O well ...

... at least I'll be rich!

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

I'll just crawl away and die now, shall I?

Resolutions?

... well, I really shouldn't, but here goes.
Declutter.
Move a bit.
Less booze.
More fruit.
Fix things.
I don't think any of that should get me into too much trouble.

From Central Park ...

... another brown mouse.

Show me your desks ...

... I really need to tidy up but, honestly, could not be arsed. Now go on, shame me with pictures of your beautiful, tidy, design-statement, home office desks!

Omnivores 100 ...

... I was a very, very, very fussy eater as a child (Mr Brown says I still am but that's a different story). Hell, I refused all cheese until I was in my early 20s (and still have a cautious relationship with this foodstuff - I will not eat something that smells like death, or feet). I wouldn't eat tomatoes until about then either (sundried jobbies saved me from that vacuum in my life). I'd have hated being my mother.
Still, having completed Cookie's omnivore meme I think I can proudly say I've come a long way.
There are rules, but not many.
1. Copy & Paste the list.
2. Bold what you have eaten.
3. Cross out what you would never eat.
4. And if you want to, post a comment over at Very Good Taste linking to your results.
Here goes -
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (nettle cordial yes, but not tea)
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (no, but I love Carpaccio)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (very bony)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (make my own!)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (no WAY)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (never, not in a million years)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (made my own)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (blackberries as a child, picked by the river)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (fuck no)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (but never again)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (but never again)
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (if that’s the same as a ginger beer float, yes)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (smoking is a fucking disgusting habit)
37. Clotted Cream Tea
38. Vodka Jelly (vodka & passionfruit jelly)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk (only curd and yoghurt)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth $120 or more (I trust we are talking single malt here)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin (only the eggs - which Cookie tells me IS the bit you eat)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (chewey)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (nope, I can’t understand the whole cheese on a hamburger thing)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (very possibly, but only sipped)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (a tiny nibble from someone else’s plate)
63. kaolin (clay?)
64. Currywurst (is this some sort of curried sausage?)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette (after looking it up it would appear yes, but only as sausage casings)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (only salmon caviar though)
73. Louche absinthe (well I tried absinthe, did not like)
74. Gjetost or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang Souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. 3 Michelin Star Tasting Menu
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
89. Horse (are you kidding me??)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (only the ordinary kind)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Book MeMe ...

... The BBC's The Big Read has apparently stated that of the 100 books listed below, the average adult has read only 6. Someone has made a meme out of this so we weedy, bad at sports and games, readers can feel good about something.
Here goes ...
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love.
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or for whatever reason, loathe. (anyone know how to strikeout in Blogger?? Thanks Lee!)
5) Now publish you list on your blog and gloat about how wonderfully well-read you are and wonder if there was something you should have been doing instead of hiding from everyone and reading.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible - well, you've got to know what you're arguing against.
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare - yeah, one day!
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks - but first I've got to read Engleby because it's been lent to me.
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot - started, but couldn't finish.
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - well I started it, I think I only got about 1/2 way through, life's too short to read great Russian Literature.
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - despite my comment above, I did finish this one.
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - that's an afternoon I'll never get back.
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons - I LOVE this book.
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - after reading this I know I'd never tackle One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gak!
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce - No WAY.
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt - another all time favourite.
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams - gave me nightmares.
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo
No wonder my peepers are so tired.

Just like my Mum ...

... Pears Transparent Soap is the soap in the shower. No other brand, never ever.
Wettex sponge cloths, one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom. No other cloth will do.
Towels, fold in half longways, then fold that in half, then fold into thirds. A nice rectangle, easily stackable result. No other form of towel origami will be tolerated.
Socks, hung in pairs, by the toes. Don't let me catch you pegging those sock tops!
Kitchen drawers, top for the cutlery (from the left, knives, forks, spoons with teaspoons along the bottom), middle for utensils, bottom for stuff (string, batteries, clingfilm, baking paper ...) Just like my Mum.
How about you?

six word memoir ...

... Likes the cool, so seasonally sad.

It's sunday, let's look at ...

