Deirdré Straughan on Italy, India, the Internet, the world, and now Australia
In 1976, after a period of unemployment in Connecticut, my father accepted a job with Save the Children (US), as country head of their operations in Bangladesh. He and I and my stepmother Nancy moved to Dhaka (then spelled Dacca) around October, 1976. We didn’t take much with us. Our furniture, dishes, etc went into Continue reading Bangladesh Memories The post Bangladesh Memories appeared first…
The name “Deirdre” has never been terribly popular in the US – it s much more common in Ireland (logically Deirdre is a character out of Irish myth) and somewhat common in England. But there are always a few of us, and we tend to notice each other. Somewhere around my own generation, Deidra seems to Continue reading Sorry, Wrong Person The post Sorry, Wrong Person appeared first on Countries…
My grandparents owned a classic 1960s Volkswagen camper. I don’t know why they ever had it – they didn’t strike me as camping types. The VW camper was a classic hippie road trip vehicle, so it was fitting that when my father and I returned to the US in 1972, my grandfather gave it to Continue reading The Red Volkswagen Camper The post The Red Volkswagen Camper appeared first on Countries Beginning…
My path to Australian citizenship was very quick and smooth compared to many others’ – I fully recognize my privilege in that I could afford a good immigration attorney to help smooth it. But there was a significant hurdle early on that derailed the process for nearly a year while I was still in the Continue reading Fingerprints The post Fingerprints appeared first on Countries Beginning with I .
tl;dr A non-programmer built an app with Codex. More interesting than the process is the implication: we are entering an age of personal software, when any of us can use the real power of computers without needing to be an engineer. Background I’ve spent 40 years in tech (in roles including support, community, and product Continue reading My new retirement hobby: I just built my first app, in less…
You re a Good Man, Charlie Brown Did I actually see this during our ~1969 home leave? Maybe with my mother in San Francisco (what were we doing in San Francisco?) Indian Ink Art Malik and Felicity Kendal, London 1984 Little Shop of Horrors London 1984 On Your Toes London 1984 Cats Continue reading A Theater Lover s Diary The post A Theater Lover s Diary appeared first on Countries Beginning with I…
November 13th will always be a happy anniversary for me: I became an Australian citizen. My path to citizenship was easier than many, because I married into it. Brendan is Australian and we always knew we would eventually move here. We had originally planned to leave the US in late 2021, but the pandemic made Continue reading I m an Australian Citizen! The post I m an Australian Citizen! appeared…
During one of my winter vacations from Woodstock, when my dad and stepmother were living in Bangkok, my dad and I did a scuba diving course. Dad had started diving during our year in Hawaii (1966), and I’d been hearing his stories about it for as long as I could remember. Getting certified together sounded Continue reading Learning to Scuba Dive The post Learning to Scuba Dive appeared first on…
In my many moves around the world, I have brought with me a few items that remind me of specific times, places, people, and adventures in my life. This painting is one such. While we lived in Thailand, my parents acquired some interesting pieces of original and local art, which moved with us and formed Continue reading Memorabilia: The Little Man in the Boxes The post Memorabilia: The Little Man…
This build is based on the Australian Federation style of architecture dating back to the turn of the last century. Many Sydney neighborhoods feature rows of charming little cottages in the Federation style, though if you look at the aerial view in Google Maps you can see that most of the original small homes have Continue reading Lego MOC*: Australian Federation Cottage The post Lego MOC*:…