Tech Life: Build, Test, Release Adventures

For the past year and a half I've been working for a small and smart financial software vendor, which I love. I'd been inching my way from financial services to "the other side" of the software fence for a few months before I made the change, and I thought at the time I had developed a solid understanding of technology vendor-ship and what that work would be like.

But of course, you only know so much until you get there.

Illustrations of (My) Life

Hello, and welcome to another instalment in an ongoing occasional series I call Lazy Blog Posts.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some photos which I thought were a pretty good short-cut to saying something about life.  Or in some cases just my life.

So without further ado: photos!

The Movie Nut's Meme

Here's a short set of questions and answers about my movie history. I got this from Princess Pandora, who got it from Sunday Stealing.

Men and Women are Completely Different

It is obvious that men and women are completely different.

For instance, women love dressing up and reading horoscopes, and men love drinking beer and watching sports. But there are many other ways that men and women are different, and all of them are scientific fact.

The below well-known examples prove beyond doubt that men and women are very different.

How To Find Out About Anyone: Great Questions!

One of my favourite sites is Quora, where people pose questions and others post answers. It's a great different kind of social media, even if these days it is more overrun by marketers and promoters than it used to be (welcome to any social media platform, right?)

Tonight I was happily browsing my feed while procrastinating doing some work, and came across a set of really great 'meme' style questions, in response to a question that asked, "What 10 questions can tell you the most about a person?"

Five (the Easter Meme)

Another nice little questionnaire from Sunday Stealing - a good short one

Currently...

My friend Pandora runs a blog on which she assiduously posts every Sunday.  Once upon a time I had this level of discipline - okay, I didn't, but I did post every week - but I possess it no longer. However I do enjoy her Sunday meme posts, most of which come from Sunday Stealing.  Sunday Stealing posts are a good way to keep a blog up to date instead of letting it languish a month or more between posts - as I am wont to do lately.

So, this week I am going to try my hand at a meme post, this one called 'The Currently Meme', courtesy of Sunday Stealing.


Currently, I am...


Reading
Bazaar of Bad Dreams, by Stephen King

Fool Me Once, by Harlan Coben - the latest in the ever-growing genre of 'well-off wife finds she can't trust her seemingly perfect husband and her life has been a lie'
Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, by Johann Hari. I thought we should legalise drugs before, now I'm doubly convinced

Writing
Project plans; blog posts; a short story that is going nowhere

Playing
Fetch and tug of war with the dog every morning

Watching
11.22.63

Better Call Saul

Politics in Australia, with trepidation

The Trump Show in America, with horror

Trying
To keep up

Cooking
A roast dinner every Saturday. I have just decided that this week. I did a chicken roast last Saturday which the kids loved and I quite enjoyed it myself.

But not this Saturday as I'm planning a family lunch for tomorrow.

Drinking
Pinot Grigio 

Coke Zero

Coffee

Lots of water to make up for the rest

Calling
The shots, when I can.

Pinning
Hairstyles. Dream on, frizzy-haired me.

Tweeting
#Fairfax #fintech

Crafting
Nothing. I have zero interest and less talent.

Doing
Too much and not enough. The modern existential dilemma.

Going
On holiday to a little rental beach house on the Peninsula in two weeks - can't wait.

Loving
The free trams in Melbourne CBD.

Hating
Knee-jerk politics.

Re-discovering
Season 1 of Fargo on Stan. I forgot how good it was. Every actor in it is fantastic.

Enjoying
Silly YouTube videos: The Community Channel, Everything Wrong With, and Brent Rivera.

Perfect weather in Melbourne last week, and a mild (late) start to autumn this week.

Thinking
How to marry agile cloud-based small-vendor project management with big-client requirements. 

The implications of the current tech bubble (If even I spent 20 minutes this week considering building a service app then trust me, we're in a bubble).

Feeling
Optimistic - despite the bubble, despite Trump.

Missing
Blog reading. Have to find time.

Hoping
The Americans don't elect Trump - but also that they don't elect someone who turns out to be awful just to avoid electing Trump.

