Yes, it’s a Happy Birthday to … us …
- Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, Enya, Jackie McLean, Sugar Ray Leonard, Dennis Hopper, the Ayatollah Khomeini (um) and more.
And since birthdays are a time of reflection, I thought I’d take a page from Olivier Blanchard’s (the brand builder) birthday inventory. Only, I’ll forgo the drinking, eating, working and sleeping part as it’d make this post way too long. Instead, I’ve mapped out my bits in pink (above), and dreamed future dreams (below).
Places I’ve lived: Aberdeen (Scotland), Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei Darussalam), Bangkok (Thailand), Bay Area (Calif), Blenheim (New Zealand), Denver (Colorado), Fairbanks (Alaska), Fairoaks (Calif), Hot Springs (Virginia), Houston (Texas), Misawa (Japan), Palisades (Colorado), Pau (France), Portland (Oregon), Questa (New Mexico), Quitman (Texas), Sacramento (Calif), Seattle (Washington), Sungai Akar (Brunei Darussalam), Tyler (Texas).
Places I’ve been: American Samoa, Andorra, Australia, Basque Country, Belize, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Dubai, Egypt, France, Germany, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Hutt River Province, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, Labuan, Mexico, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Scotland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, New Zealand, UK, USA (note: included if a country inside a country).
Places I didn’t get enough of: Australia, Basque Country, Cambodia, Canada, Egypt, France, Ireland, Kenya, Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, Scotland, Spain, New Zealand (Thailand, UK and USA are a given).
Future dreams: Bhutan, Burma, Corsica, Cuba, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Italy, Lao, Lebanon, Madagascar, Morocco, Nepal, Norway, Oman, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Tibet, Vietnam.
So, come on, cough up. Do you have pink bits too? Then why not share your bits on JayHan’s Dotted Map of the world, play countries of the world, map out your bits on TripAdvisor or Facebook’s TravBuddy, OR, get your birthday bits at BrainyHistory?
Pssst … best birthday present ever? A Kiss.
Technorati Tags: birthday, design, eight random things, Photographers, pink bits, travel
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I can’t seriously be the first one here to say Haaaaaaappy B-Daaaayyyyyy am I?? Well if I am, all the best to ya my dear.
Happy Birthday! I’m trying to grant a few birthday wishes, so here’s one. You asked me to bring my bits, and you can find them here: http://novapages.com/where-ive-been.png The darkest pink spots are where I’ve lived, medium where I’ve been, and light, where I hope to visit someday soon. Really I’d love to go everywhere though. Should you ever need a nerd on your many adventures, feel free to invite me along!
Hi Chris! Great chatting with you via gmail IM. And MEGGA thanks for my bday wishes :-)
Wow, Velda, I LOVE your map! I only looked briefly for maps, and didn’t come across one that separates out states and such. Yours is perfect.
And you’ve been and lived in Russia? Excellent. I’ve known you for a good long while and didn’t realise that at all. I’d LOVE to visit St Petersburg. Someday …
I’m named after Catherine II of Russia. Catherine I died on my birthday in 1727 …
I cheated. That’s my “Where I’ve Been” map from Facebook. I just tweaked the colors a bit :-D
Ah, thanks! I need to go and find mine on FB …
Happy Birthday Cat! Hard to believe it’s been almost a year since the last get-together :o).
Oh and on the russia bit – YES! Eva and I have both lived in and traveled around Russia, though we stayed in the west. We were both in Voronezh for about 4 months as volunteer/student ESL teachers, and Eva spent an extra 18 months there as a missionary.
I loved the people I lived with in Voronezh, but St Petersburg was incredible. We were considered students, so we got to tour the Hermitage for about 40 cents. And Pavlovsk .. the royal country residence… oh I’d love to go back there!
Happy Birthday Cat! You really have been to many places, I am also addicted to traveling and I am going on a Contiki tour around 14 countries in Western Europe (and Hong Kong) in June / July so looking forward to that. Come get more of Australia too! Where have you been in Oz so far?
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Let’s see — I was conceived on July 4, 1975, and approximately four weeks later my mother went to the hospital for an ear infection and came out with a bottle of neonatal vitamins and a curious look on her face…nine months later, a masked man sliced open my mother and removed me. She didn’t seem to harbor any ill will about this; nor do I.
