Category: Share Your World

Sharing My World This Week

What’s the worst topping you could put on popcorn?   (Credit to Teresa for this one)

 It had never occurred to me that you needed to put a topping on popcorn. It has butter, what else could it need? Mind you I haven’t had any for years. I love it but it would be wasteful to make it for one person.

In what country did Silent Night originate?

Without cheating and consulting Mr Google I believe that it is German, certainly it was originally sung in that language.

I did not read your answers Mel until afterwards so I know what I should have said now. Long time since I read the story about it but I do love the one about the British and German troops singing it in the trenches in WWI.

(WARNING! The following question is NOT meant to start a fuss.  It’s merely a good discussion question in my opinion.  Most everyone knows where I stand on this. If you feel like arguing about it, please give it a pass.) We’re all adults and sensible ones at that.  We can be mature about such things, right?

How would you react if there was irrefutable proof that God doesn’t exist? How about if there was irrefutable proof that God does exist?

Wow, that is a very deep question and I’m afraid that my first reaction was to think of “The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy” in particular the part about the Babel Fish. I’m not  ridiculing the subject it was just the first thing that popped into my head. 

In truth I’m not really religious although I have respect for those who are, and I don’t know that it would make a huge difference to me either way. I can’t see myself living out my remaining years differently. I guess that I believe that God exists but I don’t require proof.

And last question:

What is the scariest non-banned item you could take on to a plane?

I am not really sure what is banned and what isn’t these days. I probably fly less than once a year.  On a flight home from Singapore Naomi was not allowed to bring a tube of toothpaste. I would not have said that was a particularly dangerous item. I’m pretty sure we can take it on domestic flights. I think a knitting needle would be a more dangerous item and I believe they were banned for a while but not sure about now as we have relaxed the rules a bit.

 

Traditions

Which version of the holiday celebration do you and your family enjoy?  By this I mean do you follow Jewish traditions with Hanukkah; Christian celebrations with Christmas and (for those over the pond) Boxing Day; or some other festivities that I’ve overlooked?   Please do share with everyone!  I truly feel that this sort of question lets us know a little more about our fellow bloggers without getting too personal (i.e. revealing too much of private lives, which some folks prefer to keep private.)

 

We celebrate Christmas although as I have mentioned neither my sister nor I are particularly religious. As I think I mentioned in a previous post I do enjoy Christmas Carols, the old traditional ones like “Silent Night” as opposed to Christmas songs although they can be fun in the right place. My idea of Christmas is about family(including pets), friends and trying to do a bit of good in the world because there are always people worse off than you are; at least if you live in a first world country and have any income at all. Some of my Christmas gifts to family members that are better off than I am may be donations to organisations that protect animals or supply people in less well-off countries the means to make an income or have clean water. I think that is important.

Boxing Day is a public holiday in Australia too although I think this is more a carryover from our British heritage than because we really understand what it was originally for.  In Australia Boxing Day means barbecues, the beach for some, eating left over Christmas food while watching the cricket on television, or going to the MCG to see it live if you happen to live in Melbourne.

 

Sharing My World This Week

What are the most important lesson(s) you’ve learned in life?

Don’t rely on other people to do things for you. I don’t like to ask people to do things for me all the time. There are a few who I know that I can call on if I really need help and I have done that when I was in situations that I really couldn’t manage myself. However, a lot of the time in life people will say that they will do this or that but they don’t. I don’t like to impose on the good people too often and I value my independence so if there is a way to manage alone I will.

How did you meet your husband/wife or significant other? How did you know he/she was “the one”?

David and I met on a steam train excursion. He was 19 and I was a few days off my 18^th birthday. We had both been going on these trips run by the Australian Railway Historical Society (SA) for some time and on this particular occasion our locomotive had broken down and everyone was asking everyone else if they knew what was going on. David and I got chatting that evening and met on a couple more trips before he asked me out. We found we liked a lot of the same things apart from trains, photography, books, especially science fiction and generally had the same values. We were engaged after a year and married when I was 20 and David was 22. I don’t know if I ever  thought “he’s the one.” I’m not very romantic. Neither of us had ever really dated anyone else as we were so young but luckily things worked out for us. We were married for nearly 38 years.

