1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
That I really don't like my most recent haircut. It's only subtly different from the last one, but the difference is in a not-favourable direction.
2. Favorite planet?
Venus - I get a thrill out of seeing a bright panet in the sky.
3. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
I don't have a mobile phone. If I did, the missed call would undoubtedly be from co-parent, who does have a mobile phone and likes to use it, often.
4. What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
I don't have a mobile phone. If I did, I'd have something classical. I can't stand it when people's phones go off (especially at work when they're away from their desk) and it's some garish pop song.
5. Do you “label” yourself?
I don't like to any more. I've done labels to death. I lived through the political 70s and 80s when label-nuances were everything - they could determine who you lived with and who you had sex with. And being a lesbian means having a big permanent label which you have to constantly deal with, which is very tedious.
On the other hand, I would never stop labelling myself a feminist.
6. What does your watch look like?
I currently wear a Swatch which has pink and orange pussycats on the band and something like an sword in a starry sky on the face - I can't work out what it is and it makes the time hard to read because it looks like duplicate hands. I do have a proper watch (silver metal) but the battery ran out months ago and I haven't managed to get it replaced and now I can't remember where I put that watch...
7. What were you doing at midnight last night?
I was asleep, sharing the bed with one adult, one child and one cat.
8. What did the last text message you received on your cell say?
I don't have a mobile phone and thus have never received a single text message. Strange but true.
9. What's a word that you say a lot?
Hard to say. Probably the names of my two people and two dogs. Which is four different words. One word I say a lot to all four of them in combination with other words is "darling".
10. Last furry thing you touched?
The cat who was sitting on top of me when I woke up this morning.
11. Favourite age you have been so far?
Well, purely in terms of looks, I enjoyed everything between 26 and 42. In terms of fun and excitement, 30, 32, 35 and 44 were excellent years among a great many excellent years. In terms of state of mind, ages 27 and 34 were enjoyable but things are definitely better now than ever before.
12. Your worst enemy?
Do I have any personal enemies? [insert moment of thinking this over] I don't think so. There are a couple of people on the fringes of my life who irritate me but I have no dominating bete noirs at this point, which is a relief. And I can't see who would think of me as an enemy. So that one has to have a political answer, which is [insert moment to consider whether Howard is worse than Ruddock is worse than...] John Howard. I loathe him.
13. What is your current desktop picture?
A photo I took of a banksia and some gumnuts on last summer's beach holiday. I get a nice feeling whenever I look at it, which is many times a day. It brings back the exact flavour of the house we stayed in, the hot days and the wonderful sense of timelessness.
14. What was the last thing you said to someone?
"Can you bring her down?" (to co-parent, asking her to bring the 13 year old dog downstairs to be put out for a wee.)
15. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?
Show me the money. No question about it, I'd take the million and run.
16. Do you like someone?
In the romantic sense? Other than the someone I live with? I'm afraid not. (I'd quite like to have a little infatuation running, but I don't.)
17. The last song you listened to?
Beethoven's piano sonatas. But maybe that doesn't count as a song. I think the CD before that was something by kd lang. And then there was Olle playing 'Jingle Bells' on the piano.
18. What time of day were you born?
I'm not sure. It's not on my birth certificate (co-parent's time of birth is, but she wasn't born in this country.) Both my parents are dead so I'm unable to ask anyone. I think my mother told me when I was a teenager that I was born at 7.30pm, but that could be a false memory, based on my favourite number.
19. What's your favorite number?
Seven. And two.
20. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
I wrote a letter inside a card to a friend in London who'd been diagnosed with ovarian cancer a couple of months ago. The last letter I wrote on paper was to another friend who's had lymphoma and with whom I'd been out of touch - she lives in the same city as me and I could just have rung her, but instead I wrote a long letter, mostly about life events but some of it about our friendship and how much she means to me. I enjoyed writing it. I used to write real letters regularly but of course email has usurped those now.
21. Can you change the oil on a car?
I can put oil in after testing the level - I'm not sure if that's the same as changing it. I generally try and have as little to do with car engines as I can.
22. Your first love: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
That she had died.
23. How far back do you know about your ancestry?
I've heard that a 15 year old 'seamstress' called Brigid arrived on a boat from Ireland in about 1848. I think she or one of her offspring ended up married to a paternal great-grandfather (possibly great-great, not sure). On my maternal side, there is a mysterious Jewish great-grandmother who apparently had a family of four children before abandoning them, remarrying and having four more children including my grandmother. Then there is the Polish great-grandfather who escaped Russian persecuation of Catholics by coming to Australia. Another great-grandfather apparently had a very strong Mancunian accent.
24. The last time you dressed fancy, what did you wear and why did you dress fancy?
I rarely 'dress fancy'. Very rarely. Can't remember the last time.
