| 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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| Rearrange this! |
| Monday 24 December 2007 |
 NGSCTSIOOOAASLCTTMUNAINW
Because it could win me a trip to Antigua...which is where I need to go for my little bro's wedding in May ANYWAY...
Christmas is upon us. I have two more bits to buy and wrap, I have groceries to stock up on (you know, in case civilisation collapses), and I've a tiny piece of code to find in a database to make sure I'm on top of these outbreak-y things.
But wherever you are reading this from: Merry Christmas from me and mine. Breakfast (since you're asking) will be (probably) Eggs Montreal (with bagels not muffins). Dinner (at some point) will be a new dish (provided the ingredients are available still) inspired by Mamma involving 'sealing', 'cooling', 'wrapping' and 'resting'. Not to mention a moment of flambe genius (or daring) over the gas hob. Can't wait.
Then I'll be stretched out on the floor in the lounge, like some sort of reverse snail. Mmmmmmmm.....
...Bring it.
Love to all (thanks for staying this far)
Nomes
XXX Labels: Observations on Life |
posted by Nomes @ Monday, December 24, 2007   |
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| Shame to have done it all – at 26 |
| Friday 21 December 2007 |
 Okay, so I haven’t done it all, and I'm not 26. Otherwise, though, Eva and I have a LOT in common!
But…what do you do next?
I had a bit of a crisis when I realised: this is it (or it could be). I’ve done the PhD (you can STILL call me Dr Nomes, I STILL get a kick out of it), I’ve done the EPIET, I’ve done a whole lot of things that have earned me various bits of paper. I’ve investigated an emerging infection that caused people to die in a far-flung country most people have never heard of (let alone been to, and eaten baklava on the corniche in the capital) and have presented to 1000’s (either musically, or scientifically). I have written things and been published (yay) and my opinion is occasionally sought but oft given.
So now what?
I do the commute to work for >1hr each way, sit at my desk in my office for 7.5hrs/day and then commute home, cook dinner, watch television, call friends and that’s it!??
Surely not.
So how does one ‘be’ when one is ‘doing’ nada, when one has no goals to work towards?
Existential crises for Christmas! Lets hope Father Christmas comes down my chimney with an exciting new challenge…because investigating two national outbreaks, embarking on a crazy new relationship and making friends in a new city having just moved here is clearly not enough!
P.S. And those of you (like someone) who say, "perhaps you could use the time to practise and perfect 'just being'?" will be shot. Ho. Ho. Ho! Labels: Navel Gazing |
| posted by Nomes @ Friday, December 21, 2007 |
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| Nomes-side News |
| Tuesday 4 December 2007 |
 To start with, I’m flattered that you’re all still checking in every now and then. Thanks for the comments.
You all know that I fancy myself as a bit of a chanteuse, right? And you’ll undoubtedly remember that in Prague, I was a member of a group called Intunition: an all-female-a capella-group, the other members of which were my social network (back in the era pre-facebook!), my confidantes, my protectors and all round everything while I was there. Then I left them behind…and moved to London.
Right, all caught up.
Now, in the big smoke, everyone says, “everything’s here”. Which, in some terms is true. The way a city works is that there are so many people in it, it can have spin off’s, cliques of weirdness, and nigh on complete boroughs of peculiarity. I’m living in one of the more ‘suburban’ boroughs though – leafy and quiet in Kentish Town – but I’m about 20mins from central London, where it all ‘happens’ (apparently).
But how to find something to do of an evening (more on this in another, more angst ridden post later – something to look forward to, no?)? Which club to join? What hobbies to take up? When a) I’m still fairly bruised in the wallet area (on account of having booked and paid for my holiday to the antipodes in Feb/Mar) and b) I don’t know anyone well enough to drag to something unusual and c) really, who wants to learn how to macramé anyway?
I took the proverbial by the horns (which, Taurus that I am, infers I shook myself about the head a bit) and composed an ad. Which I then duly posted on a few London based message boards. Then I waited.
Which means that in one week’s time, not only does my voice have to be up to scratch (if you’ll pardon the expression) to sing with Intunition again (am heading back to perform with them again for their Christmas concert) but I also have to be attuned musically (retuned?) in order to ‘audition’ 7 other women!!! EEEK! Some of whom have music diploma’s, have sung in bands, teach piano etc. Which means that if I’m not careful, I’ll be kicked out of my own damned group.
So, my darlings, if you’ve any suggestions on how to audition people, please do let me know. There won’t be a casting couch (as they’re all female, and, sorry ladies, I just don’t swing in that direction!), and I can’t say, “sing with this” and then play something on the piano (because a) I can’t play well enough and b) a capella – duh!) so I’m a little concerned I’ll show myself up within seconds. But, if it goes well, then I’ll be auditioning the women who may yet become the friends that I feel slightly bereft of at the moment.
Hey! If it works in Hollywood…Labels: What to do |
| posted by Nomes @ Tuesday, December 04, 2007 |
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