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Meander with Mona - Who is this Mona person?

Born: Mona Sims, Sept 4th, 19long time ago
Place of Birth: New York, United States of America

Currant Citizenship: Triple - American, Canadian, Lovely (Danny Wallace is my King)
Longed for Citizenship: United Kingdom

Nicknames I've been landed with: Nomad, Phoenix, Gypsy

Favorite things ever: Traveling, gardens, photography, horseback riding, mystery novels, dogs, birds, writing, dancing (Egyptian belly dance, Roma (Gyspy) dancing, ballroom and Latin), Great Britain

Boring details below...

Favorite books:
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien,
'Inspector Banks' series by Peter Robinson,
'Midsomer Murder' series by Caroline Graham,
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowlings,
The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene,
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy,
'Robot' series by Isaac Asimov,
The Armchair Book of the Garden by D.G. Hessayon,
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro,
The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan,
 

Favorite movies:
Lord of the Rings series,
Under a Tuscan Sun,
The Sound of Music,
Harry Potter series,
Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility,
Groundhog Day,
Howard's End,
Ever After,
Star Wars,
Hello Dolly,
Sabrina (both),
Ladyhawke,
The Matrix,
Dirty Dancing,
Three Men and a Baby,
Big,
My Fair Lady

Favorite plays:
Much Ado About Nothing,
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Phantom of the Opera,
Chicago,
Grease,
The Importance of Being Ernest

Favorite television:
M.A.S.H,
Firefly,
La Femme Nikita (Canadian),
The Darling Buds of May (British),
Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Magnum P.I.,
Midsomer Murders (British),
Rosemary and Thyme (British),
Yes, Minister (British),
Stargate SG-1 (Canadian),
Dark Shadows,
Lost
 

Favorite music: I love it all. Rimsky-Korsakov to Amr Diab to Shania Twain to Andrew Lloyd Webber to Pink Floyd to Lacuna Coil.

Favorite times and places:
All day, any day in Kew Gardens in London, England
Nights on the Riverwalk, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Hot, humid evenings on the porch of the Capital building in Washington DC, USA
Winter afternoon hikes in the Barossa Valley, South Australia, Australia
Cool afternoon walks on the beaches of Prince Edward Island, Canada
Early morning climbs of the Tor in Glastonbury, Somerset, England
Summer evenings on Dreamer's Rock, Ontario, Canada
Rainy afternoons in Kent, England
Watching the dawn light touch Mount Rundle in Banff, Alberta, Canada
Stormy nights in the Arizona desert, USA
Dawn on South Padre Island, Texas
Exploring Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA, or wherever else you find one

Awards and community involvement past and/or present:
100+ photographic awards since 1980,
1 writing award (a long time ago),
Misc volunteer awards,
The Influential Woman Award of 2003 in Ontario, Canada,
Was nominated by the University of Toronto for the Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year 2003,
Director of the Ten Rainbows Children's Foundation,
The Mayor's Award of Distinction (2004)
Chairman of the Mayor's Arts and Culture Advisory Panel for three years, 
Board Member and Media Project Lead of the Sudbury Elk Restoration Committee,
A 'Winner' in the NANO writing contest 2007,
Board Member of the Sudbury Horticultural Society,
The Northern Lights Festival Boréal,
Timmins Therapeutic Riding Association,
Big Brothers and Big Sisters,
Sudbury Women’s Centre,
Music and Film in Motion,
Village International,
World Wildlife Fund,
The World Society for the Protection of Animals,
Wild Aid,
The Sierra Club,
Various figure skating clubs,
The Humble Hearts School for Deaf Children in Kenya.

Careers/business I've owned:
Animals, The Early Years - dog groomer, stable hand, riding instructor and boarding stable owner.

Own and run an IT company (Since 1996) - developed ecommerce sites for businesses worldwide, taught (college/university) computer programming, web development, database design and other computer related courses.

Short stints as a wedding photographer (didn't like it) and another as a trained and licensed financial planner (more recent, didn't like it).

In spare moments I've sold the rights to two script treatments to CTV, wrote a vampire serial for a short lived (I hope it wasn't my fault) fantasy magazine, authored a couple of computer graphic design training manuals, and had a weekly IT newspaper column.

Training/Education: Riding, Animal Husbandry, Computer Programming and Systems Analysis, Computer Support Specialist, Database Design, Adult Education, Financial Planning (including acquiring Canadian insurance and mutual fund licenses), various writing courses and filmmaking workshops, and Biblical studies.

And to keep life interesting, I've just returned to college (Fall, 2009) to take Tourism and Travel for the next two years. A few creative writing bits are added in. Sounds a grand pairing to base the next stage of my life on.

Animals I've had: Horses, dogs, a wolf, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, goats, lizards, snakes, spiders, turtles, fish, birds (parrots, cockatiels, canaries, budgerigars, doves, pigeons, finches, chickens, ducks, seagulls, etc) rats and mice, and (shortly) two skunks.

Future favorite things (or Let me Dream): Italy, Egypt, Austria, Russia, learning to play the piano, learning to speak Spanish and Italian, being a best selling author.

Leftover bits and pieces:
I have held down 'real jobs' for at least a combined year or two of my life, doing such high brow things as being a welder in a factory, part time weight lifting instructor, veterinarian’s assistant, graphic designer in a printing shop, race horse exerciser, and parrot trainer.

I'm a vegetarian... but can set snares, skin, and cook the catch in an emergency,

I play World of Warcraft online with my daughter and son-in-law (I've been a guild master since 2006 on Kirin Tor; come visit Evangeleigh),

I like to study world religions and history, enjoy archery occasionally, once aced a motorcycle repair course, spent a few years volunteering as a sign language interpreter at local religious organizations, have lived all over North America, currently live in Canada with five Tibetan Spaniels, take belly dancing, gypsy dance, and ballroom/latin dancing classes, and I am working on a novel and a couple of websites.

Hobbies: Hobbies? Meh...It's all a hobby.

All articles and photographs on this website are copyrighted material.
Items not my own are used with permission.
All Rights Reserved.

Contact:
You can contact me through my Facebook accounts.
Look for Mona Sims in Sudbury, Ontario or Mona Leigh Sims in London, England.