Gah, the bit I've been dreading. I'd love to ramble on and on about how I never take a good picture, how this is the only recent one I have and I don't normally look this deathly. But the truth is I do normally look this deathly and rambling isn't a very effective diversionary tactic in a blog. The camera doesn't lie, especially when held by a six year old . Being photographed talking to my eight year old and standing in front of a dark cupboard probably wasn't the most flattering setup. Oh bugger it, you get the idea....
Here are a few of the questionnaires I've struggled through lately.....
Layers of You
"Inside the Actor's Studio"
Because I know you like answering questions...
What's in your purse?
(Of course there are many more - but this is where I will keep the aftermath of an exploded Top Ten list. And a different day or a different mood would probably garner a different list, but for today these are my loves.)
Resiny Woody Incensy Goodness
Minotaur
Schwarzer Mond
Cathedral
Midnight Mass
Greed
Priala the Human Phoenix
Tabula Smaragdina
The Lurid Library
Riding the Goat
Valentine of Rome
Resurrection of the Flesh
Anne Bonny
Mr Jacquel
Urd
Snuggle in a Little Closer Baby
Baghdad
Spider
Hunter Moon 07
Luperci
Dracul
Doc Constantine
Tristran
Dee
Hand of Glory
A Bachelor's Dog
Bien Loin D'ici
Coyote
The Lion
Sheol
Love and Pain
Frederic
Aziraphale
Casanova
I Enjoy Being a Girl...
His Station and Four Aces
Garden Path with Chickens
Love in the Asylum
The Peacock Queen
Pepper
Singing Moon
Rose Moon
Parlement of Foules
Sitting Up With a Sick Friend
Beltane 08
Ostara
Longing
Maiden
Glowing Vulva at Ryogoku Bridge
Nemesis
Lucy's Kiss
Orpheus
Mama-Ji
Lune Noir
Florence
Les Infortunes De La Vertu
Whip
The Great Outdoors
The Twisted Oak Tree
Ahathoor
Deep in Earth
Stranger in Camp
The Clod and the Pebble
The Winter of Our Discontent
Worm Moon
Black Forest
Wolf Moon 06
Oborot
Hexennacht 08
October
Death of a Gravedigger
The Phoenix
The House
Lurking in the Shadows
Clemence
Plunder
Umbra
Cathode
Meskhenet the Vulture Maiden
Scents to Fall Asleep To
Old Scratch
Sleepy Moon
Kephra
The King of Hearts
Death Cap
Special Kinda Clean
Krampus
Cytherea
Omen
Melpomene
Sylph
Dance of Death
Les Anges Dechus
Ides of March
Special Kinda Dirty
Loviatar
Nanny Ashtoreth
Geek
Shrunken Heads
Two Monsters
Dream of a Fisherman's Wife
Crowley
Czernobog
Frooty Patootey
Aeronwen
Lurid
Tenochtitlan
Twenty-One
Kumiho
Right, I've had a couple of hours sleep...
51. I wear makeup every single day.
52. I believe in karma.
53. I am a fountain of useless knowledge. Comes in handy on trivia nights.
54. I hate prankster/hidden camera shows with a passion. No matter how things might work out in the end, I don't think it is ever worth making a person feel the way they do until the 'reveal'.
55. I fall asleep in movies and usually only see the credits.
56. I am afraid of grasshoppers. They have disgusting little spiky legs and fly directly at you.
57. I love mushrooms and would include them with every meal if I thought I could. Raw, grilled, fried - whatever.
58. I'm not a gardener, but I have a few David Austen roses I just love.
59. I love charms and tiny ornaments. Just love them, and have done since I was a small child. The littler, the better.
60. I know beyond a shadow of doubt that the TAL oils work. I just wish I knew better how to use them to get the best effect.
61. I dream of owning my own business.
62. I hate driving. My father was in a very serious accident before I was born that left him with brain damage and I guess that I have always been afraid the same could happen to me or my loved ones.
