Gotta have something Supernatural for Halloween...

Jensen Ackles
&
Eye of the Tiger*

* 'twas a prank - they didn't give him the cue to stop at the initial drum solo, so he just went along with it and kept going...!

5 things meme (with pictures!!)

The lovely Ariel has tagged me for a meme. Apparently it's for those of us who are random and weird...
Oh... no. Sorry. It's actually for telling 5 random or weird facts about yourself.


The rules of this meme are:
Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
Share 5 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names, and links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


Right then. These are the facts:


1. I'm someone who needs time on my own more than I need time with other people. I've known lots of people that hate being alone, and some can't even stand silence. I'm content with quiet; it doesn't bother me. Unlike others who say they'd go nuts without company, I think I would go nuts if I never had time alone... which is probably why living on my own suits me so much. I love it!


2. I watch motorbike races; MotoGP.
I have been exposed to a fair bit of motorsport over the years due to various boyfriends, but it's only been the MotoGP that's stuck (I can do without the F1 cars or the V8s).

That I like the GP is probably partly due to Valentino Rossi. He's been the champion rider for years and is very entertaining on and off the track - quite a personality and an exciting rider. (Hmm, this doesn't sound suggestive at all does it?)

Of course last year it was Aussie rider, Casey Stoner, who took the championship off Rossi. So it's been even better to watch.



3. I have a small, private collection of etchings... Would you like to see them?
Sorry. I meant to say: I have a small collection of other people's photos and postcards. They are all decades old and I just find them beautiful and romantic somehow. And a bit mysterious. Have bought them in market stalls and from unusual people at swap meets.

Here are some from the 1920s and 30s. Just click to enlarge them:

Florence postcard, front and back (a few ghosts in this one):


Who are these people? The first one says on the back it is Joe and Peter in 1932.

(Obviously not on a good day...)

These are a bit more picturesque:



And another postcard, front and back:




4. I also love owning old books. I love them all aesthetically most of all, but many for their content too, like Keats' poetry and letters. And the much outdated content of the volumes of 'The Popular Educator':


For example:

"In searching for a record of the process of creation, we naturally turn our attention to that only Book the human library contains which did not emanate from the mind of man. But [in] the Bible... we only find the sacred historian dedicating a few verses to the subject of 'the creation of the world'. Yet we may rest assured that, although the short notice only touches the prominent points, yet every word is true; and the more science has discovered, the more has she proved to be the commentator and unfolder of the great truths contained in those few words.
...Explorers now in every part of the world collect information, and every right-minded man rests assured that in the end Scripture will not be contradicted, but confirmed."

Religious Education, right? No. This is under the heading "Lessons in Geology - I". Yes, 'Educator' indeed.

In case you're interested there are also lessons in Arithmetic, Hydrostatics, Greek, Italian, Latin, German, Geometrical Perspective, Algebra, Botany (eg. Anacardiaceae: 'Flowers ordinarily dicecious by abortion... petals inserted upon a perigynous disc... imbricated in aestivation...' Don't fret people. Spell-check doesn't know what these words mean either.), Readings in French, Lessons in Shorthand, Music, Architecture, Recreative Natural History (where we learn about stages in the metamorphosis of various crabs for example), Historical Sketches, Our Holiday (which includes Athletic Sports, with diagrams: 'Fig. 1 - Running')... I think you get the idea.

There's also Comparative Anatomy, a game boys have always been fond of (after they're shown you their etchings).


5. I lived in the US when I was a kid.

When I came back to a new Australian primary school - after having been well-educated in acquiring a perfect American accent in a US elementary school (only took me 2 weeks) - I found I was a freak. No one had an accent of any kind in this school, possibly not even Kiwi. So at recess I would be in the middle of the school yard with the majority of the student body surrounding me shouting 'Say something! Say something!'.
'Uh, what do you want me to say?'
'Ahahahahahahahaha! Say something else!'
'What?'
'Say rollerskates!'
'Uh... Rollerrrskates'
'Ah-hahahahahahaha!! Say something else!'
and on and on...

Of course, after the above treatment, I tried frantically to get my Aussie accent back - and succeeded, and thankfully stopped getting mobbed.

