*

Sweaty me

10.30am, Saturday, it is hot and humid.

Feeling:  pious because I have done my c25k run/walk today

Hearing:  New Zealand radio on digital

Tasting:  coffee from our coffee machine – Yallingup Coffee Company

Loving:  that is the weekend and tomorrow I get to catch up with my new storytelling friends

Regretting:  that I left it so long to do my c25k run… now I am behind and getting fat

Hoping:  that Aftermath will be fabulous this afternoon

Wishing:  that someone else could do the grocery shopping for me

Laughing:  at my last score on National Flag Quiz… how embarrassment

Avoiding:  doing the shopping but wait… there will be air conditioning at the shopping centre!

Enjoying:  our newly cleaned pool – thanks Groover!

*I have totally stolen this from Von.

I really love this photo – straight out of the camera – the morning light is so buttery.

Guera tagged me for the eight random things meme with a twist. Now I’ve done the 8 random things meme before but not with a twist… but then, the next day, my new found blogging buddy Mrs M from New York Renovator tagged me with the 7 useful things about me meme and so I thought – randomly – that I would combine the two and do the:

7 Useful Things About Me Meme – with a twist!

And here’s the twist – one of these useful things about me is a lie. Guess in comments which one…

1. I can’t sleep if my feet are cold. This is useful if you want me to go to sleep.
2. I have made two teddy bears in my life. Just in case you need one made anytime.
3. I am a fast reader, especially when I like the book. Need something read? Call me.
4. I’m a very good navigator specialising in clear directions. Who needs TomTom? I can even do a BIM accent.
5. I can make an excellent sponge. Afternoon tea anyone? I’m your girl.
6. When it comes to Belbin’s personalities at work – I’m more your resource investigator.
7. Having said that, I love me a good spreadsheet. Excel is my friend.

Okay there you go. Seven useful facts about me… well six facts and one fiction.

Which one is the fiction?

Who is tagged?

And I tag for those of you who are interested…

1. Niki at her new version of Hot Water
2. Hugamuga – my son… very interested in his useful facts!
3. Hazelblackberrry at A Bex and a Good Lie Down
4. Ken Armstrong from Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff
5. M from EasternMax
6. Simone from Simone Van Hattem
7. Karen Cheng from Karen Cheng’s Snippets of Life

Now just to make life a little more interesting one of these blogs is not like the others… can you pick the odd one out?

Thanks to Lightening (and Smokey Mountain Breakdown) for this one.

Here are the really simple rules. Answer each of the five questions. Tag five bloggers you would like to pass the meme to. Have them link back to you and to this post as the source meme.

1. What food do you consider the best “date” food? In other words, what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around?

I think you should always start with classic French food. It’s posh but you know what you’re getting and there are rarely any nasty side effects… well, apart from the garlic… The risks of loving on your first date are enough without the prawn jalfrezi repeating on you when activities below the equator (so to speak) have been initiated.

2. What well-known person would you like to share a meal with—with or without clothing. (saying whether or not clothes are involved is optional).

Mr Darcy, no shirt. Is that really a question??

3. What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls?

Grilled pancetta with crushed roma tomatoes, hand-torn basil on crusty Italian toast. Served with a long black coffee and fresh orange juice, a trashy novel and sans children.

4. What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?

On scones with jam… or pavlova… You are after all asking a 6th generation Australian.

5. Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?

Who took the wine? Own up now! Because I want to share your lifeboat.

You’re it

The Food Pornographer (well… who else?)
Reading Circles
Hot Water
h&b
and James – my Sydney food guide

photo credit: Tiago Macambira

Loz has tagged me for the 7 weird facts about me meme and seeing as it’s Australia Day and it’s way too hot to do anything apart from take my turn on Singstar and sit in air-conditioning I thought I’d give it a go.

Bloody hell this is hard!

1. I always choose the horse when I play Monopoly – and make a point of calling it “lucky horse” the whole game to bring me luck. Sometimes it even works.
2. I have munted little toes which are all curled in. They look as if they could be squashed from wearing pointy toed shoes but it turns out that my dad and daughter have the same toes. A genetic curse. (sorry about the photo – hope it didn’t put you off your peanut m&ms.)
3. My left breast is bigger than my right.
4. I love playing board games and feel disappointed (mostly on the inside) if I go out to a dinner party and don’t get to play pictionary or cards or something after the meal…
5. I love it when I can lend my reading glasses to others.
6. I am a woman and yet I hate going to the hairdresser, having my make-up done, or pedicures (as you can tell) and manicures – it’s all the fussing that irritates me. That being said – I love being massaged.
7. I love eating milo out of the tin. Which is why I don’t buy it.