63. I'm a nightowl, I like the quiet when the world is asleep and I can stare at the stars.
64. I am really driven in my work life but a terrible procrastinator at home.
65. I will not eat any meat off the bone, or things on sticks.
66. In real life, I use very passionate and dramatic language.
67. Musicians rock my socks. First time I saw my husband he was playing lead guitar and singing in a band.
68. I believe wholeheartedly in love at first sight.
69. I talk with my hands, even when I am on the phone.
70. Religious fanatics freak me out. And downright piss me off when they try to stuff their beliefs down my throat.
71. I love flat shoes and haven't worn heels for more than ten years.
72. I really love sushi, and often make elaborate family occasions around the preparation and eating of it.
73. I am a hopeless romantic and tell people I love them all the time.
74. I believe crying is cathartic.
75. I love live music, particularly folk and indie festivals.
76. I never write in cursive.
77. I wish I had a rainforest in my backyard and I could just escape into the deep green.
78. I am far more self-conscious than I ever let on.
79. I believe that people have a 'time' and die when they are meant to.
80. First thing I look at when I meet a man are his hands. They give away so much. And big manly hands make me swoony.
81. I like people who have kind eyes.
82. I really appreciate red wine and I would like to be able to describe myself as a 'buff' one day.
83. My ipod has lots of versions of Over the Rainbow. My favourites are Eva Cassidy, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole and Ella Fitzgerald.
84. I hate housework.
85. I would like to live and work overseas for at least a year but am never quite brave or knowledgeable enough to know how to go about it.
86. Grunge music was my music in its day. Hearing Nirvana still brings a rush of endorphins.
87. I wish I could sleep more.
88. I am overly trusting but not naive.
89. I can become fixated on polished stones and polished wood. Pretty tumbled stones, crystals and semi-precious gems will call to me from across a store.
90. This probably also explains my love of beaded necklaces. I like them long enough that I can look down and see them or run my fingers over them.
91. Annoying ringtones really peeve me. I hate that there is a thriving industry for them.
92. I am openminded and I love to talk to people who might broaden my horizons.
93. I love art, particularly beautiful paintings, whether they are famous or not.
94. I can't sew to save my life, but I am a great cook.
95. I shudder when people describe themselves as 'whacky' or 'zany'. Experience has taught me that this usually translates to 'annoying'.
96. My best friend once told me there are two people to avoid in life - serial killers and women who spell 'thanks' with an 'x'. So far his advice has stood me in good stead.
97. I have a copy of Rudyard Kipling's 'If' on display in my home and in my office.
98. I love to meditate and am trying to learn to take it to the next level.
99. I think a really good indicator of character is how a person speaks about their partner.
100. I would much rather talk about you than me!
1. I don't really know the first thing about blogs.
2. I believe that will become self-evident fairly quickly.
3. Apart from snoring like a train, my husband is pretty wonderful.
4. My two little boys are best friends and wish they were twins.
5. I am hopeless at computer games.
6. I am fiercely competitive at board games.
7. I own thousands of dollars worth of board games.
8. I would like to learn more card games. So far I know poker, 500 and euchre.
9. I desperately want to be able to do one really good magic trick.
10. My fingernails and toenails are always painted.
11. Nailpolish and books are my favourite things to shop for.
12. I got two tattoos when I was 18, a rose and an arum lily.
13. I will probably get at least one more.
14. I am so pale I almost radiate.
15. I hate the sensation of sunlight on my skin.
16. I have contact lenses but most of the time I'm so lazy I just wear my glasses.
17. I wear the same gold rings, gold bracelets and gold earrings everyday.
18. I wear a different necklace, mostly long beads, everyday.
19. I love ginger.
20. I read voraciously.
21. My favourite book is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
22. I watch Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends with my kids and it makes me laugh out loud.
23. I have a 30gb video ipod that goes everywhere with me.
24. I don't like meat.
25. But I can eat my own bodyweight in seafood.
26. I like all vegetables except celery and sweet potato.
27. I love all things piratey.
28. One of the greatest gifts I have ever received was a tiara which I wear more often than I care to admit and boss everyone around.
29. I had two bridesmen at my wedding.
30. I am learning more about tarot.
31. I have worked fulltime since I left university but I have no career goal.
32. I would like to travel more.
33. I need a creative outlet but I am not crafty at all.
34. I paint, but unfinished artworks make me crazy.
35. I am an INTP.
36. I cannot stand to have my stomach touched. By anyone.
37. This probably because it closely resembles porridge. Childbearing was not kind to me.
38. I have no desire to be a domestic goddess but I love Nigella.
39. Nothing riles me quite like deliberate ignorance.
40. I saw an owl somewhere every single day I was pregnant with my first son.
41. I have two chickenpox scars on the bridge of my nose.
42. I think the number 42 is lucky and I'm not sure why.
43. I sing when I am stressed. Which seems to be a lot lately.
44. I have no desire to go to the beach (hate the sun) but I would like to live near one.
45. I spend my life perpetually tired.
46. I love photography.
47. I hate having my photo taken.
48. I have some very odd handbags and purses.
49. I own lots of coffee mugs and tea cups and get weird about finding just the right one for the occasion.
50. I secretly wish I was a ninja. Or at the very least had a ninja at my beck and call.