Sunday Stealing: Storyworth

Another Saturday night, another group of questions. I've had a lovely day catching up with friends and going for a long walk to get my steps up for the weekend. It was a lovely day in more ways that one. 

And now onto the weekend questions, provided, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

    1. Did you ever have a commercial you really liked?

I have plenty of old commercials that I like. As an Australian, we still mention commercials that were on twenty - thirty years ago. 

Like this one:

And this one: 

And this one: 

And this one: 

"Not Happy, Jan!" and the Emperor Nasi Goreng are still in common daily use. 

    2. How did you learn to ride a bicycle?

My dad taught me in the back yard when I was five. I had training wheels on the bike for a while, then they came off and then I was riding my myself. 

    3.How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?

Dinner was had with some friends and family at a favourite Italian restaurant in town. It was pretty low key from memory. 

    4. What fascinated you as a child?

I remember being fascinated with all sorts of things. Dinosaurs, lego, animals, space travel and the stars. Normal kid stuff. I also remember pouring over a language dictionary as a kid at mr grandmother’s place. My love of languages started early.

    5. What was one of your favorite playground games?

   I used to love the swings. Actually, I still love the swings and will get on them any chance I can get. I love the feeling of being on a swing set. 

 6. What things matter most to you in life?

In no order: 

• Friends
• Reading and writing
• Keeping fit and health
• My cat
• Sleep
• Travel

    7. If you had to go back in time and start a brand new career, what would it be?

There is still a part of me that wonders what sort of doctor I might have made if I ever got the grades (and had a better grasp of physics.)

    8. What do people get wrong about you?

A lot of people think, because I am friendly and reasonably bubbly and occasionally loud, that I am an extrovert. I'm not. I'm a very pronounced introvert. I need my space more than anything else. 

    9. Do you believe that people can change? Why or why not?

I think people can change to a point. It normally takes a big event to make people reconsider things and change their ways. 

    10. What is some of the best advice your mother ever gave you?

Don't get pregnant. 

    11. If you could see into the future, what would you want to find out?

I'm a dab hand at tarot cards, but I don't tell the future. At the moment I'd like to see if Trump ends up in prison. That would be good. In many ways it's bad to know too much about the future. 

    12. How has your life turned out differently than you imagined it would?

I never, ever, imagined I would be going up to Darwin for work on a regular basis - ever. Before getting this job I'd been to Darwin once. It was somewhere I never thought I would go again, especially in the Wet Season. (Darwin has two seasons, Wet, which is most of the year, and the dry, which lasts from the end of May to the end of August - which is when the weather is just lovely. The rest of the time it's hotter and more humid than Satan's armpit.)

    13. What is the longest project you have ever worked on?

I'm a contractor and I work on projects most of the time. I've been on a couple that have lasted around three years. After that, you're normally wanting to do something new. 

    14. What have been some of your favorite restaurants through the years?

At the moment, my favourite restaurant is this little French place down the road called Noir. It's just lovely. 

My favourite Vietnamese place is called Vinh Ky - again, it's nearby and it has laminate tables, surly staff, and ot’s often hard to find and Anglo face in there and the food is great. 

I love my regular trips to Cafe D'lish near where I go for meditation. I was there this morning. 

I still have dreams about the salad bar and the cheesy garlic bread at the Sizzler. Sizzler left Australia many years ago. 

I love going back to Cumulus Inc when I can - it's a Modern Australian place with amazing food. 

And my current favourite Mexican place is in Camberwell. La Cabra. Cheap and cheerful, but very yummy. 

Oh, and my favourite Indian place was called Indian Tukka in Collingwood. It shut down years ago, but it had the best vindaloo I've had outside of Britain. 

    15. What is one of the best shows you've ever been to?

The best music concert I've been to would be David Byrne from Talking Heads. Saw him at the Brixton Academy in London in 1993, and again in his American Utopia show in 2019. He's phenomenal.

The Pixies are incredible live too.

Best straight theatre - oh, that goes to either A Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in London in 2001 - with Brendan Fraser as Brick and Ned Beatty as Big Daddy - that was extraordinary. There was a particularly good Richard III at the Melbourne Theatre Company a number of years ago which was as good as anything the RSC has ever put on. Oh, and Aiden Fennessy's The Architect, another Melbourne Theatre Company production from 2017. I still think about that regularly. An extraordinary play. I mourn the loss of the playwright, who died a couple of years ago. A talent gone too soon. 

Today's song: