I start from the presumptuous presumption that someone gives a flying darn about that. I also presumed that since the blog address is listed on the Facebook page, my friends would notice it. They don't.
Nevertheless, in random order:
1. I love my husband. Completely, utterly, madly in love with that guy! We are two of a kind. We are known to say the same thing at the same time, or finish each other's sentence, from the very first time we met. We think alike in most respects. We put each other first and God, that feels divine.
I used to think that people who define themselves through their relationships or children are looking for subterfuges to assert themselves, or so weak that they do not know who they are so they identify with common accomplishments in life. I now know that I was young and foolish. A successful relationship and children are not common. OK, maybe children are common, but they still can define the parent (some of them). Which is not always true the other way round.
I did not want to get a kitten, although I had more pets than hubby. He was the one who wanted a grey cat. We've got it. And boy! is Milo a handful... But in a good way. Mostly. :-)
2. I appreciate very much intelligence. For a long time I thought that being smart was the most important thing.
I have come to realise that I was wrong. Being kind is far more important. I am not talking about instances of kindness, I am talking about the deep-in-the-soul-rooted kindness, a defining quality in a human being, which, sadly, is so rare. It is way more common to be mean, even if it is just a reaction to the pettiness, stupidity and evil around us or happening to us. And despite being preached by all religions from the beginning of times, kindness is so often mistaken as simple-mindedness. I do believe that the world would be a far better place if we all were a bit more kind and a bit more polite. Manners are also considered old-fashioned, and they shouldn't.
3. I do not cry at movies. Usually. The only movies I cried at are
- The incredible journey Towards the end, when Shadow falls in the pit, I found myself in need of a Kleenex.
- Romeo + Juliet And no, it was not the plot, I knew how it ended beforehand. Baz Luhrmann is the director I like most, he blends classic with kitsch precisely to my taste. And Leonardo de Caprio IS a good actor, too bad he still has the loom of Titanic hanging over his shoulder. As for Clare Danes, this was the role of her life. I think she raised the bar for all Juliets to an unbelievable height. Rarely can one find a Juliet more youthfully sweet, yet sassy and knowledgeable in the matters of the heart. *
- M.A.S.H. : grant it, it's no movie, but it is a GREAT show, this episode, with the practical joker, makes me laugh every time I watch it (reason for which I watch it quite often); this episode, when Henry dies, never fails to get a sniffed sob out of me. I watched the entire series, I have it all on DVDs, I still cannot watch the last episode, when they all go home and it ends with Hawkeye in the chopper watching down at the beach, where B.J. wrote 'good bye'... (sniff). I am pathetic, really, I grow older and none the stronger.
4. I am in awe before Shakespeare and his genius. I also owe him my proficiency in English. And other life lessons, such as: if you lose, it does not make you a loser (a.k.a. Hamlet), or sometimes, only love is not enough (a.k.a. Romeo and Juliet); or owls are not what they seem (a.k.a. Othello); or don't be foolish, because life is cruel anyway (yes, that would be King Lear).
5. I read Harry Potter several times, and will most certainly do so in the future (as I do with books I like, re- and re-read them over and over). This is how writing should be (in my books, of course) - simple, yet complicated, heart-warming and wonderful. I find myself annoyed how many people disregard this series, considering it 'childish'. It may be addressed to children, but it is too simplistic to discard it this way. The wizarding world is a charming mélange of Arthurian themes, chivalric symbols, fundamental legends and myths, found in various forms in all corners of the world, the books deal with topics like coming of age before one's time and against one's will, death (and fear thereof) and dictatorship (or how to ignore something bad until it becomes unbearable). Whoever fails to see the magic in HP must have a on/off relationship with the child within and the magic that sets off the imagination. I do not hold people who do not like Harry Potter in contempt, I am just sorry for them for missing out on a great adventure and read. There are not so many long books which make you sad to have finished reading them.
