| 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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| Wednesday 21 December 2005 |
I’ve been looking at ways of maintaining a blog while I’m not in the CR. I don’t REALLY want to lug the computer all around Europe in the next 10 days, so despite suffering intense pre-separation anxiety from my počítač I’m going to see if I can audio/mobile/email blog. But while looking up all of these as possibilities, I found a ‘meme of the day’ site. One of them has ‘Wednesday questions’ which are not unlike the book of questions questions. Consequently, I had to pick one (at random) and answer the series. Don’t worry folks, I won’t do this too often, only on days where nothing of any interest at all has happened (getting one’s tax number does not count as ‘interesting’).
1. Where are your forefathers from? Ever been to those countries?
So, when people ask me where I’m from, I’m usually at a loss as to how to respond. In fact, Paolo broke it down to ‘where do which bits of you come from?’ which was useful, as I was able to say; my academic bits spring from England, my social, diplomacy and caring disposition from Qatar and my cynicism from New Zealand.
But really, I’m a composite material. My Indian grandmother absconded with her French/Portuguese hubby and moved to England when she was in her 20’s. Her daughter (my Mum) then met an Austrian/English lad and had me. Somewhere in there is another pinch of “English” and a dash of Mauritian – but I’m not entirely sure when they were added to the mix.
So have I been to the countries from whither my forefathers came? Do airports count? I’ve been to Mumbai airport. I’ve been to Salzburg (for the day). I’ve been to England (well, duh), and I’ve gotten horribly lost in Paris as an 11year old. So that means I’ve yet to discover Mauritius and Portuguese. I hear they have port over there…maybe the great Lira/Nis/Nomes roadtrip could make a quick stop….?
2. Are you related to any famous people? Any kings or queens in your family tree?
Does being famous oneself count? Probably not – and besides which, I’m not sure whether the fame and notoriety enjoyed in one’s own living room (which in my case, also doubles as my bedroom/kitchen/shower) is quite what they had in mind for this question. Apparently, one of my great great great great (?) grandfather’s holed up his entire village in a northern city in India – due to a smallpox outbreak. He prevented it’s spread to the neighbouring population or some such.
So I guess the occupation runs in the family.
As for kings and queens, of course not. Not, unless, you count ourselves as kings and queens of our own destinies and the likes. Which seems a bit farfetched for memeoftheday.
3. Think about the first person in your family to come to this country from somewhere else. If you could ask that person anything, what would you ask them?
Bwwahahahaha! I AM the first person in my family to come here. How's the weather outside? What are the distances and time differences between you in Prague and friends and family around the world? (Wellington: 18197kms +12hrs, Brisbane: 15706kms +9hrs, London: 1035kms -1hr, Montreal: 6193kms -6hrs, Abu Dhabi: 4450kms +3hrs and Doha: 4198kms +2hrs - for those playing at home)
What's one thing you want to do before the year ends?
Finish buying Christmas presents and tell people how much I really do love them (all together now, “aawwww”).
According to the cookingtohookup book, I am a ‘progressive girl’. Given I had to choose between uptown, party, gourmet and academic (I gave ‘girl next door’ a flick) I think it’s approximately correct. Not bad. Of course, I am SOO gosh-darned middle of the road (on average, rest assured, I’m still swerving terribly) that they weren’t able to suggest a ‘menu’ for my ‘nonexistant pursuant’ to prepare for me (should he get me as far as to his house) but a club sandwich always goes down well. So to speak. Of course, the closer one can get to the ex-Falcon Club recipe, the more likely you are to win my heart.
There is something I’d like to research though (finally, I found a PhD topic, only 6 years too late). How do people perceived different colours?* So I’ve also finally figured out a way to answer this question. First of all, I need to sit people down from all over the world (I figure there may be cultural/ethical differences in perception) with giant paintpots. They’ll get taught to mix colours. Then I want to say the word: “red” to them. And see what they come up with (probably one of the primary colours I give them to start with!). Then the word “maroon” and so on (I mean, what’s the actual difference between maroon and burgundy?) until I build up a personal spectrum for each individual. Then I’ll measure the ACTUAL colour reflecting from their painted daubs, and quantify how differently they perceive or understand colours.**
*of course, this is not taking into effect things like optical illusions as demonstrated very succinctly (if a little freakily) here!
**furthermore, to see if there are physiological differences that impact upon the perception of colour, I'll need for everyone to sign a consent form allowing me to take either an eye biopsy (not sure this is possible, I'll just take the eyeball entire instead) or collect their eyes at death. though if the perception of colour is affected by time, then we've got a bit of a problem...and what if the time influence is hormone-related, not time-related at all. ARGH! All of a sudden, I DON'T think the NIH are gonna fund this! :)
Cool huh?
Oh, and because my internet explorations know no bounds, here’s the robot version of me. I am networked. I am engineered for sabotage. Could this be the perfect caper? Or is it more a dill pickle?
 width="240" height="180"
alt="Networked Operational Machine Engineered for Sabotage"
border="0" /> |
posted by Nomes @ Wednesday, December 21, 2005   |
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