which was fabulous! There is definitely something to be said for not going to work. I am currently trying to hatch a cunning plan to avoid ever having to work again. Yeeeeaaaaas ... it is a plan so cunning that you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel ....

Hi

I’m sorry the pressure is just too great. I can’t live up to the witty banter or great intellectual heights of those who contribute to this blog. And since I’m a goldfish I can’t remember anything of interest for more than three seconds so by the time I get around to trying to write something .......... do you know what was I doing?

Morna (Portuguese for mild) is a genre of Cape Verdean music, derived from Portuguese fado, but also related with Brazilian modinha. Lyrics are usually in Portuguese Creole, and instrumentation include cavaquinho, clarinet, accordion, violin and guitar. Though often compared to the blues, there is no historical connection between the genres, though there are coincidental similarities.
The best know morna singer is Cesária Évora from São Vicente Island, who sings in the Portuguese Creole of São Vicente. Her "Sodade" was her first hit, the first hit for a non-French song in France and the beginning of worldwide fame for morna. The term saudade is complex and infamously difficult to translate, related to homesickness, nostalgia, sadness and regret; the presence of sodade is considered vital for singers of both morna and fado.
In the latter part of the 20th century, morna was fused with genres like cumba, zouk, samba and rock and roll, resulting in styles like coladeira.
Cesária Évora, born in 1941 in the port town of Mindelo on the Cape Verde island of São Vicente is a notable folk singer. She is known as the 'barefoot diva' because of her propensity to appear on stage in her bare feet in support of the homeless and poor women and children of her country.
Long known as the queen of the morna, a soulful genre (descendant of the Portuguese fado) sung in Creole-Portuguese, she mixes her sentimental folk tunes filled with longing and sadness with the acoustic sounds of guitar, cavaquinho, violin, accordion, and clarinet.

Paroles: Bia Lulucha

Menina Bia Lulucha
Corda bô t'olha
Bô cretcheu ta bai
Ta bai, ta bai, ta bai Fogo e Brava
M'ta passa pa Mindelo
M'ta fica pa tchora

Ó menina bô é nha consolança
Bô é nha perdição
Bo é nha cosinha fofa

Petite Bia Lulucha
Réveille-toi, regarde
Ton bien aimé s'en va
Je pars pour Fogo et Brava,
En passant par Mindelo
Tout en pleurant

Oh jeune fille tu es ma consolation
Tu es ma perdition
Tu es ma petite chose mignonne

can you hear the sweet songs in the style of morna. lullaby...lullaby...

yes. i did. and it was amazing.

pump up the jam, pump it up

She's right. It is amazing.
I've always wanted to be bathed in blue light, or maybe true light. Hmm.

Mellowist party ever on sat (another new word from mo) but in true Paraguayan latin spirit pinata smashing was a rule. Sorry you didnt get a swing Rena....next time..next time. I make ye a fox..a fox I tell ye ....yeeeaaasss.

We saw a great film last week. Yes. You should both try see it.
Yes.
There was much to learn and
Yet we yearned
For more. Strived.
To hear the words.
It didn't feel contrived.
It soared. A voice
From high.
An audience absorbed.
Yes.

The movie dialogue is in poetry. Nice. Yes. Hmm.

(btw. I love this blog. and you guys. and maybe the fact that something beautiful could start out about me and become something for us all. like my paraguayan baby which i also share with you every day. every day guys. uh huh.)

That picture is amazing.

Yes, that's right. I know what that picture is from. Sometimes, Rena, I don't find this blog asthetically pleasing. I feel better knowing you know that. So cast me in blue light, looking to the heavens, and everything will be okay. Wait! Wait! I've been xanga-fied!!!!!!!!!!! Help! I'm melting in a pool of ink running off my artsy-just off the presses pictures! But I do see cool things, I swear!

Okay, I'm done.


GOOD NEWS: Bethany has just been offered a one -year contract (preferrably for the period before Geneva) as the Director of Operations (director) of an upstart non-profit. More details to follow. I move to Connecticut or Nyack area in two weeks. I am very excited to have this opportunity!