If you could take a year-long paid sabbatical, what would you do?

That’s a hard question to answer in some ways as I haven’t worked for several years. I guess if I’d had that opportunity when I was working for the railways and making decent money I would have traveled overseas or to more distant parts of Australia.

What is your favourite thing to buy at a movie theatre concession stand? (Credit to The Haunted Wordsmith for this one)

Well, Fantales of course, you have to have Fantales at the movies so you can read the movie trivia on the wrappers, Jaffas to roll down the aisles and those ice cream cones that are covered in chocolate.

Fantales//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Jaffas
By Flickr user Andynahman – https://www.flickr.com/photos/87701254@N00/2172834272/, CC BY 2.0, Link

Lastly:

What are some Holiday Traditions you and/or your family observe in December?

Every year since I was about 14 I have made mince pies to eat over Christmas. I don’t think I’ve ever missed making them. We like our British style traditions of Christmas pudding and rich, dark fruit cake but in recent times have added another treat called White Christmas to the list of “must haves”.

As there is now just Naomi and me on Christmas Day it is pretty low key. We have a hot lunch, something we were not able to enjoy in Adelaide as it was often too hot for meat and three vegs. We open our presents and presents for the pets of course and later usually watch a replay of the Christmas Pageant from Adelaide and some Christmas movies. Usually, I talk to family and friends who live in other states on the phone at some point during the day.

We don’t observe any religious ceremonies although I used to like to go to Carols by Candlelight years ago it’s not possible now because of the lack of transport. It has become rather more like a pop concert than a Carols service though so I don’t really miss it.

On Boxing Day David if we were not going out David and I would watch sport on TV and eat leftovers. We watched the first day of the Boxing Day Test Match at the MCG and the start of the Sydney Hobart yacht race. I still like to do this and to go to Hobart later in the week to see the yachts when they have arrived.

 

Sharing My World This Week

If your five year-old self woke up in your current body, what would happen, what would you say?

I’m sure any five year old would be scared to death to have become a grown up overnight. I would undoubtedly say that I didn’t like it and wanted to be a kid again, and I would want my mum.

What is a relationship deal breaker for you?  Whether you are talking about a romantic one, a friendship or a related to sort of relationship?

In a romantic relationship, a deal breaker would have been anyone who wanted me to be something different from the person I am. While I would say that most of the people I am close to have similar values and beliefs to me I do tolerate a range of differences of opinion. I guess the closer they are the more I will tolerate.

Is there something out there, a thought, an idea, a current event, or a fear that you find deeply unsettling?

There are a great many unsettling ideas about these days, I could make a list. However, mostly, I just feel like the world is going nuts.

And one that is a bit whimsical: I recently read a news article where some guy wanted to change his age on his birth certificate claiming that he was discriminated against because of his true age and that if he were 20 years younger he’d get more work and more women. I find this bizarre because he wanted to change a fact, the year that he was born. If he lives another 20 years is he going to want to change his DOB again?  As my mother would say, that’s just plain stupid. See above.

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/dutch-man-emile-ratelband-wants-to-legally-change-his-age-to-49-2018-11

If you were arrested with no explanation, what would your friends and family assume you had done?

My friends and family would assume that it was a case of mistaken identity as at the present time in Australia you can’t be arrested for complaining about things you don’t like on social media.

Finally

What were you grateful for this week?  Something that brought some joy into your world?

I had a nice catch up with some friends on Saturday last week. We meet up about once a month for lunch and we always find plenty to talk about. It was not a fancy event, just a local cafe but it was fun.

Roses are starting to flower in my garden. I love roses. This photo is from last year but I hope to take some new ones soon.