Other weird facts can be found on my me page.

Now which seven to tag? If you’ve already done it or have been tagged seven times just treat it as some linky love.

Eastern Max
h&b
I drew this
Three Ring Circus – please keep blogging!
Meg
Guera
James – great Aus day photo!

My homework for this week is two memes.

First, Trish tagged me for the Five Post Meme:

1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given below (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like).
2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.
3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments.

I thought – easy peasy – but it was surprisingly not.

Family

I’ve chosen this post about my dad. My dad is a great guy. Warm, loving and caring. But. His management style could be described as “a little gruff”. And he does tend towards short phone calls…

Friend

Okay for this one I’m going to link to the Community Blogger Award. Who would have thought one little gesture to thank the fabulous Meg would have led to me meeting so many lovely bloggy friends.

Yourself

One of my favourite hobbies is playing bridge – in this post I celebrate my latest bridge success. Sadly I haven’t played since… hopefully I’ll get a game in before Christmas.

Your love

As I searched for a post about Groover I realised that what I jokingly say to him is in fact true – “It is all about me”. And hey, it’s my blog so I’m entitled. Of course in reality EVERYTHING is about me… mwah ha ha ha ha.

Anyway I did find a post about a spooky experience Groover had in Karratha and as he is there this week – it seems appropriate…

Anything you like

Well this was hard – where do you start?? So I thought I’d just write “random” in the search engine and see what pops up. This post – about why I don’t have a cat (apart from my husband and sons allergic reactions) was in the list… enjoy!

And then today I was tagged by this meme from Kin:

1. What did you accomplish this past week?
Fixed my blog.
Cleaned out the back room in preparation for houseguest.
Redid the summer roster for work.
Made slice for Year 7 graduation party.
Fixed reticulation.
Banked cheques.
Took back pirate costumes. (I know this is pathetic but I can’t think of much…)
Sang at Christmas concert.

2. Did anything not go as expected?
Well I didn’t expect to break a heel at the pirate party!

3. What was the highlight of your week?
Definitely the concert in Forrest Place, although… the pirate party was great fun too… and working today on Mornings was really fun.

4. Did anything exciting happen that you did not expect?
No, not really.

You’re tagged for either, both or neither meme – it’s your call.

Feline
Veronica
Cate
Lightening
Rimarama

Lovely Lightening passed this on so I thought I’d have a go. Answers in no particular order…

8 Things I Am Passionate About

1. My Family
2. Playing bridge
3. Reading
4. Hanging out with friends
5. Being involved in a community
6. My blog
7. Playing other card/board games
8. Sleeping

8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

1. Grow old (I agree with you Lightening)
2. Play bridge at Verona
3. Travel in a spacecraft… in space
4. Write a book
5. Take singing lessons (and boy do I need them)
6. Play Bach Cello Suite No 1 (this will take some doing as I can’t play the cello)
7. Visit Antartica
8. Have a wardrobe specialist come to my house and sort out my clothes and then get him/her to buy me a complete, tasteful, new set of clothes. Including at least one pair of Jimmy Choos and another by Blahnik. Sigh.

8 Things I Say Often

1. Pick up your clothes/hat/brush/homework/shoes/socks/schoolbag etc
2. I must get my car cleaned!
3. I need to go on a diet.
4. I need to do more exercise.
5. Where are your glasses/is your mobile phone?
6. Has anyone seen my keys?
7. In a minute.
8. I said, I would be there in a minute!

8 Books I’ve Read Recently

1. “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon (currently reading)
2. “Skin and Bone” by Kathryn Fox
3. “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khalid Housseini
4. “Miss Webster and Cherif” by Patricia Duncker
5. “Sweet Obscurity” by Patrick Gale
6. “Those Faraday Girls” by Monica McInerney
7. “Notes from an Exhibition” by Patrick Gale
8. “The Stars’ Tennis Balls” by Stephen Fry

8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

1. Fightback from the musical Keating!
2. The rest of the soundtrack of Keating!
3. Anything by Christine Lavin – and in Summer (this is for you Kelley) Air Conditioner
4. This is Austin by Blake Shelton
5. The Long Way Home by Supertramp
6. So Long and Thanks for all the Fish from the Hitchhikers soundtrack
7. Yellow Fish
8. Another Perfect Day by Butterfly 9

8 Things that Attract Me to My Best Friends

1. Feistiness
2. Loyalty
3. Kindness
4. Ability to make me laugh
5. Sensibleness – especially when I’m not being so
6. Sense of fashion
7. Strength
8. Incredible beauty

8 People Who Should Totally Do This Meme

1. H&B
2. Carol
3. Thirdcat
4. Drew
5. Feline
6. Hot water
7. Gacjezv
8. James

I found this meme surprisingly fun to do. I didn’t think I’d be able to find 8 things for each category, especially the music one – but I did! Hope you enjoy it too.

