Category: Share Your World

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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Sharing My World This Week

What’s the biggest screw up in the kitchen that you were responsible for?

Well, occasionally I forget to turn things off and once I burned our dessert to a crisp because I forgot to turn the oven off when we sat down to dinner.

The other night I did the same thing with a leftover pork chop under the grill but at least it was only me that suffered for that mistake.

What, in your opinion, makes people believe absurd conspiracy theories?

Ignorance and not bothering to check the facts.

In 40 years what will people be nostalgic for?

I was interrupted while copy pasting this question and did not realise I had not answered it until now.

Nothing. I don’t believe that Millenials will be nostalgic for anything because they have such short attention spans that they always go on to the next fad and don’t value anything from the past. People of my generation will all be dead.

Is a hot dog a sandwich? 

I guess that as it is meat between two pieces of bread it is technically part of the sandwich family but I had never thought to consider a hot dog as a sandwich. A hot dog is a hot dog.

What wonderful thing happened to you this week that you’d like to share?  It can be a gratitude moment or something that just made you feel very happy at the time or made you laugh.

Saturday afternoon, it was sunny and warm outside and for once the neighbours were not making a racket so I was able to enjoy an hour or so sitting in the garden. I saw a Superb Fairy Wren hopping about. Not a rare occurrence in spring. I saw one out the window this morning but always a pleasure to see such a pretty little bird.

 

Sharing My World This Week

Do you prefer Apple (‘I’ products) or Android for your technology ‘fix’?  

I have never used an Apple computer so I can’t say whether I like or dislike them. I am curious about the differences but we decided to go down the PC road because they were cheaper for one thing and there was more software that worked on them.  It would be tiresome to change now I think. When I decided that I should upgrade to a smart phone earlier this year I researched both but as I was given both an iPhone and an Android phone, old ones no longer needed by family and friends I had my choice. I took the iPhone overseas with me but didn’t really use it a lot and use the Android phone for every day. The jury is still out but I really don’t care with a phone as long as it works.

What’s something on your personal bucket list?

I would like to travel on the Indian Pacific train from Sydney to Perth. While I was there I’d like to visit the docks in nearby Fremantle.  When we emigrated in 1966 Fremantle was the first Australian port and although we did not leave the ship there I have always felt I would like to see that spot.

 

What would you name your boat if you had one?   The Unsinkable 3? The Please Don’t Sink? Your choice! Also, what would it look like? Do you want a motor yacht, a sailboat, or perhaps a dinghy?

A couple of friends of mine have boats and they sound like a lot of work. I’m probably too lazy to own one but if I were wealthy and had someone to take care of all that for me I’d enjoy having a boat that I could take short trips in but was also something like a holiday home, a houseboat perhaps, a motor cruiser with plenty of room below deck or something like that.

When we were in England I saw narrowboats on the Thames with people living on them. That looked like it would be fun for a holiday and the boats are so pretty. As to a name I would probably keep the name it had unless I hated it.

Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life?

Naomi and I were recently discussing the old Batman TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward. I have to agree with her that Bruce Wayne is a very boring character. He drinks milk when he goes out; he is always lecturing Robin about the value of doing your homework etc. For a millionaire he doesn’t seem to have a lot of fun.

And finally:

What brought gratitude, a smile or laughter to your life this week?

We went to the Dollhouse and Miniature Show last Saturday and then for a pub lunch. As we had a couple of hours before I had to go back to Hobart we decided to play the “pokies’ for a while. I won back all the money I had put into the machine and Naomi won back what she spent plus a healthy bonus. It was good fun and we enjoyed ourselves. We don’t gamble expecting to win. We put aside an amount we can afford and regard it as entertainment money the same as if we went to the movies or something. Getting our money back and some more is a bonus and something to be grateful for.

Sharing My World This Week

What’s your go-to for unwinding after a stressful event or day?   Can be someone or something – music, pets, family or whatever you choose.

If I am feeling really stressed I prefer to be alone with just Cindy and Polly for company. I may turn my mobile phone off and let any calls on the landline go to message bank.

• If I get home after a tiring or stressful day I like to make a hot drink and veg watching something that doesn’t require me to think too much or get too emotionally involved in it.
• I like to sit in my garden on a nice day and listen to the birds.
• I used to like to soak in the bath but now getting out of it makes that a bit stressful so I don’t do it so much.
• When David was in hospital I used to put the radio on to a classical music station and leave it on all night. I found it relaxing  and it helped me go to sleep as long as there was no opera singing. I still listen to that station when I wake up every morning.

