25 Random Things
1. I hate stringy avocados. I have a physical reaction to them. I gag if a bit gets in my mouth. I will throw away an entire avocado if I think that it is likely to be stringy. If they ever decide to genetically engineer a non-stringy avocado I would support it.
2. Have been vego since I was 8. I plan to become vegan in the future when I'm not responsible for feeding children and when I have time in my life to be more careful about what I eat. When I order meals in restaurants I try to choose the vegan option as a kind of mental preparation.
3. I have trouble going to sleep without 'assistance' but I'm working on it.
4. I haven't finished a book in a really long time. We're talking years. After Bert died my neighbours loaned me a copy of 'Marley and Me'. I am planning on seeing the movie so that I can return the book at some point and be a position to make a couple of references to the storyline.
5. I believe in keeping up appearances.
6. I believe that I will grow old alone and am not distressed by that thought at all.
7. I freak out whenever I see dogs locked in cars on hot days. I've never had the guts to break a window or to call the police/rspca but just give me a couple of years (see 9).
8. I haven't smoked a cigarette in 11 years. I hope that I never smoke one ever again. I am convinced that if I ever touched a cigarette again I wouldn't be able to stop.
9. As I get older I can feel myself get more intense. With every year that passes I am more of a feminist, more of a lefty, more of an animal rights advocate. Also more of an insomniac, a more fearful flyer, more anti-smoking etc. Suspect that in my final years I will be one of those crazy old people who sets up their own republic in a paddock in the middle of Tasmania.
10. Haven't tried in a while but I'm pretty sure that I can still recite the original Star Wars movie from start to finish.
11. I the miss the face to face contact with the wonderful collection of friends I have made over the years. If there was a place that I could move where I could be close to all of them I'd be there in a second. I think that's why I hang out on Facebook so frequently - even though I dislike it on so many other levels.
12. I'm finding that I don't really like movies very much anymore - I've been spoiled by long format tv dramas. Movies seem short and superficial in comparison.
13. Having said that, I must confess never watched The West Wing! I know!
14. I've never had a parking ticket or a speeding fine or any points taken from my license. I've been pulled over by the police twice - once for answering my mobile phone while driving and the other time was because the police officer couldn't see my rego sticker (it was obscured by the sun visor).
15. Haven't felt the desire to travel for ages until recently. I would really like to take a big trip one of these days. I regularly fantasise about getting a 3-month Australia Council residency in Paris or Rome!
16. Oh my god. Twenty five things is a LOT.
17. I really love pigeons. You knew that. Umm, did you know that one of my pigeons has laid eggs?
18. I have lived in four different countries - Australia, Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Fiji.
19. When I was at uni I aspired to a career in Disaster Management and Emergency Response. Ha!
20. I have had a semi-popular song written about me - T-shirt Weather by The Lucksmiths. I'm the girl in the pub who doesn't drink beer and is allergic to peanuts.
21. I wish I was as cool as Nancy Botwin.
22. I got quite sick late last year and it actually changed my life. I came away from the experience with a clear sense of my reality, my friends and priorities in life.
23. I have a Bert-shaped hole in my heart. You knew that.
24. I live 1.5 kilometres from the house where I grew up. My mother and aunt live within a 1km radius. My daughter goes to my old school. At times I find this a great comfort. At other times it is a terrible burden.
25. I don't know who put the article called 'The Social Sharing of Emotion as an Interface Between Individual and Collective Processes in the Construction of Emotional Climates' in my pigeonhole at work, but I suspect that they wouldn't be at all surprised that I took the time to actually write these random things down.
