Sunday Stealing:

 It's November. How did that happen? 

I'm making the most of some free time in Melbourne. There are good thing about not being the other side of the country for the weekend - like movie theatres, and exhibitions, and weather where it's not hot and humid. I'm loving it. November is a good month. It's not yet high summer, but you can start leaving your jacket at home. 

Anyway, here's this week's questions, supplied, as always, by Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

Local events, parades or festivals – either in your hometown or state

Melbourne has some great festivals. Every March-April is the International Comedy Festival, which runs over a month and is excellent. Acts come from all over the world. 

In March there's also something called Moomba, which I believe is a children's festival, with a parade and side show attractions, a Birdman Rally and waterskiing in the Yarra River, which doesn't really appeal as the Yarra never looks that sanitary. 

We also get a public holiday for a football game and a horse race. The Melbourne Cup is on Tuesday - I'm going to a barbeque that day. Should be fun. It might be an Australian thing, having a public holiday for sporting events. It doesn't make sense to me. 

Life update – what’s happened recently, moving house, family wedding, vacation, new pet, visited with a friend, and so on.

Nothing much has happened. I'm going back to Darwin next weekend for a week. Does that count? 

Do you have any family traditions this month?

As I'm in Australia, with the exception of the Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday of November, there is nothing much that happens in November. My family don't celebrate anything in November - a couple of my cousins have birthdays. That's about it. 

The holidays are about two months away, Do you begin shopping or creating now or wait until December?

Christmas is not a big thing for me either. I'll start getting things ready for the trek interstate about a week before Christmas. 

What is your favorite November memory?

I can't think of anything really. I know I use to like November when I was living in England because ti was getting colder. I like cold weather. 

Now that the weather is getting cooler do you prefer? Staying indoors or going outdoors? What do you do?

Ah, I'm in Australia - we're going into Summer. It's getting warmer. I'm looking forward to being able to go for longer walks after work because it's daylight savings and not being cold. November is rather nice in Melbourne. 

Describe your favorite local restaurant.

There are so many restaurants near where I live, but I keep going back to this place down Victoria Street called Vinh Ky. It's a Vietnamese/Chinese place and it does this one dish, Crispy Beef in Spicy Sauce which is just incredible. I take a lot of friends there, and they keep going back. It's cheap and cheerful and very tasty. 

The pub around the corner does great meals, and there are many cafes which do great breakfasts. We're really spoiled for choice around here. 

Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving?

As an Australian, Thanksgiving isn't a thing. I've been to a couple of Thanksgiving dinners at an American friend's place. I like the concept - but it's not a thing in Australia. The Black Friday sales are about as much as we get of Thanksgiving over here. 

If you could take any class, what would you select?

I would love to get fluent in French, so I could see myself going back to regular French conversations classes. 

There's also a part of me that would still love to learn to play the piano. 

To celebrate November would you rather enjoy pumpkin pie or sweet potato?

Okay, this is another Australian thing - but both pumpkin and sweet potato are traditionally savoury foods. I've had both pumpkin pie and sweet potatoes with marshmallow - but I wouldn't write home about them. I reckon, if you're not brought up with these things they don't have any nostalgic value. 

I like my pumpkin and sweet potato roasted and in salads. 

How do you handle setbacks and failures?

Normally, after a short period of mourning, I pick myself up, dust myself off and get on with things. 

If everything in your house had to be one color, which color would you choose?

Oh, this is a hard question. 

Part of me says go with black, but that has its problems. It can be overwhelming. 

But navy blue - that might work. It's still dark, but it's in some ways classier. 

Who or what would you haunt if you were a ghost?

I don't like the idea of haunting anybody - it feels a bit vindictive. But I could live somewhere cool. Like the seal house at the zoo. I reckon watching the seals for eternity would be great. 

Have you ever worn clothing with the labels still attached?

Do you mean the labels, or the price tags. Most of my clothes have the labels still on them. How do you know which way they go on without the tag? I'm normally pretty good about taking off price tags. 

What's something weird that you recommend everyone try at least once?

Here are some things people should try that might be deemed a little strange: 

• Pickled herring (Source them from Ikea - the ones in mustard sauce are great)
• Horseradish sandwiches
• Vegemite on buttered toast, if you are not Australian
• Learning a language for no reason
• Reading crappy romance novels
• Sniffing dog and cat paws (they smell good)
• Going to a Silent Book Group meeting - I go to one when I'm in Darwin - it's awesome. 

Today's song: