The story goes that after I was born, my parents were warned via a letter from the State Government that if they didn't name me soon, the State would do it for them. At almost three months old, I was nameless.

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Mum & Dad were in a stale-mate. Mum loved the named Sarah, Dad hated it. Dad loved the name Fonda. Mum said "over my dead body". Eventually they came to a compromise and I was named Amy; the compromise being that my middle name would be Fonda. 

Growing up I HATED that name. I couldn't understand the motivation behind it. No-one but my closest friends knew I had a middle name. I was jealous of my older sister and constantly complained

"Why did she get a normal middle name like Jane?"

Dad maintained

"You should be happy, it's an original name"

I would rebut with

"It's original because no-one else wants it".

Poor Dad. I really gave him a hard time about it.

 

Now that I'm older, I get it. I love my name. It's original, it's quirky and it suits me just fine. So if you ever read this Dad - cheers. Maybe Dad knew in some way that I would turn out like this... a bit kooky, a bit odd, a bit comical and a bit funny looking - a bit like the name 'Fonda' for a girl.

Or maybe he just had the hots for Jane Fonda...

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Enough about my name. A bit about me.

I love to write. I love to travel. I love taking photographs. 

That's a lot of loves. My biggest love however, would have to be my husband... I know, cheesy right? I wrote a blog post about how we met and how paths can cross, go completely off track, but end up creating the happiest of events in your life. Love is a curious thing.

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My husband and I work day jobs and run a small business in our 'spare time' making bespoke timber furniture and homewares. So I also love woodworking. And keeping busy.

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Music plays (nice pun there) a big part in my life; I'm not a particularly good musician, but that hasn't stopped me from playing. Trumpet as a kid, then piano with my Mum and Gran's encouragement and drums as an adult. Can't sing to save my life, but I don't let it stop me. I could go on for hours about music, but I won't. 

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Oh, and birds. I'm a bit of a 'twitcher' - not ashamed to admit it. Twitching (the term given to nerdy birdwatchers) ties in nicely with my photography. I can spend hours tracking down a dull brown coloured bird, the size of my index finger and get incredibly excited when I capture a photograph of it. 

I once spent two hours standing in a freezing lake, with an expensive camera setup, stalking a shy fairy wren as it flitted up and down the banks, while my feet slowly went numb. Loved every minute of it.

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Back to writing though... It's a passion I've had for a long time. I've always kept journals, travel diaries and written silly little anecdotes about events or people that have had an impact on my life. I hope that my view of the world can make people laugh, even if it is at my expense, maybe encourage people consider a different point of view, and if I'm being really ambitious - inspire people to take a journey and experience a crazy adventure. Because man, it's fun! 

 

I started this blog after being shortlisted for a writing competition. These blog posts are part of a collection of stories I had previously written and haven't shared outside of my private social networks before now. Most are pretty raw and unedited, but I think they convey how I feel fairly accurately.

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I hope you enjoy them.

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**Note: all photographs on this site are taken by yours truly, as I bumble my way around the world. Apart from our wedding photograph (obviously), which was taken by photographer extraordinaire - Roberto Alla. What a champ! 

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