First

I have been rendered next to mute. Last week's awful chest and ear cold has taken out my vocal chords. I can barely talk much over a whisper - and it's been like that for a few days. I feel quite well - I just can't speak out loud. My one and only sign in Auslan (the Australian sign language for the deaf) is thank you. It's been getting used a lot. I've been told not to talk. It's fun.

As I leave for India in ten days, I have to get myself well. Oh joy. So today I'll break the back of the Masons Property Association Paperwork. Won't that be fun.

Questions, as always, from Bev at Sunday Stealing.


1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?

Thank goodness my hair is being dyed next weekend. The greys at my temples are driving me spare.

2. Where did you go on the very first vacation of your life?

The first holiday I remember going on was to Kangaroo Island when I was five. It was my first trip on a plane. My sister threw up all the way there. I lost my first tooth over there and learned to play pinball.

3. Open the door of your refrigerator. What is the first thing you see?

Chilling fizzy water, a bag of honey chai and a packet of smoked salmon.

4. Tell us about your first kiss OR your last first date.

I'll go the first date. I was sixteen. We went to see the original Police Academy movie at a cinema in Adelaide. He drove his little yellow Cortina. I realise how this dates me...

5. If you had wings to fly about the universe, where is the first place you’d land?

I know this might sound strange, but I'd love to go and sit on top of the Chrysler building in New York. I love that building.

6. What is the first thing you do when you get in your car?

Put on my seat belt. Doesn't everybody do that?

7. What is the first thing you ever said to your firstborn?

I don't have a first born. Next.

8. What is the last thing you heard about your first love?

I haven't heard from my first love in 30 years. Last I heard, he was living in Adelaide and working in I.T.

9. If you had created the world in seven days yourself, what would you have created on the First Day?

Cats and gin.

10. What is the first song in your IPOD or song list?

If I turn on the music on my phone, invariably, of its own volition, Radiohead's Paranoid Android will come on. I have no idea why.

Of my favourite play list, the first song is Get Outta My Head by The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers. I love that song.

11. What is the first tangible thing you lost that you could never find again?

Probably my innocence.

12. Who is your favorite First Lady of all time?

Ah look, I'm Australian so we don't have First Ladies - or there isn't much made of the Prime Minister's wife. I feel very sorry for Scummo, our current Prime Minister's wife. Scummo is up there with Trump in my estimation of leaders. Tammy Fraser was pretty awesome. Hazel Hawke put up with a lot.

But my favourite first lady, was Julia Gillard. Our Prime Minister for three years, she was great. Has the voice of a fishwife, but a smart, empathetic, hard-working and funny woman, with wisdom to burn. She's one of my heroes.

13. Post a link to your first blog post.

Here you go.

14. When was the last time you needed First Aid?

I needed some paracetamol for a sore throat the other week - that turned into the motherforker of a chest/throat virus.

15. Can you explain what a first down is in football?

Of course not. I'm Australian We play Australian rules. We don't have first downs or what ever they are. I can barely tell you the rules of Australian Rules football other than you can't run with the ball and you have to try kick the ball through the big sticks for six points. That's about all you need to know.

Today's Song: