Showing posts with label tagged. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tagged. Show all posts

Friday, December 12, 2008

Playing Tag on a Sunny Day

It's a gorgeous day here today, one that feels so special in winter. The yellow leaves that are still hanging onto the Ginko trees in the school yard are so striking against the clear blue sky. The type of sight that makes your spirits soar.


Photo Credit : Momse2600


I'm looking forward to the weekend, I have a lunch date planned with a couple of friends. We will probably go to our favourite little Mexican place. The lunch set (they love sets in Japan), includes a meal, a drink and a piece of the yummiest cake, all for about $10. It's owned by a sweet, funky Japanese couple and the wife lived in Peru for about a year. Each day she bakes different cakes, and the first thing I always ask is what the cake choices of the day are. Her white chocolate cheesecake and pear tart are to die for. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.


Classes today are fun and stress-free and after today I only have one more week before the winter holidays! My lucky dh has his last day today, which means I'll be getting a lift to and from school each day next week instead of riding my bike in the bitter cold.


Enough Rambling... onto the tag for more rambling. Ages ago I was tagged by Kate of Love you Big. I'm going to be naughty (don't tell Santa) and not write down the rules, as I'm kind of breaking them, but the idea is that I write seven random facts about myself. I've done a few like this in the past, so I'm going to try not to repeat myself...


ichi
) I hate wearing long sleeves. I feel terribly uncomfortable in them. Even when it's cold, if I'm wearing a jacket I will often take it off to eat, I find it hard, restricting, to eat with one on.


ni
) Until I came to Japan the first time, my pronunciation of certain English words was really strange. I used to say "Saddleday", instead of "Saturday", a fact my family will never let me forget. When coming here to teach English, I decided that I needed to start saying these words correctly rather than pass on my odd-ness to my students.


san
) I only seem to be able to hold one and a bit languages in my head at one time. In high school I studied Italian and did quite well with it. I next studied Indonesian before going there for a cultural exchange, the Indonesian pushed all the Italian out of my brain. Next came Japanese, which pushed out the Indonesian. I am in total awe of people who can function in more than two languages.


shi
) I didn't learn how to tie shoelaces until really late. I never would have let anyone know though. Instead, every morning I would tie a double knot in my laces and then loop the ends through so that it looked like a bow. I remember my friend in pre-school teaching me how to do it correctly.


go) In some cases, I care more about the texture of food than the taste. I love dried mango, mango juice and mango flavoured things, but won't touch fresh mango. It's so slimy. I hate corn, but love corn soup. I hate the idea of the little corn bubbles bursting into my mouth. The list could go on....


roku
) My eyes change colour. Anywhere from blue to green to grey. They are their brightest when I'm dehydrated, usually due to a hangover.


nana
) When living in Japan, I crave Western foods. When living in Australia, I crave Japanese food. I think that it has to do with loving both countries and always feeling a little homesick for the one I'm not in at the time.


Rather than tagging anyone in particular (I was equally bad and passing on chain letters), I'd love anyone who hasn't done this tag yet to have a go!

Monday, December 08, 2008

Tagged

I had planned on joining Eye Spy from yesterday, but yesterday ended up being a pajama day. Lovely dh brought me breakfast in bed, Timtams in bad, Lunch in bed and then dinner on the sofa in front of a DVD that he rented for me. Who could ask for better care? I watched two DVDs, finished one book (Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami) and started another (The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova) and slept a lot.

But alas, it's now Monday morning, so I was required to get out of my pjs to come to work.

I have a couple of tags to catch up on, this one is from Jess of In the Burrow.

Outside my window... I'm at school, so, a sand-covered sports field (they don't do grass for sport's fields here) and the school gym. The trees around the field have lost most of their leaves.

I am thinking... that I wish I could go back to bed and about the fun work Christmas party I went to on Saturday night.

I am thankful for... my wonderful husband, family and friends and something else that I'm not telling yet......

From the kitchen... I'm munching on dry Special K.

I am wearing... two pairs of black knee-high socks, black cords, a thermal undershirt, a black woollen turtleneck, a little floral dress over the top and a lap blanket - and I'm still cold!

I am creating... some jewellery and I finished off a dress on Saturday that I wore to the Christmas party that night. I'll have to wait for the weekend to have some light to photograph it in.

I am going... to move to Australia in less than four months now! Time is slipping away!

I am reading... The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

I am hoping... that my classroom will be warm today and my students good.

I am hearing... teachers speaking in Japanese around me.

Around the house... a mess - I haven't done much housework of late.

One of my favorite things... Timtams (I rediscovered just how much I love them this last weekend).

A few plans for the rest of the week... Work, making jewellery, starting on "Christmas", sleep.

A picture I'm sharing...


I'm tagging... I'm not going to tag anyone in particular, but if you have a chance, I'd love to hear your answers to this tag.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

About blogging, some randomness and groups of four

In a land long, long ago there was a little girl who was always on top of things. She prided herself on her efficiency, her ability to be super motivated, to work long hours and be there for friends in need all at the same time. After the girl reached the ages in her middle thirties however, time in her life just seemed to disappear. Some invisible evil creature lurked in her shadow, drained her energy and stole those hours so that she had no recollection of where they had gone. So much time passed without things getting done, bags remained unpacked after travels to far away lands, a book manuscript was left untouched for many months, emails unanswered, plans to go to the gym deserted, business plans left waiting and blog tags unresponded.

One day, the girl decided that enough was enough and it was time to hunt down this evil beast. Hunt him down and banish him from her kingdom forever.

So here I go...

Firstly, the sweet Buttnaked Baby tagged me for seven random things...

1. I lived and travelled with a circus for a month. It was when I was in university and working on a photographic piece for my graduation exhibition. It was the most amazing time, living in a caravan. The performers were so welcoming and let me into their lives. I even went on the flying trapeze!