Clever :)

Listening
Too much Radio Nova thanks to the kids. Why was everyone doing covers of Justin Bieber's Love Yourself which is a terrible song? I don't get it. Thankfully some new songs hit this week. 

Celebrating
The fact we can afford to go on a little family holiday for the first time in two years.

Smelling
Mould in the crockery cupboard again - time for a clean and those way-too-expensive damp-soaker thingies.

Thanking
The state government for awarding the paramedics a pay rise. Everyone working in emergency services and health should get a big pay rise.

Considering
What the hell to get my husband for his birthday. He's impossible.

Starting
To relax after spending the day cleaning and preparing lunch and an easter egg hunt for all my family on Easter Sunday.

Fixing MP Entitlements

The politicians are saying the problem is the rules are too opaque, and they need to be made clearer. I guess they need rules where they are not tempted to push the definitions of what is allowed to the absolute limit of shameless logic-twisting, intention-denying interpretation, just because everyone else in the parliament is doing it too.

In fact all this really needs is leadership: one decent PM who will say, at the beginning of his or her term in office, "Look, let's stop all this nonsense and all agree to just claim the bare minimum, and let me set up someone whose task it will be to check what you're claiming and disallow anything that would make a reasonable person go, 'Well, that's not reeeeally what the designers of this entitlement had in mind...' "

But since we don't have that, sure, I guess we need to tighten the rules and make them "more transparent".  So fine, it's not that hard.  In fact, the existing rules are actually pretty clear, except for spelling out what is an allowable business trip.

But ok, here are my new rules:

Travel and Accommodation:

• Business Class air travel is fine
• no charter flights or helicopters unless there is no commercial flight
• no air miles can be accrued (the same rule some companies have for business travel)
• you pay for any family traveling with you
• taxis or hire cars for urban travel but not for travelling between home and your electorate office
• no travel allowance for party fundraisers or social events
• if you have a "work meeting" at the same place as a social event, you pay half the travel cost (and travel rules as above still apply)
• you can't use your accommodation allowance to pay off your mortgage on a Canberra home. Yes you might have bought the home because you have to spend part of the year in Canberra for work, but the fact you are buying it gives you a personal financial advantage (property wealth) so you can't DOUBLE-DIP by claiming an allowance as well. 
• To achieve the above, change the flat dollar allowance MPs get for accommodation and food while in Canberra to two separate items, being a flat amount for food and a claim for accommodation, which is only paid for booked-and-paid accommodation 

Study Tours:

• Stop that nonsense

Superannuation:

• Same as the rest of us

Retirement allowances:

• existing redundancy arrangements for MPs who lose their seat are fine
• no funded office or driver. Use a home office
• Scrap the Gold Pass arrangements for free air travel within Australia for retired long-serving MPs - it's encouraging too many of them to stick around for too long. Let's make it 3 free Business Class trips a year for self and spouse, to attend the odd thingy. 

NOT HARD.


I also think it's a good idea as someone has suggested, to rename them from 'entitlements' to 'expenses' or 'claims'. If you are told something is an 'entitlement', you are apt to claim it. Just as many taxpayers routinely put in work expense claims for the couple of hundred dollars' stationery claims you are allowed to make without receipts - and can I just add, that I also think this is appalling. Don't do it, people.

There has been unhappiness about MP entitlements before, but this time it's the current government's own harsh budget and rhetoric ("The age of entitlement is over!" - oh, I love it) combined with Hockey's out-of-touch announcements ("poor people don't drive far", "people should get a good job paying good money") combined with the usual dubious expense claims by all of them, that is bringing this to a head.

To finish off: this is the funniest Bronwyn Bishop helicopter meme in my opinion:

Bronwyn Bishop says goodbye. #auspol pic.twitter.com/VuIQbpqY9q

— Tim Jones (@forthleft) August 2, 2015

Threes

Time for something a little lighter. I quite liked this latest questionnaire meme on Sunday Stealing, which I came across on Princess Pandora.  Clean, short and simple.


