4 Million People, 40 Million Sheep

New Zealand has a population of 4 million humans and 40 million sheep. Driving through mile after mile (well, kilometer after kilometer) of jaw-droppingly beautiful scenery, you see more of the little wooly creatures than you can imagine.

And they don't always stay put on their hillsides.  Vehicles regularly have to stop for sheep crossing the road, or as they are known, "kiwi traffic jams."

Sheep herding has come a long way in the last generation.  Shepherds (yes, "shepherd" is still a job description in NZ) continue to patrol mountainsides on foot and horseback, but today they also use 4-wheel drives and helicopters to drive the sheep down to the paddocks to be sorted and sheared.  At Flockhill Station, teams of dogs round 'em up...

and the strong (and handsome) men working the sheep station take them in to the shearing shed for their makeovers.

"Before"

Shearing's complete--so much soft merino wool!

"After"

And only 3,999,999 to go.

Like this post? Stumble or tweet!








Next Stop on the Runaway Fund Train

The Runaway Fund got another (little) boost this week, when I went to the local CD Exchange with a grocery bag of old CDs and DVDs to sell.  I didn't have a lot of expectations, as my collection is pretty off-beat and kind of nerdy, but I handed them over to the clerk and (mentally) crossed my fingers. Two hours later I returned and picked up $20 and the half-bag of CDs they couldn't accept.  Not bad, given that I hadn't listened to any of those in years.


I took the rest of the CDs straight to the San Antonio Public Library, where a nice library-lady took them with a smile and gave me a tax receipt.  Got right back in the car, took the $20 to the Bank of America ATM and deposited it into the Runaway Fund.


Every little bit counts, right?  From what I hear, $20 buys a lot of pad thai in Bangkok!


Click on the Runaway Fund to check my progress.  And if you're enjoying my blog, please click the StumbleUpon button below.  Thanks!


Related Posts: The Runaway Fund
                        Whoo-Hoo! The Runaway Fund Gets a Boost








Hey, Are You a Psychopath?

You know that arrogant bully at your office? Those politicians and movie stars and sports legends who are loaded with talent and charisma, (think Spitzer, Schwarzenegger and Simpson) but somehow seem to sabotage their careers by taking wild, improbable risks?  They must be crazy, right?  Jon Ronson, in his book, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, suggests that they might really be crazy.  Or more precisely, that they might really be psychopaths.


In fact, it is estimated that 1 percent of the population are psychopaths.  That may be a small percentage, but it's a whole lot of people. If your arithmetic is sketchy, I'll help: 1 percent of 310 million Americans is 3.1 million.  Yes, that's right: more than 3 million psychopaths in America right now.  Now remember that there are more than 6 billion people around the world; get out your calculator and scare yourself silly.

Or better than that, read the book and take the actual test yourself. The book includes the accepted list of 20 traits associated with psychopathy.  Don't worry--you're probably ok.

Although I don't know about your family and friends...

Like this post? Stumble or tweet! 






Kindle Deal of the Day


I'm on my way to participate in a 5K for the Lymphoma Society.  Good thing it's only 84 degrees---at 7 a.m.!!   While I'm sweating, you check this out.  (Update: I finished and didn't melt.)

Today's Daily Deal is Michael Connelly's The Lincoln Lawyer.  This was a fun, fast read that might actually make you kinda like lawyers again.  Or not.  I really enjoyed it. And for today ONLY, it is only $2.99 for Kindle.

Click on box to get today's deal. 






Bargain of the Day

This is today's Daily Deal on Kindle.  For today only, it is only $1.49. (Rated 4.5 stars on Amazon).

This book is the companion to the recent well-received documentary, Food, Inc. I haven't read it yet, but I saw an author interview on The Colbert Report, and thought it sounded pretty interesting--at least $1.49 worth!








The Runaway Fund

I am running away.

I don't know where, or when, or even how, but I am definitely running away.

Every now and then you hear a story about someone who left the house "to get a pack of cigarettes," and was never heard from again. Just disappeared.  "Went missing." There was a time when I thought that was insane: how could anyone just walk away from their home, their family, their job, their life...?