... belief and all that.
I did a rather fiddly survey thing and it turns out I'm 100% Secular Humanist, and only 11% Roman Catholic. My grandmother would be horrified, were she alive. A couple of my favourite aunts would not be surprised and would no doubt pray for me (I've grown out of that enraging me, so wearying).Anyhoo, have a go, what are you?

The week that was ...

... been a tardy blogger, pressure of work and all that. So a short report.
Monday - work, prep work for Tuesday's dinner, bed.
Tuesday - work, new neighbours over for dinner, roasted lambkins and all the trimmings and Bill's self-saucing chocolate puddings (I'd have made passion fruit ones but rats and possums eat the passion fruit before I can pick it - utter bastards). Can I recommend these puddings to you? So easy, so tasty, make you look like a domestic goddess too. New neighbours seem very nice, they brought Moet too!
Wednesday - work, gallery, home for pizza.
Thursday - work, drinkies with the other neighbour to say farewell since she & the twin boys, Sinister & Dexter, are moving to the Eastern Suburbs. Pity, she's a good neighbour and nice too. And the boys, now they've grown up a bit, were becoming kind of fun to have around. Australian Sparkling White Wine was consumed, then the non-sparkling variety, no dinner was had except a packet of lime & black pepper crisps. Large as it was it was not enough for 3 adults and 2 4-year-olds.
Friday - slightly hungover at work, yumcha for lunch, home to red wine & beef risotto and an early night.
And now it's Saturday ... more on that later.

6 things you should try ...

... Got tagged by Mr U K and I've had an afternoon thinking about 6 things I think everyone should accomplish before they turn 18. I'll not fess if I actually managed to achieve everything on the list, but if I didn't, clearly I wish I had.
1. Earn your own money. Real earning, not pocket money from mum & dad. Parents can, justifiably, put restrictions on pocket money, like having to bank some of it or what you can’t spend it on. Earning your own moolah means you can spend away with a free conscious on whatever you damn well please. Or save it in a running away account. Your money, your choice.
2. Learn to cook, it’s a skill you’ll never regret having and the earlier you start the more natural and confident cook you’ll be. When you leave home, you’ll be glad you did. Later in life your family and your friends will be glad you did – a proper meal made with a little love and a lot of fresh, natural ingredients is better than anything you can buy from a supermarket and often better than anything you can buy in most restaurants.
3. Learn to sew, just the basics are needed, you don’t need to become a fashion designer. Learn to sew on a button, hem a dress/skirt/trousers, fix a spilt seam. You’ll save money, time and a little dignity. And if you get more than the basics you can even have nice things to wear even though you can’t afford to shop for fancy clothes.
4. Think about the religion and the politics that you inherited from your parents. I’m not saying you have to reject it but it’s a good idea to think about it, what you do because of it and why that’s so. Don’t just accept it verbatim, without questioning.
5. Learn to spell & how to use a dictionary for the new words. Because people like me will judge you harshly when you misspell in your job applications and when you misuse big words in an effort to look clever. It’s harsh but true.
6. I was going to say have sex, but that may not be the right thing for everyone, and this is supposed to be things I think everyone should do.
So, #6 will be learn to enjoy your own company. That is, how to entertain yourself with your mind. So you don’t need constant stimulation. So you can just sit still and think. So you don’t become one of those irritating fuckwits who are “bored” all the time. So you can manage a journey or a stint in a waiting room without talking on the phone, listening to music, twitching and carrying on because you are frightened of “nothing”.

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.
The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.
The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.
What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Self-diagnosis …