DonaldHTaylor sent me this meme to do so what the hey I thought and here I go:

The rules:

1. Post these rules before you give your facts.
2. List 8 random facts about yourself.
3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) 8 people and list their names, linking to them.
4. Leave a comment on their blog, letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Now this is effectively a chain letter via blogs but it will allow me to highlight some of my favourite bloggers so if I tag you… I read your blog often and if you choose to participate that’s fine, if not, I’ll still read your blog…

1. I don’t like chain emails that threaten bad luck

2. I do like red manilla folders.

3. I have a packet of crumpets on my desk at work.

4. My new wallet cost $90, but I love it and it holds my mobile phone but not all the crap still in my old wallet.

5. I am not very good at long term projects, except as it turns out, this blog.

6. I’m really annoyed that Sarah didn’t get through to the final 12 of Idol.

7. I have three moles which are currently on 6-month reviews!

8. I buy make-up from supermarkets.

And I love reading Reading Circles, Adelaide Writer, Are Don and Carol Coming?, Individual Chic, James O’Brien, H&B, Hot Water and I Drew This… and many more – see my reading list.

(Oh and random fact number 9. I’m not very good at following rules so I won’t be leaving comments at everyone’s blog that I nominated saying please do this meme… though I probably will leave a comment just because you write great articles and I like you!)

From H&B… this sounds like fun… here’s what you do:

The rules are that you go to Wikipedia and type in your date of birth without the year. From the results of that search, you’re supposed to list two birthdays, three events and one holiday that are of interest.

So here are mine:

BIRTHDAYS

1728 – James Cook, British naval captain and explorer (d. 1779) for the Australian connection.

1939 – John Cleese, British actor and writer because of the Monty Python thing. You know. I love them.

Oh and I’ve got 1958 – Simon Le Bon, English singer (Duran Duran) too…

There are also a couple of great poets… Sylvia Plath and Dylan Thomas but didn’t they come to early ends?

EVENTS

1904 – The first underground New York City Subway line opens; the system becomes biggest in United States of America, and one of the biggest in world.

1936 – Mrs Wallis Simpson filed for divorce which would eventually allow her to marry King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, thus forcing his abdication from the throne.

1997 – Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummets 554.26 points to 7,161.15. For the first time, the New York Stock Exchange activated their “circuit breakers” twice during the day eventually making the controversial move of closing the Exchange early (see October 27, 1997 mini-crash). Which kind of explains my early share trading days…

HOLIDAY

They are all rather naff but I chose – Greece – Flag Day – for no particular reason except that it sounded more colourful than the US’s Navy Day… although I guess they weren’t referring to the colour.

You are officially tagged if you also share a birthday with a member of Duran Duran or if you just want to do it.

Seems to be the season for tags. This one is from Donald H Taylor who writes: “The idea is that you outline your goals, and then tag 5 more people. (You were so good on the last one!).” You see boys, flattery works EVERY time. Yes even with me… actually probably especially with me…

So my goals:

1. Say no more often. (that was a joke)
2. Approach every challenge with a positive attitude.
3. Focus on learning my bridge bidding system, and hey, what the heck, lets throw in signals and discards too.
4. Find a regular bridge partner.
5. Set career goals.

And I’m tagging:

1. Ali from Reading Circles
2. Jamesobrien
3. Miss Andrea
4. Grant from Gacjezv
5. NigelPaine

See you in the round room.

Especially given the yummy pork sausages lined up for tonight’s tea in front of the telly watching Noms.

Then maybe I’ll segue over to Desperate Housewives… and in between I’ll continue reading Lionel Shriver’s new book – The Post-Birthday World – which I’m really enjoying – despite The Guardian.

More when I finish the book…

In the meantime it turns out I’m… “Sekhemet. You are loving and caring, but when need be, you are fierce and protective. You love the color red and you are no vegetarian. Your fierce nature makes you somewhat like a rebel, but you like it that way. Congratulations.”