1. Three things that scare me:

• poverty
• extremism: the ultra conservative right and the radical left
• fire

2. Three people who make me laugh:

• Phil Dunphy (Modern Family)
• Rebel Wilson
• John Stewart

3. Three things I love:

• solitude 
• dogs
• pens

4. Three things I hate:

• extremism
• boasting (including Humblebrags) on Facebook and Instagram
• loud noises

5. Three things I don't understand:

• How perfectly nice, decent people can be so hardcore unsympathetic to those less fortunate than themselves (eg the Americans' deep antipathy to universal health care; many people's attitudes towards asylum seekers; how people with good jobs and earning good money don't understand they are also lucky)
• men's rights activists 
• how The Greens would run a viable economy

6. Three things on my desk:

• towering pile of papers, DVDs, kids' drawings and notebooks
• pack of my daughter's Hubba Bubba
• a two-pole puncher that hasn't been used in years

7. Three things I'm doing right now:

• blogging 
• laundry
• re-watching Final Destination 2 on DVD

8. Three things I want to do before I die:

• write a book
• live for a year in Y's Greek village



iPad art by my daughter aged six

• get fit 

9. Three things I can do:

• data mining and analysis
• learn a language fast
• talk in rhyming couplets

10. Three things I can't do:

• sing
• mix colours into ready-to-roll icing
• watch cricket

11. Three things you should listen to:

• birdsong in the morning when everything else is quiet
• your favourite music, regularly
• opposing points of view, at least sometimes

12 Three things you should never listen to:

• talk-back radio
• advertising aimed to make you feel inadequate 
• anyone who claims to cure cancer with food 

13. Three things I'd like to learn:

• how to write a novel
• how to stay calm and relaxed
• ballroom dancing

14. Three favourite foods:

• chocolate
• spanokopita: Greek spinach and cheese pie
• steak

15. Three beverages I drink regularly

• coffee
• Coke Zero
• water

16. Three shows I watched as a kid:

• Bewitched
• The Flintstones
• Get Smart

The Christmas Meme

My friend Pandora does at least one questionnaire meme on her blog a week, which is a good idea. It means she rarely goes a week without a post, and questionnaires on blogs are often a good read. We do love to read about each other's interests, opinions and foibles, don't we?

She has just done The Christmas Meme - which surprised me, knowing Pandora is not a HUGE Christmassy person... but a quick read reassured me that no, she hadn't had a commercial Christmas epiphany, and all was still right with the world.

I liked the questions, so I thought I would give it a go. Plus, obviously, it's a good day for a Christmas Meme post.

1. Do you send Christmas cards? 

Not any more. I stopped about three years ago. But I do feel a twinge of guilt for every card I get in the mail (which is not many - hardly anyone sends them anymore).
The Cranky Old Man has a good post about the slow demise of Christmas cards.


2. How soon do you start shopping?:

October for the kids, November for everyone else. I try to be done by mid-December. Try.

3. Who do you shop for?: 

My kids, husband and myself (our gift to each other - usually a token or something we need). My nephew and niece, and my cousins' kids. And a small gift like jellybeans or chocolates that the kids give their grandparents. Well, not "like". It is always jellybeans and chocolates.

4. Do you put up a Christmas tree?: 

Yes.

5. If so, is it fake or real?: 

Fake. I love the real ones, and I always vow to get one...next year.

6. Do you like tinsel?: 

I LOVE tinsel.

7. Do you use homemade or store bought ornaments?: 

Mostly store-bought, but with kids you naturally get a few homemade ones too. My mum still hangs the ones my sister and I made as kids on her tree.

8. Do you put Christmas lights outside your house?: 

I do! Nothing fancy, just some solar lights along the front garden path, and a string of lights hung from over the porch.

9. Do you put lights on the tree?: 

I do - but it took me a long time to come around to it, as I was always morbidly afraid of lights catching fire. I'm still a BIT afraid - I don't have the lights on very often or very long.

10. How about popcorn and cranberries?: 

No and I've never heard of doing that either.

11. Is there a wreath hanging on your door?: 

Mais oui.

13. Do you hang up your stocking?: 

No stockings for grown-ups.

