One Voice

Saying Happy New Year - Around The World!

Arabic Kul 'am wa antum bikhair
Basque Urte Berri on
Bengali Shuvo noboborsho
Chinese (Cantonese) Sun nien fai lok
Chinese (Mandarin) Xin nian yu kuai
Czech Stastny Novy Rok
Danish Godt NytÅr
Dutch Gelukkig nieuwjaar
Esperanto Bonan Novjaron
Finnish Onnellista uutta vuotta
French Bonne année
German Ein glückliches neues Jahr
Greek Eutychismenos o kainourgios chronos
Hawaiian Hauoli Makahiki hou
Hebrew Shana Tova
Hungarian Boldog uj evet
Indonesian (Bahasa) Selamat Tahun Baru
Italian Felice Anno Nuovo or Buon anno
Japanese Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu
Korean Sehe Bokmanee Bateuseyo
Laotian (Hmong) Nyob Zoo Xyoo Tshiab
Latin Felix sit annus novus
Nigerian (Hausa) Barka da sabuwar shekara
Norwegian Godt Nytt År
Philippines (Tagalog) Manigong Bagong Taon
Polish Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Romanian La Multi Ani si Un An Nou Fericit
Samoan Ia manuia le Tausaga Fou
Spanish Feliz año nuevo
Swahili Heri za Mwaka Mpya
Swedish Gott Nytt År
Vietnamese Chuc mung nam moi
Welsh Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Looking For gLove In All the Right Places?

Pittsburg, PA has one very cool ... er, warm ... blogsite. And NYC has a sister site. It might work well in Boston - someone needs to go to work on it!

Anonymouse

In Dennis O'Reilly's blog post of December 17, he states 5 ways to protect your privacy online:

#1: Paranoia pays. Don't trust anything or anyone.

#2: Don't use Internet Explorer.

#3: Use a temporary credit card number.

#4: Use an anonymous proxy server like Anonymouse.

#5: Don't use Google.

I wasn't aware there was any way I could surf the web anonymously, leaving no cookies behind. It's a great tip. As we do more and more online, and more and more sophisticated phishing and marketing ploys hit the Web, it's important that we learn some privacy protection.

Spellbound!

Want a way to while away* the time? Try Free Rice. It's fun and it's educational and it's ADDICTIVE! Besides it will improve your vocabulary and spelling.

"The rice is paid for by the advertisers whose names you see on the bottom of your vocabulary screen. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry)." Thanks to Kate Haviland for the link.

*And while we are at it, did you know there are forty synonyms for the expression 'while away the time"? Moby Thesaurus has words for "while away the time":
beguile the time, burn daylight, buy time, consume time, dabble,
diddle, doodle, drown care, footle, fribble, fritter away time,
have a ball, have fun, keep time, kill time, laugh it up,
live it up, look for time, loosen up, lose time, measure time,
occupy time, pass the time, pass time, piddle, potter, put in time,
putter, race against time, relax, spend time, summer, take time,
take up time, trifle, use time, waste time, weekend, winter,
work against time

Unique Gifts From Around the World

I have found the National Geographic sponsored site, Novica.com, to be a great source of gifts. Many of the gifts I've purchased come completely or uniquely wrapped - very special packaging touches and personal cards from the artist. The shipping from places like Thailand and Bali seems to be more reasonably priced than within this country and it is very fast and on time. Among other things I've purchased have been the three beaded silk shawls my daughters wore as maids of honor in my wedding this past year.

Check out the necklaces, bags and briefcases, handmade apparel and others and sort by price if you'd like. A great option for gift buying to support aristry around the world.

Why Not Your Library?

As the years go by as a orofessional librarian I keep less books in my home. Oh, yes, they look great and decorating with books is a real art. I've been very proud of my collections in the past, having actual 'libraries', rooms devoted to books and reading, in my own homes. I've even cataloged them using the ReaderCat barcode scanner. However, these days most of my books are long-gone in favor of never moving books again! It just doesn't make that much sense to me to hang on when reciprocal borrowing from Massachusetts libraries is so easy.

Then again ... perhaps I would need that certain book at 3 a.m. on a Sunday morning? Not me. Or perhaps I am just jealous, not having the space in my life that I once had. I don't think so.

However, that said ... if you want to read about a couple who did organize and catalog their home collection, it is an interesting example of

Home Library, Extreme Style!

Fun With Elves

Two of the best sites for this holiday are ElfYourself and ScroogeYourself brought to you by OfficeMax. This fun software can create a great online greeting using photos you have right on your computer. Play with it and create with it. I've ScroogedMyself and you can get right to the task yourself!

Gifts With Panache

Warning: Some political humor involved! Salon.com has published this year's gift guide and the suggestions are loads of fun - even if you aren't buying or giving. For a quick peek at some of the cleverest:
Check out the

Great Revolutionaries finger puppet set or the Sticky Notes or Freudian Slippers at The Unemployed Philosopher's Guild

or a

Double Shot Travel French Press Mug for adventurous coffee lovers from Liquid Planet

or

Go Green with a continual supply of recycled toothbrushes from Recycline