6. I like to drive, but I am at my most irritable when driving. I cuss more and heavier than a proper lady should when driving. I also understand how it feels to cross the thin line between normalcy and road rage. The line I hear most often when I am driving is 'But you don't have to get so angry, really now'.
I have a lot of beefs with drivers and driving habits anywhere, e.g. (in no particular order):
- drivers who change lanes without signalling;
- tailgaters;
- drivers who speed up just to close in the gap when they see you signalling to change the lane;
- drivers who speed up, even though the red light is on, only to break with a screech within twice less the advisable distance;
- drives in old, beaten cars who zoom by on the fast lane with 10 km over the speed limit, because it is the only time when they can overtake.
I had two accidents, both of them 5 days apart, neither of them my fault (they both hit me in the rear). The car had to stay for an entire week in the shop to be repaired, because, surprisingly, two accidents do twice the damage, go figure! The boot was shrunk to the extent that the spare tire could no longer be taken out of it. Swell. The first time, the guy that hit me told me he had no idea what to do in case of accident. I believed him, even after the police told me that they chased him and only stopped after they fired their guns. He was stopped at gun point, but that does not mean that he knew the procedure to follow in case of minor accident.
7. I speak several foreign languages, one of them very well (En), some of them well (Fr and Sp), a couple basically (De, It), and I also understand some others, but only in their written form (Pt and Nl). I could be so much better at all of them, had I only the drive to expand my vocabulary and practice more... It's the only thing I am very good at, and which I thought would help me so much in life, and actually it does not, not at the moment or foreseeable future, anyway (in the getting a job perspective, I mean; otherwise, I think of myself quite entertaining in a multicultural milieu).**
8. I am a decent cook, but do not have the patience to whip up amazing, toiled over dishes. I comfort myself thinking that if only I would want to, I could. Until further proof, it shall remain as such. As for food, the only thing that I do not swallow easily is cauliflower, other than that, anything goes. Oh, and I love-love-love red fruits, berries of any kind being my all time favourite.
9. It is not difficult for my feathers to be rubbed up the wrong way (perhaps it is not unwise to read choleric, although that might be a bit of over-stretching). Luckily, those feathers are just figurative. The result of such activity is sometimes, nonetheless, obviously real. I resigned myself to believing that it is part of my hidden je ne sais quoi.
10. I love the roaring 20s. Love the fashion, love the music (up to the 50s, these are the three decades when good music, the kind that smooths your soul, was made on a constant and general basis), love the air and the social conduct and precepts. Nevertheless, I do not regret missing out and being born 5 decades later.
11. I wish I was slimmer. But I can't be bothered to actually do something in this respect. Complacency is the ruling word on this matter. Weight is not something that clouds my mind, although, according to certain voices, it should. But those voices never carry anything to far.
12. I used to smoke. I've smoked for some 13 years or even more. I do not know what I was thinking at the time. I quit this nasty habit 3 years ago. Gained some (heavy) weight. But I honestly think it is a fair trade.
13. I love board and card games. I was a redoubtable canasta player. Hélas, I haven't played in years. This is one respect in which hubby and I are completely complementary. He is unmoved by such endeavours. I still nurture the hope that maybe he was not exposed to the proper environment and is a talent waited to be discovered.
14. I love chocolate and am able to eat industrial quantities. Still, I must specify that only milk chocolate falls into this category. Dark chocolate is admissible only in combination with mint or in case it is the only sort available. White chocolate - don't bother showing up with THAT, I hate the stuff, can't stand it and am able to not touch it at all, even if otherwise I could murder (with a clean conscience, I might add) for sumtin ssweeeet.
15. I am very much into what could broadly be named pop culture or entertainment, i.e. show biz and celebrities populating it, movies, TV shows and series, actors, who was in what, whom were they linked with, when, what the show/media item they were featured in was about, trivia about movies that are hardly useful to understand the movies as such, and some other two pages I could tell you about this topic, only I think I'd better spare you the trouble. But, if you ever go on Who wants to be a millionaire and hit a question about an obscure (to you) name who did something in the movies/TV and still have the option to 'call a friend' - I am the person you want to call. I either know the answer or can get it in the 30 seconds alloted for the call (but frankly, I am pretty sure I know it and do not need to look it up). No kidding. I am very up to date with American (in and out Hollywood), British, I think I may have a say even about the French show biz and pipol.