14. Does your family read "Twas the night before Christmas?": 

Not as a tradition, but it gets recited sometimes. My kids prefer the Aussie version which I don't love, but whatever - it's all Christmas!

15. Christmas Movie?: 

There aren't really any Christmas movies that I love. I have to turn off Twitter when people start live-tweeting Love Actually. I remember finding Jingle All the Way very funny years ago, but I'm sure it is dated and unfunny now. As is Deck The Halls which we just watched last night.


16. Character from any Christmas Movie: 

Tom Hanks' conductor in The Polar Express.

17. Christmas Song: 

Silent Night is my favourite because it's so beautiful.
The Little Drummer Boy for the sense of shared community - it's naff but I've always loved it.
And for fun, The Twelve Days of Christmas.

18. Christmas Memory: 

Best ever: when we were kids we had a few Christmases at my grandparents down at Blairgowrie on the Mornington Peninsula, with our aunts and uncles and cousins, and it was just so much fun. We kids all slept in fold-out beds in the car port - it was perfectly secure, it had canvas sides and a zip-up door (!) - while our parents drank and talked and laughed till late.

On the alternate years, we drove up to the NSW Central Coast to stay with my other grandparents. Those Christmases were a bit more low key but I still have great memories of them as I loved my grandparents and their house, and the semi-rural idyllic spot they lived in (as it was then).

19. Give or Receive?: 

Give, of course.

22. Ham or Turkey?: 

We don't do turkey anymore but my Dad used to barbecue it over coals and it was fantastic. We still do ham, and I love thick slices of ham off the bone on toast for breakfast on Boxing Day, and every day thereafter until depleted.

24. White Lights or Colored Lights? 

Why not both?

25. Blinking Lights or Still Lights?:

Still, definitely still. A couple of times I've set my lights to blinking and felt like I was going to have a seizure. They make you very dizzy.

26. Were you Naughty or Nice this year?: 

I was not naughty, but I was not very nice. I was a bit crabby this year.

27. What do you want for Christmas this year?:

I wanted a Fitbit, but then I had a brainwave. The kids are getting bikes this year and they are cheaper than Fitbits. In January I'm going to get a bike each for me and Y. Looking forward to it.

28. When do you open your gifts?: 

Christmas morning.

29. What's the best gift you've ever gotten?: 

My bike when I was a kid. So exciting. Independence!

30. What's the worst gift you've ever gotten?: 

I can't recall. One of my aunts was eccentric and she used to give us weird things she picked up cheap from markets. Sometimes they were great - like one year when she gave me a little yellow transistor radio. Other years they weren't so great. I can't remember the gifts themselves, but I do remember opening something and thinking 'huh?' a couple of times.

31. Who gives you the most gifts?: 

Look, we cut out gifts for grown-ups in our extended family a few years back, and it was such a relief. We don't need anything, and we don't waste time, stress and money buying each other things we don't want. I am happy not receiving more than one or two gifts at Christmas these days.

32. Have you ever had a secret Santa?: 

We've done Kris Kringle at work in the past. It fell away a few years ago, and no one really wants it back I don't think.

33. Do you like wrapping gifts?: 

I do! I'm a very good gift wrapper. Give me any shaped item, I can do it!

34. Do you put change in those red buckets?:

I always have, but I admit since the institutional child abuse horrors have come to light there are certain organisations which I decided this year will never receive a penny from me again, so I have stopped dropping coins in certain red buckets (I know, that's depriving the needy based on my own outrage - I don't feel sure about it). But every year I give to The Smith Family and I buy a few toys or gifts for the Kmart Wishing Tree or the ABC Tree.

35. Do you burn a yule log?: 

Burn a what now?

36. Can you name all the reindeer?: 

Dasher, Dancer, Donna, Blitzen.... Prancer....

Rudolf!

37. Do you bake cookies?: 

Not for Christmas, but other times yes.

38. Have you ever seen your mommy kissing Santa Claus?: 

Nooooo.

39. Have you ever gotten a kiss under the mistletoe?: 

No mistletoe ever encountered.

41. Do you drive around and look at the Christmas lights?: 

Okay, yes we do. But only in our local area. We have a few houses here that do a LOT of lights. I can't get a good photo, unfortunately.

