About Me

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Me, with John.

Haere Mai, Haere Mai, Haere Mai!

Welcome to Jill’s Scene; to my digital Turangawaewae – my place to stand. Here you will find my thoughts about the world, about life, about the things I love: writing, reading, laughing; and travel. There are occasional cameo  appearances from the people I love. After all, those other things are nothing without the chance to share them with those who are nearest and dearest to me.

I live in a small town, a long way from anywhere. One department store has an escalator; two, maybe three, government buildings have lifts. There are no skyscrapers – probably never will be. On mid-week afternoons, outside of the tourist season, you can bowl a cricket ball down the main street and not hit anyone. There are some disadvantages to this but I’m not dwelling on those. The best thing is that living here gives me a particular view of things. It comes from being isolated and a bit out of touch.

Simply, the world amazes me. Whether it’s my foolishness (check out Fame and Recognition in a Small Town for a typical example of that) or protests in Bangkok, or the stark beauty of the big skies and huge seas of my home, I write about those things that make me gasp and wonder and question.

It makes my day when readers tell me they’ve laughed or liked, agreed or disagreed with what I’ve got to say. That’s what it’s all about. Behind every visit to my blog, every like, and every follow there’s a real someone (spammers being the exception that proves the rule!) who has connected with or reacted to what I’ve got to say. I like that. Maybe all writers do.

This old Maori proverb sums it up best:

He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!

And that includes you! I hope you’ll stick around and tell me what you think.

 

74 replies »

  3. I was a bit confused about reference to an island and where you actually are as I checked out your South American posts first and thought you must be way down south somewhere there. I never seem to start at the beginning! Gotcha now and am looking forward to exploring some of your NZ road trip posts because I think I should finally head over that way soon to explore your spectacular scenery. Walking, cycling or somehow. Louise.

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  6. There’s an escalator in your town? Wow! You’ve got one up on me!

    I like this opening – laying out your priorities pretty clearly. Makes me want to wander around a bit more.

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      • Oh, I live in much smaller town. Not an effort to one-up you (or, would it be one-down?), but we have a convenience store with post office attached, a country general store with not much in it, and a restaurant. That’s it. Oh, we have a few stop signs.

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  13. Pingback: Following my Bliss « Read Write Live

  14. Hi. I hope you are wonderful today. The #Cherished Blogfest is about to begin. I am looking forward to reading about your most beloved object. Cheers!
    Peter.

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  16. Hi Jill, well I see Maria has beat me to it with the invite to 5 photos 5 stories, so I would like to add my request to hers. There’s no obligation Jill, have fun if you want to join in!

    The challenge is to just “post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or a short paragraph and each day nominate another blogger for the challenge”.

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  17. Hi Jill
    Excellent commentary about how you re an what you do. Good points of view. I also blog mostly with the sole intention of making somebody’s day just a tad bit better from something I wrote discussed , complained about or just simply shared. As someone whose life has been dry mundane I know my only real talent is an ability to craft writing that others mostly seem to enjoy without working too hard. It comes naturally to me. Thanks for the follow
    Cheers
    Rob and Diane

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  19. Pingback: Forget About The Oscars, Welcome To The Mildreds! | Hugh's Views & News

  20. Jill, reading your “About Me” left me wanting to know more! Forgive my geographical ignorance but do you live in New Zealand? One of my daughters studied abroad there during college; she absolutely loved the experience. I am really glad that Hugh posted a blog roll for his anniversary, I am meeting so many interesting people!

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  21. Pingback: 50 Shades Of Blogs Everyone Should Follow | Hugh's Views & News
  23. Pingback: Liebstering Along: Thanks, Autism Mom! And–Check Out These Five Blogs! | Mother o' Jim

    • Hello Allane, I’ve been travelling around Northern Laos for the last month or so and getting access to the internet hasn’t always been easy. I’m catching up with things now so a very big welcome to my blog!

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      • Hi Jill!! Great to hear from you!! Don’t worry about it, please! I totally understand… I have been to places with limited internet access!!
        I hope you are enjoying your trip 😀
        Thank you for stopping by my blog too!!
        Happy travels!

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  26. You live in a lovely place and you have a lovely blog. Sometimes, we have lucky days when we meet good, interesting people, in person or online. Today seems to be such a day for me.

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  29. Hello again, Jill! I am thrilled that you and I have bumped into one another out here – yours is exactly the sort of blog I like to read… funny, thoughtful, touching, with a good sprinkling of history and lush photography. Perfect. What is not to love? Thank you for following… I am so pleased to be able to kick back here in your space as well! xx Here’s to plenty more laughs and “shouting down the well” together… Mother Hen

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  30. I found your About page, thanks to Time thief. Some days I am slower than others. But on my fast day I go at speeds as fast as turtle. Any faster and I am dizzy. Nice About page.

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  31. Pingback: Blogging has a vocabulary of its own | one cool site

  33. So excited that you are following my blog, Oh, the Places We See. I’d love to see your places, and now I can through your blog. The world is wonderful, isn’t it?, yet I can’t see it all. Thanks for your perspectives. Best wishes for much continued success! http://ohtheplaceswesee.com

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  36. Hello! I have nominated your blog for the Liebster Award. I hope you’ll appreciate it. Here is the link to the nomination – https://mytefladvertures.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/ive-been-nominated-for-the-liebster-award/

    These are the rules:
    The Liebster Award is awarded to bloggers with under 200 followers to try to promote their blog a little and also bring together a community of bloggers. The rules of the competition are as follows:
    The nominated user must provide a link bank to the person who nominated them.
    Provide 11 facts about yourself.
    Answer 11 questions set by the person who nominated you.
    Choose 11 more people and ask them 11 questions.

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  37. I have nominated you for the Liebster Award! My link is

    http://bobandemily.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/liebster-award/

    These are the rules:
    The Liebster Award is awarded to bloggers with under 200 followers to try to promote their blog a little and also bring together a community of bloggers. The rules of the competition are as follows:
    The nominated user must provide a link bank to the person who nominated them.
    Provide 11 facts about yourself.
    Answer 11 questions set by the person who nominated you.
    Choose 11 more people and ask them 11 questions.

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    Reply

  38. Well done with your widget. I’m still working on my about page and haven’t got my head around widgets yet. Your about page is good and directs people to the rest of your blog the sort of thing I want to do, too. 🙂

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  40. Hi Jill, you’ve just found and followed my writing blog, so thanks for that. I am enjoying your travel photos. I love browsing the photographs on travel blogs, I am a true armchair tourist! SD

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  41. I know pommepal, she is addicted to travel, photography and gardening.
    That does not leave much time for blogging.
    We both would enjoy more time for blogging but there is only 24 hours in a day. Enjoy them.

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