...Or should I say, ever chased a young and sprightly bunny which you are temporarily babysitting and so cannot afford to lose whilst the lawnmower man is attempting to get in the gate to your back yard?
Ever grabbed said cute, fluffy bundle from beneath a prickly Black Boy only to have it kick and scratch its way out of your arms in a haze of floating bits of fur? Then, standing to chase after it, soundly cracking your cranium against a branch as you dazedly wave to the gent at the gate and ineffectively point in the direction of the disappearing bunny...
Eventually giving in and just ensuring the bundle of joy does not escape each time the lawnmower man comes in and out the gate with one noisy bit of masculine machinery after another... (Also having warned the manicuring gent not to trim the outer garment of your newly acquired pet which is, by the way, nowhere to be found.)
When the lawnmower man has finally left in a rattling, green blur have you returned to the yard to see said bunny out of hiding and happily relaxing in the garden as if there has been no fuss whatsoever? Dragging your nerves inside and, although it's quite uncharacteristic and you've yet to have lunch, hastily break the seal on a six pack of 'Cowboy' shots, wrench one out and shakily throw it's heavenly, soothing milky and alcoholic contents down your throat?
No?
Well, you know... just wondering...
Said fluffy bundle eating flowers off young seedlings:
Bunny hiding under Black Boy and cranial injuring culprit above:
With the ubiquity of this meme at the moment it is no surprise that I've been tagged twice. By The (ever so delightful) Man at the Pub and the always charming Ariel. I believe this means if I want to do 16 answers at any stage I am not only allowed to but actually encouraged to do so.
So here's the meme - with minor adjustments (rebel that I am).
Eight things I'm passionate about: Nature (birds, animals, flora, oceans, rivers, clouds, sunsets, moon, etc... you get the picture)
Ideas and epiphanies
Thinking and creating
Laughing and relaxing
Health and wellbeing
Words and reading
Learning
Time alone
Eight things I want to do before I die:
Complete this meme
Lots more travelling
Find (and maybe even hang onto) a soul mate
Read more
Create more
Be happier with myself and life
Live in the countryside
Live in different places in the world
Eight things I say often:
hi hey thanks what's up (and no, not like in 'wassup' combined with some kind of funky ghetto gesticulation) okay oops bizarre wow
(And yes, this can actually entail an entire conversation....)
Eight books I've read recently:
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (thanks Davey) (recommended)
A Simone de Beauviour biography
Something like An Interview with Marilyn: about private talks with her by some guy with the name Weatherbee or something (sorry but I threw it away after, as I wanted to lighten the moving load - helped quite a bit, being a small, lightweight paperback and all...)
Political Ideologies
The Voice of Knowledge by Miguel Ruiz
The Shark Net by Robert Drewe
A couple of books by Kathy Reichs which were recently loaned to me but they're not particularly good (that show Bones is loosely based on them, and her; not particularly good either... although that David guy from Angel is easy on the eyes...)
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (also recommended)
Eight (16 actually) songs I could listen to over and over:
Beauty Queen; also Leather - Tori Amos
Had a Dad - Jane's Addiction (best at full volume)
All or Nothing at All - originally by Sinatra I think but I like Vince Jone's version (although I seem to have lost the cd), [he sung A Song for You live on Kate Ceberano & Friends years ago and it brought me to tears - swoon-worthy stuff]
Change (in the house of flies) - Deftones
Seasons- Chris Cornell... "sleeping with a full moon blanket, seven feathers for my head" "...could you crawl into my world and take me worlds away" Really beautiful and just makes you want to pick up an acoustic and strum away by a campfire or something (no, not like Kum By Ya!)
Pretty much everything off Reading Writing & Arithmetic - The Sundays
Drown- Smashing Pumpkins so hypnotic and romantic... yes, all eight minutes and seventeen seconds of it, including a minute or two of the best feedback you'll ever hear! (ignore the amateur images in this vid. I'm just glad I found one with the original song on it.)
On the Bound - Fiona Apple dark funky sounds and her growling "you're all I need..."
Extraordinary Machine, so beautifully old fashioned yet unique, "be kind to me, or treat me mean, I'll make the most of it I'm an extraordinary machine"; also with exquisitely old fashioned sounds and lyrics is Waltz (better than fine) - both Fiona Apple "If you don't have a date, Celebrate, Go out and sit on the lawn and do nothing, 'Cause it's just what you must do and Nobody does it anymore..."
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley... could be the White Pages, he'd still make me swoon
Down Boy - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (also the theatrics of Rockers to Swallow... she's a bomb that girl)
Let Me Drown - Soundgarden
Burn - The Cure from The Crow soundtrack. This song really has one of my favourite intro's.