... via the interweb.
I’ve worked it out, this summer ennui, it’s got to be Reverse Seasonal Affective Disorder. Pretty much all the symptoms apply, except for the only one that I’d like, weight loss. Bah.
In an attempt to “jolly” myself out of it, I’ve done a meme. It didn’t work. Double BAH. Roll on lovely autumn.
1. Do you still talk to the person you last had a thing with?
The last person I had a “thing” with was Mr Brown. I was speaking to him this very morning. I said, “see you tonight poppet”.
2. Have you ever seen your best friend cry? Yep.
3. What kind of vitamins did you take as a kid? Orange & Lemon flavoured ones, they were so tasty I used to sneak them. Also some sort of vitamin tonic I only know as “giraffe medicine”, because of the giraffe on the box.
4. What is the last thing you ate? Delicious leftovers, spinach lasagne.
5. Did you get any compliments today? Oooh, yes, a co-worker returning from holidays said nice things about my new short haircut.
6. Have you ever gone to court? I used to work at one, so yes, but not for being naughty. I did jury duty once, that was fun.
7. What does the seventh text message in your inbox say? I delete so there aren’t any.
8. Are you friends with your neighbours? Not friends, but not enemies either - well, except for loud talking show-off lady, but I keep it nice.
9. Do you have any regrets? Wrong time of the year to be asking me this question.
10. Do you remember your first kiss? Oh yes, I also remember what I said afterwards, “ick, that was very wet”.
11. What towns have you lived in? Sydney, Canberra, Ballarat, Ryde (NY), hellish Goulburn for six months.
12. What's the last piercing you got? My nose, when I was 29. After Mr Brown refused to replace the 3rd lost diamond stud, I let it close over.
13. When was the last time you drove more than 15 minutes? Personally, actually me driving? I cannot for the life of me remember. But I was a passenger on Saturday when we got stuck in traffic on Norton St.
14. Have you ever thrown up from drinking? Yes but not for years and years.
15. Do you get jealous easily? No, but if severely provoked, watch out (you know who I mean dwarf lady).
16. Have you ever played Spin the Bottle? Once and when it looked like I was going to have to kiss creepy boy, I walked away.
17. Toilet papered someone’s house? No, but I once arranged for the house of a particularly irritating fellow to be egged – cost me a case of beer.
18. Have you ever had a crush on your brother or sister's friends? Good grief NO.
19. Have you ever gone to a beach? Ok, yes, I grew up in Australia, we spent summers at the beach. I haven’t been to one lately, not for years. I don’t do tanning or swimming with waves and things that want to bite or sting you. Also, sand, ick.
20. Do you remember your teacher's names from primary school? Two from primary school, Mr Osmotherly(sp?) and Mrs Garret. I loved Mrs Garret and invited her to my 5th birthday party.
21. How good is your eyesight? Up close, brilliant, long distance, all fuzzy.
22. Would you ever want to swim with the sharks? Shit no – see question 19.
23. What would you say if I told you I was in love with your brother? I’d remind you he’s happily married to a very nice young woman.
24. Have you ever been out of your country? Several times.
25. Have you seen your best friend naked? Well it depends on best friend, if I was to get all mush and said Mr Brown was my best friend, then yes. Otherwise, no.
26. What's the best wedding you've been to? Mine (oh just call me Pollyanna and KILL me now)
27. Would your parents be mad if you got arrested for fighting? I think disappointed - but I’d probably not tell – no longer living at home nor requiring mummy to pay the bail money.
28. Where are your siblings right now? Queensland, the lunatics.
30. Do you have a Honda, Toyota or Nissan? No.
31. What's the last dream you can remember? Last night’s, dogs were involved somehow, and I had a rather lovely red frock, but that’s all I remember.
32. Who was the last person to call you? Mr Brown.
33. What time did you wake up this morning? 4am.
34. What are you doing this weekend? Flopping about limply complaining about the heat, poking things into the dirt, NOT celebrating Australia Day in any way shape or form (other than taking advantage of the public holiday, obvy).
35. What does the 5th text message on your phone say? See question 7.
36. Do you drunk dial/txt? No.
37. What's in your back pocket? I’m wearing a skirt, no back pocket.

An odd sort of meme ...

