25 April 2010

A Few Titbits

A few weeks ago I got tagged by Jazzy and asked to reveal a few things I like. And then I got tagged by Mel and asked to reveal interesting things about me.

I have been very lazy on the blogging side lately, but I am finally coming around and, while I am bending the rules somewhat, it may be more fun to merge both. So here are a few titbits about me that I have not blogged about before.

Number 1 – I am a Sudoku addict. I love the simplicity of the game’s implacable logic. I have become quite good at it, through almost daily sessions: the best time is in the evening with the TV on in the background... I am not sure why, but this seems to help focus my deduction process. I find it very hard to resist the call of the grid when I come across one, say in a newspaper, and I know I am on a few minutes break and really don’t have the time to get stuck in. Because, like any true addict, once I start I have to see it through...

(the bigger book is well worn as you can see, but almost completed)

Number 2 – I love long-haul flights. It may sound strange, but there is so much to do, I am worse than a child with the excitement of it all: the meals, the wide choice of films (as soon as a film is over, one has to check what else is on the menu, doesn’t one?), following the progress of the plane on the screen (Where are we now? How fast are we going?), all the while keeping an eye out the window and admiring the beauty of our little piece of rock and water from high above (I always aim to get a window seat). So much so that I arrive at my destination quite tired and even worn out, which does nothing for the jet-lag effect!

Number 3 – Some people (mainly men?) say the Women Can’t Read Maps. I am sorry to burst their little bubble, but this is a myth, and I am the proof of it. Forget receiving directions from well-meaning people, forget your gleaming car navigation system, that is as up-to-date as the information entered into it. Just give me a detailed map and the address of where I am going to, and I’ll see you there. I have driven myself through such far away places as densely populated San Francisco and Silicon Valley, the sparsely populated beautiful island of Tasmania (Oz), and... Dublin (where street names are often not indicated where you would expect them to be, and one-way streets and no-right-turn signs are scattered around with no apparent logic – but I do love this city!). I have never ever got lost, I have never ever have had to stop and ask for directions. All I need is a map, and with it I would drive anywhere.

Number 4 – At the start of this post, I talked about being lazy. It’s one of my traits: extremes. I am not much one for balance, it’s often all or nothing. So I can be all activity and non-stop enthusiasm, and then I flop down on the couch and do ab-so-lute-ly no-thing – just flicking from TV channel to TV channel for the sake of moving a bit. And I have become very good at this slouching business. To a point that it can be quite frightening when I start thinking of all the time I let go by, lost for ever, and nothing to show for it. Then I justify my temporary yet frequently occurring apathy by telling myself that resting and recuperating are essential for sustaining my bursts of activities. And when I am doing something, I really do it, to the full, with focus and determination. I suppose this is my way of balancing life!

Number 5 – I love vegetables, and any meal would have far more of them on the plate than meat/fish and carb’s, be they hot, or cold in a salad (I have a salad almost every day for lunch!) I just love them all, except for two of them: parsnips and aubergines. I don’t get parsnips, I think they taste like – well, simply nothing! So what is the point? As for aubergines, I will eat them if misxed with others, but the aftertaste they have just doesn’t do it for me.

Number 6 – The last of my titbits, but the one I am most proud of: for my 50th birthday I gave myself a huge present, the holiday of a lifetime. And to top it all, I dared going on my own, with my own company. I treated myself to 3 weeks away: one week on a holiday resort in the Maldives, then one week on a safari cruise ship hopping from one Maldivian island to another Maldivian island, and finally a cultural trip around Sri Lanka (I had booked a tour where I was assured there would be no more than 8 people on it, but it turned out to be just me and my chauffeur/guide... who fortunately was an expert of his country’s history. Fabulous!) But the best is what I achieved during that holiday. Who said 50 is old? I went on a sea-plane trip around some of the northern atolls. I went snorkelling for the 1st time ever. I learnt to scuba dive and did 11 dives in 14 days in some of the most beautiful dive-sites in the world. The most memorable moment was coming face to face with a Napoleon Fish (one of the largest yet gentlest fish in the world) at 15 metres below the surface and spending 20 minutes looking at him with respect and awe, as he looked at my two diving companions and myself, each in turn, coming as close as 20 to 30 cm from my mask to have a good look – male Napoleon Fish are famous for being very inquisitive, and this one was only a young, not fully grown, adolescent male. An almost spiritual experience! I absolutely loved scuba diving, and the only reason I have not kept my PADI certificate up to date is that Irish waters are far too cold for me (I Hate Cold!). After the experience of going down as much as 20 metres below in a monokini as the Indian Ocean is a constant 30 degree Celsius, donning a wetsuit to step into the cold Northern Atlantic waters is not appetizing! But I intend doing it again, in warm waters.

View from the seaplane


Napoleon Fish checking out my dive-master


Again I am not going to follow the rules and pass this on to 7 people and ask them to tell us their own titbits. I am going to tag only one person, because while she blogs regularly, while I know she likes flowers, gardens and cooking (the leg of lamb incident still makes me laugh- though I am sure it was not funny for her, but it is so well told!) we actually know little of the fingers behind the paws, the lady behind the fur, Fiona of Clive the Assistance Dog.

So Fiona can you please step up, and tell us about YOU? I am sure Clive won’t mind giving you some space on his blog, and that the Not So Little Man will be more than happy to read about his mum... And then you can display this little award ;-)


2 comments:

Clive said...

Well, now you have put it up to me!!

I'll see what I can do!

Thanks a million
Fiona

ps-loved all the new interesting things that I learnt about you in this post!

Mel said...

Neat post Nan P :) My boy is sleeping soundly while I type this, worn out from Playcentre, Ben is at school, and Em is having a rest after kindy. Yay!

 
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