| 100 in 1000 |
- Spend a week up a mountain learning to ski
- Visit Karoline's place in Moravia
Hold a conversation in Czech (only)- Drink 500ml of each of the following beers:
PilsnerStaroprammen- Budvar
- Velke Popovice
- U Fleku
GambrinusKrusovice
Respond to at least one GOARN request (WHO and MSF are
also acceptable)Travel across the AtlanticReturn to South America- Read a book to, or with, an impressionably aged child
- Participate in one NanoWriMo Challenge and come within at least 10,000 words of the goal length
Have my nose pierced- Have my next tattoo drawn
Purchase the perfect jeans (x 2 pairs)- Attend a spin class 3 times a week for 8 consecutive weeks
- Bake Viv's cheesecake
Make David's casserole Make David's Chicken Cashew-nut StirfryInvite 4 people who don't know one another too well to dinner- Ride from Vienna to Venice on a motorbike (pillion acceptable, those less desirable)
- Attend a book group for at least two books
- Go on a choir weekend (learn and perform difficult piece in two/three days)
- Visit Madame Tussaud's (in London)
- Take an architecture appreciation course
Join an all-girl group and sing a soloPublish in a scientific journal (top two authors)Cook a duck or other 'waterfowl'. Locate the Al-Timimi's from Doha Veterinary PractiseHave a pedicureMaintain a Brazilian (ouch) for three months.Find a trustworthy Czech hairdresser- Treat my inner-6-year-old twice a week (at least)
- Do the liver-cleansing diet properly (12 weeks)
- Don't eat out for one month
Find a flat and flatmate- Purchase one Joseph sweater
- Purchase one of the following pairs of
designer shoes (they MUST also be COMFORTABLE, and be able to be worn with 4
different outfits and 2 types of occasion): Jimmy Choos, Manolo Blahniks,
Christian Louboutin (Ebay or 2nd hand are acceptable)
- Send 5 books to the booksphere and track them.
- Go hanggliding
- Read 10 'classic' books (from 1001 Books to Read before you Die)
Moll FlandersEverything is illuminatedMadam BovaryZen & the Art of Motorcycle MaintainanceCatch-22OdysseusOn the Road
- Run (non-stop!) for 5kms outside (preferably in a street race thingy)
- Send Christmas Cards on time
Make a collage/mural out of street lights on my wallBuy a bed, build it, and sleep soundly in itGo to AfricaHost an 'event' (classified as and when)Organise a 30th Birthday PartyWear a costume- Sing on stage
- Buy a painting that evokes memories of Prague (cannot involve queues!)
Learn a god-damned card game that stays in my memory (other than fish/snap)See sunrise. Be sober. Have woken for it. Excludes months Nov-Mar- Take a walk and flip coins at each intersection
Win something- Draft a will
- Take a roadtrip
Go to Italy already- Sea Kayak around Abel Tasman Park (NZ)
Get plantsTake a train to another Eastern European Destination (accession countries are acceptable) alone preferably.- Get UK to give me a provisional motorcyclists license and simultaneously get a 'card' license.
- Go SCUBA diving again - at least two dives lasting 30mins each.
Go to a dentist. *sigh*- Do a Czech Wine Trail. And live to tell the tale
- Make an 'outbreak emergency kit'.
- Go to bed prior to 11pm every night (inc weekends) for four consecutive weeks.
- Marvel over lack of tiredness
- Dine at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant (or Nobu)- preferably for free.
Bet on the nags- Do something for charity (applying and getting a 'red card' will count)
- Walk along the Champs Elysee
- Do 100 sit ups in a row
- Do 50 pressups (arms in tight)
- Make branston pickle (or nearest substitute)
- Cook something 'new' and 'adventurous' at least once a month
Find a mentorBe a mentorLearn what mentoring is all aboutMeet an online person in real lifeResist the flirt. Once. Just one night. It's okay if people don't immediately succumb to my natural charm. Really it is.Spend time at a spa (spa towns in the CR don't count)- Send a care package to someone
Get a Tata Bojs CD- Take a French/German/Dutch course and SPEAK THE DAMNED LANGUAGE WHEN I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY EVEN THOUGH IT MAKES ME SOUND
LIKE AN IDIOT!
- Order new contact lenses.
Make a list of things I take with me when I pack for different occasions- Eat lobster. Prepared by someone else.
Back up the blogPut everything onto an external hard drive- Find a DDR mat and console and 'dance, I say dance!'�
- Go to the beach and lie on the warm sand. For an hour. (with sunscreen on, natch)
- Take and complete a course in either: Tango, Salsa or Flamenco
- Join the Municipal Library of Prague
- Move to another country
Go to a live concert of a band I actually like- Pay off debts (student loan excl.)
Send thank you cards for every gift I receive (other than the gift of happiness, blah blah blah).- Get an agent (literary or theatre)
- Go to a sports bar without cringing, by personal choice
- Ride a rollercoaster
- Hold a snake
Spend a day wandering around a museum (not art gallery!) |
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| Can one preserve oneself whilst still alive? |
| Sunday 23 October 2005 |
Okay, so that was dumb. I was up so late on Friday that by Saturday evening I was shattered, and all I’d done was make a giant batch of cauliflower and spinach soup (seriously, it was good too…once I’d added blue cheese to it!) which today looks absolutely revolting!
