Saturday, May 27, 2006

Welcome to my world...

Quite an appropriate title, really, seeing as it's also the title of a well-loved Kiwi song by country singer John Grenell.

So here we are. My first blog entry in my first blog. As my blog description says: this blog is about my passions, which are many and varied. I think I might use it a bit like an online diary, and as a space for my musings, as somewhere I can post stuff I think other people might be interested in, and as a place where I can go on about stuff that interests me. Whether or not it will actually interest anyone else remains to be seen... :)

I'm a very proud New Zealander and first came here from the UK as a traveller in October 1992. I completely fell in love with New Zealand, so after exploring the county for about 7 months I went back to the UK, packed up my stuff, said farewell to my friends and family - and came over here to live. It's been the best decision of my life, and one I have never regretted for a single second. Aotearoa (the Maori name for New Zealand) is the most beautiful country in the world (IMHO), and I feel privileged to live here.

I'm a web designer and developer - I've been doing it for over 9 years now - and it's my dream job. The perfect combination of creativity and logic, which provides a never-ending opportunity to push myself, stretch my mind, and learn new stuff on a daily basis. I've been a contractor for much of that 9 years, mainly designing and/or building websites for design companies, but on Monday I start a new job at my dream web design company - Shift. Woohoo!

There's lots of stuff I'm interested in, and which I imagine will be a rich source of material for my blog entries. Like the contents of my iPod, there's a rather eclectic mix in there:


  • Environmentalism and left wing/green politics - and a fascination with US politics especially - it's like watching a slow-motion trainwreck and not.being.able.to.look.away

  • Web design, CSS, accessibility, usability and other geekery - I just spent 3 days at Webstock and it was bloody wonderful - I'll do a blog about that soon I think

  • Gardening - I had forgotten how much I loved gardening until I bought my house (with garden) about 5 years ago and moved out of the innner city warehouse apartment scene

  • Cats - because I have two cats and they totally rule!

  • Rugby - because New Zealand produces the best rugby players in the world - and the game thrills me

  • Literature - I am currently working my way through the great literature of the 20th century, plus more recent novels discovered via by my book club

  • Music - because it makes me happy (I love my iPod!) and because I used to be one of the organisers of New Zealand's biggest dance party - The Gathering

  • My Teevy boyfriendTM Clay Aiken, whose voice inspires me to such a degree that I have flown not once but three times to the US to see him in multiple concerts. I just love him!


OK - well I think I might just post this entry now, and go figure out what else I can do with this great blogging tool. Welcome to my world!

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4 comments:

Miraz said...

Looking forward to those comments about Webstock ...

:-)

The ConCLAYve-Nan said...

Welcome to the world of blogging. Visit us at The ConCLAYve - we've got some great gardening posts by beauzzartz . . . and occasionally talk about Clay as well *g*.

Shaan said...

Ah, finally some meaningful blogger on net whose posts spell positivity and breath life! Of late I have got tired of seeing people using blogs as a mean of unleashing their wraths and frustrations on the world! Come on, the world is beautiful place to
live in! Does living in the kiwi land help to see the good things in life? You tell me. U r sure a lucky person to live in such a beautiful country. I haven't been there, but have seen pictures of the country's landscapes - they r breathtaking!

If u dnt mind, y did u leave UK? I mean, the country impressed u so much that u left all ur past 4 good and settled in here?Dont u miss UK any more?

I'm from India, and maintain a blog too (not as cool looking as urs though). I wish 2 maintain it partly as an online commentary of my life, and partly as an outlet for my views. Why dnt u hop over to it and see if the posts interst u? Mayb some day I shall lend some tips frm u regarding how to make it as good looking as urs, OK? Happy blogging!

webweaver said...

Hi Shaan!

Thanks for your kind comments. Your questions have given me an idea for a new post - I'll write it over the next few days and let you know when it's up. Thanks again!

OK - off to check out your blog...