I’m back in the game baby!
Not only did I tick off my 9th list item today but (at least in my opinion) I did it in style.
One of my oldest friends, Dom, and I finally found the opportunity to get to the nearest swingset and get swinging! As previously planned, we made our way to the GIGANTIC swing at the ‘Constellation Playground’ on the Bay Run… and then proceeded to have the day of our late-twenties’ lives!
As most of you have hopefully memorised by now, I was born on the 1st of July. This may render me 3 days shy of a Bruce Springsteen song, however it encouragingly equates me to the entire country of Canada and, more importantly, has seen me dubbed “Daddy’s little tax deduction”.
Baby Mandy enjoying the spoils of her parents’ latest tax refund
The 1st of July is a pretty cool birthdate, so I’m eternally grateful that my Mum held out the 16 days I was overdue to launch me into the 1983/84 Financial Year.
Nevertheless, as much as I love my birthdate, it does have its downsides. You might think it would be nice to have a memorable birthday but if you did think that all it would tell me is that you were not born on the 25th of December or 11th of September… and you clearly have no idea what you’re talking about.
Blogging is an interesting art form. It’s like writing a diary… only the opposite – because it’s extremely public.
Aussie comedienne Rebel Wilson in ‘Bridesmaids’
Being so public, blogging leaves your poor, fragile little ego exposed to the vagaries and whims of your readers. This can result in a dramatic blow when you discover, for example, that every single guest post on your blog has been more popular than any of the countless posts you have written yourself (ouch!)
More distressing, however, is when you come to the realisation that most of your readers aren’t readers at all… They’re just web surfers who like cute pictures of Boo the Pomeranian.
To be fair, Boo is pretty damn photogenic.
In August 2012 the British Film Institute announced that, after a 50 year reign at number 1 on their ‘Sight & Sound poll’, Citizen Kane had finally been ousted by none other than Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’.
Given that the poll is taken from “846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors” (as opposed to the hundreds of thousands of inept imdb voters), you might think that their top list would be a little more reliable.
You’d think wrong.
After watching more than half of the Top 100 movies (as voted by imdb users), I have come to the conclusion that it really is a terrible list… to the point where I have lost just a smidgen of my faith in humanity.
I am committed to completing the list of course, but you will notice that my momentum has slowed in recent times. This may have something to do with the fact that we used most of this month’s download allowance on ‘Day Z’, but it’s also fair to say that it’s becoming less and less of an appealing prospect as the number of movies I expect to enjoy dwindles.
I have therefore taken it upon myself to prepare a competing list.
A couple of months ago, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Tracey, provided a detailed explanation of why she thinks I should go without TV for 2 months as one of my ‘Top 30 things to try before I’m 30’. Let’s just say it was a less than glowing report of my addiction to the idiot box. Specifically, my addiction to the long-running soapie, Australia’s beloved ‘Neighbours’.
Let’s ignore the fact that Neighbours is the longest running drama series in Australian television. Never mind that it’s nearly as old as I am, launching in 1985. Forget that it was at one time the most popular daytime television show in the UK (besides news bulletins). No, I must be the crazy one for enjoying it.
To be fair, it may be taking it one step to far to help the characters name their babies via posts on the ‘Neighbours’ Facebook wall… but they’re like family to me! I’ve even gone so far as to cast members of my family as various characters on the show, so now when something terrible happens to Karl it’s like it’s happening to my Dad, or when Lucas stacks his motorbike it’s Andy that’s taken a tumble, or when Toadie and Sonya have a fight it’s my older brother and his wife that are on the brink of despair.
Considering how much drama is packed into each nightly episode, you can begin to understand how it could quickly become a source of intense emotional distress for me.
As midnight approaches on Day 7 of the No Fridge Challenge, I can’t help but be relieved that it is nearly over.
I’m sure when my sister-in-law Sandy proposed the challenge she did not expect that I would find it so difficult. What’s the big deal, right?
I suppose it is just far harder than I suspected to live without this most basic of household appliances.
It causes me to wonder whether the loss of any other home appliance would hit so hard?
(Which then causes me to wonder how I’ll go with the No TV Challenge…)
Apologies for the late post, I was otherwise occupied last night.
Ok, if you must know, I was out “having the night of my life with HANSON!”
“When you get old and start losing your hair, the girls of Sydney will still care”.
One of my oldest and dearest friends, Rachael, is a mad Hanson fan (and yes, I intentionally used the word “is” rather than “was”). Rachael attended the concert the night before, managing to impressively tick off the absolute ultimate of all of her bucket list items by actually meeting them.
*Insert incoherent squeal here*
With other people’s bucket list items being ticked of left and right, it is with renewed vigour that I return to my own list…
It is almost dinner time on Day 5 of the No Fridge Challenge, and it is just occurring to me that I haven’t had lunch. Unsurprisingly, I don’t feel particularly great, although that may have more to do with the fact that all I’ve eaten all day is salted cashews.
I know I’ve done a lot of whingeing about the No Fridge Challenge so far, and I’ve no doubt you’re all getting pretty sick and tired of it. Possibly even as sick and tired as I am of salted snacks right now! But, it’s actually not the fridgeless factor that’s causing me to starve today…
No. There is another, far greater, threat to my health and I’m afraid if I don’t keep my voice down I might actually become dinner myself.
Come closer and I’ll whisper it to you…
Zombies are out to get me.
Things at our house are getting grim. I’m only halfway into the No Fridge Challenge and already supplies are running low. Here I was thinking I was set for nuclear fallout, when in reality I can barely last 4 days. Now all I have left is half a bag of pretzels, some eggs, two tins of tuna, and some rapidly decelerating celery.
I could always go to the shops and buy more supplies, but I am weak from the malnourishment…
Weak… and lazy.
Fortunately, I have not yet commenced the No TV challenge, because it is providing me with what little sustenance I have left…
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