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A note: Green Dragon. Chinese Character: “Fa”. The true name of this tile is represented by the Chinese character “Fa” which means to commence. The “Fa” character is a stylized interpretation of a bow being drawn with an arrow about to be fired. The meaning of this tile is therefore – proceed, start or begin.
Source:Mah Jongg – Worldwide Web Site – Symbolismhttp://www.mahjongg.com/dragons.htm

Biography: I have reached the regrettable realization that I may have squandered my life. I did a quick count recently and figured that I have visited about 66 countries, and lived for more than 3 years in 3 of them. I should have settled on a profession that would have kept me in one place with no packing and unpacking. When I think of the time I have spent bundling my life into and out of boxes. Ah well, it’s all water under the bridge. But I am grateful for the experience. At the end of the day I will be able to say with a certain authority, “been there, done that”.

A note about Place Names throughout this Site:Where possible, I have included the Name of cities, rivers and places that were given by earlier settlers such as the Celts, Romans, Saxons and the Normans. This has been placed after its common English name.

A note about this site’s Header Image: The Header image for this site is of the Smith Avenue High Bridge. The bridge was built in 1889 and carries Minnesota State Highway 149 (which later becomes Dodd Road) across its span of 2770 feet, 160 feet above the mighty Mississippi River. The picture was taken from the river looking to the north-east and downtown Saint Paul. The bridge is about 1040 miles from New Orleans.

One of the reasons I like this view is that I come from a city which has a spectacular bridge. It’s the Clifton Suspension Bridge view which spans the Avon Gorge and the River Avon in Bristol, U.K. It’s about 1350 feet long and stands 245 feet above the river below. Sadly it has claimed the lives of more than 400 people who have committed suicide by jumping from the bridge. As a side note, not all attempts were successful. Two small girls thrown off the bridge by their deranged father survived the fall when they were fished from the river by the crew of a passing pilot boat. The bridge was opened in 1864. It was designed by the 24 year old architect, Isambard Kingdom brunel. It took 35 years to complete.

 I Don’t Think That I Am Very Creative:I have never considered myself to be a very creative person. And, over time I have started blogs in the hope that I could and eventually would become a good blogger. To that end I have given a lot of thought as to how I might achieve my goal. I reached a conclusion that blogging needs to be a few things. My major concern is to ensure that what I write has some relevance for my reader. I thought too that consistency in posting is also very important. Blogging it seems must almost become a habit. They say it takes three weeks to develop  or rid yourself of a habit.

Looking back on the blogs I have started and not pursued, I realized that I had not created a habit and often it came down to that I simply forgot to blog that day.

The first step therefore in my strategic plan to become a good blogger is to write something everyday. Hence you will notice that there is a daily posting about Chien Tung – or Chinese Fortune Sticks. While I realize this may not have a lot of relevance for my readers, it is helping me to create a habit.

My next step now is to find topics which prove to be interesting. The question now arises whether this should be narrowly focused appealing to people with a specific interest or should it be broad, almost haphazard appealing to some here and there?

I’ll leave this question to float about in the ether or cyber-space and return to it later after my subconscious mind has had a chance to work on it.