...and so it ends and begins again

another year has come and gone. Hard to believe how time is flying. As I approach the year that puts me as close to 40 as I am to 30, it will be a year of huge change once again...hopefully. I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who drops by here a very happy and successful 2008. I got wasted on New Years Eve and had some fun times but I shall not delve into it here for I have no time. This rare photograph of me was taken as part of the Shoot Yourself project devised by the superb photographer Martin Gommel, aka Kwerfeldein , and Brian Auer of Epic Edits. Oh, and it was taken by a good friend of mine Seiko Kageyama...she warned me to give her the credit for it...

I had the pleasure of spending most of New Years Day with Seiko in Kyoto. While we braved the cold and the flurries of snow in a park in the city, the rest of the afternoon was spent with her family. It was a traditional Japanese new years day affair, the biggest celebratory day in the Japanese calendar. The eve of the 1st is spent visiting shrines/temples at midnight. The following day is spent eating and laughing judging from Seiko's house. It was wonderful really. It gave me a sense of family and home, something which I have not experienced in quite a while. While her Mum paid me compliments (she thinks my mouth and jaw are like Clooney's) and her Dad said I was a "rare person" (make of that what you will), I ate my fill on home cooked food and drank sake and Japanese wine. On the way out the door, her Mum gave me an envelope which she said I should take as it was a tradition of her generation. I thanked her and left. When I opened it, I couldn't believe what was inside...5,000yen! I was gobsmacked and Seiko, as she always does, laughed at me and commented on how I really am a living, breathing Woody Allen movie...

The previous weekend was a long weekend and it was spent chilling out and catching up on the CBR. It also threw some pleasant and totally unexpected surprizes...life is like that and one must go with the flow and see where it takes one. Not sure where this will bring me but probably to the next bend and that is all.

Now I am about to head off to Kyushu with Neil and Sean for a few days of birding and to gaze upon active volcanoes. I am excited about the prospect of the next few days and what they could bring. I hope it will be as good as I anticipate it to be...


Carmo's Diet: This week I have mostly been eating pain killers.

Carmo's Birds: not a lot...but hopefully loads to come

Carmo's Birds for Byrdy: Marianna De Rossi