25. Does anything hurt on your body right now?
Not really. My right arm/wrist are a bit sore from overuse of the computer mouse as I spent the past two days at work and also did an exam (writing, not typing).
26. Have you been burned by love?
I've never been left by someone I loved. I'm afraid I'm the one who did the leaving in the relationship before this one, so my ex-lover would probably answer yes to this question.
27. How much cash do you have on you?
About $30. I had $100 at the start of the day but went to a bookshop and bought four books.
28. What's a word that rhymes with “DOOR?”
Four. Floor. Dior. Roar. (Is this some kind of Rorsach test?)
29. What shirt are you wearing?
An olive green thin wool (it's an abnormally cold day here) Robin-Hood style jerkin (that's what it reminds me of) made by Blue Illusion, a Melbourne company whose clothes I like (they have a shop in Sydney but I bought this in Melbourne.)
30. Name the brand of your shoes you're currently wearing?
Birkenstock. Actually, I think they are one of the sub-brands but I can't see them on this site, however, I bought them at the Birkenstock shop.
31. Bright or dark room?
What does this question mean? All our rooms at home are on the bright side in that the walls are painted white. And I like that.
32. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
I first saw this survey on Dawn's site and although I've never met her, I like Dawn, who I've known in the e sense for about six years - we were on a small email list together.
I've also read Elsewhere's answers - I have met Elsewhere, only too briefly, and think highly of her.
33. Where did you live in 1987?
In a squat in Brixton in south London with a Greek lesbian called Nina. Here's a picture of us at the back door in 1987 or 88. Or early 89. I don't know why I was wearing white socks. I think I must have just washed my hair. (Those two observations are not connected).
34. Are you jealous of anyone?
Jealous as opposed to envious? Not really. Envy, yes, in small doses. I'm envious of women who have more than one child. I'm also envious of some people's professional positions. But I wouldn't say it's a dominant emotion.
35. Is anyone jealous of you?
Not that I'm aware of ... actually, I think a friend who distanced herself from me after I had a baby may have been.
36. Where is your nearest 7-11?
I think there's one about five minutes walk from here.
37. Who told you he/she loved you last?
Probably co-parent, possibly my son.
38. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?
No drugs at all. I don't do drugs any more, haven't for a long time.
39. How many rolls of film do you need developed?
None. I no longer use a film camera.
40. Where were you when 9/11 happened?
Asleep in bed. It was 11pm or so on a Tuesday night here when it happened in the US. I'm perpetually glad that I didn't stay up late and have the tv on the night it happened, otherwise it would have been hard to sleep at all that night. As it was, the moment I so much as stirred at about six on the Wednesday morning, co-p, who'd been listening to the radio through her earphones, told me about the attacks.
41. Do you consider yourself kind?
Not particularly.
42. If you had to get a tattoo, where would it be?
On a shoulderblade, I suppose - mostly out of sight but occasionally able to be revelaed.
43. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?
French. I'm halfway there so can imagine being fluent in it.
44. Would you move for the person you loved?
No I wouldn't. Although she moved countries for me.
45. What's your life motto?
To live in such a way as to have no regrets. (If I were fluent in French I'd cleverly translate that, but since I'm not, I'll have to stick with "Je ne regrette rien" which isn't the same thing.)
46. What's your favourite town/city?
London. I have a very ambivalent relationship to Sydney. I have a very ambivalent relationship to London's weather, but apart from that I love the city itself more and more.
47. What do you do when vending machines steal your money?
Swear a lot.
I rarely use vending machines so it's more likely to be parking ticket machines which eat my money without giving me a ticket.
48. Are you touchy feely?
No. That's a defnite no.
49. Name three things that you have on you at all times?
These days it's my reading glasses. Usually my sunglasses too. Keys and wallet. That's four. I nearly always have a plastic bag for picking up dog poo as well.
50. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?
The books I bought today, followed rapidly by lunch, which was a falafel roll. (95% of the time I take my lunch to work but didn't today due to the unusual cold weather which threw out my morning routine - I wasn't sure if I'd be able to ride my bike to work so would have to leave earlier than usual to catch the bus and had to iron clothes. In the end the rain cleared and I did ride.)
Susoz -- interesting answers there! I particularly liked the photo of the back of the terrace house -- so reminiscent of the terrace I lived in in Manchester, 1990, for some reason.
Posted by: elsewhere | Friday, November 17, 2006 at 10:53 AM
I like the photo too. The white socks are good. You've posted a photo of that cat before, I think.
Posted by: Laura | Friday, November 17, 2006 at 01:15 PM
Ah Laura, you have an eagle cat-eye. Yes, she travelled to Oz with me a few years later and is the one (one of the ones) buried in the house that just got sold.
Posted by: susoz | Friday, November 17, 2006 at 01:23 PM
Oh i so know the label thang. But you can't change your engine oil? Oi, oi, oi.
Posted by: Bernice | Friday, November 17, 2006 at 07:59 PM