42. Have you ever left Santa cookies?: 

Right up until this year.

43. Have you ever sat on Santa's lap?: 

As a CHILD, yes.

44. Who do you celebrate Christmas with?: 

Family.

45. Where do you celebrate Christmas?: 

Usually lately it's been at my sister's house. As my brother-in-law is one of seven kids, he always hosts for his extended family, and they have included us all in that.

46. Have you ever had a white Christmas?: 

I've had one proper white Christmas in Boston as a teenager which was amazing. Every lovely White Christmas visual and experience, all come vividly to life. And we had snow in London on New Year's Eve once during my two years there. And... do the TWO times we got hail on Christmas Day here in Melbourne count?

2011

2006

2006

47. What part of Christmas do you look most forward to?: 

Meeting up with extended family in the evening. It's getting to be the only time I see my cousins, which is a pity.

48. Have you ever had your picture taken with Santa?: 

As a CHILD, yes.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Kevin Dooley/Flickr CC

Me A to Z

Do bloggers ever get tired of talking about themselves?

Of course not!

So here goes: Me A to Z, a meme that's doing the rounds at the moment, though I first read it at Princess Pandora.


A If you were an ANIMAL, what would you be? 

I think I would be a Clumber Spaniel.
From Wikipedia:
"Their temperament is described as gentle, loyal and affectionate, but dignified and aloof with strangers.They can appear to be a sedate breed and enjoy curling up on the couch, eating and sleeping." 
"Clumber Spaniels are large boned"
"They have several habits which could be considered disadvantages, including...snoring..."
"Clumber Spaniels can suffer from heat sensitivity."
"...although the Clumber is rather slow in the field compared to other spaniels, it is a quiet worker with a fine nose and good stamina." 

Lara604/Flickr

 B BOOKS: What's on your reading list? 

On my Kindle and not yet read are:

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, by Amy Chua 
Crazy: Notes On and Off the Couch, by Rob Dobreski 
Arlington Park, by Rachel Cusk 
Forecast: Turbulance, by Jeanette Turner Hospital 
1912: The Year the World Discovered Antartica, by Chris Turney
Steve Jobs: the Exclusive Biography (I suspect I may never get to this one)

In book form on my bedside table are:

1927, by Bill Bryson 
The Great Unknown, edited by Angela Meyer (supernatural short stories)
Ranger in Danger - Decide Your Destiny: King Cobra's Curse by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds (a kids' novel I picked up because it seems to be a modern version of the 'choose your own adventure' stories I loved as a kid). 

Not yet bought but I want to read, are:

Lost and Found, by Brooke Davis (new novel. The plot doesn't grab me, but she's a beautiful writer)
In My Skin, by Kate Holden


 C COMPULSIVE about anything? 

It's not anything to be proud of, but I can't help myself: I have to pick at scabs, fingernails, peeling skin, etc. It's gross and unsightly and creates scars, but I haven't managed to stop yet.

 D DREAMS - Do you ... dream in color? remember your dreams? keep a dream journal? 

Yes, I've always been a big dreamer. I love the dreamworld. I usually remember at least two dreams a night, though I forget some dreams later in the day. I used to keep a dream journal, but not anymore. I do think about and analyse them though, and notice recurring themes and patterns.

 E EATING - what's your usual snack? 

Crackers.

 F A Few of your FAVORITE Things: 

Dogs
Scent of lemon
Aqua di Gio perfume
Collecting clean sheets off the washing line in summer
Popular science 
Books
Birds
Kids' cartoons
Art
Drawing
The sky
Bill Bryson
Tall trees
Mug of flat white coffee in the morning
Chocolate

 G GIGGLES! What (or who) makes you laugh? Do you have a good sense of humor? 

Steve Martin
Steve Carrell
Ben Stiller
Amy Poehler
Flight of the Conchords
30 Rock
9Gag
My kids - kids are hilarious
My sister's text messages - she's very funny

I believe myself to have an exceptionally good sense of humour. (Don't we all?)

 H major HOT Button: 

Snobbery; smugness.

