The Adventure Continues...

Rants, raves and random observations from an itinerant epidemiologist.

  
100 in 1000
  1. Spend a week up a mountain learning to ski
  2. Visit Karoline's place in Moravia
  3. Hold a conversation in Czech (only)
  4. Drink 500ml of each of the following beers:
    1. Pilsner
    2. Staroprammen
    3. Budvar
    4. Velke Popovice
    5. U Fleku
    6. Gambrinus
    7. Krusovice
  5. Respond to at least one GOARN request (WHO and MSF are also acceptable)
  6. Travel across the Atlantic
  7. Return to South America
  8. Read a book to, or with, an impressionably aged child
  9. Participate in one NanoWriMo Challenge and come within at least 10,000 words of the goal length
  10. Have my nose pierced
  11. Have my next tattoo drawn
  12. Purchase the perfect jeans (x 2 pairs)
  13. Attend a spin class 3 times a week for 8 consecutive weeks
  14. Bake Viv's cheesecake
  15. Make David's casserole
  16. Make David's Chicken Cashew-nut Stirfry
  17. Invite 4 people who don't know one another too well to dinner
  18. Ride from Vienna to Venice on a motorbike (pillion acceptable, those less desirable)
  19. Attend a book group for at least two books
  20. Go on a choir weekend (learn and perform difficult piece in two/three days)
  21. Visit Madame Tussaud's (in London)
  22. Take an architecture appreciation course
  23. Join an all-girl group and sing a solo
  24. Publish in a scientific journal (top two authors)
  25. Cook a duck or other 'waterfowl'.
  26. Locate the Al-Timimi's from Doha Veterinary Practise
  27. Have a pedicure
  28. Maintain a Brazilian (ouch) for three months.
  29. Find a trustworthy Czech hairdresser
  30. Treat my inner-6-year-old twice a week (at least)
  31. Do the liver-cleansing diet properly (12 weeks)
  32. Don't eat out for one month
  33. Find a flat and flatmate
  34. Purchase one Joseph sweater
  35. 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)
  36. Send 5 books to the booksphere and track them.
  37. Go hanggliding
  38. Read 10 'classic' books (from 1001 Books to Read before you Die)
    1. Moll Flanders
    2. Everything is illuminated
    3. Madam Bovary
    4. Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance
    5. Catch-22
    6. Odysseus
    7. On the Road
  1. Run (non-stop!) for 5kms outside (preferably in a street race thingy)
  2. Send Christmas Cards on time
  3. Make a collage/mural out of street lights on my wall
  4. Buy a bed, build it, and sleep soundly in it
  5. Go to Africa
  6. Host an 'event' (classified as and when)
  7. Organise a 30th Birthday Party
  8. Wear a costume
  9. Sing on stage
  10. Buy a painting that evokes memories of Prague (cannot involve queues!)
  11. Learn a god-damned card game that stays in my memory (other than fish/snap)
  12. See sunrise. Be sober. Have woken for it. Excludes months Nov-Mar
  13. Take a walk and flip coins at each intersection
  14. Win something
  15. Draft a will
  16. Take a roadtrip
  17. Go to Italy already
  18. Sea Kayak around Abel Tasman Park (NZ)
  19. Get plants
  20. Take a train to another Eastern European Destination (accession countries are acceptable) alone preferably.
  21. Get UK to give me a provisional motorcyclists license and simultaneously get a 'card' license.
  22. Go SCUBA diving again - at least two dives lasting 30mins each.
  23. Go to a dentist. *sigh*
  24. Do a Czech Wine Trail. And live to tell the tale
  25. Make an 'outbreak emergency kit'.
  26. Go to bed prior to 11pm every night (inc weekends) for four consecutive weeks.
  27. Marvel over lack of tiredness
  28. Dine at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant (or Nobu)- preferably for free.
  29. Bet on the nags
  30. Do something for charity (applying and getting a 'red card' will count)
  31. Walk along the Champs Elysee
  32. Do 100 sit ups in a row
  33. Do 50 pressups (arms in tight)
  34. Make branston pickle (or nearest substitute)
  35. Cook something 'new' and 'adventurous' at least once a month
  36. Find a mentor
  37. Be a mentor
  38. Learn what mentoring is all about
  39. Meet an online person in real life
  40. Resist the flirt. Once. Just one night. It's okay if people don't immediately succumb to my natural charm. Really it is.
  41. Spend time at a spa (spa towns in the CR don't count)
  42. Send a care package to someone
  43. Get a Tata Bojs CD
  44. 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!
  45. Order new contact lenses.
  46. Make a list of things I take with me when I pack for different occasions
  47. Eat lobster. Prepared by someone else.
  48. Back up the blog
  49. Put everything onto an external hard drive
  50. Find a DDR mat and console and 'dance, I say dance!'�
  51. Go to the beach and lie on the warm sand. For an hour. (with sunscreen on, natch)
  52. Take and complete a course in either: Tango, Salsa or Flamenco
  53. Join the Municipal Library of Prague
  54. Move to another country
  55. Go to a live concert of a band I actually like
  56. Pay off debts (student loan excl.)
  57. Send thank you cards for every gift I receive (other than the gift of happiness, blah blah blah).
  58. Get an agent (literary or theatre)
  59. Go to a sports bar without cringing, by personal choice
  60. Ride a rollercoaster
  61. Hold a snake
  62. Spend a day wandering around a museum (not art gallery!)
Happiness previously unexperienced
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
There’s been a lot of e-mail traffic heading to Prague recently, all of it along the lines of “when will you blog the birthday?”. Especially for some, I think, “you were there, you don’t need me to recap, surely?”, but apparently, my ‘take’ of the events is necessary. I feel like one of those ‘social columnists’ for Hello!

