Who is emerald125

I became Emerald125 in October 1996 when my husband bought me a modem and a dial up Internet connection for my 30th birthday.

I had always wanted an emerald so decided that would be the name I assumed online. The 125 was hotmail's idea ;-)

I am a travel-loving information junkie who if circumstances permitted would be eating, photographing and exploring the world full time. So far the bank balance means I have to limit the exploration to about 2 months every couple of years. In the meantime I read, cook, host a trivia night and spend way too much time here on squidoo!

Google emerald125 and you can uncover the many things I have created online in the last 14 years.

or how I became obsessed with food

I grew up with a mum who was a very basic cook, dinner each night was the typical Aussie meat and 3 veg. She was far from adventurous in the kitchen, her version of spaghetti bolognaise involved a can of tomato soup and some beef mince.

I am not sure exactly when I decided to experiment in the kitchen but I am pretty sure it was motivated by the desire to eat a bigger variety of food. Growing up in southern Sydney in the late 1970s meant I had friends who's parents had come here from all over the world and boy did they eat some interesting stuff. My best friend was Dutch and Lebanese and Greek foods were particularly popular in our school, how I longed for a lunch like my friends... not another Vegemite sandwich!

I took my first cooking class when I was about 19 yrs old. I remember clearly being handed an artichoke and wondering what it was, I had no idea! So began my experiments with food. These days I am a pretty good cook. I love to cook for friends and family and strange as it might seem I get a kick out of cooking Christmas lunch for 20 or having 30 people over for a BBQ. I like simple, most healthy recipes that take no time but look impressive on a plate. I love making salads and seafood dishes most but am branching out into casseroles this year after the purchase of a shiny new slow cooker.

My next planned cooking adventure is a few classes in Vietnam and Malaysia later this year. Until then I will devour the cooking magazines and share more of my favourites with you here on Squidoo

I have always loved reading and trying to find out why and how things happened? Even as a kid I had an inquiring mind. So someone was certainly looking out for me when I made my first visit to the job centre just after my 18th birthday. There on the board was a vacancy as a library assistant at our local TAFE (Community) College. Hmm that could be OK I thought. A few days later I began my very first full time job in a library and it was a perfect for me. Surrounded by books, spending my days answering questions and eventually getting to spend my day buying books and I got paid - how good was this. Little did I know this was the beginning of a information addiction!

20 years later I have a book case devoted entirely to trivia books and encyclopaedia, I own almost every edition of Trivial Pursuit and any other trivia board game I can get my hands on and every Wednesday night I host a trivia quiz night at our local pub.

I have just begun adding some of my trivia content to Squidoo but there is lots more to come so stay tuned.

From that 30th birthday present fast forward to today and I am working full time in an Internet marketing position and have a degree in Internet studies.

I have two beautiful emerald rings, a lovely Art-Deco style engagement ring and a beautiful band of emerald given to me by my eldest daughter just after she started working.

Oh and I have very fast wi-fi these days!