 I I am ______________ ... 

...typing this while watching Steve Martin in The Pink Panther with the kids.
(this has been sitting in my drafts for a few days)

 K Also KNOWN As... Aliases? Screen names? A non de plume perhaps? 

Jack (I like it - friends and people who obviously feel comfortable with me use it naturally)
Jackster (I don't like)
Mum
Fruito (joking Greek term of endearment by Y - meaning muddle-headed and silly like fruit)

 L I LOVE ... 

See F and add my family and friends and pets.

 M How do you feel about MEETING people? Do it all the time? Rarely? Parties or 1-on-1? 

I am fine meeting new people, but always a bit nervous. I don't do it that often these days, which is not good, I know.

 N What's the story of your NAME? were you named after anyone? Do you go by a nickname? Any aliases? 

It was a compromise name, as Dad didn't like Mum's first choice, which I think was Jodie. 
I strongly suspect Jackie Kennedy Onassis had something to do with the fact that Jacqueline was a very popular name in the late 60s when I was born.

 O OBSERVANT - What's around you right now? What do you see? 

Messy desk, dog toys on the floor, shopping bags to be unpacked in the kitchen, my daughter's creepy Furby (thankfully sleeping), on the shelf next to me.

 P Who are the special PEOPLE in your life? 

Those who read this blog of course! 
And kids, husband, sister and parents, I guess...

 Q Any Little QUIRKs About Yourself: 

I hate the word quirky. And I hate it when people describe themselves as quirky, odd, whimsical or crazy. And I know that's not quirky of me at all.

 R What do you like to do for RECREATION?

Reading, walking, coffee with family or friends, watching a good movie or DVD series.

 S Do You SING in the Shower? In the car? For your friends? 

In the car definitely. In the shower sometimes. For friends, never. It would be cruel.

 T What's at the Top of your TO DO list?:

Clean out my kitchen pantry.

 U Any UNUSUAL Experiences: 

I once flew a plane and then completely forgot I had done it, until I was reminded of it years later. Seriously: I was reading a blog about someone's amazing experience flying a plane, and thought 'I'd like to do that', and then I remembered I had. It was part of an excursion with a group of English-language students when I was teaching English; the flight instructor let me take the controls for a bit.

I lived for 3 years in Greece on a tourist visa, going in and out every 6 months.

It's a tourist thing, but it was still great: I went horseback riding at dawn to Mt Bromo volcano near Surabaya.

 V VEGAS, Vienna, Venice, Vladivostok... How far have you traveled? What's your favorite City? 

I've been to Vegas, Vienna and Venice but not Vladivostok. I've been to the US (east coast, west coast, Florida and Hawaii), Canada, Mexico, UK, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Vatican City, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

My favourite city is Thessaloniki in Greece.

 W WINTER, Spring, Summer, Fall... What's your favorite season? What makes it special? 

Autumn. It's still warm but not hot, it's beautiful, and it's one of the middle seasons which are nice because they are transitional.

 X EXes - Things You Don't Do Anymore (but did, once (would you, again?)) 

Ride on the back of motorbikes. (No)
Visit art galleries (Yes)
Walk for hours (Yes)
Wear short dresses (No)

 Y Any secret/deep YEARNINGS? 

Not so secret, but to be published writer.

 Z ZERO to ZENITH - Where are you in your life? Still growing? On an upward (or downward) curve? Just skating along? 

Hopefully still growing. 

If I could

Time for a questionnaire blog perhaps?

I've lifted this one from Sunday Stealing by way of Princess Pandora Queen of Denial and The Plastic Mancunian, both of whose regular questionnaire blog posts I enjoy reading.


IF YOU COULD: 

Travel anywhere, where would it be?

Egypt, or Tanzania. Two places I've always wanted to see. 

Meet anyone, who would it be? 

Vincent Van Gogh.  

 Bring anyone dead back to life, who would it be? 

I'd bring back my aunt who died too young, two years ago. She was a good person and she helped a lot of people, and her death was of course a trauma to her family.

 Be anyone for a day, who would it be? 