Isn’t that what we used to say when playing Chasey and you were at *home* or something like that. Yep I’ve been tagged by Miss Fortune. Why do I blog…

Five quick answers:

1. Because its fun
2. Because I feel hip hop and hap’nin and way closer to Gen Y (even though if just in my head).
3. Because I can’t voice opinions in my job
4. Because I love being part of the blogging community that grows around it
5. Because my inner geek (inner?! smirks) needs stroking now and again

So now the power of tagging is with me… who shall I choose… mwah ha ha ha… I think back across the Nullabor to Carol…

Delicious things I like that start with the letter ‘D’ thanks to Pea Soup’s Scrabble Bag… and my apologies for taking my time to get here… D’s HARD!

1. Daughter – my own 10-year-old of course! (Okay that was an easy one)
2. Diamonds, especially when they are surrounded by Hearts, Spades and Clubs in a game of Bridge! (Also easy)
3. Debates – starring NumberOneSon! (Phew!)
4. Dialog with my husband. (grin)
5. Dad & Mum – coz they are great and I include my siblings here as well.
6. Dancing – I’m your girl!
7. Deciduous trees – especially this time of year.
8. Digital radio – the future is coming!
9. Drinking fabulous wine (no comments here Poshi!!)
10. Disco Doris – hey it was my nickname at school and it could have been worse!

D was hard – I couldn’t get reading in there – I thought of writing Dick Francis and all other authors I like but that seemed a bit crappy because while I don’t mind a Dick while on holiday I certainly wouldn’t rate him as my favourite author. Still having said that it was just ten things I liked, not my favourite things… And I didn’t get blogging, or friends or eating delicious food… it goes on…

So are you up for the scrabble challenge? Ali is- and my dear your letter is – wait – Let me get my scrabble set out – your letter is (fanfare!) – F!

If you would like me to dive into my letter bag and set you the scrabble challenge by all means let me know through comments Darlings!

Ali has finished her Book Magazine Book pages and the book has now arrived in Melbourne and is with H&B… watch that space!

Nigel tagged me for the What Do I Do To Keep Fit Meme. Oh yay.

Sadly the short answer is nothing and the result is I’m not fit.

The long answer is for the past 7 days I have – emailed my former personal trainer to ask him what the casual rate at the gym is – didn’t actually go but at least it’s a start – and oh yeah, I went for a walk down to the beach and had a coffee yesterday morning, and then walked back. And I’m wearing a pedometer.

So after that pathetic litany of woe I tag Gacjezv, H&B, James and Copperwitch (Just think of this as support CW!)…

And thank you Nigel – you may have inspired me to get off my big fat lardy arse for once.

I’ve been conducting and writing up appraisals this week. It’s a strange thing to appraise people I consider my peers – probably it’s strange for them too… anyway that is why when I saw From a LAN Downunder’s (cute name huh?) post “progress report on weekly kpi’s” I was kind of inspired to… well… copy the idea. Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery right? It’s either flattery or plagerism. Anyhoo here’s my…

progress report on weekly kpi’s

Watching: Preview tapes of The West Wing - now on at the unfashionable time of 9.30 Saturday night!

Stopped watching: Heroes - because I just can’t be bothered. Likewise The Biggest Loser.

Listening: The Keating! Soundtrack.

Stopped listening to: Ani Difranco Carnegie Hall. But only because I’m now listening to Keating!.

Reading: Holy Cow by Sarah McDonald

Drinking: [Little Creatures Pale Ale - very cold.] A fine suggestion FXH but not tonight – make mine cold and white.

Eating: Anything I don’t have to cook with salad.

Sitting / reclining : On an expensively covered couch (which may or may not have a raw egg under the cushion).

Going to: Veg out somewhere cold.

Looking forward to: Playing in the mixed teams

Loathing: Hot Weather [ditto]

Fearing: Sleeping in after going into work at 11pm tonight for a colleagues on-air function.

Texting: Noone – as I keep leaving my mobile where I am not.

My Book Magazine Book has arrived! It was a little… er… smaller than I thought it would be and so is a little more of a challenge! The photo doesn’t really tell you how small – 6cm x 4cm! Let me know if you’d like me to send it to you once I’m done.

Of course the good thing is that small could also mean less work and it’s a whole heap cheaper to post!

How about this for a fun project? I first heard about Book Magazine Book via Crazybrave’s blog. It’s not the first time I’ve signed up for one of these thangs – remember 1001 recipes? Or was it 101 recipes? I forget. Anyway the book never arrived.

BMB sounds a little more creative…