personal political

friday night laptop in bed meme

taken from Suse in the soup

Eye Colour: green
Hair Colour: my reflex is to say 'very dark brown' but in fact it's now grey/white
Dyed or Natural: undyed
Curly or Straight: curly
Right or Left-handed: Right
Tan or Pale: a bit of both, because one parent was olive skinned and the other was floridly pale
Jeans or Khakis: both, occasionally but not regularly
Country, Rap, or Rock: of those three, I'd opt for women's country
Heritage: Polish, Irish, English, Jewish
Shoes you're wearing today: black slip-on shoes from Birkenstocks (one of those Birkenstock sub-brands)
Your weakness(es): Currently, playing word games on Facebook. Chocolate.
Your perfect pizza: Napoletana.
Favourite colour: I don't like insipid pinks and am not particularly fond of yellow. Other than that, I like most of them.
Favourite place: My locality in inner Sydney.
Goal you'd like to achieve: Being able to run again without getting a sore knee.
Your most overused phrase(s): I don't overuse any phrases, that I'm aware of.
Your thoughts on first waking up: what time is it?
Your best physical feature(s): My hair, shoulders and fingernails.
Your bedtime: Usually 10.30-11pm.  In my early 30s, I remember hearing the 1am news on the radio most nights.
Your most missed memory: I assume this means someone I most miss? My mother and my dear friend Catherine.
Pepsi or Coke: Neither. I've probably only had about five glasses of this substance in my entire life (not counting the rum and coke phase in my late teens.)
McDonald's or Burger King: Neither, I'm a vegetarian. Don't think I've ever set foot in a BK. I've been in McDs with other people and eaten their chips.
Single or group dates: Don't date.
Adidas or Nike: My current trainers are Nikes, surprisingly.
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Yuck.
Chocolate or vanilla: vanilla as a flavour, chocolate as a food in itself.
Cappuccino or coffee: I've never drunk coffee.

DO YOU:
Smoke: No
Cuss: Usually only when driving.
Have a boyfriend/girlfriend: Yes.
Take a shower: Every night before bed.
Have a crush(es):  Not currently, though I wouldn't mind having one.
Think you've been in love: definitely
Want to get married: absolutely not
Believe in yourself: Yes
Believe in God: No
Believe in your government: I wouldn't use the term 'believe in' about any government. I don't mean that cynically.
Get motion sickness: If I read or look at a map in a moving car.
Think you're attractive: Much less now than I used to be.
Think you're a health freak: Semi.
Get along with your parents: They're both dead and when they were alive it was more complicated than that.
Like thunderstorms: I don't mind them. I enjoy some.

IN THE PAST MONTH, HAVE YOU:
Drunk alcohol: Yes
Gone on a date: No
Gone to the mall: No
Been on stage: No
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No (needless to say, this is a very American quiz).
Eaten sushi: I don't think so. I'm not a huge sushi fan.
Been dumped: No
Gone skating: No, but I did take my son skating.
Gone skinny dipping: Haven't done that for quite a few years.
Stolen anything: No.

HAVE YOU EVER:
Played a game that required removal of clothing: No.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Yes. I wish I hadn't been. I once fell off my bike into some snow simply from being drunk.
Been caught "doing something": Doing what?
Been called a tease: No.
Gotten beaten up: Not even close.
Age you hope to be married: Never.
Number of children you'd like: At least two.
Describe your dream wedding: I have no such dream.
What do you want to be when you grow up: I don't know yet.

WHAT YOU LIKE IN THE same or OPPOSITE SEX:
Best eye colour?: brown
Best hair colour?:  dark
Short or long hair: above shoulders. I don't like very long hair on women or men.
Height: not too short
Best first date location: restaurants, cocktail parties, parties - somewhere with other people
Best first kiss location: outside the restaurant, party, nightclub - after the first kiss, you decide to go home together.

IN THE NUMBERS:
Number of people I could trust with my life: I'm trying to imagine a 'trust with my life situation' and failing ...
Number of CDs: Not very many at all.  About 40 in total.
Number of piercings: Just one. I've been meaning to have the other ear done for years.
Number of tattoos: None
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: I don't know about newspapers - a few times, maybe. I have about four pages on Google.
Number of scars on my body:  Laparaotomy/caesarian, laparoscopy, various cuts and childhood falls, that's about it.

busy

My life doesn't often get busy in ways that take me outside my usual routine (though the usual routine is pretty busy), but this week has been flat out in the kind of way that means I've barely a few minutes to glance at email each day. (That's the litmus test for busyness in my life, as I'm sure all you other computer-users will relate to.) (I live with someone who barely ever goes on a computer, so I'm aware that having some of my mind in virtual reality is a particular type of reality.)

stuff

Long time no blog, etc, etc.

two dinner parties

We live in the municipality with one of the highest (if not the highest) average incomes in Australia.

dear reader...

Thanks for still reading my blog even though I hardly ever post and my posts are a bit distracted.

Actually, I've been away for a short holiday in Adelaide, or more accurately for most of the time, in the Adelaide Hills.

party pic

I was looking for pictures of my friend and don't seem to have any scanned in to the computer, but I did come across one which was taken to 'advertise' our party - it's me pretending to throw myself onto a knife out a window. There's so much talk in the media these days about the prevalence  of suicide, but back then (late 70s) it appears that we could more innocently make fun of it...

someone i used to know...

...committed suicide last year. I only found out this week, which shows how  completely out of touch we were. In fact I last saw her over 10 years ago. But in the 70s and early 80s, we were good friends. Such good friends that we spent a month travelling in New Guinea together and a month travelling through Indonesia. We lived in three different households together. When I think about her, I can easily bring to mind her voice, her wry smile, her hair, the little laugh as she spoke, the determined way in which she walked across a room, the busyness as she cooked ... I knew her very well, then.

reno rage

I've heard that having renovations done is hell and now I can vouch for that first-hand. And not a tool has even been switched on yet. In fact, the builders haven't even been chosen. And that's the problem.

sigh of relief

A For Sale sign has gone up on the nearby house whose dog barks with loneliness day in, day out.

(Though I suppose there's no relief in sight for the dog.)

(And I guess there could be an even worse occupants in store for us, but let's cross that neighbourhood bridge if we come to it.)

a call

Tonight I had a telephone call from a friend which began, "I have some bad news".