... via H&B.
What kind of soap is in your bathtub?
We don’t have a bath.
Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator?
No, everybody knows watermelons turn into vampires, particularly at this time of year.
What would you change about your living room?
Fresh paint job (hint, hint Mr Brown).
Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty?
We don’t have a dishwasher, just a dishwashing fairy, who’s been this morning. What is in your refrigerator?
Fresh veg, butter, king island vanilla yogurt, fruit, jars of stuff (jam, mayo, curry pastes, pesto …) bottles of stuff (pink lemonade, tap water, milk, lemon juice, white wine), stuff like that.
White or wheat bread?
Sonoma Bakery olive bread – on top of the fridge, not in it. Sliced whole meal, whole grain Helgas, in the freezer.
What is on top of your refrigerator?
My lunch bag, the bread, dust.
What color or design is on your shower curtain?
We don’t have a shower curtain, it’s a plain glass screen.
How many plants are in your home?
Inside, none, the cats eat them or dig them.
Is your bed made right now?
No.
Comet or Soft Scrub?
I don't use either, nor have I any idea what they are.
Is your closet organized?
Sort of, I like to hang the shirts by colour, things go back in the same spot, mostly.
Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Glass.
Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
No.
If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
Hahahahahaha, no garage.
Curtains or blinds?
Curtains in the lounge, roman blinds in the other rooms. I ripped out all the Luxaflex-style blinds upon moving in, they gather dust and are a HUGE pain to clean.
How many pillows do you sleep with?
Three, I nest.
Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
No, but we leave the blind up a wee bit for air to come in and moonlight sometimes follows.
How often do you vacuum?Mr Brown takes the vacuum for a burl about once a week.
Standard toothbrush or electric?
Standard.
What color is your toothbrush?
Red, colgate brand.
Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?
We have a mat to wipe feet on, it does not say welcome.
What is in your oven right now?
Bugger all.
Is there anything under your bed?
Dust, cat hair.
Chore you hate doing the most?
All of them, but cleaning the bathroom probably tops the list.
What retro items are in your home?
The house is 105, it’s retro.
Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?
Yes, we call it the shit room.
How many mirrors are in your home?
Do mirror walls count? The last owners put in a big mirror in the kitchen (to make it look bigger one assumes) and a whole wall in the bathroom is mirror (for the same reason I suspect), and there’s a wee one above the fireplace.
What color are your walls?
Blue, green, bright yellow, pale yellow, a sort of minty aqua green & white.
Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home?
Knives in the kitchen, golf clubs in the shit room, killer cats …
What does your home smell like right now?
Rain.
Favorite candle scent?
L’Occoitane Lavender & Amber.
What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now?
Capers.
What color is your favorite Bible?
We don’t have a bible. Oh, no wait, there’s a little red Gideons one I got at school, I wouldn't call it a favourite though.
Ever been on your roof?
This roof, no. Last house, yep.
Do you have a stereo?
We have a CD player.
How many TVs do you have?
One.
How many house phones?
Three.
Do you have a housekeeper?
No, sigh.
What style do you decorate in?
Dusty? Paper/Book/Magazine strewn?
Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints?
Solid.
Is there a smoke detector in your house?
Yes, it’s the law.
In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you'd grab if you could make only one trip?
Cats, handbag, any pictures I could grab and carry, Mr Brown would surely be able to leg it himself.
I have no idea what this tells anyone about me, other than I'm not a spectacular housewife.

I could not live without ...

... If I were to be dumped on a desert island, I'd have to pack in my picnic basket - smoked salmon, avocados, chocolate (dark), bacon, potatoes, sun-warmed vine-ripened tomatoes, white nectarines, pasta, cream, butter, free range cackleberries, lamb shanks, lentils (all kinds) and proper coffee.
I could live without the above, but who'd want to?

I actually like Brussels Sprouts ...

... but Mr Brown hates em - so this is for him.
It's actually quite fun, even for a Brussels Sprout lover because they look like evil mutant sprouts anyway.
And, here you go, just cos I can, 5 things about me ...
1. I like pretty things.
2. I am easily distracted - mostly.
3. I am quite easily emotionally manipulated (ads, films, books, music) - this pisses me off - no grown woman should cry over a tissue ad.
4. I can be a sulky, moody bitch. I can be irritatingly cheerful even humming happy songs to myself. The change from one to the other can be blindingly, neck-snappingly fast - I've been told.
5. I'm not frightened of the dark or of small places. Though I wouldn't like to be LOCKED in a small dark place, obviously.
I don't think I'm unusual, others may disagree.

International tag ...