Angelina Jolie maybe, or Bill Gates.
It would be cool to be living your dream. 

 Get anything for free for the rest of your life what would it be? 

Utilities! (gas, electricity, phone, water).
Insurance!
Our house!
But actually: clothes. I love beautiful clothes and would love to be able to buy them more often. 

 Change one thing about your life what would it be? 

More money and flexibility for travelling and holidays. 

 Have any superpower what would it be? 

Flying.  

 Be any animal for a day which would you be? 

A seagull. 

 Date anyone who would it be? 

I'll take Clive Owen, on a night Pandora's not seeing him.  

 Change one thing about the world what would it be? 

Humans' incapacity to learn from disasters. 

 Live in any fictional universe which would you choose? 

None in which I am my adult self. As a child, life in Enid Blyton's England traipsing around with the Famous Five would have been my pick.  

 Eliminate one of your human needs which would you get rid of? 

This one:

nuttakit/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 













 Change one thing about your physical appearance what would it be? 

My weight.  

 Change one of your personality traits which would you choose? 

My disinclination to socialise. I enjoy it when I do it. 

 Be talented at anything instantly what would you choose? 

Painting. 

 Forget one event in your life which would you choose? 

My flippant answer: The time I tripped while carrying a full tray of food while waitressing in Santorini, sending four bowls of spaghetti bolognaise flying over four horrified customers, my skirt flying over my head, and people from nearby restaurants still laughing about it a year later. 

My honest answer: toss-up between two. An incident in high school where I made fun of a friend I was fighting with, mocking her on her appearance. I was immediately, and still am, deeply ashamed of it.  And a couple of years ago, when I went up to NSW with my dad to pick up my grandfather to bring him to Melbourne to see his daughter before she passed away: we had to tell him the bad news and he sobbed; and the next day while we were walking I should have taken his arm to go up a step and I didn't, and he had a horrible fall and dislocated an arm. It was an awful couple of days.

 Erase an event from history (make it so it never happened) which would you choose? 

How to choose. The Holocaust? The world wars? (any war?) The genocide in Rwanda? The civil war in Syria? The invasion of Iraq? 9/11? The 2004 tsunami? Or a precursor event, such as the birth of Hitler?  I wouldn't know how to choose, quite honestly. What would you choose? 

 Have any hair/eye/skin color, which would you choose? 

Olive skin, very dark brown hair, and green eyes. 

 Be any weight/body type, which would you choose? 

It's hard to explain, but I'd like to be slim but not thin, slightly curvy but not too much, and moderately toned. In other words, a body that would look good in anything but doesn't stand out. Like most women I spent all my younger years being defined by my body, and am now invisible in it. I would like a neutral body, please. 

 Live in any country/city, where would you choose? 

I don't want to live anywhere other than Melbourne anymore. But in pure fantasyland, I'll live on Santorini or Naxos, or maybe some quieter island in Greece, like Amorgos. 

 Change one law in your country, which would you change? 

Well I'd like to say the way asylum seekers are being processed, but that is not even lawful.

In my state (Victoria), this one, passed just this year:

From 28 May 2014,under the Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic)police and protective services officers (in designated areas) will have more powers to move people on. These include if they are concerned that someone is: •doing something that makes another person afraid of potential violence •blocking another person or traffic (or likely to do so) •stopping someone from entering or leaving a building •unlawfully buying or selling a drug of dependence (or intending to). Also, police can direct multiple people to move on, and can require names and addresses of people who they intend to ask to move on.
Source: http://www.lawhandbook.org.au/handbook/ch11s02s04.php#

I'm against this even though the government is able to use it for something good: to move the horrid people picketing abortion clinics.


 Be any height, which would you choose?  

I'm happy with my height. I'm 167cm which is about 5ft7 I think. 

Have any job in the world, which would you choose? 

An extremely well-paid animal keeper at a really good zoo. 

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 Have anything appear in your pocket right now, what would it be? 

A winning lottery ticket. Not sure how it would get there as I don't play lotto, but still. 

 Have anyone beside you right now, who would it be?

My husband, in bed, watching a movie on TV together.