Eight albums that trigger memories:
You know how some periods and experiences in your life seem to have a soundtrack? Well, I thought I'd add this section to the meme because while thinking of songs for the above I realised I like a lot of albums partly due to the memories they evoke. Plus, I shall be interested to read other bloggers' answers to this too.
The Lion and the Cobra - Sinead O'Connor. Recalls both happy times and dark. Loved Jackie.
Reading Writing and Arithmetic - The Sundays. How can you have sad memories with this album? Sweet, sweet, sweet.
Singles (soundtrack) - various. Two of the songs above (Chris Cornell & Pumpkins) are from this album. I never saw the movie, which apparently is crap, but recall my friends absolutely desperate for the album to come out in 1992 - and rightly so too. All the tunes on it by Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam (two of their best), Soundgarden and the above choices are well worn on my CD.
The Real Thing - Faith No More. Well, memories... but hazy. Perhaps just more of a general 'vibe' for this one... [UPDATE: Have just recalled that this cassette and The Church's Of Skins and Hearts were accidentally daubed in multi-colours of paint... also recalled that I had to ask "Am I crying?" quite often as my cheeks felt wet... Does this clarify at all?]
Gish - Smashing Pumpkins. Evokes the same period as Singles. Not that I have the album anymore as it was a copy on cassette. Must purchase it though as I loved their early stuff (Siamese Dream was also played to death).
Mezcal Head - Swervedriver. Also distorted recall here...
Lost Souls - Doves. Were a few make-out sessions to this one (actually, *ahem* to a few of these albums, but I don't, you know, want to be repetitive or anything).
The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses. Dark and hazy memories here. The album saw me through some melancholy days (actually months). Bloody awesome album though. Another one I should find again (where do these lost CDs go to? The Land of Odd Socks??).
Eight movies I've watched close to eight times:
Well, the first couple would be easily eight times (I was very young and obviously less easily bored) but the latter ones only a few viewings.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Know most of the dialogue to this one. ie. "Wake up and smell the coffee Mrs Bueller. It's a fools paradise out there. He is just leading you down the primrose path..."
Dogs in Space - Watched this one to feed my perving habit re Michael Hutchence. It also had the added benefit of discouraging me from trying smack... or adrenalin. I even have the album on vinyl (how else would I be able to impress other bloggers with my knowledge of the band Thrush and the C*nts?). Healthy (or unhealthy...!) dialogue recall for this one too: "That's not a girl. I've seen girls before, and they don't look like that!" Oh, and it introduced me to fairy toast... and 'a dog named Laika'.
The first two of The Bourne Trilogy (I don't own them or anything but seem to have watched them an awful lot and never tire of them - I do own Franke Potente's other flick, Run Lola Run however... hmm, that's completely irrelevant isn't it. Oh well.)
Breakfast at Tiffany's... Charade... Roman Holiday... (yes, I've liked Audrey Hepburn since a wee lass - will also watch most of Kate Hepburn's flicks - not that they're related or anything... oh dear, irrelevant again)
Kill Bill I & II. Mostly the first one but have seen the second a few times too.
Finding Nemo. I saw it twice at the movies and have probably seen it once or twice since. Such a cheering film. "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."
Note: Could have added Flashdance from numerous viewings in my youth, but I only watched the dance scenes over and over... fortunately the dialogue didn't do it for me.
Devolving: Noticed today that my nail polish perfectly matches my rubies. Impressive eh? I figure now all I need is a sugar daddy.*
Cognitive leitmotifs: For some reason the phrase raison d'etre keeps popping into my head. For about a year now I have had the phrase give me a reason pop into my head too... Guess I'm sticking to the theme but changing the languages. I suppose next will be motivo vivere...? Musical rivalries: The butcherbirds seem to be in vocal competition with the mudlarks in my garden. Butcherbirds have a pretty full-on call but mudlarks are rather shrill so it's hard to say who's winning. They're both wearing the same team colours so I don't think it's too serious.
Swinger: Only a butcherbird seems to have discovered the sunflower seeds so far. He or she picks through them (a vego phase?) and then happily sits in the centre of the feeder hanging from the tree. Not really what I had in mind but it's progress nonetheless.
Passionate plantings: Have planted some nice shrubs and moved some young Bird of Paradise plants to a more suitable locale. Seedlings I've planted so far are pale lilac petunias, berry coloured verbena and some double white impatiens to brighten up the shady spots. Am happily planning where the herb garden will go and was ecstatic to recently discover a beautiful mint-scented shrub with purple blooms. I nearly cuddled it with joy but Bunnings was kind of busy at the time.