Love.

I leave yee all with this. Life is tender. Life is good. But without Morna in it, life has no Paraguyan accents and no grace and integrity. Life is just plain.

Happy Birthday, Morna.

This is the best picture I have ever seen of Morna. It contains her energy, her enthusiasm, her lust for life, her dedication, her continual support of her friends, her apparent disgust for the sitcom 'Seinfeld', her Paraguayan-ess, the one or possibly two children she left behind, and her love of borrowing other people's clothing.

Simply amazing that she has all of that stored within. I am just....just....stunned.

Wow.

People like Morna are few in this world of wide-eyed war mongerers and tree huggers. I know she would never agree, but the fact is that she couldn't maintain the energy required to suceed in all of her lofty goals if she didn't have human pillows to comfort her when the strain just got to be too much. Grace. Integrity. Integrity. Grace.
Sleep now, Morna, sleep.
My pet. Your pet. Our pet. Who's pet?

Since Morna is clearly Paraguyan through and through, you can imagine her shock when realizing that Scotland had chosen her as their ambassador. They presented her with this fine hoodie in a lavish ceremony. The lavishness was so lavish. And the Scottish were so Scottish. So Morna did her best to put on a Scottish accent...unfortunately it sounded more Irish than anything.

Just one example of Morna's hard work and generosity is seen here when she gave up four or five days of her life to spend helping these three youngsters find their path in life. You can tell from the dazed...er, ah...hopeful and enlightened faces that she has succeeded yet again.
It
was
AMAZING.
Yes.
Indeed.
Yes.

Even those individuals who retain as full a schedule as Morna does have to take a break sometimes. Here is an example of Morna 'skiving'...a rare opportunity for such a photo!! Her father is astounded that she is not taking on yet another task in her long to-do list. Her puppy is also very happy that Morna has found time for the little people in her life.

Here is our gal with her wonderful Mom...who as it happens is also a mother of mine. Funny that. As you can see from the picture, Morna had just told her mother one of her precious jokes - and they laughed. Oh! They laughed! Morna has so many, many of those precious jokes. The fluid contained within the glass Morna has in her hand aids her ability to not only generate such precious jokes but also tell them with such enthusiasm and vigor. Oh I can only dream that she will come up with more for her party this Saturday.

Here is a picture of Morna when she was a nineteen year old. Quite aggressive, don't you think? Hopefully such childish behavior is far behind her now...for she has important duties to fulfill as a graceful and integri-ful individual.

When I gaze at this photo I still feel a tinge of pain since I was the photographer and she was clearly not amused. I thought I always made her amused.

Well I just had the opportunity to celebrate Morna turning 21. It was AMAZING. She declared that her new theme song for the year would be Avril Lavinge's 'Why?' and already began to look forward to the following year, when she turned 21. Ya, sounds odd...but it's true. 21 - both years. Some might say she's actually 20 now - and ya she doesn't really look 21...I mean look at that picture! The sun is shining through - clearly she is just as young as a new spring pup! A pup!

Here are some poor souls who got trapped in Morna's web of entanglement. Morna is so well educated and travelled that she is constantly desiring greater entertainment - hence her passion for convincing non-drinkers to take a drink, or two, or three....and then dance their troubles away. The dark-haired girl on the left of the picture was lost in the rhythm of Morna's grace and integrity while the other three participants surrounded Morna, embracing her as if they never would let go of her again. What a lovely sight. Just...lovely.