Places where I’ve lived:
Corpus Christi, Texas, USA
Taipei, Taiwan
Gulfport Mississippi, USA
Halifax, Massachusetts, USA
Dale City, Virginia
New Delhi, India
Odessa, Texas, USA
Missoula, Montana, USA
Helena, Montana, USA
Houston, Texas, USA
Austin, Texas, USA
Countries I’ve visited:(other than the above) Mexico (boring, I know – but I did get kicked out of Mexico, so I did well…)
Places I didn’t get enough of: More India, Germany (flew through), Seattle, Chicago, New York, Rhode Island, Colorado, Virginia City, Montana…and a few select chunks of some other states.
Future dreams: Thailand, Los Angeles (just so I can say I’ve been there), Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey, Russia, Luxembourg, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Iceland, Norway, the Canary Islands, The Bahamas, Newfoundland, and Canada. And anywhere my friends have trod.
Jobs I’ve had (in no particular order): Lawnmower, Sheetrocker, Roofer, Housepainter, Barback, Bartender, College Instructor, 2nd Grade Teacher, Director, Actor, Copywriter, Journalist, Editor, Freelance Designer, Production Assistant on 4 or 5 films, Voice-Over Artist, DJ, Performance Artist, Public Relations, Director of Communications, Freelance Web Writer, and Tarot Card Reader.
People born on my birthday: Billy Dee Williams and Rene Lalique…I’m in phenomenal company.
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Jacob – I’ve been to three times to Australia – landed in Sidney and drover to Canberra, Adelaide (my fav), Perth, Blue Mountains, Hutt River Provence (what a trip!), the Pinnacles … and more.
Tom – I’ve heard great things about Taiwan. One day … And you MUST come out to Thailand to visit :-)
Jobs I’ve had (alphabetical): Bookkeeper, Creative Director (and owner), Creative Director (Business News Journal), Cutter for Newspaper, Geological Draftsman, Geotech, Graphic Designer, Graphic Specialist, Illustrator, Mudlogger (hydrocarbon well logger for inland oil rigs), Photographer, Portrait Artist, Professional Eyeglass Cleaner (unsuccessful), Project Manager, Student, Salesperson, Starving Artist, Waitress and Web Designer.
I was even an Avon lady for a summer out in East Texas. I ran the tires off my pickup truck, then quit.
Velda – “we got to tour the Hermitage for about 40 cents. And Pavlovsk .. the royal country residence… ”
That’s exactly where I want to go. Sigh. One day … I had friends in Moscow a few years back but didn’t have the time or money to go at the time.
Pity. It’s MUCH better seeing a country for the first time with friends on the ground.
Well, I would love to go volunteer again and take my kids — it’d be good for them! If I ever do that, you’ll definitely have to come visit.
Here’s my map — amazing to think I’ve been so many places…wow.
http://dyerstraits.com/archives/where-i-have-been/
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Oh, yes, I’d love to. I worked for Amoco in the Russia group when they had the coup. I still have photos of my team sitting on tanks and everything. It all happened across from their hotel room so we were all excited and … worried of course.
Btw – thanks for sharing the map. I’ve put in my bits but can’t find the controls to turn everything pink (unless it’s photoshopped?).
Cat’s Map
Tom, Google Maps. What a good idea. And what a LOT of places you’ve been!
Happy birthday! I hope you have / had a great day, Cat. Very nice insight into the places you’ve lived / visited. I have one of those Facebook maps on my profile (might need a little updating, but it nowhere near compares to yours!).
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Hi Cat happy birthday! I need to think about my map… but one thing’s for sure, it doesn’t have enough pink on it!
Joanna
Happy Birthday Cat! My map isn’t nearly as pink as yours, leaves plenty for me to explore…
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David, thanks for the b-day cheers. Yes, my day was great, and interesting. I was able to check out all sorts of maps available online. May your map grow and grow and grow!
Joann, I can tell that your map is going expand so fast you head is going to spin :-)
Celia, Hey! Your comment got caught in my spam bits. Apologies.
You are right, it’s almost a year since we were in Seattle. And it’ll be another 5 months before we meet again. So long!
But, we really need to get our act together to get the next meet going strong. Especially now the condos have changed policy.
Drat them … and if you have any ideas please email me as 5 months swoop by.
Hi Cat!
Let me jump in at the last moment … Happy Birthday!
All the best!
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Thanks Nick! It was the best (now I just need to recover ;-)
Mark, in reading back through the comments, looks like the reply I made to you didn’t go through (I emailed you direct?).
Apologies! (It must have been the lateness of the hour, yes?)
And yes, it leaves you plenty of time to explore (hint … hint …)
I’ve continued to read about May 17 but found this one NOT in my research, but from a site I’d advised to go blog style (and they did).
Black May
I knew about Black May Day in Bangkok. But I didn’t know it was MY day.
Very cool. I love the map!
Thanks Olivier! And special thanks for the birthday post idea.