Guera Parkinson presents....

About a month ago I put my hand up to be interviewed for a meme by the wonderful Guera.

Here 'tis...

1. What's the most outrageous thing you've ever done?

The most outrageous thing I’ve ever done has been to pack up and leave Australia on my own without a plan. I had a vague idea of heading west to east around the world, but other than that, I was open to universal intervention and whim.

That trip ended up lasting about 4 years longer than initially planned, and brought more riches into my life (friendships, experiences) than I could have imagined. It also brought drama and some horrendous experiences, but even those are experiences that I’m glad I’ve had, and that I’ve learned and grown from.

2. I know you've lived in and visited some amazing places around the globe. If you could travel anywhere in the world (and money was no object) where would you go and why?

My answer to this one changes daily. The problem with having lived in so many places is that I have developed such close friendships with people who live so far away from me. Most days I’d make my choice depending upon the friend that I’m missing the most.

I have an incredibly soft spot for Scotland. In particular, the north-east coast. It might be because of a genetic disposition towards my ancestor’s homeland. It might be because one of my closest friends lives in Glasgow. But I suspect it’s because I am deeply moved by dramatic, changing and unpopulated scenery. I truly feel at peace there.

I also love the south of Italy. Love love love it! I would LOVE to take my boys on a road trip along the Mediterranean Sea from Italy to France, in an open-top car. I would need a ginormous amount of money to that, however! There’s something very frivolous about that part of Europe (in my humble opinion!). I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s not a place I would like to live, and it’s far too crowded for an extended holiday, but a road trip is the perfect way to observe and enjoy from a distance.

3. They’re turning the story of your life into movie. What’s the title and the genre?

This is the hardest question for me of all of them! The genre is definitely Drama. No doubt about that. I don’t feel clever enough or objective enough to make up a title, but if I had to brainstorm one, I’d probably start with “Waiting to climb off the Merry-Go-Round” or something similar. Not clever or zippy enough, but it expresses how I feel.

4. How has blogging changed you?

I was discussing this in a round-about way this morning, with my Glaswegian friend mentioned above. I’m actually not very comfortable sharing my feelings with others irl (in real life) and although I have many friends, I have very few with whom I allow myself to truly feel vulnerable. I'm good at talking about myself quite honestly in terms of retrospective experiences, but when I'm in the middle of things and most needing support, those closest to me are used to hearing me say “I just can’t talk about it right now” and sometimes that “right now” lasts for ever.

Which means that blogging has had an incredibly positive influence on my ability to cope with the drama that life throws my way. I am more comfortably vulnerable in this environment than I am in any other. In other words, I am learning to accept support comfortably.

Perhaps it’s to do with why I chose to become a psychotherapist. I’m much more comfortable listening to and supporting others than I am allowing someone to listen to and support me. And yet here, on my blog, I cherish every supportive commenter and every lurker...

5. What is the worst and best jobs you've ever had?

Worst job was selling advertising space for an Art and Antiques Magazine in London. I am SO not a salesperson!

Best job.... motherhood. That was easy. If you’re going to push it and ask me for my best paid job, I’d have to say it’s my work as a psychotherapist. Being paid to help and support others without revealing anything of myself is about as perfect as it gets for me (see question 4!).

Now, if you’d like to be interviewed by me, here’s what you need to do:

• Send me an email or a comment saying: “Interview Me”
• I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. You can then answer the questions on your blog.
• You should also post these rules along with an offer to interview anyone else who emails you or comments that they want to be interviewed.

I can't promise that I'll be able to think up scintillating questions, but I'll give it a shot.

I've been tagged!!!....

Thanks to the lovely Wikke, I've been tagged to post a photo of the contents of my handbag. Uggh.

I am extremely lucky in that I changed my handbag over on Sunday, and so this one hasn't had much time to gather all of the gunk that I usually haul around.



So, in no particular order, my handbag contains a black pashmina, my business cards (all identifying features blocked out!), headache tablets, hand cream, lipstick, hair clips, keys, spare battery for my DSL camera, spare SD card for my point and shoot camera, my point & shoot camera (in the Crumple bag), mints, headphones, nail file, pen, tissues, wallet, supermarket receipt, copy of my affidavit, hair comb, old theatre ticket, name tag from the emcee'ing job..... AND the thing that most people probably would not know that I always carry in my bag.... two dowsing pendulums (for when you can't choose which bottle of wine to buy!)

I'm kidding, of course. I've also been known to use them to choose between butter and margarine (in Holland with Wikke!) and which brand of coffee to buy!

I'm intentionally making light of a subject that I actually treat quite seriously. Toto is also into dowsing, and has his own pendulum. I have absolutely no idea how or why they work as well they do, but they have never let me down. It's all about energy and intuition... two subjects that I believe in but don't fully understand. And I kind of love it that I let it into my life without having to understand it to the nth degree (unlike many other things in my life).

I tag.... ummmm.......

Guera, M, Ali and Dina.

But you've got to play by the rules. No cheating and hiding the embarrassing stuff!

Sixth & Sixth...

A few days ago, the wonderful Guera from A Roaming Aussie Mum tagged me for a photo meme.

The idea is that you go to your Flickr account (or equivalent) and find the sixth photo on the sixth page. And then (as Guera did) you go to your photo folders on your own computer and find the sixth photo in the sixth folder.