Next: Am feeling more excited about the coming year than I have in a long time. Perhaps the guy at the pub, who said he was a gypsy and read my palm, was right. New things are on the way. Of course I told him that could be true for anyone. He later asked me to come back to his place for dinner and 'a video'. I declined and later wondered: what kind of 'video'...
*Yes, this revelation did involve much rolling of the eyes.
Broadband finally, finally connected. 512/128k. Yet, although an improvement, it don't seem much faster than dial up! Guess I'll have to wait for Rudd to get his 'bringing Oz into the 21st century' broadband thang happening.
Also have been suffering with no dial up as they terminated it earlier than I asked (obviously setting a date was too complex for them - and so you know, I did this so I wouldn't have to call them again). I said to the helpful person on the other end of the line (after yet again waiting half an hour for a live human) you are very nice but I hope I don't have to deal with your company ever again. And just to think, they're not even Telstra! *shudders*
So you want goss on the new digs eh? Well. It's on a quieter street* *yay* but has noisier neighbours, who are a bit on the odd side, *boo*.
The highlights are shiny new jarrah floors and a large and gorgeous kitchen. A good size for any place but mine is on the small side so it's quite luxurious.
Two lovely outdoor areas, and I again have a fair bit of birdlife around me - although they're still finding the new baths and feeders, you can't imagine how excited I was when I finally saw a wattlebird having an enthusiastic bathe the other day! And the gardens have established trees and some climbers and balgas ('black boys' for the politically incorrect (would that be Howard?)). But the beds still have a lot of room which I'm quite happy about and am making a list and checking it twice... Sorry, the ubiquitous Christmas Carols seem to have affected me. My point is I'm loving thinking about the garden and all the plants I'm going to put in, including what's going to go in the herb garden. Generally I'm planning on some cottage-type plants as well as some natives like Grevillea for the birds. Oh, and I've some rose bushes which has been nice for filling the house with floral abundance. It's been a while since I had roses, or even my own garden to create. Happy happy joy joy. (Anyone else get happy about such things?)
Oh, and joy of joys I have a bath again! This was particularly useful yesterday: I got home all hot and sweaty and plonked myself into a icy cold bath. As I closed my eyes in shock and soon bliss I sensed a sizzling and a hiss of steam. And it's only the start of summer! But don't fret pets: I have air con. Can't live without that! I'm a delicate bloom you know.
* A street in which people, unless walking a canine, curiously tend to carry bags an awful lot, including suitcases. (And no, I'm nowhere near an airport.) ---
PS - Can't go without saying YAY! We have a female PM today!!
a) During J Howard's speech his Mrs was telling him what to say and do (as usual). Apparently it all went sour because of his arrogance and because he stopped listening to his advisors and payed attention to Janette re career advice. Which is fair enough really. Not like his job was important or anything. Not like it was going to affect anyone else in their own careers or anything (I actually felt sorry for Costello, yes, I admit it).
b) During K Rudd's speech noted that his Mrs was looking at him with love and respect. Could read her feelings clearly on her face. Was quite lovely to see.
Also. I got quite emotional when J Gillard made her own little speech that evening. Yes, I was teary. But our first female deputy PM! I would say 'woo hoo!' but really, 'it's about bloody time' seems more appropriate.
And the next morning I awoke with a smile on my face and a song playing in my head: "Let's Hear it for the Boy". Quite irritating, but understandable I suppose...
New Home: Only housewarming gift I've received so far is a packet of Petunia seeds in the mail from BigPond. Am considering actually using them but only if I can manage to look at the furture blooms without thinking of bloody Telstra (wankers).
My Box: (The one that's plugged in that is.*) Surprised myself with swooning over the ABC's (BBC's) Jane Eyre. I believe there was only one or two moments in which I rolled my eyes (as is my usual fashion with romances). Is this what happens when you are single for a year? You become all soppy and daydreamy? Or can I blame the dashing Toby Stephens?
You know, it was driving me nuts for a while trying to figure out who he was reminding me of. I tried to assume it was just some Hugh Grant mannerisms, but the niggle wouldn't leave me.
And, thankfully my brain only came through for me on this once the program had finished... as it was the foppish LaurenceLlewelyn-Bowen, BBC's interior design specialist.
I like to think if Vivien Leigh ever had a blog she would have used a picture of me.
(Hey. Welcome to my world. I have many more delusions to reveal...)
...Or should I say, ever chased a young and sprightly bunny which you are temporarily babysitting and so cannot afford to lose whilst the lawnmower man is attempting to get in the gate to your back yard?