 

Sharing My World This Week

Is there one post on your site that is really special to you?  (credit for this one goes to CrushedCaramel )

 No, not really. Some are rather personal but the majority are about general subjects. I don’t think I could pick one that meant more to me than the rest.

How Do You Deal With Negative People?  (Athling2001 gets credit for this one)

I tend to avoid people who make me feel bad about myself. I’m quite capable of doing that on my own.

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake In The Morning?

“What day is it?” Usually followed by “What do I need to do today?”

Would You Rather Be Able To Talk With The Animals Or Speak All Foreign Languages?

Animals. No contest. It would be wonderful to be able to communicate with my pets and find out if they are feeling well and happy and what their fears are. I used to think that speaking another language would be great but it’s not a skill I’d really use a lot compared to how often I want to talk to animals.

What small thing happened today (or in the past few days) that you were grateful for?   

Today an elderly couple came into the Op Shop to buy handbags. They told us that they were supporting a charity called “It’s In The Bag” who supply bags filled with personal hygiene products for women who are homeless or living in poverty.

https://www.sharethedignity.com.au/christmas-charity/

They spent quite a lot of time thoughtfully choosing five or six bags that would comfortably hold the items and picked out some ladies scarves to add for a little treat in each as well. We sent them off with a box of soaps we’d had donated to the shop as they would have a far better use for them.

It often seems to be the ordinary people, those who may not have a lot themselves, who go to the trouble to do something for others less fortunate. I’m grateful that we have people like this in our community.

 

Sharing My World This Week

Name two books that have influenced you and share how.  (Credit for this question goes to Teresa of The Haunted Wordsmith.   She asked for TEN books, in her challenge, so the SYW folks got off a bit easy..) 

Travel books in general, I love reading them and they have made me curious about other parts of the world.

“The Great Railway Bazaar” by Paul Theroux was one of the first I ever read.

I also really liked “84 Charing Cross Road”, by Helene Hanff. I enjoyed reading about the relationship that grew between Helene and the staff at the bookshop and also her love of learning and good books.

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In your opinion, where is the line between art and not art? 

Art can be many things to many people. Some people say photography is not art. I think it is. I think it is art if there is beauty in it, and that is subjective too. I don’t understand a lot of the ways that people choose to be creative though.

Graffiti is known as street art, some of it is very clever and when done in the right places I enjoy it. When it was done on the side of a train and I had to clean it off with nasty chemicals it was not art, tagging is not art either.

At a recent arts festival, a man buried himself in a hole in one of Hobart’s main streets for three days. How is that art?

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-26/tas-artist-to-be-buried-under-city-street-for-dark-mofo/9801788

At a previous festival, another so-called artist planned to kill a bull to use in a performance. Not art.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-19/controversy-over-hermann-nitsch-dark-mofo-bloody-art-show/8452202

At MONA in Hobart, there is a strange installation that uses bodily fluids. It stinks. Also not art IMHO.

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Trivia for Halloween:   What item is banned only during Halloween from 12am October 31st to 12pm November 1st in Hollywood California?   (I know the answer, but I do not have any idea WHY)..c’mon…hazard a guess!  

Halloween is not such a thing here so I had to Google the answer. There was an accompanying article about crowd behaviour. I will say that when I worked for the railways the main time we saw a lot of Silly String was during the Royal Adelaide Show and cleaning it up after it had been sprayed around a train was a pain in the neck so I reckon the expense of cleaning up afterwards is probably the real reason.

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What is something that really annoys you but doesn’t bother most people? 

My first answer would be most modern music. It’s really annoying to listen to but I would have to agree about GIF’s too. I don’t mind the odd GIF, I made one of my own recently just to see if I could but some bloggers load their posts with them and it is distracting to have all that winking and blinking going on when you are trying to read.

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Instead of our usual gratitude question, I’m posing this one for this week:

What or who in your life brings you the most joy?

These two.

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