As there’s still a little of Thanksgiving left and I didn’t do the Fun Monday thing, I just want to list the things I am thankful for – TODAY. Aside from all the obvious things (family, friends, etc) I just want to count these in.
I am thankful that I have enough hair that when I got a “trim” earlier today (with Wahl hair trimmers) that, having had a number 3 setting trimmer used on me, I still have hair on my head (be it only 0.5 cm long!). I am also thankful that I am alive another day (I think)… Although sort of already mentioned, I am thankful for having Em and Chrissy in my life. They both make my day, in differing ways. I am thankful for all my other peeps in my life too… I am thankful I live in the western world and that the most stressing aspect of my day was having my hair cut too short and having to make white sauce from scratch. I am thankful that I can read. I love my books and I doubt I’d enjoy listening to audio books as much if I only had hearing to rely on. I am thankful for my eyes… I am thankful for all my techno gizmos too. Lastly, one very indulgent future thank… That Christmas is going to be a TRULY “David Tennant” Christmas. What, with two Doctor Who episodes over the holidays, Hamlet on TV, a guest appearance on the Catherine Tate Christmas Show, an appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, an appearance on QI, and reading the Bedtime Story on CBeebies, not to mention the cinema release tomorrow of Glorious 39 and of St Trinian’s 2 (help me if I go and see it at the cinema!) a week before Xmas, I’ll be on DT OVERLOAD! So thanks Mr Giving 🙂Hilda: The Lost Hog, Part 2
RIP Poor Hilda.
She lost her fight overnight. Jacqui called this morning. I was elsewhere so she left a message on the answering machine. She had appeared to be going well. I’d called Jacqui on Wednesday for an update on her. She had lost then regained weight. She still had weight gaining problems, losing then regaining weight since Wednesday. Then she just appeared to have had enough of the fight, the poor little sweetheart, and gave up. I hope she’s enjoying her new life in the big hog box in the sky.
Here’s A Little Ditty…
I woke up early (for me) this morning and so decided to listen to some music on my iPod. Sometimes when I’m in bed at night, trying to go off to sleep and find sleep elusive, I set myself tasks. A favourite one is to do an A-Z of David Bowie songs. I’ll think of a song title apt for the letter of the alphabet then play the track in my head. It eventually helps get me off to sleep. Better than counting sheep!
So this morning when I got hold of my iPod I thought I’d actually listen to a Bowie A-Z. Here’s my list: A small Plot of Land – off the album “1. Outside” 1995Blackout – off the album “Heroes” 1977
Cat People – off the album “Let’s Dance” 1983
Dead Man Walking – off the album “Earthling” 1997
Everyone Says ‘Hi’ – off the album “Heathen” 2002
5.15 Angels Have Gone – off the album “Heathen” 2002
God Knows I’m Good – off the album “David Bowie: Man of Words, Man of Music” or “Space Oddity” 1969
Heathen (The Rays) – off the album “Heathen” 2002
I’m Deranged – off the album “1. Outside” 1995
Jean Genie – off the album “Aladdin Sane” 1973
Kingdom Come – off the album “Scary Monsters…and Super Creeps” 1980
Law (Earthlings on Fire) – off the album “Earthling” 1997
Miracle Goodnight – off the album “Black Tie White Noise” 1992
Neukoln – off the album “Heroes” 1977
Oh! You Pretty Things – off the album “Hunky Dory” 1971
Prettiest Star – off the album “Aladdin Sane” 1973
Queen Bitch – off the album “Hunky Dory” 1971 (yet to play) Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me – off the album “Diamond Dogs” 1974
Stay – off the album “Station to Station” 1976
Teenage Wildlife – off the album “Scary Monsters…and Super Creeps” 1980
Untitled No. 1 – off the album “Buddha in Suburbia” 1993
Voyeur of Utter Destruction (as beauty) – off the album “1. Outside” 1995
Wishful Beginnings – off the album “1. Outside” 1995
(nothing for X sadly)
Young Americans – off the album “Young Americans” 1975
Ziggy Stardust – off the album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars” 1972 As you can see I got up to the letter “R”. I will finish listening to the rest tonight.
Hilda: The Lost Hog.
