46… I’ve been thinking a lot about this number lately. It is the age I will be in June this year. I’ve had nearly 46 years on Earth and I’m still like a wide-eyed child about its workings, in some respects. I like this. I like that there is so much in the world that still amazes me. It encourages me to seek, to learn, to experience and grow. What I don’t like is the myriad ways we turn can against each other. We seem so far removed from the days when we lived...

I've mentioned a number of times in my ramblings about my wife and my garden and how much we love it and enjoy growing our own food.  I've been keeping a bit of a photographic diary this year of our progress.  I won't bore you all with endless pictures of the same garden as it was growing.  Instead, the following are the latest progress shots of the garden beds (we have three) in our rented back yard.  I've also included a few shots of some local fauna enjoying spring flowers...

My wife is away for a few days at her parent’s place. As she is the only child, and her folks are quite elderly, she likes to go there a couple of times a year and do all the big jobs they can’t manage. This is typical of her. I married an awesome lady. I’ve run into a few mates around and about and they’ve asked after her, naturally. When I’ve told them where she is, their reactions have me a little puzzled. Their comments have been along the lines of &lsquo...

After the thrill of visiting Kuranda (see here - http://masomusing.joeuser.com/article/327190/The_Far_North), we decided to have a day lounging by the pool, reading holiday books (my choice was an awesome story by Stephanie Meyer called 'Host' - I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes scifi thrillers) and exploring the township. Here is a shot of the pool area. It will give you a good idea of just how hard we had it while staying there.  Here is a shot of the outside of the reso...

Here are some photos of our recent holiday. We went to Far North Queensland (FNQ - yes, they really do write it like that).  This area is a tropical paradise.  It is also where I was born and spent the first part of my life.  I haven't been back to the area for about 30 years, so this was a sort of homecoming for me. We were staying at Port Douglas, which is basically a resort town about a half hour north of Cairns and the closest point to the Great Barrier Reef.  It is...

My wife and I went and saw the Incredible Hulk yesterday for my birthday.  But before I get to the movie... We spent a good part of our time in the city at our favourite bookshop (supposedly the largest in the Southern Hemisphere - I'm not sure if the claim is correct but it is a huge shop nonetheless).  It is a fantastic place to get lost in for a few hours, particularly if you are bibliophiles like we are.  The shop, called Kinokuniya, is in the centre of the city (for those ...

I thought I'd update anyone who is interested in the bits and pieces happening in my life at the moment.  This is not too exciting but as I've only really posted comments and fiction of late, I thought I'd write a bit about my life for a change. I've been wondering whether I'm going through some sort of midlife crisis.  I turn 45 at the end of June and I suppose if I due to have a midlife crisis, now is about the time.  Ha, to think I'm potentially about half way through this w...

My darling wife is such a beautiful, giving person but I'm not so sure I could do what she is about to do today.  You see, she put her name down for the 'World's Greatest Shave' charity, which means all her hair will be coming off today.  To see how much hair this is, click on the external link and check out her profile on the charity's site. She has been growing her hair since the early 90's.  She was single and had very short hair but couldn't figure out why boys wouldn't tal...

<a href=" http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/dynamaso/NewTat2.jpg " target="_blank"> <img src=" http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/dynamaso/th_NewTat2.jpg"></a > For those interested, here is a couple of shots of my latest tattoo.   I had it done on Saturday and have to say I'm very pleased with this one.   I had a different design in mind when I went in but talking to my tattooist, I discovered to have the design sized correctly would mean...

I just realised today my third anniversary as a JoeUser had passed recently (on the 27th of September, to be exact). This means my relationship with this site has lasted longer than my first marriage and, in a lot of ways, has been the sort of relationship I would have liked my first marriage to be i.e. open, honest and communicative. (Before any rush to my defence, these comments are as much directed towards a younger me as towards my first wife). In the time I've been here I've seen ma...

In a recent post, I told everyone of coming back to work to find my computer had been stolen. While I’ve been able to recover most of what I had on this PC, I lost all my personal email addresses. This list was very comprehensive and included friends, relatives, business and music industry contacts. I’ve no idea how I’m going to get some of these back again. It is a real hassle. So, I’m asking if you could all send me an email so I can get your addresses again. If you could send them ...

Well, the end is just about upon us. The end of the year, that is. I usually like to take this time to get over hangovers and the massive feasting that occurs. Oddly, though, I’ve not yet earned a decent hangover and the feasts have been more like small snacks late a night. But I still feel the convivial mood of the season, even if I don’t have a small man with a large hammer inside my head trying to bash his way out. I think the reason the feeling is different this year has more to do...

I've just set up a Gmail address and if anyone sends me their details, Toni and I would love to send some christmas cards to our JU friends. The address is dynamaso@gmail.com Looking forward to hearing from you.