Skip to main content

Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits.


A couple of likely lads hanging about causing trouble. Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston. February 2012.

Another Thursday another (belated) Q and A stolen from Sunday Stealing. This week is apt, the The Not My Year Meme!

1. Are you in a job that you truly enjoy?
There are elements of my job that I find interesting, but on the whole, no, I am not in a job that I 'truly enjoy'.

2. If you could do any job in the world what would it be?
To be paid to simply follow my own oblique areas of interest would be nice. As fluctuating as they may be.

3. If you could be a character in a novel who would you be?
There are times that I feel like Capt. John Joseph Yossarian, but I'd much rather be First Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder.

4. When it comes to spending time with those you love, do you think it should be about quality or quantity?
A bit of both. Just being yourself is what you should be striving for.

5. Is there a job/career you wanted but realized you couldn’t possibly do for one reason or another?
I would have liked to excel in a sport: centre half back in an Essendon Premiership team or opening the bat for Tasmania (and Australia), but it really wasn't going to happen.

6. If you could live anywhere in the world or out of this world where would you live?
Somewhere nice, by the sea. Warm enough to have a dip, and close enough to have a superb Internet connection.

7. Where would you most like to visit and who with?
I would like to tour around eastern Europe with Jen and the boys. That would be fun.

8. Which skill would you like to learn?
Forbearance.

9. What made you laugh today?
Ezra's impression of Khrushchev during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly was very funny.

10. What are you looking forward to tomorrow?
Knocking off work and heading home.

11. What is your sign and do you believe in horoscopes etc?
Taurus. I don't put any stock in it. Cripes, it reckons that I am hard-headed and stubborn!

12. If you could change one thing about your life thus far, what would it be?
I would probably like to go back and be a little more assertive in my decision-making in the teenage years.

13. If there was one charity you could give a huge contribution to, which charity would it be and why?
The Village Enterprise Fund provide grants (as opposed to loans) directly to extremely poor individuals living in the developing world. It stands out for its clear targeting of extremely poor clients (and data collection to ensure that the targeting is working), addressing a key concern about cash grants.

14. Should smoking be legal?
It should be discouraged in every possible way. Legal? It's a bit hard to get that genie back into the bottle, unfortunately...

15. What are your views on the smoking ban in public places?
There should be more of it! If you want to continue sucking on a known carcinogen, good luck to you (although me might need to talk about the burden you're putting on our health system), but don't expect me to be happy about "your right" to pollute my or my children's air...

16. Why do you blog?
It gives one something to do with the time.

17. Do you have a favorite author?
I have many. George Orwell and Graham Greene stand out. I like many writers though, and try not to limit myself to a few.

18. Can you play any musical instruments?
I can play a few things very, very badly.

19. What would your ideal car be?
One that drove all by itself?

20. Describe yourself in one short sentence.
I fall down a lot.

21. What do you look for in a spouse/other half?
Feistiness.

22. Worst meal you’ve had?
There have been a few. I had a hamburger in the railway station in Venezia that had clearly been frozen and tossed in a microwave (bun and all). €4! I ended up tossing half of it in the bin. Thankfully the overnight sleeper to Wien had a couple of pears left in it…

23. What do you do to relax in the evening?
Surf.

The Internet, that is.

24. Do you get along with your siblings?
I don’t have a huge amount to do with my brother. Not through ill will or anything, it’s just that he lives up the other end of the state.

25. Do you have any regrets?
Of course. You can’t have lived at all if you don’t have regrets. I don’t lay awake at night with them though.

Comments

Roddy said…
Are they jumping on the cover because it makes noise, or are they waiting for some giant jack in the box to jump out at them?

Popular posts from this blog

If you want to be loved, be lovable.

Henry admires the view.

Ah, Joe, you never knew the whole of it...

I still have the robot on the job. Here you can see the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery . And here is a poem: Soliloquy for One Dead Bruce Dawe Ah, no, Joe, you never knew the whole of it, the whistling which is only the wind in the chimney's smoking belly, the footsteps on the muddy path that are always somebody else's. I think of your limbs down there, softly becoming mineral, the life of grasses, and the old love of you thrusts the tears up into my eyes, with the family aware and looking everywhere else. Sometimes when summer is over the land, when the heat quickens the deaf timbers, and birds are thick in the plumbs again, my heart sickens, Joe, calling for the water of your voice and the gone agony of your nearness. I try hard to forget, saying: If God wills, it must be so, because of His goodness, because- but the grasshopper memory leaps in the long thicket, knowing no ease. Ah, Joe, you never knew the whole of it... I like Bruce Dawe. He just my be my favourite Austral

Zeal, n. A certain nervous disorder afflicting the young and inexperienced. A passion that goeth before a sprawl.

Here I have tried my hand at the homemade sepia-toned photo. I wasn’t happy with the way that the sun had washed out some of the colours in the original, so had a bit of a fiddle because I like the look on Henry’s face, and didn’t want to pass on posting it. I have a tip for those of you burdened with the great, unceasing weight of parenthood. I have a new recipe, in the vein of the quick microwaved chocolate cake . Get this, microwaved potato chips . I gave them a run on Sunday, Henry liked the so much I did it again last night. Tonight, I shall be experimenting with sweet potato. I think that the ground is open for me to exploit opportunities in the swede, turnip, carrot and maybe even explore in the area of pumpkins. Radical, I know. I’m a boundary-pusher by nature. It's pretty simple, take the potato. Slice it thinly (it doesn't have to be too thin, but thin enough). Lay the slices on the microwave plate, whack a bit of salt over the top and nuke the buggers for five minut