Not that I mind, though, not a whit.

Monday 7th May to Monday 14th May was officially the HAPPIEST WEEK OF MY LIFE! I haven’t laughed so much, for so long, or at such a variety of things – ever*.

According to Julie Andrews, the beginning is a very good place to start:

Monday 7th. Card-shark Monday.
Collected keys for apartments. Went to supermarket, made Butter Chicken. Won money from flatmates in poker. Took winnings out following a 5-min booty call to go out and meet a mate. Had a few raspberry-vodka-lime-brown-sugar shots (aren’t they just THE tastiest things in the world?) and met The Most Amazing Man Ever on the dance floor. Took a major spill (due to a bloody 'flower-bed' outside Le Clan) and twisted my ankle pretty badly. Off to a good start. Home at about 8:30am.

Tuesday 8th. Duvet-Tuesday.
BRILLIANT way to spend a day prior to the festivities. Laughed a LOT. Slept some. SHOULD have done laundry, and shopped for pizza toppings/mixers for Friday night’s party. Didn’t. DID order pizza (in Czech) at 12:30am…ate two slices and promptly went to sleep.

Wednesday 9th. Arrival Day.
Slept in. Brunch with TMAME. Met Lisa at apartments. Andreas and Emma followed soon after and joined us at Coffee & Cigars where we polished off a few bottles of Jacob’s Creek Cuvee. TMAME returned - dropped gear off at home, returned to town. Went for a walk. Met Rowls & Julia. Drank down U Zavoje passage. Dinner at Sahara Café (tuna forgotten in microwave, more appropriate for impromptu game of table frisbee). Most left. Drank with TMAME and Jo. Got hugs & kisses as midnight struck. Off to Chateau to dance to hip/hop & rnb. Home around 5:00ish?

Thursday 10th. Birthday.
Waking hours starting to take toll. Spoke to Mum for a bit. Went to town to meet Kylie & Joelle. Drank cider with TMAME till they arrived. Then home to watch a DVD, dashed off to Pravda (late, naturally) where everyone else (bar Joseph – running important errands for us) was waiting. Dinner fantastic – had about three bites of a divine steak, then ate from everyone else’s plates. Opened presents at table…how much do I love presents? Wore tiara. Was presented with tiramisu topped with a roman candle (none of this ‘sparkler’ bullshit for a 30th!). Felt (momentarily) embarrassed. Went to Nebe (why we didn’t go to Zero, Perfekt or any other CLOSER clubs, I’m not sure, but my head wasn’t on straight). Left with Rowls to collect our brother Jon. Came back and TMAME had STARTED the dance floor (see why he’s TMAME?). Danced until couldn’t walk anymore. Did the stork-y leg walk until found taxi. Home at about 6am.