  

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The plane you’re flying in is going to crash, no survivors.  If you had one song you could listen to before it happens, what would it be?  (credit toNewEpicAuthor for this one).  Please share the link to the song if you can.

I can’t answer this. If I knew I was about to die I would not be thinking about what I’d like to listen to.  I’d be too distracted.

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What is one thing you’re really, really good at and not ashamed to admit it?  I worded that deliberately because aren’t we taught to be humble and not pushy about our achievements?  Celebrate your ability!

I am moderately good at a few things but I wouldn’t say I was really, really good at any. Maybe spelling. I am good at spelling.

 

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Would you rather lose all of your money and valuables or all of the pictures you have ever taken?

As much as I would hate to lose my photos I would hate to lose my money and valuables more. My valuables are not things that are worth a lot except perhaps to me. I could include my pets although I think of them more as family, certainly favourite dolls and special items that mean something to me.

On a practical note if I didn’t have any money I would not have anything to live on except the measly allowance the government provides and I might have to give up my home. That is something I really don’t want to lose.

And lastly

What were you grateful for or something that made you smile during the past month?

A week or so ago I decided to follow a tip I’d read on the internet on how to clean the glass on the inside of the oven door. I dismantled the door and got the solitary water streak that had been annoying me off but then could not work out how to put it back together. I persevered and after a weekend of no oven I worked out how to do it and put it back in place. I am grateful that I was able to do that by myself as the friend I asked to have a look at it for me was as confused by it as I was. Hmm maybe I am really, really good at fixing oven doors.

 

Sharing My World This Week

Last week I asked a question about favorite beverages and the overwhelming favorite was coffee.   If you drink coffee, how do you like it best?  Hot, cold, iced, with cream, with sugar or black as black? 

At home I use a plunger and drink my coffee with milk but no sugar. If I am out I’ll usually ask for a flat white or a cappuccino. Very occasionally in summer I’ll treat myself to an iced coffee with cream and icecream.

 In your opinion, what’s the greatest invention of our age?   

I am not sure what is meant by “our age” The industrial age, the twentieth century? There have been so many inventions that have changed the world how to pick one? Penicillin? The internal combustion engine? Wireless? You could make a case for each of these as they have all changed the world.

Global warming?  Reality or myth?

Despite the opinions of various Australian Prime Ministers global warming is real. Those ice caps are not melting for no reason.

 Are you an explorer or more a home body?

I would not call myself an explorer. I am not one to seek out strange new worlds where no-one has gone before. However, I would not say I was a complete homebody either. I still get a little thrill about setting off on a journey especially to somewhere I haven’t been to before but I also like being at home with my pets and my stuff. I don’t think I could be a nomad. I like to come back to familiar places.

What were you grateful for this week? 

I probably should not say this because I may jinx myself but I am grateful that so far at least I have not caught the bug that seems to be going around as several people I know seem to have got bad colds this past week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sharing My World This Week

What Is Your Favorite Beverage?  (for those who really dislike “favorite” questions, hey, time to time, one just pops in and will not be denied).

It depends on the time and place. I’d have to say that I drink tea and coffee more than anything else. I don’t drink a lot of carbonated soft drinks as I find that more than a glass at a time just makes me feel gassy.  I do like a glass of wine sometimes though I am no wine buff or a some of our locally made apple or pear cider.

What Is Your Interpretation of ‘The Golden Rule”?  Are there ramifications to breaking it?

Don’t do anything to other people that you would not like done to you. It’s so simple I don’t know why so many have such trouble with it. If you break it I think that it will come back to bite you.

Sunrise person or sunset person? 

I like both although these days I’m not often up to see a sunrise. I love the colour the sky turns just before the sun rises and the colours of clouds in the evening.

Do people in modern society anthropomorphize animals too much? 

Yes I suppose we do but it is not a new thing and mostly harmless I think. If it makes us treat animals more kindly it is probably  a good thing.

and finally

What Were You Grateful For During the Past Week?     

I was out and about a bit last week, one place I went I had a nice conversation with a lady I’ve known for a long time but never had a long chat with, I had lunch with some other friends and met some new people who seemed very nice. I went to Hobart and finally got my hair cut which was great as it had been driving me crazy. I ran into Naomi who was also in town, we hadn’t planned it but naturally we both went to Target’s toy aisle so we ended up having lunch and then we visited a gift shop I’d heard about where I bought  a  tin suitcase to use as a doll prop and had a nice chat with the lady in the shop. She had a very cute toy poodle who made us laugh too.