At around 2pm on Saturday (Nov. 14th), I was sitting on the sofa reading, Em was in the kitchen doing some washing when suddenly Em said to me “there’s a hedgehog in the garden”. Okay, not that significant you might think, but if you know ANYTHING about hedgehogs (and as we have several visiting our garden we’ve read up and are familiar with hedgehog antics) you’ll know that seeing a hedgehog (a nocturnal creature) out in daylight is NOT good.
The weather was quite horrible. It was raining and the light was dimming (even at 2pm, yes!), but still, a hedgehog shouldn’t really be seen out before dusk. Em gloved up, went outside and retrieved the poor little mite. We initially had the poor little fella/miss in a cardboard box.
Fun Monday – my first.
I was this on Wendishness’s’s’s’s’s (sorry, lol) blog and thought I’d have a go.
Here’s the deal. There is an exercise involved, as follows: (1) Share something which you wish your readers would know about you. It could be something you feel you might need to clarify/ share, etc. (2) Ask three questions to your readers, and I mean all readers, whether participants of Fun Monday or not. The questions should be generic so that all your readers can answer them and that it will help you get to know your readers more. So here goes… 1) I have an abhorrent fear of escalators. Yes folks, you read correctly, escalators! It’s something that’s manifested itself later in life and I’m not really sure what brought it on. Perhaps it started when I used to visit my brother when he was working at the NRMA offices in Sydney (nearest station is Wynyard which had a VERY tall wooden escalator). I used to take the escalator out of Wynyard station and because it was such a TALL escalator and I’m acrophobic, it used to unsettle me a little, but I was okay. Then I heard about a fire that happened at Wynyard station. Just looking now there doesn’t seem to be any evidence for one. But I’d heard there had been one, on the escalators (and if you look at the Wikipedia entry here for escalators, you’ll see Wynyard still have the original Otis wooden tread ones, the ones used at King’s Cross station in London where there WAS a fire in 1987, killing 31 people). From then on, I really started to dread taking the escalators. When I’d arrive at the station on the train, I’d take the escalator up to street level (sometimes), but when I’d return to the station, I’d ALWAYS take the stairs. My fear is so strong, I actually PREFER lifts! I would gladly take a lift any day over having to ride an escalator. The longer and higher the escalator, the more scared I am, as it then combines with my acrophobia to make me have panic attacks. Just looking at some of the images on the Wikipedia entry for escalators was enough to have me panicking. London is the worst. Travelling the tube is a NIGHTMARE for me. The escalators are SSSOOO fast, and that is another element of the fear – the faster the escalator, the harder I find it to get on. And if the escalator is going down, and is tall…I just see myself trying to get on and falling all the way down. It didn’t help things that on my wedding anniversary in 2008, I DID have a fall down an escalator. It wasn’t a very tall one either, but it was fast, so it just helped to heighten my fear. I can’t describe to you how fast the ones on the tube go. Imagine standing there in front of a an escalator and every time you go to step on, you’ve missed the step. A step goes by within two thirds of a second, and although granted, the steps stay flat for about one metre, because my fear is SO heightened, I just don’t believe I’m ever going to get on a level step quick enough. Then add the element of endless passengers stepping on/off the escalator, people beside you clambering and running down them to the left of you (something I could NEVER do, even for a million pounds). Most of the time I have to wait until the masses leave so I can try and get on myself as many times I have to abort my attempts and that would be nigh on impossible with a crowd behind me. I let Em go ahead and sometimes when I abort my attempts, she comes back down the stairs to help me. My favourite tube station is Covent Garden as there is access via lifts and stairs only. The stairs are spiral, and I’ve been down them before, and vertigo sets in…but I *STILL* prefer that to the escalators! I wish I was healthier, as I’d take the stairs more often. But some of the tube stations are SO far below ground, the stairs would be 100 metres long. I’d never cope! The WORST is “down” escalators that aren’t working. I had that just recently when we went to Weymouth. We were at Victoria, having something to eat before getting the coach home, and the small escalator inside the food hall had stopped. Luckily it was a small one, but I still very gingerly made my descent. Enough of escalator talk (before I have a panic attack). 2) Gawd, I’m not sure what questions to ask. *What was the best thing you did yesterday?*Who is your hero or the person you most admire in your life?
*If you had the opportunity, would you move from where you live now, and if so, where would you move to? PS: Whoops. Think I lost the premise there…FUN Monday…oh, well.
