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Happy Birthday, SurLaLune!

Today SurLaLune Fairy Tales turns 11 years old. I launched the site in late December 1998, shortly after I graduated with my Master of Information Science. As the story goes, I had annotated a fairy tale--Bluebeard--for an HTML programming project in an extra class I took that last semester. I had wanted to learn more about my new husband's work, he being a graphic designer specializing in web work.

Well, the project was supposed to be more about my programming skills and not so much about the content. I, being me, spent more time on the content--although the basic HTML did get me an A. I wanted to annotate more tales, so using my knowledge and the materials I had, I added a few more and then launched the site on my free AOL hosting space at that time--which is how SurLaLune got its name--it was my screen name from years earlier.

I eventually bought a domain name, of course, as the site began to pay for itself through Amazon links although my original intent (and still somewhat now) is the free usage of Amazon images as an associate. I wanted lots of imagery and then people kept asking where they could find the books so links solved that type of email usually.

A year later, we added a scanner to our household which meant the addition of many illustrations and as I learned to use OCR technology, old texts of fairy tales, too. Then there has been more annotated tales themselves and the constant upkeep of new releases, be they books, movies or other media.

Eleven years later, the site has grown by leaps and bounds.

I still have the husband, too. His support--both emotional and financial with a little bit of programming help at times--has kept the site going, too. He'd love to help me move over to an even snazzier design and newer programming codes, but the backlog makes me dizzy. So for now SurLaLune stays mostly as it is with a blog added this year and regular content updates. It has visitors from over 160 countries around the world each year, many of whom don't have access to the materials otherwise. I'm perhaps most proud of that as well as how much I've learned and the friendships I've made over the years.

So thanks for coming along on the journey. I hope to add several more years to the site and I wouldn't have a purpose for it all without visitors and readers like you. Thanks for stopping by...

PS: I have finally completed the final edits on my draft entries for last week's Snow Queen Week. I have pushed the posts to live for their original dates, so please page down on the blog if you want to see them. (It's far from all I had planned, but perhaps I'll do another week sometime in January.)

We had a few family concerns and other demands over the holidays--including an unexpected death--which have kept me rather tied up and unable to do my usual posting and news searching. I doubt many of you have noticed with your own celebrations and distractions the past several days. This week may be unpredictable on my posting, but I plan to be back to full speed by January 4th when we all supposedly resume "normal" lifestyles again. And, despite the sadness, I had a wonderful Christmas, so all is well, just stressful at the moment!

Genelia Dsouza latest images

Genelia is now again getting ready to entertain her fans in Kollywood. Her Telugu runaway hit Ready, is being remade in Tamil and will star Dhanush. My south Indian projects have never taken a backseat even though I’ve been busy in Hindi. Both regions have loved me and being wanted by both the north and south film industries is a compliment by itself. She currently has her platter full with Hindi flicks — It’s my life with Harman Baweja, Chance Pe Dance with Shahid Kapoor, Hook Ya Crook with John Abraham — and the Telugu film Katha. “I have been busy these days and am really looking forward to all these films hitting the silver screen,” she signs off with her trademark smile....13 more images after a break...

The Great Buddha of Kamakura

The Great Buddha from Kamakura (Daibutsu) represents the Amida Buddha (in Japanese Amida Nyorai), the Buddha of the Infinite Light, the main Deity of the Buddhist Sect Jodo (Pure Land).

Actually, Buddha is not a name, but a honorific term, like the Christian Mesia. Buddha comes from Sanskrit and it is the past participle of the verb Buddh, meaning “to awaken” or “to know", translated in English as “one who has awakened to the truth".

In Japanese it is also referred as Butsu, hence Daibutsu (written ?? or ??), from ? Dai, meaning Great and ? or ? Butsu (the On reading), meaning Buddha. More images after a break...

Miss Fat And Beautiful

Meet Moran Barannes, the winner of the Israeli beauty contest "Fat and Beautiful." More than 40 women from across the country were fighting for the prestigious title of a beauty in the weight category from 80 to 120 kilograms. Every year in Israel, 40 of the country’s most beautiful women migrate to Beersheba for a chance to become the beautiful fat person in all the land. The minimum weight requirement is 176 lbs. Yes, you must weigh in to compete. Photo credits: Reuters, 13 more images after a break...

Tree man

Dede Koswara dubbed the Tree Man is back after nine months of operations to remove the woody growth from his body. He was once sacked from his job, deserted by his wife and shunned by his neighbors - treated like a freak becaused of his gnarled growths sprouting from his hands and feet. The warts on Dede’s body was the cause of a severe Human Papilloma Virus infection. The 37 year old man’s life quality has improved where he now can use his hand write and use the cell phone. Dede still has to go through more surgery in October after the fasting month to trim more warts and was given strong course of medicine including vitamin A in an attempt to prevent the return of the growth. 03 more images of Dede Koswara the tree man getting better after a break....