2. I'm allergic to fruit. Not all fruit, but a lot of it. Well, not actually allergic, but intolerant. The worst offenders are pineapple, any citrus, kiwifruit and berries. Basically, anything with a tart/tangy taste. It hit when I hit my 30s. If I drank a glass of pineapple juice, I'd stop breathing within minutes. I'm working on building my tolerance and from the beginning of this year, I've been able to re-introduce strawberries into my diet.

3. For much of my life, I've had a hatred for the colour yellow. Not a dislike, a hatred. The colour made angry. It also then bled to a dislike to colours blended with yellow, such as shades of orange and green. In the last couple of years I've come to like the latter two and now in my bid to buy neutral coloured baby clothes, I've finally accepted yellow in my life.

4. I first got engaged at the age of five. My fiance's name was Damien. He presented me with a red plastic, heart-shaped ring. I still have the ring. A few months later, he suddenly moved away when his parents separated. I never got to say goodbye. When my parents told me, I cried all night and swore I would never love again.

5. Around the same age, I had trouble deciding if I would marry Astro Boy or Kimba the White Lion (what a hussy I was!). In the end, I decided it would be Astro Boy. My Japanese friends still refer to him as my "first husband" and on my (real) husband's birthday last year, they presented him with an Astro Boy birthday cake.

6. Even though I hate violence and any conflict of any kind, I have nearly joined the Australian Defence forces twice. The first time, the Air Force as a press photographer and the second time, the Army as an English as a Second Language teacher.

7. I hate needles, pain and am not a huge fan of the gym. Yet, I married a man who is an acupuncturist, sports massage therapist (his massaged hurt! Until we moved here, he was the massage therapist for the Australian diving team) and personal trainer.

Then, the fabulous Joleo asked me some really interesting questions about blogging...

1. Why did you start your blog?

Well, I actually have two blogs, but I'll talk about this one. I initially started this blog to help support my kimono fabric store on eBay. I wanted to highlight different ways people were using the fabrics as well as give cultural information about them. The more I started to sew again, the more the blog evolved into me writing about my creative pursuits and inspirations. I much prefer the blog now.

2. How did you come up with your blog name?

It was a business name I thought of years ago and had always planned on using. It just came to me one day. I was probably in the shower, that's often when my ideas come to me.

3. Do your friends and family know about your blog? What do they think about it?

Yes, they do, though I don't think many of them read it... so I'm not so sure what they think. I know I have one friend that does and she tells me that she likes it as she can keep up a little with what's happening in my life between emails.

4. How do you write posts?

I actually am constantly writing posts in my head, but it's a matter of getting behind the computer with a bit of quiet around me to write them down. Many more posts exist in my head than on this page....

5. Have you ever had a troll or had to delete unkind comments?

Luckily, I've never had any unkind comments. I've only had to delete spam comments a couple of times.

6. Do you check your stats? Do you care how many people read your blog? If you do care, how to you increase traffic?

I have to confess, I do like checking my stats. I love seeing when the traffic is coming and from where. I'd love to say I didn't care how many people read my blog, but I do. I hope that I am writing things that people will find interesting or can connect with. I don't do so much to increase traffic, but I suppose I try to keep my writing real and that gradually over time, more people will come.

7. What kind of blogs/posts interest you?

Relating back to the last answer, I like blogs that are real. While of course upbeat, positive posts are great, life isn't always like that and I prefer blogs that reflect that from time to time. Being a visual person, one that looks great is always cool as well ;) I mostly read blogs with a creative, craft bent to them, or about other people living in Japan.

8. What do you like and dislike about blogging?

What I love about blogging is the community. I've said it a number of times, so please excuse me for repeating myself but... living in Japan, while full of inspiration, can also be quite isolating at times. I found myself seriously lacking a creative community here. With blogging, I've now found that community, one that is really supportive and friendly. It's been a great outlet for me to write and to get feedback on projects I'm working on.

As for dislike... I can't say there's anything I dislike, unless it's that I wish I had more time to devote to my blogs. One thing I find difficult though, is working out how to reply to comments. I really like to respond to comments. With blogger, you often don't have the person's email address, so can't reply directly to them. I will usually then visit the commenter's blog and comment on something there, but feel silly talking about something they wrote when it's completely off the topic to their post. I'm considering switching to Typepad for that very reason. I'd love some other peoples thoughts on this!

And finally, the very talented Moyou tagged me with some more randomness, this time in lots of four. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to use the same categories or make up my own... so it it was the latter, sorry for copying!

Four jobs I've had
Photographer
Teacher
Personal Assistant
Self-employed business owner (does that count as a job?)

Four movies I can watch over and over
Memoirs of a Geisha
Zatoichi
Like Water for Chocolate
My Neighbour Totoro

Four places I have lived
Brisbane
Seki, Japan
Gifu, Japan
Konan, Japan

Four TV shows I love
Dr Who
Torchwood
Grey's Anatomy
Heroes

Four places I have been on holiday
Vietnam
Cambodia
USA
New Zealand

Four of my favourite dishes
Caesar salad with prawns and lots of anchovies
Fish and Chips
Smoked salmon and dill fettuccine with cream sauce
Any Thai dish that isn't spicy and has king prawns, basil and snow peas

Four websites I visit daily
Flickr
eBay
and a random selection of people on my blogroll

Four places I would rather be now
Sapa, Vietnam
Yamba, NSW
At dinner with friends in Australia
Peru

In the spirit of randomness, I have randomly tagged some people who've left comments lately. Please choose which tag or combination that you'd like to answer.

So...

Big Cat
Curly Pops
flossy-p
Leni & Rose

you're it!

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