16. I read. Daily. Books and online texts. I cannot fall asleep if I do not read. I enjoy biographies, 19th century literature (I still wait to be offered the complete Jane Austen books as a birthday present), sci-fi, thrillers, and practically anythings that I hear that mys be a good book, I read it. The only book I could not finish reading was Chuck Palahniuk's Haunted. (I keep postponing to go back to it.)
17. I also enjoy TV series. I am grateful that (finally) the TV producers realised that the concept of 'TV series' can be more than soap operas or 30-minutes sitcoms. I have reserved an entire other post for this topic, I am still working on it. But it is good. Wait till I finish it. You will see then what I mean by Trivial Pursuit overload at point 15.
18. I love Christmas time. The songs, the holiday smell floating in the air, the decorations, the songs (I want to make sure you are paying attention AND emphasize this point at the same time), the red and gold or blue and silver, everything except the commercialness shoved down consumers' throat by merciless profiteers. I agree to small, symbolic gifts, but that is all.
19.I can't think of anything else for the moment. I will come back with a later edit, if case may be.
20. I simply cannot live the list end at point 19. This simply cannot be! Because... I like symmetry, in practically all aspects of life. On my desk, there are things symmetrically placed left/right; when I eat, I like to use 'dosage' so that I can have an equal amount of food of everything until I finish eating (even if that means eating one pea at a time or eat a small fry in three bites); I like to walk inside one of the tiles which make up the pavement at a time, if that is not possible, than I like my foot to step precisely on the joint between the smaller tiles; I like my hair parted in the middle, although it is not the best look I can get, so I usually part it on one side, which has to be approximately the half of the half, that would be the quarter of the skull, and many other examples. It is not a science, it takes only a bit of getting used to, so that things can be done properly. People don't usually notice this about me, and when I mention this, they smile superiorly, thinking I only seek attention, which I am so not, it is only the OCD in me. You down with OCD***/ Yeah, you know me.
* - By the way (in case you did not know, I may brag about it), we are not told how old Romeo is, as for Juliet, she was two weeks short of 14 years of age when her father talked to her marriage with Paris, in the beginning of the play. That did not prevent her saying to Romeo that he kissed "by the book". Really, what books have you been reading, missy?!
That snide remark aside, contrary to the popular belief (namely that, at that time, marrying so young was a custom), actually motherhood before 18 was strongly frowned upon, precisely because it was too soon, and the average marriage age was between 20 and 20. Shakespeare may have on purpose made Juliet so young, but precocious, in order to give the play a sense of ominous inevitability and a "sense of a painful too-soonness" (a phrase I loved and remember since Uni).
** - This is the only thing I am good at, and yet I have huge areas where improvement is needed. This is not the perfectionist in me, it is simply a dimension of my personality which I still have to develop. Soon. -er better than later. Because it is really pathetic to say that the only thing you are good at is only half-way to its potential exploited. Ok, I will start tomorrow. Better on Monday. Or on the 1st of the month, when I also start exercising. Yep, 'atz a plan.
*** - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is currently classified as an anxiety disorder marked by the recurrence of intrusive or disturbing thoughts, impulses, images or ideas (obsessions) accompanied by repeated attempts to suppress these thoughts through the performance of certain irrational and ritualistic behaviours or mental acts (compulsions).
OCD should not be confused with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder even though the two disorders have similar names. Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder is not characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions; rather, it is a lifelong pattern of insistence on control, orderliness, and perfection that begins no later than the early adult years. It is possible, however, for a person to have both disorders. Read more: http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Obsessive-compulsive-disorder.html#ixzz0QjpXVQYY
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