And then I would have one of those days.  You know, one of those "just another day in paradise" days, when "going missing" seems like an entirely reasonable way of escaping your real life.  Fortunately, I haven't had one of those days in a long while, but I still remember.

Don't get me wrong: I still want to run, but not run away from something bad.  I want to run towards something wonderful.  So, in preparation, I have started a Runaway Fund.  Marched myself right down to Bank of America  (update: this was way before Occupy Wall Street) and opened a separate savings account.  

Went home, rummaged through my jewelry box for unmatched gold earrings, broken chains, mediocre bracelets and necklaces from mediocre relationships...you get the idea.  My next stop was Stone Oak Jewelers, where the pieces were sorted, weighed, assayed, and smelted into a lump.  (Luckily, only one of the mediocre boyfriends had given me a mediocre fake gold necklace).   With not a smidgen of regret, I said goodbye to the lump and hello to a check for $1,487.  Whoo-hoo.

Back to Bank of America, where I happily made my first deposit to the Runaway Fund! As I add to it, I will post a running total, so click "follow" and keep checking back to see how I'm doing.  In the meantime, I ask you...where shall I run??

Comments are open; send me your suggestions!


Related Posts: Whoo-Hoo! The Runaway Fund Gets a Boost
                      Next Stop on the Runaway Fund Train

Like this post? Stumble or Tweet it! (please)








Sometimes you just have to go for it

So, I had a day all on my own in Wellington, New Zealand (Windy Wellington)...I had the best time, just wandering around with no real plan.  If you go, be sure to leave lots of time to see the national museum, Te Papa, right on the harbor.  I have spent beaucoup time in museums, and was completely blown away by Te Papa.  What a diverse and interesting collection and the building itself is a work of art.  Very, very cool.

Te Papa  

After a couple of slack-jawed hours in the museum, I wandered up and down nearby Cuba Street, a fun, funky, multicultural, promenade blocked off to traffic.  What a great place, full of ethnic eateries, vintage clothing stores, galleries, book shops, open-air cafes...I was already concocting a plot to fly home, sell everything I owned and return to NZ as soon as possible.  

Cuba Street, Wellington








Teaser

Just a little preview of travel photos: More to come, promise!

Argentina, Botswana, China, Greece, Italy, New Zealand, Peru, New Zealand...

Roasted Chestnuts, Rome, Italy

Cold Day at the Great Wall of China

Children at the market at Nauta, Peru

Shanghai Harbor, China

Mirror Lake, New Zealand

Hauling water, Zambia

Musicians in Athens, Greece








My New Favorite Thing to Put in My Mouth

I've been eating great Italian food all my life, but my new very favorite thing is the burrata at Dough Pizzeria in San Antonio, Texas. If you're not familiar with it (yet), burrata is freshly pulled mozzarella cheese wrapped around even more luscious fresh ricotta and mascarpone, dressed with a variety of heirloom tomatoes, melted leeks, truffle oil, oak roasted mushrooms, or whatever other inspired goodies the chef creates, and served with fresh, hot flatbread right out of the Neapolitan pizza oven.  Unbelievable.

Of course, you cannot go wrong with their perfectly prepared Margherita pizza, either.  Yum.

Like this post? Stumble or tweet!








"Sure, I can teach myself HTML"

So, I thought: there are 10 million blogs on the web (ok, I made that up).... and I'm not the dumbest girl in the world, so I can teach myself HTML, right?  Well, I'm not giving up on that, but I will say that after many hours googling HTML hints, going to the public library and checking out (really!) HTML for Dummies, Publishing a Blog with Blogger, and Search Engine Optimization [also] for Dummies, my confidence has wilted a little.

It took way too much time to figure out the StumbleUpon badge. So, if you like this site, please, please click on StumbleUpon just to make the hair-pulling worth it.

On the plus side, it only took me three tries to learn how to successfully create a hyperlink, so I, like Pandora, am left with hope.

Oh, and I figured out how to post a photo (and change text color):

Just a preview of the photos in my upcoming New Zealand post








Brand New Blog

Ok, Folks:
It's August 10, 2011 and time to start something new.  Who knows what that something will be? Certainly not me.  Probably not you.  But with any luck, it will be cool.