I was supposed to go to one of the singers flatwarming parties, but because my flatmate was ill and didn’t want to be too far from home, we went to the neighbouring pub (which just happens to be a gay bar, literally, next door to our building) for a few drinks instead. Met Pavel and Martin (working the bar), Martin spoke brilliant English (having taught himself by watching MTV at an early age), is very cheeky and assures me that his wit is even better in Czech, so told me to get myself a Czech boyfriend (hmm, he picked me for straight quite quickly then…) who doesn’t speak English (er, hello…how does one go about arranging that?) and voila, I’ll be able to understand his sense of humour even better.
Just like that.
Also met Ron and Ján, who’d been together for 11 years. Ján works at the big television station here (does everyone I’m meeting now seem to be in the same field or what?) and has decided he’ll také me on a tour of the Czech big brother house, where we’ll be standing behind the mirrors while they’re inside being recorded. Marketa (flatmate), Stepan (a lovely Czech guy with incredibly light green eyes (think Dune, then exchange green for blue) and the most pore-less skin you’ve ever seen (think this is a genetic trait from these parts, I’ve noticed it on many people)) and I are off to their apartment for a BBQ on Thursday this week. Met Kristoff, a swedish florist who works for 6months in Stockholm and then spends the remaining 6 months of the year running a few flats in Prague. And a whole BUNCH of people (including two straight couples) since it was Olga’s (who works in the kitchen there) 36th birthday.
Honestly, I know this is being culturally insensitive…but who calls a kid Olga?! Of course, the first thing I hear when I say my name is Naomi is “Naomi Campbell”… and I’m fairly certain that between leaving my flat and arriving wherever I meet these people, I do not turn into a black american 7’ tall woman with legs to her armpits and a salary to salivate over. (admittedly, the divaesque tendencies DO go with the name) If I do metamorphose, could someone perhaps inform me next time, so I can go straight to a bank and make several large cash withdrawals (and have a tantrum, I’ve always wanted to cause a scene in a bank but am too scared of the undercounter buttons and the ensuing men with guns!)?
Anyway, by about 9:30 I was almost ready to call it a night. But the party had only just begun. So I ate my weight in corn chips (nice, healthy dinner again…looks like that promise-to-self is working so far huh Lisa?) and continued drinking the ‘flowers’ that were regularly replenished (it’s a seabreeze made with raspberry instead of cranberry, jammed into an oversized shot glass so it still has room for a double shot of vodka!) between glasses of Moravian red. By the time the bar closed (midnight) I was drinking my vodka straight (yep, dumb huh?) and not even bothering with a chaser.
Then the crowd of 16 (desset šest (shest) I think) took cabs to deepest darkest Prague 4 (at a cost of $10) to a club called Mecca. According to Stepan, the only straight man in the bar (the reference to Little Britain was somewhat lost on the Czech), Mecca used to be THE hottest place to be in town. It was empty at 12:45, but we were straight up to the VIP area to meet Larry. Reason being, half the lads were modelling clothes for the second hand shop which is just next to Erra (are you keeping up?) on my street. So, I met Regina, hung out with Stepan and Mala Petr (little Peter, so called because he too works at Erra, but the owners name is also Petr, and they needed to distinguish – how unfortunate!) and learnt what various bits of clothing are called. The only one I can vaguely remember this morning is kazočka (kazotchka) which is ‘high-heeled boot’. Typical.
And the fashion show began. I know, insane huh? One week I’m on a fabulous yacht off some island in Spain, then a fortnight later I’m backstage at a fashion show in Prague! Sounds far more glamorous than either escapade was, but gosh it’s fun to imagine what my memories (embellished with time) will be in a few years.
That’s if I survive the vodka long enough to be able to ‘look back’ on anything! These Czechs sure know how to drink. When I was at the supermarket yesterday, I saw one guy buying milk, bread, sausage meat, cabbage, cheese and FIVE BOTTLES OF VODKA! He didn’t even look haggard…but if that was a weeks groceries, I’d really hate to see his liver right about now!
So yeah, finished the night with a few vodka redbulls (nothing like a bit of red bull to put you to sleep) and a shared taxi back to town. Wandered past the Vltava in the early morning, and it’s a beautiful river to hear (couldn’t see much at that time of day). Karlov Most (Charles’ Bridge) was probably still full of tourists, so I continued to give that a wide berth.
Got dropped off at my door by Stepan, and have arranged to catch up with him for coffee this afternoon. Of course, I still haven’t found anywhere that MAKES a good coffee, so perhaps I’ll have to stick to vodka….
The mastercard summary?Drinks in one bar: €3Taxi across town: €5Drinks in club inc. vodka redbull: €7Meeting a potential hairdresser? Priceless |
posted by Nomes @ Sunday, October 23, 2005   |
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