Oh, but they all decided I was a bit strange and possibly a bit thick as in addition to my freaky way of speaking, I had learnt a different method of long division (of course I was successful at it, but that didn't mean I was allowed to do it that way!) and had never learnt netball (only baseball, softball, indoor hockey... not much use). So me, the American freak.

Many of these kids who continued on to the same high school later could never be convinced I was Australian.

-----

I will now politely tag (ie. don't have to do it if you don't want!) The Blakkat, Mai, Wyn Richards, Davey (cause you're all a bit weird and random... *heh*) and Rosanna (who, of course, is Practically Perfect)!

Sorting my male

Looking through my mail today I found one envelope which had my address but no name on it.

Oh, what are they trying to sell me now, I thought.


I opened it - expecting some disappointment like cheap printer ink cartridges, some new cleaning product or teddy bear address labels - and what did I see but this!
























Woo hoo! I thought. That's more like it! Just what I've been looking for!!


You can imagine how disappointed I was to turn this hunk of man over and read an ad for a new fitness centre in the area.


Shame.


Just when I thought he might be on sale....

...

BadMotor... BetterMotor

I must admit, I was in rather a foul and dark mood yesterday.

And, as I do when in such moods, I pull out ye olde Soundgarden (in this case BadMotorFinger - yes, I am old) and crank it so it feels the drums and bass are playing within my chest cavity and my ears squeal the remainder of the day.

I’m not usually so insulting to my neighbours, but really, you can’t listen to Soundgarden quietly.*

Anyway, Chris Cornell’s vocal emoting is hard to surpass (if only I could be a guy and sing like him! instead of my own soft and timid Tori Amos-type trillings). I must say, however, I do miss the days when he looked like this in vids.

It was of great assistance to my mood to hear Rusty Cage and Slaves & Bulldozers, but let’s face it, Jesus Christ Pose only ever sounds good when you’re driving.

Unfortunately, it was exceedingly more enjoyable in my last car, a sporty little turbo-charged coupe. It's no longer the same in my current (late model, reliable, but very much lacking in personality) sedan.

I have recently been considering going back to something with a bit more style. Some pizzazz.

What I’d really like (but would most likely feel too nauseated by the price to actually go ahead and purchase) is a Nissan 350 Z. Silver with the racing-yellow leather interior and sporty little gearstick. Mmmm.

Or, if I was going to be a good girl and consider the environment – yet maintain a shitload of style – I would go the new Honda SHS.

Oh. Yeah. Baby. Sheez purrty.

To stick with the motor theme, it was actually worth watching some (note: some) of the V8s today. (They’re usually too dull to watch any.) It was wet, and slippery as fack** and they were sliding every which direction. Really, that’s the only car racing worth watching, when there are just as many cars off the track as on; and there’s mud, water and bits of extraordinarily expensive car parts flying everywhere. Without that they’re just the ‘go rounds’ and about as lively as watching golf (or the grass grow… but that’s about the same thing).

Now, what I do watch is MotoGP (which is on tonight). Bikes are exiting cause the guys aren’t sitting inside something and racing, they’re sitting on something (enormously powerful and sexy-sounding) and leaning at very scary angles doing insane speeds. I only watch the GP however, cause the GP has Valentino (Vale) Rossi.

He’s entertaining even when he’s not on the bike.

I also like to keep an eye on our young Aussie boy, Casey Stoner. I feel quite maternal about him. The naughty lad used to have a habit of coming off his bike a bit too often (personally, for me, once would be too often. How his mother must worry!). But now he’s in the GP, and winning cause not only is he rather talented, but this year he’s got an extremely powerful Ducati. Good boy!

UPDATE: Stoner came third, but even better: Chris Vermulen (the other Aussie) came first! Hoorah! He appears to be the nicest guy in GP so this made me very happy. Rossi: at least three errors. (Fack - shall we blame the rain and tyres?)

*Although, when I saw them at the end of a too big Big Day Out they were massively loud. It was so painful I ended up retreating to the back before my organs exploded. And I found I kept on walking. (I stopped feeling a wuss about this when I heard that metal guy from Triple J walked out on them too, same reason - and he'd have toughened metal ears!)

**How MotoGP racer Valentino Rossi (mischievous little Italian boy) says ‘fuck’. Oh, he’s just so cute.