Happy New Year (part two)

It's official - 2006 is going to the dogs!

Not because the year has been so rough, but because yesterday was the Chinese New Year. We have now left behind the disaster-laden Year of the Rooster, but feng shui forecasters predict the Year of the Dog will be even more volatile because there are similar systems in play as there were in another tumultuous year - 1946.

Either way, I'm grasping at any straw I can take for a new start to this year. 2006 on the western calendar has gotten off to a pretty rough start for me - three deaths, a severe illness in the family, heartache, heartbreak, car trouble, and so much work to be done that I've had I believe one day off total since last year.

Light the fireworks, scare off the evil spirits cause I need a do-over! That said, this still isn't MY year - I'm a Rabbit:

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and
ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people
are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip
but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They
are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract.
They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the
right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise.
They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and
Dog.

With a Rebel Yell....

While I'm on the subject of timing, here's another interesting confluence of email.

The latest post on a friend's blog was called Accent Envy and talked about the awesome accents people have. Last night in my email I received one of those online tests called Yankee or Rebel. Basically, the point is to determine where your speech patterns originate. I took the test, and it seems to toss out any answer where you don't show a strong regional preference, and only judges you based on those where you DO. So get your shaker of salt on standby and click through the 20 questions.

My results:

68% Dixie - Just under the Mason-Dixon Line.

Anyone else?

Edited to add: This is intriguing - it will use the entire post when I don't link to the test, but when I do, it stops with the link. How peculiar. Let's see if this works.

Serendipitous Supper

So I sit here having just finished a late dinner, and it occurs to me that it was quite possibly the healthiest dinner I've had in a while, but it was far from planned that way.

I was in the mood to cook, so I pulled some ground turkey out of the freezer and slapped it in the microwave on defrost. Hmmm....now what...I know...TACOS! That's easy enough, and quick. While the meat is browning, I got out the seasoning packet - which was reduced sodium - the cheese - lo-fat cheddar - and the lettuce. Oh, wait....I'm out of lettuce, but I have this tasty bag of organic greens that are bitesized and will fit nicely on my flour tortillas that I bought to make wrap sandwiches.

And it all tasted pretty good!

How do you say "martini" in Estonian?

When someone says "Party Capital of the World" where does your mind take you? New York City? Paris? Monaco?

Try again. The New York Times says the 2005 Party Capital of the world is Tallinn, Estonia.

The former Soviet republic on the edge of the Black Sea joined the EU in 2004, and has profited from the association. Cruises, bachelor parties, and tour groups party their vacation away, taking advantage of, as the article says, lower aclohol prices and pubs where waitresses offer up handcuffs.

Hmmm....I've never been to a Former Soviet republic...what did I do with that passport....