Here are just a few of Morna's suitors. She invited them in for 'tea' but they did not display a high enough calibre of human intellect nor a fat enough wallet and thus Morna tossed them aside. As a matter of fact, don't tell her I told you this, but - Morna is so compassionate and so full of grace and integrity that she could not put these poor boys out onto the streets of Scotland. Oh no! She bullied an old man out of his run-down flat (and actually beat him with his own cane) and let these fellas stay the night before returning to Canada. While each had approached Morna individually (over the course of a few hours), each young man had stripped off his shirt in a horribly sad and vain attempt to woo her. She set each shirt on fire in an attempt to communicate to each young man that his heart might feel as though it is surrounded by flames but in fact it is too small and hollow to last long under heat so strong - and thus the underlying reason for her rejections became clear. She sent them to the old man's flat and yet still neighbours could see their rejoicing from across the narrow street (some took pictures like this one). Why did they rejoice? They rejoiced because never before had they been in the presence of a woman with such grace and integrity. They knew their small, feeble, shallow hearts were alight with flames but they also understood by Morna's callous display of pyromania that they would never be as happy as they were that day - sitting in the presence of such grace and integrity.

Morna has been adored by many suitors over the years. However, an equal number of individuals have also strived to be just her friend. Just to be in her company. Just to get close enough to feel the grace and integrity that Morna exudes from every pore of her body. Grace. Integrity. Integrity. Grace.


Oh and this queen of green pastures on the left also watched as Morna's blossom bloomed...like a fig. Or no, like a flower...in...in an enchanted forest!

I just had to share this extremely insightful insight:

Las columnas de milicianos responden a la llamada de las organizaciones populares, que crean sus propias oficinas de enganche y engrosan sus filas con sus partidarios para detener el golpe de estado del 18 de julio de 1936. La República se mantiene en las principales capitales por la respuesta de estas unidades milicianas, que actúan de forma autónoma, manteniendo los frentes de guerra y haciendo frente al ejército regular y disciplinado de Franco.

En este contexto, el de los primeros meses de la guerra, con la disolución del Estado y la reacción de las organizaciones populares, se inicia un período revolucionario único en la historia, y que se caracteriza por los matices constructivos que se pusieron en marcha. Una parte de la UGT, la izquierda socialista, y sobre todo la CNT, se lanzan a crear nuevos organismos de administración directa, y modos económicos que suponen ensayos revolucionarios con respecto a todo lo anterior. La CNT había tenido reciéntemente un congreso (mayo 1936), en el que había expuesto las teorías económicas que ahora lleva a la práctica.

These two courageous individuals looked on (well...one seems to have fallen into a happy slumber) as Morna became the woman she is today. They have been with her through thick and thin, through puberty and angst, through climate change and war mongering, through butter on toast....it's been an adventure for all of them. These two stood in that position for exactly 5 and a half days, that day. The sun rose and sank, rose and sank, while the rain poured and poured. But their thoughts never lingered long on bare essentials such as food, liquor, or toilets for they were commited to watching Morna - watching her grow and succeed.
It
was
AMAZING.

Here is Morna at the height of her career - she is a full-fledged Paraguyan and in this carefully crafted photo she is translating a very high profile and important conversation from the Paraguayan Minister of Finance to the juicy lifeguard on the beach of Mull.

Just for your information....

1776 Adam Smith publica su obra "Investigaciones sobre la naturaleza y las causas de la riqueza de las naciones", que es considerada, junto con las aportaciones de David Ricardo, la base teórica del capitalismo en sus comienzos. Todo ello da lugar al denomiminado Liberalismo económico.

Please use caution when using this information in everyday conversations.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Very.

So what I was thinking was to post a bunch of the pictures that we have accumulated (and you KNOW how many there are - yee know TOOOOOOOO much) and make it into some sort of storyboard. Whatchya think? This might be kinda messed already tho since you might have to look at it from the most recent post to the oldest - and that'd be kinda crappy. But crappy is as crappy does - just like them 'ol chocolates - you never know what you're gonna get. Hopefully I can keep that as the motto for this blog. I can dream, can't I?

Oh...right...you aren't actually here to respond, this is not a real live conversation.

Morna, Morna, Morna...you are finally twenty years old. Finally, I say, finally. I've been waiting for - jeez, how many years has it been now? ah right - TWENTY years for this moment to come. I'm so glad it is finally here. To celebrate this wonderful time in your life I'd like to dedicate this blog to you - cuz you know I ain't be doin' no bloggin' for my own life!! Yee-haw!