Friday 11th. Pizza & Cocktails.
Not supposed to be a big party, I tested the pizza dough in the morning. No worries…off to find the ingredients for toppings at about 4pm. TMAME sent on excursion/mission for ice, then agreed to be door-bitch. Managed to greet nearly everyone when they arrived. Amassed a lot of presents (YAY!! - AGAIN!) on the table. Drank a fair amount. Ate two bites of pizza. Tears following a snarky (if well meant) comment. Comfort by way of friends and bathroom discussions. Disappeared upstairs for a long time (not to have sex, nor shoot up, though not discouraging either rumour - I have a reputation to aspire to, after all). After most people left, went to Valentino’s, Le Clan then Studio 54. Danced till knees stopped working properly. Left people at Studio, and went home roughly 8:30am. Stayed awake to accompany TMAME to airport. Shattered and heartsick. Home at 12:00pm.

Saturday 12th. PARTY
Woke a few hours later, having been improperly spooned by teddy bear…showered, slunk into dress (which fitted better than previously – due to poor diet for the last 5 days) and sat in a chair at MAC where they made my eyes look like peacocks, and painted my lips purple. Felt bad for not having done nails, nor hair, and thought “ah screw it!” and tied hair up with green rubber band from MAC merchandise. Made it up to the castle restaurant an hour after the correct time, therefore, made an entrance. Some thought it planned (it wasn’t – but, you know, if it ain’t broke etc.) Had some drinks, then some DELICIOUS food, tried to fill my plate up several times and empty it at each table. Only succeeded for four tables. Intunition rehearsed in the downstairs loo – without a recorder/keyboard. Kat MC’d the evening beautifully. Forgot the words to Respect (I mean, honestly!) and ad libbed poorly. Confidence shaken. After the applause died, Kat sat me down (for lapdances?) then people made speeches about/to me. Was deemed a “bright spark”. People sang happy birthday. I had a VERY hard time not crying in a crappy response speech (damned impromptu speeches). Talked to as many people as possible (and still missed plenty, I know). Went to Lucerna hospoda for an ‘end of evening’ drink. Said goodbye to too many people. Left 6 people still carrying on. Home at 3:30am.

Sunday 13th. Food.
Finally cleaned flat from Friday. Town to meet family for brunch. Spent delicious few hours getting slightly sunburnt (but not really) on a café terrace. Bid adieu. Caught up with EPIET crew for a walk along the river, and dinner at another bar/café. Walked back to apartments, caught up with Kylie. Had dessert with her (and remaining EPIETs) at another restaurant. Finally managed to do laundry Missed TMAME all day. Home at 10:00pm.

Monday 14th. Normal?
Returned to work. Worked with half of my mind elsewhere. Went home, tidied room. Wrote in journal (yes, I keep one of those – sometimes the journal and blog cross-pollinate, but mostly not), while waiting for Angie (just like the good ol’ days!) downtown. Had dinner, went for drinks. Danced until 2ish…left her out. Home at 2:30am.

In summary; I haven’t laughed as much as I have in the last week. Not ever. This was truly the happiest week of my life. (I doooo love a touch of melodrama) I’m humbled and awed by the amount of love that I’ve felt this week (be it via e-mail, phone or in person). Some very important people were missing, and I wish so much that they could have been here. But my parents, Grandma, 9, D, NN, Mx – and a few others - probably also wish that. I can’t believe how much good fun it was, and endeavour to spend each and every moment of (at least) the next 30 years either having that much fun, and being as loved.

Watch this space.

*not even after a marathon Eddie Izzard sit-in
posted by Nomes @ Wednesday, May 16, 2007  
1 Comments:

  • At 12:01 am, May 17, 2007, Blogger mettray said…

    Girl! I am so gratified to hear what a good time you had your birthday week.

    Happy belated! I kept hoping you'd actually announce the date (did you?) so I could at least send an e-card or something.

    Sucks that TMAME got away. There's a story there? You weren't detailed enough. Shame on you! I'm living vicariously your relatively mainstream life, ya know.

    Anyway, hugs and congrats. After 30 is better; really; trust me.

    Unless, ya know, you end up homeless or something.

     
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