This is... my perfect dinner party guest list

Wow! I found this one such a challenge! Firstly, the "dinner party" bit threw me into a panic. Dinner party! I have to host a dinner party!?! One of my greatest fears. I mean, I know it's not real or anything, but my heart rate increased, my palms started to sweat, just at the thought of it. And then - guest list.. I have to think of just six? What if someone feels left out? Ahh.. you can just imagine how hard I found it to create the guest list for my wedding.

But now, after a margarita (my final for what may be a few years... more about that later maybe), I've sat down to try to do this...

My first guest, whom I see is very popular tonight, would be the Dalai Lama. I had the honor of hearing him speak when I was in university and his words have always stuck with me. I would love to hear more and just to bask in his presence.

My next I have to confess would be partly for the eye candy - Johnny Depp. More than that though, he is the star of many of my favourite movies and has worked many times with one of my favourite directors, Tim Burton, so I could just imagine the interesting stories he'd have to tell.

At this point of the evening, I've realised that most of my choices are male (don't tell my husband) and all are living...

So, my next guest, I would have to ask to bring along a translator is Haruki Murakami. He's my favourite Japanese author and one of my favourite authors of all time. His writing is so out there, he must have an amazing mind, I'd love to get a sneak peek into it..

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki would have to be in there. Again, another amazing mind accompanied with loads of energy and humor. Ahhh.. I don't think this dinner party is ending until the wee hours of the morning somehow...

And then to add another fantastic mind, another creative soul, Michael Leunig. For many years, his poetry, his writing and his artwork have been a guiding light in my life. I have heard him speak a couple of times and do (or rather did) own a couple of books signed by him with my own special cartoon drawn in (one duck, one angel). I say "did" as... well, something I'm trying not to face until I move back to Australia... almost everything we own there, almost everything we put into storage including my very large and very precious book collection have been destroyed... So, if I had Leunig over, I could get new books signed!

This poem by Leunig was my meditation mantra for many years.

And lastly, finally, a female! I don't think a dinner party like this would be complete without my great mate Christine. I mean, I need to have someone there to go over the stories of the night with again and again for the rest of my life. And Chris is always the life of the party, can talk to anyone and would hold her own with any amazing mind.

So, there's my dinner party! A fun night indeed me thinks! I'm off to go and gatecrash other dinner parties now! Thank you Lily and Agathe for the theme this week!