Hobbies

Hello.

Today I've thought of talking about free time activities and hobbies. We all have one or two, right?

If you've read my profile, you already know that I like reading and travelling and that I have a hobby - gardening. And it's about this hobby that I would like to tell you something.

I have a small collection ( around 100 plants) of succulent plants. I can see the question forming in your minds: what are succulent plants? Very briefly, succulents are those plants that store water as an adaptation to arid environments. And now I believe you're thinking 'cactus'. Well, not exactly. Although cactus are succulent plants, not all succulent plants are cactus. I only have two cactus in my collection and they are tropical cactus, meaning they don't bite.

So how did I come up with this idea of collecting plants? I really didn't see it coming! It all started when I bought this amazing rose-shaped plant in a matching vase in a supermarket. I headed to my computer to find out what it was - and it was an Echeveria 'Perle von Nurnberg'. By the way, Echeverias are my favourite succulents.

From reading a lot and learning something about them I jumped to international forums and met people with 1000 and even 2000 plant collections. One thing led to another and in no time I was exchanging e-mails with a Swiss lady, who, I found out later, was a retired teacher of German. And from exchanging e-mails we took it to the next level and we began exchanging plants through the mail. And my collection GREW.

Why do I like succulent plants? Because they are a lot like me, independent.They don't need much care or attention, they just want to be left alone. They won't die on you if you forget to water them.

Why do I like gardening? It's an anti-stress activity, it frees my mind and relaxes me.

If you like plants, you can go over my photos:
http://cid-ae67ab07913d0f8e.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Succulents/CRASSULACEAE
(if the direct link doesn't work, copy and paste it in your browser)

What about you, do you have a hobby, or something that you really love doing? Would you like to tell us something about it and how it makes you feel?

1966 The Year I was Born

I was born at home in the outskirts of Lisbon in September of 1966. Both my mother and my father worked , which was not very common. Women were usually housewives at that time.

POLITICS

Time’s Man of The Year 1966 was a generation: the man (and woman) of 25 and under:

« (…) never have the young been so assertive or so articulate, so well educated or so worldly»

Time Magazine, Friday, Jan. 06, 1967

Mrs Indira Ghandi, the world’s only woman head of state, was sworn in as Prime Minister. The West was fascinated by Mao Tsé-Tung. Portugal and Spain lived in dictatorship. The Portuguese Colonial War went on and in the USA the Vietnam War was the year’s biggest story.

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, MAN’S ACHIVEMENTS

The Russians became the first nation to land a spacecraft intact on the moon. ‘25 de Abril Bridge’, over the river Tagus, was inaugurated on August 6, 1966.

SPORT, ENTERTAINMENT AND THE ARTS

Eusébio was considered one of the best footballers of all times. Portugal reached the third place at 1966 world cup.

In music, Ike and Tina Turner were number 1 in the USA with ‘River Deep Mountain High’; Frank Sinatra won a Grammy with ‘Strangers in the Night’. 1963 to 1966 were ‘Beatlemania’ years.

In the film industry, ‘Doctor Jivago’ lived its glory days; ‘Star Treck’, a classic science fiction television series, debuted its first episode and ‘A Man for all Seasons’ won the 1966 Oscar for Best Picture.

Shmul Yosel Agnon, from Israel, and Nelly Sachs, from Sweden, won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

What about you? What year were you born? Do you know what was going on then?

Why don't you join me in writing a text about the year you were born?

Together we may achieve a sort of 20th century history review.

These are some sites where you can get information about what was going on the year you were born.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (XXXX year)

http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa050400a.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates
http://www.songyear.com/
The oscars xxxx