... I have a feeling I may have done this before but Ilva’s tagged me, and I’ve not much else to do but blow my nose so – here we go ...
Four jobs I've had:
1. Runner for the TAB. I drove a huge white station wagon to all the TAB outlets in town, dropping off stuff, papers something to do with horse racing. It kept me busy, I improved my driving and finding places skills and they paid me via my very own telephone betting account (rather than into a bank account). I’d walk up to the betting shop each week and empty it, never laid a bet in my life!
2. Journalist (Reporter & Sub Editor, several newspapers). First real job out of uni and had fun for a while but (a) you find news reporting is very cyclical (b) even way back then “news” was beginning to become entertainment (c) subs work at NIGHT which is fine, unless your beloved works during the DAY!
3. Deputy Registrar of a local court – Well I started out at the front counter, being told I’d “ruined” some kid’s xmas because I told some bloke (who asked what would happen if he didn’t pay his fines) that each $100 was a day in the lock up and I couldn’t guarantee the police wouldn’t knock on his door that weekend. And I ended up signing eviction warrants – yes, my soul (such that it is) had shriveled to the size of a pea.
4. Government Drone (not telling) – good for getting wildly agitated and cynical though.
Four places I've lived:
1. Canberra – where I did most of my growing up, went to school, got married etc etc.
2. Sydney – where I was born & returned to, though not to spawn.
3. Ballarat – a lovely gold mining town in Victoria, first place I moved when I left home – 800km from mum, was hard at first but necessary I believe.
4. New York – when I was 2 or something, I don’t remember a thing, except stairs. There’s some good pictures though!
Four places I've been on holiday:
1. Great Ocean Road in Victoria, we keep going back and always in the very early spring when it’s too cold for all the beach people to spoil it. I love the beach, but not in the summer time.
2. New Zealand – an amazing place and we certainly made the most of our short time there. Definitely a place we will be returning to, there’s no such thing as too much bubbling mud.
3. Tasmania – Mr Brown & I had our very first proper holiday together there – not long after we got married, and only because there was a cheap ticket deal (we were so broke back then).
4. Italy – well, what can I say – coming from Australia where European history is only a bit over 200 years old, the old stuff blew me away. And that you could touch it, Roman stones, medieval mosaics, it was never ending and overwhelming.
Four of my favourite foods:
1. Potatoes -roasted, chipped, as crisps, mashed (with butter & garlic), boiled, cooked with cream & cheese in the style that will give you a heart attack ...
2. Avocados - on toast, as Guacamole, with a little dressing, with pasta, in a salad with sun-dried tomatoes ... It would almost be worth moving further north just so I could grow an avocado tree.
3. Meat of the blessed pig – where would we be without piggies (free range of course and not too much at any one time)? Roast pork with crackling, bacon, ham, salami, sausages, Prosciutto ...
4. Pizza, home made of course.
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Norway, watching the maelstrom.
2. New York, visiting museums and central park and eating proper bagels.
3. Venice – more museums and old stuff and the freedom to get lost, without fear.
4. Scotland – leaning up against a standing stone, sipping whisky, sigh.
Four favourite books:
This is really hard, how to choose?
1. Confessions of a Homing Pigeon by Nicholas Meyer.
2. Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapido
3. The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer
4. The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford.
Oh, go look at Librarything, for the rest!
And I'll tag CAW who's generally up for anything and E because I bet her answers will be most interesting.

Saturday morning giggles ...

... Pingu posts a heartfelt plea.
Braille T-Shirts, isn't this just asking for trouble?
And, I'm not sure why this tickles, but it does!
And, Roo did one so I thought why not ...
1 What is your favourite word?
Crepuscular, idiosyncratic, serendipitous, too many to choose from.
2. What is your least favourite word?
Soiled, & the C-word, when used as an insult.
3. What turns you on (creatively, spiritually or emotionally)?
Red, lovely music, writing that makes you feel, gardens.
4. What turns you off?
Deliberate cruelty, excessive greed, privileged self entitlement.
5. What sound or noise do you love?
Magpies caroling, rain on a tin roof, crackling fires (not the bush variety), wind in the trees.
6. What sound or noise do you hate?
Leaf blowers, unkind laughter, angry voices, the weeping of someone truly unhappy.
7. What is your favourite curse word?
Well, I use fuck an awful lot, though I wish I didn’t but I think my favourite would be tosser!
8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
I’d like to make my living making beautiful things.
9. What profession would you not like to do?
Police officer, doctor, rubbish man, politician.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Crikey, I’d be so embarrassed but I’d LIKE to hear “that’s ok Mouse, at least you didn’t insult me with one of those death-bed conversions, that would have put you on the fast train straight to hell. Come on in, the priests are all downstairs!”