So, here goes...

The sixth photo on the sixth page of my Flickr account is this one, of Boo in our local Chinese restaurant...


... and the sixth photo in the sixth folder in my Pictures directory on my computer is this one of me trying to hide behind my hair ...

And now, of course, I'm going to tag six people!

Fairlie at Around the Traps and Before Our Time

Lara at DiscoKnitter

Ali at Callapipper Tree

Tracey at Just Another Mommy Blog (thankyou for being my shiny-newest-commenter!)

Le at Third On The Right

Shirley at Rhubarbwhine

.... for being the most recent people to give me blog-love!

My first Meme....

because I've never been tagged for one and I can't sleep...

Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Blonde
~Dyed or Natural: Streaked
~Curly or Straight: Oh so curly
Right or Left-handed: Right
Tan or Pale: Tan
Jeans or Khakis: Khakis
Country, Rap or Rock: Rock and Country (only if it's Dixie Chicks)
Heritage: Scottish
Shoes you're wearing today: Woollen slippers from Canada
Your weakness(es): Beer, spicy food, not always tidying my room, my children
Your perfect pizza: home made.... with anchovies
Favourite colour: Green
Favourite place: the Scottish Highlands / Paris / Sydney
Goal you'd most like to achieve: Raising happy children
Your most overused phrase(s): What's up, bunny rabbit?
Your thoughts on first waking up: Oh bugger. Can't I sleep longer?
Your best physical feature(s): Hair.... and maybe eyes....
Your bedtime: midnight
Your most missed memory: being in love
Pepsi or Coke: NEITHER (Wikke drinks enough for me too)
McDonalds or Burger King: Is this a trick question? So NEITHER (again)
Single or group dates: Eeew.  Neither.  Again.  (ick).  Except maybe as described below...
Adidas or Nike: Adidas
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Neither. Hot tea in a cup. Twinings Irish Breakfast Tea as you're asking. Stat.
Chocolate or Vanilla: Chocolate
Cappuccino or coffee: Espresso or Skim Flat White please. Stat.

DO YOU:
Smoke: No, but I still miss it sometimes.
Cuss: What kind of a stupid ****ing question is that? 

Have a boyfriend/girlfriend: Yes, lots. Oh, no.... not that type.
Take a shower: Duh.... yeah (sniff....) YEAH!

Have a crush(es): Nope. Unless my kids count.
Think you've been in love: Yes
Want to get married: Been there, done that, kept the pressies, don't need to do it again.
Believe in yourself: YES
Believe in God: No
Believe in your government: In a finger-crossing born-optimist kind of way, yes.
Get motion sickness: Only when men are driving (and before feelings get hurt here.... not ALL men.  Just most.  You know who you are.)
Think you're attractive: Yep. Thank God.
Think you're a health freak: Nope. Thank God.  But I have been known to go overboard with exercise. 
Get along with your parents: Yes. Live with them even. (that's a whole 'nother blog right there!)
Like thunderstorms: Yes. But only in the last 5 years or so.

IN THE PAST MONTH, HAVE YOU:

Drunk alcohol: God Yes. (you're asking me like it's a BAD thing...)
Gone on a date: God No.
Gone to the Mall: God help me Yes (F's birthday shopping)
Been on stage: No (and I'm missing it!)
Eaten an entire box of Oreos: (this is SO American!) No. But I've eaten an entire bag of pistachio nuts!!
Eaten sushi: No (because it's the middle of winter here and I need warm food)
Been dumped: No
Gone skating: No
Gone skinny dipping: Ummm... see above comment re: winter
Stolen anything: Yes. Well, no actually, but I figure the more interesting people will have answered yes to this one.

HAVE YOU EVER:

Played a game that required removal of clothing: Oh yes.
Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Oh yes
Been caught "doing something": Yes. Recently.
Been called a tease: Never. Not to my face, anyway.
Gotten beaten up: Yes.
Age you hope to be married: 300, 400 around then..
Number of children you'd like: You mean I'm meant to LIKE them?
Describe your dream wedding: Deeply sleeping. No dreams here. Not wedding ones, anyway.
What do you want to be when you grow up: Happy. And Loud. And extremely embarrassing.

WHAT YOU LIKE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX: (this should be interesting!)

Best eye colour: Eyes would be good
Best hair colour: Hair? Oh yeah. Grey.
Short or Long hair: Hair? At my age shouldn't this read.... "Bald or with hair:"??
Height: The shorter the better. Makes me feel like a movie star on the arm of a rich producer (which ties in with the bald obsession too)
Best first date location: Bed
Best first kiss location: Paris. In bed. Ummm.... maybe I should re-think these answers.

IN THE NUMBERS:
Number of people I could trust with my life: 11

Number of CD's: No idea, but number of tracks in my iTunes library is 9000+
Number of piercings: 4
Number of tattoos: None (sorry Joey..... I'm still a chicken)
Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper: A few times. My big claim to fame was being in the SMH's "Two Of Us" in the Good Weekend. In 2002. July. Good luck finding THAT one!!
Number of scars on my body: Loads. None as big as the scars on my heart.

Oh..... if you're reading this and you have a blog..... consider yourself tagged.

(thanks to Pea Soup for this one)